Attention all Middle-Aged Businessmen:

Please stop.
Stop what? Stop wearing these:
Despite whatever you tell yourself, you still look like this:
and that is not a good thing.

This is not appropriate attire unless you are in Hawaii or on a cruise – and even then you’re still precariously close to “extreme tackiness,” having already crossed the simply “cheesy” line upon purchasing this item. Hawaiian shirt + slacks + dress shoes will never look good, or even presentable – even on Casual Fridays. I don’t know when this became the standard Friday uniform for millions of Southern CA professional men, but it needs to stop. Like, now. You are not Bob Hope and you are not a Beach Boy. At least move on to boxy polo shirts. My point is that the Hawaiian shirt is long since over, if it ever was, in fact, "in." (Actually... seemed to make a brief comeback among preppy/jock boys while I was in high school, but I was living in Provo, UT; thus , by the very nature of the dominant demographics of that area, this does not count as a legitimate fashion “comeback.” Did the come-back happen only in Utah?) Anyway, I'm not advocating that you dress "in style" nor do I support the notion there is one style that rules the others. The point is that I can’t even ride the train or comfortably enter the break room on Fridays with so many of you crammed into such a small space. The clashing colors/prints are seizure-inducing. For the sake of anyone who has to interact with you – especially professionally – please make this stop. Thank you.

She's everywhere.

So...random story. I was at a movie, mostly focusing on pacing myself to make my little box of Reece's pieces last at least through the previews, when I looked up and saw her. A long lost friend from high school - well, not really lost; she's living in up in NYC (thanks MySpace) and we've emailed recently, but still. Anyway, the weird part is that she wasn't in the theatre, she was on the screen, shilling for some cervical cancer vaccine. Weird, right?

Then, I'm perusing the archives of Childhood Flame (a blog that daily demonstrates how unstylish I was at 15 years old), and she (Ms. Flame) has posted several "fashion-inspiration" photos, and...there she is again! She's just walking down some street, yet managing to inspire some 15-year-old in Oregon.
I think this girl is going to the next big thing (if she isn't already). Louise, I hope you don't mind, but when you become a household name, I'm totally going to brag that I knew you way back when.

Anniversary / The Blue Ladder.

First things first. Why is it that I crave Orange Bang (and fries from The Hat) really late at night. It didn't matter that I was almost asleep when I mentioned to Kenny that I could go for a creamy, frothy, delicious Orange Bang late last night. When Kenny hinted he'd be up for the trip, we were "dressed" and out the door. And The Hat never fails to deliver. Now I just need to remember to remind the server to stop jipping me by stuffing all that ice in my cup. I like my Orange Bang straight. Assuming, of course, that straight means without ice. I don't drink; can you tell?

Moving on to the real purpose of this post. My anniversary. Not with my husband, but with my employer. Two years ago I started working for CNB. TWO years. Definitely beats the four years I was with WBPC. Anyway, to celebrate this milestone, my boss is taking me to lunch. So I'll be seeing how expensive a restaurant I can talk him into. Can you say "Chilean Sea Bass." I can. Hopefully I'll be saying that at lunch today. So thanks City National (not an affiliate of Citi Group and definitely not related to National City) for a pretty awesome two years (minus the moment I broke down during training Boot Camp). Keep promoting me like you did last year and I can almost guarantee another two years, at least. Although grad school sounds soooo good. But that's a post for another time.
City National, where the Blue Ladder represents the way up for you!

how amazing is this?!

(found on Scandinavian Grace)

Now if only its price tag would shrink a little ($135 for a beanie - even an awesome beanie - is a tad bit high for me), this would make a pretty awesome gift for a certain brother-in-law who has a thing for funky head-wear...and for sporting a beard.

On a more positve note...

Alright. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I lost my cool and allowed for the ugly, whiny rant posted below. I usually save those sorts of thoughts for more private forums. I won't apologize for the frustration, as I feel totally justified, but I'm sorry I was unable to conduct myself with more self control. Moving on...

I'm in a much better mood. It is a Friday, after all. And even if I'm spending Saturday - my only free day - waiting for an inept internet repairmen, I'll be spending it with my guy, who will also have no choice but to hang out with me. Luckily, I kinda like him. Also, today was payday. Always a good thing. And I bought this to hang in my house.
I really like it. I noticed that I keep covering my mouth to contain the giggles every time I look at it. Then I saw a picture of this and remembered it is the weekend, and I always get to have the best treats on the weekend.
Then I also remembered these guys are home from their amazing vacation to the Puerto Rico (sp?) and the Caribbean, so we'll probably get to hang out with them a little, too. If we're lucky. And I think we'll be lucky.
And then, to top it off, I remembered that we might be doing some more of this next weekend.
Remember how I kinda like this guy? Really, how could you not?
So, in summation, things are alright.

