...Now What?

Sidesgiving started in the house fiance lived in during college. I’m not entirely sure who came up with the idea but I’m pretty sure that I love it almost as much as I love real Thanksgiving (if not more).

Everyone is always really happy, there is a lot of food and drinks, and usually there is some sort of game playing after dinner. It is great. This year, I absolutely screwed up Sidesgiving.

Traditionally, Sidesgiving only involved the people who lived in fiance’s house and maybe a few friends. I only got invited because I was dating him. It was always a small-ish thing, nine or ten people tops.

Everyone moved out of fiance’s house in June and scattered to all corners of the country (literally). So, I commandeered Sidesgiving and proceeded to invite 30 people to our one bedroom apartment.

I assumed that 8 or 10 people would RSVP yes, that we would have a small dinner consisting of sides and everyone would go home. I was mistaken and I am thrilled. Currently, 23 people have RSVP’ed yes (on the Facebook invite, but still). Fiance is having a minor panic attack about us fitting 23 people plus us, plus a three legged cat into our apartment, let alone how we’re going to have a sit down meal.

Me? I’m basically thrilled that we have this many friends (this coming from the girl who in the 3rd grade had no one to be twins with on Twin Day at school) and that they are all going to be in one place. Will we be totally cramped? You betcha. But I think that’s how I like it.

And the creepy baby doll with the knife and the mustache? He’ll need his own post…but I’m thinking he may be coming too.

Hello Monday! Hello awesome memories from this weekend. See that...

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:41:54 -0500

Hello Monday!

Hello awesome memories from this weekend. See that picture? That was basically the entire wedding and it was awesomely epic. Congratulations again, to two very special people! (How sweet are my dance moves?)

Hello nutty week at the office. I walked in today and almost immediately became moderately overwhelmed. And its not looking like Tuesday-Friday is going to be any less overwhelming.

Hello week where I will have a dinner party for more than a dozen people in my one bedroom apartment: Sidesgiving. What is Sidesgiving, you may ask? A more detailed explanation to follow.

Hello week where fiance is working late every day. Boooo. He’s still going in at the same time as me though, which means we are still engaged in an epic battle for bathroom time.

Hope your Monday is lovely!

"And I couldn’t sleep because my upstairs roommate was doing it so loud."

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 10:16:21 -0500

“And I couldn’t sleep because my upstairs roommate was doing it so loud.”

- 20 something woman I passed on the street last night. Thank you for sharing. And good for your roommate.

Fashion Trends I Do Not Support Now that its chilly out, there...

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:29:00 -0500

Fashion Trends I Do Not Support

Now that its chilly out, there are some unfortunate fashion choices happening on my morning commute. I in no way claim to be a fashionista. I am what my sister classified on Saturday as “not nearly trendy enough”. That’s a fair characterization.

Despite my non-trendiness, I believe that I can deem some fashion decisions as unacceptable. This is one of them: denim shorts worn on top of black tights.

No, commuters of New York City slash students at the University where I work. You are not Katie Holmes, or Lilly Allen, or Kate Moss. But even if you were…I would not support this. Denim shorts should be worn in the summer and even then, only at barbecues, on the beach or at the pool. They should never be worn when the temperature is below 60 degrees with motorcycle boots and a ratty chunky “sweater”. Even if you do live in Bed Stuy and tell me its Williamsburg.

Am I a crotchety, non-trendy loser? Maybe…probably. But this is the stand I’ve taken…and I’m standing by it.

Hello Monday!

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 09:43:30 -0500

Hello Monday! This weekend was exactly what I needed…shopping with my sister, cleaning my kitchen until the sink shone, and celebrating birthdays of people I love (a lot).

Hello 4 day work week! On Friday, I’ll be standing at the altar while someone I’ve known SINCE I WAS BORN gets married. Seriously, freaking out a little bit.

Hello week where I have a beautiful new, sparkly pedicure (for said wedding) that only cost me $12. Seriously, I love you Brooklyn.

Hello week where it is light out when I start my commute! And not just sun starting to peak through, light out…full blown, sun shinning, I need my sunglasses light out. Awesome.

Hoping your are having a great Monday (well, as great as Mondays can be!)

Nothing is Happening

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:07:13 -0400

Literally nothing has happened to me in the past 24 hours worthy of posting.

Especially since a lot of my post ideas come from my time on the train, and well…I’ve fallen asleep every day this week in both directions. I’m sorry, but apparently the start of November has kicked my ass.

I’ll work on something witty to discuss tomorrow…I’m not promising revelations, though.

EXCITING ACTIVITY is happening tonight! Reunion with a friend who I have not seen in more than a year. Basically our entire relationship exists on gchat, since we befriended each other post college graduation (seriously, how’d that happen?). And then I moved away, and well, we’re both kind of busy.

Major bonus of this reunion? Its happening over Peruvian food.

OK I lied…things are clearly happening. Maybe I’ll have a little more oomph to write tomorrow with a belly full of lomos saltado? Hope you are having a happy Wednesday!

I know, I know…I missed Monday’s Post. Work was a...

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 09:32:11 -0400

I know, I know…I missed Monday’s Post. Work was a little nutso yesterday and then fiance and I went to the gym after work. Let’s just pretend its Monday, shall we?

HELLO MONDAY (or Tuesday!)

