You can use vodka for that?

Why yes my pretties, vodka has several uses beyond mixing with soda water as served up by Lance and Brian at Balbs.

1. Removing that musty vintage stank from your latest eBay purchase. According to vintage expert/ Mad Men costume designer Janie Bryant, simply mix one part vodka with two parts water in a spray bottle and mist. Voila!

2. Add a few drops of vodka and a teaspoon of sugar to the water in your flower vase. It should help keep your flowers fresh longer.

3. Splash some on as a natural insect repellent next time you're in the great outdoors! Who knew?

4. For shiny hair, add a shot to your 12 oz bottle of shampoo.

5. Use vodka to clean and sanitize your shades- get those Guccis sparkling!

6. Get rid of mold in your shower, if you're into green cleaning... I prefer to load up on the bleach myself.

7. Dissolve any type of stubborn stickiness, ie band aid fuzz, bumper sticker glue, or gum.

You can also use bourbon to get gum off of your face, I know from personal experience- when I was 6 or so, I was in Tahoe on summer vacay with my extended family. I had just learned to blow a bubble with bubble gum and proceeded to show off to anyone who would pay attention. One day we were at Raley's grocery shopping. My brother was riding in the kid seat of the shopping cart and I was using the cart as a scooter.

Scooting along, I blew a bubble which my brother gleefully smashed. It was that extra- sticky kind of gumball from a machine, so for the next three days I had increasingly linty, gray gum residue on my chin that didn't come off, even with daily swims in the lake. My mom and grandma got sick of looking at my dirty mug, so they improvised a plan with what they had on hand in the house... get the gum off with booze! (Of course there was plenty of that lying around.)

"Noooooo!!" I protested, wailing like the bourbon-soaked cloth was burning me. Mom held on to keep me from running and Gramma scrubbed the gum away.

Ohhh, the trauma. But hey, I survived, and without any aversions to hard liquor in my adult life!

However, I think that was also the summer my uncles tried to teach me to water ski. With the SKIS attached to the boat rather than my arms attached to the tow line. Now THAT was traumatizing. I think I need a vodka cocktail just thinking about it...

photo source

Jump, jump for my looo-oove!

Oh hi- I totally forgot about this most excellent and amazing song, how is that possible? My mom and I heard it in the car the other day on the way to the grocery store, and we fully sat in the car and rocked out in the parking lot till it was over.

I just can't hear it and not be in an instant good mood. Oh, and you best believe I am practicing that skirt-flippy choreography.

The video combines several of my loves: great music, major accessories, and


TRACK

STARS

!!

Why yes, that is Carl Lewis.




Jumping.


Another great thing about track stars?



FIERCE NAILS.


Bonus Christmas present, click click! Hugh Grant version of "Jump" from "Love Actually."
"Here's to you Prime Minister! A golden oldie for a golden oldie."

"I caught you a delicious bass."

For all my Gossip Girls... especially you, Tara.
xoxo

My pearls
are
perfect
so I
don't have
to be.

Glam/ Sun

Photo by Rodney Smith

Productivity

I am not one to leap out of bed each morning. Nor am I one to derive joy and happiness from ticking off items on a to- do list. Some people just love the feeling of accomplishment they have at the end of a day of errands, chores, and house projects.

Frankly, I have never felt this "accomplishment." Of course, I am happy with the practical results as well as the peacefulness that occurs when all the mundanity (made up word) is taken care of. But for some reason, I just can't congratulate myself for doing it. This makes it hard for me to motivate myself to begin.

Hence! My mundanity often goes undone. Drycleaning piles up. Dust accumlates under the bed. Pictures remain un-hung. Eventually I am overwhelmed and out of control.

Enter my secret weapon:

MASCARA

Somehow, putting on my mascara increases my motivation and productivity by 200%. After a few swipes just yesterday I cleaned out underneath my bed- a task I had been dreading for months. MONTHS I tell you.

Each night in bed as I waited to fall asleep my mind wandered to UNDER THE BED and the nightmare of cleaning it. Oh, I fretted. I worried. But was I motivated to fix it? No! Add some mascara? Done AND done.

My theory to explain this mascara- productivity link is based on a historical tidbit shared by my mom: when 50's housewives got up, they put on their faces even if they were only staying home to cook and clean. When they became worn down and depressed by the drudgery (this was pre- Feminine Mystique, remember) friends and doctors encouraged them to continue to look their best, and in particular prescribed never going without makeup. They were on to something, I tell ya.

Oh, and today? No mascara on these lashes as of yet (3:45 PM). Have I gotten anything accomplished? Of course not.

Time to bust out the Diorshow, and get to work!

