Ok, so I know this wouldn't work on warmer climates, but honestly there is no fabric more devine. Yesterday walking home (through) Nordstrom's, I noticed a sale in the sock department. And lo and behold, the cashmere socks were half priced. EEEEEEEE...I couldn't believe my luck. I bought just two pairs, because really, they are still a hefty price, but OMG, do they make my feet happy. And they aren't like angora socks, which make my feet too warm. Maybe it has to do with the size of the weave. The angora socks are soft enough, but maybe the tightness of weave just makes them too warm.
I just believe that if people were wearing some form of cashmere, they'd be too peaceful to start and participate in any kind of conflict.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Foodie fodder
I was going to work this morning and when I got off the bus I found myself enveloped in that unmistakeable wonderful aroma of cocoa beans being roasted at a downtown Chicago chocolate factory. It's not like this factory is anywhere near where I work, but when the wind is blowing just right, the scent is akin to a warm cup of hot cocoa wafting through the air....mmmm, chocolate. It's best experienced on a chilly winter morning instead of a hot humid summer day, when I'd rather sniff a cool crisp iced-tea or lemonade or something. But this morning, it was bliss, not overpowering, just comforting. So I decided, this would be a foodie post today. I've got some gripes to air and woo-hoo, my impressions of the first episode of this seasons Top Chef!
So my gripes...I went to Trader Joe's yesterday because I had this idea for a meal that was very specific. In the past, I'd bought this mojito meat marinade that was pretty good. I had some chicken that needed to be cooked up and while I know the free-range, non-hormone, non-antibiotic injected, organically-fed stuff is all around a better product for you, it bugs me that I have to cook it up so quickly after buying. I know, not something to really be bugged about, but there you are. That is NOT my gripe. So the menu I had in my head was to cook up this chicken in the mojito marinade and serve it with a nice mix of rice, Cuban black beans (also from TJ), & roasted corn. Mmmm...sounds good, yeah? Well it wasn't to be because Trader Joe's NO LONGER CARRIES mojito meat marinade. GRRRR! I asked one of the chirpy TJ employees what happened to it and he thought it had a possibilty of making it back on TJ shelves because it was popular. This was my gripe! C'mon TJ, don't take popular products off your shelves. Crossing fingers. So I figured, well, I'm here and TJ makes other nice meat sauces, so I wound up getting an Indian "curry" sauce, some naan bread and a package of Jaipur vegetables. All in all, it was ok. The Jaipur vegetables were pretty good, and I'd like to get that dish into my Indian recipe repertoire. It's actually called Navrattan vegetables...a mildly sauced dish with several veggie types and my favorite Indian cheese, paneer. Oh lordy, I'm off track here... The "curry" sauce was a question-mark because it really was difficult to tell just WHAT curry sauce the makers were trying to duplicate. It had Indian flavors so that's good enough to satisfy hubster's insatiable craving for Indian meals when I don't have the desire, energy, or twelvety-five hours to make a dish from scratch.
My second gripe.... I bought a new cereal to bring to work which sounded promising. Post Nut Harvest Crunch... whole grain flakes with lightly sweetened cruncy clusters, almonds, pecans & walnuts. With 200 calories per serving and despite being lightly sweetened, only 8 grams of sugar, but a nice 8 g of fiber (a whopping 32% of recommended daily fiber intake), and not bad in the sodium department. What bugged me was that the cereal looked nothing like the picture on the box. I opened the box expecting all these nice crunchy clusters and I saw not a cluster, not a nut. I KNOW they didn't all settle to the bottom, but there had to be about only 3 of each nut type chopped up so finely in the entire box. Bah...if I wanted boring whole grain flakes, I'm sure I can buy a box of that. The thing is, the picture on that box would have fruit garnishing and would make it look real interesting. I think it's funny too how they give you the impression that you can have a nice big heaping bowl of cereal for breakfast, when in reality, the serving size for most is no more than 1 cup. A better picture for this cereal would have been one little cup with one cluster on top. I think cereal makers and frozen dinner makers are the worst when it comes to the pictures they put on their boxes. I learned a long time ago that the pictures on the frozen foods would not only never look that good, but wouldn't taste as good either. That's why I rarely eat a frozen food, they just rarely taste good and are filled with all kinds of junk.
