As a child I adored them. Would look forward to them forever, and be riveted when they finally came. What am I talking about? Why, the biggest event going on right now. The Olypmics. But I have a confession, somewhere along the way, that love kind of faded. It’s almost dead.

I’m pretty sure I know what killed it. Well, maybe a couple of things. The first was when they switched to splitting the winter/summer games into different years. So the Olympics were every two years. That killed a big part of my love. There wasn’t a huge build up of…one more year, one more year…yes! It’s been four years. A new president and the Olympics! It just doesn’t feel as special. It’s like, oh yeah, the Olympics are on again.

The second thing that killed it…the Olympics used to be live. Didn’t they? Well in America they’re like completely delayed, so you already know who won by the time you’re watching it. What the heck is the fun in that? Of course, maybe it’s kind of like those people who read the last page of a book first then go back and read it through. I don’t really get the reasoning, but some people don’t mind knowing the outcome and it’s all about the journey getting there. I could watch it on Canadian tv (since we get the Canadian channel), but I just can’t bring myself to care that much anymore.

But there it is. My confession. I don’t really get into the Olympics anymore. How about you? A big fan? Mediocre? Or not so much.

I do agree there’s nice eye candy…

So I’m still coming off of a week long conference. Where everyday I tried. I tried to be active, I tried to dress nicely, and I tried to wear makeup. And I succeeded at them all! And then I come home and not so much…especially with the makeup.

Okay let me first say, that before I left for my conference I spent a lot of money on makeup. Like bend over and say ah shit! Good quality, never have I imagined buying these brands before. I blame Lacy Danes on convincing me to go high quality. So here’s the thing…I bought this makeup for conference and I woke up everyday with enough time to put on every piece of makeup I bought. Because damnit, it was an investment.

Then I come home…and….well, hmm, go back to the normal. I think I’ve done my makeup twice since San Francisco. And both times because I reminded myself I paid for this makeup and come hell or high water I’d wear it. But it’s hard. It’s not a natural thing for me. When I used to do the 9-5 thing I’d do makeup, but now that I’m just writing and grammasitting, not so much. I’m very much a ‘natural’ girl. Or maybe that’s code for I just don’t care that much.

But I need to. Because, well ya see, I’m single. And I know I look at least a little cuter when I wear makeup. So why don’t I? Sigh. So that’s my goal. Really just to actually use the makeup I bought. Seriously–confession time–when I just cleaned out my makeup case (before I went on the pre San-Fran binge) I threw away eyeshadow older than my daughter (almost 5 years old!) So hold me to my goal. Makeup three times a week minimum.

So now how about you? Do you wear makeup daily? Or does it only come out for conferences/special events and such? Or,  if you’re a guy, do you prefer women with makeup? Or without.

Shelli sans makeup

Shelli con makep

I am just exhausted! I wish I could do a big long post, but…that whole exhausted thing. I had pics up, but now they got deleted. GAH! So please, just visit my blog for the scoop and I’ll big blog here next week!

http://www.shellistevens.com/blog/

Well, no deep post again, since I’m–oh, on a plane to San Francisco!!!

So please, just lots of positive thoughts and prayers that my plane gets there safely. I’m not big on flying.

Until next week (hugs!)

Oh, and feel free to drop by the Aprhodisia blog where I blogged a fun little post yesterday.

No, of course not! The disclaimer says it all…. Well, okay, sort of?

Let’s start at the beginning. Saturday night, after a day of shopping until we were dropping (for RWA), we had a girls night. My friend Patricia, Lacy, Danielle and I went out and about.

You see, a few weeks ago an old friend found me on MySpace. At first I just saw it was a band and kind of rolled my eyes. And then I visited their page, and read their bio. I knew these guys! Back when I was a fashionably challenged and a naive teen/early 20’s (yes, I’m still a wee bit naive, but it was much worse then!) I used to sing in these seriously fantastic choirs. And some of the guys in this band had been in there with me! And they invited me out for a concert in the area. I jumped at the chance–hello, it’d been over a decade! So here are the two guys I know.

