Another Miami Souvenir

...besides my tan.

Favor!

So this past weekend, I helped 'host' my friend Courtney's shower.   Please don't tell her, but I really didn't do too much.  I fear, if she finds this out, she'll recall this super cute favor, which is sooo worthy of a blog post in and of itself.   Why yes, I will gladly make vegetable pizza again for something like this!

A Piece of Work....

So my friend Courtney is getting married, so we celebrated this past weekend at 'the paint your own 

pottery place' - Glazed Expressions.

the first steps

Laura's piece

regular blog reader Jeannine's snowman

hard at work....

inspired

after it gets glazed - the final pic will be up

This Just in....

Directly from Glamour Magazine:

Hey, it's ok...
...to tell your friend her boyfriend is horrible, if he is.

You'll have to excuse me.  I have at least one phone call to make.

Travel

So I've sucked at blogging.  I want to blame the fact that I was out of town.  Kind of.

Well, as my readers know, I saw Miami.  It was warm and spectacular.  I have not traveled much in my (almost 28!!) years.  There are quite a few places I want to see in the near future.  I've decided to make a list:

--San Diego (coming soon)
--Los Angeles
--Napa
--San Francisco
--Seattle
--Dallas
--Hawaii
--France
--Italy
--New England  (they have a football team!)
--Boston
--Toronto

Ok, who wants to travel?!

Miami, Part 1

every photo has a bomber

Blahnik?

Dear Miami:  1999 called, it wants its car back

random chick with a camera

note the last drink

a little bit of Chicago in Miami....

a hint?

we also went back in time (past 1999)

I think this was a jellyfish....

Keeping You Up-to-Date on Pop Culture.

Teen Paranormal Romance.

Why yes, this is a section at the bookstore.

That spans two entire shelves.  

Bad Dates.

So, as the 'Carrie Bradshaw', if you will, I go out on a lot of dates.  Some good.  Some really, really not.  A lot of my friends hear the noteworthy stories.  Like the guy who told me there was a woman who kept contacting him, offering to pay him to have sex with her.  I'm guessing he must have thought this made him look more appealing.

I know the single men probably have a list of grievances about things women do 'wrong' on dates.

I can tell you, confidently, that I was (at least) once 'the bad date'.

Long story short.  It was a first date.  He offered to take me out for tapas downtown, around 7:30ish (after work for him).  Well, I got off work at 5, so instead of going home, then coming all the way back downtown, I decided to grab a drink with some coworkers.  Well, my coworkers chose this Mexican restaurant with margaritas as big as one's head.  Well, $12 later, I'm sure going to get my money's worth.  Anyhow.  Then I move along to meet my date for dinner.

Well, at the restaurant, they're running a little behind, so my date suggests we grab some sangria at the bar.   At this point, I officially blame my mother for not warning me the risks of mixing alcohol on an empty stomach.

Well, then we sat down at our table and he ordered a pitcher of sangria (maybe I can blame him - he wanted a second drink?  for shame).  At this point, I thought I was doing ok, but then my words started to get away from me.  Or run together.  Or something.  I was glad it was a seated dinner because standing was challenging.  And the room began spinning.  Well, I kind of leaned back in my chair and let him lead the conversation.  I thought I'd be ok, quickly thereafter, I found myself dashing for the restroom, for the alcohol was doing what alcohol sometimes does.  I got back and played it off casually, however, I then did the exact same thing twice more in the next hour, so I think he was on to me.

Anyhow.  Is it bad form to get falling down drunk on a first date?  Do guys typically get offended by this?  Anyhow, my date and I ended up going out again, so he clearly wasn't too perturbed.   I always wondered if he noticed that I was drunk and was just too polite to call me out on it, or if it somehow possibly escaped him.

Has anyone else ever been the bad date?  Am I the bad date more often than I realize?  Your thoughts?

Snoopy Reemerges.

O Sole O Mio

Dinner.  Grilled sole.  Delish.

It's Been a While since We've Had a Sex and the City Quote

I was looking for a good one.  I ironically came across this winner:

"Every girlfriend I've had wants me to change something.  Change your friends.  Change your job.  Change your attitude.  The only thing I change is girlfriends."  (random guy)

I kind of like this.  I don't think we, as people, should change for anyone (not just my women - men too).  I'm almost inclined to say 'you go, boy!'  The relationship we have with ourselves is the one to which we should be most loyal.

I know several friends that have dated guys that they have viewed as a 'work in progress'.  Some of them successfully molded these men, others - not so much.  I, personally, do not have the energy.  I can also think of a male coworker who once explained that it took him a while to realize it, but his first wife wasn't necessarily as in love with him as she was with the man she had all along been trying to make him into (and note the word 'first' preceding wife).   Anyhow.

I personally just don't have the energy to try to shape a guy.  I want one ready-made, the way I want.  Maybe that explains my singlehood.  Hmm.

New Year's Resolutions?

Who has broken his or hers so far?

Mine was to be a better blogger.  The jury is still out on me.  :-/

Unusual

So far in 2011, there have been some bizarre happenings in my life.  There have also been some bizarre happenings in the lives of those who are close to me.  So much to the extent that I went back to reread my horoscope for the month of January.   Oh, did I mention my horoscope sign just changed?  I am not even sure what to read any more!

That being said, in the world, there have also been a handful of bizarre happenings.  There were a handful of mass animal deaths - thousands of dead bird and fish in Arkansas, dead fish in Maryland, thousands of dead birds in Italy, as well as some other random instances.

What does this all mean?  Is this the apocalypse?  Is hell freezing over?  If so, Chicago sure got a bit of it this past week.

Has anyone else had some random bizarre happenings in his or her life in the past month?  I know a lot of my friends have had some drastic life changes.  I am just curious.  If it's the end of the world, at least we're all in this together....

So it Snowed in Chicago....

Let me tell you, readers, miracles do exist - this was the state of my car when I first saw it since Tuesday.  I guess the wind blew in my favor, or a strange good samaritan helped out (unbeknownst to me).

someone lost his shoe (next to my car's shoe)

please note - it's a one way street - if you can get around the snow

another view

someone had the time and patience and inner warmth to have a little bit of fun in this

...and someone else gave up

the best way to enjoy snow...from inside