New tv habits

One of the aspects that has changed a bunch in my life since having Izzy has been my tv watching. If you have  been reading long enough, I was a big fan of the Real Housewives franchise....even going so far as to see one of the NJ housewives when she came to a local bookstore (more for the people watching- not to actually buy a book or meet her). I even blogged about it! But last fall, I knew that I had to make some changes. My interest for tv shows such as the Real Housewives, Couples Therapy, and Revenge was waning, so I decided that if I wasn't chomping at the bit to watch the next episode on the DVR, then it wasn't worth my time.  Ditto for shows that I still enjoy like Property Brothers or House Hunters.  Sure the shows are fun to watch, but really I'm just killing 30 minutes of time instead of getting something useful done. Not to mention that I wanted to pare down the number of shows that I watched that CP didn't watch.  So if I was watching tv, it was at least something that we both would watch.

Once Izzy arrived, the tv was in the background during the day early on because she was sleeping so much, I was still recovering from the c-section, and we couldn't go outside because it was SO FREAKING COLD. However, once I was home alone with Izzy with no visitors, the tv was off the entire day so that I could spend one-on-one time with her. When CP got home from work, while she was either nursing or sleeping, we binge-watched the first season of House of Cards and then slowly made our way through The Wire (both are shows that I would HIGHLY recommend). Around 2 months old though, Izzy started to notice that there was a contraption with fancy lights that intrigued her....so off the tv went when she was not in her crib. (The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no tv prior to age 2.) 

During the week we only get an hour or two with Izzy before I start her nighttime routine- I certainly don't want to spend that watching tv. Usually we spend the time playing with her, taking her outside, trying to get her to try the puree we have made for her, etc. We usually wait to have dinner ourselves until after Izzy goes to bed so that CP can also get some quality time with her instead of being in the kitchen. Then of course there is cleaning, bills to be paid, household things to be done, etc. all before I can relax.

So what do we deem worthy enough to watch these days in the hour or so that we have before heading to bed?

Game of Thrones

Grey's Anatomy*

Scandal*

Parks and Recreation

Modern Family

Family Guy

House of Cards

Orange is the New Black 

Last Week with John Oliver

The Daily Show

True Blood

Homeland

Friday Night Lights**

*These are the two shows that I watch without CP because he thinks they are ridiculous (he is right).

**CP also doesn't watch this show.  I watch it on my iPad when I am pumping on the days that I work from home, so it's taking me FOREVER to get through the various seasons.

We may try to watch The Leftovers, the new show that premiers on HBO on Sunday.  It looks interesting.

Now that I check out my list, I can see that I have 0 reality shows on it.  That is pretty amazing for someone that thought that Temptation Island was the best show in the entire world for a few years.  :-)

What tv shows do you deem worthy enough of your time?

Garbled thoughts

I swear….I didn’t fall off the face of the Earth.  I got back to Chicago on Friday and have been crazy busy since getting back. 

I got my one-month shot of Lupron on Friday.  The shot wasn’t awful (the nurses said that the self injections for the IVF drugs will be easier), but Friday night I got a migraine and felt awful.  I only had 24 hours with CP before he jetted off to Thailand, but had to bail on the movie we were watching and put myself to bed at 9:30am (no lights and some drugs).  I still had a bit of the headache Saturday morning.  Boooo.  I can’t imagine that it could have been from the Lupron after just getting the shot that day, but who knows.  Either way, it sucked.  No hot flashes so far….still waiting to see if those reappear like last time.  I did buy Calcium pills because Lupron can suck nutrients out of your bones.

I love my husband a lot, but I wasn’t super happy with the condition of the house when I got home.  He did clean up the ornaments and Christmas stuff, but didn’t pick up the rest of the house so Saturday I did some cleaning before heading over to our friend’s house to watch the Packer game.  Sunday my parents came over and helped me with some painting around the house.  It was nice to see them and get some extra hands on some small projects.

This week I have been STRESSING over a big work event on Wednesday that I was single-handedly putting together.  I did as much work on the event as I could from New York, but that was sporadic at best and hard to do from mostly email.  I swear, sometimes when dealing with managers, it’s like herding cats.  You have to hold their hand through the entire process because they don’t read emails and god forbid they try to figure something out on their own.  Arrrrgh.  BUT.  The event was yesterday and it went GREAT.  My boss’ boss was very impressed- so go me!

FaceTime continues to be the best invention ever for a husband that travels a lot. It’s really weird how when he is calling me at 6pm my time, it’s 7am his time the next day.  It will be better when he gets to Brazil on Sunday and it’s not such a time difference.

Between Netflix and a 7-day free subscription to Hulu Plus (now cancelled), I am obsessed and totally caught up with Downton Abbey- just in time for the third season to get going!  I’m also excited about Girls (HBO) and Archer (FX) starting up again.

