It only takes five months to make the Fashion Bible...

See. The sun never sets on a bad ass.

Two weeks ago, I saw The September Issue, which if you don't know, is about the creation of the 2007 September Issue of Vogue. The documentary provides insight not only into how the issue is made, but small glimpses of both Anna and Grace. These two remarkable women are the genius behind the top fashion magazine in the world.

There is speculation that Anna was the inspiration for the character of Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada. After seeing The September Issue, I understand where the thought comes from. Anna is certain with her decisions and does not need an extra moment to form an opinion, and for this, she is able to create a master piece month after month.

As much as I enjoyed learning more about Ms. Wintour, Grace Coddington stole my heart and gave me a job to dream about. She is the top fashion editor in the magazine and creates, by far, the most amazing spreads. I only recently became a Vogue subscriber, but it was easy to flip through the issues I have in my house to confirm that my favorite spreads were done by Grace. At 68 years old, she is still producing great work and appears to be one of the few individuals who know how to stick up to Anna.

One of my favorite moments was after the final shoot in the documentary where she uses the camera man as one of her props. She realizes as the shots are being touched up that Anna may wish to tuck his tummy a little, and Grace immediately gets on the phone to editing telling them they better not touch his gut! I have to admit, letting him keep his body as it is, does add to the photo. She has a gift. I was not the only one who was smitten by Grace and her somewhat dumpy dresses/skirts and hippie sandals (no disrespect Grace! I love that you wear what is clearly comfortable!!)

I love the line in the Huffington Post article towards the end...

"They like to dictate the hair, the makeup, the clothes, the photographer – and that's annoying. I like to do that."

So Grace, if you see this, please let me know if you need an assistant. I am completely and absolutely fine with dropping everything here and following you around the world that is Vogue.

Exercise Illiterate

Umm, I can't wait to find out what this exercise is, or how it helps me.

I was in Dick's Sporting Goods on Saturday afternoon. I have been well aware of the fact that while I look like I might be considered "in shape", I am very much just skinny fat. My muscles are consistently tight which causes them to cramp up and me scream - in public. Over the course of the last few months I have been saying over and over again that I would start up yoga again and regular stretching. So far, nothing. I'm done with excuses, I need to get on this before my body curls up onto itself. It could happen, I think.

Anyway, back to me being in the sporting goods store, I decided to take this opportunity to look through the fitness section. Here I found those big fun balls that are used for stretching or sit ups or something but quickly realized that as much as I have wanted one of those, all I really need at this moment are some of those stretch bands. I found a set of three that were not on sale, but honestly, I can spare the $20 to get myself loosened up.

I went to start my new life. A life that would consist of crunches, push ups, squats, and stretching (for flexibility) and I got stumped when I went to leave the starting gate. To start my session, I figured I would break out the new bands and go with the flexibility stretches. The box tells me that they are three different resistance levels, but doesn't bother to tell me which is which. I mean they are different colors, how hard would it have been to say red = easy, blue = medium, green = hard. I tested them out and think that the red is the easy one but I am not completely sure.

Just now, I thought to see if I could tell visually if there was a thickness difference. I am going to keep red as the easy and move blue to hard, but green could be the easy one too...I am just going to go with my gut.

On top of not knowing what the levels are, I also don't understand what the clip is for that is found in this kit. There is a great chart that shows me movements I could try, unfortunately they don't include what the clip is for, or explain how I would secure it to the door way. My thought was to tie it to the handle, but I feel that is probably wrong.

I think I am going to have to do some research tomorrow to find out exactly how to use these gigantic rubber bands. Baby steps? At least I own them now.

Competitive Conversations

Some families compete with each other by playing flag football, others play board games, my family, we are competitive conversationalists.

The last few years have been a little quiet at my aunt's house as one of the families had been spending the meal with their other grandfather. This year, they came back to Clifton Park and brought him with them. Even though we were down 3 people as my cousin's family (they have a 2 year old) opted to stay down in North Carolina, the house was still booming with noise from the 13 adults who were milling around.

I'm thinking that it is the Italian part that causes each and everyone of us to use what many people consider shouting as a natural method of communication about every day events. From interacting with friends, it would appear that most find it necessary to be in the same room to have a conversation. Not us. There is no reason someone in kitchen cannot ask someone in the living room their opinion on a matter. Additionally, if two people are in the living room talking about their day and a third person walks by with something on their mind, there is no reason to wait for a pause, that person can jump right in. The better topic, or louder voice, will win out.

Minus the brief moment after grace where everyone ate, not a minute went by where at least 6 of the 13 were talking. Being able to not only follow multiple conversations, but also participate, AND eat your share of shrimp cocktail (with extra horseradish in the sauce) is an art form. I dare anyone to try and survive one of our functions.

Please note, that this is not limited to just Thanksgiving. Our family will also get together on Black Friday for dinner and pick up two more members of the clan. It is a toss up whether we go to my uncle's house or a local restaurant, going out together is definitely more entertaining as we tend to overwhelm the waitstaff. We all talk a lot, eat a lot and drink a lot. The third only causing the first to get louder...

