Friday, December 29, 2006

My Meta-life

Family togetherness is over and I have escaped to the suburbs for the last few days of my vacation. My friend I'm staying with went out of town for a few days, so I'm left to collect my thoughts and can reflect on my trip a bit more. There is nothing like going home to force yourself to face your harshest insecurities. For me, being at my parent's house is like being in the audience of a play. The actress (played by your much younger sister) gets to act out all of your dreams and you can do nothing but sit there and watch. The brunch my parents held for the family of her boyfriend was just one of the many interfamily get-togethers they have had over the years. The two sets of parents have spent New Years together, shopped together, had meals together. It is not just the four of us any more. I think aside from the tinge of jealousy I feel that my sister has this huge life experience that I've never had even the slightest hint of (a successful relationship), what bothers me most is that it signifies change. Holidays have now doubled in size. My precious vacation days will now be spent making awkward conversation with my sister's (future) in-laws. Family photos will now be 2 couples and then "the extra" me. For the rest of my life I will have to watch my sister play out the life I've always wanted for myself and I have no idea how to be happy for her and not be sad for myself at the same time.

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Merry Christmas!

Greetings from Illinois. Still alive thus far, but the family togetherness is getting on my nerves. Need. Alone. Time. 48 hours until my escape to the suburbs....less than 12 hours until the brunch o'fun my parents are throwing for my sis's bf's family. I wish I knew why her relationship and this brunch bothered me so much. I know I should be a bigger person and just be supportive, but I'm finding it hard to find the reserve within myself to rise above it. It's still 50/50 as to whether or not I attend tomorrow's brunch, though skipping it would be pretty blatant since it's being held in my house.

More later when I have some downtime.

Ho Ho Ho!

Friday, December 22, 2006

I've been Tagged!

A- Available or single?

Single. Very Very Very single.

B- Best Friend?

Aaron and Grace

C- Cake or Pie?

Cake. Preferably with that sugary white frosting. Yum!

D- Drink of Choice?

Apple Martini or a good white whine.

E- Essential Item?


The internet

F- Favorite Color?

Sage green

G- Gummi Bears or Worms?

Gummi anything, it's all the same to me

H- Hometown?

We moved around too much for me to have one.

I- Indulgence?

Peppermint Mochas from Starbucks

J- January or February?

January

K- Kids and names?

None, but I like the names, Ella, Aidan and Eli

L- Life is incomplete without?

Curiousity

M- Marriage Date?

Half past never.

N- Number of Siblings?

1 younger sister

O- Oranges or apples?

Apples

P- Phobias/Fears?

Never experiencing love.

Q- Favorite Quote?

"If you don't know there is a trampoline in a room, you aren't gonna dust the ceiling for prints" - Law & Order

R- Reason to Smile?

My puppy

S- Season?

Fall

T- Tag three people!


Tag. You are it!

U- Unkown Fact About Me?

I eat ice cream with a fork.

V- Vegetable you hate?

Beets. Ick.

W- Worst habit?

Being self critical.

X- X-Rays you've had?

Ribs, fingers, shoulder

Y- Your favorite food?

Sesame Chicken

Z- Zodiac?

Taurus.

Remind me why I spent $400 on a plane ticket home.....

Upcoming highlights from my trip home:

- Flying on the worst weather day in NY of the entire month.

-Driving from Chicago to Parents (3 hours), Parents to Chicago, Chicago to Parents, Parents to Chicago.....= 12 hours in car in 4 days.

- Attending a special brunch my parents are hosting for sister's bf's family and having to live through sis and bf's sickening PDA and baby talk.

- Reminding my parents (AGAIN) that I will (AGAIN) not be eating the Christmas Eve dinner of ham and Christmas night dinner of Pork because I'M A VEGETARIAN and have been for almost 15 years.

24 hours until my flight leaves. Think it's too late to convince my parents there are no NY-IL flights this week?

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Help!

For Christmas my sister and I decided to bring my parents into the 21st Century and get them DSL. They've been doing dial-up waaaaay too long and since my dad's been sick he's been working at home more and really needs a faster connection. We managed to get it hooked up and installed without him knowing...our problem is how do we give it to him? I still want to wrap something for him and find a way to tell him, but I haven't been able to come up with any ideas.....I thought about making it a game where he had to find clues (since he's done that to us in the past) but I can't figure out a way to have him find it. Anyone have an ideas??

Conversations in a NY Elevator

Me: I need to go back to college, it was easier to meet men back then.
Co-worker M: Hey, I met my husband in a bar. I threw up on his shoes.
Random girl in elevator: How come that never works when I do it?

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Can Someone Please Explain it to Me?

The evil receptionist at work gets asked out by nearly EVERY man who walks off the elevator. FedEx guys, the elevator repairman, salesman, auditors, interview candidates....I've seen it with my own eyes and each time it happens, I'm more and more perplexed. She's attractive, not beautiful, but "cute" ...dresses mostly in jeans and sweatshirts (designer ones that cost more than my monthly rent), and is fairly nice (at least to men) upon first meeting, so I can somewhat understand the initial flirting, but it's CRYSTAL clear once you have a conversation with this girl that's she's just another high maintenance daddy's little girl (even still lives at home) with absolutely no substance. I've seen the way she treats men and it's ridiculous...yelling at them if they don't call within 20 minutes of when they say, refusing to be taken to restaurants that are less than 4 stars, making them change clothes if they don't look good enough for her....It baffles me how someone like her can be so desirable. Any men out there that can explain the allure of a woman like this??? Why are women like her NEVER single, yet women like me (good job, very intelligent and well-read, never give a guy a hard time about anything, can make almost anyone laugh, (mostly) has their life in order, yet not as good looking) can't get a second (or first!) look from men? It's SO frustrating! Is it the arm candy factor? Men just want a girl they can show off to their friends, no matter who she is?? Please please...someone shed some insight!

