party full of nurses.

See, I have this aunt. Oh, I think I've maybe talked about her before. You know, the one with the dogs. The one who takes me to fancy dinners. The one who's basically amazing and would do anything for me. Anyway, she asked me to help at a wedding shower she was throwing for a friend. Basically I help at a lot of her parties, just getting food ready, doing dishes, cleaning up, etc., so she can enjoy the party a little instead of stressing the whole time. And I can utilize my fabulous catering skills.

This party was a wedding shower for one of their co-workers and was at her friend's house. I of course agreed to help, but was then a bit annoyed because I sort of had plans Sat. night and had been figuring showers were afternoon-ish...and she didn't tell me until the night before that it started at 5:00. Oh well. Helping my aunt means doing something for someone who does A LOT for me (and $$$). And I figured I could be home by 9ish and on my way.

I didn't get home from the shower until midnight. The party was basically 45 women nurses age 45-65, having a blast. And I actually had a blast too. First of all, I seriously hope that I still have such fabulous girlfriends and we still have so much fun when we're 50+ (pretty sure I will!). But even more amazingly, these women were co-workers, and they all got along so well and spent the entire evening laughing non-stop. If I ever have a job that requires me to work with people (right now it's looking like I might do freelance and work all by my lonesome forever), I hope I can form such fabulous bonds with great people.

Secondly, the food at this party was seriously amazing. The woman throwing the shower has Lebanese roots and she cooked a lot of Lebanese foods, including kibbeh, which is pretty much amazing lamb with wheat and pine nuts. She made 500 grape leaves. 500! And oh my God, they were SO good. She made her own hummus, delicious sweet potatoes, ham, and I don't even remember what else because I was in a food coma. And now, all I want to do is learn to make grape leaves as good as hers. I really wanted to photograph all the food, but thought that might look a little sketchy if I pulled out my camera and started snapping away. There were about 34242 desserts, after dinner, including the biggest cake I have ever seen, from Party Favors (BEST ever).

The woman's 80-year-old aunt was the cutest thing in the world and insisted on helping me with everything. It got slightly annoying as I just wanted to wash the dishes, and she insisted on doing it herself, telling me she was "just washing her hands." People probably thought I was putting the old lady to work! She kept telling everyone I was such a good friend and she was so happy to meet me...soo cute. Anyway, putting 45 women (nurses nonetheless) in one party pretty much guarantees that everyone wants to help, so I wasn't even that busy. Though my arms are in some pain today from carrying the crates of dishes up and down stairs (I am in horrible shape).

It was great meeting so many people, some who know my mom (they work for the same hospital, but my mom for a satellite location) and hearing them say non-stop fabulous things about my aunt and calling her the best boss ever. Several of them said, "oh my God, I can't believe you call her your aunt! And watch her dogs! You are soo lucky." Aww I know I am.

Anyway, who knew I could have so much fun with a group of age 45+ nurses. They were all telling me to start my own catering business, which would be amazing but tough because a) I would have absolutely no social life and b) nobody would ever pay me as well as my aunt does. Plus, I'd want to do the cooking too and I'm probably not at a point in my life where I can handle all that. But still, maybe some day...

Also, a big yayy to my mom who just passed her CNOR exam, which is a ridiculously hard test for nurses to get certified in the operating room. She's one of the only nurses at her OR who took it, besides her boss. She's been flipping out for the past 4 months thinking she wasn't going to pass. I knew she would. I'm so proud of my mom who quit her nursing job to stay at home with me and my sis, got her RN in night school when I was in elementary school, then went back to the big OR when I was in college (with a bit of school subsitute nursing and catering in between). I know from experience that my mom is the best nurse in the world and all the little kids she takes care of daily are so lucky :)

jumping.

Line of the night, from the man who takes calls for Red Cab and directs the cabs where to go:

"I'm gonna go take my break. Just going to jump off the Tobin Bridge. Be right back"

Spoken over the intercom to my cab driver. Who took 40 minutes to pick me up. Who claimed he was looking for #91, instead of #19. He'd been driving back and fourth for 30 minutes. Funny, since it's basically the shortest street ever and I was standing in front of the building the whole time. Then he yelled at me because it was "peak time" and he wasted 30 minutes looking for #19.

