Category: Bow Ties

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Is This A Dandy Shirt, Or What?!

Howdy! My Bow Tie o’ the Day is the one Collette gave me at brunch on Saturday. It adds a perfectly suave effect here. I call this fashion style “suave rodeo” style. If you ever happen to run across a shirt this incredibly cool, buy it. That’s an order. You won’t regret it. It doesn’t matter that the shirt sellers didn’t have one in my size—I still knew I had to buy it. Perhaps one day I’ll grow into it. It doesn’t really matter to me, though: I am going to wear this shirt way too often, just to see others be jealous of me that I own it and they don’t. I am going to have scads of fun wearing it, no matter how it fits me. This shirt specimen is inexplicably enchanting, in a vintage sort of way. It is Roy Rogers-esque in its aura.

I think I had a lunchbox (w/thermos) in the early 70’s which looked similar to this shirt. I remember carrying it around on my banana-seat, one-speed Schwinn— as I rode in and out of dirt ditches, between alfalfa farms and bee yards, and across the dangerously bustling city streets of Delta, UT in the hippie 70’s. I wish I had saved that lunchbox. It’s a good thing I bought the shirt, so it can remind me of my hokey lunchbox whenever I wear it. I do have my Saddle Purse and cowboy boots that can go with my cowboy-covered shirt. Now, I think I’m goin’ on the hunt for a new cap-gun and holster to wear with it. I’ll also need a new cowboy hat, some spurs, chaps, a stick horse, a wad of chewin’ tabacky, and a sidekick to do all the real work for me. Oh, and I must not forget: I need a leather, string-tied bag, to hold all the gold nuggets I find waiting for me in the closest creek. Yup, I think that’s pretty much everything it takes to be an authentic cowboy. 🤠

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Saturday Brunch With Co

Saturday, I managed to wrangle Travis’ wife, Collette, into meeting me for brunch at a restaurant named Porch, way out in the boonies of Daybreak. I think she showed up for the grits. She was in the South when she was on her LDS mission, so I figured she’d be happy to go where the good grits are in these parts. Plus, the restaurant’s name—Porch—reminded me of hanging with Mom on the porch in Delta. And, indeed, Co and I chatted for more than a couple of hours about topics tiny and bigly. When I snapped the photo of both of us, you can see I was still talking so intently that I just kept jabbering away, picture or no picture. I had a blast. We decided we need to meet up more often, and I hope we make time to do that.

BTW I wore my BYU blue for the occasion, and the bookshelf Tie o’ the Day felt appropriate—because Collette is a champion-caliber reader. Gee, I can relate to that. As an added bonus, Collette presented me with a new bow tie. It’s seersucker, and that’ll be so perfect for spring and summer. It will make me feel cool, temperature-wise and otherwise.

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Ties, Ties, Ties

I’m sure you’ve noticed I have been bigly on wearing neckties recently. I consider myself—first and foremost—a woman with bow ties running through my veins, but neckties are a close second choice with me. I adore them both, but bow ties are my preference every day of the week. So what’s with all the ties lately? Well, I discovered a couple of new-to-me tie places online a few weeks ago, and so I splurged on some fantastic pieces. I ordered a whole bunch o’ new neckties to add to my collection. I am so giddy about my recent acquisitions that I just have to show them off to y’all ASAP. So this Tie o’ the Day I’m wearing gives me one more opportunity to flaunt one of my treasured finds. As you’ve probably also been noticing, I’ve gone bigly with Art Deco designs on the majority of the new ties. I enjoy the Art Deco style so much that I would buy the Art Deco-designed Chrysler Building in NYC right this minute, if I had enough money to do it. And the truth is this: I might likely have enough money to buy the Chrysler Building today—if I hadn’t spent my entire life’s fortune buying thousands and thousands of bow ties and neckties for my ridiculously extensive neckwear collection.

