hangin' tough in my visor.

I'm still slightly confused by the fact that the New Kids on the Block are reuniting and going on tour. I'm back and forth on whether I want to try to get tickets. But I'm leaning towards no, because why would I really want to see them except for nostalgia sake? And even if I tried to get tickets when they go on sale, I'd probably have no luck because I'm sure Ticketmaster doesn't really have any tickets and the scalpers all already have them and will sell them at outrageous prices. However, I'm sure it would be ridiculously fun to see them again. Yes, again. I attended their first tour and it was obviously a huge blast. Then again, I was only 8 year old.

Umm yeah. I unfortunately didn't have any NKOTB gear at the time but I was sure to wear my rainbow Denver visor and my Tweety Bird sunglasses. Also note that the 4 of us had no less then 3 pairs of Fisher Price binoculars between us. So glad to see my sister looking beautiful in white (she's also wearing a Swatch watch). My friend and her brother? I don't really keep in touch with her, but she'd probably kill me for posting this picture online. Her glasses are like whoa. And the girl next to me, her jeans are pretty classic. Then again, everyone in this picture is.

Kinda makes me want to go back an experience it again...this time sans Tweety Bird. Maybe.

treadmills bore me.

I need some help. See, I don't really mind working out. I don't mind the getting out of breath part. Or the being in pain part. Or the feeling like I'm dying part. My problem is that I get horribly bored. While I'm at the gym, I'm constantly thinking about how much time I have left and I just think "Ugh, that's sooo long. Kill me now." Sometimes I try to convince myself I really need to stop because I'm just sooo tired. But I know I really can keep going. I'm just bored.

It's fabulous that all the machines at the gym have televisions. But one can only watch so much Keeping up with the Kardashians and Millionaire Matchmaker before one has seen all the episodes.

The New Yorker is a little too intense for me to fully concentrate on while I'm working out (plus, there are too many words) and US Weekly is too much of a page-turner, which I can't handle when I'm on a machine.

I know. I have issues. But please help me. I need suggestions from you guys for music I should be listening to make me feel a little more motivated at the gym. I have almost 5,000 songs on my iPod, but I get bored easily. I constantly need new stuff to get me excited.

Since I get bored easily, all that typical workout music, I'm probably already bored by. A good beat is not enough. I have to be entertained on all different levels. Lyrics that get me thinking. Something that makes me want to dance. Just not anything I've heard a million times already.

What's keeping me entertained at the gym right now:

• Lots of Snow Patrol. I'm totally down with Snow Patrol because they have the best of everything. An amazingly fantastic sound and lyrics that make me listen closely and think about. And I'm not just talking "Chasing Cars" Snow Patrol. I'm talking, let's go way back and listen to all of their amazingness. Because it's all really, really good stuff. And it makes me NOT bored.
• Bryan Adams because duh, then I can picture him in my head and how adorable he is and that keeps me entertained for a while.
• Stuff that makes me feel like I'm in middle school like Cute is What We Aim For and Boys Like Girls (the lead singer did go to my high school), The Academy Is, etc. because it's fun.
• Lots of Jay-Z because it's perfect.
• Rascal Flatts because they always make me happy.
• Flight of the Conchords because it's funny.
• Seal, Enrique, Camera Obscura, Cooper, Modest Mouse, Minus the Bear, Young Love, The Ruse, and lots more.

What else would you suggest for me to put on my gym playlist?? I have pretty much the biggest range in musical interest ever. I enjoy tons of different kinds so suggest anything and I'll check it out. Bonus points to you if you list artists/songs I can get off emusic.com.

Disclaimer: I'm being somewhat facetious. I really don't have that much of a problem working out. But seriously? It's so much more enjoyable when I'm listening to good music. So please, please, help me.

one night love affair.

Pretty much the best show ever. ever. ever. Bryan Adams is SO incredibly adorable and amazing. In. Love.

Besides Bryan, the best part of the evening was the 38-year-old couple from Chicago who decided to befriend me and Sara. Sara and I had a pitcher of sangria before the show, so when we got there we were taking it easy (especially after the rough Sat. night). So when they asked us if they could buy us drinks, we said no thanks. "Well...if you were going to have a shot, what kind would it be?" Uhhh. Five minutes later, the woman is back with shots. I don't think these people stopped talking to us the entire night. They were crazy insane and kept telling us how they had been drinking since 2 p.m. and handing us more drinks. Everyone around us was like wtf? Sara and I were pretty amused though, so we just went with it. They LOVED us. And they were sure to give us their phone number and e-mail and are insisting we go visit in Chicago. Well, what do you know...looks like all the cool people are in Chicago :)

Definitely the most interesting crowd at a concert ever. Lots of older people, but still some young. The Chicago couple started the convo with us by saying, "you're not really Bryan Adams fans are you?" Ummm, yes! "Name one song he sings!" So we named a whole bunch and they were impressed. I don't care how old you are; you should know Bryan Adams.

