10 Things [contributing to my big A]

Even more anxiety? No way. Ugh. I'm so over it!

1. Friday was my last day with the consulting company. It was bittersweet, but we went to happy hour after we met up for our 'wrapping everything up' meeting. Turns out, the wine bar we were at was filming an episode of NFL Wives (VH1). I'm not sure anyone watches that show, well, maybe Carrie, but I'll be one one of the episodes in the background. Kind of exciting!

2. Monday, I start the new job. I'm really excited about it - getting to meet new people, working on something new and something stable, and just the excitement of a new job overall. Now if this anxiety would just go away, I'll be in tip-top shape :)

3. I'm also trying to find a place to move to. My roomie here is moving to El Paso for 6 months with his job, so he can't move with me (sad!) but I'll be able to find another roommate and hopefully it'll work out as well as this one has. All of the whole finding a place, moving, and getting another roommate - well, that's stressful. ALSO needing to sell some extra things that I have lying around. If I get enough, might get a new living room set or TV or something. Who knows?!

4. This month, I'll have another credit card paid off (thank god). I have been pouring money into those cards and it's finally starting to show.

5. I have been dating a boy... and he's really quite fantastic. We've gone on 6 dates, so I guess it's alright for me to tell you about him. I don't like blogging about all of them, because, well, there have been a lot of 1st and 2nd dates but nothing beyond that... and, I dunno, it would have been great to write it all down, but seeing that many stories that come to an abrupt end is depressing.

Anyway, this boy and I have great chemistry together - I think the challenge is mutual (it is rare that I find someone, much less a guy, that challenges me) and we have a lot of fun together. Tall, ridiculously cute, and he likes me... who would have thought? I'm just trying to be extremely patient - and go with the flow. I don't need ANOTHER thing changing in my life right now ;)

6. Tonight, I scrapbooked a few pages in my Italy album. It was nice to pull that stuff out again. My mom had it out while she was here, so it was a little inspirational. I still have a long way to go, but it's progress nontheless.

7. I walked into a bridal boutique this AM to get measured for Rae's wedding in October. Turns out, the lead time to order this dress is 10-12 weeks... and I don't have that. Shit! Rush ordering makes it available only days before the wedding, and I'll already be in ATL at that point... start adding up the bill for rush and shipping now. I tried the dress on anyway - and, wouldn't you know... the sample they had at the boutique fit me perfectly... AND it was the right color for the wedding. The sash wasn't the "banana" color she wanted, but it's a creme, and since I'm the Maid of Honor, she thought it might look okay. What are the frickin' odds? $130 bucks later, scratch that off the list!!

8. I booked my tickets home for the wedding the other day. $190 round trip isn't bad. :) Now, just need a rental car and I'm set. Bachelorette party plans are also in the works. That feeling of 'accomplishment' is awesome.

9. Last night I went out with some friends that I hadn't gone out with in a long time. It was a fantastic time, as usual, and it made me realize that I have been sheltering myself with Fran. Since she and I aren't really hanging out much anymore (for other reasons), it was kind of refreshing to know that I could still go out and have a good time with some other people. I was drunk. Really, really drunk, though. Eh. What's a few drunk texts anyway ;)

10. Ready for what's next. Ready to shed some excess baggage (or so to speak) and enter the next phase of my life. This job is the first step in that direction. I'm stoked. (oh, and Carrie is moving so much closer than Hawaii in less than a month!!!!! OMG, SO excited!!)

That's it for now. Now do you see why I've got so much anxiety!? ;)

10 Things I accomplished today

1. I went to lunch with some really good friends I haven't seen in a while. One of which is getting married next week - and the other has a small baby. Perhaps this makes things a bit difficult for us to get together regularly! ;) Anyway, went to lunch with them and they gave me a tiffany's butterfly pendant for my graduation! It's GORGEOUS and oh so perfect. They even wrote a little hai-ku about me spreading my wings now that I've graduated. Love them!!

2. Took a nap. Hehe. Yep. Love me some sleep!

3. Cleaned the kitchen...

4. Then washed my car (by hand)...

5. Ran some errands...

6. Did some laundry...

7. I went roller blading tonight for the first time since the accident. It was a mix between being scared shitless from not being able to stop and the how hot it's been. Tonight was perfect weather. Working at the restaurant and running around all the time has given me incredible stamina, too. I used to only be able to go around my park 2 - MAYBE 3 - times in one session. I made at least 4 laps and then walked another lap afterward. This may become a regular thing if I can keep THAT up!!

8. I got home and made some oatmeal raisin cookies that are, in Rachel Ray's words, Yum-O!

9. I've been working on my Italy scrapbook since and have a few pages done. I heart scrapbooking!

Ok, I think that's enough for one day!!

