Where've I been lately?

Work has been seriously whooping my butt as of late. Like WHOAH. Not making things better, I was out in Chicago Sun-Tues for a conference. Anyone else get a serious headache trying to "manage projects remotely" while you are out of the office? By Tuesday afternoon, I was ready to throw my work iPhone into the river. Although I WILL say it was awesome to get to see some of my fave Chicago ladies while I was there for my much-too-quick visit!

On the way back from Chicago, I started having some serious teeth and jaw pain. It would go away and come back several times over the course of the evening until it just became blinding, tear-inducing pain that would wake me from a sound sleep.

So around 1 am, we headed to the ER. At am, after some shots in my jaw, one failed IV attempt that resulted in some really nasty-looking bruises on my arm, and one successful IV dosage of morphine, I was sent home and given a series of follow ups with other docs and dentists to determine what the problem is. I worked from home yesterday and the pain was off and on again, but thankfully nowhere near the level it had been. Back in the office today, still in some pain, and trying to make all the necessary appointments to start figuring out what the heck is going on.

Fun times, right? Never a dull moment recently, that's for sure!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I can tell you I am definitely NOT loving the fact that it is 4:30 and I am just now getting to eat lunch. This probably also explains my headache and b!tchiness this last hour or so.So while I should stay late tonight to get a jump on some things...I don't even feel like I can. Or at least I can go home first and try and work from there. I am just o-v-e-r my office at the moment. Needed to clear my head and take a quick mental health break and link up with What I'm Loving Wednesday.

I'm loving.....that I got my Trader Joe's on last night, so that means I get to go home to something tasty for dinner tonight!

I'm loving.....that MVP was ambitious this morning and cooked some breakfast before leaving for work. So I got to have pork roll for breakfast....it's somewhat of Philly thing and MAN is it delicious.

I'm loving.....this tshirt. I can't decide between Eagles Green or Phillies Maroon, but I MUST have it!

I'm loving.....that at least the week is half over at this point (although it feels like tomorrow should be Friday already!)

Monday Malaise - weekend recap

Ever have one of those Mondays that starts off a bit on the wrong foot and then no matter howhard you try, it seems like everything goes downhill (FAST) after that?

Yeah, THAT is the kind of day I am having. I seriously cannot believe there are four whole MORE days to get through after this one. It feels like a week's worth of sh*t has already been compressed into this one day. And it's only 2:30....sigh. Not helping matters is that I just feel like I have so much weighing on my mind right now and it can be a struggle to keep my thoughts straight and keep myself on track.

I figured something positive I could do is just do a quick peek back at the high points of the weekend. At least that may put a smile on my face and help me temporarily forget how craptastic this week has started off.

After work on Friday, I took a trip to Costco (AKA one of my happy places) -- it makes me feel so accomplished to haul in all of my Costco treats and re-stock the fridge and pantry.

Saturday got to eat lunch at Red Robin which is so not good for you but OH so tasty every once in awhile. I was also in an area of VA that had a Wawa, so was able to make a stop there as well. DOUBLE AWESOMENESS!!

Sunday I got to sleep in (and catch up on some much needed sleep) and woke to MVP having cooked breakfast. A very pleasant (and welcomed) surprise. It was so good, I had to take a little nap afterwards.

Then I got myself up and showered and out the door to see L who is in town for the weekend. It was so SO good to see her and sad at the same time because I realize how much I miss her. Our lives are both different now in so many ways (mostly good!)but a little part of me got very sad knowing that we'll never be roommates again. I miss her especially on days like today...where I feel like I am getting kicked around all day, and would get to go home, and we would have something tasty for dinner (or inappropriate like a whole bunch of cheese and crackers) and watch some terrible move on OnDemand. Something girly and stupid that you swear to each other you will NEVER admit to anyone else that you WATCHED, let alone paid money for. I love MVP and all, but he is just not into that sort of thing.

I also got a wonderful text from my friend that her new baby boy had made his debut a little early. Ever have those moments where you feel so much happiness for someone else that it feels like your heart is too big for your chest? Well that is exactly how I felt getting her message. It's been so wonderful to watch her become a Mom to her first little boy and how wonderful she is at it (with I knew she would be, obvs) and how she is going to be EVEN MORE amazing now that she is a momma of two little boys. I'm just so happy for her and her family.

Ok, you know what? That did help a little. I also think a quick break from my desk and a little walk to go clear my head wouldn't hurt either.

Hope you all had wonderful weekends and your Monday is better than mine has been :)

Do you Rue?