I could have walked home twice in the amount of time I waited. But unfortunately our world is not safe enough for me to walk around at 2:00 a.m. That makes me sad. At least I had some entertaining convos with the taxi dispatcher, who seemed extremely exasperated by the incompetence of his drivers. I very much know what it's like dealing with incompetent people too, but don't jump man, it's just not worth it.

please donate your canned goods...to me.

My dad drove me back to my apartment yesterday morning. I don't have a car because having a car in the city of Boston is ridiculous, would cost me at least $150 extra a month to park, and would rarely get used. Luckily I have the best parents ever and they never complain about coming to pick me up from the city. And really, even if I have to take the train home, I don't even mind. It's easy to get to and drops me off a 5 minute drive from my parents' house. And I can just sit and read a book for the hour it takes to get me there. I consider myself very lucky. But they rarely ever make me take the train. Usually what happens if I want to go home is that my mom will come pick me up and we'll spend the day out. For instance, on Saturday we went to the Met Club (my favorite place ever) and had lunch and then went to various stores all the way home. And since I have, as Sara has now termed it, an "alternative work schedule," I can stay home until Monday morning when my dad will drive me back to the city (He has an "alternative work schedule" too, also known as being retired. My mom, she works full time. And interesting change from when I was growing up).

My dad likes to joke with me because for whatever reason, every single time he drives me back, I have about 50 bags all weighing approximately 50 pounds each. I honestly don't know how it happens, but I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that I often bring laundry home and that my parents love to give me stuff to bring back. They insist loading me up with paper towels and toilet paper. I know. I often feel like a total schmuck being a 25-year-old woman and taking paper towels and toilet paper from my parents, but I do it anyway. I think they just really respect that I totally work my butt off, but that my career takes time to make money in (story of my life). So they help me where they can. And I am very thankful for this.

Anyway, this time was no different. My dad and I had to lug all the bags up to my apartment, which is luckily only up one flight of stairs. I had laundry, my Easter gifts, and lots of random heavy stuff. My mom had also bought me a 5-lb bag of flour and a 5-lb bag of sugar, equalling 10 lbs of baking ingredients. There was one particularly heavy Demoulas bag and I had no idea what was in it. "Oh," my dad said. "We had some extra canned goods in the pantry, so I figured I'd give you some." OK, who can't use canned goods, right? After he left, I opened the bag and found the following:

2 cans of tuna fish
1 can of chick peas
1 can of kidney beans
1 can of cannelloni beans
1 can of black beans
1 jar of pasta sauce

What. I seriously couldn't stop laughing. I know I'm not rich, but do my parents now think I belong in some sort of soup kitchen? Please bring me canned goods. Specifically of the bean variety. Remember in elementary school when you'd have to bring canned goods to school over the holidays and you'd always bring the most random stuff in? Like all the random beans and stuff you knew your family wasn't going to be eating any time soon? Yup. So now I have a random selection of canned beans and am thinking I need to find a recipe that will combine them all.

Ohh if only I could count all the ways I love my parents.

Happy Easter!

Wow, once again I've been an awful blogger. I'm catching up on all that this week though...really! Writing and reading. I've been posting a lot over at my new Tumblr, but I'm definitely not abandoning my blogger. Tumblr has just been conducive to my current lifestyle; I can randomly post what I want/when I want. For some reason, writing on blogger seems like more of a commitment and something that needs to be thought out. And I really haven't had much time to think lately. But I love blogger, and I especially love all the people here (that includes all you Word Press users!) and miss the interaction with you all.

On the bright side, the reason I've been so busy is mainly because I started another freelance job, which I LOVE. I think I finally found what Sara refers to as my "genius zone," except I am in no way a genius at it yet. Basically it's tech writing and I'll give more details as it progresses, but for now, I've been learning so much and it's been awesome. And I've never been sucked into something so quickly before. Right now it's a part-time freelance job, but I spend a lot more than my required hours immersing myself in it because I want to learn as much as I can. It's a hard field to break into, but I think there are lots of opportunities. My boss paid me to go see Lisa Stone (founder of BlogHer) speak at Harvard last week and she gave a great presentation. I think I want to talk more about this later, so stay tuned.

