12. I want…

I want to dance to Frank Sinatra at a place like the Ritz Carlton until my feet hurt. I want to wake up for one entire week rested and ready to go for the work day. I want to volunteer and actually make a difference, not just by mucking stalls. I want to continue to be in touch with my friends and family. I want to jump in puddles and enjoy the water that splashes up over my rainboots.

I want to bake cupcakes for complete strangers. I want to start a neighborhood happy hour for young adults and actually have people show up. I want to figure out what is that I want to do with regards to my career and move in that direction. I want to buy and own a place to call my own, complete with fabulous kitchen for my friends to gather around and a backyard for Jack to play in.  

I want to conquer my fear of flying by jetsetting all over the country. I want to visit Alaska and have it be every bit as romantic as I expect it to be (courtesy of Northern Exposure, of course). I want to be able to declare my age (26) to people without having a mini- panic attack. I want to  embrace the gray hairs that have sprouted like wildfire atop my head.

I want to finally learn how to knit. I want to finish the cross stitch baby blanket I started years ago. I want to scrap all the pictures that I’ve accumulated using the amazing scrapbooking products I have. I want to dress more chic. I want the hurt to stop. I want more room in my heart to love (again). I want to spend afternoons cuddled with Jack on the couch, in front of a fire, reading a book or laughing with friends over tea.

I want to sip wine in Italy, eat cheese in France, and chocolate in Belgium. I want to celebrate a New Year’s Eve in New York City, just once. I want to go to a bed & breakfast in Maine. I want to take a cooking class and then have a fabulous dinner party. I want to go to a spa for an entire weekend. I want to attend a writing class for creative writing.

I want to be able to put myself back out there again to make new friends, to meet new people. I want to lose the last five pounds and keep them off for good. I want to get back in touch with myself, the smiley, sunshiney, nothing can go wrong Nora that I was not too long ago. I want to never lose touch with her again.

8. Nick of Time

I left the land of sunshine, palm trees, sunscreen, flip-flops and shorts, tans, surfer boys, family, love and laughs today to return to a town covered in falling leaves, full of hustle and bustle, work, a reality I’m not sure I’m crazy about and thankfully my dog Jack, my dad and a week off of work.

It’s late and I won’t pretend that my liver isn’t rebelling against me or that I haven’t looked at the pictures on my camera four times since I left today but I need to get some shut eye and process all the wonderment that took place this past weekend.

It’s amazing how 48 hours can potentially change your entire life in minute ways and possibly in ways you can’t even imagine.

1. October 2009 Recap

Current Book(s):
Work in Progress: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, Haruki Murakami; 
Finished: Dead as a Doornail, Charlain Harris
(I’m in a bit of a reading slump still! I blame work.)

Current Music:
Bon Jovi
Journey
Pretty much anything from the 80s

Current Shame-Inducing Guilty Pleasure:
Homemade chocolate chip & oatmeal cookies

Current Colors:
Purple

Current Obsessions:
Rediscovering my Domestic Diva
Raking leaves; odd, I know but the green of the grass is much prettier than the dead, brown leaves all over the lawn

Current Drink:
Water
Peppermint Tea

Current Songs:
I honestly can’t think of a single song right now that’s my favorie or that I’m listening to over and over again. Unusual for me!

Current Movie:
The Last Kiss
Casablanca

Current TV Show:
Color Splash, HGTV
Dawson’s Creek (I’m rewatching them because, well, I feel like it)

Current Wish-List:
Less pain and suffering amongst my friends; there’s been too much of it lately

Current Needs:
Clarity

Current Triumph(s):
Well it hasn’t happened yet but I’m taking a whole week off of work this month and will be disconnecting my work email from Blackberry. First time in three years I’ve done NO work on a vacation so if I can pull it off, it will be huge for me.

Current Bane(s) of my Existence:
I signed up for NaBloPoMo but no idea if I’ll make it
House Hunters on HGTV because the demographic of people on that show bothers me. First homes that cost $350,000? Seriously? And don’t get me started on House Hunters International; I wish I could have a second home in Italy!

Current Goal(s):
Three more pounds to go to reach my weight loss goal
Pull off NaBloPoMo this month so I can improve my writing

Current Indulgence:
Target shopping trips
Afternoon naps on the weekends

Current Blessing:
Each day is a blessing. I know, corny, but lately, it’s so very true.  

Current Slang or Saying:
I’ve been dropping the F-Bomb a lot as of late. Terrible, I know.

Current (Fav) Outfit:
Comfort is what I’m going for lately, at work, at home, at the gym

Current Excitement:
Trip to Florida this month for my cousin’s wedding
Thanksgiving & lots of family time

Current Mood:
Contemplative

What was the highlight of your October?

Scarf Swap Photo Shoot

Special thanks to Katie from Loves of Life for organizing the Scarf Swap this year. My Scarf Swap partner is the lovely Ashley from Breakfast at Ashley’s. Though I’m new to her blog, if you aren’t reading her you totally should be. Same goes for Katie.

