Feeling Young(ish) again - 2013 MTV VMAs

I feel like I need a little “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” after the MTV VMAs last night.  SO much I did not understand.   

So much made me feel uncomfortable.   So much made me feel…..OLD.

To be fair, I know at my age I am not OLD.  Unlike some who should remain nameless, I did not need to Google “twerking” (love ya, MGD!) But I know I am NOT young.  I realize this when I get too little sleep or when I have that unnecessary last glass of wine.  It causes me great pain when I change out my winter/summer clothes 2x a year and come across jeans and dresses in sizes I know I will NEVER wear again, yet cannot bring myself to throw away.  I can *actually feel* my crows feet and brow furrows become more pronounced when I walk by a Forever 21.  Hell it happens when I pass the Juniors section in Target.   

So, IMHO,  my being not young = my being old. But for the brief period of time watching the VMAs last night, I felt....young again.  

If you watched most of the VMAs you may be saying “WTF, DeviledMegs?!?!” Anyone over the age of 25 felt old as DIRT at least once during that trainwreck of an “awards” show.  And I did.  BELIEVE me I did.  

I felt it when my first thought in seeing Miley Cyrus hump a foam finger was “What must her parents be think??”  

Via.  Don't worry Drake, I had to look away too. 

I felt it when Jared Leto announced a performance and as fans cheered for him, and I realized anyone under the age of 18 doesn’t even know that he was Jordan-FRAKING-Catalano.  

Nooooooooo

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees

And yes, the sheer fact that I had been giddy with anticipation since it was announced that there could be an N*SYNC reunion in the works was an indicator I was OLD.  [Says the woman who has also paid money –as an ADULT - to see NKOTB (TWICE) and the Backstreet Boys]  

Via

With nowhere to turn with all my snarky comments feelings, I went where anyone else would go who needs an emotional outlet.

Facebook.

And there were all my friends, from all stages of my life, similarly horrified by a skanky-beyond-her-years Miley.  We marveled at the wonder that is JT.  We commented on and liked each others posts.  I felt like I could have been 20 years old again, watching it in the chapter room of my sorority house.  You know, back in the dark ages where you HAD to watch things live because there was no DVR, and your friends had to BE THERE because you couldn’t text/tweet them. 

For a brief period of time….age was just a number. 

And yes, reality came crashing back this morning as I struggled to get my butt out of bed after staying up WAYYYYYY past my bedtime and had to put forth extra effort to get myself presentable and out the door to work.  But I am still laughing thinking about last night.  Thanks to those FB friends that made it more fun to watch….and helped make me feel not so OLD for one short evening. 

PS - We get it, MTV.  Tay Tay and Selena are just a couple of besties having a fun night out dancing (and perpetuating the sterotype that White Girls have no rythm) 

SO MUCH BAD DANCING

In addition to trashing your exes.  But did the camera need to show your reaction to every. Single. Thing?!?

5 on Friday

Linking up for Five on Friday.

1.  BB cream for your hair.
I am sure by now you all have become familiar with BB creams (BB = Beauty Balm).  heck, now we have even moved on to CC creams (CC = Color Correcting) and apparently DD creams are in the works.  Confused?  Fashionista provides an excellent breakdown of the difference between them all. 

Pantene now has a BB cream for your hair, and it is marvelous.  It touts itself as a 10-in-1 solution for things like manageability, heat protection and shine among others.  All i know is that when I use it post-shower, my blowdry looks so much better than usual (and dare I say takes less time?  Maybe I am imagining things).  Less frizz, movement and body to my hair.  It is a great drug store find for sure. 

2.  This picture of Charlie Manuel breaks my heart and makes me love him more all at the same time.  I know the Phillies felt they had to make some big changes, and firings like this are just how the business of baseball is done.  But I think I loved the Phillies *that much more* with Charlie as the team's Skipper.  He made me feel....safe.  I trusted Charlie.  He always felt like a Pop-Pop to me...I imagined a dish of Werther's candies set next to his favorite chair at home and could imagine him sneaking me a $10 bill when no one was looking, with a little wink to say it was our secret.  This pic also let me know Charlie is just like me.  He knows that when you are heading out of Philadelphia, you should stop to get some Wawa for the road. 

P.S. Coach is placing his bet that Charlie ends up in DC....and I must say, it would make it a little easier for me to root for the hometown team Nationals if that was the case. 

3.  Friday.  That means the end of this hellatious, craptastic, Calgon-take-me-away week is in sight.  Thank goodness because I am seriously running on empty when it comes to patience and composure at work this week.  I have found myself biting my tongue (literally...as in I almost drew blood) so many damn times this week to stop myself from just letting sh*t fly and telling people exactly what I thought. 

4.  The movie "Jobs."  I saw it last week and it's just kind of....*meh*.  I feel like Ashton Kutcher slapped together a bunch of mannerisms, threw on a black mock turtleneck and called it a performance.  To me is was just a drawn out impression of Steve Jobs.  I don't feel like I learned anything I didn't already know or got any insight into his life.  The movie was a somewhat glorified live-action version of Steve Jobs' resume.  The highlight for me was Josh Gad.  I just love him. 
Oh and the other highlight was also being able to see it in MVP and mine's new favorite theater.  This AMC theater revamped itself with leather recliners, reserved seating and a tricked out fancy coke machine.  You know, the kind that lets you pick from what feels like a gazillion choices.  Diet cherry ginger ale on tap?  Yes please! 

5.  Orange is the New Black.  Finally convinced MVP to give this Netflix series a try and I am hooked.  The first season has 13 episodes --we watched three in a row last night, and am fairly certain we will plow through the other ten over the course of this weekend.  This series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir about her own experiences in prison. 

