Eyelash transplants set to sweep nip tuck world

just read this for the last paragraph...

By Jill Serjeant

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Think you've seen it all when it comes to cosmetic surgery?

Look more closely. Eyelash transplant surgery wants to become the new must-have procedure for women -- and the occasional man -- convinced that beauty is not so much in the eye of the beholder as in front of the eye itself.

Using procedures pioneered by the hair loss industry for balding men, surgeons are using "plug and sew" techniques to give women long, sweeping lashes once achieved only by glued on extensions and thick lashings of mascara.

And just like human hair -- for that is the origin -- these lashes just keep on growing.

"Longer, thicker lashes are an ubiquitous sign of beauty. Eyelash transplantation does for the eyes what breast augmentation does for the figure," said Dr Alan Bauman, a leading proponent of eyelash transplants.

"This is a brand new procedure for the general public (and) it is going to explode," Bauman told Reuters during what was billed as the world's first live eyelash surgery workshop for about 40 surgeons from around the world.

Under the procedure, a small incision is made at the back of the scalp to remove 30 or 40 hair follicles which are carefully sewn one by one onto the patient's eyelids. Only light sedation and local anesthetics are used and the cost is around $3,000 an eye.

The technique was first confined to patients who had suffered burns or congenital malformations of the eye. But word spread and about 80 percent are now done for cosmetic reasons.

For many women, eyelash surgery is simply an extra item on the vast nip tuck menu that has lost its old taboos.

More than 10 million cosmetic procedures -- from tummy tucks to botox -- were performed in the United States in 2005, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. The figure represents a 38 percent increase over the year 2000.

Erica Lynn, 27, a Florida model with long auburn hair, breast implants and a nose job, had eyelash transplants three years ago because she was fed up with wearing extensions on her sandy-colored lashes.

"When I found out about it, I just had to have it done. Everyone I mention it to wants it. I think eyelashes are awesome. You can never have enough of them," Lynn said.

Bauman, who practices in Florida, does about three or four a month. Dr. Sara Wasserbauer, a Northern California hair restoration surgeon, says she has been inundated by requests.

"I have been getting a ton of eyelash inquiries ... If I had $10 dollars for every consultation, I'd be a rich woman."

The surgery is not for everyone. The transplanted eyelashes grow just like head hair and need to be trimmed regularly and sometimes curled. Very curly head hair makes for eyelashes with too much kink.

~i am NOT trusting myself to trim my own eyelashes. it's just not happening.~

survey says...

1. How tall are you barefoot?
well, i used to be 5'4". and i was for awhile. last year, i found out that i am 5' 5 1/2", which i'm still getting used to.

2. Do you own a gun?
god no. and you shouldn't either!

3. If you had a mental disorder, what would it be?
oh, definitely ocd. i've got some leanings already.

4. How many letters are in your crush's name?
75. oh wait, that's his age. um....47?

5. What do you think of hot dogs?
right now i'm obsessed with D's veggie dogs with spicy mustard and banana peppers. yum!

6. What's your favorite Christmas song?
i have a christmas music enjoyment problem. i like it too much. if i had to pick a fave....either 'carol of the bells' or 'god rest ye merry gentlemen'.

7. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
coffee, coffee, coffee!

8. Do you do push-ups?
maybe accidently if i happen to be laying on my stomach and then have to get up.

10. Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend?
no, i have a husband. it's like a boyfriend, but you get to wear jewelry and people give you presents for it.

11. Do you like the rain?
i prefer the just gray days. but if i'm inside for the day, i love watching it rain all day long.

12. Do you own a knife?
i have many. a bread knife, a paring knife, a chef's knife, a slicing knife, a santoku, a collection of steak and butter ones as well.

13. Do you have A.D.D.?
i wish, only for the focusin!

14. Full initials?
fejf. i added my maiden name to my middle name when i got married. so i have lots of names.

15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment.
i really wish i understood filehandles in perl.
i hope my heat works tonight.
is my halloween costume too slutty?

16. Name the last 3 things you have bought today.
i haven't bought anything today except meter time for my car. yesterday, i bought fake eyelashes.

