Hello Again

Looks like it's been quite some time since my last post. Behind the scenes, I've drunkenly created a few drafts that need ot be revised for posting.. I hope to be able to commit more time to this blog in the coming months. I anxiously await the release of the iPhone5 which will be my first foray into the "smart phone" world (get with the times Char!). This should kick start my tumblr account, which I will hopefully intergrate with 28A, get me Twitterpated, and let me post here on the go! Ahh the dreams I dream, let me make them come true!

Here goes my list of excuses as to why I haven't been around: lfe. It's crazy. Crazy good, crazy bad. This summer seems to have handed me a load of both, although mostly the latter.

A long time friend of mine, and husband to one of my best friends was tragically killed in Iraq on June 30th, 2011. He was scheduled to come back for leave two weeks later.  Matt was just promoted to Sargent in the Calvary Scout division of the Infantry Unit in the US Army. 

 Friends and family have helped each other deal with the pain that seems to be constantly morphing into a new type of hurt. Katie & Matt were lovely together. Crazy in love, though all the bullshit and the fights, there was laughter and understanding of exactly who the other person was. Matt joined the military to become a better person so he could have a life with Katie, that life they planned to share was cut far to short.

Clinical Trials

After pouring through forums, websites, blogs and videos all day, I decided to, then against, then to, try the "Oil Cleansing Method" (OCM). Let's add this to the list of things I've tried to help my acne prone, sensitive skin, sort of a fight fire with fire sorta deal- ya?? The process consists of steam cleansing your face with a combination of castor and evoo/sunflower-seed/jojoba/avocado oil, depending on which best suits your skin type. I used a 50/50 castor avocado.

- apply oil, massage into face for 30 seconds to a minute
- drench a washcloth in steaming water, wring, apply to face: be sure not to scald your skin!!
- I repeated this twice, then filled the sink with steaming water and made a tent to steam my face
- this should open your pores and allow the oil to draw out the junk (I Google searched "skin purging mask" and found the OCM)
- rinse washcloth and gently wipe oils from face: don't scrub!! this can irritate your skin
- splash with cool water, pat dry

I'm a little nervous. Didn't see any great expulsion from my pores (which I was disgustingly hoping for...), it looked pretty much the same as it usually does after a wash. As I type, my skin is starting to feel a little dry, so I shall pause to apply my LUSH Saving Face serum. Great, my face now looks like a big red oil slick??

For safety's sake, I'll take a few days before repeating the process. I'm no expert, but as with any extreme wash (I'm thinking this is on par with exfoliating), it should be used sparingly so as not to irritate the skin.

I shall update my legions of followers with more news once the time comes.

**Did not try this again. No real reason, just got scared! It wasn't worth the expirement to totally mess with any progress i'd made wit my skin. For now, I'll stick to over-priced facials!

LifeStyle Changes

Upon finalization of my trip to Miami, about a month ago, I kicked myself in diet mode. This essentially consists of deprivation, starvation, cottage cheese and work out classes.
Deprivation being from the sweet sweet sweets that are floating around my head, office and home. Work induced stress causes my co-workers to turn to chocolate instead of booze and are constantly testing my resolve by plopping bags of candy, or cupcakes, on my desk.
Starvation seems to always be lurking around the corner and is oft quelled by a dose of low fat cottage cheese on a Triscuit or carrots.

Let's just eat cake!!

Working out is totally against my nature. I am a beast of leisure and resent the joggers who prance around like sweaty idiots. The gym is unstructured, and I don't know what to do with myself, so exercise classes seemed to be the way to go. Monday through Thursday I'm in a room full of 50 somethings sweating it out to either club music or peaceful chimes. An escape from the elderly and back to my demographic comes on Wednesday with a Pole Fitness class. This is a blast and I can't wait to bust out some stripper moves at da club!

