Route 17

Roger and I spent no less than five hours yesterday just driving our Zbigniew (named after Karol Karol) around the western half of the state of Vermont. It was a pretty cool way to spend a gorgeous day! (Pictures coming soon.)

We headed out west on Route 4, through the very familiar Quechee and Woodstock, past the Long Trail Brewery and Bridgewater Corners. After Killington, we transferred onto Route 100, heading toward Sugarbush and Mad River Glen and the wicked Route 17.

Here is an entry about Route 17 from a motorcycle rider website:

Central, Route 17. Both scenic and twisty, low traffic density, excellent road condition. Starting at 100, west from Irasville. Vermont's own legendary "Appalachian Gap", a world class twisty mountian pass features many knee dragging corners, one right-hander in particular just won't quit, covering about 200 degrees of curvature in an ever tightening radius. Take it easy the first time through, take note of hazards. A sport bike mecca on weekends, but also a major attraction for state police looking to fill speeding ticket quotas. Take note in particular that the route posts an "artificially" low 40 mph limit throughout, so you can really get nailed. Check out others areas nearby for waterfalls and other scenery.

Jeremy at Comic-Con

My brother Jeremy attended the 2006 Comic-Con in San Diego this month. You can see more of his pictures of this event at his Cup-o-Robots site.

Girly girl

Warning: a girly-girl blog entry

Occasionally I dip into my girly-girl side and obsess over make-up and clothes. These short spells usually result in a sprint of new purchases, new tops, new lip color, new hair products, etc.

Back in college, the mall was within easy walking distance. I was really into dark, dark colors. I wore only wine shades on my lips, like MAC's Diva and Verve (I remember the names!). I didn't know (and still barely know) what to do with eyes. And I was also a make-up snob, choosing department store counter brands - Lancome, Estee Lauder - over those at the corner pharmacy. Although, I was never really a Clinique girl, even though Agnes and Christina were. I didn't really like the palette or felt their stuff lasted long.

Sidenote: I remember an early, early conversation between Roger and me, before we started going out and before I even knew I liked him. We were having a meal in the Lagunita Dining Hall and he said something about how he thought I looked nicer without make-up. It's one of my earliest memories of my listening to him and caring what he thought about me. :)

When I lived in Boston and Chicago, I really got into brand and boutique names, esp. shopping at Sephora and Barneys. I got into Stila, Vincent Longo, Laura Mercier, and NARS. I was moved over to oranges, peaches, and browns. I loved NARS multiple sticks that were like bronzers for cheeks and eyes, my favorite was called Palm Beach.

Names of things definitely swayed me, including lip glosses called Butterfield 8 or Cabiria (the old movie title connections represented hipness to me).

Toward the end of our stay in Chicago, my interest in make-up waned. Not sure why, but I became disenchanted with putting stuff on my face, how make-up felt heavy and I felt all shiny by midday. It was only when we started planning for our wedding that I started to think about make-up again, but purely in a functional way.

I had a specific look in mind. I didn't want the typical big red mouth, pale skin look. Instead I wanted to play up my eyes and have a very pale mouth. Of course, on the day of, I had a whole bunch of Filipino "aunties" telling me and wanting me to put dark lipstick on my lips during the reception. Anyway, I thought the look came out well in the photos ...

So we move back East to a place with no malls nearby and I forget about make-up, concentrating instead on skincare (i.e., moisturizers), and my teeth. Then another of my friends, Grace, began planning her wedding, and I started to think about what to wear, etc. With only CVS, JCPenney and Wal-Mart as my easy-access make-up counters, I began to explore drugstore brands. Although skeptical at first (I thought drugstore = cheap, garish, ineffective), I was soon impressed by the colors, the wearability, and the value! For $12.99, I can get a L'Oreal value-pack of lip gloss and eye shadow, plus a bronzing powder. That price wouldn't even buy me one lip gloss tint from NARS. And then I read that L'Oreal owns and makes Lancome, and that some products are essentially the same, minus specialty fragrance - I was sold.

Although I'm still not one to spend an hour fixing my hair or putting on make-up in the morning (I'm still hesitant about eyeshadow and know nothing about eye pencils, and am especially fearful of liquid eyeliner), I've started to wear a little more color on my face, because it does make me feel less tired and more "pulled together".

One of my favorite sections in InStyle magazine is when a featured celebrity shares what's currently in their everyday make-up bag. Here is what I have: Neutrogena Mineral Sheers #30, L'Oreal HIP bronzing powder in Glowing, L'Oreal HIP lip gloss in Pixie (for pale, shiny lips), Lancome Juicy Tube in Beach Plum (for darker lips), and CoverGirl LashExact Mascara. And Altoids Black Licorice, which Roger doesn't really like, but that just means more for me!

Current Obsessions

Although I'm not looking at Morningstar every day these days (too depressing), I do still have quite a list of other things I am currently obsessing over (it's a weird, mixed bag to be sure):

• Dunkin' Donuts' Iced Latte Lite;
  
• Chanel's Allure perfume;
  
• Bravo's Project Runway, season 3, and Tim Gunn's podcasts (it's on tonight!);
  
• Books by Nicole Krauss, particularly The History of Love;
  
• The Spanish word "verdad" (which succeeds my previous obsession over the Italian word "pronto");
  
• The all-knowing website Answers.com (its extensive movie and book plot summaries and definitions beat out Google and IMDB any day);
  
• Java scripts to create sortable tables; and
  
• My lighter, more portable Lenovo T60 at work.
  

Yosemite!

Allison and her little brood, Bradford and Katherine, at Yosemite

Recently received a message from my old Boston roommate, Allison Lee Leong. She and her young family had moved from Beantown to Amarillo, Texas. They recently went back to Allison's homestate, California, for a visit. She sent the above picture along with good wishes!