Procrastinate Much?

There are approximately 20 light fixtures in my apartment and about 9 of them actually have light bulbs in them. (Don't ask me why less than half are filled - I don't know why - that's how they came that way from the light fairy). Anywayzzzz, one by one each of them have been blowing out. Since I am hardly at home these days, and when I am, I generally am getting ready to sleep or taking a shower - this hasn't been an issue. However, it has come to my attention that I am down to two bulbs. And I am dragging their dear life out. Need to read the instructions on your watch? - go to the guest bath. Cleaning out the junk/receipts in your purse? - go to the kitchen. Reading the labels on your allergy medication? - guest bath. Sorting through mail - kitchen. Its getting to the point where my apartment looks like this:

 

another angle:

I mean seriously - trying to find my keys? - light from my cell phone. Lordy.

Well this weekend I will be doing some much needed errands. First stop - hardware store - to pick up some ImGoingToLastSoLongYourGreatGreatGrandchildrenCouldn'tTurnMeOff light bulbs and some tile grout (long story). So lovelies ~ I hope you have a splendid weekend as well ~

Tran

Romper-licious

Rompers began top make some significant entrance arguably in 2009. Prior to this, the more adventurous souls toyed with the look but I would say few were successful. There simply wasn't the inventory there is these days since much like any new design idea retail had to catch up. The fear is that wearing a romper as an adult may remind onlookers of something like this:

or this:

or heaven forbid this:

But due to the mass public's more accepting nature of the look on grown adults, there certainly has been a larger inventory of these at all price points. Several months back, sick of the winter blues, tired of all the denim, longing for sunshine and rainbows, wanting to feel the warm breeze on the back of my neck....bored at work - I purchased this online:

I had hoped that the loose fit, the black and white color, the leather belt and the more conservative length in sleeves would help adultify this look (that is sooooo a word). Now despite the fact that I did get it at a steal I'm still trying to gauge what venues are appropriate for this. Dinner? Certainly. Movies? Maybe. Shopping? But of course. Sunday brunch? Careful on how its accessorized. Work?.........................................crickets.
Maybe I just started out from a more conservative work environment. And despite the fact that these days my work dress code is casual-casual I'm not so sure on this one. Glammed up or not.
I mean there are some that are clearly casual:

some that are clearly sexy:

some that are..well.....hmmm:

Yeah - not even with Jennifer Anniston's body, Halle's face and Lohan's sense of oblivion.

Tran

Forever Young

Given all the recent hype over Jay-Z's 'Forever young' I felt it necessary to shed some light on this timeless song. Now don't get me wrong - I love JayZ just as much as the next playa cuz -

ladies is pimps too

But, Forever Young by Alphaville is always and will always be the purest version of the song. You would think that etiquette dictate that I find some underground version of Alphaville performing this song and I normally would. Buuutttt - I found this version performed by Laura Branigan and because 1. I am a child of the eighties and 2. It is so hauntingly beautiful I decided to post this version.

Never work a day in your life

I had a long extensive conversation with a client of mine recently, totally on billable hours of course, about how winning in business oft meant you lost in life. He told me that most the times how aggressive and single minded you were meant that you would succeed in your career but generally meant you lost on some other facet in your life, usually the personal side. 'Corporate America', 'The man'....call it what you will but at the end of the day all that dogged work approach meant was that you were working to make someone else money, someone else look good..someone else rich. Next in line to be promoted? Well you're only fifty percent the success story if it was at the expense of other areas of your life.
My client was raised by a single mom and very independent his entire life. She worked her whole life up until retirement age never taking any meaningful vacation. She retired at 65 and started to let herself think of all the things she had to look forward to - traveling, dance lessons, art classes, etc. She had a roof over her head and a son who was taken care of. It was almost as if that day was the beginning of the rest of her life. A time to reconnect with her estranged son with whom she was not very close to during those days. Sadly, shortly after her retirement my client's mom died. Never once getting to enjoy the true pleasures she was so looking forward to. My client told me that post settling her estate he held in his hand a check for the lump sum of $130K and thought to himself that this check represented her life in its entirety and it its import knocked the wind from him. He eventually donated the money and the reconnected with his grandmother who coincidentally has celebrated her 102nd birthday this year. He said that had he not had lost those 10 years of not taking advantage of time with his mother, he would not have had these times he's shared with his grandmother. These days they can be found every Friday morning sharing a long breakfast together before he heads off to work.

Everyone always says ~ find something you love to do and never work a day in your life.