Today I received more information on my insurance coverage.  My insurance follows the IL IVF mandate, which means that I have a total of 4 lifetime IVF procedures or 2 after a live birth (resulting from an IVF cycle).  The cycles are covered 100% with a $35 co-pay which is INSANE to me (INSANE meaning we are so lucky).  I wish that everyone had access to this coverage.

Sorry for the random post. I’m still decompressing from the event yesterday and looking forward to the weekend- the dogs and I will be headed up to Michigan to hang out with my parents.  :-)

Working in New York

It’s Sunday so I’m not sure how many people are going to be reading, but I thought that I would post anyway.

·        I made it out to NYC this week without too much of a problem.  We did have to sit on the runway for over an hour before we took off which just meant that I was able to catch about four episodes of the Real Housewives of Miami (thanks for the free tv Jet Blue!).* I’ve now taken about 10 million forms of public transportation since I got here and as predicted, the people are certainly unusual.  Yesterday morning when I got on the Long Island Rail Road to head to work three teenagers got into the same car as me.  One of them was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, another was missing his t-shirt and just had on shorts (it was 25 degrees out).  All three had what looked like glow paint on their faces and bodies- I’m guessing they were at a rave last night.  Seeing them shivering and looking ridiculous was just another reminder to not do drugs.  :-)  

·        On the same train car an older man got on ranting and raving about nonsense while drinking Four Loko.  A couple months ago I decided to try Four Loko just to see what it tasted like and not only do I NOT want to drink it at night, but I have no desire to be drinking it at 7:45am either.  Yikes.

·        These two weeks here helping Sandy victims are going to be quite emotional and mentally tough.  These people have lost so much and even two months later almost everyone I spoke to yesterday still wasn’t living in their house.  Contractors had come through to demo everything down to the studs, but because they were waiting on insurance checks, construction loans, etc. and their homes had no heat or electricity, they were still living in small apartments with too many people, hotels, or with friends/family/ex-family.  I’m glad that I am here to help but I wish that I could do more.  I guess it’s a good thing that my Lupron shot didn’t arrive into my clinic before I left for NY because I would probably be bawling along with the people here.

·        I have a couple of coworkers also out here in NY with me- one of them I met back in June when I was in DC for a training.  I’m glad that he is here because he is closer to my age than my other coworkers and he will be a fun guy to grab a beer with after work.  However, he has told me several times that things with his wife aren’t going well and he’s basically just sticking around for the kids.  I get the feeling that he is telling me this not just in a friendly way, so I try to work my husband into the conversation as much as possible!  I hope it’s just me reading too much into the conversation and his flirty ways, but I want to make sure to give him the FRIENDS ONLY I AM IN A HAPPY MARRIAGE signal as much as possible.

·        It looks like I will have New Years Day off so I am most likely heading up to CT tomorrow after work.  I’m looking forward to getting out of NYC, seeing friends, and stalking my old house to see if they have done anything to it since we sold it in August.  :-)

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend- I'm working all weekend!

*I don't usually watch RHOM but one of the episodes happened to focus on Lisa who has had three miscarriages while trying to have a baby.  I only saw the few episodes on the plane but it seems like she is representing infertile women well.

Fall new loves

Starting to get my blogging mojo back....hopefully it's back for a while.

Eddie Bauer pants. My new Eddie Bauer pants that are super comfortable. They roll up into capris if it gets hot out and are lightweight enough that I could go hiking in them.

Columbia pants. My new Columbia pants that are seriously the MOST comfortable pants I have ever worn. Plus, they make my butt look good (always a good thing). :-) The fabric is some sort of soft, dri-fit material that is medium weight. I guarantee I will be wearing these A LOT this fall.

L'Oreal Double Extend Mascara. My sister and law raved about her mascara on our trip to CA and I tried it out one night. I have been suckered into buying expensive mascara from MAC and after trying out this mascara, I am hooked. I have long eyelashes already, but the best feature about this mascara is how easy it is to take off. We went into the pool with it on and instead of looking like a raccoon and having to practically rip skin off under my eyes to get rid of the mascara, one quick swipe with my finger and it was gone. As soon as I got home I ditched my MAC mascara (which I have had for way longer than the recommended three months!) and bought the L'Oreal stuff. Love it!



Spotify. I really enjoy Pandora and have made a bunch of playlists. I also downloaded the new I Heart Radio iPhone app because you can create playlists that will run commercial-free through the end of the year. I love the IDEA of creating my own station and then being able to choose more discovery (aka unknown artists) vs familiar artists, but unlike Pandora, I Heart Radio doesn’t go back to the original artist. So if I create a playlist on John Mayer, Pandora will play a JM song every 4-5 songs (which I like). I Heart Radio’s app never goes back to the original artist.* Spotify is great because I can listen to an entire album (currently Mumford & Sons “Sigh No More”) or listen to the current top songs. It will be a great way to figure out whether I should buy the entire album or just the few songs that I like.

