Yeah Yeah Yeah

I haven't written in a while, and when I do, of course it's on a Saturday night at 10:30. This is what happens when you're on a budget and under the weather, which is scorching hot (especially if the car upholstery is leather and you forgot to put up the car windshield sun-blocker thingy).

So much has happened in the past few days: I submitted an application to an apartment complex, I worked (thankfully, a daily occurrence), I met Brooke Shields, you know, the usual.

"Wait!" you cry. "You met Brooke Shields?"

Yes, you read correctly. I met Brooke Shields. And, yes, her eyebrows are really that amazing, even from 18 inches away.

"But, why did you get to meet Brooke Shields? All you've ever done is whine on a blog!"

Oh, contraire, my fine feathered follower. I have done many things in my day, the most influential being a bout with cancer as a teenager. That might sound strange, but really, it has had a huge influence on me. I changed quite a bit as a person during that time, and I also became involved with the Make A Wish Foundation, through which I had the opportunity to meet Ms. Shields.

Occasionally, MAW needs a Wish Kid to speak at an event, and they sometimes call on me to do so. Thursday evening was just such an occasion. Allergan (a pharmaceutical company) developed LATISSE, an eyelash growth serum, and Brooke Shields is their spokeswoman. Allergan decided that they wanted to promote their product while simultaneously helping a great cause, so they partnered with Make A Wish (you know, the whole "lose an eyelash, blow it off your finger, and make a wish" thing you used to do when you were a kid?) and are donating $5 for every person who signs up on their website to Make A Wish. Brooke Shields is doing the publicity tour thing, and LATISSE asked if Make A Wish could have a Wish Kid speak.

Badda-boom, badda-bing, I gave a speech about my experience with Make A Wish and how important it is to the children who are having their wishes granted, and then got to sit on a lovely goldenrod damask sofa next to Brooke Shields for the next 5 minutes while she and Anastasia Soare (eyebrow plucker to the stars and AMAZING dresser) finished their presentation.

This is now going to be a Happy Hour post, too, because following the presentation, a lovely woman from MAW and I adjourned to the bar at Dallas' Ritz Carlton Hotel, where the presentation took place, for a much-needed drink.

If you want amazing people-watching, go to the bar at the Ritz Carlton. There are all sorts of fake-baked and fake-bodied women there at which to gawk, and multitudes of rich old men with bad hair and horrible jewelry sprinkled about the place, all trying to inconspicuously look up the shorts (weren't those a fad last year?) or skirts of the fakes. I'm sure some very nice people go to the Ritz - I was there, after all, wasn't I? - but for the most part... Like I said GREAT people-watching.

The apartment I'm hoping to move into is in tony University Park, a short 10-15 minute drive from my office, and is on the third floor of a building. It has an elevator, otherwise it wouldn't be an option for me. It also has a breathtaking view of downtown. At least, when there's no smog in the air, there is a breathtaking view of downtown. Of course, if it's an ozone alert day, any view is breathtaking, I guess.

I'm hoping I get approved for the apartment (there are income restrictions) because it's in a safe neighborhood, I like the layout, and it comes with a free stackable washer and dryer, which means more time devoted to my portfolio and less to sitting in a laundromat doing laundry, or driving to my parents' house (and the vehicular costs associated with that) to co opt their washer and dryer, the use of which must be coordinated with my dad's laundry schedule. Once again, I will be able to wash jeans at midnight, if I so choose!

AND I'll be closer to my old dry-cleaner, who I intend to marry, some day, so I won't ever have to worry about having clean clothes again. The man can get stains out of anything.

Dr. Pepper on your white silk skirt? No problem.

A pint of Guinness on your favorite white surplice blouse? Looks like it never happened.

Bonus: Mr. Dry Cleaner Man is good-looking, too... in a short kind of way.

(Creative Commons Sharealike Licensed Image courtesy of Flickr User watchwithkristin via Wikimedia Commons may be found at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brooke_Shields_(2008).JPG)