Merci!

You Belong in Paris

Stylish and a little sassy, you were meant for Paris. The art, the fashion, the wine, the men! Whether you're enjoying the cafe life or a beautiful park... You'll love living in the most chic place on earth.

What City Do You Belong In?

Fours

Four things I love about spring:
1) Skirts
2) Rain
3) Blossoming trees
4) the start of longer days

Four things I love about summer:
1) Picnics
2) Being out in the sun
3) Long days
4) Warm Nights

Four things I love about autumn:
1) Turkey and Stuffing
2) Color of the leaves
3) a bite in the air
4) Cooler weather

Four things I love about winter:
1) Baking
2) Big warm sweaters
3) Fireplaces
4) Hot Chocolate

Four U.S. cities I’d visit in a heartbeat:
1) Seattle, WA
2) DC
3) Honolulu, HI
4) Boston, MA

Four jobs I've had:
1) Receptionist
2) Sales girl at a deli/butcher shop
3) Sales girl at a sporting goods store
4) Sales Associate for a Lender

Four favorite Singers/Groups:
1) Antigone Rising
2) Bon Jovi
3) Green Day
4) Miles Davis

Four most romantic songs:
1) You and Me- Cold Play
2)Sweet Child of Mine- Guns and Roses
3) How Do I Live Without You- Trisha Yearwood
4) At Last- Etta James

Four movies I could watch over and over:
1) Shrek 2
2) Madagascar
3) Harry Potter ( all of them)
4) Finding Nemo

Four television shows I love to watch:
1) CSI: Las Vegas
2) Rescue Me
3) Nip/Tuck
4) Grey's Anatomy

Four places I've been on vacation:
1) England
2) Mexico
3) Victoria, BC
4) Washington DC

Four blogs I visit daily: (No fair! There's too many.)
1) Boring One Diary
2) Sincerely Kate
3) Becky's Hot Bliggity Blog
4) Crazy Aunt Purl

Four favorite foods:
1) Gyros
2) Sushi
3) Burritos
4) Shabu Shabu

Four places I'd rather be:
1) Greek Isles
2) Hawaii
3) Italy
4) South of France

Four people I'm tagging:
1) Becky
2) Michele
3) Mary
4) .....I am a loser I don't know many bloggers.

Morning Report

My daily trip to Starbucks held a treat this morning. A man with a mullet, humming. First off I didn't realize people who thought mullets where cool,knew Starbucks was trendy. Secondly, he had no regard for personal space, so he was humming within 5 inches of me (distance may have been exaggerated). Thirdly,ummm did I mention the mullet (shutter).

Now back to your regularly scheduled morning.

Sexy Is and Is Not

A friend of mine Catherine gave me,...The Bad Girl's Rage-A-Day 2006 calendar for xmas. If you have ever hear of The Bad Girl series, or read them you know they are very entertaining and some good tips and reminder that sexy,attitude, and confidence is a state of mind not a state of appearance. I was looking thru the calendar tonight and found May 16th- Today's To Do- Channel your inner sexpot!- So I thought I would share with you all and you can channel your inner sexpot too!

Sexy is....
A vibe
Being Smart
Following your path
Acting your age-and loving it
Hip action
Real Confidence
Relying on your instincts
Being comfortable in your own skin
Dropping your emotional guard
Being real
Showing your childhood scars

Sexy is not....
A size
playing dumb
following the pack
Acting out in rage
Acting hip
Real arrogance
Relying on your looks
Showing nothing but skin
Dropping your standards and dropping trou
Being a real slut
Showing your emotional childhood scars


Enjoy

Quirks

As you can see I got a little carried away yesterday in the blogging. :D I had things to say people! And now.......I have run out. I know you are heart broken, how will you get thru your day without my ramblings to read. No fear, I couldn't have my faithful readers left hanging (yes I realize there are like 5 of you). So Kate listed her crazy things here and it inspired me to list my little quirks. Over the course of the past few years I have realized that I am quirky (it’s nicer that saying weird or strange). So here you go:

- While sitting at my desk (when I am not blogging) I write my name repeatedly on a piece of paper. I always use to claim that it was practice because I was going to be famous. Never did I realize it was practice to become a banker associate flooded with paperwork. The irony!

