I Have Nothing to Say...

...and I'm saying it.

Unfortunately I feel like I have to come up with something to say before I leave for Phoenix. I'm actually a little excited to go to Phoenix. I did some research into restaurants, my boss has backed off somewhat, and I'm going to meet up with a friend from college for dinner on Saturday. It is this weird thing tonight where I'm excited to not have to go to work tomorrow and to be going away, but then it's not like vacation excitement since I'm going to be working.

Some other random thoughts...

- Work was insane today, I guess that's what happens when you're going to be away for 3 days
- I got my hair cut at Aveda today, the student I had was really nice and she did a great job, but she was so nervous. She was doing the nervous talker thing and she kept dropped the comb (and thoroughly cleaning it) and it was stressful. But in the end she did a good job so who cares?
- I need new plans for my birthday. Since I have the day off (since I'm landing at 5:12am on my birthday) and everyone else I know is working I was going to go to a lunch at this nice restaurant I've always wanted to try and then to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. I can still go to the garden, but the restaurant isn't open for lunch on Tuesdays. So I need to come up with something.

Ok, there will be some filler while I'm going.

Denim Comparison

I got the second pair of jeans I sent to Denim Therapy back. Below you can see a photo comparison. They really do a great job. With the flash of my camera the color looks off, and I couldn't get the lighting or flash better, but I assure you that to the naked eye there is no difference in color. There is a difference in texture, but that's not really a problem.



Before



After

I will continue to send jeans that I destroy to them.

And for anyone who loves Obama as much as I do there is an amazing Flickr account from the White House of the first 100 days. I spent hours at work looking through them.

Politics

I don't know if I've ever posted about politics on here before, I don't think I have. But nevertheless, I am a huge political junky and a huge current events junky as well. Big news today is that Arlen Specter, the Republican senator from Pennsylvania, is now the Democratic senator from Pennsylvania. Bringing Barack Obama into day 100 on a bang is Sen. Specter.

As a Democratic-leaning person I was delighted to hear this news today, but I question how much it will actually affect things. I doubt Sen. Specter will start voting differently, it's obviously more about appearances than anything else and as someone who prefers the Democrats in power over the Republicans (although I would prefer a more than 2 party system, but that's a longer post and I don't really at all disagree with the original tenants of the Republican party), I'm happy to see anything happy that aides the Democrats.

My main point in posting about Sen. Specter, because obviously I bring nothing new to the discussion, is to enable me to say how much I love Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow. I don't think I could watch them every night, but on nights like this, where something has happened and I want to watch the news, they're such a pleasure to listen to. And I get that they're catering to people like me, but whatever, I can enjoy it. And they're smart and funny and intelligent, so what's wrong with them?

And this now allows me to segue into how much I love Nate Silver of fivethrityeight.com. During the election I was OBSESSED with his website, I read it religiously. So much so that one of my friends joked that I should move to Chicago, track Nate down, and marry him. And when I went away at the end of October not only did I get updates directly from the website sent to my phone, but I also made my friend (the same one who made fun of me) send me daily updates. Sick, I know. But he was on Rachel Maddow tonight and it just reminded me that I need to continue to read his site.

Tasty Meal

I made the best meal for dinner tonight. I was going to take a picture, but then I just inhaled it. I would most definitely recommend the recipe. Although I made a few changes. I used regular broccoli instead of broccoli rabe since I don't really like broccoli rabe; I doubled the amount of red pepper flakes because I like my food spicy; I used penne instead of long pasta because that's what I had on hand; and I put a tablespoon of parmesan cheese on top. Thankfully I have enough to bring for lunch tomorrow and Wednesday. I think I might try it cold, see how it tastes.

I'm happy to report that work today wasn't so bad. I had a lot to do so it didn't feel so torturous. I think that's the thing, I need a lot to do otherwise I sit there and my mind keeps spinning and going to all the negative.

And, oddly enough, I even feel moderately ok about Phoenix, let's hope this holds out.

PS, I need to remember to buy sheets. I have great flannel sheets and then in the spring and summer I usually sleep in jersey cotton sheets, but they're just too soft and warm. I need crips, cool cotton.

Hot Sunday

I attempted to sit out in the park again all afternoon. I was there for about an hour and I thought I was going to pass out from the heat. So I moved to a more shady spot, but it was still hot and the grass (or lack of it) was hard so I gave up and went home. But I managed to get lots done, I:

- Cleaned the bathroom
- Cleaned my room (it was in desperate need)
- Changed out my winter clothes for my summer clothes
- Got an Italian ice
- Went grocery shopping (to 2 stores!)
- Painted my nails
- Relaxed

All in all a pretty good weekend. Plus I had some fun chats with the roommates.

