Where'd the party go???

I'm all for going out and having a shindig at a bar, but whatever happened to good old fashioned house parties? Even better... what happened to parties where you got dressed up to attend? Especially around holiday time, it just seems that more people would be into entertaining friends.

Yes that costs money, but what about BYOB? I miss putting on a cocktail dress... yay firm holiday party!

The Ugly Truth

HI!!! I'm embarassed it's been over a month since my last post. HAPPY POST THANKSGIVING!!!

Things have been crazypants, but as always I'll have lots to write about and catch you up on. I watched a great movie- the Ugly Truth. It's funny and inspired this blog, full of some of the things I consider to be ugly truths...

As always, just my opinion.

Ugly Truth #1- Guys… sometimes girls like to look like homeless people. We wear baggy sweaters and leggings and wrap scarfs around our necks and sometimes put on a droopy hat. The point is, is that it’s comfortable and sometimes I don’t feel like looking “presentable”- I’d rather be comfy.

Ugly Truth #2- Girls… sometimes guys need us to look pretty. My friend Lisa has this fantastic friend who lives in Texas with her boyfriend. Lisa told me about how her friends boyfriend hesitantly sat her down to ask her if she could try and just put on some make up here and there and not wear sweatpants ALL of the time. You can take this as you want, but I understand.

Ugly Truth #3- Just because I do something nice for you, doesn’t mean I want to be your girlfriend. If a girl makes you brownies, dinner, offers to clean your place up, etc. it doesn't necessarily mean anything. There are still nice people hanging out in this world who just like to occasionaly do nice things.The only thing that’s expected is a “Thank You”. Now if someone is making you brownies all of the time and watches you eat them and asks you if they're to your liking... you might have some problems. Brownies don't equal <3

Ugly Truth #4- Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections. - THANK YOU MICHELLE PHAM!

Ugly Truth #5- Girls want you to tell the truth. Always. You can never get mad at someone for telling the truth- you may not like what they have to say, but you can never get mad at someone for telling you the truth. You can totally get mad at someone for lying- don't lie. Make it easy on yourself and just tell the truth. We respect you a lot more that way.

Ugly Truth #6- Guys don’t think. I don't mean this in a bad way either. Sometimes it can be annoying, but if girls started to "not think" the way guys can and do on a daily basis, the majority of our anxiety or over-analyzing tendancies would fly out the window. If you also realize guys "don't think" you really appreciate it when they do something fantastical.

Ugly Truth #7- Girls think. And we do it a lot. If you don’t tell us what’s going on, we may not say anything, but we know you’re being weird. It’s a balancing act of letting you try and figure your shit out or simply have the balls to say something. I can’t answer this one, I’m not sure whats better… being observant or calling ppl out on their shiz. (I’ll glady take comments about this).

Ugly Truth #8- Girls are like Godiva truffles. Sometimes it seems like we have a hard shell, but that can easily reveal our mushy inside. All girls have mushy insides, some of us hide it better than others.

Ugly Truth #9- When you say sorry, we (girls) totally dig it. It doesn't have to be a big deal, but if you missed calling us, or a sudden change of plan occurs, we love the courtesy of a "hey sorry about that!", but mean it. For both ladies and gents... if you've been a jerk apologize. Your ego has nothing to do with it.

I AM A HOMEOWNER!!!

SO EXCITED TO OWN MY NEW PLACE! I will definitely post new pictures of the work beng done- will be complete and finished by Thanksgiving! SO EXCITED!!!!

Move in- December :)

Weird Week

Do you ever have one of those weeks where you just feel that things are going to be a little off?! This week was one of those weeks. Tuesday my boss decided to go a little psycho in the office and yelled at me- I got a little upset and sensitive, but carried on. Tuesday afternoon my lender from SunTrust called to let me know my settlement for Wednesday was pushed back from 945 AM to 245 PM to wait for one more document…. Hmmm…. Don’t you think he should’ve had everything complete prior to settlement?

Settlement day arrives and I’m anxious about getting my new set of keys J It’s been a long 2 months and I’m more than ready to sign away and get into my new home. My mom and I go to lunch and we have a couple of missed calls and some emails from J at SunTrust. J lets us know that he still doesn’t have everything ready.

I’m normally a very calm person, roll with the punches, and do what you can. However when it comes to something as significant as buying a place to live I amped up the ‘tude a bit. We went to meet my agent for the final walk-though and everything was ok. At the end of the walk-through my mom, dad, and my agent are sitting in the lobby calling J. J lets my agent know that he doesn’t think settlement will happen today- that’s not really an option considering even though the bank F’d up it defaults back to me, so technically the seller could take my deposit and walk away from the deal.

We decide to go over to the title and escrow lawyer office and meet with the sellers and see what can be done. The President of Suntrust and head of SunTrust mortgage had both been called regarding the situation- and POOF everything seems to be going through perfectly.

20 minutes becomes 45, which becomes an hour, which becomes another 20 minutes and so on. Finally at 6 PM we’ve decided J is a liar and clearly didn’t do what he needed to. The sellers are long gone and have basically signed their condo away to me without receiving their check. Crazy pants right?!

I drove home and surprisingly wasn’t frazzled by the whole thing. I was still nervous but after 5 ½ hours of hide and seek with the banks paperwork a bath and Campbells chicken noodle, double noodle, soup was all I needed.

I got into bed, closed my eyes and got a good ½ night’s sleep. Sometimes there are just days and may be a week that just don’t fall into place, but they always work themselves out. TG tomorrow is FRIDAY!

Today at 5 my mom and I will walk through the doors of Paragon Title and Escrow and our stack of papers waiting to be signed will be there for us. I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to cramp my hand signing paper and paper before.

It's been a while since I posted anything, but I think it's funny how my last blog was about having a weird day.

Weird Day

It is a weird mother f*ing day… no really its like I keep finding out things or doing things that are a little crazypants.

