Head on over...

to my weight loss blog and check out this week's progress. I'll wait.

Week 3

I decided to separate my weight loss posts from this blog and create a new one. I'll cross post my weekly updates, but I wanted a space where I could whine about my cravings on a daily basis without cluttering up my main blog. My new blog is here.

Stop by and check in on me, whine with me or share your healthy recipes!

Back...but I don't wanna be...

As my plane took off last night to come back to New York, I had tears in my eyes. I felt like a little kid who doesn't want to leave the park when mom says it's time to go. I had a great weekend, seeing friends, spending time outside (I forgot how much I missed grass and trees!) and having a car. I spent almost the entire day on Sunday outside in the sun, sitting in my friend Beth's backyard, drinking coffee, playing with her dog and chatting. It was so nice and it made me realize just how badly I want to start the next phase of my life out there.

When I go to Chicago I stay with a friend's brother (single and VERY cute, but 12 years older (which doesn't bother me, but I get the impression that he thinks of me as "young")) who has a lovely house in the suburbs. My friend was out of town this weekend, so I didn't get to really see him, but his brother is nice and lets me crash when I need to. I like these weekend visits I go on, it gives me an opportunity to play out my suburban housewife fantasies. Beautiful house/cute guy across the breakfast table/SUV in the driveway...at one point Single Cute Brother and I were having a conversation about the gardener who was working outside in the rain and I looked down at my left hand to see if I was married and in some bizarre parallel universe. I'm seriously considering propositioning Single Cute Brother and asking him if he wants a housewife. I'll cook, clean, put out whenever he wants.....a guy can't say no to that can he???? :-P

In all seriousness I'm just happier in Illinois. I have a support system, life is easier and overall much more peaceful. I absolutely don't regret moving to New York and everything I've accomplished here. Having a life out here was a lifelong dream and I'm happy I did it, but I'm ready to move on and fulfill some other dreams. I really need to step up the job hunt and actively start looking. I signed my NY lease for another year (but I can always easily sublet if I need to) so I'm giving myself a deadline of a year. After the year is up if I still haven't found a job I will most likely ask my parents if I can move in with them until I can find something. At least that will put me in the right state since I'm worried that long-distance job hunting is impossible. I'm not sure I can live with my parents again though, so everyone keep your finger's crossed that I find something before then!

The North Star Goes High-Tech

For my trip to Chicago this weekend I rented a version of the car I've been considering buying if I do move back to Illinois. It wasn't exactly the same (I would get the hybrid version), but it gave me an idea of what it's like to drive an SUV. I'm not completely sold on the idea of having such a large car for just me, but I am absolutely sold on the idea of having GPS. If I could find a way to take the navigational system out of this car and hang it around my neck I would. I typed in "Target" and it automatically gave me directions to the nearest one. I typed in coffee and it gave me options for directions to the nearest Starbucks AND the nearest Panera. I'm so in love with this technology.

If only I could type in "Single Hot Male" and have it do the same.

Frequent Flyer Girl

Internet has been down at work most of the day again, I only got it back about an hour ago, and some people still don't have it back. I went downstairs to the floor that's still out and found people dusting, prying the keys off their keyboards and cleaning the crumbs out and making paperclip necklaces. Thankfully it's only a half day for us since it's a holiday weekend.

I'm heading out to the airport soon for my flight to Chicago. Safe travels to all this weekend!

Today was aparently NOT Admin Assistant Appreciation Day

Part of our network at work went down today and some of us lost all network/internet capabilities. I lost all my connections, but my boss was fine, even though we share an office. I spent the last half of the day doing absolutely nothing, since our voicemail, fax, email and internet were all affected. My boss was getting anxious about stuff not getting done, so when the rest of the company left at closing, I finished some things up using a co-worker's computer that wasn't affected by the outage. Before he left he stopped by my co-worker's desk to give me some notes on the project I was working for and then went to catch his train at Grand Central.