The Paradise is an amazing place to see a show because it's soo tiny and intimate. It was freaking hot in the place though. Bryan commented on it and right away, they turned on the AC. But then it blew all his music down, so they had to turn it off. We had to wonder why Bryan was reading music? Had he not memorized his songs yet? The show was acoustic and was just Bryan, sitting on the stage all alone. Beautiful.

I am in Bryan heaven right now. Legit. Add him to the list of older men I would, um yeah, fall in love with.

I uploaded a few videos, but you'll have to excuse the fact that I was apparently trying to out-sing Bryan. I should have shut up, but the place was like one huge singalong. You don't think anyone's listening to you until you play back your audio. I'm not even going to post "Heaven," because I pretty much butchered it with my singing. Eh. Also, I hope I don't put you into epileptic shock with my horrible video taking skills.



"When You Love Someone"



"Summer of 69"

A little gross and hot, but happy beyond belief.

Swoon.

everything i do....

Tomorrow night I'm going to see Bryan Adams. Can we talk about how excited I am? You can joke and laugh all you want, but the man is a legend and it's going to be SO amazing to see him. I'm sure I will be crying with happiness (me and Sas seeing a loved musician together is probably not a good thing!) We're celebrating our Seis de Mayo at Zocalo, which is a Mexican restaurant I've been wanting to try forever. Also, they have 11 different kinds of sangria. Yesss, just a minor detail. Then we're getting to the Paradise ridiculously early so we can try to get up front and center. It's a super small and intimate venue and Sas and I are determined to get our pictures with Bryan. Ohh, it will happen!

It was a fabulous weekend involving the birthdays of some of my fave people. Saturday night turned into a bit of a mess and ended with me losing my keys and having no way to get into my apt, Nina being dead to the world and not hearing me call her 18 times in a row, Sas's boyfriend leaving the bar without us, and Sas and I being left by everyone having no clue what was going on. Unable to get a cab in the lovely city of Boston and it pouring rain outside and freaking cold, we made the trek to her apartment, took a short break for pizza, and passed out at her place. My keys have yet to be found. Which annoys me beyond belief because I know I had them when I left my apartment and I know I did not take them out of my purse for anything. Anyway, I made copies of Nina's keys today, and tomorrow I'll go get a new gym card and hope they don't try to charge me. Besides all of that, the night was quite fun.

Work is crazy as usual. Or crazier than usual I should say. But it's a new goal of mine to stay on top of my Google Reader and not let it get out of control anymore (600 new posts? Not cool). So, I should be back in action right away!

you should do it too.

Stacey tagged me in a meme and since I saw it as I was about to get into bed (I swear I'm at least making an effort to have a somewhat normal bedtime) and figured I'd do it before finishing up my work for the evening. Not a whole lot of work got done today since I spent 9.5 hours at my sister's sitting on her couch looking at wedding websites, magazines, etc. It was worth it though. Anywayyy.

1. The rules of the game get posted on the beginning.
2. Each player answers the rules about him or herself.
3. At the end of the post, the player tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they’ve been tagged and asking them to read his [or her] blog.

What I was doing ten years ago:
Um, I was 15, so probably being a ridiculous teenager. Which for me meant talking about boys non-stop, buying lipgloss, playing field hockey, and just being a general gossip. I dated my first "boyfriend," if you could call him that. I was a freshman and he was a junior, which was SO cool (last I heard he was a used car salesman and got fat hmmm.) I mostly just talked to him on IM and on the phone while I was rollerblading in my driveway. Wow.

Five things on my To-Do list today:
I'm doing tomorrow, since it's late now. 1) Get up early and go to the gym, 2) Take long overdue books back to the library, 3) Get lots of friends birthday presents, 4) Work for many, many hours on my work and projects, 5) Catch up on my scary-looking Google Reader

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Pay my grad school loans, buy a nice house (or 2), give lots of money to my parents, treat my sister to her entire wedding, give a couple million to the MSPCA and other animal rescue leagues, and buy a new wardrobe. Like Stacey, I also wouldn't quit my job because I love what I do too much.

Three of my bad habits:
1) Stacey's right. My #1 bad habit is staying up WAY too late and getting not enough sleep at all, ever, 2) Procrastinating on things and then freaking out at the last minute. Though I think I must secretly like this, because if I didn't, why would I do it all the time?, 3) Oh and I work too much. Like way too much. And I put my work before a lot of other things. Bad habit? I don't know. But it's what is important to me right now and I'm pretty sure I won't regret it. I don't ever want a job that is "just a job." I want my job to be part of my life; something I love so much that it can permeate every area of my life and not feel like work. I think that's what life is all about and too many people separate their "job" from the rest of their "life." I totally understand why but I never want to have to do that.

