I’m really making a serious attempt to keep my politics out of my blog. But I feel the need to open up today!
…to read what I have to say!!!!
My political opinions are highly regarded. By me.
And with all the bullshit that both parties are throwing around, and with both parties whoring to get votes from any “group” they can pander to. It amazes me that…NOT ONE OF THESE POLITICAL CONTENDERS HAS ADDRESSED THE ISSUE OF AGEISM!
…and we all know who WON’T get hired! Might I add that Human Resources was so much better when it was “Personnel”?
And a few of them are of “ageist” years old!
Yeah. All three of you should be ashamed of yourselves for NOT addressing ageism as the new “ISM” and for NOT trying to bag the Senior vote. You ARE that group!
For the record, Bernie is my man. I am very pleased that he cares about “We the People”. I hear some people saying that he is a socialist. Well, what’s wrong with that anyway? Yes. His thoughts are to raise taxes so that we will be a country to take care of her citizens with a nationalized health care. Is that so wrong? Yes. He wants to raise taxes so that college students will have that education without owing a mortgage in student loans. Is that so wrong?
For people who are employed—how much of your paycheck is going toward your medical insurance? Yeah. I thought so. Think about how your taxes will be raised and you won’t have that deductible any more. You will bring more money home from each paycheck.
And I know that Mr. Sanders will not win the nomination for the Democratic Party.
But it’s also about greed. As Americans, we are a greedy bunch when it truly comes to helping our neighbors. Many Americans will attend services at their place of Worship and vow to God, or, recite passages from the storybook otherwise known as The Bible. These Bible Bangers will read and recite passages about treating everyone with respect and love. And as soon as those same individuals leave the confines of their church, or the confines of their reading rooms, they spew hate to those who aren’t the same as them.
Um hum. It seems that many of those who quote the Bible and wear their Sunday best to those little white churches don’t practice what they preach!
You know what I’m talking about. I don’t have to go into details about the various groups of people who are “hated” because of the Christian tighty righties!
So true–and this comes into play with politics!
But fear not self-righteous righties. I’m an equal opportunist.
The extreme left is just as bad. Political Correctness and over sensitivity rule their roosts. If ONE police officer makes a boo-boo, then they feel ALL policemen and policewomen are a force that needs a makeover to a more criminal-friendly bunch. These are the people who made compliments on one’s appearance “offensive”. These are the people who turned ANY form of disagreement into “bullying”.
..and this is why I LOVE Bill Maher! Like me, he is an equal opportunist when it comes to politics. He will point the finger at both parties and he especially despises Political Correctness!
With both of these extreme political Donkeys and Elephants, there is no compromise.
Both of these political animals are starting to annoy me.
And that is what is wrong.
I am an Independent. I vote for the person who I think will do the better job. NOTE—I write “better”—not “best” because our political parties have been flushed down the toilet while the extremist shit seems to float to the top.
.…and I wouldn’t want to be with any other party at this time!
What happened to the moderates of yesteryear? Where is the happy medium?
Um. No. It isn’t hard to understand. Take stock of yourselves!
What happened to platforms of what candidates will actually do for “We the People”? Why do we have to watch Political Dozens? How come politicians are more focused on bashing each other rather then what they would do for our people?
Why were Super PACS ever allowed in the first place? Why is a bought nomination acceptable?
Super PACS and Super Delegates. Both suck.
And don’t even get me started on “delegates”. A delegation does NOT a democracy make. The popular vote makes a democracy.
And so I will remain an Independent. I believe in equality for all people. I believe that NO MAN EVER, EVER, EVER, HAS THE RIGHT TO TELL A WOMAN WHAT DO TO WITH HER BODY. EVER!!!!
I don’t believe in outsourcing jobs to other countries and I don’t believe that American corporations should have tax breaks.
I believe in being fair. Don’t tax someone making $35,000 a year the same as someone making $200,000. And for chrissakes if a transgender male/female wants to use the same restroom as me, I don’t care—when nature calls, it doesn’t matter who is in the stall next to me. I’ve changed diapers and I’ve gotten pregnant. I KNOW what the human anatomy looks like. So what!
SHE stands for Liberty and Justice for all. Let’s remember that, shall we? Thank you Lady Liberty!
But back to my Independent status politically. I am unable to vote in my State’s primary because Pennsylvania does not host an open primary.
Yes. I’ve voted in every election, both local and national. However, I won’t be wearing this next week because PA is a closed primary.
Does that make me angry? I’ll admit—it does a bit, but not enough for me to change my affiliate.
And until both the Republican and Democrat parties take stock of who they are, how they stand, stop allowing super PACS, stop bashing each other, and start concentrating on what they would really do for “We the People”, I shall remain true to who I am.
Independent!
And I may just write Elizabeth Warren in as my choice when I vote for President!
Once again, I’m all for Bill. HE should run for office!
I hope all my girls are Independent women–even if they aren’t politically, I still hope they are independent thinkers!
For the past few days, I’ve been hoping that the US Post Office would deliver a small check that I am waiting to receive from my little part-time job.
I am also, in my delusions, hoping that Post Office will deliver a birthday card from the very few people out in the real world who do NOT find me annoying. Checks and birthday cards are so much better than bills.
And other mail.
Three days ago I received, in the mail, a summons for Jury Duty.
I’m thinking maybe this was a birthday gift from the County of Montgomery….
This was truly a W.T.F. moment. Where do I begin this rant?
But it wasn’t. It was a fun letter to invite me to Jury Duty and to further invite me to complete an online questionnaire! It’s akin to online dating. They want to know ALL about me!
I have been unemployed since December 31, 2014. With the exception of one hell of an “American Horror Story” mistake of a job that lasted 2 weeks, I also had a temp job for 7 weeks. That’s a grand total of 9 weeks employment during the course of 16 months of complete unemployment.
Why is it that during the idle 16 months of my unemployment, the County of Montgomery in the State of Pennsylvania couldn’t summon me to Jury Duty while I sat on my fat ass with nowhere to go except to the grocery store, the hair stylist, the nail salon, my bed, and to the toilet?
Why is it that within two weeks of finally becoming employed—and part-time employment no less–making minimum wages, if I am not meeting my commission, that Montgomery County decides to pick me of all people to be a possible Juror at the paltry rate of $9.00 a day for the first three days and $25.00 a day thereafter? Why is this?
I have so much in common with Sebastian! He is so spot on!
One would think that our local government would, perhaps, have a database of unemployed persons throughout the State of Pennsylvania or throughout the local Counties of the State. The application process to receive unemployment benefits is an arduous one and it would be only logical if the local government chose from the listing of persons receiving unemployment benefits (for the short time they do) to serve as jurors in a Court of Law.
Am I right? What the hell do the unemployed do anyway? Where are we going? We have no money to take off on little pleasurable day trips because most of us are depressed that we are in this state of unemployment! We are so depressed and disillusioned that we can’t even get out of our pajamas or bathe! Being a juror would give us something to do and something to look forward to and a sense of purpose!
Yes. I swear this system is completely screwed up! Why can the unemployed be called to Jury Duty. It would be like a pretend job that pays below minimum wages. Let’s build some self-esteem among the unemployed–shall we?? God knows, they need to feel good!
Better yet, that nine bucks a day would feel like a million bucks after the 26 weeks of unemployment benefits runs out!
Trust me. When unemployment benefits cease after 26 weeks, nine bucks seems like a million!
So now, I have to go let my manager know that next month I have to report for Jury Duty and hopefully won’t get chosen to sit in that rectangular jury box while some poor slob goes on trial for a miniscule petty crime.
Oh yeah. I’m gonna be REAL judgy in my efforts to be non-judgmental
But—I have made an effort to get out of this.
I could not use THIS excuse to get out of Jury Duty. So instead…..
I went online to complete my special “juror questionnaire”. In this questionnaire, it is asked if you have any members of law enforcement in your family and if having so will affect your ability to judge fairly.
Yes. My dad was a NYC cop. I have cousins who are policemen. I have uncles that were policemen. My brother is an MP.
And I answered that I would, in fact, be affected in judgement.
I also added in the “remarks” section the following:
“I would not be a good juror because after being unemployed for an extended period of time, I have suffered from tremendous stress and anxiety. My emotional state of mind is “fragile” and “I am not right in the head”. I cannot give a statement from a physician be”……
I was unable to complete my “remarks” because I ran out of the allotted amount of characters. I wanted to continue to write….”cause I don’t have medical insurance and cannot afford to go to a physician to give me happy pills because I need to save my money for the fine I will be charged for NOT having medical insurance”
It wasn’t until a few hours later when I thought that I just should have written …“I just started a part-time job. Why didn’t you summon me when I was unemployed and idle?”
