They Are Just Soooo Pretty

I went to New York this weekend with some friends. Rather than bore you with the details of how we saw James Earl Jones, John Larroquette, Eric McCormack, Susan Sarandon, and Candice Bergen, I will share my sadness over not being able to buy something I would have never thought I would care about anyways.

These amazing, gorgeous, beautiful, Tom Ford “Whitney” sunglasses I fell in love with at Henri Bendel:

Never in a million-gazillion years would I have imagined giving a second thought to $400 sunglasses, but dang it if these didn’t give me a third and forth and fifth thought. I don’t think I’ve spent over $30 on a pair of sunglasses ever. And I still want them. Bad. Are you listening Santa?

Thankfully my friends were there to keep me from having to eating Ramen Noodles for the next year.  However, if you are reading this and like spending outrageous amounts of money on other people, I gladly accept gifts

My Thirties so far (as reviewed in tweets)

In January 2011, I turned 30, and man was I pumped about it. My twenties as a whole were a rough decade and I was going to take my thirties by storm. I was ready! And then all of a sudden it was January 2012 and I was turning 31…

And I was not happy about it. AT. ALL. A funny thing happened, I believed that taking my thirties by storm meant everything had to happen in one year. I was sad, I was disappointed. Thirty had not been as amazing as I had planned. It’s been a few months and I’ve lightened up some, but I still have dark moments. Moments thinking, what if the next 9 years  are the same and nothing changes and nothing is amazing and then I’m 40. FORTY. OMG. WHAT AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE?!?!?!?!

Last night I got a nice dose of perspective as I was randomly scrolling through my old tweets. I guess Thirty wasn’t so bad after all. In fact, it was a pretty great year. I needed this.

“Hello from the 20! That’s right – we got field access ” – Feb 6, 2011 @ Dallas Stadium for the Superbowl

“So if you buy 6 bottles you get 10% off. But if you buy 10, you get the 10% off plus a look that silently asks if you are okay.” – 2/26/11 @ Total Wine buying the wine for book club at my place.

“Totally copping out by sending an email to tell a guy that I didn’t want to see him again. Avoiding his texts got too exhausting.” “Also… if @elizabeth_cw is much later to BSP, I may have to break up with her too” – 3/18/11 at BSP with EW (eventually)

“Poolside with a mimosa. Not a bad way to start the afternoon.” 3/26/11 in Clearwater, Florida on a station trip.

“‘Mickey Mouse You too!’ – SW #disneyappropriatecurses” – 4/3/2011 @ Disneyworld for a wedding.

“Got my new passport in the mail today, so… The govt has my permission to shutdown if they are so inclined.” – 4/8/11 @ home.

“He said, “I’ll wear you down eventually, even if it takes 2 years. We have all the same friends” I said, “I’ll make new friends” – 4/9/11

“Is it bad that I said yes when the Party City lady asked if the Princess Tiara was for my daughter” – 4/29/11 @ Party City buying a tiara for a Royal Wedding Party.

“Excited for Six Flags Today!” – 6/18/11 on my way to Six Flags for the first time since I moved to Atlanta.

“Walking Rusty after a couple margaritas is no easy task. I mean, the poor guy is stumbling all over the place”  - 6/24/11 after walking Rusty after having a few drinks at a summer work happy hour.

“Wouldn’t it be better if we just gave Keanu Reeves the job and ended this whole lock out think. Just Saying #badjoke #thereplacements” – 6/28/11

“In case anyone needs a unique compliment someday… my grandpa just told me I’m as handy as a pocket in a shirt” – 7/3/11 in Missouri visiting my grandpa.

“Cruising past Canada. Can’t wait to hit Alaska tomorrow!” – 7/9/11

“Taking tequila shots at Old Decatur Courthouse. I’d say it’s time to hit the dance floor…” – 7/23/11 at K&N’s wedding reception

“You know it’s a good night when you get home from book club and it’s technically the next day ” – 8/9/11 @ home after a super-sized book club.

“Wine & Cheese Happy Hour at work is the perfect precursor to Shade & Shots at the Botanical Gardens!” – 8/18/11 sometime in between the two…

‘Somali Pirates sentenced to life. Really? Couldn’t we have been more creative with that. Gang Plank over sharks or something…” – 8/23/11 and I still wholeheartedly stand behind this statement.

“Ready to dance to Yacht Rock at Park Tavern with Jools:)” – 9/2/11 @ Park Tavern

” ‘This is not Camp Hell, This is Camp Boring Ass Movie’ – me. ‘Yeah, when’s the murdering going to start’ – LH” – 10/12/11 @ my place for scary movie night with the girls.