*I will never quit I Heart Radio though because I ADORE the KBCO Studio C channel. If you haven't heard it check it out!!

New television shows. So far I am enjoying Revenge, Ringer and Modern Family (I’m late to this party). I tried Up All Night last night and couldn’t get into it. CP and I are new to Game of Thrones and it is awesome! We watched the first season right before it was taken off of Directv’s video-on-demand. It took me a few episodes to get everyone straight but it is enjoyable (CP especially likes all of the boobs). Too bad the second season is not until next spring! We are still watching Community, Parks and Rec and The Office. Andy has so far been a good stand-in for Steve Carell. Next week is the premiere of American Horror Story on FX and I have to admit, I’m intrigued based on the teasers.

What are your new fall loves?

Book signing

You guys get TWO posts today since I wasn’t able to give you all of the gossip from the book signing that I went to on Wednesday night. Yes, despite CP’s rolled eyes after I told him who I was going to see at Borders, I went to see Teresa from RHONJ. It turns out, I’m glad that I went!

I knew it was a bad sign when I pulled into the parking lot and it was PACKED. People were rushing into the store so my thought was OMG. There are this many RHONJ fans????

People were lined up to get their book signed so I hustled over to the corner of the room so that I could at least get a glimpse of Teresa. I started talking with the person next me and we traded stories about how our husbands were embarrassed that we watched the show and that we were coming to the event. I admitted that I was a bit embarrassed to be there in general- almost like I’m egging these women on with their bad behavior. I mean, what woman with any sort of class flips a table at a restaurant? Or has a shouting match in a public place?

Anyway, I justified being there by saying that I wasn’t financially helping her because I didn't buy a book (despite the fact that she desperately needs it, what with being $10 million in debt). I was just there for entertainment value.

Here is the line that I am SO GLAD I didn’t have to wait in:

That was only PART of the line too. A couple girls arrived at 2PM (!!!!) for the 7pm signing. Okay, I like the show and all but REALLY???

Surprisingly enough, Teresa sauntered in 15 minutes late, sat down and started signing books. I thought that usually they read a passage or something from the book? At least thank everyone for coming???

She has lost the baby weight from this past season (they stopped filming in February) and looks great:

People crowded around, trying to take pictures of her. The book line was going very slow because every.single.person wanted to ask her a question, take a picture of her, etc.

I went to leave when in my left ear I heard a guy talking about the reunion show. Hmmm. He seems to have inside knowledge of the show. I better move closer to him and get some gossip. And boy did I. Turns out Daniel works for Sirens Media, the production company for RHONJ (every city has a different production company). He is Teresa’s makeup artist for the book tour.

For your reading pleasure, this is what I remember from our interaction:

*Teresa will be coming out with a makeup line soon (in partnership with Daniel). They aren’t worried about the makeup lines from other housewives (like Gretchen) because Gretchen’s fans will buy her makeup and Teresa’s fans will buy her makeup.

*Most of the book tour events are one day trips so she was headed back to NJ that night.

*The last time Teresa came to CT for a book signing they had to close the store down at MIDNIGHT. People were still waiting in line. She does stay until the last book is signed.

*Gia (her oldest child) is the only kid that will travel with her to an event. She is the only kid that can stand sitting around while her mother signs books. He admitted that Milania would be running around the store trying to throw every book on the floor.

*Danielle is DEFINITELY off the show. Teresa announced it early on in the signing and Daniel confirmed it.

*They are currently looking for three more housewives for the NJ cast. One to replace Dina, one to replace Danielle and then an extra person.

*Kim G is still in the running for one of the slots, but Daniel hopes that she doesn’t get it. He said that she was trying too hard to get on the show (which I agree with).

*There is no word on whether Danielle will get her own show.

*He said the reunion show is going to be great. He was at the taping and there were FOUR bodyguards off stage. At one point, he had to run in to break a fight up (he said that he is actually in the previews for the reunion show).

*Teresa makes all of her own recipes and she is a great cook.

*All of the housewives from the different cities know each other.

*It is written into their contracts that all of the housewives must have at least one interaction with each other each season. That is why Dina meet with Danielle before she left the show and why Caroline had a meeting with Danielle before the season ended.

*That is also why Danielle ended up showing up to the fashion show. She was wavering, but producers reminded her that she had to get it over with at some point.

*In their contract they must have interaction, but they are just required to say hi. That’s it. No matter that the production company feeds them lots of alcohol and lord knows nothing odd happens when there is alcohol involved!! ;-)

*He said that Danielle is actually very nice and sweet in person. He used to do her make up last season.