I’m hoping the County powers that be take mercy on me and dismiss me from reporting for Jury Duty. Just as the many HR people have dismissed me after interviews for positions I was qualified for but never got because of my age.
Unfortunately, there is no ageism in Jury selection!
This is the kind of judge that I want to party with!
Have a great, great weekend!!! Here’s an appropriate song for the day! “I Fought The Law…..”
Whew! Hey my buddyroos! This part-time work schedule is, in the most bizarre way, more taxing than I could have imagined. I think it is more blog-friendly working the old 9 to 5 rather than 11 AM to 7PM or 2 PM to 10 PM.
When I write our blog (and I say “our” because this blog belongs to all of us!), I like sitting in front of the computer and drafting, editing, (even though spell check phucks up much of the time….), and checking my emails from various online sights because people never email me. I also spend a bit of time weeding out incredibly out-of-focus photos to replace with slightly out-of-focus photos instead. I like to do this in one long shot.
I still have to get used to the new schedule. But I’m off today so all is well!
Let me tell you something. Working under department store lights is very difficult because the lighting makes me look completely washed out. In fact, the only flattering lighting in the store is in the ladies rest room—but I can’t sell handbags from the toilet!
Unfortunately, I can’t conduct business from here!
Believe me, the mirror doesn’t lie and when I caught a glimpse of myself the other day I just about died of both fright and embarrassment. I looked so freakin’ old and washed out that I almost broke down in tears. I also realized that I needed to go with a lighter hand on certain make up items and heavier on others.
If I asked the mirror mirror on the wall who’s the fairest of them all, he would answer “Well lady, it ain’t YOU”! I’m shattered!
So the next day, I changed up and chronicled my “work” makeup application. I went lighter on the foundation and heavier on the eye makeup. I also went a bit more colorful on the cheeks and more neutral on the lips.
That evening, when Bonaparte picked me up at the mall, he mentioned that I looked very pretty and that my makeup looked great. In fact, he practically ordered me to apply my makeup like I had every day. He loved that I didn’t load on the foundation. Frenchmen! They notice everything!
Do you “mime” if I give you “mime” opinion, asked the Frenchman!
Anyway, I thought I would give a rundown on my work face. And yes. It does come under the subject of more shit old ladies do. And that is because we use just as many, if not more, cosmetics than our younger peers do and the cosmetics industries still continue to ignore us.
First of all, I prepared the two beauty blender dupes that I use by running them under the faucet to get them nice and wet so the blending would be easier. I no longer use the original Beauty Blender because Chippy ate it. The “Real Techniques” blender works just as well and is far less pricey. I also use the “Revive” brand blender to blend the highlighter and contour cream because it is constructed of a more rubbery substance and I find it just works better for blending a creamier substance.
I love this Real Techniques Blender for blending foundation!
I also prepared my face with Lancôme’s Genifique serum, of which I’m at the bottom of the bottle and Hourglass Primer to prime my skin.
I’ve been using Genefique serum on and off for years. It’s time for a repurchase. I won’t be repurchasing the Hourglass primer because at the $52.00 price I paid, the drugstore primers work just as well and are a lot less expensive!
Anyway, I started out blending e.l.f. Flawless Finish foundation. This is the most inexpensive foundation I’ve ever purchased and Bonaparte said it looks the best on me. Six bucks worth of drugstore foundation and it is better suited to me than any of my high-end foundation. Go figure!
e.l.f. Flawless Finish Foundation. Best six bucks I’ve ever spent! This is great and wears all day!
Next was a quick brush of Bare Minerals Well-Rested (one of my Holy Grail products) over and under lids to brush the blues away.
I grabbed the Mally Nude Attitude eyeshadow palette (which is quickly becoming a “go-to”) and brushed “Cream” under the brow bone. Then I added “Sand” over the lid and finally “Chestnut” in the crease and brushed out and up to give my eyes more of an almond shape. Oh. I also smudged a bit of the “Sand” shadow on the bottom lid too.
“Cream” all over and under the brow, “Sand” on the upper lid and lined below the eye and “Chestnut” in the crease. I nice trio!
The shadows look very nude and natural, but they really were darker in better lighting!
Next I did my brows. I’m going a bit thinner these days. I’ll tell you, this Mally 24/7 Brow Express is the best thing I ever bought for my brows. The color is sable and the pencil end is so great. It’s retractable, which I love because I can keep the point small and not worry about breaking any of the product off—then I just go over the brows lightly with the powdered end and finish off with a coat of the brow gel. It’s great!
I’m so thankful for Adrian’s Mally Makeover. He taught me to go lighter on the brow color and he was so right. The look is much softer!
Finished brows. They are looking mighty fine!
The lashes are next. I’ve written about lash extension/fiber mascara kits in the past. And I’m a fan of these products. It sometimes takes me forever to apply false lashes and the glue has a habit of irritating my eyes so I only use the fakes for special occasions. In the harsh department store lighting, I also find that regular mascara just isn’t cutting it. I purchased this lash extension kit by Bella Rose on Amazon recently because the price was great. I paid under $15.00 and I’m happy with the results.
The kit comes in a cute leather-like box that holds the tube of fibers and tube of gel mascara…
This is one coat. I love the length. If you want super-thick lashes, go for two or three coats. But one coat gives a more natural look!
Look-at 50+ this isn’t Latisse but it will give you a temporary lash fix by giving the lashes an appearance of length with one coat. If you are looking for a bit more fullness, then two or three coats will give you that look. But be careful. The fibers have a tendency to fall on to the cheeks and you can remedy that by a simple coat of the gel when you are finished.
I apply liner after lash products. I use the Urban Decay 24/7 pencil as a tightline. It lasts a decent amount of time. I used NYC liquid liner. I love this liner because it is incredibly inexpensive, the brush is super thin, which gives great control and the liner lasts all day.
My lining products. The Urban Decay Pencil glides on smoothly and is incredibly creamy. I have been using the NYC liner for years. The brush that comes with it is thin and gives great control. The white pencil from e.l.f., sadly didn’t work for me. The pencil wasn’t creamy enough for mature skin.
On the bottom inside lid, I used this e.l.f. white pencil. I was intrigued by the sharpener built into the cover of the tip. Needless to say, this pencil turned out to be a dud for me. The product doesn’t glide on nor is it creamy. On more “mature” eyes, creaminess is a plus because we don’t want to tug at the already sensitive skin. I’ll have to find another use for this—but at a dollar, it isn’t a big loss.
Eyes lined! In the course of a few moments, the traces of the white pencil I lined in the rim of my bottom lids had worn off completely.
Next step! Highlighting and contour. I like to make a triangle of Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser concealer. It states on the tiny bottle that it’s for dark circles. I use it to highlight. The color I use is fair. In addition, I like the way the product is distributed. The container is turned until the product reaches the spongey/fuzz/velvety tip at the end. It’s very pragmatic because there’s no waste.
Another one of my slightly out-of-focus photographs. I’m so talented! Anyway, the Maybelline Instant Age Rewind concealer is in the back and the NYX Wonder Stick is in the front. It’ll be time to repurchase this Wonder Stick soon. I LOVE this! The texture is so nice and creamy and easy to blend!
I’ve heard mixed reviews on cream contour but personally, I think cream contours are “mature” skin friendly. Powders can sometimes look ashy or cakey and make our skin appear to be a bit more dry than usual. I found the cream just works well. I swipe under each cheekbone, the sides of my nose, under my bottom lip and blend, blend, blend with the very damp Revive blender. I think the rubbery texture of this blender is better-suited than the Real Techniques blender.
Blending the highlight and contour in. It takes no time and gives a nice finish and some sculpting!
Alrighty. Since the lighting washes out, I decided to use a longer-lasting and brighter color on my cheeks. I went with NYC Lovatics Lip and Cheek Tint.
NYC Lovatis Cheek Stain and e.l.f. stipple brush.
I use this only on my cheeks—it’s just too bright for my old lady fish lips. The color is cheeky pink and looks very bright red in the bottle. It swipes on a bit more bright pink. It dries fast so you have to work fast. I pat with an elf. stipple brush and blend.
Three stripes of cheek stain across the cheek stippled and blended in quickly gives….
…good color that lasts all day!
