A Hair Post

I don't believe I've griped about my hair on this blog in a while, if ever. And since my cable went out on Sunday, effectively preventing me from drawing my own conclusions about the SAG Red Carpet, I think I'll do a little of that instead of digesting celebrity fashion this week. But not just gripe - gripe and celebrate! And then pay it forward.

I have very thick hair. Not normal very thick hair - seriously, very VERY thick hair. It's usually impossible to control. Ponytails and I have long been buddies. After a hair cut, I usually try to see if I can go as close to (if not beyond) a week without washing it so that I can enjoy professional styling as long as possible. Somewhere around the end of college I was introduced to the magic of the flat iron, and ever since, I've relied on it completely. If I want(ed) to wear my hair curly, I'd have to sleep on it wet and see if I got lucky in the morning with some semblance of controlled wave/curl. Usually I wake up looking like Medusa or a member of Bon Jovi from the late 80s. The flat iron changed my life. But it also takes a ridiculous amount of time to work through. It's a commitment. I usually have to wake up early to get my hair straightened. And now that I have the bebe at home, if I need to straighten, I wait for a nap, and then immediately run to the bathroom to get started, in hopes that her nap will last long enough for me to finish (seriously, it takes at least 45 minutes to do it well, an hour is best).

Lately, I've grown weary of only wearing it straight, but my utter dependence on the flat iron has rendered me entirely unable to style my hair without it. Further, it's straightened out so much of my natural curl, that I usually find I might get some curl on one side and then whole sections just have no shape to them at all... limp, sad, boring. So straight is the answer. Or so I thought.

A few weeks ago I was due for a trim. I was also out of my leave-in smoothing product that I apply after a wash. I'd been using the same one (a Redkin product) for about 5 years, but found it was discontinued sometime since my last purchase, so I stressed about it, and then concluded that I just needed to find a new one. I asked my awesome stylist and she recommended this Bumble and Bumble product:

(note: this post is not sponsored in any way by B&B - all my own thoughts without any kick-backs)

She assured me that I didn't need to actually blow dry or straighten with it. In fact, she said (and she may have had ulterior motives - she's always trying to convince me to wear my hair curly), it would probably support my wearing my hair naturally, if I was so inclined. It would just weigh it down a bit and control the frizz. Sure. I've heard that before. But, okay, I'm sold.

Since I purchased this product, I have spent a whopping total of zero minutes straightening my hair. Granted, it's been about two weeks. But since I washed out the amazing professional styling job, I have worn my hair naturally, both up and down, every single day. And not only does it control the frizz, it totally eliminates it. My wave/curl is waving/curling beautifully. At Target on Sunday, an employee actually stopped me to compliment me on my perfect curl! ME! This is insanity.

Anyway, I obviously am going to highly recommend this product. Seriously. It's a bit pricey, but good hair products are. That's just a universal truth. And it's worth it. Especially because you need less than a nickel-sized amount to achieve the effect. Here's me today... I spent a grand total of 3 seconds, give or take a half-second, putting my hair together this morning. Unheard of.

You might not agree or care. But I am excited. So I had to share. It's been a long, long time since I've gone out in public without straight hair. BIG DEAL (for me).

Left Out!

In a panic (really, we got upset!) A and I realized last night that we left one of our always-favorites (and another one) off our Best of the Golden Globes list. So here's a little follow-up post to tip our proverbial hats towards these two ladies and their winning looks. We hope they'll accept our profuse apologies.

And they are...

Emily Blunt:

M: For me, Emily Blunt falls into the same celebrity girl crush category as Marion. Sigh. And she always nails it with the fashion. She just consistently looks so sophisticated, interesting, gorgeous, and cool. She makes unique choices (see above), but hits every detail square-on. I love the gold. The skirt on this gown is amazing. And while a lot of critics didn't love the cut-outs or her hair/makeup, I think she looks overall incredible. Her body looks crazy-good, and this dress just highlights it. So the critics, I think, are just haters. And haters gon' hate. That's just how it goes. I also love the choice of a bit of subtle color in those earrings.

