Can't Lose

I went to California over the weekend where I

*saw the beach
*ate a burrito
*shopped at Forever 21
*watched a high school swim-a-thon
*learned the meaning of "erotic rice"
*met my dear friend's fantastic wife and their little alien
*caught up with people I love
*flirted back with a 23 year old surfer
*found evidence that the sun exists
*laughed until I cried
*got some food poisoning that is still making me a little miserable

So besides the part where I threw up all night in a house that was not my own, it was a good trip and a nice thaw to my freezing cold North East soul. Reminder to me-plan that sunny drenched trip for January or February if you want to survive the next winter! Today I got really, really fantastic news though...

My show is getting two more seasons!!! I haven't bombarded you with posts this year about Friday Night Lights but that is mostly because just about everyone is watching it now so I don't have to. But if you aren't, I promise you are missing out. The third season has been spectacular.

Hey Mon

If you need further proof as to why I think my family is so great, I give you exhibit a

Because A) I have a sister-in-law who gifted such a thing B) i have a brother and sister-in-law who put it on their kid and C) I have a mother who sent out the photos. It's no wonder I miss them!!!

Fast One

OK, so I definitely tried to just slip that job thing into the last post like it was no big deal. The truth is I've hardly been telling anyone and I don't really have a great reason for that.

About three weeks ago I moved over to be a Marketing Manager for the parent company that owns the brand I was working for. You know, the job I uprooted my entire life for and moved to Boston to take? Yeah, for reasons both numerous and boring I decided that the fashion world and I were not clicking and in a move that was both unexpected and super kind, my company allowed me to pursue a position within that made better sense with my sport background. So I took on Women's Fitness and Golf (I know, I am learning one million things about a sport that is totally new to me but so far, I can totally see why people like it so much!) for a brand whose name I would rather not type in this post but I will give you a clue: Big Cat.

It's a really good move and I feel enormously grateful to my company for being willing to let me make the switch. It's a pretty killer opportunity and especially in this economy (I hate that I just said that. boo.) I know just how lucky I am.

The downside of course being that it's hard to be the new girl and even though I only moved about 20 yards down from my old desk, the big brand is like another planet and there is a ton to learn. I have a quick jaunt to HB this weekend that will be a good way to unwind a little after what had been-here I go again-a tough year.

So there it is.

Example

I got a new job a few weeks ago. I feel like I've been trying to drink out of a fire hose ever since. So I haven't really been doing much but working working working and trying to catch up on sleep on Saturday.

There were two highlights to the weekend though, my roommate and I went to see I Love You Man on friday night which was just delightful. I have developed something of a monster crush on Jason Segal over the years and pretty much any girl my age fell in love with Paul Rudd along with Alicia Silverstone when he was in Clueless so it pretty much had me at hello.

Saturday looked like it was going to be a perfect day so I got all excited and decided to ride my bike over to a friend's house and then go for a run with her. Five minutes into my ride I realized my legs had gone numb, my fingers were frozen and it was WAY COLDER THEN IT LOOKED. So I went right back home, got in the car, drove to Linda's and talked she and Nat into lunch instead. We spent two hours on a long overdue outing in Harvard Square where we not only got rock star parking (trust me, you have no idea, you can lose decades off your life in that place and we found a spot on our first try. Unprecedented.) but also our waiter knew JUST when to bring new chips and how often the Diet Cokes should be replaced.

It's the simple pleasures people.

Irrational

I was up at 6:00 this morning and totally feeling homicidal about it. So why am I still up at midnight???

GO TO BED.

Hey You!

My voicemail box will only save messages for 21 days and then it asks me if I want to continue saving. Every 21 days since July 15 I have listened to my sister say "Larrybird is here!" and then pressed 9 so I can hear it again in three weeks. I love this kid.



Pretty excited that nephew two, aka "ox" at the moment, is due next month.

Electric Frog

I did the most FUN THING EVER this weekend...

Are you ready for this?

I


went


running


OUTSIDE!!!

That's right, it was not snowing or sleeting or freezing outside this weekend so I put on my forlorn little running shoes and hit the pavement. It felt a-mazing. I am afraid I had forgotten how nice it is to breathe real air while you work out. I had also forgotten that this girl is a straight up happier person anytime the sun is involved. Thanks for the teaser Boston, I know I had better not get too comfortable though...I'll bet there is still an ice storm or something lurking around the corner.

In other good news, I was trolling through iTunes today and remembered that Toad the Wet Sprocket can knock the damn wind out of me with their awesomeness. This little number became a favorite when a boy I had a MONSTER crush on in college played it during one of the lunchtime "Unplugged" concerts. He was super cute and super uninterested but at least all that wasted energy yielded a musical treasure. And a really embarrassing story I will never share on the blog but you might get lucky and hear it in person someday. In the meantime, this song is seriously so good.

