i recently once again dived into one of my most favorite/least favorite bi-annual traditions…. choosing new glasses frames.  i love this process because it’s refreshing to get a new look!  i hate this because it’s so hard to find the “right” pair and it always seems like such high stakes–i’m basically shopping for part of my face for the next year or two.  this time was no exception.  i went to seven different glasses shops and in all but one, chose a pair that i thought would work okay only to decide later that… eh, i didn’t like them all that well after all.  oh, except for one pair that i loved…. until they told me the price and then i waved goodbye to them (in retrospect, i’m not sure they would have afforded the same “wow!  new glasses!” zing i was aiming for.  and if i’m paying that kind of money, i want my new glasses to be noticed!).  i was getting increasingly frustrated by my options (they kind of all started to look the same and none of them fit my face properly) until i stumbled upon a shop downtown called see.  i’d never heard of it, but it was glasses and looked intriguing, so i thought i’d go in and check it out.  i almost walked right back out because it looked pretty high end and i didn’t want to fall in love with another pair of expensive frames, but i peeked at a few prices and realized it might be safe.  plus, all of the frames were funky cool.  none of them looked like the status quo.  so many fun options!  i was so sick of being disappointed and so scared that i’d once again go through this process only to have someone tell me i’d need to pay them $800 to get a finished pair of glasses that when the friendly manager, shawn, asked me “what’s wrong?  what haven’t you been finding so far in your search?” i actually broke down in tears (rather embarrassing and inconvenient when you’re trying to see if glasses look attractive on your face).  he assured me that this process is often emotional for people, got me a box of tissues, then helped me try on a bunch of frames, until i discovered these and was smitten:

maybe it’s just because i was tired of the search, but these had the zing i was looking for and i loved the color!

interesting note:  apparently see only produces about 100 of each frame (split among their 32 stores) so everyone in town won’t be wearing the same glasses you picked.  also, the lenses are included in the price of the frame (well, you pay a bit extra for high index or anti-reflective coating or tinting, but that’s normal).  and, if you buy 5 pairs (no time limit) you get the sixth pair free.  i like the way this shop thinks.

they’re not technically perfect (one glasses shop that i went to in this round of choosing taught me that the best fitting frames are those in which your eye looks through the middle of the lense.  do you know how hard that is to find with my eye/nose height combo??), but the price was right, the funkiness was exactly what i was looking for and seriously, how fun are these?  teal is surprisingly neutral in my wardrobe.  here’s a few photos of recent outfits: and yes, they also look good when i’m not actually wearing teal clothing.  i do occasionally have some outfits with no teal.  (the first and last shots in this post were taken by the amazing cynthia marie hoffman.  love her work! you’ll see more from this photo shoot soon…the other two pictures are by my happy guys.)

anyway, i just wanted to let you all know about this funky glasses shop i found so that the next time you’re shopping and looking for something just a bit different, if you’re lucky enough to be near a see store… check them out.  (and no, i’m not getting paid to promote them, i’m just so excited to have found something truly new and different and also affordable in this field and i wanted to tell you about it!) one more shout-out to the store manager who, when he heard that i was hoping to be able to use them for the photo shoot you see samples from above, put a rush order on the glasses and they came in just a few days (instead of the regular 10-14 days).  so. awesome.