John C. Reilly, Bane Of My Existence

My husband Jason and I have a little game we play that's been going on for pretty much our whole marriage. It's a friendly betting game, friendly because I usually win... The deal is, we see some actor or actress in a movie or show on TV and say, "Hey that's the dude from that one movie!" Then the other person says, "No way, no how. They may resemble that person, but this is a completely different guy/gal." Then the first person says, you wanna bet... you get the picture. The stakes are usually a 10-minute back-rub.

Well the other night we were watching "Never Been Kissed" with Drew Barrymore and her rough-around-the-edges boss... and Jason says, "Hey that's the same guy that's in Talladega Nights with Will Ferrell." Here's a picture of the actor in question:















So then I say: "No way, that is not the same dude, no, they just look a lot alike.... " What should have tipped me off to the extremely unfortunate outcome of this particular game was my slight feeling of confusion. I was having a hard time picturing the guy from Talladega Nights as I made the bet, which doesn't usually happen to me... I have been blessed with a great memory and a penchant for details, essentially making this the perfect game for me. Jason, sensing my impending doom, raised the stakes. I went for the 10-minute back-rub, while he chose a homemade rotisserie chicken and mashed potatoes dinner. Quite a decent prize.

I ran off to the computer to check images of Talladega Nights... and it's the same guy. Crud. Worse than having to pay up is my broken winning streak and I feel a sinister lack of recognition confidence.

Here's a picture of John C. Reilly from Talladega Nights:


















I'm blaming it on the mustache.

All Is Well...

Turns out my hair was not ruined by me, myself, and I. Almost but not quite. It really pays to know a good hairdresser (professionally trained) who knows what she is doing and can fix my experiments. Thank you very much Miriam, I love my cut and think it will help me grow it out much more comfortably. I have not put down the scissors though, so never fear, Sheila's Illegal Salon will be back at it soon... maybe we'll just focus on the hairs of others for a while and leave mine to their happy little follicle lives.

I did pick up a real hair-cutting cape today and a new pair of sharp, glorious scissors... sorry to disappoint all of you who had grown accustomed to wearing a black garbage bag and roasting inside said garbage bag for the duration of your hair procedures. Because I like to think of the Illegal Salon as a spa, too. We'll have to figure out something else if you still want the sauna experience, but I think overall the cape will be an improvement. Also dull scissors did have that special signature effect, but all I can say is we're changing with the times.

Give me a call and let me take a whack at it! (I'm testing out slogans... I really like this one...)

Below is the fully functioning new hair and you literally can't style it wrong. It's versatile and awesome!!!

Baby Blue Lips

Monday we were in a creative mood and decided to break out the watercolors. I turned my back for one second and Mia had paint all over her face. Thankfully it is all non-toxic because then she started dipping her fingers in it and eating it, saying, "Num, num" very convincingly. If you've ever wondered how certain colors taste... she seems to have survived and you could try them all in the privacy of your own home. No one would ever have to know. =)

The Shrine

Okay this is seriously one of the most fun things I have ever done... a few years ago as I was dipping my toes in the water of hair dyeing and cutting, my coworker Missy Gordon graciously agreed to let me practice on her - I think we did some trimming and gave her a blond panel. Anyway... inspired by my friend Rebecca who dreamed of inviting friends over to an apartment darkened and completely filled with lit candles and dressed in a black cape (with hood), opening the door and saying, "Oh, come on in, I'm almost done here..." then finishing her made-up religious ritual arm-waving while they stood by in awkwardness, I came up with this idea to prank Missy.

I invited her over to my apartment to do her hair (it was her first time to come to my house ever). Then I shamelessly misused the building photo directory to get a picture of her. I took it home and made a bunch of copies. I still wish to this day that I had made even more. I then stuck this picture in several of my picture frames, replacing pictures of my relatives and family friends with several different sizes of her work picture. Jason helped me set up a small shrine on our kitchen table complete with candles which we lit right before she arrived. As it was her first time visiting I was hoping to give the impression that I was a total creepazoid but not scare her so much that she called the cops thinking some horrible stalking movie was playing out. And also to be like, "I've been waiting so long for you to come over!!!" Creepy, right? Well she came to the door and I let her in with great anticipation. I hope I said something to the effect of, "Welcome to our home" (with crazy eyes and strange smile) or "It's so great to finally have you over." She walked in and I busied myself in the kitchen while she looked around. She saw the shrine immediately. She said something like, "What the?" And I couldn't take the awkwardness and started laughing hysterically. More than being freaked out or weirded out, which was the actual goal, she realized I was just the first person to recognize her greatness and why the heck did it take so long for someone to make a shrine for her... lucky for me I picked the right person to do this to... someone with a weaker constitution would have been so afraid! Anyway it always makes me smile to remember this awesome prank. =) I think it's even better than the time I made up a fake charity and tried to extort donations from relatives I hadn't seen in a while...