10 Things...

1. I am incredibly bored. You've read that right. BORED. Ugh.
2. Michael and I went to see my sister's softball game last night. They won :) And it was a great game, too!
3. Next weekend we're going to my grandparent's house and celebrating their birthdays (both are in October)... beforehand, my brother and his girlfriend and Michael and I are going hiking/pumpkin patch and it's going to be FABULOUS! I can't wait!
4. We'll get to carve the pumpkins :)
5. Tomorrow night, I'm staying with my mom and sister. We're going to have a night of girl stuff - scrapbooking, movies, etc. It'll be SO much fun. My girlie-girl sister is going to be there... the other sister (who is not so much into the girlie-girl stuff) is going to a wedding with my step-dad.
6. Tonight we're going to an improv show an to the top of this building (reallly reallly cool) with some friends. Should be a GREAT time!
7. It has come down to the point where I'm just going to have to find something to do in this place. Lord help me, their marketing materials are non-existent. I think I've just found a gold mine.
8. The company I was doing a project for this summer was an investment firm. They literally went from spending $25,000 on tchotchke's to being pretty much bankrupt. I did get a compliment, however, on the project I did for them and one of his colleagues at another firm wants me to do the same work for them (obviously not an investment firm). There's DAMN GOOD money in Consulting.
9. I'm kicking ass in school! I've made over an 80 on everything (except one quiz) so far. I'm EXTREMELY proud of myself! My schedule next semester is shitty, but whatever. 4:30 to 9:45 Mondays and Wednesdays. Ugh!
10. I <3 Michael... SOOOOOsooooo much!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

10 Things the days of this week hold...

1. Today I had a test (see post below) and have a paper due by midnight. (don't worry, it's only a first draft and it's not graded or anything...)
2. Tomorrow I get to have lunch with an old colleague and catch up on some things. SUPER excited about that.
3. Wednesday - homework due in Buyer Behavior
4. Wednesday - Quiz in my lovely Finance class
5. Michael and I are going to a FABULOUS concert Wednesday night - Maroon 5, Augustana, and Counting Crows. Going to be SO much fun!!!
6. Friday, my sister is going to be in the homecoming parade because she won the Little Miss beauty pageant!! I get to do both of my sister's hair beforehand. I'm stoked!!
7. Today, I got the link for the pictures we took. Michael wore a mullett in one of them... PRICELESS!! I'm a little upset that they're not as high-res as I wanted them to be, but we get the full prints on Friday.
8. Saturday, we're going to a friend's show... he's a rapper.
9. Sunday, i'm sure we're going to church - but then I'll be STUDYING (yep, that's my life these days) for another stupid series of tests next week.
10. Hopefully the two books I ordered on Amazon will come in. One was 53 cents and the other was 1.20. Even WITH shipping, each cost less than 5 bucks :) Not too shabby!













I cannot WAIT to start reading them... nor can I wait to get my scrapbook started - I've almost got ALL the pictures printed that I want to include. Now I get to go shop for stickers and all that good stuff :) Hooray!

Weekend Fun!

This weekend was great! Michael and I spent the whole weekend together and I enjoyed every single second of it!

Friday night, it was family picture night. Really weird, cause my step-dad and I don't get along - but I'm trying to get Michael in with him so maybe one day he'll speak to me again. I doubt it'll happen, but a step was made on Friday in the right direction. Michael and my step-dad are both big jokesters. At least they've got that in common! Anyway, Michael has this mullet wig that he's brought out from the depths of the closet a few times from a halloween a few years ago... this time he brought it with us to the family photo session. My brother and his girlfriend took pictures together, our whole family took pictures together, and then Michael and I took some together. The sitting fee was already taken care of, so why not take advantage of it?!

The pictures came out PRICELESS. I was cracking up with Michael in the wig, and the rest of the place thought it was hilarious, too. The lady who was taking the picture could hardly do so, too. Man, if only this were a blog that I wanted everyone to see who I was, I'd post it here. But, unfortunately, it'll just have to be a story I tell. :)

Saturday was cleaning day... the weather outside was GORGEOUS... and we got a lot done in terms of cleaning. I had to study, and he went to a friend's house (oh yah, Leslie's husband's house - who asked about me, by the way).

Today, we got up and lounged around before getting ready for a work function of mine. They bought tickets to a baseball game for all of the clients, etc. so we were able to go. It was fun, but we were both exhausted. I saw a few people there, but ultimately avoided the people I knew. I just wasn't in the mood for it. Michael and I stopped by the store on the way home because they were having a scrapbook stuff and picture frame sale... and I love love love both of those things.

