Birthday Weekend Recap

I had such a fantastic weekend spent with great friends, family, and then an NL East championship to cap it all off. I think I may have successfully reversed my birthday curse! Or at the very least, fought it off this year.

Saturday was a great time at Nissan Pavilion (I refuse to call it by its new name) complete with a champagne tailgate, glow bracelets, a birthday sash, and hugs from two little boys passing by with their mom who wanted to stop and wish me a happy birthday. I so wish someone had gotten a photo because me being sweet and nice and accepting hugs is such a rare, rare occurrence. Actually I do accept hugs from little kids. It’s hugs from adults that usually creep me out.

Everyone loved their birthday gift bags (yes I give away gift bags at my Birthday….more incentive to show up next year people!) especially the personalized Koozies that we made good use of at the tailgate and later in the concert.

We even got a free “upgrade” from lawn seats to actual seats in the Pavilion. An employee was walking around the lawn offering tickets. L did get a little pushy asking him “Well how close are these seats exactly” before we took the perfectly great free seats. But I guess she was right, “It doesn’t hurt to ask!”

After we were seated (i.e. after one tumble from me attempting to climb over seats), 3 of us then proceeded to reeeeeeally alter the concert-going experience for those around us as we sang all the songs at the top of our lungs. Whoopsies – sorry bout that folks! After the concert, we returned back to the car to find that someone had STOLEN one of L’s hubcaps. Who does that?? At a concert in the middle of Nowheresville VA, who really thinks to steal one hubcap off a car? The only upshot is now L can get some sick spinners like she wanted and really pimp out her ride. (kidding…..)

The next day after a long sleep we headed out for some Sunday Funday. Got to see lots of great friends, one of whom I had not seen since college and we have recently caught back up through Facebook and then emailing back and forth all day long. Was SO wonderful to see her after all these years and meet her husband.

One of my friends requested a mimosa from our waiter who informed her that unfortunately you could only buy champagne by the bottle…

Friend: Ok then, how much is your cheapest bottle.

Waiter: We have one that is $16 and one that is $17

Friend: A dollar difference between the two bottles?

Waiter: Yes.

Friend: Seventeen? Like 1-7? Just one dollar? (holds up one finger)

Waiter: Yes. (shaking his head in agreement)

Friend: Alright, then we’ll take the $17 dollar one.



And THAT is what showed up. Oh yes, that is a bottle of Veuve Clicquot - not an over the top champagne but clearly that bottle was not $17 (who paid for it??? I owe you money so please email me!) It also looks much classier sitting on a covered pool table next to my swanky grilled chicken sandwich that had cheese on it after I had requested the sandwich just be plain. So obviously we had the world's best and brightest waiter that day. You can also see my own Terps personalized Koozie that I decided I wanted to bring with me to the bar next to my huge bottle of Excedrin. Classy.

The next day, my parents were in town – well technically, they were in town on Sunday afternoon, but as you can see I was pretty busy with champagne and chicken sandwiches. We had hoped to head to the zoo for the day (YES I wanted to go to the Zoo for my birthday and NO I am not eight years old - I just really like the Zoo) but the rain kind of ruined that plan. So we just headed to lunch and did a little shopping – nice, dry indoor activities.

After a nap back at the hotel for Mom and Dad (and catching up on some DVR back at my apartment for me!), we headed into DC for dinner and then to Nats Park to cheer on the Phillies. I always get a kick out of my Dad riding the metro. He always keep asking “How many more stops?? You’re gonna let me know when I need to get off the train right??” Like I would just bolt of the train without telling him and leave him to ride the rails of Metro and fend for himself, haha. The look of panic when I tell him we have to transfer lines is pretty comical too. It’s based on colors, Dad. It’s seriously not all that complicated.



My Phillies did not disappoint. We sat through all the rain and watched them beat the Nats and win their 4th straight NL East title. What a special birthday treat just for me, thanks fellas!



