Personality over just looks.

I'm happy that the Indianapolis Colts beat the New England Patriots to go to the Superbowl. I'm just a little tired of the Tom Brady love. Sure, he's good looking and won a few Superbowls. But that is exactly why I want someone else to have a shot. And there's no one better than Peyton Manning. No, Peyton is not the typical good-looking guy, but he's got lots of charisma and charm, as exhibited by his hilariously entertaining MasterCard commercials. He's cute in a boyish way too, but he doesn't get by on his looks, which is nice. I'd hang w/ Peyton any day over Tom Brady.

Sally and Tina sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g...

I want to let everyone know that I love my DirectTV . After a year-long battle with our condo association, we now have access to hundreds of channels worth of entertaining programming, and the killer HBO package (picture having 10 channels of HBO). I love it because I love to watch movies and tv shows, but somehow manage to miss most of them, so I have to catch up in my spare time. So anyway, I discovered a disturbing thing about my honey the other night. He is fascinated by girls kissing each other.

It was a lazy and late Sunday evening. We were watching TV while doing stupid stuff like folding laundry and filing things away. As my husband was channel surfing, he stumbled onto Real Sex, a show documenting human sexuality in various forms. Part of today's episode focused on a particular female porn actress discussing her decision to only do scenes with fellow females. Interlaced with the interview were scenes of the actress at work, and commentary on her chosen career specialty by porn industry executives. There was about 10 minutes left on this program, and so hubby continues to watch. And watch.

In these last 10 minutes, I learned more than I ever wanted to know about love scenes (or sex scene, as it was) with another female. As I was expressing my horror and disgust for what was being shown on screen, my husband sat there, very silent and ever so attentive to the screen. When I tried to get his attention to ask why it is so fascinating to watch girls kissing each other, he replied curtly, "I don't know...because all men like it, that's why." There was not further elaboration offered; he just went back to watching the show.

I wondered: Is it possible that we, as a general species, are hard-wired to like something so specific as 2 people kissing, let alone 2 women kissing? How could this be possible? As far as I can see, for every one type of thing, there are so many options. Take for example dessert. One person will like chocolate, another cake, another person creme brulee, and others will plain say they don't eat dessert (these are the folks who have not experienced all that is good in life!).

Unfortunately, regarding girls kissing one another, the answer is unequivocally, YES. I have asked many male friends about this, and it is the same answer every time. No wonder there are so many scandals involving women performing this very act. Look at Tara Conner, Miss USA, or the former Miss Nevada, Katie Rees, for that matter. When you know a little thing you do will ALWAYS get male attention, I suppose you would try to commit that act as often as possible. Especially if one were the type of woman prone to attention-mongering to begin with (read: beauty pageant contestants), starved for attention (read: comes from bad family with poor self-esteem), or just plain STUPID.

My suggestion for these girls with the bad publicity is: just because you can do something, doesn't mean you go do it! Save the raunchy sexual exploration for sleepovers with your girlfriends, not in public as you are about to be splashed on magazine covers and television. This is giving the general public the wrong message. The highly educated and successful business women, women's rights advocates, and homemakers now have more evidence that our country's gone down the crapper. Meanwhile, young girls are learning a faster way to get boys to like them, and pageant mothers across America are snickering at these poor idiots for blowing their chance at Fame!.

I don't blame men for their inevitable fascination with girl-on-girl, and I don't even have a problem with the actresses who make a career in porn. But I am really disappointed for the women who are supposed to be role models who take pride in doing charitable work with their public exposure, choosing to exploit themselves for a laugh, entertainment, or purely in bad taste.

Yes, disdain for the Boho lifestyle

I must have been fueled by hunger or caffeine withdraw when posting yesterday about the abominations of fashion facing me everyday when I walk out the door. In hindsight, the post seemed rather angsty, which I often get when I don't eat enough during the day.

Do not misunderstand the purpose of my post -- my point was not to rag (at least not viciously) about Anthropologie and the like. I realized that my post could be misconstrued as a mean criticism of mass marketing of trendy clothing, which is not all bad. I think it benefits everyone. I had two issues: 1)the premise of enabling upper-middle class women spending their money to dress like each other, and 2) spoon-feeding this bohos-in-paradise/francophile style in 5-10,000 square feet of retail.

That second realization happened as I walked past the store today. I looked at the window displays and asked myself, "What style is this place selling to the shopper?" It is clear that they are selling "one-of-a-kind items", except it's really en masse. But let's not draw attention to that. It is also clear that most of this stuff is designed to appear like you randomly reached into the closet and grabbed a handful of things to wear. Funky knits with odd prints, quirky colors, awkwardly cut pants and shirts...everything layered together into something that is supposed to be effortless, NOT bourgeois.

