3/29/2011

Reading Rainbow

I love reading. And I hate people that say "I don't read". Do you really NOT read? I don't think so. But, I do think you're an idiot for saying that.

I didn't do any real new years resolutions, but I made a promise to myself to keep up my reading.. because I slowed down in the 4th quarter last year.

My 2011 bookshelf includes:



Spooner by Peter Dexter. You should read this book if you enjoyed Catch 22. Not only did I enjoy Catch 22, it made me laugh out loud - that book is truly witty. If you like witty humor, go for Spooner. Although the end is heavy, you won't be turned off and will be glad you picked it up.




Next up is The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson.
You should read this book if you've read the other ones, and you can handle the first 150 pages of information overload before the storyline picks up. There are lots of intense Swedish names and lots of information on the government, but the storyline is intense and the characters are so unlike the other books I've been reading... it really is hard to put down once you get into it.





My third book of 2011 was Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. You should read this book if you plan on seeing the movie, which I do. The book does in fact have an elephant in it - but the story is not about the elephant. It's about love. At the circus. And it's more romantic than that sounds.





Tatiana De Rosnay's Sarah's Key was a novel I picked up in the airport because I'm having trouble getting into my other book. Sarah's Key is a fictional storyline around the treatment of the Jews in France during the Holocaust. It is shocking and emotional, even if Rosnay's writing is predictable. You should read this if you've got a few hours on a plane.


Next up is The Chosen by Chaim Potok. Things are going slowly. But I'm trusting Leigh's recommendation and then will make my own later...


I know you've all been worried: Who is The Babysitter!? And, Follower 58 is not an ominous stalker from a weird horror movie, but is actually Karina from work! Karina was set up on a friend date with Dan Coughlin (not a follower) since he moved to Phoenix which is where Karina is. I'm a great friend matchmaker! Karina is sassssssssy and we loveeee chitchatting away about boys. Girlfriend getsssss the need for a handsome man over 6'0, since she too is a tall drink of water. Rock on, girlfriend.

Follower 59 is Boyfriend Matt!! Boyfriend Matt is dating Sister Allie and we aren't sure why since he's such a great, nice, guy. Allie is probably mad right now. Allie - we like Matt so BE NICE TO HIM! We are so glad he's around. I think most of the time he is around the family he is thinking "oh shit, what have I done?", but he is a good sport. Even when the cousins convinced him that the caterer was our Uncle (the caterer was not our Uncle). Or when he visits Nanny and Poppy with Allie and Poppy talks his ear off about outerspace and black holes. Total trooper.

3/22/2011

Friend Zone

One of my favorite movies, When Harry Met Sally, talks about men and women being friends... Harry labels the task virtually impossible. And, because it is Hollywood and EVERYONE ends up with their perfect soul mate in the most adorable way possible, well, the movie proves not only can men and women not be just friends, you are going to marry your man/woman "friend".... Making them never your friend and always your soul mate.


To say I've seen that movie 429 times is an understatement. I cannot turn it off when it is on TBS. I love it. But I do think that men and women can be friends.

I have lots of male friends. We are all mutually in the friend zone. I think some outsiders (read: people I did not go to Penn State with) may think there are some boundary issues with our friend zone, but, regardless - we are all there. I'm totally ok with this. I love the friend zone.

I have a friend, who I will name because even though she follows she doesn't read, Natalie, who is ALWAYS in the friend zone and hates it. We used to tease her about this, but, after a message from virtual friend G-Lo, I think I finally understand where she is coming from.

Natalie's problem is not that she is in the friend zone. Like I said - it's all mutual. And, really, we have such a great group of guy friends! They are all attractive. All funny. All great at conversation. Just great times! And, let's be honest, there is a secret hope that they will eventually lead us to outsiders and new male specimens that we can love and not friend.

So, like I said, Natalie's problem is not just that she is in the friend zone, it's that her male friends have put her so deep into the friend zone they have TOTALLY FORGOTTEN SHE IS A GIRL. Just ask to see a picture message she's received from GHyde or Lucas. It's disgusting. There are no boundaries. But, the likes of Chris Lucas and GHyde are not the only ones to blame - Natalie laughs at the disgusting picture messages they send her and, to whatever degree, reciprocates.