-Food is merely a vehicle for condiments. 90% of the contents of my fridge are condiments and rarely do I have a lot of food.

-I am the eyebrow nazi. I have no idea where this came from but I am obsessed with my eyebrows (and others) being symmetrical and of even shape. My old make-up artist friend use to tell me, “you know eyebrows were meant to be sisters, not twins." I am not buying it.

-I am the queen of starting a hobby and never ever following thru with it. I will take up, rock climbing for instance, I will buy all the gear and go on a regular basis for a few months then all of a sudden drop it. The weird thing is I love rock climbing. I have ton of started projects that I never got around to finishing because I lost interest.

-I can not keep to a regime for laundry. I try and tell myself that I will do my laundry every time my hamper is filled. I find my hamper, buried under a months worth of clothes, every time. Then I am stuck on an evening or weekend chained to the laundry room doing at least 6 to 7 loads of laundry. And that doesn't even include bed sheets and towels. Yes, I own that much clothing.

-I love make-up and it’s my dream to be a make-up artist. With that being said, I own enough make up to open a small store. Ok that may be exaggerating a little. However I do have make up colors that are coordinated with outfits. I even get updates from my local Stila store of events and the people that work there know me on sight.

-I am a worry wart and can get myself in a tizzy (yes it’s a word) over the smallest thing. Tiff and I talked about snorkeling in Maui when we are there this summer. I went to bed that night and spent the next two hours envisioning myself as a snack treat for a shark.

- I either have the keenest nose in the county or I hallucinate a lot. About smell. I constantly exclaim that I smell a smell that is completely out of place for where I am at the moment. I could be walking in an office building and claim that I smell French toast. Or be in a mechanics garage and smell vanilla. I kid you not, ask Tiff.

-I claim on a regular basis that I dislike certain food and then when coaxed in to trying it again, all of a sudden I love it.Michele teases me on a regular basis about the fact that I swore I hated corn and one summer she convinced me to eat corn again and low and behold I have loved it ever since. Now every time I claim that I don’t like something, Michele asks are you sure or is it like how you hate corn?

So there are a few quirks about me. Enjoy and point and laugh if you have to.

Where Would You Go?

With Kate's recent posts about pick up and moving somewhere, it got me thinking and thus turned in to a conversation with my boss about where we would move to. California, while I complain about it sometimes, is a great place to live. Great weather, currently 60+ degrees in January, no major disasters that visits on an annual basis, close to the mountains AND the ocean. The list goes on, but what if you were to make the move, where would you go. For me a number of factors were involved, all my friends and immediate (mom and dad) are here. The employment market for my field is thriving, and I own property. But lets say I did decide to move, ignoring (I love you all) the factors. My boss and I discussed at great length the advantages and disadvantages of each coast and the states stranded in the middle (no offense). My first choice, if I were to stay in the 48 contiguous states, would be Seattle, WA. Now I know that at last count it had been raining for 33 straight days, but that doesn’t bother me. I love the rain and gloom, it doesn’t lead me to suicidal thoughts. Seattle, to me, has the big city feel without all the people, has water and mountains, cheaper real estate, and I could transfer my position. And it’s still only a 90 minute plane ride home. Also did I mention that it’s close to Canada where the exchange rate allows for better and cheaper shopping? So that’s the top of my list, but what about the bottom of my list. The east coast (anything north of Virginia) has seasons that would be amazing to experience, something that CA doesn’t have. But while I claim my favorite season is winter, I mean a California winter, not a New York winter. And there are hurricanes in the southern states that are an annual occurrence, sometimes not as bad as this past year, but they do happen every year. So no states with harsh winters or Hurricanes, well there goes the east coast. How about the middle of the nation? From Nebraska to Denton, TX, (this is a guess on the location) resides Tornado Alley, a strip of states that are battered yearly by tornados. Now I have seen Twister and ummm, no thanks, you can keep that. We are back to the west coast because along with hurricanes, harsh winters and tornados, I really hate the hot summers. The dripping with sweat because the humidity is at 100%, isn’t a good look for me.
What about expanding the search to the entire globe, well that opens up a lot more options. Anything in Europe sounds exciting and Hawaii, sounds like paradise. Buts it’s a scary decision and out of the comfort zone for a lot of people because they are leaving behind their factors. So that leads me to the second part of the conversation.