Really, the point of this post is for me to ask: What the hell does it mean to be dieting? I could never cut out carbs, cheeses, meat, or drink only spiced lemonade (ah-hem Master Cleanse). I'm not following any specific plan, but I've always considered myself to be a pretty healthy person. The biggest change is the exercise and the cottage cheese, oh ya and way fewer breakfast sandwiches. Let's just hope this produces a change in my jelly belly..

St. Patties Garb

I don't know what St. Patties is about other than booze. Maybe Boston, corned beef, The Dropkick Murphys, fighting and daydrinking. It's one of those holidays that everyone can celebrate, channeling some bit of Irish heritage we all claim to have mixed in our blood. I've never heard a Jahovah's Witness complain about it as they do with all the other holidays. Saint Patrick's Day is best celebrated by those with severe drinking problems, the unemployed and college students. Here's a little outfit to get the rest of us through the evening.

Heels in the streets of Boston don't often sit well with the hipster scum that skulks around, show them you party with the best of them with your token beanie and RayBans. Lose both these at night to look like a respectable human being. If you are celebrating in the Bean, be ready to see a massive amount of drunk Irishmen looking to fight anyone who they spill their beer on.

Hint of Spring

While we can't quite say Spring has Sprung!, we can honor the crocuses that have poked their heads out with this lilac dress. Fun tights are a spring break from bleak winter black and this hooded military-esq jacket will keep safe from April's showers until we see May's flowers!

Thou shall know their bartender!

We all have those bars where you walk in and can pretty much determine how the rest of your night's going to go from there. Personally, a nice lounge or laid back spot with ample space to dance or sit is my golden ticket. But there are the occasions on which I much prefer a local dive. They can be identified by any of the following: juke box, pool table, darts, pin ball machines, keno, and touch screen bar games. Expect heads to turn when you walk in, scowling, wondering who you know and why you're here. If it's your dive bar you'll know at least a few people, some by sight, less by name. The bar tender knows you and if you're me, hooks you up with the strongest cheapest drinks in town. You'll probably be one of three girls, if you came with one. Everyone will seem to know each other, as even on their busiest nights, it's pretty mello. Most dive bars are pretty niche, and it's fun to play along. I once stumbled upon on old biker's bar called The Gin Mill on my way back into Amherst. The bikers and their chicks got a kick out of my friend and me, as we stuck out like Kenyans in China. We chatted up the guys who came over wondering how and why we were drinking amongst them and I befriended an older woman at the bar.  Ten dollars and four drinks later, we had a good buzz on and bid our new friends adieu.

I like to wear clothes.

This is what I am wearing:

thrifted coat & belt, Target leggings & blazer, Dad's denim shirt, Tj's top, AmAp skirt, boots from Italy,

and some hidden bling

Afternoon Delight

I was going to try to cut my own hair, take pics and give you a little how to. I quickly realized this was an ill guided and poorly timed publicity stunt. The two reasons for this being A. I have no idea how to cut hair (although I do enjoy practicing on other people) and B. it would be better saved for a time when people actually read the shit I spew into this blog.

Took a little roady to Boston to visit a dear friend and was met with bad luck each step of the way.  It started out with trying a new skin cream- break out central, continued on to birth control wreaking havoc on my body, and sickness. Once I got there, my truck was towed from the parking lot behind the apartment I was visiting. Granted this was most likely residential parking only, I felt entitled to a spot because I could not for the life of me find street side parking, and quite frankly, I was ready more than to get out of the car. To elaborate on the spot I found: the parking lot was off the side of a one way street, narrowly accessible due to a huge snow bank. On top of that, it was located behind this apartment building, down a small hill and narrow as hell! I could barely back my truck up into the spot. No way did I think any tow truck would be able to get my car out of there, if they were even looking. Tow they did, and mine wasn't the only one; which, being the sick person I am, gave me a bit of pleasure.

Long, Lean & Rich: that's not too much to ask is it?

Get in shape and save money: how typical are these resolutions? How often do we stray from them?! Quite often. I didn't even need to say it.

Be jealous: I've been motivating! We have a sweet new TV with On Demand channels. Helllooo
Exercise TV and soar muscles. I've been getting up nice and early to do 20 minute workouts before I sit at a desk and snack for eight hours...

