Do you know your body type? Igigi has a pretty good section called My Shape to help you determine yours. (It’s a plus size site, but I think the information is still valid for all you lovely skinny minis.)

I always assumed I was some sort of fucked up hourglass. I mean, I have the basis of an hourglass and yet some of the other characteristics just didn’t fit me. Still I certainly wasn’t a triangle, rectangle or oval. Yesterday I followed a link to the Igigi site and found that there aren’t 4 basic body types anymore, there are 7!

I read the descriptions and did the very technical measurements and it turns out I am not a fucked up hourglass. I’m a figure eight! (which I believe is actually the same thing) Still! It is awesome to hear that my body fits into an actual shape category and they have clothing recommendations for me. Sweet!

I decided that I would embrace my new findings. I am Angela the figure eight!

I even took a self portrait of myself to commemorate this new discovery.

Sexy, yes? Don’t I look like the kind of girl you could take home to your mother? Oh and thank you, you say such sweet things about my hair.

I suppose I will take heed to this new information and use it to help me dress well for my body type, though I believe I already do that. Lots of A Line skirts and long torso tops. Now if only A Line skirts would stay in fashion. I don’t have to lament my hatred of pencil skirts again, do I? I just want them to go away and leave me alone.

Don’t get dirty on me.

So many of you know that I have been trying to do better for the environment. I even entered that Green Faces of LUSH contest a few months back. (I LOST by the way in case you were wondering.) In any case many of the items I normally use are already green. I use all LUSH and Duross & Langel body products so I’m good there. Deodorant was the last body item for me to change and once I found the perfect brand in the perfect scent (Duross & Langel in Moroccan Cedar!) I was all set.

Next I suppose had to be my mouth. First of all my least favorite part of my whole body (oh yes, my whole chunktastic body) is my mouth. For reals! Because I have crooked teeth despite EIGHT YEARS of dental appliances as a child. I wore a retainer for 4 years and then braces for another 4. My teeth are still crooked and apparently my mouth is too small. (Stay with me!) Also they aren’t very white. For years and years I NEVER opened my mouth to smile. Lately though I have chosen to let go and become one with my smile. I think that happened about a year ago when I got so much to smile about. So I am beginning to come to terms with it. However, I still say if I were to get plastic surgery on any part of my body I would get those fancy porcelian veneers.

I have been reading a lot of very scary articles about toothpaste. So, I thought I would stop using commercial toothpaste and start using the alternative brand available at Target which is, Tom’s of Maine. Except then I started finding many articles about the dangers of fluoride! So that was out too.**

After quite a bit of searching I came across different toothpowders and then found that some were being sold on Etsy. After reading through information about several different kinds and reading through feedback on the products I finally chose Myrrh Himalayan Toothpowder from GoddessNaturals. I enjoyed the possible added healing properties of the myrrh and the other people who had tried her products really seemed to like them. (She has unflavored too, but I have to be odd and choose myrrh.) I got it in yesterday and I have used it three times since then. It doesn’t have a good taste at all. Well…I mean it’s salt based and I hate saltiness so that’s a little rough. It’s actually sort of fun to use and it doesn’t give my mouth that heavy feeling I get with using pastes. I actually feel like I am cleaning my teeth instead of just rubbing stuff on them. I also like that there really isn’t an aftertaste. You know how with toothpaste your mouth is super minty for a while afterwards? I hate that. I hate mint. So this just made my mouth feel fresh, clean and happy. I am absolutely happy with it. The seller also was super nice and shipped it out to me very quickly because I wanted it in time for my trip. Lovely seller to work with.

Now for my toothbrush. I pretty much use whatever is cheapest, but I do change my brushes pretty often. (Well actually even less often than you should. I get a new one every 6 months.) While at Target last night (see a pattern here?) I picked up my normal $.97 toothbrush and remembered that Kasey and I had gotten a double pack together so I suggested she get a new one too. Well she apparently needs to use one with soft bristles. Of which they had no super cheap ones. I was drawn to a cool looking soft one and when I picked it up I realized it was one of those awesome recycled ones!

The company is called Preserve and they have a lot of awesome products. I let you read more about it on that toothbrush link up there. I had to get one for each of us! I am LOVING mine so far. It works great with my new toothpaste and the container is comes in is actually a case for it, which is amazing for my upcoming trip. The cap is also the perfect size to measure my new toothpowder out for use. It could not have worked out better. Also once I am done with the toothbrush instead of throwing it away I can send it back to them to be recycled again! I just love it and recommend is so much. At Target it was about $2 so it’s pretty much the same price as the normal toothbrushes. Now if Target could only stock these awesome razors I would be set. I think my razor is the only body item I use now that isn’t green***. (Plus it’s one of those damn lady schicks or whatever and it totally cuts up my legs every single time. When I use my brother’s facial razor I’m fine. What’s the deal? Girl razors suck.)

I think that is all I have to say about that. I’m super jazzed and my mouth is chemical free and cleaner feeling than it has been in a long time. Hoorah!

Also if you are more interested in the company that makes my new toothbrush they have a great 3 minute movie on their website here.

