The last six weeks I’ve spent time in Capeside (courtesy of Dawson’s Creek and my addiction to Netflix), back in the teen angst moments, back in a bit of comfort, and oddly enough seeing several episodes for the first time.
In watching the show and in spite of the angsty teen talk that is entirely too, well, annoying at times, I’m having a lot of flashbacks to high school…
Freshman Year. Marching band practice. Friday night football games. Continuing my incredibly huge crush on my neighbor who was on the football team. My first Homecoming dance, with a guy I could care less about. Lock-ins. Tripping up the stairs the first day of school. Surviving my first round of finals. Late night sleepovers. Moments of feeling totally boy crazy. Incessant crushes that wouldn’t end. Bad fashion choices like butterfly clips and ugly cardigan combinations.
Sophomore Year. My first real date. My first good kiss. My first Homecoming with a guy I liked. My first break-up. Making great strides in Marching Band which ulitmately led me to the decision to pursue a different fun activity. Branching out from my clique. Volunteering as a no-smoking advocate for middle schoolers. Getting my first job that didn’t involve babysitting. Finally being able to drive with a permit!
Junior Year. Starting with my yearbook career. Meeting my first serious boyfriend. Going to Homecoming with someone different because we weren’t “official yet.” Jumping for joy when we were official. Becoming really good at my yearbook responsibilities. Volunteering at sixth grade camp as a counselor. My first Sadie Hawkins dance. Prom! Attending football games as a spectator and not as a marching band person. Still harboring a crush on the boy next door.
Senior Year. College applications. Last Homecoming, Sadie Hawkins and Proms. Worries over what would happen to me and the boyfriend. Campus visits. Late nights working on Yearbook. Senior Lock-in. Another year of volunteering as a sixth grade camp counselor. On the executive board of NHS. Inducted into the writing honor’s society (which obviously meant so much as I can’t remember it). Being voted as the girl who “always has a shoulder to lean on,”. A summer of graduation parties and goodbyes. A summer of uncertainty, nerves and excitement.
Do you have a TV show that transports you to a particular time of your life?
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.
It’s incredibly easy to get up at the pre-ass crack of dawn (4:15 am, to be exact) when you know you’re headed for the land of sunshine, palm trees, seagulls, an hour’s drive to the beach, family, marriage vows, pictures, and bonding.
Highlights from the trip:
* Spontaneity. Darling and I decided to rent a car when we got to Tallahassee. And then when we got to the hotel we decided it was necessary to take a trip to the Governor’s Mall, you know, to accessorize our outfits for the wedding a bit more. We walked out with jewelry, a jacket (Darling), and sexy black jeans (me).
* Happy Hour. The hotel had a happy hour each evening and my family dominated it each evening. Between photo shoots of all the relatives, introductions to extended family I’ve never met, and just all around fun it was a great way for everyone to reconnect and let loose.
* My Girl Cousins Van & Gummy. (Nicknames, of course.) The last time I saw them was in – gasp- 1998 and 2001 respectively and my how they have grown. Van is a smart, strong, beautiful 25 year old who’s a Sargeant in the Army and it was like we never missed a beat. Gummy, my almost 16 year old cousin is radiant, intelligent and so much fun to be around; I just wish I lived closer to watch her grow up! We were over the top girls: getting ready together, giggling together, staying up entirely too late and having a sleepover in Van’s room the last night we were there. I miss them all so much already and am working on figuring out how to see them in the next six months!
* The Wedding. It was beautiful. Outdoor ceremony with an orchestral trio. Simple. Lovely bridesmaid dresses. Perfect timing (at sunset). I cried for them. I cried for me. I snapped photos. We lingered after the ceremony for more family photos. We enjoyed wine and hors d’oeuvres before the reception. I mingled. I laughed. I smiled.
* The Reception. Lots of dancing, wine, more laughter, cousin dances, slow dances. I caught the bouquet: the first wedding out of 14 weddings I’ve been to and I caught the bouquet. According to wedding myth I have two years from catching the bouquet for the meaning (me getting married) to come true. I was honestly thrilled and shocked when I caught it (ignoring all irony of the timing, of course). I even decided to carry the bouquet with me on the plane home. It made it as far as Atlanta before I decided I was annoyed with it and instead salvaged just a single rose.
* After Parties. After both the rehearsal dinner and wedding reception we partied late into the night. We played Wii. We listened to country music. We screamed lyrics at the top of our lungs. We watched FSU v. Clemson. We just were: family. friends. together.
It’s hard to do a weekend like this justice but suffice to say it was good for the soul and warming to the heart. I just can’t wait to see everyone and feel like that again.
(No pictures since I forgot to get consent from my family. Most of them are on facebook and more will be posted soon!)
While we were in Florida this past weekend, I saw this phrase “Salt Life,” on t-shirts, bumper stickers, and etched onto windows. I looked up the phrase and as would make sense it’s a beach gear company but to me, it means something a little bit different.
