Lovely Weekend

I'm just coming off a really nice weekend, and I wish I had one more day before the week started up again. Friday night after work I met Todd and Dylan for dinner around Union Square. We ate fully healthy vegetarian fare, and then counteracted every bite with a trip to Veneiro's. So good! If we lived closer, I'd have cannolis everyday.

Treats in tow, we made our way to the movies to watch Nine. I hadn't expected the movie to be as dark as it was. Afterward, Todd and I talked about the ending and how we both thought it was heading someplace different — and better. It had the feeling of an ending-by-committee. I think our ideas would have made for a more original movie that left viewers with much more to think about after the credits rolled. Also, did you ever have a writing teacher tell you that if your story includes a shotgun mounted on the wall, the gun has to go off at some point in the story? The idea, of course, is that if you give a detail like that, it should be there for a reason. Well, Nine had a shotgun on the wall and it never went off. Again, I think the detail had a purpose in an earlier version and got workshopped out to make people happy. I liked the movie, but I think anyone interested is just as well served waiting for the DVD.

Saturday the three of us went to a newly found brunch place in Harlem. It was really good and has a nice vibe. It's the kind of place where you could bring a book or laptop and settle in for a few hours, I think. Dylan went off to a friend's birthday shortly after brunch, and I requested that Todd and I spend the afternoon with a bottle of wine and a viewing of the latest Project Runway. He indulged me, and it was just what I needed. I've been feeling pretty stressed out lately, and the laziness and relaxation of our afternoon was perfect. We tried to go shoe shopping after PR, but we got sidelined by the new Whole Foods in our neighborhood and did grocery shopping instead. The evening ended with sushi in bed while we watched District 9. It was good, but very different and less political than I expected.

And yesterday started out with hours of homework (boo) followed by brunch downtown with Ben and Lorraina. Apologies in advance to Ben if you read this: I sometimes get a little negative about all the time I have to devote to school and the way it limits the fun things I can do. I know that going to school is an enormous opportunity, but it's still hard not to feel disappointed about all the social things I miss. Ben got his MBA a year ago and now has a job that would make me want to jump out a window. I can't believe the hours he works, the travel he has to do, and the way his employers expect him to be available at their whim. On the subway I had a moment of schedenfreude and said to Todd, "If anything can make me feel better about my situation, it's brunch with Ben!" Brunch was wonderful, and not because someone else's schedule sucks harder than mine. Instead, it was just a treat to catch up with friends I don't see often enough.

Todd and I did shoe shopping along 8th Street after we ate, and I came home with two new pairs of boots. Hooray! Poor Todd got no shoes and instead luggeed my boxes. He's the sweetest.

Shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen

Those of you who supported my idea for a Betty Page haircut with bangs are officially the only people who think it's a good idea. I polled a bunch of friends at brunch a couple of weeks ago, asked a few friends at work, and queried Todd. Not one person thought I should do it. I am still itching for a change, so then I started thinking about cutting off some of the length and maybe getting a bob like either Heidi or Mary Kate below.




For the record, I still can't find anyone who thinks this is a good idea. Todd, Dylan, and Sofia all vote no. Shannon, who is growing her hair out, says I'm stealing her hair goal. But a shorter do will be faster to blow dry and, therefore, I'll be more likely to actually do it and have it look good. I'm probably going to do it even though no one wants me to. It's just hair.

She Bangs

What do we all think of bangs? Sometimes when I get bored with my hair I think I should rethink my lifelong ambivalence toward bangs. If I got them, I could have a whole new look without losing the length of my hair. While I’m not at all opposed to short hair, I’m sort of enjoying having it long these days. I’m thinking something like a Kenley Collins look; yes, I know she’s a crazy girl who fights with Tim Gunn and uses her cat as a projectile weapon. But didn’t she have a cute look, too?

What do you all think? Do you vote yes or no on the bangs idea?

Books and Bargains

Mom and I suffered through way too much traffic on our way up to Veronica's yesterday, but now that we've actually arrived we've had a lot of fun catching up with Veronica. Mike had an old friend in town last night, so we did a girls' night of pizza, What Not To Wear, and chit chat. Veronica tested my love of used books today by taking Mom and me to a cute used bookstore in her neighborhood. My resolve to not buy books until I make a dent in my to-be-read pile proved absolutely beyond weak. I walked out with The Sportswriter, Arthur & George, and Truth & Beauty: A Friendship. I've showed a lot less restraint in used bookstores in the past, so it wasn't too bad, right?

Then went to do a little clothes shopping and I found an adorably cute pink dress that has a '50s cocktail dress vibe. It had no tag whatsoever, so after I tried it on and fell in love, I still had no idea whether this was something I could actually buy. When the cashier told me it was on sale for $18 — down from $90! — I snatched it up and wished there were others in other colors. There weren't, but I still felt pretty lucky.

Mad Men? Mad Tweets

Do many of you twitter? I know a few of you do, and I wish the rest of you would, too. It would just give me one more way to keep up with you all minute by minute.

I posted a twitter a few weeks ago about how I wish that my wardrobe was a lot more like Betty Draper's. And it's true--I love most of the clothes on Mad Men, but I just think I could really rock the Betty Draper look (minus all the cigarettes and depression). Later that night, "Betty Draper" started following me on Twitter. Out of curiosity I checked out her twitter feed and attached website. Since then, "Ken Cosgrove" and "Peggy Olson" have also started following me—all based on one comment about Betty Draper's clothes! I did a little twitter searching and, no surprise, there is also a feed for Pete Campbell, Don Draper, and many other characters as well.

I assume that it's just a bunch of random fans who each grabbed one character's name and not a single person or a group of Mad Men-obsessed friends. I'd be curious to know for sure, though. I also wonder how many other shows have this. I mean, are there people twittering as if they're Jack, Sawyer, and Locke, too? What about Captain Adama, Gaius Baltar, Starbuck, and Sharon? It's like fan fiction you can interact with, and it's bizarre.

What shows/characters would you want to twitter as? If I were sassy enough, I'd try to be Veronica Mars. Hmmm...maybe I should see if there is a Twitter version of Logan Echolls out there.