Launching BibeauArt in Sonoma/Marin Counties

Happy Summer, Sonoma County!  We're back with a NEW blog and a new name - heck, just new everything.


Check out our site at www.bibeauart.net for all the updated info while we get this page going again.

NEW links for you!

New webbie page and Meetup.com sign up page for local chickie poos! 

http://www.meetup.com/NORCAL-FASHIONABLE-CHICKY-POOS/

http://www.wix.com/ninoparks/norcalfashionablechickypoos
Get to the Meetup.com page and sign up - we'll be announcing the Spring NORCAL Chicky Poo TOUR of SOCO - kinda like the bike tour of California (Amgen or something) but way more girly.  There may be some crashing into each other as we run to the awesome red dress on the sale rack, but other than that, it's nothing really like the bike tour!  He he!

Currently, me and my Chicky Poo Chicks, Astrid and Amberino are launching the website, getting sponsors for the new shopping (recyclable) bags and the silicone cool wristbands with our logo on them (all red of course).  I'm researching the coolest and the best consignment stores with the best store owners who are allowing major discounts for OUR LITTLE TOUR weekends this Spring!

We also have some coffee spots and eateries who want to serve us Chicky Poo special drinks and lunch specials - no chain stores, all LOCAL stuff.

Working with local studios for an 'eye and lip' spruce up during our shopping trip with discounts at their locations too...it's gonna be a day or two FOR YOU to spring into Spring 2011 and get your glam on!

Mom Jeans?  Fugly shoe issues?  Wear the wrong bra?  Do you live in your sweats?  No problem, after you come on a tour with us this Spring, that will all change once you get the fashion 'bug'.

Our most recent 'swap' went really well and the leftover clothing (which was faboo, clean and nicely folded up by size and item type by my volunteers (thank you ladies!!!!) will be going to the local women's shelter called 'The Living Room' that we all adore.  Girl power!

In the meantime, I'm also looking for a good place for a pink, blue and green wig - like Katy Perry's - for our TOURS.  This way, our Chicky Poo Fashionistas will be easily spotted doing our tours with the groups and, well, we love Perry, so it's a benefit.  Sparkly Chicky Poo shirts are being designed for the event and interviews in local publications are forthcoming.

Busy little Chicky Poo!

Winter 2011 Clothing Swappie Poo!

The racks as we started up...

The tables on one side of the room...

A table at the end of the evening - maxed out!

Girls just want more clothes!

Silly me at the end of a swap - I try everything on at once but did take that sparkle dress for date nite!

Chicky Poos need to back each other up!

A random thought that's been speeding through my brain as of late.  Why is it, that as women - in general - we don't support one another in the workplace?  Why is it that some women just don't want to 'manage up' (as they say in the biz) one another?  Why is it that instead of mentoring younger women and supporting them to the best of our ability, that we cut them down, supress them? 

I'm not saying that working with men is better, but at least they support you and help you along your path.  I've had more MEN mentors in my corporate life than I can count, but not too many women.  You'd think, since we're the same sex and feel that pressure of getting on in the corporate realm, that we'd HELP one another more often. 

Well, I'm here to report that I've had possibly two real mentors who were female in my LIFE - meaning, older than me, more experienced than me, who actually gave a crap about who I was and where I was going in life.  As for the men that we were told 'supress' and 'keep us back' because we are women, um, I have a TON of them that I can say are/were my mentors that helped me to succeed in life and the corporate world.

So, I ask again, where are these mentor women?  Why are most women so spiteful and bitter when it comes to helping another woman out?  Maybe I'm just being silly, but when asked to help or mentor any young lady or woman MY age or whatever, I'm IN!  I truly enjoy passing on what I have learned, ideas I have and celebrate their accomplishments with them.  To me, that's the joy of life - sharing what you know, what you have, who you are - to others.

Call me old fashioned, silly or just plain stupid, but that's how I view things and that's what I do when asked for help or when someone is younger and looks like they need some help - professionally or not.

Sigh.  I just wish others would help out willingly and as much with young women in the professional realm - share best practices, be there for them and allow them to experience some of what we do in the office.

I was allowed to mentor a college student recently and LOVED it.  I cannot wait to see what she does with her life - and keep in contact with her!  I just wish every woman who is accomplished and/or has a talent to share would pass it on to a younger gal who could use it.

Try to pass along something YOU are great at today - share some of your light to someone and watch how it enhances YOUR life as well as theirs!

Painting for a cause

Today I was asked to paint something, anything, for a local charity auction by a good friend of the family.  I used to work with her hubby at HP back in the day, and know that these people are the most generous and kind folks in the world, so of course I said 'yes'.  Saying 'no' would be a sin and totally selfish. 

It's for the American Heart Association's local chapter and it's a good organization that our hospital partners up with for heart disease each year.  It's amazing how many women are affected by heart disease - way more than you'd think and way more than men are.  There is a co worker who is the picture of health, beautiful, smart, a go getter, goes to the gym, eats right and all that but had a stroke one year.  We were stunned.  How did this happen to her??? 

Looking back, she sees the 'signs' that she ignored and realizes that she was a prime candidate for this all along.  Friends, co workers, people I know through associations here and there have all been hit with some type of heart issue - and sometimes it takes them away forever.

