Nothing says the holidays like.... sangria?

Last night I had the genius idea to take the Silver Line.

Dear MBTA, It is not a line it is a fancy bus! And although I do appreciate the countdown to the next "bus" and the heaters in the stop, your signs to the silver line don't say anything about having to go outside and cross the street to find it!

Although I did meet a lovely homeless man while waiting for the silver bullet to appear. He hollered at me, "You are under arrest because God made you too beautiful," he then asked if he could "borrow" $20 from me....

After hopping off at my stop and wondering around for 20 minutes... lost in a snowy maze of the South End, I finally made it too the large, but cozy speakeasy joint to meet my ever so stylish friends for some Holiday Cheer!

Spending quality time with my friends has been quite sporadic lately. My friends here in Boston have jam packed calendars and the plane ride to visit my out of town friends is slightly higher than my unemployed student budget can afford. But, is there any better way to catch up with friends than over frothy glasses of sangria? I think not!

No matter how far away some of my friends might be or how infrequently I see them, every time I see them or talk to them over the phone it is almost like no time has passed. So how do you know when you have it the friend jackpot?

Let me bore you for a moment with some of my favorite "that is exactly why we are friends" moments of 2010...

1. When losing my 10 year old denim jacket this summer, KK. was as equally upset as I was and shared her own saddening tale of losing her favorite denim jacket.

2. Suze agrees with me that Jillian Michaels, Stacy London, and Nina Garcia are the PERFECT choices to have as celebrity best friends!

3. Ycats won't complain about forking over $10.75 to see a rom-com with a 12% rating on Rotten Tomatoes because she knows I am DESPERATE to see it!

4. The former McG. created operation O.N.S. Could you ask for a more supportive friend?

5. The "inventor of the cotton gin" and I speak in quotes from Pretty Woman and bust out dances from Sister Act 2 in bars without anyone picking up on the references.

6. ART supports my stalking of our former college classmates on FB... as long as we share the details/gossip.

7. Cinna wasn't offended on Halloween when I told her she should wear her red Wendy's wig every time we hang out!

8. When mid-sentence in a reference to the Hollywood sign in Cali, the Youngster shouted out "West Bev." Is there a more perfect reference to the 1993 graduation of the original Beverly Hills, 90210??

I never make resolutions for the new year... mainly because I suck at keeping them! But, in 2011 I setting aside time to suck down cocktails with my friends. Because how can I stay fabulous without their influence!?!?

So give your friends a call, send them an email, or toast to them with a frosty adult beverage... tell them just how FABULOUS they are!

Is it any wonder I've got too much (clap, clap) time on my hands?

Yeah, yeah... it was a really bad idea to start a blog weeks before starting living hell (a.k.a. grad school). I never said I had good timing... buuuuut, it is now winter break and as Styx put it "I've got to much time on my hands."

This morning I got a simply stated email from one of my posh friends saying that her Google reader was jonesing for my blog... so I'm back by popular demand... ok one person wanting to read my ramblings isn't really a call for crowd control, but I am sure I could convince my other former readers to stop by my url.

My last final was just four days ago and I already feel like a new person. Just prior to re-joining academia my days were filled with yoga, talk shows, and making dinero. Here's the short list of things I used to take for granted that I now sell my organs for teh time to do them:
1. Bravo Reality TV
2. Exercise!!
3. Reading books with titles that do not contain the words ortho/patho/cardio
4. Spending Sundays in bed nursing a hangover with rom-coms

Ahhhhh.... the small things in life.

So what have I accomplished since Friday afternoon... not a whole hell of a lot! I did discover a fab new TV channel called REELZ (Comcast 198). So glad I did not discover this hidden gem until after the semester ended... it contains classics such as re-runs of Ally McBeal and Brothers & Sisters (side note: Do Mr. & Mrs. Harrison Ford own the station... valid questio, right?). Is there a better way to spend a snowy afternoon? I didn't think so!

What does confuse me about the channel are there bizarre sponsors. In my humble opinion, they should be targeting the pre-school moms, but instead these are the two stellar commercials that just aired:



This cheap piece of plastic can get you a six pack in 6 minutes and you don't even have to stand up!

The other dazzling mini infomercial that had my mouth dropping from pure amazement was this...