Trying to get US in the black

Tradition places me in the middle of Colonie Center at about 11 am today. The females of my mom's side of the family have been "enjoying" an afternoon at the busiest malls in the Albany area for about 20 years now.

When we were younger, my grandmother would take all of us cousins to the movie theaters that sit within a mall to see a show and then have a little lunch. Very minimal exposure to the extreme shopping that was going on at the time. Now that we are older, we have said good-bye to Thanksgiving movies and hello to elbowing the crazies for the deals.

By no means do we do the 5 am door busters - at least not typically - but we have been known to go from about 10 am to 5 pm. By five we are tired and over the whole consumerism thing and head on to big family dinner number 2, which has come to mean setting up shop at my uncles for pasta and wine.

This year we didn't make it past 2 pm and later ended up at a sports bar where we overwhelmed our waiter with our volume and ordering. It was a grand time.

But back to the shopping...I would say that the six females did their job and managed to help stimulate the economy to some degree. Personally I got half of two Christmas presents and then a few things for myself. Big purchase (which will be considered a birthday/Christmas present to myself) was a Burberry perfume/lotion/body wash set - that came with a free teddy bear! Burberry clothing is something that I have no interest in, their fragrances are something else. When I was in Vegas I fell in love with a scent and have yet to find it again. I purchased Beat today and while I love it, I am not sure if it was THE SCENT, and I am still ok with it. If you're in Boston, I'm sure you will notice the new smell, I plan on wearing it pretty often, especially given what I paid (even with the deal)

I am not sure what the official numbers were like regarding how much was spent by the people, but I will attest to the fact that mall was not empty. Additionally, people were hungry for deals, we saw many people stocking up on deals and ready to argue about prices with the sales staff. (In most cases these arguments were because the customer didn't bother to read which brand was on sale an decided ALL griddles sold in Macy's were on sale...yeah not so much). Hopefully, the economy continues to move in a positive direction. All I know is that I am ready to jump into the Christmas present purchasing madness.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I am probably in a car right now on my way to Troy, New York for Thanksgiving. Around 10:30 or 11 am every year Alice's Restaurant comes on the radio. And every year my family and I try to find it as we clearly can't be bothered to learn what station it is on. If you never have heard this great story/song, well have no fear, I found it on youtube for you!

There are some ugly babies out there, but...

there is no reason to be retouching baby rolls!

I am perfectly comfortable about the fact that models, actresses and public figures get air brushed and morphed into perfection when their images get published. Weird hairs, random zits or discoloration can be removed just to smooth out the image, but getting rid of a baby's fat rolls is just going to far.

Most of the time, babies are cute purely because they are chubby. I don't care for kids, but I cannot help but smile if a see a blob with pudgy arms and legs waving around. Skinny babies make me nervous. They look sick. Infants can't really move much on their own so they can't really be "working off" their calories, thus, they should have some heft to them.

Photoshop and retouching is a slippery slope. I understand wanting to show the best version of an image, but some standards need to be reevaluated based on the subject. Its true, I don't want to see a chubby model (unless she is a plus size), I do want to see a chubby baby.

Thirty

# of books that I have bought and are sitting on my bookshelves unread.

7 - # of collections of short stories that I have started or picked through, but yet to complete all the entries

6 - # of books I started and put back down because I didn't have the time, focus, or energy to invest in them

6 - # of books bought for a college class that I didn't to to that semester and vowed to read later in life. Later still has not happened

Forty-nine books that need to be read, are dying to be read, are staring back at me in my living room. This number does not include the book I need to read for book club that is being held next week. Every few weeks I end up in a book store and say that I cannot purchase a new a book until I catch up on all the ones that are already scattered around my apartment. Those days I usually end up with just one new book in my purse. It is an addiction and it hard to break.

My goal this thanksgiving break is to read at least two of them and three magazines (which would get me caught up in that area). The first book would be the book club book, the second being The Host by Stephanie Meyers (yes the Twilight lady). I would say don't judge me for The Host but you already have, instead I will ask to still be my friend. :)

I don't know when I am going to find time to really get these piles down considering I feel like reading is a waste of time right now as I try to get my life together. So maybe when I am 50 I'll have a few hours? If anything I need a job that lets me travel so I can plane read...

Back 15!

10 years ago "back 15!" probably was not a phrase many people found themselves screaming. Last night half the room was yelling it as we watched the Kitten Mitton clip from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The episode was played off the dvr and while it pretty much has you laughing from the beginning there is one particular point when the mittons are being wore that is just bust a gut hysterical. As soon as that moment past everyone wanted to see it again and "back 15" was being yelled, because in case you couldn't pick up on its meaning, we all wanted to go back in time 15 seconds to see the action again.

I really found it fascinating that not a single person yelled out rewind, it was every one's instinct to yell out for a repeat of those 15 seconds.

If you are an It's Always Sunny fan and you haven't seen this clip yet, you really should. If you aren't a fan, but loved Arrested Development you probably are a future Sunny fan and just don't know it. I've put the clip below. But I will admit, it is funnier to watch it with friends.



