All things girly.

There are certain things I always want to say about myself:

1.  I am laid back.
     I am certainly not laid back.  If I have ever told anyone this, it was most definitely a boy, as I feel it makes a girl much less intimidating.  What girl says in response to the "tell me about yourself" question: "Well, I am as uptight as they come."  Not ever this girl, I can tell you that.  But the truth is out, I fear, and it is that I, Rachel Bee, am as uptight as they come.  There.  I said it.  I digress.

2.  I love being pale.
     I don't.  I want to be brown.  Very brown.  Like California dreaming Barbie brown, with long flaxen hair and a fuschia bathing suit.  I love to lie out in the sun- for us Southern girls it is right up there with pecans, Ronald Reagan and blonde hair.

3.  I am sweet.
     When people describe me or the gentleman who lives with me as "sweet," it is a fact: she doesn't know me very well.  It starts with my voice- a girl who has a speaking voice like mine can't possibly be sweet.  She can be nice, but sweet?  No.  The alto is always the villain.  I want to be perky and smily and sweet- but again, I must confess: if you see me out and I have a smile on my face, I am probably laughing.  I am probably laughing at you.

*I kid*

4.  I am cool.
     Really, I look cool.  I do.  I know this.  I am interested in cool things and I wear cool clothes and cook trendy meals- but this girl spent way too much time alone in her room as a kid.  I am tragically nerdy.

5.  I grew up a tomboy.
     I am a girl.  The girliest of girls.  My swimsuit coverup as a kid was the apron I wore with my Easter dress.  I played with Barbies and forced my brothers into playing with them as well.  My favorite movies are dancing movies, my favorite colors are pink and purple, and I love Jane Austen.  I adore wearing dresses and skirts, curling my hair and playing in makeup. I recently told someone that if I had an actual day off- I mean, a real day when I had no access to hobbies or cleaning- I would spend an hour doing my hair, another doing my makeup, pull out all of my clothes and do a fashion show in my room (see again #4).  
      For whatever reason, the idea of growing up all dirty and masculine and then blooming into this surprising, beautiful woman seems completely romantic to me.  Don't get me wrong- I have attempted androgeny (see high school senior year), but my well-developed (ahem) femininity was all too apparent, no matter how short I cut my hair.  So, I have indulged: I have invested my chocolate-swooning, lace-loving, bug-hating self into nearly everything I do.  I do hair and makeup for a living, because if I wasn't doing yours for money, I would be doing my own for fun.  I dust cakes in pearly powder and pipe flowers and hearts as I feel somehow it will make your day.  I knit ruffled snoods and dot them with silk and netting for that extra-special, extra whimsical je ne sais quoi...

Well, see for yourself....

and another.

Obviously, it is backwards here.  I was hoping my husband was not trying to get my hair in the frame, as  this is my signature "second day" hairstyle, and most days it is a big, knotty mess.  But here...today...not so bad.  Maybe I should give a tutorial on this 2-minute "do."  You can do it.  Believe me.

As for the snood, I had an idea for this in my head- and it started by casting on as many stitches to my needles that I possibly could, which in this case is 120 (on a size 13).  I knitted for a few rows in stockinette stitch- maybe an inch and a half's worth, and then maybe at around row 5 I knit 4, K2tog, and repeated to the end of the row.  I knit a few more, and then gradually worked down to a size (knitting stitches together as needed) that would just fit over my head.  I continued in a rib stitch until I was satisfied with the length.  I sewed the two ends together, folded it over, and then sewed the part that rolls down, down.  Toss something pretty on there, do some quick embroidery, and call it a summation of today's title: girly.

I recognize that the "pattern" I pretended to give you up there was pretty pathetic, and in the future I vow to write down my patterns as I make them.  Really.

6.  I always keep my word.
     Eesh.

Have a beautiful day.

Rachel Bee