And I Said It Wouldn't Last...

I begin this post with a great big *sigh*

The bromance is no more. Cough. Cough. Gasp. You heard me. The bromance. It's Over....

I'm not one to say "I Told You So." (OK, maybe I am.) but my prediction has become reality.

As I alluded to in my first "Bromance" post, the bro was personality-wise very opposite from that of MB. While we try not to be very bragadocious, the bromance IS. For example he is so big into his vehicles that he has posted photos of them on his Facebook page along with his collection of tattoos. And you may recall when I first met him, much of the conversation was disrupted by him and his s.o. glancing at their i-Phones mid-conversation. That's when he is wasn't talking about himself ;-)

MB and I are proud fix-it-yourselfer's. We are not showy. We take pride in being able to make due with what we have, living beneath our means and not going hog wild on purchases. The bromance, on the other hand, drives a Hummer and uses $500 earbuds. One pair of skates is not enough. He has 10 pairs of skates that he brings with him presumably to show off. Top of the line. Fix a broken skate? pshaw!

So, it was inevitable that some friction would manifest itself at some point.

MB is the consummate planner. He plans his week at work in detailed spreadsheet format and carries around a list on a clipboard.

He is the same way when it comes to planning his fun activities.

So when MB and the bro were planning to go to a new rink this past weekend, MB did all he could to make the plan come to fruition. MB sent a message to the bro detailing info about the rink hours and location. And then a follow up email and call. He waited around on Sat. to hear back from the bromance. He received nary a text message. This was not the first time the bro suggested trying a new rink, only to doff out. All talk; no action.

It took sending the bro a message on Sunday: "So I'm guessing we aren't going skating Yesterday" to get him to respond back today saying he was "super busy on Sat." Yet, he amazingly found time to update his Facebook profile several times that day!!

If there's one thing MB can't stand, it's people who don't follow through, which pretty much describes the bromance.

MB has decided not to bother to send him any more messages and will just go on his own skating this week. Will the bromance show up? Will he be bringing his 10 pairs of custom skates, Hummer and $500 earbuds? dun dun dun dunnnnnnnnn.....


P.S. In case you are wondering, I got MB's "permission" before writing this post. Not that I needed it since I am a woman of the 2000's.

I hope you will enter my latest giveaway! A canvas print of the kids for grandma = priceless!

Rolled Canvas Print Giveaway

I'm excited about this giveaway because it is just in time for the holidays!

Get ready to turn your favorite photo into a work of art. UPrinting.com is giving one of my readers the opportunity to win a 16 x 20 rolled canvas print.

I bet your loved ones would be thrilled to receive a canvas print of your "little one" or in my case "larger one." And I know exactly the print I have in mind to enlarge and put on canvas: This photo of VC at the Renaissance Festival after he juggled with London Broil on stage. Woo-hoo!!!


UPrinting.com's canvas prints are thick, high quality artist canvas with a matte finish. Poly-cotton blend makes this canvas ultra durable. Stretched orders are coated with eco-friendly protective matte coating that is UV protected.

To enter to win a 16 x 20 rolled canvas print:

Describe what photo gifts you want to have printed for your family and loved ones (e.g. posters, canvas prints, calendars, etc.)

For Extra Entries:

1. "Follow" my blog on Blogger
2. Subscribe to my blog
3. Grab my handy dandy blog button (please let me know so I can reciprocate!)
4. StumbleUpon, Kirtsy or Digg any Carma Sez blog post that you've particularly enjoyed
5. Blog about the giveaway and link back to my blog
6. Post about the giveaway on Facebook
7. Tweet about the giveaway & send me the link to the tweet (you can tweet once a day)

**If you are already a follower, or already have my button, please still tell me so in a separate comment. Thanks!**

Eligibility: Limited to US Residents (FREE UPS Ground Shipping in the US)

Giveaway ends on Sunday, November 15th at 8:00 PM EST

Full Disclosure: I am receiving a 16 x 20 canvas print for hosting this giveaway.
Check out UPrinting.com on Yelp!

If you are not familiar with UPrinting.com's products, be assured that they are top quality. Here's a video review I made about their custom stickers!

Call the Bitter Police

Yep. I'm ready to be cuffed. Call me Bitter.

In actuality I have no justification to be bitter. I live a charmed life compared to many on the planet.

What brought on this most recent bout of bitterness you ask. Simple: The pure evilness that is InStyle magazine. Not only does this magazine put all sorts of things that I "need" to look younger, prettier, less frizzy, more chic, etc. in my mind, but now it also taunts me with children of celebrities who are given full page modeling spreads.

Reference a recent issue that featured Dakota Johnson, daughter of Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, Lily Collins, daughter of Phil Collins, Zelda Williams, daughter of Robin Williams, all of whom are now actresses, and Mavis Spencer, daughter of Alfre Woodard, who is "deferring at Columbia because she is starting to model," due to what the magazine describes as her 'skyscraping height' (she is 6 feet tall).

Wah Wah Wah. I want famous parents so that I can get an awesome job.

Oh, and I want tall parents so that I can "defer" from my boring job trajectory to take time to model. In fact, I would so love to model (even considering my bland and indistinct features) that I would pay them for the opportunity to model...

And I also want a Temptu Airbrush makeup system because I wasn't one of the first 50 readers to win one for free and I so deserve a flawless complexion.

...and I wanna be like Donatella Versace lamenting that she has "warehouses full of art and [she's] run out of wall space." Boo hoo hoo...

Thanks InStyle. You've convinced me it's time for some new reading material, which reminds me I'm about due for another "book recommendation" ;-)

*Still time to enter my Crazy Dog T Giveaway - lots of cool designs!*

I Voted!