Two final steps. I wait till the end of this process to apply mascara on my bottom lashes. It gives any other eye product time to dry and settle. I love the NYC Sky Rise mascara because the wand is so easy to use for the lower lashes. Quite honestly, I’m not spending a ton of money on high end mascara anymore because mascara just doesn’t last long enough to justify the high price. There are a lot of great low end and drug store mascaras. You just have to find out which ones work for you!
I love the Sky Line mascara because the wand is perfect for applying product to the lower lashes. The spirals on the brush are spaced apart nicely so the lashes don’t get clumpy!
Last is lip color. This is such an ordeal for me. Really. It is. I have those lines above my mouth, which I always fill in with original Chapstick. It’s the greatest blur product.
Chapstick. My go-to “blur”!
Luckily, I discovered Mally Lip Fence, which is a little retractable pen of waxy heaven that you line your lips with to keep lip color from bleeding. This works!
Hey. It takes a village of products for kissable lips! The Lip Fence keeps those products placed where they belong!
Then I reline the lips with NYX Wonder Pencil and fill in my lips with NYX lip liner.
NYX Wonder Pencil is great for lining and the liner pencilin Pale Pink/Rose is the perfect nude base!
I’m coloring my lips in with the NYX liner pencil in Pale Pink/Rose. It keeps the gloss color from changing–I have very pigmented lips and need a bit of toning them down!
A fan of NYX Butter Gloss, I picked up this neutral pink—Tiramisu and love it. Does the lip color last all day? No. It does not. However, it lasts a good amount of time and I find I’m not touching up every ten minutes.
NYX Butter Gloss in Tiramisu. These glosses are fantastic. Hydrating and a nice hint of color that stays on for a while. NOT all day, but a good amount of time!
I have to admit. For me, the worst part of aging is the mouth. My lips, when I was younger, used to be full in the nicest way. These days they are full in a Leona Helmsley sorta way and it really isn’t that attractive.
She was one of the wealthiest women in New York City–and you would THINK Leona would have been more adept at applying her makeup. She could have afforded the best fillers. Ugh!
I find along with a lighter more neutral lip, smiling helps make my mouth look less saggy and in need of fillers that I cannot afford.
The final touch. NYX Butter Gloss and a smile!
While I put my makeup on, I take my hair and loosely pin curl in sections. When I take the bobby pins out, my hair falls in nice waves. Multitasking for the mature woman!
I section my hair and pin it up while applying my makeup. Multitasking. Look–I still have wrinkles..and now that 61 is just 4 days away, I notice the wrinkles are getting deeper. I just have to smile wider!!
I swear when I was younger I never needed as many beauty products as I do at this stage of my life. And I know I’m being repetitive, but does the beauty industry not realize this? If they truly did, more old ladies would be shown in beauty advertisements and editorials. Am I right? Huh?
Makeup and hair all done. Smile is on and I’m ready for work!
Hey. Love yourself. We need to be more like this lady—and she’s having a great time!
When we can be happy with ourselves, we can be happy with others! I’ll have what SHE’s drinking! Let’s enjoy our maturity!
I’m off to run errands! Enjoy the day and remember that old ladies rock the world of beauty and just rock the world in general! WAIT. Before I go. I want to show you something. I wiped off the makeup I had on at the end of the day. The drugstore makeup lasted just as long as the high end.
I know, I KNOW–this towel is really gross and disgusting. But I wanted to show that less expensive beauty products can last all day!
Here’s a great Dean Martin moment! He’s “Sitting On Top Of The World”. So am I!XOXOXOXO!
When I woke up this morning, I checked the emails on my iPhone. Lord knows, I can’t miss any news. I mean, people don’t email me so I have to pretend that all “dot coms” are my besties! InStyle.com greeted me with the news that Anne Hathaway had a baby. Ugh. Ann “Hathaway” of annoying me. I’ve read way too many articles on her as a fashion icon—especially during her pregnancy.
Anne Hathaway is NOT a fashion icon. She is dressed for red carpet events by stylists. These stylists make a lot of money in order to make one believe Hathaway is the ultimate purveyor of style.
Hathaway is NOT a style icon. She is merely fortunate enough to afford stylists to assist her. BTW, her eye makeup is atrocious!
Add to that, the word “icon” is way overused.
You want iconic women in fashion and style? I’ll give ’em to you! Lauren Hutton—when she started out as a model was considered odd looking because of her gapped teeth and slightly crossed eyes. And she went on to become one of the most famous models and style icons. Her laid back style is a reflection of her personality. Jane Birkin—the woman reeks of style. Another gap-toothed beauty, with an iconic bag named after her. Birkin’s personal bag of choice was an old woven basket. Bardot—queen of the naughty girls and with the style of a woman who just got out of bed after a wild night. She proudly personifies the “Walk of Shame” to her walk of style fame! Then there’s Jackie. Her eyes set way too far apart, but beautiful nonetheless. She is the iconic queen of simple dressing. She reeks of class…..
Now THESE are what I call iconic style and fashion mavens! And you don’t achieve this title in your twenties or early thirties either! It takes a few decades to become iconic!
…and so did Jackie’s cousin. Little Edie Beale.
“Little” Edie Bouvier Beale. Jackie’s cousin. Beale was considered the real beauty in the family. And she was!
If you’ve never seen Grey Gardens, the documentary about Little and Big Edie Beale, the infamous mother and daughter who were members of the Bouvier family, I strongly suggest you see it. Or rent the follow up: The Beales of Grey Gardens.
An older Edie Beale in front of the family home, Grey Gardens, in East Hampton NY.
Big Edie, in yellow, and daughter Little Edie enjoying a sunny day at Grey Gardens!
Also on my recommendation, rent the 2009 film based on the original documentary. Drew Barrymore stars as Edie Beale and she does a bang-up job at channeling every single nuance of Little Edie. Barrymore was epic. The story of Little Edie and her mother even made it to Broadway.
Drew Barrymore nailed Edie perfectly. This is what made me a fan of Drew Barrymore!
Bill Heder formerly of SNL also does a great job of channeling his inner Edie on the IFC show Documentary Now.
Heder channeling his inner Edie. Everyone wants to be her!
In my opinion, Little Edie was a fabulously tragic, funny, interesting, and sad, intriguing, delusional, talented, and absolutely beautiful woman.
Edie in earlier times as a model…..
She was absolutely gorgeous!
Was this hooded covering on her head an omen of a look to come?
Edie shunned the socialite life and opted for modeling and trying to break into show business. Her life took twists and turns and she ended up caring for her mother, Big Edie. She ended up living a life of delusions and eccentricity.
...Big Edie was very delusional. She lived with her daughter and was completely dependent on her. Both Edies were dependent on each other.
The original premise of her caring for Big Edie was also taking care of the many cats that also lived in Grey Gardens. Check out her stylish head covering. She still looks classy!
And through it all, her sense of style, no matter how wild or weird or crazy others may have thought, proved the woman had class. Listening to her upper-crust accent, I’m amazed that she is devoid of any iota of a “New Yawk” accent.
Edie talking people and gardening. Listen to her accent. It’s so prep school but not New Yawk!
Studying her wardrobe, it is so obvious that she took time to carefully put her one-of-a-kind ensembles together. Stylists can learn a thing or two from Little Edie!
What does this photo have in common with Edie’s cousin Jackie? Ron Galella snapped it! Look how chic Edie is–and her creativity knocks the head scarf out of the park—she tucked it into her shirt and it peeks out over her pants! I LOVE this outfit!
Look at her skin! She was in her her late fifties here. NO TURKEY NECK! Her skin is beautiful and she matches that head covering perfectly with the vintage swimsuit!
She lost her hair. Her family blamed it on stress. Someone else close to her said it was because she set her hair on fire. Regardless, she rocked the DIY head coverings. Scarfs and various fabrics draped tautly around her head, framing her flawless complexion like a nun, and secured with a brooch, her style was whimsical, creative and pragmatic.
The brooch is the perfect way to class up Edie’s head covering!
Her All-American look!
The clothing she wore may have been old and almost tattered, but the lines were there. Simple and great quality. She wore timeless and classic clothing. But she wore that clothing in her own special way.
She put time and effort into her daily outfits!
…and she stood her ground against her mother’s wardrobe wishes. Typical mom and daughter arguments! Edie made brown and black look so fashionable!
What is not to love about her look?
Her style and beauty are timeless. Look at her face–it aged beautifully!
And despite the fact that she was labeled crazy or odd, she had enough self-respect and self-esteem that she would still take the time to use make up. A real girly-girl! I watch Grey Gardens quite often because I’m obsessed with her.
A rosy cheek, a nice pink lipstick, filled in brows and a touch of shadow, along with a multi-colored scarf around her head make Edie look happy and delightful!
