I haven't dyed my hair in a year.

Posted by valry at 12:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

1. My car is on Google Maps!!!!!

2. I got a raise yesterday! :-)

3. MK held a beer tasting last night at Taylor Brewing. By beer tasting that apparently meant just come and order a beer. I was almost done with my raspberry wheat (I SWEAR) but then Scott ruined it for me by pouring his tasting glass into mine :( While MK was working he was not eating his food...and it was right there...so I may have eated a handful or 2 of his fries...and maybe some of the bacon off his burger...

4. A conversation:
LINK7182: how was beer?
faeriewingtips: ok
faeriewingtips: ohno, sex is coming back
faeriewingtips: that was really out of context

5. I forgot how much I hate my natural hair color

Posted by valry at 7:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

1. Last night I met up with Nad for dinner. We went to La Magdelana and I had the yummiest Enchiladas Poblanas with beef and mole sauce ever! Afterwards we went back to her house (I finally got to see her house!) and played Smooth Moves on her borrowed Wii. It is the most insanely stupid yet awesomest game ever. You have to hold the remote in different ways and this porno/Jack Handy voice comes up to explain how to hold it. And then it gives you three seconds to do each task. And even though some of the tasks are as simple as sweep a leaf off the floor, it's hard because it takes about 4 seconds to figure out that that's what you're supposed to do. My favorite was the one where you had to hold the Wii in "mohawk position" and stab a piece of meat to eat. We called it the Pat Bertoletti.

2. Seriously, having scissors near a mirror is a bad idea for me. At least my bangs don't look as bad as the last time I decided to cut them myself...

Posted by valry at 5:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by valry at 7:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

but that's a given...

manicure.
pink, of course.
my first ever.
she gave me a hand massage.
i have purdy nails :)

haircut.
my first in a year.
i know everyone else likes it better short, but i like it long.
last night I dyed my hair while chugging most of a bottle of wine.

Posted by valry at 2:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dear American Idol,
What happened to you my dear American Idol? People tuned into you in your first season for the prospect of seeing the stupid and cocky who thought they were talented get told that they sucked. As we watched these poor souls get their hearts ripped out we, at the same time, were drawn in by the truly talented and the judges incessant squabbling.
Now, dear American Idol, you're the one who needs to be told that you have no talent. You now spend entirely too long focusing on each individual contestant. We don't need to watch the same person for 10 minutes. We get that they suck after about 30 seconds. Short and bad is funny, long and bad is just painful. You used to shut them up and tell them they sucked right away. Why do you let them go on and on now? You used to show us a decent mix of good and bad. For the last two nights, dear American Idol, you showed primarily bad and didn't even show someone with talent (albeit a small talent) until a half an hour in. Why should I watch past the auditions if I am not drawn in by what's to come next?
And please judges, stop being in such agreement all the time. What happened to your constant fighting over each and every contestant? And Simon, was that shirt you were wearing last night not only white, but patterned...and not skin tight?
In conclusion, dear American Idol, I am highly disappointed in your editing skills thus far this season and hope you are considering changing your ways back to that phenomenon we know and love.
Sincerely,
Valerie

p.s. this doesn't mean I will stop watching you.

There is this woman who always makes the conductors bring down the handicap ramp for her to get on the train. She walks perfectly fine to the train and when the conductors aren't around she will walk up herself. I always thought those ramps were for people in wheelchairs or who really had a hard time. Maybe tomorrow I will wait for them to take the ramp down for me :)

MattH - when I went to your blog today, an ad popped up to "Tickle the Fat Kid Till he Barfs" If you did you supposedly won 2 Ipods. I did not tickle the fat kid until he barfed but it made me laugh.

I got a cheese sammich at lunch the other day and the guy forgot to put cheese on it. :(

Don't forget that one of my things on my list this year is to get flowers from a boy this year... :)
I also told Scott he should get me a cake with a man jumping out of it :)

My hair is blonde...er...but not really.

Posted by valry at 10:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

1. My hair
Wow, I should beg for comments more often :) So much feedback on my hair post!
Thank you to everyone who shared their thoughts. Here are the standings as of 8:26 on December 21:

12 - 5
16 - 3
09 - 2
10 - 2
06 - 1
08 - 1
11 - 1
14 - 1

12 was a pretty popular pic, for both color and style.

Now, I do have to say I did quite like the color and cut of 12, unfortunately that color was a result of 2 weeks of fading of the bright orange, and the pic was taken immediately after i had gotten my hair cut and I was never ever able to restyle it to look anywhere near as nice. And I do like my current number 16 (runner up), but it is starting to fade weird now.