17. Name five drinks you regularly drink, in order most to least.
water
coffee
tropicana sugar free lemonade
apple cider
wine

18. What time did you wake up today?
oh god. not til 8:45. i am not good with waking up with a flexible schedule.

19. Can you spell?
rapid city, sd city champion. 1989.

20. Current worry?
how can i go to 3 parties in 5 hours?

21. Current hate?
dishes. mine are gross and quickly piling up.

22. Favorite place to be?
walking around oakland on a fall day that isn't too cold, ipod in ears, sunglasses on so no one can see me staring at them.

23. Least favorite place to be?
the gynecologist or the dentist getting a cavity drilled. it's a tie.

24. Where would you like to go?
in general, there are many places. right now, i would like to go to a comfy couch and sit on it with laura and talk to her for hours.

25. Do you own slippers?
i'm much more into thick socks. i did have a pair, but odessa (my cat) chewed on the heel until the foam came out and then ate the foam and then threw it up in various piles around the apartment. i'll stick with my socks, thanks.

26. Where do you think you'll be in 10 yrs?
not pittsburgh, living in my own house.

27. Do you burn or tan?
i burn easily and sometimes it fades to tan. more often, it fades back to pasty.

28. Yellow or blue?
for what? clothing? decor? food? cuz i'm wary of blue food. unless it's an icee.

29. Would you be a pirate?
i'd rather be a pirate's captive.

30. Last time your cell rang?
last night. it was kathleen, calling to discuss whether or not rory was validly upset by logan's dinner.

31.What songs do you sing in the shower?
i used to sing buffy musical songs. i've been kinda taciturn in the shower as of late.

32. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child?
whatever had been on unsolved mysteries that night. murderers, kidnappers, ghosts, con men. they were all scary.

33. What is in your pants pocket?
nothing. girl pants are too tight to put stuff in them. it just hurts.

34. Best bed sheets you had as a child?
these yellow flower ones that make me wish i still had a twin bed.

35. Worst injury you've ever had?
it's a tie between splitting my leg open and requiring 11 stitches and running into my in-laws cd rack and requiring a big plastic brace for 2 weeks.

36. What is your GPA?
i graduated with a 3.4 and some random hundreths.

37. How many TVs do you have in your house?
just one. it is overused however.

38. Who is your loudest friend?
rob has no inside voice that i've ever encountered.

39. Who is your most silent friend?
corey. when we hang out, he's either quiet or asleep.

40. Does someone have a crush on you?
i hope so. that's just what my life could use, trouble with my marriage.

41. Do you wish here & there...?
how is a raven like a writing desk?

42. What is your favorite book?
very tough call. let's just say 'neverwhere' by neil gaiman.

43. What song did you last hear?
something horrible on the radio on the way to work. it sounded like death metal vocals meets nickelback. it was truly, remarkably bad.

44. What song do you want played at your funeral?
that's tough. my cheesy answer is 'defying gravity' from the wicked soundtrack. i don't know what my intellectual or ironic answers would be.

45. What were you doing 12AM last night?
trying to finish sewing ruffles on underwear. (see posting below for details)

46. What's your obsession?
veuve cliquot champagne. i cannot get enough of it. it's possible it's more expensive than any drug addiction.

47. Last television show you watched.
uhhh....HGTV's 'designed to sell'. it was just background for my ruffle sewing.

48. Favorite holiday.
halloween, thanksgiving, christmas, new year's, and my birthday. october 13th - jan 1st is a happy, happy time for me.

yarn embroidery and too many parties

my halloween costume...


i'm feeling really bitter about halloween right now.
first (and not that big of a deal) cause: costumes.
jp and i had planned to go as jack the ripper and a victorian prostitute (his next victim). jp decided he didn't want to do that. ok, fine. we couldn't agree on any other couple's costumes, so we decided to just go our own ways. adhering to the halloween philosophy of 'mean girls' ("halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it"), i bought the above ridiculous "sexy rag doll" costume. essentially, slutty raggedy ann. only it's not that bad. well, it didn't seem to be until i paid for it, had it shipped, and tried it on. it is so much shorter than i ever imagined. and it would be one thing if the skirt was formed to my body, but it's got this cute little poufy petticoat that makes it, well, poufy. so i definitely needed something to be worn under it that would be ok to be seen (e.g. not a thong!). i get the bright idea to buy little white boy shorts and sew ruffles or lace on the legs and embroider my name in yarn on the ass. i'm crafty, i can handle this. go to kmart last night to pick up supplies for jp (he's going to be a lumberjack, so red and black checked flannel and thick suspenders) and to buy lace or something ruffly. kmart has no such adornements. try the dollar store next door, and all i can find is this thick red velvet christmas ribbon. ok, i can totally make this work.
so last night, i spent about 4 1/2 hours creating ruffles by folding ribbon back over itself and sewing it to the legs of the boy shorts. lemme tell you, crafty or not, i was cranky by the end. i also managed to embroider 'freya' on the ass, only it's a little too low. oh well, certainly not pulling it all out and starting again! so fine, i have my cute lil' pantaloons and fake eyelashes and greasepaint for red circles and everything. ready for halloween now!

