Happy Summer!

I hope you are all having a fantastic summer!  Things are still the same around here.  Hectic schedule, play with LJ, dinner with Jax, rinse and repeat.  But let's chit chat about something different today, shall we?

LJ's first birthday is tomorrow.  TOMORROW.  Holy shit.  One year ago at this very moment, I was in labor.  I didn't know I was in labor.  Actually, I think more appropriately, I was in labor and denial at the same time.

After about 5 hours of "cramps, " and on my mother's advice, I called the doctor's office.  When I explained what was happening, the nurse laughed at me and told me to go to labor and delivery.  I was one day shy of 39 weeks.

We got on the road to make the hour and 15 minute drive to the hospital and my contractions had finnaly gotten painful.  They were only 3 minutes apart.  It was a little scary, but I had faith that I wasn't going to have my baby on the side of the road.  By the way, they will NOT give you an epidural in the hospital parking lot.  I asked.

Long story short, I started having cramps around 11am, got to the hospital around 7pm, and had my epidural around 9:30pm.  The epi slowed my contractions, so they gave me the smalled bit of pitocin.  I was 10 cm dilated by 11pm.  After two hours of pushing, and me spiking a 102 degree fever, my baby boy was born at 1:01am.

Labor wasn't bad at all.  The first few weeks were hell.  But I would do it all over again.  LJ is perfect.  We are very blessed.

He is almost walking.  He says bo-ty (bottle), Doooo (Duke), Mama, Da-ddy (hilarious to hear), na-na (night night), bear, fiss (fish), uh-oh, and duun (done).  That's all I can think of right now.  And he signs "more" and "all done." 

He goes to bed around 7:30pm and sleeps until anywhere between 5:30 and 6:30am.  Sometimes we are lucky and he sleeps until 7, but usually it is around 6.

It is hard to believe that a year has gone by.  And I know how very lucky and blessed I am to have such a happy, healthy little boy.

Y'all have a great weekend!  We will be celebrating with good food, cake, ice cream, and fun presents!

Break

So it seems that I've taken a bit of an unintentional bloggy break.  Sorry about that.  My day is so crammed these days that I just can't seem to find the time... hell, most days I can barely put a sentence together, much less write something worth reading.  Yes, I'm whining.  It is annoying.  No one wants to read that, right?

In an effort to make everyone feel my pain- not really- I'm going to give you a run down of a day in the life of AJ.  Fasten your seat belts.

5:15- alarm goes off.  Check Twitter and see what I missed, duh.
5:30- coffee, news, try to wake up a little
5:45- more than likely LJ is waking so I have to scoop him up, get him changed, and give him some puffs
6:00- wake up Jax, hand off LJ for a bottle, start getting ready for work
6:45- start packing up LJ's stuff for the day
6:50- hopefully out the door
7:05- drop LJ off at daycare
8:25- get to work, if traffic was light I might grab a latte on the way in

*At this point I bust my ass until 5:00.  Sometimes I get a lunch break, but most often I don't.  I'm the only person in my office right now.  It super SUCKS.

5:00- leave my office to sit in traffic
6:15- get home, if I'm lucky and traffic wasn't too bad
6:17- get a glass of wine
6:20- start fixing LJ's dinner
6:30- feed LJ
6:45- LJ's bath
7:00- LJ gets a bottle
7:15- get LJ ready for bed
7:30- start cooking dinner, eat, maybe watch a show on tv
9:00- hopefully getting in bed so that I can try to get a full 8 hours of sleep

Seriously, I couldn't make this shit up.  Everyone's got their busy days. 

Cuteness Overload

My precious little boy....  He isn't really a baby anymore.  Take a look at the proof.

And my other baby boy

I'm one lucky mother.  Okay, I can't lie... that last sentence was funny.  Just me?  Sorry, I have a weird sense of humor.  I hope you all had a lovely Mother's Day weekend!

One Year Ago...

This was me about a year ago.  It is so hard to believe it was a year ago!  It seems like it has been five years.  My little baby is turning into a little boy.  And I can't lie, when I look at these I miss being pregnant. 



Oh My Girls Weekend

Yep, it has taken me this long to somewhat recover.  Well, kind of.  I'm still tired, but these days when is that not the case?  So I got an amazing stress relief by hanging with the friends who know me best.  And thank God because that means they know what to expect out of me.

