Sorry, not rheumatoid arthritis. Just me.

We are halfway through May’s Mission: Put Together endeavor! So far, I have been amazed at the pictures folks are posting in the photo pool and the supportive comments in response. Everyone has been really put together (PT), and I could not be more pleased. So, what better reason do we need to bust out the spreadsheets (again), crunch some numbers, and see just how much fun we are having?

As of press time, there are 23 members of the photo pool who have added 130 pictures! I had this sneaking, silent desire that we might have 100 pictures by now, and look! Talk about exceeding expectations, people.

Yesterday, I went through and entered data on each photo, which I compiled into a data set to represent the pool as of 1:30pm Eastern time on May 15. I’m sure the numbers have changed since then, but the 118 pictures in the pool at that point generated the following statistics.

Views:

• Total: 10,497
• Average views per picture: 88.96 (SD=59.74)

Comments:

• Total: 790
• Average comments per picture: 6.69 (SD=3.67)

The following graph shows how often participants thought they were PT. These numbers do not exactly correspond with submission rates, since some pictures were delayed for various reasons, and I thought it was best to highlight the occurrence of feeling PT rather than when the photo appeared online. There is a noticeable drop-off on the weekends, and May 14 reflected the largest spike of submissions so far with 23 pictures.

On their photos, M:PT participants noted 72 different brands of clothing, shoes, and accessories! Each time a store or brand name was mentioned, it logged a “vote” in my spreadsheet, so multiple items in a single outfit and multiple occurrences throughout the pool (wearing a pair of shoes again) garnered multiple votes, but redundant entries (the same pants in two different photos) did not. The question is: when participants feel PT, what are they wearing?

Generally speaking, people shop at nationwide chains. Yes, there were pockets of handcrafting jewelry, hunting in flea markets, and receiving gifts from friends, but 57.6% of the items in the pool came from the following chain stores, ordered from most to least frequent:

• Ann Taylor Loft
• Target
• Gap
• Old Navy
• Ann Taylor
• Banana Republic
• NY & Co.
• H&M
• Express

When examining the brands associated with clothing, the pattern is largely the same: 54.6% of these items came from the first six stores listed above, with the exception of Ann Taylor. This repetition is not surprising, since clothing items make up the majority of one’s wardrobe. Between Ann Taylor and Ann Taylor Loft, the two (related) stores provided a whopping one-third of all accessories noted in the pool.

In the shoe department, our favorite brands and stores, which constituted 50% of all shoe brands listed, were:

• Aerosoles
• Nine West
• Target
• Macy’s
• Bandolino

It must be noted that many members denoted their sale savvy by citing bargains at outlets, gift cards, and clearance racks, which only proves that being PT does not mean having to spend a lot of money. Thank goodness.

Other notable bits of trivia:

• 20 pictures noted issues or techniques with hair.
• Janet’s casual day outfit has accrued the most views and comments with 377 views and 17 comments! It must be those cherry shoes!
• M:PTers are getting ideas! In general, we want to experiment with patterns, find necklaces, look for jackets, and try new color combinations.

Two housekeeping items:

• Erin contacted us with the following brilliant idea: “I have a drawer full of random accessories that I never wear because I don’t like them or they look weird on me. Do other people have similar drawers? Perhaps, in the spirit of looking put together, we could arrange an accessories swap.” If you are interested in taking part, feel free to contact her. Erin plans to post details for the swap next week.
• Don’t forget that being PT extends outside of the workday! Show us your looks for walks in the park, dinners out, and those upcoming Memorial Day cook-outs!

As I mentioned before, I am absolutely tickled by everyone’s participation and positive energy in this project. It is lovely to see snappy conversations, admire creative fashion, and hear about thrifty habits. I’ve really enjoyed clicking around to see what people are donning, and it’s great fun getting positive feedback on my own looks. You all are too nice, especially when it comes to shooting down my insistence that I have chubby arms. I appreciate.