I'm hoping that my painting will raise enough funds to help with research or education or both with the AHA this year and protect my friends, family and co workers who might be touched by heart disease.  Being asked by a woman with a compassionate and loving heart to donate some art today made me remember all those I know with heart disease or those who are already gone because of it and of course, their families left behind wondering if it will happen to them.

God gives us talents to use in this lifetime - I'm hoping that my little talent can help others this year.

The revised 2005 blog entry on Knitting for Dyslexics

Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Knitting for Dyslexics (revised 2010)


Forget the Prozac or your prescribed 20 minutes of 'sun time' outside each day or the damned "happy lite" - the answer is Knitting, folks! You see, as I learn the ancient art of knitting, this skill has kinda taken over my life and my home.  Wherever there's a nice sitting area on the couch you'll probably find some yummy yarns strewn around attached to a pair of 'needles'.  Don't worry, they won't bite - they are pretty dull.  Wonder why they call them 'needles' - they are more like 'chopsticks'.
For one to begin a knitting project, one must find a pattern for their skill level in order to purchase the correct yarns, the correct 'chopsticks', and any other accessories one may need for their desired item.  I noticed the 'advanced' designs, the 'moderate' designs and the 'easy' designs, but what about the 'dyslexic' designs?  You see, I'm the person in your Sunday morning Yoga class who goes left when you are to turn your body into a pretzel going 'right'.   I'm also that person in your Zumba dance/fitness class who will sashay right into you when not recalling in a split second where my 'other left' is and land on top of your manicured toes.
Even my normally very supportive husband looked at me with my new project and all it entailed and sighed, deeply.  No matter, I was determined to learn this skill of women of the frontier, women of the Victorian age, women of the craft!   Heck, men used to knit their own socks, so why couldn't I learn this?

Knitting my first project with my sister in law started out well, until I noticed that her knitting was perfect and even and mine looked like a screen shot from a bad Tetris game I had just lost.  My edges were ragged, uneven and not at all like the perfect little photo in the knitting book I had just purchased. 

"Frog it," she would say without looking up from her knitting project, meaning: unravel that horrible mess before someone sees me helping you.  And frog it I did, and fast.  I became really good at frogging and rolling up the balls of yarn for their next project while watching everyone else knit.

At the local library I found a book called 'Freeform Knitting' and my heart leaped for joy.  Just reading this book confirmed what I thought was a dyslexic defect in my learning of the skill of knitting - not everyone goes by a pattern...or maybe they start off that way, but then find their own style and let it flow into something beautiful.  There was no math in this book, no measurements, no real instructions actually - just visualise what you want to create and knit it!  I'm a creative person with a need to do something with my hands every ten seconds, so why not?  I could do this!

My first few creations were horrible and amazing creations - but I did get the hang of this Freeform Knitting thing and rather enjoy it and came up with tons of interesting ideas, some better than others.  It was the joy of the actual knitting that kept me going, and of course, the occasional item that someone would ask me for once they saw me wearing it.
Now, as I knit, I think about the ladies who write down the patterns as to what they are creating for contests, calendars and published books about how to knit.   My goodness, that sounds like torture - like an Algebra pop exam - the annual visit to the doctors - just not something that's fun to do or even remotely appealing.   But, even now, as I knit myself to sleep tonight, I think of these ladies who must count all of their stitches.  Mark their stitches, drop every fourth stitch on the alternating rows.  Picking up a stray stitch after frogging away most of their creations, using a computer to compute the most accurate pattern for their dog sweater.

I think of them AND their perfect little worlds, the clean bonus rooms, clean and polite children lined up properly at the dinner table waiting for the freshly made nutritrious and wholesome meal and the newly brushed cat sprawled out in the sun on the family welcome mat near the front door (that was knitted with recycled Safeway grocery bags) and wonder if they ever do anything 'not by the book'. 

I'm certainly not a 'by the book' kind of gal and neither is my home I keep or my knitting.  I rather like it this way, a bit backwards, thrown together with some creativity and the results are one in a million - amazing, fun and most of all, a part of me given to someone I love.
There, that's my 'pattern' for knitting and for my life. Hope you can understand it and maybe enjoy it.

Every two years, needed or not...

We move every two years, I believe.  We don't like to move, but it seems that it happens to us a lot.  We move because we relocated.  We moved because we thought it would be fun to live in a converted chicken house (not kidding).  We moved because we liked the last house we were in better, and moved back.  We moved again, then again as a favor to our landlords.  This weekend, we moved because if I didn't have a garage and a larger house I was going to go nuts.  Literally.

So, this time it's all my fault and I'm so happy about it!  Now, I have a two car garage for my 'studio' for my artwork.  Thank the Lord in heaven!  Now I have my own bathroom - well, I must share with the hubby, but no more KIDS and visitors in my freaking bathroom.  I can leave out things - like makeup, drying bras, etc.  I don't have to hide everything each time I'm using the bathroom for fear that the neighbor's kids may see something and report it to their parents.  "MOM!  Did you know that JP's mom has three RED BRAS and one has flowers on it?"  Yeah, that's all I need.

My son has his OWN bathroom, toilet, bathtub/shower and HUGE sink and vanity area.  That's enough for me to jump up and down in pure joy!  Amen!!!

My hubby and I have our own den (he works at home a lot and needs it) so I'm not shuffling my papers and PC all over the house each time someone wants to eat at the kitchen table.  The best part is that my room is upstairs - away from the horrible television.  Can't get rid of that TV, but I can banish it to another part of the house - another reason for JOY!

