Sunday, April 11, 2010

Movies...stickies and phattys

I am a documentary freak, I LOVE documentaries. The other day I watched a documentary about John Hughes, a group of people set out to try and find out why it is that after making so many wonderful movies in the 80's this legendary filmmaker just up and disappeared. This documentary was done over two years and I really enjoyed it. Most of all I really appreciated the point they were making ( well one of the several really) which was the fact that people in general CAN NOT connect with movies today, like they had once done with movies like Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club.

When I say connect, I mean in the whole sense of the word. For example; Molly Wringwald, if you look at movies like Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club Molly Wringwald is a very pretty woman, however when you compare her looks to starlets of today there is something drastically different. I want to know why filmmakers believe that when they do a "high school" movie that they need to have these blond haired, blue eyed, big chested "typical" high school student....because lets face reality here most of us were not that picture of perfection, we all followed HIDEOUS trends, we all had ( well except for the lucky few) acne....Do you see that in today's high school dramas?? That is a big fat NO. So what is it about these cheesy movies nowadays that make so much money?

Now onto the more adult films....and NO I don't mean "Adult" lol. I'm talking about these schmaltzy films where at the end the man and woman get together, have this fairytale wedding, and ride off into the sunset and it's happily ever after........GET REAL....How many people does this actually happen to, where you hop into a Rolls Royce after getting hitched and drive down a long graveled driveway with fireworks going off and that's the end? Why aren't they showing the rest?! Why aren't they showing how much you have to work at marriage? Which leads me to yet another point. How many of us really have the husband with the 12 pack abs who saves the day every chance he gets? Now don't get me wrong, my husband was and is my "knight in shinning armor" ....however, he isn't perfect and he isn't Brad Pitt....so how can I relate to these movies??? I will tell you that no matter how perfect these leading men are in the movies, nothing is more sexy and more manly than my husband play and love our child. I would take that ANY DAY OF THE WEEK over a shirtless Brad Pitt type.

That's really all I have for right now on movies. Onto fashion. Jeez man....I could go on and on about this one, but I really just have a few things I will put down, so here it goes:

I was watching "What not to wear" on TLC, and the subject was an average woman, and when I say average, I mean she wasn't a stick figure with a bobble head attached at the shoulders, she had curves. So anyway she was sent shopping and she just kept walking up to clothes and saying oh this is SO cute, but probably don't have it in my size, and she would look and guess what NOPE. She kept saying why can't these people make these clothes in my size, they would make more money. Here is the answer: Because NOT every larger girl knows that just because some of the clothes they make for the stickies (this is what I like to call them) will look the least bit flattering on us. In particular: SKINNY JEANS.....ladies ladies ladies....you know who you are, please please please I am begging you....PUT DOWN THE SKINNY JEANS!!!!! Did you ever stop to ask yourself why it is they are in fact named SKINNY jeans????? I mean seriously.....when you pack all of your womanly curves into those things it is not by any means flattering, and to be blunt ...sometimes it looks downright WRONG and nasty. Knowing that I have a fuller figure there are just some things I try and stay away from, I will list some examples here:

1. SPANDEX
2. Skinny jeans
3. Crop tops
4. Shirts 4 sizes too small
5. Extremely clingy material

Now that is just 5 items, but really there are a lot more. However onto my next point is, there has been like no happy medium between stickies clothes and full figured clothes. If you ever have the chance, regardless of if you are a stickie ( when I say stickie, I am really not saying it mean, because I really would like to at some point in my life join the stickie clan...well maybe not be that stickie, but you know where I'm going with that) or even less of a stickie, please go into a large women's clothing store. Some things are really cute, and some......well ......lets just say that it probably doesn't do anyone any good to wear a hot orange tent with flowers all over it. Until stores started having "Plus size" areas, and specialty stores like Torrid came into the picture there really wasn't any choice but for these women to wear the hot orange floral tents. So thank you Torrid, because you have some really cute clothes!!!!!!

