Girlie-girl Must-haves

It's 7am, which means that while I can't sleep, I can't think too hard either.  Which pretty much means we're back to one of my favorite things... (wait for it)... a list!  So, in honor of my 29 years as an uber-femme on a budget, here I present you with my tried-and-true list of the things every woman should try if she hasn't already and may have never even known she needed:

1. A general knowledge of how shopping on a budget can still fulfill the diva within.  As in, the last time I checked Maybelline was owned by Lancome and their seasonal color and product rollouts were very similar in concept and design yet very different in price.  We're living in a bad economy; learn how to stay beautiful and save some dough at the same time.  I love Suave's Professionals Haircare line, Revlon's Super Lustrous Lipgloss, and Cover Girl's Cheekers blush in Soft Sable when in comes to low-budg beauty products.

2. Three signature scents; one for fall and winter, one for spring and summer; and one that drives men in general crazy.  Remember that the sense of smell is closely related to other's memory of you, so I try to avoid wearing a different perfume every day.  My favorites are Estee Lauder's Intuition for fall and winter, Ann Taylor's Peach Honey Sheer Musk for spring and summer, and Victoria's Secret Vanilla Lace for man-hunting escapades (because a man once told me it was like an orgasm in a bottle!).

3. Certain Dry Anti-persperant.  I unfortunately inherited my father's hot nature and tendency to over-dew it under the arms, and this is hands-down the best anti-persperant I have ever ever used.  I like the roll-on kind and have seriously considered giving it to all my friends for Christmas, it's that good!  Follow the instructions, though, and apply at night and never to freshly shaved pits (or they will itch and burn for hours!).

4. Baby Wipes.  I am childless yet never without them in my home.  They are there for me when I accidentally sleep through morning shower time, they remove many stains from shirts and sheets alike, and they help me clean dingleberries off The Bun's bum without getting my hands dirty.  I will never be without them again.

5. Vibrating Mascara.  Get your minds out of the gutter ladies, they make other things that vibrate for naughty reasons I relish but won't go into.  You need a vibrating mascara because they work... I was an annoyingly perky and overly made-up Clinique girl for over a year and have tried about 40 mascaras in my doings as a diva, yet Maybelline's Pulse Perfection is by far my favorite thus far.

6. Mira's dual-ended eyebrow groomer/eyeliner brush, though I can't remember its official product name to save my life right now.  But if you look for the Mira line, you'll know what I'm talking about.  For only about $3, this tool has a natural-bristled eyebrow brush, a just-stiff-enough lash comb, and an eyeliner brush that is absolutely perfect.  It creates an even line, won't tear your eyelid apart, and stands up to life in my overcrowded makeup bag.  I love it!

I hope you (at this point literally you, my one follower... and first follower... yay!) might actually pick up a little of what I'm putting down here because I swear, I've spent enough time and money learning the hard way for the both of us!  More to come, all for now... goodnight world.

Bad blogger! Bad, bad blogger!

Not that anyone at all has even read this thing yet, but I am still a little ashamed of my blogging behavior (or lack there of) of late.  I swore to myself that, at 29, a blog would be a wonderful way to ignite the fire under my long-neglected creative side once more.  I thought to myself, 'hey, if nothing else it's free therapy, right?'  Yet here I am 3 months later, my limp and underused creative side slow dancing solo around a pile of cold, wet ash, and still no closer to any kind of big coming-of-age emotional breakthrough.

Not that the last three months have been a complete wash... I first enjoyed and later cried over a two month relationship with Mr. YouthinkI'mwonderfulbutI'mreallyaseverlydamagedlyingasshole (of the afformentioned D-I-V-O-R-C-E), I have finished decorating my apartment (and if anyone ever reads the loveloveloves, they'll know how much like mainlining a vein to a heroin addict that is for me), I've hosted my first adult dinner party, had a wonderful Christmas, splurged on a pair of Burberry glasses and received a $100/week promotion.  All in all, not a bad stretch (but for the record, A can rot with J for all I care).

So here I am, lying in the dark at 1am, listening to Dave Matthews while getting to know my keyboard a little better, and finally feeling the urge to write once again.  Damn, it feels good.  Let's just hope I can stick to it this time!

The Hatehatehates

     So, in keeping with the lists that I so love to make, I've decided that when I have nothing else to write about, I will talk about things... as in makeup, menfolk, and things that I can't stand because, well, everyone needs to vent once in a while. Thus, while I try to remain positive (see list at right), I'm in the mood to vent.  On that note, and in counterpoint to the loveloveloves:

The Hatehatehates:

1.  The fact that I have a college degree yet I'm still serving in a restaurant, albeit a fabulously swanky sushi restaurant which provides the best serving job I've ever had.

2.  Men who have tried to have affairs with me but better thank God I'm a cool chick or I could have blown their game wide open when they insisted on bringing their wife on my turf last Saturday.  J, you can rot for all I care.

3.  The fact that I do care or I wouldn't have come up with number two at all.

4.  That my dwarf bunny rabbit, Bunchkin (who is by all means the cutest thing on the planet otherwise), deems it necessary to use my kitchen floor as a litterbox every other day.

5.  The fact that, in keeping with the married man theme of my life at the moment, I have met the man of my dreams and he is currently going through a d-i-v-o-r-c-e and "wants to get his life in order before he compicates the lives of others."  Noble, yes... satisfying, no...

6.  The way the cutest shoes are always the most painful.  Can't just one pair of fabulous red leather pumps with the perfect 2.5" heel be comfy?

7.  Lastly, that even with a college degree, I still haven't the slightest clue what I want to do with my life career-wise.  To go back to school or serve it out and see what happens with the economy, that is the question today my friends.

All for now, have a fantastic night. 

To blog or not to blog...That has been the question of late

I have never been one to jump on the trendy train outside of the world of shoes, purses and other fabulous accessories - especially when it comes to the realm of interactive technology and the like.  In fact, I have always practiced more trend aversion that trend conversion.  I have yet to play WOW, I stalled out on buying my iPhone until 6 months ago (right before it went down to $99, I might add), and sat on my nearly empty facebook account until two years after college when I could no longer recover the password and had to start all over.  Thankfully by then, and only way more recently than I would like to admit, I was old enough (read 'mature enough' here) to yearn for contact with those who have meant a lot to me over the years. 

Now that you understand a bit about my trend rebellion of sorts, it's needless to say that when the big blog explosion occured a while back, I thought Blogging?  I don't need no stinking blogging.  Or did I?

While I'll admit that I tried my hand at a few myspace posts during my brief stint as a convert, they were more in the line of marshmallow fluff and less the stuff of real writing.  So I guess that's why I'm here... spurred on in the wake of Julie & Julia, told all too long ago by college professors (whom I ignored) that I just had to become a writer, and wayyy out of practice in the technical arena, I am now ready to give in by pouring my heart out to friends and strangers alike.

I suppose I have come to consider this my independent column.  Here, I hope to share joy in the mundane, to be able to laugh off those things I will inevitably write and regret the next day, to make new friends, and to entertain with my manscapades among other things.  Your thoughts and opinions are welcome, but please be at least a little kind; the writer in me is shy.