Aaahhh...

Heaven.

Black Bean Dip

Me gusta el bean dip. Here's how to make it:

1. Go to the grocery store and get 1 can of black beans (15 oz), 1 can of diced green chiles (4 oz), a buncha cilantro, some sour cream, and the piece de resistance...
Don't be scared. Also, make sure you have some chile powder and hot sauce and some garlic powder if your little heart desires. Oh, and some chips. Did you know that chips are called "totopos" in some Spanish dialects? I think that's a cute word.

Anyway.

Open up the beans and dump them into a colander and rinse 'em off. Put them in a bowl and smash with a fork.

You have completed your upper body workout for the day!

Drain the chiles but don't rinse. Throw them in the bowl and add a scant (less than) half a cup each of sour cream and Miracle Whip. The original recipe calls for too much, I think, at half a cup each. I also generally put in a bit more sour cream than Whip.

Ha ha, Whip. That makes me think of this.

Chop up a decent sized handful of cilantro, including the stems. Did you know the stems have tons of cilantro-y flavor? I told my mom that and she was so happy, she had been de-stemming it and using only the leaves for her whole life, which is obviously way tedious.

Throw in the cilantro, and a few palmfuls of chile powder. Add some hot sauce to taste and a dash of garlic powder if you have it.

If you're feeling fancy, you can plonk the whole thing into a new clean bowl and garnish the top with a cilantro leaf and a sprinkle of chile powder. !Ole!

Serve dip to rave reviews and don't tell anyone that it contains the Whip. Your secret is safe with me!

"Everything you see..."

"... I owe to Balboa
burgers."
- me

Bump it, LOUDER...

The Black Eyed Peas tell us, in fact, to PUMP IT.

I however, feel the need to Bump It. My hair that is. You may have heard of this new, As Seen on TV, infomercial-tastic hair contraption known as the BumpIt. I've had a life- long battle with flat hair that has no uumpf or ability to be BIG so of course I trotted down to Walgreens and snapped one right up!

I want big hair.

Sleek Valley of the Dolls big hair

Heather Graham in "Austin Powers" big hair

Shake it sister.

And last but not least!
Real Housewives big hair
Doesn't Teresa look like she might throw some tables in this photo?
Don't worry honey, I'm not a prostitution whore.
And the buhbbies look great!

Anyway I am here to report that BumpIts are relatively easy to use and definitely do create height at the crown of the head. Also, a handy dandy teasing comb is included in the package, which is hot because I was meaning to buy one of those but I just kept forgetting whenever I was at the store and just bought 18 tubes of pink lip gloss instead.

But that's a story for another day.

With my hair texture, it seems that the whole BumpIt idea works best to give height to a ponytail or updo.

Por ejemplo

Wearing my hair down with the BumpIt is not an option, as my hair slides all around and the teeth thingies show, making the whole things look unnatural and weird. This was what I was really looking for, so I doubt I will really be using the BumpIt very often.

Back to this hair style

Snooze.

School's Out!

What better way to spend my first Sunday of summer vacation than brunching with my nearest and dearest?

Bloody marys are a must- have!

BM essentials- the order is the key:
1. Lots of ice
2. Seasonings next if your mix is bland- jarred horseradish, s & p, Tobasco, Worcestershire, celery salt
3. Vodka
4. BM mix

This method jazzes up even store bought Mr. T's Bloody Mary mix.

Who IS that girl making delicious bloodies at the Tree Lot?! ;)

*Ting!*

That's the sound of crystal champagne flutes meeting as friends make a toast- the happiest sound in my world!

I've decided to start a blog to chronicle my summer adventures. It's been a great year but I've been up to my diamond studs in school work, and I am looking forward to having the time to do all the fun activities I've had on my list. So, ladies, stay tuned because it's going to be one fabulous summer!

"I couldn't help but wonder..." (Carrie Bradshaw catchphrase) what makes champagne pink, anyway? Besides the fact that some ancient champagne maker realized that it's cuter. There are two methods:
1. Add red wine to white- How DIY! Who knew?
2. Champagnes are made by mixing two-thirds black grape with one third white grape. After the grapes have been pressed, the skins of the black grapes can be left in with the white wine in the wine vat. This dyes the wine red and produces pink champagne.

Oh, and did you know there also exists something called the PINK CHAMPAGNE CAKE! Google image it, I do not lie. I know what I'm baking next weekend!

My current favorite pink champagne that I discovered at BIN38 is Gruet Brut Rose Methode Champenoise , from a New Mexico Winery. Under $15 a bottle! Hmm, mamma needs and end of the year present... I think there may be a few bottles headed in my direction!