Hey you! Delicate flower! Yeah, you should really park over there...

I find the singling out of female drivers especially funny in a place where anything goes when you're behind the wheel.  I am not sure whether this is supposed to be a reward for taking our chances on the street or punishment for our perceived driving inabilities.  It's either, "Sorry you had to go through that, please feel free to park here," or "Jesus look out!  Please don't park by the menfolk.  We don't want you girlies denting up the car next to ya." 

I will say that, of the crazy drivers on Manila streets, the women are the LEAST of our problem.  If there's a blinker engaged or a full stop at a stop sign (or hell, stop LIGHT), I will often look over and see a woman behind the wheel.  

At any rate, it's pretty damn funny that they'd go to the trouble of painting a sign.  You can't tell by the picture but this is a whole row reserved for females .... right next to the garage entrance.  

Oooooh - I just had a thought though.  What if they started doing this at clubs or restaurants but instead of just "parking for females" it became "parking for females in high heels"?  OMG - I might actually get to wear those fancy shoes I'm always dreaming about. 

I can't wear pointy shoes anymore...and 35 other ways my mid-30s differ greatly from my mid-20s..

1. My flats now officially outnumber my heels.

2. My freckles are combining to form one, large superfreckle.

3. I will never experiment with dark hair colors - gray is only well concealed by blonde.  Sorry my brunette friends.  It's a fact.

4. Vodka is (still) not my friend and more importantly, I am finally realizing she never really was.  Bitch.   

5. I rarely stay up past 11 or sleep in later than 7. 

6. I floss....more than once a day and without anyone telling me to. 

7. I unashamedly buy prunes at the grocery store and actually like the way they taste. 

If you buy this bag, you can trick yourself into thinking you're eating "plums" and not prunes.  Let's not get all attentiony to detailsy ok?  I know they're the same.

8.  My idea of a fun birthday is going to a midget restaurant and going to bed early enough that I can still make the Saturday morning market at 0730. (Seriously, that's what we're doing tonight.  Going to the "Hobbit House" - please try to tell me you're not jealous.  LIAR!)

9. My coffee maker cost more than most people's yearly salary in the Philippines. 

10. I still spend hours at the gym but I have realized life is too short not to have a piece of cake every once in a while. 

11. On the rare occasion I am spotted at "the club", I am usually trying to locate an empty barstool because...#12.

12.  I can't wear pointy shoes anymore....or let's be honest, ANY heels for more than 2 hours.  Screw you heredity and bad decisions!! Screw you!  

13. People are FINALLY doing the math.  She's 35?  Yeah...maybe she's really NOT having kids.  

14.  I think I'm in a different census bracket.  

15. My oldest nephew is in college....and has been for a while now.  This must hurt my sister worse than it does me. BWAHAHAHAHAHAH!!  

16.  The outside of the card that my husband gave me this morning says, "To the 35 year old woman who lives with me." WTF?!?!  I shudder to think what it says on the inside.  Then again, it's atop a Hermes bag so how bad could it be??

17. OMG 17! I don't even remember you anymore!

18. I no longer tight roll my jeans although I did give into the skinny jeans trend some time ago.  I am ashamed....(yes, I know that tight rolling was not a 2003 kinda thing but a 35-item-long list is tough ok??)

19. My toes are perpetually polished....and almost always by someone else!  BAM!  I found a 35 year old perk. 

20. I cook.  Like....a lot.  Real meals and shit. 

21. I barely remember what it's like to live in Texas but I will never stop being a Texan!

22. I haven't cried at the sound of a Matchbox Twenty song in over 10 years but I still sing along (er...yell) with P!nk.  That bitch speaks the truf!

23. I no longer consider tight jeans and a halfsy top wardrobe staples.  That is HALF true.  

24. I am a responsible and dedicated pet owner.  Consider this an open apology to Harley, Chevy and Rufus - who I loved but didn't really know how to take care of. 

25. There it is - 25.  TEN EFFING YEARS AGO?!?!  What the hell happened? Well, everything, thank god. 

26. In six months, I will have been away from "home" for 10 years. 

27. I looooooooove grocery shopping.  I liked it in my mid-20s but I couldn't afford anything so, as you can imagine, not so fun.  Now I could (happily) spend a whole day at Wegmans or Harris Teeter or Kroger or Target Superstore.  Sigh...I miss 'Murrica. 

28. I am a wife...and a pretty good one most days. 

29. I regularly plan for retirement and can visualize the library I will build in our dream home....on a lake...surrounded by animals...and family...and....you get the idea. 
 

That picture is like porn to me.