#1 I switched up my weekly work from home routine- I switched it from Wednesday to Tuesday this week… so for ½ of the morning I was confused as to why I didn’t have any emails from 9/30- as if the day didn’t exist because clearly it’s today. Switching up your routine apparently lowers cholesterol, but I think it just made me have brain farts all morning.

Did that make sense?

# 2 I can’t make up my mind over shit today. Did I want coffee or tea this morninig- I stood in the kitchen staring at 2 containers for about 45 seconds to a minute. That’s a long time to ponder what type of caffeine I was subjecting my body to.

# 3 I really hate it when its sunny outside but starts to drizzle. My grandma used to say that when it did that it was the devil beating his wife… WTF, I don’t even believe it but always think of that bc of what GMA said… damn it Joan!

#4 You know when Al Green sings and has those little “A Ha’s!” in there? Similar to MJ’s “hee hee’s” but it’s an “A Ha!”- ok well I’ve done 2 of those outloud in the office, phenom.

I set myself off, I think it’s Thursday I don’t know what I’m doing, I feel like a venti something, and just need to get into bed and chill out. I’m just waiting for the cat and the hat to pop out and a talking goldfish to tell me I’m making bad decisions!

What If There Was More?

Would you Pay It Forward if you knew more people were doing the same? What started as a simple challenge to get people to “follow” me on Twitter is now something I have put way more thought into.

A lot of my friends know I ask a lot of rhetorical questions about why people are the way they are… in fact I just think people are rude today. That doesn’t mean their not good people, but we’ve become extremely impatient and intolerable of other people, things, and situations. The pace of life and what’s expected of us doesn’t help.

However, what about what’s expected of us socially- when did the I turn into ME ME ME? I’m curious if everyone saw what other people did, for others, that was good, would it make them want to do the same? Would you want to be inspired or motivated to do something that even in the slightest day made someone else smile or have a good day.

What if everyday you did 1 thing. 1 thing for someone else that you knew or a stranger. Perhaps something as simple as opening the door for someone whose hands were full or holding the elevator open and not pushing DOOR CLOSE. What if we all just did 1 thing per day that made someone else’s life a tad easier- even in the smallest way. And then what if you kept track of it. 365 good deeds per year. You’d probably feel pretty good about it.

Can we try? Follow the Twitter, I want to build on this.

BIG Change of Thought

What a change of thought!

So originally I had thought about doing this Pay it Forward Twitter as a way to prove my friend wrong- that he COULD NOT get 2,000 followers in 24 hours. It’s not about the followers anymore, well not completely true.

Originally I was asking for my fellow twitterflys to follow mejust see how viral it was. And yes It’s viral, but what are we doing with the virus? I’ve caught a small philanthropic bug and what if Twitter was used to make a huge social impact? Not just for fame, celebrity, or power, but for something good- something that made its community feel better and be a part of something bigger than themselves.

That’s what I want to do with this project- I want to create a Pay It Forward community. Whats important to you? Let me know via Twitter and once our community has been established we'll let you all vote on an organization that means something to you- one you want other people to get involved with. How can you turn a gesture, a dollar, or a single idea into a viral explosion of charity!?

This is very rough at this stage, but really what if we tried? This is gng to go on for a lot more than 24 hours!

Pay It Foward Twitter Style

I’ve created a personal challenge for myself and whether I succeed for fail is in up in the air until 4:00 PM EST tomorrow.

A friend of mine said he could get 2,000 new followers on Twitter by morning. I said I didn’t think it was possible due to the fact he’s not a celebrity. He coached me some in the 3 necessary steps it takes to feat such a task.

• Way to get followers number 1
  How many people to you follow?
  
• How often do you engage to the people you follow?
  ....way number 2
  
• Way 3, you find a way to link yourself to a person like that
  
• Actively discuss your community, region, industry
  
• Does the term hash tag mean anything to you? Or trending topics? Or #ff- it stands for follow Friday where people recommend other people to follow
  

Yup this list is taken directly from our Gchat convo. So I’m pretty new to this whole thing, the twitter thing, but I just don’t see how a normal person can get such notoriety and so many fans in less than a 24 hour period- so again, I’ve challenged myself.

Let’s see how viral we can get this and see how many new followers I can get in 24 hours (I’ve stretched my timeline a little). I’m not necessarily aiming for 2,000 because it’s just little ‘ol me we’re talking about, but seriously I’m going to be engaged and updating up the wazoo.

Every hour there will be an update on the number of followers I’ve gotten. Between the hours of 11 PM- 7:00 AM I will be sleeping. Overnight should be interesting.

Pass it forward and let’s see how many WE can get!

Not a Complete Fan

I’m not a fan of the complete womens movement. I am not anti-woman, and I am all in favor of equal rights, equal pay and all that jazz. But I am not a fan of someday knowing I’m going to end up with 2 jobs: workplace and domestic, eventually I will be working 24/7.

There was an interesting segment on tv regarding how womens happiness has declined since the 70’s. I contribute this to expecting women to join the work force then go home and have dinner waiting for Don, Sally, and little Jimmy.

What was so wrong with a man being the bread winner and the woman staying at home? Running a household is a full-time job. This is not a view I’ve always had- in fact, I’ve always been very vocal about how both parents should contribute to the family income, and how that sets a good example for what a good work ethic is for your kids, etc.

But now that I’m here I don’t see how I would be able to hold this 8-5 and come home and have energy to put food on the table, help with homework, do laundry and all of the other 900 activities kids are doing these days.

My mom is self employed- she works, but makes her own schedule. That’s what I want. I want to be able to still provide for myself and have my own money but have the freedom to be and work at home if I choose.

I totally used to think it was bad for a girl to say I just want to get married and be a stay at home-mom. I don’t want that completely, but it goes back to having enough time in the day to complete everything that needs to be done- it’s just not possible.

