Gurl Geek Glam

Gurl geeks know the value of a dollar. They also bought Google stock back when it had its unconventional initial public offering and would never dream of letting Bernie, or anyone else for that matter, handle their hard-earned cash thankyouverymuch. They also know the milkaholic baby in the E-Trade commercial is supposed to be Lindsay Lohan (duh, and we also think it's friggin' hilarious), but that's neither here nor there.

All that being said, every once in a while an occasion comes along where it would be appropriate for a glamorous gurl geek to arrive dripping in fabulous jewels. Unfortunately, for most gurl geeks this doesn't happen often enough and even more rarely does it warrant dropping five digits on jewels you'll probably wear four or five times in your life, tops. Therein lies the rub... how does a glamorous gurl geek arrive appropriately bedecked without having to sell any of her equally precious stock? Never fear my dear, Adorn.comhas the answer, and I think it's brilliant.

Originally intended as a means for brides to have access to luxurious precious gems simply by renting jewels that would otherwise be out of their reach (Adorn even works in association with Kleinfeld of "Say Yes to the Dress" fame), Adorn.comhas recently changed its focus to renting luscious diamond jewelry for any occasion (a concept that occurred to me the first time I ran across them more than a year ago... mebbe I should be collecting royalties on "their" idea). Anyways, with deals like the above pictured pearl and diamond beauty, which retails for $13,500 but can be rented for a mere $250, there's no reason why you shouldn't be the best bejeweled glamour-rockin' gurl geek at any formal occasion, nor will you ever have to wear the same jewels twice! BONUS!

Check out all the necklaces, bracelets and earrings available at a large array of prices (the above "that-just-oughta-be-mine" piece is on the higher end) at Adorn.com

As we have already established in a prior post, geeks eat junk food. I don't know that it's actually that geeks like junk food, it's just that junk food is convenient, and we do like convenience... especially if it means we don't have to leave the computer screen for any length of time. Junk food tends to be "continuing-to-work-while-I-eat" friendly. Glamorous geeks on the other hand, long for something a bit more elegant than a bag of Doritos and perhaps just a tad more fulfilling than fried corn meal and table salt. I, of course, have the perfect solution... and it's chocolate-covered bacon from Vosges Haut-Chocolat.

Think about the beauty of it! It gives you a bit of meat, a bit of salt (alder wood smoked salt, to be exact), and of course, fine chocolate. Practically a meal in itself! And it's so much more glamorous for the cleaning peeps to be finding pretty Vosges chocolate wrappers in your office trashcan than a crinkled up bag of stinky corn chips. Won't they be impressed!

Even better, if you don't quite think the whole "bacon/chocolate" thing constitutes a meal, Vosges offers other uniquely chocolate-covered options to supplement your cuisine, such as chipotle chillies, ginger and wasabi, and chicory coffee (my personal fav--we'll discuss Geek Caffeine Addiction later). You'll never have to tear yourself away from a painfully bug-ridden line of code to get up to cook again!

Check out all the Luxury Chocolates at Vosges Haut-Chocolat

Today I am sending you off to explore my "other" blog, Style & Angst. I posted a HUGE list of great web deals, sales and coupons yesterday, mainly for the whole "Mother's Day" thing (geeks always wait until the last minute) but the majority of them will still be good for some time, and some will even get you through the summer. So bop on over there, bookmark the page so you have it for safekeeping, and then come back here to see what glamorously geeky thing I post next! And don't forget your mother on Sunday!

Well, go ahead! Why are you still here reading?

As geeks, we optimize our hard drive. We optimize our database. We optimize our images. We optimize our browser (Firefox of course, or maybe Chrome... never, ever Explorer). What's left to optimize?

If you are of an age to remember DOS, WordPerfect or Banyan Vines, it's probably about time you optimized your skin. Fortunately for us "old-timers," Yves Rocher has a botanical skin optimizer that, because it even includes just a touch of daily self-tanner, seems to be made just for us geeks whose only exposure to any kind of light is that emitted by a computer screen. Fight aging and convince your mother that you finally complied and "got out to get some sun" all at the same time! Talk about optimization! And it has all kinds of other goodies in it too, like rice extract, cornflower water and grapeseed oil.

$24 $14.40 at Yves Rocher - plus get 10% OFF with orders over $12 with Yves Rocher! Use coupon code DISCOUNT10 at checkout. [expires 5.30.10]

I love my Love Sac! We actually own two in the size commonly referred to as "The Big One" that we use for our "home theater seating" (all true geeks have a home theater, ya know). Though it looks like one, this is NOT a bean bag chair. In fact, comfort-wise it's about as far from a bean bag chair as you can get. These babies are stuffed with chunks of visco elastic foam and they are heavenly to lay in. *Divine* even! And considering the plethora of serious back issues I have, that's really saying something. I've even slept in mine on more than one occasion and I always wake up more pain-free than I do when I sleep on our visco elastic bed. Go figure.

I feel the need to warn you about one thing tho... if you do go for The Big One rather than the SuperSac pictured above (or any of the other myriad of sizes they come in such as the KidSac, MovieSac or GamerSac for the real geeks), make sure you have room for it first. Sure, it will arrive in a small enuf box, but once unleashed on your world it will grow. And grow. And grow. And grow some more. And just when you think this thing is going to need a room of its own, it will grow just a little bit more. And then you'll dive into the middle of it and lay there trying to figure out how to fit one into every room of your house.

Sacs. I love them. My hubby loves them. My puppies love them. All our friends love them. I bet that's why they call it the Love Sac.

$399 for the SuperSac, available at LoveSac.com

This fabulous little copper and gold leaf vase by Olimpia and Pepe Barba is offered by Novica.comI am a huge fan of Novica because, in association with National Geographic, Novica works to publicize the work of artists around the world who otherwise might go virtually unnoticed. As a result of Novica offering this art to a worldwide audience, many of these artists can begin to enjoy a much higher standard of living.

I picked this vase not only because of its beauty but because any geek worth their salt knows the monarch butterfly is in deep trouble because deforestation has drastically interfered with their yearly migration to Mexico. Put this little lovely on your table to remind you to plant some milkweed this summer to help these struggling guys out!

$67.95 at Novica.com

Purchase it before June 30 and you can save $15 by using coupon code: NOVICA4283

A few of us old-timers might remember when Microserfswas first published in Wired, about a million years ago it seems. It was a fabulous humorously-written tale of life as an ubergeek working at Microsoft "a mega software company." When one programmer was chastised by Bill Gates "The Boss" he secluded himself in his office with his 'puter for days and his buddies, concerned for his welfare, would slide him flat geek food under his door... mainly pizza and Fruit Roll-Ups. If they'd had one of these, they could have upped their game to a slice of pan-seared foie gras in a balsamic strawberry gastric and fed in a crazy straw duct taped to a bottle of the perfect vintage accompaniment. After all, geeks need to eat well to keep those neurons firing.

You too can find the perfect wine for every dish, with the ease of using a color wheel. Check out the nifty pewter Le Cordon Bleu Wine and Food Menu.Perfectly elegant and sleekly geeky all at the same time. $48 at PierreDeux.