How precious!!

You know I love to cook, and I adore accessories, so they precious recipe cards are my new fab find. Head on over to Magnolias, Marriage and Manhattan and you can win some for yourself. (There are even more designs!!) Mention that you saw these on my blog, and we both win!!

Project Runway

I just found this article and would like to share is with everyone, because it is exactly what I thought, line for line, last night while watching the PR finale. And beware, it is a spoiler if you haven't watched the finale.

Alexandra Bonk writes:

"Leanne, wins the fifth season of "Project Runway," beating out Korto and Kenley to take home the $100,000 cash, a new Saturn hybrid automobile, a spread in Elle magazine, a year's professional representation, and invaluable industry exposure. Show mentor Tim Gunn stepped in as guest judge at the very last minute after Jennifer Lopez dropped out due to a foot injury. Leanne's finale collection consisted of wave-inspired pieces in shades of turquoise, white, and beige.

We die-hard "Runway" fans have come to expect a lot out of this stylish reality show, but so many of us were sorely disappointed when this season did not "make it work" quite as well as years past. Sure, there was the usual reality TV drama -- poor Kenley ended the season with no friends, talked back to Heidi on the runway (a big no-no!) and even managed to turn the saintly Tim Gunn against her -- but the level of talent seemed a stitch or two off from prior seasons which brought us such unique standouts as Daniel Vosovic, Uli Herzner, Christian Siriano (fierce!) and Santino Rice.

Usually at this point in the season, fans are biting their nails, picking among the Armani-acolytes, and trying to get inside Nina Garcia's head to figure out who she thinks deserves the career-changing shot at showing their line at Bryant Park during New York's fashion week. Could it be Bravo thought this season was a wash, knowing the series would most likely be moving to Lifetime soon (a court injunction is making that switch a drama unto itself) and simply checked out early? Or maybe, as we've seen with other serial reality shows, "Survivor" in particular, the producers have just plain run out of truly original challenges to test contestants' fashion fierceness.

Whatever the reason, this season has been pretty darn tame. It's lacked the dramatic talent and pure showmanship of season's past. Where's the singular vision of a Christian Siriano, or the drama? Yes, there were some drop-dead gorgeous garments that had the judges swooning (Leanne's wedding dress and bridesmaid outfit were particularly to-die for!) but these moments were achingly few and far between. I mean, c'mon, for several weeks straight, Michael Kors looked like he was embarrassed to be there, Tim Gunn could barely contain his lack of enthusiasm when touring the sewing room, and Heidi Klum never fell for any of the designs or offered to wear them on the real red carpet, a true -- and pathetic -- sign of the times.

For fan-shionistas, it was enough to bemoan this season as the worst so far and leave one wondering in the immortal words of Santino, "Where's Andre?" or more accurately, where's our beloved show? As Heidi herself would say, this season definitely seems OUT."

I have to say that I was torn a bit between Korto's collection and Leanne's. I loved the color in Korto's collection and I thought it was for the everyday fabulous woman. If you know anything about me, I just love green, so that didn't hurt. I thought her collection clearly went together, and my guess is that it left a ton of woman desiring MANY of her looks. To me, her looks were something we are could all relate to, something familiar with a twist.

Leanne's collection, on the other hand, looked like she had designed all of those looks on the same day. The architectural-ness of it was aw inspiring and it was something I had never seen before. With that being said, I don't think that anyone would want 4 of her pieces because they all looked so much a like, just in three different shades. Leanne showed us something very foreign, and therefore intriguing. However, it would take a special woman making a statement to wear what she created.

Overall, I was pulling more for Korto. I was disappointed in her attitude regarding Kenley at the beginning of the show. Yes, Kenley was a bit of a whiner and a bit of a brat, but I just don't think she has people skills. She grew up on a tugboat, and I think that is a lot of her social problem. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to stick up for her. I was FURIOUS when she mouthed off to Tim Gunn. I'm just saying, I don't think she was being a brat to be a brat, I just don't think she knows how to deal with intense pressure in a social setting.

This season of Project Runway has definitely left me with a feeling of anxiety regarding all of my favorite Bravo shows, rightly or wrongly. I must say Top Chef is a true favorite of mine and I do not know if I can handle a second show with a new season as disappointing as I found season 5 of PR. I think the anxiety is only heightened because of that tacky new season of The Real Housewives set in Atlanta. Not my style. Yuck.