*Bravo pays for all of the trips on the shows. Ramona’s girls weekend in St Barts or wherever they want? Paid for by Bravo. Teresa, Caroline and Jacqueline going to Italy with their families? Paid for by Bravo. Which is why I don't understand why Joe was complaining about the cost of the hotel room??

*When a lady first becomes a housewife, Bravo tells them to live it up. They explain that if they have a talent (singing, making jewelry, etc.) that they don’t have long in the spotlight and that they need to use the show as a promotional tool.

*The pizza place that Joe (Teresa’s husband) was putting together in one of the episodes is up and running. It is doing okay so far.

*When Danielle talks about her bodyguards packing guns and whatever, Daniel just laughed that off as big talk. He said that Danielle likes to be a bit overdramatic. (I’d say!)

*He agreed that he is amazed that Danielle’s kids are as grounded as they are. He said that they are super sweet and very polite. Almost parenting Danielle at times.

I wanted to ask about the whole bankruptcy stuff, but really? That would have been rude. Daniel says that he and Teresa are good friends (he goes down to the Jersey shore with her family all the time). It’s kind of an embarrassing thing for her. So I left it alone. (Despite the fact that my coworker and I were talking about it and she said that I totally could have taken Teresa down if she came after me. HA!)

After about an hour, I left the event. Feeling a bit dirtier, but oh well. My Facebook status that night was, "just got back from a book signing for Teresa from the Real Housewives of NJ. I spoke with her makeup artist for a while and displayed WAY too much knowledge to just be a casual fan." One of my friends from junior high commented that didn't I know that the show makes me dumber every time I watch it? But OF COURSE. :-)

There was even a story in the paper about the event. (when they took that picture I was standing just to the left of the old woman with the camera!)

What else should I have asked Daniel about?

Once in a lifetime event

Sorry for the Real Housewives of NJ-heavy coverage recently, but this morning I saw this. Danielle “singing” her “hit” song with wannabe Jersey Shore backup dancers. One of their moves seems to be very similar to the lift from Dirty Dancing. It’s hilarious. And by hilarious I mean awful. And fantastic at the same time. Why do all of the housewives believe that they can sing?

Secondly, I just found out from a coworker that Teresa is going to be doing a book signing one town over from us tonight. I have never been to a book signing before, but I am currently checking with CP to see if he is okay if I go. I am definitely not going to buy her book (Can you do that? Go to a book signing without buying the book, but more to check her out as you would a car accident on the side of the road?). But think that it would be hilarious if she wears as much makeup as she does on the show. And her voice/accent. If I use the word GRATING I am being nice. CP and I had planned on eating dinner and then tackling the boxes in the office tonight, but this is a once in a lifetime event, right? ;-)

Not the crazy lady!

Danielle Staub may not be back next season for the RH of NJ.

What will the other ladies talk about? As much as Danielle= crazy, the show will be really boring without her. Bravo better find a new crazy lady for the cast (maybe one that will interact with the other ladies?) or ratings will drop significantly. While I don’t want to egg the crazy lady on, I do want to watch some drama.

And the RH of DC is really not that exciting.

I guess I better hope for time to pass quickly until the OC ladies or NYC (probably minus Bethanny though- BOOO) to come back on the air.

Will you watch if Danielle is kicked off the show?

My apologizes in advance....

Sorry people that don't watch the Real Housewives series. This will be a RH-centric post. You might just want to come back tomorrow if you are not watching the Bravo series. Or, start watching the series right now because it is seriously entertaining.

Real housewives of NJ
The second season debuted last night. First?

Serious cat grooming fail (one of Dina's cats)

Second? Danielle can't stop talking about the rest of the women. She talks about her problems to some clothing shop owner, to the woman that did her pedicure, some religious person, etc. Maybe she needs to get something else going in her life? I'm just sayin'. She stalked some party that Caroline held that she wasn't invited to. After finding out about said party, she drove towards Caroline's house with intentions on confronting her as to why she was not invited. But then kept telling herself that she didn't care that she was not invited. Riiiiiight. Her poor kids in the back seat of the car had to tell her to turn the car around. I felt bad for her last season as it really did seem like she was being ganged up on, but now I just think that she is craaaaazy.

In this episode Jacqueline seemed to still want to be nice to Danielle, but it's obvious that the other women (Teresa, Dina and Caroline) have all talked to her husband and pressured him to end Jacqueline and Danielle's friendship. From what I have heard (and from the previews of the upcoming season), Jacqueline quickly turns on Danielle. It was interesting that Dina stayed out of the Danielle-bashing that was going on at the party. And the clothing shop owner that quickly turned on Danielle in order to gain favor with the other women? That was just weird. I think that she wanted to just be on tv.