So, even though I'm surrounded by boxes, turned over boxes, stuff everywhere and more waiting for me in the garage, I'm happy sitting on my floor in my room tonight typing this.  I will miss my heirloom tomatoes that I planted months ago, but I'm sure the new neighbors at my 'old' place will share. 

Back to it!

End of Summer Swappie Poo!

http://www.meetup.com/NORCAL-FASHIONABLE-CHICKY-POOS/calendar/13975230/

AUGUST 22ND from 6-8pm is our end of Summer-beginning of Fall clothing swap!  It's my little mission to help every chicky poo look FABOO for NO MONEY DOWN or NEEDED type of thing.  Girl Power!

Yes, we're at it again, same place (490 Mendocino Avenue, SR at the Serendipity Studio) and hopefully some new and some newer friends to make.  Each time we do these swappie poos, we get a surprise.  Either people 're meet' up here, find a new style with our blessing or bring faboo wines and snacks to munch on.

Of course it's about the clothes, but with some encouragement, these unwanted faboo clothes just instantly find new homes!   Each of us turn into stylists and pitch in to help someone who just lost a TON of weight - or a new mom in need of stepping up her style a bit.  Career chicks like me love new pieces to fit into my ensemble.   Although the clothes (sometimes) are NOT new, we all know 'it's new to YOU'...our mantra!

Fireworks and Freedom! Well, sorta.

It's the birthday party to end all birthday parties - the Fourth of July celebrations that go on all weekend long and especially the fireworks that hit the black skies when evening hits.  America sure knows how to party - and boy, do we do that well.  Whew!

This year, we were invited along with some new and some dear friends from the neighborhood to go see the fireworks with them at the fairgrounds.  Sounds good since our city puts on one HELL of a show around here.  Then they include their RV, a BBQ, beer, chips, dips and another truck full of chairs - hey, it's a tailgate party now!  We're there!

We pack up everything around dinnertime.  We have kids with us, they are hungry.  We figure that we all get there early, eat, clean up, stroll around the fairgrounds for the jumpy rides, etc. for the kiddos and then settle in later on for the main event - fireworks.  Yes, we'd be in the parking lot all this time.  No, we are not going inside with the crowds.

They have done this for years, apparently, to great acclaim.  We're not a rowdy group either - just fun, with kids and a football flying around for fun.

The second we unload the vehicle after paying for our spots, we are told that we cannot tailgate although the gate staff said it was 'cool'.  Awesome!  Let's celebrate America, freedom and...wait a second...we have visitors.

Some 'event' services staff in bright yellow shirts come by.  Two burly looking dudes.  Guess what?  We can't be on this side of the fence in the parking lot doing this tailgating stuff.  What?  We have to move?  We pack up everything and move to the other side of the fence.  Okay, unload and PARTY ON!  The BBQ comes out, we light it, start the hot dogs, use the truck tailgate as a 'table' - unload the beers...Happy FOURTH of...oh, wait a minute - it's the police.

Apparently we can't be on THIS side of the parking lot if we paid to get into the OTHER side.  Need to move as soon as the embers in the BBQ are gone and cleaned up.  Yes officer, whatever.  We eat, move to the other side of the damn fence where we started.

OKAY!  We set up again, minus the BBQ now cooling off, with stuffed tummies and beverages for all!  LET FREEDOM RING - are we ready for fun?  Um, no, sorry, more event personnel coming up to us now.

NOW we can't drink out of glass anything - including the Coke or Beer bottles.  Okay, we understand, no problem.  We pull out the red and gold tumbler cups.  Problem solved! 

God Bless America! Happy Birthday America!!!  But wait...motorcycle cops show up...

Yeah, we can't DRINK beer OUTSIDE the vehicles.  Oh, and in order not to look like we are tailgating, we must be in the RV or in the truck with the tailgate UP.  All of us.

I thought we were in America, now it's sounding like another country with too many freaking rules.  Keep in mind that we are with the following people:  Firefighters, retired firefighters, Army infantry and upstanding citizens of the area.  We are not hoodlums or have a ton of people scattered all over the place, causing trouble.  We are families with KIDS, properly dressed, with nice stuff.

More event staff visit us with smiles on their faces.  We all roll our eyes at this point and wait for the next demand.  Now we must pay to get into the event in order to watch the fireworks.  Didn't we just pay for parking and have we not just brought our kids inside (they were free, we had to pay to get in) the event area?  Yes, we are told, but that's the rules. 

Oh, and can they swing by for a beer afterwards?

Seriously?

The police keep coming by asking us to do this, do that, not to do whatever...we feel like third graders all evening.  Third graders with beer, anyways.

Finally, the sun goes down a bit and LOADS of folks show up, all tailgating, all drinking bottled beer, etc.  We FINALLY get to enjoy the Fourth of July while watching the beautiful fireworks that we waited so long to see.  I had an idea that night - for the fairgrounds and the city to sell permits for $20 each parking spot for RV's for tailgating with a list of rules - no glass bottles, no underage drinking, no fireworks near cars, etc. to go along with it. 

I believe that THIS way we can all have fun and nobody has to go around policing normal families trying to have a good time on the Fourth of July - you know, to actually enjoy their freedoms on that day.

virtual orange flower from jo...

Miss Faboo Jo gave me this award for my blog although I have NO idea how to post it properly on my page.  I likey it - it's like the fakey colored daisies at my desk at work.  Pretty and bright!