Five places I’ve lived:
1) Andover with the fam, 2) Durham, NH, for college, 2) Brookline, MA, where I've lived for three years now. And um, that's all? I really don't think I've lived anywhere else. Hmmm.

Five jobs I’ve had:
1) Babysitter (I know, who hasn't? But I don't think I've had 5 actual "real" jobs 2) Sales clerk/cashier at American Eagle, 3) Buyer at Hayden Sports, UNH apparel, 4) Intern but really, the only person who did any work at a certain MA government agency, 5) Freelance writer/editor

Five books I’ve recently read:
1) The Other Boleyn Girl, 2) Beginner's Greek, 3) A Thousand Splendid Suns, 4) Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, 5) Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

Five people or communities I’m going to tag: Nobody! But I think you should all do it if you haven't and want to :)

weekend, successfull. upcoming week, ehh.

I just finished up a few days stint as a dog sitter. I'm pretty much pro at it by now and besides the fact that the neighbor's house got broken into the night that I was hearing weird noises, the dogs wouldn't stop barking, and I was incredibly freaked out, everything went smoothly. Sas came over on Thurs and we took the girls for a long walk around the pond my Aunt lives next door to. Cissy is NOT a walker and generally sits on the sidewalk, staring at the house, and trying to pull me back. This time she was like a true athlete, didn't look back, and even did some running. Must have been the Mitzi puppy influence. We walked them around the pond until we saw several bats flying around us and decided it was a good time to call it an evening. Gross.

My sister is officially living in Boston and this makes me all kinds of happy. She and her fiance's apartment is pretty nice and only a 25 minute walk from mine. It's so great to actually be in the same city as her. We met up at Beer Works for some beer and the Sox game this afternoon. When we were leaving, she gave me a hug and then we looked at each other and said, "uhh, we don't need to hug each other goodbye anymore; I'll see you soon!" I'm so not used to being able to see her whenever we want to. Love it.

I had one of the most unproductive weeks ever last week due to the beautiful weather and the holiday. I'm almost happy this week's weather is going to be a little ehh because that means I can actually get tons done. Basically I'm going to be working 24/7 and I kind of don't really mind because it's going to feel so good to make progress on some of my stuff.

Maybe you noticed the new links I added to another site I'm writing for, Guidespot.com. I recently started writing guides for Boston (obviously), so check them out if you want some fun ideas on things to do and places to go. Guidespot has guides for most major cities, so no matter where you're from, check it out! The site is like Yelp, only better! Let me know what you think of it and if you have any suggestions.

I know, I know; I'm basically doing a million things, but writing is my full-time job, so it would be pretty sad if I wasn't.

Oh, and I made cupcakes on Friday and wrote about them on We are not Martha! Yum.

the week in advance.

Reasons this week wins the award for best week ever:

-Tomorrow is Patriots Day, also known as Marathon Monday in Boston. While this is a state holiday, a lot of people I know don't get it off. Of course, since I am on an "alternative work schedule," I am granting myself the day off (for my recent good work habits). Sara and I can be found wandering Boston starting in the early AM, possibly sipping coffee with Kahula. And looking for bars that will let us in so we can watch the Red Sox game. Eventually we will make our way to the Marathon finish line and revel in the fact that we live in the fabulosity that is Boston.

-Wednesday, my favorite UNHer is coming to town. We will be going to the Isabella Stuart Gardener Museum, which I'm ashamed I have never been to. Then I'm giving Kyle a tour of Paper Source, which I'm certain will quickly become her favorite store. Can't wait to see her!

-Wednesday evening I will start dogsitting for my two favorite little puppies in the world. Allegedly, my aunt now calls Mitzi "Houdini," as she has recently learned to escape from her pen. Sweet. Let's hope she doesn't destroy any more of my personal property.

-Friday, my sister and her fiancee are moving to Boston for 3 months! I'm already sad as I know the 3 months will fly, but maybe just maybe they will end up back here after they travel to North Carolina and Austin. I'm also quite excited to visit them and my lovely cousins in Austin.

So, my week basically looks fabulous. I'm going to be fitting a lot of work in the PM hours, but then, how is that any different than usual? Seriously though, I can't remember the last time I've been excited for a "week" as opposed to a "weekend."

Bed time now as I have to be up earlier tomorrow than I do on a normal Monday. Ahh, tough life taking a holiday, huh? Sorry to all of you poor kids who don't live in Boston and so don't get to celebrate one of the best holidays of the year!

Flashback! From last year's marathon. Wow. that feels like SO much longer than a year ago. Cannot even believe where I was at that point.