Tagged!

Geez I can't remember the last time I got tagged.... so Magda did me the favor of taking the ugly girl home from the bar to put her out of her misery. Or the bar out of it's misery. Either way.

So six things about me....

1. My Spanish... not so bueno. Well depends on who you ask. I can read out loud but I probably can't tell you what it all means. My vocabulary is above "see spot run" but not much above that. I can write but I know its all spelled wrong. A native speaker can spot a mile away that Spanish is a secondary language and not a first, then they make fun of me. None of my friends speak Spanish which would help in my Spanish speaking abilities. The kicker is that my business card says "Hablo Espanol." The good thing is that it hasn't really been tested. All of my American friends think I am 100% fluent. Maybe b/c I tell them that I am and they don't know any better.
2. Sometimes people catch me concentrating and think I am having a real thought but really I am just doing clothing comibinations in my head, planning my next mani/pedi/massage.
3. The reason I cardmake besides the fact that I love real mail and sending it out is b/c I suck at scrapbooking. It's hard to scrapbook when you don't take a lot of pictures.
4. People in blogland don't know that I have a crazy shoe collection. They have their own seperate closet and are in clear plastic boxes. Now you know what Mel is short for. Seriously.
5. Since I started LJ I have become a horrible drinker. As in I used to be able to drink the best of them under the table. Now I am good on 2 drinks and thats it. LJ tells me he wouldn't want to be dating "that girl."
6. I started college when I was 16. See? I am smarter than I look. Now when I will finish that is yet to be decided.

As for the tagging... anyone who reads me (the 3 of you) you're it!

Rambling

I thought I would have something awesome to write but my brain is mush from the week. So here is a little recap of everything that has/is going on:

• I will be going to the Northwest for Thanksgiving to see LJ's family. I actually bought the tickets the middle of last month for LJ for his birthday which is the week before Thanksgiving. He is excited to see his family. I am excited to see his family too. Although, the last 2 times I have seen them I have been sick as a dog and I am hoping not on the 3rd time. Also, a lot of my shopping has been taken up with buying warm things for cold weather. Cuz in California? We have sunshine and puppies.
• Speaking of which? Sweet Baby Jesus its hot! I have all these cute Fall clothes and boots that I want to wear but even though I am by the beach its still hot!
• I've been house a dog my old roommate picked up 2 weeks ago in my backyard. He was on a main street and almost got hit by a car. She couldn't take him to the pound afraid of crying so I took him to a no-kill shelter but they wouldn't take him. The neighborhood is covered in signs and no one has looked for him. He is a great a dog but I can't keep one at my house. I will have to find him a home.
• My new roommate is moving in on Halloween. Sadly *pathetically* I have no plans for Halloween. Am I too old to get dressed up? Yeah.
• There is a restaurant in our neighborhood that we went to for V-day this year that was so awesome and yummy that we wanted to go back for dinner service. Then their chef quit. They still have breakfast which is awesome but for the last 8 months they have been taunting us with "Oh we will be open in the Fall". Guess what ya'll? Its Fall. And it's still not open.
• I am making another huge cake next week. This one is for Halloween. You know what? I am still over cake.
• My house for some odd reason gets real hot and right now with this weather its even worse . I can't bear turn on the AC b/c paying $188 electric bills between 2 people makes me wanna cry. Also, with this hotness my wine fridge struggles to keep my wine cool. It was so bad that I thought it was broken. LJ took it to his office to ship and turns out it works over there just fine. Now I have 2 wine fridges.
• There is a general consensus going around that I am weird b/c a) the thought of living in Seattle where its nice and cool albeit wet is very appealing and b) that I am okay with Gay marriage. I would think I live in place that has open-minded individuals but apparently I don't. I say let everyone be as happy or as miserable as everyone else.
• For any of you who check your stats and know where my cubicle is. I know as much as everyone knows and all I know is that we are set out for a bumpy ride next year.

Cheers!

That Dream Where It All Goes Down In Flames

I realize there are a lot of things in my everyday life that I don't normally write about here. Most of my friends think I am a do-gooder. For the most part I am pretty modest about what I do for good of the world and whenever anyone asks me why I do what I do my usual answer is to build karma points for whenever I do something really bad and hopefully have some left over when I get to the pearly gates.