I don't know what degree because I am a girl and that is not funny to me.

Now that we know what Natalie's problem is (HA - she'd be so mad if she was reading. But, I'm still confident she's not because she is "studying" for med school or something...), here is my problem:

I have recently been moved, by a male friend, so deep into the friend zone, there is no return. And, again, I'm not trying to move myself to a romantic or sexual place with him, I just want him to think I have SOME LADYLIKE CHARACTERISTICS.

His name: G-Lo
His offense: http://720california4thfloormensroom.blogspot.com/

The website is sick.

Do not click it at work.

Or, go ahead, click it.

G-Lo thinks this is just a hoot and said he had tears streaming down his face he was laughing so hard. Etc. Etc.

You're curious now.

Should you click this at work? Can you wait to go home? Are you going to type it into your smartphone so you can check it at work and not get a "Web Advisory" on your work computer??

If you click it, just know that I do not recommend or support that action. And you cannot put me into the so deep, dark corners of the friend zone that you think I am no longer ladylike and feminine for sharing. Because I am ladylike and feminine, God damnit.

In being totally forthright with you, I did have to do a mental run through of my guy friends to make sure I'm not so deep in the friend zone they actually don't think I'm a girl anymore. Two gentleman surfaced to the top of the list of "could possibly be so deep into the friend zone they don't even think I'm a girl anymore" and I don't think it's any surprise to you that these two are: Greg Hyde and Jarrod Grim.

On the surface, my conversations, at some point or another, with both of these gentleman have reached inappropriate, and maybe, disgusting levels. With Jarrod, for example, there is just naturally NO BOUNDARIES. And, Greg, well, the he is usually the one that "goes there". Both gentleman make me laugh out loud and are so funny, so when they go there - well, I laugh and probably encourage that. I do not want to crush their spirits - they bring so much joy to me.

Which leads us to the next point: How I have established I am a lady when there appears to be no boundaries. Also known as: Things Natalie Could Learn From Me (TNCLFM). Based on reader response, this could have potential to be a new feature in the blog. Most of the fun being, THE Natalie in TNCLFM would never read it anyway.

1) I primp. A lot. Both have witnessed this. Natalie has the great short hair cut that dramatically reduces her getting ready time. She can blow dry, flat iron and apply mascara in the time it takes me to condition my hair. TNCLFM: Establish femininity by taking a long time to get ready. Boys get ready fast. Not girls.

1A) Realize the time you have to primp. When I raged with Jarrod, Jonathan and Kit in Austin I realized, as the only girl, I had to be careful of my getting ready time. I was successfully the lowest, high maintenance I could be by: curling my hair, wearing a dress and still being ON TIME. This keeps you in the Friend Zone and not the "Why the hell did we invite her anyway" Zone.

2) My doodad was better than Natalie's on New Years Eve (but I did like Natalie's doodad). Greg has called me his "little feather duster". Sometimes. TNCLFM: Establish a nice nickname with male friends. Anything related to "grogbog" is disgusting and you should not answer to it.

3) Realize that there are things men do that women should not do. Yes, I know this is a whole other can of worms and no, I am not taking it there. But, I'm trying to set some standard roles when it comes to boys and girls. So- putting air in my tires: boy. Killing a spider: boy. Grilling: boy. TNCLFM: Ask for help with some things, even if she knows how to put air in her tires (which I do not).

4) Provide more useless girl knowledge rather than purposeful (not necessarily useful) man knowledge. For example, how CUTE is this GMA puppy!! The answer is SO CUTE! TNCLFM: Share cute knowledge sometimes, not factual facts.

5) Five is the most important of all items. And, hopefully, I've lost my parents by this point. The best part of having cool, attractive, fun male friends is that they are usually friends with the same! I mean, yes I have entered friend zone with some of my friend's attractive friends. But, I have not entered that zone with ALL of them. It's so much fun to have the off the hook flirtang meter with a fresh specimen. Not that you are going to marry or even date this human, but, to some degree, you should start off playful and/or coy. Gosh! I don't know how she does it, but that Natalie can always find the friend zone... somehow!.

TNCLFM: French your friend's friends!

3/21/2011

DWTS: Recap

After a LONG day at work, I was in a MAD RUSH to get home and get the TV on by 7pm. The elevator opened, I RUSHED straight out and over to the door and TRIED AND TRIED to get the door open. And then I said GOD WHAT THE H!? And then I realized...