About an hour later, I finished up my project and walked back to my office where, upon leaving, my boss had LOCKED THE DOOR, locking my keys and all of my things inside. He lives over an hour away so I couldn't call him and ask him to come back and immediately I had visions of having to sleep on the couch in our lounge. I called HR, everyone's assistant, our Operations Manager, my boss, even the CEO of the company, but they either weren't answering their phones or they had no idea how to get in. I tried using things to slide the lock open, I tried slamming my body against the door, I tried asking it to magically open, but nothing was working. FINALLY after about an hour, HR called me back and told me about the secret key hidden in the building for emergencies. I found it and was FINALLY able to rescue my keys and get home.
What a day! Lets hope tomorrow everything is back to normal!

10 Things I'm Grateful For

I saw this on Doggy Mama a few days ago and kept meaning to do it, but never got around to it. Better late than never!

1) That I was raised to be open-minded. I grew up in the Midwest where open, creative thinking isn't as prevalent as it is elsewhere. I'm extremely thankful my parents raised us to be self-thinkers.

2) Tivo - I've only had it a few months, but I absolutely love technology that saves me time and allows me to be on my own schedule.

3) My dog Ginger - Even though she lives with my parents and I don't get to see her much, she's been with me through some rough times and always knows when to cuddle up next to me in bed and lick my face to make me feel better. I can't wait to live somewhere when I can have a dog again.

4) Advil - no explanation necessary on this one.

5) My friends - New, old, distant, near - I love em' and need em' all!

6) Electricity - I've gone without it a LOT this year and I've definitely learned to appreciate it. Here's hoping the power stays on in NYC this summer.

7) My books - I own an extensive collection of books and I'm always amazed by the amount of information and stories that can be found in this one room of my apartment. I know exactly where I bought almost every book, or who purchased it for me as a gift and I think of each one as a postcard of my life in a way.

8) Spellcheck - I love tools that make me appear smarter than I really am.

9) Gmail - I love email in general, but my gmail account is my lifeline. I keep my contacts, calendar and bookmarks in it and love having everything all together in one location.

10) My past: the good, the bad and the "oh sh*t I can't believe I did that, I hope my parents don't find out" - the tears, the joy and everything in between has taught me lessons and given me knowledge. I know its leading me somewhere, even if I can't always see what direction its taking me in.

The Parcel

was some clothes I ordered a LONG time ago that were supposedly sent via FedEx and had dropped off the tracking...somehow they made their way to me through regular mail. How odd!

No word on the apartment yet, but they should get my forms today or tomorrow. I can't imagine they would kick out a tenant who agreed to thier stupid $115 rent increase and who always pays on time, but it's NY, you never know.

I think it's time for new glasses...

A little over a month ago I received a lease renewal form for my apartment. It said I had 60 days to respond, so I threw it in my mail basket and left it there. I went through my basket today and dealt with all the mail. I filled out the forms and looked for the address to mail them back to. On the form it said I had 20 days to respond! Not 60! I put it in the mail today, but I'm nearly 21 days late so I'm worried they are going to throw me out when my lease is up. To make matters worse I had a note in my mailbox from the post office that I have a parcel that needs signature for delivery. I got one of these notices when I got thrown out of my other place when they decided to make it co-op, so of course I'm freaking out now. The little card didn't say it was a letter sent registered mail though (which is what the other one was I believe), it said it was a parcel that needed delivery confirmation, so maybe the two are unrelated. I can't imagine who would be sending me something at home though, everyone who knows me KNOWS they have to send mail to work because I'm never home so I can not figure out who would send me something, which again leads me to believe it's something scary and official like an eviction notice. Until they mail me back my lease extension I am not going to rest easy. And I'm definitely getting my prescription checked...Sixes should not look like twos!

May Day Weight Loss - Week 2

Winning the battles but not the war seems to be the catch phrase for this week. I did VERY well on my mini-goals of taking walks at lunch and drinking more water/pure tea and absolutely no soda (even my beloved Cherry Coke Zero), but I didn't make it to the gym at all this week, so I couldn't weigh myself and I'm fairly certain I didn't lose anything. I'm off to a slow start, but I feel that's what I need to do for me to make this a real lifestyle change and not a "diet".