second cause of bitterness
except that we have 3 halloween parties to go to. up until this year, i have ALWAYS hosted the halloween party. our new apartment is not really conducive to large parties (it's just not big enough). so my friend josh is having a party. cool. we decided to go there. well, then our friends rob and dan decide to throw a party too. ok, i can probably handle doing them both. then i get a call from cliff (who i probably haven't seen since the wedding!) and they're throwing a shindig. of course, none of these people are close to each other. we've got dormont, squirrell hill, and shadyside. so now people that were going to go to josh's want to go to rob and dan's and no one really wants to go to cliff's with us. i want to go to all 3, but i also want to hang out with my friends, who are probably not up to the significant amount of party-hopping. not to mention my husband. am i going to end up just driving myself around all night so that i can make sure i see everyone? who gets left out of the equation if i can't do everything? and why must all of these parties happen now? why can't we have 'no reason' parties like we used to, so that i don't feel the obligation to trek across the city 3 different times on the same night? it's so sad that there really isn't the amount of normal hanging out that there used to be, where i would see people on a regular basis. when did we all get so busy? is it the advent of full-time work? it must be. and as if working full-time didn't suck enough, now my social life hurts because of it.

i know, i'm whining. i have no excuse, but i am genuinely upset about this. halloween is such a great holiday! and now it's been ruined before it's even begun.

did i mention i'm also melodramatic?

How many members of the Bush Administration are needed to change a light bulb?

The Answer is TEN:

1. One to deny that a light bulb needs to be changed.

2. One to attack the patriotism of anyone who says the light bulb needs to be changed.

3. One to blame Clinton for burning out the light bulb.

4. One to tell the nations of the world that they are either: "For changing the light bulb or for darkness."

5. One to give a billion dollar no-bid contract to Halliburton for the new light bulb.

6. One to arrange a photograph of Bush, dressed as a janitor, standing on a stepladder under the banner "Light Bulb Change Accomplished."

7. One administration insider to resign and write a book documenting in detail how Bush was literally "in the dark."

8. One to viciously smear #7.

9. One surrogate to campaign on TV and at rallies on how George Bush has had a strong light bulb-changing policy all along.

10. And finally, one to confuse Americans about the difference between screwing a light bulb and screwing the country.

i'm for darkness myself....

pumpkins!!

our pumpkins, left to right: kara's, mine, will's, shannon's, and jp's

fall endeavors

october 20, 2006

quote of the day: "i don't want sloppy seconds in the pumpkin guts bath." -me

today was rainy and never got above 50 degrees. except when i was walking to feed the meter 3 or 4 different times, i considered it a perfect fall day. while driving into work, someone on the radio was iterating all the halloween activities, haunted houses and the like. so i came up with the bright idea of pumpkin carving. perfect! we did it last year and i loved mine. so get jp, will, and shan on board and we're set. i go immediately to their place and hang with the 2 of them until jp shows up a little bit later and kara (shannon's friend) a little after that. so us girls go to get supplies: pumpkins (of course), pumpkin carving tools, and dinner. i insisted on picking out the largest pumpkins i could find at giant eagle (5 of them). they barely all fit in the cart. so we go to grab dinner at 'hooks' which is this crazy fried fish place in edgewood towne center (they also have a homewood location). so we order 12 pieces of fish, 12 chicken fingers, fries, and 2 large orders of hushpuppies. of course, that was enough food for 10 people and we failed miserably at finishing it.
onto the pumpkin carving! so we all cut off our tops and start pulling out guts. there was so much pumpkin insides. when we dumped it into a garbage bag at the end of the night, we had to double bag it and put nothing else in there. it was heavy as hell. anyways, it takes an awfully long time to scrape out the insides of pumpkins, which is something that i always manage to forget. luckily, we were entertained. kara made a cd of really awful, really cheesey 90's rap/r&b. it included (but is not limited to) the following:
baby got back - sir mix a lot
regulate - warren g
mo' money, mo' problems - puff daddy (no, he wasn't p diddy yet!)
push it - salt n pepa
whatta man - en vogue/salt n pepa
free your mind - en vogue
rump shaker - wreckx n effect
snow - informer
etc.
jp claimed it was "the most surreal music to carve pumpkins to". kara and i sang along to every song. it brought back many memories of 6th - 9th grades and really lame dancing and roller skating. but i digress. back to pumpkins.
will and i both managed to totally ruin our original design schemes. he was totally able to fix his and make it just look like lots of flames, way cool. mine however was rather disasterous. i had cut too much out to save it. so we're pretending it's a demon. yeah, that's what a demon looks like. kara's was adorable, so was shan's. jp's looks like a very mean ent.

