Jenny and I (and those of you who have your own blogs) are not only trendwatchers, but we actually contribute to a bonified trend just by talking about trends. According to Trendwatching.com....

"CURATED CONSUMPTION: millions of consumers following and obeying the new curators of style, of taste, of eruditeness, in an ever growing number of B2C industries..."

"CURATED CONSUMPTION is behind magazines morphing into catalogues, which then morph into eclectic stores, it's behind DJs, restaurant critics, opinionated bloggers, and rap stars giving consumers access to their playlists, their cribs, their top 10 lists."


Cool. On that note... My Top 10 Beauty Products of All Time

10. Tigi BedHead Hair products (yummy scents, cool packaging, cool names, and they work great)

9. Duwop Lip Venom (tingly, yummy, supposedly induces Melanie Griffithesque lips)

8. Clean (to smell like fresh laundry)

7. Tweezerman tweezers (pluck, pluck, pluck)

6. Loreal Lineur Intense Eyeliner (for my inner metal head)

5. Origin's Never a Dull Moment (to exfoliate)

4. Mac Veluxe Eyeshadow (soft as buttah)

3. Bathina Body So Fine (smells great and can double as a hair wax)

2. Frizz-ease hair products (to keep me from looking like Rosanne Rosanna Danna)

1. Shu Emura Eye Lash Curler (don't leave home without it)

You may notice that a former favorite of mine is missing - Brown Sugar Body Scrub from Skinmarket. That's because Skinmarket went out of business - UGH!!

It's a Right Brain, Left Brain Thing

Today, Jenny and I attended a brainstorming session at work. Invited not as part of our jobs, but because a fellow employee recognized our creativity, unusual thinking, trendwatching and awareness of all things current. It was a very rare treat to have unspoken, unofficial, seemingly non-job-related talents recognized and utilized in a way that may actually help the company make money, rather than just making the environment fun for others (though we're good at that too).

It was a bit of a challenge to try express creative thoughts while amongst Nuclear Physicists and Material Scientists who want to talk about polymers and circuit boards, but it was an interesting, fun experience and Jenny and I came up with some kick-ass ideas. I just wish I'd have found this Strange Matter web site before the session.

For Those About to Rock

The t-shirt contest went well. I wore my vintage AC/DC concert shirt, circa 1981. Mind you, this is an authentic, earned shirt, not one bought off Urban Outfitters last week. That puppy is older than 99% of the pop stars that would sport it if I dared to sell it on eBay. (Yep, old and proud!) I didn't win, but I enjoyed rockin old school.

Hello my name is Tina and I'm a shopaholic

Now that I have your attention...

Bare Necessities is having a sale (of sorts), where you get a free pair of undies with the purchase of a pair. I'm all about free with purchase.

Chiasso is also having a big clearance sale. They have very cool stuff.

I also would like to max out my credit card at the West Elm sale.

Must play more lotto.

We're having a t-shirt contest for our Diversity event at work.  Here are some t-shirts I like... but would be inappropriate for this or any work related event...

Favorite Beauty Product of the Moment

I bought a tin of this Bunny Balm in Pineapple Pin Up a while back because I thought the packaging was too cute. One day, while vaining over the frizz that was rapidly expanding the girth of my hair, I, in desparation, found only this lip gloss. So I rubbed it into my Rosanne Rosanna Danna 'do, and, miraculously, it smoothed my hair into "don't hate me because I'm beautiful".

I'm all about using beauty products inappropriately.

I fantasize about food more often than a teenage boy fantasizes about Britney. I plan vacations around food. Yet I try hard not to indulge freely and become the size of a small trunk-endowed circus animal. So you can imagine my delight when I found the Hungry-girl site! It is a site after my own heart and waistline.

From my visit with Mya this past weekend to celebrate her second birthday...