“LH, Don’t you mean “The Orchestra – starring former members of ELO” Good Times at Epcot!” 10/21/11 in Orlando for Horror Nights and Epcot Food and Wine Festival

“If my mom had invented SIRI, then she would have been programmed to tell me to enunciate after everything I say” – 11/10/11 after getting my very first (and so far only) iPhone

and finally…

“I kind of want to get blue solo cups for Saturday just as a joke for AB. I think she’d appreciate it.” – 1/11/12, or as I like to call it 31 years after the most amazing person on the planet was born.

Special mention to a couple of my favorite tweets written by someone else when I was thirty.

” Given our current economic status, I wonder if LFO would now settle for girls who wear Aeropostale” – @jscottmoore
“When a server asks, ‘Diet Pepsi okay?’ The proper response is ‘Do I look like a murderer?!’”  @kellyoxford

113 Days

Is that too early to start a countdown?

Back from Alaska

Alaska was wonderful. I went with my sister and two of her friends, DW & LB. It was sunny and in the 70′s most of the time – take that Accuweather.

Our adventure started when we boarded the cruise in Vancouver. The first day and a half we were just on the water so we explored on everything there was to offer on the ship and then dominated DW in UNO. He didn’t win a single game, poor guy.

Sis’s 29th b-day was Saturday so we celebrated that day with Champagne and birthday cake. Then after dinner, we went to sing karaoke. The four of us sang one song together so it wasn’t too bad. There was one guy who sang a Backstreet Boys song and danced too. It was pretty funny, but he was surprisingly good. He was there with his wife, who must have been really proud.

Sunday we finally made our first stop in Alaska at Ketchikan. We decided to check out the Lumberjack show in the morning and then we wandered around town and ate lunch before heading back to the boat. The lumberjack show was pretty cool. As impressive as the log chopping stuff was, I think the log-rolling in the water was my part.

Monday we stopped at Icy Straight Point and did the World’s Longest & Highest Zipline. It was a 45 minute drive up the mountain to the top, but unfortunately our bus broke down halfway up so we had to added 20 minutes to that waiting on another bus. The actual zipline was a little over a mile long and took about 90 seconds top to bottom. It was kind of scary looking down before we went, but it wasn’t too bad once they let you go.

Tuesday we hit up Juneau. I was surprised to learn that it is not accessible by road at all. What a crazy thing. To get to a road you have to take a 2 hour ferry to another town that connects with the Highways. Our adventure in Juneau was a Bike, Brew & Glacier View tour. I thought it was just a Bike & Brewery tour and was picturing something akin to a pub crawl, but I obviously didn’t read the entire description. We rode about 8 miles total to get to Mendenhall Glacier State Park. This was the first glacier we saw and it was inland. Pretty crazy stuff. Then after that, we went to a tasting of the Alaskan Brewery beers. Pretty standard stuff.

Later that afternoon we checked out the town, but it was just your standard touristy stuff. Lots of gift stores and jewelry stores, because who doesn’t go on vacation and throw down $95,000 on a ring. That’s what Sis’s friend LB saw when she ventured into one of them. That is just insane. I tell you what if I had that much money for jewelry I would not have been on a Royal Caribbean Cruise. I would definitely have a private yacht and also just for fun would own Alaska.

Our last stop was Wednesday in Skagway. Here we did a 3 hour train ride up to White Pass Summit. It was gorgeous! It followed the path that people used during the Gold Rush. In some areas way up high we could see the path across the cliff that was actually used. It was tiny and steep and there is no way I would have ever hiked up it. After we got off the train, it was time to board the boat for the last time.

Thursday we spent the entire day on the water. We stopped off at Hubbard Glacier in the morning. This one is huge and actually in the water opposed to the other ones we had seen which had traveled inland. Unfortunately it was rainy and overcast so it wasn’t quite as pretty as it could have been, but it was still pretty great. After viewing the glacier us girls spent some time at the ship’s spa and then relaxed the rest of the day.

Friday we were dropped off in Seward, and then made our way to Anchorage. That night in Anchorage we went up to a State Park on a nearby mountain and did a little hike (but not the really steep one up the mountain). Saturday morning we woke up and rented some bikes and took a trail along the coast. While on the trail, we saw a moose, which except for a couple bald eagles we saw on the drive to Anchorage, was the only cool wildlife we saw. Luckily it was a little ahead of us, so it wasn’t scary coming upon it. After what turned into a 25 mile bike ride, we grabbed some lunch and then walked around town before it was time to hit the airport for the red-eye home.

Taking a cruise was definitely worth it. Not having to pack and unpack multiple times & not really having to plan too much on our own made it very enjoyable. Plus we got to do karaoke and I played Blackjack for the first time at a real table with a dealer and everything. I lost $20 but it took awhile so I got some fun out of it.

40 Degrees of Separation

I’ve got a busy few weeks coming up so I’ve started thinking about what to pack. This led me to AccuWeather.com…

First I’m going to visit my grandpa for the long weekend. Going to celebrate our independence hanging out with the greatest man I know. Besides the usual, this is what I have to look forward to…

In case you missed it – that little red box says “EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH” – Heat indexes of up to 108 is what clicking on it told me.

