I will get a pass to the L'Oreal company store. I went last year and wanted to die from excitement. Basically what is is (for those not in the know) the store where L'Oreal sells all their shit (and the products of the brands they own: Maybelline, Kiehls, Shu Uemura, Lancome, Kerastase, La Roche-Posay, etc..) at a HUGE discount.

It's really hard to get into the store and there are only 2 ways to achieve this:

#1 is to know someone at L'Oreal (which was how I got in last year, but they were a friend of a friend and now the one dude doesn't like the other- long story short he can’t get me in now).

#2 is to either sacrifice your hair to Matrix (after my recent hair adventures no one is getting their hands on my hair) or sign up for L'Oreal's Consumer Expressions Research Center (CERC). The catch is you can't sign up for both and it's kinda hard to actually find out about CERC.

I managed to track down the address for CERC and convinced a co-worker that she should come with me (because you know it’s more fun to go on adventures in pairs). We talked our way past security into the L'Oreal bldg and went up to the third floor in the freight elevator. After walking past cages of amazing product (like every hair care, perfume product you could ever want) we found the desk to the motherland. We had to go one at a time and sit at a computer and enter our information. Afterwards they gave us a pamphlet with information about the CERC, let us know that we were one of THREE THOUSAND in their database (3,000 other people managed to find this place in Manhattan?!) and that we'd be getting an email shortly with another survey. Oh and at the end they give you a bag of goodies!!! Now the wait begins. But so help me god I will get into that Company Store if it kills me.

Yes, this is what I do with my day. Plan beauty adventures and make other people come with me.

I'm sitting at my desk, actually doing work, and this dude comes up to me. The conversation goes like this:

Dude: "Jessica I was just at the ice machine and the scoop was not in there."

M(e:) "O.K. Well sometimes it gets buried under the new ice as the machine makes more. If you just reach in it has to be there."

• Note: I don't EVER use ice at work. I don't like my drinks that cold. Oh and he didn't get the memo that it's WINTER and our office is freezing. Also, isn’t that just common logic?

Dude: "Hmm. Please go in there and find it or see if there is a replacement. I just had to use my glass to scoop ice."

Apparently between yesterday and 6pm and today at 10am my job description was changed to "Person who finds ice scoop for lazy bastard who is too lazy to stick his effing hand in the ice machine to locate the scoop for the ice he so desperately needs for his diet coke".

Just out of curiosity I went to the ice machine and looked inside it. The scoop was barely under one layer of ice. All I did was look in the machine. Needless to say, out of spite, I will not be assisting with the ice emergency.

I was reading cnn.com. A totally reliable and upto the minute source for all news items that may or may not affect you and I came across this story about a 1 yr old who went missing and then was found under the floorboards of her grandparents home. Ok, happy ending. The baby is fine and everyone is glad the baby is safe (turns out the baby fell off the bed and managed to squeeze into a hole- read the article if you want the exact facts: )

Anyway, along with the article is a PICTURE of the baby when they found it AND they released it. Whose genius idea was it to be like "Ok folks I know we're all glad to find the baby, but before we make sure she is ok let's take a picture." And then the parents ok the picture to be released to the press?!

Maybe they needed the picture for Child Protective Services- but still.

So yeah since it was posted with the article I'm posting it here:

Call me naive/clueless/overly enthusiastic but this picture alone gives me hope for the future of our country.

Emily made seriously delicious Obama cupcakes. She was the belle of the bar.