A: I also loved this dress and was so upset that we forgot about it on our "best dressed" list. Ditto to all of M's comments. Emily Blunt made the move into my cadre of favorites a while ago and I always look forward to what she is going to wear next. This dress was awesome, fit her to a T and was interesting. EXCELLENT choice all-around.

and Kerry Washington:

   
M: Beautiful. For me, this is the successful version of what Rachel Weitz was trying to do. The color, the sparkle, the length - it's all just beautiful. The color especially, on her skin tone, is just gorgeous. It's also another great example of effective minimal styling. I thought she looked fantastic. I can't believe we forgot to mention her in the first go-around.

A: I did not love this at first sight, but it is growing on me every time I see it. I thought it was an interesting choice and agree that it is doing the see through/mini skirt trend right. Even though this was well done and perfectly styled, I personally am not an overall fan of this miniskirt-with-see-through-overlay trend. The woman is stunning though, you cannot argue that!

So, our bad. We didn't mean anything by this oversight. Glad we got that taken care of so quickly. Phew.

and... Best of the Golden Globes Red Carpet

Well, it appears work and parenting got in the way of our posting plans this week. Sigh. But here we are! With our second post for the 2013 Golden Globes. THE BEST. This one's fun. Because there was a lot of good. We have some usual favorites who we *always* love, and some welcome additions. So instead of grouping them in best categories, we'll just go through our favorites and tell you why. Because we're pretty sure you've been waiting for our opinions in order to determine your own favorites. HA!

So here we go... the BEST OF THE BEST of the Golden Globes Red Carpet:

We'll kick things off with a lady who literally never fails. Ever. She defines class and elegance, but also hits a home run every time in the Just Plain Cool category. Who can deny the fashion victory of the one and only Dame Helen Mirren (we seriously love the crap out of her, so if you disagree, keep your comments to yourself.):

M: I mean. Can basically everyone in the previous post take a lesson from DHM before the Oscars?! She looks freaking amazing. I basically pray every day that I'll be able to age at least 30% as incredibly as she has. This dress does everything right. And it hits one of the night's biggest trends: long sleeves. The detailing is perfection. And her styling is equally perfect. Hair, makeup, accessories. Home-freaking-run again. DHM, I salute you.

A: Do you think they will ever promote her from Dame to Queen? ha ha ha. I love her. I love that she is always age appropriate, but NEVER dowdy. CLASS ACT. (Side note: If you are also a Helen Mirren fan, you NEED to check out the spread In Style did on her in the February issue.)

Next up: Jennifer Garner.

M: Again, for me here Jennifer has hit the nail on the head in the details department. Okay, it doesn't hurt that this dress is fabulous, and the color is insane-good. But it's the whole look that makes a winner, no? Yes. Trust me. And her hair (color and style) is beautiful, those earrings are beautiful, and the fact that she let the dress basically do the talking for itself, and didn't muddy the look up with tons of jewels and a bag (blah blah blah) just shows that she knows how it's done. You get an A from me, Ms. Garner. And a star. And a high-five.

A: I, too, loved this one. I like the sparkle to the red and the fit. I love love love when people go minimal on all other things (accessories, makeup) when they have a killer dress and Jennifer Garner is a great example.   

We also loved Kate Hudson:

Check out a close-up of that neck:

M: I must admit I'm not usually a huge Kate Hudson fan. I can't tell you why, exactly, but it is what it is. On E!'s Fashion Police, the majority of the panel wished she'd pulled her hair up to highlight that crazy good neck detail. But I think Kate did this dress and herself justice by styling it the way that she did. The fit is incredible, right? But this dress is really all about that keyhole and the neck. And she did the styling so light because anything else would have competed and distracted. I love that she wore her hair so loosely - she looks beautiful AND comfortable. And I also love the very simple stud earrings. Gorgeous.