So my gripes...I went to Trader Joe's yesterday because I had this idea for a meal that was very specific. In the past, I'd bought this mojito meat marinade that was pretty good. I had some chicken that needed to be cooked up and while I know the free-range, non-hormone, non-antibiotic injected, organically-fed stuff is all around a better product for you, it bugs me that I have to cook it up so quickly after buying. I know, not something to really be bugged about, but there you are. That is NOT my gripe. So the menu I had in my head was to cook up this chicken in the mojito marinade and serve it with a nice mix of rice, Cuban black beans (also from TJ), & roasted corn. Mmmm...sounds good, yeah? Well it wasn't to be because Trader Joe's NO LONGER CARRIES mojito meat marinade. GRRRR! I asked one of the chirpy TJ employees what happened to it and he thought it had a possibilty of making it back on TJ shelves because it was popular. This was my gripe! C'mon TJ, don't take popular products off your shelves. Crossing fingers. So I figured, well, I'm here and TJ makes other nice meat sauces, so I wound up getting an Indian "curry" sauce, some naan bread and a package of Jaipur vegetables. All in all, it was ok. The Jaipur vegetables were pretty good, and I'd like to get that dish into my Indian recipe repertoire. It's actually called Navrattan vegetables...a mildly sauced dish with several veggie types and my favorite Indian cheese, paneer. Oh lordy, I'm off track here... The "curry" sauce was a question-mark because it really was difficult to tell just WHAT curry sauce the makers were trying to duplicate. It had Indian flavors so that's good enough to satisfy hubster's insatiable craving for Indian meals when I don't have the desire, energy, or twelvety-five hours to make a dish from scratch.
My second gripe.... I bought a new cereal to bring to work which sounded promising. Post Nut Harvest Crunch... whole grain flakes with lightly sweetened cruncy clusters, almonds, pecans & walnuts. With 200 calories per serving and despite being lightly sweetened, only 8 grams of sugar, but a nice 8 g of fiber (a whopping 32% of recommended daily fiber intake), and not bad in the sodium department. What bugged me was that the cereal looked nothing like the picture on the box. I opened the box expecting all these nice crunchy clusters and I saw not a cluster, not a nut. I KNOW they didn't all settle to the bottom, but there had to be about only 3 of each nut type chopped up so finely in the entire box. Bah...if I wanted boring whole grain flakes, I'm sure I can buy a box of that. The thing is, the picture on that box would have fruit garnishing and would make it look real interesting. I think it's funny too how they give you the impression that you can have a nice big heaping bowl of cereal for breakfast, when in reality, the serving size for most is no more than 1 cup. A better picture for this cereal would have been one little cup with one cluster on top. I think cereal makers and frozen dinner makers are the worst when it comes to the pictures they put on their boxes. I learned a long time ago that the pictures on the frozen foods would not only never look that good, but wouldn't taste as good either. That's why I rarely eat a frozen food, they just rarely taste good and are filled with all kinds of junk.
Episode 1
So on to Top Chef! I'll be yapping about this for the remainder of the season and will try to figure out how I keep keep all of the Top Chef posts in one spot here. Anyway, it was a great first episode. The viewing audience was introduced to 16 cheftestants (I saw that word on Ted Allen's Top Chef blog and decided to steal it) and it definitely looks like it will be an interesting series. Of course many of them are very confident, some to the point of arrogance, of their abilities. One especially got on my nerves right away...Andrew, who found it necessary to sprinkle each sentence with at least one $%#&*, and for what, to make himself look cool...gimme a break. This was a first for Top Chef, a lesbian couple who both made it on to the show...hmmmm. I'm guessing that the TC producers thought that would put some more interest into the out-of-the-kitchen stories. I wonder if one of the thousands of other chefs that auditioned might not have been a better fit for the show, but lost out because of the human interest story. They "came out" to the other contestants and while there were a few glances around, one chef said it best, well so they are a couple, do they have an advantage, no...and they can just both go home together too. LOL I liked his attitude.
