Fun Friday Finds- Turtle Calls & Teach Me How to Dobby

I spent last weekend in St. Louis with a friend. I guess I mentioned last Friday that I had been over there, but that was for work. The weekend was time for me to relax and hang out with friends that live in the area.

Back in the day, people would relax by sitting around, chatting, maybe playing cards or something. In this day and age, we sit around, chat, and find awesome things on the internet. Yes, I will be sharing some of those today. These may be very strange to you, or really nerdy… that’s ok. I think that they are all funny, and it really matters most that I’m amused, right?

Turtle Calls. Yes, you read it right, turtle calls. You can pay this guy to call someone you know and act like a turtle. Intrigued? You should be! He is America’s Turtle Call Leader. You may be wondering, do you consider a turtlecall a prank call? Don’t worry, they have answered this question one the website: “no, it is a friendship call and it is meant to make a smile happen and not an aggravated face” In fact, I think the holidays are a perfect time of year for you to send a turtlecall and show them you care!

Not interested in turtle calls? That’s ok because this website will also do CheadleCalls. What’s a Cheadlecall you ask? Well I think the website definition is the best way to explain a cheadlecall. “A cheadlecall is a special turtlecall where I will call and pretend to be a turtle pretending to be don cheadle, who is a famous actor in American movies like hotel Rwanda.” I know you are intrigued after reading that. The good news: he records all his turtlecalls and cheadlecalls for your listening pleasure. Enjoy!

You know the dance craze, The Dougie, but this is even better. For those Harry Potter Fans out there, you will love this video:  Teach Me How to Dobby! Favorite line: Butter beer so you know this is lastin’ all night!

For some die hard fanst of Harry Potter, the Teach Me How to Dobby video may no have completely filled your HP fix for the day. Don’t worry, here’s a funny little video for you to know more about the houses. WhichHouse Are You? I always feel so sorry for the Hufflepuffs.

Hope these links can give you some entertainment over the holidays!

Listening to The Kooks.

Perfection

I don't believe in perfection. I think it's an idea that people cling to in order to keep pushing themselves. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a great idea to keep challenging yourself and strive to be better, but I don't think that perfection exists.

 

I do like to live in a dream sometimes and experience perfection. I can take a stroll through perfection on a pretty regular basis during the winter in Boulder and it is one of the best feelings in the world. Perfection is going for a walk in the snow around the city at night. No one is wandering around and the quiet peaceful atmosphere can calm even the most tense individuals.

The music of perfection is the crunch of the snow under my feet as I stroll around looking for fresh powder to create my own trail. In this world, I can make whatever path I choose. There are no predefined directions that I have to follow. No expectations forcing me to take the correct steps. No path that has been predefined for me.

The snow stings my cheeks as it falls on my face. I wander aimlessly around all too familiar streets, but for some reason they look completely foreign to me. I notice buildings I had never seen before. The lights of the city gleam on the immaculate white blanket. Arriving back to reality after my trip to a dreamland of perfection, the only thing I have to show for my adventure is my renewed spirit and rosy cheeks.

Listening to Winter Song by Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson.

Fun Friday Finds- Puns, World's Largest Disco & Surfing Alpaca

I've been in St. Louis this week and I've realized there is much more to offer in this city than just the Arch. One of the places we went was the City Museum. Pretty awesome. If you are ever in St. Louis and you want to take a break from looking for Nelly, check it out.

I will always talk about Marcel the Shell whenever I get a chance. It was nice to see a little interview with his creators. I love that it's such a simple concept but so entertaining. Can't wait to see Marcel the Shell with Shoes on in a book or tv show!

I think I'm pretty funny. The problem with that is that no one else thinks I'm that funny. I'm ok with that though. I mean, as long as I make myself giggle, that's all that matters, right? One of my favorite things: puns. This website collects a bunch of very punny things and I get to read them. Talk about wonderful.

Have you ever wondered who would attend the World's Largest Disco? What? You didn't even know there was such a thing? Well, there is: https://www.worldslargestdisco.com/ and David Cassidy was a special guest. Pretty groovy!

We've all seen videos of a dog surfing or a squirrel water skiing, but have you seen an Alpaca surfing? Now you have! My main question: where did they find a wetsuit for the Alpaca?

 

Listening to Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings.

 

 

Happy Friday!

Fun Friday Finds- Yukon Kornelius and Cats!

These are my Fun Friday Finds for the week. Happy Friday!

I'm headed up to Vail this weekend to hit the slopes and check out Snow Daze. Ever heard of Yukon Kornelius? If not, just know that they are a rock supergroup comprised of musicians from DMB, Guster, BareNaked Ladies, and more. Oh, and don't worry, a member of Pearl Jam is joining them for this show. Pretty stoked to check them out live.Here's a preview video they made for their 2009 appearance at Snow Daze: http://vimeo.com/16870276

This is an adorable interview on Jimmy Fallon. How can you go wrong with Jason Segal and a muppett? You just can't.

With all the BCS Bowl talk finally dying down a bit, I wanted to share with you the flowchart that I found. This should really help teams early on in the season understand if they have a chance to head to the BCS Title Game. Pretty sure this flow chart is extremely accurate.

A friend sent me this link to the 45 Most Powerful Images of 2011. Some were pictures from major events, while others were from smaller ones. Either way, they were all very impactful. It was interesting to be reminded of how much has happened over this past year.

Are you a procrastinator? How about a cat lover? How about an online video lover? Even if you only answered yes to one of the 3, you should probably check out the Procatinator website. It pairs a video of a cat with music. It is certainly a wonderful procrastination tool. Fact: It is great.

Listening to Amos Lee.

 

 

The Baptist Holiday Party

Originally when I started this blog, I was going to talk more about the awkward encounters I have. As you may have read from earlier posts, my interactions with people can be extremely awkward. I really have no idea how I attract these situations, but all I can do is laugh in disbelief.

As the holiday season approaches, one of my most  awkward encounters that I haven’t shared comes to my mind. I didn’t share this encounter earlier because I knew that people would be able to determine the party involved and there may be some embarrassment. I think that the situation is far enough removed, so I feel comfortable divulging this story now. Believe me, it’s a good one. You’ll want to read on. I’m not sure if I could even make this up… so awkward. Well, I don’t want to build it up so you are expecting something amazing, so nevermind. It’s not awkward at all. It’s completely comfortable and a normal situation that happens to everyone. Read on anyway…

I was offered a job at a university in Houston fresh out of grad school, so I headed out to Texas without doing any sort of research on the place. I didn’t know anyone there, but I’m used to that sort of thing. I actually like it. You will probably see a trend that I can’t stay somewhere for more than about 3 years before I feel pretty antsy and need to find a new place. I hear what you are saying as you are reading this, but commitment issues, schmemmitment issues. It is what it is.