Final note, EW did a story on the show recently which was pretty good and I suggest you read it if you haven't already.

Mac and Cheese with Gravy

Sunday night was Thanksgiving dinner round one. A group of friends and I got together to stuff ourselves silly with turkey and all its fixings. The paper plates we used were a little on the small side, which made it hard to fit all of the different food items on them. Don't be fooled, we didn't take smaller portions, but merely piled everything on top of each other. This turned out to be a great way to discover fantastic new food combinations. Baked mac and cheese tastes wonderful when you dip it in gravy, similarly, sopping up the green bean casserole mushroom soup mixture with turkey is absolutely divine. If you don't have the guts to try it this Thursday, I guess you will just have to take my word.

Dinner was quite the success and dessert was fabulous. We had three types of pie and all were made with lots of love and butter. :) There was this magical chocolate pie that is just perfection. Words can't do it justice so I am not going to try. There was just so much chocolate pudding, chocolate chips and half and half. So full of fatty wonderfulness. There were a handful of people taking hits of whipped cream right out of the can.

The evening was a great way to end a weekend, it was hard to fight the turkey coma when I got home at 9:30 and still needed to get work done. Fighting that natural tendency to pass out after a big turkey meal is really hard. I managed to stay up till 1 am but I was much slower at getting my work done, and I didn't even get any where close to my kitchen which was FILLED with dirty dishes from making mac and cheese earlier in the day.

Short Skirts - IN

Perfect timing. Just as I finished up last months Vogue, December's came in the mail! One of the final spreads was entitled "playing the field" and it was designed by Grace Coddington, it was of course, my favorite in the issue. There were only four images, but the style that they were showing off is exactly what I love. You guessed it, short skirts with high heels. The tag line, or caption if you will, reads "With a bumper crop of the season's freshest floral frocks and short skirt suits, it is hard to pick up one".

I love the idea that the short skirt could be in a suit. It kills me that suits have to be so conservative. Why can't sexy be considered serious? Men look very sexy in suits. We don't make them wear lumpy gross shirts and unfitted pants, why are females stuck in school marm duds in the corporate world. I am all for a movement to short skirts in the working world!

My favorite piece was the skirt with tons of volume. Recently I have come to love the bubble skirt and all it has to offer. Mainly, I think this is because these skirts don't rise up in the back on me like others do based on their design. Most A-line or flowy skirts get stuck up on the shelf that is my backside. You don't believe me? Ask any of my friends...



I find her face a little off putting but the outfit is just so freaking cute. I don't know if I could necessarily pull it off with that print, or in general, but I'd love to try!

Plus 1 rules

With everything going on in the economy people understand that the holiday parties are probably going to be cut down or simply canceled. Slashing away at the holiday festivities makes sense from a financial standpoint, but given the statistics of workplace morale and the forecast that a majority of employees plan to jump ship in 2010, the merriment really should be kept up. We minions don't have much going for us right now except more work we can possibly handle.

One friend was informed that the holiday party was going to change. She isn't sure what that means...is it off...is it still on but slightly cut back...or are is there going to be some soda, cheese and crackers? Who knows.

Another friend put this message in her gchat status.

holiday christmas party for employees AND significant others (ONLY). great. making an appearance as Bridget Jones once again.

This comment made me pause and think to myself. I mean I understand that the term "significant others" are used because if you said "married" or "married/engaged" people would revolt for various reasons. Until recently same-sex couples couldn't get married, and even though they are able now, there are many couples both hetro and homo that choose to just be partnered, so the term "significant" has been considered the most PC term.

I get this. But really what does significant mean? Online dictionaries agree that this adjective means "important; of consequence". I would say that this description applies to my closest friends as much as anyone else. I might not be in a serious romantic relationship, but that doesn't mean that I don't have significant others in my life. In fact, there are people who are in relationships with individuals who make them miserable. Why is that bond more legitimate than the one I have with a friend? If my company chooses to limit our party to employees and a significant other, I am inviting the same friend who I have invited for the last 2 years. She is one of my best friends and has provided significant support for me.

In the end, I find the concept of only romantic partners as plus ones to be insulting. The reason you bring your partner is so you have someone to talk with, why does the world think that single people don't want to have that safety net too? If anything, there is nothing more painful than having to endure a long conversation about some couple's kid that you have no interest in. At least if you have a friend with you, the two of you can go off and laugh over a drink about the awkward conversation.

Going under the Naughty List

This sweater is by Grey Antics.

It is entitled "Mommie kissing Mr. Klaus Sweater".

I don't know what about this sweater bothers me more. On one hand we have the simple fact that there would be permanent mittens on the boobs. On the other we have the idea that Santa Klaus would have has hands on my boobs. Either way my boobs are being highlighted and I am not sure if this would be a way I would like to do that. Also the song is about Mommie kissing Santa Klaus, I don't feel like many moms shop for themselves at U.O. but I could be wrong. I bet this shirt is just really hipster and I am too square to get it.