Part of the rules of the Scarf Swap? Post a picture of yourself wearing the scarf. I had a bit too much fun with this so here are a few of my favorite photos of me in my scarf which I LOVE.  (And if you want to see what other people received, check out Katie’s blog.)

Eek! I'm not great at self-portraits

Hair Crisis

Practicing my Zoolander Face

Bottom line: I’m thrilled with the new addition to my scarf collection and have already worn it three times since the weather has decided to go from Indian Summer to freakin’ cold.

The 26th Year

I admit I wasn’t organized enough to find a photo of myself as a young girl for today’s post so a photo of me from my 21st birthday will have to do:

I’m 26 today (and the end to the birthday-blogging theme)! The last year has been one of the best years in my twenties and I’ve enjoyed every moment, new opportunity, my new and old friendships, my fantastic family, my amazing dog (who I’m convinced is a Border Collie mix after much discussion this past weekend), Irish, this blog, my readers, and the many new experiences I enjoyed.

A quick, down n’ dirty list of things I’ve learned over the years:

* You can’t go wrong with hugs.
* Baking is therapeutic.
* Sex & The City relates to my life more than I would have thought (or cared to admit).
* Sleeping in until noon is rejuvenating.
* Love is worth the fall.
* Getting a Blackberry will change your life, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.
* After a long day there’s nothing like a hug from your man and smooch from your dog.
* It’s true: if you pluck one white hair, at least three more grow in its place.
* Sweatpants are fabulous.

Birthday request time! If you’re a reader but rarely comment, please, let me know who you are. If you’re a regular reader/commenter please share your words to live by or favorite life advice for me to add to my arsenal.

Monday Memo

It’s Monday already? I really don’t know how the weekends fly by so quickly.

* One of our co-workers had emergency surgery late last night so the whole office is in a tizzy trying to figure out how to cover his work the next week or two. Which means I’ll be working a few more hours this week. Which means blogging may be light. Which means I may be like the Tazmanian Devil, running around in a cloud of my own dust.

* Many of you know that we (meaning me, Irish, and Jack) went to visit Nilsa, Sweets & SoMi this weekend. In a word: INCREDIBLE. In many words: please go read Nilsa’s blog for now until I have more time to write about what an amazing trip it was because seriously it was the perfect little getaway. I can’t wait to return to Chicago for more visits with Nilsa and the other fabulous Chicago bloggers I didn’t get to catch-up with.

* I’m struggling to wrap my brain around the fact that tomorrow I’m turning 26, which I know is no big deal, but I can’t believe it’s really tomorrow. I’ll be celebrating in a low-key fashion with my family and Irish around me for a Mexican dinner. That’s about as celebratory as I get these days and I’m more than okay with it.

* All you need is LOVE. Congratulations to EP on her engagement! And Mel on her upcoming nuptials. And two of my near and dear friends on their one-year wedding anniversary (Miss Kyla and my BFF MelO). All the excitement has me singing the “Love Is all Around Us…” song from Love Actually in my head non-stop.

*Those* Moments

You know the moments I’m talking about. They reaffirm that you are doing just what you should be doing with your life. Or remind you that yes, this person really loves you. Or that your family really is kick-ass, hands-down the best family out there. I’ve been noticing these moments more and more as I reflect on my last 25 years and prepare for the 26th one that’s right around the corner. Here are a few of *those* moments that have really stood out to me over the last few weeks…

* Small Mexican restaurant. Me. Irish. The couple that set us up. Beer, salsa, tortilla chips. Laughter. Looking over at Irish and he winks. And then he kisses me on the cheek and he held my hand under the table. It was one of those moments where everything just felt right. Sometimes the craziness of the world can really interrupt the flow of a relationship so these moments where it’s just natural, normal and great? Well, they are really special to me.

* It’s not often that I get a day out of the office to attend client meetings but when the client has just renewed three contracts with us, I get to go to the meetings. This particular meeting took us to a town only 30 minutes away from where my brother is attending school so my boss (my dad!) and I met up with him for a late lunch at a very local, very Greek, very awesome restaurant. We were sitting on the patio chatting about politics, healthcare, college girls, bumble bees and who knows what else (all the while sending picture texts to Darling so she could see photos of “her boys” together) and I had that ah-ha moment. I felt blessed. I felt loved. I felt honored that my 21 year-old brother thinks it is cool (or at least humors us) and wants to spend time with us. This is my family and the older I get, the cooler they get. Funny how that works.

