Oh stuff and fluff

The rain just won't stop in Boston. It is awful. I was hoping for some great fun now that I kind of have my life back. (We can ignore the fact that my application for school isn't quite complete, nor have I filed my taxes) But the damn rain just won't stop!

If you think I am exaggerating just check with the news. I saw today that we have received 15 inches of rain this month. Normally this area gets 14 inches for March through June! The year gets about 43 inches and had 15 in a month! What is going on with the world? I don't remember it raining like this when I was growing up. I heard rumor school was canceled back home due to flooding!

Mother Nature, please give me back the sun. Thanks.

Age Old Question

Pi or Cake?*

When choosing desserts off a menu, I always check first for pie and then settle down for cake if need be. I think it is the crust that I like the best. And to be honest, I am not a huge fan of super sugary frosting. When I found The Sweet Science: Proof that Pie Trumps Cake I almost busted a gut laughing. The diagrams are spot on. Pie really is the best. Maybe it is simply because everyone gets a chance to eat the best part, there are no sugar flowers!

In honor of March Madness** jezebel.com is having a bracket of pie vs cakes. I have been voting fairly regularly, and only just noticed today that cheesecake is on the pie side! The dessert has "cake" in the name! I guess there can be a small graham cracker crust, but I really don't think pie when I think about cheesecake. Seeing this dessert as the number two seed in the pie bracket caused me more distress than I would like to admit to... Seriously?? I hope it doesn't go to the finals, I don't think I would feel comfortable with cheesecake representing my favorite dessert!

*I totally own this nerd shirt. I got it from shirt.woot.com
** Munch Madness is also being hosted by boston.com, a race of local restaurants

Salt, Shot, Lime?

Cabo Wabo, I adore you.

After celebratory shoes, two of my friends met me at Whiskey's. The staff at the bar is wonderful. I had a few pints of 'Gansett and then came the Cabo Wabo.

Cabo Wabo is a great tequila. I highly suggest trying it out if you haven't already. Drinking this straight is very smooth and to be honest, pretty soothing.

Good tequila is never cheap, but this was worth it. Sometimes you need to splurge on yourself, and since I got such a deal on the shoes, I figured there was nothing wrong with going for a tequila that is a little more high end. :)

The $29.95 Question

How did I celebrate taking a $250 test?

I bought shoes. Duh.

The GMAT website tells you that the exam takes about 4 hours. With this in mind I told my friends to meet me at the bar at 4:10 as my exam was scheduled to start at noon and knew I would need a drink as soon as I was finished. Being the neurotic individual that I am, I arrived at the testing center about an hour early. The women in charge didn't even flinch when I said I was an hour early and even let me start the test 30 minutes before my scheduled time. Between starting early and opting out of the breaks, I finished just before 3 pm. Being the responsible individual that I am, I opted to go for a walk rather than head to the bar and drink by myself for an hour.

I have been carrying a $20 coupon with me for the last few weeks for DSW so I figured I'd head on over to Downtown Crossing and see if there were any good 4 inch heels that needed a new home. Luckily, a pair of Harajuku Lovers shoes were there and priced at $49.95 (minimum amount I needed to spend to use the discount!). I would have rather had the option to purchase the blue, but my size wasn't in stock. I'm thinking I will bring these along with me when I drive home for Easter and see if the DSW back home has the blue in a size 7.

In the interest of full disclosure, I will say that these shoes are not as comfortable as the yellow ones. The cage around the toes will require some getting used to. But for $29.95, the shoes are a steal and totally worth it! (Retail value $100.00)

Best Female Commercial Ever

Studying for the GMATs is exhausting. I have given up happy hours and going out with friends after work. Basically I want to avoid headaches the morning after and would like to increase my chances of a decent night's sleep. But to be perfectly honest, I have no attention span when it comes to studying and require either small breaks every half hour, or longer breaks every hour. The longest time I have gone sitting and studying for this test is when I take a practice test for 3 hours straight.