It's not a detriment to women, but you can’t ask anyone, man or woman, to do that much in one day and then ask them to be able to perform in bed. If you can... BRAVO because I’m already exhausted when I come home from work and I don’t have a boyfriend, husband, kids, the whole she-bang. I don’t even have a pet.

If you hadn't guessed that's the logo for Mad-Men. A phenomenal show on AMC, Sundays at 10 PM EST. It's not necessarily a pretty picture of how things used to be, or should be, but I really do love how a man went to work, the kids went off to school, and the women took care of everything else- and damn it going to the hair salon once a week to get pampered is awesome.

Clean Sheets

(P.S. not my bed) I thought about this at 4 this morning, and then again lying in bed for 15 minutes before I got up. I sleep 10x better when my sheets are clean. Not to be gross, but I was not a person who washed their sheets every week. Washing your sheets is a pain in the arse, and especially in college who is going to take the time to do 2-3 loads of laundry for their bed… I didn’t.

I’d say on average I used to wash my sheets once a month- oh stop your snickering I think a lot of people are like that. ANYWAYS…. Most recently I started washing my sheets every week and sleeping in a fresh clean bed is the shizzzzzzz. It’s just fresh and comfy and new and wonderful and now I am totally washing my sheets every week.

I woke up this morning to find that I had barely moved in my bed. The sheets weren’t all tussled and I hadn’t kicked everything off the bed (not including STARFISH). But yes, sleeping in a clean bed fosters an awesome night sleep, and I am a huge fan of the “clean laundry smell”- I might prefer it over cologne actually. Point is I felt like one of those people in the febreeze commercials… I couldn’t stop smelling my sheets and once again I found another thing to add to my list of “things that make Renee make cheesy smile faces”.

Word.

Stuff for Friday

So the twitter thing is fun- I dig it. Sometimes though it’s hard to decide if a random thought should be written out in detail on here, or give the brief version on twitter. Either way, I think it’s awesome and slightly addicting.

Keep the followers coming- I appreciate it!

Not to be a copy cat, but I did see the movie Julie & Julia, and I wouldn’t dream of reinventing the wheel and going through her cookbook to do all of the recipes, but some of those things looked freaking awesome, and I totally want to try them!


$40.00 for the cookbook- I think it’s worth it. It was such a bad idea seeing that movie hungry.

Happy New Year (Mazel!)

Balloons!!!

I haven't had a reason to do this in years, but I had lots of balloons from my bday and thought why not make the next video blog while sucking the helium out which makes your voice rediculously high.... no it's not whippids or drugs- I'm giggling because i forgot how funny this is, I can entertain myself quite easily :)

p.s. i have to plug Oliver Peoples for the glasses- style drake, color crystal.

Catching Up from Last Week

The birthday was fantastic (and yes, that's my apartment)! I was so happy and big thank you’s for everyone who came! It was a ridiculously fun weekend which resulted in my average bed time to be 3:45 in the AM.

I don’t think I’ve had so much cake and rich foods in one weekend mixed with marshmallow milkshakes and drinks. Good jaheeeeeez-us. And what a surprise to come back to work and have a lovely, huge, and NOW NOW NOW list of things to do. Good news: My boss is out for the whole week- yayyy. The work is manageable, keeps me busy, and makes the days go by faster.

Lots of favors asked, but fortunately because of Ms. Cathie Black I have learned to politely say I can’t help you this time, but when I’m finished I’ll check up to see if you need further help.

Thanks Cathie! If you don’t know who she is, President of Hearst Publications- she’s phenom.

Oh and also, I twitted earlier about Kayne being a douche at the VMA’s. I’m starting to think he does it on purpose for publicity…. May be instead of drinking and partying, his claim to fame is being an ass. Do you think they’ll beef up stage security from now on?

Also, the MJ tribute was fantastic! The set was amazing, the arrangements were seamless and Janet was boss- if you didn’t watch do it.

If you also missed Beyonce’s performance she killed it! Best performance of the night.

This week is crazy busy at work, I’ll be sure to have some fun stories for sure. I love how helpless corporate people are sometimes.

New fun word: Jaded. Reference Real World Cancun if you don’t know already.

The Tale of Creepy Yellow Motorcycle Man

I’m not the only person in my apartment building who shares this sentiment. There is a guy probably 35+ who owns and drives a yellow motorcycle. I’ll get to why he’s creepy in a minute, but first I want to point out how my annoyance with his parking manners turned into creepiness. I have named him Creepy Yellow Motorcycle Man.

He doesn’t drive a Harley Davidson, or some other bike that legitimately takes up a parking spot. He drives a smaller motorcycle, not a Vespa or scooter, but it’s small- small enough that he doesn’t need a whole parking spot to himself. Westwood parking is somewhat limited and finding a close spot in the front doesn’t always happen, but it’s not terrible. What’s terrible is coming home somewhat late and going “YES! An open spot in the front!” to just pull around and see the damn yellow mini motorcycle. It just happens too much, and there’s a sliver spot that he could safely park his yellow machine and no one would hit it- he’s greedy.

So there’s some background, but he’s a creepy guy and not because of his parking antics. I was walking from my car to the apartment building and he was in front of me- he’s the worst starer I’ve ever seen. Any girl that walked by he legitimately stared down and turned his head as they walked by- ew. AND he was with a girl. Long story short I rode in the elevator with him and this girl and he looks at me and goes 8- that’s a good number- WHAAAAAT??? Do you ever just get weird vibes from people?

My friend Sal has some fun observances, but it would be too long to type. This morning Sal and I for the first time saw creepy yellow motorcycle man in a suit and up at 7:45 going somewhere. We couldn’t help but exchange txts in a WTF manner. Oddly enough we took the same route to work, but he dipped off at another point on Dupont. Ughhh Creepy Yellow Motorcycle Man.

Twitter??

