Wicked-fun weekend ahead

I mean, what other kind of weekend would you have when you are in Boston?!?

Getting ready to wrap this b*tch of a week up, zip over to the airport to meet up with two hot mamas, and get our butts up to Boston to see one of our pledge sisters. YAY!!!

Happy weekend, everyone!

Lunch for Breakfast

No, this is not as fun as having Breakfast for Dinner (I love those nights!)

Lunch for Breakfast took place for the first time for me today. I, just like many at my office, keep items in the fridge and freezer here at work. We have at least one located on my floor. It's a large size and can more than adequately hold people's food. This week I had given these SmartOnes a try for breakfast. Quite tasty, FYI.



There are 2 servings in each box. I had one serving for breakfast the other day which means...let me grab my calculator...there should be one serving left. That I planned to have for breakfast today.

Wrong.

SHOULD have been ONE serving left. But when I went to the freezer I found NO servings left. To add insult to injury, someone didn't just eat my other delicious breakfast treat. They -- hang on to your hats -- left the empty box for me. How sweet!! So not only are you so rude and thoughtless that you stole someone else's food, you were also too lazy to throw away the empty box.

If you are keeping score, this is example number 1,653 of how utterly AH-mazing my office is.

With a grumbling tummy, I made due and heated up the lean cuisine I was going to have for lunch and ate it for breakfast. Not exactly what I was in the mood for, but whatevs. Now that I am sans-lunch, I think I see a trip to Chop't in my future today....

It's the little things

I've always been a person who appreciates (or at the very least tries very hard to!) some of the smallest, littlest things in life. I think Coach may have told me long ago that it was a very Irish trait. I also think Coach wants to claim everything good in me is from the Irish (his) side of my family.

Regardless of how I came to possess that trait, right now I feel like noting the little things I am thankful for right now. If nothing more than to distract me from some of the very big things that are annoying/angering/upsetting/frustrating me right now.

1. I had a volunteer meeting after work yesterday and I supplied quite a few good ideas and suggestions. And I ain't just saying that, it was the consensus of the other meeting attendees. Apologies for not being too humble about it, but hey, deal with it.

2. I got my nails did this week. There is a real comfort in knowing that no matter how haywire and batsh*t crazy things may go, I can look down and see perfectly done nails. I *think* that may have been some of the reasoning behind why my Gram always had her nails painted.

3. Ditto for my hair. I had the fortune of having a visit with the best stylist ever earlier this week and no matter what has been thrown my way, and how many stresses I have been dealing with, at least I know my hair looks fabulous.

4. Very generous and thoughtful friends and readers who have been helping me with the technical glitches I have been experiencing with my domain name this week. The problem is (I am about 99% sure at this point) with one or more ISPs. So basically I am SOL for the foreseeable future and will be back with the blogspot.com address for a while. This makes me so sad, you have no idea, but the help I have gotten from folks the past few days has been the bright spot in all this nonsense.

5. Make sure you are entered in my very first giveaway! I think because of all the tech problems I have been having, it would be best to extend the "deadline" so feel free to post your comments/entries until Monday, May 9th.

6. Thursday ain't as good as Friday, but at least it is one step closer than Wednesday!

Can you help?

If anyone out there may be tech-savvy or has a similar experience/problem with blogger and pointing to a custom domain PLEASE contact me by direct message. I have had SO many problems, headaches and phone calls over the past day it is all becoming a blur. I am starting to get worried that something I have worked so hard for could be totally FUBAR.

Every so often, my page somehow gets redirected to this bogus site


Everything is configured correctly on the publishing tab on my dashboard, it just gets pointed to some screwed up/weird looking page. That I own the domain name for.

Technical Difficulties

As is proving to be a bit of a theme in my life lately, I have been experiencing some technical difficulties with my page. Specifically (from what my non-technically inclined brain can understand) blogger is not playing nice with my domain name and the company I have it registered with.

Please don't think I have run away, or that coming to my page will give you some sort of computer problems. Neither is the case. Just some serious tech difficulties.

The page seems to be working...for the time being...fingers crossed

Administrative Professionals Day at a law firm

You may not know, but today is Administrative Professionals Day. Here at the firm (and other firms I have worked at/friends have worked at), the phrase "administrative professional" basically applies to anyone without a J.D.

Today they had a breakfast where the lawyers "served" all the staff breakfast (in a few seated shifts) to commemorate Admin Professionals Day.

