The Princess Report

Living in the New York CIty Hinterland

2012-02-02T14:14:00.000-06:00

I am living with my sister-in-law, Mindee. We live right at the edge of the New York city commuting area (there is only one more train station after ours on the line). My brother-in-law spends about 4 hours everyday commuting, 2 hours there, and 2 hours back.

The area, because it is so remote, is very rural, which translates to very pretty. There are mountains around us, and trees everywhere. The view from my bedroom window is gorgeous-- all trees, and mountains, and a manicured lawn sloping down to a pond. No house, or people. It is very peaceful.

My days are filled with little children playing, and asking for food, and investigating. My niece, Callie, likes to come visit me in my room, and find out what I am doing.

Sometimes this means that I do not get as much work done as I would like. Last night, I had a nightmare about not being prepared for the bar, so I intended to gets lots of work done this morning. I was downstairs, getting breakfast, when my niece Annibelle ran into the room and told me she wanted hot chocolate. So we made that, and then Callie came, and they were both having fun with the marshmallows. And then there was a giant mess to clean up. So I didn't get as much work done as I wanted. But the girls are super cute.

PJ Pants

2012-01-30T14:00:00.001-06:00

While I was visiting Rachel, I made my first pair of PJ pants. I made the pants for Emily from an old pair of PJ pants that I had, that were getting worn out. I figured there was enough good cloth to make Emily a pair of pants, and then she would have matching PJ pants with Rachel. Me and Rachel got the PJ pants a few years ago as Christmas presents from Mindee.

I used a pair of Emily's PJ pants as a pattern, adding a few inches at the top to allow me to make a place for the elastic to go. The pants only took a few hours to make (it would have been shorter if Rachel had not fallen asleep when she was supposed to be telling me what to do.)

Emily in her PJ pants.

The fabric I used had a small nail-polish stain, so I sewed on a small patch to cover the stain. I matched the stripes, so it would be hidden.

Patch.

I also added a pocket to the front, because Emily loves pockets. It was a nice wide pocket, so she could easily put her had in, and maybe carry things.

Pocket.

Tabitha

2012-01-28T13:42:00.001-06:00

Recently,in the beginning of November, my sister lost her baby. Tabitha was about 8 months old when she passed. My niece Emily loved her little sister very much, and was understandably very sad.

By Christmas time, Emily was doing a lot better, and was back to her normal cheerful self. But she still remembered her sister, and would occasionally ask if Tabitha was better yet, so she could come home.

A few days after Christmas, Emily made some snowmen with her Grandpa. They made a Grandpa snowman and an Emily snowman.

Granpa Boling, and Emily with their snowmen.

Grandpa thought they were done, and he went inside to warm up, leaving Emily to play outside. Emily, however, decided they needed another snowman, and started making it all by herself. She would get a handful of snow and put it on top of the little pile she was making.

Emily making a snowman by herself.

Eventually, Grandpa realized that Emily was making another snowman, and came back to help. The snowman that Emily insisted they make, was the Tabitha snowman. Then she insisted that they get a blanket to keep the Tabitha snowman warm (and another blanket to keep the Emily snowman warm; she wanted one for the Grandpa snowman too).

Look-a-like Stars

2012-01-27T23:42:00.000-06:00

I just started watching the first episode of Finder, the new Bones spin-off. I immediately recognized one of the actresses. But I couldn't remember where I saw her. So I went to IMDb to find out. However, none of her works in her filmography was what I was remembering her in. This is when I realized I was thinking of another girl. I finally remembered that I'd seen the girl in Fairly Legal. And when I saw the two pictures next to each other, it was obvious why I was confused. Because the two girls look almost exactly alike. Like they are sisters, or twins.

Mercedes Masohn on the left, Sarah Shahi on the right.

2012-01-26T13:41:00.000-06:00

Here Gerard sits. With his hard drive removed. Poor Gerard died in a traumatic fall. He landed on his hard drive, which immediately broke. He broke his mother board too. So now he is very dead.

Poor Gerard.

I lost all my picture from 2011, and all my recipes when Gerard fell. There were more files that I lost, too, but that is what I am the most upset about. Especially that recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies that I spent months and countless batches of cookies perfecting. And all my pictures of Tabitha.

Thankfully, I was able to re-download the 500+ songs I had from iTunes without paying any more money.

Now I have Gerard II. He has an aluminum frame, so if I drop him, he will not break the way Gerard I did. Which is good, because about a month after I got Gerard II, I dropped him. Oops. And then I went to go visit Rachel for 3 weeks, and Emily liked to play drums on Gerard II when I was using him. So it is good that Gerard II has such a sturdy frame.

I took Gerard to see my friend, Sonny, the computer genius, to see if he could fix Gerard after I dropped him. While he was looking at Gerard, I started having a panic attack and sobbing--right around the time he said that the hard drive was completely shot, and he wouldn't be able to retrieve any of my information. Sonny pointed out that I was overreacting. That there are lots of people in this world who have serious problems, and that in the grand scheme of things losing a few files is not a big deal.

His comment made me think, about how I take so much for granted, and the things that really matter. And I am trying not to care so much about my small problems.

But I did start pounding my head against the wall the other day when I thought I lost my knitting needles, so I guess I still need to work on this a lot.

Losing all my recipes also made me think about what I spend my time on--all the effort I had put into collecting and perfecting my recipes was gone. What if I had spent that time on something that mattered more, something that wouldn't be lost if my computer died.

30th Birthday

2011-12-29T10:18:00.002-06:00

Today is my 30th Birthday, and I feel like a failure.

I am homeless. Currently, I am staying with Rachel for the holidays. After the holidays, my wonderful sister-in-law said I could live with her until I find my own place. She lives in the suburbs of New York City, and I am really happy that she said I could live with her. But, I do not have a place of my own, and after living on my own for so long, I feel pathetic mooching off family.

I am jobless. For the first 8 months of my LLM program I had a job. But this last semester, I haven't been able to get one. And then I started applying for jobs when I graduated, and no one has even responded. So now I am headed back to New York City without a job, and signed up to take the New York Bar in the hopes that this will help me get a job in the city.

I am relationship-less and childless. Sometimes I don't mind waiting so long to settle down and have children, because I got to do a lot of things that I wouldn't have been able to do if I was married with kids. Like go to lawschool twice, and live in Chicago and New York City. However, whenever I come home, my mother makes comments about how she doesn't think I'll ever get married and maybe I should consider adoption if I ever want to have children. That makes me really depressed.

I did gain another law degree, which I am hoping will help me reach my end goals of working in the fashion industry and becoming a law professor. This is exciting. Of course, I went another $50k in debt to get the degree.

And I gained 20 pounds. I really hate feeling fat. On top of that, I have spent a lot of money to buy the clothes I own, and I don't want to have to buy new clothes because I got fat. I have lots of nice clothes, and it makes me sad I am too big to wear them.

I am always sick, and I don't have insurance. Insurance is one of those luxuries I've had to give up because I am poor. But now, I've developed chronic sinus infections, and I am always sick, and the (free) doctor at my school told me to go see a specialist. And just seeing an ear nose and throat specialist costs about $650. If they touch you at all, the costs quickly escalate (looking up your nose is another few hundred dollars.) Even the clinic for poor people charges about $200 to see a specialist. I am strongly in favor of a government run health care system. Because no one should have to be too sick to work and too poor to see a doctor, which is how I've been lately.

Here's hoping this year I get a (really good) job, pass the bar, find a nice place to live, settle down, get skinny and get healthy.

Why I wouldn't mind trying Kangaroo

2011-12-06T10:27:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago, in my Fashion Ethics class, we were talking about cruelty towards animals in the fashion industry. My teacher made a passing comment, about how they sell kangaroo meet at his local specialty food store, and how that creeps him out.

And in the latest House episode (on Hulu), Chase told the new, pretty girl doctor that he hunts kangaroo back home in Australia, as a practical joke. The message the show made was that eating kangaroo is so ludicrice, no cultured person would ever seriously do it.

I find this all very silly. Kangaroos are basically deer that hop. They are herbivores, and are about the same size as deer. And they are stupid. In fact they are stupider than deer. And deer are pretty dumb.

I blame the reluctance to eat "cute" animals on Bambi, the Disney movie. In Bambi, the deer were intelligent, with feelings and emotions. Bambi cries when his mother dies, and is scared when the fire breaks out. However, in reality, deer are stupid. They probably have emotions (most living things do), but that does not make them people.

If a person chooses to eat meat (my professor does), then eating kangaroo shouldn't be any worse than eating deer. I wouldn't mind trying deer, and I wouldn't mind trying kangaroo. Our culture has become very clinical, and detached from nature. Many people don't realize that meat comes from a living animal. And sometimes those that do realize this choose to give up eating meat purely because they think the animals are too cute to eat. They personify the animals and think that they are people.

If someone chooses to give up meat, it should be a rational choice based on fact, and not an emotional response based upon myth. Bambi is not a documentary. It is a fictional story that is no more real that the glass slippers and fairy godmother in Cinderella.

Christmas List

2011-11-27T11:21:00.000-06:00

As it is now after Thanksgiving, I thought I would post the list of things I want this year. Please don't feel obligated to buy me anything, but if you want to buy me something, and don't know what to get, this is what I want:

"Snuff" by Terry Pratchett
"Maid Marion: A Novel" by Elsa Watson
"Ghosts of Stony Clove" by Eileen Charbonneau
"The Stolen Law" by Anne Mason
"The Dancing Meteorite" by Anne Mason
Tiffany keys heart key charm (silver with pink enamel) from the Tiffany's jewelry store
fancy headbands
pink clothes (tops size M or L, bottoms size 10)
giftcard to itunes
pink yoga pants/work out pants

Please Help

2011-11-24T01:07:00.000-06:00

As some of you may have heard, recently my computer died. The hard drive is dead. My super-computer-savvy friend managed to rescue my paper from the dead hard drive, but he tells me that the drive is completely dead now, and he won't be able to get anything else off of it. Everything on my hard drive is gone. This includes all my bookmarks in my web-browser. If you could please send me the address of your blogs, then I can read them! And then I can re-bookmark them. :)

Kitchen Nightmares' Burger Kitchen

2011-11-12T10:09:00.000-06:00

I got so mad watching the latest episode of Kitchen Nightmares that I started screaming at the computer screen (I watch on hulu).

It wasn't about the food, or how the restaurants are run. It was about how the owner got funding for the restaurant. The owner paid for the restaurant with the inheritance he got when his father died ($250k). Then, when he ran out of money, he used the money in his son's trust ($250k), which was created when the father died, to fund his restaurant. The owner was the trustee of the money, which means that he controlled the money, and could chose to invest the money. However, the trustee cannot invest the money in his own project, because doing so results in a conflict of interest. Taking the money for the trustee's own use is EMBEZZLEMENT, and a felony.

On the show, the owner mentioned that he invested his son's money in the restaurant without telling him, and now his son was mad at him. And he didn't know why his son was mad at him. This is when I started shouting at the computer screen.

The son can sue to get his money back, but at this point, because the father is so bad at managing the restaurant, there would be nothing to get back. So the son is forced to help run the restaurant in the hopes that someday, he might be able to get his money. (The son is an adult).

I hope that the police watch the show, and then charge the father with theft, and then he GETS SENT TO PRISON FOR EMBEZZLEMENT OF HIS SON'S TRUST ACCOUNT!!!!!!!

Walking through the Movies

2011-10-24T11:13:00.028-05:00

I live right by central park. Recently, I went on a walk, and I kept seeing places that were used as sets for movies. I took some photos so I could share.

Castle from Step Mom

Julia Roberts plays a photographer, and does a shoot at the Belvedere Castle. When I saw the movie, I immediately wanted to see this castle, and was excited when I found it on my walk.

Boat pond from What Dreams May Come.

In What Dreams May Come, the couple meets as adults on Lake Como, Italy, while sailing. Eventually (after a lot of tragic things happen) they die. Then they are reincarnated, and meet as children, both sailing toy sail boats, at the central park boat pond.

Boat house from 27 dresses.

Katherine Heigl's character meets the reporter (her love interest) at the boat house for lunch. I thought it was so elegant, and pretty. People can rent row boats, and row around the pond. Its so romantic.

Fountain from Enchanted.

