{rheality.check}

You know I have always had an affinity for France that I really can’t explain, I have just come to accept that I am a francophile and if I had my way I’d live in a small town on the southern coast of France doing absolutely nothing. But that’s not really the point of this post. Granted I’m a little late keeping up with this news but I am so pleased to write that France has actually passed legislation banning “death messages” to young women who starve themselves to be thin. I find this to be particularly progressive and encouraging because Paris is the seat to so many prominent fashion houses. I just love it, I love that they value the health and well-being of their people enough to do something this progressive. Yay! Click here to read the BBC article on it I’m so excited that they are promoting healthy body image instead of starvation on the hopes that you may become a model. Seriously people, looking like a coat hanger is way over-rated.

Yesterday I read this beautiful article by Susan Faludi, who I know can be extreme at times but this was really worth reading. It is called Second-Place Citizens and is an Op-Ed in the New York Times. I recommend reading it because it actually gives some really good insight into why there are so many women that have gotten so upset over the Democratic primaries. I, for one, am part of those women who feel like our voices are not being heard and who fear for feminism. In fact, today at work two of my coworkers were talking about Hillary’s speech at the DNC last night and I knew that one of them had not heard it and was just speaking with the same vitriol that we’ve been hearing in the media for months now. The best part is when I bring that up they can’t speak because obviously the things they have to say are inappropriate for work. It is so frustrating to continue to live in a misogynistic country and yet have everyone in denial about it. The worst part is that *so* many women today choose to ignore this and therefore men are not held accountable. When will we learn that the battle for equal rights is not over? In fact it’s not even close.
Sadly it is people like those that I work with who make me consider voting for Ralph Nader yet again, there is a man whose values I can stand behind. Who lives up to what he believes in. Who is not a part of the political machine. Despite what Barack Obama touts he has been an extremely successful politician working within the framework of the Democratic party’s politics. If it weren’t for Hillary’s call to vote for Obama, I wouldn’t give this a second thought, my vote would be for Nader. But if she can so gracefully step down and give such a beautiful speech I will consider the Democratic nominee. I am far from blindly accepting because on principle I surely do not approve misogyny or the dog-whistle tactic that Obama used in the primaries but she made a good point about whether I really want another Republican in the White House for another 4 years. It’s a tough call, the future of the country or continued misogyny. More than likely I suppose I will side with continued misogyny but it is severely disappointing to have to make that choice.

I have always wondered why it is such a shock to have evolution be required in the public school curriculum. I find that most people I know are thoroughly shocked that in my high school (in Texas) it was unimaginable to not have evolution in the curriculum. I truly believe that not learning about evolution is the equivalent of allowing our country’s youth to be uneducated. I mean the public school system has enough flaws in it already, we don’t need to help detract from anyone’s education any more so than we already do. Imagine my shock when I read this article in the Times. To me it is simply mind-boggling to blindly say that evolution is not real when it has clearly been proven over the course of many decades. In fact it is the only theory we have as of yet for how humans came to exist. The universe has gone through many changes and it is just a little ludicrous to believe that *poof* God created humans overnight and well here we are. Does God explain what happened to the dinosaurs? Or all the other historical creatures that we have fossil records for? I just think we should be a little more practical about the whole thing. God and Evolution can exist in the same world. Also, who said you have to “believe” everything you learn at school. I may learn it but I can disagree with it. But to cut it out of the education system altogether is just unimaginable. After reading the article I am glad that it is now required in the Florida schools. You do not have to agree with everything you learn but you choose ignorance when you choose not to learn at all. And that just makes for a country full of ignoramuses and who really wants that? Certainly not me.

So I was just reading Well Heeled which happens to be a blog I like a lot and she had a post on this great topic about Quality vs Quantity in terms of clothes/fashion accessories. So it got me thinking about how I function, enough so that I thought about posting.

Typically my closet resembles quantity over quality but not necessarily. My “work” closet is in a bit of distress right now because I recently changed sizes and I’m trying to go back – that whole metabolism change has been gradual and evil to me since I hit college and I’m still working out the kinks. Unfortunately until that gets worked out I’m being a super spend-thrift about clothes. But here are some things that I consider worth spending money on:

1. A good winter coat. I received a fabulous black Burberry wool/cashmere blend last year that will probably be a little loose on me in years to come if I can whip myself back into shape. BUT the plus side that means I can layer more underneath it and at the moment it fits perfectly, looks super chic and is tres warm. The warm part being the key since I have lived in cold climates for the past 7 years, I intend for this baby to last me at least 10, maybe even 20. For example, the coat I was using before my fabulous present was my father’s black wool Austin Reed that his brother had used for a couple of years and then he used for a good 10 years (maybe more) and then lived in our closet for another 20 – cause they moved to Houston, you don’t really need a coat in Houston – and then I kidnapped it for about 6 which is when it really started to fall apart. So I mean that goes to show that a good coat can hold up over time and is worth the investment. Not to mention it can make you feel exceptionally pretty.

