tis.the.season.

tis the season for holiday parties! time to get the booze and party dresses on. so some things to keep in mind if attending a holiday party:

1. never show up empty-handed – booze or desserts are always great things to bring along

2. try the punch – it’s usually really good and has champagne in it

3. when in doubt underdress – better to be more on the casual side than to out dress the host

4. get the lay of the land – mingle and learn whos taken and single… dont be that girl who hits on a taken man

5. dont be that girl – don’t over drink! know your limit, no need to be sloppy drunk girl who embarrasses herself

6. camera ready – you never know when or where a picture will be snapped so be pretty and prepared

7. party shoes – most parties involve lots of standing and mingling so dont go wearing the 4 inch spike heals if you cant last in them. be smart wear smart

8. manners – introductions go a long way, and always thank the host!

9. dont forget to eat – there is probably little munchies around, don’t be afraid to have a few as you are drinking and we dont want you to be #5

10. last tip: if you do meet a fella, that night is not the night to go home with him. get a number and leave him wanting more

have fun! and be safe…

Note to Self: liquor before beer you’re in the clear

dreams.do.come.true.

so this past friday night i got insanely lucky that a friend had a bad day at work and decided to buy court side tickets to the celtics vs bulls game, and best of all selected me to go with! all i had to do was buy beers. i however did not find out the location of the seats till we were walking to them… i assumed we had bleachers. if i knew i would be able to touch the players i might have sexed up my look a bit more. when we arrived at our seats RIGHT behind the bulls bench i was sooo that girl that was like “NO F*CKING WAY!” way too loud in front of children.

so first thing i noticed was a kevin hart look a like behind me – i mean look & sound… so much so that i had to ask him if he really was him or not. I felt the need to do this because i had a few long staring moments and i felt i needed to justify that awkward moment. SIDE NOTE: for those of you who dont know, kevin hart is an amazingly funny comedian… utube him, you’ll love him and thank me for bringing him into your life. k back to story. so he just said i get that all the time and laughed… that wasnt a no. thankfully we had a smart phone on us and learned it wasnt him… the real kevin hart was at that moment having a show in CT.  but in the end we did make friends with this group of guys, who by the way were amazing at getting under the skin of ever bulls player! they are actually sponsored by bud! they are known as AllReady – Band of Buds.

around tip off… i spotted across the court my 5 yr old crush, donnie wahlberg from new kids on the block aka nkotb!!! at that moment the game blurred and my focus and camera was all about donnie! the security guard was the nicest guy and i made friends with him. i kept trying to get him to walkie-talkie someone and some how get donnie on my side of the court. I even tried to get the espn camera guy to do the dirty work for me. i was a desperate girl trying to make her inner 5 yr old dreams come true.

during half time he was taking pics with fans on his side of the court. this was a good sign, it means hes nice and there is hope! again i take every chance i get and snap tons of photos of him. and i realized i had a problem when i was becoming mad at the bulls coach for blocking my camera view of donnie. i took a break from stalking till the game was over… that would be my shot!

come the end of the game we hung around till the crowed disappeared as we were in a parking garage and waiting in the stadium was much better than in line. we got to see all the players and watch the interviews. even snagged a few plays and other papers left on the floor by the bulls. then the security guard made my night. he told me that donnie was going to leave out the same exit we would be using and told me to hang over there because he’d have no choice but to walk by me. he also said hes so nice and would happily take a photo with me. I did just as he instructed and…. my dream came true! donnie happily took a picture with me!!!!! i got to touch him!! i was giddy as all hell and was seriously taken over by my inner 5 yr old! i couldnt stop smiling. and kept repeating after he was a safe distance away that i had just met donnie wahlberg!!! even after we finally went to leave i saw him again and snapped a few more last chance photos.

i then texted everyone i knew. my friend tabitha had the best reply: you’re the coolest person i know! – oh hell yes i was in that moment!

