Thursday, February 26, 2009

You ride that bike like a possessed gorilla

I decided to hit up the gym after work today in my quest to get toned before I go to Aruba (23 days!) Since I've been under the spell of this ridiculously long lasting cold that seems to be going around, I decided to take it easy and go for a little ride on a stationary bike. 

Despite my sore bum, I was having a nice time reading my book (which is so good by the way...it's "American Wife" by Curtis Sittenfeld) and enjoying the fact the no one was on the bikes around me. 

And then this wannabe-exercise-guru guy sporting a sleeveless T-shirt (ew) came over and plopped down on the bike next to me. Now there were plenty of other bikes there, but he chose the one next to me...and the mirror (which I later realized). 

So I was still pedaling away when I started to notice that this guy seemed to be going at it on his bike. He was jumping up and down, thrusting forward, grunting, breathing heavily etc.. It was really awkward. I tried to ignore him, but then I noticed him moving his arms about as if he was fist pumping. Oh yes, he was dancing. On his bike. At he gym. While looking in the mirror. And it wasn't long before he started singing along with his iPod out loud while smiling at his own reflection.  

I didn't think it could get any better until he started flexing his muscles while he danced and gyrated on the bike. I burst out laughing. Luckily, I turned away before he noticed me looking (I didn't want to give him the attention he wanted). But then  I could feel his sweaty little face turned toward mine, and could see that he was still going at it. I refused to look at him. 

He started to sing louder and was practically flailing about on his bike, begging to be noticed. He looked like some kind of possessed beefed-up gorilla. I think he was about two seconds away from pounding his fists against his chest and letting out a Tarzan-like roar. Was he trying to mate with me? It sure seemed like it. (shudder)

As I was about to burst out laughing again, my bike beeped to let me know my time was up. I quickly hopped off and made a beeline for the mats in the back room before I could laugh in front of him.

Anyway, just had to share that. I love ridiculous people. Happy almost Friday, everyone!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Spread the love

Last week, I was SO excited to see that I got my second award. And  of course, I found out about this fabulous award during my sangria-induced haze (before passing out in the Snuggie), so I was extra excited. I believe I even gave a loud "whoop" when I read about it. James from On a Whim (love it!) gave me this little beauty:

So thank you, thank you, thank you a million times over. I love it! Getting these awards means so much to me. I love all my readers so much and the little comments you all leave always make my day. I still get so excited when I get the email telling me that someone has commented on a post. It's one of the best feelings in the world. So thank you. You guys are the best! (Yes, I know I seem excessively excited, but you'll have to excuse me. I've eaten my body weight in sugar today. Happy Fat Tuesday!)

So now I get to nominate ten blogs I love to receive the award. My ten (in no particular order) are:


So now it's your turn to spread the love. You must nominate ten blogs, link their blogs, and mention my blog in order to get this fabulous award.

Now on to a completely unrelated topic...I need your help. The other day I noticed my blog post count as I was looking through my blogger account and realized that I am almost to my 100th post. 100. Can you believe it? I know I can't. 

So I feel like the 100th post is a big deal. When I started this blog, I thought I'd be lucky if I got to 20 before I gave up. But here I am, almost to 100. And I want to make it fun, exciting and  a bit special. Now I'm not going to pop out my brother's blogger triplets like in the 100th episode of Friends, but I want to do something cool (for lack of a better word).

So my question to you is...what should I do? What do people do for their 100th? I'm still relatively new to the blogging world, so I just wanted to see what you guys think. Anything you want to know about me? Pictures you want to see? Funny stories you want to hear? Or something else entirely? Please let me know! I'd love to hear your suggestions. Thanks a million!

Monday, February 23, 2009

Hark! My beating heart hath no love for the opera.

A few weeks ago, my friend and I decided on a whim to get tickets to the opera. We both had never been and had always wanted to go, so we decided to go to the show currently playing at the Lyric Opera House: Tristan und Isolde. Little did we know that it was a 5 hour show. Yes, 5 hours. And all in German (such a pretty language...or not).