This week I had an event that I organized for the women's group I mentor with for make-overs for women that are coming back into the work force. I've actually been working on this for 2 months trying to get people to come and help. You would think that working with a group that has a well recognized name would help the situation but not so much. The saying is time is money and money is time. People are being stingy with both.

I was finally able to conjure up 2 hair stylist and a make up artist for our event. I had a location and catering and goodie bags for the women participating in our event. It was all gravy. *Que the heaven music*

As I was doing my final confirmations for the people working our event in a span of 12 hours *i.e. the morning of* All 3 backed out. *Doom!*

So what do I do? The funny thing is that I had already had a dream about this happening and in that dream I had no resolution. We have 15 people coming for this plus our regulars and I have no hair and makeup people. Yikes!

With any problem you can throw money at it is what I have learned. Our event was being hosted at a major department store and we had many ins and one of my own personal ins. I guess if you shop their enough it comes in handy. Said department store has lots of Make-up and make-up artists. After some groveling and lots of money spent 4 of the counters agreed to do make-up for the under privileged. Oh and me b/c you can't host a make-over event and look like hell yourself.

So yeah maybe there was no hair done but the women who came did get their make up done and free stuff and a free dinner. Better than me trying to do a song and dance and sending them on their way right?

Open Letters

Dear Mom,

Do you remember that episode of The Simpsons where Homer got sent to hell and Flanders was the devil? You know the one with donut? Where when he went to hell and got fed donuts as punishment?

I know how it feels now. Taking this cake decorating class sounded like a great idea when you and I discussed originally. I didn't mind spending the money (x2) or having to pick you up on my way home from work and driving you home at 10pm. What I do mind is that I have cake leftover up to my ears and I can't stand the taste of frosting. Before during class I would lick it off. Now I have wet wipes b/c the smell of sugar overtakes me. BTW did you realize how much Crisco is in frosting? And my gone Sunday/Monday nights before class for prep? Ugh.

Never again Mom. Let try sewing next time.

With a frosting full belly,
your hija

Dear Current Roommate,

I am glad you found a home to call your own. I am even glader that all your stuff won't be taking over the whole house. What you call clean and what I call clean are 2 different stories so don't forget to take your dust bunnies with you.

With your housewarming gift packed,
the cleaner of the 2

Dear Work,
What happened to the good ol' days of hours of 9-4:30 plus a 2 hour lunch. Quit kicking my ass and I will love you. Right now I love the paychecks but hate the hours.

your slave,
paycheck in wallet


Dear Paycheck,

Quit dissapearing me.

- dwindling bank account

Seems like a lifetime ago....

Sept. 11, 2001. It was my first fall out of high school. I was done being an office bitch for the summer and was off to my training for a sales job. I was on my way to training around 7 something in the morning west coast time. I was listening to a local shock jock and they were talking about what had happened earlier in the morning. I thought it was a sick joke and was just disgusted at the show.

I made it to training and turns out it was true. It was all true.

Commitments, decisions & a whole lotta money

Even though it seems like I am never around I am always reading. I read so much that I hardly ever write myself. I used to write when I was in the office but I've just been so dang busy that I don't even get to do that anymore. Busy at work is always a lot better than twiddling my thumbs.

The big news of the last couple of months is that LJ and I have been talking about moving in together. It's been going on since March but I didnt want to jinx it by going public with it before knowing it was all happening. The bigger news is that I decided to buy a house. The original plan was to move in together but considering the amount of rent that we are willing to pay we can afford a house. Worse comes to worse I can afford a house. I've learned my lesson about mixing finances before marriage and I'm not willing to do it again.


So where do we live? How big of a house? We have an idea of what we want b/c we have specific needs. 2 bedroom, would prefer a house over a townhouse, would prefere a townhouse over a condo. Beggars can't be chooser though. We need a 2 car garage (considering we have 3 cars between the 2 of us), air conditioning, i would like hardwood floors but its not really a deal breaker.

