Monday, March 29, 2010

DRY

From now on, think of this blog as Arizona. Why? Because from now on you'll find no "C" (sea) here.

Yep. That's right. How else do you talk about something like this other than just to say it? This is why until two months ago I never listed myself as "in a relationship" on Facebook. Because what happens when you aren't? I wasn't going to say anything, and just let enough time go by until someone noticed I hadn't written about him/us for however long. But that seems unfair. He was a big part of my life. I don't want to sweep him under the rug. So here you go. Full disclosure. Keeping it real.

What do you do when two people just want different things? I wish I could be mad at the guy but I can't. I'm very, very not mad at him. That's the problem. This was not my idea. No big fight, no harsh words. Just tears.

So blog friends, I'm going to be quiet for a while. You understand. My desire to blog (along with my desire to sing, my appetite, my mood and the majority of my iTunes library) has been shot to hell. It'll come back. Who knows when. Not this week.

If you choose to comment, that's fine but please remember Chris reads/read this blog and I won't handle anyone saying anything negative towards him. I am going to try very hard to still be friends with him. He's a great man. A sweet, funny, patient, fabulous man, who will make someone very happy in the future. Unfortunately, I'm afraid it won't be me. But like I said... that wasn't my idea.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

PURPLED

Last night, my friend Corrie and I went to see The Color Purple, which is town through the rest of the week. Having heard mixed reviews from Eric and my sister (and by mixed reviews, I mean he hated it, she loved it) I was not really sure what to expect.

You may remember that while visiting my sister last summer, I had a brief experience with this musical when we caught the final number at the Kennedy Center, and then met Fantasia afterward. My sister and my mom both said so much of the likability of the show was because of Fantasia, and despite my pleading with her in DC to stay on the tour through Nashville, she wasn't in this production. In fact, this is an all new non-equity cast, so no one that was in the show my sister saw (or Eric saw) was in this show last night.

It was wonderful, though! I really enjoyed* it. The songs were very old southern black gospelesque. The cast was fantastic. If you've seen the show, then you'll know what I am talking about when I say Sofia was hilarious. She quickly became my favorite one in the show.

Eric, I'm not sure why you hated this show the first time you saw it. I thought it was splendid!

*I would have enjoyed it more if the lady beside me had not brought chips (and M &Ms) which she crunched, a drink which she spilled, binoculars which enabled her to comment on what every cast member looked like "up close", her cell phone which she texted on through most of Act 2, her friend that she talked to when she wasn't texting through most of Act 2, and most invasive of all, the idea that it would be smart to hoist her leg up in the seat Indian style. Like there was ANY extra room in that seat! Really, is this your first time at the theater? Or in public? This is not your couch. This is not a tailgate. Put your loud crunchy food away, your leg down, your phone in your purse and be quiet before I give you something to text home about.

Monday, March 22, 2010

TARGETED

I placed an order from Target.com over the weekend. They usually offer free shipping for orders more than $50, and most anything you order can be returned the store, so it's a convenient way to shop beyond what's at your local Target (as in, I haven't seen any of these items in a store). Here's what was in my cart and soon, in my closet!

Rain boots - aren't these cute? I gave up the ghost on wishing for some Hunter Wellies - with these on sale for $20, I couldn't pass them up. Mine are red, but here's a link to all the colors in this particular style (if solid colored rain boots are your thing): 


I have a dress just like this in green that I wore the tar out of when I got it - and still wear it when the seeason hits. So I figured one in navy would be a nice addition. They had this in a pretty mute silvery gray but it's sold out. Gray is in this spring, isn't it?


Last but not least, this beauty. They also have this in a gray and black combo but I thought this black and taupe color was prettier. I think this will be wearable all the way into fall. I just wish it had pockets!


Thanks, Target.com! I'll let you know how everything fits/looks when it arrives.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

ARCHIVED

Along with looking into my credit score, another item on the long, running list of "I have really got to get around to doing that" chores is archiving my photos. You all probably remember the Great Computer Incident of 2008, also known around here as Why I Hate Best Buy/the Geek Squad and Why You Should Too.