*Did you know that I love exclamation points? Yeah, they are by far the best for of punctuation. EVER. I also exclaim a lot in real life so it’s totally fitting.****

**Please know I am just talking about things I have found that work for me. I am not endorsing other products I just like to talk about things that I love and I certainly don’t judge anyone who doesn’t use the products I use. Kasey still uses normal toothpaste too! I’m just weird.

***Well besides perfume. Shh!

****Did you notice that lately I have been putting a * by things and forgetting to add the addendum at the bottom? I suck. Whatevs! (That was for you Loralee.)

Is it February already? Last week I forgot some assignments and in a few short days I got weeks behind in my classes. I also had to drop French 1 due to reasons I will likely detail in a future entry. With all this work I haven’t been able to write and I actually had to mark all read in my feed reader. Something I have never read before. (Don’t worry to my regular readers I still read your entries even if I wasn’t able to comment.)

I am getting back on track and I wanted to tell you all about last weekend because it was such a fun weekend for me!

Last weekend I had the most surreal 3 day weekend ever.

Saturday Kasey and I went to see the movie Mad Money. I have to do another movie post. I’ve seen 6 movies since the last one. I really enjoyed this movie. More about it later!

Saturday night Kasey and I were supposed to go to a bar with one of our friends and a group of their friends. I had my passport all set to get in (I lost my license) so we were good to go. Then the guy at the door wouldn’t let us in because Kasey’s license was expired. Unreal!

So we were a bit bummed. We decided to call my cousin and go to a local bar with her. After we called and said we would be there in a few I remembered it was my brother’s 30th birthday and his band would be playing at another local bar. We switched up our plans, picked up my cousin and headed over there. I usually avoid this bar because it’s pretty seedy and they can’t really make anything. You either order shots, beer or something in a bottle. That night they were even out of flavored drinks so I just got yuengling. I actually had a really great time! We drank and laughed and saw my brother and some people I went to elementary school with. Some of my brother’s old friends were there too. (He has had some of the same friends since he was 14 so it’s cool to see some of the guys I knew when I was little as adults.) We also had the best bar nachos I have ever had. We decided we would have to come back more often.

On Sunday Kasey and I needed to go get some papers from her dad’s house in New Jersey. We drove up there (about an hour and a half drive) and the papers weren’t there! Oops! They were at her mom’s house in PA (about a 25 minute drive). Oh well. I’m glad she got to see her dad! Then we stopped by a cute little bakery she knew of and I got a delicious cupcake! For $.99! Then we headed back home. It was really enjoyable.

Once we got back in the area we did some grocery shopping because we were going to go to my aunt’s house for a little SuperBowl party. We got there a bit after the game and Kasey made some chicken for everyone. Okay. I HATE sport and mainly football. It seems so ridiculous to me. I’m totally in it only for the commercials. Kasey does like sports. She likes the action and excitement. Now, usually I could care less who wins the damn thing, but this time I really did not want the Patriots to win. I just think them (and their fans) are too cocky. I also think they cheat. So this means…I guess…that I wanted the Giants to win. Wanting someone specifically to win made the whole thing a lot more fun. PLUS the Giants did win! Hoorah! It was a wonderful time and I drank way way too much wine.

My sister didn’t have such a good time. She is a HUGE Patriots fan.

Then it was finally Monday! Kasey and I were out of the house by 10:45 am and on our way to the Philadelphia Auto Show.

Another thing I don’t care about. Cars. I feel like cars any cars turn out to be a waste of money. All that gas and repairs. There is only one car my whole life I have ever lusted after. That car is the VW Beetle Convertable. And I sat in one! And had Kasey take plenty of pictures!!!!

It was beautiful. Omg! Loved it SO much.

We got there around noon, parked and headed to the Philadelphia Convention Center for the Auto Show.

Kasey also saw a bunch of cars she loved.

After the show we had lunch at Delilah’s in the Reading Terminal Market.

I had fried catfish, macaroni and cheese and collard greens. Kasey had fried chicken, macaroni and cheese and yams. It was delicious. Plus one of the workers there hit on me. His opener was, “You look like you’re deep in thought.” Then he asked if I was on my break and I mentioned the auto show and he asked where I was from. I said about an hour and a half away. He said, “Oh! That isn’t far at all. That’s a nice little drive.” Then said some more stuff. Then Kasey came back with our food. Thank you! When we were leaving he took our trash and told me to, “Be sure to come back and visit us soon, beautiful.” Flattering, but still. He doesn’t know me! Plus Kasey sometimes looks like a guy unless you notice he chest (which was hidden by a jacket yesterday). She could have been my husband! She was both amused and a little jealous.

After lunch we went back to the car and dropped off some of our stuff. It was time to go to LUSH!!! (Kasey gave me a gift certificate for our 6 month anniversary.) It was about 5 blocks down from our parking garage and we got to walk right threw City Hall, which we both thought was so interesting.

