These are my dress clothes

A/C: Manicorn, manicorn where art thou?

So, while we were purusing urbandictionary.com, we came across a wonderful word: manicorn.

a mythical male creature who is successful (read: pursuing his passion and can pay his electric bills/rent), funny, chivalrous, masculine (read: not chauvinistic), adventurous, artistic (read: not suicidal

We have no idea if such a version of the male species exists, but if so the internet will bring him to us. So if you meet all of these descriptors and find yourself reading this, feel free to email us pronto. Our current significant others would definitely support this endeavor: manicorn sightings are rare and precious things.

Amy's manicorn: SWF seeking widowed 23.5 - 32-ish male. Must be independently wealthy who enjoys constant travel alone and who owns no possessions. Must be willing to move into my house with no say as to the way it is decorated. Must own an ocean-front home in a foreign country that he will let me decorate and allow me and my friends to visit exclusively. He must have 8-year old twins: one boy and one girl. The children must be perfectly behaved and go to boarding school (year-round, in Europe). He must hate ESPN. He must be able to recreate anything seen in a Pottery Barn catalog using tools that he keeps at a friend's house. Must be early for everything. Must know how to cook or be willing to eat out every meal (breakfast included). He must be willing to accept defeat within 3 seconds of all arguments.  Willing to audition fo reality TV shows with me. Must be willing to study the Twilight series and should strive to immulate Edward in all aspects of life (except the drinking of blood).

Amy's top five (okay....6): John Legend, Tom Welling, Edward Cullen, Jason Taylor, Cam Gigendet, Matthew Fox

Caitlyn's manicorn: (see above with the following adjustments). Lose the 8-year olds. He must be willing to be a stay-at-home dad and have the economic means to hire a housekeeper, gardener, night nanny, house manager, cook, laundress, dog walker, hermit crab feeder, butler, grocery shopper, etc. He must not EVER question my parenting skills. He must be willing to sleep in a separate bedroom (actually, wing of the house would be best), as the dogs and I take up a lot of room in my current king bed. Hates all films starring the following actors with asymetrical facial features: Nicholas Cage, Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Bruce Willis, William Defoe, Gary Busey. Must be exceptionally symetrical himself. Must have all conversations via email. He needs several super powers...though he cannot be able to read my mind. Must consider US Weekly a valid news source and appropriate for dinner conversation. Must have friends all exactly like him to avoid introducing any annoying qualities into my home.

Caitlyn's top 5 (okay....6.5): Edward Cullen (the character in my head...not Robert Pattinson), Tom Welling, Scott Foley, Sidney Crosby (I pretend he is American and 3 years older), Josh Lucas, Eli Manning, Adrienne Grenier*

*only half of the time - when he is well-groomed for TV

A: Persuasion, not just a Jane Austen novel

I like getting what I want.  I really like it. On a scale of one to ten of things that make me happy (with one being the nightly news and ten being a basket full of puppies), getting what I want is about a 9.5 on the happiness scale.  Maybe it has something to do with the middle child syndrome, or maybe I’m just a two year old at heart.  Either way, I’m happiest when things go exactly how I want it. 

Now getting what I want is not so easy and doesn’t happen nearly as often as I would like.  For instance, I really want my family to have a normal Thanksgiving where we eat dinner at 6pm at a table.  The turkey is delivered cooked by Whole Foods and the sweet potato soufflé has pecans instead of marshmallows.  Does this ever happen?  No.  But I’m not giving up.  Recently, I’ve realized that it is not my family who keeps me from having the perfect Thanksgiving or whatever else it is I want at the time, but rather the fact that I am just not as persuasive as I need to be for a girl who likes to get her way.  I’ve started doing some reading on this subject and there’s some good tips out there that I am willing to share – however, let it be known that if you try to use any of these tips on me – I’ll see right through your game.

1.       The first tip I’ve already mastered.  Become an island.  I live by myself and I work by myself which means I have basically eliminated all the factors in life that make you compromise (and by factors I mean people).  Think about it - I never have to share my Netflix queue or fight over the remote and I can paint my entire house purple if I want.  As for work, I get to do the work I want to do and I outsource the rest.  It’s great. 

2.       The second tip is something I’ve learned from working and living in a male dominated world.  Instead of asking for what you want, ask for something that puts you in the situation you need to get what you want.  I know that doesn’t make sense so think about what men do.  When a guy asks a woman out for drinks is it really to get to know her better?  No.  And thus the genius of their persuasion.  You don’t ask for what you want.  Ask for something that leads you to what you want. Now this is something that most women are incapable of doing.  So, if you are female and following this advice, I turn to my career coach, Tim Ferriss and his advice in The 4 hour Work Week.  Make a request and follow it by, “Is this reasonable?”  It’s really hard for people to say no that’s not reasonable and you are one step closer to getting what you want.

3.       Tip three: mirror the behavior of the person you are trying to persuade.  According to one of my favorite books about persuasion, Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive “Behavior mirroring  will led to increased trust, and that increased trust typically leads one negotiator to feel comfortable disclosing details that were ultimately necessary to break a stalemate and create a win-win situation for both parties”.   So the next time you are negotiating one-on-one and the person is sitting with their legs crossed, you should cross your legs.   If she is holding a pen in her hand, you should too.  What if she drinks a glass of water, that’s right – drink one too.  If you don’t think this will work, try yawning in a room of people and see how many follow.

4.       Tip four is another one that has do to with human nature and the fact that we are all followers.  If you decide what you want and just go forward with your plan, most people will follow.  Let’s face it, we are generally a lazy bunch and when given a clear path, we tend to go with the flow.  So the next time you want something, just start taking action and people will follow.  I actually spent New Year ’s Eve at a bowl game because I was just happy that I didn’t have to make a plan.  And by the way, football would be equivalent to the nightly news on my scale of things that make me happy.

5.       The final tip is to figure out how to be funny.  Being  funny makes you likable and we all want to please people we like.  If you are completely incapable of being funny, than do something that makes people think you are fun like go to a concert or make fun foods like cupcakes.  That way if people cannot see you as funny, they will at least see you as fun-ish.

A: Super Bowl Sunday, Again?

According to the Comcast TV listing and guide, the Steelers will be playing the Cardinals this weekend in the Super Bowl. 

I have no further comment on the specifics of the sports aspect of this event, so stop reading if that is where your interest lies.  However, if you are like me and are interested in commentary related to the heart of game (the halftime show and commercials), please--read on.

Halftime show: It appears that the NFL’s decision to have Bruce Springsteen perform at the halftime show marks the fifth year in a row that we are forced to watch old people sing and dance.  I mean, seriously - when will we stop having to pay for JT and JJ’s wardrobe malfunction?  It’s ridiculous that you have to be 50 to get on stage.  Every year, I think this is the year that I’ll finally get my Troy and Gabriella Super Bowl Musical performance, but alas! who knows if that day will ever come. 

Commercials: Apparently, 3D is officially back.  On my quarterly trip to the supermarket, I saw a stand with 3D glasses to be used to view Dreamworks’ Super Bowl commercial.   This is super exciting not because I like commercials or free 3D glass but rather it is even more evidence that Billy Ray Cyrus is a marketing genius.  Of course, 3D glasses became cool again this summer with Hannah Montana’s Best of Both Worlds concert movie in 3D.  Having a 3D Super Bowl commercial that will be seen by over 90 million viewers just solidifies the far reaching influence Billy Ray has on America culture.