If you’re looking on and you want to join in, don’t hesitate! The invitation stands for put-together men and women, and we’d love to have you. If you don’t have a Flickr account, just send us your photos with any corresponding description, and we will make sure to submit for you. As OPH puts it, “If you’re going to put a cute outfit together, you may as well get credit for it on the internet.” So true!

See you at the pool!

Last Sunday, May 11, was Ted’s birthday! He is now a one-year-old doggie!

In preparation for the festivities, I researched birthday cakes and party ideas, and I promptly came to the conclusion that it was a bunch of hooey. I mean, Ted is great and all, but he’s a dog. He’s a dog with no capacity for recollection, and I was not about to manufacture a semblance of a party, despite what any froufrou website told me was “all the rage.” I waved off the ideas with the roll of an eye.

Despite my pragmatism, I wanted some photographic evidence that we marked the occasion, so I headed to the kitchen on Sunday afternoon to make some dog birthday magic. I smoothed a layer of peanut butter on two milkbone biscuits, and then crushed two smaller treats for sprinkles. I laid out the treats on a birthday napkin on the kitchen floor, and JG released Ted, who had been squirming the whole time I had been in the kitchen.

Now, I had been told that every dog loves peanut butter, so that’s why I used it to frost the biscuits. However, Ted had never had peanut butter before, and he was somewhat confused as to what to do with it. He nosed the biscuits all over the floor, as though he knew they were familiar, but what was this foreign substance on top? When I picked up a treat and handed it to him, Ted grabbed it in his mouth, suddenly territorial. He headed straight for the living room, despite my cries of “Not on the carpet!”

I trailed after Ted with the camera and a damp paper towel to dab up any peanut butter traces, and he eventually figured out that he could chomp down on the biscuits. I suspect that the peanut butter got stuck to the roof of his mouth, since he had some intense lip-smacking action.

After he finished his treats, Ted was bouncing off the walls, just like a typical birthday kid. It’s strange to think that he is officially full-grown at this point. Even though Ted is a little small for his breed, and he exhibits a lot of puppy-like behavior, he’s on his way to becoming an adult!

They grow up so fast.

Get your daily dog dose with Smalls, Kaya, Rufus, Ben, Bailey, Gus, and Zapp!

JG and I have been together for over five and a half years, and he he has only recently realized that when I say, “I feel like a chunky monkey,” it doesn’t mean that I think I actually am one or that he should simply say, “No, you’re not.” Last night, JG’s progress showed itself in full force.

The scene opens with RA standing in front of the full-length mirror in gym shorts and a hoodie, frowning.

JG: (from bed) You do not have thunder thighs.

RA: I guess not. But they seem out of proportion.

JG: Running would trim you down if you had anything to lose.

RA: My calves look better, I think. So that’s good.

JG: Do you really think you’re fat?

RA: (coming over to the bed) Not really. But I feel like a heifer right now.

JG: Well, I think you’re pretty. Do you know why?

RA: Because I am pretty?

JG: Yes! I would not have married an uggo!

RA collapses in laughter. End scene.

I must disclaim that “uggo” is not in any way part of JG’s normal vernacular, and he would never, ever say that about anyone. He only used it to make me laugh, but what can I say? He knows me.

Sherry asked:

What made you decide to get married, as opposed to just living with JG? I guess my question stems from the fact that I am also a twenty-something married person, and I know why I did it. But I’m always interested to learn why other people take the plunge.

It’s interesting for me to consider this question because living together before getting married was never really up for discussion. In a lot of ways, I can see how it can make sense in that there are no legal ramifications in terms of property division in case the relationship turns sour, and I know that others might have a dim view of marriage as an unnecessary social construct. However, JG and I didn’t consider the option of cohabitation, and our religious beliefs were a big motivator behind that. Basically, we wanted to be married when we starting living together, so until our wedding, we just didn’t. JG spent the month between graduation and our wedding living out of suitcase at his parents’ house, and I held down the fort at the apartment I’d had for the previous six months.

