Pet Peeves

Tonight, I settled onto my couch with a bottle of zin, my current favorite nail polish, and Grey's Anatomy. Sounds like the makings of an excellent night, right? Well, it was . . . until Meredith and Cristina (okay, the show's writer) committed one of my ultimate pet peeves:

1. Explaining something obvious to a tv show's audience.

Did anyone else catch this interaction? It occurred at approximately 9:44 pm, while Meredith and Cristina were discussing Meredith's patient, the feverish child Parker, and his concerned mother (guest star Sarah Chalke):

Cristina: Well could it be Munchausen by Proxy?
Meredith: What, that she's making her own kid sick? No, she just has a strong feeling that it's something more than strep.

Ughhhhhhhhhhh. First of all, I feel insulted as a viewer. I know what Munchausen by Proxy is and I don't need it explained to me. Secondly, AS IF doctors would "clarify" this sort of thing to each other. It is a deliberate move to explain to viewers who might not know what they're talking about . . . and to me, it indicates bad writing. Either create strong enough context so that the viewers are clued in, or just trust that they either know what it is or that they'll google it. Do y'all ever notice this watching tv or movies? It's THE WORST. I cringe every time.

Since I'm on a roll, I might as well reveal some of my other pet peeves:

2. Loud Eating.
My sister and I have always been so hypersensitive to "smacking," or any form or loud eating (or God forbid gum chewing), that we figured we were just obnoxious. Until we learned about misophonia. We both have textbook cases that, when we were younger, caused us to flinch, duck, cover our ears, and ultimately leave dinner tables when someone was chewing loudly. Now, although I can control myself better, I still get a chest full of rage and an unreasonable need to flee when I can hear someone eating. Or clinking a spoon against their teeth. I'm shuddering just thinking about these things.

3. Slow Walkers.
I cannot even deal with (non-elderly, able-bodied) people walking like turtles on sidewalks or paths.

4. Meekness.
Unfortunately I appear to be revealing myself as a bitch. But since I'm being honest: meekness, and its cousin passivity, drive me bananas. I find myself wanting to scream GET A BACKBONE whenever I see someone behaving in a meek/passive/submissive/doormat-like way. Granted, aggression is not a great alternative, but can't we arrive at a happy medium?

5. Sitting Still.
Perhaps I'm making excuses for myself, but I think there might be something physiological with me that prevents me from being able to sit still. I sure as hell can't sit in a chair for hours (so uncomfortable!), but even if I'm in my preferred, cross-legged position on the floor or a couch, it's tough for me to pay sincere attention to someone who is droning on and on about something, a meeting that seems to go on forever, or a too-long movie. I need action, movement, changes of pace.

I should stop myself at 5 because frankly, the list could go on forever.

And now I am dying to know: what are your pet peeves?? Tell me in the comments!

Walking.

Matt's car is out of commission till tomorrow, and since he has to drive to work (you know, given that he can't walk to Sonoma every day), I've been doing a lot of walking for the past week. We live about a 15 minute walk from the train station that takes me to the neighborhood in SF where I work, and our office is about a 10 minute walk from that station. When I've had meetings within a couple miles from our house, I've walked to them. And today I'm going to walk up to the library & the neighborhood market for produce; the walk there and back is just over a mile, but it's enough to see new things and have some time to be active & think.

San Francisco is different than any other place I've lived in that it is a walkable city. You certainly can't just walk anywhere you want to go in Atlanta (unless you want to walk 40 miles) and where I grew up, in the country-ish suburbs, no one walked anywhere, really. I walked and biked a lot in New Orleans, but only in my neighborhood. San Francisco is only 7 miles by 7 miles, and while those miles cover some pretty epic hills, you could literally walk the whole city if you wanted to.

When I was hanging out with my friend Diana last week, she was raving about a food truck called Curry Up Now that she said was worth waiting 40 minutes in line. As I was walking to work from the train station last Friday, I walked right past a brand new Curry Up Now location on Valencia St., just two blocks from where I work! Had I been in a car, I would have missed it.

If you are in SF or San Mateo or Palo Alto, go immediately!

I stopped for a quick lunch on my way back, and Diana was right: the deconstructed samosa with paneer really is amazing. Next up: tikka masala burrito!

Another thing I saw as I was walking: a poster for Papa Grows Funk's farewell tour show at Brick & Mortar. FAREWELL TOUR?! I had no idea! Apparently they're playing a final show on June 29th at Tipitina's in New Orleans, but their last San Francisco show is next Friday night in the Mission. 

from

While I'll be glad to have my car back once Matt's is fixed (it gets tricky when I babysit in the North Bay), I may stick to walking more of the time. I'm such a go-go-go fast paced person that I tend to want to get somewhere as fast as I can. But I've learned that while walking may take longer, I see things I never would have noticed before about my city.

Do you ever walk around in your city/town?

