Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Random Thoughts from 2009 - Day 5

Board Games and Card Games make me feel like a kid again. I started playing cards early with my Grandma Great (aka Great Grandmother). I was probably 4 or 5 but I could play a mean Old Maid. Then I moved on to Rummy with my grandmother where we had a running score sheet that got saved throughout my college years and we played whenever I was home. My grandmother would complain when I beat her, which I did a lot, but it was our thing. Now, I am really into Phase 10 and this new Mystery Card game that we played through out the Christmas holiday. Tom and I played against my parents and we lost bad every time. There was histrionics, whining, laughter and a little bit of crying. It did not help that my parents weren't good winners as my Dad paraded around the dining and living room doing his happy dance! Oh well, next time!

I love trying new restaurants especially if they have been in one of the magazines because a movie star has eaten there. I have dragged Wendy to L.A. Farm because of a Jennifer Aniston sighting and to Spago and the Ivy because anyone who is anyone wants to be seen at those restaurants. We have drank too many martinis at Dolce (Ashton Kutcher's restaurant) and traipsed to Table 8, L'Orangerie and Osso because they were featured in In Touch. I dragged Scott to Tavern on the Green in NYC for an overpriced lunch to be able to say I had this experience, which is hindsight is a great thing, because they have not shuttered their doors forever. Tom has been on the Rachael Ray culinary tour of Cleveland and Maui and has lived to tell the tale. Maybe my love of food and trying hip restaurants has fed my Top Chef addiction, but I want to go to Volt Restaurant in Frederick Maryland and The Dining Room at The Langham, Huntington Hotel & Spa in Pasadena, CA because of the Voltaggio brothers. I want to eat at French Laundry before I die (I just need to plan my trip to Napa ahead of time) and I am looking forward to trying a couple of new restaurants with Ann Arbor's Restaurant week starting this January.

Las Vegas is another winner - you can never get bored there and you can never go there too many times. I have been there 12 times and I always find new things to do. Given my love of restaurants and trendy bars, there are always new ones to try. There are always crazy adventures (the rooftop at the Venetian, Mr. Connecticut and the Cirque shows), once in a lifetime experiences (like getting married, shooting at AK-47 and indoor sky diving) and never to be repeated times (the nightclub Rain, New Year's Eve and being stuck in Vegas for 2 extra days due to an ice storm). Our last trip included old standbys - a baseball game and a movie in addition to the Caesar's sports book, Serendipity 3 and a Vegas buffet.

Trip to Vegas in 2010? Unlikely - too many other trips planned. Cards, Rachael Ray restaurants and fun in Florida? Most definitely!

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Random Thoughts from 2009 - Day 4

Given that I am kinda of a klutz I am on a first name basis with my doctors. I e-mil my primary care physician and we discuss my issues without having to come into the office. I love women doctors, since we have the same chromosome pairings, they have actually experienced the same sh*t. In February, I woke up with excruciating pain and we were off to the ER where we clearly did not get the smartest bulb on the tree doctor. I explained my blood curdling pain and he told me I was just ovulating. I said (and not very nicely) "First of all, I have ovulated for 23 years and this is NOT what it feels like. Second, I have no ovary on this side, so go fish!" Off he went to ponder what to do next! He came back and said he was waiting for my blood work to determine what to do next. I said no blood has been taken. He said "Yes, it has". I assure you it had not. I know if someone pokes me with a large needle. I may be on morphine for the pain, but I am not under anesthesia! Again he leaves and 5 minutes later, lo and behold someone comes to take my blood (really this time). After 12 fun filled hours of this, we find out I have a kidney stone and off I go home with some heavy duty painkillers! Are you kidding me? Did he get his degree at Doctors R Us? Really, I know more from being a Bio minor.

Birthdays are awesome! One day is not enough to celebrate the fabulousness of my life, so I insist on at least of week of fun! I have had some interesting birthdays (Bar hopping in Key West on my 22nd Birthday), embarrassing birthdays (being sung Happy Birthday at Planet Hollywood in NYC on my 21st birthday), boring birthdays (being stuck in Corinth in a snow storm on my 20th birthday) and life changing birthdays (getting engaged on my 33rd birthday) but I always enjoy hanging out with my family and friends, opening presents and eating cake! I have spent a good number of birthdays since I moved to Ann Arbor eating crab leg dinners at Real Seafood, drinking martinis and celebrating multiple times. I would not have it any other way! In 2010, I will be 3 Dozen, so we will have to have a clever party to celebrate!