I'm pretty sure this is the fountain everyone dances around in the song "That's How You Know." (You can see the boat house and a row boat in the background).

Pease Porrige

2011-10-22T10:57:00.027-05:00

When I was a little girl, the nursery rhyme "Pease Porrige" always fascinated me.

Pease porrige hot,
Pease porrige cold,
Pease porrige in the pot,
Nine days old.

I always wondered what pease porrige was. No one I talked to could tell me. Then, when I was doing research into Thanksgiving food, and what the pilgrims at the first Thanksgiving feast actually ate, I ran into an article on pease porrige.
It turns out, pease porrige is split pea soup.

I love split pea soup.

Recently I bought some split peas, and I made myself some split pea soup. Yum. The first time I made it, I followed the instructions on the packet, and only boiled the peas for about 45 minutes. And they were a little tough and tasted starchy. Not good. So when I made split pea soup this time, I boiled those suckers for a good hour and a half. And they ended up nice and creamy and soft-- like the split pea soup I remembered my mother making.

I made some falafal balls and put them in the soup. It was super filling, one bowl, and I was stuffed.

Ladylike boots

2011-10-20T10:55:00.001-05:00

I just got a pair of boots from DSW that I love.

They are flat oxford ankle boots. A boy in my fashion ethics class has a pair, and I have been dying to get my hands on some. Happily, DSW had some online (on sale!). When I looked at them online, I really liked them, except they only came in brown and black. I really wanted gray boots, and I was a little bummed that they didn't come in gray. I ended up buying the brown ones. Brown would go with most of my clothes, and I even in brown, these boots were so much better than anything else I could find.

The boots came today, and they were totally gray! I was so happy. I was expecting them to be chocolate brown, and they came in the exact color I wanted.

Public Facebook Pictures

2011-10-09T14:43:00.003-05:00

So, I learned something interesting in law school the other day. Apparently, if you have the privacy setting for the pictures you upload to Facebook set to "public", then Facebook has the right to use those pictures in advertisements in Facebook, and can SELL those pictures to advertisers to use on and off-line.

My teacher told us a story about a family whose photo was being used by a Swiss grocery store in Switzerland on a billboard. The grocery store bought the photo from Facebook.

Its something to think about. Especially if you're concerned about your privacy, or have the secret desire to be an international model and realize this could be an easy way to have international fame without any effort.

Fashion Week

2011-10-07T14:43:00.000-05:00

So, I have had several requests to include pictures of the oddly dressed people I see around New York City. A few weeks ago, I went to Fashion Week, and I saw some people that I knew I would blog about, and this time I got pictures.

Fashion Week was everything I dreamed it would be and more. Finally, I realized my lifelong dream of walking among the tents, among fashion's elite. It was sparkly, and wonderful, with lots of free swag. And of, course, there were some fashion risk takers as well.

The girl with the ice-skating costume on: this first girl I noticed from across the room. I was like "what is she wearing, she doesn't have clothes on." Well, technically her torso was covered, but not much else. Her dress was short, so short you could almost call it a leotard. And it was ruched, and it kept creeping up and getting shorter and shorter. After I took a picture of her, I saw her pull the hem down, so it came a whole 3 inches down her thigh.

The girl with the ice skating costume on.

The lady in the hat: I enjoyed this next fashion risk a lot more than the first one. This lady wore a feathered hat to fashion week. I thought the hat was awesome; it reminded me of Princess Kate's wedding to Prince William. Someday, I hope to own a hat, and I shall have formal teas, just so I can wear it. Though, I don't think my hat will be as feathery as this one.

Feathered hat.

Fashion Week was a lot of fun. I hope to return next year. In furtherance of that goal, I need to find a job in the fashion industry. Here's hoping a fashion house is looking for a young lawyer!

Monster PJs

2011-09-14T15:31:00.021-05:00

Last week I was in Pennsylvania, where my sister's family was having a reunion (I'm an honorary sister-in-law). On Friday, I went shopping at the outlet mall (after it finally opened) with my sister and sister-in-law Mindee. They brought along their little girls, so we were quite a shopping party. 3 strollers, and 4 little girls.

We had a great time, going from shop to shop. And then we got to Gap. Right by the front door, there was a display of toddler PJs. They were at the right height for little girls in a stroller to see. I pushed my niece Annabelle over, and Annabelle looked intently at the PJs.

There was one pair of PJs that she really loved. It was pink, and a cute monster was appliqued on the front. Annabelle started kicking here feet and loudly saying how much she wanted the PJs. Around me, Annabelle has almost never expressed a desire for anything, and usually she talks in almost a whisper. She is a very demur child.

I think children should be encouraged to express their desires, so I found Annabelle's size, and gave her the PJs. She lovingly held those PJs as if they were the most precious thing in the whole world. We got matching PJs for all the girls, because we thought they would be beyond cute all matchy-matchy.

And the next morning Annabelle proudly showed me the monster on her tummy, and she was all smiles.

Reasons Fordham Law drives me insane

2011-09-12T15:26:00.001-05:00

1. The administration keeps messing up my student loans, so they don't get processed on time, and then I have to pay a late fee.

Over the summer, the registrar's office had me listed as graduated, so it took 2 1/2 months for me to get my loan. I didn't get my money until July, which is about when the semester ended.

Now, they have me listed as in bad academic standing, because the LLMs are graded on a different scale than the JD students, and so my grades aren't showing up in the system.

2. The health center doctor is incompetent.

I went in for a sinus infection, and she thought I had a heart attack. Really, she even did the test. And then started reassuring me about how I didn't have a heart attack, like I would feel better if I just knew my heart wasn't giving out. And she gave me a 1/2 hour lecture on how to scam the system at a hospital to get free medical care, because she couldn't be bothered to help me. And then she refused to treat me for my sinus infection.

Last winter, I went in with another sinus infection, and she thought I had mono. Because apparently all college students who are sick have mono.

3. The computers, copy machines, etc. in the library are constantly malfunctioning.

Whenever I have to make a copy of something or print something, it takes at least twice as long as it should, because I have to find a machine that works properly.

4. Everyone treats me like I'm not a real LLM student, because I'm American.

I am so annoyed by the administration at Fordham who constantly give me a hard time when I try to get help. I tell them I'm an LLM student, and they look at me like I'm lying. I know that 90% of the LLM students are international students, but do they have to be so condescending? I even had someone tell me that my English was very good.

5. The career advisor for LLM students went on Maternity leave, and they didn't get someone to replace her.

It would be nice if I could talk to a career advisor. But no. I'm not allowed to talk to the JD career advisor, and the LLM advisor went on Maternity leave. Maybe she's back now. But it would have been nice to talk to her at the beginning of my LLM term, instead of waiting till the end.

6. The law student I talked to a couple weeks ago, who asked me if this was my first semester. I can pretty much guarantee I'm at least 5 years older than him. Sometimes its nice to look young, and sometimes I just want to smack someone. I'm not 18, I'm 29. Stop treating me like a child.

Princess School

2011-09-06T12:49:00.001-05:00

When I moved into the Fordham dorms, I immediately felt like a princess in a castle. I live in a tall tower overlooking the rest of the downtown campus. My room is painted the palest pink with a pink door, and radiator. All these things feel princess-y to me.

I visited the main Fordham campus recently, and I felt even more like a princess. Several of the buildings on the main campus look like castles. One of these buildings is brand new, so Fordham has clearly embraced the castle theme.

This is an old building, with turrets on top.

This building is brand new. Its got turrets on top. In the picture you can just see the center turrets, but it has more at each end. And if you look closely, you can see the archway that goes underneath the building. Its big enough to drive a couple cars through. It feels like the gateway to a castle.

Gandalf Eyebrows and the Hobbit

2011-09-04T12:21:00.002-05:00

If you read the Hobbit and Lord of the Ring books, you may have noticed that in the book, Gandalf has eyebrows that are huge and bushy, and stick out past his hat.

As my sister pointed out, in the Lord of the Rings movies, Gandalf's eyebrows were not bushy enough. I always assumed that they did it that way, because eyebrows bushy as in the book were not possible.

Sadly, I was wrong about that. My boss from my internship this summer had Gandalf eyebrows, that could easily reach that state. They weren't there quite yet, because (thankfully) he tried to keep them groomed. But, sometimes he'd miss some hair, and he'd have a 3 inch long random gray, bristly hair sticking out in a random direction.

Anyway, talking about Gandalf has made me really excited for the new Hobbit movie. Which has Orlando Bloom in it. Some people are complaining that Orlando Bloom shouldn't be in it. However, I think that more Orlando Bloom is better, and besides he would have been in Mirkwood at the time the movie is set.

Hurricane Irene

2011-09-02T12:19:00.002-05:00

As an aside, whenever I hear the name Irene, I think of the "Hello Eileen" song from when I was a teenager. If you want, you can hum the song to yourself as you read this post, because its stuck in my head now.

Hurrican Irene was very anti-climatic for me. I didn't like in the evacuation zone of New York city, because although I live on an island, I also live on a hill, so we were above the flood danger zone. And I live in the Fordham dorms, and we have a back-up generator for if the power goes out.

On Friday, I got an email from Fordham telling me that anyone on campus over the weekend should stay inside all weekend, so we would be safe.
It did rain a little. I think most of the rain came down Saturday night when I was asleep. But most of the time, it wasn't raining and the wind wasn't blowing. But, we still couldn't leave the building, because sudden gusts of 40+ mph wind were possible.

So, I know that parts of New York City flooded, and the trains were down for a while. But for me it was not any worse than a thunderstorm.

Stylish Men

2011-08-26T17:22:00.004-05:00

Men in New York city take more fashion choices than most of the places I've been. Here are some examples:

I was walking down the sidewalk the other day, when I saw a man wearing a pink polo and pale blue seersucker shorts.

I was checking out at Top Shop, and I noticed that the sales clerk (male) was wearing suspenders clipped to a pair of women's pleated indigo pants. (I know they were women's pants because Top Shop had the same pants on sale, and I'd just spent a great deal of time eyeing the pants in pink, which sadly did not come in my size.)

I was at the pharmacy waiting for the druggist to ring me up, when I saw a genie walk by. I mean, a man. He was wearing all white linen-- short sleeve button down and loose pants. And then he had a pair of blue suede shoes that curved up over the toes. He looked like the genie from Aladdin.

I was exiting the subway the other day, when I noticed the man on the stairs in front of me had a pair of periwinkle blue pants on-- the color was a cross between blue and lavender. And he had a matching stripped button down. Then I noticed he had grey hair.

Borders is closing!

2011-08-24T17:08:00.002-05:00

I have had a personal war with Borders for the past few years. And now Borders is closing down.

Before I moved to Chicago, I never really went to Borders. I usually shopped at Barnes and Nobel, which is a wonderful bookstore.

Borders is not a wonderful bookstore. The sales people are rude all the time. And they never know anything about books. Whenever I ask them things, they stare at me blankly, then walk over to a computer and try to look up what I need. And Borders never gets books on their release date. I cannot count the number of times Borders has sent me an email telling me to come to Borders to get the new book from an author I love, and when I go to Borders the sale people a) don't know anything about the book and b) are rude when they tell me the book isn't in the store, and won't be for a few weeks.

Which is why the fact that Borders is going out of business makes me happy. Maybe if they'd hired people who knew about books and told their sales staff to be polite they wouldn't have gone bankrupt.

And now I get to go buy books for cheap because they are having a going out of business sale.

Brioche Bread

2011-08-22T17:00:00.002-05:00

I had brioche bread for the first time recently.

Whenever I watch Top Chef, it seems like someone is using brioche bread to make some kind of appetizer. And the judges always yell at the contestants, and say it doesn't work. I had no idea why. The bread sounded interesting, and fun. But I had not idea what it tasted like.

Well, I finally got to find out. It turns out brioche bread tastes like a croissant. Like, instead of rolling the croissants, they put all the dough into a bread pan and bake it up. So basically, it is a divine cloud of eggy, buttery goodness.

I love croissants, and I loved brioche bread. But now I understand why the judges would make comments about how it didn't work with an appetizer. It's a bread that is meant to be soaked in coffee, or smothered in jelly or warm gooey chocolate. It's a dessert bread. And serving it with savory appetizers just isn't going to work.