What I found funniest was that Rob voted blonde when he's said before he likes dark hair and MK voted dark when he told me all year he liked the blonde best.

My final decision is actually to go blonde, somewhere between 8 and 9 maybe (Chrises win!), but probably a little darker of blonde. I actually had a really tough time when I dyed my hair away from blonde at the end of the summer. I really really liked it, but alas, a goal is a goal, and I had to move on. Now I am looking forward to getting back to being a blondie!!!!

JoeJoe, yes, I am a natural blonde. I would try to go natural (believe it or not I did do that for a whole year just a few years ago) but it's always hard because no matter how close you get, you are always having to deal with 2-toned hair.

As for cut, I am apparently the only person on earth who likes me with long hair better. I feel girlier with it long I guess. I probably won't let it grow as long as it was (it kept getting caught in my armpits) but I definitely want it longer again. Eh, who am I kidding, I will let it grow that long because I am lazy about getting haircuts. :)

2. My foot
The ball of my right foot is killing me. Now the heel of my left foot is killing me. This makes it impossible for me to find a pair of shoes that work.

3. My aura
I shall leave you today with Scott's thoughts on me as a girly girl:
Glitterbot: you are the girliest girl I know
faeriewingtips: hehe, i will take that as a huge compliment :-)
Glitterbot: shall we explore how girly you are?
faeriewingtips: hehe
faeriewingtips: just because i plan my wedding and wear pink?
Glitterbot: lest see, why are you girly..have the wedding planned out, obsess about interior design/decorating, the pink aspect is very amusing, obsess about watching reality tv, cooking shows, heck, just watch soaps and it woudl be perfect, lets see, what else...
faeriewingtips: i used to watch soap operas
Glitterbot: ah yes, you're obsession with theater, though that's not as girly
Glitterbot: hmm, you do have an interest in fashion, but I"m not sure how much (although you're the only one I know who put a bra on their wish list)
faeriewingtips: haha
faeriewingtips: i change my outfits 20 times before i'm going to see a boy i like
faeriewingtips: and about 10 any other time :-)
Glitterbot: ah yes!
Glitterbot: I forgot about that
faeriewingtips: :-)

Posted by valry at 8:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I didn't start the year off with a mission to completely destroy every follicle of hair on my head in a bath of multi-colored dye. My thought process at first was, quite simply, that I had never had black hair. I had been blonde and brunette, have had red and green and orange and purple, but never black. So, I tried to go black with a non-permanent dye. It didn't work, so I used a permanent one. I bought red lipstick and tried to pass myself off as snow white. Considering though that I am much more of an earth-tone girl (I much prefer brown shoes, pants, etc. to anything black) the lust for black hair was very very short lived. I decided after my first attempt that this would be the perfect time to experiment. Try a bunch of colors out, see what I liked best. And so I developed a mission to have twelve different hair colors, one for every month this year. So what if I fried it with ammonia or I didn't like the color? It is only hair. It grows back, it can be dyed again.

My hair has officially stopped paying attention to the color I have dyed it. This last color looks absolutely no different than the one before it despite the fact that I chose a light brown without a hint of red and that last color had already faded quite a bit. After I dye it now, about a week later the color will revert to whatever I dyed it three tries ago. Maybe my hair is trying to tell me, "enough already". And I agree. The last couple of times I didn't really want the change but felt as if I owed it to myself and my two loyal readers who might actually care, to finish off, above and beyond, my goal. I dyed my hair thirteen times this year.

I will still have to dye it next year. First to get it to the color I want to keep with and then to maintain it, but I assure you that every dye will be done with the same brand, and the same shade. Which color that will be, I'll let you know later. For now, you can choose for yourself, as I present...

(note: there are 16 pictures, the 13 times I dyed this year plus my incoming color, a wig I wore, and the one time I actually got a hair cut)

Please leave a comment with the number of the color you liked best (please don't everybody choose 10, and if you do at least leave something serious too). I'll then see if all y'all agree with me. :)

Posted by valry at 6:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)

my last color of 2006.
in the next few days i will post a collage of all the colors i've had this year :)

Posted by valry at 12:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1. I think my spirit is broken.
How did this happen?
I had to force myself to do it this time.
I didn't really feel like doing it though.
So, here it is:

It's kind of a reddish dark brown. And it is color number twelve for the year.