Monday, December 18, 2006

Aaron's finally on American soil! When I found out, I burst into tears like an idiot. I don't think I cried when he left (this time), but I cried when he came back. If he knew he'd laugh at me and probably make fun of me. Shhh don't tell. It will be our secret ;-)

In honor of his return, I bought myself the entire collection of Fawlty Towers. Aaron and I (and our respective significant others at the time) spent the entire summer after our freshman year of high school roller blading all day and watching Fawlty Towers all night and as soon as I saw in on Amazon I knew I had to have it. I can't wait to crawl in bed tonight and watch it. I only wish he was here with me laughing and remembering that summer along with me.

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Gingerbread Recipe

I'm really starting to enjoy cooking. I like eating organic and food with less preservatives. Today in addition to my regular bread making I made this gingerbread recipe I found on allrecipes.com. It's yummy!

INGREDIENTS:
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light molasses
5 tablespoons butter or
margarine, melted
2/3 cup cold water
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
Whipped cream
DIRECTIONS:
1. Combine egg, sugar, molasses, butter and water; mix well. In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, ginger and salt; add molasses mixture. Beat until well mixed. Pour into a greased 8-in. square baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until cake tests done. Serve warm with whipped cream.

Friday, December 15, 2006

I'm a Method Convert

I had been reading a lot about the Method cleaning product line, and was intrigued. A friend at work saw me browsing their website and said she highly recommended them, so I decided to take the plunge and try them out. I have the bathroom wipes and the Cucumber All Purpose Cleaner. Both are FABULOUS. The bathroom wipes are great to have handy for toothpaste spills and wipe downs in between heavy cleanings. I can't say enough about the Cucumber All Purpose Cleaner. The smell is incredible. No dangerous fumes and it worked fabulously. I even wiped down my bathroom floor with it and now the bathroom has a great clean smell and there was NO residue. I hate taking a bath after cleaning my bathtub with bleach, so I'm definitely getting the bathtub/shower cleaner as well. I really like their company philosophy, all the products are good for the environment, not tested on animals and non-toxic. I'll definitely be buying their products from now on.

My only concern with them is that they aren't anti-bacterial. Though I believe that using too many antibacterial products isn't good, I'll still probably use 409 in the kitchen, at least when working with chicken.

Anyone else use Method? I'd love to hear what you think!

Update

Review went unbelievably well. It lasted all of 5 min and basically consisted of "we think you are great, so here's a HUGE raise"! Hurrah!

After today I PROMISE to start saving, but I couldn't resist buying myself a little present from Kenneth Cole. Isn't it gorgeous?!

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Wish me Luck!

I have my annual performance review at work tomorrow. I'm nervous, even though everyone keeps telling me not to be. I don't handle criticism well, and as my bosses are lawyers they are hard people to defend yourself to if things do come up! We already got our annual bonuses and mine was pretty good (enough to pay off the London debt COMPLETELY and have a bit left over to buy that Roomba I've been wanting. I'm SO happy to start 2007 debt free), but they decide annual raises based on your review, so keep your fingers crossed and sent good karma my way!

A Weather Update

December 14th and its 60 degrees. I didn't even wear a coat today its so warm. I want SNOW darn it!

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

AARON LEAVES IRAQ TODAY!!

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

One of Those Days....

I realized this morning on the subway that I had forgotten my breakfast, so I stopped off a Dunkin Donuts this morning to get coffee and a muffin to bring to work. Upon arriving at work, I went to the fridge to put my lunch away and stopped at the coffee maker to pour myself a cup of coffee. It took a full 5 minutes to realize that I was drinking TWO different kinds of coffee out of two different cups.

Office holiday party is tonight....lets hope I remember what I'm drinking there or else I'm going to be VERY drunk.

Friday, December 08, 2006

A Public Service Announcement

Men and Women of NYC: When you buy a nice coat or jacket that has a vent or slit in the back, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD cut the thread they stitch the vent closed for shipping/display purposes.

Thank you.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

A crush!

Someone sent me this link today...this guy is HOT! I've got stars in my eyes! He's so cute!

Job Hunt Update

Sorry to leave you guys hanging! Nothing new on the job hunt. I never did call that woman back about the legal asst job in NY. I really want to return to event planning work, and am looking to move to Chicago, so having the same job elsewhere in NYC isn't something I'm really interested in. My review (and the potential for a holiday bonus that will pay off my remaining debt) is coming up though, so we'll see what happens. Either way I'm going to really step up the job hunt after the holidays. Wish me luck!

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Wishful thinking?

I woke up this morning once again to the sounds of banging from my upstairs neighbors. Their headboard has been an all too frequent Saturday morning (Friday night, Sunday afternoon, Tuesday evening....etc...) sound. This morning was especially loud and persistant. For nearly three hours and a half hours the banging continued off and on. If Viagra had been involved, it would have been time to consult a Dr. I was seriously in envy of this guys endurance, and was nearly seething with jealousy of their all morning marathon.

I ventured out this afternoon for my Starbucks Peppermint mocha.....as I was walking down the stairs I saw the guy from upstairs and his girl heading out to the trash.....with a box from Ikea....with a photo of a bed on it....The banging was them BUILDING a new bed. LOL

Let's just hope I don't have to listen to them break it in tonight....

Friday, December 01, 2006

It's NOT beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

It's Dec. 1 and it's 72 degrees in NY. I wore the same outfit today I wore in August.

Global warming is ruining my holiday fun!