The other part of the move is really with location. LJ and I live about 17 miles apart and I live 17 miles farther from work. The city I live in is my hometown and all my friends and family are here. He is from the Northwest with only a brother out here but all his friends (frat brothers) all live near him now. His office is less than a mile away from his current location. Living in LA or in the near vicinity even if something is really not that far it can still be a pain to drive to b/c of LA/OC traffic. Anyone who has to deal with 405 going anyway during rush hour knows what I am talking about. I actually don't want to move closer to work b/c I really dont care for the area. I kind of want to stay in the city I am in now but I know I can't afford to buy in the neighborhood I currently live in. LJ would prefer that I move as close to his office as possible as he knows he is not going anywhere anytime soon since I really don't know what my plan is for the next couple of years. Honestly, the thought of commiting to live anywhere for the next 5 years is pretty scary considering that I have been out of my parents house for 7 years and the longest time I have lived in one place was 3 years and almost everywhere else for less than a year. Different cities different counties.

I've already put a couple of offers in and have been outbid and that's even putting in at asking price. The market seems to have slowed down with the end of summer but I would ideally like this straightened out by the end of the year. I am just hoping I can find not the place I am truly in love with but something that is better than rental living that can be a good write-off for the next couple of years. My roommate already found a place that she just went into escrow with this last week so she will be moving and guess what that means? LJ will be moving in next month.

I love Cake!

It's great see that everyone out in blogland is having a pretty productive summer. I wonder how some people make the time to be able to write everyday. I have been relatively busy for the last couple of weeks with my life starting to make a little more sense.

I can't cook. There I said it. I don't think I am the only one out there that can admit to this. My mom tried teaching me growing up but I always refused. I think it had something to do with her prefacing the lesson with "If you don't learn how to cook no man will ever love you." So I purposely never learned how to cook to prove her wrong. B/c you know what Mom? Men still love me and they cook for me! The only thing that sucks about this is that when you are single you don't have anyone to cook for you or worse if you do have someone you don't want to bother them with the cooking all the time. So what's a girl to do? Take a cooking class. Last week was my first day at said class. My roommate is taking the class as well. The teacher was threatened by the Dean if there was not enough participation in the class that it would be cancellled. Just b/c LJ wanted me to learn so bad he enrolled in the class in hopes getting the class not cancelled. Turns out it was too little too late. The class was cancelled. :(

My domestic dreams all turned upside down I try to make lemonade out of the lemons I was handed. I looked at the rest of the schedule and decided to take a cake decorating class. B/c who knows when it might come in handy right? I may want to decorate my wedding cake or something in the far off future. So there you go. I am gonna have my domestic cake and decorate it too.

2 + 2 = 5

It seems everyone but me had something fun going on for Labor Day weekend. Sadly in my 25th year of life it feels like I am closer to 40 than 25. I ended up working over the weekend and doing homework. I did hang out with LJ but even that consisted of him helping me with my homework.

One of my goals for 2008 was to go back to school. So here I am universe, in school! I don't know if it was my brightest ideas to start with one of the classes I am dreading and having the biggest mental block over but might as well jump in heads first b/c it really cant't get much worse than this. Oh for the record I am taking a math class. Not even a class that would be considered hard just a class that I never took in high school. Intermediate Algebra. So if any of you are really good at math send me a g-chat invitation I could use all the help/moral support I can get.

I finished the homework on time *thank gawd* but I still want to do the bonus work. My over-acheiving even if it sucks I am gonna do it self won't let me not do the bonus work.

Open Letters

Dear Mall,

Last Sunday I was reminded why I hate visiting you. You are crowded and have a lot of useless stores you have people trying to pull you away from the crowds to sell you something useless.  The parking lot is full of people who don't know how to drive, who try to run you over even when you are in the cross walk. With your 5 bajilloon teeny-boppers just taking up space b/c the have nothing better to do on a Sunday night.

Also for letting soccer moms put their kids on leashes. Seriously! It's bad enough that the kids on a leash but the worse part is that she can't even control the kid who is running her all over the place (including into me). A little Dog whisperer anyone? 

With all that said I will do what I have been doing for all these years to avoid the inner hell of the mall.... Go during lunch on weekdays only to the anchor stores. Or not at the mall at all.

Not Loving You,

Shopping Elsewhere

To: All the girls that hang out in the office bathroom

Get a life. We are not in high school anymore. Let a girl drop off the kids at pool in peace.