What would you move for? Friends, boyfriend/girlfriend, family, job, because you hit 30? In recent years my friends, the ones closest to me, have become my family, filling in for my current turbulent family life. The idea of any one of them leaving isn’t an appealing idea. Question though? Would I move for them…….. Part of me says yes because I would miss my “family” beyond belief, the other part says no, because they have lives of their own to lead and experiences of their own to have. And it would require me to stand on my own and make new friends and try new things beyond my comfort zone. Depends, are they moving somewhere cool? :D What about a boyfriend? I can’t say for sure, I haven’t had a serious relationship in a long time. I would like to think, yes I would, but does that put a strain on the relationship, only having each other? Also jobs come in to play, if he had the higher paying job, then yes, I think I would move for him and his job, but if I was the main bread winner? It doesn’t seem to make economical sense. This is all a what if, seeing I am not even dating someone, but these are the questions I have. Would I move for my own job? If my job here was going to be phased out and a similar job with similar compensation become available elsewhere, then yes. Mind you my company has hubs in a lot of cities I wouldn’t like to live in. But if I had to and I really liked my job, then most likely I would. The topic of moving for family is tough for me since my parents are no longer together. I couldn’t just move for one of them, I couldn’t live with the guilt that they may think I loved one of them more. And believe me that would be the root of that problem. And last but not least my favorite reason, because I turned 30. I have jokingly said ( ok a lot of times) that if I hit 30 and am in the same place: work wise, lack of relationship wise, or I need a bigger yard for my 10 cats, that I was going to move to get myself out of that rut. I have even gone as far as set up e-mails informing me of available real estate in my desired locations (see above). I am all for changing your situation if it becomes intolerable or for the simple fact that you want or need to.

Your life is always in your own hands and you have to live it, so make your life for yourself. (See I don’t blog for awhile and then all of a sudden the flood gates open)

The Weekend in Detail

I know, I have become that blogger, the one that doesn’t blog (gasp). Life currently is hibernating for me. I truly spend my time between work, the gym and home. And even the gym hasn’t spurred any great stories. I do go out on occasion, I haven’t turned into a complete hermit, only a mild one. But as you saw from Tiff’s post that we at least did a few things. One of them was wine tasting in the local hills of our area. They have this event called Passport Days that all the local wineries participate in. You buy a “passport” with all the local wineries in it and you get a stamp for all the ones you visit. It’s a cheaper way to do Wine Tasting. It only costs $25 for about 40 to 50 wineries thus saving you a lot of $$. I had a great time with Tiff and Christine. Tasting wines talking about them and then laughing at ourselves for sounding so snobby. Really, I said the phrase, “It has a great nose to it.” Tiff immediately started laughing and I quickly joined in because I sounded like an idiot.
Please note the HOT red head giving us an education. You can imagine he had my full attention. The only downfall to the entire afternoon is that my Jeep started acting up and we had to leave it at a winery because it could no longer go up the steep hills without overheating. I am saving that post for Monday after my dad and I tear apart the engine.

After Tiff departed due to prior engagements, I conned Christine into showing me her jewelry skills and I made 5 pairs of earrings. I promise to take pics and post soon. Downside, I have found another addicting hobby that costs money. It’s like a candy store with beads, wires and hoops, all these options and no idea where to start! Who likes Chandelier earrings?