I suspect that this explanation begs the question of why we got married right after graduation. My parents asked us to consider waiting for a year after college to get married, and then jobs and finances would be in place, and we might be in a better situation to start off. I already felt like being engaged for ten months was pushing my internal timeline, and JG and I had been together for two years when he proposed. To wait another year after that before getting married seemed like such a needless hurdle when we knew we wanted to be married, ultimately. It also didn’t seem prudent to pay for two different rent payments for a whole year when we could get married, live together, and save that money. Our apartment was on the cheap side of a low-cost town, but had we waited a year and JG got his own place, we would have wasted over $8,000, which would not have included the cost of driving to see each other. For JG and me, the numbers did not make sense to wait for a year, and besides that, we really wanted to be married. So we had our wedding a month after he graduated from college, bought a house two months later, and the rest is history.

- - - - -

Laurel asked:

How did you choose your college? What did you like and dislike about the school you chose? (You may have already answered this, but I think it’s an interesting topic.)

During my senior year of school, I applied to seven colleges. Between the application fees, the essays, the visits, and my normal school life, I don’t know what I was thinking. I couldn’t apply early decision to any of them because they all had binding contracts, so I had to sweat it out until spring, when the results came in:

• Accepted: 4
• Wait-listed: 1
• Rejected: 2

Looking back, I realize that I had a rather unbalanced combination of reach, safety, and moderate-range schools, but it was fine with me to have half of the decision made for me. Of the schools that accepted me, I easily eliminated the University of Connecticut (more like University of My High School) and Virginia Tech (more financial aid, please), which left me with two remaining choices: the University of Rochester and the University of Delaware. They were my top two schools during the application process, so that was reassuring.

I had visited Rochester and Delaware during the summer before my senior year, and I thought that Rochester had a slight edge. It was more prestigious, I had an option of a 5-year master’s program in chemical engineering, and I liked the idea of being up north. Delaware was a more laid-back campus, but it had a history of undergraduate research and studying abroad, plus a good marching band. Unfortunately, I could only afford to go to Rochester by taking out massive student loans, including work-study, and Delaware would be no problem in that area. I went back to both schools during spring break of my senior year to make the final call.

During my second visit, Rochester seemed strangely cold and pretentious to me, which was partially due to the gray weather that is so common to the early spring. Maybe it was just my tour guide or the panel I attended, but there was an air that I should need to deserve to go there. If I decided to go elsewhere, Rochester would find another willing student who would. They didn’t want me, they just wanted a warm body. On the other hand, Delaware was lovely and bright. It was a beautiful day, and I soaked in the Jeffersonian architecture as I walked along the brick pathways. I talked with the honors chemistry adviser during lunch, and I was paired up with a chemistry major who was in the band. I felt like Delaware was pursuing me as a person, not just as another freshman to fill in the ranks. Granted, I think the honors program played a huge part in my recruitment by making sure that I was slotted into advantageous conversations, but it worked. I loved the campus, the professors I met, and my prospects for research and travel. Delaware was a good fit in terms of cost, and it was five hours from home. Perfect.

I had a great time in college. I switched up my major, made lots of friends, had excellent professors, and — oh, yes! — met my future husband. At times, I was frustrated with the idiotic antics that seem to come with college students, and I had one amazingly bad professor, but my experience was overwhelmingly positive.  The university has wonderful memories for me, and it trips me up when I go back and things are not quite as I left them. I’m so glad that I went to Delaware and I love to go back to campus, whether it’s to catch football games in the fall, eat at our most-loved downtown restaurant, or seeing our favorite a capella group. Even though it took me a long college search to figure it out, I’ve been a Blue Hen all along.

#17, 18

Previously: Lent, hypothetical actions, superpower, television, favorites, hypothetical money