Our big opera debut was last Friday night. I was excited, but also a bit scared. I was afraid I wouldn't like it and then be stuck there for the whole show. And my fears immediately came true as I quickly realized that opera is not for me. I was expecting it to be just like in Pretty Woman. I'd be Julia Roberts (minus the dazzling jewels, evening gown and studly date), and be caught up in the story, swept up in the beautiful words and bawl my eyes out over the power of the music. Yeah, not so much. 

The story was...okay. The singing was nice, yes, but very boring. My friend and I laughed out loud a few times as we read the English subtitles that scrolled across the top of the stage. They were singing things like:

My beating heart is thumping in exaltation!

Hark! Heed the wary night which covers thou in its gentle, deceptive beauty.

My heart will perish without my beloved near my bosom

Ok so those weren't exactly what they said, but pretty darn close. It was hilarious. And the same things were said over and over and over again...they could have told that story in 20 minutes, did a little song and dance, and be done with it.

The first act was okay. But then the second act nearly did me in. As I sat there listening to Tristan and Isolde singing about how they would surely die if the other person died because the word "and" connects them forever, I really thought I was going to die of boredom. As I realized my friend fell asleep and I was alone in my suffering, I became fixated on the girl next to me who kept scratching her arm over and over and over again. It was sick. So I tried to tune her out by leaning my head back and counting the decorative vents over our seats (we were in the back, no worries).

As soon as the lights went on for the second intermission, my friend and I took one look at each other and decided we had to leave right then and there. So with two hours left in the show, we packed up our belongings and proudly strutted out of the opera house. I felt like a total dropout, but at least I was a dropout who could go home, get in her pjs and watch Good Will Hunting on TBS.

It's not that I don't appreciate the arts, I just don't think opera is my thing. I know eventually I'll go back and try again (maybe), but I think I need to try one that's like Opera for Dummies. Eh, we'll see.

Outside of my little burst opera bubble, I just had to share my experience from Saturday night. After a long night I climbed into my cab...and immediately discovered that my driver was singing. Loudly. And not in English. It's not like he was singing along to the radio. He was belting out a slow, soulful, spiritual song. I felt like I was intruding on a personal moment, so I tried to sit there as quietly as possible

Until I realized that my driver was on the phone. And the man on the other end of the bluetooth was harmonizing with him, singing just as loudly on his end. I nearly burst out laughing. (It reminded me of The Office when Andy had the guys from Here Comes Treble singing with him over the speakerphones.) But then he started singing in English and it really was a beautiful song. It was very soothing. When he dropped me off, I complimented him on his nice singing voice and he seemed shocked that I had heard him singing. I don't know how that surprised him since I was sitting about 8 inches from him, but oh well. Just another interesting cab ride here in Chicago!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Words from a One Drink Wonder

Last night I went out for tapas and sangria with some of my friends. We had a fabulous time, but I accidentally drank a little too much. And by too much, I mean I had like 3 glasses of sangria. I am a total One Drink Wonder. One beer gets me buzzed. One glass of wine gets me drunk. One margarita makes me dance...A LOT (and not well). The only time I ever really had a decent tolerance was when I was in Ireland. Over there I drank Stella and Bulmers like they were going out of style. 

So anyway, I got home last night around 9:15 and was completely zonked. I immediately felt inspired to write a blog post, so I sat down at my computer and started typing away. Except I really had no point and no idea where I was going with the post. So I decided to take a break, threw on my super comfy Snuggie, put on Top Chef...and passed out. I fell into a deep, deep, deep sleep. 

I blame the Snuggie. It's just too damn snuggley and fuzzy. It's snuzzy.