But I digress.

Just because I didn't (don't!) have a home computer to upload my photos wasn't going to stop me from taking them. July will be two years without a home computer. Clearly, I have one at work, and so it has the means of storing all of the photos I have taken in that time frame. This has never sat well with me. I have heard horrible stories of people losing their jobs and with it, years and years worth of documents and photos. Not smart, people. Not that I am in fear of losing my job, but I would much much much rather play it safe than sorry.

So, after some inspiration from a cool article in Real Simple magazine, I purchased some blank CDs and sleeves over the weekend. While I have been at work today, I started on Operation Archive. Using my computer and a Sharpie, I've added photos to the discs, labeled the disc and the sleeve, and am even using different color sleeves to boot.

Here's the dirty details for those who are interested: Ever since I got a digital camera, I've categorized my photos by year, month, and day as opposed to the occasion. So the pictures I took on this day, for example, could be found on my computer under My Pictures folder>2009 folder>06.2009 folder>06.05.2009 folder, rather than just "Chris's Birthday Party." Since each of the discs I bought holds 720 MB, I can add multiple folders (depending on how many pictures I took that month) to maximize disc space while minimizing the number of discs I have to use. I only took pictures on three different occasions in January of 2009, so why waste one whole disc on it? Instead, that month is on the same disc as February and March. Then there's June of 2009, which had to be split onto two different discs (what's up, Vegas!) You can find out how big each folder is by hovering your mouse over it. Do some quick math and however many will get you close to 720 MBs (or however much your CDs will hold), select the folders and drag them to be written onto a CD. In no time, you'll have a nice little colorful stack that will look something like this:


Look at those black CDs. Should those have been in a spool of "Cool Color" CDs? I don't think so. I figured better to write on them for the occasional use when I was at a desk, as opposed to being behind the wheel of my car trying to see what the heck is written on this CD I might want to play.

Even if all of your digital photos are safe and sound on your home computer, I recommend starting a backup system ASAP. When my old computer died, the hard drive was in tact so the photos are recoverable, but that is not always the case. The woman featured in Real Simple deletes the photos after she puts them on a disc and she also does them by occasion - one trip, one birthday party, one event per disc. That's a lot of discs! I can't bring myself to do either of those things, but maybe in the future. One step at a time!

Spring is a great time get organized! Don't you agree?

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

CREDITED

Today, I have been working on my karma. No, not the good vibes that are awaiting me in the universe. I am talking about my credit karma, aka CreditKarma.com.

As the source of most good advice I receive, I learned from the Today Show that I could get my credit score for free from this web site. Credit shmedit. These things are scary to me. About a year and some change ago, I decided I would work on my credit. I knew hoped I didn't have bad credit, but I wasn't sure it would be considered great credit either. I mean, I hadn't been out on any shopping sprees, that's for sure. If anything, my credit would be iffy because I did things like apply for a major credit card that I had NO intention of using in exchange for a free large bowl of delicious ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery in a moment of weakness following two insane midterms and a term paper during my junior year (true story - only happened once though). So, not having bought a house or a car or a large purchase, I was just kind of in the dark. Don't ask, don't tell. But about a year and a half ago I hopped online, ordered and printed off my credit report.... aaaand made a few phone calls, cried most of the afternoon and threw it away. Let's just pretend that never happened!, I thought to myself.

Now I know what you all are thinking - is she serious? Could any one person be that dumb? The answer is yes. And plenty of people are that dumb. But I digress. For reasons I won't go into here (but you could do the math if you read this), the credit report was a little-too-tangible evidence of something else very wrong in my life. Something... someone?... that is much easier to ignore than deal with. Trust me - it was more than me just being too lazy to fix it. It was a thread I wasn't ready to pull. So I just let sleeping dogs lie and figured one day I would figure it all out. Credit report included.