For those of you that don’t move to new places without really knowing people, you should know that it’s not always easy to make friends. Sure, you are going to point out that you made a gazillion friends when you went off to college and you didn’t know anyone there. Well Mr. Friendly, don’t be so proud of that, everyone did. Way to go. Once you don’t have the connection of college, it is more challenging to meet people as a young professional in a new city. Just take that as a universal truth. There are things you can do to meet people… join alumni clubs, get to know your coworkers, participate in city sports leagues, etc. It just takes a little more getting out there. As a new person in a city where you don’t know anyone, there’s one rule that you have to live by: If someone invites you to do something, you do it. You have no friends, so there is no reason you should turn down someone when they are trying to be your friend.  This rule is something that I have lived by for quite some time. It is why I have found some of my best friends, but it also may be what creates my awkward encounters. Which leads me to my story…

When I started working in Houston, my job was to plan events. Many of these events require technical assistance. The manager of the AV department (we will now call him AV Guy) was someone that I had to work with on a pretty regular basis. He was a nice guy. He was always helpful and friendly. About a month in to working in Houston, he asked me out. Well, as I mentioned before, the one rule that I live by is that you don’t say no when you move to a new place, know no one, and someone offers to be your friend. Sure, I knew that he may have been interested in me a little more than just as friends, but I couldn’t completely tell, and that’s something that can always be clarified later, right? So I said yes, I’d go out with him. We went to dinner and had a nice time. After dinner, we went to a local coffee shop to continue our conversation. Then the date ended. That was also the time that I was certain that I would never want to go out with him again. AV Guy was nice, but there wasn’t anything there. I could tell on the date he was interested in dating me and I didn’t want to lead him on, so the next time he asked me out, I told him I wasn’t interested. We grabbed lunch about once a month after that, but that was about it. Innocent enough, right? We had to work together, so I didn’t want to be mean, and as I said, he was a nice guy. Just no interest. At this point in the story, you are probably thinking “wow, this story is not awkward at all”. You’re right, it’s not. The awkward part comes next.

In mid-December (about 3.5 months after the original date), AV Guy contacts me and asks if I want to join him and some friends for dinner and an improve comedy show. By this time, I have decided that he gets that we are not going to be in any sort of relationship and that we are just friends. He said it was a group of friends (8-10 people) and it should be a good time. I didn’t have anything going on that day (I mean, I was still new in town and didn’t know a ton of people… PLUS maybe he had some fun friends that I would want to hang out with later, right?). So I agree to go. I didn’t know my way around Houston very well still, so I met AV Guy at a Starbucks, then he drove us to the restaurant from there. The traffic was super bad and we were running really late. He was kinda freaking out about it and was on the phone with some guy letting him know we were coming and that we would be there soon.

We finally get to the restaurant after a tense car ride and I am ready to get to my seat and drink a nice cold drink (I’m practicing my order in my head: margarita, on the rocks, with salt). We walk up to the hostess and AV Guy tells her we are meeting with a group. She asks for the name with the group and he says Houston Baptist Church (ok, so I’m making up the name of the church, but he named a Baptist church). This is CLEARLY a surprise to me. It also crushes my dreams of drinking a margarita. She points us to the back party room. Yes, the private room in the back of the restaurant. I look at AV guy to see if he is going to provide some sort of explanation for this, but he just points to the back room. Dear God, what am I getting in to? We walk in to the back party room. The room is decorated for Christmas, the tables are arranged in a U shape and filled with people varying in age from 25-65. I am sure there are more details about the room, but they all faded in the background compared to all the eyes staring at us as we walked in.

They greeted AV Guy with great excitement and seemed to eye me up and down for about a minute. Because we arrived so late, they are already eating. All I want to do is melt in to the floor so I didn’t have to have all these eyes staring at me. There are two available seats at the U shaped table arrangement, but they are not next to each other. I have no problem with that because all I wanted to do was sit down so people stop staring at me and it didn’t matter where that would happen. I started heading to a seat on the other side of the room when AV Guy said that wouldn’t work. Rather than asking everyone to shift around, it sounded like a better idea to him to grab a table from outside the party room. He caused a huge commotion trying to fit it through the doorway, which clearly did not stop people from staring. Whatever. At least I got to sit down. We ordered and ate. I tried to ask what was going on and all AV Guy said was that these were all his friends from church. At that point in time I noticed the glittery holiday decorations and gifts on all the tables. All I’m thinking is that I still have to go to an improve show after this fiasco. Is there a way that I can get out of this situation gracefully? I could fake sick, but AV Guy drove. Could I call a cab? Could I injure myself badly enough that an ambulance needs to come and get me?

As these ideas are flying through my head, a man in the group stands up and starts talking to the group. He introduces himself and says that he is so happy that all the Houston Baptist Church AV family could get together to celebrate the holidays. I have now figured out that this group is comprised of all the people that do the AV for the Houston Baptist Church and their partners. Ok, so AV Guy felt like he needed someone to come with him to this, I get it. It would have been nice for him to tell me this ahead of time. The speaker continues talking about how great it is for all of them to be together and how they all work so hard. He then mentions that he wants to go around the room with introductions. Really? Well here goes. Luckily, they start on the other side of the room, so I can see how this is going. I considered slipping out to the restroom, but the door was on the other side of the room and that commotion would have drawn too much attention.