Guess who was too busy dealing with lawyers' crazy demands and angry rants to be able to leave her desk for this once-a-year breakfast?

If you guessed ME, then give yourself a gold star! You can also treat yourself by entering my super-wonderful giveaway...just sayin' ;)

Giveaway!

Ok, this should have posted last night, but I am guessing there was some Blogger glitch. Anywhoozle, in honor of finishing my 40 posts in 40 days challenge, I am hosting my very first giveaway!


I do love a good makeup bag and believe me when i tell you this Kate Spade one is pretty darn fantastic. I have it myself in black but this pretty green shade just felt fun and Spring-y! I am stuffing it with a few goodies, in addition to a $25 gift card to Sephora.

To enter, you must be a follower and leave a comment. For bonus entries, you can follow me on Twitter, follow me on facebook, tweet about this giveaway and/or blog post about this giveaway. You have until Tuesday, May 3rd. Please leave one comment for each "entry."

Thanks for reading & Good Luck!

What to do

So I guess I really wasn't thinking, but everything I wanted or needed to do today I can't because they are closed for Easter. I guess I figured if I had no family/plans for the holiday then no one else would? Or maybe I am just dense about these things?

Happy Easter

In honor of Easter, I wanted to share with you something we have here in DC that I have grown to really love over the years. The Washington Post's Peep Diorama Contest. Enjoy!

Self-indulgent Saturday

Because sometimes it's nice to sleep a little too much, to eat ice cream for dinner, and catch up on the DVR.

Sometimes it's nice to have a small family

My office is pretty darn quiet today. Might have something to do with Good Friday and folks travelling out of town for the Easter weekend. I wish it equated into less work for me; sadly, that is not the case. I actually have more work than I can handle...and will be enjoying the privilege of working on it over the holiday weekend. Lucky me!

I don't have a HUGE family who all descend on one house for holidays and special occasions, so it is not like I am truly missing out on attending some big family shindig. My mom is actually an only child, so my younger brother and me are the only grandchildren on that side of the family. That side does have a very large and impressive extended family, thanks to my Italian Gram being one of many children. But as the years passed, we stopped all getting together for holidays and occasions. Sadly now I only get to see them at weddings or funerals.

So while I am sad that I really have nowhere to go for Easter (and as my awesome life at work rolls on, no TIME to go anywhere), I am still aware of some of the perks that come with having a small family.

Like this one


Every month or so, my Pop-Pop sends me $20 or $25 in the mail. It is the best, most wonderful thing. I have no idea how the universe knows when to have it happen, but without fail it is always on a particularly challenging or difficult day that I get one of these lovely envelopes in the mail.

It's not about the cash (although it is a nice treat!), but the little notes that are inside. I wonder if my Pop Pop knows that I keep every single one of them. Usually carrying around a couple in my wallet at any given time.

It may sound obvious or even silly, but to me...well sometimes it helps me to have that reminder that no matter how beat up I get, no matter how down things may be or how crummy I may be feeling, there is someone out there who is thinking of me and loves me very much. I am his only granddaughter and to him, that makes me very, very special.

So that's my sappy family-themed post for this holiday weekend. I hope those of you that are travelling and/or visiting family have a safe, relaxing and happy weekend.

And for those of you NOT doing anything this weekend...come back and visit, please. I only have 4 more posts to go before midnight on Sunday to make the 40 in 40 goal :)

The five most beautiful words

"Today's meeting has been cancelled."

And proof that there is someone out there looking out for me..will still be here until who knows when tonight, but at least I am saved from going to another meeting!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Linking up with This Kind of Love for What I'm Loving Wednesday


I'm loving... that I am sneaking in another post today, which means I only have SIX more to go before Sunday to meet my goal of 40 Posts in 40 Days.

I'm loving... that I had a coupon for a free salad from Chop't that I was saving for a very special occasion. "Special Occasion" definition being: If i do not get up from my desk and step away from all the ridiculousness at work, I will probably punch someone.

I'm loving... my two new pairs of glasses from Warby Parker. Total geek-hipster-chic and I think they, in fact, DO make me look smarter! They let you pick up to five pairs of frames and then send them to you to try on at home fo' free. No obligation to purchase any glasses. And if you don't like those five, pick a different five and they will send you a second round to try on. Best part? For every pair of glasses they sell, they donate a pair to people in need.

I'm loving... Words with Friends. I know I am way late to the party on this game, but it has become a favorite pastime on my daily commutes. Anyone wanna play with me?

