Tween girls have become even more annoying

I just read this somewhat disturbing piece of news:

Tween girls 8-12 are spending some $500 million annually on beauty products according to the NPD Group's newest report, Insight Into the Youth Beauty Market, which in addition to tweens looks at a broader spectrum of youth consumers 8-24 years old. In the survey tween girls report first using beauty products at 10 years old. Who is paying for the beauty products? Four out of 10 tween gals say they use their allowance to make their purchases, while about six in ten say their parent/guardian pays for their products. What are tween girls buying? Well, about 60% of the tween girls report they use fragrances/body sprays, with five out of 10 girls having used skincare products, while makeup came in third. Not shocking to those of us who were once tween girls, lip gloss is one of the most popular products they use. However, different from what I recall of my tweendom, the NPD report finds that today's tween girls use at least 30 different beauty product categories, which includes firming cellulite cream. The report finds that tween girls favorite fragrance brands include: Bath and Body Works; Britney Spears; Britney Spears: Curious; Victoria Secrets; and ck: One.


I think that up until like college, I only used lip gloss. Bonne Bell or maybe Chapstick. I guess I was a big nerd who was awfully behind in my knowledge of beauty products. I'm still pretty behind in my knowledge of beauty products, which is probably why I could never get a fashionable job in the beauty industry like my friend who made the jump from publishing to Este Lauder. Ha ha, I don't even know the correct spelling of Este Lauder.

I can't believe that tween girls' favorite fragrance brands include Victoria Secret. I still feel like Victoria Secret salespeople look down their noses at me in disdain when I go into their stores. And I'm 27.

the one time i watch tv

and actually see commercials...

i LIKE the song that plays in the new Old Navy commercial! now i just need to figure out what it is.

solitary happiness

Just finished watching Gossip Girl in my own apartment, in real-time. For once I actually got home before 8pm. I was planning to go to the dojo, but after spraining my ankle today figured I should rest it for at least a few days.

It's kind of nice to get home when it's still daylight out. It feels like I have the whole day in front of me. Actual free time.

It would feel even nicer if my sink wasn't full of dirty dishes and my one deepdish pan was left dirty in the sink. I didn't feel like dealing with it so I just got takeout for dinner even though I should really be saving money by cooking. I think I am finally going to say something about this situation. It's just really inconsiderate for my roommate to use my pots, pans, and dishes and then not wash them for 3 days. What about if I want to (gasp) use my own dishes once in awhile? Do I always have to double the work for myself by washing them before AND after I use them?

I've tried doing things like piling her dishes on one side of the sink, or doing her dishes and then leaving the drying rack full of visibly clean dishes, or putting clean dishes away in the cupboard (which she never does) so she'll know that I cleaned them. But I guess sometimes people just can't see a hint.

time and place

when walking around my neighborhood, i feel a great sense of calm. maybe familiarity breeds a sense of peace and calm. or maybe the neighborhood simply has good, positive energy. we talk a lot about that at the dojo. it, too, is a place filled with positive energy.

i like the look and feel of the lofty brownstones on quiet side streets. i like the restaurants and cafes that line the streets, the activity that emits a lively buzz when I walk past lighted storefronts. i like the old-school italian eateries juxtaposed against the sleek, modern winebars. i like that the bars are full and yet never crowded. i like the smallness of the neighborhood, the way its two major arteries run north-south on either side of my block.

more specifically,
i like the bagel store where a bagel with cream cheese still costs only $1.85, the vietnamese sandwich shop where i can get my bubble tea and banh mi fix, the bars on 3rd place that have actually given me drinks for free, the tiny neighborhood park where kids play baseball on an asphalt blacktop, the musty old independent bookstore that's actually a bit dark and scary, the overpass of the BQE that I find exhilarating to cross, and the pizza place where the guys listen to spanish radio and make sad faces when i say i want my slice "to go."

i think about all this and feel deeply conflicted about wanting to leave. sigh. can i abandon CG for a place of my own? my own slice of rental real estate in this ridiculously overpriced city?

oldness

tonight i wore high heeled peep-toe sandals and now my feet are killing me. the tops of my toes have bumps on them from being squeezed into my shoes. i don't know why i even bother wearing heels.

i got to the bar at 10pm and went home at 1:15am. i don't care if that's lame, but i was sooo tired for some reason! i think that years upon years of working just kind of beat the energy out of me. i had my early bird fun though.

i saw my cousins earlier today, who are ages 16, 17, and 20. they were talking about the national honor society inductions and the high school scholarship awards that their school gives. i barely remembered anything about national honor society (that was 10 years ago!) except that i was in it. i think. then the 17 year old was exclaiming how she never realized i was 10 years older... "10 years?! That's almost a decade!" she said.