It was such a great birthday I kind of feel a little sad that it’s over. Thanks to everyone who came out and celebrated, made me wear a birthday sash, bought me drinks, gave me thoughtful presents, sent me cards, called, emailed, texted, left me Facebook messages, and left me comments here at www.deviledmegs.com. You have no idea how much it meant to me and you were all an integral part of reversing the birthday curse!

And finally, a very special HAPPY BIRTHDAY today to my dear friend and former sorority house roomie, AB. I am so glad we got to have our own pre-birthday celebrations together last month and I am wishing you a wonderful day filled with pony bottles of Rolling Rock, “Wild Things” and hopefully no black eyes. Cheers to you -- love you much!!

Follow Me Friday

So I am still getting the hang of all this and don't really know what the hell I am doing yet. Like one of those baby giraffes stumbling around on legs that don't quite work yet. But I love that there are people that I follow out here in Bloggyville that participate in Follow Fridays. So maybe I should hop on the train and give it a try too!

Thanks so much to all of you who have actually been reading my rants, raves, thoughts, and silly stories. Thanks to friends who have sent me words of encouragement and let me know they enjoy reading. And thanks to the people I don't even know who come here and leave me comments and feedback. I am enjoying this all so very much and hope to continue to have fun with this and make some more friends.

Happy Friday Everyone!

A Good Man is Hard to Find

ESPECIALLY when you are going to trust that man with something as important as your hair. I mean I may date some real losers, but I am much, much pickier when it comes to my hair.

When I first moved to DC, I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of salons and stylists. Then I was in complete and total sticker shock over the cost of these places. I went to one place recommended by someone who I thought had good hair. When all was said and done sure my hair looked alright (nothing special), but I also couldn’t afford to eat for the next 6 weeks.

So I asked around and had one salon in DC recommended by a lot of different people. And this time I made sure to poll people like me that were working for next-to-nothing salaries at low level jobs and for who “super sizing that value meal” was an expensive treat reserved for very special occasions.

The first guy I saw at the salon was nice enough. Really eerily quiet but hey, I am not much of a talker myself, so I kind of liked not having to make chit-chat. Hair turned out ok, didn’t kill my wallet, so off I went. Looking back at some photos of me taken at a wedding a few weeks later, I realized that I was far too blond and bobbed for my own damn good. I looked like I should be giving the weather report somewhere or passing out free keychains at a bar, it was just not a look I could pull off.

So while I wanted to go back to that same salon, I wasn’t really wedded to seeing that guy again (such a hair floozy I was!) The next time I let them schedule me an appointment with P. It was one of those occurrences where I truly believe there is something out there bigger than me, because some force stepped in and made a match up for me (and my hair!)that I will be forever grateful for.

I know there are all the lame jokes and stereotypes about women and their hair stylists. But this isn’t some wannabe therapy session. I look forward to our time together the way most girls look forward to a date with Prince Charming. We like the same things – like music that is far too young for us and making fun of other people. We talk about important things – things that MATTER. Like who’s going home that week on American Idol or if Jillian Michaels would beat Jackie Warner in a cage match (I totes agree with him that Jillian would knock the stuffing out of Jackie)

P has saved my hair and my sanity so many times I have lost track. I will never forget (because I don’t know if he would ever stop reminding me) of the fateful day I walked into the salon literally in tears. I had spent the course of that day discovering my identity had been compromised and had to go through the long process of shutting down all my credit cards, bank accounts, even my damn Blockbuster card as some @sshole went on a spending spree. My boyfriend-at-the-time’s reaction? "That sucks, babe. I will do an extra shot for you later." P’s reaction? "You can come back and pay me whenever it all gets straightened out but you need your hair done today more than ever." THAT is love people.

P has even met my mother. I brought her down here for her birthday one year and surprised her by bringing her to P and letting him fix the whole situation she had going on on top of her head at the time. My mom probably felt like she woke up on an episode of the Tyra show or something. But she STILL talks about that appointment with P to this day and wishes she could go see him all the time.