What do I do during these study breaks? I watch trashy tv. I tend to fast-foward through commercials, but this one makes me laugh every time I see it. I don't know if I really think the commercial is funny, or if I think it is funny because when I first saw it, I happened to be menstruating. (tmi, sorry)




I am happy to see a commercial about women's menstruation that doesn't glorify this monthly nuisance. Maybe some day our culture will become comfortable enough with the woman's body to allow for "vagina" to be said in the ad!

Reliving the Silliness of my Childhood

Today I saw that there will be a new Shel Silverstein book out in 2011. (Apparently this is the second posthumous publication, a collection entitled Runny Babbit came out in 2005.)

This extremely talented poet was the brains behind some of my favorite books growing up; A Light in the Attic, Where the Sidewalk Ends, The Missing Piece, etc. I can remember reading these books cover to cover, over and over again. Giggling each and every time. I decided to memorize a number of the poems and realize that to this day, I can still recite pieces of them.


I have to be perfectly honest in that I might purchase these books as gifts for children of friends just so I can quickly read the books cover to cover before wrapping them up. Additionally, A Light in the Attic and Where the Sidewalk Ends have been re-released as special editions, each containing an additional 12 poems. Again, I would love to get my hands on a copy so that I can see the new silliness.

I am pretty sure this picture is from a poem about children who want to revolt, but can't continue with their crusade as they cannot cross the street by themselves.

Versace, I am a fan

If I am concerned about the cost of the dress at Kenneth Cole, clearly I should not be day dreaming about the Versace 2010 Spring Collection. Oh well, these gowns crave attention, and so I will give it to them.


Personally I think I am too pale for an all white dress and would never be able to strut around in public in one. (The exception to that statement would be on my wedding, but even then I would guess I would go more bone than white)

I do love the way strips of fabric are used to create a bodice that flatters the female shape. The model does not appear to have a large bust, but the silhouette of the dress gives her almost an hourglass shape by accentuating the small waste and shapely bottom.

Additionally, having a set of straps connect into the hardware that is found on the torso makes me think that dress doubles as its own accessories. Maybe the dress is worth it as I wouldn't need to invest in a necklace?





I find the close up of this dress is more pleasing to the eye than the picture of the whole garment. The main reason being that I find those silver shoes to be too matchy matchy in color and thus become rather distracting. Maybe if the shoes didn't go so high up shin, but even then, it just seems like a bad decision.

The technique used in the bodice and along the side is interesting. It gives a feel of a feminine armor. Something that is delicate and yet indestructible.

The more I look at the whole gown, the more I realize I actually prefer it to be shorter. I know that if it was chopped here it would be too short, but honestly, the long gown just makes the whole thing look really, really heavy.





This is the last look I wanted to chat about. Again, I think the close up on detailing is way more interesting than the gown as a whole.

Both the teal and purple are intense and I think because the model's skin is so pale the cutouts work. The neutrality of the skin tone almost gives the dress a feel of another fabric than of peek-a-boo cutouts.

I wouldn't say that the dress should be cut super short, but I think if it was cut above the knee the look would be more flattering. There is something about how the fabric pulls along the lower half of her body that just irks me.

**All photos were taken from projectrungay.blogspot.com**

Kenneth Cole is Taunting Me

I have been flipping through magazines between study sessions this past week as a way to relax my brain. After all, one can only do so many sentence correction questions in a row. In browsing through pages of beautiful clothes and people, I paused on one of the new Kenneth Cole advertisements and immediately wanted to know more about the dress.


I think the dress would flatter my body shape, and even though my skin tone is no where near the tone of the model, I think the colors would still work for me. Given that the ad campaign refers to the internet and virtual states, I figured I could find out more on their website. For the next 25 minutes I became increasingly frustrated as I could not find the piece anywhere beyond the section showing the campaign. Why feature clothing that cannot be purchased?? It isn't as if this is a couture gown. It looks like something that is intended for the masses. Is it too much to ask for to know the price of dress that is probably out of my budget?

If anyone can find out more information about this dress and is willing, that would be amazing as googling "kenneth cole beige brown teal dress" came up with nothing useful.