Poses I won't be doing anytime soon...

This pose isn't something I can do...yet.  I'm no spring chicken, but with practice and more practice and possibly some serious stretching in a hot sauna, I can do this someday.   I cannot promise you that I will be able to get OUT of this position, but we'll deal with that later.

Yoga makes my body sing.  I wish someone would have told me about this when I was in college all those years ago.  I always loved ballet and dance, but yoga is all that and so much more.  I used to love fencing, it was graceful and powerful all at the same time, but there was an element missing.  Yoga has all of it - including the missing element, which for me was breathing.

I never learned how to breathe.  I mean, I BREATHE but never learned HOW to properly breathe.  Shallow breaths are what I do, normally and I notice that most people do this too.  Getting into those slow, methodical deep breaths are quite the skill to learn and not as natural as one might think.  It takes practice in this American fast food multitasking society to re-learn how to breathe.

On my desk there is a reminder for me called the Breath Ratio Chart.  It literally tells me how many seconds for inhalation, then to hold (one or two count) and how long to exhale, hold, repeat.  The effects can be relaxing, recharging, balancing, energizing or even good for calming down for sleep.  I'm no expert in breathing in this manner, but I try, I really do.  A good yoga breathing book I purchased recently is by my bedside to help me breathe through allergies, pain and sleep.  It works.  Well.

So, I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks while they're doing a downward dog!  Woof!

Breathing for me is now a source of power - it can change my mood, energy, ability, everything.  I'm a believer!  It even helps me with my yoga poses.  No, I don't do difficult yoga poses, I'm still a yoga baby, but it's all about the breathing.  All of it.  If you can't control your lungs, you can't do anything or if you can do a pose, it will hurt.

Having asthma, I'm well aware of my breathing and the precious resource that it is.  This year has been an awful allergy year and my house is surrounded by oak trees and you can SEE the pollen in the air when any wind kicks in.  My dark grey car has a powdery yellow layer on it each morning and each morning, I'm armed with my inhaler.  Normally, this lasts through March.  This year thanks to El Nino, it's still going strong.  It's hard to breathe and sometimes bronchitis creeps in and I must jump all over it because I don't have time for not breathing and being sick.

With yoga, which I do three times a week now, my breath is like gold - very, very valuable.  Even if I don't do any poses at all, I can still do breathing drills and get benefits!

Of course, with poses like the one above, pictured, we watch our instructor toss in an impossible pose (just because she can, beautifully) and laugh when we stare at one another in amazement!  I think she does this to get us to BREATHE a bit more than we do when we strain during poses.  Us yoga babies are not quite used to the breathing techniques and laughing during practices often helps open those passages up and loosens up our bodies a bit.  Smart Yogi!

When I actually CAN do this pose (above), I will rejoice that I made it and be happy that my breath is the power behind it all.  Then, my yoga friend, Amber, can undo me from the pose and help me stand straight up again as I reach for the Ben Gay!

Bad Karma Day

Last week was a heavy week - work, packing, new boss, meetings, kid events, camps, appointments, sick friends, you name it -it happened last week (or two now that I think about it).  I trudged along keeping my head up and dragging my corpse to bed as the energy light that read 'EMPTY' started blinking very fast.  And although I hate my cell phone with a passion, having it water damaged has added MORE stress with unlistened to phone calls, trying to pick up a call and hearing dead space, only getting text messages.

I kept saying to myself, "You know, next week is gonna SOOO ROCK!"  Well, here is 'next week' and there's even more on my plate - when am I gonna get to the dessert???  The light, fluffy, fun part?   There was some good news, good networking and fun with the kids already and it's only Tuesday. 

But have you ever had one of those get out of bed and you shock yourself accidentally dragging your feet on the carpet?  Dropping things?  Forgetting things?  Drivers that decide TODAY is the day they are gonna try and race you or brake, brake, brake in front of you for 'fun'?  When you put on your watch, it's not working?  You order coffees for pals and notice they charged you for one additional drink and 'didn't know'?  Try to call your hubby who has been calling and texting you all day and he is so busy that you're gonna have to try again later? You go to wash your car window because people in the Summertime LOVE to wash their windows in traffic and spray water all over your windshield at the gas station and someone has taken all of the cleaners away just as you get there?  You go to park in the normal parking space in an empty parking lot under a lovely tree for shade and the FED EX dude 'steals' your spot so fast that he nearly tips over his truck (I mean, REALLY dude?)?

Yes, all in one day.  So, I take a deep breath, hold it for a few counts, and breath out through my mouth to calm down and stay focused on the next task.  I finally get to my office, nice and air conditioned, new, clean and - I open the door to note that it's being used for storage???   So I laughed out loud and got some water from the kitchen. 

I remember a Kenyan lady in the first professional building I worked in as a young chick in my 20's who would go to the restroom for her break like the rest of us in the building and splash her face with water a few times, shake the water off with her hands, close her eyes, dry off a bit and leave.  Finally, after seeing her do this every day, I asked her if it was a ritual.  It certainly looked like one - she wasn't cleaning off her face - and her face was NOT oily or in need of being washed several times a day.  She explained to me with her deep accent that in her culture when things went wrong or you felt 'off' you would find some clean, cool water and splash your face with it in order to 'clean' your karma.  Well, that was the gist of it.

