Jelly Shoes/Jellies

Everywhere I go lately I see jelly shoes, a.k.a. jellies. Those plastic shoes from the 80's that come in all different colors. I've always loved jellies. I'm pretty sure still have a pair of see-through pink ones in my old closet in my parents' house I need to dig up! I remember being at the store with my mom as a kid and staring at a huge display of jellies in all different colors. They had white, yellow, red, bright orange, bright pink, bright green, bright blue, etc., etc. I stared at them the whole time my mother was shopping. She told me she wanted to buy me the white ones (which seemed a little boring to me) and that if I wore them, she'd buy me one pair of any other color I wanted. I couldn't decide between the bright orange and bright blue. I decided on the bright blue. (I want the bright orange jellies now!!). Well, I have no idea what happened to the white and blue pairs and it's hard to find the ORIGINAL 80's jellies now-a-days. The ones I see now have a design akin to swiss cheese with holes. Did you notice that the new ones in the stores now also seem to be cut HUGE?? I think I'd need a 5. Ok, so last night I was at the mall and found a pair of clear pink 80's-style jellies and they were a size 5 (they didn't have my size in the purple which I wanted) but they had a silver leather bow in the front and the straps from the bow were wrapped/intertwined around the whole shoe, which I'd never seen before. The girl working there said "You have to have the right personality to pull them off. You can't be walking around like, 'My life sucks but my shoes are cute'. " So, I figured I was in good shape since I'm pretty happy with my life these days...although I thought they did look a little too little-girly but decided to purchase them anyway since they were less than $8 and I don't give a shit what people think of me anyway. They were the super-soft kind too that actually were comfortable. I told her my husband would probably say they were cute (because that's what he says about my affinity for plastic Goody baby barrettes). He didn't end up finding them quite as adorable as I had thought but when I told them they were only $7 & some change he said, "You'll at least get one use out of them." (???). Well, I only need one pair of jellies with a bow anyway! I do, however, need multiple pairs of plain jellies and look forward to buying them in almost every color of the rainbow before the summer ends...

UPDATE: Called the store; they have these in clear & purple in size 5/6; think I'm exchanging them.

FURTHER UPDATE: Ok, so when I returned them I got the new ones for only $5 (on sale). Saw clear ones that look just like the real 80's deal at Target. Hot Topic has some nice opaque colored ones with stars on the sole. I'm obsessed!

Aggressive Women

I have no respect for aggressive women. These are women who get what they want (tangible items, power, etc.) by being demanding, over-powering, and condescending. (I call that manipulative). The problem with women like this is that they're really attempting to be assertive, but they've got it all wrong. Assertiveness should be a positive thing: the person stands up for themselves, while respecting others; the other person respects them (and may even be inspired); it's all good...Aggressiveness shows respect for no one. You may get what you wanted by being aggressive, but people aren't necessarily going to respect you or feel respected. They may be less inclined to give in next time--or they may simply "give in" to get you out of their hair. When a man acts aggressively (I don't mean physically) he is considered an ass. When a women acts aggressively, particularly in a work environment, she is considered "assertive". Some women seem to feel the need to act like this in order to compete in a largely male-dominated society. Do we really want to live and work in an environment where the one who dominates the conversation in a meeting is the only one who gets heard? Where the ones who think the fastest get to make all the decisions? Is this really to our benefit? Is this really intelligent and efficient? I believe there is a way to be assertive without being aggressive, but sadly many women (and some men) fail miserably at this.

Summer Work

What I would really like to do this summer is live at the beach and work in a surf shop. I didn't spend 12.5 years obtaining higher education for that, but so be it. In fact, I'd leave everything after my bachelor's degree off my resume so they wouldn't prejudge me or expect too much from me. I'd wear whatever I wanted. Everything would be low-key. No one would have an inflated sense of self-importance because we're all just working in a surf shop (no offense to those who have made a career in the surf industry). That's all I have to say about that.

Top 5 Reasons Everyone Should Stay in Grad School (Forever)

5. Less Responsibility, and the responsibility you have, with the exception of your advisor and his/her reputation, is mainly to yourself (your grades, your publications, your life).
4. Student benefits (e.g., discounted movie theater tickets)
3. You can largely make your own schedule.
2. Miss rush hour traffic.
1. Going to Target when no one else is there.

I made an amazing salad

I made an amazing salad today. I just had to tell someone about it so hear it goes.

Consists of:
Baby Spinach and that purple lettuce that's scary, but so good for you
Organic grape tomatoes (not purposefully organic, just the ones I grabbed at the store)
Grilled "fajita-style" chicken (microwaved for about 35 seconds when ready to eat salad)
red seedless grape halves
a few strawberries cut in half (you can put in more than a few, I was just lazy)
green olives with pimentos
Hidden Valley Spicy Ranch salad dressing

I hate to give up my secret recipe, but others deserve to taste this luscious concoction as well.

Anyone Need Arm-Warmers?

Did you ever buy something thinking you'll need it and two years later actually need it, but then realize it's not what you thought it was after all? This is what happened to me recently. For some reason, it is so hard to find a decent pair of thin black socks that are thicker than trouser socks. But, I found some on clearance somewhere?? a couple years ago. I finally took them out of my drawer the other day to wear with these new black Nine West shoes that I was so excited about. They still were in the sticker wrap and still had the little hook on top. I took them out with great anticipation. I unfolded them and realized...the edge where your toes go weren't closed off!! BOTH ends of these socks were completely open!!!!! How could they make such an error?? I raced over to the bathroom trashcan where I had thrown out the sticker and could not believe my eyes...I had unknowingly purchased a pair of "arm-warmers."