My boss at my other freelance job also wants me to start my dating/relationship blog, so I'll send along the link when that's up. Should be interesting as my dating/relationship life is pretty much non-existent right now. We're gonna have to dig into the archives until something exciting comes along.

I spent Saturday/Sunday with my parents and it was really great. My mom and I went to lunch at the Met Club on Saturday and then spent some time at Home Goods. Today was spent just hanging out with the parents, doing laundry, and relaxing. The Easter Bunny brought me some fun stuff like a pretty pink rug, new pink sheets, a pastry bag set, and other fun stuff. Then tonight my mom randomly told me she'd buy me a vacuum. Nina's broke about 6 months ago and I've basically been cleaning my dust-bunnies with a broom. Not OK. She told me to pick one out and order it, so I did and I am MORE than excited! Yay for cleaning.

The up-coming week involves a lot of work and tons of Google Reader catching up and commenting. Hope you all had happy Easters and I'll be checking in soon :)

chicago comes to boston.

This weekend was filled with the awesomeness of friends...and cupcakes. Starting with the fact that Jessi was in Boston Thursday night! She arrived around 11:30 p.m., after finding out her suitcase was put on another flight and meeting a cute Boston guy who paid for her cab to my apartment (how does she meet a cute Bostonian before even leaving Chicago, and I don't even meet any living here 24/7?? I'm impressed).

After some quick freshening up and meeting Chels, Jessi and I were on our way to Boylston St. We cabbed it to Vox, but it was pretty dead, so we walked down to Dillon's, which was a bit more lively. On our way to Dillon's we ran into more sketchy men than I have ever seen in Boston. It's almost as if they heard Jessi was in town and all came out of their hiding places to yell at us and follow us down the streets of Boston. Somehow we made it to the bar unharmed. By the way, love love love Jessi's white leather jacket.

After a couple blueberry stoli and sodas and endless chatter, the bar was closing and we were hungry. The only place I knew of nearby and open was Little Stevie's Pizza (also known as the sketchiest place ever), but the pizza was exactly what we needed. We obviously ran into more sketchy people, including a few boys straight from Ireland, one of whom tried to share his pizza with us. Thanks, but no thanks. We had to get back to my apartment. We had cupcakes to eat.

Yesss. Jessi brought cupcakes from my favorite Chicago cupcake spot, Molly's Cupcakes. And I had also bought cupcakes from my favorite Boston cupcake spot, Party Favors. So needless to say, we had a lot of cupcakes. We got all super serious about it and even went so far as to write out a rating chart, which we then did nothing with. Because we were too busy eating and talking. At around 4 a.m., we figured it was a good idea to get a couple hours of sleep.


Jessi was up at the crack of dawn to head back to Logan Airport to claim her suitcase. Somehow she made it there in back in 45 minutes, which is absolutely unheard of. It used to take me 45 mins. just to get to work in the morning and I worked a lot closer to my apartment than Logan is. She's already an all-star Boston commuter, which will be great for when she moves here (ahem...she doesn't have any plans to move here right now, but she will eventually. I'm sure of it). She left to have brunch with her cousin, who coincidentally shares my name and neighborhood. Unfortunately, I didn't get to hang out with Jessi anymore this weekend due to the fact that I basically passed out on Friday night, she went to the Cape, and I stupidly left my phone sitting on my bed while out gallivanting on Sunday. But, she will be pack memorial day weekend, which really isn't so far off.

I can't even tell you how fabulous it is to be able to hang out with Jessi. When I first started blogging, I never imagined I would actually meet anyone in real life, much less someone who I have so much in common with and get along with so well. I mean hi, I always thought meeting people online was something majorly creepy people did. But I'm pretty sure I'm not creepy, nor is Jessi, so I guess I was wrong. And she even brought me hair products and nail polish and chocolates from Vosges. Do friends get better than that??

There were more fun parts to the weekend, but I'll have to save that for later.