This week's goals: get to the gym more, and on the nights I can't, do some form of exercise at home, weights, a workout DVD or the Yoga program that my sister got to help me sleep. Also, walk to Grand Central from work instead of taking the train.

I called

The position the recruiter was calling about wasn't the one I thought and was just another legal admin asst position. I asked about the event position on the site, but she said it was too senior for me, even though I pointed out I had the experience listed in the qualifications. She said it wasn't recent enough (it was only 3 years ago) and I didn't want to argue with her. It was good conversation overall though and I gave her a clear picture of what I was looking for and she said she would keep my resume on file and keep and eye out.

Live and Learn!

The Call

I'm nervous about calling the recruiter back about my resume. I searched the website of the company she said she was calling from and I found the job I think she might be calling about. It looks pretty interesting and the lowest number in the salary range is $20,000 more than what I make now, so even though I surpass the minimum job requirements, it would be a significant salary/responsibility increase, but one that I'm totally ready for. It's a NY job though, and I was really looking to relocate, but it would be an excellent next step in my career so I'd like to at least interview for it. Which means I'm going to have to call this woman back.

I've never gotten a job through responding to an ad or being contacted by a recruiter, so I'm not sure what the protocol is and what's appropriate to ask her. Not to mention the fact that it's impossible to make personal calls at work so I'm going to have to try to sneak out to the park and make the call from there, which means I won't have my calendar or any of my job hunt materials on me. I'm going to try to at least print my resume out and take it along.

I just have to get up the courage now to make the call.

Irony

I went to Starbucks with a friend from work last night so we could work on our resumes over mochas and cookies (thanks to one my lovely birthday gifts from Doggy Mama)! I realized that I had left the ringer off my phone all day and checked my voicemail. There was a message from a NY recruiter who wants to talk to me about my resume (I had an older version up on a job board online that she had gotten it from). She didn't say what the job was, so I'll have to find a way to call her on Monday from work. I wasn't really looking to switch jobs in NY, but it can't hurt to find out what the position is.

Though I was tempted not to work on my resume again after the call (clearly the one I have is working for me!), my friend and I did make some additional changes and the new version is a LOT better. I think it's finally at a stage I consider "finished" (aside from minor alterations geared towards specific positions of course).

Now it's on to cover letters. Oh how I hate cover letters.

Throwback Thursday

Doggy Mama does Throwback Thursday over at her place and I thought this week I'd join in the fun. We're going WAAAAAY back to 1979. Note the yellow pillow above my head....to this day, 28 years later, I still MUST sleep with that pillow every night.

Is it still a game if there are no players?

I attended a baseball game this evening, but for the first three hours of the game I didn't see a single baseball player. I did however see LOTS of rain and quite a bit of the tarp crew.

Rain Rain Rain

It looks like my baseball game is going to get rained out. We are having some nasty storms in NY right now. I'm actually not all that bummed, I wasn't really in a baseball mood today for some reason and if they do cancel the game I can exchange them for any other game this season or next. I'm perfectly happy to crawl in my bed tonight with a movie or Tivo instead. I have been wanting to try to make my own soft pretzles, so maybe I'll do that tonight.

In other news I am VERY sad to see the Gilmore Girls end last night, even though this season hasn't been my favorite. Besides Law and Order and CNN its pretty much the only show I watched regularly. What on earth will I do with my Tuesday nights now??

My goals this week for May Day Weight Loss are to drink more water or tea and to get up and take a walk at lunch, even if I've brought food from home. So far today I've done well, I've had 3 large glasses of water, 1 of iced tea (not sweetened) and I walked to the far away salad place for lunch, even though there's one closer.

Tales from the Scales - Week 1

No loss this week, but no gain either. Seeing as how I splurged a bit on Sunday for my birthday, I feel pretty good that I broke even this week.

My schedule this week doesn't allow for much gym time, so I have to be extra disciplined about portions and doing weights or workouts at home. I think I can still squeeze in two workouts on Thursday and Friday. Tomorrow night I'm going to the Mets/Cubs game so hopefully cheering will burn off some extra calories. I don't normally eat at baseball games, so avoiding the temptation of stadium food won't be an issue.

