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.

Any dog people on here want to hear a madly adorable (if I do say so) story about my doggie?

Doggie!

Doggie!

Okay. I was walking our 35-pound, blond smiley half Chow-half Eskimo dog this morning (which was nice--I haven't felt up to walking her the last few mornings). She pounced on something, then leaped back. I thought she'd been stung by a bee, but she pounced again and when she jumped back, I saw it was a grasshopper. She watched it jump, then went over and sniffed it carefully from head to toe. After that she wagged her tail, went in front of it and MADE A PLAY BOW. Yes, my dog asked a grasshopper if it wanted to play. She is such a sweetheart--she loves every cat and dog she has ever met. And now insects.