Sunday found Tiff and I bending ourselves into pretzels in Yoga. Let’s start with the fact that I am not flexible anymore. And my balance checked out a few years ago. At one point I couldn’t hold the laughter in anymore and let a giggle escape. But the deep breathing is very relaxing, so relaxing that you pretty much kiss off doing anything for the entire day. After yoga, Tiff and I had plans to go to the beach and walk thru a quaint little downtown. But with my Jeep out of commission, we decided to stick close to home. We ran a few errands (i.e. I dragged Tiffany to a few stores with me, she is so patient) and we indulged in nachos and margaritas. Combine with yoga and heavy breathing, I was exhausted. So we went back to Tiff’s place made more margaritas and discussed what we should do while not moving move than a few inches towards our straws. TheBoy tried to get us motivated to go bowling, play pool, anything other than giggle wildly and drink more. I kept trying to fall asleep (with margarita in hand) but the TheBoy was having none of it and kept pestering me to wake up. I finally decided that I couldn’t muster up the energy to do more that sit on a couch, so I went home. Then I proceeded to do 6 loads of laundry, so much for not having energy.

It was a good weekend spent with friends, wine and yoga. Relaxing and catching up with cute boys thrown in for good measure.

Something.......

Something.... I stole this from
Steph


something awkward: Running in to an EX, that after he stopped talking to you (though didn't break things off) looks at you like you are the anti-christ and refuses to talk to you because called his voicemail to tell him things weren't working out.

something risky: Constantly taking the advice, love likes it the first time, to heart and continually putting yourself out there.

something funny: Going to a restuarant and asking to sit outside, only to find that they don't have a license to serve alcohol outside and claim, " oh no no no, we will be needing a table inside."

something embarrassing: Falling down the last two stairs on your outside staircase, landing on your knees, scratching them up like you are 5 years old. Then having to walk around with the hem of your skirt pulled up because you are more worried about getting blood your clothing than actually having hurt yourself. And of course the obligatory look around to see if anyone saw you.

something I don't understand: Ok there are a million things I don't understand but lets go with one of the lighter ones. Bicyclists, now if you are one, sorry but I don't get you. They have designated lanes in which to travel in and yet they decide to run ten across the road, clogging it up completely anf pissing off people who are in a much larger vehicle than they are. Or how about a complete disregard for traffic laws though they are governed by them. My favorite is bicyclists running red lights, because they can. GRRR

something I'm worried about: Again a million things some ridiculous, some unavoidable, some relevant. my mom being happy again,my dad moving away, will I be able to let go of things I have no control over, will sharks nibble my toes in Hawaii, what if a turtle stalks me while I am scuba diving, will I ever have a true love, get married, have kids, my weight, money, going back to school, did I forget to turn off the flat iron, what is wrong with the car now, will I have to buy a new one...... the list goes on.

1. What time did you get up this morning?
4:30am- I wasn't suppose to be up until 5:45am, but I was afraid I would sleep thru my alarm. Yes I realize I might be insane.

2. Diamonds or pearls?
Diamonds

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Mrs. Henderson Presents.

4. What is your favorite TV show?
CSI: Las Vegas

5. What did you have for breakfast?
Yogurt shake and Instant Cereal

6. What is your middle name?
Joann

7. What is your favorite food?
Greek

8. What foods do you dislike?
OLIVES!

9. Your favorite Potato chip?
Jalepeno Chips

10. What is your favorite CD at the moment?
James Blunt

11. What kind of car do you drive?
95 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4X$

14 Favorite drink?
Vodka

15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would it be?
Greece, Italy, France, Ireland ,South America

16.What color is your bathroom?
White and Mocha

17. Favorite brand of clothing?
Banana Republic

18.Where would you retire?
Hawaii

19 Favorite time of day?
around 6 pm - as I am unwinding

21. Favorite sport to watch?
Watching sports defies my attention span

22. Who do you least expect to send this back?
Mary

23. Person you expect to send it back first?
Kate

24. What laundry detergent do you use?
I change-whatever is on sale

25. Coke or Pepsi?
Diet Pepsi

26. Are you a morning person or night owl?
Neither- sad huh

27. What size shoe do you wear?
8.5 - I'd like to point out that Tiff and I are the same height and our shoe sized differs by 3.5 sizes

28. Do you have pets?
One very orange cat, that I am very allergic to.

29. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with your friends?
I can barely keep my eyes open, let alone stand anything exciting happen to me.