We stayed on Isle of Palms in Little Daina's fiancee's beach house.  Pretty sweet.  Doesn't get much better than that!  Drinks were ON as soon as we got to the house.  And snacks.  Good Lord the snacks.  And cupcakes.  From Cupcake.  Pure heaven.

Anyway, aside from the food... the weekend was magnificent.  Joy and I slept in a striped room.  It was vomit-inducingly striped.  Navy and white stripes that made the room seem like it was spinning.  And no, that wasn't the alcohol.

We went out Friday night for Mexican.  Excuse me, nasty Mexican food.  The server couldn't speak English and gave me some strange combination of chips, beef (?), and cheese that was supposed to be nachos.  I love nachos almost as much as I love cupcakes, so this was a major travesty.  For anyone who doesn't know me, I do not hide my feelings well.  AT.  ALL.  Not to mention that the server looked at me funny when I asked where the sour cream, and gaucamole, and lettuce, and tomato, and SHIT THAT OUGHT TO BE ON FUCKING NACHOS was.  Sorry for my outburst, but I'm passionate about nachos.

Luckily, we went back to the house before anyone else could piss me off.  We had a lovely time chit chatting over wine and I actually woke up Saturday morning feeling great!

Well, great until I had breakfast.  It was fantastic, but my stomach isn't used to much more than a granola bar and coffee in the morning.  Oh, and speaking of coffee, it seems that I may have woken up everyone in the house when I went into the kitchen at 7:00am to make coffee.  It was a total Folgers moment, for sure.

Linds and I went shopping and she introduced me to the Dollar Spot at Target.  I got an awesome Royal Hat for just $2.50!  And I bought Joy some neon green Kanye West glasses... that she still hasn't worn.   Whatevs.

Since I burnt up my check card, I figured the next best thing to do was go burn on the beach.  Of course I wore my SPF, buuuuttt I may have gotten a little on the crispy side.  Actually, in some strange places.  That spray stuff is weird.  I do believe at one point in the evening I said that it looked like I had flames coming from my crotchal region.  Hmmm.  Anyway.

Little Daina's lingerie shower was hilarious.  The girl has never worn a thong in her life.  She was so cute and embarrassed and Gung-Ho at the same time.  She is pretty dang awesome.  Then we all got showered and changed and headed out to dinner.  PS. someone may or may not have gotten punched in the ass a few times by someone who might have gotten roofied out on the beach.  Or something like that.  I don't think the roofied person spoke much English, so it is hard to know really what was going on.

Dinner was nice, dancing afterward was super fun, and I was damn tired by the time we got back to the beach house.  I haven't spent that much time with the girls in a long time and it was much overdue.

As promised, I have no pictures.  Well, yet.  I might be able to steal some off of Facebook or something.  It might be a good thing that we don't do this often.  It might just kill me.  Oh yeah, and before I forget, I had a massive chocolate cupcake with a mountain of chocolate icing and fudge on top for breakfast on Sunday.  The perfect ending to a pretty perfect weekend.  xoxo to my favorite girls :)

Guest Post: Frenemies

Ladies and Gents, it is time again for a Guest Post from my good friend over at Ghostman on 3.  I'm sorry I've been so absent, but maybe this small exchange of fightin' words will make up for it.  This is how we spend our precious evenings conversing with each other.  For real.

 

The Twitterverse is all abuzz this morning, following the announcement from @ajakz of an old-fashioned street fight, aka dance-off, between herself and @jambon3. While the challenge appears to be nothing more than some "friendly competition," rest assured these things never end nicely. Feelings will get hurt, asses will be made, muscles will be pulled. It's not going to be pretty. But, then again, what duals are??

 

So, how did this all transpire?? Was @jambon3 provoking @ajakz, attempting to take advantage of @ajakz's recent knocked-upness? Was @ajakz bluffing, knowing all along she has a massive advantage (i.e., years of dance experience vs. @jambon3's years of watching Soul Train and The Grind on TV and subsequent failed attempts to replicate moves in public)? Was this just all for publicity to promote @ajakz's new movie or @jambon3's new t-shirt? Was this just an attempt to overshadow the "reason for the season," i.e., Daina? Was this the result of drunken text messages? Who will be the Vegas favorite to bring the title home? Will the world be able to pick sides without feeling guilty?

 

Anyways-the original question was, how did this all happen? It kind of (verbatim) went down like this:

 

Joy: "....I can't stand the thought of being on the receiving end of your infamous 'stank eye.' Pls smile &get drunk with me!!