-Girl  in Stall 3

Note to Self

As your mom told you don't do anything bad that looks good or anything good that looks bad. It normally ends up biting you in the ass. Also, don't do anything that would jeopardize any of your work relationships. You know what you did and look a year later it came back to haunt you not from the direct party involved but a close relation that could have really fucked you.

Really it could all be a hallucination but there is enough guilt there for you to question the whole scenario.

Bad Mel.

Summer Reading Extravaganza

Since all the Cool Kids are doing it... here I am with my Summer Reading list:

1. Love the One You're With - Emily Giffin
2. Shoe Addicts Annoymous - Beth Harbison
3. How to Be Single - Liz  tuccillo
4. The Wedding Officer - Anthony Capella
5. Chasing Harry Winston - Lauren Weisenberger
6. Certain Girls - Jennifer Weiner
7. The Gate Crasher - Madeleine Wickham (AKA Sophie Kinsella)
8. Remember Me? - Sophie Kinsella
9. The Office of Desire - Martha Moody
10. Queen of Babble in the Big City - Meg Cabot
11. The Best Day of Someone Else's Life - Kerry Reichs

I've bought most of these books within the last 3 weeks but have been putting most of my time into crotcheting. I am almost done with my first scarf and now moving on to a throw blanket. Maybe I should be buying audiobooks so I can do both a the same time. 

As for the books on my list.... I doubt I will get through them by September but it will be fun trying. There are some new authors in here I have never read along with some favorites that have new books out. I am not sure how many people knew that Sophie Kinsella's real name is Madeleine Wickham. This is also the first time I have read a Meg Cabot book. Lauren Weisenberger is the author who wrote The Devil Wears Prada and also Everyone Worth Knowing which I do recommend.  I've read  Martha Moody before and I liked her enough to buy another one of her books.  Certain Girls is the sequel to Good in Bed but the storyline is probaby not what you would expect. Jennifer Weiner is the author who wrote In Her Shoes. For the record the book is way better than the movie. Go read it!

So that's that. I now need to go get ready for work before I am late. I also have some pics I have to post for you guys to see the new excitement in my house. 

It's one way to start a diet

Since Saturday I've lost 6 pounds and counting. New diet? Cabbage only? No carbs, all meat you ask? No! No way to kick start a diet like food poisoning! I don't know how I got it or when I got it all I know is that it's still here. I have wasted a Monday doing absolutely nothing b/c I haven't been able to be away from the potty too long and everything hurts.  I think the only perk I have had is that I have been able to catch up on my feeder. 

As for the weekend... it makes for an interesting ride when you are with 2 guys in a car for 8 hours. Somewhere between the confederate flags and the deer signs and the cow fields I knew I wasn't in LA anymore. LJ called this the drama side of the family and he wasn't kidding. The bride and groom were really sweet. I only wish them a happy life.

When we went to see LJ's family for Christmas last year I was lucky enough to get sick then too. I wonder if his mom ever thinks "this sickly girl".  The more I get to know LJ's mom the more I realize that we think a lot a like. The funny thing is that LJ and my mom think a lot alike too. When LJ went to go run an errand his mom and I touched a sticky subject that I have an opinion on but I thought I was the only one. LJ has a little brother CJ who is a year older than me. He's a nice enough guy gives me a hard time. LJ tells me that its because his little brother is threatened by the fact that LJ and I have such a close relationship.  Anyway CJ has a girlfriend that he has been on and off for 2 1/2 years. His gf lets call her SS is a nice enough girl, smart, pretty. She has been nothing but gracious and kind towards me. The bad thing is that for some odd reason she just drives me up the wall. Maybe it's b/c she is pretentious without a clue. 

When LJ's mom and I were talking she pointed out that she didn't know why CJ was with SS if they will never get married. CJ has told his mom that he has thought about moving back to the Northwest and giving up life here in SoCal. SS has just earned a graduate degree and has stated that she will take a job wherever (i.e East Coast) she can get one. When LJ and I were talking about going up North to see his family and he mentioned CJ was coming and so was SS the first thing out of my mouth was "Why is she coming? It's not like they are gonna be together." LJ has even made comments starting with" I hope CJ's next girlfriend...".  Maybe it's because we are on the outside and not looking in. Then again you never know what goes on behind closed doors .  I really shouldn't care as much, yet I do. It will work it's self out no matter what LJ, LJ's Mom or I think.