30. What (who) did you want to be when you were little?
no idea

31. Favorite Candy Bar?
Snickers - after they have been in the freezer

33. What are the different jobs you have had in your life?
Retail sales girl, receptionist, administrative assistant, associate mortgage banker

34. Favorite season?
Winter
35. Nicknames you've had?
Liz, Lizzie, Lulu, Tilly, Hey You :D

36. Piercings:
3 in one ear and 2 in the other

37. Eye color:
Mine are actually green depsite what people say- sadly an olive green ( I hate Olives)

38. Ever been to Africa?
no

39. Ever been toilet papering?
no

40. Love someone so much it made you cry?
Cry because I was in love? No. Someone I loved made me cry? Yes. Good Answer Tiffy- I'm keeping it.

41. Been in a car accident?
HA - two in the last year

42. What's a question no one has ever asked you?
Are you Happy with yourself?

43. Favorite day of the week?
Wednesday

44. Favorite restaurant?
Evvia, Cascal, Gyro House, CreoLa, La Fiesta

45. Favorite flower?
Tulips

46. Favorite ice cream?
Mint Chocolate Chip
47. Disney or Warner Brothers?
Disney

48. Favorite fast food restaurant?
McDonalds

49. What color is your bedroom carpet?
Icky Beige

50. How many times did you fail your driver's test?
2

51. Before this one, from whom did you get your last e-mail?
Tiffy- We are both bored currently

52. Which store would you choose to Max out your Credit Card?
I can't chose just one

53. What do you do most often when you are bored?
Knit

54. Bedtime:
I try to make it by 10 30
56. Last person you went to dinner with?
My mom

57. Ford or Chevy?
CHEVY!!!!!!

58. What are you listening to right now?
People talking

59. What is your favorite color?
Green or red

60. Lake, Ocean or River?
Ocean

61. How many tattoos do you have?
two soon to be three

62. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Who cares, I am hungry

63. How many people are you sending this email to?
anyone who choses to read my blog

64. Favorite Cocktail?
Stoli Lemon Drop

65. Red or White wine?
Red Wine

66. Where would you go for a girls or boys weekend get-a-way?
Las Vegas

67. What do you want to be?
Happily married with a successful career. A good daughter. A good friend. Hear Hear
68. Republican or Democrat?
Democrat

69. Favorite Family Vacation?
Camping in Mexico

This is Why I Have a Cat

On most nights I lock my cat out of my bedroom. I am a light sleeper and any movement wakes me up. Mind you, he is responding to my moving but I don't wake myself up, so its his fault. Last night I was getting ready for bed, the usual routine and he is waiting for me outside the bathroom. I turn to go to my bedroom and keep the cat out at the same time, not the easiest task. As I am moving towards him, he runs full tilt in to my bedroom and hides behind the corner of the bed ,peeking at me, daring me to try and get him out of the bedroom. I am bent over laughing hysterically, I have never seen him do this or for that matter run that fast in his entire life. It was so funny- like he knew what was coming next and he was hell bent on making sure he got to sleep in the bedroom last night. Needless to stay I am exhausted because of course I didn't sleep well, but at least it wasn't the cat fault entirely. on a side note, I managed to kick a wall last night while walking into the kitchen and I think I may have broken my foot. We will see, I am not running to the doctor yet. I can still walk, sort of.

You Are Always On My Mind

I am sure that there is one person in your past that you had a romantic involvement with, that creeps back in to your mind every now and then. Despite your current situation. Well mine creeps back more than I would like. He was the first guy ever (and I mean ever) that I thought was the best match for me. And he seemed to reciperocate these thoughts and feelings. Now you all know the story, I've written about it before. We were inseparable and then I had to go away for business and came back to him having found someone else. I am a strong woman most days, but today (and there have been others) I find myself missing him terribly. I catch myself wondering if I will ever find another, not necessarily like him, but someone I will consider a match. I also have this bad habit. He has a page on MySpace and I can from time to time be caught peeking at it. Momentary weakness. I wonder what could the other girl possibly have that made him walk away. Something that I was obviously lacking. Now I am not attacking myself for the "lacking" comment. We have all had that happen. You and a guy are dating, he thinks you are great, perfect even. But its not all there for you. Its ok, you can't make yourself feel something you don't. But it doesn't mean that it doesn't make you wonder. Wonder what you lacked and if you will ever find it again.