Well, for whatever reason, today was the day. Gotta start somewhere. I remembered seeing that web site on the Today Show from a few weeks ago, and pulled it up as soon as I got to work. Credit score, here I come. Last name here, address there, social here and bam! What do you know? It's not bad. It's "excellent," in fact. Proof I was scared of nothing this whole time. I hate finding out I was scared of nothing, don't you? I moved on from that to my credit report, and do you know what? I haven't cried, I haven't made any phone calls, and I'm not going to throw it away.

Thank you, Credit Karma, for dumbing it all down for a 'fraidy cat like me. It was easy to navigate and the results easy to navigate.

So what's the point of this very unfunny, grown-up, math-centered rant? 1. Add CreditKarma.com to the list of financial web sites I stand behind (and that's a very short list); 2. In the words of Kevin McCallister, I'm not afraid anymore!

And, in the spirit of full disclosure, while we are discussing restoration and fixing situations that you're kind of afraid to tackle, you should know that I have been spending a lot of time here, and have had lunch twice in the past month with this girl:

 
Isn't springtime the greatest?

Monday, March 15, 2010

DUMBER

Dear E!,

I will be the first to admit that I never give you enough credit for the shows that you produce. Girls Next Door? Thought I would hate it. Turns out, it was one of my favorite shows! Keeping Up with the Kardashians? Made fun of it for years. Now, I’m watching it On Demand and wondering when Kourtney is FINALLY going to ditch Scott. Snoop Dogg’s Father Hood? Downright EDUCATIONAL. Chelsea Lately*? The Soup? Kendra? All great, hilarious, shows that I watch regularly. I, as did many, turned a blind eye to Leave It To Lamas and Sunset Tan but the point is – you bat a pretty good average, E!.

Which is why I am COMPLETELY CLUELESS why you would muddy the gene pool with Dumb, Dumber, Dumbest and Dumb@$$ - aka the four bimbos on Pretty Wild. I happened to see it last night following the season premiere of Kendra, and the only word that comes to mind is WHHHHHHHHHHHY? This woman Andrea makes Dina Lohan look like Princess Di.

No rules; no order; NO GOOD, E! No good. Do us all a favor and drop this show like it’s Tiger, and you’re Elin. Just move on! I don’t want to see another Neiers hoochie on my TV ever again. Got it E? CANCEL.

Very Ready for Holly's World,
Lindsay


(Here’s the scoop, in case you were smart enough to be doing ANYTHING ELSE besides watching this show: Former Playboy/lingerie model turned mother has three daughters turned Playboy/lingerie models. All of them are gorgeous. All of them use some vibratey, shakey water-pressure bed-like machine like you used to could get into at the mall to increase weight loss? Melanin? Brain cells? Who knows. Mother homeschools the trio. Their curriculum is based on a lot of Adderall and The Secret. What is the Secret? A movie. Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the occasional movie day – when appropriate – in English or Spanish or even History class. But one lone movie wasn’t the core of my college prep curriculum, that’s for sure. But no matter, they don’t need a core curriculum! They have boobs! They have beauty! They have a stripper pole in their house! So in between partying and taking turns on the pole and attending “home school” one of them got arrested for in conjunction with some robberies and that loud noise you heard around 9:45 pm CST was poor Alexis’s dreams shattering into a billion tiny pieces because she lost her modeling contract as a result of all her “bad press.” Is your brain liquefying yet? I’ll wrap it up - she came home from jail and they and cried and laughed. And then I turned my TV off, tore off my clothes, put on a sack and repented for my sin. I mean really. This makes Jersey Shore look like C-Span.)

*While I do enjoy her talk show, as a person Chelsea Handler moved a few spots down in my book when I realized she was an Executive Producer on this show. It must be contagious! Run, Ryan Seacrest, run!

Friday, March 12, 2010

REACHY

1. On Wednesday night, two friends and I threw our boots on and headed to the Ryman to see Lady Antebellum, aka my new favorite group! Their new album is really good. The show was so fun. My favorite parts? When they paid tribute to where they were and sang an old Hank Williams standard, "The Lost Highway." Gorgeous. Also: the finale "Hello World" was especially moving. Also: today at work when someone told me they saw me dancing and singing my heart out on the front row of the balcony. Oh well. Good for you, Lady Antebellum.