So I woke up 4 hours later, rushed to get ready for bed and after chugging a gallon of water, I fell back to sleep. When I woke up this morning, I read over the attempted blog post and laughed out loud. I have no idea where I was going with it, but I thought I'd post it for you anyway:

Title: Sangria Tingles

After a lovely tapas dinner and two liters of fruitylicious sangria, my friend and I hit up the grocery store to pick up a few things. Corrrecton: She had to pick up a few things. I just stood there swaying in the breeze, giggling at the toilet paper and staring at the sparkly floor tiles. Did I mention that only two of us split the two liters of sangria? And that red wine gets me drunker than...ok well, really drunk. I can't even think of a metaphor right now. My mind keeps going to some kind of Dumbo/LSD reference, but that just doesn't seem right.

And besides, I'm super anti-drug. I mean, seriously, I was a finalist in the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) essay contest at my grade school. How cool (and lame) am I? I got to read my super cool anti-drug essay in front of the whole school. Too bad 80% of my grade school classmates were/are addicted to drugs at some point. Way to go, kids. I actually don't talk to anyone from my grade school anymore...is that weird? I feel like I'm missing a chunk of my life sometimes.

Annnnnyway. As we were leaving out, this tall, skinny, bundled-up homeless man call out to us. He kept saying, "Miss, miss, please help me, I'm homeless."

Ok so yes, I felt bad, but we just kind of shuffled by him to the car. I get weird about that stuff...I just don't know what's real or not.

So as we walked by him, a guy came out of the store. The homeless man started chanting at him and the random man just said, "Oh man, the UFOs are going to get us! It's all the UFOs!"

The guy then walked by us, pointed right at us and said, "I hope you stay middle class."

Then he started mumbling about UFOs again and walked quickly toward his little Jetta. Yes, Jetta. How odd.


And that was where I stopped writing. I just found it amusing and thought you might, too. That grocery store thing really happened last night, but now it just feels like a dream. Weird.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Lying gets me all hot and bothered

And not in a good way.

I cannot tell a lie. It's like I'm George Washington, only without the cherry tree. And the fancy powdered wig.

When I try to lie, my voice gets all high-pitched, I start to sweat, my eyes dart back and forth, and I tend to ramble on and on and one without making any sense at all. 

Late yesterday morning I had a doctor's appointment in the suburbs. It was just an annual checkup, but one that I had to make 6 months in advance. She's like a celebrity doctor or something (Actually, she kind of is. A Chicago Bears player and his wife went into labor while I was there last time). You have to schedule appointments with her months and months in advance—it's crazy.

So my appointment was at 10:30am on a work day. I don't know what I was thinking when I scheduled it, but with really inconvenient train times back to the city, there was no way I was going to be able to make it in to work for even half a day. I had no personal days left and there was no way I was going to use a precious vacation day to sit in a waiting room...

I knew I had to take a sick day. I've never played hooky before, so I was pumped. I felt like such a badass. But as last week progressed, I got more and more nervous, especially after the dreaded layoffs. Starting on Tuesday afternoon, I had permanent knots in my stomach. I saw that I had projects due on Monday, I saw that everyone was super stressed and I kept trying to go over my "sick" excuse a million times. 

Should I say I had food poisoning? A cold? Lack of sleep? Black lung? The plague? Ulcer? Ingrown toenail? Cramps? I was freaking out. 

So when Friday rolled around, I was a wreck. I was SO nervous to tell a lie, especially to my boss. I felt like I was walking around with a huge dirty secret or something. My nerves kept building and building and building...

And before I knew was I was doing, I marched right into my boss's office late Friday afternoon and had an explosion of disgusting, nonsensical verbal vomit. In one long, run-on sentence, I told him that my doctor's office had just called to remind me of an appointment I had on Monday that I made 6 months ago and I just had to go to because I had to get something checked out and it's impossible to see her and I was going to call in sick and...

Yeah, that didn't sound sketchy at ALL. I was SO embarrassed. Luckily, he gave me the okay (along with a look that said, "why the hell didn't you just call in sick?") and I ran out of there like a scared little rabbit. And then I sat at my desk and hung my head in shame. Why the hell didn't I just tell a little white lie? It would have sounded better than the lame excuse (AKA the truth) that I came up with. God only knows what he thought I was really doing yesterday...