I admired her for being her own person. I felt empathy for her because she was forbidden by her family to pursue her dreams of being a writer or poet or singer or actress. Her mother suffered the same fate.
From the NY Times. Showcasing her desire to write poetry!
And yet, living in the squalor of a once magnificent mansion, both women managed to live their sheltered and protected lives just fine.
And Little Edie displayed an air of fashionable, stylish flair. She really is one of my style icons. The fashion industry decides that a woman who has stylists and makeup artists and a village in helping her achieve that elusive nuance called style. The industry needs to realize that style is not “bought” nor is it made.
Edie dressed to perform. She was also in great shape! I love the bodysuit with the hose. And those scarves!!!!
Style is innate. Thank you Little Edie! Thank you for your personality and your class and your iconic style!
Thank you Edie. I tried channeling your head covering look. I tried a nice classy plaid with a red ribbon (Old Navy PJ bottoms)–but somehow it didn’t look chic, nor classy, nor stylish on me. I’ll stick to my regular look!
And remember–if someone looks odd or different, praise them for their individuality and creativity!
Today I give you a bit of Edie Beale performing a patriotic July 4th dance from Grey Gardens. Check out the shoes. They are incredible! XOXOXOXO
Today I am on a rant ‘n roll. It started yesterday when I read one of my “go-to” blogs, “That’s Not My Age“. The wonderful Alyson Walsh writes a blog on style for women over 40 and she has “covered” the subject of gray hair a couple of times. It’s great because she gets the discussion going—and yesterday’s post on this subject of gray hair had me obsessing all day and into the night.
This woman freakin’ rocks the gray hair. And I want to see this look as a stereotypical one for a mature woman. Her makeup is beautiful. I want that lip color. Unfortunately, my own hair isn’t as luxe as hers is to rock this look!
Where do I start? Ok—here’s my view on the subject. There are a few outspoken and rather militant schools of thought on the tresses of gray. A wide number of women seem to insist that all women “over a certain age” should make themselves free of coloring their hair and embrace the change as the locks fade and lose color into that gray area.
If you are a woman over 40 or 50, I’m sure you’ve read the countless articles of women whose choice to “go gray” is a badge of bravery. Their gray hair is empowering. They are soldiers in the war of ageism because gray hair = age discrimination.
Um. That’s not necessarily true. Age discrimination is based not on gray hair. It is based on age—older age. Corporations don’t care if a 30 year old woman has gray hair, nor do corporations care if a 25 year old woman has gone prematurely gray and decided to stay that way. Corporations do NOT want to hire older women because of other factors. Corporations feel that older women (men too) are not savvy with technology.
This cartoon by Scott Adams pretty much sums up ageism in the workplace–nothin’ to do with hair!
They give tests to see how adept one may be on the Cloud system or on the latest and greatest versions of Microsoft programs. And yet, they don’t test anyone in common sense. Case in point:
Earlier this morning, Bonaparte was at the computer. I heard some choice words coming from our home office. He was spewing very naughty words in his native language. Ohlalalalala! And then I heard it—an unusual cry for assistance. The French don’t ask for help so I KNEW this was serious!
Bonaparte as a young man in Paris. He’s contemplating his future in the USA and wondering if he will ever find a woman who knows her way around the world of computers (I don’t think they even had computers when this pic was taken)! This is my favorite pic of him–I HAD to sneak it in here!
“Casseee.” “Cassee.” “Ah nid ehr ‘elp wis zee compew-tair” “Eez eempor-tahn—On y va!” “On y va!!”
(Translation: “Cathe.” “Cathe”. “I need your help with the computer”. “It’s important—let’s go!” “let’s go!”)
His daughter sent him three emails with photos of flyers that she needed printed in color. Bonaparte has AOHell as his email server. I do not. Bonaparte did not know how to print off the flyer from the contents of the email.
To tell you the truth, I don’t use AOHell, so I wasn’t familiar with the process. But IT TOOK ME LESS THAN A MINUTE TO FIGURE IT OUT, resize, reconvene and print the flyers.
Corporations feel that only the under 50 crowd is adept at figuring out any sort of computer issues. Corporations also feel that the under 50 crowd is also much more hire-friendly because they will never become ill. EVER! Corporations feel older adults are a medical risk. It doesn’t matter how knowledgeable or able they may be for a position.
Employers also don’t want to hire olders because they are “set in their ways”. Really??? I happen to know many younger people who are way more set in their ways—and dull as all get out then many older people. One is never too old to learn!
Rather than focusing on your hair going gray, might I suggest placing energies on stopping ageism in the workplace in more important ways—like the ones I mentioned above?
Let’s focus on stopping the discrimination better known as “Ageism”!
Look—we’re all women. We’re older. We need to support each other and stick together like hairspray.
And while I’m at it, we need to stick together like Elnett hairspray. This spray has epic holding power–and we need to hold on to each other!
And that’s the issue. We all have little cliques. We have the groups of women who are militant about embracing the gray. We have little cliques of women who feel that we should age without the use of fillers and plastic surgery. We have groups of women that look down on other women because they can’t afford designer clothing. It never ends.
That’s right. I don’t exclude. You wanna smoke like a chimney…
…you wanna have plastic surgery to match Jocelyn Wildenstein’s? I embrace you for who you are!
I remember when Jake was born almost 33 years ago. It was the decision that I would return to work until I had more children. Since I was breastfeeding and wanted continue, even while working, I had questions. I needed support. I went to a La Leche meeting to try to get that support.
Stay calm my ass–La Leche league was the biggest “letdown” (if you breastfed, you will get the play on words)
And rather than support, I went through an Amazonian attack of sorts. Questions like “Why can’t you bring your baby to work?” “Why can’t you insist that you leave work to breastfeed” were thrown at me. Were these women for real? Were they that entitled that they truly didn’t know what support actually meant?
I felt like Jean Rochefort did in the film “Calmos”. He was attacked by a group of Amazonian troops. That’s how I felt about La Leche League!
I do remember before the meeting ended, I stood up and told them that I was very disillusioned in their group. I needed support because it was very difficult for me to be separated from my son. I also needed advice on how I could keep my milk supply flowing since I would be away from him for eight hours. I received no help from the La Leche League. Hence I learned a valuable lesson as a woman that night. Do what is best for you and figure it out—because these women were a self-righteous group that didn’t give a shit about breastfeeding mothers returning to work.
La Leche League sucks. That was my thought after that disastrous meeting.
As you can see from this photo, I went with my own version of La Leche! My tits were on demand–not just for meals but for snacking too! Oh goddess. I miss my big, huge ’80’s hair!
Breastfeeding is and should be a private matter. If a woman decides to bottle-feed, so be it. The bond with her child is still great. If a woman decides to breast feed, then La Leche League should be there for support and advice. Period. Stand by the woman and embrace the woman more than the ideology!
We’re our own worst enemies at times. I know women who think I’m horrible for supporting Bernie Sanders completely rather than supporting Hillary Clinton. That’s not it—I just happen to relate to Sanders’ views and politics more than I do Clinton’s. However, should she win the nomination, she will get my full support and my vote. And it won’t be because she is a woman; it’ll be because she is the better candidate than the women-hating Republicans. Simple!
As much as I want to see a woman president, Hillary comes second to my Bernie. And both of them piss me off because they never address ageism!
It is also ironic that NONE of the presidential candidates have addressed ageism because they are too obsessed with gaining the youth vote!
See where the topic of gray hair has led to with me? Let me get back to the subject.
Yes. I read the many blog posts and articles pontificating about gray hair and not having to spend the time and money on dye. Yes. I’ve read from the “experts” that as you age, your hair color should be a couple of shades lighter or you will look “harsh”.
This is the beautiful singer Emmylou Harris. She’s been gray for years. YEARS! However, not all of us are blessed with the beautiful head of hair she has and not all of us are blessed with her features! She is not the normal gray-haired woman!
Guess what?
Perhaps some may think my haircolor harsh, but I really don’t care. This is the color I will wear for a long, long time!
I’ll take my chances looking harsh. I’ll keep dying my hair jet black. It’s the natural color I was born with.
Since I’ve been incredibly lazy at times and have let my roots go to an uncanny resemblance to that of a skunk, I’ve realized that:
If this guy saw me in between coloring touch ups, he would be in love with me!
I look washed out in gray—it doesn’t compliment my skin tone
My hair, thanks to Menopause (the great biological misogynist), has thinned out to the point of bald spots. Dark dye, along with certain products, disguises the loss.