Shrugging my shoulders after she finished explaining how it works, I tried it while she smiled at me.  I wore more makeup that day than she ever will in her whole life, but I did it anyways.  I was having a horrible day and would try anything.

SPLASH!  SPLASH!  giggle  SPLASH!

She gestured for me to flick my hands at the sink to get rid of the water with the 'bad energy' and blot dry.

"There!  How was that?"

"Um, cool and wet?"

"No, no, I meant, how WAS it?  Do you feel free?"

I didn't feel any different but noticed my mascara was running on my left eye.  As I leaned over to fix it, the woman waved me off with her hand and made a 'tsk-tsk' sound and left.

The rest of the day felt like a new slate - fresh.  Maybe there's something to it, maybe not, but right now, I'm gonna march over to the bathroom and find out if it works for me today.

Flick!  Flick, bad karma water!  Flick, flick!

The 'Life is Crap' badge is now mine

...and I worked very hard for it yesterday.  Here's the background on it.  The 'Life is Crap' badge is actually a magnet that each one of us get whenever we do the following:  drop our cell phone or blackberry in the toilet, drop it in the pool, run over it with our cars, have it stolen or maybe we have an energy glitch in our bodies that just kills everything electronic that we touch (yes, we know a person like this.)

The 'badge of honor' is in response to the 'life is good' bumper stickers and the like that we see all over Sonoma County.  They are cute and all that, but not when your cell phone dies a horrible death.  So, this badge/magnet for our cubies or desks or fridges at home says "Life is Crap" and features a toilet view with a cell phone swimming in the middle (see above.)

There are many other variations - and funny ones too, but this is our badge of honor we give to those many employees who ruin their cell phones in interesting ways. 

I have always been quite proud of myself for always keeping my phone water and damage free.  I do lose my phone - all the time and in weird places - but eventually, it's found and I get screamed at by the 25 people who needed me yesterday, the day before that and, well, you get the picture.

So, last night, after running around like a chicken with my head totally cut off at work and doing errand after errand after workie poo, I was out of gas.  Literally.  Done.  Of course, my son was ready to go to the pool with his friends and they all like ME to go with them due to the huge cooler on wheels that I bring with ice that's always action packed with drinks, snacks and fruits.  I couldn't do it.  Just couldn't last night.  I flopped on the couch and stared out the window for a few minutes trying to think of nothing in particular.  I still had my work clothes on and managed to flip my 3 inch heels off my feet and heard them 'clunk clunk' on the floor.

As I stared out the window I noticed that my new tomato garden of heirloom and different sized red tomatoes were being attacked by snails or something - there were round bite marks in the lush, velvety leaves.  Noticing that made me get off the couch and get outside so that I could attend to my precious produce.  I hate snails unless they are baked in salt, oil and butter.  Hey, I'm French, go figure.

After attending to the needs of my beautiful garden, I looked down and noticed that my pristine creme stretch jeans that I so stylishly wore today to work were full of DIRT!  Not just any kind of dirt, but REAL dirt - the organic mix dirt that's BLACK and has worms in it, etc.  OMG!  I ran into the house, tore them off (don't worry, I didn't traumatize anyone - I was alone) and put them in the wash - on the SOAK cycle.

Finally got 're dressed' for the couch in my yoga pants and matching top and flopped on the couch again.

Twenty minutes later my hubby shows up saying "HEY, I've been calling you - we're late!"

"Huh?  Calling me?  No you haven't - my phone hasn't even beeped at me."

"Look, I've called you."  As he showed me his phone log, I realized what I did with my phone.  I had left it in my pocket when I tossed my jeans into the wash - OMG, THE WASH!

I darted over to the washing machine, which was all sudsy and waiting for the RINSE cycle.  Where is my PHONE???  I practically was in the machine when I found it, at the bottom of the blades, soaken and full of suds.

"Life is Crap" I immediately said as I showed my hubby the phone with water dripping from it and suds all over me, the phone and the floor.

My, my, how the mighty have fallen!  Now I was a part of the "Life is Crap" club at work.  Never thought this day would happen.  Then I sprang into action - okay, where's the bag of rice to put it in and did the water get to my SIM card? 

Well, after that fiasco last night, I went out for a drink across the way at the local golf bar and restaurant.  A few other patrons understood what I went through and even the waitress shared her story of running over her phone backing into her parking space (she just had a baby, so that was the reason - baby brain!) and gave me a free dessert for my induction into the special phone losers club.

Thankfully for me, the SIM card may work due to it not being too wet and it's a company phone, so they are sending me a new one that I'll get tomorrow.

In the meantime, my hubby is finding me some contraption that glues the phone to my person at all times so this doesn't happen again and that losing my phone isn't a weekly issue.  I must say, it's nice NOT to hear the ringing of the phone every 5 minutes...but this mini vacation will only last so long.

The Annual Finding of the Gown, Year Two

To a guy, this isn't an important issue.  To us chicky poos, it's very serious - it can be the difference between a 'GREAT' evening out and an 'OKAY' evening.  We don't want an 'OKAY' evening when it comes to formals.  This is my second year earnestly seeking out a ball GOWN, not just a cocktail dress for the Christmas parties each year.

Once a year we are invited to the Army's 579th Engineering Ball - and there's no way you're showing up with some cocktail dress or something more mundane like 'work attire'.  The invitation cites formal attire for civilians and of course, the military personnel must wear their dress uniforms which I'm sure isn't their favorite thing, but they all look great.  I did find out that the female military chicks can wear gowns.  Thank God!  I mean, can you imagine standing next to some stunning Barbie doll of a chick while you are in the equivalent of a blue suit that is paired with a long, long, long skirt.  No bling either, just your Army bling.