The first challenge they had was to put their own twist on the classic Chicago-style deep dish pizza. I guess you could see that one coming for a mile with all of the Chicago references mentioned and shown. I felt bad for the guest judge Rocco DiSpirito, who had to sample 16 types of deep dish pizza....aack. I hope he hadn't eaten that day and wasn't planning on it for a few days after. One cracked me up, by Nikki...she had used way too much dough so her result was a massive piece of crust with a tiny amount of filling. The New Zealander, Mark put Marmite on his...yes, MARMITE!!!! It's a strange concoction that Brits put on their toast, but as was advised to me by my father-in-law who even travels with the stuff, a LITTLE goes a long way. My mum found this out the hard way when she put a teaspoon of the stuff on her toast and chomped down... AACK! More like 1/8 of a teaspoon is all that is edible. LOL
Anywhoo, Rocco (rawr), picked his 8 favorite and 8 least favorite pizzas and for the elimination challenge, one least fav chef went up against one fav chef in cooking the same classic dish. The dishes were shrimp scampi, lasagne, chicken piccata, steak au poivre, duck a l'orange, crab cakes, eggs benedict, and souffle. Each chef made their dish and the panel of judges decided of the two, which chef would be in the group possible to win the challenge and which would be in the group possible to be eliminated. There was some great looking lasagne, some pretentiously deconstructed duck a l'orange, overly salted and inedible srimp scampi with some funky looking cauliflower puree, chicken piccata that wasn't piccata at all and two darn right disastrous and funny souffles.
In the end I picked who the eliminated chef would be... Nimma with the inedible shrimp scampi. She also just had this really dour attitude. When she was in the losing group of pizza makers, she said she wasn't there to have fun, therefore wasn't going to socialize in the house with the other chefs. She was only there for business. Well boo-hoo, she doesn't have to worry about socializing anymore with them. Pack your knives Nimma. Congrats to Chicago resident Stephanie who won the challenge with her duck dish. Ok, so she isn't a Chicago native, but that's ok...she lives here now.
The first challenge they had was to put their own twist on the classic Chicago-style deep dish pizza. I guess you could see that one coming for a mile with all of the Chicago references mentioned and shown. I felt bad for the guest judge Rocco DiSpirito, who had to sample 16 types of deep dish pizza....aack. I hope he hadn't eaten that day and wasn't planning on it for a few days after. One cracked me up, by Nikki...she had used way too much dough so her result was a massive piece of crust with a tiny amount of filling. The New Zealander, Mark put Marmite on his...yes, MARMITE!!!! It's a strange concoction that Brits put on their toast, but as was advised to me by my father-in-law who even travels with the stuff, a LITTLE goes a long way. My mum found this out the hard way when she put a teaspoon of the stuff on her toast and chomped down... AACK! More like 1/8 of a teaspoon is all that is edible. LOL
Anywhoo, Rocco (rawr), picked his 8 favorite and 8 least favorite pizzas and for the elimination challenge, one least fav chef went up against one fav chef in cooking the same classic dish. The dishes were shrimp scampi, lasagne, chicken piccata, steak au poivre, duck a l'orange, crab cakes, eggs benedict, and souffle. Each chef made their dish and the panel of judges decided of the two, which chef would be in the group possible to win the challenge and which would be in the group possible to be eliminated. There was some great looking lasagne, some pretentiously deconstructed duck a l'orange, overly salted and inedible srimp scampi with some funky looking cauliflower puree, chicken piccata that wasn't piccata at all and two darn right disastrous and funny souffles.
In the end I picked who the eliminated chef would be... Nimma with the inedible shrimp scampi. She also just had this really dour attitude. When she was in the losing group of pizza makers, she said she wasn't there to have fun, therefore wasn't going to socialize in the house with the other chefs. She was only there for business. Well boo-hoo, she doesn't have to worry about socializing anymore with them. Pack your knives Nimma. Congrats to Chicago resident Stephanie who won the challenge with her duck dish. Ok, so she isn't a Chicago native, but that's ok...she lives here now.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Purse Schizophrenic?
I decided it was time for a new "everyday" purse. At this point my husband will no doubt look into the closet, see the Rubbermaid bin overflowing with all purses of every description and just plain think I've cracked a few of my marbles. What he fails to understand is that there are purses for every occasion and season. But a woman should have an everyday purse that is just basic and will "go" with everything. My everyday purse is always a black one. I couldn't use my brown sparkly beaded one, the red one in the shape of a Yorkshire terrier, or the hand stitched Tibetan one on a daily basis. This is obvious!
It was time for a new one because the one I'm about to throw in the garbage which I only paid about 10 bucks for at one of those Claire's Accessories boutiques has a sticker on it that I can't scrape off (don't ask), and let's face it, a $10 purse is only suppose to last so long and this one has gone well beyond it's expiration date.