Art Print: "Mustachios" by Laura George

Time Warner Must Die!!! (Warning: crazed, pissed -off rant to follow)

I hate our internet provider. I know hate is supposedly a strong word, but frankly, in this case it's not strong enough. That being said, I do feel terrible for the poor, helpless customer service reps that have to hear from Kenny and me because I know there's nothing they can do. Given that the company they're repping flat out sucks a--, what can they do, really? Actually, i have a few ideas. ..

For starters they could refund/credit us for the hours and hours and weeks and weeks we've gone without service at random intervals through out the year(s). We've actually run this idea by them, but we were denied; big surprise. Given that Time Warner insists on charging us for a service we aren't receiving, it was also no surprise that they wouldn't reimburse us the time we've taken off work to wait around for their service rep to show up at our house. It's extra awesome (note the extreme, bitter sarcasm in that last adjective) when the guy doesn't even show up and we now have to forfeit our Saturday afternoon waiting AGAIN...without internet no less. Even after standing us up this week they couldn't even give us a smaller time frame than four hours. It sucks that our old internet provider (the one that actually offered something of value) was bought out by this poor-excuse-of-a-company and we're stuck with Time Warner. Actually, one helpful customer service representative mentioned that we could move somewhere that is covered by another provider. Yes, a "service" rep actually told us that. Awesome. Do you think they'd at least pay our moving costs and the increase in rent we'd likely incur by taking their rep's advice? I wouldn't count on it. (Side note, given this information and "advice," appraisers might want to consider the local internet provider in valuing property.) Moving on. This week's winning advice was to "buy a newer computer." Seriously? (BTW, our computer is not that old. It works fine, and frankly, if we were going to fork out that kind of cash on anything right now, I guarantee you it would be on a vacation and not a stupid computer. Idiots.) So we suggested THEY buy us one. "Ha ha" they said, side-stepping our problem (again/as usual) as they rather offered to credit us $20. At this point, we'll take what we can get, but I wish I could shove that credit up their lousy a--.

In the mean time, don't be expecting any new posts from us this weekend. I'm using my morning break at work to post this. If any of you readers are looking for a writing exercise feel free to draft a strongly worded letter on our behalf. You could post it on your blog. In summation, I HATE Time Warner Cable.

Killing some time...

Roll your eyes, make fun, call it lame...I already did. Then I took the quiz anyway.
(I can't fix their spelling errors; sorry.)

You Are Belle!

Intelligent and kind. Your beauty goes much further than your apperance. Also, you make judgements of people based on their personality and not their looks. Attaining all the knowledge that you can is one of your major goals in life, but you are also a person who can make things happen.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Technically, it was a tie between Belle and Pocahontas (Pocahontas: "Free-spirited and wise. You have a strong passionate spirit that touches and changes all who know you. The wisdom and common sense that you have is really what guides you through life. Even so, you also have a very playful side that loves adventure and excitement.")

Eh. Kinda general; take it for what it's worth, but if nothing else, it's a nice little diversion from work.

Yummy in the Tummy

So Kenny has a cousin - well it's his cousin's wife - who happens to be a great cook. Whitney also happens to be funny, witty, well spoken, sincere, and is just an all-around neat person. And gorgeous. And she has two cute boys, who she affectionately calls as "Son 1" and "Son 2" (or Jack and Van, respectively). Don't you all want to meet her? You should. And then you could invite yourself to her house to enjoy some scrumptious eats. OR you could just read her fabulous blog, The Rookie Cookie, and read all about her adventures in potty training, child birthing, and getting into shape, all while stocking up on some great recipes. Like this one for spring rolls or this one for lemon bars, both of which she concocted just for me. Are you jealous? Because you totally should be.

Lemon Bars...soo good.

So go read Whitney's blog. Enjoy her wit. And make her food. It's a good time and it will make your belly really happy. And if you're lucky, she might even make a recipe just for you. Actually, all you have to is send her an email titled "Reader Request." It's that easy. Your welcome.

For more of Whitney's adventures, you can peruse her recently deceased blog: Whit. Ing. Life Abbreviated. (See?! I told you she was witty.)

UPDATE: Whitney often posts conversations with her three-year-old, Jack. Since this post has become somewhat of a tribute to all things Whitney, I'll post a conversation I had with her three year old.

Setting: My nephew's 3rd birthday party. I'm peeling the plastic off a grocery store vegetable tray when Jack pops up across the table.

Jack: "What are you making?" (By the way, Jack is incredibly articulate for a boy of three and his enunciation frankly puts me - a hopeless mumbler - to shame. Moving on.)

Me: "Making? I guess I'm 'making' vegetables."

Jack (inhaling deeply, eyes closed, slight smile): "Mmmmmm. Smells delicious."

I need to get me a three year old.