Birthday Extravaganzas with MJ, Fay, Murph and Mindy are always fun. These occur 3 times a year and usually go as follows: appetizers and mimosas, followed by lunch and martinis, followed by shopping and maybe another afternoon beverage for good measure. How many days we have spent huddled onto Murph's couches as we contemplate the long drive (2 miles) from her house to PF Chang's and if anyone is sober enough to drive or does Sean have to take us there. Good times had by all!

Here's to a Happy and Healthy 2010 with no visits to the ER and a rockin' birthday celebration!

Monday, December 28, 2009

Random Thoughts from 2009 - Day 3

I love Ichiban! It is like Bennihana where they cook your meal in front of you. I never tire of the onion volcano or the knife tricks that our chef, Soy Sauce performs. It makes me happy when they throw shrimp at you and you have to try and catch it!

Billy Joel also makes me happy! Molly, Liz, and I went to Syracuse during college to see Billy Joel and Elton John perform. We obviously are die hard fans because we slept on the floor in a boys dorm room, used communal bathrooms and put up with stinky boys in our quest to rock out to "Only the Good Die Young" and "We Didn't Start the Fire." This year, Liz, Molly and I were at the Mohegan Sun casino and there was a Billy Joel cover band. They immediately transported us back to our college days, especially when we met some crazy guys in the bar who were middle aged and acting like they were in high school!

Twilight is terrific! I devoured the four books in record time and I love the movies! I want Bella, Edward and Jacob to all get along and live happily ever after together. I hosted a Twilight party this year complete with Bloody Bella martinis! I am now the proud owner of a Twilight Calendar, Twilight journals and all the Behind the Scenes books.

The Jaycee ski trip was another fun event. Tom and I won the lottery and we got the private bedroom and bathroom for the weekend. We played games, hung out and went tubing. We were swishing down the hills like world class skiers (but on inner tubes) as the wind whipped in our face. We needed goggles and then with our scarves flapping, we would have looked like Snoopy as the Red Baron! The whole group went out to a Mexican restaurant and the waiter brought us complimentary bowls of soup to share. Too bad the single boys were sitting next to one another, they had to share a bowl of soup. Hilarity ensued as some soup was spilled, tiki drinks were imbibed and Scott sampled chips and salsa from the nearby table as we headed out of the restaurant!

Now if I could just eat at Ichiban with Tom and Scottie and Edward and Jacob while listening to Billy Joel, I would be a happy girl!

Friday, December 25, 2009

Random Thoughts from 2009 - Day 2

In honor of Christmas Day and the fact that my father is giving me sh*t for not writing a blog for him to read in 2 days, I think my random thought of today is that Christmas is absolutely cool! Tom and I made it home to Corinth this year with only about a 15 minute flight delay which is about 2 hours and 45 minutes better than our escapade last year. As we stumbled in to the airport at 12:15 a.m., the Albany airport was bustling, something that you might see 2 - 3 times per year. Families were out in full force with ugly Christmas sweaters, reindeer ears on their heads and Santa hats. Luckily for us, my parents refrained from that nonsense!

Christmas is a time to be lazy. When else do you have the opportunity to eat a lot of all your favorite foods, not exercise and not feel bad about it? Christmas is all about family and celebrating the birth of Jesus and we take these things seriously. However, we take some of our other traditions pretty serious as well. Every year, I wear a red plaid skirt to church. This skirt makes it appearance maybe twice a year but always seems festive for Christmas Eve mass. Who cares that the people I see at church every year think I own one outfit? I rock that outfit! I have pictures of me sitting in front of the tree every year rocking that outfit. The shoes and the shirt may change but the skirt is a tradition.

Another custom we have is going to see a movie on Christmas night. After presents, trying on new clothes and stuffing ourselves to the gills, the movies give us a reason not to put our pajamas on at 7 p.m. This year we watched It's Complicated - can't remember what we saw last year, but I am sure it was equally as must see. It doesn't matter what movie it is, it matters that we get there early to get a seat and complain about the bad pre-movie show that we have to suffer through.

Alcohol is another fun custom. We have a morning drink, afternoon drinks, drinks with dinner and if we can still stand, a night cap. Everything seems more festive with a martini glass in your hand!

Over the year's I remember my grandmother spending the night on the couch on Christmas Eve and waiting patiently for us to be allowed out of our rooms at 7 a.m. for the fun to begin. I remember the Secret Santa gifts from Christmas Eve where you drew names (between the 4 of us) and had to buy a $5 gift. I remember we forced my Dad to actually buy his gift by himself instead of making my Mom do it!

