Dear young people,

Please for the love of all things holy learn to write, spell, and use proper grammar. No, you can't write a note or card to grandma like your texting. Yes, you do sound like an idiot when you write in slang. And for the record, when I text I use proper grammar.
I found this on the net today while researching conditioner for my dry locks:

Q: i used to use dove conditioner.....it dind't suit my hair.......so i shifted to sunsilk .....do dey hav alcohol in dem???

A: no.................it depends....just check out d ingredients!!!!
well using conditnrs l d tim is nt healthy fr ur hair.......so make use of some natural remedies.......u can refer 2 www.AskLaila.com
maybe dis cn help u out.........wishin u a healthy hair.......

Now that you are all less intelligent having read that, have a great day. I'm off to get d vacuum out and get dem dirts of d carpets. I do nt wan dirty carpets for my moms today.

Fetish Friday

Happy Halloween!
I have been trying to accept the gladiator sandal. It's been hard, and I have never fully accepted but a few of them. But, now I can work my way up to the gladiator boot! There are various degrees of gladiator bootness, and this my friends is the extreme. It's by Givenchy and has been spotted on several celebrities. I thought it would make a good feature on Halloween. There's a lot going on here and it makes me feel a little claustrophobic - it's kind of like straitjacket for the leg. Don't even bother shopping for it, you can't afford it.

Fetish Friday

I thought I would go with a man shoe today. I'm sure most of my faithful readers are men patiently waiting for a FF dedicated to them.
I found these colorful Sauconys on Amazon and I think they're way fun. They are only around $50.
If they are too bright for you, then check out these equally cute Sauconys at Piperlime.
It's jean season - time to pimp up your shoe collection, guys.

Wood Block Art

A coworker of Ben's was selling wood blocks for a fundraiser for his old design school. The blocks were to be decorated, given back, and sold to the highest bidder. Ben bought a couple blocks. We decorated them using mod podge and various papers from Ben's paper sample drawer (and there is some Argentine money in there too). We had a fun time together and were quite happy with our finished products.
Can you guess whose is whose?

Done guessing? The butterfly belongs to Ben and the tree was mine. Ben's was much more tedious than mine, but we both spent several hours for a few nights. We don't know how much Ben's sold for. Mine sold for $60 after a bidding war between two people. Pretty good for a $10 block of wood, huh?

Cookies for Grandma

When I was little my grandma would send us a box of jack-o-lantern cookies each Halloween. It was the highlight of my October because not only were they delicious cookies, but they looked awesome. AND they came in the mail addressed to me. Each Fall I remember those cookies so I thought this year I would return the favor and send some cookies to my grandma in Florida.
I don't know that they will arrive in one piece or still be yummy, but I hope she enjoys them. They aren't her recipe and they're not as big as hers were, but they're still orange.
I wanted to send them to all my nieces and nephews, but that task seemed a little expensive and difficult for now... sorry kiddos. Ask Grandma to make you some. Happy Halloween!

Yum Yum.

I have a few yummy recipes to share. For my friends from the 505, you might know the corn cake at Gardunos. I love that stuff and finally found a recipe that is equally delicious. It's like a really moist, sweet corn bread. Sounds weird, but is uber-yummy.
The second recipe is for a homemade taco seasoning and I love it!
Enjoy!

Sweet Corn Cake (adapted from all recipes):
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup masa harina (white flour will work, too)
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups frozen whole-kernal corn, thawed
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup sugar
2 T heavy cream (milk is fine, too)
1/4 t salt
1/2 t baking powder

1. In a medium bowl beat butter until it is creamy. Add the Mexican corn flour and water and beat until well mixed.
2. Using a food processor, process thawed corn, but leave chunky. Stir into the butter mixture.
3. In a separate bowl, mix cornmeal, sugar, cream, salt, and baking powder. Add to corn flour mixture and stir to combine. Pour batter into an ungreased 8x8 inch baking pan. Smooth batter and cover with aluminum foil. Place pan into a 9x13 inch baking dish that is filled a third of the way with water.
4. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven F (175 degrees C) oven for 50 to 60 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Use an ice cream scoop for easy removal from pan.

*I've used canned corn with success before. Also, I doubled the recipe recently and still cooked it in an 8x8. It just needed to cook about 10 minutes longer. The original recipe called for twice as much butter, but I really like it this way.

Taco Seasoning
1 T chili powder
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 t dried oregano
1/2 t paprika
1 1/2 t cumin
1 t sea salt
1 t pepper

Headshots

I had some headshots taken today by Jeffrey Buras. I wanted to get some done while I'm still blonde. I fear I only have a couple more weeks before my roots become too noticable and I'll have to start going back to brown. I've gotten used to the blonde and I actually like it now. The cut still bugs me once in a while, but I like it for the most part.

ab

cd

ef

Do you have a favorite?

Fetish Friday

Grrrrr.
Enough said.
Gianni Bini "Tasti"
Adopt her for $98. She also comes in Black with white trim and a red strap. Equally cute, but not as rambunctious.
I can't stop staring...

