Beauty Girl: Dakota Fanning

I have to say (even if it makes me sound, like, so OLD) that it's soooo refreshing to see a teenager dressing like a teenager. Let's all give a big ol' HUZZAH to Dakota Fanning.

How nice is it to see a 15-year-old dressing like a really cute 15-year-old and not a little over-sexed wannabe?

I love this dress, with the architectural details and the asymmetric lines. I even like the colour, because its not beige, but it's demure. And the shoes are wicked too!

Don't get me wrong, I believe that kids are completely overprotected these days and infantalized by their parents (I say confidently with my dried up little vay-gay). Still, just because I think kids should be brought up in an atmosphere of awareness, it doesn't mean they should run around like a modern Miss Kitty.

Dakota's aging well, which is something you always worry about with child actors. The teen years seem to be so cruel to so many. Nobody wants to be the one who used to be so cute.

Kudos, kiddo!

50 Things To Say Before You Die

My first meme! I saw this and thought it was a nice way to brighten my day.
50 Things to Say Before You Die

1. Thanks for everything you’ve done.
2. You’ve changed my life.
3. I need you.
4. I’ve only got one life to live.
5. Nothing can stop me.
6. I love my life.
7. There’s nothing I’d rather be doing.
8. I can change the world.
9. I will change the world.
10. I have changed the world.
11. I’m rich without money.
12. I’m doing what I was meant to do.
13. I conquered my biggest fear.
14. Glad to help you.
15. I have all the money I need.
16. I don’t care what people think.
17. I’m honest.
18. I’m going for it!
19. I’m proud of myself.
20. I’ve failed.
21. I’ve learned from my failures.
22. I have no regrets.
23. I don’t like my life.
24. I’ve never had more fun in my life.
25. You hurt me.
26. There’s more to life than this.
27. I love you no matter what.
28. I’ve accomplished a lot.
29. You’ve been successful.
30. I’m listening.
31. I’m here for you.
32. Words can’t describe the way I feel.
33. I’m not giving up.
34. I don’t have any worries.
35. There is no place like home.
36. It was a pleasure to talk to you.
37. I have all the time in the world.
38. I need a hand.
39. You’re my best friend.
40. I’m glad you were here.
41. I’m just gonna go for it.
42. I can’t thank you enough.
43. I’m trusting my gut.
44. I follow my own path.
45. What a wonderful world.
46. I take full responsibility.
47. I’m not sorry.
48. I came, I saw, I conquered.
49. I haven’t said enough.
50. I’m not afraid.

I've said quite a few in my life, but I have a few to go, I think.

Today was a bit of a rough day, and I let life's rougher bits get me down. It's tricky when you wake up in a bad mood because your day always feels like it has a limit on how good you can feel.

After reading this, I started to to think. This is a much nicer set of goals than "get a bigger house" or go to the gym more." I'm probably one of those people who needs a reminder every now and again to just lighten the hell up.

How many on the list have you said?

I can't think how to make this about beauty, but the geek in me loves it. Maybe it's a Bob-&-Doug-MacKenzie kind of thing, "Beauty, eh?"

For those of us who love Paper Rock Scissors, here's the ultimate geek upgrade. What's not to love?

Product Review: Rimmel London Lash Maxxx Waterproof Mascara

In my quest for the perfect long, thick lashes, I'm always testing out new mascaras. Because my lashes are long and sparse, I find that the thickening mascaras are trickier for me to use. They tend to give me spiderlegs instead of lashes.

I decided to give Rimmel London Lash Maxxx Waterproof Mascara a try. It claims to multiply lashes three times. The wand is a one-sided brush instead of the standard spiral brush. I find that the formula isn't too thick, but it does seem to thicken up the lashes a bit.

Still, like most volumizing mascaras, I find that after three weeks the formula thickens up in the tube. I don't pump my mascara, but this happens a lot with volumizing mascaras.

Hail To the Chief

As a neighbour watching our friends to the south, I've been cautiously optimistic that the new government would enact some change. But listening to the inaugural address U.S. President Barack Obama gave today did fill me, for the first time, with a sense of hope.

Watch the address. There is beauty in his words, and he's a great orator by any standard. This gave me the same feeling that the inaugural address JFK gives when you watch it.

Goals for 2009

It's good to set goals for yourself, right? So here we go: in 2009 I will...

1. Post three times a week. I'll try for a combination of observations, product reviews and the thing I didn't post in 2008, Hollywood trivia.
2. Preparing the house for sale: getting rid of 30% of knick-knacks and souvenirs in the hospital, repairs to washrooms, upgrade lino flooring.
3. Get a dog. Sweetie says this is contingent on goal 2, so apart from the great feeling upgrading the house will give me, I'll finally have a dog again!
4. lose 10 inches by improving tone in arms, legs and waist. I'm not really sure what change this will cause in my weight, but it's the muscle tone I'm interested in.
5. Finish five courses in my Public Relations program. When I pass my current courses, I'll take two courses in the spring session and one in the autumn.
6. Increase my charitable donations. Not just our monetary donations, but my time and effort. I will make more clothing drives happen, and I will enter the MS Walk, which I haven't done for years.
   
7. Continue to develop the communications plan at work. Specifically, I want to develop and implement a recruitment communications plan and the overall communications plan. This is especially important with the recent drive to find new work, and will be challenging with the limitations we'll have on our resources.

What are your goals for 2009?