Now for the last point of this really long rambling thing......whether you are a stickie or a Phatty....we are ALL beautiful, small bodies or large bodies we are all exceptional in our own ways!!!!

Friday, March 26, 2010

No Matter What.....

Lately it feels like the bad news of people passing away or news of someone having an illness is becoming overwhelming.....

One of my good friends told me something the other day that I can honestly say I never even realized....we were having a conversation and he said to me; "Have you ever noticed that when someone is getting ready to have a baby or just had a baby, it's like a new life comes into the world and yet one is taken....."

It is seemingly becoming one of the most true statements I have ever heard. Jackson was born in June, and in December we lost one of the most beautiful people I have ever met, Nicole was not only Gorgeous on the outside but on the inside as well, and undeniably the heart and soul of the family with her crazy quick wit, contagious laugh, and wonderful charisma....we will ALWAYS remember her beautiful soul and ALWAYS love her as if she were still here.

Another friend, was pregnant with her third baby, a baby girl when her sweet father passed away, undoubtedly the most tragic thing to happen to that family, and from knowing how much he was and STILL is loved, you know he was not only a wonderful human, but the best friend, husband, father, brother, uncle and grandfather to his family.

Yet...another friend is pregnant, and her husband lost an aunt just recently, and I did not know this person, but it doesn't make it less hard for his family and my heart and sympathies go out to their family.

Onto the whole point of this blog.....My family has just been hit yet again with bad news, in that the man I have called my "Uncle" for my whole life has been diagnosed with a rare form of Liver cancer, Angiosarcoma of the Liver. He will be seeing a specialist today. His daughter is pregnant with her first child, and I just can't help but feel like ....When does it ever end, all of this bad news.....I am heartbroken on one hand because of this, and on the other, so full of joy for my cousin getting ready to bring a precious little one into the world soon.

Please do not let a day go by without telling your loved ones how special they are and how much you love them, you really NEVER know how much time you have with them.

To all of my loved ones, family and friends alike please know this: Each and everyone of you is so special to me in your own individual ways, you all have had a hand in building and shaping the person that I am today, and I will always be thankful, grateful, and appreciative to that. I love you all and I hope that you know every day that someone out there thinks these things of you and loves you NO MATTER WHAT.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Blogging, Rants and whatnot

When someone talks about blogging, I instantly get this vision of that person sitting down at their computer typing away words flowing out of their brains onto the screen, like a scene from a movie, like Sex in the City, when Sarah Jessica Parker's character is sitting at her desk and all of this deep intellectual stuff comes onto the computer screen and its happily ever after..or so to speak.

Is this really the way it goes?? Really? I mean sometimes I get the urge to sit down and blog, but the words and thoughts never come that easily, I mean I think "oh I'll write about this or that...but what if no one is reading it because it sucks?" Does everyone do this? Or is blogging more of a way for us to journal things, whether important or not....I suppose I know the answer to this question already so I don't even really need to ask it......so yeah....

Onto my rants.....I am sooooooo sick of the human population being so RUDE! When did it become OK to not have any manners whatsoever?? Seriously would it really kill a person to say Please, Thank you and excuse me? As a kid I was raised by a single mom and my grandparents, all of whom taught me that it was NOT ok to NOT say those things. This leads me to, are people just lazy or did they learn from their parents? I know that my son will at least be taught that manners are a good thing. When he becomes an adult I will surely hope that he will remember what he is taught, and if not I feel really sorry for those in his future......not to mention that he will never be too old for a good old fashioned spanking from mommy!

Speaking of futures....I am getting really sick and tired of people pushing their points of view and feelings about the future onto me. I am aware that we should be prepared for anything that may come, however I REFUSE to worry and stress over things that are not here yet. The bottom line is unless you have a crystal ball and can see into the future you really don't know what is to come, and if you do have said crystal ball then can you please share?

