Although Margaret was always classily dressed.

Yeah, Margaret could dress herself, but she was the worst offender on, as you say, letting her personal preferences overly inform her decision. Plus, I felt like on more than one episode, I caught her applying one aesthetic standard to one design, then criticizing another design using exactly the opposite aesthetic standard.

Yeah, Margaret could dress herself, but she was the worst offender on, as you say, letting her personal preferences overly inform her decision.

you're right. I think that she was also the kind of person who would let her personal feelings for a designer affect a decision.

Yes, you have to learn to work with other people, but you also tend to be able to choose the people you work with.

Exactly. The team challenges are always weird, because everyone wants to win, and everyone wants to shine, and in a team someone is always going to have to take a backseat. Especially on Top Design, it seemed ludicrous -- if someone wants to do mid-century modern, and someone else imagined Arts and Crafts, how do you make that work? At least with food, you can all agree on, say, chicken, and go from there.

Yeah, I watched Shear Genius, too, because it was after Top Design. Which I'm okay, whatever, about.

I really liked Sally. And I like her hair! I figured I could watch this show because I had a haircut I like and wouldn't be envying all the hair on the show. Turns out, not an issue! Hee.

But I liked Tyson a lot, I thought his first style was really wearable. When I first saw it I thought it would be too stylized, but they shook it out and it still looked great. I thought the bird of paradise was a great concept but a poor execution.

Also, totally right about Theodore's model. She was supercute and totally sold a really dumb idea. But I can't harsh on Theodore too much, 'cause he's from the town where I was born!

I dunno if I'll stick with it, but it was at least a little bit fun.

The windowless, doorless, three-walled rooms bugged me to no end. There's just no way to take an interior design contest that makes you work like that seriously. No designer will ever (or at a maximum will very rarely) have to work like that. And obnoxious unrealistic time constraints because they need the show to feel competetive and meet a certain pace (plus they need to finish shooting on schedule). No designer will ever show up to start work on a room or house and then have the client suddenly say "Oh, and SURPRISE! You have to finish everything in three hours."

Is it time to re-tell the story of Breakfast At Panera at the first F2F?

Is this where we get the phrase, "eat a muffin"?

Is this where we get the phrase, "eat a muffin"?

Do you mean, "Eat a muffin, Whitey!", that's from Rio.

Is this where we get the phrase, "eat a muffin"?

Ha! But no -- Saturday morning of the Chicago F2F, most people wound up wandering down the street to Panera for breakfast. Every single NYCista who came in (myself included) made it a point to firmly establish our NYCista cred by pointing out that Panera did not, in fact, serve real bagels, but that we would grudgingly tolerate these soft bready round imposters for the duration of our midwestern stay. By the time the non-NYCistas had heard this speech five or six times, it got to be a running gag.

I can't remember if the Chicago F2F predates Rio's White People & Muffins theory or not.

Is it time to re-tell the story of Breakfast At Panera at the first F2F?

Is this where we get the phrase, "eat a muffin"?

Heh. No -- as Sue noted, that's from Rio.

At the first F2F, one morning the Buffistas drifted down the street to Panera for breakfast-y sustenance. As is their wont, the Buffistas straggled in not in one big group, but in clumps, arriving anywhere from 2 to 15 minutes apart.

Invariably, whenever a New York-ista arrived, they would get their food, come over to where the Buffista encampment was eating, and pronounce, "These are NOT bagels!"

And then another clump would arrive 2-15 minutes later, and if there were any New York-istas in that clump, the same thing would happen all over again. Phrased exactly the same, with the same intonation and everything.

Pretty damned funny to the non-New York-istas.

t edit Or, what Jess said.

And I think the Chicago F2F does, in fact, pre-date Rio's EAT A MUFFIN, WHITEY post.

You may want to give the Texture and Tones stuff a shot. It's got some awesome-looking shades.

I will try and hunt it down.

What kind of luck did you have with the Feria Professional? Did it work okay on you?

It was okay. I think I was suckered in because the woman on the blonde package kinda looked like me. In the end my Blonde Lightning or whatever it is I use is quick and effective.