Tunes

So I am currently listening to Citizen Cope, my re-found favorite. I just love music, as most of you know. I feel like most music will or has had a time and place in my life. I love nothing more than putting my music collection on random and just waiting to see what random memories fill my head with fantastic background music. There have been days when I have done this for hours, laughing out loud and then tearing up. I just love it. When I need to get into my own little world, or step out of reality for a little while, it always does the trick.

It's so interesting to me how just a chord on a guitar, or the chorus of a song, can instantly transport me somewhere else. The same goes with smells. I have a very sensitive nose. Just the slight sent of cardamom takes me back to the kitchen with my mom around Christmas, or how a pumpkin spice candle sends me back to crisp nights in college living on Society St. It's like these little pockets of memories, that once one gets opened, your mind just wanders. It's quite lovely.

With my new job, I find that I rely more on music to get my mind off all of the things they are trying to stuff into my brain. I am very thankful to have a job, please do not get me wrong. But one day I want to find something that I love getting up for. Something that makes me feel like I am making a positive impact in the world. That I am really making a difference. When I lived in Malawi, I felt the raw emotions of the country every day. There were no jobs that weren't contributing to the life of the village. Everything was so organic and homegrown. To be such a dusty place, it was so refreshing. A lot of this is hind sight, of course, but I like that I am still learning from an experience that happened over two years ago. Regarding the circumstances, it was hard to see a lot with such frustration surrounding our group, but I know that we made at least a few people smile every day that we were there. And hopefully, our impact was greater than we will ever know.

I'm bacccckkkkkk!

WoW! My udder apologies to those who gave up on this random blog a few months back. I really am not sure what happened, but I am back and more ready than ever to update. When I last wrote I was unemployed and had too much time on my hands. Today I find my life quite opposite... careful what you wish for, right?!?! I am now happy to say that I am employed, have plenty of job security (we are so over worked it's ridiculous), and a pay check! Woo Hoo!! OK, now on to more interesting subjects.

I received my Pink Christmas envelope today, and I have already "stalked" my giftee's blog and I think we are going to be best friends. She is hilarious! On her blog she has a list of things about herself, and I was like "OMG" "Me too" etc the whole time I was reading it. Crazzy! It was all I could do not to post something and tell her I was going to be her new best friend. I am super excited about shopping for her. Also, I love love love what Kristi has done with all of the donation money. We are all helping out 3 different families, all of whom deserve help and hope this season. I am so proud to be a part of it!

The weather has just been phenomenal this week. We have been keeping the windows and doors opened and have been living with no AC. I love it!! There is nothing like waking up to crisp fresh air! Every year I feel like fall kind of slaps me in the face. It isn't something I really anticipate all that much, but when it gets here my entire demeanor changes. It's fantastic. Supposedly it will stay like this until January when Tx gets its week and a half of so called winter. I don't think I will ever get tired of it.

Real Housewives of Atlanta

**Be sure to read my previous discussion of Project Runway!!**

I don't know how many of you were able to watch the 30 minute preview of the new RH show premiering in September. I have 5 words to say about the majority of these women: Money clearly cannot buy class. I know in seasons past that has been shown by a few characters, but dear lord this one takes the cake. They say several times that this go around they want to depict African American women with lavish lifestyles, but they really could have done a better job selecting them. Maybe the preview isn't an actually depiction of the show, but I'm pretty sure that it is supposed to be. I wasn't intrigued, that's for sure. The money, jealousness, and materialism was far more evident and obnoxious than any past seasons. Any comments?

Project Runway

**IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THIS SEASON, FEEL FREE TO READ AS I WILL NOT DISCLOSE THE RESULTS.**

As a true fan of this fun Bravo show from the very first season (Moo can back me up on this), I must say this season, 3 episodes in, is less than sub par. It pretty much sucks. The personalities of the contestants are not fun, and in my humble opinion, quite annoying. I wish I could kick the biker bitching bitch OUT of my tv. In my dream world, she would be blurred and muted until she got kicked off the show. Mr. Tanorexic dreams of being the next Santino (a previous contestant who had a few entertaining moments), which is annoying. An equal annoyance is third person boy. I can only hope they are all so embarrassed when they watch these episodes. It seems that after Paris made her official statement "That's Hot!" and last season's winner, Christian, is now known for being "Fierce!" and talking about "tranny hooker" looks, almost every contestant is trying coin a new phrase. If they would just spend that time putting thought into their work, someone just might come down that runway with something aw inspiring.