I was on the wrong floor.

This is embarrassing. I think I am unscathed and not caught as I RUSH to the elevator to avoid the people that live there (that happen to be a gay, disabled couple - I saw the wheelchair) and then I remember - the ELEVATOR IS ALSO DISABLED. ONLY on the first floor.

See, what happens is, only when the elevator stops on the first floor the door tries to close once and looks like it gets stuck. And then it closes in S L O W M O T I O N (which is even slower when you are trying not to be caught) and then once you think you are IN THE CLEAR!! It opens back up in S L O W M O T I O N!!!! And THEN closes AGAIN IN S L O W M O T I O N!!! This is usually annoying, but when you just tried to get into someone else's apartment this is annoying and VERY inconvenient!! I was able to sneak away without being caught, but, it was a close call.

Back to the point of this post:


Chelsea: LOVE the bob! And, I will agree with Tom, it was a great start to season 12.
Wendy: I hate to ask this, but is she a drag queen? Unimpressed. But I wanted to be impressed.

Call from Nanny: MEG! ARE YOU WATCHIN? HINES IS UP NEXT. I HAVE TO GO I DON'T WANT TO MISS HIM. OH! THEY SAID SOME OF HIS TEAMMATES ARE THERE. WE WILL SEE SOME STEELERS. OK GOT TO GO. LOVE YOU. BUH BYE.

People I would like to see on DWTS: Stacey and/or Clinton from TLC's What Not To Wear.

HINES: YEA BABY! YOU DO HAVE THE SWIVEL. YOU DO HAVE THE SWAG!!!! AHH! LOOK AT HIS BUTT!!! I am ALL smiles!!! You get all my votessss!!! LOVE!!!!
Bruno: Could you be funnier??? Yes! PLEASE encourage Hines to dance like a piston!
Petra: She is very pretty. But that was slow.

Stop by from Roommate Erin: We are so excited to move this weekend.

Romeo (formerly known as Lil Romeo): I think you are LH's husband and, dare I say, could be a close second with Usher in her heart. He is going to be so fun to watch. And AGAIN with the butt! Holy cow, DWTS!

Pause for 3rd DC of the day, which, at 8:05 PM , is not a responsible decision. But, since I need to pack for St. Louis and I am also logged into work (yes, and blogging, yes, and watching DWTS. AND Yes I am getting things done! Holler multitasking) anyway, I'm also having a candy bar.

Sugar Ray: Fun to watch! But I will not be voting for you.
Kendra: Do you still have a show on E!? Is it weird that your husband is in the audience with your exboyfriend Hugh? Rock on, girlfriend. And, I think you and Louie have the same amount of shake in you.
Ralph(ie): Ralphie because you are a 49 year old that looks like the cutest 12 year old ever!!! You might be, actually are, my white crush on DWTS. Maybe I will give you one of my eight votes. Maybe. Actually, no, you got a higher score than Hines so I'm sharing zero votes with you tonight.
Chris: What. A. Bro. Oh my god with the RIP OFF leather sleeves. Cheryl, what were you thinking for him??? I'm ready to be done with you.
Mike: You are a surprise stud (in looks, not dance) and better than last season's Mike The Situation (MIS). You should DATE Lacey. You are not going to win, but you will beat Chris. And, maybe, Wendy.

During this commercial break, I'm cleaning out emails. Do you know that on Friday afternoon I cleaned out my inbox and for the second time in 2011 I was able to get my inbox under 100. Not just under 100, 84! That is incredible. Today, I left work with 264 emails. This is not real. How can I not catch an email break? And, these people, if I don't respond to the first one in FIVE MINUTES keep responding and replying. And sometimes (read: all the times) they talk about things that aren't important (the Badgers are in the NCAA sweet 16) and other times they ask me things I don't care about (why didn't anyone take the trash out?) and most of the time they ask questions I answered last week - these are particularly frustrating emails.

Kirstie: Rock on with your spicy self! I like you so much better on DWTS than I did with Tim Allen in For Richer or For Poorer. (Please, readers, like you didn't see that movie in theaters too!).

I am so happy Monday night DWTS is back in my life! SO Happy!

