11.19.04

This morning, I dragged myself out of bed and zoned my way through Bus Orgs. I went to work, settled myself in my routine and called my mom to wish her a happy birthday.

There was a time when I thought of her first and my mom's birthday second. My old roommate reminded me that it's been five years to the date today. When she died, everyone that loved her felt it. More than a tragedy, a suicide leaves behind all these unraveled pieces. All my best friends are my best friends because we were together that night and were together in the days that followed. We had a one year memorial. Then the year after that, another one. I can't remember where I was the year after that or the year after and now, today was a day just like any other. I was startled by how quickly those wounds sewed themselves back up.

I wonder if anyone else remembers. We've all come so far from a group of college sophomores, bewildered and bereaved.

Don't hesitate to show anyone you appreciate them. You never know when you'll have to say goodbye.

from Marjorie's page

"Don't search for the answers, which could not be given you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."

Clinique effed up my face

No kidding. They put purple and silver shadow EVERYWHERE and lined my upper but not my lower lid. Additionally, the MUA did not curl my lashes before applying mascara. I looked terrible.



I stood in line for 2 hours at the Clinique Fresh Faces truck for that wonderful souvenir.

I went home and added some eyeliner. Here's the after picture:



I still don't get how they made me look 14 in the professional picture.

corner lashes

I'm obsessed with full lashes. I usually put the corner lashes on top of a set of regular lashes, but since two sets of Darkness lashes don't layer very well, I had to settle with just one set. It was cute anyway.



Full face:



I'm wearing the drug store foundation again. That's why my face looks so white.

Daily injustices (things that suck)

1) Best Buy's Insurance Policy

I bought one for my laptop. The spacebar key feels weird. I came in and asked them order me a new one. The Geek Squad guy told me they would have to send it into the service center. Estimated wait time for them to get it back to me? 2-4 weeks. 2-4 weeks?? Without my laptop??? Do they want to take my right arm too? Never. I asked if I could just take it there myself, have them look at it and order a replacement part for me. The answer was no. There was no way for it to be done any faster. I don't understand how HP can do my repairs and mail it back to me within 2-3 days but Best Buy needs 2-4 weeks. They suck.

2) The lady at the DMV

I went to take a new picture since my license expires next week. I made an appointment, barely had to wait, and so excited to finally take a good picture. I headed over to the picture taking area. There was no one else there. The lady motioned for me to come forward. I stood in front of the screen and started smoothing down my hair. SNAP. FLASH. What. The. She didn't even wait for me. What is the rush?? She sucks.

This was a shorter list than I expected. I guess not that many things suck.

birthday sex!

Favorite costume of the night:

Cavewoman Costume- How To

I started taking pictures of the process and realize that I didn't know how to make a cave woman costume. It's very ad hoc; I fitted things to my body and adjusted it until it fit. I just decided to do a really brief how-to since I took all those pictures anyway.

The top is a modified halter top and the bottom is just one big piece of fabric that I wrapped around my waist.

Step 1: selecting the materials

1) 1 yard of fabric. I find it easiest to work with knits or jersey. They're stretchy so you don't have to be exact with the cut.
2) scissors
3) fabric glue or iron-on fabric tape
4) needle and thread
5) SAFETY PINS- can't stress this enough




This is one yard of fabric. ($5 at Michael Levine downtown)

Step 2: creating the pattern

I used an old halter top to create a pattern.



I folded the halter top in half and used a sharpie to draw the pattern on the piece of fabric that I folded in half.





I didn't follow the butterfly shape of the halter top because I didn't want it to split at the bottom. I also cut out an extra piece of fabric for the back of the halter top.

Step 3: Assembling the pieces



The piece of fabric to the left is the back of the top ("back") and the piece of the fabric to the right is the front of the top ("front").

I sewed point A of the back to point A of the front, and point B-back to point B-front. Then I cut the back in half along the dotted line.

Step 4: Modifying to fit

I tied the top of the front around my neck and the back around my waist, like you would with a normal halter top. I used small pieces of fabric to make straps on the front of the halter top. The horizontal lines on the the front indicate where I've modified the straps (you'll see what I mean in the next picture).



I had an old bra, so I actually glued the shirt to the front of the bra to make sure it doesn't move. This isn't necessary. I also added a seashell necklace as a belt.

Final touch, use fabric tape to tape down the frayed edges of the costume. Also, fold the back pieces in half and glue it, so when you tie the halter top around your waist, the white parts of the fabric don't show.

Happy Halloween!