Thursday, October 29, 2009

Seeing Green

I'm going to be Poison Ivy from Batman for Halloween. A group of eight of us are going to a party at a winery built like a castle and each one of us is going as a character from Batman. I chose Poison Ivy thinking it would be pretty simple to find a cute costume. I was wrong. Three weeks and $200 later I almost have my homemade costume done.

I was trying the gloves on at The Boyfriend's house the other day and his dad gave me quite the review.... he told me I looked "like a high-class call girl". I'm still not sure if it was supposed to be a compliment or not... and he only saw the gloves, imagine if he'd seen the whole costume! Have I told you about the costume? After several failed attempts to locate a cute Poison Ivy costume, I decided to make it myself. I then discovered that green is apparently not in style right now. I settled on white with the great idea to dye it green. I bought a white corset and a pair of boy shorts (yes, I'm wearing underwear for Halloween). Along with the corset and boy shorts I purchased some above-the-knee black boots. I love these boots. I want to marry these boots. I also have a green cape and, of course, a red wig.

Now, I don't know if you've ever dyed anything before but it's an interesting process. I had several pots and pans boiling on the stove top with varies garments in each one, all covered in a bubbly green liquid. I felt like a witch. After carefully following the instructions I pulled the boy shorts out and, voila! The perfect green! I excitedly grabbed the pot with my corset, expecting to see the same, and.... blue. Robin's. Egg. Blue. Shit! I dyed it again. Deeper blue. Unfortunately at the end of the process I had to go to work and I knew that I didn't have time to attempt dying again before Halloween, so I left it up to The Boyfriend. He spent an entire day dying and re-dying that damn corset before he was finally able to get it green. He went to work that day his hands dyed several shades of blue and green. What a great sport.

The Moral of the Story: Today I love Halloween

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Adventures of a New Job

Ever since I started at the chocolate store I’ve doubled my caffeine intake. I noticed today that I have a pattern. I, of course, have my morning triple latte. What happens now that’s different is when I go to work I have chocolate… for breakfast. Now my afternoon crash is even bigger. I find myself reaching for the coffee pot around noon, and again around 3. And of course, nothing goes better with a mid afternoon cup of coffee than a piece (or five) of chocolate. I’m stuck in a vicious cycle of caffeine and sugar.

Today was one of those days where each person who entered the store is more frustrating than the next. In the store there are two counters to help people at. Today I was the only person in the front and not one person, not two, but three, three, people walked into the store at different times throughout the day, walked up to the empty counter across from the one where I stood patiently waiting to help customers out and stood, waiting for help. Really? Did they not see me standing there? Another person walked up to the counter while I was packing a box, picked up a piece of chocolate right out of the box I was packing and said “Can I eat this?” I informed him politely that he could for $1.85 as we don’t do samples. He set the piece of chocolate down and walked away. He seemed to think it was completely appropriate to man-handle the chocolate then place it back in the box for me to sell to some lucky person. I hope he doesn’t work in food service.

Yesterday I butt dialed The Boyfriend while I was at work. I laughed and didn’t think anything of it. That is until today. Today I butt dialed The Ex. Ironic, I know. I wouldn’t have known except I got a text from The Ex saying “Sorry I missed your call, I was in a meeting. What’s up?” Then I had to awkwardly explain that I didn’t actually mean to call him. I really need to learn how to lock my phone better. The phone locks automatically but you only have to hit the center button for it to unlock. Somehow my butt managed to unlock my phone, open my contacts list, locate The Ex’s number, and hit send. I’m actually pretty impressed with my butt. Irritated, but impressed. I wonder what I was talking about when I left that message….

P.S. Today I ate 27 pieces of chocolate. I think I went into a sugar coma.

The Moral of the story: Today I love adventures in a new job.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Confessions of a Chocoholic

I just ate a 24-piece box of chocolate to myself.

I’ve always been a chocoholic. My mom used to tell me that when I was little the only time I wasn’t talking was when I had some chocolate to put in my mouth. And now I have taken a job at a chocolate store.

Today was my first day at the chocolate store. I walked in the back room, this little magic room where all the delectable creations are made, and took in the aroma. Heaven. Chocolate everywhere in every shape and form. Little chocolate butterflies with beautiful blue and red colored wings, chocolate leaves flavored with fresh mint, turtles filled with caramel and topped with fleur de sel… all displayed in beautiful blue and brown boxes, each piece looking like a perfectly wrapped present on Christmas morning. Again, heaven. And the most amazing part… they encouraged me to taste the chocolates. “Sample each one!” they said with a smile. I honestly had to pinch myself to make sure it wasn’t a dream. I spent all day wrapping these little pieces of treasure, stuffing each piece into a pretty little paper wrapper then carefully placing those into a beautiful round box, finally wrapping each box with a perfect bow. All in between shoving a couple (ok, times that by ten) handfuls into my own greedy little mouth. And then as my work day ended and I was ready to walk out the door I was handed a gorgeous round blue and brown box that held 24 of these tantalizing chocolates to take home with me. “I’ll share with my family”, I thought to myself, “These will last until the end of the week. Most definitely.”

