2008

Inspired by Jen, I'm going to make a list. Except, my list will be thing to do/accomplish in 2008
so here goes...

1. Update the blog regularly - I never think what I do is exciting, but someone might, right? I should also put pictures on it. Which brings me to....

2. Take pictures - I have a camera for a reason, but I don't take many pictures anymore. I should also find a sight to host them too.

3. Get in shape - I plan to get a personal trainer with my year end bonus money. Hopefully this will work! I've already spoken to the guy and we are going to set up a schedule after the new year. Ever since high school (which is now officially 10 years ago) my body has been in miserable shape. No matter what whether my weight is up or down, none of it is ever muscle.

4. Run a marathon - I've never been much of a runner, but if # 3 works out, # 4 should be less hard.

5. Eat less candy - I'm a sucker for sweets like hard candy, skittles, twizlers, etc.

6. Eat fish - the smell bothers me, so I refuse to eat it. I don't like the mushy texture. I hear it can be tasty and good for you, so maybe I should give it a whirl!

7. Get my licenses - my financial licenses, that is. I have the series 7 test scheduled for february, so we'll see what happens from there

8. Visit a place that requires a passport - it's been 27 years and I have yet to travel abroad. Maybe this will be the year!

well, it looks like that should be enough for now! hopefully some of it gets done :-)

I want it!

http://www.jcrew.com/catalog/product.jhtml?id=prod89213241&catId=cat270139

I want this sweater. It's a navy blue hooded sweater with a little skier on the pocket. Of course I will just buy it myself since it's from J Crew. But, I just thought I'd share because it's so cute :-)

another month goes by

another month goes by, another month in which i forgot to update.

This time of the year is pretty busy. Last week I was in Boston for Thanksgiving. It was nice seeing the family, especially the kids. It was also nice to see some friends.

Mostly, I've been trying to shop. For other people that is! Going in and out of stores makes me want to buy things for myself, but I haven't. I'd like a new dress for the company holiday party, but I've resisted. Christmas presents are kind of stressful. I can never figure out what to get and stay in budget. I hate feeling like I spent too much on one person at the expense of someone else.

Oh and I should get something for Dan's family. I REALLY don't know what to get them, even if I did have the money!

Anyway, tonight, we are going to look at a townhouse to possibly move in to. I hope this place works out.

That's all that's new with me!

Looks like I haven't updated in about a month. Not much, besides being older, has happened.
I'm pretty busy lately. Mondays there I have guitar lessons. Wednesdays, I work at J Crew. Fridays and Saturdays, I have my series 7 class.
Last night, however, I decided to join a gym. A girl that I work with at J Crew was telling me how she just took her test to be a persoal trainer at Bally's. She also mentioned that there is a brand new one near my house. So, I thought I'd check it out.
I decided to join and they give you a session with a personal trainer. I will say that I haven't worked out so hard in maybe 10 years. They are tough, they don't let you rest and they work your whole body. The nice thing is that they push you when you think you can't go on anymore. A couple times, I felt like I may throw up (I didn't)! On the way out, I could barely walk up the stairs!!!
Unfortunately, the PT is a little expensive. Perhaps I can save for it and do it after the new year. Right before Christmas is a little difficult, seeing as I have so many toys and cute outfits to buy. I've also decided to get Dan a watch since he doesn't have one.

But, if anyone wants to get me a PT package for christmas, I could do that!

F.F. and my b-day

This weekend was special for many reasons. First of all it was my birthday. I got some nice cards and calls and presents (including that 80GB ipod I just blogged about from Dan). I got to talk to Danny about video games, Michael talked about the guitar and Annabelle serenaded me with "happy birthday". Jack wasn't in the mood for the phone.
I'm not sure how I feel about being 27 because I've passed from "mid 20's" to "late 20's". I remember, when I was younger, thinking that 27 was old because several rock stars (Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, and Janis Jopplin) died at age 27 and they had lived a long life.
On the day of my birthday, Dan and I went to the Redskins game (they blew a 14 point lead), but it was still fun.
In other exciting news, I also got my first win in Fantasy Football. I'm no longer in last place since I had such a good week I have moved from 12th to 9th!