Ok so I never thought I'd actually jump on the bandwagon, but yes I just created a Twitter page. Holler @BlueSmeeBlog and follow. This won't be good for my attention span at work :p http://twitter.com/BlueSmeeBlog

Quirks

It’s been brought to my attention by a certain friend that I have certain quirks.
I’m very well aware of these, but to have someone specifically point them out was amusing to me and made me laugh like a tart at work for a good 15 minutes yesterday.

So I decided to think of everypossible quirk I thought I have and post them. Why not? Their funny- at least to the quirker.

1. I randomly burst into song when doing small tasks. Sometimes I’m not aware of it, especially around people.
2. When telling stories I sometimes speak like Pee-Wee Herman, but for no more than a phrase at a time.
3. Thunder doesn’t phase me… slamming a door, random crying or outbursts make me jump.
4. I kick in the sheets when I stretch in bed. After which I sprawl out in a position I like to call “The Starfish”.
5. Michael Jackson music pumps me up.
6. I burp, but I always say excuse me.
7. I can find something funny about 80-90% of commercials on TV and laugh out loud on the couch.
8. I think it's funny when I put huge earrings in my nose ring
9. Stupid things make me cry in kid movies- For example when Kevin from Home Alone 2 is reunited with his mom under the big Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center- waterworks. And then I laugh at myself for being an idiot.
10. I’ve always dreamed about being on Jeopardy or being an Oscar Meyer Weener kid in the commercials.
11. I love my big f’ing glasses (optical and sun)
12. If I'm doing laundry for my bed sheets or towels I still wrap myself in them when I take them out of the dryer- undoubtedly there's a cheesy smile on my face.
13. My blog is a quirk ya dig?

Manic Monday

It’s kind of one of “Those Monday’s” that just makes you laugh. It started at 2:00 AM when I couldn’t fall back asleep. At least I assumed it was 2:00 AM, I didn’t feel as though I had been asleep for hours and hours. I wasn’t groggy and probably had the equivelant of a cat nap. I didn’t fall asleep until I’d say 4 AM. I didn’t look at my alarm clock knowing I’d just get more upset thinking about how my body was keeping itself up for 2 hours- and for what?! I really did want to sleep, my problem is when I’m up, I’m up and there’s no forcing me to bed.

I woke up in the usual fashion, got myself ready for work, made lunch, grabbed some bread to make toast and was on my way. The commute wasn’t bad and I made my way up to the 7th floor. I put my lunch in the kitchen refrigerator and sat down. I noticed that it was considerably warmer and the air was stagnant. It was like being on an ocean with no breeze or wind in my sails. Ew… and what a day today- 94 and sunny! Oh yes the AC was broken and there was no air flowing in the entire office building. I thought to myself,

Oyy, well no worries, building maintenance will fix it eventually, hopefully in the morning hours so everyone doesn’t end up sticky and smelling like nachos.

I go to make my toast… DING! I take a small corner bite and it’s fine. Then I go in for the big bite and notice the toast doesn’t taste like toast… The toast tastes like how a wet and dingy laundry room might smell. SPIT SPIT SPIT into a tissue and plopped into my trash can.

I look at the bottom of the piece of toast, it doesn’t look completely right… the coloring is a little off. I was lazy this morning so instead of grabbing 2 slices, I took the rest of the loaf (may be 6 more pieces) and brought the whole thing to work. I figured I’d just leave it in the office fridge with my name on it and use the rest of it. I took it out and look at the bottom- Hi MOLD.

UGHHHHHHH GROSSSSS, PUH PUH, BLAHHHHHHH!!!!!!! I used a tissue to scrape my tongue off and wondered whether I'd be getting severe stomach cramps that would force me to go home and deal with this mess (nothing happened no worries).

Oh yeah , maintenance promised to fix the AC problem within 3 hours- by 1:00 PM, 3 hours later, still no AC. At least I depart in 1 hour :) But what a Monday. It’s Just another Manic Monday, OH OOOOOH OH!

Currently Song: Lets Stay Together by Al Green

Suds & Dance Party for 1

I've been having some minor plumbing issues in my kitchen for the last 2 days. No biggie, the pipes under the sink needed to be tightened to stop a small drizzle drip from developing into pond - done and fixed!

Just doing my norm routine, when the dishwasher gets full I put the detergent in, set to normal wash, and leave my dishwasher to do the rest. And I did exactly that last night. I’m having a lazy evening and have decided that after sitting in bed I want the rest of my Oreo McFlurry. The gasp that came out of my mouth couldn’t have been more clear… Bubbles everywhere!

Standing there I thought of my two options:
1. Get upset at the fact that I’ve been dealing with kitchen woes for 2 days and I’m kind of tired and a little EH….
2. Get some wine, turn on some tunes and go to town with the bubbles.

OPTION 2 PLEASE!

It wasn’t anything to get upset over, sure it was kind of a pain in the butt, but they’re just bubbles right? I grabbed the towels (I went through 5 large towels and all of my paper towels), put on my rain boots, put on Michael Jackson's greatest hits, and got the wine!

Since I hadn’t done this before I didn’t know where to start. Clean the dishwasher first? The floor? I perched myself on a stool in the midst of the bubbly mess, boots securly on, wine in one hand, mop in the other thinking of my plan of attack, and then it happened… Black or White came on and I was in.

I put my wine down and went straight to work on the bubs. I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun cleaning bubbles and my kitchen was somewhat overdue for a good mopping.

I took a small break, broke out some dance moves, sang a bit, and then got back to work. All and all I’d say it took me about 45 minutes perhaps… and it was just what I needed to finish my day. There really are such simple, silly joys to living by yourself :) Lisa and Lynz wish you could have been there!

And you’ll love this:
Song Currently Playing- Black or White by Michael Jackson

P.S. My Pandora is set to the Jackson5 station hence the Motown, J5, and MJ tunes mentioned regularly.

The Keurig Cup Culprit

There is a mystery on the 7th floor! We have two types of coffee machines at work on every floor with probably 20 different types of flavors and coffee to choose from- it’s a little overwhelming sometimes.

