Oink

I have gotten into looking at different events going on around town, simply because Birmingham is such a cool city, and so high class. This is what I found...

Event: Wine-tasting

Date: June 27, 2008

Location: Piggly Wiggly

Somehow, they cancel each other out.

TGIF

It's Friday!! I'm so excited! I love Fridays! The atmosphere is just so happy on Fridays. Everyone can't wait to spend the weekend doing whatever it is they want to do. For me, this weekend = relaxation.

Tonight we are celebrating that one of my roomies, KM, passed the NCLEX!!!!!!!!! She is a for real nurse and we love her! I can't say where we are going because it is a surprise for her. I am so going to take advantage of her instead of going to the doctor. I have to say that this week has been filled with celebrating, and it all has been centered around this one test. Tuesday, we celebrated because she finished the test by going to Edgars and going to Jackson's. Yum! And now we are celebrating because she for real passed it!

Tomorrow, I plan on trying to get this pasty white skin of mine tan. I am tired of reflecting underneath the flourescent lights in my office. (Side note--the phones here ring just like the ones on The Office...10 points for realism NBC) I have no idea what I will be doing Saturday night...any ideas?

Sunday, maybe I will go to the lake with Mom and Dad, not entirely sure, but I do know that exerting energy will NOT be a part of my day. I might try to ski...I will let you know how that goes on Monday. Last time I tried, I lost both my skis and for some reason thought it a perfect idea to keep hanging onto the rope. Nose full of Lake Martin...ouch.

Sorry, this post is pretty boring. I will step it up next time.

Confection Confession (with a side of Nerd)

Confession...I'm a slighty sugar-obsessed patriotic nerd.

I had a very good day yesterday! Work rocked along very smoothly (always does), but I was mostly looking forward to 5:00pm. Not because I dislike work, but because I was going to EGDAR'S! If you have never been, then your poor tastebuds have missed out on the same thing mine have been. It was amazingly good!

You see, my office building is very close to Edgar's and every day when I head home I see the bakery. I've heard about it several times and I've even driven by slowly, peeping into the windows. Yesterday, I bit the bullet. I finally had a reason to go to Edgar's. One of my roomies took the NCLEX exam (an exam for nurses that they must pass in order to become an R.N.) that morning and didn't have to study anymore. I'm not entirely sure what all it entails, but NCLEX sounds like a villian from a MARVEL comic book. Not fun. But thank you roomie, for giving me a reason to go to Edgar's!

When I left work, I headed straight there. (I feel like I should give a shout out to my friend that called from Switzerland...sorry I was distracted by all the cakes! I was SO happy to chat with you!) I entered the heavenly doors, and immediately smelled the freshness and purity of bread and cakes just out of the oven. I browsed for probably 30 minutes. They had cupcakes, cookies, pettafores, brownies, and beautifully mastered confections that I almost do an injustice by simply calling them a cake. I searched and I searched for the perfect dessert. I could have gone a number of ways, but instead I settled for 4 mini desserts. They were ADORABLE! I chose a mini chocolate bundt cake, a chocolate iced cake with chocolate bars stuck in it, a chocolate dessert shaped like a little ball that had pecans and chocolate shavings on it, and my personal favorite....COCONUT CAKE. The little coconut cake was so beautiful!

Before the 4 of us that were celebrating dove into the desserts, we decided it best to go and eat dinner. The minute we stepped back into the apartment we took the sweets by storm. They never had a chance poor things. We polished those little suckers off while watching National Treasure 2. Now, thanks to the movie, I have this incredibly nerdy desire to learn as much as I can about American History. All those myths and legends, is there even the slightest chance that some of them are true? It was when I was tempted to comment on a "The Book of Secrets: DOES it Exist?" discussion board that I realized that maybe I should take a step back, re-evaluate and decide whether or not I wanted to commit to this much nerdiness.

Answer: Been there, Done that....And apparently I'm continuing it.

It's so interesting though! No, there is no proof that such things are true necessarily, but there is no proof that they are entirely false either. I choose to think there are secrets locked in the past that only our ancestry know and ever will know. That is what a secret is correct? Things no one is supposed to know? For that purpose, I choose to speculate...it makes it all so much more interesting. Am I alone in my nerdiness?

grumpy, dopey, doc, SNEEZY, bashful,sleepy and happy

This is so funny.

Maybe It's Just Me But...

Maybe she didn't have a mirror....

white, sweater knit, tight, tight, tight short, spaghetti strap dress, with black pointy-toe pumps that, don't worry, matched her black undies that I could see straight through the dress...wow.

Jeepers CREEPERS

Pick-up lines...I'm so glad this is not a lost art. I have such fun examples of these. If you have any to add, please do!

Example #1 (The Awkward Reference)

"You remind me of my daughter." Not the best opening line. How am I supposed to respond to that?

