You might be wondering, “So what in tarnation is this Monday Poll thing anyway!?”
Well, it isn’t exactly a poll. It’s more of a constantly evolving (devolving?), somewhat random list of questions I’ve been putting out to readers every Monday morning for the past NINE (!) years. (It’s like a kickstart for your brain.) I’ve always enjoyed reading your answers in the comments, and I hope you enjoy reading mine. 🙂
London, Paris, LA or Tokyo?
Bonjour, Paris! Today, Paris, for sure, because I’m in the mood to eat yummy French things. Also, I love little French babies with their little French accents. THEY’RE SO CUTE! I think it would be so cool, too, if Connor grew up speaking French. She’d be this little half Asian baby speaking French.
And the architecture, the history, the art and the stylish people who ride around on bicycles with loaves of bread under their arm. In this particular fantasy, I wear red lipstick and high heels every day and carry a really long, elegant umbrella as I walk to my office where I do something fabulous, of course, like write copy for Chanel.
2. Do you ever wear men’s fragrances?
I just finished rocking Dolce and Gabbana Light Blue Men’s Shower Gel every day for about three months until I used up the bottle, so the short answer to this question is “yes.”
3. Have you ever driven a classic car?
Nope. Not that I’m a bad driver, because I’m not, but I don’t think you should trust me with your teal ’57 Chevy that you lovingly restored from the ground up with your bare hands because I’d probably be so stressed out about putting a dent in it that the stress of putting a dent in it would probably lead me to put a dent in it. 🙂
4. Are you wearing false lashes today?
Nope, just a coat of mascara today.
OK…not just “a” coat. Maybe like five coats!
No false lashes today, but maybe later this week.
It’s funny, but if you watch enough YouTube videos, you start to think that every lady who wears makeup also wears false lashes every day, which is just not even true! For normal life, I wear false lashes maybe once or twice a month. The main reason I wear false lashes is for makeup looks on the blog.
5. Is the inside of your purse neat or messy?
You don’t want to look inside my purse unless you want to see inside a nightmare, haha.
It’s super messy right now. There are receipts I need to file away, half a dozen lipsticks rolling around, an empty plastic bag that was at one time used to carry Connor’s binky… And those are just the tip of the iceberg.
6. Who was the last person you held hands with?
It was Connor. She wraps her little baby fingers around one of my fingers when I feed her.
I give you…fruit!
I don’t know why, but fruit always tastes better to me when somebody else peels it.
I mean, I’ll happily wash a piece of fruit for myself and eat it with the peel on, but when my mom came over the other day, she peeled the persimmons in the picture at the top and arranged them so cutely and sweetly in a bowl. It was nice.
Happy Monday, my friend. 🙂 I really hope today goes smoothly for you. Please have a wonderful week. I’ll talk to you soon.
P.S. Here are the questions to copy and paste…
1. London, Paris, LA or Tokyo?
2. Do you ever wear men’s fragrances?
3. Have you ever driven a classic car?
4. Are you wearing false lashes today?
5. Is the inside of your purse neat or messy?
6. Who was the last person you held hands with?
Kiss & Make-up says
1. London, Paris, LA or Tokyo?
Tokyo! Been there twice now and I love the city.
2. Do you ever wear men’s fragrances?
Nope.
3. Have you ever driven a classic car?
No. And I don’t think I’d trust myself with it, since I’m not exactly a great driver.
4. Are you wearing false lashes today?
Nope.
5. Is the inside of your purse neat or messy?
Depends… I know my way around in there, so to me it’s neat 😉
6. Who was the last person you held hands with?
I’m not really the hand-holding type, so I can’t remember the last time I held someone’s hand. But it was probably with my husband.
Chris25 says
1. London, Paris, LA or Tokyo?: Paris or Tokyo. I love Tokyo’s fashion but art history and architecture would take me to Paris.
2. Do you ever wear men’s fragrances?: No, because they are usually a little sharp for my nose. I like softer scents like floral or ocean.