In other news: Just in case I don't engage in enough blogging/force you all to follow my life at different URLs, I started a Tumblr. I basically started it so post cool stuff that I find regarding technology, but I have a feeling it's going to turn into a bunch of everything. By the way, Tumblr is awesome...so.much.fun. I've been wanting to try it for a while and now that I'm on it, I'm obsessed. So easy to use and so pretty looking. I've clearly been having trouble with my blogging lately, and this makes it so easy to just randomly post anything I want. Analogy? If a blog is like an online journal, a Tumblr is like an online scrapbook. You should start one. We can "follow" each other. Shelley's the only person I really "know" who has one. Oh and Ryan Adams has one, sooo now I can really stalk him. And I will. Mine's called better than cupcakes; so read it if you can't get enough of me :)

the fun never got off the ground.

Occasionally my friends and I like to have small little dance parties in my living room. As in we'll pop a CD into the player, turn it up, and dance like crazy before going out for the evening. Generally, this involves 3 or 4 of us. So what? It gets us pumped. We usually listen to a little mix that Nina made a couple years ago called the "fun mix." This fun mix lives up to its name and includes songs like "Back That Ass Up" (our personal favorite) and a whole lotta Kanye.

I was sorting through my CDs a while back when I realized that I too have a fun mix. Oooh, the excitement. I was thinking it must have been made some time around Junior year in college, so it could be a bit old school. But I pride myself on my generally good taste in music, so I wasn't too worried. There would probably be a bit too much Enrique involved, but hey, he's fun, so that would be OK.

So during one of our pre-going out dance parties, I whipped out my CD and said, "Hey guys, I've got a fun mix of my own. Let's see what's on it." My friends were game...but quickly regretted it.

It was bad. Really bad.

Here is the track listing for my "fun mix":

1. "Irresistible" by Jessica Simpson- OK, so my tastes were a bit questionable but a fun song nonetheless, yes? Maybe we're just off to a slow start.

2. "The Good Life" by Weezer- Awesome song, but it had been so long since I heard it it took a bit for me to place it. I don't think my friends were impressed by it either. If only they knew how bad it was about it get.

3. "All or Nothing" by O-Town- Um, what? Fun? How is this on a fun mix? How is this on any mix I have in my possession? I was starting to get embarrassed. And I still knew all the words. I think we all did.

4. "Bootylicious" by Destiny's Child- I seriously hate this song so I don't know what possessed me to put it on a mix. Maybe this mix isn't really mine? Right, that must be it.

5. "Every Other Time" by LFO- This mix really isn't mine, I swear. And no, I do not own both of LFO's CDs, thank you very much. At least I don't currently have them at my apartment. I'm feeling a little ashamed, starting now.

6. "Ghost of You and Me" by BBMak- I seriously hate myself right now. I think my friends are concerned. I should probably just turn the CD player off and go hide.

7. "Dirty Pop" by Nsync- I suck at life.

8. "In My Pocket" by Mandy Moore- You know I love Mandy Moore, but this song? Not OK.

9. "Prophet of Doom" by the Samples- I am a huge Samples fan, but how is this fitting in with the plethora of boy bands? And furthermore, a song called Prophet of Doom is not fun. Not one bit. Was I depressed?

10. "Estoy Aqui" remix by Shakira- Love it. Now, this is my idea of a fun mix. Do I still have time to redeem myself?

11. "Get Your Freak On" remix by Nelly Furtado and Missy Elliott- Again, I actually like this song for an old school fun mix, though it reminds me entirely too much of working at American Eagle.

12. "Spinning Away" by Sugar Ray- If there's one thing you might not know about me it's that I used to be the biggest Mark McGrath fan everrr (in his pre-ET days). I had pictures of him hung on my bedroom walls everywhere. I'm starting to seriously wonder how old I was when I made this mix. 13?? I really, really hope so. Could you make CDs back then?

My friends stopped listening right about now and asked to put Nina's fun mix on.

13. "Airport Song" remix by Guster- Actually a good remix, but not fun per say. Kind of scary. This song reminds me of spending Christmas in Key West junior year of high school. My sister gave me the CD and I lay by the pool listening to it on my DiscMan. Yup. Discman.

14. "Be Like That" by 3 Doors Down- Why? This song is like the complete opposite of fun. I totally must have been depressed.

15. "Dame Un Poco Mas" by MDO- You've probably never heard of it. I definitely did a group project where we danced to this song in high school Spanish class. I clearly enjoyed it a little too much and felt the need to put it on the fun mix.