When our floor got renovated and we all moved from 9 to 7 we all decided that we would have the cleanest and nicest kitchen- that everyone would clean up after themselves and fruits and vegetables would sing and talk to us from the fridge like in Pee Wee’s Play House (ok that last part isn’t true, but it would be funny).

So all 50 of us on the floor said we’d be responsible for cleaning up after ourselves, easy right?! Noooooo. There is the Keurig Culprit- oh yes this person has been named! The office manager has put up polite reminder signs that say "Make sure to remove your coffee pod before leaving" "Please keep our café clean and clean up when you’re done"- simple nice messages like that.

Someone is rebelling. Every morning the same coffee cup is left in the Keurig machine. The reactions are hysterical- everything from “Really? Really?” to “I’m not playing with this today.” One individual who loves their Keurig Southern Pecan blend time after time refuses to throw their pods out. Who could the culprit be? Believe me when I say people are taking this seriously and are trying to investigate as to who it could be.

For whatever reason I can’t help but feel this could very well be an episode of Scooby Doo and we’re about to catch the Hamburglar!

Currently Playing: I Wish- Stevie Wonder
How perfect would it be if Superstition was playing?!

Courtesy Question

I’m plagued by this several times a week around 8:30 AM when I’m getting my coffee at work- I have yet to kick my morning coffee habit as of yet, but I’m only allowed 3 cups now at work, morning, mid-day, afternoon.

ANYWAYS, it’s not to say I’m not a morning person, but I like my mornings to be quiet. I don’t usually like to strike up a conversation when I’m getting myself settled in the office. I enjoy quiet in the morning as it allows me to gear up for the day. I'm not rude though, I’m all for saying HI or GOOD MORNING to people when I pass them in the halls or when they walk into the kitchen, but normally that’s all I’ll say. Then about 85% of the time the other person will say "How are? How was your weekend?" Which is fine, and I’ll always respond and say ok, but here’s the thing—I don’t ask them back how their weekend was.

Is that bad?! And I always think I’m such an ass to not inquire about my co-workers weekend when they so graciously asked me about mine. But to be honest I don’t want to talk about how good/bad/relaxing/enjoyable my weekend was, so a quick fine or good is what you’ll get from me. And at 8:30 in the morning I really have no interest in how your weekend went. Now oddly enough at 10:30 I’ll be more than happy to strike up a conversation. But I can’t help but feel a small sense of guilt for not reciprocating a “And you?!”.

Just another fun story for the Mon Mons (Monday’s)

Song: Get Ready- The Tempations

And Then There Was Coffee... Again

Ok so some of you, not many, know that for the past 2 months I went on a “spending freeze”. Basically what this meant for me was I laid out all of my monthly bills and then took a specific amount for entertainment (eating, drinks, movies, shopping, etc.) Anything that wasn’t a necessity had to fit within my allowance.

The first month was really hard trying to figure out how I was going to survive, but at the end of the first month I realized how easy it was and how it just became a part of my routine. I have no idea where all of the other money went that I wasn’t saving- well actually yes I do, but I can’t believe how I just allowed myself to frivously spend… anyways not the point.

The point actually is the fact that I cut out a friend- I stopped buying coffee, which in turn made me stop drinking coffee. Needless to say it's been a couple of weeks, but this past weekend I got a hold of the java goodness and have not been able to stop drinking it.

Nope, I’m not running out to Starbucks, but I can’t wait to get to work and get some coffee in me. Or get home and brew a fresh pot. I worry just a bit because this morning I actually was craving coffee. Whether it’s decaf or not it just tastes good. I guess the caffeine has gotten a hold of me, and slowly I know I need to cut back already. I’ve gone through this before where I drink tons and then back off, the headaches start rolling in as soon as I do.

This mornings first tune: I Want You Back- the Jackson 5.

Off the Wall

So I never thought this would probably be the first of several cross roads, but I’m turning 24 in 2 months and have come to realize that I’m ready for change! Whoa, hold the personal phone right?! Eh not really. I think I have an idea of figuring this out.

It’s not to say I’m not happy with my life, my choices and everyday decisions, my career choice, and all of the other things that one could possibly think are all contributing factors to making their life unhappy.

I just feel a little stuck right now. Some of you remember my plans to get up and move away for a little bit across the pond and over to London, but their economy is just as bad, if not worse than ours right now so that was put on hold. I then thought of moving to another US city, but the ones I’m interested in are having the same problems. I was about a year to late in deciding I wanted to venture out in the world.

I can deal with that, but I'm not sure if I'm up for sitting at a desk for 8+ hours a day? May be it's not work, but may be it's something new entirely. If it is work though it's a scary thought to just want to get up and try another place.

Why is that scary? Because I make a good living right now, I’m very comfortable. There is a new possible opportunity that I have been targeted for and the salary plunged. It plungggggggged. My old manager advised me that I shouldn’t provide a salary range I think they CAN afford- rather one I think I deserve.

I’m absolutely generalizing, but in my opinion, women have a more difficult time negotiating salaries than men. I’ve gotten good practice though, after 6 months at my current job I asked for a significant raise which I got. And there after have been treated very well in the salary department.

All the same, is it worth to stay at a place that provides financial security, but remain "stuck" I did however give a range, that actually boosted my salary by a good amount- because yes, I feel I am deserving and I’m good at what I do. I say that with a strong conviction. My dad is a realist, my mom is an optimist, and I’m a mix of both.

So far I’ve been receiving a slow yes, rather than a quick no- so we’ll see how this goes.

P.S. Off the wall is on Pandora, which seems appropriate for 8:40 am and this blog.