I made chicken noodle soup for dinner and it was absolutely delicious. :) Yesterday, I made a version of this desert. I did things a little differently than they did, though. I made the brownies with applesauce so they were a little healthier than with the oil. Then, I mixed a thing of vanilla pudding in one bowl and a thing of chocolate pudding in another bowl... and mixed half a thing of cool whip in each. (yumm). THEN, I put some peanut butter with half of the chocolate pudding/cool whip mixture until it was smooth. Waited until the brownies were done, and layered them as such: peanut butter mixture, vanilla mixture, chocolate mixture.... and that was it. It was SO good. SOO SOOOOOO GOOD. :) Michael and his roommate and his roommate's girlfriend were all diggin it. It was a little too peanut-buttery for me, but whatever.

Alright - I've got a test tomorrow and I've SO been procrastinating studying. Ugh. Focus, focus, focus. Hope you all had a great weekend!

10 Things this week holds...

1. Tonight I get to snuggle with Michael. He had a 'mancation' this weekend and I missed him :) (he's actually already sleeping in the other room)
2. I have two tests... one tomorrow in Mktg Research and one Wednesday in Finance.
3. Dinner with a friend on Thursday night. (I forgot her pseudonym... we haven't hung out in a while!)
4. I talked with Michael about doing the Fat Smash Diet. It's actually one of the only "diets" I've ever considered doing. You basically cut out the fat from what you eat. Hrm. Sounds good to me!
5. Friday night is "family picture" night... my mom is having ALL of us get together to take a family photo. The last time this happened, my 7 year old sister was only a few months old.
6. I'm feeling MUCH better from the muck I had last week. Whatever it was, it wasn't fun, but I'm over it now. This means going back to work. Ugh.
7. Next Sunday, we're going to the baseball game. It should be tons of fun... we haven't gone since my favorite player left the team. I'm still pissed about that.
8. Ummm... study, study, study? Did I mention studying?
9. I'll probably go work out some. I haven't done that in a while. And my school schedule isn't conducive to me going to the step classes this semester. I'm a little bummed about that. Ok, a lot bummed.
10. Scrapbooking. Someone from my mom's work asked me to do a scrapbook for their 18 month old son from birth. He's the CUTEST little thing. I did the Halloween page a week or so ago... and made him a pumpkin. SO cute! I'm sure I'll work on that some.


PS - Michael brought me back THE cutest little souvenir from his mancation. It's salt and pepper shakers of two little ceramic cats smooching (there are magnets on their lips). There are a TON of 'inside' things with this gift. That's the best part about it! AND he brought back snow globes for my sisters. How sweet is he?!
PPS - I got all the stuff to make the 2008 scrapbook for Michael and I. I can't WAIT to start it! I've got to get the other one done first though. Argh!

Ahhhh... so in love :) and so happy! <3

Oh, and I tried frozen grapes for the first time this weekend because Rae had some in the freezer... and I love them! Who would have thought?!

10 [random] Things...

1. I'm working on a scrapbook for Michael and I. It's of all of our 2008 pictures. Somehow this nostalgia has brought him into a SUPER lovey-dovey mode (you know, extra special sweet... not just the normal sweet he already is). And I love it! :)
2. It's that time. Of the month. And I dispise it.
3. I bought a textbook for school online at textbookw.com.... I've been waiting on it for 2 weeks. I JUST now found out it's out of stock. Fuckers.
4. This website is extremely cute. :) Shineboxprint.com


5. I enjoy the new "job" only somewhat. It's tedious and somewhat boring but pays well and is EASY-peasy. What more could I ask for while I'm in school? (free money, that's what!!)
6. I L-O-V-E Michael. love love love love him :) Yep. Everyone knows it. That's nothing new :)
7. Saturday night we got drunk with some friends and watched the fight. I did some funny drunky mcdrunkerson things. hehe... that's what I do, apparently.
8. I've started reading a series of books by Wendy Markham... Slightly Single, Slightly Settled, Slightly Engaged, Slightly Married, and Slightly Suburban. I JUST finished Slightly Settled and both books have been really really good... and ended up being quick reads because I've gotten into them.
9. I also read (in between those two) "Dedication" by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus. I loved their other two books (Nanny Diaries and Citizen Girl) so I had to pick this one up... and ended up read it in like 3 days.
10. Yesterday, Michael and I went to my mom's house to have lunch with my two little sisters, my brother and his girlfriend, and my mom and stepdad. We had a blast! We all played the "are you smarter than a 5th grader" board game (because it's their favorite... they're only 7 and 8 yrs old). Michael and I came in second :) But it was just great having my family there... all of it! My mom arranged for us to have a family picture done because we haven't had one since my littlest sister was only a few months old. Geeze, that was forever ago!

Anyway, so many random things going on. I think we're going to eat sushi and go to the park tonight. :) Hope you guys are doing fabulous!