10 years!!!

Yesterday, I got something in the mail from Newton Country Day about my 10 year reunion. Save the date, May 8, 2008. I can't really believe that it's been 10 years. It got me thinking a little bit. So much has happened. I couldn't even imagine myself owning a car or not living at home.

I can't wait to see who is married and who has kids. For the 5 year, there were no marriages or children.

On a completely different note, my birthday is in a little over a week. I don't really need anything, but people from work have gone on their last summer vacations and brought back salt water taffy from the beach. I've been offered a piece here and there, but I'd like some for myself. All I want for my birthday is salt water taffy (preferably the fruit flavored or mint). Please!!!
Thanks!

covet thy neighbor's goods

Acutally, no neighbor of mine has this yet, so it's hard to covet. But still.

Apple came out with some new stuff today. The New Ipods are 80BG and 160GB. I'm not really sure how to explain how large that is other than saying my iPod is 20GB, I've only used up 8.47 GB, I have 1683 songs, which is 4.5 days of listening to music without repeating 1 song.







I'd really love that 80 GB. It's $249.99. The 160 is $349.99

What I don't actually get is that the new 16GB Nano is $199.99. Why not get the extra 72 GB for $50.00?



I must say, that I do get my money's worth on the iPod. Everyday to and from work, I plug it into my car. It saves my life in the rush hour traffic. It's much nicer than carrying around 500 cd's.

My Top Ten

Since Jen tagged me to do a top ten of my current favorites, I thought I'd be the good sister and do it. I'm not going to tag anyone in particular since I'm not really sure who reads my blog. And you are very wrong, mine are not more interesting. These are in no particular order.

1. fantasy football - so this year I was invited to join the fantasy football league at work. I've been researching all the players and as a result, I'm super excited for the upcoming football season. I don't think I've been this excited for football since I was 6 and wanted to be on the Patriots. Go Patriots!!!

2. stairway to heaven - my 17 year old guitar teacher, Ben, told me that you aren't an official guitar player until you can play "stairway". He's taught me how to play it and I feel cool. Although Dan probably hates it since it needs to be "perfect" and I keep playing it.

3. freaks and geeks - this show came out about 7 years ago and was way ahead of its time. I've been watching it on DVD and it's my new favorite show. It stars all the guys from "Knocked Up" and Marshall from "How I Met Your Mother." I wish it hadn't been canceled after one season.

4. perez hilton - this flamboyant gay cuban guy is a gossip blogger. He likes to make fun of Britney, Lindsay, and Paris, etc. It's fun and funny, so I read it every day. It's like my crack.

5. rilo kiley - is an indi band from California. They just came out with a new album a couple days ago. Their single "silver lining" is a great song. I've been listening to it non-stop. The girl from the 80's movie "troop beverly hills" is the singer!

6. running -as I've blogged about, I've been running (very slowly). My goal was to be able to go for 20 minutes without stopping and I've made it. Now I need to build on the speed thing, I'm sure it will come eventually. Next goal: MARATHON!

7. robek's - Robek's is the smoothie place near my house. They have great low calorie smoothies that taste like heaven. I get one each Saturday after guitar lessons. My favorite is called Big Wednesday which is some papaya/mango concoction.

8. the fall - the last third of the year from September to December is my favorite time of year. I love when the leaves turn colors and it's just a little bit cool out. It holds all the good holidays including my birthday, Halloween and Christmas. Thanksgiving is OK too.

9. lion boxers and fuzzy sweatshirt - last week i bought some girl boxers with lions on them and a fuzzy sweatshirt at J Crew. I actually bought Annabelle the same sweatshirt for Christmas last year, this year I had to buy one for myself in adult size (don't worry Annabelle, we have them in kids sizes again if you've outgrown yours!). Most comfortable outfit ever!

10. breathe right strips - Dan used to be the worst/loudest snorer until one day we were in the super market and I made him get breath right strips. Now he wears them to bed and he is virtually snore free, which means I sleep through the night.

whoever reads my blog should do this, and tell me you are doing it so I can see your list!

running update

Here is the secret to my running. I'm currently at week 8. I've impressed myself. I thought 3 minutes seemed like an awfully long time!