Seriously, I didn't really feel like doing it, but a goal is a goal, so I forced myself to buy a box and dye it. I have officially accomplished my goal of twelve hair colors in twelve months although I probably will go one more time this year for the heck of it. Maybe I'll shave my head for the new year. who knows.

2. I went Christmas shopping on Saturday, which meant that I ended up buying a bunch of clothes for myself. Those included the cute furry hoodie I am wearing above and a sweater with the furriest furry collar ever. I look like a puppy dog. Someone should pet me.

3. I went to Houlihans with Jen, Nad, and Adam on Friday night. A snippet of a conversation:
me: I need to be in the city because there are no single guys our age here.
Nad: yeah, they are all married or gay, right?
Adam: yeah, I was on the fence for a bit, but I decided to get married.
Nad: Well you do like Madonna
Adam: her early stuff was good

Posted by valry at 9:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

You didn't think I'd go all of October without dyeing my hair did you?
In honor of autumn, I went with a nice red/brown:

Now, when I went to dye, I noticed the warning on the package:

Tattoos may increase your risk of allergy to this product? Anyone have any sort of explanation for why this might be true?

Posted by valry at 12:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

1. I am a brunette:

2. I have my first interview tomorrow!!!

Posted by valry at 1:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

1. I needed a change, so I chopped off all my hair. Well, about 12 inches of it. This morning it was down to my ribs and now it hangs just past my chin. I was going for shoulder length but I always forget that "shoulder length" to a stylist means "two inches above shoulder." It's still all good though.

2. I was supposed to go watch Ferris Bueller in Grant Park tonight but it was raining pretty hard out :( So instead we (me, JoeJoe, Wilkey, Hood, and Hood's friend John) went to "The Big Downtown Chicago Bar" (I LOVE anyplace with such a generic name) and drank some yumyum sangria. I now really want to watch the movie now (even if its not outside on a big screen in the park). I also think I need to go out and have a ferris-style Chicago adventure.

3. I have officially started applying for jobs.

Posted by valry at 10:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Last week Andy posted this link in his blog. Basically, the Germans did a study that said that redheads have more sex. Well, who am I to argue with an argument like that???

Yup, I'm a redhead! Well, kind of an orangyhead, but whatever. Now, I actually really liked the blonde but it was time for a change, plus I have goals to attain. Plus I now have a better chance at getting something. And, admittedly, I also kind of do like having more of the Mary Jane Spiderman color. :)

I also baked some of the most delicious chocolate chip cookies ever today:

mmmm. They were supersweet and had just the right amount of crispiness. don't you wish you had some??? Now, its kind of hard to bake cookies when you can only find a ½ cup and a tablespoon. But it did work out in my favor as I disovered the secrets to the perfect chocolate chip cookie:
1. Accidentally pour in about two tablespoons of vanilla extract when the recipe calls for a teaspoon.
2. Buy milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet (why wouldn't you want all sweet??)
3. Accidentally pour in about 9 ounces of chips when the recipe calls for 6.

Posted by valry at 7:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of my best friends in the whole world is getting married tomorrow!

I have been friends with Jenny since the third grade when we met and bonded over dancing and All My Children. And tomorrow our Jenny is marrying a wonderful guy and great friend who she has been dating for the last eight years. Insert tear.

Tonight was the rehearsal. I get to walk down the aisle first and screw everything up. Yayme. Its weird because even though I am a bridesmaid I get to sit through a lot of it because there is a mass and such. Plus we all stand really far apart. I guess I always think of all the bridesmaids standing close to one another and standing the whole time (although I am kind of glad because my feet would kill me if I didn't). Basically I stand when the priest says to stand, sit when the priest says to sit, and stand when the priest says to kneel. Whatever.

After we practiced the priest gave a speech about how there is no food or drink allowed. Damn, there goes my plan for hiding a big mac in my bouquet. Drats. I decided to sew a pocket on one side of my dress for the hamburger, the other side for the fries, and build one of those hydration system things they sell for backpackers into the bouquet. Hmm, I should market this...

After the rehearsal it was off to the rehearsal dinner, which is where you go to practice eating.
Now, for months and months and months I have been joking with Jenny that (since I dye my hair all the time and every color of the rainbow) I was going to dye it purple to match our dresses for the wedding. So, once we got to the rehearsal, all us bridesmaids snuck away and put on these:

PURPLE WIGS!
Hehehe. See, dye-to-match hair!!!