Finale Finally?

Project Runway season six is over. Finally. This was the first season that I didn't really even pay attention to the runway portion of the final episode. I also watched by myself because most of my friends feel the same way. The season was meh. These designers didn't really have a point of view. There were no Ulis or Lauras or Jeffreys. Irina kind of has a p.o.v. but I don't find it particularly breathtaking. As Michael Kors said, "The warrior woman is not a new character". While it is hard to think of something completely new, I am kind of over the whole living in the city is like being in a jungle or war so we need to use clothing to protect ourselves but make us fierce.

I will admit there were two moments that did cause me to use the rewind button on my dvr.

First, Jaslene from season 8 of ANTM was cast in Althea's line. That draggy woman who somehow won season 8. The bigger question was how Natasha made it to the final two as she was terrible for most of that season, don't ask why I remember that. But yeah, my eyes popped when I saw her go down the runway


She looked good. I am glad to know she is working, even if it is the Project Runway finale. At least it's still Bryant Park during fashion week! Her face was less draggy than I remembered.

Once I got over that moment, I honestly also got over Althea's line. Thankfully there was Carol Hannah. Her clothes were beautiful. I didn't even think they were too overworked. I restarted her collection because I realized I wasn't paying attention and it was interesting! The first dress was eye catching, but it was this outfit that got me rooting for this southern lady.


You can so see me that, can't you? The skirt is short, but full and there is a tutu type material coming out of the bottom. What is not to love???

Really went over the pictures of Irina's collection one more time. Not my style. It is well done, but those damn hats just keep me from really liking some it.

In the end, can't WAIT for season 7. I am pretty sure it has been confirmed that they will back to NYC and that Meana Garzilla and Michael Kors will be back for all episodes. Their catty commentary is really what makes this show worth watching. That and the clothes...

Couldn't get past pg 3 in Vogue before I had to drop everything and blog...

I opened my November issue of Vogue (again way behind in the magazine reading) and started flipping through my favorite part...the ads in the front. Can't quite explain why, but I am such a sucker for fashion photography. The new ad for Chanel just made me stop and pause. It is so simple and clean, which represents the essence of Coco Chanel so perfectly, and yet I couldn't help but stare. I actually had to go online to the site to see what other images came out of this shoot. Turns out that is Lilly Allen, man does she look better than I remember!

Seriously, don't know why I am drawn to this one so much. Maybe it just reminds me of the Audrey Hepburn shots that I studied all October for my costume. Who knows. But I wanted to make sure none of you missed out on the image!

Serendipity allowed for an Aha Moment

It was a little chilly when I left my place on Sunday morning so I grabbed my favorite pashmina (from the wonderful author of Swingin Round the Polestar) and headed to the T. I was off to meet some of my kickball girls for brunch at Columbus Cafe. Brunch was wonderful. We gossiped, giggled, and stuffed our bellies.

Where is this story going? Well, fast-forward to Monday morning. Getting ready for work and I want my pink pashmina. Cannot find it ANYWHERE. I look EVERYWHERE. The apartment is pretty clean. It wasn't under the pile that was my pink tutu dress from Saturday, nor was it under the mail or the pile of coats on my chair. Logical conclusion, it must be in the Cafe. They didn't open until 5:30 so I figured why not just head there right after work. Waiting for them to open would have just wasted 3o minutes of my day.

The T was slow, and a bigger pain the usual. I was one stop away from Massachusetts Ave and I felt someone bump into me. The car was not that crowded so it had to be purposeful, I look up, it was a guy I went to school with for 12 years. We had a nice short awkward conversation and then as soon as he got on I had to get off.

I mulled over the interaction for the remainder of the travel - it was a quick turnaround as the scarf was not there, bummer. As I was getting to the grocery store for the second time in 24 hours I realized whoa, I have grown. It was quite the Aha Moment (please Mutual of Omaha or Oprah, don't try and sue me for that!) I have spent the last three years up here growing and evolving into an amazing person. I admit, I am not the most stable person emotionally, but I do really enjoy being me and have some high self-esteem. The person I am now is nothing like the person I was in grade school, I am so less awkward. Well I am awkward in a new way. :) I don't think I would have had that moment if I hadn't ran into him. As I have mentioned in previous posts, there are a bunch of things I would like to change in my life, but I am very happy being me...

Oh and don't worry, when I got home I went to throw my cardigan on the cardigan pile that is on the back of my couch only to notice that both of my missing pashminas were somehow stuck between the cushions. Go figure. I can't get upset. If I didn't travel down on the orange line, I would have never run into my former classmate, and the moment would never have happened...nor would that awesome one person dance party I wrote about yesterday.

