Monday Off

Work is closed today for Columbus Day. Why Lincoln and Washington are forced to share a holiday and Columbus still gets his own (moron thought America was India) I have yet to figure out, but all the same.

My birthday was low key and fantastic. I felt really loved... which is all I could ask for on a day that celebrates me.

APK gave me a journal. I used to keep journals, but now I keep a blog... or so I thought. Journals are nice for writing down your thoughts as they occur. Also, I'm learning about filtering. Ya'll probably don't really want to hear all about the Randy Spears late-80s video classic we rented after dinner on my Thursday now do you?

My first journal thoughts-

5 things women start to do as they age:

1) Footnote

Have you ever noticed women never stop gossiping but rather mature and perfect the adolescent past time? Instead of talking about that friend of a friend who sleeps with a different guy every night as a flat out whore, we start to footnote the gossip. Like:

"Oh yeah, Janie's not talking to Cindy anymore. Cindy slept with half of DC and is rumored to have herpes. Did you hear about that night at Local 16 with that Army dude? Not that I'm saying she's not a nice and fun person. [footnote] She is a totally sweet person and so smart. She's just a bit of a slut."

"Oh she's totally not competition for you. She's fat and ugly. [footnote] She's super smart though. I hope she can find a guy who'd appreciate that."

2) Etiquette

I've never been surrounded by so many etiquette questions. Can I not invite her to my rehearsal dinner even if I invite you? How long do I have until I need to write a thank you note? Did you see Kate Spade's new book on Manners? OMG, she totally served cake with a cake knife she licked before cutting the cake! Can I be mad that she didn't invite me to her party even though I invited her to mine? He came to my house for dinner without even so much as a bottle of wine!

The Junior League monthly newsletter for October even offered advice on handwritten notes from Laura Bush's Deputy Director of Correspondence. The 3 best etiquette tips from the article:

-Always include a prefix on the envelope, and all women are Ms. after they turn 18.

-Always hand write the notes.

-Thank you notes should be sent within 2 days.

I got two tickets to Washington Hebrew for Yom Kippur as part of my membership. I gave the Master my extra one. I wouldn't except money, but she donated money to the temple in my name as a thank you (tickets would have been $75). It was unnecessary, however a definite sign of good manners!

3) The Fashion Equation

I've stopped growing. I've also stopped wearing extremely trendy pieces (a la leggings and denim mini skirts which should not be sold in size 4 or larger. Ladies, please, spare my eyes!!!).

At around 25, women start spending more on their clothing and buying less useless one-hit-wonder pieces. Yesterday at Saks, the Master was debating buying velvet Vince shorts. Out Saturday night, we saw a girl wearing wool shorts with a long sleeved black tee and black satin round toe pumps. It was very well done. However, the Master decided there weren't enough occasion that would be weather friendly enough to buy the shorts.

I honestly spend just as much, if not more, on my clothing now. But, I don't hit Old Navy and TJ Maxx every weekend to find a new something special to wear out. Instead, I invest in quality clothing that fits me well. The fashion equation, for those who aren't familiar with it, is that the real value of item= the cost of the item divided by the number of times you wore it. I never understood it until I wore my $225 shoes 2 times a week for 2 years and only wore my $50 pair twice before selling them on EBay for $12.50.

4) Appointment TV

Rather empathy for friends with appointment TV. I don't have DVR anymore, so I finally (after 12+ years of owning one) taught myself how to program my VCR to tape Gilmore Girls every Tuesday night and America's Next Top Model every Wednesday night. It's then hard to justify when my mother says "I'm sorry your sick and dying, but can I call you back after Grey's is over."

5) Sleep Debt

I read in Glamour (or Cosmo or Marie Claire or one of the 1200 magazines I read every month) that you should be sleeping 8 hours each night. If you don't get those 8 hours, while you may not be tired immediately, you'll start to create a sleep debt for yourself. In order to make up the sleep deprivation, you must sleep for half the total time of the hours you missed. Meaning, if you slept 5 hours for 5 nights, you'll be 15 hours in sleep dept. To get rid of your under eye circles, you'll need to catch up on 7 1/2 hours of sleep over the weekend.

I didn't fully comprehend the idea of accumulating sleep dept until I realized that after a business week of sleeping 4 or 5 hours a night, I can't just sleep 10 hours a night on the weekends and be caught up. I am now way more aware of needing several nights in bed at 10pm each work week.