Gentlemanliness

A few weeks ago I accompanied some friends of mine to a tailgate at Texas A&M University. It was my first time in College Station, and I was bowled over by the outpouring of chivalry, which seemed to seep from the very pores of the male students and alumni.

From the ample seating offered up by men who would rather eat with their hands than see a woman stand to the mortification I witnessed from a young man caught without his pocket knife ("I swear; this never happens!) the gallantry was truly arresting. 

After several hours of tailgating we headed to the bar district, where — feeling thoroughly respected and cared for — I joked that we might be in for some unfamiliar pick-up lines: 

Girl, you so fine I wanna dance on you at a respectable distance.

Girl, you so fine I wanna go as far as you're comfortable.

Girl, you so fine I wanna ask how yo day was.

Girl, you so fine I wanna offer you my blazer.

Girl, you so fine I wanna build you a deck.

Girl, you so fine I wanna ask your dad first.

Girl, you fine I wanna raise a dog with you.

Girl, you so fine I wanna give you equal pay for equal work.

I'm taking off early today to take a cue from the men of Texas A&M and put some gentlemen in office. Happy early voting! 

Happy {Lights Out} Weekend

It's Homecoming weekend for many.  Unfortunately for these two gals though that does not mean a trip back to Columbia, MO.  Instead they will be celebrating other alma maters' student bodies of past and present.  Caroline will be going to the swingiest of states, Florida, while Suzanne will be taking a train south to Champaign.  We wish all the best to our friends going back "home," in hopes they make it back in one piece.

Happy Weekend to All!

 

Why Every Lady Should Know Something About Sports

Among other things you may not know about me (like that I can touch my tongue to my nose), I am an avid sports fan.  Specifically a St. Louis sports fan, which if you're going to be one, it's not a bad city to follow.  It never ceases to amaze me how many people are surprised by this fact.  Okay, the hot pink J. Crew sweaters and knits, along with every-type-of-leopard-print-shoe-you-can find may be a throw off.  Seriously though, if you are a female and claiming yourself to find absolutely zilch, zero, nada interest in any sport, here is what you're missing.

• Straight men in tight clothing.  Granted there's some padding involved here and there.  For the most part though(see: Offensive Linemen), these uniforms sported on (and often times off) the field are very form fitting and quite flattering.  It's a welcome visual break after a couple episodes into just about any Bravo marathon.
• You can yell...and no one yells back.  Unless of course you are in the wrong city/stadium/crowd, but that's more Level Two knowledge.  Otherwise you can yell, scream, tell someone their black and white stripes were so last season, and usually everyone around you will agree.  That other b**ch has no other choice but to take it.
• Face time opportunities.  People go to games to have fun, believe it or not.  It is considered a social function of sorts.  You just never who you're going to meet in that 25-minute line for the ladies room.
• B(3)=Free.  This is potentially the biggest reason you should be just the slightest bit in-tune with the world of sports.  Watching baseball, or any sport that uses a ball or puck (to clarify, that's all of them) at a local bar gives you free and easy access to booze and boys.  If you were wondering why you never meet any decent guys out at the club, it's because they were at the bar and got hammered about a half hour into the game.  If you ditch the stilettos or Match.com subscription and start out your night there, your chances of meeting a guy increases by five times, and the likelihood of your tab being paid for multiplies nine times.  It's just science.
• People will like you at work.  Ever come into the office the morning after a so-called "big game" and everyone is talking about that "crazy play?"  Then you're asked if you saw it, and you think they're referring to the Real Housewives of New York finale.  It's really awkward.  No one likes to be the victim of blank stares.  Do yourself a favor then, and at the very least watch the morning news.  Catch some highlights.  Be a...dare I say it?  Fan.

{Image Credit: Little Black Journal}

Happy {Ya Never Know} Weekend

So many surprises this weekend! A Kate Spade Friends & Family sale, Delta Airlines Euro airfare sale, and the Cardinals could be going back to the World Series after tonight. I don't know about anyone else, but I think this all calls for a drink!

 Have an absolutely exciting weekend! Go Cards!


 

Denim on Denim and Other Casual Trends

Just a year ago I decided to don denim on denim to the workplace.  It wasn't necessarily an easy judgment call.  In fact it was a good thing I woke up as early as I did on that particular day so I could live picture text my sister throughout the dress change.  When every tuck was done just so, I felt quite confident and excited about breaking a fashion "no-no."  The truth was though, I wasn't setting out to be a rebel.  I simply had a denim vest and nothing to pair it with other than its bottom relative.  That's the problem with being a young working shopaholic sometimes.  Your cash can only get you as far as a fourth of an outfit. 

