Today, deadline day (again!) was filled with sooo much girly banter you would think we were working in a house of ill repute or sorority row. I don’t know what it was but all we talked about was clothes, dieting, hair, the splendors of cute boys, Real Housewives of New York, cheerleader reality TV and any other topics that might interest a 12-year-old girl. Probaby because we only had about five minutes conversation time the whole day, so when we were allowed to gab, we had to get in the smuttiest of girl smut.
First Ali mentioned that she had read about some girls who were such crazed dieters that they would only eat naked in front of a mirror. Hmmm…insane. Then we talked about what we were going to wear tomorrow with the vigour of folks who had just discovered the Rosetta Stone. This was a particularly interesting topic because we will be in a car for two hours for our fashion shoot and that just changes the entire game plan. Comfortable yet professional pants? A dress? Let’s discuss. And to top of all the babble, I applied a 100 layers of makeup to my face at my desk to do something other than copy edit for half a day straight. If you’re going to put your pedal to the editing metal, you might as well look nice!
At work, I am rather fortunately in charge of all beauty products that come our way. And being a luxury magazine, we get some pretty good stuff. So why not sample it all at my desk. I stopped myself at the at home sugar and denim waxing kit I was sent last week. Denim? Really? Like I want to rip off my armpit hair with leftover strips of overall. Ah, the joyous wonders of being a g.i.r.l.
This was the way my soul felt today. Fluffy and pink with a small dog in sweater by my side.
I think I’m still a tad tipsy writing this. It makes perfect sense considering I have been drinking for eight hours straight in the hot sun. But it’s all just part of Gold Cup! An ode to horses, booze, big hats and men in pink.
This year, Washington Life sponsored a tent along with Becky’s Fund, a non-profit to combat domestic violence, founded by Survivor star Becky Lee. And man did we pack it in. The Washington Life gals in their horse racing finery took full advantage of the open bar and knocked em back while our men in pastels talked about genteel things like funneling beer. It was also great to have Craig and Grey meet after six months of Stacey and I blogging.
I’ve always loved Gold Cup and have spent the past few years walking around member’s hill analyzing everyone’s finery, but I must say, this was a real choice year for clothing. I saw hats covered in a dozen plastic horses, pants with five different kinds of crustaceans on them, and dresses that would look amazing on a five-year-old. But I must say, our little crew was very dapper. And I am especially thankful to Vineyard Vines for being the depot for all this sartorial splendor!
After Gold Cup ended, our Associate Publisher John Arundel, kindly invited the four of us to his family’s beautiful house which is high on a hill and overlooks the rolling hills of the Plains. It was a gorgeous way to unwind and watch the Kentucky Derby and the poor rain-soaked folks in Louisville while we got to stay dry in good ol’ VA. Next up, fall gold cup and all the tweed and houndstooth that goes with it.
The women of Washington Life in their horse racing finery. Nothing like 90 degree heat and a lot of liquor!
The significant others of the women of Washington Life! Oh how I love a pastel on a man.
Oh hated deadline week! It really is the worst. There is something about a monthly deadline that can really take it all out of you. And they come up so darn often. Today was so busy at work that I actually caught myself hyperventilating and had to channel my inner yogi to find my sanity again. Of course what really helped much more than deep breathing exercises was going to the Nats game after work with Craig, my co-workers Ali and Amie, and Amie’s boyfriend Sean. And the zillion Bud Lights I drank. And that hotdog. And then the miracle beer.
Growing up in DC and always having to trek out to Baltimore to see a baseball game (aka bring binoculars to look at Brady Anderson’s butt) I love having a hometown team. It makes me feel like I live in a city that isn’t all imports. So in the sunny months, I try to go down and support the team even if they are a tad low in the rankings. Last summer we even put Ryan Zimmerman on the cover of Washington Life and made him wear whale pants. He didn’t complain one bit, which made me like the team even more. Who needs a winning season when your players will agree to wear fruity nautical trousers?
There were a few highlights to this evening’s game: 1) They beat the Dodgers. 2) They beat them by a lot. 3) I was not at work. 4) There was free beer involved.
After the game, we oddly found ourselves in one of the empty boxes. But though there were no people, there was a fridge full of cold leftover beer. And since we figured it was just going to go to waste sitting in the fridge and would be happier in our warm comforting stomachs, we drank it. Steptoe & Johnson was probably not intending to make my bad day better, but in the end, they did. Kindness without even trying. What could be better!
Amie and her gentlemen feeling much happier after the surprise gift of beer. The fuzziness of this photo really reflects everyone's new and improved mental state.
The benevolent souls in Box 22. You saved the day without even trying!
Today when I was making an attempt to clean out the 21,000 email messages in my Gmail inbox, I came across some of the world’s best email chains. Yes, that sounds a bit pompous, but I actually think they belong somewhere in the Library of Congress.
When Stacey and I worked together at Bisnow on Business, which is how we met, we also worked with a great guy named John Ford who wrote the legal column. He’s a rare hybrid of lawyer/great writer and left his high powered legal career to follow his passion for the pen. As I currently slave at a magazine that should really be renamed Estrogen Life, it’s funny to think I used to work very closely with so many guys. In fact, for a long time Stacey and I were the sole chicks at a company full of men. John, Stacey, and I got along like a house on fire and every couple of days we would write each other long crazy email chains about the weird things that had happened to us as we pounded out daily columns. And weird things they did happen. When you have to hurl yourself in strangers’ offices day after day and interrogate them about their personal and professional lives, the veneer really wears off.
But what is really amazing about John, besides the fact that he can write one hell of a hilarious email, is that while Stacey and I were drowning in our day jobs, John, who was also drowning, managed to write an amazing Young Adult novel called “The Morgue and Me” and have it published by Viking.