Hmmmm. 🤔 I gotta ponder this particular irony for a while. 🤔

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It’s Green Beer Day

Bow Ties o’ the Day have been my companions all afternoon. I and my neighbors have enjoyed the sparkles, stripes, and plaids. I’ve been working outside a wee bit, prepping for springtime temperatures I hope are not too far off. I can’t wait to sit on the deck or grill on the patio. I’ve made sure we are already stocked up on a summer’s worth of insect repellent and citronella candles. Ah, the great and insect-y outdoors!

The only green potations I will be drinking tonight are what will be in the green bottles and cans of Heineken 0.0, an 100% alcohol-free beverage, which I call my “not-beer.” The drink tastes like you would imagine the abstract idea of beer might taste. I like it, and I can be completely clean and sober no matter how much I consume. Hey, I’m glad I don’t drink alcohol anymore, but I will never deny that one of the highlights of my life is when I went to Ireland 25 years ago and taste-tested every different beer I came across—from pub to shining pub. I still remember that a beer called Smithwick’s was my overall fave-rave. My belly and my taste buds were in utter high Heaven for those roamin’ ‘n’ ramblin’ two weeks. I do not apologize for, or regret, my near-scientifically extensive Ireland drinking project. But I am also proud it’s behind me. Reminiscing about any experience can sometimes be every bit as richly textured, or more so, as living through it in the first place—because now when you look back at what you did, you can see it through your older, and more self-compassionate eyes. Like anyone who has been young, I might have been a fool back then, but at least I can confidently say I’m a much smarter, more empathetic, and well-rounded fool now that I am old. 😉

Now, where did I put the bottle opener?🍺 🍀 🇮🇪

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My New Shirt

I got a new Shirt o’ the Day yesterday, and I knew exactly which Bow Tie o’ the Day I should pair it with. At the risk of being too matchy, I think they work well together. So much so that the resulting effect leaves me speechless, er, wordless. The text of this post is already too long. Just gaze for a long, peaceful moment at the totality of the hippie vibes, and lose yourself in the psychedelic. 🍄

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Dinner Was Da Best

I don’t know what you’d wear to your birthday dinner, but I wore my own birthday balloons Bow Tie o’ the Day. I also wore my birthday cake Cufflinks o’ the Day and my 3-D glasses Lapel Pin o’ the Day. Suzanne took me to dinner at STANZA in downtown SLC, which we have not been to since the pandemic began. It’s one of my fave places to dine. Suzanne had the spinach artichoke cannelloni and I had the pan-seared halibut. We also had dessert: Suzanne had cheesecake and I had a butterscotch concoction of some sort. It was a complete yumfest. The last photo herein is what I found on my chair when I got up to leave. It is that little end of paper they leave on your straw to keep it sanitary. Somehow it made it’s way to my chair, and my butt appears to have twisted it into the shape of a bow tie as I sat and ate. And now I am back on the Lent wagon, until beyond bitter end.

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A Bigly Day o’ Bigly News

Today, I am fifty-damn-eight. No, that is not the bigly TIE O’ THE DAY news I mentioned I would pass along to you folks this morning. Also today, because it’s my b-day, I have given myself permission to fall off the Lent wagon: I’m gonna eat some sweets over the next 12 hours. No, that is not the bigly news of which I wrote either.

As of late February, TIE O’ THE DAY—the website—has been up and running for 5 years. (It also ran for 3 years before that by group-text message.)That’s an anniversary I never anticipated, so thanks to y’all for making TIE O’ THE DAY welcome on your various tech gadgets. No, that’s not exactly the bigly TO’TD news either.

The bigly TO’TD news is this: To make it easier for readers to never miss a new post, I will be posting on a strict schedule—just like a “real” publication (postication?). No more posting whenever the mood strikes me. I have too many regular readers now—across platforms—for me to remain loosey-goosey about posting pix of me and my tie pals. TO’TD will now show up twice per weekday like clockwork, at both 9 A.M. and 5 P.M. Now you can be sure when to find me and the neckwear. I will no longer be posting at all on weekends. Weekends need to be my be-at-Suzanne’s-beck-and-call time. I’m sure y’all can understand that’s just as it should be.

