Category: Girly

There’s a scene in the plush performance classic The Muppets Take Manhattan where Miss Piggy chases a purse snatcher through Central Park, eventually apprehending him and kicking his petty thieving butt. I would watch this scene over and over, not to marvel at the endurance and speed of the lady pig in the satin lavender heels, but to hear this random sound byte probably created by an unheralded genius in the sound effects lab.

The snatcher is rummaging through Piggy’s bag, looking for cash but finding only tubes of Clinique lipstick, a pressed powder compact and a miniature blow-dryer, and the sound of all of her accouterments clicking together like a little percussion band of girly-ness was music to my ears. If handbags had a mating call, this one would have attracted every masculine luggage accessory in the park, it was so delightfully feminine.

I heard the same sound in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind last week when Clementine picks through her tote bag on the train. Her purse emits the same clackety-clackety clatter of clutter. Clem may not be as girly as Miss Piggy, but she is her own kind of feminine, from the way she hides her vulnerabilities under her floral sunshine quilt down to her black thong and the bruise on her butt.

I went through a toile phase. I wanted to do preppy grosgrain trimmed curtains in lavender toile, but it’s not easy to find a pattern that isn’t navy, black, crimson, or the once-in-a-while mocha. I finally did come across a lilac shade, but the scene was all men with fishing poles when I really had my heart set on ladies wearing hats and riding those spindly bicycles with the one giant wheel.

I was able to forgive toile for overlooking purple when I saw this bag at fredflare.com. I think hot pink is a laudable substitute for purple.

This defines classy prepster with a splash of color.

If anything was ever going to push me over from being a “this is what I did/observed/wondered today” blogger to a “single and looking and pretty damn proud of it” blogger, it would be the unsolicited postal item that arrived for me sometime last week. The Wedding Channel magazine sat out on the hearth, where miscellaneous newspapers, catalogs and junk mail get shuffled back and forth each week, without really catching my attention until today, when I grabbed it for the car ride up to Target. After exclaiming like a giddy maid-of-honor-to-be about several cute ideas and clucking shamefully at the vast assortment of strapless dresses that made up 90% of the 125 Chic and Sexy Gowns spread (you’ll look naked if the photographer shoots your shoulders and up!), I asked my mom what inspired her to make this news stand purchase. I assumed she’d picked it up for some nostalgic purpose or that someone she knew was recently engaged.

“Actually,” she said, “it came in the mail – addressed to you!”

She said she tore the incriminating address labels off the minute it arrived to save me from a complex. Telling me that the address labels were what brought the matrimonial literature into my vulnerable hands defeated that purpose. Some well-intentioned secrets are meant to be kept! And if this isn’t a societal message to ladies who happen to be maintaining a really strong single streak, I don’t know what it is.

It almost made me mad enough to put down the magazine and pick up something feminist and uproaring instead. But then I would feel like a t-shirt with “bride” spelled out in rhinestones would never again in a million years be a bridal shower fashion option, and so what if I’m the kind of girl who just likes to keep her options open?

I got my Student Visa in the mail today! A big sticker with a shiny foil seal on a brand new page of my passport, next to the immigration stamps from Chile. I can’t believe that, one year ago, I was planning for my Outward Bound trip. Back then I chuckled because two pairs of long underwear, a few layers of fleece and my headlamp filled up very little of my rolling duffle bag. This week I’ve started interjecting phrases like, “Wow, I’m never going to fit everything” into every day conversation and searching for extra expandable panels in my suitcases.

I’m allowed to check two pieces of luggage and carry-on one bag and one ‘personal item.’ Will they mind if my personal item is a regulation-Santa-Claus-sized pack over my shoulder or a camp trunk? Whatever happened to the “You Bring It You Carry It” Girl Scout camping trip mantra? “You can bring as many stuffed animals and Kaboodle Kits full of glitter lip gloss as you think you require, but if you can’t drag your loot to the A-frame on your own, I don’t want to hear a word of it!” If I’m ambitious enough for an extra rolling suitcase I think I deserve the right to try!

I’m prepared to go without a Kaboodle’s worth of lip gloss, or any glittered cosmetic, for that matter. But what stuffed friend will I take with me?

Quote of the day: ” All I need’s a fast machine, I’m gonna make it all right” – Sheryl Crow

Back to school post-wisdom teeth removal/recovery weekend, I was about to be sad about missing the first snow, but judging by the current greenness of the green, I didn’t miss much anyway. Holly got a haircut at Ochoa this afternoon and I almost didn’t recognize her. It’s still long but it’s all style-y. There’s a small part of me that thinks I could pull off style-y hair if I put in any effort at all. Ochoa even has a “scale of hair color,” one being black, ten being platinum. The shampoo guy told Holly that she is a seven, which means that she is way blonder than she would have ever admitted without salon-documented proof. I am making an appointment tomorrow in the hopes that a professional will be able to confirm, once and for all, that I am a strawberry blonde.

I’m writing my children’s literature paper on Harry Potter and his self-image and how his role models and peers influence his own perception of himself (Ms. Wassall would loathe that sentence for it’s redundency and excessive use of reflexive pronouns.) I’m so into the topic though, I wish I had a month to write it instead of about four days. A. Pearce gave me an extension due to extenuating dental circumstances, but I promised myself I would finish it with enough time to shenanigan when Lindsay comes this weekend and most most most definitely before Thanksgiving break.

Holly says, “Put that away, we’re doing facemasks now,” so I guess I have to go exfoliate.

Quote of the day: “And when the darkness comes, I’ll lie and wait, still playing lost and found. All at once, I break my silence, all at once.” – Pete Yorn

Mount Holyoke’s classes are challenging and their alum network expansive, but everybody knows I came back this Fall for the cutesy traditions. Elfing is this week, which means all the sophomores are staying up as late as they can to leave surprise presents and signs and candy outside the first years’ doors. And I am writing poems and tiptoing around in the middle of the night, too because I am an honorary Junior Elf! I missed it last year, and one of the sophomores had eight freshman to elf, so I adopted one of hers. I even have a secret name, Belle, and I will reveal my true identity at M&C’s this weekend. Way to keep a secret, right? No one will ever suspect a Junior to be their secret elf.

Meanwhile, I have somehow become a dorm rep for 2006 Class Board, so I am also organizing Big Sisters & Little Sisters in Mead. I’m in it for the ice cream, man!

Quote of the day: “Well, I’m no savior, But I tried to save you, With all my love that rages high inside.” – Leona Naess