Rebecca A. Foster

When you're sleepy, what feels better than rubbing your eyes? Love it. One great benefit of never wearing mascara: rubbing my eyes with abandon without smearing makeup all over my face. I also unabashedly stretch and mewl when I'm sleepy. Pointing my toes, stretching my arms overhead, yawning...I look ridiculous I am sure, but just feels so good. This morning I woke up on my back with my head turned to the side, arms bent, hands curled up against my ears. I wonder what I was dreaming about to end up in that position.

There are a few things I like a little too much for my own good: Diet Coke, Ambien, men, and luggage. Or travel bags, as I like to call them. Because unlike a set of matched luggage (ick, btw) you can never have too many travel bags. Here are three I love: 1. My North Face messengery-type bag. I got it because it had flowers on it, a bit cuter than the utilitarian styles, but not so cute it looks like I wear a fanny-pack too. (In general, it's important that things be cute, but not too cute. I err on the side of not-cute.) It has a couple of zippered outer compartments, very good for not getting pick-pocketed, as well as interior mesh pockets and more zippered compartments in logical and helpful places. My favorite thing is that the front flap closes with magnets, so no tearing velcro or snapping sounds when you open it in public. I use this one all the time. 2. 27-inch wheeled backpack. The best feature of this bag is the removable mini-backpack on the front, which turns into an...

For those who know me: It is 3:06 AM and I am still awake. I'd text you all right now with the good news, but you're probably asleep. Losers.

I started making these entries because I needed to remind myself there are still plenty of things to love. I have a habit of noticing joy and I didn't want to lose it in the midst of everything else happening in my life. I've never lost a parent before, I didn't really know how to not lose myself, too. I often feel out of sorts these days. My life sorta got turned upside down. I don't think it's bad, it's just not what I was prepared for. People say out of the unexpected can come great things. I think it's true. But it doesn't mean it's not awkward at times. The things I really want to talk about, I can't really talk about here. Because they're not for everyone's eyes. Some eyes here, some eyes there. Boundaries are a good thing, I think. I wondered if anyone reading this would think I was shallow for talking about such lightweight things. Probably. I have a journal for the deep stuff. God-willing, it will never see the light of day. And...

Okay, not crack, just maple cream, but these cookies are my current "eat more healthy" resolution downfall. Two cookies with a layer of maple cream in the middle. So simple, so perfect, so the reason I'm still going to be chubby for another few weeks. I'm trying to ration them. It's not going well. My Canadian friend bought them for me in Canada. So when they're gone, they're gone. Because I'm sure you can't buy them on the internet. No, you can't. Not even gonna look. These are the last maple cream cookies on earth. Phew!

Three words I love: 1. Insouciant: love hearing it in my head when I read it, love how it sounds rolling off my tongue. Love feeling insouciant. A word I wish were used more frequently. 2. Panties: some people hate this word. I love it. I say it as often as possible (okay, in part because I like making the people who hate it cringe). It's just cute. Nothing more, nothing less. 3. Kitten: one of my favorite non-standard adjectives (kitten heels and kitten tummy). One of my favorite non-standard made-up verbs (kittening things out of people, coined by my friend Mike who said I kittened something out of him, I think it was a head massage?) One of my favorite non-standard terms of endearment (being called kitten). Orally and aurally, it's the combination of tongue placements that makes this word great. It's hard in the middle but soft on either end. You use your whole mouth, but in a sly manner. I hardly ever say it or hear it. But I always smile when I do.

This berry-flavored gloss has menthol in it, so it tingles where you apply it. Made for nipples, but great for lips. And I haven't tried this, but I think it would be funny to kiss someone without telling them you are wearing it. Surprise! But since it comes in a jar, not a little tube, a bit harder to pull off. I also like this dried-honey shimmer dust. It smells good and adds a nice sheen to bare legs, especially in the summer when you're a bit tan. (My friend is a distributor for this brand, but you can find similar products in other brands.) Bosom Buddy , $8.50 Dazzle Dust , $8.50

Wow. Turns out John Krasinski has hazel green eyes . Isn't it amazing the chemical rush that occurs just from looking at a face you find attractive? This man, I find attractive. Long live biology. But is it biology or socialization that makes me want to nuzzle into his neck and nom those cute ears for a bit? (And that little spot just below his ear. Wonderful spot.) Who knows. I'm usually more dog-like, love men who make me feel kittenish. (This goes for men I actually know too, of course.) And I know it's scratchy, but love stubble. Green eyes and stubble. Happy weekend to me!