I remember eating at Macaroni Grill in Ann Arbor on Christmas Eve as that was one of the only restaurants open and I remember going to see the play Scrooge with Mom, Dad and Tom where my Dad was the only one that thought the 1 man play was not a snore. Growing up, I remember my sister and I fighting to have the last present to open and counting how many boxes we had under the tree making sure that the other one did not even get one more!

Now, I talk to my sister on the phone like 5 times on Christmas Day and I laugh at my niece and nephew dressed as Mr and Mrs Santa Claus until the pee and throw-up on those outfits and change to being a reindeer and a polar bear. I listen to my niece KellieLynn tell me that I need to go home right now and play Wii Fit Plus because it is totally fun and that she is going to beat Uncle Tom at it the next time she sees him!

Now, I hang out with my husband who eats my Mom's homemade fudge like it is a food group, eat up my Mom's yummy food and watch my Dad stop and try out every Christmas present he gets, stopping present opening for at least 3 minutes each time.

Oh, well, I guess it's time to make another round of Martinis and be thankful for my awesome life!

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Random Thoughts from 2009 - Day 1

I was reading Jennifer Lancaster's blog, Jennsylvania the other day and she had random thoughts about Christmas. I thought - great idea, just throw out there all the crazy things I am thinking about so the world can know how truly neurotic I am. Sounds wonderful!

Wii is one of our obsessions. Tom loves Guitar Hero and has been known to invite people over for hours while I pass out on the couch or say the heck with it, and just go to bed with guests still there. He even has Guitar Hero underwear to show his passion for it! I received Wii Fit for Christmas. This game rocks - there is Pilates, yoga, step aerobics and boxing. 10 minutes of non-stop hula hooping makes me huffy puffy yet Tom always manages to call when I am doing this. It is like an internal alarm in him and if I do not answer the cell phone, he moves onto the Blackberry, then the home phone and there is no pause button in the middle of hooping. I just got Wii Sports Resort for Christmas 2010 and at 11:30 p.m. Tom and I were beating each other over the head with Sword Play and looking like we were churning butter in the living room as we tried to canoe through the race course. Seriously, we are a sight when we play Wii!

Bar Trivia is fun. We started playing this fall at the Brown Jug after softball and it has continued. When it is time to phone a friend, we call Google on the IPhone as our friends are not smarter. We have won or placed more times than not, but we suck for a team name. We are just "Team 8." Nothing more, nothing less. We are unimaginative! The last 2 weeks we won on the final questions - we go big or go home!

Odd games are fun. At the JCI January Board Meeting we played a dice game called Maya. Sugar packets kept track of points and the ante was $1 each. We were big spenders! No game would be complete without being threatened by the bartender that he was going to call the police because gambling is outlawed in Missouri. Seriously? The pot never topped $18! Also, there is apparently a law also that they can not sell alcohol at 12 p.m. and it is illegal to sit in the lobby doing nothing after that point as well. Can't wait to go there in a couple of weeks again! Wonder if the cops will actually come this year :)!

Well I just realized I have lots of random thoughts so I think in the spirit of Christmas, I think I will do the 12 Days of Random Thoughts. We will see what turns up!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Behind the Scenes

Since I love TV, it only seems appropriate that I like to go to tapings of TV shows. In college, Molly, Amanda and I went to see the Sally Jess Raphael show. She really has crazy red glasses. We went to see the David Letterman Show. Dave likes it cold. Cold enough to wear gloves, a scarf and a coat during the taping. We got to see Howard Stern in a dress giving a lap dance to Dave. How many people can say they saw that live?

Then it was off to Saturday Night Live (SNL) with Britney and Alesha. We got to see all the classic players - Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, David Spade. Kim Basigner and Alec Baldwin (pre-divorce) were the guest stars and Billy Baldwin (pre-reality TV crazy) made a surprise appearance. As we sat in the galley during the rehearsals, we sang along to UB-40s "Red, Red Wine" , dodged security trying to get the stars attention!

Wendy, another coworker and I headed out to the Drew Carey Show in Burbank. We bought Sweetee Thai and tried to eat pad tai and vegetables while driving down the highway. After getting stuck in gridlock, we finally arrived to board the bus to the Warner Bros. lot. We passed through security, had our bags checked, went through the metal detectors and finally ended up in the studio. Then the fun began! We sat there for 4 hours to see a 22 minute show taped. Lori Laughlin looked anorexic, Mimi looked crazier in person and Drew Carrey was pretty funny when he was talking to the crowd. They gave us pizza and water but when we asked to go to the bathroom, you would have thought we asked to be on the show! After some cajoling, we traipsed 2 buildings away to use the restroom before being hurried back to sit in our seats and clap! I know understand when stars say the 10 - 14 hour days on the set is not fun! The coolness of being there wore off after about 45 minutes!

