Dating Speedily

Sooooooooo last night I went to the speed dating event I mentioned a few weeks ago. I mean I was curious to go, but it was really Sara and Colleen telling me that I should go that made me go. So the event started at 7 and I got there like 6:55ish. I had no idea who would come, but there were a lot of cars in the parking lot so that was a good sign. I walk in and there are a bunch of people all seemingly my age. I got registered and got a drink. I tried to occupy myself by watching the UCONN game for a bit until the event really started. So like 20 minutes later they told the ladies to sit in chairs that had their number on it. I was lucky number 7 by the way. There were about 25 women and like 18 guys so ladies would get mini breaks between the "dates." Each date was 2 minutes and I feel like you can get a good sense about someone in 2 minutes. I mean are they physically your type? Do they have a good job? Did they go to college? Are they interesting/funny? Overall there was a good mix. Personally I only checked "yes" for four guys - and even so 2 of them were maybes, but I figured what the hell I'll just put yes. So they radio station who ran the event collected our sheets where we checked yes or no and if both people say yes they will give us eachother's contact info. I don't know when that will be so we will see. It was fun and at least I know there are other people in their mid twenties in this town who aren't married! Plus I made friends with the girl next to me and we are gonna hang out next week, so worse case senario I walk away with a new friend.

Oh, I must say my favorite awkward/funny moment of the night was at one point a guy asked me how old I was and I said how old do I look? He replied with "you look hot." Ummm thanks...weirdo.

I leave for Alumni Weekend at the Q tonight...I am excited like whoa. I am sure I will be back with fantastical stories!

Right Said Fred puts it best...I'm too sexy.

Sorry for the cheesiness of the title I couldn't help myself. After a long day and then going to the gym to have my trainer kick my ass I have good news to report. I am down 3 inches in like 6 weeks around my waist! I also was looking back at my weight chart or whatever and I'm down 11 pounds since I got back from Christmas Break aka when I started my high protein/low carb diet. In my mind I'm only really down 6 pounds because I like put on 4-5 pounds in food and alcohol over Christmas/New Years. All and all I'm pretty pumped. I've been working hard and I'm glad it's paying off.

To the stage!!!

This weekend was jam packed with performances and the theatre. Friday I went to another women's gymnastics meet. This one was more fun because we competed against a team that wasn't very good so A LOT of them women fell during their routines. Luckily no one was hurt, but it was crazy watching these girl miss grabbing the uneven bars and land flat on their stomach and face. Also during the floor exercise there were lots of girls from the other team who couldn't complete their flips/handstands etc.

Saturday night I went 20 miles away to a Community Theatre performance of "Out of Order" which is a new-ish British comedy. I was invited by one of the actors/theatre company guys because I was inquiring about getting involved with community theatre. The show was fun, the theatre was cute. The only bummer is that it's like a half hour away. There is a community theatre in town, but they don't have a show til next month. I really would love to get involved with theatre again. I tried when I was in Texas, but I was just soooo busy.

Sunday afternoon I went to the university's performance of "Into the Woods" not knowing what to expect. I saw "Into the Woods" in high school and really enjoyed it. Well I was VERRRRRRRRRRRRRY impressed. The quality of actors and talent, the sets were fantastic, I all around loved it. I swear if I had more time this week I would have gone again. So now I've been listening to music from "Into the Woods" and looking forward to future performances the students do. I should note that these are regular students they are all BFA (bachelor of fine arts) students.

Sunday night I watched the Oscars and I was pleasantly surprised. I'm not a Huge Jackman fan, but I enjoyed all his musical numbers...especially the tribute to the musical that Baz Luhrmann arranged. I also was thrilled that Kate Winslet won an Oscar. I have been a big Kate Winslet for a looong time. I think she makes great movies and she looks like a woman, not a twig.

So all in all it was a great weekend for the theatre and actors.

Bonus points for who recognized the title of the blog from Rent's La Vie Boheme - it's one of Maureen's lines.

Happy Anniversary!

Today marks one year since Freddie and I became a pair. Freddie is my 7 pound orangey brown bundle of pomeranian puppy love. I had wanted to get a dog since I had my first big girl apartment last year. After my dad died I was having a really hard time and I thought this would be the perfect time to get a dog to cheer me up. I knew I wanted a small dog so I could have it fly with me on airplanes, a dog that would do okay living in an apartment and I also wanted one that was easy to groom. As I did my research Pomeranians kept coming up...I also learned that poms were able to be litter boxed trained! The hard part was finding poms near me. I ended up finding a breeder in super north Oklahoma and saw pics of her dogs online. I was torn between a white male pomapoo (pom and poodle mix) and a orange male pomeranian. Clearly we all know who I picked. I was super pumped for to make the journey to pick up Freddie - Puppypalooza as me and my friend Michele dubbed it. Now Freddie wasn't Freddie right away. I made lists and lists and lists. I wanted the perfect name, but also one with some significance. I knew I needed to meet the pup before I named him.