The weather isn't too bad today, so I took myself over to Marshall's (a discount store), determined to get a new purse. My goal was to spend no more than $30, and at Marshall's this is not only possible, but probable. For those who don't know Marshall's, they carry name-brand products at low prices, the stock is always different, and you can really get some good bargains there. You gotta be careful though because sometimes prices are WAY out of line for that store. I guess it depends on the desinger that is sending the item over and how low they will let Marshall's mark it....or something. I love having lots of purses to mix it up, so I've always kept the prices down on the purses I DO buy. I've really never understood the attraction to a $300-$400 Dooney & Burke or Coach bag. Actually I can't say that I DON'T have a Coach, because I actually do...one that I paid about 75% off for at Nordstroms that is this adorable suede, the shade of powder blue that I would never think of giving up. I've only used it about 3 times, but when it matches the outfit, it is FAB!!!!!!!!!!
Anywhoooo....I headed right for the black purses and was met with quite the array....but it only took about 5 minutes to rule out about 95% of the purses (too big, too small, gaudy, wrong material, cheap looking, too expensive). But then I hit upon it. A simple in design Etienne Aigner black fabric satchel. I think Etienne Aigner is a classic, timeless, elegant designer. Nothing flashy. The purse had a suggested retail price of $67 and it was selling for $24!!!! SOLD! It has a few pockets for small things...which I always say I'll use but when truth comes to it, everything winds up getting thrown in the same section. The best thing is it isn't a walking advertisement for the designer. I hate that and if my Coach purse had those stupid "C"s all over it, I never would have bought it. So I'm happy now...I got a well-made, nice looking purse for twenty-four bucks!
Getting this purse made me think about the feature story I saw by comedienne Anita Renfro the other day on Good Morning America when I stayed home sick. It cracked me up, so I thought I'd share a bit of it. To see the video of the feature, go here.
Clutch, hand bag or purse — whatever the name of your all-inclusive accessory, it can say a lot about you. Whether you love those over-the-shoulder boulder holders or tiny totes are your thing, your pocketbook is telling the world more than you realize.
There are at least four purse analogies.
More Is More Better
This lady is the one who never really got over carrying the diaper bag and still wishes she had something that large. She normally has like a full snack bar and a working pharmacy down in her bag and is prepared for every situation in life.
The upside: Should you ever find yourself in jail, she'll be the only one in your group of friends with a MacGyver 7-in-1 tool to bust you out.
Basic Tiny Toter
This girl can get the whole contents of her day into seven square inches. I don't really understand this woman, but you can bet if she can do this that she's got some control issues.
She probably pays her bills ahead of time and has her sheets tucked in real tight on the corners of her bed.
The upside: Should you ever find yourselves in jail, she'll be the only one with the unlimited AMEX who can bail you out.
Serial Monogamist
She gets one purse and sticks with it for 12 years. She's the kind of person for whom you occasionally have to do what we call "a purse intervention." Now she's also loyal and if she'll stay with this purse for 12 years she'll hang with you.
The upside: Should you ever find yourself in jail, she's the only one in your group of friends who'll be out on the sidewalk holding a candlelight vigil with a sign that says, "My friend is innocent."
Purse Schizophrenic
This woman changes her purses more often than she changes her underwear. Sometimes she doesn't know how she's going to feel after lunch so she'll occasionally carry a purse inside of her purse just in case her mood changes.
The upside: If you find yourself in jail, she's normally the reason why you're there, BUT she's also the one who'll sit right there with you in that jail cell saying, "Isn't that the best fun we ever had honey?"
hmmm, so who am I? I think I go between a Purse Schizophrenic (hubster would be nodding the affirmative while looking in the closet) and a Basic Tiny Toter. I know my mum is a Serial Monogamist. I once bought her a nice Liz Claiborne and hadn't paid attention to the fact that she carried that thing for YEARSSSSSSSS. It does say a lot about the durabilty and quality of a Liz Claiborne though. I think if it hadn't been for the fact that the leather straps were wearing away so bad from being carried around for years, she'd still be carrying it.
Another bit in the Renfro piece was an interesting fact...that on average, women carry about 65 things in their purses. REALLY?? 65??? I thought I'd take a look in mine seeing as I'd just transferred the contents to the new purse:
It was time for a new one because the one I'm about to throw in the garbage which I only paid about 10 bucks for at one of those Claire's Accessories boutiques has a sticker on it that I can't scrape off (don't ask), and let's face it, a $10 purse is only suppose to last so long and this one has gone well beyond it's expiration date.