It doesn't count as indecent exposure...

If I didn't know I was doing it! LJ and I are going to a wedding leaving tomorrow to BFE Nor Cal. I in general am not good on road trips because I get carsick and I fall asleep. 10 hours in a car with LJ and his brother should be interesting.
Anyway I forgot with said wedding trip that we would be in the water for the first 2 days on a boat working on our tans (or sun burns). So I did what any respectable girl would do and scheduled a wax appointment. I haven't been able to find anyone near home so I have to go near my office. My office being 20 miles from home and my appointment being an hour after I get off from work. With that said I was freaking out that I didn't have time to go home and take a shower like I normally would. Then I get this bright idea to take a shower at the gym.
One of the main perks of going to my gym is that they provide everything including towels. So I go to the gym passing a fire truck and an ambulance in front of the building, walk into the locker room drop off my stuff at my locker, walk over to get my towel which is next to the bathrooms. I see a bunch of people in the bathroom area of the locker room but it doesn't click in my head that there is anything going on. I walk back to my locker get undressed walk back through said bathroom area to get to the showers I see a couple of people glance over and I keep walking. Right when I am about to close my shower curtain a girl rushes up to me and says " you do realize there are a bunch of paramedics in the ladies locker room right?" D'oh! Those were the eyes that looked up at me! Hello firefighters!
Apparently there was a lady with a heart attack or something. They are lucky they didn't get a second case.
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed

Ketchup #... Fuck it!

1. I spent a lot of money on clothes... now I have some returns.
2. Work is actually not completely stressing me out.
3. BTW b/c I failed to mention my birthday was 2 weeks ago and my anniversary was a week ago. Or was it 3 and 2.
4. I have a lot of books to read including See Jane Write. Any other chick lit lovers around these parts?
5. I hate the heat, spent most of it in air conditioning. What sucks is that when I went to the office today the air-conditioning wasn't working.
6. Anyone else watching The Bachelorette?
7. Mentally still coming and going.
8. I learned how to crotchet. Not well but at least I am trying. Does that make me an old lady? Note to self don't attempt to crotchet with booze in the belly.
9. Summer! Already have a couple of trips planned not very far, but at least meaningful. *Read: More time to get in good with his family.*
10. I just got a book of New York Times Crosswords. I actually suck at these but I figured it would help me expand my knowledge/vocabulary. Anyone else into them?
11. How's everyone else doing?

My therapist isn't on vacation....

but I am totally feeling mental today. I see her tomorrow but I am deep into my emotions today. I don't know if its all the booze I've consumed for the last couple of days or if its the fact that Aunt FLO is due to visit, I am just not feeling right.

There's a lot of things that have been floating around lately that I haven't talked about. One of them being my mental health is running amok again and I don't want to deal with it. I take that back. I don't want to be medicated. I know that it would be the best thing for me and it would solve a lot of my other issues that I have going on, its still just scary you know?

I keep asking why can't we fast forward life for a couple of months to just to through the rough spots. I know why. Because thats how we miss the good that would have came with the rough and worse thats how you just fast forward to another rough patch - we can never tell what's really gonna happen.

One of the few things I have going for me is that at least I know I am loved.  I am grateful for that. 

Yes, I am just that cute.

LJ and I were having a discussion about what I want to do for a living. I told him jokingly that I want to be a stewardess (PC I know). He said it would be rough. Why? B/c all sorts of guys would be hitting on me. I went on to say, how do you know that doesn't already happen? It does!

It used to happen more often than it does now, but then again I am a little older and I have just learned to ignore creepy men now.


So today I went to Costco for lunch and I was standing in the registration line for my renewal/card. So the guy behind me starts chatting me up trying to impress me with "I just left the studio" and we are talking about parties (he's there to stock up for a party) and booze (which is my main reason for going there 98% of the time) and I could totally feel it. I have no interest whatsoever, but it still feels nice you know?

So there! You see I get hit on all the time.

It's Not a Quarter Life Crisis...