Dancing with myself on my way home from the grocery

Today was totally an ordinary day. Nothing particularly exciting happened. But for some reason I had an urge to dance. I think my need dates back to Saturday night. A friend of mine had her birthday celebration and in the invite there was mention of dancing. I had a phenomenal hot pink dress (complete with a tutu skirt) and HIGH heels. Totally ready to dance. The rain kind of put a damper on the plan as the bar didn't get crowded enough for the dance floor to pick up before I left. Then Sunday I did a little abc.go.com tv watching trying to let my body recover from the drinking. (For some reason "classy" beer likes make me hungover, it is kind of a pain)

As you may have heard, Ugly Betty has been banished to the least desirable time slot - Friday evenings! I figured I should watch episodes to see if I feel like I can handle yet another show on the DVR. Safe to say I can. One of the episodes features Betty having to find a date to a work party and in the end decides to attend by herself. Of course the final scene is of her dancing to Dancing with myself which is one of my favorite dance songs. I used to have to take the bus to work, I would often listen to it and dance on the corner. Those mornings I got a lot of smiles.



In addition to hearing that song on Sunday, I had pandora playing on my computer this afternoon and You can't stop the beat came on from Hairspray. If that isn't a catchy song is, I don't know what is. I mean

And so I'm gonna shake and shimmy it/The best that i can today/'Cause you cant stop/The motion of the ocean

Such a great beat. Try and listen to it and sit still. Dare you



With all this music bubbling up inside of me, I basically had to let loose. On the way home from the grocery store I 100% started to dance up the street. Arms flying, hips swaying, some hopping and possibly some head bobbing. One guy in his car at red light yelled out "hey girl, you look happy!" I had to reply "I am". There was just so much energy in my body. I did race back to the apartment and had a one person dance party to the 10 minute movie version of You can't stop the beat. Without my grocery bag on my shoulder I definitely had more free range of movement so hair flips and body waves were just all over my living room. I am thankful for my shag rug now for two reasons. It feels good on my feet, but it also absorbs the shock of me dancing and hopping around up here.

Yeah, I can't end this post without including the Glee version of Dancing with myself.




Today was a day for dancing. Therefore, today was a good day. I might just need to dance myself to bed now.

MAJORLY HUGE JELLY FISH!!!!

EW

If I see jelly fish in the ocean anywhere near me, I panic. I just cannot deal with them. Even though I know the clear ones don't sting, they are just so weird!! Sometimes they wash ashore along the coast and when you are strolling with friends while chatting, it is easy to put your foot down right on top of one. The squish and cold and ugh I can't even handle typing about something that hasn't even happened to me personally in years. Ick.

When ever it got unseasonably warm back home early on in the summer I felt both joy and dread all in one fell swoop. Joy, because that hopefully meant a great summer full of beach days, dread because that meant the jelly fish would be on the move and they would be coming to my beach. There is really nothing more depressing than going to the beach knowing there are tons of teeny tiny little jelly fish floating around out there. Well red tide is way worse and smells terribly, but if we only count situations that allow you to still swim, teeny jellies are up there.

Now what might be worse that teeny jellies? How about 450 pound ones!!! Well they are out there. Japan is being surrounded!

A blood-orange blob the size of a small refrigerator emerged from the dark waters, its venomous tentacles trapped in a fishing net

MSNBC.com had an article out about this crazy population of sea creatures. I would normally like to provide more quotes from this article but they really give me the willies. If you are braver than I, please go ahead, but be forewarned that these things are huge and really messing up the fishing industry! Yet another reason to shake our fists at our changing climate...

We need to end this post with some picture of jelly fish that I think are cute. The live in the aquarium. Please meet the upside down jelly fish:

Oh and let's also show some jelly fish ATTACK!!!!!!

This last picture might have been the inspiration for a potential tattoo. But I am not supposed to be thinking of adding any more ink to my body. My parents would not be very happy with me and I would like to keep their love and support right now. But seriously, don't you find the two jelly fish bouncing into each other kind of beautiful? Especially when they look like they are on fire!

**These pictures were taken by me at the Mystic Aquarium when I spent a very amusing weekend with two lovely ladies :)

Sandwich --- drool

My friend got her wedding dress the other day. It is super pretty, but no posts of it as she isn't getting married in June and no one should see her dress before her big day. Sadly, because it ended up looking like nothing she was initially leaning towards, we needed to pick out new bridesmaids dresses. Good bye amazing jersey dress. Bright side to this? We are taking another trip to David's Bridal and stopping at Friendly's for lunch. I get to order the most amazing sandwich again.

Honey BBQ Chicken Supermelt

The sandwich that sets the bar for all others. Crispy strips of chicken breast are smothered in our sweet honey BBQ sauce, then covered with melted Cheddar cheese, crisp bacon and ranch dressing. It's a masterpiece served on grilled sourdough bread.

Feel free to learn the calorie count I stand by my decision that it is totally worth it.

I can't wait to have to go pick up my bridesmaid dress. I just really want at least one more. :)

Seriously. If your mouth doesn't water after reading the description, shame.

Sticky Feet No More

Domestic Goddess duties just build up so high when one lives alone. You can't ignore the dirty sink surface in the bathroom or the stack of mail in the living room or the sticky kitchen floor hoping someone else will deal with it. For the last few weeks I have noticed that my kitchen floor had a sticky spot near the stove. (Hey I admit it, sometimes I really get into cooking and not everything makes it into the pot) The spot has been bothersome, but I couldn't bring myself to deal with it. Tonight, it is just me against the spot.