A: I totally agree with you on the hair, M. I think the dress would have looked too severe and if her hair was up. The hair fits with her personality. I'll reiterate - I love when everything else is kept minimal to highlight a KILLER dress.

And here's Emily Deschanel:

M: Embellished shoulders were another highlight of the GGs and Emily's choice is fab-u-lous. Emily could give Zooey a fit tutorial when it comes to Red Carpet-wear, am I right?! This is hitting all the right notes. Smooth, sleek, sophisticated, with styling to match. Love how the embellishment is exclusively at the shoulders. It just makes the whole thing so so chic.

A: This Deschanel got it RIGHT! LOVE THIS ONE! I think this, and the other black dresses in this list, just did a great service by choosing black but jazzed-up black. I will always love black dresses, but they get the reputation of being the "safe" choice. I think what I loved so much about this Red Carpet is that the black dresses were anything but "safe." Here again - minimal styling leads to maximum effect.

Representing another Red Carpet trend (winter white) is Anne Hathaway:

M: The more I see this dress, the more I come to actually love it. We were originally going to give Anne an Honorable Mention, but I think this is another fashion winner of the night. That short hair cut is so flattering, and she has a really beautiful neck, actually, so I love that she went with no jewelry and just let her own beauty accessorize a very simple, beautiful dress. The hemline perfectly skims the carpet, which I think is really cool. It gave her a floating effect. And the all-over-white-sequins are just gorgeous and mermaid-like. Beautiful.

A: She is just so pretty. I love her short hair and the sleek sophistication of this dress. Her makeup is perfection as well.

Another always-favorite for us is Marion Cotillard:

M: I love her. She can do no wrong in my book. This is such a cool, different, interesting look. Going shorter is often considered less Red Carpet appropriate, but this to me is every bit a gown as a full-length number. I love the color, I love the draping, I love the belt, I love the shoes, I love her sleek hair. I just love her.

A: Ditto. I have such a major crush on her. I really am not the biggest fan of her shoes - the color seems a little off to me,  but she gets more leeway on this because she's Marion. I think this dress was a winner for me the moment I heard her say "Christian Dior haute couture" to Ryan Seacreast. I need a French accent. ASAP.

And here's a surprise, for us as much as we're sure it is for you... Taylor Swift?!

M: Let's get the fact that this is great simply for its deviation from her usual sweet-little-All-American look out of the way. Because it's so much more than that. Color: fierce. Cut: glamorous. Stunning from every angle. And again, styled so perfectly. Her hair looks great, and complements the dress beautifully. It's a show piece, after all. And her jewels and makeup are also perfect. I love this look. I'm so glad she went this route. It's amazing on her.

A: She does look good, even if it is Taylor Swift. I'll give it to her. I have to applaud someone who finally breaks the mold (JLo could take a lesson from this girl). However, I did like her white gown at the People's Choice awards better than this. My favorite Taylor Swift moment of the night was when she was caught on camera glowering when Adele was announced the winner of the song category.

And our final Best Dressed nomination goes to Naomi Watts:

M: I was pretty sure she was going to be my number 1 Best Dressed of the night all along (though we're not necessarily giving away a Best of the Best designation here in this post). Without looking like she was trying too hard (in fact, she looks effortless here), Ms. Watts hit several of the night's/season's trends: oxblood, long sleeves, keyholes, old Hollywood glam. And she hit every one of them to absolute perfection. I can't stop thinking about how gorgeous she looked. This color choice is truly bold, and everything else she did, from the hair to the clutch to the makeup to the jewels completes the look to a T. I wish I had some sort of event ever in my life (I already know that I don't) for which I could emulate this look. I die for it.

A:  She's the best of the best. There. I said it. :)

So what do you think of our choices? Agree across the board? Disagree? Did we miss anyone?

