I Spotted My Teenage Crush

When I was in high school, the girls were crushing on the guys from the cast of "Beverly Hills 90210". Not me. I had a crush on Reggie Miller, the legendary basketball player who spent his 18-year NBA career with the Indiana Pacers. The crush lasted for about a year or so, then I moved on. I would see Reggie during basketball games on TV, mostly when his team played against the Lakers. Then he became a TNT commentator after his retirement in 2005, and to this day, I still see him on TNT.

Well, being that this is LA, you never know who you'll run into once you leave the confines of your home. When I was out and about running errands yesterday, Neiman Marcus happened to be very close by (yes, bad bad; even worse, I have a potential purchase on hold), so I stopped in to talk with my favorite NM sales associate. On my behalf, he called the store manager. As he was on the phone with the manager, I stood next to him and suddenly noticed a blonde woman trailed by a very tall lanky African-American man wearing a long-sleeved shirt and a baseball cap. Again, being that this is LA, it's not unusual to see someone from TV or the movies around. Often, I think to myself, "I know that person. He or she looks very familiar", but unless the celebrity is on the A-list or in all the magazines, I don't know who they are in the flesh. But this time, I knew exactly who it was! The man looked up to see my sales associate, who said, "What's up, Reggie?". I knew it! Reggie Miller in the flesh! I debated stepping in to speak with him for a second, but realized that celebrities, when out shopping, generally like to be left alone. The couple looked over the Christian Louboutin shoes briefly, and I noticed Reggie hold up the nude Bananas to his female companion, in a manner depicting he was suggesting she try them. She must have said no because Reggie put them back down.

As I was about to leave, I confirmed with my sales associate that the man was indeed Reggie Miller. He also informed me that he assisted Reggie in the past, as well as his female companion.

I was just a tiny bit excited to see him, but nowhere near as much as I would have been if this were 15 years ago (OMG...it's really been that long since I was in high school!).

"I Decided I Was Beautiful"

The February 2010 issue of Harper's Bazaar features an article on Gabourey Sidibe, the actress who stars in the movie Precious. This movie is about a teenager who has been sexually abused by her father. The movie got great reviews, but besides that, what much of the media has focused on is the fact that Sidibe is overweight.

So this article talked about how confident she was, despite her weight and the fact that in Hollywood, there is so much pressure to be thin. One of the things she said in the article was that people often ask her how she can be so confident. She answers by saying that the confidence came from within, and that it started when she just one day decided that she was beautiful. So instead of moaning about her weight, she wore makeup and clothes that made her feel pretty.

Today, I decided to do as Sidibe does. Instead of wearing my usual scrubs, I put on my black V-neck James Perse T-shirt and new Joe's jeans. The T-shirt's neckline is flattering, and it's also sooooo comfy. The jeans are of the perfect blue wash, and I had them hemmed to my specifications. And the outfit was completed with my Christian Louboutin studded Very Prives :) Though the T-shirt wasn't revealing, it was form-fitting enough that everyone could see my real shape, which is sort of on the curvy side. For just a second, I thought that I shouldn't have worn it. But I decided quickly to take a cue from Sidibe and just embrace it. Living in LA, it seems like every woman but me wears a size 0, and I feel huge standing next to these women in line at Coffee Bean or at the next table in restaurants (particularly in Hollywood or Beverly Hills).

It's great to be healthy, but why waste time wishing for someone else's body? Where is it written that you have to weigh 80 lb to be happy? I can't wear mini-skirts, but so what? My legs aren't my best feature, but my boobs are pretty fantastic ;) I can wear a T-shirt and jeans and still be sexy (and I truly believe I was today).

The Louboutin Manicure

When I saw the Louboutin manicure mentioned on The Purse Forum, I decided that I wanted to try it. Here's a description of it: http://www.fashionista.com/2007/04/louboutin_gets_nailed.php. It's basically a manicure with a twist: red nail polish underneath the nail plates. I am a fan of Christian Louboutin, love having manicured nails, and am actually able to grow long nails, so why not?!

I had several bottles of red nail polish in my medicine cabinet, so I was set on that. However, I had just one bottle of black nail polish, OPI Lincoln Park After Dark. Since I hadn't used it in some time, I brushed a couple of nails with it and decided it was too purple. I had been wanting Chanel Black Satin for some time and just got a $100 Neiman Marcus InCircle gift card (their reward for me spending too much money there!), so I headed to my nearest Neiman Marcus (which is only a 10-minute drive from my house--extremely dangerous!). I picked up Black Satin (after browing the shoe department and talking with my favorite Neiman Marcus sales associate, of course) and headed home.

I brushed Essie Fishnet Stockings underneath my nail plates, then brushed Black Satin on the tops of my nail plates. I didn't want to have polish going into my nail beds, so I just did the very tips.

The results are shown here, along with my studded Very Prive shoe. Now, I'm not a beautician by any means. It might've turned out better if I used a different red or a different black. Also, if I grew my nails out longer or got acrylics, it might've looked better. But that's a no can-do for me. I can't have acrylics at work, plus I think they'd be too overwhelming for my little hands (not to mention the potential for fungus and infections, yuck!). My creation didn't turn out exactly like the picture or what I thought it'd look, but at least I tried.

A Single's Life for Me

Lately, sooooo many people have asked me (more than usual, I swear), in various ways, "Why are you still single?". Some even go on to ask how old I am, and when I tell them, I get answers that go along the lines of, "Oh, you better get cracking on that, especially if you want to have kids". I'd always answer that I'm OK with being single. But inside, I'd be crying, wondering how I got to be so unlucky. I'd secretly fantasize about various men, holding me and waiting for me at the altar.