3. Have you ever driven a classic car?: No. I still don’t know how to drive. 🙁
4. Are you wearing false lashes today?: No, just two coats of Buxom mascara.
5. Is the inside of your purse neat or messy? I plead the fifth. 😛
6. Who was the last person you held hands with?: If paws count it was Zoe. 🙂
Shannon says
Happy Monday, Karen! <3
1. London, Paris, LA or Tokyo?
I'm *dying* to be in the UK right now, so London, please! And then I'll just jet around to Cambridge, Liverpool, Bath… and then I'll probably pop over to Dublin, too, because why not? 🙂 I miss the lovely greenness and the damp weather. Oh London.
2. Do you ever wear men’s fragrances?
I can't think of a time when I have! I've used men's bodywash before, but only when I've been in desperate need, lol.
3. Have you ever driven a classic car?
No – and it's probably a good thing! I am equally worried that I would dent such a thing of beauty, lol.
4. Are you wearing false lashes today?
Not today. I've taken to wearing them more frequently at my shows, though! I'm getting a liiiiittle better at applying them, finally 🙂
5. Is the inside of your purse neat or messy?
It's a teensy bit neater than it has been, because I cleared out all of my old receipts & napkins & other random junk – but it still has quite a bit of stuff inside it, so I hesitate to call it "neat," lol.
6. Who was the last person you held hands with?
My hubby, last night when we were walking home from a friend's show. Love that guy!
I hope this coming week is a good one for you, Karen! I'm not super jazzed about work ATM, but I'm keeping busy with dinner dates and shows and a bunch of other stuff this week – so at least I'll be distracted 🙂
Hugs!
Chelsea says
1. London, Paris, LA or Tokyo?
The only one of these I’ve been to us Paris, and I’m really tempted to just say that, but in the interest of trying new things, I’ve always wanted to go to London.
2. Do you ever wear men’s fragrances?
I have in the past. I normally am into girly scents though.
3. Have you ever driven a classic car?
No, but I’ve ridden in lots of them. My grandparents restored classic cars throughput my life (primarily Model A’s) and I went to car shows with them all the time.
4. Are you wearing false lashes today?
I haven’t even washed my face yet! I’m at home sick.
5. Is the inside of your purse neat or messy?
Less messy than usual because i cleaned it out the other day.
6. Who was the last person you held hands with?
My husband 🙂
Jaclyn levy says
1. The only one I haven’t been to is Toykoyo so I’ll go with that!
2. All. The. Time. Women’s fragrances are usually too fruity or sweet for my taste. I like men’s fragrances much better plus I like the bit of mystery around wearing a men’s fragrance. Did I just make out with a guy? Am I having a affair? It’s fun.
3. No. I’m not really into cars other than my visceral hate for minivans.
4. Nope. Last time I wore falsies was last Halloween. They were hot pink and fabulous.
5. My purse is surprisingly neat for a mom of two young kids. I carry one extra diaper. I’ve got my lock for my gym locker. I have some Band-Aids and my wallet, and rotating lipsticks and that’s about it.
6. My almost 2 year old to help him go down the stairs. His grip is fierce!
Lupe says
1. London, Paris, LA or Tokyo?
Paris. I really want to see more of the world.
2. Do you ever wear men’s fragrances?
Once in awhile. I like the musky scent versus fruity/floral scents sometimes.
3. Have you ever driven a classic car?
No. I don’t drive.
4. Are you wearing false lashes today?
No. It has been awhile.
5. Is the inside of your purse neat or messy?
Neat. I like it to be organized.
6. Who was the last person you held hands with?
My boyfriend. 🙂
Vanessa Caraballo says
1. London, Paris, LA or Tokyo?
Toyko! I’d love to get lost in a city that’s bigger than my NYC.
