Obsessed With the Dress

As much as I love Project Runway, and I will always admit I watched five seasons of Say Yes to the Dress in about a week, I don't want to admit how much I was addicted to this show. I'm railing against the idea of "guilty pleasures" lately because well, you shouldn't feel guilty about enjoying things and you shouldn't feel like you have to pretend you don't ACTUALLY like something to avoid getting attacked by close minded jerks. I should be able to stand up and say I enjoy Kelly Clarkson without shame or ridicule, thank you very much. And at first, my reason for not talking about watching the show was a bit of a "serious film people can't admit they watch reality shows, for shame!"

But I know plenty of people that are crew on shoots like this and it's what people want to watch so whatever. There's no shame in it. But now? The reason I don't want to admit I watch the show is because by the end of the six episodes of the show I realized that there were only two possibilities of what was going on: either it was completely scripted and everything was trumped up for drama, or every single person on that show (save one) is childish, immature, unprofessional, and doesn't deserve any success or notoriety they're getting from the show.

Yet I kept watching. It was an accident at first, there was nothing on, and my best friend and my sister were over and we wanted to just put the tv on something random. Then there was a preview for the next week that was enough of a cliffhanger that we wanted to know what happened, so we tuned in again. Only that preview was actually for the season, not the next episode, so we had to watch a couple more to get to that part and by then we were kind of hooked.

That's how they get you. So good on you Pie Town Productions, you did your marketing well.

But really, if the show focused more on just Michelle (the owner of The Winning Crown Boutique) and her pageant consulting, it could have been pretty good. A good insight into the pageant world? Sign me up. I got to attend Miss USA a few years ago, and talk with some of the contestants and I really learned a lot of stuff that would make a great series. And when the show was focused just on the girls coming in for their appointments and trying on dresses, it mostly was great. It had all the pieces of Say Yes to the Dress, but with an added bonus of pageant coaching and insider knowledge.

This is reality tv though, so the bulk of the show was actually focused on the drama between the staff, of course. Listen, Say Yes to the Dress did a little bit of that, but not much, because the drama came from the bride's personal stories, their annoying or loving families, and just the general stress of weddings. There wasn't a need for this superficial idiocy.

So in the end, Obsessed With the Dress really fails, because like I said, either it was all made up for the tv cameras, in which case it wasn't even a good story so why invent something so lame? Or it was that Michelle has no clue how to actually deal with employees, and Beau actually does a few things that might possibly be illegal, but are definitely immoral in how he handles his role as manager of the store. Not to mention that the employees behave terribly, and are constantly saying things in front of customers that if I was running the store would have resulted in being reprimanded, sent home, and only brought back after some serious training. I don't care if these girl's win pageants and "they're young" as Michelle keeps lamenting. It's YOUR job to teach them how to be salespeople and good at customer service. Gretchen was the only person in that place with some sense, really.

At the moment I'm trying to take comfort in the fact that it was probably almost entirely faked or at least exaggerated by the producers who egged on the people for extra drama. I'm certain they encouraged Tiffany to act out in the shop while customers were there, and encouraging Beau and Sarah's little commentaries in their interviews together.

Basically, while I have to admit I watched all six episodes of the show, I also have to say that even if I was suddenly ridiculously rich and wanted a fancy dress, the Winning Crown would be the absolute last place I would visit to get one. Michelle could undoubtedly pick a great one, but who needs the drama?

September Birchbox!

It's that time again! I got my September Birchbox a few weeks ago but now I've had time to try everything so I'll tell you all about it. First, I finally remembered to take a picture of the fabulous box it comes in. I absolutely love the Birchbox branding, it's really well designed. And I even like the pink when I normally don't like pink at all!

This is just the outer wrapping to make sure your box arrives in fabulous shape. The actual Birchbox itself is a fabulous brown box, that is perfect for reusing for all kinds of things, or turning into a craft project. I'm planning on taking mine and making a nice box with drawers for all of my cosmetics and jewelry.

One of the great things about Birchbox is that they don't just ship you a box of random stuff, they make sure to pack it with care and include plenty of information and instructions. Every month the box has a theme, and while I can't always make sense of how the products I get fit that theme, at the same time the company really takes the time to put together a great presentation and I love that.