I know I owe you a Meet My Follower, and thankfully my next Meet My Follower is timeless, so, you won't miss anything by me delaying the actual posting. :)

3/20/2011

Peeps

Today I wore my favorite summer tshirt, because it is basically summer in Plano. (Que: Playo Del Plano, PDP, tunes and rage). The shirt is florescent and it makes me happy. Just like summer. Except, it's not summer. It's only March. And spring doesn't even come until after Easter. And we're only 2 weeks into Lent.

For Lent, I decided to practice Catholicism again. It's not that I don't think I'm Catholic - it's just that I hate all the churches over here. Everyone can like what they like - but I hate tambourines and shaking hands with my neighbors and having a priest read me the GD bulletin when I am, and pretty much everyone around me, is capable of READING. I leave church furious and annoyed that I ever went. But, for God and for Lent I am going. And I even stay until after Communion to have the final blessing. I patiently listen to the priest read everything from the bulletin that I could read myself. So, this is me offering church up to God during Lent.

And, since I'm doing Lent - I gave up.... SHOPPING!!! Can you believe it?!? I just gave up clothes shopping, but still --- I have been doing VERY WELL. Except, I bought a pair of jeans online and I'm not sure when I did it - so I'm not checking the receipt and I'm just going to say that I am still good to go! Today I even went to return things from before, and I put myself STRAIGHT INTO TEMPTATION. I went to Nordstrom Rack, I went to Home Goods and I went to JCP. And, I was SO responsible in offering my shopping abstinence up to God and I did not purchase a single thing!

After all this temptation I went to Target. I did NO clothes shopping, but I bought toiletries and Peeps. Peeps is ('are' sounds better but Peeps is actually singular since I'm talking about one package.) Peeps is the reason for the season and the best part of Lent and spring time. I don't like them stale, but I don't like them so fresh that they are too gooey. While I'm also talking about candies I love.... I LOVE satellite wafers, circus peanuts and hot tamales. Love. Uh, love!

You all should know I went on a date with a 31 year old scorpio. Gio is (I think is still) dating a 30 something (Chuck, Charlie, Bob, something) and this made me happy, and envious. I think of all the friends I know that are my age, Gio is the one that I think fits perfectly with an older man, preferably in the 30s. I am jealous of her dating a 30 year old! She is so wild and bossy and, Gio, since I know eventually you'll read this, keep on keeping on with those thirty somethings!

Alright, enough about her and back to me - I had the happy hour date which was three hours long and great conversation. I was incredibly charming and had a great outfit. I don't know that we have anything in common but the conversation was really nice. But (there's always a but) this man is apparently not capable of sitting still. My favorite thing to do is sit still. Preferably with company and a drink in my hand. And SPF if we're outside enjoying 80something degree weather in March in Texas. But this guy is a nonstop athlete. He is doing a 75 hour bike ride. SEVENT FIVE HOURS. He is also climbing the seven highest "summits" (I would have just said 'mountains') in the world right now. It is, as would be expected, INTENSE training. I care nothing about this. I was asking the only questions I knew to ask (How do you pack for that trip? Are the bugs SO big?) but, all I could think about was how that would be the most terrible, awful, trip of a lifetime. And he loves it! He also plays soccer three nights a week. I imagine there is an intense athletic requirement to dating this man and, well, please, no thank you! Perhaps a new friend....

I do have to get physical for work though! We have this company challenge where 5-15 people join up and track either minutes exercised or pounds lost and tally them up and there is a winner and charity donations at the end. I am on a virtual team - but there are teams in my office and they are going to watch me to make sure I participate. The first step on this was making me get on an intense scale and telling me things like how much my bones and left arm weigh and that I am 50% water and typically people are 60% water. I do not know how the scale measures all of this, but I'm confident that this means I am 10% diet coke. And, that her scale was wrong because my scale at home definitely says I'm 7 pounds lighter. Anyway, I think this was all just a ploy for the ladies at work to figure out how old I am since age needed to be entered into the scale.

24 makes me a baby, and one woman thinks I'll enjoy 25.