Introductions start with old man Bob. He introduces himself (everyone already seems to know him) and then he introduces, as he says, “his arm candy” aka his wife, Shirley. Next comes middle aged John and he introduces his wife Tiffany (and the baby in her belly). This continues around the table. I am completely relieved. I will not have to talk in front of all of these people. AV Guy will introduce me. Whew! I’m slightly nervous that he is going to introduce me as something other than his friend or his coworker, but if that’s the worst, then I can deal with that later. So it’s AV Guy’s turn to introduce. He stands up and says “I’m AV Guy” then sits down and looks at me. WHAT?!? Everyone looks at me as if I must have just strolled in to this party after AV Guy and he doesn’t know me at all. So I stand up and introduce myself, then look over at AV Guy and say “I work with him”. I didn’t even want to say that we were friends by that time. I was sure that we weren’t going to be friends after this situation. Announcer guy goes on to say that as a thank you for all the AV staff’s hard work throughout the year, or for those of us that supported an AV worker, we should open the gifts on the table. Since we had an extra table, there weren’t gifts on our table. They brought a gift over to AV Guy and he was gracious and offered it to me first. I told him that it’s his thing and he should have it. The announcer also mentioned that there were target gift cards on the table as a thank you as well. I didn’t think it was appropriate for me to take any, so I left them there for others, politely excused myself and went to the restroom. In the restroom, I ran in to “arm candy” Shirley. She was polite and reintroduced herself. She told me that she was so happy to finally meet AV Guy’s girlfriend. Um, excuse me? Finally meet his girlfriend? Oh, well AV Guy has been talking about you for the past couple months and you haven’t been able to come to any of the church activities because you are so busy with work, so they are all so happy to finally meet the girl he’s been seeing. Oh, right. That makes perfect sense. Great to meet you too Shirley. I go back in to the party room and grab a Target gift card from the table. I have earned it.

At this point, I’m completely dumbfounded. I ask AV Guy about that conversation and he just says that Shirley is a crazy old lady. Really? How crazy can she be? I mean, did she really make all that up? Don’t forget, I still have to go to this improve comedy show. It feels like a never ending night. At least I don’t have to talk with people during the show and people won’t be staring at me. On the walk over to the improve theater, 3 couples walked up to us, introduced themselves, and mentioned how excited they were to FINALLY meet me. Yes, they all said, “finally” meet me. We head in to the theater and sit down. Thank goodness nothing happens during the show. During intermission, I head to the restroom again (I need a freaking break from this situation). I run in to preggo Tiffany and she asks me if AV Guy gave me the invitation to her baby shower yet. Well no, he hasn’t. She lets me know the date and time in case he lost the invitation over the past week or two. Yes, AV Guy has carried on this lie to the extent that people are inviting me to their baby showers. At this point, I have made the decision that I no longer need to be polite or liked by these people. I let her know that I’ll check my schedule then head straight for the bar. I get a beer and head back to my seat. The Baptists don’t seem too thrilled about my drink of choice, but by this time, I don’t care at all. All I want to do is get out of there as fast as possible. We watch the rest of the show and I praise the lord that the night is coming to an end. But wait, we need a group picture first! Of course we do. I do my best to inch out of the theater to avoid it, but damn Shirley notices and grabs me. I then mention that I’m good at taking pictures and that I should be the one to take the picture. That also didn’t fly. So now if you go to the Houston Baptist Church and look through their AV photo album, you will see me in their holiday picture smiling and holding a beer.  

On the ride home, I didn’t say I word. We got to my car and I said goodnight. I think AV guy knew that we weren’t ever going to talk again. 

Listening to Salt-N-Pepa (don't judge, it's awesome).

Fun Friday Finds-It's a short week!

My Fun Friday Finds are a little short this week. It's been pretty busy at work, so I've decided to take Friday off and go skiing. Why not, right?


So enjoy what I have in store for you and dream of me shredding down the mountains! You can even join me from your desk chair if you would like... no ski goggles necessary!


Ok, on to the Fun Friday Finds:

There's a tumblr site that is called The Same Picture of Dave Coulier Every Day and it is just that. The best thing is that people keep checking back to see if this person is going to throw up a different picture. By people, I mean me. This guy's gotta put up a different picture sometime, right? I mean, the same picture... every day?!?! Said in the voice of Uncle Joey: Cut it out!

If you can't tell, I'm a pretty big fan of Full House. I would growing up, I would believe that the Full House crew was completely wholesome and could teach me a lesson about life on a weekly basis. The good news is that Uncle Jesse is still out in the world today teaching me things, this time it's how to cuddle. Check out John Stamos' Snugglefest. Don't worry, Bob Saget makes an appearance. 

This may be my new favorite. It's got the quirkiness of Awkward Family Photos and the snarky commentary of Cake Wrecks to make it a non-stop read. If you haven't checked out Ugly Renaissance Babies, you should probably do that right now. No, I mean it... right now. It's just that entertaining.

This has been going around on the interwebs lately. Not sure really what to think about it, but I definitely read most of it, so it's worth checking out Texts from Bennett. Maybe you can help me decide what to think...

Like I said, there's a short list this week. Either way, hope you enjoy!

Listening to City and Colour. 

Super Sweet Sunday!

I forgot to do my Fun Friday Finds. I blame Thanksgiving and Black Friday and all that. Actually, I blame my couch and my desire to turn off technology for a couple days. Well, take whatever excuse you prefer. So instead of my Friday Finds, I’m going to provide you with Super Sweet Sunday!

(Yep, that's a super sweet Sundae... I'm so funny)

*I know it’s after Thanksgiving, but if you didn’t get a chance to see this, you have to take a look. It’s a pretty funny list of rules for the Thanksgiving family football game. I love rule #16: “No, you don't get to be "permanent QB." Not if you want anybody to like you. “ This definitely resonates with me. It never fails that I end up playing football with someone that wants to be permanent QB. It also never fails that everyone ends up hating him by the end of the game.

*I love this. End of story or explanation.

*Unsorted mail. This blog was actually discovered a couple years ago and has not been updated in about a year. That’s ok though because there are so many archives available that you will not regret going to this site. The premise: a short letter to someone about something. Totally vague, I know. The part that is the most ridiculous about this site is that after you spend your work day reading this whole website, you will speak in letter format for a couple days. True story.

*Awesome Breaking Dawn Movie Review. As my brother in law so eloquently pointed out as his reason why this movie review is incredible: “I’m a big fan of the phrase ‘I shit you not’”. Yes, that phrase among many other amazing pieces of feedback are in this blog. I did go see Breaking Dawn. I’ll admit it. I’m not a crazy over the top fan, but I’ve read the books and I want to see how they make it all work on the big screen. There were points in Breaking Dawn where I was laughing out loud. I know I have to suspend reality for these movies… I mean, it’s about a vampire, warewolf and a really stupid girl. I get it, but when the CGI wolves are having a conversation that makes The Transformers look realistic, I had to fight to not walk out of the theater…. And don’t get me started on the horrible acting. Read the review. You’ll want to see the movie for the laughs alone.
 
Listening to Brett Dennen.