It looks like the second pair of jeans I sent to be repaired was shipped back to me today, I should have them Tuesday so we can do a before and after comparison.

A Random (Cheerier!) Post

So I've been skewing a little negative lately, here's to improving that. Some random thoughts because it's late and I don't feel like working in paragraphs...

- I spent 6 hours in the park today, alone, reading. It was great. Unfortunately there were more children than I would have preferred, but it was still wonderful.

- I Love You, Man is a very funny movie, I definitely recommend it.

- State of Play is a fairly ok movie until the end when it's just lame, I don't recommend it.

- Sunburns behind your knees are incredibly painful. I'm so pale that even with reapplying sunscreen several times I still burn. Thank god for Advil and aloe.

- I got a cardigan, workout capris, and 2 tee-shirts from the Gap today for $60. Not too bad. Without the sale it would have been at least double.

And I'm off to bed!

Phoenix

Work wasn't as bad as I expected. Still boring, still annoying, but not quite as bad as I like to make it out to be.

I think a lot of my dread about work and my general grumpiness stems from my impending trip to Phoenix for work May 1-5. I don't want to go for a number of reasons:

1. It's 4 days with my boss in a situation where she wants to do everything together and we have a lot of down time because she insisted on going early.
2. I hate flying. I know it's stupid and it's not that I haven't flown a lot, but it just scares the hell out of me. The moment when the plane takes off I'm just filled with panic. I can't be rational about it, I hate it. Even talking about it now is giving me a mini anxiety attack.
3. We're taking the red eye back on my birthday. We land in NYC at 5:30 am on the 5th. And I don't have to go to work that day, but I'd almost rather go to work on my birthday. At least then I'm around people. Spending my birthday trying to recover from jet-lag doesn't thrill me. Plus I always have issues with my birthday.
4. I just don't want to go.

So there's that. But this weekend is supposed to be gorgeous. Temperatures in the 80s so hopefully I can spend time in the sun and feel better.

What I Wouldn't Give...

...not not go to work tomorrow. I don't know what's up, but lately I just can't take working. Short of my death, someone else's death, or grievous injury or sickness to me or anyone else I would prefer anything to working tomorrow.

To get my thoughts together let's make a list of things I want to do this weekend...

- Go see the cherry blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden
- Spend lots of time in the park (it's supposed to be in the high 80's!)
- Return my stuff to the Gap
- Do my Self workout DVD
- Not eat a lot of crap because I've already used way too many weekly points

And that's all I've got. I feel really lame.

Old Friend

You might remember that a few weeks ago I read through my old Livejournal from my first and second years of college. While reading through the journal I came across all these people I had pushed to the back of my mind, one of them was this woman JC, who was a manager at the Gap when I worked there, but she's only a few years older than me. I looked her up on Facebook, we messaged back and forth, and that was kind of it.

Then, on Friday, I was walking to the movies, and I ran into her on the street. We chatted for a few minutes and said we should meet for drinks. So tonight we had drinks and it was really great. It's not often that I get to really talk to my friends from high school and college, it's always an email here, a Facebook message there and I never talk to anyone who worked at the Gap with me even though for several years some of these people were my good friends. I felt like I could talk honestly about work and my feelings on moving to the city and my experiences from years ago in a way that I just don't feel comfortable talking about with people I work with, even though those people also double as my friends. I think it's a conflict of interest I never realized and I'm going to have to think about it some more.

We had a great time and we're going to do it again. It just reminded me that I really to branch out.

And work is getting worse and worse. I don't know what to do. Or who to talk to. It just gets more and more frustrating.

Passive Aggressiveness

I have this friend, she's a work friend, and she's a lovely girl, but she's very insecure. And, unfortunately, this insecurity comes out in the form of being nasty to other people. She's someone who loves to dish it out, but she just can't take it. She's also prone to these temper tantrums, where someone does incredibly minor, but it sets her off and she sighs loudly or slams her hands on the table and then storms off and doesn't speak to anyone. She's called me a liar, she says things like "Ok, then I guess you all just don't want me there," etc. So I've adopted a new approach, I just say, "ok." Today she said she guesses she isn't invited to lunch anymore and I said, "I guess you're not." Is this the most mature thing on my part? Maybe not, but what am I supposed to do? I'm not in middle school, I don't want to deal with this. So I'm ignoring.

Yesterday, in my exhausted stupor, I forgot my most important news: I lost 6.4lbs last week!! I was so excited. Clearly I don't expect to lose that much every week, I have realistic expectations of 1-2lbs/week, but it felt good to see such a large number. Definitely a motivator.

Ultra Lame

It's 9:33 on a Monday night and I'm going to go to bed. That's really all I have to say for today.

And It Continues

Another great day. I had a delightful brunch at Philip Marie. The website doesn't do the place justice at all. It has a lot of character. And great food.