Not my idea of 'formal'.  My husband always wears his dress blues - the nice uniform that they all wear to the Ball - so to him, it's another day at the office.  

So, just like finding a wedding gown, the search for a formal ball gown or dress that would work for such an event is not only based on how many stores you search in or how many gowns you try on, but it's all about that special unspoken connection with the gown.  I'm not kidding.  It's either there or it's not.  Kinda like falling in love - it either happens or not.  Period.

I did try to look on line for gowns, but it's not the same.  I need to meet them in person and try them on, walk in them, sit in them and figure out how to move in them and, if needed, how much time I have to trim off those last five pounds or so before the event.  I guess this is also why match.com would never work for me.  On line is not the way to go with a decision this important!!!

This year it wasn't happening for me at any store with any gown.  I did find some very pretty gowns or semi formals that would have worked at many boutiques and salons in my area, but none of them was 'the one'.  A lot of them were the color black, and I'm so trying to get away from that for a while - I think it was my only color in my closet and for every single formal I attended in high school.   Boring.

I promised myself color again this year and thought a nice strapless blue-red would fit the bill.  The problem I found was that each 'red' dress I tried on was a nice color but the cut and fit were not for me.  One dress was so not me that I had to try it on for a good laugh.  I wish I had my cell phone on me (lost it again that whole day) for funny pictures so you could see what horrors some of these designs looked like on me.  

Pageant dresses, gowns, blinged out gowns, cut out gowns, fluffy gowns that would put Cinderella to shame - I tried them all on and laughed out loud part of the time and cursed the designer the other half of the time.  

"A zipper HERE?  I may lose a body part if it goes all the way up!"

"Okay, I got it ON, now how does it come OFF?"

"I cannot breathe and what is this dress doing to my boobs?!"

"I look like a pinata in this multicolored blimp.  Ugh!"

As I talked to myself in the dressing room, unable to send text photos to some of my fashion consultant chicky poos, the young lady who worked that dressing room area (to fetch sizes and to ask you every five minutes if you were 'OKAY') finally cut in.

"Um, I don't mean to interrupt, but can I help you?"

I was in the midst of undoing myself from yet another way too tight gown when I opened the door.  "Yeah, get me OUT of this thing!!!"  We both laughed.  She helped me out and we didn't damage the gown, but sometimes these things need two people to put on and off.  We discussed that for a while while a huge group of ladies of all sizes and ages descended upon us in the dressing room area.  The attendant freaked out - there were like 10 of them with at least 5 dresses per ARM - ready to try them all on!!!

I wished her luck and hung up the gown that I was freed from - and that took me like 5 minutes, at least.  I'm telling you, it's a whole day out doing this sort of searching.

The ladies that were joining us were all from the same family, so I heard.  They also doubled up in the dressing rooms 'for fun' and when a dress didn't work, they gave it to another gal in another room.  It was chaos!

Occasionally I'd leave my dressing room with a gown on me to see it in the three way mirror with platform and move around, see how it worked and if I liked it.  Occasionally, the matriarch of that family of women would say "hey, what size is that?"

Soon, I was passing around dresses that didn't work on me to someone who it would work on.  Still, I had no dress of my own.  All around me, shrieks of "OH MY GOD, THIS IS IT!" or just shrieks would fill the dressing room area.  

The last dress I tried on that day was spectacular looking.  Amazing.  Glorious.  Perfect.  A size 4??? Why did I pick this one up when CLEARLY it was not my size?  Sigh.  

It is a thick satin material of an olive green light coloring that just shimmers in the light.  The cut is strapless and shapely - but the best thing about the dress is the tasteful lariat of crystals and thick lace design that sweeps from the middle of my back to the front across my chest area in front.  Perfect for a 39 year old, not too prom-y - not trying to be younger - just perfect for me, my shape and my skin color.  I was in love.  I wanted this gown!

I glanced over at the rack of my leftover reject gowns and back at the most perfect gown ever - and decided to try it on for the heck of it.  No, I couldn't zip it up and no, it didn't fit me (this isn't a Disney blog, you know!) but I wished there was a larger size that I would fit in.  I realized that I really, really liked this gown.  My heart sunk into my stomach.

Getting re-dressed in my normal life clothes, I took all the gowns on hangers that weren't taken by the other women from my room and brought them out to the attendant.  I asked if there was a larger size, maybe, hiding somewhere.  "No, no, these are all we have - everything is out on the floor."

The rack where I found the gown originally was being picked over and over by other women who apparently have some ball or event to go to soon as well.  I even checked the other dressing room across the way, to no avail.  I was just about to give up when I saw the same color as the gown I had liked near the register, on a rolling rack of gowns to go back, I assumed.

I asked the cashier if these gowns were on hold or if it was okay for me to check it out.  She didn't seem to mind and said she didn't have time to sort them out at the moment.  Grabbing the only gown I wanted, to my joy, it was the same dress and it didn't look like a tiny size either - it was - a size 12?  What?  Running to the dressing room again, I tried it on - and it fit - although it's a little loose in some areas, but that can be fixed.  I was so happy that I jumped up and down!  My dress!!!  I spent more than a few minutes twirling around in it, showing the other ladies in the dressing room what I had found - they were as happy as I was.  We were all glittery, beautiful women very happy in our princess attire!  It was so cool!