The Little Prince and Important Conversations

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery is my favorite book. My mother introduced me to it in high school and I was fairly skeptical (as any high schooler is with their parents). She told me that she thought I would like it and I should just give it a try. That’s exactly what she told me about piano lessons when I was in 3rd grade and that was a complete debacle which included me crying every Tuesday night about how I didn’t practice enough for lessons on Wednesday and that I was afraid that my teacher would yell at me. I do want to point out that my teacher did yell at me. Every week she yelled at me. Actually, I am sure that if I had practiced every single waking minute, she still would have yelled at me. She was a pretty awful teacher and I quit piano after a year. So all of this is to say that whenever I hear suggestions from my mother, I am cynical. With all that baggage floating around in my head, for some reason, I decided to give The Little Prince a try. I loved it. I loved the characters, the lessons, the illustrations (yep, there are pictures) and the meaning behind each page of the book. I snagged my mother’s copy of it and never gave it back (well, that’s because I lost it when I was a freshman in college… but I wouldn’t have given it back. Now I have a new shiny one that my mother gave me… she also purchased another one for herself). I have read the book at least once a year since it was introduced to me. There’s never a specific time of year that I feel like I need to read it, it’s more of a certain mood that I am feeling. I usually pull out the book when I need to take a break and get some perspective.


All of this explanation on the book and why I love it is not a prelude to a book report or anything, it’s more to give you some background on why I was reading it this week. I was reading it because I wanted to give myself some perspective as well as to provide me a little taste of home (it’s the holidays afterall, right?). I decided that I wanted to write something about this book or about how I feel around reading this book or something like that. What I’ve come up is a lot less insightful and more of a show and tell. I’m cool with that. I feel like most of the stuff I throw on here isn’t so much as insightful as it is just me rambling (unless you think my love for Marcel the Shell is insightful).

I wanted to share my absolute favorite part of the book. It happens within the first couple pages, so if you ever just want to pick up the book, read a page or two. You won’t be disappointed. Here’s the page that resonates with me.

After this page, the author goes on to talk about how adults don’t understand anything and that it is exhausting for children to have to keep explaining things to them. He says:

“Whenever I encounter a grown-up who seemed to me at all enlightened, I would experiment on him with my drawing Number One, which I have always kept. I wanted to see if he really understood anything. But he would always answer, “That’s a hat.” Then I wouldn’t talk about boa constrictors or jungles or stars. I would put myself on his level and talk about bridge and golf and neckties. And my grown-up was glad to know I was such a reasonable person."

These pages and words resonate with me. It makes me ponder how I address people and make judgments based on who I think they are. I’m not carrying around a picture of a boa constrictor eating an elephant, but I certainly decide who is enlightened enough to have the important conversations. Well, the important conversations to me. As explained in the book, people feel like talking about work, politics, sports, and technology. They see these conversations as enlightened and educated. I don’t really see those as the significant conversations, but I’m willing to have them with those that I think deserve them.

I’m not inclined to share what I consider important conversations with those that can’t understand them or handle them. To me, an important conversation involves your dreams, hopes, fears and so much more. I want to talk about how the music you listen to moves your soul. I want to have conversations about the close relationship of your grandparents and how that impacted your life. I want to talk about the feeling you get from your pen strokes touching the paper as you write your first novel. Or the spark you felt in your heart after strumming an original song on the guitar. Please tell me about the childish joy you get from rolling up a snowball and preparing to find a target. Let’s talk about the things that we cannot even fathom… are there really spiders the size of my head in the amazon? What does it feel like to walk on the moon? What would it feel like to paint a masterpiece? All of these things seem like a real conversation to me. In the grand scheme of things, these are what I find important, but sometimes, I need The Little Prince to remind me.

Listening to Simon & Garfunkel.

Fun Friday Finds!

I read a lot of blogs that do some sort of Friday wrap up or list of websites to visit or favorites from the week or something. I don’t always love what people post, but I enjoy the fact that they are just giving me a list of things that I should check out. My friends are always sending me videos and blogs and asking me if I’ve seen them already. It’s about 50/50 nowadays, but I used to be MUCH more well versed in the random crap out on the interwebs. Either way, here’s my list of awesomeness that I was checking out this week. I titled it Fun Friday Finds because I like alliteration, not necessarily because I found these all on a Friday, but maybe you will find these things on Friday, so then the title actually works... we'll see. Hope you enjoy!

*Full House Revisited: Yes, this blogger reviews each episode of Full House. It is awesome. I can’t decide if I love it because of the commentary (which is pretty spot on and hilarious) or if it is because I know all the details of the episodes being reviewed since I was a very committed Full House viewer. http://fullhousereviewed.wordpress.com/

*Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, Two. The much anticipated to Marcel the Shell with Shoes On officially came out this week. Guess why I smile a lot? Why? Uhhh, because it’s worth it. http://bit.ly/tmF5R6

*12 Things Happy People Do Differently. This is an interesting blog post. As I was reading it, I had my shields up. I was ready to find ways to apply what I’m doing to their ideas or to refute the ideas that I’m not doing. The further I read in to the post, the more I enjoyed it and was intrigued by it. The third point about avoiding over-thinking and social comparison was particularly poignant. I think everyone struggles with that, and it’s a great reminder that comparing ourselves to others can be poisonous. The blog got me thinking so much, it may even be a post that I create a response to… we’ll see.    http://www.marcandangel.com/2011/08/30/12-things-happy-people-do-differently/

*I email on a pretty regular basis with some grad school friends. Our conversations vary, covering topics from current events and weddings to donuts and bacon. Someone sent out this article about Pakistan telecoms blocking “obscene” texts. They event listed some of the words that would be blocked. I think my favorite word they are blocking is WuuTang, as in the Wu-Tang Clan. What is this, 2000? I can’t think of the last time that the Wu-Tang Clan has been relevant in society. How far behind is Pakistan? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15772292

*Last March, my aforementioned email buddies found the March Madness Bracket of Cake vs. Pie (http://bit.ly/bmrqgt) created by Jezebel.com. A very contentious discussion ensued as the battle waged on throughout the month. Well, in honor of Thanksgiving, we have found a Thanksgiving Sides Contest on the Huffington Post.  We’re anticipating a Stuffing v. Mashed Potatoes Championship Round. But you should certainly get over there to vote. http://huff.to/tboKop

*And one last Thanksgiving link. This website has the recipe to combine the traditional Thanksgiving bird with the beloved bacon. Don’t ask why I’ve ventured to the Christian Science Monitor for a recipe. Just appreciate that in America, we can add bacon to anything.  http://bit.ly/urs1mT YUM!

Listening to Coconut Records.

The Breakup

Have you ever had your heart broken? You know that feeling the next day... that weird hangover feeling? You know that you need to move on, but your insides still ache? It's awful.

