Happy Birthday, juliana! May it be splendiferous and fun!

Congratulations on the mortgage approval, Robin. Scary, but exciting!

DJ, I hope your friend finds a solution that keeps her safe from the craxy. Her situation gives me the creeps everytime I think of it and I want to tell her to flee, flee like the wind.

ION, thanks for the interview~ma this morning. The interview today was just the first step in the process for this company. After a tour and an interview with an HR rep, I had to take verbal, arithmetic and programming tests (over two hours worth) to see if I had the intelligence and aptitude to work for them. If they decide yes, then I have to go back to interview with the actual departments I'm interested in. It's a great company to work for, I hope I get a callback within the week. I was told that's how quick they have results for folks. They start a new crop of employees the first of every month and right now they have over 2600 employees, so that's a large crop every month. Pick me!

so I'm going to run over to Michael's and see if they have some straw that I can use to create my own broom end and finagle a way to attach it to the back of my head

Kathy, you could use raffia and a headband. The raffia won't stick up, but you could tie/glue a lot of it on to a headband and it would be fairly light.

if I had the intelligence and aptitude to work for them.

I vote yes, yes you do!!

Kathy, if you got two headbands/sweatbands and glued the raffia/straw between them, you wouldn't irritate your skin ... or at least not as much. Maybe run stitching around?

Kathy, if you got two headbands/sweatbands and glued the raffia/straw between them, you wouldn't irritate your skin ... or at least not as much

Oh! I was thinking headband that goes over the top of your head, not around your forehead. Like these: [link]

Jilli, this may sound strange, but call David's Bridal. They have lots of strapless, corset style bras. At least they have them in white for sure, I would assume they would have them in black for some of their formal wear. And they're affordable for foundation garments.

I was thinking about using an around-the-forehead sweatband/piece of cloth and wrap the end of the straw with some more cloth, but raffia's a good idea--it'll probably be softer than straw, and maybe I can glue it to a light piece of cardboard to keep it stiff? It might be easier to keep it in one place if I cut a fan-shaped cardboard piece instead of just a rubber-banded bunch of straw that'll shift all over the back of my scalp.

Your best bet is probably the wander around Michael's method. There may be something in floral or one of those small decorative brooms.

Fernet!

um, happy birthday, juliana!

p,b & j:

From a while back.

Dang, is there any clothes shopping experience that IS good for a woman's self-esteem?

There's a used clothing store in Berkeley or Oakland that carries only large sizes. I find the neatest stuff there at great prices, and the folks there are always so friendly and helpful. Last time, I was looking at a coat that wasn't exactly what I wanted, but thought it might be the best I could find, and another lady who was shopping there offered me the exact coat I wanted, for free. I love that store.

This is what makes shopping for shoes so much better. It's easier finding things that fit and are stylish and comfortable.

Grrr....I hate shoe shopping even more than clothes shopping. My feet are wide where they should be narrow, narrow where they should be wide, flat as a pancake, and hurt.

Note to self: get Daisy Jane financing to open clothing store, stat.

I'm so with you on this one. DJ's store sounds even better than my favorite.