My hair is also naughty. It is coarse and wiry and will appear even more coarse and wiry in its state of gray.
I happen to LOVE my hair darkened. In fact, I’m very comfortable with dark hair. And if I’m comfortable, I’m happy. If I’m happy I’m confident.
The weather here in the Northeast is gray enough. I don’t need to add to it.
This is how my hair would look if I went gray and allowed it to form into its natural state. Ain’t gonna happen.
I’ve seen very few women who completely rock the gray. Very few. My Ob/Gyn from New York, Dr. Richard Levine—his wife was one of the few who rocks that gray. The first time I saw her picture was while I was in stirrups. Her beautiful head of hair made me forget that I was being prodded for a Pap smear!
Ellen Levine. At the time she was the editor of Redbook magazine and her hair was swoon-worthy. Not just because of the gray, but because her hair was just so thick and lustrous. It didn’t matter what color her hair was. And she made me forget all about the position I was in whenever I saw her husband! (Which BTW, he is the greatest Ob/Gyn in New York City. He has to be. He dealt with my craziness!)
Her gray has turned to white and she still has a great head of hair.
And her hair didn’t empower her career. Her brains did.
And brains and common sense and respect are what we women need to truly be supportive of each other. We don’t raise our daughters to be exclusive nor do we raise them to be mean girls. So let’s stop. Let’s be inclusive of ALL women and let’s be supportive of each other.
You want gray hair. I support you and think it’s cool. So please do the same for this old broad and all the others who dye our hair and who pile on the makeup and hairspray. When it comes down to it–we’re all fighting the same “ism”–Ageism!
Let’s Watusi together!
This gets better and funnier with every view! Look at the aggression of the broad with the cigarette hanging from her mouth. She can multitask. Check out the one on the sofa behind her. We girls have to band together!
Let’s also dance together. We’ll do the Watusi with The Miracles and Claudette Robinson!
It’s Tuesday. And tomorrow is Wednesday. And the weekdays off are now my “weekend off” from work. I am now working weekends. That’s a hard pill to swallow! Time will be of the essence on these two days off but more than that, I have to get used to my new life schedule. Ahhhhh! The schedule of retail.
My weekday new “weekend” look! It’s fun!
Oh, I’m not complaining at all. I mean—after a year-and-a-half (with the exception of the temp position back in October) of lazing idle and searching in vain for employment, this new schedule is actually a good thing (I will keep telling myself this—especially during the summer months). I just have to work at being a bit more organized.
And speaking of organized, I went back to Five Below to purchase another one of those hanging jewelry organizers. There was still a good amount of lip and eye products to be placed in a more organized manner. Look what I did! I even purchased an over-the-door rack to hang both cosmetic holders. I’m so happy–so’s my makeup!
Phase II of my cosmetics organizing! This one is for lip and eye products!
Anyway, my feet and nails were treated to a well-needed mani-pedi earlier this morning. I’m so used to sitting on my ass in front of the computer that standing on my feet for more than five hours at a time was a bit surprising. I wore an old pair of J. Crew ballet flats yesterday and when I got home, my feet were barking.
The result of my mani-pedi. Bonaparte got me in the habit of red nails. It’s timeless and classic and always looks great!
I created the retail workout, however. I took a Swiffer duster from behind the counter and dusted every display in the department. That meant bending, stretching, lunging, and walking at a brisk pace. I also got my share of more bending and stretching when I cleaned the glass counters. I’m digging this new exercise program.
My new exercise theme song. “Bend and Stretch”–from Romper Room. Should I sing this while I’m at work?
Back to today. Listen. The gluten-free way of eating isn’t working for me. I’m very upset about this because since January, I have lost a grand total of 7 1/2 pounds. That’s just a little too slow for my personal happy place of weight loss. Perhaps it could be due to my love of aperitifs that the weight loss was too slow—or all the Easter candy I shoved into my mouth……
Now I’m trying something else. I ordered the 21 Day Fix plan.
Trust me–if I wanted to look like HER, I would have to take the 21-YEAR fix program–and plastic surgery on every part of my body!
I sort of ordered “21 Day Fix” plan lite. The pared-down version if you will. This plan has another version where you spend a lot of money for a special healthy shake powder. If you do purchase this shake plan, you will spend over a hundred dollars. There is no way I am shelling out over a hundred bucks for healthy shake powder. I’ll make my own shakes. Today’s “lunch” was a delicious shake of leftover salad greens, half a tomato, a banana, and almond milk. I call it the “Garbage Shake” because if I didn’t throw all that stuff into the blender, it would have started to rot and then it would have been garbage.
Can you guess what this is? It’s my “Garbage Shake” at the bottom of the glass–and I finished it. There’s bits of tomato in it, and spinach, and radicchio and hearts of palm and almond milk and a banana. I’ve tasted better…
Anyway, the basic premise of this 21 Day Fix plan is exercise and little portion-control plastic containers. I’m pretty sure it’s called 21 Day Fix because it takes 21 days to figure how this program actually works!
I received two CD’s containing the 21 day exercises. Both CD’s are in the cardboard pockets. My exercise today was unwrapping the plastic covering and taking the CD’s out to photograph them. I’ll do my first set of exercise tomorrow………if I remember.
I got a great workout from taking the wrapping off of these CDs. I’m tired now.
Also in this kit were 7 plastic containers. These containers are used to “measure” the daily intake of food. Each color container represents one item on the food chain.
My little containers. And believe ME, these containers ARE little!
While reading the Eating Plan booklet that also came in the kit, I had a good laugh. Claims of “I can eat all that?” are printed to make you think that you are eating a ton of food each day. Guess what? You’re not. But—at this point, I need some structure and boundaries.
And that’s what I did this afternoon. After the mani-pedi I drove off to Wegmans to buy some groceries and I came home, measured out my food for the next few days and crossed my fingers that this will work.
Luckily, I’m at the LOW end of caloric intake. Why am I saying “luckily”? That means I’m eating less than those who weigh more than me!
This is an entire day’s worth of carbs. A half of a sweet potato.
I get more fruit. Two servings this big…
Three helpings of veg..and the biggie. Four helpings of protein. About a cupful!
I’m going to spend the rest of the day reading more about this 21-Day Fix—as far as portion control goes, I think it’s very good. But with that also comes a good helping of willpower. Let’s see if I can muster up some power of the will!
I don’t know why she’s smiling. It cannot be over the small amount of food allowed each day. I think she’s smiling because she’s making millions off fat slobs like me!
If it were not so cold outside, I would take Chippy out for a nice long walk. However, Spring has decided to go back into her cave to hibernate and the weather is still freezing!
Have a great rest-of-the-day. I’ll be back tomorrow to talk hair! Yes. HAIR! I’m on another rant!
An appropriate song for today. The Kinks. Skin and Bone! XOXOXOXO!
No sillies. Not me! I’m not the old bag I write of this time! I’m talking old bags—the handbag kind. The ones sitting on a shelf in your closet. A whole bunch of ’em!
Some of the old bags resting on my closet shelf. I think they are tired of being there and want to come out to play!
First, I’ll tell you about my week—then I’ll continue the bag tawk. Training started for me this past Tuesday at the “high-end department store” where I am now employed. As I have a blog, HR explained to me that I cannot name the store on my blog, nor can I be an affiliate. It’s cool—trust me, after all the shit I’ve been through in trying to find a job at my age of —-61 in two weeks, I’m feeling good that this high-end retail corporation decided to make me part of the team!
Wait—I was under the assumption that I would be working full time. I’m not. I was hired part time—and part time enough that I fall short of being eligible for any medical benefits. So my search for a full-time position continues. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy what I will be doing.
Once again, I made an ass out of me when I assumed I would be working full-time! Oops!
Selling handbags!
Believe me, I know bags. Goddess knows, I’ve got enough. And here’s the thing. I don’t rotate my bags often as I should. My bag collection is pretty old—I just don’t update a lot. I don’t run out and purchase bags every season. In fact, my lack of rotation is not making my old bags very happy.
Why? Well…it’s because I’m too damned lazy. That’s it. And it’s also because I like a big bag. Basically a bag big, large enormous enough to carry all my stuff will suit me just fine.
But—we all know all too well what not keeping bags in rotation does. It all but ruins that one bag you keep using every day. The bag I’m currently carrying is a J. Crew Brompton bag. I received it years ago as a Christmas gift from Oona. Not only does it do the job of carrying all my garbage items that are so important to me because I’m a bag stuffer-into hoarder, but I love the look of the Brompton.