Then at the end of the workday today, I did some heavy flirting with a HOT male colleague, who is also single. I don't see me getting together with him (I did before, let's not go there now), so I turned up the charm. Before, I would've totally analyzed every bit of the conversation and mentally kicked myself for not saying something cuter or more charming (plus worrying about whether he thought I was a snob, weird, etc.), but now, I don't care. I later changed out of my scrubs, then put on lipstick, a pair of dark Joe's jeans, a cute Juicy Couture top, and my YSL Tributes (which he saw me in later, and I noticed him checking me out). I also flirted with other people on my way to and during a party, and it kept going.

I left the party a little earlier than I normally would, and as I was driving home, I realized how tired I was. Then it hit me-I'm single, and I'm exhausted! And if I were in a relationship, I'd still have to make time for SOMEONE ELSE?!!! Uh-uh. Not now. I want to flirt with everyone in the room, spend tons of money on myself, do my own thing, and not have to ask anyone else if it's OK. I often like to disappear for hours with random people and not utter a word about it to a living soul. If I'm in a relationship, I can't do it. I'd owe my boyfriend/husband an explanation, and I don't always want to give it. I actually found myself saying to an older female coworker in a conversation about marriage, "if I choose to get married". I never would've said that before. In the past, whenever the subject came up, I would always say, "WHEN I get married".

Life is too short and too fun to answer to someone else! Viva singlehood!

My Christian Louboutin studded Very Prives...in ELLE...on Britney Spears

I bought these shoes in October 2009. I saw them on various girls' feet on The Purse Forum and really thought they weren't for me. After all, I'm not a biker chick. I don't own even one leather jacket or have any tattoos. But after seeing these shoes pictured on the feet of a particular girl on The Purse Forum (who wore them with gorgeous gray nail polish on her toes), a voice inside my head finally said, "You NEED those shoes". I sent a private message to that girl, and she helpfully gave me the name and phone number of the salesman who sold them to her. I called the salesman the next day, and he found the shoes in my size! They arrived at my door within a week, and luckily, they fit! And I also found that they really were for me! They allow me to show off my wild side without shoving it in other people's faces. I love pairing them with my California-cool outfits of V-neck James Perse tees with designer jeans. I get to give a little surprise to these plain outfits each time I walk or stretch my legs when I sit. I also get to subtly show off my pedicures, making it much sexier to do that than when I wear my usual flip-flops.

Then when I happened to pick up the January 2010 issue of Elle, I saw that Britney Spears was wearing them in the fashion spread. How cool is that?! I can't say I'm her biggest fan, but I'm not annoyed by her. I just think it's really cool when an item I own shows up in magazines. Yeah, I could do a Web search and find digital images of celebrities wearing various things, but nothing's the same as cutting the images from the glossy pages and pasting it on another paper, then putting the paper inside a page protector, then putting the page protector inside a binder, along with clippings of pictures of other items you own that were in other magazines (yes, I actually do this, and I almost shamefacedly admit that this binder is stuffed to the gills).

Giving Up Starbucks

For over 6 years, I would stop into Starbucks or Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf almost every day before work. It then started turning into an every day no matter what thing. I'd add up all I spent on coffee, but it might make me cry.

For the last year, I was a Starbucks Gold Card member. To become one, I paid $25 and received 10% off my Starbucks purchases every time I used it. It was sort of my crutch, I figured that I wanted to get maximal use out of it, so it justified my coffee purchases (inevitably, I'd also occasionally buy cheese platters, cupcakes, and coffee cake, too).

Well, today was the day my Starbucks Gold Card expired. I decided that I would not renew my card, and therefore, would have no more justification for purchasing Starbucks every morning. I woke up 20 minutes earlier today to have a bagel, instead of just a cup of my $4.45 grande iced caramel macchiato with soy milk (with the Gold Card, I paid the bargain price of $4.00!) that would end up sitting on my desk the entire morning, since my job actually requires that I work with people and I don't get the luxury of sitting time until the last half hour of my day. I was craving it, but I did just fine. It takes 21 days to build a new habit, so I'm gonna hang tight for the next 20. Wish me luck!

Now I Understand the Hype...

...of the Twilight movie! I managed to avoid it for over a year, but finally gave in a couple of weeks ago. During the weeks before Thanksgiving, my 70-year-old dad heard so much about New Moon on TV and said that he wanted to see it because "everyone's saying it's good". Being that he's pretty incapacitated and knowing that it would have been quite an effort for him to leave the house and sit through an entire movie for 2 hours, my sisters and I had the idea of renting Twilight for him to watch at home, to give him an idea of what New Moon would be like. I looked and looked, and I couldn't find Twilight for rent anywhere (OK, I didn't actually check any video rental store because I don't want to have to monitor membership status, rental fees, etc...I'm trying to cut back on bills to keep track of). Then, when I happened to be at Wal-Mart a couple of weeks ago, I decided to purchase the DVD. Knowing I'd have a few days off because of the Christmas and New Year's holidays, I figured I'd have time to view it. So today, after running a few errands, I returned to my parents' home to care for my dad, and during some down time, I popped Twilight in. From the opening scene, I was hooked!

For over a decade and just as recently as 2 days ago, I had been repeating that I would never go back to high school, not even if I were paid, but after seeing this movie, I don't know about that anymore. Don't we all dream of being Bella Swan? The new beautiful girl who is wanted by the best-looking boy at school who would do anything to protect her?

OK, I'll modify my stance: I'll go back to high school...if I would be Bella =)

Happy New Year! Happy New Decade!

12:08 am, 1/1/10

So begins a new year, a new decade. This new decade will be the decade of my 30s. I hope I find myself wiser and richer by the time it ends.