Washing the floor is something that I hate doing more than any other chore, but at the same time if I am able to complete the task in one go I feel so freaking accomplished. Back in the day when I worked at the ice cream store we would have to mop up the floors - which were covered in ice cream, fudge, caramel and who knows what else - my back always was killing me the day after. Fortunately, my teeny kitchen has an even smaller floor. This means I was only Cinderella for about 10 minutes, but those 10 minutes felt like forever.

I am now rather proud that my feet no longer stick to the floor and I hope to be more careful while cooking so that it doesn't get gross like that again. But we'll see. Worst comes to worst, I have to pretend to be a Disney princess for another 10 minutes. I think at this point I have already done some serious laundry, cleaned the bathroom, washed the dishes and cleaned the floor. I am letting my domestic goddess alter ego have a break now. I only wish I had the energy to make something to eat for dinner, but then again, I would just have to clean up again...

Oooops. Sorry.

I saw this woman the first time one the way to work on the Friday before Halloween. She had an orange face and huge black hair with some gray streaks. Thought to myself, awesome Halloween costume. She had to be like a witch or something.

Yeah, saw her again this morning. Not a costume. Self tanner and bronzer issues. This reminds me of a girl I once knew that was often on the orange side. Very awkward. Why do women do this? What color was your skin originally that you thought orange was a better alternative?


I understand that getting a real tan or tan from a box are not the healthiest things for a person, but looking like an orange is down right awful. I'd rather just be pale...

Mid-Week holiday? Yes please!

Most holidays I get off for work create three day weekends. I definitely have a preference. I like the Friday rather than the Monday. Friday you work towards all week knowing that you simply have one less day that week. You should try to get it all done, but hey maybe it doesn't happen because you only realize on Wednesday that it is this Friday that you won't be in. It causes some anxiety at times but overall the weekend shows up and work shmork, the three days are fantastic.

The Monday off is a little less awesome. As that third day ends your mind starts going to all of the things that you need to now fit into the next four days. FOUR DAYS. You barely can get everything done in five, what is going to happen when your weekly tasks go unfinished. You can't use the "oh I forgot we had a day off" excuse as you started one less day.

I don't know if I have ever had a midday holiday before. (Thanksgiving and Christmas don't count as I usually have the day off after) And boy am I now hooked. Two days of work. One day off. And then just two more before the week was over. Best schedule ever.

Please don't take this post as any disrespect for our Veterans. I am very thankful for what they have done. The holiday is just unique in how we observe it. It is the actual date (a very important date, 11th day 11 month 11th hour) and I am glad we don't just assign it to the closest Mon(Fri)day!

Let's end on a happy note: Dogs welcoming their soldiers back!

Never met a theme party I didn't love

The subject of this post is my little blurb on my facebook page. I couldn't think of a more true statement that would also envelope my personality. Costumes and I get along really well. My dress up days are not limited to Halloween by any means. Kickball season results in me in costume once a week. These costumes tend to revolve around the color pink and spandex but each weeks contains a new collection of flair.

Recently there have been two events that involved costumes. The first, was our mid-season kickball party which was themed "good girls, bad boys". A group of girls decided we would all dress as cops, my friend and I created matching uniforms. The night was full of shoot outs and arresting the rif raf. People love to be handcuffed!


No individual was safe, I was able to take down Lucy McGillicuddy-Ricardo myself for handing out vitameatavegamin. We both were needed to take down the man in red. He was pretty naughty that night and we were not letting him off easy. Both going downtown and returning to our neighborhoods people on the T made comments that "the police are here!". I don't know what police woman wears 2-4 inch heels or fishnets, but apparently they do. We did get a whole lot of free Absolute Boston samples because of outfits at Tavern in the Square in Porter.

The other major dress up day recently, was of course, Halloween. Like I mentioned earlier, I was looking to go classy. So I went with Holly Golightly (aka Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast in Tiffany's). I think I nailed it. There were people on the T, street and bar who stopped me to identify my costume and praise it. Nothing makes me more excited when I am recognized like that. :)



The dress was from my senior prom. It actually fits better than it did then. So go me! I did have to purchase the accessories; cigarette holder, pearls, tiara and gloves. Like I said, I was rather thrilled with the outfit. I will say, it is hard to create her hair style as she had extensions and I, didn't. But again, I did the best I could and think I executed the best I could.

Oh and yes, I have been thinking about my costume for next year already. Nothing is calling out to me as of yet, but I am already considering options.

Sleep happens.

I had every intention to enjoy the first night of kickball playoffs for the fall season at Samba's last night. My team wasn't scheduled to play until Wednesday, but friends had games the first night and I wanted to celebrate their probable win with flip cup. Work had been rather stressful and I came home with a killer tension headache. I tried laying on the couch in silence, eating food, taking pills and nothing was helping me out. So I thought, power nap was the way to right myself. There was no way I was going to stay in when dancing and beer games were just a few blocks away.