Road Rage in Paper Form

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I now drive to work each morning instead of relying on public transportation. In addition to driving to my 9-5, I have begun driving to my shifts for my part-time night work as well. I am often required to find on-street parking in downtown Boston, which isn't the easiest thing to do. Some areas have painted lines to help drivers understand where they should park, but most streets lack markers, allowing for parking chaos. I have found that if a driver is given freedom of where along the curb to park their vehicle, there is a small (but annoying) population that will opt to park in such a way that eliminates parking spaces in the hopes of protecting themselves from having cars too close to their own bumpers.

As it turns out, youparklikeanasshole.com came out with some great notes that you can fill out and leave under the wiper blades. Yeah, I know I would never have the balls to use such a note, but I like thinking that there are people out that do.

New Moon came out on dvd this weekend

Yum.

Also, saw on twitter that a very clever blogger managed to tell New Moon through the power of lolcats.

Good Day for Pastry

Happy St. Joseph's Day!!

At this point I have already eaten 1.5 zeppolis and will probably continue on this trend through the weekend.

Happy St Patty's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day. The weather is beautiful and the air is crisp, I just wish I wasn't in the office. I have been focused on studying and eating zeppolis all week that I actually completely forgot about the holiday this morning while getting dressed. FORTUNATELY, my subconscious was so happy for sun and upset about my gray clothes from the day before that I wore a green striped shirt and kelly green pumps! :)

Hope your day is festive and maybe, just maybe, I'll give myself a break and drink a beer.

The weather has changed but my clothes are still gloomy

I walked out of work today and for the first time realized how Debby Downer my outfit was. I was wearing gray slacks with lighter gray pinstripe, a gray razorback tank trimmed with black lace which was under a fitted black double-breasted cardigan and on my feet, black boots. My coat of choice was my asymmetrical gray peacoat. Boring an dull. The only light at the end of this sad fashion tunnel was my bright coral/pink chunky necklace.

Normally, I stay away from all blacks/grays during the day. I think that it is too depressing for work and all. In retrospect, I think I was channeling the raincloud gloom that has been covering Boston for the last three days. The more I think about it, the more I realize that I tend to dress like the weather, which I guess most people do based on the seasonal color palettes the fashion world has provided us. Normally sunny mornings make me add tons of color. I think this morning I was simply in denial that the sun was going to be out for more than just my walk to my car this morning.

Tomorrow is predicted to hit 60 degrees. I will be sure to keep the black to a minimum.

WSJ is more fashionable than I thought.

Daily I read through perezhilton.com, jezebel.com, and projectrungay.blogspot.com. I also follow a number of fashion magazines and design houses on twitter. This system has kept me in the loop with regards to fashion trends and has provided some great articles to peruse through during downtime. Never had I thought to turn to the WallStreetJournal.

Last Friday, a friend of mine sent me a number of articles produced by this publication. I was taken aback. At first, I thought, why did she send me stuff from wsj.com? Then I started reading. The articles were great.

Miuccia and Me is an article that focuses on the power couple of Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli. The author focuses more on Patrizio than Miuccia. My guess is because he handles most of the business side of the company and it is the WSJ.

Today, Bertelli says his sons are his window into what young consumers want. “You have to watch young people, because if you’re not updated with the world of today, then you might as well get the hell out of fashion.”

I like knowing that even the high fashion houses like Prada realize that one shouldn't ignore the trends found within the younger generations. Yes, most young people cannot afford the designer labels, but the spirit of where fashion is headed can often be found on the streets.

I did catch myself laughing when I completely forgot that Prada was a woman and not just a label when reading the following sentence:

Bertelli and his sons were still fixed in front of the television when Prada walked in and plopped herself on the couch, unbuckling her shoe straps. “This is a real glamour evening, isn’t it?” she joked.

And who says fashion hates food? I would love for the Prada household to invite me over if this is going to be served: "On the menu were spinach-filled pasta, meatballs, spinach pudding, potato puree, a cream dessert and a chocolate cake—topped off with red wine."