 

AJ: "I told you, I'm going with the flow. It is so fucking on. Word."

 

Joy: "are you interested in bars or clubs Saturday night? Do u have any recommendations?"

 

AJ: "Doesn't matter. A bar with a tv would be nice, so I can unleash my inner redneck and check on the race."

 

Joy: "Ohhh. I don't even know who you are anymore...."

Joy: "Clubs do kind of suck....I'm a baseball gal, meself."

 

AJ: "Hmmmm, I can still bust a move with the best of 'em."

 

Joy: "Dance off!!!"

 

AJ: "Oh hell to the Yes Ma'am! Bring it."

 

Joy: "Oh Imma bring it. Its been brought (COD, though)"

 

AJ: "Imma let you finish, but I'm the best dance in the world."

 

Joy: "They call me Beyone at work...Just so you know.."

 

AJ: "Beyone? Is that like Beyonce? But the white version?"

 

Joy: "Dick"

Joy: "Beers"

 

AJ: "Dick beers? They make those? LOL"

 

Joy: "Gross. I hope not. Lol hard, tho."

Joy: "Oh. Ha. Just saw your Kayne joke. Love it!!"

 

AJ: "I love it, too!"

 

Joy: "Seriously, though. I've been accepted to this elite dance school but have befriended some African Americans who have been tring to teach my how to be cool and less white. Basically, I've got moooooves. I learnt them on th streets.."

 

AJ: "Maybe we can have a preview Friday before our big dance off Saturday in da cluuub."

 

Joy: "Hmmm...that would then give you time to practice...ehh..I guess I could hold back some.... Done."

 

AJ: "Oh, don't hold back on my account. I'm gonna go all Usher on your ass. Would say Britney, but she's cray-cray."

 

Joy: "Never! I'm bringing my meat dress, my scars from bashing Rhiana's face in, &my Justin Bieber harcut Sat nite & will probably do nothing more than embarrass myself."

 

AJ: "I'm coming in an egg/embryo."

 

Joy: "I'm going to just appear...there may be an explosion and some lights or something, but I will seemingly appear from fire...."

 

AJ: "I'm going to wear a big snake."

 

Joy: "I'm going to light my jheri curl in fire &pee my pants on-stage. I may or may not lip-synch my greatest hits."

 

AJ: "Well I'm gonna get fat and then go on Jenny Craig, the be on Dancing with the Stars and make out with Madonna at the mtv awards."

AJ: "I might even commission Weird Al to make a parody of the whole thing."

 

Joy: "I'm going to shave my head and go pantiless. I might dance at some point, while I pretend to not be married to Jay-Z."

 

So, as you see, it began very friendly and quickly turned durrrrty. And by dirty, I mean ridiculous. But, let's not be distracted by all the hype. Because there is going to be hype. Let's just focus on one thing: Are you Team Joy or Team AJ? You can't be both, and you can't choose neither. It's kind of like the ultimate "Sophie's Choice" but set in the lovely Charleston, as opposed to the Holocaust...

 

This Dance Off will commence Saturday night, or sometime this weekend.  One of us will post pictures- I think you know it probably won't be me, but I will try!  Have a good one!

Hey Summer, You Are Being Warned

When I left for work yesterday morning, it was almost cold outside.  When I returned?  It was warm, the air was heavy with moisture... and it was awesome.  Summer is coming!  And I intend to make every moment count.  I plan to spend all of my time in the sun, water, and fresh air with my family and friends.

As far as I am concerned, summer officially begins next weekend.  One of my dear friends from high school is getting married and we are celebrating the end to her single days with a nice, relaxing weekend at the Isle of Palms.  Okay, so maybe not relaxing, but I swear my goal is to get a nap in at some point (please?!). 

So I can just jet over after work and begin a little mini-vacation!  YAY!  The plan so far... food, drinks, more food, more drinks... and some time on the beach (weather permitting).  My new bikini is on the way.  I can't wait!!!

And OHMAHGAWD, my baby is turning a year old in less than TWO months!  I seriously might die.  Time to start the party planning!  They say that the party for the first year is more of a celebration for the parents.  You know, like, "We made it a whole year and he is still breathing!  High five!"  Yep, that will be us.  Because a lot of this year has been more about survival than anything else.  And it has been amazing.

Alright summer, BRING. IT. ON!

My Stories

A couple of years ago, my favorite soap was cancelled.  I watched Guiding Light religiously.  I mean RELIGIOUSLY.  It was a sad, sad day when it ended.