Thus far the challenges have been almost identical to past seasons, but so have 99% of the outfits. In the past there were usually one or two people per challenge that were working up to the last minute, usually because they had a great design that just took every minute of their time to produce. This season none of them seem to be ready to go down the runway on time, and one thing's for damn sure, it's not because of their design "fabulousity" (Kimora). It seems that Tim Gunn is very frustrated, and I don't blame him. I read an interview with him that came out right before the first episode and he stated that this season would piss a lot of people off and viewers would be throwing things at their tvs. I, personally, think they are just going to turn them off. If Heidi thinks she can produce just anything and people will watch, she is wrong. There is NO WAY the producers who hand selected these candidates are the same from seasons past. It's sad. Next season it will switch all of it's producers (minus Heidi) and go to Lifetime. I can't imagine, unless it's money, why they would go FROM Bravo TO Lifetime. Doesn't that seem backwards??? I'm sure Heidi, Nina (aka hem Nazi--and rightfully so), Michael, and a guest judge will still be on. I can't imagine them shaking that up. (Only Heidi and Tim have been signed thus far for season six. The other two are said to still be in contract negotiations.) Speaking of the judges, I have disagreed with who should have been sent home, as well as two of the three winners. I don't know if they are aiming to make this season more diverse, but if you can't sew, you need to go! I don't care who you are. AHHH FRUSTRATING!! Maybe a change will be good... even if it is to Lifetime.

Please leave comments. My boyfriend is tired of hearing about of this. Who wants to vent with me??

YIKES

These facts of the day were provided by Pamela Talese working under the name Viola Salzedo-Gramm. She is speaking of the north Pacific large garbage dump that we all are contributing to.

The Plastic Trash Vortex or North Pacific Gyre, the world’s largest floating island of plastic trash, is estimated to be 5 million square miles—larger than the entire United States.

An estimated 80% of marine debris comes from land-based sources, while only 20% comes from sea-based sources, like shipping and boating.

Roughly 60–80% of all marine debris, and 90% of floating debris is plastic. Plastic resin polymers are so durable that it can take hundreds of years for plastics to break down at sea, and some may never truly biodegrade in the marine environment.

Marine life and birds can easily confuse plastic flotsam for food. Ingestion of plastics can reduce the appetite of seabirds and marine life and inhibit nutrient absorption, causing possible death by starvation.

More than 1 million seabirds, 100,000 marine mammals, and countless fish have died annually in the north pacific from ingesting or becoming entangled in marine debris. Commonly ingested items include bottle caps, cigarette lighters, plastic bags, and polystyrene pieces.

If one knew that their toothbrush would one day end up thousands of miles away from the nearest spot of land, would they still carelessly throw it away? What we need to do is start demanding more responsibility from each other in our use of plastic, and stop living as if everything is disposable and that the future will not be impacted.

We must become more conscientious. We have to! If we can all ween ourselves off of plastic bags, it is a start. Shop were you can buy items by the pound. You know the big canisters I am talking about that are in the entrance of some grocery stores. Did you know that you can take your own reusable containers in there and fill them? (If you don't know how to zero out the weight of your container, just ask someone in the store for help. Just think, you will only have to ask them once! A small sacrifice if you ask me.) So many pantry items can be put in your own containers! Flour, sugar, cereal, grits, nuts, dried fruits and vegetables, etc. Also shop in bulk. A great way to do this is with a Costco or Sam's membership. It will save you so much money! I promise. RECYCLE! Hello! Duh! It is so simple. It really is. If this doesn't inspire you, put on a little Jack Johnson ("Reduce, Reuse, Recycle") and GET inspired. I try and look in my trash can and figure out how I can eliminate what is in there. I realized this morning that my eggs can in a styrofoam container, so when I went to the store today, I bought some that were in a recycled and recyclable container. I know that in a week, there will be one less item in my trash can. That, in turn, made me more aware of the stinken styrofoam in my life, and now I'm on a mission to make it extinct. Styrofoam simply sucks! And now I will step off my soapbox. If anyone has any words of advice, I would love to hear them!