So I was out "sick" yesterday and when I came back today, every single person in my office asked how I was feeling. I forgot that people would notice my absence now that my office is tiny. And I didn't know what the heck to tell them. I told one girl I had to see my doctor, another guy I was too tired, a handful of people think I had a nasty cold and one guy is now wondering whether I had a run in with tainted peanut butter. Toward the end of the day, my reply was something like, "Oh you know...fine. Just one of those things, you know. Going around. Better now. Just the weekend, you know. Things like that." Completely vague. A total Michael Scott answer.

And that is why I completely suck at the game "Two Truths and a Lie". 

Monday, February 16, 2009

Snuggie Love

Ahh, sorry for being completely MIA for a while there. I spent all night Thursday making peanut butter bon-bons for my boyfriend, was up in Milwaukee all weekend and then was up at my parents' house last night and just got back a half hour ago....phew! I somehow managed to squeeze in two big shopping sprees (swimsuits, books, gym shoes, eek!), a trip to see Confessions of a Shopaholic, a Mariokart marathon, some quality time with the bf, another Marquette basketball game, a couple of crazy nights out, a plate of green eggs and ham, and a trip to the doctor. Yikes bikes.

And great news! As of this weekend, I am a very proud owner of a Snuggie (feel free to laugh). Yep, my boyfriend surprised me with a red Snuggie AND book light (free with purchase, of course) for Valentine's Day. He even bought himself one to match. Hilarious, right? I have to admit, they are ridiculously comfortable. I napped in mine on Saturday and it was probably the best nap of my life.

Over the last few days I've realized that I am absolutely incapable of telling a lie (a story for another time), I'm developing some kind of food allergy (not sure what though), I'm terrible at Mariokart on the Wii and that you guys have really interesting stories. So thanks for sharing! 

And is it sad that I love Mondays because of The Bachelor? It's such a terrible show, but I love
 every single overly-dramatic second. I can't even wait...

UPDATE:
I suppose I couldn't write about the Snuggie without posting some pictures. Silly me. So I tried to show off just how true some of the claims from the Snuggie infomercial really are:


Oh my goodness, you really can read a book and still keep your arms warm! Thank God.




Yes, it's true. You can use your hands to talk on the phone, use the computer, eat a snack, brush your hair, whatever AND still stay warm. Is there anything you can't do in a Snuggie? 
I think not.

If you haven't seen the infomercial, you need to watch it now:


You can even hold a baby? (gasp) It's a Snuggie miracle.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

I'll show you mine if you show me yours

So out of a little bit of tiredness, a pinch of laziness and a whole lot of writer's block, I'm all about an interactive post tonight. Sounds fun, right? Basically, I'll tell you something interesting/odd/bizarre about myself, if you tell me something interesting about yourself. It could be something funny, a random fact, a little story, a tasty tidbit...anything. I always read your comments at work and it keeps me entertained throughout the day. And this week, I could definitely use some entertainment.

With that said, I now present to you:

My Opposable (Man) Thumb Toes

Check out those monstrosities. Aren't they glorious? Eh, not so much. These little beauties are constantly getting noticed, as in "Wow, Pam, your toes are HUGE!" Yes, I'm well aware, thank you. I used to be embarrassed about them because they really look like men's thumbs, but now I embrace them. Freshman year of college I realized that I could pick up a pen with my toes and write with them (My roommate and I were always looking for ways to procrastinate.) I soon discovered that I could give a double "thumbs up" with them, pick up beer mugs and bottles with them, and type with them. It was pretty cool.

Sure, they sometimes make buying shoes a bit difficult...they even reshaped a pair of round-toe shoes. Yep, now they're square-toed. Fun, huh?

Oddly enough, I HATE feet. I get soooo grossed out by them. But for some reason, my own big toes really fascinate me. I know I don't have "pretty" feet, but at least I have them. And they provide a nice big canvas for bright pink nail polish. And hey, my opposable thumb toes make for an interesting "hidden talent". 

Ok so there's my little tidbit. What's yours? 