2. My newest obsession - Laughing Cow Babybel cheese. Particularly the cheddar variety. It's a perfect snack for a cheese freak like me. I hadn't seen the cheddar kind in the grocery store before. They are like rare mythical creatures. You have to be in the right place at the right time to find them. I've never seen the gouda wheels before - has anyone ever seen those in person?

3. Construction has begun for the new convention center in downtown Nashville. This has a lot of different consequences, one of which is the blasting. They have to move a lot of earth before they can start building and so they started blasting it out this week. It's weird to feel the building shake but it's not too scary. Except for one thing - I also live in very close proximity to this blasting, and while it's not scary at 6:00 am, it's extremely irritating. Each blast is preceded my five shrill sirens and then following by one "all clear" sirens. As if the trains coming by weren't bad enough, there's this now. Oy vey. I need some earplugs. But then how would I hear my alarm? Any ideas?

4. Daylight savings time this weekend yay yaaaay yaaaaaaaaaay!

Friday, March 05, 2010

GROUPED

A big thing now in Nashville is using Groupon.com - have you heard of it? A pretty sweet deal is e-mailed out at the top of the morning and if enough people buy it, then the deal is on. A large enough group has to purchase the coupon in order for it to roll definite. Usually it only takes 40 or 50 people and everyone who orders it gets the deal, but you never know!

I have seen a few deals recently that I wanted to purchase but haven't, for whatever reason. Until today. A coupon for $135 worth of services for only $65 (basically half-price) at Relâche Spa in the Gaylord Hotel, also known as the Best Spa in Nashville*? YES. Heck yes. Talk about a no brainer.

Groupon offers subscriptions for most major cities, so if you haven't signed up yet, give it a try. I'd been a subscriber for about a month and was going to unsubscribe today - no joke. I was tired of the daily e-mails about something I never used. They must have read my mind. Well played, Groupon, well played.

The only thing left to decide is on which service I am going to use my coupon! A massage? A facial? I will be sure to let you know.

*As voted by the readers of the Tennessean.

Thursday, March 04, 2010

BEEPY

Aoooooooooga. Jalopy. Wha?!?

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

PLEASED

"What'll I do with all this cash? All that cash up in my stash?" - sung to the tune of "My Humps" - duh.

Okay so not a lot of cash, but I have to gloat for just one second. Thanks to my daily stalking of my finances on Mint.com, I noticed my renter's insurance didn't hit my bank account in the month of February. I decided to e-mail my super-duper insurance agent/friend and find out why.

Turns out, Allstate bills me a little more each month ($5.28 more) than what they should. The minimum payment they can accept is $20 and my monthly premium is less than that. So I pay a little more each month to hit their minimum payment and what do you know? I paid out early! So I'm all settled for my renter's insurance until May - I won't be charged anything for February, March or April.

GENIUS!!!! Not that my renter's insurance monthly premium is bank-breaking, but it's still a nice surprise. Nice enough to brag about.

I am in such Good Hands®! Thanks Sam.

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

SOCIAL

Roses are red, violets are blue
Where have I been? Let me just tell you!

I had a relaxing weekend. I considered going home (true story, Mom), but then I also considered having enough money in the bank for a March rent check. So an extra tank or two of gas was not an option – not until the tires are paid off or I got a paycheck (HALLELUJAH they are now and it’ll be here Friday).

Speaking of it’ll be here, guess what’ll (who’ll?) be here in November? This stinker is having another little stinker – I am SO EXCITED. Babies are so fun.

Exhibit A: my “nephew." Could you die? He’s almost one year old now and cute as a button. I went to play with him on Sunday and again on Monday (/watch the Bachelor* finale with his mommy).
On Thursday, this guy is coming to town and I am excited. But between now and then, me and “Bjork” from my Bunko group are going to see Mamma Mia!

Did you keep up with all of that?

It's so great being busy with fun things!

*Don't get me started.

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