Now One Life to Live and All My Children are going, too.  I watch OLTL every once in a while.  It is so frustrating to me that a whole genre of television is disappearing.  And to be replaced with what?  The Chew and The Revolution.  More reality tv.  Fantastic.

I'm kind of over the whole reality thing.  Sure, I watched my share or Big Brother and I LUVED Laguna Beach and The Hills.  But I'm pretty much over it.  Give me some good 'ole fiction, escapism any day of the week.  Or every Monday through Friday, as the case may be.

Oh, and The Chew is supposed to be similar to The View.  Wow.  How original. 

I don't care if the same story is rehashed several times.  I don't mind suspending my disbelief and seeing someone come back on the canvas after I watched them die on screen.  And I certainly don't mind the abundance of hot guys that flood my television screen.

I don't want reality.  I want to live in a fantasy world sometimes.  Every once in a while it feels good to curl up on the couch with a glass of wine and watch my stories. 

Oh well.  Here's hoping that The Young & The Restless and General Hospital stick around a while longer.

My Fantasy List Post Should Be Here

I typed it yesterday, intended to post it today, but accidentally hit publish.  So today you get this...

A lovely picture of me and a few of my friends at the Prince concert.  I am in the pink, holding my jacket because I'm too cool to wear it indoors.  My hair is a mess and I have on sparkly silver and black boots.  The end.

My Fantasy List

I love making lists.  Like, REALLY love making lists.  To the extent that I am currently keeping a "fantasy" list on my Blackberry.  This list consists of items I plan to purchase when I get an awesomely fabulous job and can afford anything I've ever wanted.  Well, okay, not everything.  And I'm staying within a salary range of, oh let's say $70,000.  Something realistic.  So here is my list, including commentary.  And it is entitled "Stuff" if you ever come across my BB and need an update. 

Stuff

• Blue dress-  I have a certain one picked out
• VS stuff-  Victoria's Secret, and clearly I overuse the word "stuff"
• Shoes-  As in Manolos, Choos, Louboutins
• Ulta-  Everything in it, just in general
• Work Clothes-  Because I need some
• Netflix-  I really want to start a new series, and I want to see the Wild Whites of WV or whatever it is called.  Also, I don't have time for a new series, as my DVR is already about to explode... or implode?  Whatever.
• Freezer-  Speaking of exploding, we need one to put in the garage.
• Electric knife-  This is for Jax.  Why would I need an electric knife?
• Maternity proofs-  Because I never bought them a year ago.

Just an example...
• Men's Wearhouse-  Again, for Jax.  I am so thoughtful!  I never realized this about myself (totally kidding, I knew- again, kidding).
• Light comforter-  So I don't have to listen to Jax bitch about being hot.
• Zumba-  I have no idea why this is on my list.  It should probably say liposuction instead.

And there you have it.  I am materialistic, but I love my husband.  LJ is not included because I pretty much just buy whatever I feel like I want need for him.

Spring is Springing! Part 1

 My driveway

 Miniature yellow roses in the backyard

 The blooms on the blueberry bush!

 The grapevine... maybe I'll try to make homemade wine this year.

 The pear tree looking much better this year.

Pretty little flowers

We live in Jax's grandmothers old house.  You may remember me mentioning that we are remodeling it.  Very slowly.  Anyway, she was an avid gardener.  Our yard has so many different kinds of flowers that bloom at different times.  Everything is SO pretty.  But my absolute favorite is the Tea Olive Tree.  If you are ever in the market for a pretty tree that blooms year around and smells fantastic, get a Tea Olive.  Delightful.

Okay, so this is part one.  IF I can ever get my slow computer to upload the pics, there will be a part two!

1Q 2011: Update

I am doing surprisingly well on my goals for this year.  Yay me! 


1.  Read 5 books:  The Twilight series, Hot Mahoghany by Stuart Woods (love me some Stone Barrington, RAWR)

2.  Attend a concert or Best of Broadway musical:  PRINCE!

3.  Visit somewhere new.

4.  Take Jake to the zoo.

5.  Meet one of my blog friends.

6.  Try 5 new, fairly complicated recipes.

7.  Help Jax re-do our yard, plant flowers, etc.

8.  Finish Little J's baby book:  In progress

9.  Organize all of my recipes.

10.  Join a new organization:  I'm a Stella & Dot rep!  Oh, and I joined my church.


I believe I am making some good progress.  We shall consider the 1st Quarter a raging success!

