More Shoes....

Now that I figured out how to work this images thing, I can post all the pictures of the shoes I was writing about in my earlier post - 'Shoes That Won't Be Making It To My Closet.'

These first ones are how I pictured oxford heels to be - classic and elegant. But at $575, it's an automatic pass.






I love these - they're classic, sleek, t-straps and just so elegant looking. Pricetag? $295. I wonder if I can find it at TJMaxx.








Here are the Cole-Haan Pythons....it's a bit too daring for me - here's a way to let your Pythons loose. $225






I think Nancy Sinatra wore these in her 'Boots Were Made for Walking' video - they're kind of growing on me but I don't know if I can pull of white, wedge, patent leather boots. Franco Sarto - $150...reasonably priced. My other problem with boots - I have muscular calves so they would either have to be slip on or have enough room to not cut off the circulation to my feet.









C'mon Gwen...did you really give the thumbs up to these? What is going on there in the ankle area? I can only think that if I slipped these on, I would look so ridiculous. LAMB - $275









I love these - even the little peep toe. Would I consider wearing them with sandal-toe hosiery? Probably not. It would be all bare for this one...plus Via Spigas are pretty comfy - $198.








I think this is just one too many trends trying to make it into one shoe - we've got the oxford, the patent and the open toe....and the results...disaster. Even at $130, I'll pass.

Patience of a......Hungry Baby

I'm throwing back to Amanda's Customer Service Posting a few days ago - my patience just isn't what it used to be - I've known this for the past five years. In college, I had the patience of a Saint. I needed it when I was tutoring Calculus to 40-something year olds going back to school to gain their undergrad degrees. This was also the beginning of where my patience started to wear thin. I loved tutoring. It was great to share something I understood with people that didn't understand it quite so well. But because a lot of the students I tutored were older and had not been in a Math class in 20-some years, it took them LONGER than the average bear to grasp some of the concepts. Admittedly, there were times when I wanted to say, "Hey, you've gone this long without knowing or using calculus...you really won't need it after you get your diploma either....and there's always a curve after exams right? Why don't we just shoot for getting by?" Isn't that horrible?
So my husband and I went to go watch a 7:30pm showing of 'SuperBad' last night. We got to the theatre at 7:00pm. This gave me plenty of time to return an item at the Limited. The store is two floors down but in the same main wing as the theatre so I didn't think I'd have a problem with time. But when I got to the store and became the second person on line, I began to have serious doubts. Time: 7:10pm. There was only one person behind the cash wrap (yet there are five terminals...go figure). The person being waited on was opening up a store credit card (OY VAY!) If I were the cashier and I saw TWO people standing on line, and both apparently having returns, I would have clicked on that little portable mic they carry around and said, "Can someone please come to the back to help ring?" At least, that's what good management skills would have dictated that cashier do. Unfortunately, I don't think she was a manager. So she continued to open the card for the person at the register. She finally got done. By the time that person left, two more people had joined me on line. Time: 7:13pm. The gal in front of me stepped up and had a return of some $40 pants and a purchase of a $200 suit. I've worked in retail before. I know that if you have a return and then a purchase, you ring up the return and then get the amount owed to the customer and the ring up the purchase and they just pay for the difference. Apparently, that's not how this cashier worked. She returned the girl's pants first in one transaction...then started another transaction to ring up the purchases. This took FOREVER. Time: 7:18pm. I kept looking through the rest of the store thinking that there had to be SOMEONE else that could ring up our merchandise (or refund my money, in my case). I became the extremely annoyed customer that huffed and puffed and sighed out loud. I don't break it out too often, but I felt the situation was appropriate. At this time, two more people hopped on line. For those keeping count at home, there are now five people on line, one person at register. I really thought about saying, "I'm sorry, but is there someone else here that can help me? I'm in a rush." Then I thought, why should I apologize for them being slow and incompetent? But had I approached it any other way, I would be looked upon as that bi-atch in a rush. So I just stood there.
The cashier saw the line getting longer but she managed to still do a price check for someone up front. She thought she could expedite the process by having me step up and throw my merchandise on the counter. When she saw I had a return, she said she needed my photo ID and the card I charged it to. Check. Time: 7:22pm. When she started on my transaction, she had the gall to ask me why I was returning it, even though it was apparent I hadn't even taken it out of the shopping bag since bringing it home. I just said, "No." She rang up my return, swiped my card and miraculously, I didn't have to sign anything....that seemed odd to me, but I have the receipt, so we'll see if I get my $50 back.
Time: 7:25pm. I know it's all commercials, warnings, and previews before the movie but that didn't stop my from hauling ass to the theatre. I wanted to get my ICEE and a good seat. I got to the theatre at 7:28pm. Of course when we got on line at the snack counter, we had to stand behind the MOST INDECISIVE PEOPLE on the face of this Earth...so I moved over one lane to a guy that was finishing up an order. By this time, I was annoyed with:
1) the Limited
2) the indecisive people at the snack counter
and now - you can add the attendant at the snack counter....HARD OF HEARING and he gave me an ICEE that wasn't fully frostified. It was half slush, half liquid. That's not right. At this point, I knew when I was defeated. When we get to theatre 11 and there were two teenagers checking IDs for the movie, I glare at the girl and gave her the "don't even think about it" look and walked in. We found a seat and I started drinking my ICEE.
The End. Time: 7:35pm.