Onto my final rant for the evening......what is it with Doctors that make them feel like they are superior to others??? Really? Just because you have an education, does that really mean you can't even make eye contact with me? I don't think I speak like I am uneducated and I would like to believe that I am smart when it comes to certain things, I certainly can't diagnose anyone with a sickness, nor do I try...so would it be too much to ask that you look me in the eye when I am speaking to you or actually HEAR what I am saying to you, not just sit there with your head down typing and saying "uhh huh" "I see" "right" because all of those things do not make me feel comfortable in the fact that you are trusted with my health. When I am telling you that I am very concerned about the fact that my son STILL isn't eating and I think he is getting more dehydrated, please don't make me feel like a complete and utter failure and tell me "you have to do more" because honestly you have no clue what my night, day or even week has been like.

Also just for the record, I am a first time mom, and considering that fact I really believe I have left you alone to fend for myself when it comes to my tiny little human, so don't act like a jerk and bitch my husband out because I didn't follow your recommendations....Because it was just that a recommendation....at the end of the day I did what I felt was right for my baby and my emotional stability.....oh and by the way the ER doctor gave me more information about dehydration in the 10 minutes he spent looking at my little guy than you did in 3 visits to your office.

Now don't get me wrong I do like you, I am just nursing my little wound and will be back to liking you in no time =)


Now the whatnot:

I will be sending out special thoughts to ALL of the babies, mommies and daddies who are going through rough times right now.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Furry babies...the dilema

I purchased my furry baby who I named Pickles, almost 5 years ago from a woman who stated that the puppy I was getting was a "teacup" chihuahua. With that said there really is no such thing as teacup anything, just animals bred and inbred so that they come out very very small. Most of these animals ( mostly dogs) are extremely cute, but sometimes have health problems.

When I held Pickles in my hands for the first time I felt like my heart just melted into a big pile of mush!! She was sooo small and had a spot on her back in the shape of a heart. She fit right into the palms of my hands. I carried her around with me everywhere if I wore a hooded sweatshirt, she rode in the front pocket, snuggled and warm!

So as Pickles started growing, I noticed she was much bigger than any "teacup" anything, and hyper to boot. Turns out she was just the runt of the litter and is half Chihuahua and half Jack Russell Terrier. So much for my small dog. Don't get me wrong she is still small, but not anywhere near teacup size. Pickles is a loveable little pooch.....to me, my husband, my mom and my dad.

As for other people.....she has issues....to say the least. Pickles has become increasingly more aggressive towards people she doesn't know, and to me and my husband.

Fast forward 4 and half years, Jackson is 8 months old and on the move, trying desperately to crawl so he can cause all kinds of trouble! when I said before that my heart melted, it really was very small compared to the feeling of having a baby.

So these two things connect because the thought of giving Pickles away to someone or worse the doggy farm just breaks my heart. I have always been an animal lover and grew up with dogs and cats, and one hampster (R.I.P Wally).

HOWEVER and this is a big however....the thought of Jackson crawling around being with the animals, worries me. So far Pickles has stayed as far away from Jackson as possible with the occasional sniff here or there, but I am worried that once he does start walking that one wrong movement towards Pickles will make her nip or even bite Jackson.

Just even thinking about my human baby being hurt, regardless of how or by who/what makes me cringe. So as you can imagine the thought of my furry baby hurting my human baby makes it that much worse.

So my question is ....when do you make the decision to try and find your furry baby a new home? Before anything happens and always wonder if anything would have happened, or when it is too late and you are faced with the guilt that you should have done something sooner???

Monday, February 1, 2010

New hobby

I am so excited this morning, I tracked my package from Amazon, and it will be delivered today!!

Since the economy has taken a huge dive, most of us have had to make adjustments to our lifestyles. I for one am a HUGE believer in trying to do things yourself before hiring someone to do it for you, granted there are things that you should NEVER try yourself, for example..Plumbing and Electricity....you could do more damage and possibly hurt yourself!!