Third? It looks like it is going to be an interesting season. I was thinking that Bravo really screwed up the NJ franchise because when you put four women that are family and then have another one on the outside, it has the tendency to get boring. Without Jacqueline staying friends with Danielle and thus creating tension with her other family members, there might not be much that occurs these season between the four of them- except maybe for ganging up on Danielle. My interest in the season might hinge on how crazy Danielle gets. Maybe they need to add another unrelated housewife next season?

Real Housewives of NYC

I didn't realize that Perez Hilton outed Bethanny before she was three months pregnant. That is quite unfair. While I know that the business of gossip blogging relies on getting the scoop before anyone else, I do think that there should be an unwritten rule to not out pregnancies before the three months is up. The blogger doesn't have to deal with the pain of an miscarriage- and let's be honest- most of the bloggers out there are men. Unfortunately, that would be a hard rule to follow. The people feeding the bloggers this gossip may not know how far along a celebrity is. I guess the celebrity should refuse to comment on the story until the three months is up?

I am still team Bethanny this season. While I am not sure I would have sent Alex to deliver my message to Jill (and Alex should not have done it in front of everyone), Jill is being a hard-a** for no apparent reason. And now that Bethanny has said that she is done, it looks like Jill wants to try to make up with her in Thursday's episode. Huh? Oh and it looks like Alex's blowup with Jill is going to be interesting. I think that whatever Alex has to say to Jill has been building up for a while and that is why she is ready to explode.

Wow. Who knew I could write so much on two, seriously dumb shows that I watch? Is anyone still reading this post?

All about sperm

Last night I was rolling on the ground laughing. Why you ask? Because of this National Geographic special- “Sizing up Sperm.” Yes, you read that right. I was randomly flipping through the channels last night and the title caught my eye. Since CP is in OH for work, I have full control over the tv. So I decided to check it out. And boy am I glad that I did.

First, a little factoid that I learned in the beginning of the program- did you know that with every heartbeat the average male produces 1000 sperm? Just a little knowledge you can drop on people at your next dinner party. Ha!

Instead of showing sperm under the microscope, this program decided to use real people (dressed in white of course) in order to recreate the quest to reach a woman’s egg. So in order to show what sperm goes through when a man ejaculates, they showed people going through a water slide. LOL.

Later in the program, a sperm came on to talk about her theory that it is more likely for a couple to get pregnant when they have “gourmet sex.” What is gourmet sex you might ask? Well, it is when the sex is GREAT for both partners. She theorizes that when a couple has gourmet sex, the man gets even more excited and therefore sperm from lower in the testicles is ejaculated.

But then a party-pooper evolutionary psychologist came on to dispute the gourmet sex theory. You see, he has done lots of research. Yes he and his crack team of researchers went to a strip club and had to sit through 300 shifts. I’m sure it was absolutely TERRIBLE work for them. The result of their research? That strippers made more money while ovulating than while menstruating.

WELL DUH!!!

First off, if it is a all-naked club, a woman on her period would probably not take off her thong. Therefore not making as many tips as other women that will take off all of their clothes. And secondly, if he was a woman he would know how crappy and bloated you feel when you are on your period. What woman feels great when she is bleeding for five days? If you are not feeling particularly sexy, that is probably going to come off in your dancing that week. So his “conclusions” didn’t really move me.

Overall, the program was perfect for my 12-year sense of humor. Every time they said that words “long” and “hard” I giggled. The sperm people (as they were called by the narrator) were hilarious to watch. First, going down a water slide. Then running up a mountain to signify the uphill battle that is trying to get to the woman’s egg. I could not make this up if I tried.

Friends of mine were a bit weirded out by my funny texts regarding the program, but I think that I convinced at least one of my friends to DVR the show. CP didn’t quite understand my giggling either….maybe I just needed some sleep?

Have you seen anything funny on tv lately?

Letters

Dear Massachusetts weather,
Really? I wake up this morning hoping that we would get a delayed start or a snow day and all you can spit out is 5 inches? I really did not appreciate having to shovel the wet, heavy snow before showering and heading to work this morning. It made me very late. And now my back hurts.

And rain/snow EVERY DAY until Monday? With high winds on Friday? And only a chance of a few more inches (thus not granting me my snow day)? I poop on you!

Multiple dreary, overcast days make me depressed….not to mention tired. Two not-so-good qualities in an employee.