2. Do you ever wear men’s fragrances?
YES! I love wearing my husband’s Tom Ford colognes, especially for a night out with the girls lol
3. Have you ever driven a classic car?
Nope! At 30 years young, I have never driven a car!
4. Are you wearing false lashes today?
No, and I even went without mascara today.
5. Is the inside of your purse neat or messy?
Neat! I switched purses this morning, so there’s no randomness in there… yet.
6. Who was the last person you held hands with?
My husband 🙂 I took the train with him this morning, which I rarely get to do as I normally leave 1 hour before him. It was nice to be all lovey dovey on the train for 30 minutes.
Jennifer says
1. London, Paris, LA or Tokyo? Tokyo because I’ve never been and I love sushi.
2. Do you ever wear men’s fragrances? yes, I buy men’s perfumed shower gel for the menfolk and like to sneak it in the shower.
3. Have you ever driven a classic car? no, it’s best I stick with my Toyota
4. Are you wearing false lashes today? hah, no. it’s been years since I tried putting them on. And these days I’m so blind I think I would end up gluing my eyelids shut.
5. Is the inside of your purse neat or messy? messy. I have such good intentions. 24 hours after it’s cleaned, it’s full of receipts and candy wrappers and unintelligible reminders written on stickie notes.
6. Who was the last person you held hands with? my teenage son, last week! We were watching a movie and sitting on the sofa and he held my hand for a minute or two. So overjoyed!
Suzanne C says
1. London, Paris, LA or Tokyo?
Paris, because croissants.
2. Do you ever wear men’s fragrances?
No
3. Have you ever driven a classic car?
No
4. Are you wearing false lashes today?
I’ve never worn any, although I need to because my own lashes are almost non-existent.
5. Is the inside of your purse neat or messy?
Neat. I use a purse insert with a place for everything. It makes it soooo easy to change purses.
6. Who was the last person you held hands with?
My 10 year old niece. Although surprisingly, our 13 year old still holds my hand in public sometimes, too. She always was my ‘loviest’ baby.
ericca says
1. London, Paris, LA or Tokyo? I want to visit them all. The closets I have been to on this list is san diego.
2. Do you ever wear men’s fragrances? like you i am in love with dolce and gabanna light blue , however, my bf hates it.
3. Have you ever driven a classic car? no i sat in one and took photos.
4. Are you wearing false lashes today? no.
5. Is the inside of your purse neat or messy? total mess, like my life.
6. Who was the last person you held hands with? my boyfriend. he is in this hand holding phase. Usually, its my nephew who is 9 and i love when he holds my hand i feel so adult like.
tulipthecat says
1. London, Paris, LA or Tokyo?
If I had to choose I would pick Tokyo. I love Japanese food!
2. Do you ever wear men’s fragrances?
Hmmm…..nope…I don’t think I have
3. Have you ever driven a classic car?
No because I would be afraid to drive it.
4. Are you wearing false lashes today?
Nope because I would poke my eye out trying
5. Is the inside of your purse neat or messy?
Let’s not go there…I try to keep it clean but it just never happens. I end up with tons of random pieces of paper and lipsticks in there
6. Who was the last person you held hands with?
My boyfriend last Saturday.
It funny what you said about fruit. I only eat apples when someone else cuts and peels it for me. I wait for my sister in law to come over and she always has peeled apples for the kids so I eat apples with them
Leah G. says
1. London, Paris, LA or Tokyo? Paris because of the food, wine, and the good walks. (I have not yet been).
2. Do you ever wear men’s fragrances? No.
3. Have you ever driven a classic car? We have a 1973 Corvette Sting Ray. I have not driven it yet but it’s being worked on to make it drive-able. My husband worked on it for years and found a “Corvette guy” to do the finishing touches. So soon I’ll get to drive it.