Onwards to the next show! We love awards season!
   

Worst of the Golden Globes Red Carpet

As promised, after a long hiatus A and I are back with our Award Show Red Carpet Fashion Break-down. I know you missed us. I also know we missed us. So, whether you missed us or not, we're doing it! And though it will be abbreviated this go-around thanks to our busy weeks (why isn't anyone paying us to do this yet??!!), we will not scrimp on the judgment! We promise!

And with that, here we go. Starting with the Worst of the Red Carpet (saving the best for last and attempting to end on a positive note... isn't that everyone's New Year's Resolution every year?).

This year we're breaking our break-down into categories. Enjoy.

CATEGORY: Trying Too Hard (these ones are almost too obvious, though I must say, I'm pretty impressed that we didn't drop Lea Michele in here this year. I guess she didn't try too hard-enough? Or maybe we don't have to talk about her because she falls into a special category: Trying Too Hard Chronic Offenders, aka, Goes Without Saying.)

Eva Longoria

M: Wow. You can pose. I had no idea. now please put your always-trying-too-hard ladybits away and just know that you're pretty, so you can just wear a normal pretty dress. You're welcome for the tip, by the way. My styling tips are free of charge these days. (I will admit the back of this dress was really lovely. If only the front weren't TRYING SO FREAKING HARD):

A:  I physically wretched upon seeing her on the carpet because I am so over this slit-up-to-the-hip-stick-out-your-leg-so-that-it-gets-its-own-Twitter-account look. I loved the back. LOVED IT. I also think her hair was too severe for the severe dress. #overit

 J.Lo (though, to be fair to Lea Michele, she is also a Chronic Offender...)

M: You're naked. That's basically all there is to say about this. Except for maybe that if this were on ANYONE else, I'd probably really like it. But since it's J.Lo, all I can see is the look-at-me-I'm-still-freaking-amazing-looking nonsense. Also, this is the best trying-too-hard image ever, is it not?

A: I am sick of JLo being naked. It was way cool when you were naked in that green Versace dress, on the arm of Puff Daddy back in 2000. So cool, it was historic. Thirteen--YES THIRTEEN--years later, get over it. You're hot, you know it, we all know it, and we're sick of it.

Halle Berry

M: BLERG. Stop this already. I can't even. I just... I just can't.

A:  Seriously I am pretty sure we could do one of those animated photos where we could flip through all of Halle's dresses in the past fifteen years and they all would superimpose PERFECTLY onto this pose. Again. ENOUGH WITH THE HIP SLIP TWITTER ACCOUNT LEG ladies!

CATEGORY: Boob Fail

Jennifer Lawrence

M: Not the best of images, but I had to find the side-by-side of the full dress and the boob-shot. Because. Well, WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?? I don't get it. At all. What woman puts this dress on and doesn't immediately ask "What the F is up with the boobs?!" I guess Jennifer Lawrence is that woman.

A: The color of this was so lovely, looking so great with her skin and then that awful boob catastrophe.  What is going on there?! Trust me girl - your boobs will sag in enough time - don't try to get them there ahead of time!

Sarah Hyland

M: And here is sweet little Sarah Hyland, who appears to believe she can compete with co-star Sofia Vergara in the Va-Va-Voom category. Newsflash. Vergara wins every time. Rein those puppies in, young starlet. And try teasing your hair a bit less. You're so age-appropriately cute usually!

A: She reminds me so much of a porn star Morticia Adams. This dress was WAY too old for her.

Kristin Wiig

M: A and I are not necessarily in agreement here, but I'll explain. I just think she looks... sloppy. I mean, just look at that posture! Clearly a bra wouldn't easily work with this dress, fine. But do something. Pasties? Her Globes just look a bit saggy, methinks. And while we're at it, I give her a second ding for styling. Her hair looks boring, and wouldn't a rad pendant have done wonders for that plunging neckline? She looks fine, just kind of boring and sloppy overall (to repeat myself).