2. Shoes, I find that I tend to buy pricey-ish (think Steve Madden) but not overly pricey shoes. If I get heels I want them to be heels I can walk in. I love public transportation and I loathe having to tote shoes around so I can put on my work shoes. I want shoes that will hold up when I walk all over the city. And quite frankly I just don’t think Manolos or Jimmy Choos or whatnot have that kind of a life and I think you can find very beautiful shoes that you can replace a little more often without feeling so guilty.

3. Watches, this may just be my own pet thing but my favourite accessory is my watch. This could just be because I wear watches all the time. Some day I hope to own a Movado but unfortunately I don’t think I’m responsible enough with my watches to justify that kind of expense at the moment. Currently my favourite is Skaagen and my last one has finally gotten just a touch too much wear and tear after 5 years to consider an upgrade. I believe this will be my new Christmas present to myself.

4. Jewelry, I don’t believe in junk jewelry. Most of what I own was either custom made by jewelers in India (and I don’t believe that anything under 24k is worth wearing if it’s gold) or is from Tiffany’s (or of that caliber). I don’t wear jewelry very often but when I do I want it to look good. Granted I do have a pair of $10 Jem earrings and a few pieces of costume jewelry that are purely for entertainment purposes but on the whole I don’t believe in junk jewelry nor do I purchase it.

5. Sweaters, I definitely believe that good merino wool or cashmere sweaters will always look good. I mean even if you lose a bit of weight and they get a bit looser typically you can still pull off an elegant look with them. Not to mention staying warm and looking good in winter are worth the investment.

6. Scarves, real winter scarves are so worth it. They are a fabulous accessory and let’s face it the average person really only uses their favourite scarf all winter so it’s not like you need a million of them. A few choice scarves that are warm and beautiful make a fantastic accessory. (And if you can afford the trip to India or are going for a better reason than shopping, the pashmina’s there are dirt cheap and adorable).

So I was just perusing blogs with interesting titles and there was one mucking up Obama’s name, yet again. And I am not exactly Obama’s biggest fan but I don’t appreciate making up stories about anyone… except maybe Dub-ya and that’s just because the stuff he does is so outlandish to begin with it’s hard to figure out when something is just a flat-out lie. So anyway there is some article somewhere claiming that Obama has a half brother living in a shack in Africa and is too ashamed to admit that he is related to the famous American. I don’t know if I believe that or not, read it if you care, don’t if you think it’s junk. I’m undecided.

BUT what really got my goat was on the side of the blogger’s page was a link to this. Ok people, with all of the environmental crises that are happening, have we *still* not figured out that drilling all over the world is a bad idea? Are we truly that stupid that we have not learned from the errors of our past? I don’t understand how it is possible to not think that now is the time to be progressive. Now is the time to start investigating renewable energy sources. Now is the time to make a difference. It is not tomorrow, it is not another day, it is now. This is the time when we get a chance to make a change for the better. We need to take responsibility for our own actions or we won’t have a world left to live in! How can we be so blind to think that drilling in more places and using up *all* of the oil in this world will make things better?! I know that I am generally a cynic about the intelligence of the world at large (and particularly Americans) but I really didn’t think we were this stupid. I really thought that maybe we had learned something. Clearly I was wrong. Clearly that was a silly assumption (and yes I know assuming anything makes an ass out of you and me). *sigh*

You know if we don’t make the effort to look into renewable energy now it will continue to be more expensive and oil will continue to be a problem. If we don’t make a change for the better the economy will be hit again with another loss in the future. This is not a problem that is going to go away. You know, it would be nice if the US were to actually be on par with Europe or Japan in their progressive moves toward being environmentally friendly. We have the scientists and we’ve got the money to do the research at a pace that would make all the difference in the world. If only we could get the funding and not be bullied around by Big Oil, as we have been for so long.

In Stop Motion

It’s just a short little film but I found it to be really beautiful. And I definitely think it’s worth pausing out of your day to take a look at. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

So lately, I’ve gone on a bit of a health kick. Or maybe not a health kick per se but I have recently discovered many new active pursuits (such as biking and soccer) that in turn keep me healthier.

Now while I haven’t been actively seeking to revolutionize my habits/lifestyle apparently some of these little changes have had a much larger effect. So I made a couple of small changes, one being that I eat a smoothie with a little granola in it for breakfast every week day and it truly has given me more energy during the day/work week, it’s pretty fantastic actually. Another is that I’ve started biking to work a couple times a week (which is approx 6.5 miles and while that may not be much for an avid biker, it is quite a bit for someone that just took up cycling 2ish weeks ago).

