Thursday, March 15, 2007

Luck of the Irish

I will admit, I do not know much about Irish culture. (I saw the Departed, does that count?) Much to the chagrin of my favorite Irish lad, I had not even heard of that When Irish Eyes Are Smiling song. Well, regardless of my nativity, I still like to celebrate St. Patrick's Day like I was born in the heart of Dublin. So bring on the green....

-An embellished skirt.

-A shamrock necklace, not guaranteed to bring you luck but it cannot hurt, right?
-An adorable MJ shirt.
-Wrist candy. You never want those wrists to feel left out.


-And of course, a green belt to jazz up any outfit.
Just be nice to these pretty items and try not to spill green beer or Guinness on them. That would not be lucky for any party involved... Happy St. Patty's Day!

Monday, March 12, 2007

No Sweat!

Going to the gym is always an adventure. I am constantly amused by the other people sweating around me. Sometimes I am confused by the girl who does at least two hours on the stair stepper. How does she get anything else done? And just how many flights of stairs does she climb up every week? Then there are the skinny boys who just love cardio. Come on, you are smaller than most girls, stop working out already. These are the same type that will lift 5 pound weights and act like it is at least 50. Is it really that difficult? Some textbooks are that heavy! My personal favorite is a guy who bangs on the treadmill with his fists and jumps around during his run. I think he is secretly planning on trying out for Ok Go or something.

Given all this weirdness I do not usually feel it necessary to look nice. My typical outfit consists of cheerleading shorts and one of my million sorority tees. I think it may be time to invest in more flattering gear. I have heard that looking good is motivation in itself.

My first purchase would be this fun little hoodie. Having a cute cover up for those chilly days is always good.

I also think it may be time to retire the cheerleading shorts. Those days are long gone! These retro style Puma shorts would be an upgrade.

And of course, a tee is probably the least flattering item around. I like this workout tank because it has fun little strap details.

Now it is time to run in style!

Friday, March 09, 2007

Save This

It is almost time to spring forward. On the face of it, this is a sucky occurrence. Who wants to lose an hour of sleep? Bah. But you have to stay positive, there will be more sun for you to soak up and the first day of spring is right around the corner. (I wish all this global warming would bring the warm weather a little quicker. I would buy a SUV if that would occur!) Since you will already lose an hour to the weirdness that is day light savings, you might as well waste a little more time shopping. I do love to procrastinate…

If I could wear a skirt every day of the year, I would be living in paradise. (In this sense Ithaca is not paradise, unless you like extreme frostbite with your skirts. I wore a DFV wrap dress yesterday and felt like I was going to die!) I would throw on some tights with this Laundry skirt until the weather cooperates.
A bright, modern floral top ($58) to coax the sun to come out.
And because I cannot say no to a ruffled shirt dress… a Florent dress that I love. Also check out this pale yellow Cynthia Steffe is on sale.
I like this J. Crew dress as well. I would pair it with a funky belt and wedges. Oh how I miss open toed shoes. (J. Crew has matching shoes as well but that is too matchy-matchy even for me. That is saying a lot considering I am the queen of obsessively matching.)
While spring means saying goodbye to snow, it also means saying hello to that other form of precipitation. I love my wellies even though they are not the most flattering look. (Unless you have calves you want to hide?) Anyway, I picked this pair in honor of the Hartford Whalers. I apologize for the colors not being exactly correct.
Just remember to Spring Forward this weekend... being an hour off is way past fashionably late!

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Hold the Retro

So I understand that people really loved the 80s. In some ways I am amused that I now have tons of alligator-emblazoned polos just like my parents before me. (It must be something in the water.) The thing I do not understand is why people resurrect horrible ideas. Case in point: the legwarmer. I will admit, I had multiple pairs in the 1980s. Here is the caveat: I was a dancer. They were designed to keep me from freezing. Unbelievably, a leotard and tights is not a very warm ensemble!

Now I randomly see people wearing them again. Why? If you are that cold put on a pair of pants. There are plenty of stylish pairs just waiting for you. A day or two ago I saw the evil cousin of the leg warmer… the arm warmer. It was sort of like seeing a rare, perhaps dangerous, animal that had escaped from the zoo. You just want to stare in horror, but you do not want it to come close and maul you.

Please do us all a favor and save the arm warmers for an 80s party. They were heinous the first time around.

Sunday, March 04, 2007

This Ain't a Scene...

There is a popular bumper sticker around here that says that Ithaca is a few square miles, surrounded by reality. (It is true, Ithaca is a unique place and sometimes I feel out of my element here.) Well, I entered a much smaller area that could be characterized as the anti-Ithaca. Where was this strange land? The Omni Shoreham hotel, the location for this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

Walking into CPAC is what I imagine it is like to walk into another sorority’s formal meeting or ceremony. You feel like you stand out but you still want to know what happens behind the closed doors. I was sure the conference attendees would somehow be able to pinpoint my moderate stance in a minute and chase me out with torches. (Or perhaps stone me for being a vegetarian.) Apparently my short skirt and slightly confused look did not give me away.

One of the CPAC speakers was none other than Cornell alum Ann Coulter. It was bizarre to see her books being sold at six or more booths. I was probably the only one there who did not have a copy of her musings. While she was at the conference she indirectly called John Edwards a “faggot.” I doubt she was using the ‘bundle of sticks’ definition of the term. I am pretty sure insults like that were only borderline cool in elementary school.

Past the huge “Liberals Lie” banners and Hillary Clinton barf bags, I was very amused to stumble upon the bloggers’ corner. There were a few bloggers (like Red State) just sitting behind a table with computers. The whole setup was quite odd. In my mind I hoped they were live-blogging their little corner of the hall. I am sure the account would have gone something like this: “This guy in a red tie is watching Giuliani (speaking in the Ballroom a few yards away) on the television by our corner. Now a girl in an oversized Mitt Romney t-shirt stopped to listen as well. This could get crazy…”

I cannot imagine being put in that situation. It would be like sitting in the middle of Ho Plaza with my laptop. I would demand a glass box, then I would not be bothered by people trying to hand me flyers while I wrote. Actually I wish I could block those flyers without a glass box.

Anyway, most of the people I met at CPAC seemed nice. But any place with a panel called “Loony Ladies of the Left: How to Combat the Radical Feminists on Your Campus” is not the place for me. Those crazy ladies on college campuses and their books! What is the world coming to? I suppose I will just have to stick to the six packs and not CPAC for the rest of the semester…