A: So... given that this is Kristen Wiig, who has been known to fail tremendously on the red carpet, I thought this dress was a step in the right direction for her, although I was wanting the boob seam to be moved up to accomodate her small chest. It looks like the dress was made for someone with more of a rack and a good tailor could have fixed that. I like the keyhole though.

CATEGORY: Styling Fail

Kaley Cuoco

 M: GAH! Okay, pretty pretty dress, right? So WTF went wrong with the makeup?!

A: WHY is this oxblood lipstick in? I have not seen one person where it looks good. BLECK BLECK.

Amy Poehler's Red Carpet Look

M: To be clear--I LIKED HER SUIT A LOT. It's the shoes. My 1998 prom called. It wanted to thank Amy Poehler for bringing it back to the party.

A: Those shoes are TERRIBLE. This was so cute and fun next to Tina Fey's uber feminine red carpet dress until the shoe cam arrived.

Zooey Deschanel

M: What the what with the schlumpy styling already? This looks like an old prom dress from the Salvation Army (sorry) in that it's just a bit baggy and saggy. And the giant chunky pearls? ZOOEY!

A: Way too many pleats and why was this not ironed?! WHY? I don't get it. The color is great on her - could have been so much better.

CATEGORY: Color Fail

Amy Adams

M: This dress is LITERALLY the exact color of her skin tone. So this is actually also LITERALLY a color fail. A veritable failure of color. So at least pop it with bright jewelry or a clutch, right?!

A: RIGHT! The fit was so incredible - I mean she has such an amazing body. Why did it have to be this color?

Gabby Douglas

M: Oy. First of all, sorry, but what are you doing here? Second of all, your hair! Third of all, thanks to this neon puce-colored gown, everyone a) noticed you, and b) is also wondering what you were doing there.

A: Really...why were the gymnasts there? I didn't get it. Besides the bad hair and bad color, I did not like that the dress was all wonky across the bust and appeared to be too big for her. Was there a form holding it up inside?!


CATEGORY: Fabric or Fit Fail

Rachel Weisz

M: I love everything about this (and her) from the thigh up. And then--huh??

A: Yes. The thigh-down part confuses me greatly. The bow belt put this a little too into the "sweet" category for me. I think if Sarah Hyland would have been wearing this, it would have been better, from the thigh up of course.

Nicole Kidman

M: Again, everything else works. It's just the dress... what's happening in the middle there? And are those bedazzled bees attacking her neckline? Her skin looks amazing, though.

A: They were bees. BUZZ OFF.

Ariel Winter

M: There's something so strange about this fabric, isn't there? Also, the candy-colored textured bits are almost too young. Was Ariel trying to youngify her look following that weird boyfriend-mom scandal last year? I hate to go there. Sorry. It's just such an odd choice. And that headband's ridiculous.

A: This is just not a Golden Globes dress. I think it would have been ok at a wedding or something but come on! It's the Golden Globes! That headband is atrocious.

Tina Fey's Red Carpet Dress

M: Fit. Fit. Fit. Length. Boobs. Fit. Blerg. (She looked GREAT on stage, though.)

A: Ditto. (Love her hair, though.)


Emily Mortimer

M: This is not an OR qualifier in this category. It's an AND. Fabric AND Fit Fail. First of all, no one looks good in a mock turtleneck. I'm not sure why, but the idea of a mock turtleneck conjures an image of Maury Povich in my mind's eye. (Does he wear mock turtlenecks??) Also, this looks so heavy! And it's clinging everywhere. It makes her look like she has a poochy tummy, which I'm willing to wager she does not. I kind of love the long sleeves, though. And the chain-mail color is bold and confident. But FABRIC AND FIT FAIL.