Farewell to the King of POP

I remember the first Michael Jackson video I saw... "Thriller". It surprised my parents that I wasn't scared, but amazed at the dancing, makeup, and costumes. I was mesmerized and wanted to learn how to twitch my head and rock back and forth and snarl :)

He will forever be the King of Pop and we thank him for his amazing talents. It's a very sad day in Hollywood. Make sure to watch MTV for a very special Michael Jackson Tribute- they are playing ALL of his music videos! Check out the links to some of my favorite music videos- awesomeness!

To this day I still really want those sparkle boots from Rock with You!

Thriller Black or White I'll Be There Scream
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough The Way You Make Me Feel

Poconos Weekend

There are no words to describe this past weekend- and I mean that in the BEST way possible. My friend Karna has always talked about this place she disappears to in the summer called the POCONOS. And we never understood why she always left us to go there on summer weekends. Now we know. Everything from the people, to the food, to the scenary was absolutely wonderful.

We were lucky enough to take part in all of the fun activities everyone does there and we were welcomed with open arms and dirty mouths! How life is in this secret place is how things should be always... They don't lock doors or cars- in fact you leave your keys in the car with the doors unlocked- you wave to everyone, everyone knows you, you don't need a cell phone, money or a purse. You simply enjoy the day and the people you're with.

I don't want to give away all the secrets, you can look on FB to find out what we did, but we all hope to get back there as soon as possible and see the people we now call friends :)

Question of the Day!

I was listening to the radio and my favorite morning group, Nicole, Rich, Stan, and Ryan (XM 20!), and the topic of discussion/question of the day was:

After meeting someone do you have to ask for their number, even if you don't want it?

One of the guys on the show met a girl at the bar and they struck up a conversation. After their encounter, he wasn’t really all too interested in pursuing anything with the girl so he said good-bye and went on his way. Now he’s wondering if he was a D-bag by not asking the girl for her number. Not that he would’ve called her, but this way she didn’t feel used.

It's simple: If you're not interested then don't ask for a number.

So no Ryan is not a douchebag in my opinion. I think it's funny though how he analyzed the situation afterwards. Also, if she didn't offer to get his number may be she wasn't interested either?

It's one thing if a guy/girl offers you their number and you say "No I don't want it"- that's dipping a toe in the douchebag pool, so in that case just take it. But from this girl's prospective I say don't ask for my number if you're not interested and have no plan to hang out again. You're sparing yourself and the other person from wasting time.

No one likes to be rejected, but it's better to do it upfront when it doesn't mean anything than to be a mind fu*k and string someone along- never good. That goes for both guys AND girls.

What do you all think?

I think the next blog might be about "A boy and a girl and a huh and a game!" if you know Gaga then you know what it will be about. Stay tuned!

Toad in the Hole!

I wanted to share with you my favorite snack and how to make it. Take a look and try it!
I don't know why the video chose to start with this particular and lovely facial expression, but it will have to do :) ENJOYYYYYYYYY.

Don't Pull Out!

Ah you foul person, you have a dirty mind! I’m not talking about THAT form of pulling out. I’m talking about driving… you know those people who cut you off on the road from a side street? This happened to me twice today, which is more than I can handle in one round trip from work and back.

Don’t you love driving and spotting someone in the not-so-far distance on a side street and you know this person is sitting in their car saying to themselves “Do I go? Should I wait? I think I have some room.. IM GOING FOR IT, GO GO GO!” And as soon as the person flies out from the street that they were on, like a bat out of hell (in your lane), they then immediately take their foot off the gas and drop to a speed slower than the posted speed limit?

I’m sure this has probably happened to all of us at least once, especially in this area. All I ever want to do before they even think about cutting me off is shout DO NOT PULL OUT! DO NOT PASS GO AND DO NOT COLLECT $200! It’s one of the most frustrating things in the world is to have someone pull out and cut you off, then not deliver on the speed in which they were so adamant in going when they HAD to get in front of you. It’s especially thrilling when this happens going down a hill.

But even more annoying is when you are the only car on the road- could they not wait a mere 30 seconds until you pass and then they’d have a whole open road to themselves? Or just choose another lane if there is more than 1! I’m calling out the old folks- they do this A LOT- kind of like Mr. Magoo CLICK HERE!

P.S. I love Mr. Magoo, he's very endearing- a very popular cartoon from 1949 :)

Just another thought since we’re on the driving topic… How come some people drive like they’re scared? They place their hands on the steering wheel at 11 and 1 and grasp like they’re holding onto dear life with their chin practically resting on the steering wheel. I just want to know if it’s to be defensive or if it’s actually comfortable. Believe me I’ve tried it and it’s a very awkward way to sit in a car and after about 15 seconds had to stop.

Happy driving!

Taking the Hand Holding Plunge

If you watched Sex and the City religiously you’ll remember the episode where Smith tries to hold Samantha’s hand. In doing so Samantha freaks out and then whipping her hand away falls down a small flight of cellar stairs landing every so gracefully in a pile of vegetables :)

Is holding someone’s hand that you are romantically interested in a serious declaration of commitment?
Let us discuss…

One of my friends was telling us about the latest guy shes been dating and how much she’s at ease and comfortable with him- so much so that on their first official date she let him hold her hand in public. “I consider it PDA, and I’m not big on PDA so I'm surprised that I let him”.

Most of us probably think PDA is hugging, cuddling, kissing, etc. with your bf/gf, whatever. I’ve never thought hand holding was a form of PDA because I never considered it as a display of affection, but it is. It can say a lot about the relationship you are starting or one you are currently in.

I hold hands with friends all the time, I think it’s fun. But when it comes to holding the hand of a person you like- it can make you a little nervous and can say a lot. It’s a somewhat powerful silent statement to others around because it says “I’m with this person”.

Different Hand Holds Mean Different Things:

1. Clasped Hands
Most common type of hand holding in the beginning stages of a relationship. This is a very secure way of saying this person is with me, without saying we are too serious.

2. Interlaced Fingers
This is when you are probably headed in the staged of a more serious relationship. Interlaced fingers say we are serious, and our lives are intertwined.