I made the decision to nap at 7:30 pm, thinking that I would wake up around 8:30 and be ready to run down by 9. Definitely woke up at midnight. Damn.

The fun was over and even though I had hoped to do some cleaning after partying, it just seemed silly at this point. Thus I opted to simply brushed my teeth, get into bed, fall right back to sleep, and wake up at 7:30 when my alarm went off. It seems rather obvious that my body was in need of some serious sleep. I am fairly certain I have at most gotten 7 hours of rest on any given night in the last few weeks and honestly, there has been some tossing and turning.

Living alone means being the only one to clean and cook, it also makes me feel the need to go out or visit with friends at least 5 nights a week. There is no way I am becoming a recluse or something like that. Add on a new part-time job, searching for a new job and everything else in my life and well, sleep takes a back seat.

Fortunately for me, boston.com has my back. They recently posted a brochure (?) or article, I am not sure what you would call this exactly, about how to properly nap. I knew attempting an hour nap was a bad idea, and this just proves it. One must either keep the nap under 45 minutes or go at least 1.5 hours. The 60 minute mark puts you in an awkward point in your sleep cycle to wake up during.

I'm glad to see that my 30 minute lunch naps are a perfectly fine and helpful idea. There are times that I just feel so sluggish and in need of a boost. Those days I turn to my spare chair in my office and power nap away half of my lunch hour. It always works.

The 12 hours of sleep has made me question my lifestyle. I'm compromising, I am going to try and hit 7 hours each night whenever possible. But I'm not promising anything.

DECEMBER 13TH!

Is the day I will next set foot in Gillette Stadium to see a Patriots game. Yes, this is true, please be jealous.

I went to Game On! with some friends on Thursday and won two tickets for the Carolina game. YAY! They gave out 10 pairs of tickets for Patriots, Celtics, Bruins and Red Sox. Our table had nine people at it, and we won 3 pairs of tickets. The only team we didn't score was the Red Sox. I hope to go back and win some more tickets later this month.

This will be my third Patriots game and I am totally excited for it. In the past my dad has hooked me up with some pretty sweet tickets, and in the past he has given me about 24-48 hours notice about the event. I not only got these tickets myself, but now have a over 1 month countdown until I can attend. The waiting is already killing me.

I have begun to figure out my layering for the game as it will be in December, but at least it is a day game (the others were night!) so hopefully the sun will be out so I can pretend it isn't super duper cold out. But yeah. I can't wait. I'll be sure to fill you in about my experience after the fact.

I kind of hope to see something like this, but add some snow to the ground. The Panthers aren't doing so hot this year, which means this game will potentially be filled with some amazing Brady plays!

C is for Cookie

I guess if you don't use google daily like me, you might not be aware of the fact that Sesame Street is celebrating it's 40th birthday. Each day the Google header on the site has been redesigned to involve characters from the show. My favorite, was one of the firsts, and that was Cookie Monster. The use of his googly eyes as the o's is simply wonderful. I could not stop smiling after I saw it.


Cookie was one of my favorite monsters on the show growing up. He was lovable and silly. I particularly enjoyed when he was overzealous about eating his plate of cookies and would toss in a toaster. With the celebration of the show's longevity, there have been many articles written about the show's purpose and evolution. I have enjoyed reading such articles but am also saddened to learn that Cookie has now decided that cookies are a "sometimes food". He no longer tries to devour them as often and apparently eats broccoli!!!

Yes, I understand that childhood obesity is on the rise, but really? I remember as a child thinking how sad I was for Cookie since he tried so hard to eat all those cookies but they usually just ended up breaking into lots of little pieces. I never thought that I should attack a pile of cookies like that and munch munch munch like crazy. In all reality, I didn't really have the option as my parents kept cookies out of my reach and allowed me to have 3-4 in my lunches in elementary school. Cookie isn't a bad influence if parents restrict their children's ability to reach cookies themselves. I can also say, that I am pretty sure seeing a bright blue monster eat broccoli would not get me to change my anti-green vegetable ways.

Should we be concerned that Cookie might relapse? What if all this "sometimes food" stuff gets the best of him. He could go on a cookie rampage!!! And on that note, let's consider the t-shirt I have been contemplating purchasing from woot.com for a few weeks now. I did just buy the zombie candy corn one, so I might hold off just to keep within my budget.



I'm going to end with a clip of my favorite monster singing a song dedicated to his favorite food:

Just like riding a bike

Don't get me wrong. I adore all of the friends that I have made since moving up here over three years ago, and have loved all of the adventures and craziness we have had together, but there is something to be said for a home friend. At this point in time I have few connections to my hometown beyond my family. The few school mates that I have kept in contact with live pretty much anywhere but home. One such individual has been in the Balkins for the last few years with the PeaceCorps.

Well she has returned. Not only has she returned, but she has decided to settle back down (at least for a few years) in South County. Visiting home just got way more exciting.