A: I LOVE a good sequin, don't get me wrong. But this was the absolutely WORST sequin look out there. First of all, the fit was terrible - wear some spanx or something to smooth yourself out before donning head-to-toe clingy sequins. Second of all, head to toe, fingertip to fingertip sequins may be a bit much... even for me.

Jessica Chastain

M: As we can all tell from this photo, I'm pretty sure Jessica also knows this dress doesn't fit her.

A: Too much fabric! That draping bust is not flattering and this is too long and too bulky in places. With some tailoring, it could have been beautiful.

Amanda Seyfried

M: Gosh, she is just so so pretty. It seems her stylist agrees, and is evil and jealous of her beauty, which is the only explanation I can come up with for why she's wearing this oddly pieced-together combination of old lady curtains and grandma's doilies, pinned at the top by grandpa's tie clip. What other explanation could there be? Let's take a gander at the close-up of that curious bodice:

What-huh?! Also, I see your boobies.

A: I actually think she looks a little like an alien, but maybe I'm jealous too?! I agree with you - the color washes her out and the dress itself is just an odd-mishmash. I don't like when the hair, skin, makeup and dress are all the same color. I need some contrast - it's the drama queen in me!

FINAL CATEGORY: Worst of the Worst

Who could it be? Let the fines fall the other way this year... the worst of the worst is Fashion Police's own GIULIANA RANCIC!

M: I actually HATE this whole look. Hate it. And as I texted to A on Sunday night, I'm pretty sure if some other star were wearing this look, they would have had a field day tearing her to bits on Fashion Police. I bet it was killing Joan Rivers that she couldn't rip her a new one for this disaster. Worth noting, Giuliana loves this high neckline (last year she did it twice: here, and also here). But girl, this one did you zero favors. It in fact failed you in every category. Shall we? Trying To Hard: check! Boobs: check! Styling: look at the hair! check!

Color: black + lace = overdone, so, check! Fabric and/or Fit: again, look at this close-up... the neck is essentially choking her.

So for me this is a no-brainer. Giuliana is the Worst of the Golden Globes Red Carpet Worsts.

A:  WORD! I do not know that there is that much left to say except that she looks like a real life Bobblehead.

I, too, would like to thank Chad Lowe

I hope you got my Girls/Golden Globes reference there. My husband and I just watched the entire first season of Girls in the last week, and I LOVED both of Lena Dunham's Thank You speeches last night. I found them very humble, gracious, honest, self depricating, smart, and sharply witty - the qualities of her writing that I think explain my quick addiction to that show. I giggled pretty hard when she said she'd long ago promised herself that were she ever to give an acceptance speech, she'd have to thank Chad Lowe. So while my teenage self would probably have promised herself to thank Mark Wahlberg, I just had to tip my hat to Lena Dunham on that one.

But more importantly, thank you to Amy for the virtual high-five and boost of confidence she gave me this morning by nominating me for a Liebster Award!

So here I go... first, the details: A Liebster award is given to blogs with less than 300 followers as a way of making them more well-known. The rules for the acceptance are:

1) Visit and thank the blogger who nominated you
2) Acknowledge that blogger on your blog and link back
3) Answer the 10 questions posed by the blogger who nominated you
4) Select 3-5 bloggers for the award
5) Pose 10 new questions to the new nominees
6) Post the award on your blog

Here are Amy's questions with my responses:
1) Why did you start blogging? 
I started blogging with our home renovation blog, Home Sweet Schwab, to document our first home ownership/renovation adventure, and to include our far-away friends and family in the process, but also to give myself a creative outlet and stretch my writing muscles a bit.

2) What are your blogging goals?
My immediate blogging goals are to start blogging with regularity again. A combination of some family health issues and the arrival of our first baby in the last year stunted my posting, and I need to get back on track.