Via

Aside from the novelty of this being nothing like any other show you've watched recently, the performances on this show are A-mazing.  I am also hooked by how they choose to reveal characters' back story, giving you little snippets here and there they not only give you insight, but make you go back and reevaluate things that character has done or said in a previous episode...sort of like "Oh NOW I get why she said that!"  I won't get on the "better roles for actresses" soapbox (and I know the series is set in prison, so by default characters will be outside of your run-of-the-mill TV actresses) but I love seeing women of all sizes, shapes, colors and ages on TV.  I am not sure if it is funny, sad or scary that I think the characters in Orange is the New Black look more like "real life" to me than those on most poplar series today.  If you have Netflix, you must give this series a try.  And if you don't have Netflix, Orange is the New Black and House of Cards are all the reason you need to sign yourself up and get your binge-watching on!

Oh Shift! Thoughts on the Lilly Pulitzer online sale

Yes, I am overdue for posting on here....work/life has been crazy as of late to say the least.  Soon though, I promise!

Pic via Facebook

My experience with yesterday's Lilly Pulitzer annual online summer sale has left me with thoughts and comments I need to share.  You know, with someone other than MVP who could really care less about a bunch of crazed ladies hitting refresh on their browser for 6+ hours yesterday.

As many of you know, I LOVE a good bargain.  Like, I get an incredible high from finding something I love at a crazy-low price.  I have often felt I would easily medal if bargain shopping (specifically online) somehow became an Olympic sport.  Just this past Sunday night, I amazed MVP with my skills -- he was interested in a pair of shoes, I offered a few online shopping suggestions and bing-bam-BOOM, he was able to get the exact pair he wanted for about $35 less than retail.  AND free shipping.  You're welcome, MVP.

So it is TOTALLY in my nature to look forward to something like the Lilly P sale.  I set aside a little shopping fund in advance of the sale so I can take advantage of as many bargains as my little pink and green heart desires. I make sure I am online in time for the 8am start.  And I also try to take everything with a heaping spoonful of reality. 

EVERY YEAR there are website issues.  Anyone who has shopped the sale before should already know that and keep the complaining to a minimum.  I will admit that yesterday's first day of the sale took things to a new low, as I heard that there were some possible security breaches on the site; shoppers logged into their online account (where they have saved billing/shipping info, payment info, etc.) before shopping the sale, only to see (well, those who were fortunate enough to notice) that even though they had entered their correct log in info, they were shopping under someone else's account.
[Side note, to my knowledge, Lilly Pulitzer has not publicly discussed or acknowledged the alleged privacy scare]

There were also issues with shoppers assuming that their transaction was completed successfully because they received a confirmation email AND their card was charged.  Only to find out later the order was not able to be placed BUT their card was charged, and they would have to wait 1-3 days to have the funds credited back to them.

However, what struck me the MOST yesterday, were some of the careless and cruel comments I read on Facebook, Twitter and so on.  Some of the comments I empathized with -- the inability to view what was in your virtual shopping tote, the frustration with the lack of real time inventory update, etc.

But the comments I had issue with....well they are still gnawing at me this morning.

First and foremost, it's an online sale.  These are brightly colored shift dresses and patterned shorts we are talking about here, not bread for your starving family.  Let's try to keep a healthy perspective on things.  Your life does not begin and end with your ability to score as much discounted Lilly as humanly possible.  Well, at least I don't think so.  If YOU do.....gosh, I kind of feel bad for you.

But that....well that was not the worst of it.  What made me cringe last night -- literally made me sick to my stomach -- were those women who voiced OUTRAGE at the sale being ruined by people who were not considered to be "loyal" Lilly shoppers.  As in, folks who are not regularly paying $200+ for a shift dress but flock to the online sale in the hopes of scoring some of those same fashions for under $100.  These women spewed hate, shame and vitriol towards others...basing their "worthiness" to shop an open-to-anyone-online-freaking-sale on their ability to afford the sale wares if they were listed at full price.

Pic via Facebook

Hell, even if you can afford full price Lilly, some people may not see VALUE in purchasing these same garments and accessories at full price, myself included in that group. 

While I had many problems and issues with the 2013 annual sale, it was this last issue that left the sourest of tastes in my mouth.  It has me not just questioning this sale, but the consumer definition of this brand in general.  Frankly, I would be hesitant to even wear any of my LillyP right now, because I would NEVER want to be associated to all the self-righteous and self-entitled shoppers yesterday who claimed they DESERVED more/better/preferred access to the discounted offerings as a reward for being "loyal" customers outside of this annual sale.  I'm not gonna go so far as to say wearing a Murfee scarf is the same as wearing a sandwich board saying "Proud to be part of the 1%"...but it's pretty damn close for me at this point. 

So for those women crazily hitting refresh and taking breaks to post on Facebook bitching griping about the unfairness of it all.....step away from your computer.
Take a deep cleansing breath.
Were you able to feed your family yesterday?
Is there a roof over your head? 
Do you have a paying job that allows you to make ends meet?
Are you fortunate enough to not have friends, family or loved ones currently serving in a war zone?
Are you fortunate enough to not have anyone you care about currently battling a life threatening illness?

If you answered YES to any of these questions, then take a moment of GRATITUDE for all that you do have before posting ANY more comments about the myriad of perceived injustices associated with the Lilly Pulitzer online sale.

I'm going to practice what I preach and if anyone cares to join me, please do.  Since I did not make any purchases during this year's online sale, I'm going to take some of that money that I had dogeared for the Lilly Sale and donate it to a worthy cause.  They are people out there that need the support of charitable organizations MUCH more than I need a discounted shift dress.