Alan Ilagan

Now, I realize that my birthday is almost two months away, but every year someone asks me what I want the week before it happens, only by then it’s too late to order anything on time, so here is the early-bird special wish-list. (To be honest, I don’t know why I bother, except for the fact that I live in the future moment – every time I do these lists they are widely ignored. But I’m nothing if not adept at living in my head.)

We’ll begin with this leather tote by Cole Haan, currently on a steal of a sale HERE at Zappos.com. I am all about the tote bag since my first foray into the style (thanks to the new Men’s Coach Store at Copley).

Somewhere along the line I got it into my head that totes were for the beach, or harried Moms, so they never really pinged on my accessory radar. How wrong I was. The tote is an amazing piece – in form and function just as much as style. No longer do I need to carry my lunch to work in a separate plastic bag. It fits – along with just about everything else – right inside the tote.

Along those lines, those in slightly more-fun color combos, here’s a pair of beauties from Jack Spade (HERE). I’d be thrilled with either to close off the summer.

If you just can’t bring yourself to tow the tote idea, here’s a classic messenger bag from Jack Spade in one of my new favorite colors – gray. I love the subtle plaid pattern, and would spend hours occupied in finding a matching pair of pants. Anything that keeps me busy is a good thing for those whose company I can tire. (Andy…) It’s available on Zappos HERE.

While totes and messenger bags are nice, my heart has always belonged to the one who gets me cologne. Right now I’m obsessed with grapefruit and neroli, but I’ve already found my fix for the latter, so we’re looking for the grapefruit. It can be found in the form of Hermes and their Eau de Pamplemousse Rose. The last time I looked they had this at the Sephora store in Boston – I could not find it online or in our paltry Colonie store. (Originally I thought it too late for a rose fragrance, but this is really dominated by the grapefruit, so I’ve changed my mind.)

UPDATE: The Colonie Sephora just got this in – only it’s in the perfume (i.e. Women’s) section. Luckily I’ve never minded anything intended for the ladies. Clutches included.

Finally, in these times of financial duress, I understand that some people may want to give a gift that is more useful than my umpteenth messenger bag or a fleeting bottle of cologne. To those that would like to make such an investment, I am obsessed with this beauty from Restoration Hardware:

It’s the Chesterfield Upholstered Sleigh Bed. We need a King-size bed – there’s just no way around it. One way or another it’s going to end up in my bedroom, if I have to auction off the rest of the house for it to happen. Don’t make me auction. View the glory Here.

After a few days of Pride-filled activity and gay-marriage political pushes, it’s time that this blog got back to its shallow and superficial basics – meaning fashion, flowers, Madonna, and me in my underwear. A quick update on those issues follows:

Fashion ~  I visited the new Coach Men’s Store at Copley Place when I was in Boston. It was smaller than expected, but held quite a bit. I meticulously went through each item twice, before settling on the “Bleecker Legacy Canvas Utility Tote bag” in teal. I was a little unsure of the color (and unsure is not the thing to be in a non-outlet Coach store), but I took a risk and it paid off. The tote is my new favorite style of bag, which is unfortunate because I only have two (and one is distinctly for Fall). That means that another one is likely in my future. It’s better than a messenger bag because I can fit everything in it, including my lunch (which was previously housed in that week’s plastic grocery bag).

Flowers ~ I’m behind on posting the latest in the garden, but right now the roses are blooming, as is one of my favorites – the mockorange. The peonies just finished up their banner season, and the perennial sweet peas are taking over.

Madonna ~ Matthew Rettenmund of Boy Culture saw a rough cut of Madonna’s directorial effort, W.E. and seems somewhat impressed. The more I hear about the project, the more I’m warming to it (even if it doesn’t contain any new Madonna music – will anything ever again?)

{UPDATE: A few hours after writing this, I received word that Madonna will be in the studio next month to record a new album. All is right with the world again.}

Me in My Underwear ~ Stay tuned… the pics are about to be posted. A return to the frivolous and frothy mix you never missed (and I don’t mean Rick “frothy mix” Santorum).