i'll leave you with my current ipod song quote:
"something has changed within me
something is not the same
i'm through with playing by the rules
of someone else's game
too late for second-guessing
too late to go back to sleep
it's time to trust my instincts
close my eyes
and leap."
- 'defying gravity' from wicked

tv, why have you betrayed me so??

since not much of note has happened this week, i'm going to rant about television.

i happen to love tv. love love love it. i am more obsessed with television than anyone i know. i believe that i am somehow more predisposed towards attachment to characters and relationships of the fictional nature than other people. hence, my love of books and tv. there are 2 reasons why i watch tv over reading sometimes: 1) tv gives me pictures as well as a story and (more importantly) 2) you can do other things while watching tv. plus i find it easier to walk away from tv for a moment than books. books are much more of a commitment for me.
now, i don't want to give the wrong impression. i spend about 2-3 hours reading every day and read at least a book a week. since the average american (when polled) does not read ONE book for an entire year, i think i could be considered an avid reader. i don't understand people who don't like to read (i can only assume they've not found the correct genre). but in addition to reading, i spend a lot of time watching tv. back to tv.
happily, my realization of tv love has coincided with the prevalence of tv-on-dvd (henceforth referred to as tod). tod is the most amazing thing to happen to tv viewers everywhere. tod saved me in barcelona when i was incredibly homesick. tod has allowed me to catch up on shows that i didn't watch since their advent and can now watch in real time. which brings me to my current predicament.

tv schedule
how do people live having to keep up with television shows in real time?? i have never actively watched more than one show per week that i kept up with. the l word, 24, and sex and the city were the only ones. until.....
gilmore girls came along. ok, i handle two shows. not a big deal. that's tuesday, at 8.
but what about weeds? caught season 1 on demand last year one day when i was sick. watched all 10 episodes from the first season (which is only 5 hours). now we have monday, at 10 or 10:30.
veronica mars. my newfound love. well, it's on tuesdays, right after gilmore girls. no reason not to just sit for another hour. tuesdays at 9.
caught up with lost on dvd, so gotta tune in for that. add wednesdays at 9.
was convinced to give jericho a try, wednesday at 8. (it's kinda lame, but i am getting sucked in)
the nine sounds amazingly like a combo of reunion (was i the only person to watch that last year?) and 24, so replace project runway once the finale airs. wednesday at 10.
project runway, shockingly good. believe me, i was skeptical too. right after lost, so we have wednesdays at 10.
l word will start in january, so there's sunday night at 10.
and 24, so add mondays at 9.
now, granted, project runway ended this week. weeds finale is next week. that should take some of the pressure off. however, i already have replacements for them either immediately or come january.
couldn't i find something more worthwhile to do with my life than watch these shows? sure! i can get a hobby (as long as it's free) or hang out with friends (as long as they're available) or read (although i do a fair amount already) or bake (which i have been doing a lot more of) or any other number of things. but tv is so easy! and now i'm stuck where i am either greatly attached to characters and relationships (gilmore girls, veronica mars) or i've been suckered in to find out what happens (lost, jericho).