Hope you got a chance to head to the polls yesterday. I usually try to make it out, this being one of our most basic rights and another reason to celebrate our fine country.

In my town, the only seats up for grabs were on the Town Council. The Mayor was running unopposed, and there were three candidates to fill a vacated School Board seat.

Some of the candidates I knew, but not enough to select 5 for the Town Council. I did a little research, discovered many of their platforms were similar and then came up with my own rubric:

(1) whoever wasn't an incumbent (where possible)
(2) whoever didn't look uppity
(3) whoever did not resemble an overzealous PTA member* (for the School Board position)
*note the use of the word "overzealous" before you lambaste me :D

Is this bad? Would it have been better had I stayed home and returned blog comments instead?

What formula do you use when you are unfamiliar with the candidates?

Remember to enter my supercool T giveaway!

Crazy Dog T-Shirts - Giveaway!!

Comfort rules at our place. And so does hilarity. We love a good joke. So I was happy to come across Crazy Dog T-Shirts, a company that combines supersoft T's with humorous slogans. They've seriously got something for everybody!


Here's VC wearing his new Chuck Norris T-shirt:


You can't beat a good Chuck Norris joke!

The shirts are made of supersoft 100% cotton. Have you ever purchased a T-Shirt only to find it to be stiff, uncomfortable and easily wrinkled? That is NOT the case with Crazy Dog T's. They are like wearing your favorite vintage T-Shirt.

Some of my favorites include:

A little post-Halloween humor (from the girls dept):Math Humor Rocks!

And of course, my favorite comedian, Chris Farley!!
Gotta love anything Office related!

Crazy Dog T's has so many categories, you are guaranteed to find a shirt for everyone in your family - and just in time for the holidays! Plus, Crazy Dog T's features one shirt for only $6.99 every day!

Now, here's the fun part. One reader will win a T-shirt of their choice from Crazy Dog T's!

To Enter: Visit Crazy Dog T-Shirts & Tell me what T-shirt is your favorite, along with the size you would like if you win.

For extra entries:

1. "Follow" my blog on Blogger
2. Subscribe to my blog
3. Grab my handy dandy blog button (please let me know so I can reciprocate!)
4. StumbleUpon, Kirtsy or Digg any Carma Sez blog post that you've particularly enjoyed
5. Blog about the giveaway and link back to my blog
6. Post about the giveaway on Facebook
7. Follow Crazy Dog T's on Twitter
8. Become a fan of Crazy Dog T's on Facebook
9. Tweet about the giveaway & send me the link to the tweet (you can tweet once a day)

**If you are already a follower, or already have my button, please still tell me so in a separate comment. Thanks!**

Giveaway ends Tuesday, November 17th at 8:00 PM EST.

Full Disclosure: I received merchandise to review for this giveaway; However, no monetary compensation was provided whatsoever.

This is NOT It!

I've already documented MB's love of all things Michael Jackson (see this, one of my more controversial posts) - so when I heard that a local radio station was doing a skate jam from 11:00 PM to 2:00 AM on Friday night - culminating in an attempt to get the world record for most people on roller skates - skating to Thriller, I knew that I had to alert MB.

Because when you look at MB,


you immediately think

Michael Jackson
MB even shaved off his goatee in order to look more authentic. (He'll be growing it back at my urging :D - plus wore his authentic Michael Jackson hat - that he purchased years ago from someone who attended a MJ concert. If you have any ideas how to authenticate it, please pass on the info so I can retire to Sardinia.)

Here he is learning Thriller:
Oh, and to make MB's weekend even more complete, he went to see This is It! at the movie theatre on Sunday wearing his favorite vintage Michael Jackson T-shirt (well, not his favorite, more like the only one that still fits ;-)

How was your Halloween?


p.s. I am behind on returning blog comments since we had family in town this week. Will visit you all soon :-)

All It Takes is a Few Words

...to turn someone's day around.

My boss called this morning. We were 10 minutes into the conversation, when she said, "Oh, I forgot to tell you - Artist X came in the other day to pick up some things. She said to me: 'It has made such a big difference since Carma started working with you. She is so pleasant to be around. She is always nice to talk to and has a wonderful rapport with the clients, artists, etc.....'"

Well, I almost had tears in my eyes. My boss added, "You don't know how much we [appreciate] you, but we really do."

Anyway, the point of this post was not to brag on myself, just to show that all it takes is a few heartfelt words to literally make someone's day brighter :-) as opposed to, "You Idiotic Moron!," which would not make it brighter.

In other news, I took VC for a private lesson at a gymnastics center yesterday, to learn how to do a back flip, as he wants to incorporate this into his "act" - His partner would be doing a toe spot and then VC would be flipping over.

I think he amazed himself at how quickly he was able to pick it up. This weekend we will have the sofa cushions laid out in the back yard so he can practice.

Our foyer tiles have already been covered with interlocking primary colored foam pieces in order that he can take advantage of the only place in the house that is two stories tall to practice his juggling. A couple of sofa cushions [temporarily] out in the yard and we'll soon have our own Big Top right at home! If your child has an interest, I encourage you not to fret about home decor (which is also why you will not be seeing many home decor posts on my blog), but to make it a space that they can practice in. They'll be plenty of time to re-decorate and bring out the priceless artwork (or in my case, handmade 'gems' ;-) once they are off at college, which for us is in only *gasp* 5 years!

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[I'm hoping to be doing more daily slice of life posts such as this. I promise they will not always be as syrupy. Do they appeal to you or are you more interested in newsworthy/less personal topics of interest. I appreciate your input!]