Princess dress

2011-08-20T14:30:00.000-05:00

So a few months ago, I started watching a Korean Drama called "My Princess". It is an absolutely adorable fictional account of a princess in modern Korea. There's lost of drama, and of course an angst-y love story. (Required in all Korean Dramas).

One of the reasons I really like the show, is because of all the beautiful clothes the princess wears. She dresses in girly, feminine clothes, with lots of pastels and lace.

I was absolutely in love. And I really wanted some princess clothes of my own. And then I found this dress on Modcloth.com, which has lots of unique dresses made by young designers.

It has a pretty pink knit top, with flowers appliquéd, and the skirt has a lace overlay. So adorable.

Superman Reboot

2011-08-18T16:36:00.007-05:00

So, a new Superman movie is in the works. Its supposed to come out June 2013. It's called "Man of Steel" and all the bloggers are raving about how awesome its going to be, because they are going to make the new movie like they made the new batman movies.

Maybe, it's just me, but I am kind of sad about the whole thing.

After watching "Superman Returns," I was beyond excited about Superman's son. And now, they are completely ABANDONING that whole story line. Because apparently the producers feel they made a terrible mistake in "Superman Returns," and they need to completely reboot the whole franchise.

I was so excited about Superman's son. When I was a little girl, I used to read the Superman comics. I got a huge volume from the library and read all the comics from the beginning. And then, when I was a teenager, I used to watch the cartoon Superman TV show all the time. And when I was in college I watched Smallville. And when "Superman Returns" came out, I went and saw that, and then saw the rest of the movies.

And I thought that the introduction of Superman's son was great. I thought it would be awesome-- because then Superman wouldn't have to feel so alone anymore. He'd have a son, that he could teach to help protect the world like he does. And I was so happy when I heard they were filming a sequel.

AND THEN the producers killed the sequel and started making this "Man of Steel" movie instead. And I am upset.

Jackie and Aimes

2011-08-16T18:21:00.000-05:00

The cutest thing happened on the latest episode of the Bachelor Pad. Aimes, who was my favorite from the latest season of the Bachelorette*, and this cute girl named Jackie started hanging out in the first episode. They were both from New York and immediately started making plans to see each other after the show was over. Apparently they spent all their time together, which wasn't the best way to win the money, because Jackie got voted off because she wasn't popular enough.

But it turned out to be a good way to find love.

When Jackie's limo was driving off, Aimes turned to everyone, waved goodbye, and then jogged after the limo until the driver stopped. The he got in, and they left together. Beyond cute. And as they drove away, Aimes said that they'd won Bachelor Pad.

And Reality Steve says that Jackie and Aimes were spotted together on vacay in Napa this week, which means that they're still together. Yay! Soooo cute.

As Michelle said, as the limo drove away. Those to are going to make beautiful babies together, and I'm going to love it.

* There are so many things to love about Aimes: he's smart, and funny, and such a gentleman. And always impeccably dressed. He was wearing a blazer, dress shirt, tie and red chinos at the rose ceremony. If only other men would dress like that.

Worst shoes ever.

2011-08-09T22:12:00.001-05:00

The other day, I was on the subway, when I saw the worst shoes ever. The saddest thing, is that I've seen these shoes at least 3 times since I moved to New York City.

Toe shoes.

Yes. Toes shoes. Like toe sock, but shoes.

Because everyone wants to see your toes. And they look sooo comfortable. And they look like they are made for surfing, so they don't look street appropriate. And they make the toes spread out unattractively; they make the feet look like flippers.

In a city as stylish as New York, why do toe shoes exist?

Weird Things I See in New York

2011-07-09T14:02:00.001-05:00

I see a lot of weird things living in the city. Here are some of the highlights:

Guy with cat on head: The other day, half a block from where I work, I saw a guy with a cat perched on his head. A full grown cat, sitting on his head. And he was acting all casual, talking to a couple people. Like a full grown cat on your head isn't a bid deal.

Guy straight out of a bad eighties music video: Yesterday, when I was at the drugstore, standing in line for the checkout counter, the guy in front of me looked like he just stepped off the set of an eighties music video. He had on leopard print skinny jeans, a black tank top, and a knee-length red velvet zebra print scarf tied around his head.

Mullet dress: Maybe not as colorful as the first two examples, but about a month ago, I saw a woman wearing a dress that went from a mini in the front to a maxi in the back. She wasn't a thin woman either, and the dress sort of billowed out behind her.

Tights as legging, legging shorts: I see these all the time. I see girls walking down the street ALL the time wearing tights as leggings. These aren't opaque tights either. You can clearly see their legs. And they don't wear tunic length shirts either, no they wear regular length shirts. So you can totally see everything. Also, I see a lot of girls who wear legging shorts. Legging shorts are like bike shorts, only much, much shorter. So basically, they look like underwear. And girls wear them around town, like they are totally ok.

See through tops: I also see a lot of women wandering around in see through tops. I say women, because most of the people I have seen have been over thirty. See through tops can be cute, if you wear something underneath, like a tank top, so you don't flash the world. But these women don't wear anything underneath besides their bras. And these tops aren't sightly transparent. They are basically a thin layer of COMPLETELY see through gauze. And that isn't cute or stylish. Its just incredibly skanky.

Love in the Wild

2011-07-02T11:36:00.001-05:00

So, apparently someone in tv producing thinks like I do, because now there is a reality tv show where couples try to find love in the midst of a grueling jungle competition.

The show is called Love in the Wild, and only one episode has come out so far. (It's on Hulu.) The premise of the show is that 10 single girls, and 10 single guys arrive to the jungle. The couples pair off, and then compete in a obstacle course race, where they have to rely on each other to do well. The show is built on the idea that couples that work the best together and have the best chemistry will do better, and win the challenges, while those that don't match won't do as well. Every week, the couples have the opportunity to switch partners, so they can find someone they have a better connection with.

The first episode was pretty awesome-- the couple that won was smitten with each other. Plus there was lots of drama with the other couples that didn't hit it off as well. So much fun!

Reality Couples

2011-06-28T23:44:00.001-05:00

I was talking to my friend the other day, and I mentioned that I thought that Bachelor/Bachelorette wasn't the best way for couples to get together if they wanted staying power. (I mean, the Bachelor/Bachelorette enterprise is in its 22nd season-- 15 seasons of the Bachelor and 7 seasons of the Bachelorette-- and only 1 couple that got engaged on the show is married. Admittedly, the Bachelor/Bachelorette enterprise does try hard to make a love connection beyond the show, and holds reunions for cast members, and now they have another show, Bachelor Pad (2 season starting soon!) )

I thought that for people really looking for a long term relationship, they should through contestants into a Survivor atmosphere. On Survivor, contestants deal with physical exhaustion, dehydration, extreme hunger and being filthy 24/7. If you can make a love connection in that environment its going to last. In Bachelor/Bachelorette everything is fantasy dates with hair and make-up ready to make you look perfect. A great way to have a good time, but not a great way to figure out if you can deal with this person when they are grouchy and smelly. Which happens when you are married.

I think the track record speaks for itself. The Bachelor/Bachelorette enterprise, including reunions and Bachelor Pad has 3 married couples, 3 engaged couples, and one extremely steady couple. It should be noted that only 1 couple that got engaged on the show is now married. And this is a show about dating.

Married:
Trista Rehn and Ryan Sutter: the only couple to get engaged on the show and then get married. They now have 2 children together.
Jason Mesnick and Molly Malaney: Jason didn't pick Molly during taping of the show. Instead he let Molly go in the final episode, then realized he really loved Molly, so he broke it off with the girl he'd gotten engaged to, and he and Molly got married.
Jesse Csincsak and Ann Lueders: Jesse and Ann met on a reunion cruise, and are now married with a baby. Cuteness.

Engaged:
Ali Fedotowsky and Roberto Martinez: they got engaged on air and are still engaged. Hopefully they'll get married soon, and it will be televised, so we can all watch!
Chris Lambton and Peyton Wright: just got engaged a few days ago. They met at a reunion.
Ashley and her mystery man: the latest season of Bachelorette has finished taping, so Ashley is engaged. To whom, we don't know yet (unless you read the spoilers online.)

Couple:
Kiptyn Locke and Tenely Molzahn: known as Kip-ten, they are possibly the cutest couple in the world. When Tenely left her season of the Bachelor, Chris Harris (the host) told her she was the nicest contestant they had ever had on the show. On the first season of Bachelor Pad, Kiptyn and Tenely, who had been friends before the show, started dating. They've been dating for a year now, and Kiptyn has told the press that they might get engaged by the end of the year! Yay.

And then there is Survivor. A show not about dating, and has a much better track record. Three successful, long term relationships developed from contact on the show, with lots more from reunions and after parties.

Married:
Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich: met on Survivor Allstars, they formed an alliance the first day that lasted through the show. At the finale, Rob proposed to Amber. They got married a few months later, and have been happily married for about 10 years now, and have 2 children.
Erik Huffman and Jaime Dugan: met on Survivor China, and got married shortly after the show.
Alex Bell and Kim Powers: married, but didn't meet on the show, as they did different seasons.

Couples: there are a lot of couples from Survivor, but my favorites are:
Ethan Zohn and Jenna Morasca: they both won their seasons of Survivor, and met at the after party of her season. They were both part of Survivor Allstars, and started dating shortly thereafter. They've been dating for many years now, and she recently helped him get through cancer. They'll be competing on the next season on Amazing Race. Yay!
Stephen Fischbach and Courtney Yates: they didn't meet on survivor, as they did different seasons, but they make me extremely happy. Stephen is a scrawny nerd, and Courtney is a very thin girl who doesn't like to get dirty. She won a challenge once because she refused to fall in the nasty, dirty water, so she just sat motionless on top of her barrel for hours until everyone else fell in. They are super cute together.

Of course, reality tv really isn't the best place to find love. But if you want to try that route, I would suggest a show where you get to know the real person, when they are dirty and grouchy. That way your relationship will last after the cameras are gone.

Silver and gold

2011-05-07T14:30:00.013-05:00

Gold and silver are in right now. Especially together. As a person with neutral skin tones, I can wear both silver and gold, so I like this trend. In the picture above you can see my my elephant necklace from J. Crew. I painted on a saddle blanket with pink nail polish. In the middle is my gold head band from LOFT. On the right is my charm necklace with a eiffel tower, and a fleur de lee, and a key.

Carribean Vacay

2011-05-04T14:30:00.007-05:00

I want to go to the Caribbean for my birthday. This has been my goal for several years. But now that I am close to being done with school, and (hopefully) getting a real job, its an attainable goal within the next few years.

I really want to go to a fancy-schmancy 5 star hotel. Where they have cabanas on the beach with pool boys to bring you cold smoothies. And lots of yummy food. And snorkeling, and tennis, and maybe a yacht you can hire for the day. And lots of shopping. And maybe some pirate ruins to play around in.

Ahhhh.

Sometimes, when I am stressed, I think about my Caribbean vacay I am going on. It will be wonderful, and all my favorite people will be there. And I will be very happy.

Tangerine spring

2011-04-30T14:30:00.009-05:00

Tangerine is very big this season. It is a gorgeous color, and I love it on the rack. The only problem is that tangerine does not love me. With my blonde hair and super-pale skin, most tangerines tend to wash me out.

Sadly, this means I can't get the pair of super-stylish tangerine shorts from J. Crew that I absolutely adore. They are architectural, and very au currant, and make me look like a vampire. Sad.

But I wanted to be in on the tangerine craze, because I love the color and wanted to be in on the trend. And then I found a sweater at Ann Taylor LOFT that was perfect. It was tangerine, but a pastel version of the color.

And then I found this cute pastel tangerine silk camisole from J. Crew (yes, I love that store) to go underneath. Yay! Now I can be all trendy and tangerine.

Breaking down those knots

2011-04-27T14:30:00.006-05:00

My back gets very tense sometimes. My other muscles get tense too. So tense that it hurts to sit still because my muscles feel like they are on fire. And then I wish I had money to go to a massage therapist and get a deep tissue massage.

Sadly funds are limited, so this isn't an option.

However, I have found something just as effective, if not more. Exercising my tense muscles breaks down the knots, and then they don't hurt as much. Plus, you don't have to get half-naked around a stranger when you exercise. I never liked that part of massage therapy.