I wonder if they have rush shipping available?

Well, that's all for now... tune in post-Wednesday evening's Holiday Happy Hour for some more loquaciousness!

k.a.c. sailed the ocean blue....

ahhhh.... talk about a hiatus from my blog.... I apologize! Grad school is no cup of tea. It sucks the life out of you! But, by popular demand from some of my readers, I have decided to return to my Mac Book and reflect on the cray world around us....

As I said grad school is uber-demanding, so my parents so kindly offered to take me on a cruise to Bermuda during the first half of my "summer vacation" (two weeks off.... how generous BU)! How could I decline the invite? Armed with SPF 45, a stack of classics by Chelsea Handler, and several dozen sundresses, I climbed aboard the Norwegian Spirit docked in good ole Southie.

Minutes after embarking My parents and I became cliché cruisers and hit the buffet! Before I even surveyed the selection of food, I couldn't help but notice how ENORMOUS my fellow passengers were!! Now, I know there is an obesity problem in America... I watch the Biggest Loser... but, I wasn't aware of how ridiculously O.O.C. the obesity problem has become!

I suppose an "all you can eat" option is exactly what over-eaters are looking for in a vacation, but really?? Do you need to consume 3,486 calories at breakfast?? Is it necessary to pay $16 extra per day for unlimited soda?? The flip side to the health problems of those weighing 4 bills... I have never felt my comfortable flaunting myself in a bikini... definitely a self-image boost for the average folk.

I have to say the cruise was the ultimate mental health break from PT school. I got my first tan since leaving my poolside drinking days in the Star City (yikes... have I really been above the Mason Dixon line for 2 years???). The same sun that gave me a warm, "healthy" glow also bleached out my polish!! Now I know I may be over-reacting a touch, but I am an addict of OPI's Shorts Story... I choose it every time I hit the local Vietnamese nail shop for my summer pedis. It is (in my opinion) the most perfect shade of pink. Now it has faded to this icky pink that gives me nightmarish flashbacks to the paw prints on the walls of the Phi Mu Quad. Sadly the sun bleached my polish, but did NOT bleach out my roots... uhhhh.... I mean I am a natural blonde. ;)

BEFORE


AFTER



I have to give major props to the books I read on the pink sands of Horseshoe Bay....
My Horizontal Life and Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang both by Chelsea Handler
A Little Bit Wicked by Kristen Chenoweth
Wicked (the novel) by Gregory Maguire
Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan

How is it that I can read 5 books on week of vacation and can't manage to even get through a single chapter in PT text book?? If you know the secret, please, leave it in the comments section!

stalking on the 'net

This morning I spent 3 hours stalking on "the book" (aka facebook) while catching up on 1980s re-runs of $100,000 Pyramid. I found two very different, yet interesting posts I thought I would share with you....


This uber liberal, eco-chic girl I knew my freshman year in college posted a BEWARE message about some site called spokeo.com... the site supposedly lists more personal info than a 12 year old's facebook page. Maybe I have been living under a rock, but that is the first I had heard of it. Well, I went to the site to search for myself. The results were:

Basic Profile

Age: late 20's
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Zodiac: Virgo
Relationship: In a relationship
Children: No
Occupation: unknown
Education: Some College
Hobbies: Sports, Outdoors, Travel, Music, Reading, Cooking...
Home Owner: Yes
Residence: Single Family House
Length of Residence: 1 years
Est. Home Value: $1M+
Neighborhood: Middle Class


*hmmmm.... late 20s???? I like to call it mid-20s!
*Gender, ethnicity.... they got those right!
*Totally not a Virgo... I am a Libra!
*If spokeo found me a boyfriend they should let me know so I can cancel my match membership!
* Phew.... glad they didn't find any of my offspring floating around!
*I will give them unknown as my occupation because it is a bit debatable at the moment.
*Some college, spokeo?? How about a degree?? I am about to start school for my doctorate!
*Hobbies... those are all right except for SPORTS!! I once asked if they recruited NFL players for the USA Hockey team...
*Uhhhhhh, home owner? I live with my parents... in a home that doesn't quite have a $1M+ price tag... and since when are $1M+ homes in middle class neighborhoods? haha

Let's just say if my "Basic Profile" was a test in school, they would have gotten a big fat F!!!

