Award!

Little Miss Michelle gave me my first award! How sweet!!! Her blog is so cute and I just love all her book reviews, if you don't read it already... Go! Now! :)

For this award I am supposed to name five guilty pleasures...

1. Manicures and pedicures
2. Trashy celebrity gossip
3. Cool ranch Doritios
4. Red wine
5. Chick lit

and pass it on....

Check out these fabulous ladies that I just adore reading about daily!!

Lesli over at Pretty Random Thoughts
Jess over at Classy in Philadelphia
Amber over at Amber Alert
Janet over at Slice of Pink
and
Brandy over at It's like I'm...mmmmagic!

I hope everyone has a FABULOUS weekend!

It's just the way you move!

Today as I was watching the Dancing with the Stars results show they had a body language expert analyzing the contests body language.

Shawn Johnson always shrugs her shoulders, showing a bit of insecurity, which is different from her presentation at the Olympics.
Lawrence and Chuck both look up and then down a lot during eliminations which show they aren't sure of themselves.
Melissa Rycroft covers her tummy frequently during judging and elimination which signals she feels the butterflies.
Lil' Kim has her eyes and mouth wide open which tells us she's trying to take it all in.
Ty holds onto his partner as much as possible, which says she is his rock, his sense of security.
Gilles shows a lot of humility while being judged, as he looks up a lot in a praying kind of position. That shows he knows the scores are out of his control.
Steve-O puts his hands on his waist a lot, his head and waist tilted up as if awaiting bad news.

When I am insecure I cross my arms over my chest, play with my hair and just fidget in general. When I am nervous I tend to bite my lip a lot. When I'm really excited I talk A LOT and really fast. People have always told me I wear my heart on my sleeve and I have learned that my emotions are very easy to read by my facial expressions.

What are you telling others with your body language?

Dalai Lama's 18 rules for living

Marisol over at a dirty martini kind of girl posted this and I felt it was too good not to pass on...


1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three Rs: Respect for self; Respect for others; Responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

I hope everyone is having a great week. Thank you so much for the wonderful comments, they make me grin all day!

Source

Tsk, tsk...

Dear gas station clerk,

I see the disapproving look in your eyes when I ask for a box of Marlboro Lights. I can practically read your mind, wondering "why is she smoking? Does she not know how bad it is for her?"

Yes, I know.

I know all the facts. Know them well.

Joking around with me and saying, "no," when I ask for them isn't really funny either. It's not like I'm a giddy 18 year old excited about being above the legal age. It's not like I want to smell (or taste) like an ashtray. That's not it at all.

So, you want to what it is?

I do not know.

But, if you could just give me my purchase sans snide remarks, I would appreciate it.

Sincerely,

Happy Easter!

Hope everyone had a good Easter!

I know I have been a little absent lately. There's been a lot going on.

After deciding to go public with the blog, I immediately regretted it. A very dear friend of mine read a not so nice comment from me. I felt absolutely awful. Things are okay now, but it really got me thinking about how often I judge other people and gossip. So, I have made a commitment to myself not to gossip anymore. I know it's hard not to and I probably will sometimes but I want to make a better effort to put myself in the other persons shoes.

Also this past week things went a little south with the guy I was seeing. I honestly can't tell you if we're still dating or not. One half of me says no, and the other half says yes. On Friday night we talked (through Facebook IM) and he said he wanted to slow down. That he's gotten really busy with work recently and feels bad that he can't hang out with me all the time. I get where he is coming from, my career is very important to me, and I tend to be a workaholic as well. With this new job, I am hourly though and overtime is NEVER allowed. I cannot work over 40 hours, which is new to me. With CLL I tended to work between 45-50 hours a week and I worked Mon/Wed nights at a local sports bar. I quit working at the bar a little over a month ago, so just have the new gig going now.
I guess the pessimistic side of me is thinking this is just his way of letting me down gently. Jury's still out on that one... I'm just going to go with the flow and if something happens, great! If it doesn't, I know there are plenty of other fish in the sea!
I do think it's fair to date other people -- I need to learn how to not put all my eggs in one basket. I'm still very interested, but I have to protect myself. To be honest with you all, since things ended completely with the Big Ex in January I have felt really ready for a new relationship. Sounds crazy but I don't think I was ever completely over him, even during the five years we lost touch. This time it feels over for good. You have no idea how good it feels to be able to say that!

So, last night I was out with a ton of friends from high school. There's this kid that I guess likes me. I say "kid" because when I was a senior he was a sophomore. I graduated with his older brother and he was always the "Little [insert last name]" so it's just a little weird. He was flirting with me and buying me drinks all night long. We found out that we both tend to spend a lot of time up at Lake Okoboji in the summers. His family owns a cabin up there and one my best friends has cabins up there as well. His are near my friends too on the west side of the lake. We exchanged numbers and texted a little bit today. I'm just not sure though. I'm really not opposed to seeing guys younger than me at all. The guy I am currently seeing (?) is the same age as this guy from high school, which was really spooking me last night but I think that is just because I knew this guy in high school and would have never dated him back back thenl just because it would have been weird!

I'm just going to go with the flow. I keep saying that, but honestly if I don't keep saying it I will start to manipulate and over analyze everything.

I. have. to. stop. over. analyzing.

I seriously don't know how though, besides to keep repeating that I have to go with the flow. Seriously, are you sick of me yet? Ha!

That's basically my life in a nutshell! I can't believe I have been at the new job a month now, it feels like way longer! I move back into my own place in 15 days. Woo hoo! Can't wait!

What's been going on with ya'll? I've been saying ya'll lately, don't ask me why. I guess I want to be Southern. Or actually I want a Southern man. If you have not dated one before... let me tell you, they are the best. I love being called "baby", "sunshine", "sweetie", or any other term of endearment. Down there everyone is a pet name and at first it bugged me (I mean, my boss called me Babe, weird!)

Seriously though, how is everyone?!

What's your SSB?

The other day I was watching that episode of Sex and the City where Aidan starts moving into Carrie's apartment and she begins to feel claustrophobic. She complains that she can't indulge in "SSB" or Secret Single Behavior.

Got me thinking. What quirky habits do I have?

Here's what I came up with.

-I'm constantly picking at my face, I know bad habit.
-Walking around in underwear all the time (when I don't have a roommate that is!)
-I will go through week long phases with movies and watch it every night before I fall asleep. Sometimes it's longer than a week. Just depends!
-I make coffee at night just for the smell.
-I usually have to read before bed. It can't be completely quiet so I listen to Delilah because I find her voice comforting...
-Spend hours on the internet - seriously, it's ridiculous.
-Talk to Libby like she's a person. Sometimes I think she understands what I'm saying!
-Watch really girly movies or tv.

So what is your Secret Single Behavior?

Test...

New signature... cute!