(note: I am sort of obsessed with body products and I love reading about what other people buy and going to websites that talk about body products. I also love it when I get to have new things. Feel free to skim through the rest of this entry if you could care less about this sort of thing. Thanks! <3, Angela)

When we got there we both came in and just deeply inhaled the store’s scent. Then I was off trying to find the things I wanted to purchase. The two sales women were super helpful and not at all pushy. However, one did have to tell me the bad news that they were discontinuing the Happy soap I like so much…so I got 2 big bars, 1 little bar and 2 pre-packaged bars of it. I’m so set with that soap. I also got a big bar of Sexy Peel soap because that one smells really good too.

I got small samples of the Sandstone Soap and Greenwash soap* both to try later. I really don’t like to buy soaps I haven’t tried yet. However, I have been thinking about getting the Figs & Leaves soap so I got a small bar of that. I just noticed that I have tried almost every soap they make. I think next time I will ask for samples of the last ones I haven’t tried yet.

In the prepacked soaps we got two of the ones that came with Happy. They call it the Sunny Hunny set. It also features the Karma soap we both like and Honey I Washed the Kids. I love using the Honey soap as a hand soap in the bathroom. It makes your hands smell SO good. It’s too sweet for me to have all over my body so that is why I prefer it as a hand soap.

Then we also got a pack of the Sweetie Stack because it has a Honey I Washed the Kids also and two other soaps I have been wanting to try Rock Star and I Should Coco.

I got a sample of Aromacreme natural deodorant because I read an article a while back about aluminum in deodorant being linked to breast cancer and since then it has really freaked me out using it. The problem is all store deodorants have aluminum in them. It’s the anti-persperant. So I’m trying it out and seeing how it goes. It smells really good…I will give it that. (I just read a bunch of the reviews and while most of them were positive the negatives all had the same problem. Burning harsh rashes…hmm…that might alone be enough to make me not complete my sample. Now, of course, not everyone has that problem or they wouldn’t make it anymore, but it’s enough to make me not want to pursue it. I might start looking into one of the others right away. )

I also got two lovely lip glosses. I got Lip Squeak and Honey Trap. I think I will keep using these. I’m very happy with how they feel on my lips and they also last a super long time which all my other lip glosses/chapsticks really lack.

I got the Love Lettuce facial mask. Their masks are only available in stores because they are very fresh and don’t feature preservatives. You also have to keep them refrigerated and they only last about 3 weeks. Last time I tried the Cupcake mask, but it really didn’t work for my skin. It was also brown and even though it smelled like chocolate I felt like I was rubbing poo on my face. Not something I want to experience. The Love Lettuce mask is divine! It leaves my skin feeling soft and smooth. Not dried out, but also not oily either. I am sure I will finish this mask and probably pick up some more in store next time we go to Philly.

Kasey got a chunk of the Lemslip Buttercream to try. It’s like an in-shower moisturizer. I didn’t notice this was for oily skin though so we might have to just get an idea of whether we like the concept or not and then switch to one for dry skin. She also got the Razorantium Shave Cream which I am hoping she will let me try out. She tried it already and really liked it. The last thing she got for herself was the Coconut & Almond Smoothie, which again I can’t wait to try for myself.

For my hair I got the Godiva Shampoo bar. I have had mixed success with their shampoo bars, but I decided to give them another chance. I’ll see if I like this one. It sounds really nice. Kasey also got me the Dream Cream which I LOVE it smells like this Lavender Chamomile Tea I used to drink and it is heaven. I think it is my favorite lotion from there yet. It keeps my legs nice and soft under my tights. It reminds me of the Body Butters I love so much from The Body Shop.

Last, but not least is the Golden Slumbers bath bomb we got for free with purchase. I still have my Butterfly bath bomb from our last trip so now we really have to go on a vacation so I can take a nice long bath.

Here is a view of all the fun stuff we picked up. I’m having so much fun using it all up.

So that was my three day weekend where I had fun doing three things I wouldn’t think I would enjoy. Sometimes life is surprising like that.

*Greenwash is a holiday soap that they decided to add to their regular soap family. So I am assuming they are reworking the look of it before it’s added back on the site.

1. Do you like brownies? What am I saying? Of course you do! What sane person doesn’t like brownies? Okay. Well I LOVE brownies. I am one of those women that loves all things chocolate so brownies are fantastic. Well I had the best brownies EVER the other day and I have to share them with you. Want to know the best part? They are from a box! I know! It’s amazing. They are Ghirardelli Ultimate Fudge Brownies. In my opinion these are the best brownies that you can get from a box that don’t involve peanut butter. Delicious. They sell it at grocery stores.

2. The next one is brand new as in I bought it at 2:00am this morning. (Yes, I was at Wal-Mart at 2:00am. Do you see why I am tired all the time?) Anyway, my lips have been chapped lately and I needed a good lip balm. I looked at all the ones I usually go for and I decided to be adventurous and try a new one. I choose Blistex Lip Infusion Moisture Splash. It has a neat roller-ball applicator, which is actually quite nice and even though the packaging boasted no scent it has a fantastic vanilla scent and for those of you who lick your lips the taste is nice too. This is by far the best lip balm I have ever used. I LOVE it. I want to buy a whole box of them and stash them everywhere. I also want to give a few out as Christmas presents. This stuff rocks! If you have been trying to find a great lip balm this is it.