This what is regularly referred to as Boho. We're not talking about celebrity-styled boho cause that kind of style costs tens of thousands of dollars to achieve. True Boho style is to avoid looking like you spent a lot of money on superficial things like clothing, rather spending more on the "necessities" of life. You are to look artsy, free-spirited, and could care less about money. And so I ask you: Is it really Boho to spend $398 on a satchel purse? And does Paul & Joe really have to charge $60+ on a floral print cosmetic bag?

I guess it does if you have the money to try and look Boho, not actually be Boho.

Yuppie Housewife Fashion

I love clothes. Shoes, accessories, beauty products, etc., you name it, I probably have an affinity for it. I shop and shop often (but I'm trying to resist the urge now that I'm job hunting.) In my various jaunts through neighborhood shopping areas, I have noticed the sudden sprouting of stores geared towards a particular woman: the yuppy city housewife.

Before I get into this, I have to confess that my husband thinks we're yuppies. I am in disagreement...so let's get on with it.

This woman is in her late 20's/early 30's, with one or maybe two children under the age of 4, who drives a VW Jetta, Land Rover or some kind of SUV. She has the latest in baby stuff, be it the sling/pouch, the hi-tech double stroller, or camouflage jumpers and tees for $70 a pop. She likes to meet other moms & their babies out at the Einstein's Bagels in the neighborhood around 10:30-11:00am when they've finally managed to wrestle the kids into clean clothes and gathered all their equipment. This woman is not shy about being loud, commanding towards her children, or taking up public space on the sidewalk and in stores. She believes that if you don't have a child, then you must acquiesce to her.

Contrary to the image of the housewife as portrayed by the tv show, Desperate Housewives, these yuppie women are not what I would call fashionable. Just as Phoebe on Friends described Pottery Barn furniture as having "no soul", I would say these housewives are fashion drones because they wear what certain retailers market to them as hip. For example, while I am a fan of reasonably priced clothing, did Anthropologie really have to open up right by my house? For those of you not familiar with the brand, Anthropologie is for women who want non-conservative, tasteful, stylish, maybe slightly bohemiam...shabby chic, if you will. We're talking from clothing, books, housewares, right down to the little bar of soap you put in your bathroom. Nothing is tailored just right, it all looks a little worn, so you don't look canned, even though you are because they are mass marketing these goods nationwide via retail locations and catalog. I won't be a hypocrite and say I don't shop at the store, because I do. I have bought several candles for gifts, but I can't bring myself to love the clothes. Everything is laid out so you as a shopper do not have to do much thinking. You can pick up several items on the same table, rack and get an outfit out of it. We're talking quirky colors & prints, cuts, and materials. And because it's shown together, you think, "this must look good!" Despite my beef with the concept, the store, having only been open for 2-3 months, is doing spectacularly because of all the yuppie housewives patronizing it daily.

I'll give these women Anthropologie; they are attempting to look good, trendy even. However, I cannot excuse the ones who dig the frumpy sections of the department stores. My friend, Jen, recently got as a Christmas gift, something from the Karen Kanesection of Nordstrom. She was aghast, and so was I. Jen is a very stylish person, with a slant for European design in her clothes. I believe what she received was this odd peasant skirt which...I don't even have words for. Can anyone look good in this? I also take issue with the other items being shown, such as the crewneck mesh tee, the paisley faux wrap top, and the long denim skirt. What I find disturbing is that the target audience (aka our yuppie housewives) are being told it's ok to put all these "trends" on, often at the same time. That faux wrap top looks like someone threw up on it, and nobody, unless you are an anorexic 20 something could possibly look flattering in that denim skirt. If even the model looks crappy, why would our everyday shopper look any better?

IF you are a housewife with child(ren), looking find some stylish pieces or flirt with the latest trend, but not spend a fortune on clothing & accessories---I beg you to look at H&M, the soon-coming Zara, and the specialty designers for Target (ie. Tara Jarmon, Behnaz Sarafpour, Isaac Mizrahi). All three stores carry big trends of the day in disposable materials and a variety of cuts and colors, have many transition lines, turn product over quickly season-to-season, and won't break your bank account. H&M is also carrying some of their select, more timeless pieces in higher quality fabrics for just a fraction more on the price.

Already failing...

So, I had some potato chips just now.

Guess Resolution #2 is getting off to a bad start.

Happy New Year!

It has been months since I last posted and so much has happened since then. I'm happy to say in my first post of 2007 that I'm now a missus. We got married almost exactly 1 month ago in Mexico and honeymooned in Australia. We've only been back home for about a week, but it was a week jammed with activity. If the new year is anything like the last one, we'd better all hang on for the wild ride ahead.

Per tradition, I make a few resolutions every year and see if I get through them 12 months later. So here they are:
1) Exercise more and with more variety.
2) Give up potatoes (in all forms)
3) Try to abide by a "budget"
4) Cook more often
5) Make an effort to connect with friends regularly, especially those who I don't see often
6) Be a thoughtful wife :)
7) Read 75 books
8) Continue traveling