I feel a lot more motivated to exercise when I know my muscles won't be as tense if I remember to work out. I like the rowing machine, it breaks down all the knots in my back and neck. Yay.

Ballet flats

2011-04-23T14:30:00.016-05:00

Ballet flats are very in right now. When I walk around the streets of Manhattan, all the stylish young girls are wearing ballet flats. This makes me very happy, because I really love ballet flats. Also, designers are making more interesting ballet flats-- I see some very swoon-worthy shoes as I walk around.

I wish I made a lot more money so I could buy these shoes, especially this pair of Chanel flats I've seen on about 10 women-- nude patent leather with a black toe cap. Yummy scrumbos. But they cost about $450.

My Ballet flats:

I've had this pair of ballet flats for about 5 years, that I absolutely love. They are purple velvet. I got them from American Eagle, and have long since broken them in to fit perfectly. They are a little worn, but I love them.

These are my tennis shoe ballet flats. I like wearing them to work out, because then I feel girly, and working out isn't so bad.

I just got these ballet flats from J. Crew. I really love them. They are super comfortable, and the color of the main body is almost exactly the same color as my feet, which makes me feel like I have shoes like the Chanel ones I've seen all over. They even have toe caps.

These are my Christian Loubatins. My boss bought them for me as a bonus after we won a big case. They are very comfy, and I feel glamorous when I wear them.

One reason I love ballet flats so much, is because they are princess shoes. Long ago, in the middle ages, princesses wore shoes similar to the ballet flat. These were dainty shoes, made of silk or satin or kid leather, and were perfect for walking the halls of castles, and dancing.

When I wear my ballet flats I feel like a princess.

Uptown Girl

2011-04-20T14:30:00.041-05:00

I have a friend who like to call me an "uptown girl." He also refers to himself as a "downtown man." He lives south of me, down in Union Square, Manhattan, while I live at the Lincoln Center, Manhattan, which is west of central park.

It isn't just where I live, either. I dress like an uptown girl-- proper and classy, with a touch of fabulous. I like wearing ballet flats and girly-girl clothes. I wear pearls every day, and love cardigans. Whenever I leave my neighborhood, I feel like I stand out. Especially when I ride the subway. (Most of the people on the subway are trendy-hipsters, all jeggings, ironic t-shirts and androgynous hair cuts, or hood-rats with baggy jeans and backwards caps.) Maybe this is because most uptown girls take town cars instead of riding the subway.

Downtown men are polished, with a stylish edge. They work in the financial district, and are smart and driven to succeed. Maybe in the song "Uptown Girl" that wasn't what a downtown man was. But now, a downtown man is a good catch-- a modern day prince.

So I'm just an uptown girl looking for her downtown man.

Princess manicure

2011-04-16T13:31:00.043-05:00

For the past few months, I have been doing my nails the same way. I discovered this manicure a few months ago, when I was experimenting with some of my colors. The manicure is simple and elegant, with just enough glamor to make me feel like a princess in the middle of a fairy tale.

I start with several coats of Sally Hansen's "Pink Slip". Once the nail polish is even and thick enough to be opaque, I add a couple coats of Sally Hansen's "Shall We Dance?" to make my nails pinker. The layering of many coats of nail polish give my nails depth, like fine china.

Once my nails are the color I like, I use Sally Hansen's "Gilty Pleasure" to make a french tip across the top of my nail. And I apply a coat of clear polish to keep the gold from wearing off. In the end, my nails look like gilded fine china.

Korean Dramas and the hot boy in my class

2011-03-02T16:07:00.001-06:00

So I've been watching a lot of Korean dramas lately. They are so dramatic and fun. And the boys are all super romantic. Recently I started watching My Princess, which is awesome, because the main character gets to wear really pretty clothes all time--modern interpretations of princess fashion. She wears a lot of ruffles and lace and pastels. Yummy.

Anyway, so there is this Korean boy in my class, who I think is very cute. He is tall, and handsome. But sometimes I think that I think he is cute only because he looks like the male leads in the Korean dramas I watch.

Its probably all a moot point, because I don't think the guy is remotely interested in me-- the most interaction we've had in class is when we were all arguing, and I directly disagreed with a point he had made. I think he glared at me.

Oscar 2011 Best Dressed

2011-02-28T01:18:00.005-06:00

This year at the Oscars, the fashion was all about color. While my favorite color (pink) was absent, the stars dressed in blue, red, purple and even orange dresses. Happily, my least favorite color (black) was mostly passed over by the stars. Another trend among the stars was grays and metallics, but I didn't feel that any of these dresses were worthy of being in my top 10. Also, I feel like metallics and pale grays and creams are passé, after they were done so much last year. Like black, those dresses are becoming the staple of people who just want to play it safe--which isn't going to put you into my top 10.

I've grouped my top 10 below, by color.

Beautiful Blues:

Anne Hathaway (Giorgio Armani Privé), Amy Adams, and Mandy Moore

I loved the deep blues worn by these lovely ladies. For my modest readers: please note that Amy Adams' dress is incredibly modest--there is no gaping hole on her back, which usually happens when a star covers up this much. Next time you go out on the town in a modest dress, just say "I'm channeling Amy Adams at the 2011 Oscars", and feel like a movie star.

For those fans of Chuck: yes that is the actor who plays Chuck, and yes, he is singing a duet with Mandy Moore. Now you wish you'd watched the Oscars like me. Mandy's dress is gorgeous-- plus I love the architectural statement of a skirt completely covered in flowers.

Both Amy and Anne's dresses reflected light beautifully, adding to their stylish grace.

Radiant Reds:

Anne Hathaway (Valentino), Sandra Bullock (Vera Wang), Anne Hathaway (Atelier Versace)

Red is always classic. These dresses had a little something extra. Anne's first dress had a beautiful bustle, while her second red dress sparkled under the bright lights on stage. Sandra's dress was modern, with a traditional twist of a giant, bustle-like bow, which you can't see in the picture, but was minimal and stylish as only Vera Wang can do.

Opulent Oranges:

Florence Welch, Jennifer Hudson (Versace)

Orange is very big this season, and the stars brought the trend to the Oscars in a big way. Jennifer Hudson's dress has a large architectural feature, like Anne and Sandra's. Florence (of Florence and the Machine) highlighted another trend popular at the Oscars this year: modesty and sleeves.

Pretty Purples:

Mila Kunis (Elie Saab haute couture), Natalie Portman (Rodarte)

Mila's dress was my favorite of the night. It looks like a fairy princess dress. For real life, it would definitely need a lining, but on the red carpet it was gorgeous. Natalie's dress is perhaps my all-time favorite dress worn by a pregnant woman on the red carpet. It highlights her pregnant figure without making her look fat or matronly, like many red carpet pregnancy dresses.

In summary, the major trends of the red carpet this year wear color, shine, architectural statements and modesty. All in all, it was a good year for fashion and style.

Shopping in NYC

2011-02-13T09:03:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I feel like I live in a giant mall. This makes me so happy.

Within a 5 minute walk of my house there is a: J. Crew, Sephora, GAP, Banana Republic, LOFT and a Borders. Plus there are lots of fun stores like Coach, William and Sonoma, an Apple store, Whole Foods, Urban Outfitters, and Pottery Barn. And at least 3 Starbucks. And this bakery-- Bouchon Bakery-- which has the most amazing macaroons. The frosting in the middle tastes like icecream.

A few days ago, I took the subway to Harold Square-- about 3 subways stops away. I walked out of the subway and looked around and thought "This is what every out-door mall in America is trying to imitate." It was awesome-- all my favorite stores lining the streets. Except Anthropology. I still haven't found Anthropology yet.

Competition to lose weight

2010-12-17T11:51:00.003-06:00

So, over the summer, I was talking to a friend. We were both rather heavier than we wanted to be ... and we both needed to lose weight. We did the whole BMI thing, and we were both in the "overweight" zone. Which was depressing. So we decided to get healthier and lose weight.

I saw this as a competition. I like winning.

I've been plodding along, slowly losing weight. I was rather proud of the 6 pounds I'd lost. Especially since I think I might be smaller than Rachel (who is pregnant.) (Major reason for starting this diet=bigger than my pregnant sister. That's just depressing.)

Then I saw my friend again. And my friend lost a whopping 30 pounds.

Arrr. So, now I am much more motivated to lose weight. Maybe I won't lose 30 pounds-- but if I did, then I'd be skinny enough to be a super-model. Hee hee.

Prosecutor Princess

2010-11-09T21:38:00.003-06:00

I just finished watching the Korean TV drama "Prosecutor Princess". The story follows a Korean woman, Hyeri, who graduates from prosecutor training in the first episode (after having taken the bar exam). Hyeri skips out on a mandatory post-graduation training seminar to ski in the mountains, and attend a fashion show held at the ski-lodge. It is there that she meets the handsome Inwoo, an extremely handsome and wealthy bachelor. After a series of unfortunate events, she is forced to accept Inwoo's offer to let her stay in the spare room in his suite, as all other rooms in the hotel are taken.

Hyeri starts work at her a few days later, where she meets the tall, handsome widowed Prosecutor Wu. Delightfully, the series involves not one, but two complicated love triangles revolving around the two handsome men.

Not only is the series a complicated, and delightful love story, full of many comedic moments, but it is also an intriguing mystery. Why did Inwoo come to Korea? Why does he always seem to be in the right place at the right time? Why does Prosecutor Wu dislike Hyeri before he even knows her?
The two main characters, Hyeri and Inwoo, are also extremely well dressed. Hyeri loves fashion, and routinely shows for work in high fashion outfits. Inwoo also wears extremely fashionable outfits: my two favorite were his adorable cardigan outfit, and when he wore a green and blue argyle tank top to work out.

You can find the series on Hulu here: http://www.hulu.com/prosecutor-princess And for anyone easily scandalized: the series is extremely PG.

The entire series is covered in 16 episodes, so you don't have to worry about waiting for another season to come out.

A little bit sassy

2010-11-05T17:23:00.000-05:00

So, I went to the store today to buy shampoo, and I got sidetracked at the nail polish aisle (as I often do). I found these awesome nail polish pens, which are for drawing designs on your nails.

I got Sally Hansen's "Gilty Pleasure" as a base coat-- its a pale gold color, that would look awesome by itself. (It looks waaay better on the nail than it did in the bottle). Then, I used gold and black pens to draw a leopard print design on my nails. My only frustration was that the gold is almost the same color as my base coat when it was wet, so it was slightly frustrating trying to see where I had drawn already. If I could have found a brown pen, it would have made things easier.

I think my nails look awesome. A little bit sassy and a lot bit fun.

Peppermint tea

2010-10-25T22:12:00.000-05:00

So, I've been sick with the most awful sinus infection the past couple weeks. Not only is my head all stuffy, but my tummy hurts too. Ick. Anyway, last week, my boss was giving a long lecture about taking care of myself (about 10 minutes before we walked over to Walgreen's, to pick me up some medicine; my boss writes off the cost of keeping me healthy on his taxes). He told me several times that I needed to drink some tea, and it would make me feel better. After I explained (as I have done repeatedly in the past) that I don't drink tea, he suggested herbal tea.

Now, I usually hate herbal tea. Most of the flavors taste like flowers (weird), or are just kind of gross. I've tried peppermint tea in the past, and I never liked it.

But I decided to try some peppermint tea, just in case he was right. This time, I let my tea bag soak for a very long time (mostly because I was incredibly reluctant to drink it). Surprisingly, it didn't taste that bad. The real surprise was how awesome it made me feel.

Have you ever used Carmex, and felt the cool tingle of the medicine numb your poor chapped lips? That is the way the peppermint tea felt as I drank it. Lukewarm is the best temperature to get this effect; too hot or too cold and it just isn't the same. The tea numbed my poor sore mouth and throat, and then I felt a cooling sensation as it ran down into my tummy. Then, my tummy started to feel better too.

Plus, peppermint tea isn't nearly as fattening as what I usually eat when my throat is sore: ice cream.