Today though, a year later, my morning went off without a hitch while dressing in light-washed straight legs and a chambray pin dot shirt.  Various group populations have now come to accept denim on denim combinations.  Not because such dignitaries as Chanel or Diane von Fursteberg said as much either.  It's because every shameful shameless trend starts with a few broke gals.

{Image Credit: The Sartorialist}

Music Festing and Feeling Your Age

 When it was announced that the Austin City Limits music festival would overlap the Texas/OU game this year, there was a whispered hope that the crowd at the festival would necessarily skew older as the college kiddies fled en masse to Dallas.

Home on Monday, sunburned and hoarse, minus one blanket and a bit of dignity, I can assure you that there was no such luck. There was a surplus of the kind of absurdly taut bodies that can only belong to minors. (Looking back, it seems that instead of heavily lining our eyes or attempting to grow facial hair in an effort to look legal, we could have all just gained 20 pounds and an air of general exhaustion for much the same effect.)

It was my third year at the festival, but this year was markedly different. I brought galoshes and hand sanitizer, drank water in addition to wine, and found myself advising young people on adjacent blankets to get practical degrees because "back-up NFL punter" is an ambitious goal, yes, but also a little absurd.

And as I approached the people around me and was repeatedly offered drags off of a community joint, I found myself politely declining. "Thank you, but what I'm really after is some sunblock."

Suddenly and unexpectedly, there I was: Trading a spliff for some SPF.

Happy {Feeling Alright} Weekend!

So we've been...well, rather slow with our posts lately.  No one got hurt.  Both Caroline and Suzanne are, in fact, alright and well.  Just busy bees in the working world and beyond.  We promise though, we'll make it up to you in the best way we know how:  more posts.  Next week stay tuned!  Something good's cooking in the kitchen, and it's called another weekend with drinking involved.

Hope you have a better than "alright" weekend!  Oh, and Go Cards!!

iPod Anxiety

Chances are you probably spent a solid week on that playlist.  The one for the big pre-game party you're hosting, or that college football road trip you're cramming in a car for.  You probably envisioned yourself right there in the moment, and hand selected every track to create just the right mood.  While there may have been a couple more tracks you could have added for time security, it's ready to go live.  Then the Pod gets the hookup with the speaks.  Your playlist, over everyone else's, has been selected.  It's a triumphant moment, until reality sets in.  Will everyone understand the nostalgic humor of the Spice Girls selection(s)?  Is Mayer Hawthorne a little too niche?  Is that one hit wonder just simply going to leave the crowd wondering?  Is Elton John really a perennial cool?  And how on earth am I going to play off that Tony Bennett song I left on there?  When iPod anxiety hits, it can be rather aggressive.  It can forever alter the way your friends perceive you.  In some cases it can even leave chronic paranoia when listening to your personal Pandora stations and Spotify library at work.  If in fact though all goes well, and often times it does, the lasting impact is invaluable.  We're talking first dibs and priority playlist invites for the next big bash.  Most importantly though you can have the satisfaction in knowing that you and Ben Folds are just as cool neat as you were in high school.

{Image Credit: "Chorus Member in Special Position' by Frances Stark}

Getting hung up and cutting yourself loose

Ever found yourself enamored of someone inexplicably, hung up on them without reason until a sudden realization frees you just as suddenly as the infatuation hit?

Maybe you started crushing hard before he removed his cap to reveal that — gasp — he's a ginger. Maybe  he was super considerate until he made that totally backwards joke. Maybe what you liked most about him was how much he liked you, and carried on for some time before realizing that — independent of that — you didn't really like him much at all.

Sometimes these palate-cleansing realizations can come too late, even post- break-up. Long after your brain cuts the cord, something in your gut can keep you grumbling until, voila — some unearthed fatal flaw sends you giggling for the hills, laughing at yourself for ever wondering if it might have turned out differently.

As the holidays approach and the decor begins making its absurdly early debut, it's impossible not to recall one of my favorites. Long after the break-up, I found out that a young man I had formerly been in knots over routinely asked his maid to decorate his house for him. 

Ah yes, that time-old tradition of sitting around the hearth with a cup of cider, laughing together as a family, giving thanks for your many blessings and . . . watching the help hang your ornaments. 

And POOF: Those knots are untangled, and I'm disenchanted. I know you guys have got some similar stories of your own — let's hear 'em!