I am a slight Rue La La-aholic. In my effort to curb my online shopping habit, I unsubscribed to almost ALL my shopping emails...but I just couldn't quit Rue. The shopping love just ran too deep to go cold turkey.

A few weeks back I was stoked to see a sale with lots of fun MLB tees, and scooped up a Phillies one to gift to MVP for his birthday. And maybe one or two for myself ;) I knew it might not get delivered in time for the actual birthday...so I just had a picture handy to show him and let him know the gift would be arriving soon. (Reminds me I am SO behind on posting and didn't even bother to post about MVP's birthday, oops! Must get caught up soon!)

Was excited to get the email yesterday that my package had arrived. Since MVP happened to be home early from work (AKA takne a half-day to go home to watch baseball), I told him he could go ahead and open the package. Expecting an email telling me how much he loved the Phillies shirt and how awesome I was for getting it for him, I was a little upset to get an email telling me that he opened the box and saw a women's Orioles tshirt (for me), a women's Phillies tank top (me again), and a women's White Sox tank (WTF?!?!) and he didn't think he could squeeze into any of them.

I quickly went back to my order to make sure in my haste I had not somehow goofed and ordered the wrong thing. Nope, should have been a Men's Phillies T in there instead of that rando White Sox wifebeater.

So I picked up the phone and called Rue. The customer service rep sent me a shipping label to send the rado tank top back and told me I would receive a refund in a few days. "But can I still get that Phillies T shirt?" I asked. "Probably not, but we will email you in a few days and let you know if we still have any. If we do, you can reorder it then." Rather than complain to him about how messed up this whole thing was, I asked that since the error was clearly on their part -- and casually dropped that this purchase was supposed to be a Bday gift -- was there anything else they could do for me.

He just reiterated the process for sending the tank top back and then a refund would get processed.

After stressing AGAIN that it was very upsetting that there was a BIG oops on their part in the order processing and fufillment stage, he credited back my shipping, and gave me a $10 credit for a future purchase. Ok, that's a little better.

But....I was still sad. I was so excited about all the gifts I had gotten MVP for his birthday. And that Phillies T was a part of it. Our first real date was to a Phillies game, so the cheesy sentimental part of me was still upset.

Taking a cue from one of my friends, I took my trouble over to Twitter.

Within minutes, there was someone from Rue responding to me and asking what had happened with the order. Amy (@RueLaLa_help) felt my pain in not being able to give my special gift and I think felt a special sympathy being a baseball girl herself. I gave her my order info and she wanted to see what she could find out about it.

To be honest, it just felt good to feel like I was heard by the company and that they cared about the screw up. Amy was warm and funny and I felt like she really did genuinely feel bad that Rue La La had let me down.

I was totally floored to get this message from her this morning:

I am so sorry we sent you the wrong shirt for your boyfriend’s birthday. Since we don’t have any more available, I have shipped you this guy from the Men’s Wearhouse:

I sent it rush delivery, so it should be arriving either tomorrow or Monday.



Please keep it (and gift it!) with our compliments. Let me know when it arrives!

I immediately wrote MVP and told him that he is NEVER allowed to speak badly about my Rue La La shopping habit ever again. I let know Amy how much her efforts meant to me. And then REALLY showed Rue the love by snapping up two dresses from today's Elizabeth McKay sale.

If you don't Rue...I hope you will shop them now (here's an invitation if you need it!)with total confidence knowing that they have people like Amy who will totally go above and beyond to make sure your shopping experience is an awesome one.

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I am having a pretty tough week. Trying to do way too much with not enough time. I wanted to take a quick mental health break and link up with What I'm Loving Wednesday.

Deep breaths. Just keep swimming......

I'm loving.... That L is coming into town for a visit this weekend!! It feels like so much longer than two months that she has been gone, and at the same time it feels like just yesterday that I said goodbye and cried in the middle of a restaurant.


I'm loving.... that I got to spend time with my family in NJ this weekend. And the 6 trips to Wawa I managed to jam into that three day period!


I'm loving....this video about the power of music. Has someone started an ipods for seniors program yet? If not, they NEED TO!

Easter Weekend

Since MVP had the day off from work on Friday, I decided to cash in a personal day and we drove up to NJ to visit my Pop-Pop. The drive took muuuuuuuch longer than it should have, stupid traffic. We were so ready to be done with the drive by the time we got there.

It was a very low-key weekend. Actually most of my family's holidays are low-key. My mom is an only child so we don't often have any big family get-togethers. I get a little sad about that sometimes -- especially when I cruise around to other blogs, and they have all these lovely postings of family Easter brunches and dinners. Sometimes I feel a twinge of envy when I never have occasion to get dressed up or make a dish to bring somewhere. On the flip side, I think MVP rather enjoys that a weekend up to NJ just meant throwing t-shirts and jeans in a duffel bag and hopping into the car.