It was about 5 hours each way to get Freddie and get back. The breeders not only bred dogs, but they bred horses and the man like tried to sell us a horse, thanks, but no thanks. Freddie looked so petrified in the car...he got car sick a few times, it was both gross and hilarious. Freddie still gets car sick to this day on long trips. I remember finally getting to my apartment after a long day and we put Freddie down on the floor in front of all his toys and new things and he just sits there. He sat there for like 40 minutes. I was like OMG this dog is broken.

Luckily he came around to being his spunky self. I think it was the next day when I officially named Freddie, Freddie. Even though is full name is DJ Freddie Q. Mercury. Yet I call Freddie by at least 10 nicknames on a regular basis - so much so that my friends who visit know the nicknames well.

Right now he is chewing on a rawhide bone that is half the size of him - it was a gift from me to him. The only "gifts" he leaves me are the type that get flushed down the toilet. Regardless I love my Freddie and I'm so thankful to have him.

New Life Motto

So I have found a life motto, even though realistically I've been living my life this way for a long time..."Loved or hated, but never ignored." I love it. I can already picture the tattoo - okay maybe not that far, but still I think it's great.

In the meantime - I added a little blog widget where you can be a "follower" of my blog aka a groupie...I think you should do it. Thanks.

Speaking of blogs, I launched a new one today. No, no, no I'm not "cheating" on this blog. The new blog is a work one for my office and there will be multiple authors. Check it out if you want http://www.auburn.edu/academic/provost/undergrad_studies/fye/wordpress/

Ville of Nash

So this weekend I went to the great state of Tennessee for the first time ever. There was a conference in Nashville that I "crashed." It was a campus programming conference and I attended it last year in St. Louis, but since I no longer work in programming there was no reason to attend. However I made a good friend at last year's conference and I was bummed that I wouldn't be going and couldn't hang out with her. Christina works in Idaho so obviously I wouldn't normally cross paths with her. So I saw this yeat's conference was in Nashville and I looked it up online and it was only like 4-5 hours away. So I decided to go up for the weekend and crash in Christina's room. BTW the conference was at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel...what up. I love the Gaylord Hotels - I stayed at the Orlando one for a conference a few years ago it was magical.

Anyway I ended up leaving after work on Friday to drive to Nashville since Christina and her studets wouldn't get there til after 9pm anyway. The drive there was tiring, but it was also cool too pass places I'd never been before. Somehow I never got lost, although a few times I really thought I was lost. So I got to the hotel around 10pm and Christina and her students got there like 5 minutes after me. We basically hung out out, caught up and explored the hotel Friday night. We were all beat so we called it an earlyish night - 1am. Oh and the beds were sooo comfy, I generally really enjoy hotel beds and pillows.

Saturday we got ready and went downtown. The hotel has bumpin' Suburbans that taxi you around for a flat fee of $25, plus our driver Luther was a hella cool guy with a movie phone voice. So me, Christina and her 3 awesome programming students went downtown and explored the Ryman Auditorium, walked up and down Broadway, went to some shops, Hatch Showprints and ate yummy BBQ at Jack's. Jack was even there giving out single red roses to all the ladies. Good Times. The coolest thing about Nashville which is nicknamed Music City is that all the bars are open from like breakfast til last call and have tons of different performers and bands throughout the day. I look forward to exploring downtown Nashville more in the future.

We headed back to the hotel because they all had to go to an opening conference event so I stayed in the hotel room and watched the movie Definately, Maybe on HBO. Ummmm it was soooo good. I didn't expect it to be the type of movie it was. I really need to buy it or at least rent it again.

Later there was a showcase - at this conference peformers, comics, etc do their thing for people homing that schools will book people. Well I brought my name badge from last year and snuck in with Christina and her students. I was only there for the last 2 acts so I didn't feel that guilty. Then there is a big thing called Camp where all the agents and acts have booths and get free stuff and the agents try to get you to book them. Generally I find it all stressful and overwhelming. Well I snuck into that too and it's funny because I was trying to be so sly, but then when I saw people I knew I told them that I was crashing haha. I met up with a few agents I knew as well, good times. Conferences always feel like high school reunions (well I've never been to a HS reunion and I never plan to go, but you get the drift).

Christina and I ended up hanging out with some friends and were up til like 3am.The part that stunk was that we had to be up at like 9am for Christina to get to a conference thing and for me to get on the road. I had such a good time overall that I completely forgot it was Valentines day for the most part and therefore wasn't bitter haha. I also loved having a roommate for a weekend. I swear the next place I move I want a roommate - hopefully one of my speed dial friends.