Extreme Plastic Surgery

It's no secret that I'm a little bit obsessed with Jocelyn Wildenstein (or as Matt calls her, Jocelyn Wildebeast). She's reportedly spent 4 mil on plastic surgery and quite honestly, she looks like she's been run over by 5 tanker trucks. Here is what she used to look like

before she married Alec Wildenstein, who allegedly "loved big cats," and asked her surgeon to make her look feline. And here, ladies and gentlemen, is what she looks like now:

Fascinating, right, that she has chosen to look like this?! I would love to sit down and have dinner with her, mostly to try and figure out what's going on in that psychology of hers. Can you imagine? 

Matt and I were talking about her on our drive back from Tahoe, and it got me thinking about other celebs who've indulged in mass amounts of plastic surgery. It's gotta be like some strange addiction, right? Pretty soon this shit's gonna be in the DSM V.

Of course, there's the most famous case:

He's hardly recognizable. By the end, he looked extraterrestrial. Or something. Can you imagine being the doctor who did all these procedures? Now that's an ethical dilemma.

And then there's America's most surgically-altered ginger, Carrot Top:

Those brows might appear in my nightmares. Seriously, WTF! I'll give it to him: he still has awesome hair. But other than his locks, I don't even know what to make of that permanently surprised-looking face. 

Another one that never fails to freak me out is Sylvester Stallone's mom, Jackie Stallone. I've often imagined myself as Mama Stallone, getting ready for some gala or ceremony and putting lipstick on in the mirror. What must that be like when you look like this?

Just give it a few years & Heidi Montag will be on this list. She's totally next.

What do you think about this phenomenon? Is it the result of a super distorted self-image, is it some sort of psychological addiction, or is it something else? These fools have me so curious.

(all pics from google image search)

Linking up with Leeann for Monday Morning Gossip:

Our 2013 Ski Trip!

This past Sunday, Matt and I packed up and headed for Lake Tahoe, thanks to a generous Christmas gift (certificate) from my mama. One of the best things about living in the Bay Area is that there are so many incredible getaways within a few hours' reach. Tahoe is 3-4 hours away, Napa just an hour, Santa Cruz a little over an hour, Monterey two hours, and L.A. 5 and a half if you take the 5 and don't hit traffic. ;)

taken with my phone out the car window

We stayed at Zephyr Cove Lodge, which is just 4 miles from the beloved ski resort, Heavenly. Our cabin was perfect, and right on the lake!  The snowy beach was just 30 feet or so away from our front door. 

See the snowy patches? It's the end of the season, so most of it has melted.

On Monday we drove into town and had a delicious lunch at a local brewery. After that, we headed over to the Heavenly lodge, cause I was determined to get my fill of snow. It was gorgeous there, but we couldn't afford their steep ski prices; instead, we settled for a drink at the bar and a snowball fight.

I mean no wonder it's expensive.

We had to check out of our lodge on Tuesday, so I figured we'd have lunch in town and then head back home. But Matt had the brilliant idea to check other (smaller) resorts for ski prices and hit the slopes on Tuesday! Thanks to the helpful guy at the Zephyr Cove front desk, we booked our lift & rental tickets at Sierra at Tahoe for the next day. 

Neither of us had skied in 20 years, but amazingly, we picked it back up right away! I was a bit terrified when Matt convinced me to attempt a blue, but we made it down and I didn't launch into a full on anxiety attack. We had so much fun! I'm seriously already saving my pennies for another trip next year. 

Have you ever been skiing??

Also, please read this post written by my oldest friend in the world, Lesley. 

It's Friday!

Thank goodness it is Friday! This week has been extra long, with lots of work projects, babysitting, visits to high schools and today, a college, fundraisers, etc. etc. I am already looking forward to crawling into my bed at a geriatric hour and dozing off to sleep. This Friday is particularly exciting, because on Sunday, Matt and I are off to Tahoe for a couple days in a snowy cabin!

Although I haven't had time for much else, I have continued to experiment with eye shadow, and have found even more amazing makeup gurus to watch on YouTube. The problem with this is that my beauty product wish list is now laughably long. It includes but is certainly not limited to:

*MAC Fix +
*Benefit Porefessional primer
*Lorac Pro Palette
*Lancome Clis Booster XL
*Bare Minerals bronzer in High Dive
*the Balm NudeTude palette
*MAC powder blush in Pink Swoon
*every Sigma brush that every existed
*Smashbox lipstick in Pink Petal

I've been trying to get a little out of my comfort zone with eye shadow. I am most comfortable using browns and purples, but I have a lot of wilder shadows that I've shied away from in the past. Lately I've been reading beauty blogs and watching tutorials to try to expand my repertoire. Here are some of the looks I've attempted over the past couple weeks:

The top picture is an Urban Decay shadow called Graffiti. I don't use greens very often since I have green eyes, but I actually liked this color on! My favorite of the above four looks is the third from the top (the orangey look).  However, it's the only one of the four in which I've lined my water line and lordy, I just can't do that every day. Holy red, watery eyes. Yikes.