The weather isn't too bad today, so I took myself over to Marshall's (a discount store), determined to get a new purse. My goal was to spend no more than $30, and at Marshall's this is not only possible, but probable. For those who don't know Marshall's, they carry name-brand products at low prices, the stock is always different, and you can really get some good bargains there. You gotta be careful though because sometimes prices are WAY out of line for that store. I guess it depends on the desinger that is sending the item over and how low they will let Marshall's mark it....or something. I love having lots of purses to mix it up, so I've always kept the prices down on the purses I DO buy. I've really never understood the attraction to a $300-$400 Dooney & Burke or Coach bag. Actually I can't say that I DON'T have a Coach, because I actually do...one that I paid about 75% off for at Nordstroms that is this adorable suede, the shade of powder blue that I would never think of giving up. I've only used it about 3 times, but when it matches the outfit, it is FAB!!!!!!!!!!
Anywhoooo....I headed right for the black purses and was met with quite the array....but it only took about 5 minutes to rule out about 95% of the purses (too big, too small, gaudy, wrong material, cheap looking, too expensive). But then I hit upon it. A simple in design Etienne Aigner black fabric satchel. I think Etienne Aigner is a classic, timeless, elegant designer. Nothing flashy. The purse had a suggested retail price of $67 and it was selling for $24!!!! SOLD! It has a few pockets for small things...which I always say I'll use but when truth comes to it, everything winds up getting thrown in the same section. The best thing is it isn't a walking advertisement for the designer. I hate that and if my Coach purse had those stupid "C"s all over it, I never would have bought it. So I'm happy now...I got a well-made, nice looking purse for twenty-four bucks!
Getting this purse made me think about the feature story I saw by comedienne Anita Renfro the other day on Good Morning America when I stayed home sick. It cracked me up, so I thought I'd share a bit of it. To see the video of the feature, go here.
Clutch, hand bag or purse — whatever the name of your all-inclusive accessory, it can say a lot about you. Whether you love those over-the-shoulder boulder holders or tiny totes are your thing, your pocketbook is telling the world more than you realize.
There are at least four purse analogies.
More Is More Better
This lady is the one who never really got over carrying the diaper bag and still wishes she had something that large. She normally has like a full snack bar and a working pharmacy down in her bag and is prepared for every situation in life.
The upside: Should you ever find yourself in jail, she'll be the only one in your group of friends with a MacGyver 7-in-1 tool to bust you out.
Basic Tiny Toter
This girl can get the whole contents of her day into seven square inches. I don't really understand this woman, but you can bet if she can do this that she's got some control issues.
She probably pays her bills ahead of time and has her sheets tucked in real tight on the corners of her bed.
The upside: Should you ever find yourselves in jail, she'll be the only one with the unlimited AMEX who can bail you out.
Serial Monogamist
She gets one purse and sticks with it for 12 years. She's the kind of person for whom you occasionally have to do what we call "a purse intervention." Now she's also loyal and if she'll stay with this purse for 12 years she'll hang with you.
The upside: Should you ever find yourself in jail, she's the only one in your group of friends who'll be out on the sidewalk holding a candlelight vigil with a sign that says, "My friend is innocent."
Purse Schizophrenic
This woman changes her purses more often than she changes her underwear. Sometimes she doesn't know how she's going to feel after lunch so she'll occasionally carry a purse inside of her purse just in case her mood changes.
The upside: If you find yourself in jail, she's normally the reason why you're there, BUT she's also the one who'll sit right there with you in that jail cell saying, "Isn't that the best fun we ever had honey?"
hmmm, so who am I? I think I go between a Purse Schizophrenic (hubster would be nodding the affirmative while looking in the closet) and a Basic Tiny Toter. I know my mum is a Serial Monogamist. I once bought her a nice Liz Claiborne and hadn't paid attention to the fact that she carried that thing for YEARSSSSSSSS. It does say a lot about the durabilty and quality of a Liz Claiborne though. I think if it hadn't been for the fact that the leather straps were wearing away so bad from being carried around for years, she'd still be carrying it.