my tod complaints
now, i could just wait for these to come out on dvd and buy them and watch them. but what if they're not good? here's the conundrum i've gotten into with tod.
i own the entire buffy series (7 seasons), entire angel series (5 seasons), all of battlestar (2 seasons), all but the latest gilmore girls (5 seaons), both veronica mars, both lost, l word (first two seasons), sex and the city complete series (6 seasons), arrested development (seasons 2 and 3), simpsons (seasons 7 and 8), mash (season 3), firefly complete series (just one season), and freaks and geeks complete series (just one season). now it's really annoying for me to not have arrdev season 1, so i'll have to get it. i own the first 5 seasons of gg, so season 6 is on my xmas list. veronica, lost, and battlestar #3 will be out next summer, so those will be added too. even if these seasons are not that good, i know that i will buy them. why? because how can you not have the whole collection? season 4 of angel is horrid and i can't stand it. i still own it, though, because if i decide to watch the whole series, am i really going to skip it? nope. i'll just make sure to be doing other things while sort of soaking it up in the background. season 7 of buffy sucks, but i'll never not watch it because it's the end of the series! etc, etc.

my tv viewing complaints
so far this season, gilmore girls is terrible. their writer/creator amy sherman-palladino left the show and there is a huge vacuous void where she was. but it's supposed to be the last season, so i gotta find out what happens. lorelai nowadays may be a far cry from the lorelai of yore, but i still want to know if she ends up with chris or luke or no one (although i will be really pissed off if i watched for 7 goddamn years and she ends up with chris. it's like sex and the city, except i liked big for carrie more than chris for lorelai). l word last year was terrible, but i'll still pay for my shotime subscription to watch it this year. and veronica, i need you guys to either deal with the logan thing and move on or let him have some airtime. i'm on pins and needles over here.
and don't even get me started about project runway! what is with reality tv and rewarding the biggest assholes? i just don't get it.

i don't have tivo! or a vcr!
because of my tv schedule, i don't plan things on certain days. wanna hang on tuesday? well, by 'hang out' you better mean watching gg and vm. wednesdays? i can hang until 9, but then gotta catch lost. thursdays are good for me....monday i can stay out a little later....
like it wasn't hard enough for people to make time to see each other before we got all wrapped up in this. and since i don't have a vcr or tivo or dvr through comcast, i'm stuck. i either have to sacrifice my tv world or my real world. i'm sure to many of you that's a no-brainer, but for me, that hour i spend with veronica each week is really quite enjoyable. i just wish she'd be a little more flexible with her schedule.

product placement in a new form?

october 16, 2006

so i spent some of my itunes gift certificate yesterday. mostly bought 'wicked' songs. after seeing forbidden broadway, i remembered how much i loved the music. i'm also really into the fray lately. 'over my head' and 'how to save a life' have pretty high play counts on my itunes. they're definitely a little more low key than i usually like my music, but i've been feeling kinda low key myself lately.
then i cleaned the bathroom, which was desperately in need. cleaning the bathroom is so rewarding. it's one of those rooms where you can see the dirt being removed. and i have this amazing Method cleaner that smells like eucalyptus and mint. i also washed our duvet to be able to put the new down comforter in it. however, when we took it out of the bag, we realized it was a pillow bed. we already have a regular mattress pad plus a memory foam topper, so adding another layer to that would be pretty ridiculous. bummer! i hate returning/exchanging gifts. i always feel like a big asshole.
found out some disappointing news about my wedding album. turns out that instead of $400 like we thought, it's going to be $820.
820 freakin dollars for a photo album. that's just ridiculous. so no big formal album. i'm obviously going to have some sort of album, but not this one!
only one more episode of weeds left....
erik and colleen were over for it last night and we ended up watching the weather channel afterwards. now i realize that sometimes networks put their logos on the bottom of the screen. the worst one is bravo, who practically runs commercials for themselves at the bottom. fine, whatever, i've learned to deal with it. but last night, the weather channel had the quaker oats man in the top right corner of the screen. only the forecaster kept walking in front of it and blocking it. but it just stayed there, like it was a part of maine on the map or something. weird.

the rest of my birthday weekend

saturday, october 14

saturday was my family party at joe mama's. this consisted of me, jp, my parents, my in-laws, my little bro, and will and shannon. we all met there and got the huge round table, which is one of two smoking tables they have left. i wasn't going to drink, but i had a glass of shiraz that went down pretty easily and then some sangria. ordered lasagna for dinner, which was huge and delicious. opened all sorts of presents. erik got me a subscription to domino, this cute&trendy interior design magazine, mom and dad got me better homes and garderns for 3 years, plus a portable radio (for npr on the bus), some really cool design software (create your own floor plans, scan in your own rooms and rearrange them, etc. etc.), and some clothes and boots (yay!). mom2 and papa bought me a down-alternative comforter, wicked the book, mean girls (which no one but mom would ever buy me!), apples 2 apples (this very amusing board game), and an adorable digital watch. meaning i can now be fashionable AND know what time it is. so all in all, quite the presents this year. i was surprised. i guess i thought that since i'm now 25 and married, there would be some cute, perfunctory gift and that's all. hey, getting old deserves a reward! i can no longer wear heels as long as i used to. anyways, we all trooped over to will and shannons afterwards to play apples 2 apples and hang out. it was a good ol' time.