I'm a blotter, I admit it. Not in public, but I keep a little pack in my bag and go through them like kleenex. I have semi-oily skin, which is actually awesome because we wrinkle at a much slower rate. But unless you want to reflect back the late afternoon world you encounter, you gotta blot. (This is also the benefit of having olive skin, fewer wrinkles due to greater sun tolerance. If you wear the wrong color you look vomitous and green, but once you learn to live with blue undertone colors and blotting papers, olive/semi-oily skin is actually quite nice in the aging aspect.) My favorite blotting papers were the rice ones at Bath and Body Works. They came on a little pad and you ripped them off and they were awesome. But they stopped making them. I tried the Body Shop ones, but they are small and too thin, they don't absorb well. Don't get sucked in by the pretty colors and flavors. Green tea sounds great, but really, they don't work that well. So now I use Clean a...

I love it when my friends and I like the same things. But my closest friends? I have a theory our friendships are close because we adamantly hate the same things. Especially random, trivial things. A random sampling: the rhythm method/turquoise clothing/being called Becky/adult contemporary music/movies about animals. (All shared hates with close friends.) When I can love someone for the things they hate, I know I really love them.

One of my favorite tea memories is visiting my abuelita 's beach front house in Viña del Mar and being called in from the beach at 4:00 to drink yerba maté tea. Liked the tea, hated the timing. I wanted to stay on the beach. But we'd come in and sit at the tiny tea table, still in our bathing suits, drinking tea and eating little cookies. And then run back out to the beach until dinner. You can find it in tea bags, but if you use loose-leaf, a cup and strainer straw such as this one can be used. (I use teabags and a mug; my mom keeps strainer straws at her home.) The hotter the water, the more bitter the tea. Adding sugar (or eating sugar cookies) is nice.

1. The EMT-B class I started this week. Still a bit concerned about the time commitment (3 hour class, 3x a week) and the type of learning, which is far different than what I did for my degrees, but so far I'm really enjoying it. It ends in April and if I pass the class, I can take the licensing test to be an EMT-B in May. 2. This website featuring bridge pictures from around the world. Some stunning shots. I love bridges, love their expanse and views and the simultaneous thrill of thinking you've beaten Mother Nature at the game while hoping at that moment She doesn't decide to take it all back. Airplane crash or bridge collapse? Two of my favorite worries. But I digress. Some of these photos are spectacular. Makes me itch to takes pictures of a great bridge myself. 3. You know that moment just before a man kisses you, when he puts his hands lightly on your face, maybe holding your chin in his fingers, maybe both hands gently framing your face, maybe a soft stroke of ...

For the first time since I've gotten my cell phone, I've met the monthly allotment of text messages on my plan. It appears I've gotten the hang of text messaging. And only used 120 of my talking minutes. My lowest usage ever was 74 minutes in a month. I'm not a chick who likes talking on the phone. (Such as: a guy told a mutual friend, "I don't think Rebecca likes me very much; she's always trying to get off the phone when I call her." My first thought: "What is he, a 15 year old girl??" My second thought: "Ohhhhh...he wants to talk when he calls me? I thought he was calling to coordinate plans and just making small talk to be nice." So I made an effort to stay on the phone and talk. It felt weird, though. We lived in the same city. Why not just talk when we saw each other?) So now I'm paying by the text for the next few days. I'm sure it was all those Christmas and New Year wishes that did me in. This year, I don'...

I think every person who has been through a terminal illness with a loved one should get to wear this sign, for as long as they need. It's what we're thinking, even when we can't say it. (Sink at my gym. Hence the spelling of 'till' rather than ''til'.)

Tossing out a flirt challenge and seeing it metaphorically fall with a thump at a man's feet? Sort of a non-recoverable letdown. But a man who cracks it back to you, even making you reach a bit? You don't forget a guy like that. Flirting isn't about "closing the deal" per se. One of my favorite flirt partners is gay. And hetero women flirt with each other, albeit in perhaps a different way than with men. Flirting is about noticing the other person has attractive qualities (note: not just physical) and making them feel it. Making them feel you notice. Making them feel you like it and appreciate it about them. I think a good flirtatious exchange leaves people feeling better about themselves. In fact, flirting should continue long after "closing the deal." I'd never be with a man I couldn't flirt with at all points in the continuum. At it's basic level, it's a stylized form of social interaction. At it's most fun level, it's mind...

You know that sound pencil makes when it's moving rapidly across paper? That rough, scratching sound? I love that sound. It's the sound of thoughts and ideas. It's why I keep a box of sharpened pencils in my desk and use them to write in my journal. I like hearing what my brain is thinking. (I also use them to keep my address book updated.) I buy pencils in art museum gift shops, they usually sell interesting ones. It's one of the few places I see pencils that aren't school-bus yellow or Jr. High-glitter. And I got a nice box of them from an Xpedx paper show vendor a few years back, pretty matte shades of blues and browns. I keep my eye out for neat pencils. But kinda sad they've become an artist's tool, curiosity and gift shop item. Such a wonderful sound.