Then we went to see 17 Again. It wasn't great, it isn't up there with Freaky Friday for me, but I actually enjoyed it. Zac Ephron isn't that bad and I kind of got over the fact that he's a pretty boy. It feels dirty admitting that.

I keep thinking about the beer I had last night. It was really delicious. It's called the Arrogant Bastard Ale. I highly recommend it.

Tomorrow is weigh day after my first week of Weight Watchers, I was really good all week, I hope I get to see something for it. And Gossip Girl comes back. Tomorrow will be a good day.

And PS, we thought our drain was broken again. E and G both showered and it didn't go down. Which meant I couldn't shower, which sucked since I was still covered in sunscreen and sweat from yesterday. But it turns out that it wasn't clogged, the weird stopper was just down. Go figure.

The Perfect Weekend Day

I really had the most perfect weekend day today. I woke up early and went to the Greenmarket, still nothing too exciting, but I found some stuff. Then I went to Central Park to meet EG and her boyfriend and it was amazing. There was perfect weather, we sat there for 5 hours, all afternoon, just talking, hanging out and having a great time. And there were an amazing number of people there:



Central Park was so nice, the grass is so much softer and more comfortable than Prospect Park. There were so many crazy people there. Lots of people with dogs, barely any children (thank god), everyone (literally) was under 30, there were drinkers, sport players, and then this guy:



It's a balloon. That he blew up. With the air from his lungs. It was massive. And he eventually tied a scarf to it and waved it around, and then it burst. And everyone clapped, it was one of those amazing communal experiences. Later a bride came on and everyone stood up and clapped. It was perfect.

After the park we walked up to 78th and Amsterdam to get ice cream and really, it was the perfect night, I can't even tell you. Then I came home and I just wanted to stay home and revel i the fact that I had this amazing, perfect day, but my roommate E invited me to go to a friend's birthday party and then J was going to go so I decided to tag along and it was amazing, too! We went to this great bar on 4th ave. where I had great beer and hung out with cool people. Still got home pretty early, but after being in the sun all day and then drinking I was exhausted.

Really, just perfect. I'm so happy.

Really Lame

Too tired for paragraphs...

- Not nearly as irrationally angry as I was yesterday. I was in a funk all day, but it's better. Still not too eager to spend time with humans.

- Went to see Duplicity tonight. By myself. I sat in the front, front because I didn't want to be around anyone else or see anyone else around me. Stupid movie, I don't recommend it.

- I also don't recommend Skinny Cow Vanilla Truffle Ice Cream Pops. Tastes like nothing. And it's 2 points. I'd rather save my points for something good.

- However, Wasa Crips and Light Seven Grain crackers are delicious. And they have a cool texture.

- Tomorrow is supposed to be 76 degrees, I'm excited. I had planned to spend all day in Prospect Park, but EG invited me to Central Park so I think I'll head up there. Despicable secret: in the nearly 24 full years I've been alive, the majority of which I've spent in the tri-state area, I've never set foot in Central Park.

Finally, I got an email at work today that had this in the signature line:

The shortest answer to a problem is the distance between the floor and your knees.

Probably refers to praying, but I can think of a dirtier idea.

Irrational Anger

Our plumbing issues are all resolved, thank god. I came home tonight and all was well.

Yet, despite this, I'm still filled with irrational anger. I get like this from time to time. I don't know why or how or anything, but I could literally scream at or punch the next person who speaks to me. I know it can't be healthy and that it's not good, but what do I do? Get some fun pills to pop when it happens? I'll go to bed in a few minutes and hopefully wake up feeling refreshed tomorrow.

Another odd thing that happened to me yesterday was a mix-up with a package I ordered from Amazon. It arrived at work, addressed to me and when I opened it later in the afternoon inside were 2 BeeGees CDs and a Phil Collins CD. Not what I ordered. There was also a packing slip saying it was meant to go to a woman in NC. I called and they overnighted me my stuff and were supposed to email me a UPS label to send the woman's stuff back, but I haven't received it so we'll see. I might be the proud owner of 2 BeeGees CDs and a Phil Collins CD.

Bathroom Issues

Last night when was writing my post I came up with a great topic to write about today. Unfortunately that topic has been delayed by bathroom issues. No, not body ones, plumbing ones. Last night my roommate E came into the living room while I was watching TV and asked me if the tub was ever slow to drain, I said yes, it usually backs up a little, it's nothing to worry about. But more than an hour later the water still hadn't gone down. So I tried plunging and then E and G went out to buy Draino. Nothing worked. And the smell was awful. So we called our landlord (actually we did this before buying Draino), but it was around 11pm and he didn't answer.