Tran

Dear Friend

Hello Feet ~

I hope this letter finds you well. I just wanted to write to you and say how much I appreciate you being there. You're always around to support me...to hold me up....to take me to places I want (deserve) to be. Whenever I am down, you raise me up. Whenever I am lost, you take me home. It has come to a point that I know, every time I look down-you'll be there. I know that I have put you in some tight spaces (some you have not belonged in). You never questioned my decisions but rather just marched alongside with me. The tightropes that I have expected you to tip toe around, you have mastered unquestionably and have even helped me become accustomed to great heights. Its this loyalty, this dedication that I wanted to gift you with:

Sincerely,

Your other half

Sunday Groceries

Some say if you took five people and lined them up, what they had in their basket at checkout says alot about them. Better yet, take what they are wearing combined with what they are purchasing and you don't even need to make any introductions. Five pound bag of cat food and two bananas? -Cargoes, Chambray top and converse - Animal lover and gentle natured. Ground beef, generic cornflakes and economy sized bottle of ketchup? - Gently used jacket and Sofft shoes - Mother of three minimum....and tired. Bottled water, chicken breasts, pack of gum, and Muscle magazine? - Shorts, muscle shirt and hoodie (regardless of weather) - Meat head for life. Six pack of beer, chips, and Maxim magazine? - Cigarette smelling jacket, unironed shirt and slept in jeans - Bachelor and proud of it.
Now take my basket: Pre-sliced and wrapped pineapples and watermelon, frozen blueberries and strawberries, three bananas, five different flavors and brands of yogurt, chips, quart of milk, hummus, one cucumber, and a pack of pita? - Columbia fleece, work out pants, and uncombed hair - .....and unaware I'm publicizing it.

Tran

Pinch me

Ever had one of those days that after they're over you still can't figure out if it truly happened? Take the 'el. The one sure-fire place where "weird" constantly gets redefined. There was this guy sitting directly in front of me on the 'el who was about 146 years old. He was reading from a magazine printed on newspaper paper - a newsletter if you will. The back cover of it was splattered with naked woman. Excuse me, provocatively dressed (nipple covers) women. I mean, I've had figs less wrinkled than this guy and he's looking at "This Russian woman of your dream - wants to meet you now!". So somehow I'm embarrassed and I look for anything else to look away at (which is impossible since I was sitting di-rectly across from him) and rushing in through the closing door comes this young guy in his twenties. Cargo jacket, beaten up chuck taylors - you know, normal. All of the sudden he raises his right hand directly over his left, as if he is holding a large stack of invisible books (except he's not) and between his two hands a marble is floating in the air. He is exerting all his power to keep this marble floating between his 2 feet apart hands. Like- here's this guy, riding the Redline, mystically controlling this marble for dear life. You know - should the marble suddenly decide to attack.
Determined to insert some normalcy back into my day I go to the gym. As I am kinda putting some effort into the elliptical, 3 teenagers walk by the window. Two males, one female....and the two guys have Robin masks painted on their faces just like the pic above. And they are carrying a full case of beer between them like they just came from robbing a liquor store and these geniuses picked the hardest to run with $12.99 case of beer over the $60+ bottle of Petron. But wait - I'm not done. The girl is filming them. I mean filming them with a large, ready-for-production, I'm-going-to-be-on the Channel 2 news-like camera.

A part of me wants to start the day over but the other kinda wants to stay up as late as possible to see what will happen next.

Tran

Old boy's club? - Think again

A couple year's back I set upon trying to find the perfect watch that replicated that which is worn by Tay Tay (Taylor Jacobson of the Rachael Zoe's Project) which would not run me the same steep $11,000...I hemmed and hawed for a long time since much like the rest of my body, my wrists are oddly shaped and difficult to size accordingly. Or maybe my wrists are difficult to size because I'm oddly shaped...hmmm. Well, I finally settled on the above Michael Kors watch and patiently waited for the Macy's Friends & Family sale to get it at an unprecedented 25% off.
It was that time I decided to treat myself for...well the specifics of why I felt the need to gift myself are not important. Suffice it to say, I have rocked this watch a many a days..and nights. Well my oh-so observant father just noticed it tonight and complimented me on it. Well it was more an inquiry. Specifically he wanted to know if I had a certain special man that gave me his watch to wear. To which I replied - No Dad, this is a Michael Kor's gold plated Chronograph Watch designed to look like a man's watch for a wo-man to wear as her watch.

I could. hear. his .sigh....from across the room.

I didn't have the heart to tell him that he bumped into me raiding his closet for the perfect man's plaid shirt to go with a certain outfit I wanted to strut.

PS - Macy's Friends & Family is coming up 4/28 - 5/3 if you would like to gift yourself as well.