Our friendship is really flexible. We rarely emailed let alone spoke while she was across the big blue and this was the same when we were at different colleges. But distance or time does not change our dynamic. She happened to be in Boston on Halloween Day and sent me a text at about 8:45 am asking if I was around and wanted to meet her in the city. I said yes, of course but also requested some time for some more sleep. We spent the afternoon walking around the Commons and Newbury St. Ultimately settling in with some day drinking at a pub around 1 pm. The conversation never dwindled, nor was it ever awkward, and towards the end of the day we realized how simple our friendship was. I am really excited that she is back in New England and am excited to see her more often.

Every friendship is special and unique, but I am just so happy that we share the same appreciation for a relationship that stays strong, constant and steady even though we can go years without sharing a moment of it. Can't wait for more visits!!

But PS, I really do cherish my relationships with all of you that I do see very very regularly :)

Thirst Quenched

At least for now.

I have officially finished watching the first two season of True Blood online. It was so engaging. Without ruining anything, I will say that the MaryAnn story line did drag on a bit more than I would have liked, but I did enjoy thinking about how anger, lust, and constantly acting on impulse can harm humanity.

At first glance the show is all about vampire sex and "fang bangers", but as you allow yourself to really get into the story lines and characters, you realize there is a lot more to the show. The major themes so far have been about obsession and balancing desires. One of the characters gets pulled into a cult religion, fortunately he realizes what is happening before getting tricked into doing something he would ultimately regret.

I don't want to get too into the show right now as I may have peaked your interest and I want to give you the chance to catch up yourself. Once the new season starts, be prepared to be spoiled :)

(I suggest using sidereel.net to find the episodes online if you don't have a netflicks subscription!)

Snuggies really are the blanket of the future

Over the last three years I have gotten very used to living in a cold apartment. To keep the utilities low, my roommates and I have always pushed off turning on the heat for as long as possible, and then once it went on didn't ever put it much higher than 67 degrees. (In fact it was a rarity for the heat to go beyond 65) Between being frugal with heat, living in Worcester for four winters and having a lower body temperature, I have been programmed to not get cold easily. This was something I have always been proud of since I am a small person and I should get cold at a drop of a degree.

Well things seem to have changed recently. I get the chills more often than I would like now. At this point, I am pretty sure that the source for this change is because...

Heat is included in my rent at my new apartment.

Not only is included, but as I have stated before, I do not have a central thermostat and have to control individual radiators. These angry hissing metal lumps seem to love to turn on all the time. I can't figure out how to make it stop, so I have become a wasteful person by simply opening the windows if I get to warm. Before you shake your finger at me, please understand that I have called my maintenance men and no one seems to want to help me out.

The chills weren't much of an issue until last Thursday when I went to watch the World Series game at a friend's house. I got there around 9 pm and it was a little brisk out when I walked the few blocks to get there. Once I got inside, I assumed it would just take a matter of minutes before I felt warm enough for a cold pint of blush wine. So not the case. I just couldn't warm up. Eventually a regular blanket was tossed my way, and a pint glass was passed. Trying to stay under the blanket proved to be a problem while attempting to drink.

Seeing me deal with the decision of warmth vs wine, my kind host passed along a snuggie. Yes, a snuggie. The blanket with sleeves. I put that baby on, wrapped myself up and was able to enjoy the rest of the game and wine in peace.

I may mock this invention and I may find it ridiculous when I am told by friends that they own one. But I cannot deny the fact that they really do provide a wonderful service. I don't know how I would have survived the baseball game without the snuggie.

Vampires, they are so hot right now

I tried watching a random episode of True Blood when I first got HBO at my new apartment. While the show was on, I was cleaning, blogging, and not really paying much attention. The plot didn't interest me. I figured that this was one trendy show that was just not for me.

Fast foward about 2.5 weeks ago.

My intern has been talking about True Blood since he first came back for the fall semester. Raving about it. I thought to myself, why not, let's try it out one more time, but this time I will start from the beginning. I have been watching it through sidereel.net.

After the first episode, I was hooked. I can't help but trying to watch episodes when ever I am home and have some downtime. I am about three quarters of the way done with the second season now. I can't wait to finish because not only do I want to know how things are going to end but because I miss blogging and my apartment is getting really messy.

The vampires are seductive. This is set at a time where vampires have finally given rights in the US. What I like but also have issues with are that there are tons of other creatures/super powered people. We meet shape shifters, the devil (?), telepathics and hear references to werewolves. I like that there are more than just vampires, because it would be silly to think there would only be one other type of "life" beyond humans, but at the same time I don't like having to keep track of all of the others.

Each episode keep me hooked, and I think I would love to meet a vampire if they were real. It would be like how I would love to meet a drag queen. But I would like to think that as much as I would love to meet them, I would not be interested in becoming a fang-banger.

While I still go out, play kickball, cook and apply for new jobs, but blogging has fallen to the way side. I felt like it was important to point out that every time I went to start a post this past week I would get about 2 sentences in and decide that I would rather watch an episode or two online. But, like I said, I am almost done with the second season, so I can get back to this and post more regularly.