The Brompton Bag ( discontinued, naturally!) from J. Crew is my go-to bag. It is enormous. The bag has a removable shoulder strap, but the handles are large enough to throw this over my shoulder anyway. The inside has the capacity to hold a small city. I stuff everything into this bag!
I simply love the look of an unstructured bag. I may be old and my bags may be aged as well. Even so, I don’t like bags that shout “Old Lady”! I don’t like a bag that whispers “I’m matronly”. I’m quite serious about this.
I’m not fond of matronly bags like this. Believe me, I LOVED my grandmother so much, but she carried this style and this style only. And in it was nothing more than Pep-O-Mint Life Savers, a ton of tissues and an old black leather change purse. We need to put these bags to rest!
And once again, the industry equates older women with matronly bags. Leave the matronly bags to Queen Elizabeth. Please! We modern mature women want a more fun bag. Even at the office, our serious bags can still have a bit of an edge. OK?
God save the Queen, but please get rid of that bag. Give her a less matronly look. I think she would do well with a Tory Burch Small York bag!
My bag of choice is a big ol’ bag. I’ll show you what I mean. It’s about time I rotate my bag so let’s look at some pics of a few of my old bags!
Tawk about OLD! This bag is a hand-me-down from Oona’s college days at Coach! This bag has to be at least six years old but I love it and I should rotate it more often. It looks good and has plenty of room inside…
OK–so the interior fabric is a bit dirty from years of use but the bag has a phone pocket, an additional pocket next to it and a zippered pocket across…
…and this “tote” also zips closed. It is a bit more structured than my usual bag, but the shape of the bag is more relaxed. I also like the color–a deep rich brownish burgundy!
My Longchamp collection. The “le Pliage” folds nicely for storage purposes. If you don’t want all leather, these nylon PVC coated bags are incredibly durable. If you are looking for interior organization, this bag doesn’t have it–and the little pocket inside barely holds a phone, but the durability trumps organization. I also multi-task the le Pliage as a beach bag! The Longchamp “Planetes”, which I have in orange, in the back, and the small black bag next to it, it a tad more structured and the nylon PVC coating is much thicker. These bags do not fold. Next to the black bag is a small canvas Longchamp bag I picked up in France–its one of the limited editions. And–in front is my prized Longchamp leather bag. I picked this up at Nordstrom Rack a few years back for about $100 USD. It was a steal and although it looks a bit on the small side, this bag holds a TON of stuff. There is an extra pocket in the front of the bag, the bag has both handles and a shoulder strap and…
The interior is beautifully lined in silk Longchamp logo and has zippered compartments as well as pockets. The bag also has a little clasp to place your keys so they don’t get “lost” at the bottom!
My first “expensive” bag. My Kooba “Sloane” bag. I love the look of this bag so much and I wish Kooba would bring this bag back. I would love to own it in black. It doesn’t hold as much as you would think, but regardless, this bag does hold quite a bit. Of all the bags I own, this one has gotten a great number of compliments. It’s also sturdy. On a flight back from France, a little girl threw up all over it and the bag cleaned so well! I can’t part with this bag at all! She’s a sentimental old bag for me!
I want you to take a CLOSE look at this Nat & Nin bag. First of all, I love Nat & Nin bags because the leather is just so incredibly buttery soft–and the bags have lots of nooks and crannies. BUT–I’ve learned that I need to treat this bags and to be careful with what I wear when carrying them. See how dirty the bag is? It’s dye. From my dark wash jeans. I wore her with a new pair of jeans and the dye from the jeans got all over the bag. Two years later, the dye hasn’t faded. It’s a shame because I did get a lot of compliments on this bag before it became ruined. Also, look at the photo on the left. Chippy chewed the leather. This bag now comes out of rotation in the worst of weather because it is already ruined! Lesson learned-do NOT carry a light-colored bag when you are wearing dark wash jeans!!
The same Nat & Nin bag in raspberry. I definitely take better care of THIS bag. I like to bring her out when I’m wearing my raspberry and navy maxi or when I’m dressed in neutrals and want a splash of color!
And yet, another Nat & Nin Carrie bag. I stinkin’ LOVE this bag. I love the color, I love the shape, I love all the straps and compartments. And this bag can also be folded over. I also wear her when I’m wearing lighter colored and color-fast clothing!
Another favorite of mine is this vintage Texier bag I got on eBay about ten years ago. I think I paid about ten bucks and it also holds a ton of stuff. The design is incredibly simple and timeless. I’ve worn her on and off for the past ten years and this Texier looks better with age!
This red faux leather clutch was purchased at TJ Maxx a few years back. It doesn’t hold much at all, but for a night out, it serves the purpose–bags such as this don’t need to cost a lot of money. Save the big bucks for a bag you will use on a regular basis!
Just for fun, I decided to empty out my bags before taking photos. Can you believe the random items I had? I discovered Euros mixed up with my change, samples of face cream, a Weight Watchers calculator, hair stuff, chopsticks–a Delta Gamma beer can kozzie (OK-Oona) and half an almond! Half an almond–WTF????? Why would I eat HALF an almond. Chippy finished that half off!
Because a bag reflects your personality, you really have to love that bag. The bag becomes a part of you. Yesterday I assisted a woman who was mulling over the most beautiful tote. All Saints Pearl Hobo bag. The second I felt that leather, I wanted it for myself. I’m telling you, this bag was great. A tote that was timeless, simple, chic and incredibly multi-tasking. After a lengthy search, she kept coming back to this one bag—and finally made the purchase. I’ll tell you, I was so happy for both the woman and the bag. I knew that bag found a great home and I knew the woman would treasure the bag and take great care of it! Come to think of it, I want an All Saints bag. All Saints clothing has a young vibe—and so do the bags. But the bags are so simple and classic that they seem to span generations.
I am in love with this All Saints Pearl Hobo Bag. She is a beauty! I mean it–All Saints bags speak to me! I’m praying back to the Saints!
I plan to use make a purchase at some point!
Another bag that I especially have my eye on is the Tory Burch York Buckle Tote. This is a more structured bag, but not structured to the point where the leather is as hard as plywood. There is a nice softness to the leather and the design is incredibly simple—the uniqueness of the straps is the small buckles. I like that a lot.
This is a nicely structured bag without looking matronly. Tory Burch is so hit or miss for me, but I do like many of her bags. This is a great office tote!
It’s weird because Tory Burch is such a hit or miss for me. I love my Reva flats, but I find many of her other shoes hideous. Same with her bags—a small number of them are adorable and many are just downright fugly or matronly. Don’t even get me started on her clothing line. I have a tunic that is so beautiful but the fit is horrific. That’s for another day though. Back to the bags.
I’m going to place my Brompton bag on the shelf in my closet for a while and use my Longchamp leather bag. And in a few weeks, I’ll try to bring out a more summery bag—perhaps my tan Nat & Nin.
I’ve stuffed most of my necessities *subjective* into the Longchamp bag! Time to rotate the old bag!!!
Some points to remember when searching for your next bag.
Find a bag that suits your personality.
Ask yourself what the purpose is. If you are a professional and want a bag for work, you will need one to fit a laptop and other office essentials. Look for a more structured leather tote.
Keep it in proportion. If you are five feet tall, an oversized bag will overpower you.
Stay within budget. If you are going to purchase an everyday bag, you may want to spend a bit more money for a great quality. On the other hand, if you are looking for a small clutch or a bag to match an outfit for a special occasion, you can go with an inexpensive bag.
Feel the bag. Personally, I cannot stand the feel of pebbled leather. I like smooth leather.
Try the bag. Carry it on your shoulder for a few moments. Do the straps stay on your shoulder? Are the straps comfortable? How will the bag feel when it is chock full of your stuff? If the bag is a satchel how does the handle feel? Is it comfortable in your hand? Do the handles feel heavy or cheap?
Are you concerned with leather becoming scratched? Perhaps you need a different material.
Do you like a bag that will look better with age and better as it gets more worn in? A leather that wears well will be good for you.
Are you concerned with the brand or are you willing to go slightly out of your brand loyalty comfort zone?
Is look more important to you than the interior structure? Do you want the pockets for your phone, pens, money, etc? Or are you ok to search for your phone at the bottom of your massive bag? (Guilty!!)
These are all things to be considered when purchasing a bag. And moving forward, I’m going to practice what I preach and take all of the above into consideration.
Enjoy the weekend! It’s raining here! Here’s a rainy day song that I used to sing to the kids all the time when they were younger. From Sesame Street! A Rainy Day! XOXOXO!!