So I just feel sort of melancholy today. Don't get me wrong, I am really glad we were able to make the drive up there and it was wonderful to spend time with my parents and Pop Pop. But I just had this feeling like something was missing....or there should be something more. I'm extremely grateful for all that I have, but lately just still feel like there is something missing, or something is off in some way, and I don't quite know what it is or how to remedy the situation.

Please stop the merry-go-round, I wanna get off!

Ever have one of those days where it feels like your head is literally spinning?? I am having such a day...so much to do...too much stress...not enough of me.

While I know I will be paying dearly for it (and likely have my work phone tethered to my hip), I am just happy that I am taking a personal day tomorrow.

It's only 5 o'clock....feels like it's at least 8pm and sadly I have so much to do and places to be before I will even get home tonight.

Holding on to the silver lining of NOT having to set an alarm for tomorrow morning. Holding on for dear life....

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I am having a bit of a blah week. I am trying like heck to break out of the funk, so I figured it was especially important for me to to link up for What I'm Loving Wednesday. Get a little happy in my day.

I'm loving....that MVP and I made it to our first concert on Sunday night....BRUUUUUUUUUCE! I had never seen Springsteen in concert and all I can say is WOW. Amazing show. You can't tell cause the phone pic is so crappy...but that is the Boss crowdsurfing.

I'm loving....that I came in THIRD in one of my NCAA Tourney pools! I was shocked, I thought all of my brackets had totally bit it. Was a pleasant surprise for me yesterday to get that email.

I'm loving....that after reading the Wing Wars in Washingtonian, I was able to talk MVP into a trip to Bon Chon Chicken. I had heard about this place again and again and finally decided that I needed to try it. Holy-crunchy-chicken-deliciousness!! They were so good and addicting. I was sad to stop eating them, but I was too full. MVP made us order more wings than we could possibly eat so he could have some leftover for dinner later that night.

I'm loving....that this past weekend also brought another first for MVP. His first trip to Wegmans!!! I figured since we had already driven far out into the VA burbs for chicken wings, what was 15 more minutes in the car. I was so excited I was practically skipping into the store. The look on MVP's face was priceless. We wandered all around the prepared foods section and marveled at everything. Even picked up a crab pretzel and some cookies. I mean, c'mon, how could I possibly go into a Wegman's and NOT buy something?!?!

But most of all, I'm loving....that I was able to get my boss to OK use of a personal day on Friday, so I cango up to my Pop-Pop's for the Easter weekend. Nothing says the Lord has risen like a trip to the Jersey Shore, amiright??

Lost and (hopefully) Found (soon!)

So I have a little confession. I have felt a bit lost lately. At times, I have felt like I am in a bit of a funk, at other times just felt blah. Blah about work, blah about plans, blah about me. I feel like I have misplaced my pep, my zip, my je ne sais quoi.

I can't really pinpoint where or when I may have misplaced it. I just know that right now it -- and a good bit of me -- feels lost.

What's making me feel worse about my current state is feeling like it is affecting MVP. I've assured him that it has nothing to do with him -- when we do have troubles or I am upset he makes me talk about it with him. I think it's something called communicating...a very new thing for me :) Still, I can't help but feel like it makes him a bit sad too. It broke my heart for him to tell me the other day that he is the happiest he's ever been right now and he wishes he could do something so I felt the same.

Don't get me wrong, it's not like I am in a total state of miserable grouchiness and my life is devoid of joy. I am so very happy with him and our decision to live together. I light up when I get emails or phone calls from friends. I love virtually "catching up" with other people on Facebook. My issue of Us Weekly in the mailbox on a Friday afternoon makes me swoon. Sitting quietly on a Saturday morning enjoying a cup of tea makes me feel calm. Warmer weather and being able to wear flip flops make me giddy.

But right now...lately...I have just felt OFF. And really I just want to feel ON again. And soon.

So yeah....about that 40 in 40

I feel like unless I post like WHOAH this week, there is no way in H-E-double-hockeysticks that I am going to make it to 40 posts in 40 days. That has me feeling a little down this morning...especially since I didn't really make any other Lenten resolutions. And totally screwed up and ate chicken this past Friday.

*SIGH*

I may still give some effort to get as close as possible to 40 in 40. So if you see a big uptick in posts from me, that's why.

Oh and also because I feel like everyone is gone on spring break and I may be the only person working a full week this week. I need to amuse myself.