Note to Self: dress to impress at sports games, you never know who you might meet

yes me and donnie… duh i’m the one whos hair you see on  his shoulder.

gazelle.

buried somewhere in my office is a hot guy.  he is rarely spotted but when i do spy him i drool. he’s very tall, amazingly built and has a full head of dark luscious hair… and best of all preppy! my co-worker, Kory, and i have turned it into a kind of game. mainly because i just get way too excited when i see him and now we just need to play off of it. we have no idea what department he works in but have narrowed down what corner of the office his cube must be in (he’s in a good window area… lucky son of a bitch).

So every time he is spotted we now refer to him as the elusive gazelle. each day our encounters grow more frequent and physically closer. like today… if i were only one step slower we both would have crashed into each other while turning a blind corner at work… talk about a meet and greet. darn my luck. but there currently is a nod… and soon i hope a smile with a wink?

one day our paths will actually cross and involve conversation. but till then kory and i will enjoy the time of guessing his name and if he’s single or not. and its also fun conversation breaks for us too. helps the day go by faster.

Note to Self: no such thing as a bad hair day any more and must wear heals more as he’s tall

gobble.gobble.

another successful thanksgiving! traveled to DC to visit the folks. and no i was not felt up by any tsa agents, and had i been i would have expected – at the very least – to have been treated to a soda. we had our usual thanksgiving day DC traditional turkey meal at a beautiful restaurant – my mom has refused to cook since moving to DC.  my meal was a beautiful steak – no turkey or stuffing for me. the rest of the weekend was filled with the spy museum and other touristy things.

but amongst these travels to and from DC one thing has always been a constant, COUPLES EVERYWHERE! I dont know why i’m surprised by this since VA’s slogan is “Virginia is for lovers” – i’ll go ahead and assume DC is included in this. all ages are coupled off, from young co-eds to cute grandparents.

this constant is one of the many reasons I would love to return to live in DC. I love the fact that the city is in love! boston no so much. well at least not till you’re into your 30s do people seem to fall in love here. boston falls in love with careers first then a few years later than the south we fall in love. with only a few years left in my twenties i feel VA/DC has a better target love market. I mean while out this weekend guys bought us drinks and were like pouncing on us because we had no rings on our fingers… the odds were in our favor!

i think all this cold weather freezes us up and it isnt till out 30’s that we thaw out to the thought of love. the farther south you go the warmer it is and the quicker they get married. I find VA/DC to be the prefect temperature and love age range. If i were to go to far south at my age now it would be slim pickings as all those deep southerners tend to marry much younger and to their high school sweet hearts.

so i guess all i can do while located in boston is to wait for winter to pass and for all the men to thaw out.

Note to Self: Heres to an early spring!!!!!!

i.feel.it.in.my.ass.

ya not quite what you’re thinking. instead this is about your fitness. Surprise! so i finally caved and bought some fitness shoes… reebok easy tones. so the deal with these kicks are they tone your calf, thighs, and butt a bit faster than just with your average sneaker. these ones specifically are meant only for walking. and was we know i’ve become a runner, but its winter – less day light and colder temps mean i’ve got to hit the gym up again now.  I am not a treadmill runner (i’m one of those wabblers if i run and fear falling off the back of my treadmill), so i switch over to walking up hill as fast as i can.

saturday was my first go with these kicks. figured i wouldnt go to hard core with them on this attempt as reviews state your feet tend to hurt for the first couple of uses. well thats all lies! my feet felt fine. I think its people who just start working out who have issues adjusting. but come the end of my work out it wasnt my feet that were sore – it was my ass! you know that good pain you get after a great work out, well i had that!

took the kicks out sunday as well on a nice 3 mile speed walk outside. and again amazing. but i will say i did feel the urge to run but resisted as the shoes just are not made for running. they are crazy cushiony but that cushion does weigh more than my running shoes. and when you run distance you learn to love lighter shoes. i fear shin injuries with these if i were to run. but fret not if you really cant slow down to walk in them they do make a running version! i will not be testing those out though because i heart my running shoes and wouldnt trade them for the world!

so while i tone up my ass and thighs, i will keep my eyes open for guys at the gym. so come time to show my already amazing curves off… oh my butt will be even more amazing bootylicious than it already is! i’m finding this to be a win win. so instead of tripping up hot guys while out on runs for dates, i’ll now show off my ass in the gym for dates.