3) What is your favorite article of clothing?
Oh, this one hits a bit of a nerve right now, as I'm feeling very tired of my wardrobe lately! Still, there's always a favorite (or two), right? My "old" favorite is this great boat neck black-and-white striped shirt that I can dress down or up and I've probably worn for too long, but with which I refuse to part. My "new" favorite is this great pair of magenta jeans I got recently, one of a very small number of items I've bought for myn the last six months since Baby Girl took over my shopping agenda!

4) What is your favorite blog that you read?
Hard to choose. I love reading blogs. It's probably my best distraction lately. Do I have to pick one? Who am I kidding? There are no real rules here, this is MY blog! Okay... favorite blogS: Suri's Burn Book, Go Fug Yourself, Kendi Everyday, Obvious State (formerly Little Brown Pen)... and many more. I wouldn't read them if I didn't love them, and my Reader is STACKED.

5) Facebook or Twitter?
Good one, A! I definitely texted Amy during the Globes last night to say that Twitter was quickly overtaking Facebook for me. I shamefully admit that I basically just boarded the Twitter train recently (I won't say how recently), but I've been tiring of Facebook for a loooooong time, and Twitter does a lot of what I used to like about Facebook without all of the stuff I don't like about it now... especially in terms of allowing me viewing control for my content. So I say Twitter!

6) What is something that currently challenges you?
Time. There just is not enough of it. Simple as that.





7) Paper calendar or electronic?
This will be my second year in the electronic calendar world, and I have to say, I'm officially converted.

8) What is your favorite cosmetic?
Tinted lip gloss.


9) As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A writer.


10) What is one of your goals for 2013?
My main goal for 2013 is to truly make time for myself in some capacity every week. And more than just an hour to neaten up the house - something for ME.

Here are my nominations:
1) Living the Dream - N redefines honesty with this blog that evolves as she does. She is truly inspirational in how open and real she is in her writing... and I'm not just saying that.
2) Eating With Sporks - This is the blog of a long-lost friend from college... and it's awesome. One of my most-pinned-to boards on Pinterest is my food board, and I've pinned MANY a recipe from this creative, healthy, beautifully-photographed blog.
3) Home Harvests - Like me, she hasn't posted in a little while, BUT, this is a great blog. My girl knows her stuff, and shares her efforts towards a holistic, self-sufficient (as much is possible when you don't live on a farm or ranch!), green, clean, purposeful life. She shares her successes and her missteps, takes incredible photos of her beautiful garden and its bounty, offers recipes, and opens up her heart and her mind as she continues to channel her best self.

And here are my 10 questions:

1) Why blog?
2) Where do you live?
3) What's your guilty pleasure?
4) What's the best book you've read in the last year?
5) What is your blogging goal for the next year?
6) What is one of your non-blogging goals for the next year?
7) Google or Bing?
8) What's your favorite blog?
9) What's your "real" job?
10) Are you happy?

Reorganizing (for lack of a better word)

I'm trying to reorganize a bit. It has been FAR too long since I've posted here, and even longer since I was in a good posting rhythm, as opposed to just a post here, a post there. And I want to get back to some sort of blogging routine. It has certainly been a challenge to rediscover balance since our incredible little girl arrived at the end of June. Throw in working full-time, and juggling family health issues, and a few things have just fallen behind. That's just the reality of it. And if I'm being *really* honest, nearly everything I've let fall behind has been about me. And I'd like to try to claim a bit of myself back if I can. So, inspired by the boost of confidence Amy gave me this morning, I commit to posting with vague regularity again. I want to reorganize things enough to allow me the simple pleasure and creative outlet this blog has provided to me in the past.

To that end... I have a few things lined up this week. I'm not sure I'll be back on the every day posting regimen right away, but that will be my longer-term goal. For now, I'll aim for 3 posts/week. This one doesn't count. I'll have a *real* post after this one today, and then Amy and I are bringing back an abbreviated version of our post-awards fashion blitz for the 2013 Golden Globes with two posts this week.

Look at me go! Thanks for keeping with me... in spite of my amazing disappearing act.