Oh! I'm also going to a new state and city this week! I'm going to St. Louis for work! I'll be there three days and get to do some networking with some people from Eden Prairie and Pittsburgh. We'll be doing non stop interviewing. New hires kill me. They are seriously GROWN UPS with YEARS of experience and it's like herding children. Last week we had 40 new hires and I think I learned 30 of the 40 new names (which is impressive) and definitely made 40 new friends. I do all kinds of charming things like remember their questions, fix their computers and smile SO MUCH.

Thankfully they are all in training rooms now, and I can get back to my other work!

PS: What do I have to do for a new follower? I'm 2 away from 60! JARROD THIS MEANS YOU. Seriously, didn't we have a great chat today?? Multiple times??? Do it!

PPS: Dancing with the Stars is tomorrow and I am SO looking forward to watching my boyfriend Hines dance, dance, dance!

3/14/2011

Bachelor Finale

Tonight is the night of the Bachelor season finale. More important than who actually wins, are the phone calls I receive from Nanny.


Call 1: Meg! Are you watching? It is three hours. I checked the TV Guide and it said it goes until 11! Three hours! I've got Poppy on his chair and I'm on the couch! Ok! It's on! Buh Bye! Love you!
Call 2: Meg! Did you see that commercial? They are announcing the Bachelorette on Jimmy Kimmel! I told Poppy: I am staying up late to watch that. Ok! Bye!
Call 3: Meg! I was reading the magazine and iy says Emily is a phony. It says she is not an event planner and they were kinder to Chantel! You know, her dad has all that money. He is probably paying them! Did you know Emily was running around with that guy when she was 15?! She doesn't even let the grandparents see Ricky. It's back on! Good night, love you!!
I hope I get at least two more calls before the show is over! Nanny always has all the extra details that I don't get from the show!!

Also, a new installment of Meet My Followers is coming this week. Except, during the interview I forgot to ask him about the gay mafia. Once I have more information, I'll be posting.

3/09/2011

Shorter

Angelo: see, you are so much more interesting to talk to than read your writing

no offense

Angelo thinks I should get right to the point. Here are two points:

1) That was my second linkedin love connection. The first one connected with me and then denied me. My self esteem was hurt, but it is TYOTD (The Year Of The Dima) so I recovered quickly. The second linked in is a bartender AND a masseuse - what is he doing on linked in? He also has only ONE connection.

2) Yesterday at work, a 50 year old woman (not a hot 50 year old woman) asked me, while in the elevator, to hook her unhooked bra strap. This was weird. I did it.

3/08/2011

Linked

It's no surprise to any of you, or anyone not reading, that I love boys. And, I think it's fair to say I have a pretty decent following of people in general life that are interested in any major status updates on my dating life because, well, I'm so vocal. So, last week when traveling for business to recruit at UNC it was not weird when my Program Director asked me how the boys were treating me in Dallas. And, I had to be very honest with him and say "They just aren't tall enough". Which, is total crap. I mean, first off there is supposed to be this great population of single men in Dallas when compared to other cities and second off don't they feed children here steak and milk their entire life and they should all be 6'6? I guess not.


Anyway, this was asked of me while enjoying a beverage and having a great discussion after dinner. And the bartender, Ryan, was being such a great server. And so patient. But when I told the PD that there were no men I was interested in in Texas, he felt like it would be a good idea to ask the bartender, in Chapel Hill, where all the men were in Dallas. This does not make any sense. We laugh it off and then Kim and I make the eyes like "let's wrap this up" and then we quickly vacate the hotel bar.


We change and primp for our evening of undergrad fun and go back downstairs and pick the brain of the concierge and the bartender, Ryan, about where we should go. Chat chat chatting, cab arrives and we head out. We did not have such the exciting time being undergrads, but we did some great people watching and also met Ross who is not an undergrad but has a movie star face and terrible (terrible) hair. He promised me he would cut it the next day. If he does, I think he will become a movie star - he was that handsome!


Alright, so we get home, pass out, wake up, head to breakfast. Program Director reappears and starts spilling the beans that when Ryan returned the check he told him that "Wow! I'll move to Texas!" or something equally embarrassing. We laugh about this over breakfast but Kim quickly hogs the rest of the conversation with her bout of "food poisoning". 


Ok. So the story ends, right?


WRONG!


Last night, I'm snuggled in my bed. Just reading! And I get to the perfect stopping point... my eyes are heavy, a chapter just ended, it's after 9:30 so I don't feel like a loser going to be already and.... I hear "DROID". And I think, UH! GOD! What NOW!?