Here's to a better week 2!

How NOT to Spend A Day Off

I've been experiencing a nasty toothache for about a week and made an emergency dental appointment yesterday. My dentist wasn't in his NYC office, but was in his Westchester office, so I had to take the day off and drive 45 minutes to the appointment. As we know, I have a significant fear of doctors so you know the pain had to be pretty bad for me to make an appointment and drive that far. He looked at my tooth and said I had an infection and needed a root canal. I got through the first shot of Novocaine well, but unfortunately it didn't numb the area and he had to do it two more times. He thought the area was numb and started to pull on the tooth, but unfortunately it wasn't and I felt a SEARING pain. He stopped the procedure and said that the infection I had must have been impeding the drugs. He gave me antibiotics and told me to make an appointment in the NYC office next week for the root canal after the antibiotics kicked in. I went home and spent a few hours laying in bed in tears. The pain subsided but the whole event left me pretty traumatized. He did mention that I could try to find another dentist who does sedation dentistry, which puts you under for such procedures, but my insurance won't cover that, so I'd have to cover the expense out of pocket and it's not cheap. I have no idea what to do, but the prospect of calling his office and making an appointment to let him try again is terrifying. Ugh.

To further my day off of fun, I decided to do my laundry and ended up ruining two of my favorite shirts. Someone must have spilled bleach on the folding table at the laundromat and I didn't notice until I got home. Luckily I folded most of my clothes at home last night, so I only ruined the few shirts I had set aside to drip dry and not my entire basket.

I really know how to use my vacation time don't I? Bleah.

Happy Birthday

To me!

Whoo Hoo!

My replacement iPod has arrived!!! I can't wait to go home and start playing with it!!!!

Grilled Chicken Salad with Fruit

Grilled Chicken Salad with Seasonal Fruit

Submitted by: Karena Rated: 5 out of 5 by 41 members

Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 20 Minutes

Ready In: 35 Minutes Yields: 6 servings

"This salad looks and tastes great and can be varied with the seasons. In summer use your favorite type of berry along with the grilled chicken, and in winter use orange segments (or try dried apricots or cranberries. The dressing is a sweet vinaigrette, and complements both the fruit and the poultry."

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves 1/2 cup pecans 1/3 cup red wine vinegar 1/2 cup white sugar 1 cup vegetable oil

1/2 onion, minced 1 teaspoon ground mustard 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper 2 heads Bibb lettuce - rinsed, dried and torn 1 cup sliced fresh strawberries

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat the grill for high heat.
2.	Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill chicken 8 minutes on each side, or until juices run clear. Remove from heat, cool, and slice.
3.	Meanwhile, place pecans in a dry skillet over medium-high heat. Cook pecans until fragrant, stirring frequently, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat, and set aside.
4.	In a blender, combine the red wine vinegar, sugar, vegetable oil, onion, mustard, salt, and pepper. Process until smooth.
5.	Arrange lettuce on serving plates. Top with grilled chicken slices, strawberries, and pecans. Drizzle with the dressing to serve.

Where is my iPod??

So even though the charger arrived promptly, my new iPod never showed up and dropped off the FedEx tracking info after it "left New Jersey FedEx destination" over a week ago. I called FedEx who claimed it "went missing" and then called Apple who said, it's only been a week, it may turn up. I told Apple that FedEx told me they lost it, but Apple said not enough time had lapsed and they wanted to wait another week before they replaced it. I remarked (jokingly) about how waiting two weeks for something shipping from New Jersey to New York was a little ridiculous and the customer service rep said he would see what he could do, but he really thought it would turn up and to call back next week. FedEx must have told Apple I wasn't lying and that they really did lose it because I got an email this morning saying Apple was shipping me a replacement out today! Whoo hoo!

It's interesting though because one of the executives in my office had the EXACT same thing happen to him. He ordered an iPod and it disappeared from FedEx. Both were shipping here to work so I wonder if our local FedEx guy is poaching packages from Apple. Keep your fingers crossed the replacement actually makes it here this time!!