Snow White Wedding Dress

2010-10-03T02:02:00.000-05:00

So, Alfred Angelo just came out with a line of wedding dresses for Disney. I am super excited. I grabbed a couple screen shots from the Disney promo video on Youtube.*

There are 7 dresses in the line, each inspired by a different Princess: Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel, Belle, and Tiana. My favorite is the Snow White dress. The press release says "Snow White's dress is inspired by nature, beauty and grace like the Disney Princess character herself"**

Isn't the dress soooooo cute. It is pretty and sparkly, and has flowers all over it. AND I think it works as a "Maid Marian" inspired dress as well. As you may remember, Maid Marian is my favorite Disney Princess.

*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzj94IoIAws
**http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_212325565.shtml?rssfeed

Tim Gunn

2010-09-14T12:16:00.000-05:00

I MET TIM GUNN!

About a week ago, I got an email from Borders telling me that Tim Gunn (co-host on Project Runway) was going to be at my local Borders, signing his newest Book, Gunn's Golden Rules.

I was so excited. I watched Project Runway every week, and I love Tim. All day at work, I was bouncing around, and rambling to my boss about a) how excited I was, b) how much I like Tim Gunn, c) my awesome, very stylish outfit I picked out to meet him and d) how awesome it was going to be to MEET TIM GUNN!

My boss let me leave early. He was like, "Please go. Go, stand in line."
So, I got there around 4:30. Tim didn't arrive until 7.

But it was okay. There were over 500 people there. I was about 175 people back in line. By the time my book got signed, it was already 9:30. I felt bad for the people at the end of the line. But I really felt bad for Tim, because he looked exhausted. But he still smiled, and took a picture with every person.

When he was signing my book, I told him about how me and Rachel watch Project Runway together every week, and then talk about it afterward.

Then, Tim and I commiserated about how bossy Gretchen was to everyone in the group challenge week. I was like "yeah! I am doing girl talk with Tim Gunn!'

Sundress

2010-07-17T12:52:00.000-05:00

A few months ago, I was wandering down Clark street near my house. I saw a couple, young, about my age. The girl was wearing a red polka-dot sundress. I immediately fell in love with the dress. It was a baby-doll cut, but it had cute tiers worked into the dress to give it a little more structure.

I figured I'd never see the dress again. But then, I was at H&M, shopping the big sale. And I saw the dress! I was sooooo excited. I tried it on, and it fit like a dream. Plus, it was pretty cheap. (Yay for the cheapness of H&M!) So I bought it!

I love wearing this dress when it is too hot to breath. Yay for not having to wear pants.

The Perfect House

2010-06-09T18:59:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I was wandering around my neighborhood, looking at the houses. And then I found it. The Perfect House. The house that I would buy if I had money. The perfect house for living in the city. On a quiet street, but close to the subway, the gym, and an awesome Starbucks. (I stopped there after my walk to fill up on scones and get a New York Times for the crossword puzzle.)

It has a widows walk!! I love widows walks (the balcony on the 3rd floor). Ever since I first heard about widows walks-- how the women of Nantucket used to use them to look out to sea to see if their husbands were coming home-- I have thought they were terribly romantic, and I have wanted one.

Also, this perfect house, has a perfect yard-- a double yard. Most houses in Lincoln Park have tiny patches of ground in the front that are turned into tiny gardens (or covered by concrete if you are my landlord). In the back of the house, there is a slightly larger patch of ground, which is more often grass, or covered in brick to make a patio. People do not do much serious gardening.

But this house has a beautiful garden.

There are beautiful flowers, and sculptured bushes, and even a fountain! There is even space for a lawn, which is lush and beautiful. The only thing I would change, is that I would add peonies, because they are my favorite flower.

And the house is for sale. Oooooh, I wish I had the money to buy this beautiful house.

Tasty Turkey Burger

2010-06-05T17:08:00.004-05:00

Today I made the yummiest burgers I have every eaten-- And they were turkey burgers. (Oh, so healthy!) Turkey is tricky, because it can be dry or tasteless, but these burgers were perfectly moist, and bursting with flavor.

Tasty Turkey Burger Recipe (makes 4 servings)
1 lb ground turkey (dark meat included)
3/4 cup diced mushroom
1/2 cup roughly chopped craisins
1 egg
2 teaspoons horseradish mustard
2 teaspoons minced roasted garlic
2 dashes orange peel
salt
pepper
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
olive oil

Mix all the ingredients (except olive oil) in a bowl. Shape into 4 patties. If grilling, drizzle with olive oil before placing on the grill. If frying on the stove, heat olive oil (about 3 tablespoons) in a frying pan set on medium, and then place the patties in the oil once it is hot.

Cook until done. Melt cheese onto patties if desired. Great served with avacado and Pice de Gallo salsa on a poppy seed Kaiser roll.

Discrimination for being attractive

2010-06-03T09:14:00.002-05:00

Today, I was reading on Glamour.com (awesome website), and I saw an article on a woman who was fired from her job at Citi for being too hot.* The woman is really attractive: she pretty much looks like a Barbie doll. However, that doesn't give Citi carte blanche to treat her badly, and then fire her for being too hot.

I have found, that in the professional world, especially the legal world, it can be difficult being an attractive woman. People tend to assume you just got hired because you are hot. My boss, Charles, calls me his secret weapon, because the opposing counsels always underestimate me, but then I blow them out of the water with my awesome legal skills. hee hee.

I have seen a lot of older women lawyers that cope with the problem by not dressing attractively. They wear clothes that don't fit quite right, or look like men's clothes. However, encouragingly, I have also seen a lot of younger women attorneys that refuse to give in to the pressure to dress like a man. They were cute suits, that are cut flatteringly. They wear jewelery, and even feminine colors.

*http://www.glamour.com/beauty/blogs/girls-in-the-beauty-department/2010/06/this-woman-says-she-was-fired.html. A longer article by Village Voice is available here: http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-06-01/news/is-this-woman-too-hot-to-work-in-a-bank/1.

Happiness

2010-05-21T15:27:00.000-05:00

I like knowing what is going to happen. I hate not knowing. I hate having to wait, to wonder about the future. I like creating ordered lists, and then working through those lists to get to my goal.

I do not like not knowing what is going to happen. I do not like hoping that someday I will have what I want. Waiting would be easier if I knew that on such and such a date, X would happen, and then so many years later, Y would happen.

But that isn't how my life is. How am I supposed to make a plan for my life, when I have no idea what is happening? How am I supposed to plan for the future?

I can't. And that frustrates me.

Blossom Ring

2010-05-16T15:19:00.003-05:00

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I want the Tiffany's Blossom Ring when I get engaged.* This was a result of many hours of diligent searching over the course of several years. I knew I wanted a flower ring, and I looked for one until I found it.

However, my unwavering belief that this was the ring I wanted was shaken when I had a conversation a couple weeks ago about blood diamonds.** Most diamond companies (especially high-end diamond companies) do try to authenticate that the diamonds they sell are not blood diamonds. But at the end of the day, a diamond is a rock. Usually a small, concealable rock. And diamond companies want to sell diamonds, and how is someone really going to prove one way or the other that this specific rock is a blood diamond or not.

I started thinking about it. Maybe I don't want a diamond. I started looking a flower rings again: maybe I could find something out there; a flower ring that didn't have diamonds. I quickly came to the same conclusion I came to before: 1. most flower rings are cheap and/or tacky (especially ones that do not have diamonds). 2. I really, really like the Blossom Ring. The Blossom Ring is elegant, chic and understated. Perfect.

So, I thought outside the box. What if I just changed out the stones in the Blossom Ring, so that it didn't have diamonds. I started thinking about it, and I got really excited. I love the color pink. If I had other stones, I could have a pink flower!

This is what I came up with. I love it. I think it is even prettier than the original Blossom Ring.

*See my November 22, 2009 post entitled "Maid Marian"
** For those who don't know, blood diamonds are diamonds that are obtained through violent acts. The diamond industry is rife with individuals killed, attacked, exploited, etc.

Walls

2010-05-04T11:44:00.001-05:00

I want to paint the walls in my living room, dinning room and bathroom. Right now, they are white, and I abhor white walls.

One of my roommates (I have 2) said I could do whatever I wanted. The other one staunchly told me that she LIKES white walls, and if I really feel like the walls need to be painted, why don't I get white paint. Ick. So I have been trying to find paint swatches that are close to white, but have some color. Of course, she is moving out in a month, so maybe I will just wait until then, and do whatever I want.

Happy Website

2010-03-31T18:28:00.003-05:00

The website outlinesumo.com recently got a new addition of a happy sumo mascot*.

I use the website when I need to get a quick overview of an area of law I am unfamiliar with. The website has outlines from law students all over the united states, and you can find pretty much any topic. It helps when I need to get a quick over view of a subject I didn't take in law school, and my bar review books don't cover the subject in enough detail.

While I used to feel rather ambivalent about the website, the addition of the happy sumo man makes me feel happy. It's like when I got Sven**, and stuck him on my dash board. The first time I drove down the hill I lived on in Norwalk, and onto the freeway, and Sven bobbled along to the beat of my wheels across the pavement, I felt a wave of happiness. The happy sumo man makes me feel the same way. Yes, life can be overwhelming. But sometimes along the way we find unexpected pleasures, which make the journey a little lighter.

*The happy sumo man mascot is clothed. Like he is taking a relaxing break, and gets to chill out by the pool eating his mountain of yummy food and wearing his kimono, and possibly flirting with pretty girls.

**My viking bobble-head doll. Interestingly, Rachel has crafted him a wardrobe, so that he will always be adequately dressed. He has a heavy cape for winter, a lei for summer, a Christmas wreath (to wear on his viking helmet), and a St. Patrick's day cap.

Year in Status Game

2010-03-23T18:44:00.001-05:00

Lets play a game to see who knows me best. Below you can see my 'year in status' compilation from my facebook stati (plural of status). See how many questions you can get right:

1. Why do I feel like Sheen?
2. Why am I worried about Rachel?
3. Why did I get so upset?
4. What made my brain so mushy?
5. What goal weight am I aiming for?
6. Where was I moving?
7. What movie was being filmed?
8. Who was too busy to talk to me? And who did I miss so much? (Same person.)
9. What movie am I referencing with the vixen/fox comment?
10. What made this Christmas exciting?

Overwhelmed

2010-03-22T09:48:00.002-05:00

I feel very overwhelmed right now. Unable to cope.

I have a bunch of papers to do for work, but I am sick and tired, and just want to sleep. I am scared that if I tell my bosses about being sick, they will yell at me. Or insist that I go to a doctor. I don't have enough money to go to a doctor.

My internet security is going to expire in a couple days. I had someone tell me that my security isn't very good, but he didn't bother to tell me what a good company is, so now I feel like I should get a new company. But I don't know what companies are good.

I need to find a full time job. But a.) there are no jobs and b.) I feel too sick and tired to look for a job.

I need to do my taxes. I don't think I have enough money to pay my taxes. Also, money and numbers confuse me, so I am dreading filling out the forms.

I need to do 14 hours of new lawyer continuing legal education by the end of may. Arg. If I don't do them, I will get in trouble, and I won't be able to practice law.

I have horrible nightmares every night, and wake up either crying or screaming. This has started to freak me out.

I have a speech impediment, and I'm a lawyer. Sometimes I freak out about having to speak in court. What if my speech impediment acts up? Also, I am terrible about vocalizing my thoughts, so even if I manage to get the words out, they aren't what I was thinking, and then I sound stupid.

I hate paying my bills, so I usually procrastinate paying them. Then they end up being late, and I get charged a late fee. I hate money.

Someone was very mean to me yesterday. Now I just want to cry.

I worry that no one wants to be my friend because I am always stressed about stuff.

Pie solves most problems

2010-03-16T19:22:00.001-05:00

Today, at work I had a full on panic attack. I was sitting in my boss' office, while he was talking on the phone, and suddenly I just wanted to cry. Also, I was seized with the immediate desire to gorge myself on pie.

Pie is extremely hard to find in Downtown Chicago. Most restaurants do not carry pie. Those with deserts usually have cake, or cheesecake, or even creme brulee. But not pie. Which is a tragedy.

Pie is delicious. Its warm, flaky crust delicately breaks in your mouth, as its smooth, delicious filling gently coats your tongue in a warm bath of tart goodness. All your cares melt away as you take that first heavenly bite.

Cake and cheesecake and creme brulee are all delicious. But they are all missing the comforting goodness that pie offers. Each is a little to sweet, and lacks the satisfaction of the perfect pie.

