Well, I hope I'm not so ugly it burns, but I must admit my brows are not plucked, and my nails only sport polish occasionally. I do, however, know how to put on my make up, so I think I'm usually presentable.

I consider my every-six-week trip to the hair salon an investment in my peace of mind. I simply can't do my own color, and this way I keep my hair trimmed properly as well.

I used to be all more of a stickler about doing things myself, like oil changes and whatnot. Now I'm kind of lazy and honestly, I'm not nearly as good at most of this stuff as people who get paid to do it. So it's an investment in the local economy, that's what it is.

(I'm good at justifications!)

edit: And again, Vortex and I are as one. Well, as one as a tall, striking woman of color and a short, frumpy woman of no-color can be.

puh-leeze! I bask in your glow. Hey, I STILL haven't been to the restaurant.

Oh dear, I didn't mean it towards you. I was picking on myself. My Italian background gave me a unibrow and a few other things, and it's just better if no one ever saw me in my natural state. That's what I was calling ugly. I wish I could get away with never plucking or waxing.

Burrell, I'm sorry. You're not ugly in any way, shape, or form, and I never meant to imply you were. (Stupid internet, with no voice to convey tone.)

I think I'll go back to lurking for a while.

Drawing on eyebrows isn't as fun as it appears to be,

It is if you're me, but I'm widely acknowledged to be somewhat eccentric.

Oh, don't go away MFN, I realized you meant you, not me. You didn't step in the guac, I'll own my reaction as my own neuroses. What can I say? I live in LA and can't help but be aware that I'm one of the only grown up woman I know who doesn't have neat brows. EVER.

Hey, I STILL haven't been to the restaurant.

Anytime. You just tell me when.

It is if you're me, but I'm widely acknowledged to be somewhat eccentric.

Whereas I'm just crazy. Drawn-on eyebrows made me look like Little Lulu on acid.

I'll own my reaction as my own neuroses.

Here's to our neuroses then. Long may they plague us, for all values of long that equal one microsecond.

What can I say? I live in LA and can't help but be aware that I'm one of the only grown up woman I know who doesn't have neat brows. EVER.

And this is why I could never live in LA. My body image demons would eat me alive, starting with my brows.

Having met both Burrell and Maria I can vouch that they are both very attractive women. Pretty, sexy, cool, smart women.

Sigh. I haven't found (um, nor looked for) a nail salon I like/trust here in Seattle, but I loooove pedicures. Sadly, this means I have not gotten one since I moved here. Granted, it's been winter, but all week while I was in Mexico I kept looking at my feet and wishing I'd had one!

Manicures have never done much for me--I like the polish better than what I can do myself (especially french) but it isn't thaaaaat much better, and they chip so quickly. But pedicures? With the buffing, and the massaging, and the spa chair, and the lasting for weeks? Love.

Other beauty procedures, I would LIKE to get/do more often, or at all, but have a hard time justifying. Like, if someone gave me $1000 and told me I had to spend it on things like that, I'd have no trouble, but when I think about nice dinners and new clothes, versus the cost of salon color (vs. doing it myself for $10), well ...

Thanks Hec.