Hello week where fiance is STILL working regular people hours. Yes, I’m still thrilled. Yes, we’re still playing “who can wake up the earliest and get into the bathroom first.” We need a home with two bathrooms ASAP.

Hello week where it is cold? My winter coats, Uggs and sock supply are at my parents’ house in PA…totally unhelpful for the coldness that is currently involved in my commute.

Hello week where Dilly is hiding the remote control to the TV in our bedroom. I swear she has it. Its been lost for almost a week and I think she’s hiding it because she’s mad that she doesn’t get to sleep with us anymore. Rude, Dilly.

Hello week where I get to wave my Hofstra freak flag high. If you’ve ever met me (even once) you know that I loved, loved, loved my time in college and that I’m a big believer in my Alma Mater. One of the coolest things that ever happened while I was there? We hosted the last Presidential Debate of ‘08 between John McCain and then Senator Barack Obama. Well, yesterday the Commission on Presidential Debates announced that Hofstra will host another Presidential Debate on October 16, 2012 making it one of only two schools to ever host debates in back to back elections. So, here’s my freak flag waving…you rock my socks, Hofstra.

I think grocery shopping is totally inefficient. You have to...

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 09:59:59 -0400

I think grocery shopping is totally inefficient. You have to drive to the store, get everything off the shelf to put in your cart, take it out of the cart to check out, put it back in your cart to take to the car, drive home, take it out of the car and bring into your house and then put it away.

I don’t understand why no one has invented something that you just push your cart through and it totals your order…like an EZ Pass for grocery stores. I know some stores have those hand held check out as you go things, but I’ve never had an experience where they work properly. Also, I am a habitual “throw stuff in the cart I don’t need” shopper. AND if we only need a few things, Fiance insists that we use the self-check out aisle. Which I hate. It genuinely gives me anxiety…the machine beeps, and it talks to you, and you’re never completing the talking machine’s instructions at the speed it wants you to. “MOVE GALA APPLES TO THE BELT” it says, or “SCAN NEXT ITEM”. I am moving the gala apples to the belt, but I also have to bag them WHY ARE YOU YELLING AT ME?

Additionally, I basically have zero desire to go to the grocery store these days. My grandfather LOVED to go grocery shopping. And I don’t mean he went once a week and enjoyed it. I mean he woke up at 4am and went to C-Town or Food Dynasty or where ever had a good sale that day, to get what he was cooking for dinner. Sometimes, he went twice in one day.

When he got to the rehab place and they asked what he liked to do, he told them “go grocery shopping,” and then “spend time with my family.” Seriously, we came after grocery shopping. So, needless to say this entire time, especially toward the end, I basically walk into a grocery store and get upset. Stand in the produce section and cry upset. (I’m not the only person in my family to have this reaction. Other family members have wept near the eggs, in the meat section and near the cookies. We’re messes).

So this week, rather than stress myself out over the fact that we needed groceries, I did something I never thought I would do: I ordered groceries and had them delivered. And it was the best decision I ever made.

I used Peapod, which is the Stop and Shop equivalent of Fresh Direct, except that its slightly less expensive since we have a Stop and Shop card. The entire order took me about 40 minutes to place and I only bought what was on my list! The delivery charge was $9 because my order was less than $100 (otherwise it would have been $7) but I requested an 8pm-10pm delivery time, which saved me $5!

I really expected the order to come at about 9:30, but at 8:02 (I am not exaggerating), someone knocked on our door, and in walked a man with groceries. And he didn’t just put them inside the door. He walked them in our apartment, down our steps and into our kitchen.

I may never go grocery shopping again.

I have had a Blackberry for 13 months. It worked well for...

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 12:29:14 -0400

I have had a Blackberry for 13 months. It worked well for approximately 10 of those 13 months. Then, it started dying after two hours (which they seemed to fix?), flipping out when I tweeted, or freezing…it was constantly freezing.

Fiance and I had a lovely date day on Sunday and on our way home, things started to go seriously wrong with my phone. White screen, flashing, beeping kind of wrong. So, on Monday afternoon during my lunch break, I marched my butt over to the Verizon store near my office.

They told me that they don’t fix phones…they just sell them (really?) and that I had to go to a location with a “technician”. Great! “You need a technician” to me, sounds like “They can fix it”. Wrong.

Fiance picked me up from the train station on Monday night, and off to the Verizon store we went! Only to be told my Christian, the least personable Verizon employee ever (and that’s saying a lot) that the warranty on my phone was up, so they wouldn’t even look at it. He went on to tell me that I’m not eligible for an upgrade until May, but that since I had insurance, I could pay $100 for a refurbished Blackberry.

Thanks anyway, Christian, I’m really not interested.

Thankfully, fiance had an old Droid that he doesn’t use AND he set it up and everything. Awesome. It is about 9 million times better than my Blackberry despite it being a year older.

Not great? It has a touch screen…and I am awful at using it. See photo above.

*Do you see how well I edited the picture!?! I was super proud of myself.

"Also, would you like to bond on Wednesday night? Me and Christine need to bake for a bake sale..."

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 11:23:00 -0400

“Also, would you like to bond on Wednesday night? Me and Christine need to bake for a bake sale fundraiser on Thursday and we need to use your oven please”

- My sister who clearly values the time we spend together (or with my oven)