After work, I went in search of pie. I didn't find any. I had to settle for carrot cake. The cake did have a delectable coating of walnuts which offered a crunchy counterpoint to the perfectly sour frosting, but it wasn't pie.

I miss pie.

When I was in law school I used to visit a restaurant called the Grand Traverse Bay Pie Company. They had so many delicious pies. Sometimes when I was having a particularly bad day, I would visit that haven of pie goodness, and have a salad and a slice of pie. Yum. Somehow, eating that pie made things a lot easier.

Best Dressed Oscars 2010

2010-03-08T08:38:00.001-06:00

Below you can find my favorite picks from last night's Oscars. Based on the best dresses of last night, this years trends are sparkley gold, lavender and gray. The best dresses were feminine, using details such as ruffles, and were all delightfully ladylike.

Sparkley Gold

Cameron Diaz (left) and Miley Cyrus (right) both shone in beautify sparkley gold dresses. Both dresses had flowing skirts, and tight bodices, with a natural waist. While Cameron's dress was covered in sparkles, Miley's dress was more demur: her sparkles were limited to her hips.

Lavender

Queen Latifah and Zoe Saldana both triumphed in lovely lavender gowns. Queen Latifah's trumpet cut gown highlighted her curves to perfection, and her sparkley silver accent took the gown from merely wonderful to gorgeous. Zoe Saldana embraced the sparkley gold trend with her bustier, and then dove into perfection with her delightful feminine skirt of lavender deepening into royal purple and adorned many layers of perfect ruffles.

Gray

Elizabeth Banks and Natalie Mark both showed how glamorous gray can be. Both ladies have a sweet heart neckline, with a mermaid cut gown. Elizabeth's dress had beautiful architectural details in the bodice, and then a glorious train of ruffles. Natalie's dress, on the other hand, was covered in sparkles, and was otherwise very simple and elegant. Both dresses were very lovely.

(Natalie Mark is shown with her boyfriend Sam Worthington, who is one of the hottest actors in Hollywood.)

Other Dresses of Note

My other favorites of the evening were worn by Luciana Barroso (wife of Matt Damon) and Tina Fey. Luciana wore a lovely pale pink dress, which was beautifully draped. Tina Fey wore a gorgeous gown in black, not usually my favorite color, but it was saved by the interesting architectural detailing in the bodice, and the wonderful pattern of sparkles across the dress.

If

2010-02-25T18:26:00.003-06:00

If I was prettier,

was smarter,

was skinnier;

If I was less shy,

less clumsy,

less of a spaz;

If I knew what to say,

what to do,

what to be;

If I had enough money,

enough time,

enough sleep;

If I didn't ache,

in my heart,

in every muscle;

Maybe then

I wouldn't

cry myself to sleep.

"You should ask him out"

2010-02-23T18:49:00.002-06:00

Today, I was at work, talking to my boss Mike about one of our clients. My boss made a comment about him (the client) having quite a lot of money, and then turned to me, and said "You should ask him out." At first, I equivocated. "I think that would be against the rules of ethics to ask him out."*

He reluctantly agreed, then brightened up. "You could ask him out when the matter is over." I discretely rolled my eyes. He might have seen me, because he started talking about how he thought said client was a nice, upstanding young man, blah blah blah.**

I felt like retorting that maybe if he thought this client was so great, he should ask him out himself. But that would not be appropriate, so I kept my mouth shut.

Of course, randomly suggesting I date a client is also inappropriate, but pointing that out to my boss would only have lead to a protracted discussion over something I felt did not entirely deserve a response.

I just hope he doesn't try to get the client to ask me out. That would be awkward. It is hard enough trying to get people to respect the fact that I am a smart lawyer, without my boss acting like my job is a dating service.

*Lawyers are not supposed to date their clients, except where the lawyer and the client were already dating before the client became a client.

** This is where I started tuning my boss out.

Valentine's Day

2010-02-21T19:28:00.002-06:00

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays. This year I did not go on a romantic date (like I have always wanted to), but I did have fun.

The day before Valentine's Day, me and my roommates made yummy mini-pies. They are heart shaped, with a delicious raspberry pear filling. The crust was perfectly flaky-- made with butter instead of lard, so it had lots of flavor. Delicious.

As if that wasn't enough, on Valentine's Day, I made chocolate cupcakes with my roommates. Instead of baker's chocolate, I melted some Dove hearts, and used that in the cupcakes. I also put in coco powder. The frosting was a yummy strawberry cream cheese frosting, with real strawberries diced fine and mixed in. To top it off, I piped some melted Dove chocolate into lacy hearts and cooled them in the fridge. They made the perfect topper.

Dreaming of Lions

2010-01-26T21:12:00.003-06:00

Last night I dreamed that I had a lion as a pet. It was a little, baby lion, and it was super adorable. It would romp around, and then lick my face, and I was very happy, but very terrified at the same time. I was afraid it was going to eat me.

Because I am absolutely terrified of lions. When I was a little girl, I went to the San Francisco zoo with my family. I was forced to go in the lion house by my cousin, who kept insisting the lions COULDN'T get out of their cage, and that it was perfectly safe.

I did not believe her. Lions are terrifying.

So it was kind of odd to be dreaming that I had a lion. In my dream, I KNEW that I was terrified of lions, and that I shouldn't have one as a pet. But the little guy was so cute. He was pale yellow, almost white, and he jumped around a lot, happily frolicking. And he loved me so very much, I just couldn't get rid of him.

(After writing this post, I checked the Dream Symbols Dictionary at Glamour.com to see what my dream meant. Apparently dreaming of a friendly lion cub is a forecast of a new and valuable friendship. Odd.)

Why I like being a lawyer

2010-01-17T11:15:00.003-06:00

1. Being condescending is part of the job description.

I know I come across as condescending. This is not intentional. Shy, pretty girls come across as stuck up, and it doesn't help that I like being right about things.

No one ever told me I was condescending, until about 6 months ago, though. That happened when I was out looking for apartments with a Realtor, and he told me I was condescending halfway through the appointment. I just mentioned how the apartment building we were looking at reminded me of the time I spent in Vienna. He spent the rest of the appointment hitting on me, so I didn't particularly care what he thought of me.

Everyone expects lawyers to be condescending though, so they don't mind as much when I come across as a snob. Of course, a couple days ago, a boy told me that he LIKES that I am condescending and stuck-up. This is probably because he is that way too.

2. There are rules that say I get to be safe

When I was growing up, and one of my brothers would hit me, and I would run crying to my mother, she would always tell me not to get in fights with my brother. I grew feeling like I had to take care of myself, and that if I wanted to be safe, I had to protect myself. But, in the real world, there are laws to protect you. If someone hurts you, you can sue them for damages, or you can report them to the police, and ask to have them prosecuted.

After my first semester of law school, when I was home for Christmas, I told my brother that I could sue him if he hurt me. He got really mad and tried to throw a chair through the kitchen sliding door. I called the police, and they had a nice little talk with him about taking his medicine and not throwing chairs through doors.

3. I get to help people

When I was in college, I read a story by Kafka, called Vor dem Gezetz. (Before the Law). It is about a man who spends his whole life trying to get into court, but can't because he doesn't know the rules.

Now that I am a lawyer, I can help people navigate the legal system. This makes me feel happy.

Catch-22

2010-01-06T23:32:00.003-06:00

I found myself staring in my own version of a catch-22 this week. Last week, my license expired on my birthday. I went in to the Illinois DMV to get a new one (my old one was MI, where my parents live). When I was there, they told me that I needed my social security card to get a license.

When I got home, I started looking for my social security card. At first, I was a little miffed that it wasn't where I thought it would be. So I poked around my room, looking in all the spots I thought I might have stashed it. Eventually, I tore apart my whole room, looking through everything; most of it twice.

I came to the conclusion that I would have to get a new social security card. Not a big deal, I'd just nip down there, and get a new card, and go over to the DMV. Easy peasy.

Then, I read the requirements for getting a replacement social security card. They require a valid license to get a social security card.

So you need a social security card to get a license, and a license to get a social security card. And I didn't have either. So I couldn't get either.

I felt very defeated.

But, I decided to hope for the best, and go try to get a new license with what I have. (My new years resolution is to be more zen.) I mean, I have a Cook County Lawyer ID card. It's government issued, AND it has my picture on it. Turns out, they wouldn't take that. But they DID take my medical insurance card. It happened to be expired, but I really didn't feel like pointing this out.

I thought it was pretty ironic that they wouldn't take my old license (only 1 week expired AND it has my picture) or my Cook County ID card, but they took my expired medical insurance card (no picture). Also ironic: I could have used my passport to get a new social security card, but I lost that too.

Funny Coke Commercial

2009-12-19T17:51:00.000-06:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoODQs0MErk&feature=related

Maid Marian

2009-11-22T20:32:00.003-06:00

When I was a little girl, I loved the Disney version of Robin Hood. I used to sigh along with Maid Marian over her wanted poster of Robin Hood, and giggle with delight when Robin and Marian walked through the forest, and he put a flower ring on her finger. I always wanted to be like Maid Marian, and have a Robin.

When I grew up, I kept that fairy tale. I even want a flower ring when I get engaged, just like Marian had. After extensive searching (for a couple years) I found the one I want-- the Blossom ring by Tiffany's. So sparkly and pretty.

Things I am afraid of

2009-11-15T22:07:00.002-06:00

Amy posted a blog about things she was afraid of, and then asked what other people were afraid of. Here's my list:

1. Depths. I don't like boats. Sitting on a boat, floating above who knows how much water scares me. Being on the top of buildings scares me too, but only because there is so much space between me and the ground.

2. Suffocating. I don't swim. I don't wear turtlenecks, necklaces or crewneck shirts. I don't like sleeping with anything touching my neck. These are all part of the basic fear of suffocating.

3. Rejection. I don't like meeting new people, because I'm afraid they won't like me. I don't apply for jobs, because I'm afraid no one will want me.

4. Being fat. I am terrified that I am really fat, and everyone is lying to me when they tell me I am skinny.

Misery

2009-11-14T22:05:00.003-06:00

Stupid cold. I've had the same cold for a couple weeks, and its getting worse. My throat hurts, and my lungs hurt sometimes. Went to the doctor, and she said it was just a cold. She gave me an antibiotic, in case I had a secondary infection. I took 4 advil, and everything still hurts.

Stupid job. Dosen't pay enough money. Not enough work to do, so I never get enough hours, and I feel useless sometimes. Wish I could have a better job.

Stupid printer. I finally got my printer to talk to my computer; I had to buy a new cord. And then my ink cartridge ran out. And a new one cost $40 dollars.

Stupid room. Too cold. Too messy.

Stupid bed. Wish I had a real bed. Wish my bed was soft and comfy, like a real bed. Not just a ghetto matress on the floor.

Stupid money. Wish I had more of it. Wish I didn't have to feel guilty when I go grocery shopping, because I spend so much all at once.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Crying again.

Playlist

2009-10-14T10:54:00.002-05:00

One less lonely girl-- Jason Bieber
Whatcha Say-- Jason Derulo
At last-- Beyonce
Broken-hearted girl-- Beyonce
Smash into you-- Beyonce
Replay-- Iyaz
Fallin' for you-- Colbie Caillat
I don't believe you-- P!nk
One time-- Jason Bieber
You belong with me-- Taylor Swift
I gotta feeling-- Black Eyed Peas
Jeanie-- Buddy Lewis
All I want is you-- Barry Louis Polisar
Haven't met you yet-- Michael Buble
Hate that I love you-- Rihanna
The Show-- Lenka

Film

2009-10-09T13:28:00.005-05:00

Earlier this week, Universal Studios shot a film on my street. Word on the street was that the film is the 3rd installment of the Meet the Parents series, or Little Fockers. My roomies saw Robert Dinero, and I caught a glimpse of Ben Stiller as he was leaving for the day.

These pictures were all taken from my living room.

The production crew milling about:

Then they fixed up our front yard:

They planted some bushes next door:

Filming the movie:

My Ben Stiller shots. Ben Stiller is in the puffy black jacket ...
The next day, they came back to do some establishing shots:

RESUME WORKOUT

2009-09-30T10:22:00.003-05:00

RESUME WORKOUT

The big, red block letters on the exercise machine taunted me. My muscles sore and aching, I slowed down to what I considered an acceptable pace to recoup. The machine didn't think so. It flashed its message again: RESUME WORKOUT. Apparently, my idea of an acceptable pace is too slow to be recognized by the machine's computer.

