Archive for May 2008

21 May 2008

Cupcakey goodness and take my stuff – please!

By: Jessica B.
Tagged: Fashion, Food
Before we get into the good stuff, below is a picture of an amazing cupcake that I snagged at work today. I think it was for someone’s….promotion? Anyhow, it was from the Southport Grocery and O-M-G it was good. Girls huddled around trying to get one and I fortunately grabbed the last one – and I did it without pushing anyone to get at it. I did the honorable thing and offered to share it with the girls who didn’t get one…but I think they could tell I wasn’t serious. I wasn’t so I’m glad they saw through that.
Moving on, as a girl, I accumulate a lot of stuff. My love for shopping and accessories knows no bounds, which has led me to buy and hold on to many things that I don’t wear on a regular basis.

So now that it’s “spring,” it’s time to clean out the closet and drawers, but rather than donate again to Goodwill or Brown Elephant, I’m skipping the tax write-off and am looking to trade my things…for other things!
Last week, Erin told me about her idea for a blogger accessory swap that she was hosting. Interested bloggers post the stuff they want to swap on their site and people can check it out and trade. 

Now, without further ado, below is the stuff I’m looking to swap. Whether you’re participating in the swap or not, feel free to let me know if you are interested in trading for any of the below items. More pictures of individual items can also be available if you’re interested. 

Top picture (L-R): Black Hawaiian shell necklace with lace tie, brown/pink beaded necklace (long), J.Crew thin headbands (both unworn)
Bottom picture: Target Xhilaration ballet flats in bronze, size 10

20 May 2008

The Netflix Conspiracy

By: Jessica B.
Tagged: Movies, Random
I love Netflix. Now that I get movies mailed to me, I don’t want to go into a traditional Blockbuster or Hollywood Video again. Why? Because that means I have to leave the house, put some effort into how I look on the non-going out weekend nights and live with the possibility that the movie store might not have my movie. I don’t like those 50/50 odds.

I’m not saying Netflix doesn’t have some faults, but overall, it’s a solid deal. Recently though, my brother and I have started noticing that Netflix might have a mind of it’s own and dare I say it, there might be a Netflix Conspiracy. Mulder and Scully might not come to investigate, but it’s out there.

I order my Netflix queue in the following way: upcoming new releases (so I’m at the top of the list when they’re available), and then all other movies in order of how I would prefer to view them. Pretty simple. Well lately, I’ve noticed that Netflix has been picking movies out of order from my queue. If the movie Cloverfield is available and next on my list, Netflix feels like grabbing The 11th Hour from my queue instead, which is also available but is listed a few films down from the first available movie. What’s up with the Cloverfield-hating? Yes it’s scary but it’s still a good movie!

I’ve also noticed that in addition to picking movies out of order, that Netflix is picking movies in the same genre, regardless of where they are in the queue. Recently, my Netflix queue has taken to enjoying independent films and documentaries. I appreciate them thinking that this is what I like, but really, just go in the order that they’re in the queue. There’s that way for a reason. Or if Netflix has moved to a “Tivo” format of selecting things it thinks that I would like, just give me a heads up or the option to say no.

I don’t know if anyone else is having this trouble, but between the printer elf and this, just give me what I want! Maybe it’s time to move to On Demand on my TV.

19 May 2008

Beauty hurts – duh

By: Jessica B.
Tagged: beauty
I admit it, I’m a sissy when it comes to beauty. I’m slightly vain and I can’t handle the pain that beauty sometimes entails. And no I didn’t mean for that to rhyme.
I bring this up because Friday I went to Spa Nordstrom’s to get an eyebrow touch up before the wedding this weekend and my Eyebrow Girl (which is what I’ll refer to her as) told me I was a sissy when it comes to waxing. And sadly, she is right. Actually I’m kind of a sissy about anything beauty and pain-related.
Now in my defense, I have very sensitive skin so my skin hates the wax more than normal. When I left my appointment on Friday and met up with my friend Ryan, the first words out of his mouth were, “dude what happened to your face?” Touching. And Eyebrow Girl made this comment after tearing a particularly large piece of wax off the skin just below the eyebrow, so that is already sensitive. And I’ve mentioned before how bad I am at simple beauty rituals like plucking my eyebrows so waxing seems to be my only option to keep them under control. It’s an abusive relationship.
But moving along, the recent waxing incident reminded me of the simple phrase that my stepmom reiterated to me when a hot cocktail dress was cutting off circulation in my chest, “beauty hurts.” As a girl, I can absolutely say, yes it does.
I’ve suffered for beauty, especially when you live in the city where everyone is beautiful, beautifully dressed and put together. You find yourself obsessing about mani/pedi’s, getting a wax touch up and making sure you don’t leave the house without some kind of make up on. And now I am a follower. I’ve done the highlights fed through the shower cap with the crochet hook (yes it’s painful), waxed, had plantar’s warts removed with needles before sandal season and worn shoes that look hot while walking to the printer but hurt for about 20 minutes after.
I declare my sissiness for beauty pain proudly. Friends who wax more than me, tease me about this because I sound like such a “newbie” and say, “well if your feet hurt, wear the comfortable shoes!” They are right and this pain is brought solely upon myself but it’s nice to be all made up sometimes and have that newly “cleaned up” feeling. So I just bring the aloe lotion for my eyebrows, slap on some Band-Aids for the feet and take a deep breath to get into the dress, all in my fabulously highlighted hair.

18 May 2008

Shaking my money-maker and feeding the economy

By: Jessica B.

This weekend my friend Sarah and her boyfriend Thom were in town for a visit, and where Sarah and Thom are, good times follow. Usually it’s drunken, 4 a.m. trouble with at least someone crying by the end of the night, or being threatened to be arrested. Good times!