So there is my dirty little secret. My heart is still back with him, wanting him to wake up and realize what he walked away from. And me, knowing it won't ever happen, but not capable of letting it go quite yet. After all, this was the first time I had ever felt this way.

Maui Here I Come

I have EXCITING news!!! Tiff and I are going to Maui!!! Its not for another 5 months, but can I tell you how exciting I am. The catalyst to get me there is sort of funny. A co-worker/friend in my office is getting married in Maui. Now I have never been to Hawaii, so I saw this as the perfect opportunity. And Tiff is going to be my date- how cool is that?!? Best Friends in Hawaii. Tiff and I sat down last night with the goal to clean out my purses (I have nine million) and give a few to her. But of course over the weekend I bought travel guides to Maui and Oahu, so we quickly switched over to checking out places to stay and things to do. We found this great Bed and Breakfast in Kihei (South Maui) that we will be staying at. We have decided to go Snorkeling one day, we have a Luau to go to for the dress rehersal dinner of the wedding, and the wedding itself. We have also decided to go to Tedschei Winery ( http://www.mauiwine.com/) for a tour and taste pineapple champagne. Of course we will spend time sunning ourselves too. Tiffy put a ban on knitting though in Hawaii- Sh says she refuses to lose me to spinterhood ;)

On top of that, I will be spending 4 days in Oahu. Tiff will sadly depart earlier than me. And since I have never been to Hawaii, I decided to make the most of it. So I scheduled my flight to fly in to Maui and then leave from Honolulu, giving me 11 wonderful days to be spent between two islands. This give me a chance to be a history geek and see Pearl Harbor and do a few touristy things as well. The last 5 days of my trip I will be alone, but can I tell you I am excited about that too. Don't get me wrong if Tiff could stay for the entire trip, I am sure I would pee on myself from excitement. Not the prettiest of visuals, but I am trying to convey pure excitment. But I see me being alone on a trip as a huge personal goal, being comfortable with my own company. Now I already go to movies by myself and spend entire days alone. But this is a big step and I am excited and see this as a test. To get to know myself better and try to establish more faith and confidence. I am absolutely giddy. Tiff and I have never really traveled together beyond weekends at the lake, and weekends in Vegas. I see this trip as a chance to spend us time and become closer, though we are very close already. Can you picture me doing a little happy dance ? :D

Aloha!

Chore Day

Today I have spent the better part of my morning working on things for myself, though I am at work. Can I tell you, I love my boss. So first off, my mail box is the size of a postage stamp. This translates to alot of my mail is sent back to the creditor. This morning I had to call my home equity lender and find out why I hadn't received a statement. It was of course because of my tiny tiny mail box. Next, I have an eye doctor appt tomorrow morning, I need more contacts. Its like a life and death issue with me, I hate wearing my glasses. The receptionist called this morning to tell me my Doctor isn't covered by my insurance. Panic!!!!!! So I call my insurance to find out who is covered and luckily ( seriously the planets are aligned) the eye doctor that is down the street from work has an opening tomorrow afternoon for me. Whew!!!! The idea of having to wait three to four weeks was not good. I have included an old picture of me in glasses when Michele and I both had short hair. I kid you not this picture is like 4 years old. So I think I am caught up on my chores and now I can actually get to work ;) Riiiiiggghhhttt!