I am VERY proud of myself

After all the temptation yesterday, I had 1 chocolate mint square (which surprisingly wasn't all that many calories) and a small piece of the brownies my mom sent. I froze 1 box of Girl Scout Cookies in the BACK of the freezer so I can't see them, gave 1 box away and had a slightly smaller dinner than usual. I did 5 extra minutes on the elliptical machine at the gym last night and took the stairs at work today. Not enough to work off the extra calories I'm sure, but it's something. I finally remembered to weigh myself at the gym last night and the number wasn't quite as high as I had estimated my weight to be, so that was a pleasant surprise. It's day 2 of the May Day Weight Loss Challenge and I feel good!

Only 131 days to go....

Talk About Bad Timing....

I completely forgot that I bought two boxes of Girl Scout cookies a few months ago and they arrived today....on Day TWO of my summer weight loss program. Thin mints are a health food right? I mean it has THIN in the title! Right? Right?

**Edited to add I just got a package from my mom containing Ghiradelli White Mint Dark Chocolate Squares and some brownies.

I'm being bombarded with temptation right and left!!!!

I Got Tagged!

INSTRUCTIONS: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so.

1) Pointless Drivel
2) Shelli’s Sentiments
3) CuriosityKiller
4) Mama Doggy Love
5) Thoughts from a Mind

Next select five people to tag: (if you haven’t done it already)

I don't know 5 people!!! If you want to do it, join in the fun!!

What were you doing 10 years ago?

I was just about to graduate high school and go off to college. I think I spent that entire summer terrified about leaving home to go to school in the fall.

What were you doing 1 year ago?

Pretty much EXACTLY what I'm doing now. Single, living in NYC , flying back and forth to Chicago monthly

Five snacks you enjoy:
1) Kashi Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
2) Doritos
3) Chocolate Chips
4) Kettle Corn
5) Sara Lee Coconut Creme Cake

Five songs to which you know all the lyrics: I know a lot lyrics by heart….

1) My Favorite Things
2) Paralyzer by finger eleven
3) The entire RENT soundtrack (I'm guilty of this one too, EVERY.SINGLE. WORD.)
4) Love Shack
5) I Will Survive

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
1) Buy a house in Chicago
2) Pay off Grace's student loans for her
3) Travel travel travel
4) Buy a hybrid car
5) Decorate my house with furniture from Room and Board, Crate and Barrel and Pottery Barn

Five bad habits:
1) Laziness
2) Being too rigid about my routine
3) Not remembering to turn my cell phone ringer off at work
4) Refusing to ask for help when I need it
5) Not calling my mom back when she leaves a voicemail

Five things you like doing:
1) Reading
2) Napping
3) Watching TV
4) Listening to Music
5) Taking Photographs

Five things you would never wear again:
1) Leggings
2) Saddle Shoes
3) White Jeans
4) Slap Bracelets
5) Tapered Jeans

Five favorite toys:
1) Tivo
2) The email feature on my cell phone
3) My flat screen TV
4) My laptop
5) Kitchen tongs (seriously, best utensil EVER)

Tipping the Scales.....

I was blog browsing at work and stumbled across a site having a 4 month weight loss challenge. I decided to climb on board the weight loss wagon and see what I can do. My goal is 40lbs. I already eat fairly healthy, so my main goals are going to be getting myself to the gym at least 3-4 days a week and a bit of portion control.

Hopefully this will be the motivation I need to cut that birthday cake in half and freeze part of it, instead of sitting all weekend in front of my Tivo and eating the entire thing...in one sitting...with ice cream.

Wish me luck! We're supposed to update on our progress on Tuesdays, so check back in a week and see how I did on week 1!

**Edited to add my starting weight (I can't believe I'm putting it out there!) 163

Shipping and Handling

My iPod has been dying a slow death. First it lasted just 1/2 a commute and now it barely makes it through the 10 minute walk between work and the gym. I decided to upgrade and get myself the video model so I purchased it and the charger from the Apple website last week.

The charger shipped from China and I got it yesterday.

The iPod shipped from New Jersey and has yet to arrive.

??????

The Birthday.....