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Lookin' on the bright side

Today was rough. It was like someone sucked all the life out of my office. Everyone walked around, heads hanging low, trying not to look at the 5 now empty cubicles. A few of the people who were laid off came back late last night to clean out there desks, leaving only the random highlighters and stray papers strewn about. It's so depressing. And since my two cubicle neighbors are now gone, it's like working in a graveyard.

The office is silent, somber and altogether sucky. And after our company meeting this morning in which we were told how terrible our situation (tied together with the economy) really is, no one felt like doing anything. 

So while I sat there completely unmotivated today, I started looking ahead to the fun things I have coming up to cheer myself up.

Valentine's Day—Though not my favorite holiday (sorry, Hallmark), I do love spending time with my boyfriend. And I finally get to see him again this weekend after a very long two weeks. Not only that, it's also our 3-year anniversary. Wow. 3 years. That's a long time...

The Opera—I'm looking forward to this out of sheer amusement and curiosity. My friend and I both wanted to get tickets to the opera since neither of us had ever been before. So she looked up and saw that Tristan and Isolde was playing in Chicago and went ahead and bought tickets...without realizing how long it was. It's 5 HOURS. 5! We both agreed if we get too bored/antsy/tired, we'll sneak out and go to a bar. Sounds like a plan to me.

St. Patrick's Day—I LOVE St. Paddy's Day. Next to Christmas, it's my absolute favorite holiday. It's an entire day dedicated to all things Irish, what's not to love? You get to wear lots of green (I do every day anyway), blast Irish music and drink green beer all day. It's the best. And usually, my office closes down that day and we all head to an Irish pub with clients to drink all day. Unfortunately, with the layoffs, it looks like that might not be happening this year. Such a bummer.

Aruba—We leave March 21st and I can't even wait. The beautiful weather today reminded me of how much I love being out in the warm sunshine. It's going to be amaaaazing. I can't stop looking at pictures of all the beaches and palm trees there...

Plus, I have a bunch of friends' birthday coming up, a visit from my boyfriend's parents, a high school reunion, a book/wine club meeting and some fantastic Marquette basketball games thrown in, too. All before April. 

Despite the work situation, it looks like I'm finally crawling my way out of the winter slump and I couldn't be more excited about it. Must be all that sunshine I got today!


Monday, February 9, 2009

A big, fat reality check

I know the economy is bad. Really bad. But it's never really affected me before. I watch the news and see how terrible things are and how high the unemployment rate is, but I thought I was safe in my little Chicago copywriting bubble. 

Until today.

My company laid off 5 people this afternoon. For an office of only 22 people, that is a huge loss. Luckily, I was spared for now, but I feel completely shaken. This is the first time I've lived through a layoff and it's devastating. It was so sad saying goodbye to my coworkers. I felt guilty that I still had my job and so sad that I wouldn't get to see them on a daily basis anymore. I only really got to say goodbye to two of them—the others fled as soon as they heard the news.

I think I'm just in shock that this happened. I feel so lucky that I get to my keep my job, but it's so bittersweet. On one hand I'm relieved, but on the other hand I'm really unnerved. I still can't believe it. We have a company meeting first thing tomorrow to get the "official" word of what's going on. I'm not looking forward to it. 

This is going to be a long week...but hey, at least it's going to be "hot" tomorrow—over 60 degrees!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

If my life had a soundtrack, I hope this wouldn't be it.

I had a pretty rough morning today, starting with my smoke detector alerting me that it had a low battery at 7am. It beeped once every minute and a woman's voice shouted "BATTERY LOW". It kept going off over and over and over again. With a headache from hell and very little sleep, I was ready to jump out the window. When I tried to turn it off, it went through a test and started beeping at warp speed and screaming, "WARNING! CARBON MONOXIDE! FIRE, FIRE! GET OUT NOW!" Yeah, it was awesome. I had to crawl out of my apartment and go to CVS to get a new flippin' battery. Ugh.

So I felt a bit off all day. And because of that, I'd love to do my weekend recap tomorrow, when I'm all happy Monday is over and I'm pumped to watch The Bachelor. 

