Year of the Gentleman

Ne-Yo has a new album out, titled Year of the Gentlemen. He is getting quite a bit of buzz for several of the songs on this album. Part of the publicity found its way into my favorite commuter newspaper by way of an interview with Ne-Yo. The interview was all about Ne-Yo's classic Rat-Pack-esq sense of style. In his (humble) opinion, he believes a mans suit should create the male hourglass. What most people call the "V" shape.

I gotta say, I completely agree with Ne-Yo and I appreciate his sense of style. For those who don't really follow R&B, his sense of style is reminiscent of Frank Sinatra. Fedora, cocked to the side, a nice suit, tie, and wingtips. Insert sigh here. I wish more men dressed like Ne-Yo.

Obviously, I don't expect men to wear a suit all the time. I just love a man that's put together well. There's nothing like a man in a nice pair of jeans, fashion tennis shoes, and a well fitting tshirt. Insert another sigh here. Where are the men that dress like that??

For the record, the hot restaurant manager had a nice flair. And, by the way, he emailed me twice(!) asking for the address of the party. I'm wondering if he is perhaps a little frantic about it. But he said he's bringing friends. We just won't tell him that it's my friends house. For all he knows, it's a man's house. :)

Wow

So, a fellow mafia member and I followed up church with brunch. We went to a neat little place in the south loop. (A neat little neighborhood second only to my own). Normally, this wouldn't be news. Ok, given my need to share ridiculous details about my life, it probably is news. Anyway, the reason why I'm mentioning it is because we saw a most gorgeous man.

He was a caramelly colored brotha, with light eyes, a low cut fade, and most importantly, has the style of Fonzworth Bentley. The outfit started with a nice pair of wool (I think) flat front trousers, a french blue button down shirt, a reddish patterned tie, and a heather gray sweater. The chocolate brown blazer was lovely also -- although that ended up coming off.

As it turns out, he worked at the cute little resto. He was clearly a manager, but, I'm not entirely certain what that means at this restaurant. Clearly, being a manager at Taco Bell is different than being a manager at a 5 star restaurant. He could be anywhere to a part-timer to a huge deal.

None of that is really important at the moment though. At this point, I just consider him yummy eye candy. Feeling bold, I called him over to tell him he looked fantastic. (That was before we finished eating.) And he told us that he was the new manager, blah blah blah. His teeth were so pretty, and his eyes so fantastic that I really wasn't listening. Anyway, after we finished eating, I called him over again to slip him my cell phone number. I did it with the pretext of inviting him to our Halloween party. In order to not endure the pain of the fact that he has a girlfriend, I told him to bring his guy friends and girl friends. (Secretly hoping that he had a lot of guy friends that look like him, and no girl friends). We'll see what happens...stay tuned.

Synchronicity

In one of the many many chick lits that I've read, there was a term used for what I'm having these days. "Synchronicity." Basically, it's when everything seems to be going your way. "Coming up Milhouse" as was said on the Simpsons. (If you caught that reference then you, like me, watch reruns way too often.)

At any rate, my life seems to be going wonderfully right now. Yesterday, I was rushing home to watch the final debate, and I managed to catch a bus just as I was coming out of the eL. I only missed 40 minutes. Hooray!

Today, I had an interview with the principle of a firm. She got my resume through about 4 degrees of separation. She told me that they weren't even hiring. They have the space, she said, but they really weren't seriously looking -- but just considering it. Then, she said, that when she gets the resume and meets someone wonderful, she doesn't want to miss out on the opportunity. (Insert gigantic smile here). Hooray!

Then, I started a dance class at my gym this evening. It was a great class, and I love the teaching style. The jury is still out on whether or not I like the choreography. But the teacher flat out said that she doesn't do turns. Yes! My horribly embarrassing lack of ability to spin will not be revealed. She told us that if she notices someone who is really good, then that person will be trying out for her dance team. And she will make that person audition different things. And then after class, I told her (conversationally while waiting for my receipt) that I was using this class to decide whether or not I was retiring my dance shoes. She turned to the girl that was making the class list and said 'oh she's not retiring.' And then turned to me and said, 'you're totally trying out for my dance team.' Hooray!

So, I'm enjoying the current string of blessings. I can definitely hear my mother and my auntie saying "We told you so...God's time, not your own time." But for the record, I never said patience was my virtue. I'm an impatient saint, ok? We all have our flaws, right?

A small taste

I've been given a small taste of the good life. Last week I purchased a fabulous coat from the Michael Kors Outlet. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it! Seriously, the coat itself is fabulous. But more importantly, it looks fabulous on me! Arrogance aside, I really like how it feels on. And, I like how I feel in it.

Something about the "high-end" fashions have changed my opinion. I used to think that the name-brand fashions were mostly just paying for labels. I still feel that way, but I'm changing. There's something to be said for wearing a $300 coat....of course, there's a lot more to be said when you're wearing a $300 coat that you totally stole from the outlet store for no where near that price.

Ultimately, maybe it isn't that I am changing my mind about brands. I think I've actually always liked them. But what I truly like are clothes that fit fabulously, make me feel fabulous, AND I got at an awesome deal on. Phew! And I was worried that I'd become a brand whore. ;)

Haus Frau

Lately, for the last two weeks really, I've been excessively tired. Before, it was a part of the general insomnia I was suffering from. Some of that was also due to the constant muscle pain in my shoulder. Now, I'm finding myself completely without motivation. I haven't been to the gym in about 2 weeks. (Actually, I'm not even sure of that. I can't remember for sure when the last time was. I know it was a Saturday -- I just don't remember which).

Anyway, it's strange. My usual motivational cues aren't working. As we all know, my body image is a twee bit off kilter. So, I'm usually the first one to start watching what I eat and hitting the gym immediately after losing some tone. But these days? I care, but I can't seem to find the motivation to do anything about it.

So, another motivation for me was trying out to be a pro-cheerleader again. As you may recall, last year that was enough to get me to the gym regularly, hire a personal trainer, etc. This time? Nope. If I don't make the team...d'ah well.

Of course, there was the possibility of meeting my future husband and/or going out on the weekends. But, as the temperature declines, the odds of me going out are also declining. Furthermore, my aforementioned total lack of motivation really doesn't lend itself to going out. I just don't have the energy for it.

I guess for now, just call me the haus frau. Because I really don't care to do much else.