Ok, so on to my new hobby, I have been utterly addicted to YouTube for about a year now...please no need for an intervention ..I'm perfectly aware of my addiction and no I will not go for treatment.

There are pages and pages of DIY gurus for Make-up, Hair, Nails, Skin and so on. Some of these ladies have never gone to school for these things, they chose to do it themselves and practice practice practice. These women are soo inspiring! One make-up guru is self taught, a woman who loves make-up and was tired of the "average sized" woman not feeling like we could fit in with others...she started with YouTube doing Make-up tutorials and now has her own make-up line which by the way is sold at one of the most recognized beauty stores...Sephora!!! Can you believe it?!

So I have called several schools and paid a visit to one... I will get to that in a minute...but as far as the money for the schooling it is pretty comparable for the 6-12 months that you attend, however in terms of payoff in the long run, you really need to be dedicated to furthering yourself, because lets face it, most Beauty School graduates don't stray farther than the local Salons and nail shops, which isn't neccessarily a bad thing, I know many very talented people in the field, but unless you are really in love with it, does it really pay off lets say to graduate and work at a Cost Cutter?? I don't know and certainly not going to judge those that do.

So when I went to visit the one school, it was hilarious and disgusting all rolled into one giant ball of dissapointment. As we arrived and were ushered into the admin office and seated with the person responsible for all the new students, I was shocked to see a woman in her 40's wearing clothes 2 sizes to small, tongue ring, make-up caked on, hair looking like a cotton ball dipped in yellow and orange paint, with the communication skills of an 8th grader....lovely right? so as she is giving my mother and I the grand tour of the school I couldn't help but think, this woman works at a beauty school and she looks like this? Not the best first impression....then we go back to her office and she starts telling us about the various student financial aide programs.

Now coming from an escrow/real estate background I am pretty up to par with the way interest rates work......needless to say she had no clue as to what she was talking about, but you know what they say...."If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullsh*t"....I can't thinkof anything better to describe this woman....as she was baffling us with her you know what. chomping on gum, tongue ring in full view her cell phone rings and she starts yelling in another language to whomever was on the other line, hangs up and says some harsh language and looks up and says , kids...jesus christ you give them an inch and they take a mile.....wow professional.

I will never go back there again.....HA! So onto my point, thanks to the World Wide Web and Amazon, you can find just about any information you need, so taking cue from a few of the guru's on YouTube I have decided to take matters into my own hands..litterally and do my own nails.

Wow long story to such a short point right? Wish me luck!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Hello blogging world!!!! I'm Jenny and have been married to my husband Chris for a year and 4 months now, we have a 7 month old son Jackson who is the most amazing and interesting creature in our lives!!!

So I am brand new to the blogging world. I know a couple of people who belong to blogging communities and decided I would give it a try. If I ramble or make no sense please bear with me =)

I got laid off from my job in August 2009, my husband and I decided it would be best that I stay home with Jackson while I could. The daycare world can be very scary! It is so hard to find someone you can trust with your most prized possession, especially scary when you hear about kidnappings and sitters shaking babies. So I feel very lucky to be able to be home with my lovie.

Everyday Jackson seems to do something new and discover something different, and its wonderful to be able to see these things everyday. I hope someday he will truly know how much I love him and cherish our days together.

So the weather here has been weird, we have had lots of rain and cold winds, and for a split second some snow. I was born and raised in California and I LOVE the warm sunny weather, but it never fails that when it gets so hot that you can't function I wish for cooler weather, and when its cold and windy and rainy I wish for warmer weather.

I believe 2010 is the year of the Baby, I will be attending three baby showers this year, maybe more to come you never know! Two of my friends and my cousin are having babies in March, April and May, I can't wait! I just love babies, their little fingers and toes, and tiny faces. If it's not obvious by now my life at this point revolves around my baby and every little cute thing he does.

Well I think I am done for the day!