The best shrine ever.

Sheila's Illegal Salon Part 4 & Mia In Pink Sweater

You may find that, as the weather gets colder, Illegal Salon activity increases. Today is deceptively gorgeous-looking but the actual temperature is hovering slightly above freezing. So I trimmed my bangs today. I like the bangs but it got me looking at the rest of the hair. I am going for length ultimately, but I realized that one side looks shorter than the other. The problem is, I like the longer side better... I could go and get it professionally fixed, but knowing me I probably will attempt to solve the problem myself and if I botch it then I'll call someone. Or I could just put stuff in it to hide it until it grows out to the length of the good side and then trim up the good side. The cutting is the quick part. The recovering from the cutting takes so much longer.










































I dressed Mia in her pink sweater this morning. It was a gift last year from Bill and Vladia, friends of my Grandma Anne. At one point she had the hood up and her sunglasses on and resembled a baby Jackie O. You can also see from the picture above that Mia's been playing with my makeup brush lately and enjoying it tremendously. The only downside is sometimes I find it in weird places like the floor of the laundry room, or I catch it being used as a general dusting tool on the sink and toilet. Yuck.

Climbing on the toilet is a new fun thing that she is doing lately. Mostly it is done when I am in the shower and from the toilet she can flick the lights off and on and turn on the water in the sink. Occasionally she falls from her standing position on the toilet and then I leap out of the shower sopping wet to comfort her and encourage her to go do something else. Last time she fell on top of the trash can, which of course was full, and wedged herself in between the wall and the toilet... I'll have my quiet, peaceful showers back when she goes to college. Now that I think of it, I don't really mind the drama that much. =)

Sheila's Illegal Salon Part 3

It seems the Illegal Salon is expanding. Last night I was fortunate enough to host Clare, Raoul, Gabriel and Raoul's mother at our home which is the forum for Illegal Salon's activities. Clare was the new accomplice and Raoul's mom our "victim"... her words not mine! =) I started off the cut and Clare finished the last ninety percent of it; I think it turned out great! The babies played ball and practiced taking pictures with my camera which is practically indestructible. The men drank beer and observed the proceedings with amusement; we played telemundo in the background to distract Raoul's mom from her "execution". I had a lot of fun and can't wait to see what happens next at Sheila's Illegal Salon!























































Mia actually took this shot of Gabriel, pretty good for her first day taking pictures!

Testing out my new translator for my Spanish-speaking readers...

Parece que el Salón ilegal se está expandiendo. Anoche tuve la suerte de ser anfitrión de Clare, Raoul, Gabriel y madre de Raoul, en nuestra casa que es el foro para las actividades ilegales de Salon. Clara fue el cómplice nuevo y la mamá de Raoul nuestra "víctima" ... sus palabras no el mío! =) Yo comencé el corte y Clara terminó los últimos noventa por ciento de ella, creo que resultó genial! Los bebés que jugaba a la pelota y practicar la toma de fotografías con mi cámara que es prácticamente indestructible. Los hombres bebían cerveza y observar el proceso con atracciones, jugamos Telemundo en el fondo para distraer a la mamá de Raúl de la ejecución de su. Tuve un montón de diversión y no puedo esperar a ver qué sucede después ilícito de Sheila Salón!

Cheesecake Birthday

My Dad's birthday was today. He and his friend Roselynn got to come over and eat dessert with us. I made a lemon cheesecake. To be technical it's actually called a Creamy Lemon Cheesecake Pie. It is very light and satisfying. The recipe is from the back of the Honey Graham Cracker pie crust label and you can find it in it's entirety at http://savvygirlcompany.blogspot.com.

The two important things to remember are to make it 5 hours ahead of when you want to eat it so it has time to firm up in the fridge, and also to use a fresh lemon if you can get it and not bottled lemon juice. I think it really improves the texture and taste to have the peel in it.

I had the choice to go with either light sour cream or regular - I went with the regular just in case using light would have impacted the creaminess... not something to be tampered with.

Another thing I have noted is that a certain baby, even when teething and rejecting all her regular foods, will eat this lemon cheesecake without hesitation. A girl after my own heart.















For those of you counting candles... yes the three stands for 33 years old, and my Dad was 4 when he had me. =)