Please work on either giving CT/MA a good snow pounding (on a weekday of course) or just move on to spring and warmer weather.
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Dear Zazzle.com,
In an age of poor customer service because of layoffs, I was amazed with my interactions with your company. I had to return a custom-made t-shirt because it was too small and you did not charge me to print another shirt in a larger size, despite the fact that my sister and I are probably the only people that understand the meaning behind the t-shirt. If I ever have a need for your services again I will most certainly be choosing to do business with you. Thank you!
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Dear CP,
I know that you have to travel for work, but every time you do I have this compulsion to eat bad things for me. I am certainly not blaming you for my eating habits, but you are good about keeping me in check when you are around during the week. With you not here I buy things like ice cream which is NOT GOOD. Please finish your project in OH soon so that you can help me eat better during the week!
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Dear Employer,
I know that I complain a lot about you, but can you please make up your mind this week? I’d really like to either start packing or be depressed for a few days before focusing in on my second interview with the other company. It would make my life easier if I didn’t have to bring my interview suit on our ski trip…..
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Dear writers/producers/actors of Dexter,
You have me completely hooked. I have watched EIGHT episodes of your show this past week. I am completely obsessed. However, you need to tell Showtime to put back the episodes from Season 4 into OnDemand. After I watch the last two discs of Season Three I will be very mad if I cannot continue onto Season Four simply because the DVDs have not been released yet….
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This and That

*The check from “Lucas” came in the mail from London yesterday. CP and I just laughed when we saw it. The FBI has not contacted CP and he is VERY disappointed that he won’t be able to help them with a “sting.” LOL. We posted our place on Craigslist again and despite a bunch of showings this weekend, no one has signed a lease. It truly is a renter’s market right now.

*Things at work are verrrrry slow. It makes for very long work days. Trying to look busy. Reorganizing my file cabinet (yes, it’s that bad). Unfortunately it is just a slow time in the department that I am working in. Hopefully it picks up soon.

*After the debacle in December of my boss finding out that I was trying to get an internal transfer in my company to Denver, I think that I need to tell her if I get a second interview with the other company in Denver. I don’t want to burn any bridges here and I am very grateful that she did hire me. I just will dread having to bring up that conversation. I don’t think that she has any idea that I have also been looking to move out west through other means (i.e. outside employment). I do think that she will be more upset if I don’t tell her though.

*Anyone else watch Survivor out there? I LOVE the Heroes v. Villains idea. Although some people aren’t fans of “All-Star” seasons, I love them because you already know about someone’s personality or the way that they played the game before the game even starts. It’s difficult to have one person to root for though. Although I know a lot of people hate Boston Rob, he’s hilarious and very cunning. Thus I want him to win. But then I also like James, Colby or Amanda. Regardless who wins, it should be a fun season.

*Or does anyone watch The Real Housewives of the OC? This season has been fascinating. Alexis hasn’t spent a night away from her husband in five years of marriage and doesn’t seem to have a thought of her own. Tamra seems to also have a controlling husband and who is now getting divorced. Lynne getting an eviction notice from her new landlord right after having what was probably an expensive housewarming party. Then flying to San Francisco with the girls and buying a $1000+ jacket. She definitely seems like she has no idea of what is going on in her life- either financially or with her kids. Despite the fact that I didn’t like Vicki in prior seasons, she has seemed to have softened a bit. Not as controlling with her kids, nicer to her husband, etc. Maybe seeing herself on tv was a wake-up call?

Any random things on your mind today?

Long weekend

So how did everyone’s weekend turn out? With CP gone, I was somewhat productive.

*I cleared the DVR of shows that CP refuses to watch with me. Examples: Grey’s Anatomy, Celebrity Rehab, Survivor.

*I went to a friend’s Mary Kay party. Although I bought a lot of MK stuff (and still use it) from a bridal party that I went to over a year ago, I thought that I would support her anyway…plus I needed a new bottle of moisturizer! I was really glad that I went because I actually learned how to put on bottom lid eyeliner without it looking goth or weird. Score! And then went I went to pick CP up from his bus from NYC, I was able to replicate the look all by myself. Double score! (This is quite the feat for me as I have had some of the same eye shadows for SIX YEARS. And generally only put on upper-lid eyeliner- with a brush and using powder.)

*I cleaned the house and did the laundry.

*I went on two trail runs at a local State Park. One was with Fuzzy Britches- it was great that she can finally run with me! Yesterday I ended up running four miles which is longer than I usually get to run in my 30 minute lunch-time workouts during the week. YAY!

*I watched the first eight episodes of Dexter Season Two. I first watched Dexter when CBS showed it in primetime during the actor’s strike a few years ago. I totally got hooked, but haven’t had the time to watch the rest of the seasons. With CP gone, I sat down for an eight hour marathon on Saturday and it was great!! I can’t wait to get the next four episodes in the mail from Blockbuster and then continue on to the Third Season! (no spoilers please!)