Her current vocabulary (Aunt Tina's note: Mya was born 10 weeks early so is slightly behind developmentally, but, by age 4, her genius will far exceed that of any mere mortals)
- cheese (both for the camera and the food)
- auggie (for my doggie, Grizzy)
- uckie (for my hubby, her Uncle Chuckie)
- wa da (asking, what's that?)
- ball (yep, you guessed it, ball)
- bah (bye said with some unknown accent, perhaps she's secretly watching Sean Connery movies when no one is looking)

Words we're pretty convinced she said but has not reliably replicated:
- hello
- stitch
- grandma

Other Observations

She has a very outtie belly button that Aunt Tina may have to fund the surgery to get fixed since Aunt Tina has major belly button issues. We're talking an outtie of Lenny Kravitz proportions here. AAAAaaaahhh, I can barely type/think about it.

She holds up a finger for #1, then tries to do 2 but can't figure out how to hold down fingers 3 & 4.

She's very into nodding yes or no and is adament about her decisions

She is using the Leap Frog grocery cart to scan her face and her belly (wonder where in the world she got THAT idea!?)

I'm not sure if I think this is funny or sad... but Vince Niel is getting an extreme makeover... here's the article:
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"Rocker Vince Neil begins a three-month extreme makeover today for MTV's version of "The Swan." "I call him `The Mallard,' " said Lia Gerardini, Neil's girlfriend. At 43, the frontman of the legendary rock group Motley Crue is the first rock star to join the reality re-do craze.

The new Neil will be revealed August 28, after seeing a lot of a trainer, a plastic surgeon and a lifestyle counselor. Starting today, he consults with a plastic surgeon and cuts out drinking.

"It's not just for me, but for my career," said Neil, who is in negotiations to reunite in January with Motley Crue, if he and former drummer Tommy Lee can get past their feud.

MTV is billing the show as "The Remaking of Vince Neil." At stake for Neil is a recording contract and the opportunity to work with a top producer and a recording artist.

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Poor Vince, swapped out groupies for big gulps once grunge governed and fame fleeted, didn't you? You live in Vegas, so I know the In-n-Out burgers got you too, Vince. You love the double doubles with cheese, you KNOW you do!! It's all right, we're all friends here. Your safe now. We understand. You can be Anna Nicole-esque without surgery. We believe in you!

I'm visiting Mya and Sherri today. I made Mya a cake and she dug in, she loves sugar, just like the rest of the family. She's napping right now, but earlier was loving the Leap Frog Shopping Cart we got her. It has a scanner, so the funny part is, even though it is meant to scan the grocery items, it will also scan other things... so just like in my dream a couple weeks back, I can hold it up to my mouth and scan (boop, boop, boop).

Mya turned 2 today!! My mother would just be beside herself with this beautiful child. Sherri calls her mini-mom because Mya's so silly, just like our Mom, always laughing.

From sad poetry to silly health facts...

Earwax = Good; Boogers = Bad

I used to write poetry alot. I'm no Jewel, but I thought maybe I'd start again - to express my sadness semi-constructively, as opposed to just spewing bad news. So here goes...

So close I can feel your breath on my shoulder,
but with clarity, the coldness envelops me.
I shudder, unable to protect my weak flesh.
My heart grows heavy, my mind fails me, my eyes blur.
I cannot see through the pain,
I am blind.

.

LA.com is having a contest where you can win a year of In-N-Out Burgers and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf drinks! Unfortunately, you have to be a resident of California. So here's my plea... if you live in California, PLEASE enter, PLEASE win, then PLEASE take me for a double-double, naked (the burger, not you or me), with a chocolate shake... then later, we could grab a latte at CB&TL. Sounds like a plan to me.

In looking for toys for a work event, I found found these items to be amusing in a slightly perverse way... Are there any jobs out there that require the ability to take something completely innocent and turn it in to something lewd? I'd be very good at that job.


BENDABLE SPORTSMEN


PORCUPINE BALLS


STICKY SNAPPY BALLS