I joined a gym a couple weeks ago, with my roommate. I felt fat like I had gained 5 or 10 lbs in the last week. Ick, I thought. I need to lose weight.

My first instinct was to stop eating-- to cut back to 1 meal a day again. But Rachel likes to tell me this isn't healthy. And unless I am very upset, I get too hungry to keep that up for more than about 6 hours.

Then, I decided I could go to the gym and try working out. As an added bonus, after working out for about 20 minutes, I stopped being quite so angry at my boss. I stopped cursing in my head at him, at least. Which is a good start.

Shop to fight Breast Cancer

2009-09-26T13:34:00.003-05:00

I love buying all the cute pink stuff that is advertised to help fight breast cancer. I love pink, plus I feel like I am doing something good, so maybe it is okay that I am buying more stuff that I don't really need.

If you go to http://www.shopwarriorsinpink.com/ you can buy some cute stuff. Plus, 100% of the profits goes to help breast cancer. Yeah! I especially like the pink tie ... I'm thinking Christmas presents for my brothers ...

Ginger Ale: Nature's Cure

2009-09-21T10:17:00.002-05:00

I have another sinus infection. Yuck. Yesterday, I was lying in my bed feeling miserable, contemplating taking an antihistimine or decongestant. I don't like taking them, because they make me really sleepy, and sometimes I get scared, because it is hard for me to wake up.

I decided to wait to take some medicine, because I didn't want to go to sleep right away. So I got up, and was talking to my roomie, and I drank a ginger ale.

Then, I FELT BETTER. The bubbly ginger effervesance made my poor nasal membranes feel almost normal, and my sinuses started draining. It was like a little miracle happened inside my head.

I love ginger ale. Ginger ale is good for when you have a tummy ache, and now I know it is good for when I have a sinus infection.

Ginger ale: yummy for the tummy and makes the ickies go away.

Light and Fluffy

2009-09-20T11:44:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, I taught my roommate how to bake a cake. Apeksha is from India, and has never baked anything before. She was very excited about the whole thing, and would sometimes poke her head in my room, and ask if we were going to bake the cake that day.

Finally, we made the cake Saturday night. We went with a very simple yellow cake recipe. The trick is to beat the butter, eggs and sugar together for a very long time: between five and ten minutes. When the batter turns fluffy and the palest yellow, it is time to add the flour and milk.

We put the cake in the oven, and it turned out perfectly: golden brown on top, and smelling delicious. Apeksha wanted to eat it immediately. I told her we had to wait for it to cool down, so it wouldn't crack when we de-panned it. I said we'd probably have to wait half and hour. Ten minutes later she went over to inspect it, "It's cool now. Can we eat it now?"

"Really? Is the pan still hot?"

The pan was still hot, but I gave in, and we de-panned the cake, made the icing, and frosted the cake. And then we got to eat.

The cake turned out perfect: light and perfectly moist. Like a cake from a bakery. I wanted to hug myself with joy. I love taking ingrediants and creating something perfect. The frosting was a orange cream cheese frosting, perfectly tangy and not too sweet.

Yum, yum.

Shy, Dumb, Pretty Girl Niche

2009-09-17T07:11:00.003-05:00

A couple days ago, I had a man tell me that I go through life in the shy, dumb, pretty girl niche. At first I was upset, "I'm not dumb!" I loudly defended myself, glaring across the table at him. How could he say that, I thought, seeing as how he met me at lawschool, and had seen me devastatingly intelligent in class?

He glared back. "I didn't say you are dumb, I meant that in most of your social settings, you fill that niche. It's true isn't it?"

I reluctantly agreed that he was probably right. I hate losing arguments.

I do always try to be stylish, even at work. My hair is always done, and I have loads of accessories. And I am terribly shy. So, perhaps people who meet me assume that I am dumb, too. The fact that I am terribly ditzy doesn't help.

This may explain my prior failures in the romance department. I have had a lot of loud, stupid men try to ask me out. And the natural mate for the shy, dumb, pretty girl is the loud, stupid man. I refuse to date somone who isn't intelligent, especially since most men expect the woman they date to pretend to be stupid so they feel good about themselves. Going through life pretending to be stupid to make some idiot feel better about himself is not my idea of true love.

When you are in love, you should be able to be yourself, and you should be able to fight, and get over it. Plus, I like winning arguments.

I just wish Mr. 'Ha! I know you better that your think' hadn't made me take off my super cute headband. He told me he couldn't take me seriously with it on, and he needed to talk about serious matters.

Life would be so much easier if people thought that shy, pretty girls could be smart. Then I could wear all the terribly cute accessories I wanted, and people would still take me seriously.

Yummies

2009-09-10T18:31:00.003-05:00

I really love good food. The kind of food where you can take a bite, and you are completely transported away from all your problems. Your boss that yells at you, gone. The fact that you don't make enough money, gone. The unending feeling of inadaquacey that is compounded every time you talk to your twin sister, who is married with a baby while you are still completely single, gone.

Ahh, if only the magic of that scrumptous bite could last forever, and a simple bite of food could make life's traumas disappear permanently. The solution to all life's problems could only be a few calories away.

Instead, after you eat the yummies, you feel stressed again, plus now you are fat.

New Apartment

2009-09-02T09:55:00.002-05:00

Yeah!!!

I found a place to live! I am sooooooooooooooooo excited. Let me reiterate that: I am over the moon with joy. Yesterday, when I finally got the confirmation from the management company that I had passed my credit check, and finalized with my new roomie when I could move in, I started bouncing around work.

Which wasn't super professional, so I stopped.

And I am finally going to live in the part of the city I like: Lincoln Park. Near the beach, and the shopping, and the subway, and the bookstores. My apartment is super awesome: it is the top two floors of a house with a tower. And there is storage room in the attic, and a washer and dryer in the unit. And I have the biggest bedroom, with a balcony. And the kitchen is huge, so I will have lots of room for all my dishes.

And I move tomorrow!

I need to move.

2009-08-28T00:50:00.002-05:00

I need a new place to live. Ideally, I would like to live in Lincoln Park, or the Gold Coast. (But Gold Coast is too expensive.) I know most (if not all) of my readers do not live in Chicago, but one can only hope.

So, if anyone knows anyone in Chicago who is looking for a roommate, let me know. Because I need to move. ASAP.

Baby Bunny!

2009-08-10T19:56:00.005-05:00

Today, after work, I went to a park. I was sitting, watching the butterflies and the flowers, when I glanced to my right, and realized a baby bunny was next to my bench. It was nibbling on a tuft of grass. I cautiously approached, hoping it would stay still long enough for me to get a picture. Happily, the bunny did not seem to be scared of people yet, because it just sat there, and watched me as I held my camera phone a couple inches away from it, so I could get close-ups.

I decided to take a picture with my shoe next to the bunny, so you could see just how tiny it was. I think I could pick up and hold it in the palm of my hand.

Now I really want a baby bunny as a pet.

Penicillin and Me

2009-08-08T07:02:00.002-05:00

I have been allergic to penicillin ever since I was a little girl. I remember going to the doctor with my mother who was very worried, and being told that I was allergic to penicillin, and that if I ever had penicillin again I could get very sick.

A few years ago, I was watching food tv, and I learned that some cheeses are made with the penicillin fungus. 'Oh, no,' I thought, 'I must never eat those cheeses.'

Today, I looked up the penicillin cheeses online, to find out which cheeses I can't eat. (Ok, so I'm not very prompt about these things.) 2 of my favorite cheeses are made with a penicillin fungus-- brie and gorgonzola. I eat them all the time, and I have never gotten sick yet. I think it is going to be ok, because they are made with a diffent species of penicillin fungus than the one they use to make penicillin the antibiotic.

Yum. I want to go buy some cheese.

Me, high energy

2009-08-03T08:01:00.002-05:00

Last week, I had a meeting with my boss and my boss' boss. My boss is about 60, and his boss is about the same age. We met in a restaurant, where we had desserts, and discussed work. Mostly, I just sat and listened. I did get to present on a couple points, but that lasted less than 5 minutes, and we were there for a couple hours.

I tried very hard to appear alert, and look like I valued the opportunity to meet with my superior. I wanted to make a good impression.

Apparently it worked. My boss' boss was impressed with me, and thinks I am high energy.

Me! High energy! When I was in lawschool, I had a friend tell me that he thought I had cronic fatigue syndrome, because I always looked so tired. When I am not working, I like to spend most of my time sitting quietly-- either reading, or watching something. I like taking long naps. But, I guess compared to a 60 year old, a lot of people could be considered high energy.

Learning to be a lawyer

2009-07-12T10:43:00.003-05:00

In lawschool you don't learn to be a lawyer; in lawschool you learn the law.

Now that I am working for several lawyers, I am learning to be a lawyer. One of my bosses, Steve, is especially enthusiastic about mentoring me to be a lawyer. He likes to explain how the legal profession works to me. He gives me projects to do, so that I can learn how to do things, when it would be much easier and much faster to do the projects himself. He even apologizes if he gives me a particularily odious task to do.

Playlist

2009-07-01T20:37:00.004-05:00

Season of Love--Shiny Toy Guns
Mad--Ne-Yo
Shattered--O.A.R
Every Other Time--LFO
Her Diamonds--Rob Thomas
Please Don't Leave Me--Pink
Battlefield--Jordin Sparks
Knock You Down--Keri, Hilson, Kanye West & Ne-Yo
Dangerous and Sweet--Lenka
Hate That I Love You--Rihanna
Underneath It All--No Doubt, Featuring Lady Saw
Best of Me--Sum 41
Apologize (Feat. One Republic)--Timbaland
The Sweet Escape--Gwen Stafani
How to Save a Life--The Fray
Apologize--One Republic
How Do You Sleep?--Jesse McCartney
Keeps Gettin' Better--Christina Aguilera

Lana, The Hairdresser

2009-05-16T10:30:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, I went to get my haircut at a salon near my house, and my hairdresser was a girl named Lana. Half her hair was blonde, almost white, and the other half was a dark purple. She had a nose ring, and a tough-as-nails attitude. She threatened to kick me out of the chair when she thought I changed my mind mid-haircut.

She was my favorite hairdresser I have ever been to. Most hairdressers are sticky-sweet, and remind me of the kind of person who tortured me in highschool about not being pretty enough. Lana reminded me of my friend Emily, who is completely awesome, and not the kind of person who chooses friends based on how they look.

At some point during our conversation, Lana told me that you have to stick up for yourself, or people will walk all over you. I totally agree. I am a very laid back person, and don't like to make waves. People walk all over me constantly.

I think I will try to be more assertive. Usually, I just try to be nice so people will like me. But Lana is one of the first persons I've met in Chicago that I wanted to be friends with. Maybe I can learn to be assertive, and still be friendly.

Tres Bien

2009-04-11T21:28:00.002-05:00

Today, I celebrated passing the bar. I went to go see the movie "Monsters vs. Aliens", which was very funny.

After the movie, I went shopping at Gap, and tried on a bunch of clothes. There was a simply divine spring jacket, with beautiful architectural details. It was very french, and completely flattering. Sadly, funds are limited, so I couldn't buy it.

After shopping, I went to a french restaurant-- the Bistro 101. The food was tres magnifique. I had Duck La Orange, which I loved. The duck was prepared beautifully. Usually when I have duck, it is too gamey or too fattey, but this duck was fragant without being overpowering, and perfectly moist. The duck was served over a bed of sweet potatos, which had been sauteed until they were just carmalized. The plate was surrounded by orange slices (no rind), and garnished with a few pieces of parsley.

After dinner, I went to the bookstore, and browsed books for a while. All in all, I had a wonderful time.

Passed the Bar

2009-04-07T08:35:00.003-05:00

Yeah! I passed the bar!

After months of studying, of anxiously dwelling on the possibility of failure, I finally got my results from the bar exam. And I passed! I passed both the bar and the MPRE, and the character and fitness examination.

This brings us to a very important question: what am I going to wear for the swearing-in-ceremony?