Note.to.Self: add Bottoms Up by Trey Songz to my workout playlist

dog.eat.dog.world.part.2.

sooo remember sammy? well even though the dog won… or so i thought. sammy has been texting me for the past 2 weeks… so recap: we had the date with the dog reaction, then one week with no contact, and then the past 2 have been filled with him texting me random whatevers and me responding to maybe every 1 out of 6. clearly i’m showing no signs of this is going to work.

so i was checking out facebook yesterday and noticed that sammy is now in a relationship as of this past saturday! um he’s been texting me yet found time for a relationship? well good for him, but maybe bad for the new gf? you’d think he would have received the not interested hint and given up on me and put the effort from my texts towards the new lady friend? we weren’t friends prior to this interaction so it’s not like we were loosing anything by not staying friends.

any who to sum it up… boys – completely move on when someone is clearly not interested. and when you’re interested in someone new, dont half ass it by texting a clear no when you have a clear yes in front of you. its just awkward. and no we can not be friends! we were never friends!  nothing lost nothing gained… a clear break even call it quits situation. (oh yes he asked if we could still be friends)

Note.to.Self: isn’t it time i meet someone normal?

college.flash.back.

my old stomping grounds…. northeastern

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhl6o-pdN9I

 

i.LOVE.to.run.

So this past year i took on a new hobby of running races. Reese got me into these earlier this year and well i havent stopped. Reese and I have run a few together and have done even more memorable training runs! We’ve run through snow bullet freezing cold weather to want to pass out heat waves… and we’ve done it all together.

But this summer Reese went on and got hitched to Jake! and well they also decided to move back to Reese’s home town of Chicago on me! booooo. chi town has stolen my running buddy 😦 but I have already been out to visit her. we had all intentions to run (literally) around chicago but we ate too much deep dish pizza!

So upon my return I decided another race was in order… my first solo race! I found one in brighton that was just a 5k (3 miles). I had about 3 weeks to get my ass in gear for it. now i know i can run 3 miles… my past races were 6 miles and 7 miles (ya me! what what!!!!). So my goal for this race was to speed things up. As i happen to be a mear 5′ 2″ tall and like no leg I have not been known for my speed. Most peoples jog is a sprint to me. So my goal was to get down to 11 min miles as opposed to my usual 12.5 min. so that means i need to run this in 33 minutes!!!

Kicked my ass training. thankfully mother nature was not on my side. every day was 15 mile hour winds plus and freezing cold! So running in that made me a bit stronger with the added resistence from nature. I also would like to take this time to thank Nike for making fleece lined dry wick clothing and really pretty running jackets – with out these items i may never have been able to train.

Race day was this past sunday! now if you were around boston area that day you know that it was about 30 degrees out, windy and sooo not sunny at all. the race was around the charles so ya water usually equals cooler temps and wind. I got there and quickly realized this was not a huge race. got my number and ran back to my car to keep warm. i called to check in with my folks and began to confess how i might not go through with it as its so freaking cold out, but i’d keep them posted as i did show up after all.

About 15 mins before the race started i got out of the car to walk around and try to loosen up and warm up my body. slowly everyone else began to emerge from their cars… my competition was looking pretty fierce and i was now scared. half of those that i was about to race were that of the Northeastern University track team! I tried to size up what was left and there was only one fat woman that i knew i could beat… i wanted to go back to my car and drive away. sadly that wasnt an option as there was only about 50 of us they’d all see me go and that would be more embarrassing. so i’m going through with it at this point and decide if i truly suck i’ll rip off my number and pretend i was never apart of this race.

