nast

so i went to the mall yesterday (more self-flagging about leaving lab for various reasons to follow). the highlight was scoring a very cute pair of bcbg shoes on clearance at DSW (rather delicate black heels with a little silver circle near the toes – a perfect match for the bridesmaids dress i get to sport in a week and a half!). i also got my new white banana republic pants (a fabulous birthday gift from josh’s parents) hemmed. it sucks to always have to do that, but at least at banana they will do it for free.

the lowlight was all of the crappy summer fashions. i almost got sucked in, thinking that a pair of brightly colored capri pants would be a nice idea, but then realized that i never wanted to highlight my hips and butt in neon orange. there’s a reason that the most flattering pants are dark or neutral colored. the second horrendous trend: i walked into the gap and wondered for a bit why they were showcasing all these little-girl dresses alongside the adult clothing. i was thinking maybe they were starting to integrate gap with babyGap, which wouldn’t be such a bad idea for new moms — one stop shopping! however, i then realized (and i nearly gasped) that they were not baby dresses but actual TOPS for adult women. every one of them looked it belonged in a pea in the pod, not the gap. so i left.

so yeah – i went to the mall at 4 pm on monday. i had nothing to do, experiment-wise, in lab — i had cells that needed to grow before something could be set up, and i had plates in the incubator, growing (or so i had hoped – DAMN IT) colonies. i found a couple of articles, browsed through them, and then finally decided to call it a day. i wouldn’t feel so terrible about that if it weren’t for the fact that today i didn’t get in until 3 (i was helping my sister move to nearby raleigh), and here i am, blogging from work about how much i suck, like a huge hypocrite.

i think i need to make myself some little rules, for the time being. ok. here goes:

* i need to get to lab every day by 9 at the absolute latest. preferably, around 8 is better.

* i need to stay until:
a) all experiments that can be done are done AND, if that doesn’t take me a full day, then i cannot leave until
b) i have read papers for 2 hours

there. i feel better. kind of like the shopping manifestos i (well, vickie and i)used to make in undergrad (‘i will not buy x, y, or z until my credit card bills are paid!‘). now i can pay my bills, but i leave work to go shopping. go figure.