3. Last, but not least are a pair of adorable red flats. I where thick black tights every single day in the winter and so I like to try and find colorful flats to go with my outfits. I have two pairs of gold flats, but I really wanted red ones. I thought this would be easier to find than it was. These shoes are by no means high quality. They are Payless American Eagle Ava Mary Janes. Even though I am sure they would look much better and hold up much better if they were paten leather I still love them and for $14.99 they were so very worth it.

My final exam for Women & Politics is tomorrow morning at 11:00. I have a lot of studying to do until then.

I have been meaning to put this up for a while, but I don’t know where my head has been. My sincere apologies Jennic! Today I am going to review a website called KangarooBoo that makes me jealous I don’t have children in my life to buy things for. Also there is free shipping when you spent $75 or more and all items ship within one business day!

I’m going to highlight for you some of my favorites! Three from each age category on the site.

Baby (0 - 12 mo.)

Moby $11.90

Bunny Pacifier Chain $12.90

Dragonstone Castle $19.90

1 year

Soft Doll Lukas $33.90

Baby Paf the Giraffe Pull Toy $24.

Baby Flowers Cellphone Rattle
$12.90

2 Years

Animal Counting Game $44.90

Acrobats $31.90

Mini GT Car $11.90

3 Years

Ghost Tower & Knights Castle $68.90

Threading Hearts $9.90

Mailbox & Mail Set $28.90

4 Years

Lucy & Pepe $12.90

Ladybug Spin Top $7.90

Shape Sorting Clock $9.90

5 Years & Up

Mobilo Magnetic Placement Game $36.90

Giant Frog Money Box $29.90

Rainbow Timber $26.90

Things I Want For Myself

MonKEYS $3.90

Party People Chopsticks $11.90

Flutterflies Mobile $45.90

It is miserable out today. I am huddled in my office peering out my little window into the rainy grey. It’s not a day that I feel like parking my car and spend 20 minutes walking to class. My office is also cold because my space-heater was taken away because (maybe) I left it on again after leaving. Is that such a crime! I am told this will start a fire. However right now I feel like I could build an igloo and my boss complains that he is hot. The insanity of the elderly!

I can’t possibly complain too much because I am attempting to cover my bare arms and warm myself with a large deep wine colored cashmere COACH scarf. YES! I know! I would insert a picture here if I hadn’t sold my camera last month like a fool. I also can only find this scarf in other colors on eBay so I can’t link to it there…trust me though. It’s lovely. It’s an early Christmas present from Kasey because I am not good with surprises and she isn’t good with making me wait for them.

Other than rubbing cashmere on my face I have been spending the morning plotting not going to class today. I know I shouldn’t because I have off from my classes all next week, but the cold rain and knowing that alternately I could be napping at Kasey’s house is so tempting. Now mind you I am going to go…it’s just nice to think about not going.

That is one thing about High School. I loved to skip class. LOVED it. It’s like a drug. You start missing a few and then every time you go to class you can’t stop thinking about all the other fantastic things you can be doing. Bonus points for missing school all together. Now, of course, in school I never ever got good grades so it really didn’t matter if I was there or not and I was so disruptive that I think my teachers were happy when I wasn’t there. College isn’t like that. When I go to class I’m always glad I went. I am enjoying my classes. I am also even getting…wait for it…As! People! I have gotten a 0 on a multiple choice test before. Now I realize that I am taking classes I really love right now, but still. An A is an A. That was my midterm grade for Women’s Studies. I actually looked at it and got concerned. See I was expecting a number and I had a W for Biology (withdraw) an I for Women & Politics (She didn’t submit our grades) and then this A. My first thought was, “Oh god. What does this stand for.” Then it sunk in that my first semester of my college experience I had an A on my mid-term report. This from the girl who only made the honor roll once in her entire school career before this.

I thought about telling my parents, but somehow I don’t think they will really care. That’s the thing. I feel like my parents could pretty much care less about anything going on with me. I mean…in the end I am still a liberal, feminist, lesbian dating a black girl. Who really cares if I’m getting good grades, right? Who cares about most of what I do? Don’t get me wrong my parent’s aren’t mean to me they are just pretty much apathetic to my life. My mom sometimes says I look sad and wants to talk to me, but whenever I do talk to her I feel like she doesn’t want to know. A common complaint from my parents about Kasey and myself is that we laugh too much. My parents, my father in particular find laughing very annoying. I can’t help it if I am happy when I am around Kasey. She is pretty much the only person that brings happiness into my life these days. I get this complaint from my sister too. We’re telling each other jokes and then my sister wants to know what is so funny, then I try to explain the joke to her and then she gives me a look like, you-guys-are-so-ridiculous. It just ruins the whole thing. I don’t know. I think it’s living with my parents again and the fact that my sister has been working with me a few days a week lately. It’s a little too much. My parents seem to love and adore my sister no matter what she does. She and my mom are all buddy buddy and they have what I call The Mother/Daughter Club and my mom always seems to really care what is going on in her life.