The article often refers to the fact that the power couple gets into rather loud and intense arguments while working. I was thrilled at on page four we got a taste of such a dialogue when the two begin to discuss Prada's disinterest in using the internet to promote the label.

The second article that was sent to me was Chemical Attraction which focuses on the husband and wife team behind Estee Lauter. This article focuses even more about the relationship that first but there were also some cute lines I wanted to point out

They admit that they sometimes kiss in the office, but always behind closed doors.

He admits to wearing pink shirts and ties to please his wife.

I hope to be lucky enough to find a guy that is willing to wear pink shirts just to make me happy :)

I think I might try making magazine.wsj.com a page I review more regularly if I can learn more about the people who make my life so colorful and pretty...

Happy Ides of March

Identifying the New Cute Guy on GREEK

Greek season three started up again a few weeks ago. Casey Cartwright recently volunteered for a local political campaign with the hopes that she would be offered a job as a lobbiest once she graduated from CRU. The CRU alum who was her boss let her know that she was completely under-qualified and if she was serious, she should go to law school. Thus, even though it is well into the second semester of her senior year, she is going after this new goal and plans to enroll in the fall. The alum looked REALLY familiar to me and couldn't put my finger on it.


He was on Shark. Shark was a short lived, thanks writers' strike, law drama centered around the main character, Sebastian Stark, played by James Wood (yay RI!). One of his assistant lawyers was played by the same actor. Thank you channel 9 for randomly having a Shark marathon on this very rainy Sunday.

Three girls who have less of a reason to be famous than Kim...

For the last few weeks I have seen advertisements for "Pretty Wild". All I ever understood was that there were three sisters that were supposedly famous and got a tv show for it. I never had the attention span to figure out their back story, after all, it took me years to be able to figure out why we care about the Kardashians. Thankfully, because this show is on E!, Chelsea Handler had the three girls on Chelsea Lately.

I learned that Alexis was in the Bling Ring (aka Burglary Bunch). In case you have forgotten what this pop-culture reference is, the Bling Ring was a group of over privileged adolescence who thought there was nothing better to do with their time than to burgal homes of young Holywood (think Orlando Bloom, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, etc) in 2008 and 2009. If you haven't heard this girl talk yet, trust me on this one, she was in no way the brains behind the operation. When asked what she was doing with her time right now, the answer was not school even thought she is 19, but instead she a Pilates, hip hop, pole dancing instructor. The clips let us know that there is a pole in the house so that she can keep up her skills.

What these three girls go onto explain to Chelsea is that they are followed because they follow The Secret. The Secret is the philosophy of the Church of Religious Science. Basically you think about what you want, it will happen. The example that they gave was that they wanted to be on tv and then E! offered them one. Case closed.

I said before I would never give in and watch Keeping Up with the Kardashians, and have since become a fan if marathons are on E!. But I am very VERY certain that even I cannot be sucked into the story of three sisters who pole dance and do playboy (the 20 year old was a Cyber Girl).

Happy Pi Day

Thanks Google for the logo!

Your ads are cute. I'm still eating a hamburger.

On the drive home yesterday I got stuck behind a bus at a red light. Normally there are advertisements for things like Jazz Brunch, or the Donkey Show on the back of the bus. This time it was an ad for Veganism! The ad was pretty much what you see below but said "Choose Vegan" rather than Vegetarian.


I have to be perfectly honest. It took me a second to understand the ad as I have never eaten a kitten, nor have I eaten a baby chick. After a moment, I realized that these meat hating people want me to associate a chicken with the baby chick. Unfortunately that just didn't happen for me. Then when I understood the concept all I could think about was that baby chicks wouldn't have enough meat on their bodies for me to bother with. But whatever.

After getting over the whole how-could-you-ever-think-of-eating-something-cute thing, I was struck by the fact that the advertisement was for veganism. Not vegetarianism. It is hard enough for me to imagine life with hotdogs and bacon, I don't think I want to be in a world without cheese....

I will give the organization some credit. I did look up their website. Mainly to try and find the advertisement, which sadly is not available. BUT they do have one starring a pig and a puppy. The piggy is so damn cute. This group needs to stop making the food animal cuter than the pet because really, it keeps taking me a second to figure out who I am supposed to be eating.