How Old Are We?

This weekend, I took my friend Deb as my date to a friend's wedding in Maryland (my husband was unavailable at the last minute). I had a feeling that Deb would be a good choice, and she did not disappoint. In order to lure her into the deal, I promised her Chicken McNuggets for the road. I also omitted a few minor details of the event - namely that the reception was in Pennsylvania. I planned to let her in on that once we hit Baltimore.

We barely made the wedding. Mapquest said the trip would take about an hour and forty minutes from Deb's house, but it probably would have been wise to recognize that I-95 is always a mess at least somewhere along the route. For us, it was bumper to bumper pretty much immediately after seeing the signs for Elkton - 5 miles. We sat there and watched the minutes tick away: 2:12, 2:15, 2:22 (the wedding was at 2:30). We rolled into a parallel parking spot next to the church just in time and snuck in a side door (the bridesmaids were blocking the main aisle).

After the wedding ceremony, we breathed a sigh of relief. We got our map to the reception and headed out on the country roads to Mendenhall, PA. Somewhere in Pennsylvania, we passed a cute little shop: "Candy for All Occasions." Since there was no possible way the bride and groom would beat us to the reception, we decided to make a stop. The place was adorable. Walls filled with chocolates, old fashioned lollipops, gummy candies - they had it all. We were particularly drawn to a little "tobacco wannabe" corner. They had the crunchy candy cigarettes, the bubblegum "sugar puff" candy cigarettes, chocolate cigarettes, cigars, pipes, you name it. We each selected several packs and hit the register (as much as it panged us, we knew a selection of their fine chocolates would only end up in a chocolate puddle in the hot car all night). Then we got a crazy idea: let's buy a pack of the bubblegum cigarettes to share at the reception. We can take them out with us for a smoke break with the smokers at the reception.

All through the cocktail hour and even during dinner, we giggled about our little plan. Deb even spent some time getting the bubblegum cigarette pack ready. She ripped off just a portion of the top - like a softpack - so only a few cigarettes would slide out at once while the others stayed fresh inside. Finally, after the toasts and an interesting orange dessert thing, we were ready to make our move. We started to head out to the patio, but half chickened out. There was only one person out there, and she was on a cell phone. We paced for awhile, and Deb finally decided we should go for it. By then, there were a few other smokers out there . . .

So I am happy to report that a great way to get the chatter going at a wedding reception is to "light up" a bubblegum cigarette. It only took Deb and I a few puffs before a couple came over and asked what we were doing. When we told them, they of course, wanted a piece of the action. And then their friends, and some others too. Bubblegum cigarettes = instant party.

Deb and I shed a little tear at the end of the night when our pack was empty.

The Hug List

A few weeks ago, I headed to the local watering hole, the Bottom Line, for a Purdue alumni flag football callout. As Jen mentioned, the Purdue team is part of a larger league called CAN. I think this is my fourth year on the team (it's hard to keep track), and through the years, I have met tons of people: the Purdue folks, of course, and players from various other schools. In some ways, it's the same Amanda from college: I can't help it - I just like meeting new people.