If you read my post from yesterday, you know why I wanted to go to Florida and why I needed it to be a good weekend (fortunately it turned out to be a great weekend – more details on that coming soon). As I spent 48 hours straight with my cousins, Aunts and Uncles, many of whom I haven’t seen in years, I observed a few things about myself that I don’t totally love:
*I take life too seriously. I know that it was a special occasion but my family and their friends were so easy going, didn’t get hives when they talk about work and just seemed happier, laidback, go with the flow.
* Having a good time isn’t a reward for a completed work week but instead is a way of life. They laugh more. They smile more. They party more. They scream songs at the top of their lungs more. They hug and take pictures more. Taking a personal day doesn’t make them feel guilty, ignoring work for a few more days isn’t an issue and enjoying life is paramount.
When I saw the phrase “Salt Life,” I decided to use it as a my new personal mantra. I’m going to start seasoning my life more with positive experiences, people, events. I’m going to reconnect with myself and the things that make me happy. I’m going to live full of hope and energy for I know that I have a lot to offer to friends, employers, family, a new man (when the time comes). I;m going to work smarter, not harder so that I don’t get so drained at the end of the work week. I’m not going to equate my life with my job. I’m going to work hard for the next 18 months to save money, add to my resume and then perhaps find a job in the great Sunshine State so I can live and breath the Salt Life.
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.
This may only be funny to me since I see a different side of the IT world compared to most (no, I’m not an IT geek, just around a lot of them) but I thought I’d share.
This clip is from “The IT Crowd,” a British comedy which aired in 2006, produced by the same guys who produced The (British) Office.
To set the scene, one of the IT guys convinced his boss that they set up a voice activated system for the his computer.
(Side Note: For your Netflixers/Blockbuster Online folks, you may want to add this show to your list. It’s surprisingly funny.)
(Double Side Note: I have seen someone pick up their computer mouse and wave it around in the air to try to get it to work. No joke.)
1. At least three times a week you are too caught up in your work to realize that you should have eaten lunch, you know, three hours ago.
2. You wake up in the middle of the night for whatever reason and feel compelled to check your Blackberry so that the inbox can be “clean,” when you start the work day.
3. At least once a month you can’t fall asleep because you are too busy making a to-do list for the next business day.
4. For the simple fact that you haven’t had a completely disconnected vacation from work in over three years. One of the downsides to working for the family business, I suppose.
5. You’ve flipped off the computer or the telephone on more than one occasion in the last month out of stress and frustration.
6. Your idea of taking a break during the day is checking to make sure the office is straightened up and leaving notes for the cleaning crew.
7. The only “funny” stories you have to tell are about that one time your co-worker spilled coffee on himself. Until you realize that it’s not funny and it happened four months ago.
8. Everyone at the office knows to ask you if they need something done. Sure, a sign that they trust you and you’re good at what you do but also proves that maybe you’re a tad too reliable.
9. Your hands are permanently in the poised-to-type position even on a Friday afternoon.
10. To get through all your work projects you listen to Pandora, quietly of course so as to not disturb your colleagues, which means you’ve used your 40 allotted hours within the first five days of the month.
I’m sure this is going to anger some of my readers but this girl? I love the Yankees.
That’s right. I said it.
I love the Yankees.
Why, you ask? It’s not just about Derek Jeter. It’s not just about Yankee Stadium. It’s because the Yankees were the very first baseball team I saw play baseball. I couldn’t have been more than three years old but I vivdly remember sitting on my dad’s knee, in the nosebleeds, watching the game and asking for a ballpark hot dog.
Once a Yankee fan, always a Yankee fan.
Go ahead, hate me for it, but I’m true to my team (and the StL Cardinals, too!).
On any given day at my office, it’s not ucnommon for us to have a ridiculous amount of clients in the office. This week: 50 every day which pretty much means I’m running around like a chicken with her head cut off. (Side note: Where did that phrase come from? So terrible sounding but I suppose it conveys the image of me perfectly at the moment.)
A few clients walked past my desk on their way back from lunch, all male, likely in their late 30s/early 40s.
Male 1: I grew up with four sisters. I now have three daughters. I’m pretty good with ponytails. Male 2: Really? I have one little girl and I’m still struggling with the ponytail. Male 3: It’s just something you have to get in there and do. Though I’m not very good at it. Male 1: After the ponytail comes the braid. My girls say I do a pretty good braid. Male 2: Dude, that’s brave. Male 3: That’s really brave. I’m afraid of the braid.
How adorable is that conversation?
I can honestly say I’m not sure how often my dad attempted to help me with ponytails or braids as a kid, or perhaps more appropriately how often I let him? (I was quite the momma’s-girl.)
Have you heard anything unusual (cute, funny, weird, scary, odd) at the office lately?
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