Imagine this:
Imagine that you have been seeing someone for quite some time. Years in fact. You've established a very close relationship. You know everything about each other. Most important, you trust each other. This person has promised you so many things and, over the years, has fulfilled all those promises. Even sometimes when it looked like they weren't going to, they somehow found a way to follow through. They never let you down. Until one day, that all comes crashing down. You find out they lied to you and they can't give you all that they guaranteed. Not only have they lied to you, they decide to let you find out about it in front of a bunch of other people. All you can do is stand there in disbelief. You feel shame, humiliation, and most of all, you feel hurt. So hurt, it makes your insides tense. You feel sick to your stomach. The only thing you want to do is curl up in to a ball and hide at home, losing all connection to the world. As one of my friends suggests "Drink until you don't feel feelings. Sometimes that's best." I can't say I always take his advice, but sometimes it just makes sense. This feeling sits inside you for days as you sprawl out on your couch in your ratty pajamas thinking of all the things that could have been. Rehashing the scenario in your mind over and over while trying to come up with ways it could have been different. Hoping for some sort of solution that will make the hurt go away.

Sound familiar at all? It certainly does to me. That's because I'm a Boise State fan. Not just a fan, but an alum. I've been connected to Boise State for 10 years now. We've had some close calls, but somehow, Boise always follows through. This year is a little different. Boise's football team promised me that this year is the year that we will show the country that the BCS is a flawed system. This year is the year we would, again, go undefeated. This year is the year that we would be taking a trip all the way to the Championship Game. Well, apparently, this year is the year that we were reminded that we need to work on our kicking game. This year is also the year where I will have to deal with the humiliation and heartbreak of another chance that slipped through our hands. Yes, I've been in a relationship with Boise State football for years and she let me down. She made promises she couldn't keep and then decided to announce her failure to me in front of millions. I've been sick to my stomach since the final failed kick. Right after the game, I went straight home. I turned off my phone, computer and TV. I didn't need any reminders of the pain. I could still see it in my head. I may have had a drink or three with the roommate to mourn the event (no one will know the true number of beverages except whoever picks up our recycling). I moped around in my pajamas while revising the last plays of the game. If we didn't fumble, TCU wouldn't have scored. If we had made the tackle, TCU wouldn't have completed the 2 point conversion. If this, then that... If this, then that... No amount of reasoning is going to change the outcome of the game. It's heartbreaking, but it's true. I'm a horrible loser. The one thing you can do after a break up to keep your mind off the situation is to keep busy. I went up skiing today to try to forget about the agony of defeat. It worked for the most part, but there were still moments where I relapsed. As with any break up, this will happen for awhile. The only way to heal a broken heart is to give it time.

I do want to be clear, I'm not breaking up with Boise State Football. But after last week's betrayal, we may be on a break... until next Saturday.


Listening to Tristan Prettyman.

Reflections on a Drive Home

First off, I was looking at my stats and it looks like I have a ridiculous amount of readers from Russia, which is awesome. I only know one person living in Russia, and since I haven't talked to him in years, I can be pretty certain that he is not the one reading my blog from overseas. So thanks Russia! I feel the love!

I've always thought that I'm a pretty good multi-tasker. I'm the girl that can talk on the phone, eat and put on makeup all while driving to work. I know, I've heard of the dangers of distracted driving. I'm just such an amazing multi-tasker, it's not a problem... Ok, I'm working on cutting back on distracted driving, I promise. But that's not the point of what I'm talking about today. I think my multi-tasking stems from the fact that I can't ever seem to focus specifically on one thing for an extended period of time (yeah, we can make correlations to my love life based around this statement, but that's not where I'm going with this today). My mind seems to race so fast that it needs multiple stimulants to keep me focused. If I'm in a meeting, I'm listening closely and fully comprehend, but I am also making a to do list. When I run at the gym, I have my music on, and I'll also watch the news and read the closed captioning. I can't ever seem to focus on one thing. On my drive home tonight, I was reflecting on my day and my ability to move fluidly from task to task was very apparent. I don't know what your work day looks like, but mine is always changing and unexpected. It is not uncommon for me to get home at the end of the day and completely crash from running around and being mentally exhausted. Let me give you a little information about what I did today to illustrate this.

My morning started with a walk through part of our building to look at our chalk board display about patriotism. I run upstairs to discuss fee regulations with our accountant. Throughout my day, I am an active participant in problem solving situations about being over budget, creating gender-neutral restrooms, developing student organizations, being an advocate for non-christian cultures, city sponsorships of campus programs, the use of glitter at events, developing inclusive holiday programs on campus and more. I worked with 11th grade students to help them develop a student involvement group at their charter school in Denver. I confirmed a show featuring Demetri Martin (super funny guy! Wahoo!), submitted an award recommendation for a coworker, collaborated with a colleague from a nearby college, and created a floor plan for our upcoming Veteran's Day Event. I even got the chance to eat lunch today, which is awesome.

I realize as I'm writing this that it sounds annoying. That's not my intention. I understand that everyone is busy and productive during their work day. There is no way that I'm going to get in to the "who's the busiest" game. I have no desire to debate. You can win, I'm sure your life is much more chaotic than mine. I'm really writing about this because I appreciate that my job is so varied and it really fits with my multi-tasking style. I'm pretty lucky to have the chance to be able to have such differing conversations and activities throughout my day.

Today one of my students posted this status on Facebook:

"It's time to get personal. Do you ever step back, look at your life, and realize that it is really good? Like, real good. Sure, there are setbacks, bumps, and unfortunate happenings, but, in the grand scheme of things, you couldn’t ask for anything..."

I'm impressed by her insight and it gave me a chance to step back and take a look at myself. My drive home reflecting on my day at work let me take a look at my job and realize that I have it really good. That's pretty awesome if you ask me.

Listening to Avett Brothers.

Day Off? Never Heard of It.

Today I took the day off. I decided to take a long weekend to travel down to Texas for my friend's wedding. If you don't want to read the rest of the post, know that the moral of the story is that I shouldn't take the day off assuming that it will be relaxing and that I am always becoming more awesome. If you want to read on, go for it.

I woke up at an ungodly hour to a freezing cold house and a cranky dog. Those aren't the reasons that I woke up, they were just the first things that struck me after my heart attack due to a painfully loud alarm clock jolting me out of my slumber. I stumbled through the dark of my room trying to remember why I thought an early flight was a good idea while simultaneously knocking over about 8 things in order to find the light switch. How are those things so hard to find?! I mean, they are pretty much in the same location in every room- right next to the door. But I digress... I get ready and rush to the airport. I could tell you tales of everything that is annoying about airports and flights, but I'll save that for another time. We all know the stresses of going through security and the camaraderie created due to our vulnerability as we remove our shoes. But as much as I loathe certain parts of airport travel, there is something oddly nostalgic and enchanting about it.