I'm loving... "Bossypants" by Tina Fey. I read it in about a day and a half. Have you read it? What did you think? I am mulling over some thoughts on it for a future post...

I'm loving... this little ticklish penguin. If you can watch it and not smile or laugh, you are probably a robot. Or one of the lawyers I may work with, same diff. Thanks for sharing, CRY!

How much are you worth?

So I never got to do my intended post on my lovely out of town girls' weekend...I am so far behind on things I WANT to post and seem to only be posting things that crop up (and piss me off/upset me) in my day to day. I was lucky enough to spend a lovely weekend in Nashville with some truly lovely ladies, one of which was celebrating her birthday. If you have never been to Nashville...you MUST go. I had so, so much fun and am already trying to plot out when I can go back.

There was so much drinking and eating laughing over the course of that short weekend. WAY overdue for this stressed out chica. So many funny stories that I don't think I have permission to share here. Trust me, you have literally NO idea how much I want to!!

But there is one that I think I can safely share...

Homey C and I went out for some late night food after the bars closed on Saturday night. [side note...I am just gonna call her Homey C here for fun. We met back in college and it turned out we are from the same area in PA and know lots of the same people from home. And we root for the same sports teams, and that's pretty handy.]

Anyway...so we are out at some happening late night spot. And "happening" in Nashville means they have tater tots. As drunk girls are wont to do, we start chatting up people in line with us. One sweet southern boy seemed very taken with us and suggested we grab a table with him and his friend to all enjoy our late night snacks together. You know what, I am gonna be honest with you. This isn't really a pivotal plot point to the story. I really just wanted to let you all know that the sweet southern boy thought I was 27. Um, am I sensing a theme here? Seems my out-of-town/vacation age is averaging about 26. So basically I should remain constantly out-of-town or on vacation.

We did NOT go home with sweet southern boy and his friend (and trust me, they invited us), but instead headed back to the hotel to put ourselves to bed. It's probably around 4am and Nashville is pretty darn quiet and peaceful as we stumble/stroll home. That is, until some guy pops up from out of nowhere and starts following us. We were super close to the hotel, so I wasn't too worried. Besides, Homey C and I grew up in the mean, rough-and-tumble streets of Delco, located *just* outside of Philly.

He was harmless enough, just following behind us and trying to chat us up. At least he was at first...then he started talking about where he was from and how wealthy and important his family was. Trying to impress us, I assume.

And then, he goes one better to top these alluring, swoon-inducing remarks. He casually lets us know, "I'll pay a thousand dollars for you two ladies."

My mouth was agape and I grabbed Homey C's arm. She seemed unfazed by his low-budget proposition. By the time I let her know what she had missed, he had finally stopped following in our footsteps and we were just about at the hotel. And Homey C told me, "That's crazy. We should at least get a thousand each."

I am so lucky to have a friend like Homey C to remind me exactly how much I am worth :) On a more serious note, I am really thankful and lucky to have had a chance to sort of "rekindle" my friendship with her. We got back in touch after many years and I now consider her such a great friend...always there to laugh with over the weirdos we come across on match.com and comment on the horrible reality TV shows we watch. Sadly, we have to do all of this by text and email since we don't live in the same area.

Homey C, if you happen to be reading this, there is no one I would rather stay in with on a Saturday night to drink wine, watch a Lifetime made-for-tv movie, and make homemade jewelry with :)

Just 8 more to go! I'm thinking giveaway....

I WILL make it to my 40 Posts in 40 Days this year! This here post is #32, so just 8 more to get in before Sunday.

So you may be seeing a couple posts from me per day -- you know, to make up for those days (likely tomorrow) when my day will be so miserable and crazed I will barely get a free minute to use the ladies room.

I cannot promise these posts will be funny. Or good. Or even make any sense.

But I WILL have 8 more posts before Sunday. You can count on that.

So if I make it through 8 moreposts before Sunday (which I WILL do, see above) I am thinking it's a good time to celebrate that feat with a wonderful giveaway. Who's with me??

Is it really only Monday?

I feel like I have been running around in circles for at least two weeks (and I probably have) and have no clue how it is only Monday afternoon. I am growing a teensy bit concerned with the amount of cursing I have been doing at work. Regularly and consistently. Which is not appropriate in a law firm. Well, unless you are a lawyer.