Another bit in the Renfro piece was an interesting fact...that on average, women carry about 65 things in their purses. REALLY?? 65??? I thought I'd take a look in mine seeing as I'd just transferred the contents to the new purse:
- 1 cell phone (may or may not be charged....probably NOT)
- 1 set of house keys
- 1 change purse with money and debit card
- 1 bus pass holder with bus pass
- 1 comb
- 1 clear lip gloss
- 1 colored lip gloss
- 1 purse-size perfume
- 1 bottle of Ibuprofen
- 3 Halls throat lozengers
- 1 pair of gloves
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Peepalicious!
Well it seems like Peep Diorama Contests are peeping out all over the place. The Chicago Tribune invited Peep lovers to create a diorama and send a picture in for a public vote. Well the top 10 finalists have been named and it's time to vote. The winner will be announced on, well, of course....Easter! Go HERE to vote! I won't say which is my favorite of the bunch, but it's not looking good so far for my pick.
I'm not sure how this contest started, but it might have been because of the overwhelming success of the Washington Post's first ever Peep Diorama contest last year. (The pic is of the winner, Peeps are a Girl's Best Friend). Who knew there are people out there who would have so much time on their hands to create a diorama out of Peeps...and in the case of the Chicago Tribune contest, for the staggering $101 prize. I love it though! I wish I were that creative. The only thing I do with my Peeps is let them get stale by puncturing a hole in the Peep box and then enjoying the hardened exterior/gooey interior. I'm glad they've introduced Peeps for other holidays now...cat and ghost Peeps for Halloween and tree and snowman Peeps for Christmas...hehehe. I've never tried any of the other microwave-related Peep experiments, mainly because I don't want to blow up my 20 year old microwave over some Peeps!
Friday, March 7, 2008
Bleurgh...
I've got the gunks. And I'm blaming my husband 100% because he's been carrying the nasties around for weeks and weeks now. My throat hurts, my glands are swollen, I'm cold, my nose is simultaneously runny and stuffy, my ears hurt, and I'm tired because I didn't get enough sleep. blllllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh. Ok, that's my whine-fest for the day.
I have a co-worker who always says it's a "mute" point. hahahahahaha That cracks me up. If it's mute...I shouldn't have to hear about it, right? That's the way I figure it. It got me to thinking about some of the funny things that people mis-say (is that a word?) Another favorite is "for all intensive purposes" or "for all intense and purposes". Teehee! Don't forget "all-timers" disease. One I ran across the other day was "I could care less", which really SHOULD be "I couldn't care less", unless they actually meant it really wasn't all that bothering. I think I make that gaffe occasionally, oops. I know there are loads of them, and I can't think of anymore right now. It must be because I'm all clogged up.
I have a co-worker who always says it's a "mute" point. hahahahahaha That cracks me up. If it's mute...I shouldn't have to hear about it, right? That's the way I figure it. It got me to thinking about some of the funny things that people mis-say (is that a word?) Another favorite is "for all intensive purposes" or "for all intense and purposes". Teehee! Don't forget "all-timers" disease. One I ran across the other day was "I could care less", which really SHOULD be "I couldn't care less", unless they actually meant it really wasn't all that bothering. I think I make that gaffe occasionally, oops. I know there are loads of them, and I can't think of anymore right now. It must be because I'm all clogged up.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Christian Siriano, you're UBER-FIERCE!
If you're a fan/viewer of Project Runway, you'll know what I'm talking about. Last night was the finale of the reality show that pits fashion designers against each other with the prize being $100,000 to start their own line, a new car, and a photo spread in Elle magazine. This season's winner, Christian Siriano was arrogant, a bit of a punk and his kooky "do" got on my nerves sometimes. But he did grow on me as the season wore on and his designs were, as he'd put it....fierce.... except for that one hideous prom gown!!! AAACK. I was actually surprised that he'd made it past that episode, but in the end, glad he did. His final collection was, for lack of a better word, a bit "samey", but the way he pulled it off, was WOW. I'd love to see if his collection will ever translate to real people, in the real world. Whatever though, for this 21 year old wunderkind, it is definitely HIS time now.
Monday, March 3, 2008
How did I miss my flight?