I just need to get out of their house and on my own again. Hopefully I can manage to do that soon. I will be so much happier when I am on my own. I just feel a lot more at ease when I am in my own space.

Side Note - Sorry that my writing has been so sparse…it’s not just time. I am having a lot of strong feelings right now. Feelings I wish would just leave me so that I could be blissfully indifferent. They won’t. Or, at least, they haven’t yet. Since my break-up I have been feeling a lot more private. I try to get my feelings out still as best I can on this site, but never before have I felt this need to keep my true feelings so safe and secure. Maybe it will pass. I hope it does. Maybe I will have another update on the whole thing, maybe I won’t. Who knows. The more and more the days pass the better it gets. So hopefully time will keep passing and I will keep getting further away from that crazy time in my life. I kept a private journal during the later half of my relationship with my ex and I also documented the days before and after the break-up. I went over it a few days ago to help myself make sense of it all. It marvels me to see how much I used to overlook. How different in spirit I was. I don’t think anyone had any idea what I was going through emotionally. I don’t think they ever will. I don’t think they care to know and honestly maybe we’re all like that. Maybe we don’t truly want to know our friends.

In any case I have been spending the last few days getting a few things straightened out and in order and deleting certain people from my various pages to give myself a greater sense of privacy. I realize how that may sound considering this website and my Flickr account, but I do keep more information on my Myspace and Facebook pages and I am just glad to have them more private.

Okay. I’m done for the day. I almost forgot I went to Philadelphia for the weekend last month and didn’t write about it yet! I am also reviewing an awesome children’s toy website tomorrow and you won’t want to miss that! The site is seriously the cutest and the owner couldn’t be nicer!

Kasey just bought me Sarah Jessica Parker’s fragrance Lovely. I have to say that I LOVE this fragrance. I want it to be my new signature scent. I used to use Jennifer Lopez’s Glow, but that scent is way too much after a while. This one is nice and light and I can see wearing it for a while. I also love reading about the notes in certain fragrances.

Here are the notes in this one: Lavender, orchid and amber mingle with apple martini, paper whites and musk.

I also want to get her new fragrance Covet. The notes in that one are: chocolate, magnolia, and amber musks. Which sounds weird, but the reviews so far are really good.

I must say I have started having a SJP obsession since she launched her line Bitten in Steve & Barry’s. It is rocking my world. Kasey bought me 8 tops, 2 sweaters for herself and a shirt for herself for $82!!!! That averages out to $7.50 an item. I also want to add that the two sweaters were the only things on sale.

Today I am wearing a pink Bitten shirt with the Eiffel Tower on it and the word Paris on it. $7.95 not on sale! I love this stuff! I still didn’t get the Houndstooth coat that has been in all the fashion magazines, but when I do it will be $19.95 not on sale. I hope you all have a Steve & Barry’s near you. How sweet it is!

So I have no idea when I will have access to the pictures that go along with this post. As some of you know I recently sold my camera on eBay so I will let you know as soon as these pictures are up. Until then here is what happened on my trip to Atlantic City, October 14 & 15.

Sickness aside I just had one of the best weekends ever. It was so fun and spontaneous. Just what I needed. I was still a little sick off and on, but I didn’t even care.

Kasey came over at about 11:30 pm on Sunday night after her 5 year high school reunion. We set the alarm and went to sleep soon after that. At 6:00 a.m. my alarm buzzed me into consciousness and I got up and took a shower and got dressed. I awoke Kasey at 6:40 and we were on the road on our way to Atlantic City by 7:30. Not too bad!

We stopped off at Wawa for coffee and breakfast and we were on the PA-Turnpike by 8:00 a.m. Our trip was going fabulously and Kasey had created many CDs for our drive. We were merrily listening to a mix of songs from various musicals.

All of the sudden the car started shaking while we were in the fast lane passing a bus. I hear Kasey say, “Oh no. Oh crap! This isn’t good.” I still don’t really know what is going on. Luckily we were able to get over and pull over on the side of the road. She gets out and inspects what is wrong. She comes back to the car and looks at me. The tire is flat. She starts to apologize and tell me that she should have checked and she wasn’t thinking. So I get into my calm let’s-manage-this-it’s-an-adventure mind frame. We both have Triple A memberships so Kasey calls and they say it will be about 45 minutes. We pull the car up more so we can be out of the way.

All of this is all well and good except that I really have to pee. As a matter of fact I have had to pee for about an hour of the drive and just didn’t want to stop until we were in New Jersey. So here we are stuck on 76 just outside Philly and I have to pee. I take note of the fact that there are coffee cups in the car so I have an escape route. Luckily the Tow Guy comes in about 20 minutes so it isn’t necessary.

Tow Guy assesses the situation and is very friendly and helpful. He puts on the spare and directs us to a place where we can get the tire patched. This place is almost open (it was a Sunday). So we get off at the Girard exit and look for this tire place.

