These are my dress clothes

C: Randomly good blogs

So, here are some randomly good blogs...in no particular order; excellent way to kill time....

http://readersrespite.blogspot.com/

http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/

http://lifehacker.com/

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

Feel free to add more in the comments section [HINT, HINT!!]

C: Version 2.0 - Bigger and Better

We here at These are my dress clothes take constructive criticism very seriously. We have had a few requests from readers (okay, the plural is maybe just a bit of an overstatement) to make some changes to the blog. Specifically, we will now:

1. Indicate which one of use wrote the blog - I added an 'A' for Amy and 'C' for Caitlyn in front of each blog title. I like that it makes me feel like I'm in the cast of gossip girl using only first initials as a name.

2. Actually write some blogs - apparently this is step one to blogging

Now, I would like to offer up a laundry list of excuses as to why we have been so delinquent as of late. I'll let Amy explain her own adventures, but as for me, I would like to submit the following:

1. So You Think You Can Dance is on at least 4 hours a week: how am I supposed to just ignore that? How would I know what Cat was wearing? How could I live without my weekly fix of Mary Murphy's botoxed face screeching like a banshee? 
2. True Blood is back on: This absorbs about 5 hours a week since I cannot figure that show out. Why do so many people in po-dunk Louisiana have odd, special powers? Why did that one woman have a giant pig? Why does Sookie wear such short shorts all year round? Doesn't she get cold ever?
3. I started reading this crazy-good YA Lit series by Scott Westerfeld : post-apocalyptic, teen-focused, cool gadgets, everything a girl could want
4. My body is rejecting the aging process: this summer I turn 30 and it isn't going that well. Thus far I have somehow injured my rotator cuff (it wasn't pitching 90-mile an hour fastballs...I wasn't actually aware you could injure your shoulder in any other way) and I have completely knocked my jaw out of place and can no longer bite down on one side due to stress (my dentist claims I must be clenching my teeth at night....which has dire consequences)....dealing with injuries takes up a lot of time
5. And work

See, I had good reasons....don't be a hater.

C: Whack-a-mole

The reason this post is so late-coming is that I've been struggling with 'work-life balance' as of late. And by 'balance' I mean that I've been working non-stop and thus my life has sucked. Work-life balance is touted as the holy grail for working parents. Some land of milk and honey that is attainable for everyone if you just try hard enough and prioritize correctly. It is the modern American Dream: happy kids, happy spouse, engaging career, oh my!

Here's the deal: it is total bullshit (sorry for the cursing, Mom). There is no way to have a perfect career (i.e. not a JOB) and have a perfect home. Completely IMPOSSIBLE. In my 2 years of extensive research: reading blogs, news articles, attending women leadership seminars, mentoring programs, Covey this and Covey that, reading books, bitching with coworkers....etc, I have yet to find any clue as to how to do this right and maintain a real 'balance' of happy work and happy home lives. In fact, I am getting worse at it as I go along.

Here is why: the better you are at work - the more they will pull you to work; the better you are as a parent/spouse - the more they will pull you to home. It is easiest to see in the workplace - the best worker in the office is always the busiest - not because they are inefficient; quite the opposite actually, because he/she is soooo efficient! Home is the same way - kids are never satisfied with just a little quality time and the more fun you are, the more time they want.

The only glimmer of hope that I have gleamed is that the key to it all is to lower your expectations and to eliminate all feelings of guilt. People will tell you all the time "just prioritize and learn to say no". What they do not tell you is how to say no and not feel the guilt. And I'm not just talking about work....learning to say no to your kid and not feel guilty is definitely a zen-master-level skill. A mentor once told me that all that matters is that you can look yourself in the eye at the end of every single day and be okay with the choices you made - not ecstatic, not fully satisfied, but just plain 'okay'. That is the key - making 'okay' better than just 'okay' to you.

Given that no one has ever managed to give me any clue as to how to achieve this, I have devised a strategy of my own: live life like whack-a-mole. So, here's the deal: no one is good at whack-a-mole. Except maybe those freakish carnies that run the game. The only way you have a chance at the flea-infested pink teddy bear prize is to focus on 2, maybe 3 holes and whack like mad. If you try to cover the whole playing field, it will be a miracle if you score a single point. But you have to really, really focus and commit to the plan or you will end up straying to the other holes and dying a sad death as the game beats you down. If you really, really focus on the 2-3 holes and completely IGNORE the other holes, then you have a small chance at success. You just have to remember every single second of the day that by focusing on the 2-3 goals in life you are winning the game.

Yes, I just used a lame sports/game metaphor, but given that you are going to need to explain this to your boss/coworkers when you say 'no' over and over again....you need to use language they can relate to and we all know that everyone in the working world understands sports/games metaphors.

Oh and in case you want more sources to read [yes, you should check out the links above!!!] - here are a few more good ones that in no way give you an actual plan to improve your life, but are inspiring in some regard:

• The Other 90 Percent
• Work Sucks
• The Juggle
• Getting Things Done

Hi, we are Amy and Caitlyn - two bloggers from Atlanta who met when a common goal to avoid the University of Georgia and lack of familial finances led us both to the tragic choice of attending Georgia Tech. It marked the demise of the glorious mid-90's and led to the unfortunate turn of the century. The good news is that we have since triumphed over those bereft roots and have made much better choices since then. The Oh's (2004 - current) have led to a glorious cultural rebirth for mankind, akin to the Italian Renaissance led primarily by the Disney Channel, a modern-day apprenticeship for the next generation of celebrity. Given our love of talking to each other, we felt that in this new day and age of Service to humanity, it is our civic duty to share our minds with the masses….it is what Barack Obama would want us to do and if nothing else, we are patriots.

It's been licious.