What can I say, I’m a bit of a girly girl

Lots and lots of fall-time events this past weekend.

I went to a pumpkin patch with the boyfriend, the new roomie and friends on Sunday.

My friend’s older sister expressed her concern to my friend before I showed up, “Does 20-Something know how to, you know, dress for the pumpkin patch? Will she know to wear tennis shoes?” Apparently because I’m almost always dressed up and in heels when my friend’s sister sees me, she thinks I’m one of those dumb girls who would wear heels to a pumpkin patch. Well, I never.

Friend and I had a good laugh about this.

The funny part is, I was without a car and stayed at the boyfriend’s house on the Eastside all weekend. I left my house Saturday morning, without any clothes, change of underwear, make-up and hair product—a dumb move I cursed all weekend. So, I actually did go to the pumpkin patch on Sunday—not by choice or plan—in wedge heels.

I guess I am one of those girls who shows up at a pumpkin patch in heels. How embarrassing.

After the pumpkin patch, I spent hours with my mom at the fabric store, selecting a pattern and fabric for my Halloween costume. (Aren’t you just dying to know what it is – don’t get too excited, it’s not that great. I fear that I out-did myself forever with my costume last year.) We waited in line with about 30 other mothers and their broods of loud, crying children. Half of them were talking to a mystery person on their Blue-Tooth-enabled headset. Perhaps the sixth child, waiting behind a Swinger sewing machine for bolts of fabric to be brought back home, their fingers bandaged and bleeding? Who knows. I overheard a comment from someone working at the store that more people seem to be making their Halloween costume this year. I could chalk it up to the economic crisis, since everything seems to be linked to that these days. But, that theory was blown right out of the water when I rang up the list of items I needed to make my costume–$30 worth of red fringe later (plus all the fabric, zippers, etc.), and I spent just as much as a store-bought costume. No wonder they don’t give those things away.

At least with my red-fringed mystery costume, I won’t be ridiculed for wearing heels in public.

Pickin’ my way through the pumpkin fields in heels

Currently Feeling: Really sick of pulling myself out of bed in the dark.
Currently Anticipating: Picking up the last costume needs tonight at Redlight on Broadway.
Currently Loving: How fantastic our fall weather has been thus far.

Holy cheap makeup, Batgirls!

Remember when I introduced you, all my lovely lady friends, to that ridiculously cheap and addictive shoe Web site nearly two years ago? Well, I have another little tip for you, if you haven’t dipped into it already.

I received an email two weeks ago from a friend, which said Nordstrom’s was changing the packaging of their E.L.F. makeup brand (Eyes, Lips, Face) and therefore selling everything for $1. Upon further research, apparently this email is a scam, and E.L.F. is no way affiliated with Nordstrom. BUT, it’s not a total scam–E.L.F. says they weren’t involved in this email rumor, but they do in fact sell nearly everything for $1, claiming that the makeup industry is overpriced. They’ve been recommended by Oprah and a number of fashion magazines.

So, I scowered their Web site and ordered away. They have everything from lotions and shower gel, to makeup, brushes, tweezers, eyelash curlers, nail polish and more.

Today, I received my shipment, and I have nearly only positive things to say. It is an inexpensive product, but I wouldn’t say that it’s any worse than Maybelline or some other drugstore makeup brands, and you really can’t beat the price. There are certain things I’d jump on, and certain things to pass up.

Out of nearly 30 items, only about three came back in the color I wasn’t expecting. It is a little tough to tell exactly what you’re going to get with online pictures. Their Luscious Liquid Lipstick has a great consistency and flavor (not sticky), and their mineral eye shadows and face makeup are FANTASTIC at only $3 a piece. (Mineral makeup is the latest crazy and usually pretty expensive, so this really is a steal. I’d specifically recommend the Celebrity and Wild mineral eye shadows.) I’d probably pass on ordering their mascara again; I’ve yet to try the nail polish for quality, but dig the bronzer (super shimmery!) and especially their Elements customizable makeup palettes. (Great for throwing in your bag when spending the night over at a guy’s house.)

All-in-all I say check them out. What’s $1 these days anyway?