Now here’s where I work the title of my post into this big old topic. The one on the right (goatee guy) well, I spent a lot of time with him in my first year in this choir. Enough time to watch most of the girls fall a little bit for him. He was cute, a bit of a bad boy, and was seriously a nice guy.

So fast forward many years. I haven’t seen most of the people from my music days in forever, and now I’ve side-stepped into another creative outlet called writing. I’ve got a few books under my belt and I’m starting my first erotic chicklit Love for Sale. I knew I wanted a different kind of hero for this, not my normal alpha. I wanted something different, but what? And then it hit me. I thought of Josh above (yeah, I even used the same name) and he just poured out into the story. Now of course they’re not ‘the same’, though I did use somewhat similar appearance and name. Yeah I totally screwed that ‘characters are fiction and not based on real people and if you think so it’s gotta be a coincidence’ disclaimer.

I’m guilty of it, okay? I confess to sometimes naming a character after someone who’s an old friend. It’s like a little hug in a book. A ‘hi, I remember you!’ Or a villain might get named after someone who ticked me off (though it can often be an endearment like in my upcoming Take Me).

So do you ever do it? Base characters on someone you know?

It’s a little slow on the blogosphere during the summer, so any ‘deep’ posts might be a little less frequent. Thus my post today is all about the 80’s!

Everybody loves the 80’s, right? Maybe? Maybe not? Maybe it was a haze of pain, humiliation, and awkward memories for you? Or maybe you were drunk/stoned the whole time? Maybe you weren’t born.

Anyway! So, here’s a few things I miss:

• Sweet Valley High books
• The Bangles (the band not the bracelet)
• Oversized shirts over stirrup pants (so comfy! yeah they tried to make it come back, but people look at you funny)
• Black sunglasses with the neon sides
• The little shirt clip that held your shirt in a side knot
• Wham
• Beverly Hills Teens (does ANYONE remember this cartoon?)
• Big hair (I have that now damnit)
• Growing Pains (the show, not my body)
• Banana clips to contain that hair
• Debbie Gibson (none of that Deborah crap)
• Whatchamacallit candy bar before they added caramel
• Being able to ride around unrestrained in the back of station wagon (yes, I know seatbelts are good and I always use them now)

Here’s what I don’t miss:

• New Coke

I think my perspective is a little narrow, since I was 13 at the end of the 80’s.k’ I tend to see the ‘kid stuff’. I’ll do the 90’s next time.

How about you? What do you miss? Not miss?

So I had an absolute fabulous fourth of July. It was very family orientated. My cousins from across the country came up and spent it with us. I finally got to meet my guy cousin’s wife and kids–and I love them!

Here are the highlights/grosslights/scarylights of my weekend:

1. Finding a dead shark in the boat launch (yes, a shark in cold water, I’m still pondering this!)  (grosslights)

2. One of the kids tossing a firework into the fire next to where I was sitting, not realizing there was still some bang left in it (scarylight)

3.  Driving past my grandparents old house and walking around the campus of University of Washington where our grandpa used to be the dean of law school. (highlight)

4. Eating homemade cheesecake my cousin’s wife made (orgasmic highlight)

5.  Watching how excited the kids were to go crabbing (highlight)

6. Watching the crab die in a pot of boiling water for the family’s consumption (grosslight and I so did not eat it)

7. My kid running after those parachute fireworks. (highlight)

8.  Trying to keep my kid from running off the edge of fort at Fort Casey. (scarylight)

9. Reverting to my inner teenager/child by lighting off fireworks and playing with the kids. (highlight)

10.Exploring the joy of garage saleing with teenage boys. (highlight)

So what were some of your highlight from Independence Day weekend? Or if you’re not American, how about just the weekend? Do anything fun?