sunday, october 15

yesterday, i went to my parent's to do laundry with jp. i had been thinking of dyeing my hair, so i jumped in my car (in my usual impulsiveness for all things hair-related) and went to buy dye. it ended up a really really dark brown. very dramatic. i think i like it, but i'm not too sure. jp and mom like it, so there are my toughest critics with reviews already. we'll save judgement for the first time i wear it curly (tomorrow).
other than that, mom redid her kitchen (has been gradually) and yesterday the paint was finally done. bright bright yellow. it's adorable. they added a tiled backsplash behind the sink and next to the fridge of white tiles + the occasional designed tile (cute sort of flower thing). it looks great so far. i'm so proud of her for painting a room in craziness.

my fabulous 25th birthday. perfect combo of class and craziness.

in first photo, we have destiny, abi, and rob. in the background is logan echolls look-alike christian. below is brandon, tied with abi as my second favorite logan's bartender (sorry guys, but josh has gotta be first. he'd be sad if he wasn't.).

so i had a really fun birthday this year!

morning/afternoon
i started the day with 1/2 day of work, which is so much better than a whole day of work. my officemate gave me these really cool burned copies of bands he likes and i listened to them on my unexpectedly long drive home. there was some sort of craziness where they closed like 2 blocks of craig up by fifth. so traffic was a frickin' disaster. but i made it home and jp told me what he got me (because he didn't estimate shipping correctly and things weren't in yet). he got me a banana guard, which is a plastic container to hold bananas (check it out at www.bananaguard.com). mine always get squashed at the bottom of my bag, and i always complain. so yay! he also bought me an interior design book on color. plus my itunes gift certificate. and he did most of the dishes (better than most presents!). so i was really pleased. we played super monkey ball for awhile but i totally sucked so it wasn't much fun. i read, he played more video games. i took a short nap and woke up to hurriedly get dressed and go with jp to pick up shannon at her place and will at work downtown. traffic was an awful clusterfuck because of some broken down car on grant. took forever...but eventually we get will and go to kaya.

dinner and a show
it was fabulous. we had girly drinks, mussels and plaintains as an appetizer, and i had tuna. it was so amazingly yummy and so amazingly rare. why is raw fish so good?? plus it came with this really weird wasabi-infused roe. i love wasabi and i love roe. what a good idea. unfortunately, no dessert because we have to go to our show! yay to culture! along with a ridiculous calendar about cats, will and shannon bought me a ticket to 'forbidden broadway' done by clo's cabaret theatre. it was so so fun. super funny, and the venue is amazing. you sit at a 4 top table and ours was front row, as stage left as you could get. you even have servers who bring you things. we all ordered coffee and bailey's. the show was 4 actors mocking every major musical production that you know of. the 'les mis' routine was probably my favorite.