10 am – its on! we all line up for the start… there are so few of us that the guy just yells START – no megaphone or gun needed. well the track stars take off leaving about 6 of us normal human running woman in the dust. as we begin our journey we all cant help but laugh at the fact that this 50 person race just became a 6 person race and we were never going to see anything but dust from the other half. we all stayed pretty neck and neck in the beginning… even chatting for a bit with each other. about 1/4 of the way through we could see the leaders of the pack across the river already about 1.5 miles ahead of us! eventually we started to break apart ourselves… one girl drifted ahead of me. whore! um did i say that? the fat chick dropped off into a walk like as soon as we got a 1/2 mile in so i knew i wasnt last – holla! i was neck and neck with a woman in her 40s for a while… but eventually age won out and she fell behind me! crossed the finish line second out of the 6 of us! not to shabby right???!!!

and my time…. 32:48!!!!! i did it! i ran 11 min miles!!!! i think the fact that i couldnt feel my legs because it was so cold was a positive.

after crossing the finish line i then went straight to my car to warm the freak up! called my folks and shared the happy news that i had actually finished! Also later spoke with reese and she was so proud that i had run my first race with out her and was even more proud that i was still running with out her. this time a year ago, me running races would have never happened and i’m still proud of me ever time i finish one… even if i’m unable to feel my legs 🙂

Note to Self: I heart corny running t-shirts – i do it for the shirts

online.on.time.

Not sure why but recently i’ve formed an addiction for online shopping. Its like seeing a big electronic closet where you can crop windows to match tops and bottoms up to form outfits… remember that scene in Clueless where she has her closet on her computer? ya well online shopping is like that to me! I can also compare deals with other sites, and find amazing deals/codes to get discounts you just cant get in a store. To top it all off most site give free shipping so its no more expensive than shopping in the store.

Thankfully i’ve shopped in person at most the stores I now shop online so sizes are not an issue! Shoes can sometimes be an issue because some brands vary, but by reading reviews you can usually figure out if they are true to fit or not. Reading the reviews are also helpful hits into the world of online shopping. You can read before hand if a sweater keeps its shape, or after one wear is never the same again. You can read reviews on jackets and see how warm they really keep people. This can help save you from unnecessary returns.

To top it all off, most of us just don’t get mail the old fashion way any more. So if you’re anything like me you get really excited like a kid on christmas when packages come! And if for some reason the purchase is a fail most stores take returns back directly at the store so no need to wait in lines at the post office.

Enjoy surfing for deals while at work!

Note to Self: Double thinking the click is less embarrassing than double thinking in person

new.beginnings.

So as previously mentioned I GOT A NEW JOB!!!! I wont lie i sold out for the money and COMPLETELY changed career paths.  i’ve moved from the world of creative marketing to insurance. yes i said insurance. now don’t rag on me. I’ve been through a lay off and contracting and nanny gigs with this yuck economy but I survived. And with the change to this industry means getting a solid career back on track. – see you so can’t laugh at me now!

Now it was sad to leave the old job, mainly for the co workers! crazy bunch over there and they have forever left me addicted to franks hot sauce – i put that shit on everything! But with new jobs comes new co workers! Also amazingly short commutes to work 🙂 i’ve gone from 30 min commute with express way traffic to 5 min commute where traffic is hitting 2 red lights – life is good in that category!

With this new job comes reorganizing my life and getting my priorities straight! I have a career back people!!!! it means i can trust that a paycheck will be there and not worrying about if my contract ends can i pay rent? I can start saving for big girl things! I can think future and not short term.

So my advise to others who might also be coming into new jobs as this economy slowly picks up is to think future! if you were lacking 401K contributing try and up the percentage to catch up for lost time. Also learn about matching options your company might offer. Set up a budget! even though you might make more doesn’t mean we need to spend more!!!! save that money! maybe one day you will want a new car or maybe purchase a house??

In this budget track your rent & monthly bills (grocery, phone, cable, heat, etc)… see what you’re paying for these things. Dont forget credit card bills for those stores! Once you see how much you’re spending, subtract from your total income and see what kind of funds you got left over. try to save at least 25% of that for a future investment, another 25% goes to a rain day/emergency savings. the remaining 50% is for you, just because saving is my key word we cant abandon our social lives! again percentages can vary – adjust accordingly.

Never forget to have fun! And think twice… do you want that $100 pair of shoes or would you prefer a weekend out with friends? Choice is up to you, but now a days i’d go with the weekend with friends!

Note to Self: there does come a point where you have enough black shoes