For the Rich Bitch who has Everything. Except the Nerve to get Inked.

Who doesn't need $75 worth of Chanel temporary tattoos?

Gaga for Telephone

This video is beyond words. I happened to keep E! going after the Chelsea Lately show and got to see the new Telephone video featuring Lady Gaga and Beyonce. Honestly, if videos were always made like this I think Mtv would put music television back in their logo and people would just sit and watch. The colors and costumes are to die for. And the storyline is ridiculous but hysterical. You have to give this video a chance! I have included some screen shots below as a preview :)

Loved the opening with the title "Prison for Bitches". The costume that Lady Gaga has for her prison striped jump suit is pretty amazing. I think it does what she had hoped that green Mickey Mouse ear-like shoulder leotard was supposed to do at the Grammy's.




The cigarette sunglasses are a nice accessory. If smoking wasn't so bad for you, and it didn't irriatate my eyes, I would be tempted to get a pair myself. (kidding kidding)








Of course, the video would not be complete without classic Gaga headpieces. Loving the hair receiver that doubles as a pirate eye patch.

I would also love to know where inmates get to shop because these shoes are calling my name. I believe there is still some room in my third closet for a few more pairs of shoes. If a prison bitch can survive in the joint in shoes like that, I certainly can walk around the bar, right?

And yes, I realize I don't have pictures of Beyonce in this post, but I like Gaga better. The dance sequence where they wear patriotic costumes is amazing, but the frames go by so fast that it is hard to get a screenshot of the both of them that is half way decent. This was the best I could do.

Females in Utah Need to MOVE

Dear Utah:

SHAME ON YOU!

With hatred,
Me

------------

Over the last few weeks, my coworker and I have been following the news, as it breaks on Jezebel, about a new law that was being formed in Utah centered on miscarriages being equated to murder. Early drafts of this new legislation stated that any woman that miscarriages for any reason could be tried for murdering their unborn child. This includes miscarriages related to being involved in car accidents or falling accidentally. Utah appears to believe that all miscarriages can be prevented if the woman is being responsible and protective of her fetus. In all actuality many pregnancies go unrecorded since it is well documented that the first trimester is the most dangerous for a fetus. A large number of women never know they were pregnant to begin with.

Sadly, the law has passed. Fortunately, some of the language has been toned down, but the state has still criminalized miscarriages. The law has opted to define miscarriages that can be tried for homicide as those that result from "reckless acts". Reckless acts are broad enough that the term does nothing to help protect women from individuals that wish to try them under this insane ruling.

In the latest article, there was a link to the actual law. I tried to read through it and failed miserably. This experience makes me wonder why laws are written in this way. Why is the law written in such a way that the average citizen cannot understand what it states? I consider myself a relatively intelligent individual. If something is passed that is going to change my world (assuming I am an unfortunate female who lives in Utah) I feel like I should be able to review and process the information. But I honestly sat at my computer for at least 15 minutes and couldn't get past the first section without feeling like I was missing how the law worked as it appeared to me that miscarriages were actually ok...?

I hope other states do not continue on this path especially since New York, Delaware and Iowa have similar laws already in place.

Everyone Loves a Good Mustache

I saw a link for the dog-stache on twitter this morning and did a little internet research to find out more about this amazing product.



Your pet can now double as Snidely Whiplash. I have been wanting a dog so badly lately and reminding my parents how awesome it would be if they rescued another one. Sadly, they are not biting, but if they were to give in, this would be the first toy I would purchase for our new four legged friend. A close second would be the matching tongue.




Both items can be purchased on Amazon.

Jimmy Fallon's Amazing Martini Race

Normally I don't watch the late shows, or late late shows, but I saw that Chelsea Handler was going to be on Jimmy Fallon's so I DVR-ed it. This morning while getting myself ready, I opted to fast forward to her interview (which was hysterical). After she finished promoting her new book, Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang, Jimmy asked if she would participate in a martini race. The race was too good to not share with you all:



Once Jimmy went down I busted out laughing. I especially loved the hope that through the magic of editing the home audience would have been spared some awkwardness and blood.