TIP: If you enter CAROLINA at check-out, you get $7.95 off an order over $15! That’s half off! And, if you spend more than $20, you get a free subscription to Vogue.

Happy shopping, gals!

Currently Feeling: Cute in my favorite summer work dress.
Currently Anticipating: Picking up my new couch tonight.
Currently Wishing: I could transport myself to San Fran tomorrow.

A Simply Genius Dress

Every day on my lunch hour, I walk past American Apparel on my way to the gym. The store has never really interested me much since it’s a bunch of plain t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc. Not really my thing. But, for some reason I stopped in a couple weeks ago, and found the most genius clothing item ever–I had to purchase it.

It’s their new Le Sac dress. It’s really rather simple–a long, plain cotton dress with a very long ribbon through the neck. But it’s totally awesome. The dress can be tied and worn in numerously different ways–as a halter, strapless, shortened as a top, Grecian style, with a belt, etc. You can even buy new ties and swap them out to update the dress. Here are some of the examples:

There’s even step-by-step guides to tying it on the Web:

Anyhoo, I’m pretty much in love with it. So much that I bought TWO–a red one with a dark denim ribbon and a bright pink one with a hot pink ribbon. Now the weather has to just get nice again so I can get some freakin’ use out of them before fall…

Currently Feeling: Needing coffee cup number two.
Currently Anticipating: Hmm. Not sure. Plans for the weekend are rocky.
Currently Loving: Goldfrapp. I want to go to her concert September 17th!

A New Bathing Beauty Suit

Before heading off to another Memorial Day weekend in fabulous Sunland, I of course had to purchase yet another bathing suit. By the amount of swimwear I’ve accumulated in the last three years, one would think that I just love to prance around half naked all the time. Not exactly, but summertime events such as the Sand Bar or Seafair are like bathing suit fashion shows–God forbid you wear the same suit two days in a row.

I haven’t purchased a quality suit in a couple years (by quality, I mean anything outside of the $40 suits Target offers in approximately one million styles and colors), so I bit the bullet and headed to Macy’s to purge the slightly more expensive swim department.

I accumulated probably 30 bathing suits before heading to the fitting rooms to try them on. While I was throwing off tops and bottoms, cringing, smiling and turning in the mirror, I could hear two other girls in the dressing room next to me.

“This one doesn’t make me want to puke,” the girl trying on swimsuits said to her by standing friend. (Us females usually like to drag someone along for an opinion). “I don’t look terribly fat in this one,” she said when she put the next one on. And on and on with every negative phrase including fat, ugly, bulge, stomach. Blah, blah, blah.

Now, I saw these girls in the department when I was picking out suits for myself, and both of them were probably 19 years old and 30 pounds lighter than me. It overwhelmingly depressed me–every girl is guilty of it, but it’s just so damn sad that we have such a low self opinion of our bodies. And even if you’re 115 pounds, you can’t be happy with how you look in a swimsuit. Self esteem and body image gets better with age, but then you look back and only wish you could or would have been happy when you had the body you did at 19.

I wanted to shout to them over the dressing room, “I’LL TRADE YOU!”

But then again, they probably wouldn’t have understood why I’m self conscious either because clearly I look exactly like this in my new suit:

(I like the criss-crossing in the back. How bout you?)

Currently Feeling: Chipper and cheerful. Probably cause I fell asleep at 9 p.m.
Currently Anticipating: Spa day and the Sex and the City movie tomorrow at Big Picture with my marketing team.
Currently Dreading: Cleaning my room and locating my car key.

Avoid the musk from Rusk

I have been walking around today, smelling like a man.

No, I didn’t forget deodorant. No, I didn’t go to the gym and not shower this morning.

I did, however, purchase a new hair product last night without smelling it. I’ve never come across this problem before. I know to stay away from the “boy-specific” hair product line, American Crew. Other than that, I’m assuming everything that comes out of the expensive bottles I buy is going to smell like coconut, kiwi, lemon-lime, strawberries and fluffy pink marshmallow clouds sprayed in glitter. This is highly important as a girl. After all, boys are taller and always seem to have their noses slightly too close for bad-hair-smelling comfort. Isn’t it supposed to be a girl’s signature to smell good?