It seems to be a pretty abandoned stretch of road. Most of the buildings are messed up and missing windows, etc. We see the tire place Bo’s Used Tires. It called to us like a beacon of hope. He was open and took us right away. He patched the tire, charged us $10 and said that it was guaranteed for life. He said we could drive on it right away and the patch would outlive the rest of the tire. “Great!” we say, “Fantastic!” So thrilled are we at the cheap tire fix and we are praising our Tow Guy how wonderful was he to suggest this place to us.

So I still have to pee. We go to this gas station, but I’m pretty sure we are in some sort of Philadelphia ghetto and they won’t let us use the rest rooms. A guy outside says they never do. He promptly asks us for spare change. We’re thrilled to be in the good company of a patched tire so we give him $1.

Then get back on the road. We got off an exit in Philly and saw a hospital. A hospital! What a great place to use the bathroom. We go in the parking garage and parking is free for less than 30 minutes. Lovely! So we use the bathrooms there and get going.

Back on our way to Atlantic City! We’re so super psyched! That could not have gone better. We make it just outside Philadelphia and we hear a very loud pop. The car shakes. Uh oh. We start cursing Bo and his shady tire. Kasey looks upset. I get back into calm mode. This will be fine. We just have to call Triple A again. There new time estimate is an hour. Well we have no other choice so fine. We’re waiting and I see a truck pull up behind us. I tell Kasey and we are both staring out the back window in suspense. Will this person help us? Then I realize it’s a NJDOT truck and it starts to pull closer to the car. A man, let’s call him Tow Guy #2 hops out and pulls on a neon yellow vest. We get out of the car to greet him. Kasey says I should flirt with him because he looks like he’d like me.

He says he’ll help and Kasey calls Triple A back to cancel. So I am standing with the guy as he fixes the tire and he starts to talk and he really does flirt with me. A lot! Asking where we are going, do I like to cook, do I live around here, do I come to jersey much, how late is the wine fest, etc… It was so funny. When the tire came off it turned out there was a second hole that Bo must have missed. So after that we weren’t mad. Who could have known there would be so much wrong with this tire? It’s noon at this point. So Tow Guy #2 puts the spare back on and tells us we can go a few hundred miles on it, but not to go above 55 miles per hour.

So that is what we did. We drove the rest of the way to Atlantic City going 55 miles per hour even in the 65 zones. You know, it really wasn’t bad. We even had a group of cars following behind us for some reason even though it was a three lane road with no traffic.

Finally we got to the Atlantic City Conference Center. We parked and went right in. It was different than I expected, but enjoyable. Not much wine. We tried Baklava “Hoopah!”, Crepes, fondue, and a few other things. They were all little samples though and we were hungry so we went to look for somewhere to eat.

We almost ate at a diner, but there was this angry guy standing outside and he spit forward and it almost hit me! We went inside and the guy came in cursing and he apparently worked there and it seemed like he was cursing about us talking about him. We got our seats and my stomach was still funny and the food was all greasy foods and I was uncomfortable so we left. We walked around a little and we stopped at a crepe place. I thought that would be nice, but it was café style and I really wanted to go to somewhere with a waitress and air conditioning. It was hot! So finally we went to Applebee’s. Kasey was so sweet. I really can be a pain when it comes to eating out or being in public places because I get uncomfortable and certain things make me cranky.

I wasn’t too thrilled about Applebee’s either, but it was there and I had already changed my mind twice. It was actually really good! I got a yummy chicken salad and Kasey had delicious honey glazed salmon. They also had adorable little desserts for $1.99. So I tried one of those. It was just really nice.

During our meal Kasey told me about a credit card she found in her drawer at home that she had forgotten about and wasn’t sure still worked. So she called and it was active. So she paid for dinner and we started talking about spending the night in Atlantic City.

We put that out of our minds for a bit and did some shopping. There was a COACH outlet and I was adoring all of the gorgeous bags when Kasey decided she was going to buy me one and could not be convinced otherwise. So I got the most adorable little Bordeaux suede bag. It’s nice because all my purses are huge and this one is the prefect size. I’m so in love with it. Kasey got gift wrap because she knows I love opening presents, but I couldn’t wait to use it!

We headed over to Caesar’s casino and parked the car. We looked around and it was gorgeous. Kasey decided we should ask how much a room would be just for fun. We got how much and we decided to call some other places too. They were all about the same so we went back in and booked the room! At Caesars! I was pretty excited. We sent up to the room and it was gorgeous. We didn’t have any clothing or luggage though. We headed over to the pier shops to get some toiletries and they had a LUSH store. I was totally against Kasey buying me anymore presents, but she is really sneaky.

Here is what we got: (note in store those soaps can be cut to any size so they weren’t those prices)

• Charity Pot - 100% of proceeds from lotion go to the charity on the lid. Great lotion too.
• Karma Soap - This smelled so good.
• Coalface - I have been wanting to try a coal face cleanser for a while. Hopefully this lives up to the hype. Good in store because I could buy a $5 slice instead of $10 before I know if I like it.
• Happy Hippy shower gel
• The Olive Branch shower gel

They were very friendly there and gave us a ton of samples. The Lush Times catalog wasn’t out yet, but they said they would have them in tomorrow. Fantastic.

