1. I know it’s cold everywhere but today I’m sharing a very cheery, very pretty fun yellow dress.
This is actually kind of a knockoff of an Isabel Marant dress that has been around for quite a few seasons now, but I feel OK sharing it because I actually tried the Isabel Marant and it was a little too frilly for my frame and plus a bunch of other brands have done their own version. This one from ASTR is my favorite, because of the pretty color, the slightly less exaggerated cut, and of course the price.
2. Do you have bitcoin? I confess I still don’t really understand how to buy it. I kind of thought about doing it for a while (as says everyone in your Facebook feed) but then give up. Check out this NY Times article, about how everybody’s getting rich off of bitcoin (but you), but then read this followup proceeding further.
3. Oh man, I don’t know how I feel about this: US Warned Jared Kushner about Wendi Deng Murdoch. What do you think? I’m a secret Wendi fan. I used to be kind of the opposite and at some point a few years ago, transitioned to fandom.
4. A very interesting article about how TV costume designers may have problems borrowing from fashion houses, via Fashionista. Did you know this? I just thought it’d be simple.
5. This week I read In The Country, by Mia Alvar, a series of short stories on men and women of the Philippines living around the world.
I’m not usually a short story reader – I like the payoff of a longer novel. I decided to pick up this book after thumbing through it at our local bookshop and immediately finding myself drawn to the first few pages. And, I wanted to learn more about the Filipino diaspora. I didn’t think I’d find myself so engrossed in these stories, but I did, and finished this book in several days. Highly recommend In The Country.
12 Comments
Anonymous
January 19, 2018 at 10:22 amThat’s interesting – what made you a Wendi fan?
Katherine
January 20, 2018 at 9:23 pmI think just her utter determination in the face of such long odds…I have to give her credit for having come so far! But now, given this latest news…
DK
January 19, 2018 at 10:29 amHi Katherine ,
It’s interesting that the Wendi Deng article appeared in the Wall St Journal – a paper controlled by her ex husband…
irina
January 19, 2018 at 10:33 amGood morning – i remember when i first heard about Wendy Deng – when you posted an article a couple of years ago and i spent an hour reading it. From what i remember, i can’t imagine being her fan, what made you change your opinion?:)
Hui
January 19, 2018 at 11:40 amIt’s interesting that you mention bitcoin. I am very bullish about it (maybe I should not). I think it will be one of the investment assets in the future (maybe in 5 years). A lot of people want to become rich with it quickly (tell me one person who wants to become rich slowly). There is nothing wrong about it. What’s important is to know cryptocurrrncy is not for faint hearted. There is a lot of volatility and risk. You have to have the stomach for it. So only invest what you can afford to lose.
Hui
January 20, 2018 at 6:01 amSomething in addition : you don’t need to invest into Bitcoin if you think the capital is too big to risk. There are other cryptocurrencies called altcoins which are equally interesting : Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, just to name a few. I think the best way to understand them is to invest into them.
Katherine
January 20, 2018 at 9:24 pmThank you! Sounds like you are a crypto expert!
Io
January 19, 2018 at 12:37 pmNo matter what I read, I still don’t understand Bitcoin well, and I increasingly feel dumb for not understanding it.
I don’t begrudge Deng for her extraordinary gains in life, but her shady background sounds plausible, and that’s scary considering her connections and who she was married to.
Sonya
January 19, 2018 at 3:10 pmIs this a good book club option? I’m in charge next month and get all my recommendations from FF!
Katherine
January 20, 2018 at 9:24 pmyes! But maybe select a few stories to focus on.
Laila
January 21, 2018 at 7:33 amHi Katherine, the easiest way to buy cryptocurrency is through an exchange like coinbase. It is fairly easy to set up an account and then pay using your visa card. One can only purchase small amounts initially (~200USD).. It also offers a couple of other currencies such as Ether and Litecoin so one can diversify too. Also, I think one of the easiest ways to understand the whole concept of blockchain is to buy a cryptokitty (https://www.cryptokitties.co/). A cryptokitty is a virtual cat that one buys using ether. One can also breed and sell these adorably digital cats and it is a fun way to see how transactions are processed on the blockchain. Hope that helps (since I have used your blog as a great source for my Hermes purchases over the years!).
Olivia @ Birds of a FIRE
January 21, 2018 at 7:46 pmYou can use Coinbase and then buy it via GDAX (to save the 3% fee coinbase charges). I’d use Bitcoin to buy some of the alt currencies, but I’m not sure how much Bitcoin itself will go up. It’s incredibly slow (only 7 transactions per second, compared with Visa of 16,000) with high fees ($30 ish).
Wendy Deng has a lot of balls, which is somewhat admirable. In a world where women aren’t really encouraged to go after what they want, she certainly has.