Droid notifies me of an email which says: LinkedIn, Ryan has indicated you are a friend.


At this point, I have no recollection of Ryan from UNC and I think it is the non-husband Leigh met at the bar on Saturday in Baltimore. And then I am totally creeped out because I'm like - Oh. My. God. How does he even know who we are? But, then I keep reading and it hits me - Oh. My. God. This is the bartender from UNC.


His message is: Enjoyed meeting you last week. I did look for you out that night, but I couldn't find you ladies anywhere. Hope you were able to find the party. I know we didn't talk much when you were here... but let me know if you'd be interested in changing that. This is Ryan from the Sienna. 


I literally wanted to pee myself I was laughing so hard at this message. I automatically forwarded it to Kim who points out he spelled the name of the HOTEL HE WORKS AT WRONG. Seriously? If you're going to link-in some game, use the spell checker, right??? So, now I'm totally wired and texting with Kim and laughing so hard and then I think...


Oh. My. God. How did he get my name? Did he take my last name off my credit card? Didn't I pay with cash? Did he ask the concierge? Did he steal my records??? Did I tell him? I don't think I told him. What does he think is going to happen with this linkedin message? And, why do boys link me in?? This is the SECOND one! Which isn't a lot of people, but in the world of romance - I think two linkedins is a lot. I mean... how many do you have? None. Exactly. How do these people find me?? What man thinks linkedin is a way to get with a girl? I mean, really, can one of you reading explain that to me?


I obviously confirmed the linkedin. This can only be good for my self esteem. Mom, if you're reading, don't worry - this is only for blogging purposes.


Which, also reminds me - Remember the crazy Jesus Marine? Well, he texted me thousands of times. And I ignored. And ignored. And ignored more and more. But he kept texting and texting. At the time, G-Lo was my counsel and he said I was able to ask Jesus Marine to stop texting. The exchange was:


JM: Dude! Come eat at my restaurant! Come get some pho! It's off the tollway!
Me: Hi, can you please stop texting me. I am not interested. Sorry.
JM: Wow. You're rude. I'm glad I'm not pursuing a relationship with you.


Thank God that's over with. 



3/07/2011

February was a bad month...

February was a bad month...

For blogging. Not for me!! I've been having a great time. I'm so busy I can't even talk about myself! But don't worry, I've rearranged my priorities, and I'm back. Promise!

A few things have been going on. And, during my hiatus I seemed to have even been able to scrounge up follower 58!? The Babysitter!!?? How mysterious.... reveal yourself in comments so I can really talk you up in my next post!

Alright, let's go.... HP is in bad shape. His cord has exposed wires and my attempt to fix it with scotch tape has held up well for a few months, but, well, now it's not holding up so well. To the point that a charge was no longer possible. I had to get a new cord, which meant I had to remember to go to the Best Buy, which, I didn't do. And even when I was over there (there = near the Best Buy) I forgot. Major delay.

I've also had so many visitors lately! Well, not SO many, but plenty! We had the final weekend with Ashley - did I blog about that? I think I did. And then a new weekend with Leigh. The weekend with Leigh was a total delight and perfectly amazing! Well, almost. See, Leigh was supposed to arrive at a particular time, but her flight was 30 minutes early. So when she called me she said "I'm here!" and I said "Oh great! I'm on my way!" which was a total lie and I then had to make up time since I was not on my way.

I had a special treat waiting for her - sweet potato chips. Except, I had enough sweet potato chips for her and the rest of the apartment complex. See, I had mentioned said SPCs to her and she said "Oh that sounds good" and I did the so romantic thing of going to the restaurant to get some for us to snack on. The restauarnt said "how many do you want?" And my choices were for 1-2, 3-5, or 8-10. I assume 8-10 is probably a bag of Tostito's size and I think for a full weekend this will be the perfect amount. I am charged $7 for the bag of chips and two homemade salsas - which, I believe is totally acceptable. I'm waiting, waiting, waiting and the waitress comes out with the BIGGEST BAG of chips I have EVER seen. And I'm thinking "Holy cow, what on earth will I do with all these SPCs?!". The answer is obvious: Pretend that I knew exactly what I was getting and take them like this is normal for two people. I still have 2 full Ziploc bags of SPCs (if anyone else is thinking of visiting...). Anyway, the rest of our weekend, post SPCs was glorious with lounging, eating, drinking, eating, wining, shopping, brunching, eating, shopping and just in general moseying. We also went to a Comedy Club which Leigh hated (just ask her, she'll tell you). And, the weekend was a total success! It is also the start of the Megan/Leigh/McCowan book club which started unoffically over a brunch disaster and officially over a gmail chain. Are you jealous? You should be. I'll keep you posted and you can all pretent to play along - you know, like Oprah's book club, only this one is more important and has less free stuff.

