National Campaign to Ban Designer Stiched-On Cloth Labels on Coat/Suit Sleeves

From Diary of a Red-Headed Pharmacist

I apologize for the somewhat long title to this blog post, but it pretty much sums up the whole point of my message today. You see, I want to start a national campaign against designers being able to place a stiched-on cloth label on the sleeves of coats/suits. It has brought extreme heartache to my family, and I know we aren't the only ones...

The heartache story begins Spring Semester 1997 (I think!?!). My brother, Todd (who I hope doesn't hate me for sharing this...but he doesn't really read my blog)!), was beginning his second semester at A&M when he decided to "rush" a prestigious organization. I will let this organization remain anonymous as I truly think it is a great group of Christian men. This organization has members who have gone on to be great Christian leaders, GQ models, and even American Idol contestants. Anyway... back on track... So to try to join this organization you had to be invited to an event at Kyle Field for a time of mingling. Everyone who was anybody knew that you wore the typical dress of the organization to this event which was a navy blazer with khaki pants. Todd went to the mall to purchase this said navy blazer. I am sure he looked totally snazzy in his preppy outfit, and I know that he used wonderful conversation skills at this "mingler." Well...it turned out that he didn't get selected for this very prestigious organization. I truly think it killed me more than it killed him. I think I cried for him on the phone and then I bawled after I finished our phone conversation. I was heartbroken for him...how could they not want my incredibly awesome and cute brother?!?

Let's go a few months down the road when Todd returned home to A-town for the summer. He brought his suave and preppy navy blazer home with him which made my mother cringe the moment she laid eyes on it. THE DESIGNER LABEL WAS STILL STICHED ON THE SLEEVE!!! I think more tears were shed at this point!! Todd had been with these classy college men, and he totally didn't realize the need to remove the designer label from his sleeve. You know...I think they should start teaching this life skill during the senior year of high school. It is very hard for some people to think that the label should be removed since it is such pretty cloth!

So this brings me to an ethical question... I try to picture myself in a real life situation, and I wonder if I would tell a total stranger that the designer stiched-on label was really meant to be removed. Let's picture me riding on the subway to work (it sounds much for glamorous than my normal work transportation of a Honda Accord), and the girl sitting across from me is wearing a new Ralph Lauren black suit with the designer label still very evident on the sleeve, and she looks like she is headed to a job interview. Do I tell her that this label is really meant to be removed? Am I brave enough to embarass her for just a second so that she is not embarassed in front of everyone she meets on her job interview? I sure hope so!

That's why I think that I should start a full blown campaign (bumper stickers, buttons, airplane flying messages) to make Joe Public aware of the fashion faux pas that can occur with designer cloth labels left on sleeves! Maybe I can prevent a lot of heartache, and maybe that girl that I informed on the subway about her fashion faux pas will go on to become the CEO of a Fortune 500 Company or something!!

Gargantuan Sputnik Head

So here is the famous line from the film "So I Married an Axe Murderer" that inspired this post:

"Head! Paper! Now!
Move that melon of yours and get the paper if you can!
Haulin' that gargantuan cranium about!
I'm not kidding, that boy's head's like Sputnik!
Spherical, but quick pointy in parts.
Well, that was off sides, wasn't it?
He'll be crying himself to sleep tonight on his *huge* pillow."

**I wish that you could all hear Mike Myers read this line...it's hilarious!!**


Here is a picture from my cruise with Jalen and Kelsey that also inspired this post:

From Diary of a Red-Headed Pharmacist

**Does anyone see any difference in the size of my head compared to Kelsey's?!? I can't believe that I opened up this picture to my friends and family.**


Ok...so I must admit...I have a HUGE head. The proof is in the picture. I probably should have composed this post on my birthday as I must apologize to my mom for having to give birth to me and my big ol' head. Or maybe I should phrase it as my big ol' head and then came me! I think that my birth raised my mom's pain threshold to an insanely high level. This later prepared her to be able to walk around Washington, DC for an entire week on a church trip with a broken foot and not ever think twice about seeking medical attention. I think my parents wanted to post a copy of the head circumference growth chart on the refrigerator because I was always WAY above the curve!!

The pain of having a massive head has followed me throughout my entire life. I never owned a Brownie beanie when I was in Girl Scouts because I don't think they made one large enough. As a band nerd in high school, my hat size always began with the number 8 while everyone else had hat sizes that began with the number 7. I used to blame my thick hair for needing such a large hat, but I actually think I have SO much hair because I have such a monstrous scalp that covers my jumbo head. It was always fun getting all of my hair up under my silly band hat.

Since I am quite sensitive about the size of my head, it often leads me to notice the size of other heads. Ryan Seacrest has an insanely small head (or maybe David Cook has an insanely large head?).

From Diary of a Red-Headed Pharmacist

Due to the fact that I pay fine attention to detail and realize that Ryan Seacrest has such a tiny head, I refuse to try out for American Idol. It has nothing to do with my singing ability...I just don't want to look like Mr. Potato Head next to Ryan!!

Maybe I need to look into a head reduction, or maybe I just need to lose some weight so that my head may look a tad smaller!! I guess I will now just go cry myself to sleep on my HUGE pillow!!


**HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELSEY...THIS POST IS IN HONOR OF YOU AND THE HUMOR YOU FIND FROM MY BIG HEAD!!**

Book Worm...

Ok...I have broken my silence. The pressure I felt for blogging about my Hawaii trip, News Orleans trip, birthday weekend of fun, Orlando trip, and two trips to Austin has prevented me from blogging earlier. That just made me sound shallow and high maintenance, which I promise I am not!!

Anyway...I just decided to throw out a random blog for everyone. Thanks to all of my faithful readers who have voiced the need for a new blog. I hope that I don't disappoint, and I will eventually blog about all of my recent fun trips and experiences (cross your fingers!).