No Google!!! Don't Encourage them!!

Google posted that a new feature has been added to their maps feature. Now, for certain cities, such as Boston, you can get directions for walking, driving, public transportation and BIKING.

Not a fan of this at all.

I hated bikers when I was a pedestrian first and driver second. (Bikers never yield at crosswalks) Now that I drive to work every day, I really despise them. Boston roads are in terrible shape. Many are barely wide enough for two cars to travel down them on two way streets, especially with the road side parking. Add in potholes that can take off car tires there is just not enough flat surface to go around.

Bikers love to go down the wrong way on a one-way street, weave through bumper to bumper. If you are a biker you do not get to cut to the front of the line at the intersection and then cross when the light is still red by weaving through traffic that has a green light. I could rant for so many more inches, but I won't. All I will say is if you are a Bostonian and are thinking of taking up biking now, please consider the fact that this area is just not bike friendly and just stick to whatever mode of transportation you are currently depending on.

Thanks.

Nothing like a biker holding up traffic because he just can't pedal fast enough...

Eeeeep. Hands don't lie

Demi Moore has made statements in the past that she has not had any work done and simply hasn't aged because of her good genes. Well, tell that to your hands sister.



If I hadn't seen the full body photo of her in this dress I would have thought Betty White went with a bold choice for the award show!

I know what Burn Notice is!

Burn Notice is one of my favorite shows. Interesting fact that I learned this morning while driving to work, is that Jeffrey Donovan, who plays the main character Michael Weston, is from Massachusetts. While the show has a great set of core characters and some great story lines each week, I recently became aware of the fact that no one knows what the show is about. I have to admit that I started to watch it after the show already entered its second season (I did start from the beginning by watching marathons). The main reason I felt the urge to watch the show was actually because I couldn't figure out what the series was about, but figured if it made it to a second season, it had to be doing something right.

In case you haven't seen it, SNL did a great skit about the mystery that is Burn Notice:



To help answer some questions, Michael Weston is a burned spy. He used to work for the American government but essentially got fired, which means his identity has been distroyed. The only allies he has is his mother, ex-girlfriend, and best friend. They contract out their skills and help people out of jams. There is often some elaborate trap that needs to be set. Often a combination of ammunition and household items are used to create some great explosions. The show is definitely worth checking out. Seriously.

Don't Mess with a Good Thing

One of my favorite food memories is getting New York System weiners after CCD on Sundays with my mom and sister. We got them pretty much every week. Once I was in high school I got it into my head that hot dogs were foul and should never been consumed. I became a big pain in the house, especially considering beans and franks had been a crowd pleaser for so long.

In college my parents even tried tempting me with Saugies recently. Saugies are known for the crunch and crispness of the shell. (for other state specific hot dogs look over this wikipedia article) Oh man, I can't believe I tried to fight my family on this. All changed my senior year of college. A group of students decided to fundraise for a trip by selling hot dogs during spring weekend. I devoured two of them so quickly that afternoon. Ever since then, I get these hot dog cravings that are so intense. The craving overtake my thoughts.

So recently I saw an article that the hot dog might get redesigned! Like my parents, many other mothers and fathers find that the hot dog is a great dinner or lunch food. Sadly, it is also the perfect shape to cause a child to choke. I don't know how I feel about this redesign, although I do like the one that has a trough for condiments. That feature could make the hot dog slightly less messy because I like to pile on the toppings.

Don't Flash What Yo Mama Gave You

I have begun to consider the idea that crossing over to the leggings as pants fashion concept isn't as terrible as I once thought. BUT, I do feel the need to defend myself in saying that this is only after I choosing to use real leggings (not those thin ones that are really tights that are incorrectly labeled) AND I would be pairing them with a very long shirt. As much as I love my butt and am quite proud of its size and shape, there is still no need for it to be in your face. I am not a supporter of wearing a stress (a shirt being used as a dress) without making sure that my lady bits will stay covered and that there is no way that there could be an incident.