The other post of interest I saw was a YouTube video that is both amazing and disturbing at the same time... These girls may be the biggest sluts in 3rd grade, but their dancing is MIND-BLOWING!! Can they teach me some moves??

the running yogi?

The instant I walked through the front door I turned on the K-cup machine. A second cup of Island Coconut coffee is exactly what I needed after a long morning of playing Uno, trains, and kitchen with the Mac kids. As the scent of a tropical vacation came wafting out of my freshly brewed cup of joe, I sat down to relax and flip through the stack of mail on the counter... A glossy catalog from Nordstrom, a free mascara card from Bobbi Brown (score!!), and (GASP!) the newest issue of Runner's world...

The pangs from guilt start in the pit of my stomach and start creeping into my throat. I haven't been out for a run since AUGUST!!! Ugh... the mailman must think some cool runner chic lives at my house. Instead the size 8.5 Ravennas that my co-worker bought me at a sick discount last summer have been sitting in my closet collecting dust.

I used to be a great runner! I even have a sheep trophy for getting first place in my age group at Varmint Half Marathon!! Since leaving the Old Dominion and my extraordinary/stellar/phenomenal running group, running 40+ miles a week is a distant memory...

Before you start judging me, let me inform you that I haven't swapped running for sitting on the couch and knitting! I have taken up yoga... not sit on your mat and chant yoga... 90 degree, kick your butt, super fancy pose yoga!! Now the cost is significantly higher than running down toll free streets in your neighborhood, but it makes me feel FREAKING AMAZING!!! I am even starting to get the hot dent in the back of my arm from doing 65 chaturanga dandasanas during class.

Although there are no plans for renewing my subscription to Runner's World, I am thinking there might be some space for both in my life... that is if my feet remember how to run....

Ankle Pain

Ahhhh..... another weekend coming to a close, another Sunday night of dehydration and exhaustion. A few weekend highlights include: K.C.'s SURPRISE party, a late night dance party complete with tripod headstands, and my first physical contact with an iPad (which belongs to my fave married couple A&T).

Between vodka drinks last night the topic of conversation turned to dressing trendy. Since my subscription to Elle ended with Nina Garcia's termination, I find myself not being as up-to-date on trends coming down the runway. K.K. (one of my fashion forward friends) made reference to the "heels and ankle socks" trend. I have yet to see this look in the suburbs, but according to the impeccably dressed Mrs. C. co-eds in Beantown have been exercising their right to sport frilly socks and dressy shoes. In my humble opinion, ankle socks should be left to Suri and Dorothy of Kansas.

This late-night, vodka-infused chat reminded me of my top seeded YouTube video... although it has been kicking around the internet for quite sometime I still hyperventilate every time I watch it... ENJOY!!!

red red wine

This morning I woke up with the all too familiar red wine stain still in the cracks of my lips. This is the result of my favorite Friday evening activity... a bottle (not a glass) of red wine and two all new episodes of TLC's Say Yes to the Dress!! I suppose the wine makes being single and living with your parents in the suburbs a lot easier to swallow while you watch wedding shows...

But, this leads me into the world of online dating. I am on my second go 'round with Match.com. I know a bunch (well, 2) girls that have met great guys online and one friend who married a man she met on the world wide web. And, it seems like a much better option than exchanges numbers after the 5th cocktail...

After perusing through more than a dozen pages of profiles I landed on this attractive guy (great pics, hip interests, educated, etc.) and immediately thought about "winking" at him. Then, I realized we didn't "match" in a few categories... HEIGHT and HAIR COLOR!!!

Give me a break!! This guy listed himself as being 5'9", not exactly a giant. He wanted women over 5'5"!!!! Being 5'2", this made me EXTREMELY annoyed/bitter/frustrated. To give him the benefit of the doubt, let's assume he has neck issues and can't look down for then 6 inches.

But, hair color??? Really??? The dude listed that he would date women with black, light brown, dark brown, and red hair.... no blondes. Maybe I'm less picky than the average Match.com user, but I list no preference on things like hair color and eye color. As long as the guy DOES NOT smoke, DOES drink, and DOES NOT have kids I think they are worthy of a glance!

Comments or insight on online dating? Sound off below!