16. "Lovin' Each Day" by Ronan Keating- Ohhh it's getting bad again. Real bad.

17. "Six Packs" by The Getaway People- Wow. Haven't thought about this song in ages. It was the theme for Young America. Am I the only one who watched that TV show? Probably.

18. "Landing On the Sidewalk" by the Samples- The Samples again. I liked them a lot. I quoted them in my Senior bio with "maybe nothing lasts forever, not the mountains nor the sea, but the times we had together, they will always be with me." Awww. Not a good fun mix song.

19. "Something About You" by Five for Fighting- I still stand by the fact that I was a Five for Fighting fan before anyone else. I don't know if this is something to be proud of, but I was at the time. The other quote in my Senior bio was "I don't know where I'm going yet, but I sure am getting there" from "Easy Tonight." I'm so clever.

20. "East Coast Anthem" by Good Charlotte- Did I even know Good Charlotte in high school? Strange.

No, I was not able to redeem myself. And I can't believe I just admitted to everyone that I listened to all that horrible music as a Junior/possibly a Senior in high school. I know I'm not alone though. I can't be.

Moral of the story? Don't label something "fun mix" unless it actually is a fun mix. Or at least doesn't have 3 Doors Down and every boy band known to man on it. That's just not fun to anyone anymore.



Not fun. But you probably remember all the words too.





I had a big-size version of this cover on my bedroom wall. Why did my parents allow this? I guess I turned out semi-normal. Kinda?




Dame un Poco Mas. Fun, but super gay.

things that would make my job better.

Best idea ever.

Jonathan Fields. Found via Lifehacker

I really need to get a treadmill and set this thing up. Burning 600 calories before lunch would be just fabulous. And make me feel much better about spending all day sitting either at my desk or on my couch typing on my computer. Especially on gross rainy Boston days like today where I practically have to force myself to get up, put clothes on (also known as yoga pants, a sweatshirt, and Uggs), and take a walk down the street.

And I'd probably blog more too.

Lifehacker is becoming one of my new favorite sites. And I am turning into a huge tech dork. I don't know what's happening...but I guess I am my father's daughter.

busy but alive.

I've been such a bad blogger and reader recently. Ugh. I'm trying my best to get back into it, but things have been crazy with work. Just freelance work, but still. I'm working for a few sites now and there is constantly work to get done. I'm at that point where I constantly feel like I'm two steps back and need to catch up. I just want to feel caught up for a couple days so I can breathe a bit (and maybe even go to bed before 4 a.m.). At least it's all work that I genuinely want to do and enjoy doing. But I miss this too. Anyway, I'm trying, I promise!

My sickness is gone. I have no idea what it was, but I honestly felt like I was on my death bed for 24 hours, then woke up the next day and felt like I had a small cold. OK. I'll take it. I was starting to freak out that I was going to have the flu for an entire week. Sas caught it from me and had basically the same exact thing happen to her. Hopefully it means we have strong immune systems and can fight stuff off.

I'm happy to be back at my apartment after 5 nights of dogsitting. Mitzi destroyed much of my personal property and I spent my last evening alternating between yelling at her and ignoring her. This was mostly due to the fact that she went upstairs to the washing machine, took my favorite bra off the top, and chewed the straps off. Then proudly carried them into the kitchen to show me. After lots of silent treatment, I felt bad because she looked incredibly sad, so I finally forgave her. Still. Not impressed with her behavior. But it's not good to go to bed angry. And she was trying so hard to cuddle with me, I just couldn't resist. I'm a sucker.

You know your life is a bit sad when you get a text message from your friend saying "over 100 osmonds on oprah" and then five minutes later your mom calls and says, "Susie! Donny is on Oprah!" And you have to say to both of them, "No kidding. It's a re-run. I've seen it already." Um, I like Donny Osmond, OK? Sara tried to make me explain it tonight and I couldn't. I just like him. And now we've learned that I like men who are both annoying and goofy. Worrisome? Yes. Sounds dangerously close to a manchild, and we all know that's the last thing I need.

OK, off to watch Drive-By Truckers on Conan and finish working on a project that is finally starting to make sense to me. More soon. Including a picture-rich update of my upcoming Thursday night with TKTC!!! You have no idea how excited I am.

ew.