Before our inevitable late night, the Team Hamster girls (Sarah, Liz and me) met at Yolk on Roosevelt for brunch, which was awesome. Of course, I had not eaten before brunch so I might have actually inhaled the pancakes and bagel I ordered. Because I’m cooking-challenged, I can’t seem to make pancakes in my own kitchen, so paying someone else to do it is just as good. 
Now with a horribly full stomach, it was off to Michigan Avenue to start supporting the economy with our stimulus checks (thanks Mr. Bush!) Sarah is the devil at getting me to spend money, so now two pairs of Tory Burch shoes are being shipped to my parents house and I had to cut myself off before purchasing more at Banana Republic. So much for getting practical things with my stimulus check. I do still have some money left over so I can guy things like towels and wash baskets. Phew.
The main event to our Hurricane Sarah/Thom weekend culminated at the Globe Pub last night. The Globe is a Chicago dive bar and my original memories of it were…divey. I’m a preppy person so to no surprise, dive bars aren’t really my scene. When we first started going there, the Globe had a disgusting bathroom, stale smoke smell and it was all-around dirty. I always wanted to Wet-Nap my chair. But now that our local smoking ban is in full effect, it’s actually not that bad! 
The bar now has a dance floor for the Saturday-night DJ and by the time we met up with Sarah and friends at the bar, she was more than hammered and dancing like she was in Footloose. This includes grinding on of the short poles around the dance area, which gave me a flashback to last Saturday night’s activities.
But the DJ’s homage to 90s hip hop/rap made my shoulders shake and ignited the need for dancing. I don’t go out dancing regularly so when I’m ready to dance, clear the floor! So after about two Stella’s, I was up on that dance floor with the rest of the gang, shaking my money-maker like it was hot. Actually I looked like I was having trouble keeping my balance and/or was having a seizure, but I pulled out my best white-girl moves for my friends. The sprinkler, running man and shopping cart all came out. I even had some unknown guy shake his butt at me during Baby Got Back, so I managed to give him a friendly spanking, since that seems to be what he was looking for.  It was a fun night. And my dancing shoes are all warmed up for next weekend when we rock the reception, Wisconsin-style.
Update: Tipp reminded me of something that I forgot to mention. About 11 p.m. the DJ put on Thriller from Michael Jackson and people rushed the dance floor to do the thriller moves. You know what ones I’m talking about. You could definitely tell who was alive and remembered that video circa 1983.

16 May 2008

Office finale: The good, bad and JAM

By: Jessica B.
Tagged: television

Blogs were a-flutter with feedback on the Office finale last night. Personally, I was too excited to blog about it right away because I had to watch it a few times to really get the full effect.

So below are my thoughts. Many of the blogs I read today agreed on these points so hopefully it’s not too repetitious.
Note: Spoilers are below. If you haven’t seen the finale, check out Hulu or NBC and then come back and finish reading. You’ve been warned.
Goodbye, Toby
OMFG what a great show. Solid writing and performances by everyone, even smaller characters like Phyllis and Kevin. I was beyond nervous going into it because I’m such a JAM fan and Jim-lover and there were a bunch of high-points and some low-points so let’s get it going.
High points:
– Two words: Cold open. Hilarious. Jim/Dwight were insanely funny and Pam joining in? Just as good as the past pranks they pulled in season 2.
– Amy Ryan. I liked her in “Gone Baby Gone” and I loved her here. Sweet, funny and having a crush on Michael? Solid stuff. I really hope she is back next season because she was perfect. And the scenes with Kevin were classic.
– Kevin. Dwight telling Holly that Kevin is mentally challenged and then Kevin pretty much living up to that statement made me cry laughing (literally). That wasn’t the most PC storyline but hilarious nonetheless. Definitely a highlight.
– The final scene. Oh. My. God. After seeing last week’s show, it wasn’t totally unexpected, but still, what a way to end. But to quote Rebecca, the sight of Dwight’s pale back is burned in my head for now.
– Kelly’s interview after Ryan’s YouTube appearance. “I’m gonna wear my hottest track suit and get my hair done.” You go girl. I’ll join you.
– Jim “manning up” finally. Way to grow a pair and stand up to Ryan. His line of “congratulations on doing your job,” was way below the belt. It was great to see signs of the “old” Jim, standing up for himself.
Low points:
– Jim’s hair. I know guys don’t like to be changed, but good lord Pam needs to get him a haircut. Trim that down to the length in the premiere and he’s super hot again. Meow.
– Jan pregnant. This isn’t exactly a “low point” but I’m curious more about the Holly/Michael dynamic (hello she spoke Yoda with him) so Jan is off my radar a bit. But I can come around on this.
– Anti-climactic JAM ending (see more below).
My personal favorite…JAM
I can’t lie – I was disappointed there was no proposal :( But they’re still together and happy so that’s better than nothing. And now the build up to the proposal next season (which there better be one) is going to be more worthwhile.
My “swoon-worthy” moment of the night was Jim’s talk with Michael about courting at the office, recounting his history with Pam there. I was surprised that he forgot about the drunken Dundie kiss but I can get past that. The look on his face when he realized he was proposing was awesome and the excited/nervous look on hers when she figured it out was great too. Love them! Of course we all know that didn’t exactly go as planned, but the moments leading up it made me sit forward on the couch. And the bittersweet look on her face after the proposal didn’t happen made me sad. Not Casino Night sad but sad. Poor thing.
So Pam is off to New York for three months and I love that Jim assured her that it won’t affect what they have. That is true love.
So? Any other thoughts on the episode? Check out OfficeTally for deleted scenes. They’re really good so far.