So this morning there was no showering. I didn't do my normal workout routine, I washed my hair and other important parts in the sink, and was just generally unhappy (a morning shower is like my caffeine). I gave our landlord another call this afternoon and he said he would come fix it.

I got home around 6:15 and he had fixed it, I tried it and it worked great. So I made dinner, worked out, ate dinner, watched TV, did the dishes, used the neti pot (I'll have to devote a post to the neti pot), washed my face, and I was in the middle of brushing my teeth when I hear G talking to our landlord. I come out of the bathroom and he tells us that the apartment on the first floor is flooded and he thinks he broke through a pipe when he snacked the drain. So he goes downstairs and asks us to try the tub, the bathroom sink, and the kitchen sink. All of it causes flooding in the first floor apartment.

So we can't use any of the water in the apartment (toilet is ok) until he gets a plumber to come in tomorrow. Which sucks for all the obvious reasons. No showers, no brushing teeth, no washing face, no washing dishes, no washing my grapes in the morning. So aggrevating. Luckily I was able to go to LM's apartment (and bring G along) to shower tonight so hopefully we'll be all set until tomorrow, when, god willing, this is fixed.

Garbage

At work today we cleaned out the room where we store all our selling materials. The amount of shit we throw away is insane. It's criminal. And it's paper and it's recycled, but there's still no reason to be throw away that much. I wish I had taken a picture of it. It's just unbelievable.

I also got a facial and lots of crap was cleaned out of my face. It felt good. I wish I had money to get them frequently. The only reason I got one this week was because it's Spa Week and it was $50. The cheapest regular facial is $110. Maybe if I reach my weight loss goal I'll treat myself. It was just so nice to sit there and relax and be pampered and to have my brain just completely shut off.

Call me lame, but I'm really excited to see my paycheck tomorrow. I hear this will be the first one at the lower tax rate so I should be making more money!

Monday, Monday

Today I joined Weight Watchers. I've always been against diets and Weight Watchers because I don't feel like you can sustain them and it annoys me that crap like those 100 calorie snack things (don't get me started on those) can be fewer points than fruit or whatever. But after speaking to someone at work who's been doing it for a month or two I realized that I can make it work for me. If I don't want to eat that processed crap then I won't eat the processed crap, it's more of a way of practicing portion control and holding myself accountable. And so far I really like it. It fits well with my obsessive planning personality. So my first goal is to lose 9.6lbs and I will keep you updated (but not in an annoying, dramatic, emotional dear diary way).

Some things I keep meaning to mention...

We're doing a book on Vans, the sneaker company, so as a promotional thing for Book Expo a select group of people got to design their own custom Vans and order them free of charge. My attempt at being creative:



I don't really think I'm a stars person, but I really liked these. We'll see how they look in person in 5-7 weeks.

Not that I really paid close attention to Madeline Albright's pins while she was Secretary of State, but this exhibit at the Museum of Arts and Design sounds really interesting. I've never been to MAD, but it's definitely been on my list of places I want to go.

And this exhibit at the New Museum (another place I need to visit) sounds interesting as well. Maybe I can bring AF when she's here in May.

Easter

Holidays in my family are interesting and completely boring. From the outside it probably appears that I have a relatively normal, boring family, but really everyone is completely nuts. Literally. Most of them are on meds. But they're family, so they're important. However I always find being around them both disturbing and depressing. I just feel so different from them, which isn't bad, people need to grow, but I guess I've always wanted one of those really close families with cousins and aunts and uncles all hanging out and watching sports or barbecuing or something. Which goes back to my issues with my immediate family.

Ok, a little too deep.

My aunt saw Sean Penn, he was filming in the county office building where she works. She said he was short and very thin. My fantasy was destroyed. At least I can still think of his eyes.

Work tomorrow. I wish I could work a two and a half day work week every week minus the being sick part.

Another list

I'm too tired and I lack enough to say to write in paragraphs...

- Went to Target today, Target is like my Mecca. Not the Target in Brooklyn, but the ones in the suburbs. Heavenly. Bought candy, sunscreen, a magazine, and I picked up the pictures I ordered.

- Why does no one in the suburbs feel they need an umbrella? At Target NO ONE (not exaggerating, literally NO ONE) had an umbrella. It was raining all day, I went at 1pm, it had been raining since at least 10am. Everyone just ran across the parking lot, got dropped off and picked up from the door, or held something else over their head. Why did no one have an umbrella??

- I watched a preview for the Real Housewives of NJ. O.M.G. What a shitshow that looks like! And I was mortified to find that I recognized one of the women from an episode of My Big Fat Fabulous Wedding or whatever that show was called that was on VH1 years ago.

- I also watched that new show Cupid, I don't know, I kind of liked it. And the lead guy? Hot.

Ok, this was a really shallow post. I apologize.