What shows do I still want to go to -- Rachael Ray, Oprah (but I need to hurry if I am going to get to do that). I wouldn't mind checking out Jeopardy or the Price is Right. Dream world -- maybe General Hospital but I do not think they allow visitors, so I might have to win a contest to get a walk-on role. Who knows -- I can see my name in lights!

Monday, December 21, 2009

Craziness in Cali

Wendy and I spent the majority of 2002 and 2003 in California (if you could not tell from previous posts). While there, we developed a routine -- we got coffee every day from It's a Grind, we ate fish tacos and grilled zucchini at California Fish Grill. We got our beauty treatments at Lucky Nails, drank martini's at Mike's house and Chimayo's and ate Thai at Sweetee Thai. We were locals -- we gave people directions, we were on a first name basis with the hotel staff and we had frequent shopper cards for Albertson's. We also became really good friends with some of our clients, specifically Bernadette and her family.

Bernadette is a force to be reckoned with. She is awesome and Wendy and I spent hours curled up on her couch watching TV, hanging out with her, her 2 daughters and her husband. One of our first times over at their house, we decided to play pool. All was fine until Wendy launched a ball off the table, it hit the newly painted wall and dropped to the floor. We are lucky that we were invited back to their incredibly nice Orange County house.

Bernadette was also so sweet when we were away from our families on our birthdays and such. For my 30th birthday, we off to Fashion Island in Newport Beach for dinner at Cheesecake Factory. In addition, Bernadette took me to the Build-A-Bear Workshop where the 3 of us made Fifi, a pink posh poodle that sings "Happy Birthday Bear, Happy Birthday." From there, Fifi went everywhere with us that week and pictures were taken of Fifi in the car, flying on the airplane, drinking a soda at Del Taco and Wendy carried her onto the plane in her back back. Who else can say that 3 adults made this crazy bear and they have such good memories of that birthday?

In addition, we drank sake martinis at a yummy Asian restaurant, we drank bottles of wine at family BBQs and we got food poisoning together at Rock Bottom Brewery. Doesn't everyone wish they had clients (and friends) like these?

Friday, December 18, 2009

The Comedy of Cooking

Cooking is OK. I like to entertain so I could quite a bit. I have my staples that everyone loves - macaroni and cheese, Cajun lasagna, Chinese chicken salad and anything chicken. However, not all cooking/baking is without incident.

Not too long ago my husband was making tilapia and wanted to fry it in flour. I love fish, but I will not cook fish, so I was quite excited. I pulled out the flour and went on my merry way. We sat down to eat and something looked wrong, the browning was odd. I took one bite and realized the problem. I had given him confectionery sugar instead of flour. It was the sweetest fish we ever ate, but we ate it, because that was on the menu for that night!

Next up, Fay's pumpkin birthday cake - I spent a couple of hours over the weekend making a cake in the shape of pumpkin, complete with orange frosting and candy carvings. It wasn't looking half bad until I tripped on the side walk and the cake ended up all over me and all over the drive way. Off to Meijer's to buy a cake - pissed that I had wasted so much time and money and I was bring a store made cake to the party.

Last night, Jaime and I decided that we were going to make holiday cookies. Each of us were armed with our 2 recipes and the ingredients. You would never have recognized us at the end with all the flour and powdered sugar flying. We looked like we were senior citizens as the white settled into our hair. In addition, trying to wrangle 2 pounds of powdered sugar and a huge jar of peanut butter into a buckeye was quite comical!

That's probably too much sharing for today - I don't want you to think that I can not cook and bake. Sometimes, I get distracted, I admit I make a mess when cooking, but usually people eat what I make and don't get sick.

I rock the crab cakes and quesadillas also!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

No Wonder My Stomach Hurts

My co-worker, Tim and I finished work around noon in L.A. and did not have a flight till 10 p.m. so we set off for an afternoon adventure. This time we decided to check out Griffith Park and Observatory since it is the setting of many movies - Charlie's Angels, (500) Days of Summer to name 2 that come to my cloudy morning brain. So we headed up there only to find out the Observatory was closed for 2 years for renovations. Really? Could they not do this in phases that would allow visitors to still visit? Pissed and now hungry, we decide to eat at the snack shop in the park. I order a burger, Tim orders a corn dog and we share an order of chili cheese fries. After downing enough artery clogging food for the week, we decide to take a spin on the playground ride that you push, jump on and spin. Probably not the best idea!