4. Are you wearing false lashes today? No.
5. Is the inside of your purse neat or messy? Neat.
6. Who was the last person you held hands with? My husband. 🙂
kellly says
1. LA. The idea of flying over a huge body of water for hours gives me the willies and I can’t do it.
2. “Men’s fragrances” – Definitely, almost always. Patchouli when I was younger, fig, black tea, and currently tobacco. I don’t really understand why they’re called “men’s”. They smell better to me than most “women’s” fragrances, which all smell alike to me.
3. No
4. No
5. Messy doesn’t even begin to describe it
6. Probably my ex and that was quite a while ago
Jessica says
London, Paris, LA or Tokyo?
NYC!!!!!!!!!!!
Rachel R. says
1. London, Paris, LA or Tokyo? London, for the history. I want to see the old castles, the Tower of London, etc.
2. Do you ever wear men’s fragrances? Sometimes
3. Have you ever driven a classic car? No
4. Are you wearing false lashes today? I don’t wear them ever.
5. Is the inside of your purse neat or messy? Neat
6. Who was the last person you held hands with? My hubby
Tatiana says
1. London, Paris, LA or Tokyo? Ohh, tough one. Paris or Tokyo, not feeling LA right now. I love cities with good transportation systems so you don’t have to drive if you don’t want to. Love the Paris and Tokyo Metros!
2. Do you ever wear men’s fragrances? Yes! Frederic Malle Vetiver Extraordinaire is one of my favorites. Vintage Dior Eau Savage. I could go on.
3. Have you ever driven a classic car? ’68 Shelby ‘stang, a couple of Dodge Chargers. I grew up in Detroit with my head under the hood of cars. I was the only girl my age among my siblings and cousins.
4. Are you wearing false lashes today? No. I’ve never worked up the courage to try applying them myself. I have a couple of pairs. It’s the adhesive that scares me.
5. Is the inside of your purse neat or messy? It cycles through. Neat, then gradually messy, then I switch purses and clean it up.
6. Who was the last person you held hands with? Dear Husband. We sat on the sofa reading next to each other, then we watched TV for a bit. Let’s face it, after 26 years of marriage the guy is still a hottie to me.
Fuyu persimmons always taste better peeled. That was sweet of your Mom to peel them for you. I have a couple of Hachiyas turning into pudding in the skins sitting on a plate on the counter. Love fall fruit. Pears, persimmons, pomegranates! Yum!
Erin says
1. London, Paris, LA or Tokyo?
It’s hard to say, I’ve been to Paris, but I love it. I’d love to see London or Tokyo!
2. Do you ever wear men’s fragrances?
All the time, today I’m wearing Spicebomb!
3. Have you ever driven a classic car?
I’ve driven a bug and a classic 30’s truck.
4. Are you wearing false lashes today?
Nope
5. Is the inside of your purse neat or messy?
Slightly messy
6. Who was the last person you held hands with?
My husband unless you count my dog as a person.
Gloria Yang says
1. London, Paris, LA or Tokyo?
Paris!!! I’d wear loose button-down blouses, minimal A-list skirts, hair tousled, sipping coffee and eating croissant at the cafe. Perhaps I would be your colleague at Chanel! Can you imagine, doing Chanel’s beauty PR in Paris?
2. Do you ever wear men’s fragrances?
No, I’m not a big fan of musk, which are in a lot of men’s fragrances. I also did a 2-day stint at the local Macy’s men’s fragrance during the holidays many years ago, and have come to dislike most men’s fragrances.
3. Have you ever driven a classic car?
No. I’m not comfortable driving cars that are not mine.
4. Are you wearing false lashes today?
Nah, and I agree with you. If sociologists of the future studied the 2010’s based on YouTube, they’d probably think everyone’s contour/brow/lashes was “on fleek.” I barely even have a coat on today.
5. Is the inside of your purse neat or messy?
Messy!!! I do try my hardest to clean it out once a week, but that doesn’t always happen.
6. Who was the last person you held hands with?
I honestly can’t remember.