Week Run Walk Repeat Total Time
1 1 min 2 min 7x 21 min
2 1 min 1 min 10x 20 min
3 2 min 1 min 7x 21 min
4 3 min 1 min 5x 20 min
5 4 min 1 min 4x 20 min
6 6 min 1 min 3x 21 min
7 9 min 1 min 2x 20 min
8 12 min 1 min Then run 7 min 20 min
9 15 min 1 min Then run 4 min 20 min
10 20 min Leap for joy 20 min

Note: Always warm up for your workout with a couple minutes of walking and/or slow jogging, and cool down afterward with the same. If you cannot reach 20 minutes of continuous running, try to run 8 or 9 minutes, walk 1 or 2 minutes, and repeat. When you succeed at reaching the 20-minute goal-and you will-gradually increase your distance to whatever level you choose.

Potter Madness

Maybe I'm a big dork. Maybe not. I (and 2 million other people) have pre-ordered the 7th and final book "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". It comes out Saturday the 21st, so Friday I'll be waiting in line at midnight for the book. Thank goodness I don't have to work saturday. I'll be reading all day!!!

Some guy supposedly leaked the ending on the internet. And if it's true, I know who dies. Which is kind of a bummer, but it's OK becasue the guy only said a few sentences. I'm sure he missed something important.

I still have my own theories. I think Snape is good, even though he killed Dumbledore. Dumbledore told Snape that the only way Voldemort would trust is if he killed Dumbledore to prove his "loyalty" to the dark side. It was Dumbledore's scarafice! Snape was also in love with Harry's mom when they were in school. Harry obviously has to defeat Voldemort because that's the way fiction goes. Any other theories? Let me know :-)

(one) Milestone

yesterday, I was able to run a mile without stopping. it took about 10 minutes. It doesn't seem like much, considering people run marathons all the time, but it was a lot to me. I think I'm going to set a goal to enter a 5K in the fall. If I could get to one mile in one month, I certainly could get to 3 or more by October-ish. I can go longer with walking breaks (i generally try to do a little more than 2 each time i go), but one mile is my max without walking.

I've already mapped my loop for when I visit Watertown at www.mapmyrun.com
:-)

Born to Run

I've got a new hobby. Running. Can you imagine? I have always hated running for the sake of just running. Running as part of a sport was OK, but running laps?! I hated it so much. During sports practice in high school, I was always one of the last people to finish.

Recently, however, I deceded that I would like to be a runner. Even in my hatred for running, I always envied those people jogging down the street just because. I wondered what would make someone want to just run and where their motivation to keep going came from. Wouldn't it be boring? What about those days when it was either really hot or really cold?

Anyway, I'm not sure what made me decide to do it (especially since it's so hot out now), but about a week and a half ago I ran. I thought I'd run one lap, walk one, etc, but it didn't work out like that. I couldn't make it the whole lap! I found the website for Runner's World Magazine and they had a plan to get me to run 20 minutes straight in 10 weeks. It seemed simple enough, so Thursday, I began the run/walk plan. run a minute, walk a minute for 20 minutes. and who knew? I made it! I gradually increase the run time over the 10 weeks. next week I run 2 minutes and walk 1 and so on. Saturday I bought new sneakers (the ones I had were about 6 years old) and some running shorts and t-shirts. It's funny because I've already noticed a slight improvement in my stamina. I'm really excited about it so I've been reading Runner's World articles all week. Maybe I can even enter a race some day!

bored to tears (almost)

Today is a pretty boring day at work. I'm not sure what to do with myself for the last 45 minutes. All of the brokers I work for are gone for the day.

So, the way my job works is that you have a base salary and then the brokers you work for compensate you out of their commission on top of that. Up until now, my broke, 2 job working self has not been compensated a dime. So allegedly now I'm going to get compensated. The brokers have to fill out forms saying how much we're going to get and I have sit downs with them tomorrow to determine how much. Now, it's not going to be all that much because I work for newbies who don't produce very much. Still, it's a raise and I'm excited about that.