The rehearsal was fun. Good food (pizza, pasta, salad, and cookies) and a bartender who somehow decided that amaretto sours go in a blender. I got to know Tim (the only person in the wedding party, minus the flower girl, who didn't go to high school with us) and caught up some with Stefan (who will be escorting me down the aisle tomorrow).
Then they gave out some gifts. The guys got beer mugs and shot glasses that had their names, groomsman, and bros for life engraved on them and all us gals got a little putple play purse with lots of Claire's goodness, a silver heart-shaped box engraved with our name, bridesmaid, and friends forever, and a gorgeous necklace to wear tomorrow. It's all really cute.

It was a really happy night, it's good to see that Jen isn't too stressed or anything, she's just really happy and that makes me really happy.

More pics:

Posted by valry at 11:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Me: ew, i just realized that comic book guy got it on with both skinners mom and his fiance
Rob: hahaha
Me: this fact freaked me out a little more than it should have

1. I died my hair (again) which makes nine times this year! It's still blonde but a slightly different shade. I just wanted to get rid of my roots before the wedding. This is color number nine of the year, woohoo:

The dilemma now is that I really like my hair blonde and think it looks pretty good. However, I have not reached my goal for the year and therefore must start dying it different colors soon. Oh well.

2. NBC is going to be having a reality show called "You're the one that I Want," which will be a competition to cast the two leads in a Broadway production of Grease. I am so auditioning!

3. I got a catalog for Land of Nod in the mail today. This was a picture in it:

There is a stuffed chicken in the oven! When I saw that I laughed for way too long.

4. So Victorias Secret keeps sending me things for free Pink panties. Each one is a $7.50 value. Now, I've seen others go in with these coupons and only get the free undies. I feel weird doing that so I always end up buying something else too. So, I went twice this weekend to redeem two of these coupons (One time I bought a new strapless bra to go with my bridesmaid dress and then the second time I bought a really sexycute pair of underwear for the wedding because I wanted a really sexycute pair of underwear for the wedding :) ). My sister is the same way. If you have a free coupon do you just go and get the free thing and that's it???

Posted by valry at 3:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So as a last minute decision, I died my hair today. I really like how the color turned out. Not too exciting, same color as last time just to lighten it a bit and freshen it up, but me like:

It wasn't looking too bad, but I thought my roots might start to show more in the three weeks in Europe, so I didn't want to take any chances. :) I've gots to meet me a husband somehow.

Yesterday I went out in search of a new bathing suit for rafting. I need a new one because last year at the dunes my bikini top kept flying up and I kept flashing people. I ended up buying two. One of them was $100 marked down to $30, the other was $150 marked down to $30. Plus the store was having a 25% of bathing suits sale. So, I got two suits for under $50. I think that is awesome.

Last night I went out with Joe, etc. to Giordanos (although I didn't eat because I'm poor) and then back to his place to make chess piece horses make out (they are in love, aw) and look at his South America pics. I still say in 10 years his encounter with an alligator story will turn the alligator 20 feet long and he will have wrastled it to the ground himself. hehe. That looked like one awesome trip. Our Eurotrip will be better though because I'm there :) Joe did agree that in the cases where we have two double rooms, me and Joe will share one room and Scott and Alina the other.

Things I will miss while in Europe:
• Jenny and Adam moving into their apartment
• Thong Party Planning
• Misc. wedding planning adventures
• The Fourth of July
• The Taste of Chicago
• All my friends who aren't going :(

Posted by valry at 1:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

What, did you really think I'd go all of May without dying my hair?? Sillysilly.
I did manage to hold myself off for a month (last time was April 29). This is color number 7 for 2006:

I'm trying to gradually lighten it (even though I know that after the wedding I might try some crazy reds). Up close in person it looks like a dark blonde. Perhaps I'll try one more in two weeks. :)

In more news, if you are reading this, you're invited to:

Valerie's Unemployed and Ready to Celebrate Celebration!

That's right y'all! I quit my job!! June 2 is my last day of being a real estate bitch, and what better way kick off (hopefully not much more than) three months of blissful unemployment than going out and getting wasted? I certainly can't think of anything.
So, come join me in celebrating my independence (or to buy me a drink, 'cause I've got no income).

WHERE:
The Kerry Piper (7900 Joliet Road, Willowbrook, IL 60527)
Scott recommended it, so if it sucks blame him. If it doesn't suck, I promised to do some table dancing.
It also looks as if there's a band scheduled to play - 3 Men in Kilts! Now, how can you go wrong with 3 Men in Kilts????