The drive home was horrid, I was SOOOO tired. I like willed myself home and not to fall asleep. I also was in a big rush to get home because I left Freddie home alone for the weekend for the first time ever. I gave him plenty of food and water, plus he had his litter box - yes litter box - he is litter boxed trained and has dog litter too! I was more worried that he has gotten out of the kitchen and was ripping my apartment apart, but luckily he didn't escape and he was fine. I spent the rest of Sunday motionless on the couch.

T Minus 10 days

I have a bunch to post about my weekend trip to Nashville, but it will have to wait tomorrow when I have more time. In the mean time it's 10 days til my college reunion weekend and I am super pumped for many reasons including these...check it out!

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/d456d4205b/come-to-a-reunion-weekend

*Video made from a QU Alum to promote Alumni Weekend*

Quick 5

1. First thing's first. I was just told that someone is looking to open a Dunkin Donuts in Auburn. I literally fell out of my chair in excitement. Seriously that would make me so happy. Toasted almond iced coffees anytime I want them...heaven.

2. Today we also officially have this summer's NODA intern. I'm super excited, the whole process has been really interesting from "the other side."

3. I am going to Nashville tomorrow for the weekend to see my friend Christina and sight see. I'm really excited, plus I've never been to Tennesse before so I can cross it off my list of states I've visted. I am leaving Freddie home alone for about 36 hours...I'm very anxious about it, but I'm not putting him in a kennel for a day and a half. I need to stop being such a "mom" (NOTE: I do not think I am Freddie's mom, but I do act caring-ly toward him).

4. I have been at the gym and eating well like whoa. I am down like 8 lbs since I got back from Christmas Break. Even when I was visiting my buddy Will in the protein store he told me he could really see it in my face and legs. YAY.

5. Sooooooooo I'm contemplating going to a speed dating event. The local radio station is sponsoring it at a bar I've been to a few times. I really think I'll end up going out of sheer curiosity and as my friend Sara pointed out - I could always end up with some good horror stories.

What a treat

Yesterday was full of pleasant surprises. The Upright Citizens Brigade tour company did a show here last night. One of the UCB performers was on of my sister's coaches (she takes UCB improv classes in New York). The show was good times and I met her teacher as the show which was good times. Then Chuck and I went for some ice cream which was good times. I came home and watched American Idol and goodness I am INTO in. I wish I watched it from the beginning last year when my David Cook was on. Speaking of Cookie he is playing at FSU this weekend and I tried to get tickets, but sadly things didn't work out. All hope is not lost in seeing Cookie on his college tour. So instead of FSU I'm going to Nashville this weekend to "crash" the a conference where I'll know a bunch of people. It's at the Gaylord hotel and my friend has an extra bed so it's gonna be awesome!

Another treat from the past few days was that I had my first performance review at work. It technically was my first professional job review ever since last year my supervisor never formally or informally evaluated me except months later over the phone when I asked him for feedback, but it was really irrelevant at that time. My performance review was great, better that I thought. I really adore my supervisor - it's crazy how one aspect of a job can be so different.

Random Rant: It really disturbs me how OBSESSED girls in the south are in monograms - embroidered on bags, luggage, sweatshirts, robes, towels and the WORST is the monogram decals on their cars. The monograms also annoy me because the girls are gonna married in like 10 minutes and have new initials so all their monogram stuff will be "out of date."

I love getting damned at work

It's true, but it happened by a preacher that was on campus yelling at people. I don't even know what exactly he said about me, but he for sure pointed. I must admit it was pretty entertaining, especially the little southern guy who was arguing with him - classic. I only saw one other preacher type person and that was in grad school, my undergrad was private and didn't let regular crazy folks on campus nor did they let us have protests which would have been cool. When I was at UConn though it seemed like there were protests every week. My personal favorite was when people chained themselves to the stairs of the major administration building on campus over tests on monkeys and their protest was the same day of this HUGE 150 year campus celebration with all these big wigs who has to walk in the door past them. I was in class at the time, but it was so crazy/fun that we got to leave class to watch some of it go down.

I also want to make mention that I finally did that 25 things list on facebook. I'm pretty sure most of you who read this got tagged - if not I'll post it soon. I'm expecting some more people to check out the blog from it because I gave it a shoutout in my 25 - I'm all about shameless promotion.

I actually have been blogging so much that I have been neglecting my actual journal so I had 3 weeks worth of thoughts to catch up on last night, but I feel good that I did it.

I'm off to go frolic in the 66 degree weather - I hope it stays this way!