So A Guy Walks Out of A Bar

And falls down.  Well, actually the woman with him fell down.  And then he fell down.

It was cool and raining, but I promise there was no ice in sight.  The woman's feet flew out from under her, as if she was walking across a frozen lake.  The guy... well, I'm pretty sure that he began leaning as he watched her fall, and just kept leaning.  Until he completed a full face plant into the ground.

Jax, the gentleman he is, tried to help them up.  Their doggie bag of chicken wings were scattered with a few lone wings floating in the pooled water.  They finally both managed to grip the little wall between the porch and the parking lot.  And let me tell you, they were holding on for dear life.

The woman was crying.  A big, 'ole, ugly cry.  The man slipped back down the wall.  Looking for something?  Perhaps.  And then there went his lady friend.  They sat in the water, with sheets of rain pouring down on them, for about 15 minutes.  As I sipped my drink, I watched.

The man finally got up.  And he cranked up his truck.

The situation suddenly wasn't funny anymore.  I went into the bar and spoke with the bartenders- who it turned out had served them 23 shots, and I'm going to assume that was NOT per person.  The bartenders just stared at me like I'd grown another head when I told them that the couple was seemingly going to attempt to drive off in their current state.  Even the owner of the bar acted like he couldn't have cared less.

Finally, the bar manager went outside after them.  He took their keys. 

I am not sure when I have been so disappointed in someone else's morals or ethics or whatever.  Forget that the bar owner could have been sued if, or more likely WHEN, there had been an accident.  I am completely dumbfounded by the fact that anyone could stand there and watch someone so completely trashed get behind the wheel of a car. 

Stopping them from driving out of that parking lot was purely selfish on my part.  Because one day one of my loved ones may be on the road when a drunk leaves a bar.

A Realization

I've been unhappy in my job for a while now.  Switching properties only made it worse.  A couple of days ago I realized that I was just making things harder on myself. 

I got frustrated very easily.  Mostly with coworkers who have no clue what they are doing.  I'm tired of cleaning up messes that others are making.  I don't want to be in this field.  I'm tired of being exhausted when I wake up in the morning because I begin my day so early, stay on the road about 3 hours a day, and then get home just in time to put my baby to bed and get in bed myself.

It is tiring.  But it is no one's fault.  And blaming everyone else, no matter how incompetent they seem to be, wasn't helping.  It was making things worse.

So I've resolved to try and make the best of it.  It won't change the mind-numbing monotony of my day.  And it won't make the questions that literally pain me any less tedious.  But maybe it will help me to not feel like I'm about to jump out of my skin every day.  Maybe I won't fly into a murderous rage when someone cuts me off on the interstate- well, I will probably do that anyway.

But you know what else?  I actually found that I kind of like the coworker who was driving me bat shit crazy.  She really is nice and she is trying to learn.  Maybe I should just get over myself and try to turn this situation around.

The Most Beautiful Word

I guess, is not really a word at all.  It is actually just letters... sounds... strung together... all mashed up.  Mmmmmmmmamamamamamama.  Ma Ma.  Mama.  Momma.  However you want to spell it.  It is the best word.  Ever.

And even though it mostly comes when he is whiny, unlike the happy Dadadadadada in the mornings, it is still the best part of my day. 

Better than that?  When he says it as he is working so hard to make it out of the living room and into the kitchen where I am cooking.  Or when I'm sitting on the couch and he wants to be with me instead of on the floor playing.  Or when the tears are flowing and nothing can make it right except me holding him.

My sweet boy.  He loves his Mama.  But not possibly as much as I love him.

The Prince and I

Or I guess, more appropriately, I should just say...

PRINCE

As in, I got concert tickets.  I am SO excited!!!  More than likely, I will forget my camera.  And my BlackBerry sucks at taking pictures.  But OHMIGAWD I'm going to see PRINCE!

I have no doubt that this is going to be one hell of a show.  If you've seen him live, please weigh in!  Tell me all about it!

The Ides Of March

I am totally being 'ware (beware... whatever).  And, on that note, instead of just waiting for things to happen, which it seems I always am, I'm going to focus on the here and now.

Or maybe on doing my best each work day, so that I can simply- and hopefully quickly- make it to the weekend.