The attendant helped fit the dress for me and it's now undergoing the alterations needed for it to be MY dress - my PERFECT gown for this year.  I was thrilled!  All that work being tangled up in other gowns, being literally stuck in some gowns actually paid off that day.  And the good news is that it's not an actual size 12, per the cashier, she claims it was not sized correctly.  I like her, she's so nice to me!  LOL!  I really don't care what size the dress is, wrong or not, I know that I don't have to lose any weight for it, I can breathe in it and I look like a million bucks when I put it on.  

Waiting to pick it up and try it on again at the alterations area at the store is now the hardest thing to do.  Sigh.  I love shopping!

The BP Oil Spill Hearings today

If you'd like to learn how to be a CEO or president of a company and be made of teflon, watch the BP hearings going on right now on C-Span.  The BP CEO cannot answer any questions, of course, due to legal this and that.  Whatever he says can be used against BP in a court of law, so, of course, he's mute on everything.

"I wasn't privy to that" or "Not sure about that" is all he can say.  He also has this smug look about him and a smirk on his face.  You're kidding, Mr. BP, right?  You're hurting the environment for you, your family, their children and all of ours and this is the best we can get outta you?

I'm no screaming environmentalist or activist by any stretch of the imagination, but really?  This is horrible.  Legal stuff be damned, we need this situation fixed.  Forget these pointless hearings, just sue the hell outta them and clean up that oil spill NOW.  Close off the leak permanently.  Profits and BP be damned.  Clean up the coastline, try (in vain) to fix the environmental damage they have done and move on with life.

Hurricane season is upon us and we are a mess over there.  I don't want to think of what a hurricane season will do to stir up the oil and mess we already have.

All I can do personally is fret.  Pray.  Wonder.  And be amazed at the horrific mess of a job BP has done to everyone on this planet.  I also feel horrible for the folks that live around that affected area.  Haven't they been through enough?

Lord have mercy on us all.  We are making a mess of the world.

Wordless Wednesday...

Allergies are so 'not glam'

 

 

This is glam:

This is not glam: 


This is the fifth allergy season I've endured this Spring.  Seriously.  When Spring hits, I know that the long eyelashes, the dark lipstick and the makeup in general are pretty much 'out the door.'  Allergies mean that you can't always be 'glam' during the Spring when you're way too busy trying to breathe and see anything.  When the rains stop, the winds kick in and lordy, lordy, it's 'game on' with allergy meds, rinses, sprays, ice packs, and a lot of trips to the doctor and the pharmacy. 

What's that you say - 'over the counter stuff' - don't make me laugh (or sneeze) that stuff is for amateurs!

I find that the thing that may work besides not breathing or being alive during this season is to wear one of those face masks all the time.  Unless you're Lady Gaga and people expect you to look like a freak, I don't advise it.  It's really not 'glam' and people will say "Oh, doing the Michael Jackson thing again today, eh?"

Maybe if we bling a mask out and add a pretty ribbon to tie it with in back it won't be 'as bad' and I maybe I can just say I'm a religious follower of Lady Gaga?  Hey, it could work, but forget the makeup underneath.  It would get all smear-o-riffic in a second.  You'd look like the Joker from Batman - and I mean all the Batman films and all the versions of the Joker combined.  Of course, you wouldn't have to take your inhalers, which means less steroids in your body, so you wouldn't ACT like the Joker, which is a good thing.

Forget waterproof makeup when you're suffering with allergies - it runs.  And forget all hopes of wearing mascara to make yourself look like you're awake and to fluff up those lashes because there is nothing more unglam then watery raccoon eyes.  Nothing. 

Then there's foundation and blush.  Are you kidding?  You're already red and puffy, why draw attention to that?  For those that put their hopes in waterproof foundation or concealer - it's just not gonna keep you afloat - just jump ship and don't bother with the makeup during this season.

Lipstick and lip gloss are pointless when the rest of you is looking like a bloated mess from the neck up.  The only hope you have for your mouth at this point is Blistex or something that has a minty smell like Vicks Vapo Rub.  It MAY help open those nasal passages. 

I even hesitate to put on sunscreen during this time of year although, at my age, it's vital that I keep that ritual up no matter what the state of my allergies.  Wrinkles, you know.  But even sunscreen with all the best ingredients can be a little tricky.  With all of the allergic reactions happening during the day, some of that sunscreen is bound to get in your eyes.  When that happens, you really, truly cannot see and the pain is quite horrible. 

Ready for your closeup now?  I think not.  Just grab me a paper bag so I can function at my desk for the rest of the day.  Don't worry, I know the keyboard by heart, so that won't be a problem, but you will need to read my emails to me and allow me to drive 'by braille'.

There are days when you wake up and your eyes are not glued shut with allergy gross-ness, and your nose is open on both sides (amazing!) and your mouth is not dryer that the Sahara and your throat doesn't ache from breathing opened mouth all night long.  Those days you THINK that it's OKAY to venture into your vanity area of the bathroom and crack open some makeup, but think again  -OR just bring some makeup remover and some cotton balls to work 'cause you're gonna need them.

Ice and ice packs are incredibly helpful.  If you can find a walk in freezer or fridge, even better. 