Feeling queasy, we decide to head off to Santa Monica Promenade to see what is happening there. As we walk around, Tim decides we need candy so off with our expense account to the candy store where he proceeds to buy an obscene amount of candy that I make him carry the rest of the day. Deciding to check out a Shrimp Shack for dinner before heading to the airport, we hop in the car, get stuck in traffic, get lost and end up 45 minutes later and the restaurant which was about 5 miles away from our starting point. As we pull in, I say, I'm not really feeling to well, I don't think I am going to eat anything. Expletives fly and we peel out of the peel and eat shrimp place and speed toward the airport. Apparently, Tim was not hungry either!

Once at the airport, we start to board the plane and I am hungry. I tell Tim to keep the candy handy. What does he do? He puts it in the overhead! I start whining and as we travel a lot together, we sound like a bickering married couple. The couple behind us tells us we are sweet. We tell the "peanut gallery" to pipe down. We spend the next 30 minutes chatting with this cute couple!

So, what is the moral of this story? We are not kids anymore. We can not shove tons of junk food into our body in one day, get twisted on a park ride and still eat dinner like a grown up!

Monday, December 14, 2009

My Must Have List of Movies, Music, Plays, TV and Books for 2009

OK, well I would be remiss in finishing up 2009 without looking back on the Movies, Music and Books that made my 2009 so interesting. I admit, I am a TV junkie. So, what, it is better than being a crack junkie. I like to lose myself in the absurdity that is fiction.

1) Prison Break Series End - this was the absolute best show on the planet, ever! Seriously, it was smart with hot bad boys and Michael made MacGyver look like a wanna be. I cried at the series finale and had a party to watch the made for DVD movie that tied up the loose ends. We took mug shots (even Vince the dog had one) and we had Teddy's Tea, Lincoln Log Cheese, Sucre's Cookies, a Michael cake and Sara's meds. What other show could give us such a party theme to run with?

2) The Wrestler - This movie is depressing and Mickey Rourke plays washed up well. But, this movie was real. You know there are people out there that are this pathetic, this stuck in the past and what could have been. It makes you want to enjoy what you have now.

3) Twilight Series - OMG! I am both Team Edward and Team Jacob. Can't they all just live happily ever after together? I devoured the books, loved the movies, and obsessed over the movie making books as I continue to plot my trip to Forks.


4) He's Just Not that Into You - This movie epitomizes the dating years before marrying Tom. Not to be a smug married, but I am so glad I am not single and having to deal with this bullsh*t again. And the fact that Bradley Cooper is in the movie, is just gravy!

5) Cleo Coyle - Coffee House Series - With names like Latte Trouble, On What Grounds and Murder Most Frothy how could I not read these 7 books in a week? They make me want to find that perfect Latte, and I think I have nearly found it at Mighty Good Roasting Company in Ann Arbor!

6) The Hangover - Bradley Cooper = Bonus! Probably one of the funniest movies I have every seen and it just reinforces my trips to Vegas that anything can happen!

7) Legally Blonde - Clearly one of the Top 5 musicals of all time. How can you go wrong with the Bend and Snap song? I agree with Elle, pink is my signature color!

8) Zombieland - Not usually my type of movie. I admit, I watched part of it with my arm over my eyes sunk down in my chair. But with rules like Cardio, the Double Tap, Beware of Bathrooms, Seatbelts and Woody Harrelson, how can you go wrong?

9) Sons of Anarchy - If I was single and a bad a**, I would want to date Jax. These biker boys know what it means to get even.

10) Jay - Z's - Run this Town and Empire State of Mind - These songs make me feel ghetto, in a good way! I feel the need to belt out Rihanna and Alicia Key's parts. When did Jay-Z get cool again? Besides the songs talk about NYC, so you had me at the first note.

11) Castle - This show is one of the few that Tom and I agree on. It is witty, has a high cuteness factor and deals with solving murders. A perfect date night at home!

12) Boom Boom Pow - You are so 2008, you are 2000 and late! This song just makes me want to dance around and that can't be a bad thing right!

I wonder what 2010 will bring!