I have become pretty darn fond of saying "f*ck this/that noise" which realllllly worries me because I don't think people even say that anymore. I might as well tell people to talk to the hand or eat my shorts.

I have become so busy and frazzled that I don't even know what slang is out there in the popular vernacular. And that, above all else, is making me feel like a total and complete failure.

Dear Co-worker

Dear Co-worker whose cube is outside my office,
Please stop singing. While being totally annoying, it is also incredibly unprofessional. For the record, I would ask you to stop singing regardless of the quality of your vocals. But in case you are curious, you are a terrible singer.
xoxo,

I have a pretty hot date tonight

It's true, I have a date tonight. It's actually not with just one special guy. It's with FORTY of them!



Specifically, I will be getting to see a whole lotta this guy, Mr. Clifton Phifer Lee.

And YES, that is his real middle name, not just trying to slap a PH on everything for effect. I will fully admit us Phillies fans are terribly guilty of PH-ifying anything we can think of.

Case in point? The shirt I plan to wear tonight.


Dear Eight Pound, Six Ounce, Newborn Baby Jesus,
Please get me through this day at work so that I can sneak out a little early when no one is looking get out the door on time, get my @ss over to Citizens Bank Park South and spend a night with the beautifully boisterous fans from Philadelphia. Oh and a win too, please.

And miles to go before I sleep

Oh so very tired. The trip last weekend (you know...the one I still have to post about, haha) took a lot out of me. Then this 2-day trip to San Fran with 7am flights has really kicked my butt. Right now I am on a plane, but have no freaking clue, what time it is, where we are (over Missouri I think...), what time I land, or which end is up. And I'm kinda hungry...but not sure what meal I am on for today :)

Have missed writing here but have missed reading my favorite blogs even more. I foresee a very low-key weekend in my future with sleeping in and reading and laundry. The extent of my "wild and crazy" for the weekend will be a 1 year-old's birthday party.

Thanks, Karma

As a show of the universe attempting to right a wrong, I was rewarded for enduring yesterday's workplace hostility with a row all to my self on my flight out to San Francisco. SO wonderful and SO appreciated.

And if anyone is curious, it only takes me about 20-25 min to get to Dulles Airport. I attribute this to my Nascar-stlye driving skills and the fact that there are pretty much no other cars on the road at 5am.

And I have no idea why random photo bucket images are showing up on my post since I was not attempting to post any photos...I will just blame the wacky in-flight internet, but if someone has another explanation, feel free to enlighten me.

Best laid plans interrupted by office nightmares

I am back in one piece from my weekend away and had the best laid plans of slogging through a brutal day at work and getting home tonight to hopefully do a quick post about the trip (with some photos for a change!) before packing up and heading out on a way too early flight to SanFran tomorrow morning. Before you go getting too jealous of my jet-setting lifestyle, it is a quick trip for all work and no play. And little sleep...seriously I will be there for about 20 hours total.

But then something happened at work. Something that has shaken me. Literally, my hands are still trembling as I type this, I have actually been physically shaking from the upset and anger. I have a colleague that I have to work with from time to time because I paths intersect. She has never been nice to me and at times has gotten quite mean. My boss got involved....that angered her more and she took it out on me. I was supposed to be moved to another floor to at least get away from her, but those plans fell through.

So I have tried to make due...avoid interaction altogether save for the occasional "Good Morning" that I may be forced into in the kitchen.

But today...TODAY...she was just flat out rude, condescending and mean. No need to get into specifics about the project or anything like that. But this woman usually tries to be my boss. Which, of course, she isn't. And if we want to get super-technical, my title is higher than hers. ANYway, she was again trying to micromanage something to death. To the point that it was insulting. Previously, the director of our office had a conversation with her about this tendency of hers and that she needed to get it in check. Asking her point blank if I had ever dropped the ball on a project she had no choice to reply "No." Because I haven't. Things get in on time, no matter what sacrifices are made on my part to do so.

Didn't matter. She was off and micromanaging again -- to the point that it was getting absurd. So I kindly stopped into her office next door and clarified for her that YES it was getting done and OF COURSE I would provide her (and others) a copy of that project when it was done. To which she asked me for the THOUSANDTH time if I remembered that it was due today. I mean, does she want to go double check my outlook calendar to make sure it is there? "Yes," I said, "I am well aware and it will be submitted today. I have been dealing with a number of firedrills so far today, but will be getting to it before the end of the day."