*I cooked Valentine’s Day dinner for CP. He was a bit hungover and tired from the bachelor party in NYC, but was very appreciative of the meal that I put together. I made Steak Tips with Peppery Mushroom Gravy, which despite the recipe being from Cooking Light and therefore somewhat-healthy, the meal was great! I would totally make it again. I also made Rich Potato Flatbread….which was somewhat of a bust. The end result tasted good, but they took a long time to cook and weren’t the right consistency. I will perfect the recipe before putting it up for you guys. Then for dessert I baked a few sugar cookies and as a joke, wrote “I LOVE YOU” (one letter per cookie) in red icing. The extra five cookies I put hearts on. Hee hee. Totally cheesy, but I thought that it was also cute.

How was your weekend? Did you get a long weekend too?

Rant

Thank goodness I have my friend J to rant about the awful state of CT. We both work here and have some of the same thoughts about this pathetic excuse for a state. Let me give you a few reasons as to why I wouldn’t be unhappy if this state suddenly disappeared:

*One of the highest property tax rates in the country.
*Oldest population in the country outside AZ and FL
*It is a pile of nothingness between Boston and NYC
*There are no big cities in this state- the few “semi-cities” are run-down and depressing
*The population of CT? White, preppy and boring.
*Despite it being a small state, you have to drive a lot to get anywhere
*The population of CT is about 3.5 million people; yet the state makes you feel so isolated.
*The state has an uppity “I’m better than you” stance towards people that are not from CT.
*Joe Lieberman is a CT senator.

The one good thing about this state? ESPN.

I could make some disparaging comments about NJ too, but CT has taken its place as the #1 place I never want to go to. I mean at least NJ has given us the magic that is Jersey Shore. Sorry people of CT…but your state sucks donkey b*lls.

Celebration

Last Thursday was my birthday! Most of the day was spent up in NH for a boring conference. Afterwards I headed back home, stopping at the RMV on the way to get my new drivers license!* The rest of the night was spent on the couch watching bad tv (aka Jersey Shore) and snuggling with CP. My magical birthday dinner consisted of Chinese food….because any calories that you ingest on your birthday don’t count, right? RIGHT???? Overall, the day was pretty good although CP got annoyed that I kept calling it my annual “pretty princess day.” Ha!

CP gave me the option to either go out to dinner for my birthday or have him make me something. I opted for him to make me something and I’m pretty sure that I confused him as to what I wanted…..mainly on the entrée. I requested fall-apart beef with some kind of flavorful sauce. Poor guy. He ended up going all-out with a delicious dinner of:

-Red Pepper and Corn Bisque (similar to the soup we had at our wedding- but with corn added in because he knows me so well!)
-Mussels in White Wine Sauce (the dinner we were having when he proposed- no diamonds included with this dinner though)
-Mushroom Risotto
-Braised Leeks/Swiss chard/Fennel
-Falling-apart braised beef with a homemade flavorful sauce that he made up

The dinner was ridonkulously good and I’m so excited to have leftovers tonight! CP might not always be romantic, but he spent a lot of time on this meal. He truly is an amazing cook.


*So far, no problems with moving my maiden name to my middle name. I’m not quite sure what all of the fuss was about!

Why I need to take an SVU hiatus

Why I need to take an SVU hiatus

By Nonsequitur Chica

Last Monday on my second to last day of work down in DC I arrived at my metro stop and got off the train. I walked towards the escalator and could have sworn that I saw a bloody severed hand. I kept staring at it as I made my way towards the exit, but couldn’t quite make out exactly what it was. No one else in the metro station seemed to be checking it out so I decided not to deviate from my usual path. In my mind I then decided that what looked like the base of the severed hand was too clean of a cut for it to actually BE a severed hand, so that I would forget about it.

I also decided that I clearly watched too much Law & Order: SVU this spring while in DC. CP doesn’t like the show so when I was able to DVR that baby while in DC? Oh I DVR’ed the heck out of it. Invariably, USA would play 8 of them in a row at least one day a week, along with a couple of episodes every day. I’m not sure how long that show has been on, but I would say that I have now watched most of the episodes. Yeah they weren’t in order so I would get confused when one day Ice-T was hanging out with Richard Belzer, and then the next day Belzer would have a totally different partner. I also couldn’t figure out when Mariska Hargitay was off having one of her babies or off because she had pneumonia. *shrugs*

All I know is that due to my excessive SVU-watching, I thought that I saw a severed bloody hand in a metro station. I still have no idea what would have looked enough like a bloody hand to catch my attention. But I think that some time off of SVU is warranted. Then I won’t think that I found severed body parts in public transit systems!!

NBC shouldn’t be worried though….I’ll be back come fall for the new episodes! :-)

Weekend wrap-up

I had a bit of an interesting weekend. Friday night started off with dinner at a Mexican restaurant with one of my friends. He and I then went to see the movie “Earth.” Because we went during the first week of its release, Disney is going to plant a tree! :-) If you have not seen the BBC/ Discovery channel “Planet Earth” shows, then I would highly recommend on going to this movie. Unfortunately, CP and I own the Blu-Ray DVDs of the show so I had seen most of the footage. Oh well.