Bookclub Bookworm

"Three Men In A Boat - to say nothing of the dog!" by Jerome K. Jerome

Tonight our book club met to discuss our latest read - Three Men in a Boat...recommended by my friend Brian. I have got to say - hands down hill-air-e-us! Now I love comedy like "The Hangover"...just as much as the next gal but there is something to be said about wry British ironic humor. The book takes place in the late 1800s where three friends Jerome, Harris and George decide to take a boat trip up the Thames. Anything that can go wrong goes wrong. It become clear fairly early that the dog Montmorency has inherited all the brains of the operation despite how he keeps getting in the way.

Jerome, aka 'J', is this hypochondriac whom we first get to know when he gets his hands on a physician's manual and convinces himself that he has every ailment in the book except for housemaid's knee. I mean, he is relieved that he has a mild form of cholera but hurt that he did not meet the symptoms of housemaid's knee. Prone to day dream it is unfortunate that he has the responsibility of steering the boat during the long journey.

Harris. Hmmm..Harris. Let's just say we all have a Harris or two in our lives. I believe the phrase in today's lingo is that he he talks big game but can't back it up. There are several 'Harris' scenes that certainly play up his role but the most notable are when he claims his scrambled eggs are notorious and legions beg him to make them and needless to say when he cooks this dish for his friends, breaking the egg in the pan was only one of his difficulties. Or there was the instance when he wants to sing this comic tune in a bar and fumbles the whole thing, blames the piano player and ends with "diddle--diddle--diddle---diddle--dee"

I totally pictured George when he laughed and laughed and laughed at his friend for falling into the freezing river one early morning and then continued to laugh when his freezing friend dropped the one dry shirt he had into the river as well. I heard the echoing chimes of his laughter up and down the river that stopped abruptly when Jerome starts laughing the second he figures out it was George's shirt that fell in the river. The scene when George gets in a gang fight with the help of Harris against the tent rope was quite funny also.

Now for the star...Montmorency..the dog. Bad ass on the block. Runs with dogs from the wrong side of the tracks..or river if you will. Street smart I would say, who totally become respectful and docile the second he came across an even more bad ass............cat.

The link above should take you the the online text version of the book if you're interested. I highly recommend the read if not for anything than just to see if these three fools make it home in one piece.

Nice pick Brian...I truly enjoyed it.

Tran

Sephoralooza

Hello dearies~ did you get to reap the benefits of the "15% off your entire purchase" today at Sephora? If so - good job. If not, no worries - the sale ends at midnight tonight so you still have a few hours. As a consumer's consumer I have to say this is one of the better makeup sales around. As you may know, makeup and fragrances hardly ever go on sale. The best offers generally include a free gift. Currently Lord& Taylor is offering 10% off their makeup counters and Bloomingdales is offering their Beauty Benefits where all brands (from YSL to Clinique) include a free gift of some sort. Of late my go to place has been Sephora for their wider selection and my new makeup BFF - Caty. She agreed that I have been very lucky riding this whole 'youthful' look out til the very last days. She was appalled that I once left the house with makeup on only one eye. She started to look irritated when I told her I barely need to comb my superfine straight hair regularly. With her help and further online research below are some of my purchases to better my 'craft':

Clinque's Even Better skin tone corrector - I once had a gym teacher mock threaten to 'connect the dots' of my freckles
Talika's Lipolicious - this is my second tube and I swear my stubby eyelashes look a bit more longer. Better yet, I don't have all the down side of dark spots known to occur with Latisse.
Korres' Love your Lips - I came in for just the lip butter ($20) but found this wonderful set at $34.50. The gloss was the perfect shade of na-k-ed
Benefit's High Brow - I've been eyeing this pencil for awhile and I'm hoping it will be the right perk me up for the summer days to come
Shu Uemura - the curler of all curlers apparently since I was warned twice to not fall too terribly in love with it as the States will no longer carry this item in the next few months
Too Faced's Snow Bunny - I wanted a subtle sheer bronzer that would be forgiving for those that never truly understood what 'blend...no blend...no no no... you want to bleennnnddd' (yeah, stretch out that last word because only then will I know how to apply it)
Tarte's Flower Child - I believe my exact words were "I need a check stain to fake a natural glow but won't make me look like a clown"

Several store assistants later and a very mature black and white bag in hand I start home to play with all my new toys.

Tran

Welcome All!

Greetings - And a very warm welcome to CandidSense! The change in the air, the pick up of humdrum activity...its this very time where against everyone else's opinion I swear I can smell the beginning of Spring. To be quite frank, I generally am awfully uncomfortable during this time of the year since my allergies go on overtime and I can never seem to get 100% itch free. But I love this time of the year because it just means to me the months I've spent paying my dues to Winter has suddenly came to fruition and Spring has come to bequeath me with her beauty. I welcome you to a blog where I hope to bring you somethings I love and some stories of folks who are very dear to me.

Dream within a dream~ Poe had some beautiful words to say about that.

Tran