The next day we trekked down to Amore Breakfast to see Leanne and have some of her incredible once again I marveled at all that was in bloom – immense stands of stately Siberian iris stood swaying in the wind, their blossoms floating like deep-purple butterflies.

Creeping phlox was just finishing its show, throwing out a stray burst of magenta here and there, and everywhere the Rosa rugosa, finally covered in full bloom – a sight we don’t ever get to witness.

After a breakfast of the righteously-renowned Black and Blue French toast (I opted for the Blue variation, with fresh Maine blueberries – the sweetest on earth), we walked back up to the village before hitting the outlets.

On every Ogunquit trip we make a shopping excursion to the Kittery outlets. Well, I shop, while Andy drives and parks the car. Occasionally he’ll go into a place that peaks his interest or coincides with his style (which means he’ll go in Gap and Banana Republic if he’s feeling especially adventurous, and Calvin Klein if he needs underwear, but that’s about it).

This time, I noticed that Coach had a new location, so we swerved into the parking lot and I told him I just wanted to look for a minute. Now, I know I’m not in need of a new bag, and certainly not another Coach bag, in black no less. Notice I said “need”. Desire, want, wish, and pragmatic-decisions-in-the-event-of-a-once-a-season-sale-on-top-of-clearance-prices are totally different things.

I did, however, need a decent bag for toiletries, as the free one I got with some cologne purchase years ago was on its last soap-stained legs. I’d been eyeing versions by Prada and Louis Vuitton, but hundreds of dollars for that minor item is a waste, even by my questionable standards. When I saw a two-zipper Coach case for half off, with an additional twenty percent off that, I couldn’t refuse.

Unfortunately for my American Express card (which actually split apart a few weeks ago, no joke – I had to tape it back together, literally), the case was in the vicinity of a messenger bag that was also half off, with the additional twenty percent on top of it, so I took a deep breath, rationalized and cajoled with my waning voice of reason, and ended up getting $450 worth of merchandise for about $160. Hey, it could have been a lot worse – there was a dark blue canvass bag that would have been ideal for summer, but I refrained.

Still on a high from that deal, I made Andy pull over for Brooks Brothers (it should be noted that I don’t even bother to stop at Brooks Brothers or Coach on a regular basis because even the sale prices are too exorbitant, but in these troubled times it seems the outlets are having sales on their already-reduced items). There was a 40% off store-wide sale, and I splurged on a pair of madras pants. I normally wouldn’t do such a thing, but shopping has a way of building on itself. I was helpless at this point. The upside is that they are the softest pair of pants I’ve owned in a while, and they make up for the summer look that I gave up in the navy canvass bag.

For dinner we switched things up and went out to Gypsy Sweethearts. Our habit is to leave that (or The Old Village Inn in the Fall) as a safety choice for our last night in town.

This time we enjoyed a perfect meal at our corner table, basking in the setting sunlight (and savoring the beef tenderloin wrapped in bacon, covered in a sinful blanket of bearnaise sauce).

Our dinner complete, we made our way to the Oxygen O2 Lounge, where Khris Francis was having his opening show of the season. We had seen Mr. Francis when he first started playing Ogunquit a number of years ago, and followed him intermittently during his stay at The Front Porch. Now he was back across the street where he originally began, and we had back-of-the-room seats (for our own safety).

Andy and I enjoyed the show immensely – the change of venue has reinvigorated both Francis and his material, and he looks to have a winning summer.

This was our first time at the Oxygen (to the best of my recollection – I’ve given up on proclaiming absolutes because my memory is shot), and it was a great experience – the staff was incredibly polite and attentive, without a bit of attitude, and that impresses me more than almost anything else. I’ll forgive a lot, and enjoy the good things that much more, if there is genuine appreciation for customers. We’ve been pretty lucky in that most of Ogunquit functions that way.

Once the show was done, we crossed the street and found ourselves back at Bread and Roses, with the door still open, and the desserts still scrumptious.