And now that I’ve made the bigly announcement, I’m going to run to the store to buy myself a birthday pastry! Merry 58th birthday to me! Look for a fresh post this afternoon precisely at 5. 🎂🍰🎈

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Tunes During A March Snowstorm

I gave myself a pre-birthday present last night. I dragged Suzanne to a concert at the Eccles Theater in SLC. She knew next to nothing about the band we went to see: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit. Shawn Colvin opened for them, which was great because she played solo—just Shawn and her voice and her guitar. She somehow made her guitar sound like an entire band. Yup, she plays that well. She is one of my all-time fave songwriters and has been for the last 30 years. Jason Isbell, on the other hand, is a recent discovery of mine. He plays a wild guitar, but I am most enamored of his songwriting skills. I have wide and eclectic taste in music, but there is one thing the artists I love to listen to have in common. They are generally superior songwriters. As a working poet, that makes complete sense to me. Words are music, too.

I often wear my wood guitar Bow Tie o’ the Day when I’m headed to a concert, and last night was not an exception. Excuse my uncouth Mask o’ the Evening, but my inner mode is sarcastic. I also wore my cassette tape “GOOD VIBES” lapel pin to the event.

All the usual concert types were there. You know, the group of women who didn’t open their mouths before the show, but as soon as the concert started, they immediately began talking too loudly—especially during the softer tunes. And, of course, there was the couple who just had to stand up and dance right in front of us, while holding their beers—which sloshed around and sprinkled the rest of us as they danced, kissed, and played air guitar. Remember lighters at concerts? Well, that was me last night: I wore my Bic lighter Cufflinks o’ the Evening in homage to concerts-back-in-the-olden-days.

We had a swell night out, despite the fact that Suzanne does not particularly like twang in her music. She told me more than once that she enjoyed the concert. And I almost believe her.

BTW I will be presenting some bigly news regarding TIE O’ THE DAY in tomorrow’s A.M. post. Don’t miss it, y’all.

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Every TIE O’ THE DAY Post During Lent Is Not Going To Be About Lent, But This One Is

M&M’s Bow Tie o’ the Day and donuts Shirt o’ the Day are part of a new strategy I’m employing to ensure my successfully giving up sweets—and junk food, in general—for Lent. I am experimenting to see if I can sublimate my seemingly unending desire to eat sugary treats by wearing goodies-themed attire. At least it appears as if I’ve got plenty o’ sugar in the vicinity of my system. So far, wearing bad-for-you confections hasn’t helped me and my taste buds much, but I’ll give it some more time. 🍩🤓 37* days to go.

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It’s Mardi Gras

I figured I should acknowledge Mardi Gras, if only because I’ve been busy today thinking about what I should give up for Lent tomorrow. What I really want to give up for 40 days is my sobriety, but that would sort of defeat the purpose. Actually, it would defeat a bunch of purposes. Nah, I will be giving up something else for 40 days. I’m not sure what it will be. I’m thinking giving up sweets would be a sacrifice for me, but my birthday is next week and I can’t justify breaking Suzanne’s heart by not eating whatever birthday dessert she will want to feed me. Still, I’d kind of like to test my mettle and see if I could go without sweets for 40 days.

I know it would be breaking the rules of Lent, but maybe I could go sweetless on 39 of Lent’s 40 days, and then go without sweets one extra day after Lent officially ends. Of course, that means I would have to put an asterisk by my accomplishment if I eat sweets on my birthday, for cheating just a smidgen smack dab in the middle of Lent. It would be as if I were a Major League Baseball steroid user in the 90’s. I’d have an asterisk by my stats. Asterisk, asterisk, asterisk. ✳️