Then she decides to just be a flat out b*tch. Starts mocking me in a fake over the top voice with painfully feigned dramatic enthusiasm "Oh wonderful. I am just SOOOOOO glad to hear that." She even f@cking clapped her hands. I am pretty sure my jaw dropped to the floor and as I turned and left could hear her grumbling some terribly unflattering things about me under her breath. Loud enough that it was clear it was for my own personal benefit.

And I came into my office, shut the door and just lost it. Racked my brain for how I could make ends meet if I just packed up, walked out the door and never came back to this place. I can deal with stressful situations and absurd deadlines. I have dealt with working late nights and sleeping with my blackberry so I can respond to messages at all hours. I have gotten used to working while on vacation and never leaving my desk or ever eating lunch. Is it awesome? no, but I can handle it for now and hope that things will either get better or I will find a new job.

But this? Being talked to like I was a worthless piece of trash? Yeah, I am not so sure this is worth a paycheck at this point.

Oh Friday...SO good to see you!

Seriously, this week...ugh. Too much running around and too much stress and just, well too much. Friday is finally here and I am getting ready to head out of town to meet up with some fabulous ladies and hopefully enjoy too much food, drinks and fun! I am headed to a city I have never been and am pretty freaking stoked. That's right...I said stoked.

I will try and take a few more pictures than my recent jaunt to Chicago and hopefully post next week.
Happy weekend!

Please stop this day

cause I wanna get off....too much, too fast, too tired.

Chivalry is totally dead...or is it?

Yesterday, I had to run out of the office to head to an appointment. Luckily a train arrived just as I made it down to the metro platform, so I figured God was giving me a little help to get to where I needed to go in time. Thanks, Big Guy.

While the train wasn't terribly crowded, there weren't any available seats when I boarded. No big deal. A few stops later, a seat did open up right next to where I was standing. What luck! As I made my way to sit down, I was literally shoved out of the way by some guy so he could take the seat. Really? REALLY?!?

My jaw dropped, I honestly could not believe it. Not so much that I thought that I should get the privilege of sitting down because I am some delicate flower of a girl. I know that is far from being an accurate description of me. had this guy been closer to the seat, and started to move towards it when it became free, I wouldn't have even attempted to claim it. But I could not get over that he felt it was completely acceptable and appropriate behavior to hurry over and push me out of the way so he could take a load off and sit down.

Still a bit in shock, I got off the metro about 10 min later. Looking at my watch, I got worried I would be cutting it too close for comfort in trying to get to my appointment in time. I had parked my car at a garage that morning and ran into the building's lobby. Seeing an open elevator door, I picked up the pace and hurled myself onto the elevator. There was a kind man smiling holding the "open door" button so I could get on safely. As if that wasn't nice enough, after I frantically pushed the button for P3, he said "Oh I needed to go up; that's OK, you go ahead and take this one", and he exited the elevator.

"Sorry! Thank you!" I called back to him as the doors closed.

So in the span of about 30 or 40 minutes, I got to see both ends of the chivalry spectrum. Glad to see it isn't totally a dead practice.

The Seven Year Itch

So I think I may have figured out what all of my restlessness has been about lately. well maybe not entirely, but a part of it. I just passed my 7 year anniversary of moving here. And while I have lived in a few different houses/apartments in that time period, it has been SEVEN years. Which is longer than I have lived anywhere outside of where I grew up.

And while I am not sure if here is the place I am supposed to stay...for today I am just going to take a little look back about all I have been through and accomplished in those seven years. Cause TRUST ME, there has been A LOT. Maybe I need to put on a white dress and find a steam grate later a la Marilyn?

Friday Happy Hour

My Friday HH is sadly alcohol-free...and who even knows when I will leave the office tonight. I had to get out for a quick errand (going back to the bank because I am sans-ATM card), and on my sprint walk back to the office, I stopped for a mini-cupcake and a Powerball ticket.


Dear 8 pounds 6 ounces new born infant Jesus, please let me hit the Powerball so I can save myself from this job that is slowly killing me...please and thank you.

Complete and utter TRAGEDY

Last night, the REAL James Franco was here in DC. Not this one, but this one


He was here to attend a benefit supporting 826 National, a nonprofit tutoring, writing, and publishing organization with locations in eight cities across the country, including DC. The organization's goal is to assist students ages six to eighteen with their writing skills, and to help teachers get their classes excited about writing.

My J.Franco...such a renaissance man. Swoon. Correction...swooning while kicking myself for not going to stalk him last night.