After getting in to Houston, I knew I had some free time because everyone was scheduled for wedding activities, so I decided that I would go relax and get a pedicure before joining in. To make my day even better, I swing by Starbucks to grab a wonderful tall light ice soy chai then head to the salon.   What a great way to enjoy the day off, right? I pick out my nail color (OPI- I'm Not Really A Waitress), hop in to the massage chair and start soaking my feet. This is where I make a mistake. I check my email. Dear lord. Emails from my boss' boss about some event concerns. Emails from some of my staff about a project falling through. I try to send off some responses and provide direction on some of the situations as much as possible. Once I send responses, people realize that they can just call. So my cell phone starts ringing off the hook. As my toes are getting painted, I do what I can to try to put out fires. After I hang up with a call, my pedicurist looks at me and says "I thought you had today off?". So did I. Needless to say, that was the most stressful pedicure I have ever had.

After the pedicure, I finally get to meet up with my friends and catch up with them. There is plenty of excitement. It feels so familiar and comfortable. Even after a "day off" that was more stressful than it should have been, it was relaxing to spend time with everyone. We covered stories of past romances, mistakes and adventures. We discuss mutual friends and what people have been up to. I found out another friend is expecting, which is a little crazy. Really? Is there something in the water these days? In the past week I have had to purchase cards and/or gifts for 3 couples that are engaged/married and 2 people that are pregnant. Is it fair to cap the amount of people that I celebrate in one year? I mean, at what point is this completely excessive?

Someone posted this picture of NPH and I decided that it was fitting. Even after a day like today, I'm just getting more awesome.

Listening to Muse.

Everyone is Awkward

An old boss once told me that he loved hearing stories about my awkward encounters. He found them completely hilarious and couldn’t wait for the next installment. After about 6 months, he mentioned to me that if I was always a part of these awkward encounters, maybe it’s not everyone else, maybe it’s me. If I’m the common denominator in all the stories, wouldn’t it make sense that I’m the awkward one in the situation? As much as I hate to admit it, he makes a very good point.

I am a self-proclaimed awkward individual. I know it and I own it pretty well. I think it’s my charming combination of unfiltered commentary combined with poor coordination. I’m pretty aware of my awkwardness, so I like to do what I can to make sure others don’t have to experience it to any huge extreme. Which leads me to the question: am I the only one that does that? 

I wouldn’t have thought twice about this question until this past week. Maybe Halloween brings out everyone’s awkward side, but I don’t think that’s it. I think that everyone is completely and totally awkward but only certain individuals know how to fall within societal norms and “pass” as normal. 

I feel like there are different extremes of awkward. I get embarrassed when I see people do things that are uncomfortable in public. For example, my office hosted a Halloween Costume Contest this week. Of course the only people that entered were these students that were extremely dressed up in costumes of characters that I’m sure only 1% of people on earth have heard of. In addition to dressing over the top, they also felt that it was acceptable to act like their characters in front of hundreds of people. What?! All I could do was stand there and force a smile (even though I was cringing with embarrassment on the inside). That may be the extreme of awkward and uncomfortable. I think the part that is scary is that they are college students. If they were in high school, we could convince ourselves that they can grow out of it. 

I don’t think being awkward has to be to that extreme. My friend’s FB status last weekend said the following: “OMG. So excited to hang out with my boyfriend today. We’re going to carve pumpkins, go hot tubbin’, and eat frozen yogurt!”. Let’s get past the fact that I’m calling this person my friend and move straight to what she is saying. First off, don’t ever use OMG. It just reminds me that you should still be in high school or that you read too many gossip magazines. Second, everyone knows that you have a boyfriend. You’ve mentioned it in every other post since you’ve been “facebook official”. Move on. I’m pretty sure your boyfriend is embarrassed by you. But the main awkward part of this post to me is the combination of activities that will be taking place. I understand that you are trying to explain how your whole day is going to pan out, but when you state it like you did in your post, I’m picturing you and your boyfriend sitting in the hot tub while carving pumpkins and eating frozen yogurt. Not only am I completely disgusted by this imagery, I also question what you consider a good time. Are pumpkin seeds falling in to the hot tub? Is your fro-yo melting? Don’t bring me in to those so-called intimate moments of your life. It makes me feel completely uncomfortable. 

My friend has provided me with a scale to better understand awkwardness. This only came about after I created a slightly awkward situation, but still, I appreciate his perspective. I told him that I needed to ask him a question that he might find uncomfortable, so I wanted to apologize in advance if it made him uncomfortable (see, that’s me being self-away… the exact opposite of the Halloween Costumed Crazies and the Creepy Hot Tub Couple). After asking the question, he said “on the continuum of awkward questions, that is much closer to "what is your name?" on the left than "what do you think about when you urinate?" on the right”. I’ll tell you right now, I took that as a compliment. I’ll also tell you that the fact that he has created this continuum proves my point that everyone is awkward.

Listening to Florence & The Machine.

Questions I had to answer

Wow. This has been a busy week and it's only Tuesday. I'll fill you in on the things I've been things I've been thinking... well correction... I was going to fill you in on a lot of the things I was thinking, but my roommate convinced me to go to Happy Hour tonight, so let's be real... I have only a couple things to say this evening and then I want to go to bed. Here goes...

When your roommate asks you to go to Happy Hour, think twice. I say that with all sincerity. I love the girl, but Happy Hour always turns in to Happy HourS. We start out having one lovely beverage at a location (Upslope's Pumpkin Ale in this occasion) and before you know it, we've had a couple beers and have moved on to another location in the city. Um, BFF Roommate, it's a Tuesday. I have an early meeting tomorrow. Peer pressure gets me every time.

I was filling out an application and came across a question thought caught me off guard. I rarely encounter something that I can't quickly find an answer to, so this was particularly frustrating to me. The question was asking me to name 3 things that have meaning in my life and why. I'm pretty lucky that the application isn't due until the end of this month so it gives me some time to really think about it.  Here's one option for an answer that I have so far.