Doing this gives me enough time afterwards to take a nice shower (how lux) drink a cup of coffee or two, make a yumyum sandwich for lunch and have a smoothie for breakfast. Now, let's tally: shower: free; coffee: $2.50ish; sandwich: $7; smoothie: $5. That's almost $15 a day! Not saying I would buy a coffee and a smoothie every morning if there wasn't time for it at home, but hey you get the idea! Making all that crap myself ensures that it's not filled with a bunch of sugar and preservatives which is great for my body and overall health (and for my future husband who I will relentlessly feed).

This could be me..

As for the yoga, it really does make me feel great!!! I can zen out and wake myself up at the same time. It's really quite nice in the evening with a friend and a few tokes of the kind bud. I can't wait for summer so I can do it out in the yard and if I'm feeling really sassy, maybe I'll get to the beach like those bitches in the videos. Right now, I can only feel the results, I'm still waiting to see them. Once that day comes, I will waer nothing but cropped tops! Take that winter weight!!!

The Art of A Break Up

I would trade my boyfriend for a puppy. I'm not sure why people laugh or seem surprised when I say this, I really would, and it wouldn't take much thought.

The poor thing would be so upset if he knew that, but hey! I'm just not that into you buddy. What was supposed to be a summer fling somehow turned into a drawn out relationship. Kid needs to be dating a 19 year old, not me. Don't get me wrong, he does cute stuff. Well he used to get me candy sometimes? Now he squeezes my belly and sticks his hands up my shirt any chance he gets. Before last night's $20 dinner, the last time we could remember going out to do something was New Years. We've walked his dogs (to buy him some time) and gone ice skating since then, all of which have been my suggestion.

At a certain point, I think people just stay in relationships because breaking up with someone is a serious pain in my ass! It's sure as hell my reason! Unless you're sick in the head, that face they make, and the claims of affection, and the "I'll do anything"s are almost enough to break your resolve. All after much planning of when to execute said break up. It can't be too close to a holiday, birthday, death or injury because you look like a jerk. You start wondering if you can force him to break up with you somehow. Usually by being a complete bitch or trying to catch him cheat by convincing a friend to hook up with him. But this rarely works out, and often does the opposite- somehow making you more endearing.

So I wonder, is it even worth the effort? Thinking up my valid reasons and counter-arguments for the break up is quite time consuming. Maybe I could just say what I want to say in my typical mannerism and end it like that. I always want to ease into it to lessen his pain, but it might actually be easier on both parties to just be blunt.

Oh Gosh

One hundred ninety eight photos to be narrowed down to six.

Of a few days in Cinque Terre. My prints will surround an artist's print of the bay at Manarola. I have the space for three above the print, and three below the print, in a large white frame.

A large space on my wall needs to be filled with photos: framed and themed..

They will all be from my semester in Italia, I'm thinking a few b&w architectural shots, and color landscape pictures of Perugia in a variety of sizes.

While I would like to have some of myself (so vein) and the people I met, those are more reserved for photo albums. It seems almost a little childish to put those ones on the wall. I'm sure they work for other people, but my photography is adolescent. Were they modeled shots by people who knew what they were doing, it would be a different story. Although, I still may not want people in my bedroom, especially super hot model people.

On Manners

I love the idea of royale balls, dinner parties a la Gossip Girl and the Italian notion of sprezzatura. Besides that, I cherish a gentlemen who knows to hold a door, where to place their napkin, and how use chop sticks. A woman who isn't loud and garish, who can dress a little scandalous without looking it.

Today this seems to be lost. We dig into our meals with elbows on the table napkins askew, all before the rest of the group has been served. This is only acceptable in very informal settings, if the group is very large and partially served, or if indicated by the host/ess to begin. I often assume that things like this are common knowledge but that doesn't seem to be true anymore.

Spending your work day reading etiquitte guides online is quite rude, I shall stop now.