I’m moving at an incredibly slow pace today. I am pretty sure it has to do with my fear of starting a new job tomorrow. I’ll be selling handbags (Is this perfect for me or what?) at a high-end department store. My experiences will definitely be a future post–lol!
But–I have to tell you about the little gem of an organizer I found today. My makeup desk is a chaotic mess and my attempts to organize my cosmetics and beauty products always manage to go awry. And so, I’m constantly shoving shit around and getting nowhere.
Until today! I had to stop at Sally Beauty to replenish my supply of Toppik. If I want to look good while selling bags, I better cover up my bald spots and you know how much I love me my Toppik!
Anyway, there’s a Five Below discount store at the strip mall where Sally is located. So I went in. You never know what treasures lurk at Five Below! While checking out the cosmetics aisle, I came across an eye shadow palette by Colormates. At three bucks, it looked like a decent palette to throw into my purse if I needed a quick touch up.
Not a bad choice of shadows. The only color I would bypass is the blue. But this is a decent palette to keep in your purse or to take along on an overnight trip! Right?
I was actually surprised at how pigmented these colors are. They feel nice and don’t seem to be ashy–they are aren’t the most finely milled and there can be a bit of fallout, but overall, it isn’t bad at all!
There’s also quite a bit of shimmer, but overall the pigmentation is decent for a three dollar item!
And I’m cruising the other aisles but nothing strikes my fancy. And then I spot it–a little gem for organizing! A hanging jewelry organizer. Upon inspection, I noticed the pockets were a good size. A little light bulb went off in my head! I could use this to house some of my makeup!
Isn’t this great? Not only are some of my cosmetics no longer stuffed in drawers or boxes, but they are easy to find! I have to go back and position the cosmetics so that the labels are facing the same way! I’m so happy!
I’m liking this so much that an additional trip to Five Below is needed. At five bucks, this is a great little gem of an organizer! When I’m getting ready in the morning, I can take this out of the closet and hang it over the closet door knob within reach. I’m also glad that the black & white color combo was available!
Here’s a closer view.
So what do you think? Anyone have cool DIY organizing ideas that they want to share? God knows that I could surely use them!!
Hey lads and lassies–I’m sorry that today’s post is a short one–it’s just that I’m getting all nervous about tomorrow! It’s time for a girly-girl bubble bath, facial mask and some fake tanning on the legs!
And so I leave you with this beautiful version of Nessun Dorma, an aria from Puccini’s opera Turandot performed by Paul Potts. My wonderful blogger buddy, Lady Calen of Impromptu Promptlings, linked this video of him and it gave me major goosebumps and tiny tears! Enjoy! XOXOXOXOX
Bonaparte and I drove into Philly yesterday to see a film I’ve wanted to see for quite some time. “Marguerite”, a film directed by Xavier Giannoli, written by Giannoli and Marcia Romano. This film is very loosely based on the life of Florence Foster Jenkins, an American woman whose inheritance allowed her to live through her dream of being an operatic singer.
This poster shows one of the film’s crucial moments. Honestly, if you get the chance, you need to see this movie!
It stars the great actress, Catherine Frot. It is also a French language film with subtitles.
Catherine Frot with director Giannoli. Looks like she is having a great time with him!
There is so much to love about this film. It takes place during the 1920’s– in and just outside of Paris. Frot plays Baroness Marguerite Dumont, a naïve, lonely and delusional woman. Her husband, Georges, played by André Marcon, is more protective of her and doesn’t really come to terms with his love for her until later in the film.
Marcon, as Baron Georges Dumont, spends an awful lot of time making sure his car breaks down whenever Marguerite sings.
Marguerite sees herself as a talented operatic singer who, in reality, is tone deaf, off pitch and screeches like a pained alley cat in order to reach the high notes. Bascially, she sucks but nobody will tell her the truth.
Singing to an audience in her home, this scene pretty much gives you an idea of her “unique” voice!
Too many people either sponge off her generosity or see her as an opportunity for their own benefit. Even so, these are the very same people who come to love and want to shield her.
Among the opportunists are Lucien Beaumont, a music critic played by Sylvain Dieuaide; Kyrill Von Priest, a douchey anarchist, played by Aubert Fenoy and a young opera singer, Hazel, beautifully played by Christa Theret. Lucien and Hazel ultimately come to love and protect Marguerite.
Marguerite believes herself to be such a great talent that she has her driver, who is also her photographer, snap images of her as great operatic characters.
Denis M’Punga, who plays Maldelbos, Marguerite’s photographer and driver, is another protector and admirer of Marguerite’s. Or is he using her for his own agenda?
Throughout all this, Frot doesn’t portray Marguerite as narcissistic at all. Marguerite is well-aware of her wealth and privilege but isn’t snobby or arrogant about it.
The photos of Marguerite as operatic divas are comical and incredibly sad at the same time…
Giannoli has done a clever job in presenting the story as a visual book with the movie being divided into chapters. He’s also done a great, great job in making a film that runs the emotional gamut. There are plenty of laugh-out-loud comedic moments but there are also many moments where you want to run up to the screen and just take the character of Marguerite into your arms and hug her and hold her. You also may need a tissue or two.
Frot tells it all without words. She is so incredibly expressive–look at the sadness and loneliness in her eyes.
But there’s more to it than that. Marguerite is not the story of an ingénue. It is the story of a middle-aged woman. A woman who has lived.
I’m not going to give any spoilers but as the story unfolds, Madame Dumont finally hires a voice teacher. And you can be the judge as to whether her voice improves or not.
Atos Pezzini, a has-been opera singer, played by Michel Fau (he was also nominated for a Cesar for this role), is Marguerite’s opportunist voice teacher–and even he comes to feel for Marguerite and becomes one of her protectors.
This tragi-comedy should have been nominated for an Oscar and Frot was robbed of that same nomination.
For me, the most incredible part of the movie was Catherine Frot’s portrayal of Marguerite. Frot’s been around for a while and you may recognize her from the film “Haute Cuisine” in which she plays the chef for the French President. She’s also well known for a series of comedy/mystery series films she starred in with Andrè Dussollier as a husband and wife team who solve crimes, among many other roles. I’m truly happy that she won a Cesar for her performance of Marguerite!
Frot accepting the Cesar for her portrayal as Marguerite
Frot’s talent also lies in her expressive face. Her eyes tell it all. Loneliness, sadness—she’s just incredible.
A face this expressive has not been ruined with fillers or bad plastic surgery!
And she’s adorable. Frot has a face that hasn’t been marred by plastic surgery or needles. She is a mature and naturally beautiful woman who will be turning 60 this year and isn’t trying desperately to hold on to her youth.
She’s so cute. I wanna be besties with her! Bonaparte’s sister had the pleasure of meeting her a few times and said she was an incredibly nice woman–it shows!
Which brings me to this–French actresses (well—most of them) show their age. Not in a bad way either. It’s just that they aren’t injected with Botox and other fillers and their faces are able to convey emotion. When they smile, their faces light up. You can see lines when they frown. Their eyes move. Their lids droop. You can see life in those faces. They rock what gravity has dropped!
Look how beautiful Fanny Ardant is at 67. And she can move her facial features! She’s one of my favorite actresses.
Isabelle Hubbert is 63. I want to know what her secret to great hair and skin is–and her career ain’t slowing down due to her age!
Nathalie Baye is Bonaparte’s longtime crush. He always says she is one of the sexiest women he’s ever seen. Oh..and she is a great actress as well. She’s 67!!
BERLIN, GERMANY – DECEMBER 07: Kristin Scott Thomas attends the European Film Awards 2013 on December 7, 2013 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Clemens Bilan/Getty Images)
Kristin Scott Thomas may be British, but she has starred in many French films. She’s totally bilingual. Ohhh look-Kristin isn’t Botox smooth! She has lots of character in that talented face of hers! She’s practically a teenager at 55 years!
CANNES, FRANCE – MAY 11: Actress Catherine Deneuve attends the premiere for the film “Lemming” at Le Palais de Festival on the opening night of the 58th International Cannes Film Festival May 11, 2005 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
and then there’s Deneuve! Ok..so she may have had a bit too many fillers on her mouth–but then again, she probably had a ton of over-the-lip lines from all the cigarette’s she’s smoked over the years. Still–at 72, she looks damned good!
Foreign filmmakers seem to respect, love and admire older actresses. And they write for more mature female characters whereas American filmmakers just do not. Take the film “Joy”. The real Joy Mangano will be 60 this year. Why then, was 25 year-old Jennifer Lawrence cast as Joy? Mangano created the infamous prototype for her Miracle Mop when she was 34 years old, couldn’t a woman older than Lawrence had been cast?