Since then my life was all work! Work has been SO BUSY! I mean, non stop. Why am I so busy? Well, my manager was out of the office and we are expecting 45 new hires who needed to be screened, interviewed, slotted for a position and then setup. I am still in the middle of this process and it is a huge juggling act trying to remember who my new 45 are and what I'm going to do with them. And then on top of that I went home last weekend! Oh, and the 7:30 meeting I have is total crap!

 In the mix of all this work was fun for Granellie's 80th birthday celebration in Pittsburgh that my parent's hosted for my Dad's family. My dad is 1 of 7 and there are 22 grandchildren. There was a lot going on. And I was ultimate granchild and cousin with the surprise visit home. Most of the fun was getting ready for the party and driving my mom crazy. My mom was doing final touches not on the first floor and each of us (children) took turns going "THEY'RE HERE!" "Just kidding". This does not get old, even after the third time.

Dinner was a great time, lots of story telling and trying to determine who was the worst. Lots of aunts said they were angels, a few confessed that they were just never caught and then, of course, the four brothers were bad and are surprisingly still alive despite bee attacks, ax in the shin, dart in the nose and running through a glass door. Sounds like Granellie had her hands full!

I don't know who brought out the vodka whipped cream, but it made an appearance after dinner and cake. (Cake and presents was not a disaster, but there was a minor fire in the dining room when the wrapping paper got to close to the candles. Brother Adam saved the day by crushing the fire in his bare hands and managing to not set anything else on fire!) So, the whipped cream came out and the Miller kids already knew that this is disgusting but decided to keep it to ourselves and let cousin Ryan (who is a big guy and a definite drinker) take a try at it. His face was priceless and I the only thing I remember him saying was "UH! THIS IS DISGUSTING! UH!" but that of course leads into "Hey, Kelly, try this! It's good!" and then more "UH! YUK!" and so one down the line of cousins! Well, everyone is trying the whipped cream and then Granellie (who is celebrating her 80TH!!!) comes in and we're like "Yea! Granellie! Try it!" She took two shots - I hope I'm that rocking at 80! Working with the fam to see if there is a video of this we can post, asap! And, if you're looking to spice up your next 80th birthday party, you can get vodka whipped cream in Ohio (yes, we had to import it)!

After the birthday, there was more work and then I had to recruit for work at UNC. UNC is my least favorite school to recruit at... well, actually, I don't really like any of them. There are never any cute boys so I consider the entire thing a bust. But, I got to go with Kim and we haven't seen each other since September of 2010! Ah! We had a great time chatting and laughing. We had dinner with our Program Director and then separated ways. And changed into jeans and went back downstairs to get recommendations from the concierge on where to go if we wanted to pretend we were undergrads. The entire campus was DEAD but we still went out and got $2 beers and watched some terrible karaoke and had a great time pretending we were 21! Kim might have had too great of a time because she was definitely yakking the next day. Not once. Not twice. Multiple times. Program director was like "Oh wow, so sad, was it the ribs?" and Kim and I were like "Oh yea, definitely the RIBS". Seriously. Ribs? Kim had to remove herself from an interview to go yak! She is the worst undergrad ever!!! But then we giggled because we couldn't figure out what kind of illness the PD thought she had - all he knew was she took many trips to the bathroom. More laughing ensued.