What's that you say, again?  Over the counter stuff works, this is good, that works, etc?  Honey, I've been around this pharmacy aisle so many times that it's high time someone give me my pharmacy technician certificate.  Stat.  All that stuff does is either burn the hell outta your nasal membranes or put you to sleep.  Oh and I almost forgot, that stuff also can make you a crappy driver.  Sometimes, you don't even know how you got home or what day it is.  Just skip all of it and get the nasal rinse, neti pots - it's your only hope, Druggie Kenobi.

There ARE a few nasal sprays that honestly work and that will get you through your life a little bit - or at least through your shift at work or long day, but, of course, they are prescription only and cost an arm and a leg.  The only working stuff is the stuff that either isn't covered by your insurance or that costs close to $100 per bottle, 15 usages.  The spray that IS covered isn't worth the cardboard it's packaged in. 

Someone recently told me that their mother swears by drinking hot water with bee pollen.  Straight, no Sudafed chaser here.  I'm considering trying this method, but I know that the makeup will still be on vacation since all the natural methods insist that you must do this type of stuff three times a day for a year, etc.

I'm not that organized in my personal life and in the meantime, I'll keep doing the nasal rinse that is so intrusive that I can only perform it at night.  However, it's the only thing that 'works' besides the $100 nasal spray, so I guess that's my only option for now.

So, while I'm in a drug infested cloud of 'what day/year is it' during allergy season at night, hiding away in my room with the portable cleaned out A/C running, I'm reading lovely magazines showing me all sorts of GREAT Spring looks, makeup, fake eyelashes with feathers, teal eyeliners and the like.  Yeah, like that's ever going to happen for me - hey, can you pass the ice pack to me again, I don't think my left eye is opening properly due to being swollen shut.

The next time you see me during this season and I happen to be outside (baseball game, fundraiser, trying to breathe, etc.) with my nose and mouth covered with a mask, blanket, towel, part of my sweatshirt jacket, etc., you'll know why.  Allergies?  Yes, but more importantly, it's due to the lack of 'glam' and the return of Spring.

I always think of this quote about hot weather and apply it to allergies:  "What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance," by Jane Austen.  Change out the 'hot weather' and put in 'Spring allergies' and we're good.

Quote of the day - a very powerful quote.

Here is a good quote swiped from my grade school friend, Angie's facebook status for today - great words, great saint:

"First do what is necessary. Then do what is possible. And before you know it, you will be doing the impossible." St. Francis of Assisi

Take us out to the ball game...

Election Day in California - VOTE or shut up!

Vote or shut up.  That's what we keep hearing around election day.  IF you can't get off your lazy American butt to fill out some forms and turn them in, then when things go wrong for you in politics, you have no right to fuss or complain.  Yes, we must read through the pros and cons and YES, it's a pain to do, and Y E S, sometimes is makes no sense at all, but we do our best.

YES, I understand that the primaries are not major voting days and YES, I understand that the lobbyists and the big fat cats are pushing things for us to vote or not vote for, but it's our duty anyways.

Shut up and vote already.

I like to do the absentee ballots - that way I can take my sweet old time going over things and fill stuff out.  I don't send it in.  In fact, I like to hand deliver to the polls down the street with my son.  He sees how it goes, gets a sticker and asks questions.  He loves putting the ballot in the box too.  I used to like to go to the polls with my mother who had to bring us due to having 5 kids, but there was something cool about it - and there were no stickers for the kids.

We just understood that this was a pretty important event that effected everyone, even us as kids.  My parents were not overly political, so I didn't grow up with some political slant in my brain.  I ended up being very conservative in my early voting years, but found out that I'm actually a pretty liberal Democrat.  Who knew?  Thank God for facebook tests that tell you who you 'really are.'  LOL!

This morning on the way to work the SF station 'Alice' had Mayor Gavin Newsom on.  He's not my mayor, I'm in Santa Rosa, but I do like him.  He's out there, doing his mayor thing, knows when he's being stupid and knows that he's flawed.  He's also optimistic and an idealist.  I like that.  Yes, he's a politician, but he's a good one I think.  He's also brave.  Brave enough to come out and say that he's for marriage between two PEOPLE who love each other.  He took a beating for it early on, but he's weathered the storm pretty well and held on to what he believes in.

I respect that in a person. 

Anyways, he was on air this morning just encouraging everyone - on his political side of the fence or not, to just get out there and V O T E!  He says that these elections are historically not popular and the turnout is very low - especially with Democrats.  So, the presidential vote isn't on here this time.  So what?  There's a lot of other things on here that MAY pertain to you.

Get out there and vote!  Show your kids how it goes.  Not registered?  Make TODAY your day to register.  It's not hard and I hear you can do it on line too. 

You may be like me and not very political, but you know when you read something if it's for you or not.  Voting is not rocket science.  It's easy.  Even if you don't read the New York Times or the SF Chron each day and have no idea what's been going on in the world or your own backyard, there's something you want to have a say in each election.

It's difficult to find good candidates or sometimes any candidate that you like for a certain seat, but TRY.  Go to their website and read for a little while.  Is it a good fit for you and your values?  Do you not like something?  Why?  Take your lunch break or dinner hour and figure it out. 

The polls close at 8pm, so you have a lot of time to do this.  Cram a bit today and find out how little it takes to vote and make a difference.  For all the freedoms we enjoy, it's a tiny bit of homework for us - and it might show up in your daily life sooner than later.

Do it.  Vote...it's your job.