Friday, December 11, 2009

Top 9 of 2009

As the year comes to an end, news shows are looking back at the top stories of 2009. Since my life is more exciting than the news, I thought I would go through the Top 9 events in my 2009. Here they are:

1) Trip to Connecticut with Molly and Liz
No matter how long we have been apart, as soon as we meet up, it is like we are 19 and back at Marymount College. We spent the weekend doing our usual - pedicures/manicures and martinis. We stayed a cute beach side resort. We caused trouble at the casino when these 3 guys came over and tried to pick us - the fact that Molly was 8 months pregnant did not seem to deter them!

2) Las Vegas Trip
This was an awesome adventure with 10 other Jaycee friends. We drank, we sunned, we went to the see a f'ed up Cirque du Soleil show. We had frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity 3 and checked out a minor league baseball game. What happens in Vegas, definitely makes good stories!

3) Puerto Rico Trip
This combination JCI/leisure trip saw Tom and I drinking too many rum drinks, running around the hot city on a walking tour and being drenched at the rain forest. Tom got chased by a park ranger as he was in a restricted area, but what is a trip without a little excitement?

4) Balloon Ride
Whoever said 13 is an unlucky number, did not have our balloon ride saga! On our 13th attempt was a success as we soared 2200 feet in the air. We had to pinch ourselves that our anniversary present actually happened, albeit 9 months after our 1st anniversary!

5) Susie and Jim's Wedding
Busy weekend since both sisters live in Kansas. Besides dancing the night away at a beautiful wedding, we did some shopping, saw a movie, and went to a baby shower for my sister and the twins. We survived the menagerie (2 dogs, 3 cats, and a rabbit) and 1 bathroom for 5 people at my sister's while having lots of fun!

6) Yankees win the World Series
Despite the Tigers not making the playoffs and preventing me from seeing the Yankees in the playoffs in Detroit, I was glued to the TV. I watched every game, screamed at the TV and sent Tom running to another room numerous times. I wore my "I love Yankees" necklace for 2 weeks straight, whether it matched my outfit or not.

7)Election as Executive Vice President of JCI
World Congress in Tunisia exceeded my low expectations. I had the chance to go parasailing and ride a camel - both adrenaline rushes. I was also elected to serve the Americas next year and I just got back from a quick trip to Argentina to check things out!

8) Birth of Anna Michelle and Elijah James - My niece and nephew were born on November 30th and Anna is even named after me. How cool is that? I hope see looks and acts like me and KellieLynn also! Now, my chore is to find a free weekend to go to Kansas and check them out!

9) Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting - A work trip to NY that corresponded with the tree lighting and since I had never experienced this, it was time to check it out. Along with 100,000 of my closest friends and a down pour of rain, we saw the tree being lit, heard the Christmas show (but couldn't see it) and got to hear Rod Stewart sing about his "Christmas Train."

2009 has been a good year, full of adventure, new experiences and unique opportunities. Mix in a little drama, a lot of flair and it leads to one Glam Life! Here's to a great 2010!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Men Just Don't Understand

This morning as I was looking at my eyebrows and the need to get them waxed, I realized men have it easy. Unless they are metrosexual (who have higher standards), men don't really spend much time prettying themselves up. They shower, shave semi - regularly and do enough with their eyebrows, if they are smart, not to look like Bert from Sesame Street with the unibrow. But most of the time, they do not care about the brand they are using, will easily substitute soap for shampoo in a jam and don't really think twice about the hair all over their bodies. So, I say, unless you have walked a mile in a woman's shoes, do not ever complain on how long it takes us to get ready.

Women spend a lot of time and money on our appearance. We spend large amounts of time at the hair salon getting cut, colored and styled. We sometimes miss the mark and get a hair style that we look back on with disdain, but we can say that we have not had the same hair cut since high school! We wax (and not just our eyebrows), we get manicures, pedicures and body scrubs. I have been scrubbed within an inch of my life trying to get fresh and vibrant skin.

I have been wrapped in what amounted to aluminum foil to help my body detoxify, and I have subjected my self to a mud bath to release the impurities from my skin. My Mom and I have sat in mineral baths that stink to make our skin smoother and I am married in probably 7 countries as a result of a very deep tissue massage to release the tension in my body.

But even I draw the line with some of the crazy beauty treatments available - I do not plan on having ear candling, nor cupping. I do not like hot stone massage because it leaves welts all over for body for 2 days which look gross, nor do I think a facial is worth $170 (unless of course I was filthy rich and then it would be worth every cent). But I do think that men should appreciate the efforts that most women make to look good. After all, it is not easy being me!