3. Pinky Holds
I like pinky holds. They’re casual and cute. A pinky hold is just saying “Hi I’m here, what’s up?”

4. Hand Hold with Gentle Arm Grasp
This is protection mode. This is kind of for the fellas- if a girl hold your hand but uses her other hand to reach across and hold onto your arm it means she wants to be very close to you.

Hand Holding Etiquette: If someone isn’t interested in holding your hand, don’t make them. Have you ever seen a couple walking down the street and one of the two parties is way more involved in the hand holding than the other? It’s like one persons hand is limp and makes no effort and the other person is literally just holding that person hand? No no no.. hand holding is mutual.

Letting Go: Also just because someone lets go doesn’t mean they don’t like you. I remember someone telling me a story about how the guy they were with would always drop her hand and how SHE wanted to be the one to let go first. People it’s not a game, sometimes your hand gets tired or you just feel like having your hand to yourself- may be you need to sneeze or grab your keys? It’s not personal if the person lets go… it might be personal however if they never latch on EVER.

Note to the Fellas: Girls like to be led. Take a look at Mr. Beckham- he's always leading his leading lady. Leading the way and initiating a hand hold can be very sexy. It's saying that you're assertive and know where your going and we're coming with you. In big crowds it's a complete comfort to know as a guy you don't want us to get lost and serves as a bit of protection.

Note to the Girls: Sorry girls, but we should wait for the guy to do the initial hand hold. Don't be so quick to grab his hand. If he wants to he will. Until you are in a relationship he has to be the first one to grab on to your digits.

Hand holding... who knew!

Do We Or Don't We # 1

Alright folks! Here it is… the blog that I’m excited to write about and some of you may have been anticipating. This topic is one that I’m sure we’ve all talked about with our friends at one point and has been the theme of numerous TV shows and reality series. Let’s dance on the subject rather than around it! I ask you…

When is it, or is it ever, OK to hook up or date someone your friend has hooked up with or dated in the past?

This can be quite a doozie as our hearts, loins, and conscious never seem to agree on the subject. I’d like to start by saying I’m approaching this from a short-term, somewhat casual dating stance (less than 4-5 months). Let me also add that being in a relationship for less than 4-5months doesn’t mean the relationship wasn’t exclusive or meaningful. It is only my opinion that in the grand scheme of the adult dating world, 4-5 months isn’t an oober long amount of time.

Just to make sure all things are clear, I’m not talking about long-term, serious relationships and your friend wants to date the person 6 months later… NO I’m just talking about casual short-term relationships or dating.
Alrighty Dighty, let’s roll on.

I’m sure at some point all of us have been in this type of predicament or have heard about one amongst friends. There are 2 very strong and obvious sides to this:
1. Anyone who’s dated or hooked up with your friend is strictly off limits, period, no exceptions.
2. People should be able to see whomever they choose without allowing other people’s emotions to dictate their lives.

You can see how those two positions are complete polar opposites. One of my friends has in interesting way of putting it, “In Bethesda, we shit where we eat”- not literally, but she was simply stating that in our hometown area of Bethesda and Washington, D.C. at some point whether it was middle, high school, or college, everyone has pretty much dated or hooked up with everyone. Therefore as the social groups get bigger, the dating pools become smaller.

In that case, when do we throw out high school dating politics and pursue people that we have connections with? On the other hand, you have to be sensitive to other people’s feelings. It comes down to 2 things: Timing and Emotions.

TIMING: Everyone gets over situations at their own pace. I think however if you dated someone 2 years ago for a couple of weeks and now one of your friends wants to date “John-Bob” they should be able to give it a shot. At some point we all have to get over the people who didn’t work out for us. Easier said than done obviously. Again I’m strictly talking about short-term relationships. But don’t you think if you only dated someone for 3-4 months that you should be able to get over that person within 3-4 months? May be, may be not, again it depends on you.

For the person reading this who may be on the other side of things… how long should I wait? If you truly think your friend will be upset, maybe it’s too soon. Whether your friend was the dumper or dumpee, it's not smart to just jump at the first chance you have at getting together with someone. If you really have a connection with a person that your friend used to hook up with or date, but still feel awkward about it- talk to your friends and be up front about it.

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I think anyone would appreciate the honesty and respect that you show for your friendship by bringing it up to them first. I’m not saying you should ask for permission because we should be allowed to make our own decisions, but to be thoughtful enough perhaps to show you wanted to consider their feelings isn’t a bad thing either. It's up to you whether or not your friendship will end because you're the person who wants to hook up with the "ex" or because you're preventing your friend and "ex" from being happy together? Both sides are valid.

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EMOTIONS: Everyone has these. Sometimes they're resolved and sometimes they're not so it's important to make sure that we are understanding of how other people feel . Most of the time when we have unresolved feelings it’s because we didn’t get the closure we were looking for. So if you can figure out what you need to do in order to get closure, do it. Suck it up, and do it no matter how scary it might be. It’s the best feeling in the world when you know you have lifted all emotional weight off of your shoulders.

Not only are you benefiting yourself, but perhaps if that person has a connection with a friend of yours in the future it won’t make things awkward for anyone if they want to pursue each other because you have gotten over the situation - you have moved on from the past.

As Mrs. Flax from the book Mermaids once said “Death is ‘dwelling on the past, or staying in one place for too long.’"

If you want to hook up with someone that you know your friend has unresolved feelings for… or still has feelings for then maybe you should try and look for someone else. If you can’t, don’t be sneaky. People don’t like liars and most of the time when you lie you end up getting in more trouble than if you just told the truth. People may not like what you have to say, but they can’t get mad at you for telling the truth- right?! Well they shouldn’t at least.

How do we carefully balance the way we feel and how others feel? Our needs versus our friends needs. Do we allow our emotions or other people’s emotions to dictate how we live our lives and who we date?

I ask for your thoughts! What do YOU think!?

