won't you be my neighbor?

my apartment complex is made up mainly of yuppies like moi and law students. however, we have a smattering of townies thrown in for good measure. the apartment next door to me is a creepy townie magnet.

when i moved in in january 2008, my neighbors were two gals in their mid-late twenties. i saw them once or twice on move-in day and they were nice enough, but never saw them much again. the walls in our complex are quite thin, so i got used to hearing their idle chatter that i couldn't really decipher. but about 2 months in, i hear this gem:

"jen, can you bring me the nyquil? i'm on the effing toilet!" this was yelled at the top of the girl's lungs. and she said the real word. suffice it to say, i could not look them in the eyes ever again and was thrilled when they moved out in may. an empty apartment next door was bliss.

until august, when my current neighbors moved in. i'm not sure how many people actually live there, as there is always quite the cast of characters coming and going, but my best guess is that there are two guys, maybe 19 or 20 years old. SUPER emo and totally creepy. they have techno dance parties at ALL hours. and i do mean all. a few weeks ago, it was at 5am on a saturday.

my current theory is that they're professional videogamers. they're always at home. they never leave to go to work. and when i take the puppy boy for early-morning runs, i can see them in their living room playing video games. at 5:30am. not normal. they also put large skull lights around their front porch for the entire month of october. did i mention we share a front porch? yeah, i got some weird looks.

our apartments don't have central air, so i keep my windows open during the summer months. last night when i got home from margaritas with the girls, i notice the two stooges and their merry band of misfits hanging out on the back porch. i get ready for bed and am getting ready to hit the lights when i overhear this:

"i just finished playing a video game and it really got me in the mood." ummmmmm....WHAT? he then proceeds to talk about putting on a condom and something involving couch cushions. i.was.mortified.

and of course, i rush to text r about this {he finds the whole situation hilarious}. his response?

"if you find out what game it is, i'll get it for wii."

typical boy.

belle's beauty secrets

hey there, chickadees! hope everyone had a lovely weekend!  i thought it was time for another installment of belle's beauty secrets, an occasional post about the products i use to trick people into thinking i am a semi-presentable little lady. let's focus on skincare today, shall we? 

my maternal grandmother is 76 years old and has the most radiant skin.  part of this is genetics, but also the small fortune she has spent on skincare products.  she passed the genes and love of expensive face creams onto me {along with big boobs and a manic obsession with having the perfect christmas tree}.

sadly, i am on a smaller budget than she is, but i have found a way to make do with some fabulous products.  here are my favorites, in no particular order:

these two products are where i save my money.  baby wipes = ahh-mazing make-up remover.  cetaphil is recommended by almost every beauty mag and celeb dermatologist on the planet, plus you can get a bottle for like 10 bucks and it lasts FOR-EV-ER.

love, love, LOVE.  it's french.  it has a fun name.  it moisturizes and prevents wrinkles.  worth every cent.  need i say more?

i just started using this, so the long-term jury is still out, but so far, so good.  retinol + some fancy moisturizing ingredient i can't spell or pronounce = good enough for me.

so this is where y'all come in.  i am in desperate need of an eye cream.  one that not only depuffs like preparation h on a beauty queen, but also treats those pesky dark circles after too many late nights of champy drinking...err, i mean, reading up on world peace.

what are you using?  any suggestions for moi?

dear christian and neiman,

we need to have a talk.

photo courtesy neiman marcus

what the HELL are you thinking? putting shoes like these in a very public place, where i can see them, and click on a little button and buy them is INCREDIBLY irresponsible. don't you know i would be willing to sacrifice my rent check/first born/car payment for these? so what's a little loan defaulting and sh*tty credit score when i could have these lovelies on my feet...in this economy, for you to tempt me into this is downright dangerous.

note to self: find a job outside of the non-profit world or marry well. immediately. your feet NEED these.

what's {not} cooking wednesdays

sadly, what's cooking wednesdays may have to take a little hiatus for the month of june. our fiscal year ends june 30, which means the next couple of weeks will be filled with late nights of lean cuisines and emergen-C. in the meantime, let's discuss a recent discovery.

one of my go-to weekday breakfast items are the eggo nutri-grain blueberry waffles. two of them, fresh out of the toaster, with a little smart balance and mrs. butterworth's lite = delicious breakfast in about 3 minutes.

in my attempts to have more money for shoes be more budget-conscious, i decided to give the Kroger brand multi-grain waffles a try. epic fail. these things were like eating cardboard, and no amount of faux butter and glorified splenda-water could save them.

lesson learned: sometimes you just need to shell out the additional 75 cents and go for name brand.

calling all readers!

i've been meaning to do this for sometime, and there's no time like the present! i need to update my blogroll in the worst sort of way. many of you have been dolls and added me to your own blogrolls, but i'm losing track. if you are a reader and would like me to add your blog to my roll, please let me know.

hope y'all are having a faboosh weekend!

now i know my ABCs

i know this went around awhile ago, but i'm still feeling uninspired, so i thought this would be a fun post in the interim. enjoy a brief getting-to-know belle:

A - Age: 23.75
B - Bed size: full, but soon to be queen. just found out the p-units are buying me my new mattress set!
C - Chore you hate: taking out the trash
D- Dog's name: jake
E - Essential start your day item: diet coke
F - Favorite color: yellow
G - Gold or Silver or platinum: gold for everyday, platinum for my future wedding ring
H - Height: 5'2ish
I - Instruments you play: does learning to play the recorder in 4th grade count?
J- Job title: assistant director of annual giving
K - Kid(s): someday, but not any time soon. either two boys or a boy and a girl.
L- Living arrangements: rented 2 bedroom townhouse. just me and the puppy boy.
M - Mom's name: rebecca
N - Nicknames: sg, peps
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: pneumonia when i was 4. not fun. although i did use it to con my parents into letting me eat cheeseburgers for breakfast after i got better.
P - Pet Peeve: people who don't RSVP
Q - Quote from a movie: "we can love completely without complete understanding." ~A River Runs Through It. i can recite this entire movie from memory. best. movie. EVER.
R - Right handed or left handed: righty
S - Siblings: younger sister
T- Time you wake up: 6:00 AM...i'm trying to work my way back to 5:30 for the summer so i can workout in the morning before it gets hot.
U- Underwear: hanky pankys
V - Vegetable you dislike: beets. i can't think of anything more disgusting.
W - Ways you run late: NEVER. i am punctual to a fault.
X - X-rays you've had: couldn't tell you.
Y - Yummy food you make: my homemade mac and cheese is pretty much amazing.
Z - Zoo favorite: anything aquatic. i have a weird obsession with aquariums.

happy friday, chickadees!

success!

a few weeks back, i asked for help in picking a recipe for our office's monthly birthday celebration. the coconut cupcakes with lime buttercream were the landslide winner. i made them this morning and here are my thoughts:

holy mother of god, the frosting is AMAZING. r was giving me a hard time for making homemade frosting when it can so easily be purchased premade, but i had the last laugh. seriously....i had to put the bowl in the sink and fill it up with water to stop myself from licking it clean.

the actual cupcakes were kind of blah. as a vehicle for the frosting, they are all fine and good, but you can't really taste the coconut. while i applaud the notion of a lower-fat cupcake, these just aren't cutting it. the texture suffered from the lack of butter. next time i make these, i will use my all-time favorite basic white cupcake recipe, and substitute coconut extract for the almond extract. i will report back after this attempt.

in the meantime, i would not pass judgment if you just made yourself a bowl of the frosting and went at it with a spoon. it's seriously that good.