Stephanie Smith says
1. London, Paris, LA or Tokyo? Hmmm, Paris. Croissants, cheese, and wine. All day!
2. Do you ever wear men’s fragrances? No, I’m not really into men’s fragrances. They seem a little heavier than lady perfume, and I’m always worried about smelling too strongly of perfume.
3. Have you ever driven a classic car? I used to drive a 1972 Ford Pinto, does that count? Lol!!!
4. Are you wearing false lashes today? No, I’ve never worn them. The girl who checked me out at Target the other day had them on and it looked so good on her, but I’m not really a false eyelash kind of girl. I usually wear glasses, so it’s not practical for me.
5. Is the inside of your purse neat or messy? HA! Messy! Pens, lippies, a tube of bubbles from a wedding I went to months ago, assorted trinkets you get for fifty cents from the machines at grocery stores, receipts, change, its bad. So bad that I usually don’t carry a purse and just use my wallet.
6. Who was the last person you held hands with? Probably my 10 year old daughter, crossing in a parking lot. She’s shrimpy so I like to make sure she’s with me.
I am not a persimmon fan. My parents have a huge tree, and they’re the prettiest color ever. Their dogs will pull them off the tree to eat them. They’re just not for me. Persimmon cookies though, it is ON!
Mel. B. says
1. London, Paris, LA or Tokyo? LA all the way! I love California. Also, you don’t need to live in Paris to learn French. They speak it in Quebec, Canada aussi (also).
2. Do you ever wear men’s fragrances? No.
3. Have you ever driven a classic car? No.
4. Are you wearing false lashes today? No I have never worn them.
5. Is the inside of your purse neat or messy? A contained mess.
6. Who was the last person you held hands with? A kid at my daycare (Leo) and my husband.
Fran says
1. London — I love that city! I love Paris, too, but I like London’s energy better. Tokyo I might find overwhelming. LA would bug me because I couldn’t get around by walking or taking public transit.
2. I’ve been trying to find a modern fragrance that I actually like, and I think I need to sample more men’s and unisex fragrances. I get a ton of fragrance samples, but everything smells too sweet and too synthetic.
3. Have you ever driven a classic car? No, Karen, and I think I’d have the exact same problem that you’d have!
4. The only time of worn false lashes is when we were practicing during esthetics school, and another student put them on me. I do need to practice with them, though.
5. My purse stays neat only because I put everything inside wallets and smaller bags inside my bag, lol. I hate it when I can’t find stuff.
6. Does it count that my tiny hamsters hug my thumb when they want me to pick them up? Otherwise, probably one of my eldercare clients, truthfully. My son wasn’t cuddly even when he was an infant (that was hard).
Karen says
Oh, that’s so cute that your hamsters hug your thumb! How many do you have? I would love to have a hamster but unfortunately I think Tabs’s prey drive is too strong. 🙁
Fran says
I have two tiny hamsters, Marya (2.5 ounces, gray with a little white, very smart, aggressive, and pesky), and Sonya (1.5 ounces, white with a little gray, very sweet and beautiful and a good housekeeper). They were from the same litter and were very cute together when they were young, but once they grew up they started fighting (hamsters are usually solitary in the wild) and had to be separated. That’s a bit of a chore, I think in the future I will try to stick to just one — these two were just both so cute that I couldn’t choose between them. My son has two guinea pigs, Rocky (Road) and Graham (Cracker). Tabs would love to chase all of them, and would definitely regard Marya and Sonya as lunch. The hamsters would try to fight back, though, even though their tiny teeth and claws couldn’t even make it through Tabs’ fur. They’ll attack the guinea pigs (twenty times their size) if the guinea pigs come into what they regard as their territory. The guinea pigs barely notice the attack — they just turn their heads and knock the tiny hamsters several inches! The guinea pigs are so domesticated and placid that they might not even run away from Tabs, though — ouch!
If someone can’t have full-sized pets for some reason, dwarf hamsters are good pocket pets for cat lovers (they have minds of their own, if perhaps a bit simple), and guinea pigs are good pocket pets for dog lovers (they just want to love you).