Lastly, this whole Google Reader thing. What a hassle! I have pretty much used Google Reader exclusively and now I'm gonna have to shake things up. Do any of you use Bloglovin? If so, please follow my blog there so we can stay in touch. Leave your own Bloglovin link and I'll do the same!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Happy weekend everyone!

A Human Tragedy

The other day, I happened upon this story from the Houston Chronicle and I cannot stop thinking about it. It's called A Human Tragedy, and it's the stories of 24 exonerees who spent years in Texas prisons for crimes they didn't commit.

I cannot even imagine.

The story is creative, fascinating, artistic, and devastating. Photographer Billy Smith II captured harrowing portraits of the 24 exonerees, and when you click on their images, it takes you to a brief summary of their story.

Johnnie Lindsey served 26 years for a rape he didn't commit.

Michael Morton served 24 years for killing his wife, until DNA testing found the real killer. 

Gregory Wallis served 17 years for rape based on misidentification of his tattoo.

Cornelius Dupree Jr. served 30 years for sexual assault and robbery, until DNA testing exonerated him. 

And the stories go on and on. I am pretty empathic but I can't even really conceive of spending all those years in prison for a crime I had nothing to do with. I also can't imagine dealing with the rage and resentment that would inevitably haunt me even after I was freed. 

Notable links:

The first Voice of Witness book, Surviving Justice, is a collection of oral histories from people who were exonerated after serving years in prison for crimes they didn't commit.

The Innocence Project does incredible work to exonerate innocent people and enact legal reform.

Let me know if you check out the article. It has certainly been impactful for me! 

Combating the Sunday Blues

The Sunday Blues hit us hard around here. And it's funny, because I can't even pinpoint why . . . I like my job, and I certainly don't dread working on Monday. Maybe it has to do with coming off the freedom of the weekend (spending my days with Matt) & knowing that on Monday it's back to the grind. Who knows, but almost inevitably, one or both of us is all bluesy by late afternoon on Sunday.

Yesterday evening it was me (I was at a conference for work all day Saturday, so maybe it had to do with not having a substantial enough weekend). Matt suggested that we go pick up frozen yogurt and sit on the beach for a while. It was so effective in eradicating the Sunday blues that we may have to do this on the regular. While we were sitting on the beach 15 minutes from our house, I said to Matt: "Next time I fantasize about moving out of California, just take me back to the beach."

We stopped by CVS on our way to the beach, where a miracle occurred: I finally got my hands on a bottle of Sally Hansen's Mermaid's Tale nail polish! It was the very last bottle in the store, and it wasn't even in the right place, but lo and behold, there it was. And it's just as beautiful as I anticipated:

Source: onceuponapolish.com via Marsha on Pinterest

That picture is from Pinterest because I did a sort of sloppy job on my own nails last night, but let me assure you that it goes on just as it looks in the above picture (I didn't use a base coat, just a few coats of Mermaid's Tale) and it is glorious. Looks like you can order it here if you can't find it in stores. 

How do you combat the Sunday blues?

Also: cheers to my 500th post! 

Eyeshadow & Chickens

Lately I've been rather obsessed with eyeshadow. It may seem silly and superficial, but I think it's pretty artistic, actually--mixing colors, finding the right combinations, and creating colors & shadows around your eyes that enhance their natural color. It's like painting on your face! ;)

I've mentioned a couple times now that I can't stop watching ThatGirlShaeXo on YouTube. She's not only so knowledgeable about makeup, but she's so funny and cute and spunky that watching her videos makes me feel like we're having coffee together, haha. 

Up until recently, I did pretty much the same eye routine every day. But lately, thanks to Shae, I've been all about experimenting with color and contour. Here are some of the shades I've tried over the past month or so:

Top: two Loreal Infallible shadows // Amber Rush & Perpetual Purple

Second from top: two Ulta shadows I got recently on sale // Glamazon & Golden Olive

Third from top: Naked 2 palette

Bottom: Naked 2 palette & Ulta shadow Cherry Bomb

Of course, I use various shades on each look, but those were the main players. I use Chopper from the Naked 2 palette as a transition color most days. It's so pretty! And for the top look, I used a purple from an old Dior holiday palette between the two Infallible shades. 

I need a better camera.

I was too sick to do much on Saturday (other than experiment with eyeshadow), but we had a full day Sunday. Matt and I took Jasper to the Unitarian Universalist church in Oakland just to check it out. Afterwards, we went to my boy Jude's 3rd birthday party, where Jude hugged his new (humongous) chicken, whom he named "Meal Young the Chicken" (after our cat, obviously, whose name Jude thinks is Meal Young). 

What did you do this weekend? Anything exciting planned for March? Matt and I are counting down the days till our Tahoe getaway (13!).