"Awesome. You remind me of the creepiest guy ever."

(In true Jeff Foxworthy form...) IF you can honestly say that the 20-something girl that you are hitting on reminds you of your daughter.... YOU MIGHT BE A CREEPER!

Group of men at LuLu's---take note that you are no longer in college and there is no excuse for leaving your wedding band in your golf bag...not cool.

Example #2 (Pulling the God Card)

I had the privilege to spend this weekend at a bachelorette party. I love bachelorette parties. I am telling you what, stick a veil on one of your friends, and see what happens. People go crazy. They treat the bride like a celebrity (which she should be) and they treat her lucky little followers like prey, assuming that each girl who is clearly a bridesmaid or friend of the bride is so depressed and bitter that she is not the one getting married, that her inhibitions and standards have been considerably lowered.

I am so glad that people think that this is the case, because how else would I be able to blog about all the fantastic interventions I was privy to this past weekend. The first night we went to dinner and then went to a place called Live Bait (if you have been to Gulf Shores, you might have been here). Upon entering, a guy approached us, rather he pounced on the group almost in an "I saw them first" kind of way. Immediately, he bought us a round of drinks. Okay, this is not all that out of the ordinary for a bachelorette party. We tell him we went to Auburn University. "Oh!! I go to LSU!"~like that was suppose to be impressive. He said it in a way that sounded like he expected us to know all the same people, I guess because we go to SEC schools? So we played the name game (one-sided). He asked if I knew some girl he knew in high school who had decided to come to Auburn (only 24,000 people go to Auburn and NO, I do not know your needle that could be found in the proverbial haystack of Auburn University).

But, just for fun, I said "Oh yeah! I know her!" Haha awesome. He described her as "one of those good Christian girls," which actually we happen to have quite a few of at Auburn.

"We tend to hang out with those kind of girls," which was not only true, but was the only thing I could think to say. Apparently he found that to be his way into our group, because not only did he talk repeatedly to me about his personal spirituality (while he was very drunk) but also to everyone in our group. First he told us that he had just graduated from college and now he was exploring whether or not he wanted to go into the ministry. He told me and the rest of our group that he was "pure" (too much info., pretty sure I didn't ask) and that dancing was his outlet.

What on Earth is THAT supposed to mean? What the heck? Needless to say the avoiding process started with dancer dude. As if this couldn't get any better, he made an appearance the second night, and told us he couldn't remember what he said the night before (bad start bud, on round 2 no less), but that he was actually a senior at LSU and that he became a youth minister at 19, and took a group of 20-30 high schoolers on a mission trip...righhhhht, those parents were trusting with a 19-year-old supposed youth minister.

You were funny dancer dude. You made several of us very uncomfortable with your dancing near us because we wouldn't let you dance with us. Notice the difference.

Example #3 (The Surprise Attack)

On this same trip, I was standing at the Florabama, a place which needs no other explaining except that it is a melting pot of mullet haircuts, crop tops, tight pants, rebel flags, and the occasional college-y group that has come for the experience alone. We were one such group. I was standing talking to one of the other members of the bachelorette party, when out of no where I hear, "I'm Brian." Whoa...little close. Not to mention he didn't approach from the front but instead snuck up beside me where I was not prepared for this interaction...definition: creeper. I was so caught off guard I could not think of what to say. This awkward little interaction lasted for about 3 minutes and included him asking me questions in rapid succession before I could possibly answer him, "Where are you from? Where do you go to school? Do you like the football team? What are you majoring in? What are you going to do with it? Why are you here?" I wanted to say "No. Why are you here?" When I was rescued by a friend who saw me struggling. Thank you again!

Example #4 (Please Pity Me Approach)

This may be my favorite of the Florabama experience. Sometimes you can receive a pick-up line out of the clear blue just by walking by. A couple of my friends were walking by this one guy and for no particular reason he blurted out "My boat sank today."

I was so happy I walked up on this conversation. This poor fellow and his friend seemed so sad, but I very highly doubt that his story was true. The more he talked the worse it got. Apparently this is the story...

He and his friend sank a deep sea fishing boat in the bay that afternoon. For some unknown reason, the boat began to take on water. He looked back from the tower and the motors were thoroughly under water. As the boat was going down, the hero in the boat, in true 007 fashion would hold his breath and dive underneath the water's surface and go through the water filled cabin and collect their belongings. According to him, he was breathing only gasoline-filled air while doing this. Riddle me this wonder boy... How do you breathe under water?

As tempting as it was to ask him this, I let him continue which was much more entertaining. He told us that they did manage to save the cooler of beer which was floating in the water after the boat sank. Thank goodness, I was almost worried. I asked if they got the boat out of the water already or if they just left it there. He says that as soon as he saw the motors underwater, he gunned it (doesn't seem like motors underwater would "gun" very easily, does it?) and rammed the boat up on land next to a dock. When the boat continued to sink, he simply stepped off of the tower onto the dock.