Now I just need him to pitch a book of email chains to his publisher. Cut out some of the expletives and I think “John, Stacey, and Karin: The Bisnow years,” has some staying power.
Many moons ago, Stacey and I plugged away together and had a blast with our favorite colleague John Ford, to my left. What's amazing is that while Stacey and I got pedicures in our spare time, John wrote a novel that was published by Viking. Love to hate you John!
Ah the glamorous life of an intern. Being a born and bred Washingtonian, I spent many a summer working long hours for no pay doing important things like sorting the mail and cleaning the mold out of the office fridge. I interned for NPR and got to crawl under desks and switch radio wires. I interned for the Belgian government and wrote a very long report about international drainage systems, and I interned for The Kennedy Center and really honed my stalking skills.
I don’t know if the people I interned for liked me or not, but I can honestly say that my interns at Washington Life are absolutely fantastic. They work really hard, many have become very good friends and constant sources of entertainment, and all brought something unique and positive to the work place. Ali, who is currently one of my interns, has been with us for a year in May and has done a super fantastic job. She stays late into the night with us on deadline, finds typos that our bleary eyes are too tired to see and knows my job inside and out. Which is why we offered her a full time job today!
Ali graduates from GW this May and I’m thrilled that she will be  joining the staff she is already very much a part of.
A very prim, proper, and maybe a tad blotto Ali and I at a recent work event. I can't wait till she starts working at the mag full time!
Last night while I was at work, my former intern/soulmate Georgia sent me what is perhaps the greatest link ever. With one click I discovered the blue eyes of a porcelain doll who the seller claims is “haunted by the spirit of a 15-year-old hussy from 1769.” According to the site, she “made her way from her settlement in Rhode Island, to the newly established San Diego, trading her body for food, water, and once a broken down old horse.” The seller wants the doll gone because she often stinks of cheap whiskey and sex. The only stipulation was that you had to be mentally sound and over 18 to buy the doll, both of which I am! So what did I do, I bought that prostitute doll for Georgia!!!
APRIL FOOLS!!!!! HAHAHAHAHH!
I would never dare buy Georgia a doll possessed by an evil whore from the 1700s. Though the rest of the story is true. Georgia did send me the link to the doll sold on a site called “Regretsy: Where DIY meets WTF.” It’s a spoof on Etsy, which is actually completely hilarious and sells things like crotchet breast implants and well, dolls who have evil slutty spirits in them.
So while I would never ever send something evil to Georgia, I really do appreciate the much needed laugh while toiling at dawn. I know few people in the world love April Fools Day like Georgia, so here’s to you, G! Thanks for making every day feel like April 1st.
Georgia is going to just love cuddling up with this possessed prostitute doll...HAHAHAHA, April Fools!
Georgia has a long history with dolls so I think she'll be very happy with the possessed doll. Here she is just a wee lass with her matching Samantha Parkington doll. I also had one of those. She now resides in a box in my basement.
Tonight was the party for our 2010 Fashion Awards. I’ve wanted to do a best dressed list since I came to Washington Life mag in 2008, and while I only got to highlight 35 people, it was still one of my favorite Washington Life projects. We celebrated those who don’t dress like color blind hill staffers at the gorgeous Textile Museum and I got to run around with an enormous grin plastered to my face. While I babbled about why we did the list, and what an honor it was to have folks in our city who don’t consider Ann Taylor high fashion, my interns Carley, Ali, and Ansley worked the door under Kelly Fisher’s watchful eye.
We had some practice at the office before the actual event, being sure to pick out people on the list we weren’t fond of and mock asking them to step to the side while we dealt with some VIPs. Clearly we have all been to snotty bars far too often because we had the routine down pat. “What did you say your last name was? We just don’t have you on the list. Please step to the side while I check in these guests.” It’s so fun to be a keeper of a list. Oh the power!
Of course the four of them were sweet as pie muscling the check in, but I know not one party crasher made it through. No one at Washington Life wants a Salahi scandal on their hands!
A gem in Kalorama is how I described the Textile Museum. Mostly because I tend to have verbal vomit when giving speeches, but also because the place is a gem.
While I’ve been home in Erie I’ve been trying to get caught up on my column for Washington Life. As a result, for the past few days, most of my time’s been spent online stalking DC’s quasi-celebrities. Though I search the MLS and Google, my favorite stalking tool is WhitePages.com. In fact, I use the site so much that I should probably share my byline with them. But for the column, it’s SOOOO useful; all I have to do is type in an address and I can find out who lives in the house. I can see where all the big wigs and muckety mucks in town are buying and selling.
I must say, I am perfectly suited to my job. I like researching stuff on the Internet and then writing about it. Plus, I’ve always enjoyed recreational stalking. In high school my friends and I would call each other up and ask, “Wanna stalk?” Then we’d ride around the city driving by the homes of “hot” boys honking. If we were feeling especially brave, we’d pull in their driveway and scream “You’re SEXY!!!” out the windows.
So now that I’m happily married, I can channel all that creepy energy into researching people and where they live on a professional level. It’s a perfect fit!
![[del.icio.us]](http://nakedthanks.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/delicious.png)
![[Digg]](http://nakedthanks.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/digg.png)
![[Facebook]](http://nakedthanks.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[Google]](http://nakedthanks.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/google.png)
![[LinkedIn]](http://nakedthanks.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/linkedin.png)
![[Technorati]](http://nakedthanks.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/technorati.png)
![[Twitter]](http://nakedthanks.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/twitter.png)
![[Yahoo!]](http://nakedthanks.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/yahoo.png)
![[Email]](http://nakedthanks.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