Those who attended my graduation know that I chose to go with the flirty-yet-sophisticated combination of my golden-rod pinstriped pleated skirt, a lacy cami and a cropped green puffed-sleeved cardi. Tres chic.

While this outfit was, of course, adorable, I think that I should look more professional for my swearing-in-ceremony. Right now I have 3 basic outfit ideas planned.

First, I could go with a basic black suit, with pants, my black patent-leather loafers, and some sort of feminine blouse. This combination would be very professional, and would have a decided air of masculinity that so many people feel is essential to a classic lawyer outfit. And as the swearing-in-ceremony may be one of my proudest lawyer-moments to date, perhaps I should choose a quintiessential lawyer outfit.

The second outfit I am contemplating is a trendy young professional look: my brown loafers, with a pair of wide-leg brown trousers, my white puff-sleeved button down and a cropped vest. While I would look very stylish in this outfit, I doubt that it is sophisticated enough for a swearing-in-ceremony. It is more business casual than business meeting.

The third look I may go with is a very feminine look: my white suit, with a skirt, my red tuxedo-front polka-dot blouse, and a pair of black stockings with black patent-leather sling-back flats. I think the combination of a white suit (which is very in right now) with the bold blouse, and the classic black tights and shoes would be both feminine and business appropriate.

Sick

2009-03-14T10:03:00.003-05:00

I feel like someone has taken my insides, thrown them in a blender, and poured them back inside me.

The only thing good about being sick is that I'm catching up on my style tv. Thursday, I watched the entire first season of Make Me a Supermodel. Today I plan on watching the entire first season of Project Runway.

Maybe the tide of nausea will ebb soon, and I can start doing something more intellectually stimutating than endlessly watching houte couture and munching on Nutter Butters.

Dream Condo

2009-02-08T21:36:00.003-06:00

So I signed up for a real estate web-search on a whim a few months ago. A couple times a week, they send me new properties to match my search criteria.

Usually, I just have fun looking at the pretty apartments ... but then, last week I got an email for a new property, and I feel in love.

"Looking For Non-cookie Cutter? You've Found It At This 2bd/2bth Home In The Heart Of Lincoln Park. This Tasteful Duplex Up Features Formal Living Room, Family Room, Kitchen , & Laundry On Main Level. Deck Off Fam Rm. Upper Level Has Two Generous Bedrooms With Jack/jill Bath. Huge Master Closet. Great Light Througout. Garage Parking Included. Steps To Public Transportation And All Lincoln Park Has To Offer "

All this, for only $.5 million.

Weight Watchers

2009-01-26T10:17:00.002-06:00

So, I signed up for Weight Watchers again. Studying for the bar is totally stressing me out, and I keep eating really fattening food.

On the plus side, Weight Watchers has a new plan!! It combines the points plan with the core plan. Certain foods are marked as "filling" and if you eat these, you are supposed to stay full longer.

The main reason I like Weight Watchers, is because you can find out which foods are fattening, and which ones you don't have to worry about. I WAS going to go to Starbucks for brekkie, but after calculating how many points I would have used (19), I opted to make breakfast, and only used 8 points. (I get 22 points a day.) Plus, my home made brekkie of an omelet, apple and rice pudding was much more filling that a scone and carmel apple spice.

Hopefully my early intervention will keep my from getting too fat. AND once I take the bar, I'll have more time, so maybe I'll start taking a pilates class...

Preggers Clothes Shopping

2009-01-25T11:20:00.004-06:00

Rachel has requested that I post more often. So I decided to do a post about Rachel.

When I was visting Rachel over Christmas, we decided to go shopping. Rachel was preggers at the time, so we stopped at Baby Gap, to look at clothes for Rachel. We had so much fun! Especially after we realized that they had fake pregnancy bellies, so that I could try preggers clothes on too!

Chicago Update

2008-10-29T20:17:00.010-05:00

So I've been living in Chicago for several months now. I really love it here. I love the way everyone dresses so fashionably-- well, not so much in downtown (people dress more corporate in downtown)-- but up in the Lincoin Park area, people are super fashionable. I feel like I fit in.

I went shoe shopping last weekend, with Sonny. It was so much fun! I got to try on some really amazing shoes-- Valentino, Manolo Blahnik, Alexander McQueen as well as some of my favorites, like Steve Madden. My favorite shoe I tried on was a pair of Alexander McQueen bootlets-- oh so very adorable. (pictured left) With my jeans over them, they looked like motorcycle boots-- chic motorcyle boots a model would wear when she rode her hot, spiky-haired boyfriend's motorcycle.

Speaking of which, Sonny says that he'll show me his motorcycle someday-- if his parents don't sell it first. It's at his parent's house in Michigan.

While we were shopping-- in the glorious Magnificient Mile shopping district in Chicago-- I found the most wonderful store-- French Connection. It was full of these georgious, french-inspired clothes, that were all chic, and simply divine. I wanted to try on the whole store, but Sonny wouldn't let me. We were shoe shopping, so I only got to try on the shoes. I did find an awsome pair of bootlets in that store. I love shoe shopping.

Chicago isn't always wonderful. A couple weeks ago, my roommate dragged me to a club in south Chicago (where all the gang violence is). It would have been ok, except I forgot my i.d., and the bouncers wouldn't let me in. My roommate went in without me, and I had to figure how to get home on my own. I called a cab, but apparently, cabs don't usually go to that part of town. It took an hour and a half for the cab company to get a cab to me. An hour and a half of me sitting outside some jenky club in the ghetto, while guys shouted at me from cars, and police cars drove by all the time. I wanted to cry.

On the whole, though, Chicago is pretty awesome. I like going to parks, and watching the lake. I like walking by the Sear's Tower everyday. I love the fact that there are pizza parlor everywhere. I love the modern art statues in random little squares hidden among the skyscrapers downtown. I love walking over the river everyday on my way to work.

Mostly, I love the fact that I feel independant, and like I really fit in. Chicago is my kind of town.

New Job

2008-09-21T12:23:00.001-05:00

I have a job! I am working at a very small law firm in downtown Chicago. So far, I love my job. My boss is super nice, and is training me so that I can be the perfect lawyer someday. He tells me this all the time. I am starting to get excited about taking the bar exam, and being a lawyer, because I think I can do this now.

Living Downtown

2008-09-15T20:29:00.002-05:00

Right now I live in downtown Chicago. I live a block away from Union Station, a block away from the bus station, and right by a subway stop. It seems like it would be the perfect location, but I am beginning to dislike where I live. This is because after about 6:00 nothing happens around here. Most of the foot traffic in my neighborhood is from business people or travelers. I think I'd rather live a couple neighborhoods north of where I live right now-- up near Lincoin Park. In that area of the city, there are tons of restaurants, and people are out late. I really like the atmosphere of Lincoin Park.

Of course, before I can move I should really find a job. That way, I can sign a lease. If only finding a job were easier.

chicago

2008-07-23T12:16:00.002-05:00

I'm in Chicago! I am pretty excited about this. I got here a week ago, and I am staying with a friend until I get my own place. I am hoping this is soon, because I am sick of sleeping on the floor, and feeling like a mooch. I'm still getting used to this new city, and nothing exciting has happened, but I'll be sure to post soon.

Moving to Chicago

2008-04-19T15:36:00.003-05:00

I'm moving to Chicago after I graduate. The boy I'm dating is moving there too. Everyone acts like this is a big deal: like we're about to get married, or we're moving in together. This aggrevates me. If I decided to declare my undying love for this boy, I would TELL people, I wouldn't just let them infer it from the casual comment that we are moving to the same city after we graduate.

So hopefully Chicago will be lots of fun. Maybe I'll be able to find a job right away, and start paying back my loans. I still haven't decided what I'm doing about taking the bar, or if I ever want to be a lawyer. We'll have to see what happens.

Living in the moment

2008-03-29T14:04:00.002-05:00

I think I've finally done it. I finally figured out how to dwell in the moment, and not get carried away with worrying about the future. Of course, I did this just when I was about to graduate from lawschool, and need to start thinking about things like taking the bar, and getting a job.

I'm just so happy all the time, I just love relishing every moment. When I do think about the future, I freak out, and want to cry, because I have nothing planned. But then I go back to living in the here and now, because that's the only way I know how to cope. Maybe if it wasn't such a jarring jump from my present reality to the uncertain future I would be able to deal with this better.

Cold

2008-02-01T16:47:00.000-06:00

It has been very cold this past week. It started out warm enough-- rain, and about 40 degrees. Then it got cold. Frigid, kill you if you stand still cold. Yesterday I went for a walk-- I kept moving the whole time, and I dressed warmly, but by the end, my legs were going numb from the cold. Erlack a pongos!

Luckily, my friends drove me to school and back a couple times, so I didn't freeze quite so much. Jonas drove me home in his cute little yellow Aveo. I can call it cute, because Jonas freely admits that people think it's a girls car.

I'm up in the air about whether I like the cold or not. On one hand, the cold makes being outside kind of miserable. On the other hand, less people are outside when it is this cold, and that means when I go on my late night walks the chance of rape goes way down. Which is nice. Lower chances of being raped are always nice. Because we all know that my not going on walks isn't really an option.

Silly

2008-01-18T08:46:00.000-06:00

Lots of things are silly. Boys are silly. Getting mad at my friends this week was silly. I'm pretty silly.

Sometimes you just have to accept the fact that life isn't quite the way you want it to be, and deal with that. That doesn't mean you should just ignore when you get upset, and pretend everything is wonderful when it's not. It means you accept that the situation makes you angry, or upset, and then you deal with your emotions. Ignoring your negative emotions only makes them fester, and then you have huge emotional problems later. Getting angry is part of life. Being stressed out is part of life. Having negative emotions doesn't mean you need a therapist. Not knowing how to deal with your negative emotions means you need a therapist. There is a fundamental difference between the two.

Happy

2008-01-03T16:29:00.000-06:00

I expected to be miserable when New Years hit. You know-- the whole single on significant holidays thing, everyone says that you should be miserable. But I wasn't. I was incredibly happy. Sometimes it's enough to be me. Even though everyone says you have to be part of a couple to be happy, I think it's more important to find the happiness within you, and take that with you wherever you go. Yes, be happy when you are in a relationship, but not because that person MAKES you be happy, but because you are inherently happy. This means that you can be happy when you are single too. It doesn't mean that you don't want more out of your life, but it means being sure enough of yourself that you can be happy being you.

Babies

2007-12-31T09:00:00.000-06:00

In facebook there is an application where you can make babies with other people. It is a fun application. It is mostly silly. I have a feeling my mother would not approve, but that is neither here nor there, since my mother doesn't approve of much in my life. I found out a couple days ago that her friends in college used to call her Super Prude, which explains so much of my childhood...

I made a few babies with the application. This made me feel better about life. There is a certain point in a girl's life when her body decides that it is time to be a mother, and all her plans and careful reasons for waiting are not worth a hill of beans when her body starts screaming at her once a month about why she isn't bearing a child yet. Anyway, when I start feeling too baby hungry, I go play with my babies on facebook, which vaugely helps. Of course, babysitting my niece helps a lot more.

It probably doesn't help that most of my friends are obsessed with babies. My best friend is obsessed with not having one-- she got married a year ago, and is still opposed to the idea. Most of my other friends are obsessed with having one, this includes most of my non-married friends. Sometimes we go baby clothes shopping together when we are at Meijer's. My twin sister is completely obsessed, it takes up most of her thought processes. She is really, really moody because of it. Basically the only time she was in a normal emotional state when I was visiting her was when we were in baby stores, or reading her baby name book.

Speaking of the baby name book, we were reading it, and I found the most awesome name: Gomer. Now, I wouldn't actually name a baby Gomer. And it might be weird for most pets. Maybe a fish. But it is completely awesome. I'll have to find something. Maybe a stuffed animal, or a car--something like that.

I really like my life. I'm glad I waited to get married and have babies, despite the fact that sometimes my body complains. There is something inherently peaceful about the way my life has turned out. I like the feeling of accomplishment that comes from going to lawschool, from studying in Vienna, from living many places and learning to be independant. I like the way my life feels unhurried-- like a graceful dance, where all the pieces fall beautifully in step with the music-- at times I am lost in the whirl of the individual steps, but then I take a step back, and realize that there is an over-reaching pattern, and I am at peace.