Running- This is something that didn’t have meaning in my life for quite some time. I think that a lot of people would think this is a strange answer. I was never a runner. I was the kid in gym class that would rather walk the mile fitness test than run it. (And believe me, I did walk it, much to the chagrin of my gym teacher). It’s not that I wasn’t athletic, it’s just that I didn’t want to run from Point A to Point B unless there was a reason. I was a dancer, softball player, and swimmer. I was certainly fit enough to run. After college and grad school, I had gained a fair amount of weight. I was not as happy as I should have been and I knew I was missing something. I moved to Houston for my job and decided to give myself a challenge. I decided that I was going to run a marathon. This was clearly absurd since I had never run more than one mile. People kept asking me if I would rather start with a 5k or a 10k or something. I would politely decline. I’m stubborn to a point where once I say that I’m going to do something, I’ll do it, no matter how impossible it may seem. So I trained for months and learned so much. I learned how to balance my life, how to challenge myself, how to get past the negativity that everyone (including myself) would put out in the world about my idea. There were so many points along the journey that I knew no one would fault me for stopping, but I kept going. Long story short, I completed a marathon. It was amazing and life changing. Running is something that now has a place in my life that helps me reset my mind and gives me perspective. If I am facing a challenge, I know that I can overcome it, even if no one thinks I can. 

So that's the start of my answer. I think it came out a little too cheesy for my liking, so I'm sure I'll adapt it, but we'll see how it goes. Only one month to get the rest of that answer complete.

One of the great things about going to Happy HourS with my roommate is that we get a chance to catch up and get down to the bottom of things. We've been friends for 10 years, so there are very few (if any) things that we won't say to one another. Tonight was no different. We spent a lot of the evening MANalyzing as we tend to do. My roommate asked me what kind of crap I've been trying to pull in the past couple weeks. My answer about the "crap I'm trying to pull" is that I have no good answer. I'm a pretty level headed and smart person, and I know better. Sometimes I make poor choices because I like to live imagining how things could be without considering all the variables that I know already exist. I enjoy the experiences and unrealistically hope that things may change in my favor. Her response: "Stop it and move on". Noted.

Listening to: AWOLnation

Doogie Howser Endings

Sometimes I wish that people would pay close attention to what I type just like we all did at the end of each Doogie Howser episode. I feel like he was lucky enough to be able to summarize all of his thoughts in such a succinct and insightful way (clearly I'm a child of the 80's).

What's even more interesting is that after searching YouTube for Doogie endings, this is the only one I could find. I always overstretch everything. Pretty sure this can be applied to me and how so many thoughts & feelings can happen in such a short period of time whether we like it or not.

Now listening to: "Swing Life Away" by Rise Against

Out of Sorts on a Sunday in the Fall

Sunday is my day to catch up on things. I get the chance to be lazy while still accomplishing much more than I accomplish throughout the whole week. Today was nothing different. I got a good workout in, had a great breakfast, got my car washed, went to the post office, found a dress to wear to a wedding this weekend, and got all my Halloween supply shopping complete. All of that took place before noon. I’m pretty much a rock star of productivity if I do say so myself. Well, after the morning. I proceed to have a lazy Sunday sitting around on the couch and watching some football. So much for having a productive day, but at least it started out well.


I’ve been feeling out of sorts lately. Out of sorts is a term that I coined with the assistance of a great high school friend. It means that you are not sure how you are feeling. You know that something’s not right, but that there’s nothing wrong either. It’s neither good nor bad, it just is. It could be that you are stuck in a rut or that you are totally out of whack because you haven’t been doing your usual routine. There is no cure to get “back in sorts”. It just happens. I usually deal with it by listening to music, working out, talking to people I haven’t been in touch with in a long time, immersing myself in work, dancing it out, or any number of other things. Since there is no known cure, it’s just something that you have to work through.

I decided I needed to get out of the house for a bit this evening. Definitely a good choice. One of my favorite things about living in Boulder is my proximity to so many great things. Whenever I need to clear my head, I throw on my headphones and go on a walk throughout the city. I usually end up at a local coffee shop or bar and spend a couple hours reading or writing. It gives me the chance to rejuvenate and find myself again. Wow… sounds deep. Something that struck me this evening on my walk was how amazing the city looked. The crisp fall air is starting to set in again, but it’s not too cold yet, so you can stroll around and really enjoy all the amazing things around you. The first thing I notice is the crescent moon over the Flat Irons. It is so bright that its light reflects off the snow stuck in the crevices of the rocks and provides definition to the mountainside. The moon is identical to the one on the South Carolina flag. It gives me flashbacks to the warm days in the South where we would sit out on the patio at Salty Nut drinking beers (with koozies obviously), eating peanuts and throwing the shells on the ground. I can hear the rambunctious sounds of college students walking up and down Five Points looking for the next adventure while we would shoot the breeze and talk about our dreams. It was such a strange juxtaposition to feel those memories while looking in to the shop windows on Pearl Street. Those memories seem so recent and tangible. I feel like I could head back there tonight and nothing would have changed, but I know that’s not the case at all. Everything has changed, as it is supposed to. Rather than continue thinking about it, I duck in to a bar to grab a beer and do some work so I don’t dwell on it.

Listening to: An Horse

Baby Showers, Public Restrooms, and Neil Young

So I've noticed that I tend to make lists of things that I feel the need to talk about. That's pretty much how I organize most of my life, so that makes sense. I may not be the most poetic when writing and I certainly don't have the most profound things to say, but that's cool. So things that have been on my mind lately...

1. Baby Showers. Question- This person is pregnant, I only talk with them once a year and live over 1000 miles away from them. Am I required to send them a baby shower gift? Would the answer change if said person was my step sister? Ugg. That's what I thought. So I received a baby shower invitation today for my step sister's shower. I am 100% certain that this invite was sent purely for the gift that I am now obligated to send. The event is 2 weeks away. I'm almost tempted to get a flight home just to attend and tell her that her present is my presence. I think that would be awesome. I would just show up and let her know that I spent so much on the plane ticket that I couldn't afford a gift for her or the new kiddo. Don't worry, I'm not horribly insensitive. I'll make sure to get the baby a gift for Christmas. It is the one time of year that I'll see it anyway...

2. Public Bathrooms. Yes, I know that this is a ridiculous thing to write about, but it's been driving me crazy lately. Every woman walks in to the restroom and goes in to the second stall. I don't know how things work in the men's room, but here's how things SHOULD work in the women's restroom. A women who is the first one in the bathroom should go to the first or third stall. Why you ask? Well in case someone comes in of course! As the second one walking in to the bathroom, you have to choose to either go in to a stall next to the selfish person that chose the second stall or walk all the way to the fourth stall... which is annoying. What's two more steps? Well, nothing really. But you know what would be better? Taking two less steps and going only to the third stall.