Girls Night

Ben always has parties when I leave town to celebrate his temporary bachelorhood. They usually involve hours upon hours of video games and a potato chip here and there.
Ben's going to Dallas for a photo shoot tomorrow, so I think I should have a girls night at my house. We can make cookie dough, paint our toenails, watch Moulin Rouge, and end the night with a pillow fight!
Or... I could just watch The Office, put Lukie to bed, and play on the internet. Hopefully there won't be any scary noises when I'm home alone!

Mom Jeans

Brenna sent me this. I've already got my order in!

Sleep

Some day I would like to get this clock for Lucas. It has the option to glow yellow at night and turn green when the kid is allowed to get out of bed. Hopefully Lucas will be disciplined enough for something like that...

Naughty Craigslist Usage

I saw a post on craigslist last night for a female photography student in need of a blonde model with blue eyes. She did specify that the model could not be taller than 5'8" and had to be over 21 b/c the shoot would be in a bar.
She said she would pay $70 for a couple of hours. Even though I'm taller than 5'8", it's only a half inch, so I decided to try. I emailed the girl and heard back from her this morning.
Turns out she was just looking for a blonde, blue eyed girl so she could buy her ID from her, not do a photo shoot. Lame.

Seriously?

Seriously, J Crew? Really - you want us to wear this? Seriously? It's 2008, not 1985. Seriously.

UPDATE: I was watching The Cosby Show last night (aka best show ever). It was the one where Theo goes to prom with all his friends. Adam Sandler was one of his friends, and his date was wearing this exact same dress, but in pink.

Fetish Friday

Apparently I'm getting old. This season I'm having a really hard time finding shoes I love. It was so easy in the summer time when almost everything was cute (except for the gladiator sandals). Now it's boot season, and I love boots. I'm just having a hard time with the shooties, booties, and moccasins. Good thing I live in Austin now and don't really need boots!
I did find some high boots I like. They have a cute heel - a 3 inch wedge. They are called Harley by Corso Como and can find a place in your closet for $295.

First Cold Shower

Today was my first time washing my new hair all by myself (in a cold shower). I think I did a pretty good job. I bought all the products at Sally's yesterday, so today I did my four steps, followed by towel drying, blow drying and flat ironing. I think I did a decent job for my first time. It sure takes more time than the old wrap it in a bun and go technique. Ben and I both liked my hair more today... I think the blond is growing on us.

We went to a Neighborhood Night Out event at the pool tonight. As we were walking up holding hands a few people were staring intensely at us while gossiping about what a two timing jerk Ben was until they saw that it was me and not some skank who stole my son and husband.

(They weren't really saying such mean things about Ben, but they did wonder why he was holding hands with who was most likely my sister... gross!)

So long...

...to my lovely golden locks of yesterday. I ended up getting selected for a hair show this weekend. I went to the model call Friday night for Wella and made plans to get Beckhamed on Saturday morning. I was also planning on a "halo effect" for my color - blond at the roots, fading to brown, then to red. Interesting, but worth the cash, right?

Saturday morning the "artist" informed me that he wanted to accentuate my blue eyes more - aka go platinum blond. The cut wasn't as short as we had planned, but I was kind of excited to be Posh Spice. THEN he informed me that there would be traces of pink in my hair also, but it would wash out over 6-8 weeks. I reluctantly agreed as all the hair people assured me that I could totally pull off being a blond. They showed me the picture and I wasn't too impressed so I tried to talk them into another 'do, which kind of worked, but I still got stuck with the bangs.

My day began with the cut... about 6 or 7 inches. Then the bleaching, which took forEVER, then the dying, to get the yellow out. The colorist, Cecelia, was from El Paso and she was awesome. I'm so glad she was there to get everything right! She even convinced my "artist" to go with other blond colors instead of the pink, so that was great!

Today I woke up after another semi-sleepless night, cried a little about my crazy hair, and then made blueberry muffins to eat with the boys. When I got to the convention center they put the new colors in my hair and it looked much better. I wore a cool BCBG dress along with too much makeup, and did a good job at the show. Basically you stand on a stage with the hair dresser and they tell the audience what they did with your hair, all the while convincing the people to buy the product. It was pretty fun.

By the way, I really do like the Wella products - my hair is not fried or dry like straw. Their bleaching product was great - no singing eyes or skin like normal. And the other dyes (that go dark) aren't bad for your hair at all.

Here are the pictures:

Before

After Day 1


after the show w/more colors and disgusting makeup

after a long day, side-swept bangs.

I still don't know what I think. It will be fun to be blond for a while. People at the show really liked it, but I'm just not this cool. The cut is so trendy and the bangs are extreme. I think I will try to do the side-swept thing as they grow more. Then, when I start getting roots, I will do some dark lowlights and eventually get back to my brown self. And no, Ben is not a fan, but he's not being a jerk about it.

Things I learned:
*It's bad to shower in hot water - makes your hair and skin dry. From now on I have to wash my hair in cold water.
*Don't let your stylist put you under the dryer when they color your hair - it makes it work faster, but damages your hair. My hair took all day and would have cost about $350 in a salon due to the time/technique.
*Your hair dresser is supposed to be weighing the products they use to dye your hair so they get the right ratio. Most just eyeball it.
*Hair is in bad shape after three years and needs to be cut - the reason some people's long hair looks so drab and yucky. After it gets cut it will grow faster because it won't break off all the time.
*If you're going to model for a hair show, be ready for anything.