Since I'm already travelling quite a bit the next two months, I scrapped the California idea. I've nearly paid off the wisdom teeth and didn't want to further my debt, when I'm so close to being in the black again. It looks very likely that I'll be spending this birthday alone. Normally it wouldn't bother me as much, but I've been a bit depressed lately with my sister's engagement, the Eharmony boy situation and general loneliness in NY and was hoping to go out and have some fun. I bought myself 5 Asian movies from my Amazon list today, so if nothing else I can buy myself a cake and have myself a little movie marathon I guess. Add a bottle of wine and maybe trying out a new recipe and that's not a bad birthday plan.

Reason #1058395837 why being single sucks

Last Thursday night the last lightbulb in my kitchen burnt out. The way my apartment is laid out the kitchen is off the front hallway so not much light bleeds in from the other rooms, so I've been cooking my dinner for 4 days now in the dark. It hasn't been so bad on the weekends, I've eaten dinner early most nights and done the dishes just before sunset, but tomorrow I go back to work which means it's back to cooking by flashlight again. Just when I thought my flashlight/candle days were over eh?

I have lightbulbs. I have a stepladder. The task seems easy enough, but I also have high ceilings and I'm about 3 inches too short to reach the fixture. I've put it on the list for the super, but changing lightbulbs doesn't seem to be high on his priority list, so until then I'm left to assemble my meals by the light of the open fridge.

I ate dinner a bit too early tonight and now it's 10:30 and I'm hungry again. I realized I had all the ingredients to make this apple pancake recipe I saw over at Cleanerplateclub so that's in the oven now. I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to tell when it's done since there's no light, but hopefully it turns out well. Apples, brown sugar and cinnamon...you can't really go wrong with that combo. I'll let you know how it turns out. Perhaps I'll start a new cooking fad. Cookin' by Candlelight with Kai....

Got to love the alliteration at least.

I'm Gonna Get Older in 8 Days.

My birthday is on Mother's Day this year. I've been trying to organize a get-together with friends, but the few people I know in NYC are spending that weekend with family. I thought about flying home that weekend, but I already have a trip to Chicago planned for two weeks after and it seems silly to go twice so close together. So that leaves me spending my birthday alone, which in my current post-sibling engagement state of mind probably isn't the best idea. I've been browsing last minute weekend packages and found a pretty sweet deal to San Diego for the weekend, hotel and flight for less than $300. It's a long way to go for only a few days though, so I'm not sure if it's worth it. Its tempting though, the prospect of a birthday on the beach is pretty sweet.....I'm gonna do some research this weekend and look into it some more. I really REALLY don't want to spend my birthday alone, but if I have to California might be just the place to do it.

Why WHY is my Karma So Bad

There really is no dress code here at work. I'm in the entertainment industry and pretty much anything goes around here. I try (for the most part) not to go TOO casual, most of the time wearing jeans with a nice sweater or shirt and boots, but some days the hours and lack of sleep get to me and when the morning comes, dressing nicely is a task too daunting for my pre-coffee self.

Monday and Tuesday of this week I had it together, I dare say I even accessorized! This morning, not so much. Let's just say when I go to the gym tonight, it won't require a significant change in wardrobe. Some women can pull the "shabby" look off and turn it into "shabby chic". I, unfortunately, am NOT one of those women.

Now guess which day I found myself sitting between two incredibly gorgeous men on the subway. Yes. That's right. TODAY.

The ONE day I'm smushed between two hotties and not between an elderly woman with WAY too much perfume and a guy with his legs spread wide apart reading the newspaper that hits me in the face every time he turns the page I have to look like I forgot my "will work for food" sign at the homeless shelter.

Sigh.

I didn't know my coffee addiction was THIS bad...

The coffee machine here at work has been broken for nearly a week. I went a little crazy the first day or two, but quickly recovered once I remembered the close proximity of my office to both Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts (or so I thought I had quickly recovered).

All staff email from our operations department "I'm happy to announce that the coffee machine is back in service!"

Reply to all staff from Hot British Guy that I work closely with "Thank you for resolving this. I think I speak for everyone when I say that a few more days working with coffee-less Kai were going to be more than any of us could handle"