My relationship with P has lasted longer than any other relationship with a guy. And I’m fine with that. When I finally find a guy who makes me laugh half as much as P does, I will know I’ve found a keeper. Oh and straight too. Sorry, as long as I’m throwing wishes out there, I should be specific. Straight and can sing showtunes with me?? Well that would be like finding a leprechaun riding a unicorn, but maybe it exists. I mean, someone like Mr. Shuster could exist in real life, right?

So I will sit here at my desk watching the minutes tick by and looking forward to my date with P later. I should be making use of this time by deciding what I’d like him to do to my hair later on, but it’s so much more fun to see his pissed off expression when I tell him “I don’t know….just something different” P, if you read this, I hope you are always the Ken Paves to my Jessica Simpson. Unless you let me out of the house in mom jeans. Then we may need to break up.

Thank You seems to be the hardest words

One of the most basic things that parents teach their children once they are first starting to talk and interact with other people and children is to use the word “Please” followed appropriately by “Thank You.” At least I HOPE parents and teachers are still enforcing the use of please and thank you these days. Recently, I have found myself saddened that I rarely hear the word please used by adults any more and the use of thank you has become all but nonexistent.

Thank you matters in ALL facets of your life. I was really surprised to learn how infrequent thank you notes have become not just in networking for new job opportunities but in following up with people after interviews. Can it sometimes be a huge pain in the ass? Abso-freaking-lutely. For my current job, I interviewed with 17 different people when all was said and done. And it definitely took time and energy to write out 17 thoughtful and unique thank you notes (because you know they are going to get together and compare – so copy and paste just won’t do) but I know it made a really great impression on my now employer and bosses. When I found myself interviewing candidates for the temp replacement for my assistant, I only got one thank you note. And that was only after that candidate found out she did NOT get the job.

It matters in the work place – thank you to the geeky IT staff member means not only that you truly appreciated them quickly responding to your critical emergency (facebook froze your computer) but ensures that they will promptly answer your calls and emails in the future. Remembering to thank office staff and secretaries will make your work life easier in ways you may not even imagine at the time – copy jobs will get finished faster, your office supply order will mysteriously get bumped to the front of the line. And in my line of work….when a lawyer puts me through HELL to get something done for them, the ones that say thank you are the ones I am going to go out of my way to help in the future.

If you are in a sales or service-oriented business, doesn’t remembering to thank people seem like a no-brainer? Thanking someone for their repeat business or thanking someone for making a purchase with you in the hopes that they will become repeat customers or refer additional business to you.

Or maybe you have done fundraising for a cause that you are passionate about or even helped a your child or a friend’s child sell cookies/candy/etc. to raise money for something related to their school or youth group. Have you remembered to thank people for their donations or efforts? An actual thank you note (email acceptable, old-school handwritten preferred)…not just a facebook status update thanking people far and wide. Make people know how they individually contributed to your effort and what that meant to you. That carries a whole lot more weight than a virtual shout out on a social networking website (that you can’t even be sure they read anyway).

Incorporating thank you into your everyday vocabulary isn’t that hard when you think about it. Thank the bus driver (I wave to mine every day after I get off the bus), thank your coffee barista, thank the checkout person at the grocery store. Thank your friend/significant other/roommate for something simple, like taking out the trash or forwarding you an email that they thought would interest you.

And then make an effort to be a bit nicer and do things worth getting thanked for. Sometimes this is something really simple that everyone loses sight of in our day-to-day and getting mired down in the details or our own all important lives and routines. Your “thank you” could totally make someone else’s day, and that’s a pretty cool thing.

I once had someone tell me that I seemed very “Southern” in my attempts to make every day use of good manners. I took that as one of the best compliments ever. Being gracious is not something that just comes naturally – it is a habit to be learned, practiced, and cultivated until it becomes second nature. You have to want it, it doesn’t just come to you one night while you are asleep.