What does this have to do with the Ides of March?  Not sure.  Perhaps, for me, it is more about being AWARE.  Ummm, am I talking in circles?  I feel like I am.  Doesn't matter, I don't feel like editing today.  So, being aware... being focused... making things happen... just living... not always waiting for something better to come along, but actually making things better.

I've got this big thing with karma lately.  You know, like if I do "this" then surely I will be granted/achieve/get what the hell I want "this."  Isn't that how it works?  I guess if it means I'm always trying to do the right thing, then maybe it isn't such a bad thing to ponder.

Uh-oh, Caesar just walked in the door.  Gotta run.

Whew!

I apologize for being so neglectful, but y'all... I can't remember the last time I was so busy!  Here is a rundown:

• LJ has a really bad ear infection.
• My Stella and Dot adventure is going REALLY well!  (Yay!  And PS. let me know if you would like to host a trunk show or online party!)
• I won a Baby Einstein Discovery Kit by simply retweeting- and be sure to follow @BabyEinstein on Twitter if you want to enter one of their contests.  Okay, that wasn't really chaotic.
• I'm working on a new property and things are a mess and I've been put in an impossible place and it is making me crazy.  I mean, y'all, someone might lose their job.  Thankfully, that someone is not me.  But still.
• We had LJ's Christening and fed the masses.  Fun, but tiring.
• Jax had a bachelor party, so I stayed with my parents.  They were kind enough to take us in for the weekend.

This is all over a span of like 2 weeks.  And finally, hopefully, things are calming down a little... oh wait, nope, I totally forgot that Round 2 is coming up.

Take a deep breath AJ....

I'm going to focus on the fact that I will be lunching, in the warm Southern sunshine, with one of my besties on Sunday!  Ghostman on 3rd, otherwise known as Joy, will be meeting me for some frosty beverages at Red's Icehouse.  And if it weren't wishing my entire weekend away I would say "I CAN'T WAIT!!!"  If I remember, which is always a big IF, I will take tons of pictures to post.  Well, of Joy anyway because she is gor-geous and so much fun.

Now, I just have to make it through Friday!

Curveballs

I feel like they are coming at me from all directions.  Just when you think you've got a handle on things, you know?  Curveballs.  Bitches.  Frowny face.

Anyone got a bat I can borrow?

What I would like to do is ignore everything and delve into a new book.  Or just catch up on my blog reading.  Pretty much anything to find some sort of escape from my current hell.  That being work.

Maybe if I can get a solid night of sleep tonight, then just maybe I will be able to come in tomorrow and knock these issues out of the park.

Maybe.

Or maybe not.

And then it starts to make me bitchy.  I hate it when I'm like that. 

The Red Carpet

I didn't finish watching the Oscars last night, due to my ridiculously early bed time.  Hey, a girl has to get her beauty sleep right?  And with the insane hour that I have to get up in the morning, and no guarantee of good sleep, I have to get in bed as early as I can.  Anyway, I didn't finish watching the Oscars.  Yet.

So I had this thought as I was drifting off to sleep.  I had been sitting on the couch watching, and stating my opinion of the fashion on Twitter... why?  What the hell is the big deal?

I love fashion.  I love shoes.  There are no limits as to how much I love shoes, my dears.  But why do we constantly feel the need to digest every fraction of these celebrities in their Chanel and Marchesa and Choos?

Well, I guess that wasn't the exact thought.  More, it was about the people themselves.  Is it the money?  Of course, they can afford or borrow everything they are wearing as they strut down that red carpet.  But why do we tune in to watch them smile and congratulate each other on doing such a great job? 

'Hey, Natalie!  Fantastic job playing that ballerina in Black Swan.  You were amazing and took home an Oscar and a ton of cash.  Smashing!  But did you see that Variance Report that I turned in last Friday?  I rocked that bitch.'

I don't feel like I'm accurately stating my point.  And I may not really be able to.  What makes them so damn special?  I mean, there are plenty of companies that pay their employees generously.  Those employees can probably afford to step out to the company Christmas Gala in Ellie Saab or Tom Ford, but you don't see the paparazzi there capturing each step, or misstep, along the way.

I guess what it boils down to is the age old conundrum of celebrity.  Why them?  Why the need to watch and emulate?  What makes them any better than plain Jane sitting behind a computer screen pondering the meaning of it all? 

Must be the money.  Or the shoes.

Wow I sound really jealous.  Is jealous the right word I'm looking for?  Actually, I'm just more curious.  Although it would be pretty awesome to hit a red carpet- and a few after parties.  Ha!