Personal Style

Disliked While Waiting In The Doctor’s Office

/ Ally Bean / 48 Comments

I dunno. This is a weird one…

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LATE LAST WEEK I WAS sitting in my PCP’s waiting room.  I was there for my annual check-up.

I had on my basic summer look: v-neck short sleeve t-shirt, bermuda shorts, leather sandals.  Curly hair pulled back with two barrettes. Hoop earrings. Recent pedicure. Nice purse. Rimless glasses.

And I was reading a book, a mystery.

Another patient, a conservatively dressed 40-something woman, checked-in at the reception desk, then walked by me to sit directly across from me.

As she went by I moved my feet under my seat so that she wouldn’t trip.  This movement, which people generally acknowledge with a tip of their head or a thank you, earned me a glare.

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BUT IT DIDN’T END THERE.

After this woman, who had long straight hair and was wearing a long skirt, long-sleeved cotton blouse buttoned up to her neck and ballet flats got settled into her seat, she continued to glare at me, looking me up and down.

I began to wonder what she was seeing when she looked at me:

  • A wanton harlot with bright red toenail polish?
  • A stoned hippy wearing Birkenstocks?
  • A liberal feminist reading, of all things, a novel? 

I smiled back at her, as polite people do, then went back to reading my book.

• • •

SHORTLY THEREAFTER HER NAME WAS called, and because of the waiting room chair configuration, she had to walk by me again.

This time she glared + snorted derisively as she walked by me;  she needed for me to know that she didn’t approve of me.

For some reason. Nonspecific.

[Another patient across the way, a woman dressed about like I was, rolled her eyes and grinned at me as it happened.]

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NOW OBVIOUSLY I’M NOT LOOKING for validation from strangers who I encounter in my daily life, but the fact that something about me really irritated this conservative woman fascinated me.

And truth be told, I was equally fascinated by the fact that I rather enjoyed the sense of power it gave me over her.

I mean, if I can bother someone by merely existing in their view, imagine what I can do when I decide to speak.  😉

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Question of the Day: 

Have you ever found yourself on the receiving end of a stranger’s hateful stare for reasons you could not figure out? And if so, how did it make you feel?  

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Y Is For Yolk, You Gotta Wonder

/ Ally Bean / 51 Comments
Screen Shot 2016-03-21 at 11.05.10 AMThe yolk’s on you

… is a saying that means the joke is on you, you’ve been taken advantage of, perhaps in a kind way, perhaps not.

It is a play on the similar pronunciation of the English words: “yolk” [the inside of an egg] and “joke” [a trick played on someone].

This is funny.  I guess.  In context, maybe.

WHATEVER.

eggThis saying sums up the way I feel about make-up. It’s all a yolk joke.

Allow me to explain.

I’m not a shopper so once I find a make-up product that works, and does not irritate my skin, I keep on buying it because it saves me the stress of shopping for, and experimenting with, something new.

Plus, genetics are amazing.  Meaning that through no fault of my own my complexion is what it is, and I need the make-up colors that I need, because I am who I am.

Obviously, right?

Getting to my point here, since the beginning of the year THREE of my favorite color-perfect make-up products have been discontinued.  They would be a Nars lipliner [Tonga], a Maybelline eyebrow pencil [Light Blonde], and a Revlon powder blush [Rose].

These colors? Natural. Basic. Pale.

Colors that flatter a middle-aged, rosacea-challenged, graying-blonde woman.

Sure, the companies still exist, but they’ve replaced my perfect colors with something else.  And the new something else colors are too bold or too shiny for me.

The customer.

Who thought she had this whole make-up nonsense problem solved, but finds that the yolk is on her… which, it turns out, is not a good color for me!  😉

T Is For Turnip, Like Totally

/ Ally Bean / 46 Comments
Screen Shot 2016-03-21 at 11.02.08 AMJust Fell off the Turnip Truck

…  is an idiom meaning that someone is naive or gullible.  It refers to the idea that someone riding on top of the produce in the back of a flatbed truck is a country bumpkin who will be taken advantage of in the city by the smooth-talking folk.

I’ve never seen a truckload of turnips, which probably comes as no surprise to you.

What will also come as no surprise to you, my gentle readers, is the fact that I’ve got nothing to talk about on the topic of turnips.

Well, that’s not entirely true.

I could tell you that I have a t-shirt that has a turnip printed on the front of it with the words “turnip the volume.”  It’s a dumb pun, but the shirt is comfy.

But do you care about that t-shirt?

Probably not.

So instead of pretending I’ve something to say, allow me to suggest that we once again agree that I showed up here, in good faith, and posted something as per the challenge guidelines.

Thus I hereby declare that I have written about the letter “T.”

And the A To Z Challenge continues on Monday…

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{ SOMETHING TO DO FOR FUN }

Here’s a link to a lovely downloadable “fabric swatch” that features, among many vegetables, ye olde turnip.  Very cute.

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A Is For Artichoke, A Good Place To Begin

/ Ally Bean / 25 Comments
Screen Shot 2016-03-21 at 10.35.03 AMOkie-dokie, artichokie

… is a slang phrase that I’m guessing everyone has heard, read, or said.  It’s one of those goofy ways to communicate agreement without committing to too much interest.

I use the phrase from time-to-time because there are moments when it is appropriate.

For instance, when your husband is telling you a detailed analysis of his current sock situation, and you would prefer that he get to the bottom line of this sock soliloquy, because if he wants you to buy him some more socks, just say so.

But there he is staring into his sock drawer, reflecting upon his hole-y, muddled mess-o-socks, while you stand by patiently, not caring at all about the finer nuances of his sock preferences, but pretending that it matters to you.

That’s when a wise woman says “okie-dokie, artichokie,” then goes to Kohl’s and buys him whatever socks are on sale that day.

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{ SOMETHING TO DO FOR FUN }

Take the Can You Identify These Vegetables? Quiz.  Helpful hint: the first answer is artichoke.

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