30. I don't thoughtlessly destroy furniture on creative whims.  Hello decoupage!

31. I covet...and can actually afford a full set of Le Creuset cookware.  

32. I have transitioned into quality vs. quantity.  At least, in my mind I have.  Hard.to.let.go.

33. I am pretty good at keeping plants alive.  When I first started dating Z, he had me watch his cactus "Clint" when he went out of town.  I left Clint on the patio - in the winter - in Virginia.  Whoops.
 

RIP Clint

34. I realize I still have a lot of growing up to do but I try to be a better person every day because even though I hope I have a lot of livin' to do, you just never know. 

35. I am happy.  For real....really happy.

How has your life changed in the last 10 years?  Hey FB friends and family...feel free to respond on my actual blog.  I can ask you to do this because, dammit, it's my birthday! :)

When I die, bury me in shoes that sparkle

There are a lot of things I miss right now.  I miss my family, my friends, my dog, excessive cable channels, cooking, target, and the list goes on.  But I also miss being a girl.  My mom was kind enough to send my boots in the mail and I loove having the little splash of color out here in the desert but what I really miss, is being a freakin' girl.  And part of being a girl??? Flowery, colorful, ridiculously beautiful and extravagant....high heels!!!  I bought a phenomenal pair of Rene Caovilla's while we were in Vegas and I can NOT wait for an excuse to wear them.  So keep them safe dear mother in law and keep that daughter of yours at bay....cause I WILL BE BACK!!!!!!

Forgive the haphazard photo....we were in Vegas after all.   I couldn't be bothered to rebuckle (fine motor movement would have been required).  And I guess I couldn't take a moment to find a proper back drop....sigh...

But OHHHH!!!  They still sparkle

Rene Caovilla's shoes are seriously like a work of art.  If it's not the sparkly soles, it's the flowery and delicate adornments. 

 SO I say this....if I die, bury me in sparkly things.  And for goodness sake, if you cremate me...don't burn the shoes!!!!

Tysons Corner with Kendall --DANGER DANGER DANGER!!

 A day of shopping with Miss Kendall started off at Nordstrom.  They were having a fall shoe preview but we decided that fall was way way way away in Texas and that although these little fringy numbers were cute, she wouldn't get to wear them for a long time.

 So we got these!  Which are totally appropriate for a 14 year old!

 See!  I'm sure these will be fine for Spanish class!

 This is where the DANGER DANGER DANGER comes from.  Kris and John are definitely in trouble with this one!

BUT...before my sister kills me, these are NOT the shoes we ended up buying.  Unfortunately, Kendall is the only one with a pic of those so you'll just have to wait to see what her final decision was.

 Both of us decided we need one of these hanging racks in our rooms/closets.  How super convenient for outfit planning!!!  

 This was a winner of a shirt...especially with her little blue tank top underneath.  Brought through some blue that wasn't in the shirt so it looked super cute with the jean shorts.

 Ah yes.  It figures the only picture of me is the one where I'm digging out my wallet.  Perfect!

Testing out some of her boyfriend's perfume

Ok...so I got something for myself too

Don't we make good mannequins?  Ok, one of us does...I unfortunately was looking the wrong direction.

Misguided Angels

Finally made the time to visit a nearby boutique (at the suggestion of my lovely neighbor Callie).  Misguided Angels is a small clothing and accessories boutique in Ashburn.  Definitely worth the stop although next time I will remember that I am a much better shopper when I'm NOT in my workout clothes.  One sight of myself in the mirror and I immediately made the decision not to try on clothes.  Something about being dressed for shopping...don't know what it is.  I'm not talking about high heels and poofy hair but shorts and a cute top might have compelled my to try on some of their clothes.

Then again, maybe clothes don't make the difference.  Callie looked cute as can be and she wasn't terribly motivated to try anything on either.  This is where you might actually deduce that there really wasn't that much to try on and that I'm only trying to be nice to the store.  That's partly true.  They did have some cute things but not a ton.  It is a smallish store so I can't say I blame them.

We were able to stock up on some very fun jewelry however.  Callie has an eye for earthy-summery items (wood, turquoise, etc) and we were both on the lookout for stuff to match recent clothing purchases (maybe that's why we shied away from the clothes eh?). 

They also had some lovely shoes that I really wouldn't mind having were it not for my jacked up feet.  Some day, my high heels will be back where they rightfully belong....on my feetsies!  Right now, they're more art than function.  But I digress.

Here are the lovelies they had in the store: 
 

We also saw this shirt in the store.  I was immediately drawn to it because it is exactly the same shade as some ballet flats that I purchased recently.  The only problem was, I really really hated the lace on the bottom.  I considered buying it anyway and chopping off the lace but there's something distasteful about buying a brand new shirt you have to...well....edit.  :(

And these are some of the little baubles I picked up:

 

I really liked the store's dressing room.  It was very plush and girly...just like a boutique dressing room ought to be.  Needless to say, I'll be going back sometime in the future and maybe next time, I will actually try something on!