Not today. Today I smell like a bottle of cheap men’s cologne one could purchase at Bartell’s for $7.99—perhaps a little Stetson, if you will?

It’s driving me nuts and giving me a headache! Every time I walk, or turn my head, or move even a little, I get a big wiff. It’s like I have a 60-year-old man from Renton handcuffed to me and sitting in my lap all day. Gaaa-ross!

I can’t wait to go home and wash this cheap man scent off me. In the meantime, I’m avoiding all men over the height of 5’ 5’’.

Currently Feeling: SO, super EXCITED that Baby Daddy called from port, and should be home in the next 10 days.
Currently Anticipating: Just being held. Ok, I lie. Maybe a little before being held.
Currently Reading: “The Wonder Spot” by Melissa Banks. Can’t put it down!

Another single bites the bullet

Congratulations Winston and Tara Evans!

I brought out my boobs, just for you, to celebrate your day.

Feel special.

A Slow But Steady Decline

Today I’m wearing light-colored work pants, and while primping and admiring myself in the bathroom mirror, I noticed that the small dimple that has formed in my left butt cheek is visible through my pants. SICK. Is there anything grosser than those old ladies whose legs and butt are noticeably lumpy? I’ve walked around all day, tugging at my camisole in the hopes of covering my imperfection. My days of wearing white pants might be coming to an end if I don’t do something about trying to get rid of this little dent! Running?! Increased exercise? Magical, miracle cellulite cream?! Butt lifts at the gym?! I’ve heard that cellulite is hereditary, and I’m lucky to have escaped most perils of the cellulite world. I’m thankfully, for the most part, curvy but muscular. But, since I was not graced with big beautiful breastesses, I MUST PRESERVE MY BUTT. It’s the only man magnet I got!

This little dimple on my left cheek has formed some time between college and now. It could have something to do with sitting on my butt for eight or more hours, Monday through Friday. I’d be sour too if someone squished me into a pancake, numbing all sense of feeling, for that long each day. I think my butt has boycotted this office job by puckering.

This whole dimple thing really stresses me out. Mostly because it’s all downhill from here…

Don’t you love the visual I created for you?! I just happened to have this photo lying around that someone took last summer. God bless Photoshop! LOL.

UPDATE: I’m feeling very vocal about my work day today…When you have nothing in your lunch bag besides squash soup, a small dollop of cottage cheese, a small dollop of tuna fish and a small dollop of Rosemary Chicken Salad from Trader Joe’s, you really wish it was 5th grade again and you were sitting next to someone who might want to trade lunches with you.

Currently Feeling: Disappointed that both passes were closed this weekend, and we missed out on our Leavenworth cabin trip for Larisa’s birthday. I was really feeling the need to get away for a weekend.
Currently Anticipating: Starting this new walking aerobics class at work.
Currently Wanting: The new Vampire Weekend CD.

Just what the doctor ordered

Despite my attempts to lower the amount of money I’m spending on dining out and groceries ($350 last month!), I enjoyed two very satisfying sushi dinners out this week with two of my girl friends from college.

On Tuesday I met up with my old college dorm roommate, Sarah. We were two peas in a pod freshman year of college. We drank like fish, snowboarded together in the Winter and stayed up late, talking in the dark about our high school days and aspirations for our future. I have funny college party stories with Sarah that still make me laugh to this day. Once, we went to a random house party together, got really silly of Bush Light in a can and ended up having to run from the cops. Sarah had put our 24-pack of Bush in a bush outside the house, and we couldn’t stop laughing and saying in our cheap beer stupor, “The Bush is in the bush!” I think that is something you can only find funny after six cans of watered down beer in college. I also shared my first 40 oz. with her during Thirsty Thursday parties a guy we knew would have at his off-campus house. I had never drank a 40 before, so I didn’t know that it wasn’t really necessary to drink twoooo. Oh lord. The night went something along the lines of her driving my car 50 mph down the middle of campus with me hanging out the sunroof, making out with some guy, and eventually getting pulled over by a cop. Sarah quickly explained that I was teaching her to drive a stick—even though it was 3:30 a.m.—and we got off Scott free. These, my friends, are only things I would attempt during my dumb college days. Now, I’m much more mature and safe with my drinking. Or something.