Kate & Zena says
1. London, Paris, LA or Tokyo?
They all are very loud but I would probably go with Paris as I do know some French and I’ve been wanting to exercise it for some time.
2. Do you ever wear men’s fragrances?
Nope. Too allergic to the stuff.
3. Have you ever driven a classic car?
Er, no.
4. Are you wearing false lashes today?
Nope.
5. Is the inside of your purse neat or messy?
It’s creative chaos.
6. Who was the last person you held hands with?
Blue our green horse at the NFP. He let me pick his hooves a few days ago. He’s very sweet but he spooks very easily. Vince (the show horse I’m riding for the Olympics) nuzzled my hand last night so I’m not sure if that counts. I’m sure Zena will come down and nudge herself into my hands soon.
Florence says
I don’t want to choose between cities, I choose the world.Everywhere you have beautiful things, people,landscapes to see to smell,to discover.Paris is really beautiful but France (and according to me Europe)are stunning.In France,you must see Strasbourg, Bordeaux,Lille,Deauville,Nantes,Toulouse,Cannes,Nice……And when you are in Nice you are close to Italy so…..Strasbourg is close to Germany….And so on.For Connor Claire her first lesson of french: bienvenue en France jolie Connor.Fais un gros bisous de ma part à ta mère et au beau Tabs.Welcome beautiful Connor Claire.Give your mother a big kiss for me and one for the beautiful Tabs.
For the fragrance,I wear acqua di Gio per uomo, it’s my favorite fragrance.Have a nice day with your beauties.
Kim says
Happy Tuesday – I know you’ll appreciate this. I was cutting self-adhesive velcro strips this AM and my scissors were just about stuck shut from the goop. So, as always, I was using some cuticle oil to loosen it so I could clean the blades. And, I absentmindedly turned the scissors over to put oil on the other side. While holding the open bottle of cuticle oil in that hand. One of my coworkers just came in and said “your office smells like lemon”. Um, yeah, because I just dumped a whole bottle of cuticle oil all over my leg and the floor. Thank goodness it’s supposed to be 76 degrees today so I’m wearing shorts, and it just got a bit of the hem. Gah. HAHA!
1. London, Paris, LA or Tokyo? London, pls. I’ve never been and Tokyo seems too far today.
2. Do you ever wear men’s fragrances? Yes, occasionally (Spicebomb and some Atelier Vanilla and Orange samples I got from Sephora).
3. Have you ever driven a classic car? I have driven some OLD cars, but I’m not sure I’d call them classic. HAHA!
4. Are you wearing false lashes today? No, I haven’t tried them yet (ever). I do have about 67 layers of mascara on, though.
5. Is the inside of your purse neat or messy? It’s neat. I seem to only be messy with the things people see. My purse and cupboards are like Sleeping with the Enemy!
6. Who was the last person you held hands with? One of the boys when I whisked him away from a soccer game and literally ran to the car (it was so cold). We’re having odd weather.
Karen says
I hope some of that cuticle oil managed to get on your cuticles! 😀
Kim says
HAHA! No, that was the kicker. Though my thigh was super-soft for the rest of the day! 😉
Trude says
I know I’m a day late, but it’s been so long since I’ve had a chance to participate! 🙂
1. London, Paris, LA or Tokyo? Paris. I spent 2 months in London one summer and lots of time in LA, so I’d love to get to explore Paris!
2. Do you ever wear men’s fragrances? No, although there’s some I really love!
3. Have you ever driven a classic car? Does my first car count? It was an ’85 Chevy Caprice Classic. 😉
4. Are you wearing false lashes today? Nope! I wound up not even wearing them for my wedding because they were stressing me out and I was (of course) running short on time.
5. Is the inside of your purse neat or messy? Almost always neat. I hate not being able to find things!
6. Who was the last person you held hands with? My husband, as we were falling asleep last night. 🙂