Sleep Debt

We only lost one hour over the weekend but I have yet to recover. This week has been near constant meetings and work dinners and being chained to my blackberry. I have stuff to say though so I'll be back. After I sleep.

Sharing Time

I was gchatting with a friend of mine tonight who is in design school right now. We were talking about how sometimes jobs/school/life can drain the creativity right out of a person. Which is especially frustrating to people who work in a creative field. He sent me a link to a talk about creativity in the education system. It's a great talk and frankly, a great website with talks about everything from design to business to technology by really smart, interesting, insightful folks. I l sort of wish I could have dinner parties every night with five or six of these folks at a time. So check it out, but don't surprised if you end up wondering where a few hours went...

Ted.

Resolve

So it's March 5 and guess what..I am STILL GOING STRONG ON A NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION! I am so proud of myself.

The goal was to keep a gratitude journal. As I might have mentioned, (ahem, maybe a little too much) this has not been my most favorite year of ever. But I'm a smart enough girl to know that I'm still living a pretty blessed little existence and I wanted to do a better job of noticing and being thankful for the good things. Tonight I have just a few I wanted to share.

1. This guy. I still struggle to really explain how much this nephew business has changed me. I love this kid to distraction. And I can't even imagine what it's going to be like when his cousin arrives in like six weeks. I know-pretty much everyone has one of these but he still feels like this crazy miracle every single time I see those big fluttery eyes.


2. I was listening to el iPod on the way to work today and this came on

I sang along at the top of my lungs and even though I knew I had one of those days from hell coming at me, I felt a little bit better walking into that office. I love Carole King, I love my iPod, I love music.

3. I love my snuggly bed. I get so excited to get in it every night. It's super comfy, super warm and I have all the blankets and pillows my little heart could desire. It's no wonder I have such a tough time getting out of it every day.

4. I'm thankful that I actually enjoy exercising. That doesn't mean I am always good at finding the time to do it and in the winter sometimes the last thing I want to do is go take off my clothes in a locker room BUT, I really genuinely enjoy it and I legitimately miss it when I don't go. I went tonight after work for the first time in a week or so and it. was. awesome.

5. Airplanes. I am so thankful for these bad boys. Especially the one that is going to take me on a little weekend break to California at the end of the month.

6. I was sitting in a meeting today and out of nowhere this really great little memory just popped into my head and made me feel really, really good. I love our when our brains know exactly what we need.

7. My roommate just walked in with hot fries. For me. Awwww. Good roommates=major blessing

I could get to 10 but you see, it's getting late and I have a gratitude journal entry to write ; )

Egg

Apples

The day after I graduated from high school I left on a trip to New York City for a week. It was, of course, mind-blowingly awesome. I mean, who goes to New York and says "meh". It simply doesn't allow you to be anything but impressed. Now over the years there are plenty of other cities I have fallen in love with and frankly, if you offered me an apartment in San Francisco or New York, I would likely pick the West. I adore New York but I think ultimately it's sort of like having a crush on an actor. My imaginary NYC life is probably much more glam then my actual existence in the city would be. So I've been pleased as can be over the years to have jobs or live in places with easy access to it. It's one of the many things I would love to say to the little 17 year old bouncing around Times Square and sort of thinking this would be her one chance to visit-don't worry kid, you are going to have loads of adventures in this place someday. And every single visit will feel just a little bit magical.

This weekend my grandparents were out on the East Coast visiting my uncle in Philly and they called to see if perhaps I could meet them the day they trekked into the city. Clearly there was not much in the way of persuading to be done and I drove down Saturday morning, spent the day with friends and then met up with them Sunday. I saw some old friends from RYKA who were in town for a convention, I ate amazingly delicious things with Catherine, talked about philosophy and chocolate with Dustin and Steven, and slept in a bright loft in Brooklyn with a fluffy cat keeping watch. The next day I caught up with these handsome folks



Sometimes I get really homesick when I see pictures of my siblings going up to Logan to hang out with my grandparents. They are so lucky to have that kind of easy access. However, I did get to show them Central Park and the WTC site so..


As you can see, goofiness is hereditary.

As is Diet Coke appreciation

Boys take note, this lovely grandmother of mine is almost 80. I have her DNA.

I drove home just in time to miss all the crappy snow that dumped on the East Coast last night, feeling very spoiled in the family/friend/life in general department. It was a good weekend.

I Saw the Sign

The boy who used to tease me until I cried in seventh grade just sent a Facebook friend request and has turned out to be perfectly nice adult.

Aren't we all so so glad that junior high didn't actually set our place in life like we were so convinced it was going to at the time??