This was my day/night. Yay.

I pretty much never get sick, so when I am, I tend to flip out a little. I've never had the flu before, and I'm really, really hoping I don't have it this time. I feel incredibly achy though and just all around blah. Ughhh. I started a new freelance job yesterday that is requiring a lot of my time. And considering I couldn't even bear to look at a computer screen all day, I'm going a little crazy. Thankfully, I felt a bit better tonight (Tylenol Cold is seriously my best friend. In. Love.) and managed to get my hours in. But now it's late and I should be sleeping, so I can get better. Well really, it's still quite early for me.

It doesn't help that the pups woke me up at 5:00 a.m. this morning and that every time I cough, Mitzi licks my face (ew). Or that she thinks it's OK to stand on me when I'm sound asleep. Or that Cissy has the most high-pitched bark ever that feels fabulous on my already feeling like it's being crushed by a million boulders head, and chooses to bark for absolutely no reason all day long.

All I had to eat today was toast and some soup. I felt like I could maybe eat some oatmeal later, so I threw some in my duffel on my way to my aunt's house. As I was working, I noticed Mitzi being particularly quiet, so I went in the kitchen and there she was with oatmeal all over her face and the floor. I wish I thought to take a picture. However, I wasn't really in the mood for her shenanigans, cute as she might have looked.

Pretty much how she looks at me 24/7:

weekend's over.

I had a fun weekend that involved a Mexican fiesta with friends and a return to a bar we haven't been to in months, and culminated in a Celtics game and the realization that the bartender at a certain Beacon Hill bar knows Sara and I and the type of wine we like to order on Tuesday evenings.

This post is going to be random, because I have lots running through my head right now.

"When it rains it pours," my dad said to me today. And oh how right he is. All of the sudden I'm being inundated with potential freelance jobs and maybe even some "real" jobs too. Of course, these opportunities are welcomed wholeheartedly (hi, it's almost tax time). But they leave me even less time for sleep and sometimes make me feel a bit overwhelmed.

It feels like I just left, but I am heading back to the aunt and uncle's on Wed. for some more dogsitting. I highly enjoy the little pups but sometimes miss sleeping in my own bed and having my comforts all around (and my roommate!), so I'm sure I'll be back and fourth a bit. Not to mention, despite the fact I work from home, they insist on still having the dogwalker come twice a day, so I prefer not to be at their house during the day. Basically all I really have to do is sleep there.

It was pointed out to me that I say "basically" a lot. I'm trying to quit.

Chelsee got a new iMac and videochatted with me this afternoon and it made me slightly uncomfortable. Haha! She couldn't even see me for some reason, but I could see her and all I could think about was that scene in American Pie. The best part was when Katie walked into their apartment and I could see her and say hiii. I don't know why I'm so amazed by technology these days, but I seriously am.

I realized this even more when I was thinking about how addicted to my Filofax I am. These days, most people are addicted to their Blackberries, iPhones, and other electronic devices. Why am I still being addicted to paper and pen? I seriously must be a few years behind the times. Hopefully I'll catch up soon.

Also, tonight was a fabulous TV night. First was the Osmond family reunion and now Garth Brooks is on Leno. Hiii, it's like my childhood dream come true (I know, I was a weird child who apparently had a strange facination with older musician-like men).

While discussing Usher's new song, "Love in This Club," and the ridiculousness of the lyrics, Chels brought up Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body." I had never heard it before. But now I just heard the song AND saw the video and um, it's beyond ridiculous. And I can't stop laughing.

Leno just said he isn't really a fan of monkeys and Christina Ricci said, "I actually really dislike monkeys." Haha! My new favorite people. I don't think I could be in a movie where monkeys were involved...I feel bad for her.

My mom told me I should take Oprah's online class about "awakening your life's purpose." I might have at one point been offended by this, but I'm really not because she's probably right. Who doesn't need to awaken their life purpose though? I mean, really, do any of us know what our true life purpose is? If you do, you're way ahead of me. I'm not so certain this is something Oprah could help me with though.

I have a bunch of things to blog about but they all take thought and I start my blogs too late in the day to think. I promise I will have some more thought-provoking posts soon. Tomorrow in particular. Just sit tight

And now, back to work, and possibly bed at some point.