I think it's more of a quarter - life turn. A lot of things have been buzzing around my head lately with my upcoming birthday. I will be the big 2-5 on Wednesday. I've been having my own internal pressures of "what am I doing in my life?" along with LJ and my mom.

So here the deal... a lot of things have to change for me to be ultimately happy. Work wise, I think it's getting stagnant. Better, I am getting stagnant. A lot of people who do my job actually stay here forever. That's not for me. I think I want to stay doing the same thing I do just not in the same industry. There are certain aspects of my job that I truly enjoy like the personal interactions, the numbers and even a little bit of the stress. I am not happy unless I am really busy. At the same time I question the fact if that is a true statement or if it's just something I have lead myself to believe b/c of the way I live my life. I have accepted the fact that I am always busy not necessarily that I always like being so busy.

The other thing that has been looming over my head is this whole college thing. Anyone who doesn't know my family directly doesn't know that: a) I am one of 2 people on both sides of the family that speak English (the other being my brother), b) I am the only one that actually finished high school (in the states or abroad), or c) I am the only one who has even attempted college. Not to say that I am a total slacker and that I went one semester and dropped. I think I am on that 10 year now changing into a 12 year program. I started when I was 16 and have been going part time ever since. On and off. I have been off for almost 2 years now. You don't even realize that you get off track for so long. Life gets in the way with having to support yourself sometimes your education gets put on the backburner. So for the summer I am not going to school ( I did that and hated every second of it) but I am going to take a fun class like dance or calligraphy just to get the mental juices flowing and being back on a set schedule. In the fall I will take one "real" class just to get me warmed up for whatever I decide to do for the spring.

Ideally, there would be a way for me to have a job that would work around my school schedule that didn't pay minimum wage. I think that's the hardest thing to come to terms with. Most people go back to school b/c they need a better education to get more money. I've cut my expenses so low that I could probably live off of a student salary. Do I want to? No. I already make decent money doing what I do. Getting a degree would make no difference.

There are good things coming within the next couple of months that are fun and exciting, but I have a habit of posting the things that are making my head first vs. the things that give me butterflies. Next post. I promise.

So happy Birthday to me on Wednesday. 25 here I come!

But He's A Mac Guy!

For those of you who haven't read me too long might not be aware that I am a Mac Girl. No not the cosmetics, too thick for my skin. Anyway, after having a long weekend of partying (another post) Saturday night I came back to my house with a party going on at 1 am.

My roommate KC was there with a bunch of her friends all of them still drunk from the days activities. Considering I hadn't drank I didn't find most of their antics funny. I figured if I tried to go to bed I would be unsuccessful at actually getting any sleep. Her friends were nice enough and KC kept on talking about some "really hot guy" that was supposed to be coming. said Hot Guy came and I was surprised he was actually hot. Sometimes KC's judgement is clouded by the booze. So HG and some of the other dudes started talking about UFC *and the burning question of who actually won the fights b/c none of them watched it" and I went to go pull my computer. Turns out HG is a Mac Guy. So HG came over and started looking at my computer thinking he has the same one... *No, honey. You don't.* and bowed to the greatness of my computer. KC went into her room wating for HG.

So fast-foward half an hour later we are still talking about all things Mac when my roommate comes back into the living room and Drags him away from me.That was the end of that. The following morning I talk to KC turns out she slept with him but wasn't that into him. Damn! I don't care if you are into him, I just want you to see him again so I can exchanger Mac ID's with him! Seriously KC will you sleep with him again so I can get his contact info?

*On a side note shouldn't you know the last name of the guy you sleep with unless you want to end up like a sad country song?*

I'm not Jerry McGuire, I hope

I don't even know if I spelled the name right. I have been under a lot of stress lately with things that affect me directly. I am worried that I am gonna stay up one night and write a long book of gibberish and distribute it and walk out with the goldfish. Just sayin'.

I will be back when I can write a coherent sentance or a least pretty bullshit.

*Cheers!*

No Foolin'

I am in the office right now and I am hoping my work flow stays to the level its at now for the rest of the day. By 7:10 tonight I will be on the plane for Sin City. Just going for 2 days while the bf works I will be ordering room service. Hard life right?


Hope everyone has a great april fools!