Well that’s just awesome-sauce.

I think this is God’s plan to help me extra enjoy the weather on the next stop…

Hoping those clouds disappear but other than that, I think I can deal with 60-70 degrees for a bit

The next stop is the Alaskan coast! Oh yeah! That is AWESOME-SAUCE.I’m super excited. I’m pretty sure our cruise will have Internet since it’s 2011 so I’m going to try to post updates and pics along the way.

I hope everyone has a fun 4th of July and ends the weekend with all limbs in tact

Superbowl XLV…

This past weekend, I was lucky enough to attend Superbowl XLV.

Shocking I know because I don’t care much about football, but there are some things I do care about…

* All expense paid trips – Everything for me and my brother was paid for – and I really mean EVERYTHING, even a per diem for our day of leisure. I think I came back with more money than I left with, ok not really, but it was a pretty sweet deal.

* Spa Days – the trip included a morning at the spa for a full body massage and relaxation in the steam room.

* The chance to see celebrities. We got to go to the FOX network party. My brother saw Randy Jackson and Ron Pearlman. I didn’t see anyone. This was probably the closest I was ever going to come to meeting Jesse Spencer so I guess that’s not going to work out after all. Here’s a picture from the party. They had the clothes there for the picture – we were not wearing those outfits.

The game was pretty fantastic and we even got to go on the field afterwards Here’s me at our seats and a picture from the ground after the game.

Overall, it was a pretty great experience and I’m so glad I got to go. Just one more reason to love my job!

OMG, can you believe it…

I’ve actually found a minute to post on my blog. Technically I should be inputting TV rates right now, but I need a break.

Some random stuff’s been happening lately – mostly great stuff.  Sorry I haven’t been writing as frequently. My life has been mostly work and Rusty so I haven’t had much to say. I’m really going to try to get better. To start, here’s an update.

* I turned 30 this month. I’m okay with it. My 20′s weren’t great as a decade, so I’m thinking my 30′s are going to kick some A. To celebrate I had a real grown up party at a bar and paid for appetizers and everything.  Then I went to Vegas over MLK weekend with my sister to drink all day and see some shows.

* I got a promotion at work, one I’ve been waiting for since 2009. Super pumped about the raise and the “Senior” now in front of my title.

* I’ve had Rusty for 5 months now, which is longer than he was with his foster family so I’m hoping that now  he knows I’m going to keep him forever and ever and ever.

* David Berkeley’s new album, “Some Kind of Cure” that came out this week is Awesome. You should definitely buy it.

* I’m going to the Superbowl! One of my FOX stations invited me, so I’m taking my brother and heading to Dallas next week. It would have been nice if the Falcons or Chiefs made it, but oh well, it should be a blast anyways. There is a party Saturday and pre/post game reception things that we get to go to. I don’t know if stars go to the network stuff or the Superbowl in general, but I’m just going to go ahead and throw this out there. If, by any chance I meet Jesse Spencer at any of these FOX events, I may not come back to Atlanta, because he will definitely fall in love with me & I’ll have to move to LA. Just Saying.

* Last weekend I went out with a couple of friends and KD’s little sis, who is 22. There was another young girl dancing at the bar and she was wearing the UGLIEST outfit I’ve ever seen. I really tried to be sneaky and get a picture but it didn’t work out so I’m going to try to describe it… She was wearing a buttoned-up red plaid flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up to about mid fore-arm. The shirt itself was ok, but she had it tucked into a white/cream-colored skirt that can only be described as a cross between a tablecloth and a diaper. All of her friends were dressed relatively normal so she really stood out. I asked KD’s little sis if that is what people her age dressed like and she said no, so I don’t think it’s some new trend I don’t know about. It was just hideous and my description probably doesn’t make it sound hideous enough, but it’s all I’ve got.

All right, I better get back to it.

Thursday Thoughts

* Went to Orlando a couple of weeks ago for Horror Nights at Universal, Islands of Adventure, and the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot. I’m a wuss. I pretty much screamed at everything that jumped out at me in the haunted houses. Add that to a day of screaming for fun on the roller coasters at Islands of Adventure and my voice sounded pretty awesome by the end of the trip.

* For Halloween, I stole my costume idea from an 11-year-old. I’m okay with that.

* I’ve spent entirely too much time following the #tweetyour16yearoldself hash tag on twitter today. Realized that I don’t really have anything to say to my 16-yr-old self (at least nothing twitter appropriate)

* I’m currently going through sugar withdrawals because our office Halloween candy is down to only yucky stuff.

* I’ve got a Beers of the World party to go to this weekend where I need to bring an import or microbrew. Any suggestions? I’m not very good at picking out good beers so I probably won’t win.

* Rusty has pretty much become ruler of my house. Not sure how I feel about that, but I’m such a sucker that now he’s sleeping on the bed more and more. I can’t help it.