Everytime I drive down the race car track to Austin (aka I-35), I see a Scholastic Book Fair building just south of Waco. I get this warm, fuzzy feeling everytime I think about book fairs. It is probably hard for all of my readers to believe, but I used to spend hours analyzing the book fair catalog. I think my mom would give me a set number of books that I was allowed to purchase, and it really stressed me out! Should I get the newest Where's Waldo? book or another book by Beverly Cleary? Now knowing my mother, she probably would have let me purchase any books I picked out because she really just wanted me to be excited about reading. She might have placed some restrictions if I had only chosen Where's Waldo? books or Clifford the Big Red Dog books since she wanted me to read quality books appropriate for my age. On a side note, why is Clifford always all over the book fair catalogs and signs? Back on track...thinking about book fairs just brought back fun memories of reading while I was growing up.

My mother got me to be passionate about reading after we read The Wizard of Oz together every night before bedtime when I was probably in the third grade. Todd was always the book worm in the family, and I preferred to watch game shows on USA during the summer. Don't I sound like a braniac?!? After we read that book together though, I was hooked on reading. I became the biggest fan of The Babysitter's Club book series. I even wrote the author, Ann M. Martin, a fan letter. I made sure that I was at the Waldenbooks in Westgate Mall the day that the newest book in the The Babysitter's Club series was on the shelf. I could read one of these books in a weekend. I always kind of cheated because I skipped the entire section of Ms. Martin telling the reader about the history of all of the babysitters in the series. That was a good 20 pages, and it was always the same in each book! I think I may need a blog post just on The Babysitter's Club series...the wheels are turning in my head about an awesome post!!

I really don't know where I am going with this blog post, but it has made me excited about reading again! I think I may even finish Twilight since I am the only woman in the United States who is stuck in the middle of it. Long story!! I am happy to be back to my blogging world!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMS!!

So this is a tad bit late, but I wanted to give a shout out to my Mams! Her birthday was on Monday, and I hope that she had a wonderful day! This woman can work ANY sewing machine, pattern, or fabric. She can also work ANY kitchen gadget, ingredient, or recipe. And I must say she is getting pretty handy with a computer!!

I love ya more than my luggage (and I recently received some nice luggage from you and Dad for Christmas)!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMS!!

This picture isn't so great, but I had to go with the birthday theme...


I love this picture of Mams with Brennan. It pretty much sums up what a great mom and grandma she is!!

Amarillo by Morning on Valentine's Day

I left for Amarillo bright and early on Valentine's Day. For some reason I really enjoy the drive to Amarillo. There is no big city to slow me down as I make my trek. I think I saw a meth deal occurring on the side of the road between Clarendon and Memphis. There were some shady looking people with several coolers. A little odd.

Anyway, when I arrived in Amarillo, Mom and I got to work on my apron. I got a sewing machine for Christmas, and it hadn't been removed from the box. I was a little intimidated about getting started on this new sewing machine (or ANY sewing machine), so Mom set me up. The lady who cut my fabric at Jo-Ann's really inspired me to become a great seamstress. She highly recommended the sewing lessons offered at Jo-Ann's and was telling me about a teenage girl who was making her own prom dress. Wow...an apron seemed like a formidable challenge to me!

Here are a few pics throughout the entire apron making process. I looked too bad that day so you won't see any pics of me!






PS...My next project is a leisure suit for Todd....be jealous!

My Red Headed Sweatshirt

This one will be quick and not very interesting, but at least I'm blogging! I had to come up with a catchy title (funny Adam Sandler song) although it is not exactly the sweatshirt that I am describing!

Ok...on my Thursday full of errands, I saw TWO (not just one, but TWO) ladies wearing an oversized EXPRESS sweatshirt from the early 90s. Did anyone else have a sweatshirt like this? Mine was hunter green and had the big "EXP" letters on the front made out of plaid material. People wore them with leggings and stirrup pants. It just made me chuckle that I saw one while I was at Northeast Mall and one while I was at Sam's.

Please tell me that someone else had a sweatshirt like this, or maybe it was just and Amarillo thing! I totally wish that I had a picture of one!

Crazy Day Off (am I a Soccer Mom?!?)

My day off just started weird. I finally had everything set up to take my car into the body shop for repairs, so I headed there first. I waited quite awhile for the Enterprise people to show up, which frustrated me greatly. When I arrived to get my rental car, they handed me keys to a black Dodge Grand Caravan minivan! What in the world?!? That's all they had left. They stated that the ice storm last week caused so many wrecks that there is now a rental car shortage! I never realized how long a minivan is until getting to drive one today!

After picking up my Soccer Mom mobile (please don't be offended if you have a minivan...it just isn't my ideal rental car), I headed off to Northeast Mall. I have been on a hot pursuit for cruise clothes, so shopping is my new hobby. I had a little bit of luck finding some fun clothes. I also needed some more foundation so I headed to the Clinique counter in Dillards. The makeup associated lured me into purchasing more makeup by asking me if I wanted to try a new eye color. I stated that I was looking for a fun new eye color, so I sat down for her to CHANGE my face. She went very dramatic with my eye and lip colors. I felt VERY made up and kept thinking that people were staring at me as I walked through the mall.

I then headed off to Sam's as I needed to get some food items for a bridal shower that I am helping with. My parents gave me Sam's Club membership gift certificate for Christmas, so I had to get my picture taken for my membership card. I was chuckling to myself that I got my makeup done just for my Sam's Club card picture. I look great on the card! I must say that it was nice to load all of my Sam's goodies into a roomy minivan. I felt like I needed to then rush off and pick up my 2 kids at soccer practice.