Joy Mangano, who is now 60 years old. She’s had the plastic surgery but I’ll tell you, her surgeon did a great job! I think it’s ridiculous that a 25 year old actress would portray her. But–that’s Hollywood!
If Marguerite was made in the USA, I’m sure the story would have been altered to fit a much younger actress. Why can’t the entertainment industry in the USA show the love to older women in a way that embraces our age???
Enjoy the rest of this quiet Easter Sunday. Here’s a beautiful duet by Delibes from Lakmé, Duo des Fleurs. Joan Sutherland and Marilyn Horne perform. It is also included in the soundtrack of Marguerite by different performers. This gives me chills and I hope you love it as much as I do! XOXOXOXO
It started out innocently enough. I thought it would be a good idea to make an Easter basket for Bonaparte to give to his granddaughter. I miss the days when my own children were young and I would put extreme care into the contents of each of their baskets.
A candy-filled basket for Bonaparte’s granddaughter.
I would make sure that each of them had a different color basket so as not to cause any confusion. Each child received a very large chocolate bunny. I would stuff plastic eggs with various little chocolates. Also sitting upon the annoying plastic green grass would be smaller bunnies, little chicks wrapped in foil and surrounding the chocolate animals would be foil covered chocolate eggs. In keeping with the religious aspect of Easter, each child would have a chocolate cross in their Easter basket too.
My kids ate their Easter Bunnies made of the waxiest chocolate I could find. And I joyously helped them devour those cute little bunnies and chicks and any other chocolate that could be found.
That’s right! My kids ate the Easter Bunny and I helped! I’m kissing you now, and tomorrow I’ll be eating you!
And so, my mission was to fill a basket filled with Bunnies and a cross and all candies chocolate that I could gather so that Bonaparte’s granddaughter could partake in the same ritual that my children enjoyed.
It was the same ritual my siblings and I repeated year after year on Easter Sunday.
Easter Sunday 1959, Ozone Park, Queens, NY. My mother pregnant with my brother. Even though there were only two kids, I had the appetite of five or six kids when it came to the Easter basket of chocolate filled treasures!
We ate candy all day. We would stop to have dinner, but were usually full from all the candy that we consumed beforehand. Then we would polish the rest of the candy off later in the day.
Two great candy days a year. Easter and Halloween.
This was a thrilling little project for me. Since my kids are now grown, I could make another child glow with delight at the amount of processed cocoa and sugar that was about to be bestowed upon her—and ingested into her six-year-old body!
I noticed something incredibly odd upon arrival at Walmart. Shelves of Easter baskets galore in front of me.
I thought it especially odd since it was four days before Easter and there seemed to be a surplus of baskets!
But I didn’t see candy!
Also on the shelves were boxes embellished with the words “Basket Stuffers”. In these boxes were tacky little games, stuffed bunnies and baby chicks and other little toys.
These boxes labeled “Basket Stuffers” were almost emptied of the small toys and other pieces of plastic and fuzzy garbage that housed them.
But no candy.
I saw in another aisle tons of plastic eggs that one would fill with little candy. But where was the damned candy???
Look at this “eggs-travaganza”–why aren’t people buying these and stuffing little candy surprises into them?
Mouth rinse for children in bubblegum flavor was on the shelves—but no candy was to be found!
WTF? Kids don’t want THIS is their Easter baskets! What is going on?
Finally, I spotted bags of pastel colored M & M’s and foil covered chocolate eggs, but where were the chocolate bunnies and chocolate crosses.
As a Walmart staffer approached, I asked where all the good Easter candy was. He explained that people are buying toys and other items for Easter instead of candy. He further explained that the Easter candy was now placed in the grocery department.
Huh?
Then I thought about what an awful, horrible, abusive mommy I must have been.
Preparing for Easter meant buying dozens of eggs to hard boil and dye. My kids invited their friends to the house and we would have a dye party. The parties were routine. I would place the dyes on the kitchen island, have the eggs at the ready and a house full of kids would start dipping and spilling.
I was completely shocked at the loads of egg dye that was still available. Man–I would purchase about five or six of these boxes a year to keep all the kids happy dying eggs! Do parents not dye eggs with their children anymore?
Usually ten minutes later they would be bored and would find other activities. I would be left to finish the dye job—and it was fun! One year I bought a bunch of inexpensive white tee shirts and let all the kids tie dye the shirts with the remaining egg color! My mad mommy ways were certainly awful!
Roman looking confused at a REAL egg. It was the healthiest food item he ever ate on Easter!
Oh yes. And my horrible mommy ways got worse. Because I allowed them to eat every bit of candy in the baskets. If they wanted to eat it all on Easter Sunday, so be it. School was closed the next day so if they got sick it was no big deal.
The worst thing about this Easter wasn’t the amount of chocolate the boys ate to give them maddening rushes of sugar. The worst thing was that I allowed my husband to take my oldest son to get his haircut. It was the first and LAST time he went with his dad to the barber. It was the worst haircut of all time–he looks like an Eastern European refugee. I still bring this up to my now ex-husband!
Sugar rush? Yeah. But my children also ate three full meals a day. Exceptions being Christmas when you just eat all day, birthdays when you eat what you want—and then have a shitload of cake, Halloween, when pizza is the healthiest thing you consume before OD’ing on the candy you receive from door-to-door begging, and, of course, Easter.
Easter and birthdays always bring out the best for a sugared stupor! Oona looks like she could fall over at any second. Don’t worry, I would catch her. Bad mommy CAN be good!
Back to the shopping. When I arrived in the grocery area I was shocked at the amount of candy that hadn’t been purchased. And it was four days before Easter. I can remember having to buy candy weeks before Easter in fear that the supplies would be wiped out. And here there was an overabundance.
I managed to pick up quite a bit of candy—and some for me. And, added a box of colored pencils and a drawing pad because Bonaparte’s granddaughter loves to draw.
I managed to find the candy, but I’ll tell you, the selection wasn’t that great. I had to hunt down chocolate bunnies!
I also picked up some colored pencils and a sketch pad–which is appropriate. Save the big stuff for Christmas!
Further errands had me going to Target. On a whim, I decided to do some candy sleuthing. Same thing. Easter’s candy was tucked away in the grocery area with shelves full of candy that went ignored.
Easter Sunday fast approaching and all this candy sits on the shelf? Something is not right!
What happened to Easter? Look. I get that it’s an important religious day. It’s the day that my buddy, Hipster Jesus rose from the dead. It is also the day when you can stop those forty days of Lenten sacrifice. And what better way to end that fast than by consuming mass quantities of sweet, luxurious chocolate. Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate. It’s all good!
Now we have toys and other objects as “basket stuffers”. What happens when those toys aren’t good enough or expensive enough or big enough? Is Easter going to turn into an excessive gifting holiday similar to Christmas?
These stuffed little dust mite collectors are the new Easter candy. At least the candy is gone in a matter of hours or a day or two. These things linger around getting dirty!
I’m glad that I had my children when I did. I’m glad I am of the generation that didn’t look at a chocolate bunny as something bad and unhealthy. I’m glad to have allowed my kids to taste and appreciate those chocolate bunnies the way a fine connoisseur of food would have dined on Paul Bocuse’s “Hare a la Royale”
The mother of all Easter dishes! Paul Bocuse’s “Hare a la Royale”. A hair drenched in a sauce of it’s own juices so dark that it looks like a chocolate bunny. This is ONE Easter Bunny I would love to devour!
Are parents these days so politically correct and coddling of their offspring that they are afraid to traumatize their children into thinking they will be eating Peter Cottontail?
He isn’t real! He’s make believe. It’s OK to eat a chocolate bunny–Peter Cottontail said so!
I’m especially glad that I was a bad mommy at Easter time. I allowed them to indulge. They didn’t get a mouthful of cavities, nor did they become obese. They celebrated a tradition and had fun. And moreso, I did too!
More Easter throwback. I couldn’t find more pictures from Easters past because I was so traumatized by that haircut. I have a renewed anger toward my ex-husband as I look at that haircut…
Jake, left, with better hair. I think he was traumatized by that haircut too. Roman, right, changed his bowl-cut into a more adult look!
This is MY hidden stash. I don’t like the way the chocolate bunny on the left is eyeballing my M & M’s and Robin’s Eggs! I’ll have to eat him first!
Regardless–candy or not. Go out and enjoy this weekend! Happy Easter all!
…and we all know who WON’T get hired! Might I add that Human Resources was so much better when it was “Personnel”?