Since I was on the east coast I took a quick trip up to Baltimore to surprise the girls! They were reunioning and I didn't think I could go but then magic and I could go! But, I didn't tell any of them! Roommate LinDive of Mich assisted with my arrival on Wednesday evening and Michelle was totally shocked! It was so fun! We chat chat chatted and then I worked from her apartment for two days and then we celebrated the times in the evenings! On Thursday we went to the Best of Baltimore party with brother Jay and friend Jim. Friend Jim is so flamboyant, the word flamboyant does him no justice. He loved taking secret shots and we pretended we were tourists (which, technically I was) in the museum and he had dance moves that would put Jarrod to shame, he thinks Lady Gaga is prophetic and he also capped off the night by reciting every single word of a Ke$ha song with no music, but with dance moves. It was... in a word.. amazing.

Friday after work I got to do happy hour in the apartment with Michelle's roommate LinDive, friend Alice, Michelle's boyfriend Eric and my ex-boyfriend Jono (see previous blog posting from whenever I posted it).  Jono and I had one more break up before the night even began - you know, I had to establish the upper hand quickly since we've had such the rocky road... but, we did have a great night not dating.The times in general were great in the Federal Hill (except I hated the chill in the air). Except when I met a liar who said he was from Pittsburgh but he was from New Castle and he was being a total jackwipe and he knew it so he bought me a shot. What shot did he buy me? Crown Royal. Disgusting. BUT! I had an audience for the shot so I had to pretend like "Wow, I'm so tough and amazing and this tastes so great" and I didn't even chase it. But, uh, I could feel that shot the next morning. The last time I had Crown was with friend Lee who only drinks Crown (which is so weird because she is this tiny Chinese who just seems like she would love pina coladas but that is not the case because she loves her shots of Crown and getting low on the dance floor), anyway, last time I had Crown I had hang over of the century and I'll go ahead and confirm now that I'll never have that again.

Saturday morning the Crown did not sit well and despite Alice and Michelle's urging to try the vom, I was only successful at the dry heave. I know you wanted that detail. Showering really turned me back into a normal human (Alice confirmed I was a 10 on Friday night and a 0 on Saturday morning) and me and Mich prepared to surprise the rest of the girls that were coming in. See... They were celebrating Leigh/Lisa's 25th birthday weekend, but I was not supposed to be there because I was so busy! So, Michelle went to let them in and I hid in the closet until it was time for the surprise...



I hid in that damn closet for THIRTY minutes. THIRTY. That is a long time to 1) stand in one place 2) stand in one, small place and 3) not talk. I love talking. And I could hear all of them talking. Michelle must have enjoyed my lockup because she encouraged the talking. No rush to move them along. Natalie was allowed to straighten her hair. Everyone took multiple bathroom trips. Everyone wanted a glass of water. Michelle was talking about her week at work. I mean, I'm listening in the room going: COME ON ALREADY! Finally, Michelle put the plan in action. She got all the girls on the couch for a group photo with the timer, except, it was on video. And my que was when Michelle said "Smile!" that I would jump out and say "I want to be in the photo too!". The plan worked perfectly (all the attention was turned on my for a solid thirty mintues) and the video still makes me crack up laughing!!


We had a great romantic 26 hours with the six of us. We walked to the Inner Harbor and stopped in the library to look for Brother Jay only to find a free book sale (actually, first two books free all additional books $0.50). We came away with 19 books and then scoped all over the Harbor with the books. We also enjoyed three pitchers of sangria with tapas for lunch and had a great walk home. We were totally pooped so we napped all over the apartment for an hour (or two) and then we got up and got ready for the evening! We scoped MORE and I did a perfect skinny arm picture (Nan, you would be so proud!) and then we went out for dinner and drinks and dancing!

The weekend was so much fun and it was such a grown up girls weekend. While, we totally raged, no one was out of control or embarrassing ... Is 25 the year of the adults!!?? Gosh, I hope not - although, I wouldn't trade the weekend for a thing!!

Next thing we knew we were parting ways after a "Texas" bbq lunch (which, was not excellent and I feel I can say that since I live in Texas) and it was time for my flight back to Dallas. Apparently Michelle's passenger seatbelt doesn't work so that did worry me for my safety, but Rooms got me there in one piece. No flight delays. No issues. Smooth sailing!

And now, here I am, on Monday evening, all caught up with the blog and enjoying the Bachelor. Could anything else be better with my life right now?

YES. If I was on the Bachelor. More on my master plan later...

Oh! PS: I'm moving into the city of Dallas at the end of the month!! More to come :)