We wanted to get PJs to sleep in and panties, but we couldn’t find any and since it was a Sunday things were mostly closed by then. Oh well.

We had dinner in Caesars, but it was wildly expensive and not good. ($8.95 for two eggs, hashbrowns and toast!!) So that was a let down. We went back to the room and choose to take a nap and wake up later. We set the alarm for midnight and went to sleep.

When we woke up we went downstairs. I ordered a Crown Royal Washington Apple straight up because I had just read about it in the Philadelphia Style magazine they left in the room. It was really good. The we played $20 in the casino. We, of course, lost it all pretty quickly. We also walked around and looked everything over. Neither of us had finished our dinner from before. (It was really bad.) We thought about getting room service, but it didn’t seem worth it. I don’t mind paying for good food, but spending tons of money of bad food is just ridiculous. So we drove over to McDonalds. My stomach was a little funny so I just got a McFlurry.

We wanted to watch Hairspray, but for some reason the movie wouldn’t come in so we watched something else. A short while later I was feeling really sick so Kasey went down to the gift shop and got me some medicine. That was so sweet of her. By time she got back it was 4:00 am and we went back to sleep.

The next morning we got up at 9:00 am and went out to the shops. We needed to get underware and clothing for that day. I got a cute top at PacSun, panties at Jockey and bras from Lane Bryant. Kasey got a complete outfit at PacSun and boxers from Jockey. We went back to the room showered and got out of there.

We put our stuff in the car and went to have something to eat. This time we went to the buffet at Caesers and it was really good. Then we went back to the mall because I wanted to get some make-up from The Body Shop with my gift card. I got one of their new holiday palettes.

The pier has a little sort of outdoor patio that is right on the ocean. Kasey and I went out there to take some pictures and look at the ocean. It was gorgeous! Then we noticed there was a bit of a commotion and some people were pointing out into the water. We strained to see what they were looking and we started to see all this things hopping in and out of the water. It was dolphins! Dolphins! I have never seen wild dolphins ever. It was amazing. There were at least 20 of them traveling along. We did our best to get a picture, but it was really hard to catch. It was just one of those unbelievable moments.

After that we knew we were going to have to get on the road soon. We stopped at Lush again because we tried one of the samples they gave us, Honey I Washed the Kids and we both loved it so I wanted a bar. We also got the Lush Times and got her to give us more samples. Hooray!

We got the car and called Midas to see if they could check out our tire. We went there and they said it was a gash on the side and the tire would need to be replaced. Damn. So Kasey told them to go ahead and it would be about an hour or two. So we walked down the boardwalk and just enjoyed each others company. Once the car was done we were on our way.

The ride home went much better with no problems and we were home by 8pm.

That was such an amazing fun weekend. I just had such a good time and I loved it. So crazy. Sorry for the long post. I wanted to get everything in so I don’t forget.

Title - “Sunrise” by Nina Simone

My eBay items went really well. I’m adding more items this week though they will be much more random. The problems I was having with the COACH scarf resolved themselves. See, my problem was that I really loved that scarf, but I never wear it. I wanted it to go to someone who would love it as much as I did and get some use out of it. Then the person who was the highest bidder was someone who just bought and sold COACH items. I had a feeling they would buy my lovely scarf only to resell it. So I wanted someone, anyone to outbid them even if they didn’t pay me as much just so I would know it went to a good home. (I’m very sentimental about my COACH things. Anyway a very nice woman from Singapore was the winning bidder and she is a COACH enthusiast so I know it is going to a good home. I am more than satisfied with the outcome and I think I’ll be more careful about listing items with sentimental value to me.

This week I will be listing some Maui Jim sunglasses, Birkenstocks, Dollhouse stilettos, Pampered Chef items, a Longaberger basket, baby girl clothing, a MASH book and some mint condition stamps. Hopefully they will all be up sooner than later.

I have also been toying with the idea of listing some of my paintings, jewelry and various crafts on Etsy. I already created a seller’s account, but I’m just not sure how my art would be perceived. I’m very go with the flow with my art. I usually start with no idea of what is going to come out. I just create. There are some really good artists on Etsy and I worry mine would stick out. I’m not sure. I also tend to use quality materials which I think would increase my prices and make things more unattainable. I also don’t know the first thing about getting prints made of my artwork and I worry about selling them and never getting to see them again. It would be nice to have prints to sell and keep around. Lastly, I’m not great at photographing my artwork so it’s difficult to get colors correct. I’ll try to take some in natural light in the next few days.

Here are some samples of two paints I have made: (These photos were taken in my bedroom in artificial lighting.)

Wrap Me Up

A close up:

This is one called With Your Hand In Mine and it’s one I wouldn’t sell, but I thought you guys might want to see it. It’s a painting I made of Kasey and I.

I might also post some jewelry samples so you can see what I am talking about with that. I would be nice if I could start selling my art though. I enjoy making it so much. It would be nice to know others enjoy looking at it.