But for right now, I figured it was the perfect day to figure out my life soundtrack. I found it on zentiment and thought it might be fun. I had to start it a few times because I kept getting Christmas music and it was messing me up. 

How it works:

Each “question” you have to answer with a song
1. Open your iPod/iPhone/iTunes music library
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For the first question, type the song that’s playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button twice


My Life Soundtrack

Opening Credits: "All The Things I've Done" The Killers
Waking Up:   "Do You Want To" Franz Ferdinand
First Day at School:   “Ruby" Kaiser Chiefs
Falling in Love:  “Love and Memories" O.A.R.
Losing Virginity:  “Senorita" Justin Timberlake
Fight Song:          “Romeo and Juliet" Dire Straits
Breaking Up:    “Angel" Sarah Mclachlan
Matric farewell / Prom:     “Ring of Fire" Johnny Cash
Life:   “Pencil Thin Mustache" Jimmy Buffett
Mental Breakdown:   “White Shadows" Coldplay
Driving:   "Kite" U2
Flashback:   “No One" Alicia Keys
Getting Back Together:   “Dirt Off Your Shoulder" Jay-Z
Wedding:   "Push" Matchbox Twenty
Birth of Child:   “City of Blinding Lights" U2
Final Battle:     "Last Train Home" Ryan Star
Death Scene:   “Single Ladies" Beyonce

Wow, I didn't even know I had half those songs on my iPod. Matchbox Twenty as my wedding song? Really? At least I'm going out with a bang. Dying to Beyonce? Yikes. This is a really depressing soundtrack...

I think my real theme song is "Piña Colada in a Pint Glass" by Gaelic Storm. It's so...me. 

Exhibit A:
"She wants a piña colada in a pint glass...
She wants to be where the summer won’t stop,
She wants gin clear water and milk white sand,
A sunburned nose and a drink in her hand
With a pink umbrella on top."


They might as well have said "Pam" instead of "she". Plus, it's Irishy and beachy. Amazing.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

I'm going to sparkle like the Cullens in the sun

Tomorrow night I'm going to Snowball, an annual charity event for Children's Memorial Hospital. It's thrown by the Hospital's Junior Council, so it's basically a big party/dance for young professionals. I went last year and it was pretty fun. I just like getting dressed up...

So naturally, I want to look my best. I'm finally getting my hair cut tomorrow,  I borrowed this amazing dress from my coworker and I'm even getting my makeup done with a friend (I need to stock up on stuff anyway...). The only minor hiccup is my almost-transparent skin. It hasn't seen the sun in months. 

I'm not one to go tanning, especially in the winter, because it looks ridiculous to be tan in February in Chicago. But since my dress shows lots of skin, I thought I'd try out a self-tanner. So I headed to Sephora during my lunch today and quickly remembered why I hate that place. The salespeople are so rude!

I had to wait quite awhile until someone helped me. And even then, when I finally asked someone, she acted like I was disturbing her. Here is how our conversation went:

Me:  Excuse me, do you have a minute?
Sephora Woman: (sigh) I'll have to make one.
Me: I'm looking for a good self-tanner. I'm pretty pale...
SW: (laughs) Honey, you're not just pale, you're porcelain.
Me: Yeah I guess, so I'd like one that could look natural.

(SW went on to explain how best to use it, etc.)

Me: Well, I'm planning to use this tomorr...
SW: Oh honey, don't do it! Don't.
Me: But I have an event...
SW: I'll tell you what will happen. You'll put in on all wrong, you'll totally mess it up, you'll get it on your clothes, you'll streak it all over the place and then you'll end up crying your eyes out and having your entire night ruined. It will be a disaster.
Me: (silently staring at her, completely taken aback, mouth hanging open)
SW: Don't do it. Your pale skin is fine.
Me: Ok...well...

(SW clearly sees that I'm a bit offended.)