And here I sit, one half-pound box of chocolates completely empty with those pretty little paper wrappers strewn about in front of me. Dear lord, I think this job is going to be the end of me.

The Moral of the Story: Today I love chocolate. Ask me how I feel about it in a week…

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Rainy Days and a Season of Scurry

It’s raining. Every year I dread the day that the skies open up and begin their annual downpours. I love the fall so much that I hate these first signs of winter. Fall to me is a season of slowing down. People bundle up and take leisurely walks with loved ones. They stop and look at the changing world around them. They take the time to enjoy life. Then the rain comes and in an instant it’s over. Suddenly people are scurrying about, running to find cover, scrambling to open their car doors before they completely soak through. No one has the time to stop and enjoy their surroundings or the people around them. I feel like it’s one of those black and white montages where the scene is played in fast forward with whimsical music playing in the background.

I claim to hate when it rains and complain all season. And I do – I hate it for all the reasons above. I hate running through the rain, soaking wet. My carefully flat ironed hair curls within seconds and my makeup runs off my face. I hate getting the bottom of my pant legs wet and watching that water creep all the way up to my knees.

The truth is, I secretly love the rain. I love walking into a toasty home and shedding those wet outer layers. I love the sound of the rain falling on the rooftop. I love spending a cold, rainy day curled up by a fireplace reading a book with a glass of hot cocoa (or better yet, red wine). Those hibernation days are some of my favorites, spending too many hours in bed under warm cover. These days are made all the better when spent with that special person.

I wish I could spend the day with the one I love. I know exactly what we would do all day – nothing. Just lay next to each other and be satisfied that we had one another. Unfortunately my love will have to wait for this weekend. That’s the problem with being with someone who lives hours away. So for everyone who has their loved ones with them, take advantage of it. Be lazy, spend all day in bed with that person you love. Do it for me because I can’t. You’ll find my curled up with my dog instead, watching a romantic comedy. Wow, I really am a walking cliché.

The Moral of the Story: Today I love the weekends (and the rain, though I’ll never actually admit it.)

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Farewell to a Frenemy

It’s been one day, eight hours, and eleven minutes since I quit smoking. I’ve been telling myself I’m going to quit ever since I started again. It was hard to make the decision because, I’ll be honest, I love smoking. Ask any smoker and they’ll tell you the same.

I have so many good memories with my cigarettes. I remember in high school every morning two of my girlfriends and I would drive to the woods after PE and smoke cloves. I remember sitting on the back patio of my best friend’s house, smoking Camel Lights and playing drinking games until the wee hours of the morning. My brother and I bonded over hand rolled cigarettes. A cold morning and a cup of coffee just doesn’t seem the same without my little nicotine fix. And now, after all these years, cigarettes and I are breaking up.

I have to be honest, they weren’t all good times. A hangover is intensified when a night of drinking is mixed with chain smoking. And the truth about coffee and cigarettes? It’s a bit like drinking a gallon of prune juice. These are the things I’m not going to miss. These plus the smell, the lingering taste, the general grossness of it all. There’s a reason why I used to refer to myself as a ‘dirty smoker’.

I don’t think I’ll ever get over cigarettes. We’ve had a rocky romance with lots of ups and downs but I know that, unfortunately, I will always have fond memories. It’s like that ex boyfriend we’ve all had – so bad for you yet you keep coming back for more. Not this time though. This time it’s over for good.

The Moral of the Story: Today I love letting go

Thursday, October 8, 2009

The Detective in us All

When The Ex and I first started dating I came home one day only to have my mom ask “So, has The Ex ever been shot?” She asked it casually, as if it’s a common question to ask of your daughter’s boyfriend. Needless to say, I was surprised and couldn’t help laughing. My mom went on to explain that when she heard I was dating The Ex she decided to google him and found that there were several people with his name, one of whom had been shot. I then discovered that this is something that my mom does frequently. Take last night for instance…

The Boyfriend called me last night from his work phone. My mom has yet to meet The Boyfriend. After our conversation ended, my mom came into the room and casually dropped several facts about the company that he works for. See, we have caller ID and when the company name popped up my mom googled it. I asked her why she felt the urge to do so, and she looked at me as if I were the crazy one! “Well, I was sitting in front of the computer when the phone rang, so I decided to google him. Haven’t you ever done that?” My mom, the detective. Or is stalker a better fit in this case?

The Moral of the Story: Today I love my mom. My cute, slightly crazy but always lovable, Mom