I'm leaving my options open though. I plan to send out my resume since dealing with other people's money is not my cup of tea. But, it's not wise to cut your nose off to spite your face as they say. What if another job doesn't work out then I'm stuck with no compensation?

So, recently I've become a Jenny Craig drop out. The food just isn't very good and it leaves me unsatisfied which makes me want to eat junk. To compensate for this, I've taken up running. Runners World has a plan to get me running for 20 minutes straight. If I could do that, I'd be impressed. Right now I'm in the begining run/walk phase.

Also I've taken up the guitar again. I'm taking lessons at the local guitar store. My instructor's name is Ben and he's got braces. He'll be a junior in high school in the fall. This means he's got to be about 16 years old, which puts his birth year at about 1991. I feel a little sad about that because I remember 1991. 1991 was 5th grade/6th grade. The gulf war and George Bush (the elder). Age is a funny thing. I don't think I look old, and I don't feel old, but then all of a sudden someone 11 years younger than me is teaching me how to play the guitar.

Good bye GTE Visa

I bid farewell to my very first credit card. It is officially paid off. I couldn't wait to cut it up!

Turn Offs

Since it's summer, and people are wearing sandals, I thought I'd report another faux pas. Today, in the office, I spied a man broker wearing casual clothes. T-shirt, shorts - OK. Down to the feet, MAN SANDALS - not OK. I suppose flipflops are ok on men, but leather sandals, no. I don't care that they are Prada and cost $300.00. They are ugly. What is also ugly is Teva's on a (man or a woman) especially with socks.

NYC

This weekend, Dan and I drove to New York for a get-away and to see our college peeps.

We had a nice time. Although museums make me want to take a nap, we went to the MET. As much as I like the paintings, the coolest part was the knights' armor, followed by the furnature, followed by the mummies.

I also got to hang out with Lucie and Laurie. We went to Spumoni Garden in Brooklyn for some pizza. The sauce is on top! But it's pretty tasty. I felt like you could roll me down a hill afterward, but it was worth it. Next, since Laurie is the most squeemish person I have ever met, we decided to drag her into a sex toy shop.

And of course, since Dan's aunt's apartment is about a block away from the Dakota (where John Lennon lived) I had to take pictures and go across the street to the park and visit his memorial. There I met a hippie named Gary who puts flowers on the Imagine mosaic everyday and has for the last 14 years. It's not often some tells me something about the Beatles that I don't already know, but Gary managed to and therefore impressed me. Apparently Yoko Ono owns the whole top two floors of the Dakota. Around the top is Black wrot iron. There are 2 windows that do not have it, and that is the White Room, with his famous white piano.

My favorite event of the weekend, however, was making an ass of myself in front of Ice-T the rapper and his boob-tastic wife Coco. I was in FAO Schwartz looking at a display of the Nightmare Before Christmas toys, when Dan said "look over there". I turned my head and all I saw was MASSIVE fake boobs, then suddenly the whole display of toy coffins comes crashing down on my head. After I put the coffins back and regained composure, Dan said "did you see that?" and I said "yeah those boobs were ENORMOUS!" he said "but that was Ice-T and his wife! I turned around, and yes, they were laughing at me! AWESOME

some good news!

So....I'd always been not the greatest with money. In college, at the ripe old age of 18, someone thought it would be a good idea to give me a GTE visa, the same visa that everyone else on campus got! I used it in college like it was cash. I'd say "I'll pay for the whole dinner of 10 people, you all can just give me cash." Then instead of using that cash to pay the bill, I'd just buy something else. So, a couple thousand dollars later, I had a huge bill. Then after college, I negelected to pay the bill on time on more than one occasion, and my rate defaulted to the astronomical 31%. YIKES! And now finally, with a lot of hard work, that bill is down to $31.34. So for all intents and purposes it's paid off.