SW: Well, wait I have something else that might work. (She starts to lead me across the store)
SW: Might I add that you have big green eyes?
Me: Eh...yeah, I do.
(SW glances down at my dry, chapped hands)
SW: Oh my! What happened to your hands? They look terrible. Don't you moisturize?

So long story short (ok, not really), the woman really frustrated me. First my skin (I know, porcelain skin isn't bad), then my ability to put lotion on myself, then my hands.  I appreciate her advice about not getting a self-tanner, but she went about it the wrong way. Instead of being helpful, she insulted me.

But in the end, she ended up selling me this "tan enhancing lotion", AKA oil spray with tiny bronze glittery sparkles that gives my skin a nice glow. 

So now my porcelain skin will sparkle in the light...just like the Cullens.  I'm going for the vampire-sexy look tomorrow night. So fierce.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

The Office is back.

Thank goodness, I've really missed it.

Tonight's episode was hilarious. After a pretty lame season so far (seriously, what was with that horrible holiday episode?) , it was nice to laugh out loud again. I was dying when they showed Dwight's "It is your birthday."sign and the brown and black floppy balloons. And when Pam threw the Mounds Bars out during Michael's speech? So funny. 

But what was really funny was the "winter" scenery in the background. Despite the piles of fake snow strategically placed on the ground and cars splashed with fake salt stains and mud, it was hard to miss the healthy green grass and the blooming, leafy trees. Everything looked so alive. Ha. I wish winter looked like that. If you live in a warm climate, you're so lucky.

But, big news! It's supposed to be 50 here this weekend. I can't even wait. I bet ten bucks I'll see someone in shorts. No joke. I'm just excited to put my down jacket away for a few days and bust out my "lighter" winter coat. It's a heat wave!

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

The day I trekked across Chicago...and back again

I'm so glad today is over. I literally went all over the city searching for a special type of portfolio for a presentation. Did I know what I was looking for? Nope. It was like "Where's Waldo" without knowing what the hell Waldo looks like.

My day started like any other normal day. I got to work, went to my morning meeting and grabbed a Starbucks. As I walked back in from my coffee run, the art director was yelling my name from the associate creative director's office. I went straight in there and was informed that since I wasn't busy today (according to my boss), I was to run around the city doing errands for the big new business presentation that had to get finished today.

I was a bit annoyed. Perhaps if they would have asked me, I would have told them that I did in fact have a huge copy project due tomorrow that I had barely started on. But no, I couldn't say anything, so I put a little smile on my face, grabbed some petty cash, signed off of Gchat and set off on my adventure. 

5 cab rides, 4 blank stares from salespeople, 3 calls to the art director and 2 hot flashes from running in and out of the cold with my heavy coat on later, I arrived back at work with four different options for the one type of portfolio I was supposed to find. No one had actually seen the type of thing I was looking for, they just thought they knew it existed. 

And guess what? None of them worked. 

So I was sent back out after I scarfed down a quick Lean Cuisine. I was told to try Staples and this time I decided to walk. I knew it would be a fruitless effort. No way would Staples carry it. But as I walked into the store and started to wander down the aisles, I had an idea. It was like one of those lightbulb over the head moments.

The art director had vaguely mentioned something about the portfolio I was looking for having something to do with photos. So I whipped out my iPhone (I'm obsessed), searched for camera stores and found one only a block from where I was. I quickly walked over there and found one of the shadiest buildings in Chicago. It was totally unmarked, the lobby was all torn up (not for a remodel), there were light fixtures and wires hanging from the ceiling and random puddles on the floor. It was straight out of a horror movie. 

Needless to say, the camera shop I found nestled somewhere on the 5th floor of that building wasn't what I needed, but the guy did point me in the right direction...to a store about 6 blocks away. 

So I finally found the real camera store and found what I needed instantly. It was exactly what the art director described. I hopped in a cab, raced back to the office and was welcomed back as a hero. Ok, not really. But they were pretty happy.

It was late afternoon by then and I still hadn't worked on my project. And today was a day I had to leave at 5 on the dot to make it to my haircut appointment at 6.