Saturday I had full intentions on working out before heading out to the Shecky’s event, but instead watching Law and Order: SVU most of the day. I slept in until 11am (what??? I haven’t done that in forever!) and then just couldn’t motivate to do anything. That night I met up with two friends for Shecky’s Girls Night Out. We arrived a little late and were obvious newbies. We picked up out goody bags which included a number of fun things. Things such as: a full sized container of Say Yes to Carrots lotion (fantastic lotion- not greasy!), a Harlequin romance novel (ha ha ha ha), Aveeno lotion, hair styling wax, face creams, tampons, toothpaste, etc.

We made a beeline for the free alcoholic drinks, trying a new vodka with mango and passion fruit. Some designers had purses, others had jewelry, and others had shirts, dresses, tshirts, or jeans. I was surprised to see sizes from extra small to 4XL!

While I didn't buy any clothes or purse, I did find a couple of adorable pieces of jewelry. I bought the two necklaces below and a bracelet.

Baci Designs

Fontini Designs

Even if you decide not to go to a Shecky’s event you can visit the event website to check out the webpages for the different designers. Because not all of the designers make it to every city, you can buy their wares via Paypal.

A gourmet food booth did really well as there was no other food at the event. I ended up buying frozen drink mix from them- you put the mix and a bottle of wine into a ziplock bag, stick it in the freezer for a couple of hours and voila! It tastes like a frozen slushy sangria. Yum. My friend and I figured with the hot weather here in DC we can have some fun by the pool. :-)

Overall, it was fun to get some free drinks and shop with friends. Afterwards we went out to a badly-needed dinner and then out to the bar. I didn’t end up getting home until 3:30am and the next day, boy was I hungover! Thankfully the goodie bag also included Alka Seltzer Wake up Call- both a headache reliever and caffeine tablet to wake you up after a long night of drinking. It actually worked!

Already sick of being sick

So this whole getting sick thing? Really stinks. I woke up last night because snot was dripping out of my nose. Ewww. CP also seems to have picked up some version of my sickness because he claims to have a sore throat. He certainly has picked up the volume with his snoring the past couple of days....

I truly know that I am sick when I am not hungry. And I have not been hungry since Monday night. With a sore throat all I want is soup and tea. CP and I did have a bunch of salads planned for the week, but those plans had to be scrapped for homemade chicken soup.

The one good thing about being sick? You lose weight really quickly. As in, 5 pounds in three days. But losing that much weight so quickly is not healthy (unless you are in the first week of The Biggest Loser). I am trying to drink tons of fluids so that I stay hydrated and hopefully I will get over my sickness soon. Saturday we are meeting CP's dad out for dinner at a Portugese restaurant and I want to be able to taste it!

The Bachelor

I didn't watch this past season of The Bachelor. I had watched it in the past, but CP is not a huge fan of some of my reality shows, so I have cut down on a lot of them. However, I do read a blog about reality tv shows, so I knew that "THE MOST SHOCKING BACHELOR FINALE EVER" was going to happen this week. I decided to DVR the after the rose ceremony.

The next day, everyone was talking about Jason and how he proposed to one girl, only to figure out 6 weeks later that he actually was in love with the girl that he dumped on the final show. People were calling him an "a**hole" or "the douchelor." You get the point.

Now, I think that it was a d*ck move to break up with the girl he proposed to on national television. Why not do it before the show so that she is not shocked? However, these people only date for what? 6 weeks before he is supposed to make a decision? He didn't spend those entire 6 weeks with one girl- he is dating a bunch at the same time. People always make fun of The Bachelor because the couples all break up after the show. Well what do you expect?

They are taken on "fantasy dates" that would AT BEST happen once a year on an anniversary in the real world AND they are in a vacuum. No dealing with work, family, friends, other stresses, etc. while you are on the show. No internet or television either (the horror!). How can you fully be yourself when you know you are on national television and you have no distractions?

If the girl he proposed to wasn't the one, then kudos to him for figuring that out. Why have yet another divorce happen if you figure out the mistake before the wedding?

The previous bachelor that rejected both girls? Good for him to recognize that neither girl was right for him. The previous bachelor that gave the girl a promise ring instead of a wedding ring? Good for him for standing up to producers and refusing to propose if he wasn't sure or ready.

Don't get me wrong....I feel awful for the girl that got proposed to, and then dumped on national television. Like she said, he ruined the chance that she would get one and only one proposal in her life. But it is better that he figure it out sooner rather than later.

*Interested in seeing emails between the dumpor and the dumpee? Check out here.