Dog food and makeup

Just a titch cranky this morning. Got my hair done yesterday and it's tighter than a .... fill in the blank. I decide to drag Juno out in the rain which so far she hates and she refused to do #2. I don't like the rain any better than she does of course but I figured if I get her out first thing, the sooner I can go back to bed with a cup of coffee and my laptop. But no, instead I drag her around like a pitiful child wondering what that nasty stuff coming out of the sky was. So back inside for food and then I drag her out again. Finally, success and back to my waiting coffee. And yes, it's still gooey. Her stuff, not mine. Sigh. But she goes to the vet tomorrow, so perhaps after some expensive test we'll figure it out. Mmm, yes, it's occurred to me that I manifested her runny bum to put off her impending surgery. Interesting. If I have to change her food again, fine, but she really likes the one she has now and at $20 a 4kg bag, she should. Whatever happened to the days where giving your dog supermarket canned food was the norm - have you ever looked at the shelves of a pet store lately? My god, these dogs eat better than some people in the world. They've got food with DHA in perfectly shaped kibble with human grade meat and vegetable and fruit products. Don't like chicken or beef? How about trout or venison or lamb or duck even? The one brand of food (that give her the squitters) looked like a can of chicken stew, you could even see the peas and carrots in it. They even have vegetarian dog food. And the canned products are even more expensive than a caramel macchiato. Of course, when you don't have a child to spoil, the furry critters of the middle class world get the best we can afford. don't look now, but they've got strollers for dogs. I'm not sure if they're for the infirm dogs, but they come in pink and blue. In my neighbourhood, organic rules and Whole Foods is a stone's throw away.

They've got everything for dogs here, but makeup for black people? That's a little trickier. Apparently, Estee Lauder has discontinued my shade of Walnut in the line I was using. I went to 3 counters downtown on Sunday looking for it. You can't even begin to imagine how pissed off I was. When I finally find one that is the right texture and close enough shade for me to use, they discontinue it. Which leaves me the choice of having to drive further afield in search of makeup that could be old and discoloured. The Fashion Fair counter disappeared years ago, then Clinique discontinued my colour, then Elizabeth Arden. Yeah, I've tried less expensive ones (which you can't get try before you buy) and I've tried custom blended Prescriptives. MAC was too oily and came off on everything, but maybe I'll go back and see if they have anything new. There are a couple of relatively new lines that are worth trying out like NARS, smashbox or Makeup Forever but I tell you, after having my makeup done by professional artists, I don't have much patience with young girls at counters that ignore you or don't know what the hell they are doing with black women or try to sell you so much junk you don't need. See, I told you I was cranky. Maybe I need more coffee. Years ago when I came to this city and tried to get some makeup. I had a professional membership card with MAC cosmetics in Toronto, but when I tried to renew it, they practically wanted my birth certificate in order to get the 30% discount. I'd show them my card but then they wanted more ID. My professional ID is either a 8X10 headshot or a laminated union card which doesn't have my picture or legal name on it. I had no intention of lugging my 8X10 headshot around so I could buy lipstick. And then I couldn't even get service because of all the young girls clogging the counters. And then when I did get service, I always ended up with the girl who had no idea of what she was doing. I'm a loyal customer so when I return to the same place, I know what I want, I want to get it, pay for it and move on in 5 minutes. If I even get a sniff of attitude like oh, she's not going to buy anything, I'll move on and probably spend twice as much right across the aisle and wave the bags in their faces. When I was younger I was ignored in the expensive stores and followed around by staff in other stores who thought I was going shoplift. And no, I wasn't wearing baggy clothes and carrying a duffel bag. Now I've developed a sense of entitlement when I go shopping in the fancy boutiques. And yes, it works. When you feel like you belong there, people take notice. If you skulk about, looking embarrassed and blanch when you see the price tag, people can see that. Last year for an exercise, I went into a high end boutique and tried on an expensive silk dress. I had lost some weight and finally felt deserving and once that silk hit my skin, I was in heaven. I had absolutely no intention of spending $1200 on a summer frock, but I was hooked on that feeling that I DESERVED nice things. That I was worth it.

I've tried the Iman line (disastrous) and I've tried Mary Kay which isn't too bad actually, not a perfect match but nothing but custom blended is. When I had lots of dough I would splurge on Prescriptives or Bobbi Brown, but I feel like I'm spending $1 a drop when I use those and god forbid I pore out too much on my fingertip or sponge. I'd try to pore it back in cause it was liquid gold. Do I need to do that when I'm just walking the dog? Mmmm, maybe. Cause I'm worth it, right?