But 5 rolled around, things still needed to be proofread and the creative team (AKA my team) was busy finishing the new biz presentation. When it started getting later, I apologized to my coworkers, ignored their dirty looks, said I had to go get a haircut, put on my coat and left.

When I got outside, another lightbulb went off in my head. What the hell was I doing? I was totally cutting out early for a haircut (yikes, pun) and I felt really guilty. I didn't know what to do. So naturally, I called my Mom and asked for advice. After a 10-second debate, I called my hair place and rescheduled. (Sigh). My hair will have to wait until Saturday.

I ran back upstairs and though my coworkers surprised, I could tell that they were happy I hadn't bailed. And two hours later, the job was done and we all went home. I was really proud of myself for getting everything done today. But I don't know why I didn't think of rescheduling earlier. Yikes.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

A loss for words

I have no clue what to write about tonight. 

Usually I can come up with something semi-interesting, but I have a serious case of writer's block. All day I was trying to think of something good to say. Actually, I've probably spent a little too much time blog-dreaming today.

For awhile, I thought I'd talk about my annoyances with public transportation, but everyone seems to write about that and I don't want to sound all whiney. 

So then I thought I'd tell you more about myself. I even briefly considered doing the 25 Things list that is spreading like wildfire on Facebook, but I'm not sure I could think of 25 "interesting" things. Sure, I could tell you about my opposable thumb toes, the real reason I love green so much, or how my boyfriend and I REALLY met (not many people know the real story), but eh. Another time, another place. 

When I got back from Pilates tonight, I was going to write about the engaged couple who didn't get to class on time and had to sit on separate mats across the room and then kept staring at each other in the mirror the whole class. Awkward. Or how I realized that I really must be the world's worst judge of age because I was convinced that this one girl I see every week was 16. But nope, today I finally noticed her big fat wedding ring. She must have been 12 when she got married, seriously. 

Well, look at that! A whole post about nothing! Phew. Good cover, Pam.

I'll write about something real tomorrow...like maybe about my new haircut I'm getting after work tomorrow night. (Jagger bomb! Jagger bomb!) Wow, I just gave a shout out to a YouTube video. Oh boy.

Monday, February 2, 2009

You learn something new every day...and weekend

I had a wonderfully busy weekend. I could probably write pages and pages on all I said, did, watched, drank, played, ate, etc, but I'll spare you that. Instead, I'll give you a nice little list of things I learned this weekend:

• Sleepovers with your grandma are a ton of fun, no matter how old you are.

• If your grandma tells you to stay awake through "The Glenn Miller Story" (a 1954 movie starring Jimmy Stewart), you better stay awake. 

• Jimmy Stewart will always be George Bailey.

• Marquette basketball games are amazing. Especially when they win. 

• Taking 6 shots in a row is only a good idea if they're all tasty...like Baby Guinesses, Love Triangles and Buttery Nipples. Yum.

• If it's 10pm, you've been out since 1pm and you need a change of scenery, hit up a 24/7 karaoke bar. It's sure to be classy.

• And at this karaoke bar, it's especially fun to belt out Bon Jovi like a total rockstar, even if the drag queens in the corner lean over and tell your boyfriend that you suck. (He laughed. I did not.)

• Don't pick fights with drag queens.

• Cooking burgers on the grill in the middle of winter is fantastic, as long as you don't let yourself forget that it's still 20 degrees outside. 

• Sometimes it's so nice to kick back and relax at your parents' house.

• The Super Bowl commercials this year? Not that good. The Office? Hilarious. 

So how was your weekend? Do anything fun? Any good stories? Feel free to entertain me with amusing anecdotes. Tuesdays are my least favorite day of the week so I appreciate any little bright spots that come my way.

Oh, and Happy Groundhog Day everyone! Thank goodness groundhogs are cute, because otherwise I'd like to dropkick those little suckers for always seeing their shadows. Damn you and your 6 more weeks of winter!

I kid, I kid...I love animals. I cry harder in movies when animals get injured/hurt/die than when humans do. Is that bad?