The new about me page is still in the works. I was hoping to get more questions out of delurking day, but apparently no one lurks. Oh well. I’m writing a paper today and working on making some money. As soon as those are out of the way I will continue work on that about me page.

Oh! I want these two bunnies SO badly! This one would be Penelope and this one would be Isobel. Aren’t they perfect? It kills me. I would do anything to be living in my own place right now so I could adopt and love these two. I wish they weren’t in a shelter. I hate that they don’t have a home and someone to love them. It would be nice to have some little critters keeping me company at night when I’m alone too. It might make it easier to sleep…maybe next year.

Alright. I better get back to work.

P.S. - I kind of want to be a sailor for Halloween. [Edit - Whoops! That link didn’t work. It’s all fixed now. I think it’s cute, but I don’t know if it would look good on me.]

Title: “This Is How It Goes” by Missy Higgens

Internet, I am so tired. I finally went to bed earlier than 2:00 a.m. yesterday, but I was up much of the night anyway. Boo.

Do you know what I have never mentioned on here? I snore. I have for as long as I can remember. Sometimes I guess it is worse than others. I have been using those BreatheRight strips and from what I understand they work pretty well. I’ll have to start putting them on every night. Do any of you snore?

ONE LAST GLIMPSE OF SUMMER

Today is a short day for me. I’m going to Seaside Heights, NJ for a few days!! This will be a nice little vacation right before I start school and lose all my free time. I am planning to take pictures so those will be on Flickr when I return. I’m not sure if the motel we’re staying at has wifi or not. If it does you’ll probably hear from me while I’m down there. If not I may not be able to post until my first day at school. I’m pretty sure they have wifi everywhere on college campuses so that shouldn’t be an issue.

I also have to work on that To Do List I spoke about last time. I have to admit that I got no more of it done. I have been such a complete slacker this summer. I have been completely ignoring most things in my life. This summer has been like a cocoon and I am scared to leave the cocoon and return to the real world. We’ll see. I have to relax and know that everything will be fine.

I’m going with Kasey and she is meeting about 7 of her friends there. I know three of them, but not well so I am a bit nervous. I am excited to finally be meeting Kasey’s best friend, Julie. I’m sure that we will get along. She seems really nice from everything that Kasey has told me about her.

A LITTLE EXCITEMENT ABOUT BOOTS

I have a pair of Ruby UGG boots that I absolutely adore. I know how a lot of people feel about UGG boots, but you know what? I don’t care. I got my first baby pink pair when they were super popular with celebs. Anyway, I bought them and I LOVED them. As someone who used to wear Birkenstocks 24/7 it was absolute bliss to have my feet be warm and toasty in the winter. So I don’t care what anyone says about them. They keep my feet warm and they are comfortable.

Anyway, I wear the baby pink ones in bad weather or when it’s messy outside. I keep the Ruby ones for days its super cold or snowy without the slush. So they always stay perfect. Last winter I got a rip in one of the boots. So I panicked and attempted to call all sorts of shoe repair places and they all said that there wasn’t much they could do about it. Yesterday I get the brilliant idea to contact the company. I can return them under warranty! So I am going to mail them out to UGG Australia and they should be sending me a brand new pair. I will keep you guys updated on that. I’m thrilled! I was SO bummed about the shoes being damaged.

When it happened I opened a screen door and it dragged across the top of my boot and ripped it. When I told my dad he was like, “Good thing you were wearing those boots. You would have really hurt your foot.” Which prompted me to say, “Are you kidding me? I would rather cut up my foot and have to get stitches than ruin my beloved boots. These were limited edition! They don’t even make this color anymore!” Once again showcasing why I could not be a worse match for my parents.

PART OF THE MADNESS

I admitted on Twitter recently that I bought High School Musical on iTunes. I wanted to watch it because it’s pretty much one of Kaseys favorite movies and she referenced it and the songs a lot. Also I knew there was a second one coming out and I wanted to know what was going on before we watched it.

So I watched the first one and it was sort of confusing to me because they were trying out for a musical, but then the whole thing became a musical, but they didn’t really know it. I guess? It’s a little odd. I suppose these things aren’t really supposed to make sense.

I thought that the point of the movie was to show the schools musical, but it pretty much ended when Gabriella and Troy got the parts. So while I enjoyed it I still didn’t get the hype.

Then Tuesday night Kasey and I finally watched High School Musical 2. Guys. I don’t know what is going on with me, but it rocked my world. I LOVED it. I totally did. I want to see the dance addition where they teach you the dances to the musical score. I bought the flippin’ soundtrack off of iTunes! I need to be stopped. I have been listening to it at work and it’s so fun and peppy. Maybe thats why I enjoy it so much. It’s just silly and entertaining.

So I’m going to go get a few things done before I leave work today and I will be listening to the HSM2 (as the kids say) soundtrack whilst I do it.

Title - “You Are The Music In Me” by Gabriella & Troy from the High School Musical 2 Soundtrack…like you needed to ask.