* I’ve been living at home for almost three (!) months now. There have been a few adjustments here and there but surpsingly no rough patches. It’s amazing to me how quickly I’ve adjusted to living with my parents again. I don’t feel like a 25 (almost 26!) year-old loser. In fact, I feel more responsible because I’m saving money, paying off (and not using) my credit cards, contributing to some of the daily chores around the house, and feel stable. I loved living in apartments but it always seemed semi-permanent. I love staying with Irish but due to some reservations on his family’s side that can’t be permanent (at least not yet), for awhile. I was really quite nervous about the move but on Sunday night, I had one of *those* moments where I realized I had done the right thing. I spent most of the day with Irish wandering in and out of bookstores, enjoy lunch and just having fun and when I got home my parents and I had a pizza party complete with a girlie movie. (My dad consented to watching Sweet Home Alabama with us.) We were all feeling the Sunday Evening Blahs and so I offered to make us a pot of tea. Hanging with my parents, the dogs, getting play-by-play updates on the Cards game from Irish and sharing a pot of tea brought tears to my eyes.

*This here blog started out over four years ago as a place for me to sob via the internet. No, seriously. I went through a horrible break-up and I boohooed my feelings and thoughts all over my blog for a good six months. After that I started making “blog friends.” In the last year I’ve opened myself up to meeting ”blog friends,” calling them and sending them real mail. I remember when sharing your address or phone number with people you’ve met online was totally batshit crazy but now not so much. I went from calling people “blog friends,” to “my real life friends.” In the last few months several of those bonds have grown even stronger thanks to GChats, texts, phone calls, emails  and girls’ nights for those that live close to me. Not to mention the just knowing that there is a huge support group of women (and  men) out there if I ever need them. It doesn’t feel funny to me that some of my best friends are people I met on the internet. It actually feels pretty damn awesome.

So, tell me, what are some of *those* moments for you recently? What kind of things do you notice more as a birthday appears?

Goodbye to the Normals

It’s funny… just writing a post about not feeling in a writing mood usually makes my fingers itch to write! And it did. Which means normal posts are coming again soon and they’ll even have a common theme running through them. I know, I know, you can’t wait.

A few more tidbits to share before the regularly scheduled programming:

* There are also several new stories up at My Roommate Sucks, one of which is from yours truly. Care to guess which one is mine? If you want to submit your own story, email myroomysucks(at)gmail(dot)com. All submissions are anonymous!

* Irish’s younger sister showed me this youtube video last week and while it’s rather inappropriate, it’s also rather funny, so enjoy:

* If you’re looking for a moment of happy inspiration, don’t forget to check out the Tumblr that Mandy and I have created!

* And one more funny video that I couldn’t resist sharing, again courtesy of Irish’s younger sister:

Quote & Tidbits

I’m without words this week for some odd reason because Lord knows I’ve got a lot swirling around in my head about all different kinds of topics, recent events and just life in general (nothing bad, I promise!) but I’m afraid the “cat’s got my tongue.”

So instead of forcing myself to write which inevitably reads to crappy writing, I’ll be out and about, trying to pinpoint some new things that make me feel more alive.

While I’m livin’ large (ahhahaha), I encourage you to check out the following giveaways and new blogs:

* SoMi Speaks is hosting a super fantastic giveaway. Check it out and enter to win!

* My fabulous younger brother has started a new website as a result of some his already unfabulous roomie experiences at college called My Roommate Sucks. Read the blog. Submit any stories you might have. Pass the word along. The stories that have been posted so far are pretty darn hilarious.

* LaceyBean’s two-year blogoversary giveaway. This girl has gone above and beyond in compiling an awesome bunch of gifts for one lucky winner!

* The TolaGirls blog. Oregon City Girl & TBrooke are back, this time on a joint venture!

Zombie Chickens

Yes, that’s right, I said zombie chickens. What is a zombie chicken? Well, currently it’s an award making it’s way through the blogosphere which I received from the lovely, fabulous, best mother ever Darling!

What is the Zombie Chicken Award?

The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the zombie chicken– excellence, grace, and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of zombie chickens just to be able to read their inspiring words. As a recipient of this world-renowned award, you now have the task of passing it on to at least 5 other worthy bloggers. Do not risk the wrath of the zombie chickens by choosing unwisely or not choosing at all.

Well, I certainly hope that I’m able to keep my witts and grace about me if/when there is a zombie apocalypse.

Five bloggers I’m passing this award onto and just for fun, explaining why I’d want them by my side during a Zombie War/Attack/Apocalypse.

Mandy from Knowing the Difference because I’m sure she’s got some mad survival skills or at the very least help us to bake our way out of the situation

Fab Brunette, because not only is she fab but she has a lot of high heels and maybe we could use the shoes as weapons against zombies?

E.P. at Stylish Handwriting. Her camera flash would frighten the zombies and she’d be able to chronicle everything for us which is important for posterity.

Nicole because she’s deliciously vulgar.

and AshleyD because she’s got a psych degree and Masters so she could help us all make sense of the zombie situation. And because she’s a pretty great friend, too.

And now for a more serious question: are you afraid of zombie movies/books/discussions? I have several friends who are legitimately afraid of zombies. Refuse to watch movies involving zombies, read the books and take precautions against them (no, I’m not joking).