you can't always get what you want

I have a bad habit of not getting what I want. I know, it sounds ridiculous but here’s what usually happens. 

• Step one: I order a juice at my local bodega.
• Step two: I get my juice and take a sip.
• Step three: It’s not what I ordered, not only that - it tastes really bad.
• Step four: I don’t say anything, I leave the bodega both unhappy with my bad tasting juice.
• Step five: I drink my bad tasting juice and regret it for hours and wonder why, I didn’t just ask for a new juice.

Does this happen to anyone else? You can apply it to any part of your life and maybe sometimes you just go with something and it’s not even what you want. The worst part is it’s always in my control, always. But rather than saying, “Excuse me, this is not what I ordered. May I please have a new juice?” I walk away feeling regretful and upset at myself for not speaking up. I’ve done this so many times that I’ve lost count. Most recently on a trip to Bloomingdale’s to purchase a new skincare product where I ended up with a different product than I went in to purchase, something I did not like, spent more money than I wanted and ended up with the same terrible regret. WHY DO I DO THIS?

Part one of the conclusions I've come to: I’m worried I’m going to hurt someone’s feelings.

I go see the bodega guy everyday. He is so happy and sweet. It gets very busy in there and sometimes people make mistakes. I also have witnessed people being so utterly rude at this place that I’m fearful that I too will look rude if I return my juice. Because they will then dump it out, waste all those vegetables and fruits, and next time I come in, I’ll wonder if they will then think of me as “the woman who returned her juice.” This is so beyond ridiculous.

Part two of the conclusions I've come to:  Everyone hates that picky, pushy person in line.

I’ve witnessed my fair share of people while living in NYC that are so beyond picky that it holds up the line and makes everyone else uncomfortable in a 10 feet radius. I know that by saying to my Bloomingdale’s beauty advisor, “No thank you, I came in for this product and am not interested in that product,” that she wouldn’t hate me or find me picky but at the end of the day, she’s supposed to be the expert. However, she is also a sales woman.

So here’s what I’m doing. 

I returned the skincare product and I’ve made a pact with myself to no longer expect bad juices. I trust that you can read between the lines here but if not - I won’t accept or allow people to talk me into things I do not want or did not ask for just because I feel bad or am worried about what they will think if I correct them. Because in the middle of the day when all I have time for is a juice, I do not want it to tastes like celery - I want carrot and I’m sure the bodega guy will understand.

park it

I've been taking full advantage of living just a block and a half away from Central Park this year. I've spent at least one day nearly every weekend on the Great Lawn catching some rays, reading and people watching. Becoming an expert park-ette, I think the three items above would be ideal to have for the rest of the season and well into fall. The blanket is huge (64" x 80") and very light weight. The bag is beautiful but a bit too pricey for my likes. I tend to destroy anything light colored so I try to spend a bit less knowing that it will be gray by the time I'm done with it. Finally 50+ spf lotion. Ever since my sister got horribly burnt last summer I've been wearing extra sunscreen and making sure I reapply as soon as I'm a tad pink. The only thing that's missing is a cool drink.

steven alan beach blanket + flea bag saddle bag + kiehls uv defense

a week in brief

Stopping in briefly before I head into another meeting. The time between Halloween and New Years always flies by. Hopefully next week will be a little more calm and I can come back and blog about some things I've been thinking about. Here's a quick glimpse though of what I've been drinking, eating, listening to and smelling like. More soon, promise! Start right, top and go clockwise: Bottega Veneta, l'Occitane sheer butter hand cream, Softlips in Vanilla, San Pellegrino Spring Natural Mineral Water, "Sway" by The Kooks, Fage greek yogurt

short story

When exactly do you toss your leggings to the back of your dresser come spring? Do you wait until you see another baring all or are you the first one to break out your shorts and skirts with legs au naturel? The weather in NYC has been less than desirable lately but on those days that promise sun and a little bit of warmth I dream of stretching out on the park lawn. The problem with the beginning of spring though is winter skin. Months without sun exposure leaves my skin uneven. I plan to jump start my tan with lots of running outside and Jergens natural glow lotion. Out of all the self tanning lotions, I feel that this one smells the least strong. I 'water down' the lotion with a pump of perfumed lotion to make streaks less visible and to knock down the smell even more. I also have extremely sensitive skin and this is one of the only products that doesn't make me break out. What do you do to prep your skin for spring and summer to come?

watch your tone

I trust Clinique but when this product came out, I was very skeptical. Mostly because it sounded too good to be true. While I never suffered from acne or other skin problems, I was always wishing the overall tone of my skin was more even. It's not severe enough to call in a doctor and can easily be covered up with minimal makeup. For those reasons alone, I sing the praises of Clinique's Even Better line. It works for severe cases and cases like mine that are minimal. After 40 days I saw a noticeable reduction of redness in my lower cheeks and my chin from using the serum (shown on the right). Now I use the moisturizer (shown on the left) every 3 days and the serum as a spot treatment. The best part, I'm still on the same bottle of serum from 3 months ago and I never skipped on application. There's more than enough in the bottle. So whether you can severe skin tone problems or minimal you can use this product. I highly recommend it.