Testostrogen

Every time Sunday rolls around in the summer, I get excited because I have dubbed it 'Car Sunday'. This is the one designated day where I spend time with Darth (my car's name :P) by washing, waxing, and polishing him up....by hand! I'm serious. I get right down to the nitty gritty and get dirty by cleaning and shining up every single one of his spokes on his sweet 18' rims. I drive an Acura. Or as my friend Natalie likes to call it, a Blackura, because he's completely all blacked out head to toe, inside, and out. I thoroughly enjoy all aspects of cleaning my car, and I have genuine interest and willingness to learn anything and everything about cars. Does this make me a boy? Nah. What if I told you that the smells of summer to me aren't necessarily the sweet smell of flowers or fresh cut grass, but rather that smell upon cracking open and using a fresh bottle of tire shine or high-gloss car wax, or the smell of new tires? Does that make me a boy? Hmm, it's debatable. I love nice cars, speed adrenaline, I want to take lessons and get a motorcycle one day soon (that's definitely on my to-do list)............but on the flip side? Oh, I am oh-so feminine. So how the hell did that happen you ask? Simple. It's the 'testostrogen' ; a hybrid word I just made up to describe a part of what makes me 'me', and to give you a glimpse into what and who I grew up around. My male influences....okay we'll call them brothers plus Dad.
So I grew up in a family of 6.....my Mom, Dad, myself and 3 brothers. Two older and one younger. Being the only girl had it's perks but also it's downfalls. But now that I'm older and see how it has shaped me into who I am today, I honestly would not have had it any other way. I was literally one of the boys, so it was always a challenge being a girl around my brothers. I would have to play Barbies in the privacy of my own room all the time because action figures, cap guns, Tonka trucks, and Nerf guns would dominate. Oh  how I loved being a girl though - I had so many great memories, and a lot of awesome little friends. I loved wearing my Mom's high heels, putting her lipstick on and walking around my room when she wasn't home. Of course I loved my dolls, my precious Cabbage Patch doll, my Easy-Bake oven, skipping ropes, paper dolls, and dress-up clothes as well. But when you grow up around 4 guys, they tend to rub off on you in some ways, and you find that in order to bond with your siblings at all, you have to find a common ground. Would they ever play house, or play Barbies with me? Oh hell no! So I would naturally be the one to have to play by some of their rules, and their games. So basically everything from playing in the dirt, playing with action figures, nicky-nicky nine doors, experimenting lighting things on fire to see them burn, cap guns, to watching horror movies (which I believe that must be where my love of movies came from) and intense play fighting. I use the word 'play' very loosely here because there was nothing really that playful about it. Nope, not at all. I learned to take punches and beatings like a champ, and I guess that's one of the things I am thankful for today from my lovely brothers. In beating the snot out of each other, I had to learn how to take it, administer it, and basically just be tough. Street smarts from growing up in the area that we did, and having to be tough from some of the childhood experiences growing up in my family. And where am I at today in retrospect of my hybrid word 'testostrogen' ? Hahahaha, well..........take the glimpse I just explained, and tie in all these little extras - I love fashion, I'm a makeup artist, I absolutely love to bake, I own a ridiculous amount of shoes and clothing, I can't go anywhere without at least one piece of jewelry, I think dresses are a staple, I love everything romantic in life, getting butterflies, and love letters, I admire Audrey Hepburn to the fullest, I cannot wait to get married one day and have a gorgeous, perfect wedding, I love having long hair, and I think every girl should own an LBD and the perfect red lipstick. *sigh* Geez, would you look at the time? I have a fabulous concert to attend with my gorgeous gals, and I haven't even polished up my rims yet, or put in that bottle of fuel injector. Testostrogen at it's finest.