I couldn't get to the airport on time. I had an international flight which was departing at 12:30pm. I was going to a couple of European countries. My plan was to get to the airport by 10:00am. My parents were picking me up to take me to the airport. But I as I was doing the last minute stuff you do before you leave on a trip, one of my neighbors dropped by with some sets of keys for apartments that I had to check on when I got back. The people whose apartments I was going to be watching were also going to be on vacation. One of those people was Spinelli (more on that later.) Somehow I missed my parents. So I thought I'd catch a cab. The only one available to the airport already had two passengers...two Italian brothers on their way to Florida. They had to make a stop at this shop and since I was butting in on their cab ride, I couldn't very well complain. I was still ok with time. I figured as long as I got to the airport by 10:30, I'd still be ok. So I went in the shop with the Italians, and they had the cutest tiny vases made of all different colored mosiac glass. I'm turning around and I saw this huge plate hurtling toward the ground. But it didn't crash, it didn't even break. It was plastic. I lost the Italians somewhere in the shop and decided I'd go back home and check to see if my parents were waiting for me. I figured, as long as I got to the airport by 11:00, I'd still be ok. When I got back, there was painting going on in the hallway and my apartment door was open. All of my furniture was stacked up in a strange way and I saw my stepfather moving things around. And then I saw my mum coming toward me, with a short soft cast on her left arm. It seems she'd had an accident and that was why they didn't make it to may apartment earlier, and their phone wasn't working. And I thought well, ok, now they are here, but I don't think I can make the flight if I get to the airport at 11:30, what with the way you have to check in by a certain time before they close check-in to the flight.
AND THEN I WOKE UP!!!!!!!!!! I'll never know if I made the flight, what kind of accident my mum was in, why there was only one door that worked to get in the cab, where my husband was, why my stepfather was in shorts and what he was doing moving my furniture around, and why was I watching the apartment of the uber-hacker and slightly misunderstood guy from my soap, General Hospital???
AND THEN I WOKE UP!!!!!!!!!! I'll never know if I made the flight, what kind of accident my mum was in, why there was only one door that worked to get in the cab, where my husband was, why my stepfather was in shorts and what he was doing moving my furniture around, and why was I watching the apartment of the uber-hacker and slightly misunderstood guy from my soap, General Hospital???
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Jellybean anyone?
The jellybeans and Peeps are out... Easter is on it's way. I came across this info and I found it kinda interesting...
Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20). This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar. Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22) but that is pretty rare. Here's the interesting info. This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever observe the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen Easter this early (95 years old or above!). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier! Here are the facts:
1) The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!).
2) The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!
Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20). This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar. Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22) but that is pretty rare. Here's the interesting info. This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever observe the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen Easter this early (95 years old or above!). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier! Here are the facts:
1) The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!).
2) The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!
I've cheated on my colorist!!!
Yes, I've cheated and I feel guilty about it. I was seeing my colorist for over 3 years and it really feels like I've betrayed her. Why did I do it? Well, I was unhappy after the last two, possibly last three appointments. I felt like she wasn't really listening to what I wanted and each time I left I was like....was that what I wanted? I guess I should explain that I'm not afraid to change colors, add highlights, lowlights, etc. And until recently I had been extremely happy with the results I was getting. The happiest I was with her was when about 1 1/2 years ago I went in for an appointment as a light brown, with blonde highlights and I came out as a deep brunette with no highlights. It was EXACTLY as I'd pictured and I felt my colorist was so in sync with what I wanted. since then I'd taken the color very dark and then back up a bit and with warm red highlights. It was fun. I don't change my hair style much, except that I'm in the latter stage of growing out bangs, but I like to change color. So I don't know what happened. I know there was tension between my colorist and the salon. She only works two days a week and I know they wanted her to work more, but I think the salon knows that she has a good client base, so they haven't pushed her too hard to work more days. There were also some other salon issues that she'd told me about that led me to think all wasn't rosey. Also, because she is only in two days a week, it's gotten harder to book with her, and when I did have an appointment, she'd alwasy be booked solid, so I'd often not be able to see her after I was rinsed and had a cut by a stylist. I'd think she'd want to check on her results.
Anyway... a friend at work recommended a colorist at a competing salon and based on the fact that her hair looked FAB, I thought, hmmm...maybe it's time for a change. So I made an appointment with this colorist and had my hair done a few days ago.