The items are also shipped very safely, with any packets or fragile things being put in a small cardboard box so that they are protected and don't get jostled around. It's like opening a present that then has another present inside.

But in the end, it's all about the contents of the box! That part is the most fun, because it's always a surprise. I even wait to watch the sneak peek videos until after I've gotten my box, I don't want any hints about what I'll get!

So here's what arrived in September!

Now, the thing I was the most excited about was the Ruffian Nail Lacquer, which I did know was coming, and I couldn't wait! Mine came in Fox Trot, a beautiful orange shade. I had to wait a few days to try it out, but I was thrilled with the results. I wrote about it a little in my Ruffian Manicure tutorial, so check it out there!

The other product I really loved this month was the Elizabeth Arden Beautiful Color Luminous Lip Gloss (what a mouthful). Mine was in Precious Petal, which is a good color for me. It's a great lip gloss, though it is quite "glossy" which I'll have to take some time to get used to.

The Pearly Wipes did what they said, and definitely would be great for a person who drinks coffee or wine regularly. But I don't, and I don't think they'll ever take the place of brushing even in a situation where you can't really brush. Davines This Is A Sea Salt Spray was also one I was lukewarm on. I'm sure it's a great sea salt spray, but a as a beauty newb, I just don't even know what it's supposed to do or how I'm supposed to use it. Spraying it on my hair while it was dry made it look a little too dull for my tastes (honestly I don't understand the point of matte finish for hair). When I used it while my hair was wet, I didn't notice any extra moisturizing properties I don't already get from my other product so I'll stick with that.

The last product was a sample of Paula’s Choice RESIST BHA 9 for Stubborn Imperfections. The main ingredient in this is salicylic acid or BHA, which is something my skin can't really tolerate very well. I did try the sample once, and I found it to be really oily and messy, and not really the type of product I'm apt to try to use more anyway. I didn't have a big reaction to the one-time application, but I didn't want to risk it so I didn't use it again and saw no huge improvement (which can't be expected with just using it once).

Photo from Birchbox!
Overall, it was yet another box I was completely thrilled with. I've of course already ordered some more Ruffian nail polish, and I still highly recommend Birchbox. I've discovered so many great things just over the three months I've been a member, it's well worth the money every month. Not to mention that when I do order full sized products I get points and coupons and deals. And their customer service and social media engagement are perfect. It's a great company, you should check it out!

Classic Film Review: Galaxy Quest

My local theater does these screenings of older movies called "Insomnia Theater" and a few weeks ago they were showing Galaxy Quest. I missed Galaxy Quest the first time it was in theaters, and I can't even remember why. I just don't think I thought it was going to be all that funny, it didn't come out in a time where parody movies were doing all that well. Let's be honest in generally they're pretty terrible unless Mel Brooks is involved. This was definitely my mistake, and when I was finally convinced to watch it (and I can't remember by who or how), and I found out instantly how wrong I was. This movie isn't just funny, it's brilliant. It works on multiple levels, and it's smart in ways that even now most movies don't even attempt.

On it's surface, it's simple. The washed up actors who appeared on a short lived but cult favorite tv show are mistaken for real spaceship commanders and brought into space to save an alien race. Even that's been done before, but usually with something that becomes much more serious. But Galaxy Quest keeps up it's level of humor and intelligence at every moment.

It's no surprise that these actors are fantastic, Sigourney Weaver, Tony Shaloub, and Alan Rickman are some of the best actors in the country and so of course they're fantastic. Tim Allen has some hits and misses, but he's perfectly at home here and does what he does best.

Of course this is an almost direct parody of Star Trek and it's fans, and a lot of people (Patrick Stewart himself included) have worried that it was at the expense of those fans. It isn't, at all. One of the hardest things to accomplish in parody is being a loving tribute as well as poking fun at tropes and cliches. Galaxy Quest is one of the best examples of how to do this well. Which is probably why many Star Trek fans talk about it being the best Star Trek movie, because it's the one that comes from the same place they do, and it represents not just the world of Star Trek but also the world AROUND Star Trek. And it clearly understands the universe better than certain other recent writer and director teams I could name.

In general, if you like science fiction or Star Trek on any level, you should have seen Galaxy Quest by now. But you also should check it out if you like humor, or if you want to have some fun with the behind-the-scenes world of movies and television. It's a lot of things for a lot of people, and it does all of them well.