Good News

The weekend was pretty low key - got to the gym Fri/Sat/Sun holler. It doesn't hurt that I decided I have a crush on a trainer at the gym. This guy is one of the originals meatheads when I first went to the protein store and we talked a few times after that, but I didn't know he was a trainer at the gym. So then I see him, or who I think is him, sans hat at the gym with a trainer shirt and without the hat I wasn't sure if it was the same guy (for some reason I thought he was blonder, but he has dark hair) so I don't talk to him because I didn't want to talk to him if it wasn't the same guy. Anyway I saw him in the hat with the trainer shirt this weekend so it's on - I'm gonna bring my flirt on. haha

Also this weekend I took Freddie back to the puppy park because it was so beautiful. I really need to socialize him because me and my apartment are practically his whole world and he needs to live a little haha. I met a bunch of people at the dog park which was great, Freddie was a hit because he is so darn cute. Freddie made some dog friends too, including a GIANT rottweiler who was obsessed with Freddie and kept slobbering on him - it was scary, but all the dogs were nice to us.

Today was Monday - Mondays for the next few weeks are gonna be BONKERS with staff meetings and training, but I check my e-mail as soon as a get to work and get some Good News! In December I submitted an application for a NODA Undergraduate Network Co-Chair position (NODA is the National Orientation Director's Association and Networks are smaller groups that work with a specific population). I knew I wanted to get involved in NODA and when one of my colleagues passed along an e-mail saying this position was open I thought about it because I wanted to commit to the right things. The more I thought about the Undergraduate Network the more I realized how perfect I would be for it. I kept the fact I applied on the DL from most people because I really didn't think I would get - it's a highly competitive position, but then today I got an e-mail saying I was selected and I'm super pumped. I think I am officially "crowned" Co-Chair in mid-March I can't wait to learn more about the position and be a resource for undergraduates.

Bitch Switch

This week has been busy, lots to do, but I have a handle on it except for the fact that someone this week pissed me off so royally that my bitch switch has been flipped and despite my best efforts this week I am still in a bad mood. What I really want to do is confront the person who flipped my switch, but to most of my friend's shock I am not a big confronter when it's personal. When it's part of the job like as a Resident Assistant or Hall Director and other businesslike matters that aren't about me. Yet when someone offends me I have a hard time confronting them, well that's not true - it's that I keep myself from confronting them because when someone offends me personally there is no holds barred. I would be afraid of what I would say to the person I was confronting in terms of being mean or cruel. So instead I sit and brood. I am trying to get calm enough so that I can confront the personal and nicely as possible without bringing too much emotion in it. Emotion is the bad part because I run very hot and very cold - there is NO middle ground (again ask any of my food friends they can tell you that as well). So I want to try and have the sunniest disposition possible when I talk to the person about the matter so I will do my best not to say something I'd regret. I needed to vent that here - it helped lower my blood pressure a bit haha.

Thank God today is Friday. I never really "got" why one of the radio stations at home always played "Everybody's working for the weekend" every Friday at 5pm, but now I get it.

Crazy Happenings

WOW the past 2 weeks have been absolute madness. We had interviews/selections/callouts for our transfer orientation leaders the past 2 weeks and yesterday was out first training. It was stressful, there was so much to do and my learning curve for my job is only so good. As successful as things went, I'm already looking forward to next year now that I have some perspective. This past week was especially hectic because my sister came into town for four days - pretty much my 4 craziest, busiest, latest days. I did my best to show her a good time - took some long lunches and had some really late nights, but I was glad to see her. I think she enjoyed jogging in the "backwoods" of Alabama and being on the top of the tallest building in Lee county - at least according to her twitter updates. Friday I left work early to hang out with her before taking her to the airport - even though Friday I was EX-HAUS-TED. I so tired driving to the airport that I was worried about driving back that night, oh and I should mention that Friday night I had dinner plans in Atlanta with Ms. Amelia Trace Lerner and Mr. Lain Shakespeare (I went to grad school with Amelia and Lain is her man friend haha). Luckily as I got closer to the airport I got a second wind and after getting turned around a bit I found Amy and Lain's place. They lived in such a cute part of Decatur within walking distance of so many places (lots of bars - but I didn't drink because that would have made me really sleepy). We did end up walking to a yummy thai place and spent dinner catching up. It's so crazy that I've lived here for 7 months and only now were we meeting up, but they again we are all big deals with busy schedules! They also took me to the yummy place for dessert that is known for their Phatty Cakes (Amy you will have to let me know if Phatty is spelled right I can't remember). We basically had awesome times and Lain swooped in to pick up the tab for the night, what a gentleman - who is like famous is Decatur. Well his family is famous, Lain was telling me all kinds of interesting stories - I mentioned that my only claim to fame is that my initials are in a sidewalk on the North Shore of Long Island - which then actually brought up a really funny story about Amy's baby feet in cement at her house. All in all good times and we will be planning more adventures shortly. Clearly my drive back home went smooth that night, especially since I stopped to get a Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffee (toasted almond with skim milk is heaven). I had like 3 DDs in 2 weeks - amazing.