3. I was driving in to work this evening and Heart of Gold by Neil Young came on the radio. It's funny to think how music can invoke such big memories and feelings in a person. Growing up, I hated any music with a harmonica in it. It was the "horrible" music my mom would always play and it drove me crazy. I didn't want to think that my mom had any clue what good music was. Now that I look back at things, I am sure she has some great taste in music. Whenever I hear Heart of Gold, I get flashbacks of when I was a young child helping my mom clean the house. She would put the Neil Young record on and pull out the lemon pledge. I still can hear the crackling of the record before the song would begin. We'd dance around to the music on the burnt orange carpet and dust off all the antique furniture. After all the cleaning was done, I remember laying on the floor and soaking up the sun coming through the large window. I would look at the rainbows created by the sun shining through the prisms and daydream. Songs can transport you to a completely different time and place. Maybe that's why I love working with music so much....

Listening to Alexi Murdoch.

Delightfully Difficult

I saw this today right after having an argument with someone that pointed out that it was just easier to agree with me and move on... fitting.

Running, engagements, pot roast & pregnancy pictures

Well back to some poor grammar and run on sentences describing some of the things that are crossing my mind today…


1. I should probably start training soon. I’ve finally convinced my sister to run a half with me. The main thing that convinced her was that it was going to take place in Disneyland, but that’s a start. So we are set to run and it should be really fun. I injured myself in the early spring and have taken a running hiatus. I don’t really have the desire to start running again, but I would really like to support her and our plans to do this together. Don’t get me wrong, I think it will be a lot of fun, I’m just really working on getting my motivation back running. I will… and if I don’t, I will look like an idiot, so I know that I will. I’m also in charge of coming up with what we will wear for the adventure, so that will be an exciting part to the whole thing as well.

2. In the past week I have had 2 friends get engaged. I know I’ve posted about this before, but I think it freaks me out even more. Both are completely different stories and I know both of them are incredible happy, so that is what is important, but it stresses me out. What a big step/commitment. Not that I can really say this out loud, but I wonder if they realize that this is really long term? Clearly I have commitment issues. It stressed me out to decide what I’m doing two weeks from now and I’m certainly not ready to buy a house… that would mean that I would have to stay in the same place for an extended period of time. It was stressful enough buying a car. After all my hard work and research, I bought one and about a year and a half later, it is certainly not the car that I want. Sure, it was a great choice and worked for where I was, but only 1.5 years later and my life changed enough that it no longer works for me. Think about that. Just think. If I can’t even handle committing to a car for more than 2 years, how could I ever think it’s a good idea to commit to a person for a lifetime?!? Analyze me all you want for this. Point out my mistrust in men and my daddy issues all you want. I’m sure I’ve covered all of them as I’ve manalyzed (no, not a typo. Analyzing men= manalyze) with my friends.

3. Everything can be fixed with a good cup of coffee and some great music. Fact. I know I’ve previously mentioned that ice cream and wine can fix everything. That’s still true, it’s just less socially acceptable to eat ice cream and drink wine in the morning, so depending on the time of day, that’s how you will figure out which pairing you need to solve your problems.

4. I’m getting really excited for winter. Today was the first day that I have used my crock pot this season. I ventured to make Pioneer Woman’s pot roast recipe. Not only do I love her blog, now that she has a tv show, which is awesome. She’s pretty hilarious and her instructions are really easy. I love winter comfort foods and the amazing smells of my slow cooker meals throughout my house. Can’t wait to keep making more. I do wish that I were more culinary, but I feel like using my slow cooker is a safe way to get more in to the cooking world. Coming up on my list: crock pot lasagna, meatloaf, and pork chops. Awesome. I do realize that saying that makes me sound like a homemaker, but let’s be honest, it would probably be pretty awesome to be a homemaker.

5. Pregnancy photos. Why do people have to come up with the most awkward/oversharing poses for their pregnancy photos?!? The other day, an acquaintance posted some photos on his FB profile of him and preggo wife. One picture had her leaning on a fence and her bare stomach poking through the fence, and he’s on the other side of the fence poking her stomach. WHO thought that was a good idea? Not only is the picture horrible, he then made the choice to post that picture for the world to see. I can understand that a photographer talks people in to weird poses and people play along with it, but posting them takes that to a whole new level. The more disturbing part: someone commented “cute” on the picture. Was that supposed to be a joke? My next step: unfriend that character AND quickly.

Listening to: Anya Marina

Catching up or something along those lines...

Alright, well first things first- I haven't visited this place in awhile, but in the past week, I've had 4 people tell me that I should write. I agree with that, so that's why I'm back. This probably means that I'll be back for one or two posts and then move on. I feel like I need to wait to write some sort of epic post that people will find engaging and hilarious and awesome. That's a lot of pressure... especially since no one reads this.

Clearly I haven't written for awhile. I realized this because I got back here and it looks like all my pictures that were on previous posts have turned in to black boxes. The combination of me being technologically illiterate combined with my lack of desire to correct this situation means that my amazing pictures (yeah, if you didn't see them, you missed out) will no longer be on my earlier blogs. I'm pretty sure that won't change my lack of readership, so I'm not too worried. 

So moving on.

Things on my mind today:
1. I can't wait for the weekend. This has been a super long week and I'm over it. Do I have amazing plans for the weekend? No. It will probably involve good food, good beer and some college football. Sounds simple yet amazing. Why am I single again? I'm pretty sure I should be every man's dream...


2. Ski season is around the corner. A-Basin opens tomorrow. Yes, it's October. Am I stoked? You bet. Am I saving my vacation days so I can hit the slopes all winter? Without a doubt. 


3. If I'm writing on this blog with the title of Awkward Encounters, I should probably talk about another one of my awkward encounters. Ugh. I'll get back on this soon... I feel like I've had so many that I don't even know where to begin. 


4. Pinterest. So the website is super addictive. I look around at all the great ideas for food and fashion and think how I will take those ideas and use them. I'll be the adorable/hip girl that makes awesome food and has an amazingly decorated house. Totally realistic right? Then I wake up the next morning, eat my cheerios and look in the mirror and try to figure out where I went wrong. I'm pretty sure the website was set up by people that are trying to make the average person feel inadequate. Well Pinterest, it's working. You know what would be better? If you sent a personal shopper, chef and decorator to my house. That would save me some shame.


What I'm listening to now: The Black Keys