The Monster Elevator

With the New Year comes cleaning, out with the old in with the new. At work same rule applies. I have had 7 boxes full of files sitting next to me for the better part of a month and a half. And today being the offcial full week of work, all my colleagues were here. Which means unsightly boxes needed to be gone. Great day to do it too, cream colored trousers and brand new suede chocolate brown pumps (Michele, I caved and got them). So I work on the second story and the safest way ( when thinking of trying to take a hand truck down stairs while piled with boxes) was to use the elevator. Have you ever noticed that in elevators the permit is expired. I can't remember a time when I wasn't in a elevator that had a current permit. Sort of scary to me. And our elevator at work is no exception. The current permit expired in 2003, almost a full two eayrs ago. But that was the least of my worries, there was a notice inside the elevator that there had been a recall on the locking mechanisms and that the elevator doors will open at random, whether you have reached your destination or not. They could open mid transit. As much as I am fan of seeing how things work, I do not, I repeat do not, want to see the inner workings of an elevator while I am in it. After I had returned from my first two trips my boss urged me to take my cell phone with me while traveling in the elevator, as known as the Death Trap- becuase on top of the expired permit, randomly opening doors, there is a permanent smell of exhaust fumes. So if you get caught you won't die from not being found, but you will from the toxic fumes.

Creepy

Since we are talking about strange men (see Michele's blog :http://justonel.blogspot.com), decided to add my story of a weird encounter. Today spent alot of time filing, about my least favorite job in the world. I am still working on that magic wand so I can *pfft* make it go away. Anyhow, I am hunched over a very low file drawer filing away to my hearts content when I co-worker comes up behind me to use the copier. Instead of going about his business he decides to talk to me ( something he doesn't do, deal went sour, he blames me). Keep in mind I am still hunched over with my back towards him.

Him: " Hey, cool new tattoo...."
Me: "Umm, not really new, just usually much better at covering it up" ( tattoo's are located below my pants waist line on most days, but due to healthy walking in DC, pants are to big. Give me a couple of days I can undo the work I did.)
Him: " Oh well, I still really like it, looks good on you."
me: " Umm, thanks."


Really, it was creepy. At least I didn't burst out with, "Exactly why are you talking to me." Which did cross my mind. In a work enviroment, is that something you really acknowledge? One's tattoo? I realize mine was hanging out for the world to see as I was bent over the file cabinet in a dark hallway, where no one ever goes ( are you getting the hint? :)) So that was my creepy encounter for tonight. I am going out with the girls for drinks after work, so I am sure I will have plenty of ammunition for Monday :) Have a great weekend everyone.

Pictures from DC 3

Jefferson Memorial at Sunset
Jefferson Memorial
Faces Etched in Marble at Korean War Memorial

Pictures From DC 2

Lincoln Memorial
Korean War Memorial
Capital Building
National Archives

PIctures From DC

World War II Memorial
Washington Monument
The White House at sunset

3 Things I Learned in 2005

The title is deceiving becuase there is alot I learned in 2005 but the 3 things that I am going to talk about happen in the last 6 months, and as I get older my memory is fading :).

#1: I learned that I can care for someone but if the relationship takes a turn for the worse, I learned I can walk away. I typically am the one being left in a relationship, so to learn that I could do the leaving was liberating. To have enough faith in myself even with the hurting that the protect yourself mechanism kicked in. That I thought enough of myself to recognize I was in a position I didn't want to be and to make the decision to leave was important to me.

#2: I learned that there are men out there that will posess the qualities I am looking for. Ok most of the qualities, he sort of lacked the quality of wanting me. But hey, I am very picky so I decided this was a good thing.

#3: I learned that there are men out there that actually want me. Now if I just wanted them in return, I'd be set. But I did learned that I can not longer say no one wants me. So again positive spin.

This is the new more positive me, signing off.

I'm Baaaaaccckkkk....

Hi everyone! I am back ( ok I have been back for two days) from DC. I had a wonderful time and spent alot of time visiting Memorials, Monuments, and Museums. So much to see and I feel like I barely made a dent. Seeing as I love history, DC was like a historical Disneyland for me. I could get lost for hours in a museum. I am looking forward to go back at some point so that I can see the rest of the National Galleries that I missed.

My New Years Eve was great having spent it with friends and watching fireworks over the Masonic Temple in Alexandria. And them coming back to our friends house and having champagne waiting for us was such a treat.

I promise to upload pictures later, maybe tonight...... Don't hold your breath. I am still trying to figure out what time zone I am in. I hope everyone had a wonderful New Years, celebrating it with friends and family.