Where The Wild Things Are Comes To Life

I can’t help but rant and rave over Spike Jonze’s film adaptation of the beloved children’s book Where The Wild Things Are! I first heard about this no more than 2 weeks ago and as excited as I was, didn’t understand how they would do this- were they going to use real actors? Animatronics? Puppets? The reliable YouTube quickly came to my rescue.

Before my eyes I saw sneak peek of the film which I became fascinated with as it looks to be very promising, endearing, and whimsical. CLICK HERE for the official movie website and trailer! (P.S. the song in the trailer is Wake Up by Arcade Fire)

A huge sense of nostalgia came over me as I watched the clip. I remembered the book from when I was young and having both my parents and teachers read it to me. What a wonderful book that discretely tells us about the psychoanalytic story of a child's anger.

We might do things that make our parents angry and there may be consequences for it, but at the end of the day all we wanted was to be home and our parents left us hot supper even if we’ve been sent to our room without it :)
I never had that happen, but one time my mom said I wasn’t allowed in her bathroom anymore after overflowing the tub with bubbles and not turning the water off- I can use her bathroom now anytime I like. I also never had quite the imagination that Max has.

Unfortunately, we have to wait until October 16 to see the film. There is no doubt in my mind that the amount of excitement that will brew over the next couple of months will surely make this film a huge success!

Question of the Day!

Such a fun question I heard on the radio today that I want to write about here! If you’re in a relationship that ends and your ex-partner moves on…

What's Worse? Being dumped for someone hotter or less attractive than you? (in your opinion).

Or do you simply not care? It was fun to hear people call in and give their opinion on the matter. As such here is mine :)

I think when a person moves on and starts to date another person we don't have any say anymore...You don't have to stop caring about the person in a romantic way, but you shoudln't have an opinion about who they’re with. If I were to see someone I used to date with someone prettier than I was I'd probably think "wow good for them", but if I saw them with someone who I thought was less attractive than me I’d probably get a little ego boost out of it. Kind of say to myself “that person couldn’t do better”- I’m not going to lie that doesn’t sound nice, but sometimes we don’t think nice things. Obviously looks aren’t everything- may be the person your ex is with now has a better connection with them than you did or could ever have…

But again I think once a relationship is over and one or both of you have moved on- you shouldn’t care who that person is dating and shouldn’t get mad or offended if that person is with someone who is better or worse looking than you.

Thoughts?! I’d love to hear them!

Physical and Emotional Affects of BEER PONG!

What is it about beer pong that brings a different side of people out? Think about it… no really keep thinking. Take a couple of minutes to think about it good and hard- all the times you have ever played beer pong or watched a match. At every party there's at least one instance where a team loses their cool a little and goes insane over the match, the rules, the cups, the other team, etc.

Ok ok, so may be it’s a pride thing. No person wants to be shunned or known as the worst beer pong player/team ever. But unless you happily admit that- which I have done- then no one really cares whether or not you have lost.

But don't be so cocky either and boast about how fantastic you are for mastering the complex formula of physics for perfectly chucking a ball and having it arch at the precise angle and speed to perfectly land in the plastic cup a few short feet away.

The following is really based on those extreme cases that we see somewhat often :)

House Rules Can Be Shady???
I think house rules tend to be a little B.S'ish. House rules are the means for house players to dictate the entire game and change the rules as they go. As soon as the house player doesn’t like what's going on in the game (when they are losing) you'll hear “HOUSE RULE”.

Disclaimer- All special “house rules” should be vocalized prior to first throw.

Ball Busters
Every team at some point always finds a way to call back their ball without hitting 2 shots in a row.

“The cups look like ass, no wonder it bounced, toss it back!”
“Your [insert body part here] was interfering!”
“ That doesn’t count!”- This is my favorite becasue there is no explanation. The ball just doesn't count.

So now to discuss the more noticeable physical changes that happen to people during beer pong (especially among dudes). Facial expressions totally change- people become very intense and focused. It’s kind of like when monkeys open their mouths really wide and start to shriek- I’ve seen some ugly angry beer pong faces, and people eyes get really big and there's a lot of fist clenching and heavy breathing.

IT'S BEER PONG.... I love it like everyparty go-er, but unless you're in a tourny, money is involved or a really big trophy is at stake what’s with the hype in blood pressure?

The Head Grasp
The head grasp occurs when something bad happens. The player will throw his arms in the air then tilt his head back. He'll then take a huge deep breath and then place his hands behind his head like he’s about to get arrested. Pacing will follow. Sometimes for effect the head is bowed down, as if the person were praying.

The Invisible Baseball Pitch
The player is standing still and then all of a sudden that person will pitch nothing at you, a wall, or simply the air around you. Again pacing will follow. No more than 3-4 steps.

Struggling for Oxygen/ DAMN IT, SHIT, AHHHH!/ Teeth and Fist Clenching
Every male beer pong player does at least one of these per game. Guys tend to breathe really hard when they miss a shot. So hard in fact that you can hear the expansion of their lungs. These deep long breaths make you think they're about to hyperventilate or pass out. Damn It! Shit!, AHH! These are used by everyone. But when accompanied with a fist clench it makes it that much greater. It's kind of like professional golfers or bowlers after nabbing a strike, the fist clenches and head drops.

The Whiner
Fellas- don't do this. Please try and not lean against a wall with your arms crossed and pouty face. You look stupid.

We all hate sore losers, but probably more than that we hate in your face winners. Dudes and ladies, it’s totally awesome to win- everyone loves it, but you don’t have to be an asshole about it :)

If you win, or make an awesome shot its totally ok to jump, clap, shout a littler, may be throw a small dig at the other team, but if you’re obnoxious and gloat like a fucktard then no respect for you. People start to notice your dick-headed-ness more rather than your awesome ability to dominate in the game.

NEXT TIME YOU PLAY OR WATCH A GAME TRY AND LOOK OUT FOR THESE :)