the night continues...
so then we end up heading out to gooski's in polish hill. my little bro and my friend from high school, g, meet us there. we sit for awhile, drink some drinks. will and shannon didn't have their car and needed to go home early (yuck to working at 8 on a saturday!), so jp decided to drive them home and not come back out. erik was leaving to hang out with colleen (who is very unfortunately only 19), so that left me and g to continue the night. we decided to go to logan's. call various other people with the plan and we leave.
get to logan's and sitting at the bar is my best friend from senior year of high school, abi. she immediately buys me a drink and a shot from the familiar looking bartender and then tells me that she's getting her linguistics degree at pitt. and taking phonetics with claude this semester. brian, leeann, and katy show up next, followed closely by destiny and jenna (!) who i haven't seen in months....since the wedding i think. somewhere in all this, i realize that the bartender is brandon, josh's best friend, who i've only met once. so i was all excited and asked him if he remembered me and he's all "freya, i knew who you were when you walked in the door". and i felt dumb, but he just laughed. leeann gives me my birthday present, it's this amazing sparkly bag, a yummy candle, a halloween tote bag, and the softest, fuzziest socks ever. i immediately put all my stuff in the new bag. yay! rob, brett, and andrea show up too and at this point, i feel like i know everyone at the bar. lots of hanging out and trying to find men for abi. we do manage to find someone who looks exactly like logan echolls from veronica mars. so i go to talk to him about it and he doesn't watch veronica mars. i try and convince him to, but i'm not sure the message really got across. gotta find my converts when i can.
everyone trickles out and it's down to abi, destiny, jenna, rob, and i. we end up finally leaving around 2:45, and i drunk dial the whole way home. i definitely called colleen and talked to her. i think i may have left zac a mean message for not calling me on my birthday. i woke up with the guilty feeling that i had. and also a big headache and some dizziness. that was around 9:45 and i was up for about 1/2 hour before going back to sleep and awakening at 1pm. yikes! now, is that counted as sleeping until then, or is 1/2 hour awake enough to make 10:15 - 1 a nap?
oh well. all in all, a wonderfully perfect day.
and i promise, there will not be binge drinking for a long time after this. between last weekend and this weekend, i am done.
dammit, we have halloween parties to go to. hopefully, i'll have recovered by then.

triskaidekaphobia

i also just wanted to address the whole friday the thirteenth thing. people always ask me if i'm freaked out by my bday being friday the thirteenth every 5 or 6 years. with one notable exception, friday the thirteenth birthdays have always been my best. when i turned 14, i went to a high school football game (always very cool when you're not in high school). that night a whole bunch of us went to the italian oven and had a big cake fight. then i kissed my boyfriend ian for the first time (it's possible that was also the only time. i'm not sure.).
on my 19th birthday, it was my first jp birthday. we did some massive planning and had a huge lovefest at pitt, mostly in the ashtray. there was one point in the evening in which there were 17 people in my little slice of pie in tower A. the only bad part of the night was when i went to buy a teething ring at rite aid and realized that i had lost my debit card. however, i was far too fucked up to care. i did end up talking to pnc customer service and telling the lady that she was the nicest customer service rep i had ever encountered.
of course, last year was technically the best birthday ever. jp proposed to me that day. but we'll just say that fridays will always be great birthdays and that occasionally, you might have a good thursday one.

happiness is to birthdays as deliciousness is to rita's

ahhh, birthdays. nothing is better than a whole day when you wake up automatically in a good mood and then you get to tell everyone to be nice to you for a day. sure, everyone loves christmas or halloween or even labor day, but no one loves october 13th like i do. well, at least no one that i talk to. i know of some periphery people with my birthday, but as far as me and mine are concerned, it's MY day! so i celebrated my birthday eve by posting most of our pics to shutterfly and facebook while watching sex and the city (i'm on season 6, part 2 so i promise i'll be done soon). the earlier part of the day was less fun, it involved the dentist. the hygenist told me i have to get a night guard (wow, that's about the least sexy thing i can think of!) and the dentist told me i have 2 cavities. yuck. so think of me with pity on november 6th, around 4:30. oooh! i also got 2 early birthday presents. 1) an itunes gift certificate from my honey for all those awful pop songs that i refuse to buy the album of and 2) a down-alternative comforter from my in-laws! yay to warmth and music.
oh, and good news. everything is cleared up from my little bro's adventure last weekend. so no worries about erik.
tonight there is some sort of big surprise planned for me since we couldn't do the corn maze (which i'm still totally bummed about). it involves dinner and then something where i don't wear jeans. i'll clue y'all in as soon as i find out myself....
that's it for now! hope everyone's friday the thirteenth is as happy as mine!

in about 12 hours, i will be 25

i'll probably comment more on that after i sleep.
yay for birthdays and taking a 1/2 day of vacation!
btw, i have no idea who this guy is, but a google image search for 25th birthday cakes returned this. apparently, this was his 25th birthday. i hope mine doesn't involve blood of any kind.

my feelings on blogging...

i really hate editing what i say, but i sort of forgot that i don't necessarily want the world to read my every thought. i can't keep my mouth shut, ever. why did i think a blog was a good idea??

the woes of desperately wanting friends...