Now, I can start saving for that dream vacation!

the last 5 years

in about 2 days, it will be the exact 5 year anniversary of my college graduation. i'm almost positive may 19 is the date....but anyway, it's been 5 years so i thought it would be a good chance to reflect on some of the things i've done/accomplished in no particular order

got a driver's license
owned 2 different cars (2 different gray jettas)
crashed each of those cars
this month is also the 2 year anniversary of my last crash
held 3 different desk jobs (modern continental, john hancock, morgan stanley)
had the same job for 3 years (morgan stanley)
got my first christmas bonus
moved to another state
learned to navigate a new city
moved in with my boyfriend
left behind a terrible boyfriend
lost 30 lbs (re-gained it and re-lost some of it)
got an apartment with friends
went to puerto rico twice
got 1 tattoo in san francisco (accompanied by infant annabelle)
pierced my tongue (and removed it)
pierced my belly button (and removed it)
pierced my nose (removed it and re-pierced it)
voted in 2 different states (MA and VA)

OK i can't really think of anything else noteworthy at the moment. some of those things are big (moving and losing weight) some are silly (the fender benders) and some are pointless (like the tongue ring) but i hope to do some bigger and better things in the next 5 years, such as...

buying a house
getting married
running without getting winded
losing more weight
getting a passport
actually using that passport
buying a dog
getting a good raise or getting a new job that offers more
getting a masters
paying off the rest of my credit cards
buying a new car

OK that should be it for now! wish me luck in the next 5 years :-)

All By Myself

I thought it would be nice to update my blog, but not much has happened that is worth updating about. Dan has been away for work in Rock Island Illinois, which is a military base on an island in the Mississippi River. I don't think he misses me much at all since his friend from work, Sean, is there with him. Dan and Sean have been spending their days pretending to work and nights playing X-Box and playing poker on a gambling boat in the Mississippi.
Meanwhile I have been catching up on girlie movies and foreign films. Saturday, I went to the DMV, watched the Red Sox on TV (the game was on because they were playing Baltimore), then had people over to play Guitar Hero on the play station. Yesterday, I spent the day at J Crew, which was surprisingly very busy on mother's day. Asside from time at J Crew, my nights are spent with the TV. I think I'd get very bored living alone.
The only good thing about Dan being away is that he can't wake me up with his snoring, other than that, I'd like to have him around.

little update

I desperately needed an oil change and Dan needed his breaks done, so we went up to the Toyota dealership (even though neither of us have a toyota) because 2 of his friends, Kyle and Brian, work there. All we had to pay for was parts and dinner afterwards.

While the guys worked on the cars (Kyle and Brian worked and Dan looked and worried about grease on his hands), I walked over to the dealership to check out the cars. Toyota makes Scion cars, so after talking to the sales guy, I took a Scion TC for a test drive by myself. The car is not so bad and not very expensive (in the 17K range). It's, for all intents and purposes, a base model Camry. All I really care about is that it runs well, is safe, and has a radio, anything extra would be nice...it has a sun roof, which my current car does not. Anyway, this car will go on my short list.

In other exciting news, I'm going to see the Red Sox play the Orioles in Baltimore on Thursday.

these are pictures from Puerto Rico...a fortress called El Morro, which means "the morro" actually I'm not sure what morro means. I looked it up on babblefish translation and it told me that el morro means "the nose" but Dan doesn't seem to think that's correct.
anyway, it was built in the 1500 by the Spaniards to defend the island against pirates.
the above picture is a lizard on a tree outside Dan's apartment building.

I know I took a while to put these pictures up, but at least they're here now.

Remember When?

Remember the days when Doc Martens were just the coolest? I do. I miss those days. Just pausing to remember a moment in (my very own) fashion history. Mine were green

beatlebum35's Wish...

www.kaboodle.com

I'm off!

Thursday, Dan and I will be going to Puerto Rico (again). He claims this is the only vacation that we can afford (since we have a place to stay and and a car to drive, we only have to pay for air fare). While we're there, his grand mother will be there the whole time and his aunt will be there the first night.

Even so, I'm sure this will be a good time. Their apartment is a block from the beach. Thursday, after we get there and say hi to grandma, I plan to go to the beach and then Dan's aunt is taking us out for a nice dinner (his b-day is Friday, he'll be 28).