I have a lot of good memories with Sarah. But, we went our separate ways after a bad roommate situation when we lived in a house with three other girls our junior year, and then we had busy separate lives once we were both involved in our major. During the last couple years, she’s been in the Peace Corps in Mali and just moved back to Seattle in November. She found me on Facebook, and we set up a dinner date for this week. Immediately, it was easy to talk to her and laugh together just like we did in our early days of college. She shared some of the pictures and videos with me from her time in Mali, and then we ventured onto Chiso, a sushi restaurant in Fremont. I am always talking about my need to expand my horizons with restaurants, specifically sushi because I tend to find myself always falling back on my favorite sushi staple—Wasabi Bistro. I was very impressed with Chiso—a laid-back and warm atmosphere and an eclectic menu with unique sushi rolls. We ended up splitting two rolls, and continued our five-year catch up. The two of us have taken very different paths after college, but it’s nice to feel like neither of us have changed that much. I left the restaurant and dropped her off, smiling at the opportunity to connect with a really good friend from my past.

AND because I seem to drift in and out of sushi-obsession phases, I had been thinking about Wasabi Bistro all week when I received an email from my good college girl friend, Bri. We planned to meet up last night, and she made reservations at Wasabi. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on their decadent rolls—and a glass of white wine after work. Bri and I enjoyed an awesome girly dinner together. We talked about my current obsession—getting a Masters degree in Advertising—because she works in advertising at Microsoft and currently is pursuing her MBA. Of course there was a little boy-talk too. What dinner with girl friends is complete without it?

So, that was my week. A little dreaming about grad school, a little sushi and a lot of girl talk. Can’t complain, really.

Currently Feeling: Disconnected from my boy. Argh!
Currently Anticipating: Drinking all weekend and playing in the snow with my Dolphin Sisters.
Currently Wanting: A volunteer trip to Africa, and a vacation to somewhere tropical. If only I had a million dollars.

Toilet Talk

Growing up, my dad used to get all in a huff over the amount of toilet paper our household went through.

“You only need two or three squares!” he’d exclaim.

Two or three squares?! I’d think to myself. Two or three squares is most definitely not enough toilet paper. So, I went merrily on my six-to-10 square way. After all, it’s not like he could really monitor my toilet paper consumption.

I have come to the conclusion, however, that my dad is totally right. Women use faaaarrrr too much toilet paper. It takes 71.48 people to completely utilize a single roll of toilet paper. (#) I’m assuming, if the sample pool was just women, it’d take four.

In the bathroom at work, I always hear women in the stall next to doing the following:

Rustle, rustle, unravel.

Tear.

Rustle, rustle, unravel.

Tear.

Rustle, rustle, unravel.

Tear.

Tear.

Unravel.

Tear.

Rustle.

Tear.

SIX?! SIX lengths of toilet paper is what you really need to go to the bathroom? I mean sheesh. I’d think by that time you’d have a bowling ball-sized mound of toilet paper to wipe with. Clearly unnecessary.

Perhaps tomorrow I’ll shout over the stall, “You only need two or three squares! Two. Or. Three!”

Currently Feeling: Like it’s not Friday. But it is. Yippee!
Currently Anticipating: Project Red Dress tonight with Sarah and her coworkers.
Currently Loving: Broccoli with chopped walnuts and Parmesan cheese.

Wearing Underwear is So Uncool

This weekend my little sister (19 and in a sorority at Washington State University) came and stayed with me for some sisterly girl time.

“I’ve stopped wearing underwear because one of my friend’s read that it’s supposed to give you cellulite,” she declared while we were getting dressed and ready Saturday morning.

“What?! You. Stopped. Wearing. Underwear?! Isn’t that a little weird?” I replied.

“No,” she said. “In fact, I don’t really know any of my friends who do wear underwear.”

Great. Twenty-six years old, and I’m already super uncool because I wear underwear.

Currently Feeling: Bored and stuck.
Currently Anticipating: Snuggling with slippers and sweats tonight. It’s cooold!
Currently Hating: That I can’t kiss Mike.