That being said, let's get to the point of this post.

Now, unfortunately, not all designers feel the same way that I do about what is a shirt and what is a dress. These really short "dresses" are also being styled minimally. Models are left barelegged, which makes a potential flash of lady bits all more likely. For the last year or so, I have noticed that Urban Outfitters will often put tunics on models with no leggings, or pants. (See slideshow)

Turns out that I am not the only one who has noticed this phenomena. Daddy Likey is a blog that has a reoccurring post entitled "Don't Show-cha Your Chocha". I think it is amazing. This is up there with the leggings are not pants blog that sadly seems to have been abandoned as the URL goes no where. I am going to add Daddy Likey to my blog watch. :)

Bringing Sultry Back

In talking with a friend of mine, we got to talking about classy lingerie and how it seems to be a thing of the past. When watching older movies, women are seen primping in front of the vanity mirror while wearing beautiful night gowns and robes. They are covered head to toe in fabric (some of it sheer) and even without body parts hanging out for all to see the women oooze sexuality with their personalities and carriage.




Victoria's Secret may have a few pieces that are seductive. But overall, the teddies are pretty tacky and made of, well, cheap lace. I am not saying that a garment made entirely out of lace is always tacky and/or trashy, but when it is made in a neon color, it gets harder to defend. (truth be told, I own this particular style in sea green) The point of this small rant is simply that the masses are being sold to make women look slutty rather than sultry.

At least this is what I have been thinking until I saw a slip hanging in Anthropologie. I want it. I want it badly. Since I have been living on my own I have enjoyed walking around in whatever I do, or do not, feel like wearing. Lately, I have been on the look out for slips like this one because they are just so soft, comfortable, and cute. It gets too hot for sweatpants in the summer and I want a good alternative as I like to keep the windows open and would rather not put on a show for the neighbors.

Attention all possible sugar daddies: This $78 slip would be a great gift.

JCrew, I am now a Fan

A little customer services goes a long way. I was thinking about my recent pants shopping experiences that I had at the mall. The last time I bought new work pants it was when I started my last job in February 2007. So yeah, I am due. My pants are all worn out and, honestly, a few sizes too big as I have lost weight and now, thanks to Clinton and Stacie, understand what "fit" means.

I figured I would go to JCrew and the GAP. My tall friends have said that they have been successful at both locations which made me feel better. I may have no problem finding and purchasing short sundress after short sundress, but pants simply make me nervous. I assume Lady Gaga feels the same way. So, I simply avoid the process as much as possible.

I think it is important to refer to the experts when shopping for something new. All I knew was that I wanted slim fit pants, but wasn't sure what would look good on my frame given that I do have a decent sized ba-dunka-dunk. Therefore, I hunted down a saleswoman at JCrew immediately. She was a little startled when I first asked her point blank to help me find pants, but became extremely patient. Turns out that my instincts were correct with what I had found.

I ended up with a pair of Stretch Twill Minnie pants that fit marvelously everywhere but in the length. They were about 3 inches shorter than I would have liked, and all of the saleswomen agreed. (I might have had a following at this point as I was wearing the Harajuku Lovers shoes) Since the store doesn't stock the tall versions, the saleswoman let me know they would ship me a pair FOR FREE directly TO MY HOUSE. How wonderful is that?!?!

I figured there was no reason to say no at this point. So, she brought me over a phone (with no dial) that was sitting in the middle of the store. All she did was say that she was calling from store number _____ and had an order for a customer she wanted to place. After talking for a few minutes, she handed it over to me so I could give my billing and mailing information.

The pants showed up at my house a few days later and I am just so happy. I love that the store was willing to go out of its way to get their product into my wardrobe. Later that afternoon I went into the GAP and had a similiar experience where the pants fit but were too short. This time, however, the sales woman told me to just go online and order them. When I got home I went to gap.com and found out that I would get charged $7 for shipping. I am sorry GAP, I am now a JCrew fan. That store knows how to treat a customer right and doesn't punish me for being tall. Service like that really does wonders for creating customer loyalty.