For his b-day on Friday, I plan on getting him a professional massage at a spa. I've had real massages from someone who was in training at massage school. And that was great. I can't imagine how one from a real professional is. Then I'm going to take him to a restaurant called Dragon Fly, which my friend Elina suggested from when she went to PR. It's a Latin/Asian fusion place. Could be good.

The rest of the time, I'm not sure what I'll do, but it will include being in warm weather!

NRA Lady

So...This weekend I did a very Republican/redneck thing.
Dan has a friend named Brian. Brian was in Iraq 2.0 and has some guns. He goes to the shooting range at the NRA to keep up with it sometimes. This Saturday, Dan and I decided to go with him. Dan had been before, but this would be my very first time holding/shooting a real gun. Brian had a semi-automatic rifle. I think it's an M16. I was pretty nervous about all this shooting.
When you get to the NRA, you have to fill out forms and take a little test to make sure that you aren't going to shoot anyone. You have to wear protective eye wear and sound proof ear phones. I was pretty nervous waiting to shoot the gun while Brian was loading it. It's kind of funny because you see guns on TV and in the movies, I think we're a little desensitized to them. They are a lot louder than I had ever imagined.
Anyway, each clip had 20 bullets. On my first go, I only hit the target once. Not very good. I was really scared and I wasn't prepared for how much kick the gun had. The second time, I was a little more relaxed and hit the target 11 times and pretty close to the center.
I think shooting the gun made me appreciate how dangerous they really are. I really don't think they should be in homes or anything. They are so violent and scary and having shot one, I'm now probably more for gun safety than I was before.

On a more fun note, Dan and I went to go see the Washington Capitals play on Saturday. It was a pretty fun game (even though we sat in the heavens). The Caps won 7-3. They have a second year player named Alex Ovechkin who is supposed to be the next greatest thing in hockey, so it was fun to see him play. I had to explain things as they were going on to Dan. I couldn't tell if he was having fun or not, but I did so that's all that matters!

Walk This Way

The other day I read an article about how Americans with desk jobs (such as myself) tend not to walk very much. They said it's good for us to walk about 10,000 steps a day, but the desk workers walk maybe 7,000 or so, which is part of this country's overweight epidemic. The article mentioned how New Yorkers (from the city anyway) walk a lot and tend to be thinner. They even mentioned the Amish people, who have a very high fat diet, filled with red meat and butter, have a very low percentage of overweight people because they take about 50,000 steps a day.
Anyway, I decided to buy a pedometer to see how much I walk (or don't walk). Unfortunately I left it at home today and I'll have to test it out tomorrow. I'm curious to see the results. To increase walking, they suggested things like getting up to go see fellow co-workers rather than calling them on the phone. I'll try it and see how it works!

lack of wisdom

today, i got my final 2 wisdom teeth out. a few years ago, i had my top two out. it was a pretty bad experience. i was supposed to have all 4 out, but i screamed and cried a A LOT and we had to stop.
fast forward to a few months ago, i had a regular dental checkup and found out that i needed 2 root canals. the wisdom teeth were pushing on my back teeth which caused bad cavities. so i had the root canals before the new year (they weren't as bad as everyone says) and today i've had the wisdom teeth out. my last step is to get a cap on the root canal-ed tooth. i don't think that should be too bad. the dentist has to take a mold of my teeth then pop the cap on. easy enough.
but i must say...the wisdom teeth is much worse than the root canal! but today, i am proud to say, i was very brave (unlike last time). no tears, no screams, and i was even awake the whole time.

as of right now, the vicodin is in effect, so i feel OK and i was able to eat some pudding.


anyway, i have a shift at J Crew on sunday for the first time since before Christmas. apparently they've been very slow. no one buys clothes in january. go figure. i will be home to watch the end of the patriots game. since living down here, i've started to like football again. i remember being in kindergarten and wanting to be the first girl on the patriots. now i realize that wouldn't have been such a good career choice. who wants to be pummeled by a bunch of 300 lb men?

the following takes place between 8:00pm and 9:00pm

when will they learn to trust Jack Bauer?