"So when was all of this swimming, and underwater breathing going on?" I ask. "I'm divorced," was his response.

"Okay....." Not the best approach but he does however get 10 points for creativity.


If you have fun pick-up lines or stories about them, please post them in comments!

Just Because

My big tiger (we go way back), Lindsay, passed this along to me. Read her blog...it is SO much funnier than mine.

1. What was I doing ten years ago? I remember loving 1998. I'm not sure why but I just thought that it was the coolest year ever and I especially loved that summer. I remember there was an Old Navy t-shirt that simply had an American flag on it the year below it. I LOVED that t-shirt and of course I wore it on the 4th of July. I was about to start 7th grade, so I guess that means I was about graduate into make-up. I had also just finished up playing in the band...yes, I was in the band, and I played the flute (not well, but I played it at least). I had tried out for cheerleading in the spring and made the squad. We were starting summer practices and I think we had cheer camp for a week. Wow, I can't believe that I remember that much.



2. Five items on your to-do list:

1. Write sorority recommendations (ugh...can't believe I'm old enough to do that)

2. Take my clothes to the cleaners to be dry-cleaned.

3. Call the apartment people to come install my fan.

4. Go by Urban Outfitters.

5. Call a couple of friends to catch up.



3. Snacks I enjoy: My newest favorite snack is pita chips and feta cheese. Try it some time! I would rather eat cookie dough than actual cookies, except for mint milanos....I love those. other than that, I don't snack all that much I guess. When I eat, I EAT. I don't just snack, sadly for me.



4. What would you do if you were a billionaire? I was asked this question when I was in Pre-school, except they asked if you had a million dollars what would you buy? I said a wallet. Seemed like the most logical choice. I'll stick with that. (except I would totally go on lots of trips, and I would love to just be able to find people who deserve a gift in some way and buy something for them, especially for the people that I love.)



5. Places I have lived: Montgomery, Auburn, Birmingham.



6. Bloggers I am passing this challenge onto: I am going to pass along this challenge to Katie Martin for her new blog.

Friendly? Maybe Not.

I have a confession to make. I really don't like riding in the elevator with other people. I genuinely cherish those few moments that I get to spend alone riding up to the sixth floor of my office building. At work, you are expected to talk to one another because you are supposed to know each other. Don't get me wrong, I am not asocial. I just prefer to have those 20 seconds to myself.

Of course if someone is closely walking behind me, then i will hold the door for someone, but if the distance is questionable as to whether or not they could make it, I usually speed up the process and hit the "door closed" button. I know it's bad. And as superficial as this sounds, I like to check my appearance out in the mirrored doors before I step off on my floor. I just like to make sure that I don't have anything in my teeth, or that my clothes are situated right, and my hair is doing ok, before I go in.

I have to admit one time though, I almost got caught on my way downstairs. I was close to the mirrored doors and I was checking my teeth, you know smiling into the mirror. And the doors opened unexpectedly to let people on and I scurried away from the doors. I know they saw me haha, but at least I didn't know them at all. What is your confession?

Counseling for One

I don't know why I have forgotten to post this so far, but it is definitely a blog-worthy story. It was my first week of work, in fact my first day of work this summer, and my mom was staying with me. We actually were staying in a hotel together, because I couldn't move into my apartment until that weekend.

We decided to go to The Cheesecake Factory to celebrate my first day of work. It was raining a little bit, so I dropped my mom at the door. I parked the car, and as I got out and I was trying to juggle my bag and the umbrella. I really didn't want to get my cute new business casual clothes wet.

Mom and I sat down and talked about every detail of my day (which was pretty cool, but that's another post). We had a fabulous dinner and it lasted for about 2 hours. When we were finished we started to walk outside and were excited to find that it had stopped raining. I started to fish for my keys through my bag, and was having a little bit of trouble. We are coming closer to my car.

"Are your lights on?" my Mom asks. She was not prepared for what had really happened.

"Um, no, it's looking like I left the car running," I replied.

Sure enough, when we got to the car, I key-less-ly opened the door and was set to drive away.

HOW DID I DO THIS!? Are you kidding me? Had I lost my mind? Someone could have stolen my car with zero effort! I had practically asked someone to at this point. The same thought crossed my Mom's mind because she then proceeded to ask me with her stunned expression, "I mean, should you go to counseling or something?"

She said it in all seriousness, and honestly, I don't blame her. I wondered the same thing. I was even more shocked than she was. It didn't make it better that I had lost both of my rings and my bracelet (sorry, Bo) twice the week before. Lucky for me, I got those back. My dignity, however, is still trying to find its way back home.

Falling Over

I think that my rolling chair at work is a Democrat.

It constantly leans to the left.