yesterday, i realized how much i dislike not being friends with my officemate. it makes life hard at work if you don't have someone to talk to. i do have my boss, but she's not just sitting 3 feet away from me. i don't know if he doesn't like me or if he's just shy or just doesn't need any more friends. i don't know what else to do to make us friends! any conversation we have that involves more than 2 turns apiece is incredibly successful as far as i'm concerned.
my mother-in-law called me last night to tell me all about the yummy groceries she bought for us. i was actually driving home with a bucket of kfc and starving, so it was pure torture. by the way, we're usually popeye's people (the, like, 2x's a year we eat fast food fried chicken. one is usually moving day and the other is sometime during the rest of the year) but popeye's on penn has closed for remodeling! i was definitely upset.
other than that, yesterday was pretty low-key. i tried to watch jericho, but it's just not that good. disappointing. on lost, just about nothing happened of note. project runway was fun, laura accused jeffrey of having someone else sew his collection. jp thinks the accusation is bullshit and that laura is just trying to get attention, but i don't know. i really hate jeffrey, so i can't be objective. however, his kid and gf are adorable and he seems to be madly in love with his family, which is great.
jp went for his final allergy testing! he is extremely allergic to: shrimp, lobster, cockroaches, english plantain, and some other stuff (dust maybe?). he is also fairly allergic to dogs, which is pretty sad. i always saw us as having dogs and so did he. but we'll see....he doesn't usually seem to have a problem at will and shan's (with nick), so it just might be long-haired dogs, which include all of my favorite breeds.
anyone remember bronwyn? zac's friend? well, her and her long-haired daschaund made it into my dream last night. weird.

the best tv night of the week!

soo...yesterday.
i was planning on having a nice, non-exciting evening (well, except for the excitement of new gilmore girls and veronica mars!). i was supposed to get out of work, take the bus home, have jp come pick me up at the park and ride and then go to kathleen's for dinner and tv. that all (mostly) works. i was really looking forward to seeing her new place and meeting her roommate ben, who i've known vicariously for probably 4 years now. show up at her house and ben is out jogging. she's making chicken and roasted veggies for dinner, followed by chocolate caramel brownies with turtle ice cream. yum.
so she gives me the tour and we're hanging out in her bedroom when ben walks in and calls out "leen?" in this sorta worried voice. she runs downstairs to see what's wrong and ben thinks he has broken his foot. ouch. with all of my hurting myself experiences, i figure that he just managed to really twist something or sprain it or whatever. so we make him sit on the couch with ice and give him some advil. after about 1/2 hour, he decides to go to the hospital but refuses to let us drive him.
so we eat and watch gg and vm and they're both pretty good. i don't want to give anything away, but let's just say i'm surprised with the route that they're taking lorelai this season. if that's really going to be the big ending of the show....i'll be pissed.
anyways, then kathleen insists that i listen to a couple songs she's discovered lately and then i show her my embarrassing music from my ipod. ben comes home in the midst of this and lo and behold - he's broken! crutches and a cast for 4-6 weeks. damn. now i feel terrible that i didn't think he broke it.
i leave and head on home. talk to jp for a bit about my blog. after our conversation, i watch sex and the city and then go to sleep.
this morning, i totally slept in because of this crazy dream i was having that i don't remember now. ran around like crazy, showering, making lunch, coffee, etc. got everything together and ran out the door. forgot my coffee, which sucked. big moving van trying to make it down my street, blocking everything. no parking spots at park and ride and it's raining. so hopefully the rest of the day will improve? it's going to be pretty hard for it to get worse....

this is kinda weird.

What You Really Think Of Your Friends

Laura is your soulmate.

You truly love Elizabeth.

You consider Zac your true friend.

You know that Kathleen is always thinking of you.

You'll remember Shannon for the rest of your life.

You secretly think Mom is creative, charming, and a bit too dramatic at times.

You secretly think that Will is colorful, impulsive, and a total risk taker.

You secretly think that Josh is loyal and trustworthy to you. And that Josh changes lovers faster than underwear.

You secretly think Jp is shy and nonconfrontational. And that Jp has a hidden internet romance.

What Do You Think of Your Friends?

you know, i answered that jp most reminded me of a saltine and this is what i get. and josh reminded me of a "meat snack". well, at least we all know what i really think of my friends.

don't know why sirius is so tiny...

my darlin' dessa baby (odessa)

hey cute boys!

we've got a brian, a will, a josh, and a pouting zac. this is right before my wedding.