Something interesting I’ve noticed since I started biking is that on the days that I play soccer or bike to work my body craves very healthy food that is generally high in protein. It’s just a natural reaction and kindof cool in its own little way. Now the reason for this post is that this weekend I decided that I deserved a break from being uber healthy and I was going to go crazy and get some junk food. I didn’t think it was all that crazy to think that one meal of Burger King would be all that bad, but after about an hour I felt the worst I have in ages. It was like my body was rejecting all the fried and awful food I had just managed to stuff into it.

I have never reacted that badly before and I’m fairly certain it wasn’t food poisoning because it just felt very different from anything else I’ve run across. I suppose I can only be thankful that my body is just naturally smarter than I am. Clearly, no more junk for me, I just can’t handle feeling as lousy as I felt last night and this morning over indulging myself in a little junk food. It’s really not tasty enough to qualify that kind of pain.

I tell you watching Guo Jingjing and Yuhlia Pakhalina dive is just like watching poetry in motion. I happen to think the dive that Yuhlia Pakhalina did was just visually more interesting but I will admit that no one did a dive quite so perfect as Guo. That was like watching perfection. I mean to see her focus and execute something so brilliantly. It is truly a pleasure to watch the Olympic atheletes, to see the talent and hard work in action is just incredible. I wish I had more words but I’m a little speechless after that. Simply in awe.

Ok, well the title could be wrong but I’d have to say this Starbucks that I just discovered would be quite difficult to beat. They have a line that is constantly hovering at the door yet all of their customers make it out in 10mins or less including placing orders, paying and picking up their coffee. It is phenomenally busy, it’s right outside of Union Station in Chicago (between Canal & Wacker on Monroe). I am just amazed, not to mention they were friendly and courteous and the coffee is just as good as anywhere else. They even have a few regulars that they know by name and write little notes to on their coffee cups.

(Maybe I should change the purpose of this blog, it initially was supposed to help me keep up with current events but it seems to be turning into Rhea’s Adventures in Chicago.)

So this weekend I got my hair professionally cut for the first time in 6 years. I had stopped going to hair stylists the summer before my sophomore year of college because at that time my opinion was that I’d had expensive haircuts of approx $100 (I consider that expensive anyway) down to super cheap ones that cost about $15 and I had never got what I wanted. I found that most stylists didn’t listen to me and didn’t necessarily give me hair that grew out well or were even close to what I wanted. So I decided to start cutting my hair myself because if I do a bad job at least I’m not out of money and it’ll grow out. The first few could have been better, they weren’t horrible or tragic but they weren’t exactly fabulous either.

After about a year they began to have a lot of consistency and for a year and a half while I was still in college they were good enough that I started cutting my friends’ hair as well. After college I went back to only cutting my hair because let’s face it when you have a job you don’t have time to be people’s personal stylist out of the goodness of your heart (or at least I don’t). And quite frankly up until this weekend my opinion was that I’m a better stylist and I know my hair better than any professional I had met thus far. (So much so that my friends who haven’t seen me in a while after I give myself a cut will always compliment my hair and ask who my stylist is. I always got a kick out of smugly saying, “I do my own hair, from cutting down to styling/colouring/product etc”).

So since I started grad school in June I really haven’t had time to spend on my hair and definitely not enough to give myself a decent cut. Let me back up a bit, early in June when I had just started work and a few weeks after I had moved to Chicago, there was this poor kid selling salon gift cards outside my office and was getting turned down right and left. So I decided to be nice and just pick one up and figured I’d probably give it away as a gift to one of my good friends.

After having this card for a couple of months and not having time to cut my hair except for minimal trims that weren’t even close to acceptable, I decided maybe I’ll just bite the bullet and let someone else cut my hair, I mean what’s the worst that can happen? I’ll hate it and it’ll grow out, that’s not the end of the world. So I made an appointment and went in not expecting much. By the time I left, I was amazed.

I have officially decided that I have met the stylist of my life. Her name is Gabi, she works at Colin of London just north of downtown Chicago. I have never been happier with my hair. I gave her minimal direction and she has done a wonderful job. Not to mention everyone that walked in the salon knew her and everyone else that went to her *loved* what she did too (I got to see a couple of cuts because she talked me into highlights, which I surprisingly like. I’m not sure I’d do them again, they look great – barely noticeable, which is what I like – but they’re a little pricey without the gift-card and I don’t think I’m invested enough to put in the maintenance that highlights require).

So this is my shameless plug for my wonderful new stylist, Gabi, if you live in Chicago, she’s worth going to see. My hair looks fabulous styled or just air-dried. I never thought I’d see the day when I met someone who could do better things to my hair than I can but I’m eating my words quite happily.