Because I work close to the Bottom Line, I tend to head to any weeknight happy hours straight from the office. What this usually means is that I am the first one there. There's only so much time I can waste in my office surfing the net before I'm ready to yaba-daba-do out of there. I try to hold out as long as I can, but sometimes I find myself having to entertain myself/look busy at the bar while waiting for my colleagues to arrive. One of my little exercises in this situation is the cycle of taking my cell phone out of my purse and putting it back in, reading text messages from 3 months ago - anything to stay busy and send out the signal: I have friends, and they're on their way as we speak. Sometimes I try to engross myself in whatever is on the bar t.v. Whether it's an ESPN Classic rerun of the 1985 Rose Bowl, the Little League World Series, or the Bowling Championship, I care! This plan works like a charm; that is, until the program breaks for an uncomfortable commercial, such as the one about that guy with the prostate problem. At that point, though, I am committed and have to remain glued to my program ("I sure hope that new prescription drug can help him out.").

It was in this fragile state, standing at the bar, a few weeks ago that I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and faced a guy I knew from an opposing team. I've actually known this guy for quite some time (years, in fact), and he has even gone on the Purdue club ski trip a couple of times. I was so relieved that someone I knew finally was in the bar that, immediately after turning around and facing him, I gave him a hello hug. Part way through the hug, however, I realized that I had never given this guy a hug before. Hello . . . awkward. With so many people in the Purdue club being huggers, it is a regular greeting for me - for guys and girls alike. In my excitement of being rescued from my "preoccupation routine," I simply forgot that this guy was not on my "Hug List." What made matters worse was that this guy was there with his dad (who happened to be standing right behind him). Not that I did anything really inappropriate, but I am sure he was like, "Who was that weird girl who came to a bar on a Thursday night alone, and what was she doing throwing herself on you?" I wanted to say something, but what can you say? Sorry I hugged you? A lesson for next time: memorize your "Hug List." Know who's on it, but more importantly, learn how to recognize in a split second who isn't.

I Am CAN; CAN I Am

One of the great things about living in metro DC is CAN - the Capital Alumni Network. CAN is most known for the intercollegiate alumni sports leagues it has - flag football, softball, basketball, and volleyball. They also have numerous activities that range from happy hours to nights at professional sporting events to happy hours to other sporting functions to pre/post season parties...you get the picture?
There has to be about 100 colleges involved in CAN. It's such a great way to network, meet other alums and just meet people in general. You start seeing the same faces at all different kinds of events and it's fun. Since I'm a Purdue alum and I participate in the sports teams, I am, in a way, a part of CAN. However, because I do a lot of stuff outside of CAN, with or without Purdue alums, CAN is not a part of me.
Let me explain. CAN had a golf outing this past weekend - about 35 schools participated. Purdue was able to get a foursome together (just barely) and we had a decent outing. But that's not the point. The point was that for this outing, I'm sure it took A LOT of planning so there was a planning committee - but then at the end of it, and in the programs, they had a page full of volunteers. These were the people that made sure the buckets were filled with drinks, ice was available, drive around the course to make sure everyone was doing ok, etc. That's great that they found volunteers from all different schools but I have to wonder - when it's 95 degrees, extremely HUMID and a Saturday, where do these volunteers come from? My guess is that CAN is a part of them. I didn't hear of an email going out to the schools asking for volunteers for the event so I'm assuming that these are a set group of people that will jump at the opportunity to lend a helping hand with CAN. (By the way, CAN is a non-profit; non-revenue generating organization.) Cause I know if an email did go out to the Purdue club asking for volunteers, all they would've gotten in response....crickets.
It's not just with the golf outing but it just seems like CAN is a way of life for some of the folks involved. If they're not on the board, they're planning an event. If they're not planning an event, they're helping out with another event. If they're not helping, they're drinking under a banner, at a bar, with CAN written all over it. If you take the CAN out of these people, then what do you have left? My guess - a pile of dust.
I'm not knocking them (really), because without them, none of this would be possible. But I have to wonder also, is it possible to have a regular life and do other stuff with CAN on the side or is running CAN really like having a second job?