WHEN:
Friday, June 2, 9ish
Let me know if you plan on coming so I know to look for you!

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

While I'm at it, 6-6-06 is approaching. Since no one wants to marry me on that day and since it's a bit too late to have a baby on that day, I'll settle for going to see the new Omen. The original is one of the most genuinely creepiest movies EVER so the remake will invariably suck, but you should go on 6-6-6 day anyways. Anyone interested in going with me??? Anyone? Let me know!

Posted by valry at 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1. my nails will never grow if I keep accidentally shaving them off.
2. my hair is getting so long that it keeps getting stuck in my armpits.

Posted by valry at 10:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dad: Your hair is going to fall out.
Me: Eh, I'll buy a wig.

So...yeah...time to introduce haircolor #6 for the year: blonde! (kind of) I didn't try to attempt anything too light, seeing as how just 2 months ago my hair was black. Just trying to wean myself into something lighter and more natural. The box said "dark beige blonde," this looks more...I have no idea...right now, but it will probably fade lighter in a week or two... we'll see. What most people don't know (hehe) is that I am naturally blonde, so I'm just trying to get back to my roots (ok, bad pun)...even though I am quite sure it will be back to dark browns, and reds and such later. Maybe pink. hehe. So, ladies and gents, here is my new (kinda)blonde coiffure:

Only 5 more weeks of work!

Umm, anything else? Went to coffee with Brandana and MattyK earlier this week. And last night I...hmm...can't tell you what I did last night just in case...you never know who is reading...but it was tons of fun! hehe. And I will definitely be doing more of it later today too. ;-)

Posted by valry at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, I was searching around google last night and came across this::
Bromann Playlot Park
in Edgewater, Chicago.
No one in my immediate family had ever heard of it before. And this has been around since the 70s. Weird.
I guess it was named after one of my relatives from the part of the family we never talked to for whatever reason (had something to do with that side having money and our side not so much).
So apparently I have a park.
Who's up for a field trip there this summer???

My hair is going to fall out by the end of this year. I swear it will. I'm trying to gradually lighten it to a natural looking color (for the sake of Jenny's wedding and me finding a new job). But this:

is booooring brown (and still has orangy roots). I think I'll just go back to my signature reddish brown soon, that seems to take well to anything plus looks semi-natural.

I would also like to give a frowny sad face to Scott and JoeJoe who rejected my brilliant idea of us getting matching tattoos in Poland. :(

Posted by valry at 3:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So, I was watching Snow White the other day (the Faerie Tale Theatre version) and decided I really wanted to look like Snow White. So, I tried again with the black hair dye (this time permanent):

My boss today said "I love your hair, is it blue?" hehe, it does look blue in some lights. So, I can now check another color off my list. As Glen put it when I told him I was going black "You know what they say...Once you go black, you never go back." I'm not quite sure if I agree (I think I like red best) but it is fun for now!

Yesterday was the Chicago Auto Show. I had never been before. Once when I was a kid I was supposed to go with my friend Meagan because Mark Paul Gosselaar was going to be there. But then we found out that he cancelled so we didn't go. I had such a crush on Zack Morris and was very disappointed. I actually didn't have a bad time, and even though we were there for 6 hours it didn't feel like that long. This is the only pic I have so far (the rest were taken on rolls of film that will never be developed):

There is glen in a weird looking mobile.

I want a cool sporty car. I should have held out for one of them and not gotten the Saturn. Hehe, speaking of Saturn, one of the guys working at their info desk was the guy who sold me my car, he actually recognized me too (despite the black hair). I have decided I like this car best:

It's the concept car for the Dodge Challenger. It reminds me of some retro 70s throwback, and I am totally in love. I also still want a VW. In pink. Alas, Matt promised me that I would see a pink car. I told him that I'd sleep with him if I did. Well, we finally found one. It was in the car "museum" and was some little pink racing car with German or something words all over it. Pretty in Pink. I just had to hold up my end of the bargain (hehe, yeah right). I will post pics of it if I ever finish my rolls.

All for now.

Posted by valry at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I got my passport photo today, I look mean.:

In filling out the application, one of the questions is "hair color". I am very perplexed and have no idea what to write. Thoughts??

Posted by valry at 3:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So I've always wanted jet black hair. So, being Val's best year ever, I figured now was the best time to try it out. I just bought one of those dyes thats only supposed to last 10 days, and it didn't turn out as dark as I'd hoped. Perhaps later I will try a permanant one. Anyways, this is moi with black hair:

Posted by valry at 2:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)