So here's the deal....I think I may have made a mistake!!! ;-( I feel guilty for not confronting my colorist and being honest and saying hey...I'm not happy, but I want to stay with you. I'm not terribly thrilled with the way my hair looks by the new colorist. It's alright and yeah, it looks ok, but I'll admit, I have high standards in what I want from a colorist and I'm picky about how I want my hair to look. I guess if this colorist had hit a homerun, out of the park with this color job, I be thinking, wow, great!!! I know many would say, hey, you pay for a service (a not a skimpy price at that), you can go wherever you want until you find someone who gives you exactly what you want, and I don't argue that, but I think after a long service relationship, and let's face it, it's not "just a service", it's how you feel about yourself, at least you can have the courtesy to tell someone who is a professional what's not working, before taking your business elsewhere, otherwise, what are they suppose to think? How can they keep from making the same mistake with another client and possibly losing another client. SOOOOOOOOO, I guess I've made my decision...I'm going to face up to my former colorist, tell her I went elsewhere and see if we can't get back to that great hair relationship we had before. In the end I really do think she's a great colorist, and maybe I just need to speak up! I don't think I'll feel AS MUCH guilt for not going back to a colorist who I'd only seen once. The complication to all of this is that I'm happy with the stylist I have at the other salon. She was my colorist's assistant and had just recently gotten her own chair at the salon and was so excited to be getting clients....and she did a good job, so I didn't want to leave her, and really how could I see her at the old salon if I was seeing another colorist at another salon? I know, it sounds crazy. There are more important things to worry about in the world, hell, in daily life, but these are the kinds of things I worry about... LOL. But not so crazy, I came to the conclusion really quickly that I just really like the old salon better. I like the vibe, the way they take care of you, even something so insignificant as I like the way the old salon looks. Or IS that insignificant? Why would they spend the time and effort to put fresh flowers at each stylist/colorist's station, why would they have the place painted in warm relaxing colors instead of just drab greyish white, why would they offer cheese and wine on Wednesday afternoons? They know what they are doing! And hey, they are in th exact same price range as the other place, so.... why not go for the place that is actually a spa, with that spa vibe?
Gosh, it must be nice to be a guy!!! LOL My husband totally doesn't get this. Yeah, it's probably a girly thing!
Anyway... a friend at work recommended a colorist at a competing salon and based on the fact that her hair looked FAB, I thought, hmmm...maybe it's time for a change. So I made an appointment with this colorist and had my hair done a few days ago.
So here's the deal....I think I may have made a mistake!!! ;-( I feel guilty for not confronting my colorist and being honest and saying hey...I'm not happy, but I want to stay with you. I'm not terribly thrilled with the way my hair looks by the new colorist. It's alright and yeah, it looks ok, but I'll admit, I have high standards in what I want from a colorist and I'm picky about how I want my hair to look. I guess if this colorist had hit a homerun, out of the park with this color job, I be thinking, wow, great!!! I know many would say, hey, you pay for a service (a not a skimpy price at that), you can go wherever you want until you find someone who gives you exactly what you want, and I don't argue that, but I think after a long service relationship, and let's face it, it's not "just a service", it's how you feel about yourself, at least you can have the courtesy to tell someone who is a professional what's not working, before taking your business elsewhere, otherwise, what are they suppose to think? How can they keep from making the same mistake with another client and possibly losing another client. SOOOOOOOOO, I guess I've made my decision...I'm going to face up to my former colorist, tell her I went elsewhere and see if we can't get back to that great hair relationship we had before. In the end I really do think she's a great colorist, and maybe I just need to speak up! I don't think I'll feel AS MUCH guilt for not going back to a colorist who I'd only seen once. The complication to all of this is that I'm happy with the stylist I have at the other salon. She was my colorist's assistant and had just recently gotten her own chair at the salon and was so excited to be getting clients....and she did a good job, so I didn't want to leave her, and really how could I see her at the old salon if I was seeing another colorist at another salon? I know, it sounds crazy. There are more important things to worry about in the world, hell, in daily life, but these are the kinds of things I worry about... LOL. But not so crazy, I came to the conclusion really quickly that I just really like the old salon better. I like the vibe, the way they take care of you, even something so insignificant as I like the way the old salon looks. Or IS that insignificant? Why would they spend the time and effort to put fresh flowers at each stylist/colorist's station, why would they have the place painted in warm relaxing colors instead of just drab greyish white, why would they offer cheese and wine on Wednesday afternoons? They know what they are doing! And hey, they are in th exact same price range as the other place, so.... why not go for the place that is actually a spa, with that spa vibe?
Gosh, it must be nice to be a guy!!! LOL My husband totally doesn't get this. Yeah, it's probably a girly thing!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
