Patriots' Day...or Marathon Monday!

If you are a Masshole, happy Patriots' Day to you, if you are a Bostonian or a runner, happy Marathon Monday!

Patriots' Day is celebrating the battles of Lexington and Concord blah blah it means you get a day off. (I'm not actually blah blah-ing because I am a huge history nerd and the History Channel is now following me on the twitter machine and I'm beyond ecstatic).

My senior year of college one of my close friends ran the Boston marathon, and my roommates boytoy at the time was running, so she and I spent our Monday afternoon cruising down to the Bean to cheer them on at the finish. We were so lazy we parked at the Pru and walked out the side door by Gucci and stood right there on Boylston. I also made a sweet sign with some markers and a file folder as we headed down 93.

Post marathon-ness. My sweet sign. Yes it says I <3 Lawnguyland on the bottom. And yes we are sitting on the floor of a hotel lobby.

Pilates doesn't stop just for Marathon Monday so I had to work when I was in grad school...but the side windows of the studio looked right out onto Boylston and we could see the finishers. They looked like little Hershey kisses wrapped up in the foil blankets.

Three acquaintances from college are running today, a friend from high school is running, and two close friends from college are running.

NurseJ is running on Tedy's Team, to benefit the American Stroke Association. I am so proud of her and this is a cause especially close to her heart. In October of 2010 her 26 year old boyfriend passed away due to complications from a stroke. Her positivity is inspiring and she is going to rock this marathon with her ipod full of Dashboard Confessional.

Stroke Warning Signs:

Stroke is a medical emergency. Know these warning signs of stroke and teach them to others. Every second counts! Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body. Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding. Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes. Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination. Sudden, severe headache with no known cause. Call 9-1-1 immediately if you experience symptoms! Time lost is brain lost

http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/General/Tedys-Team_UCM_315263_Article.jsp

NurseB is running for Miles for Miracles for Children's Hospital Boston where she works on the cardiac transplant team. This cause is close to my heart, literally. She has spent most of her nursing career working in cardiac ICUs around the country and is essentially a gazelle. She will rock the marathon quick as a bunny.

Be careful out there marathoners- it is supposed to be a scorchaaa!

Music Mystery

Two weeks ago I was in the car and I heard a new song with a catchy beat and some great lyrics. I didn't catch the name of the song but I figured I could use my google skills and figure it out. I was so wrong. When I got home from work I enlisted the help of my sister by awkwardly trying to sing her the chorus. I thought the lyrics were "I be loving you, you be loving me, and ahhh..." Yes, exactly, I am zero help. After an hour of searching we finally figured out the song and now it is one of my new favorites. Also, the lyrics are "I belong to you, you belong to me, in our sweet home." Whoops.

The Lumineers- Ho Hey

yes obviously this is from the youtube.



Impressed with my seventeen year old self.

In the midst of getting the house ready to be sold my imminent homelessness, I have been given the task of going through the extensive amount of bins full of my junk from basically my entire life. Every time another bin appears from the basement I look for the crew from Hoarders.

When I was senior in high school I participated in a female-only committee that put on a literature reading, for senior girls only, at the end of the year. As part of the Hearing our Voices core committee I'm pretty sure my only task was to arrange the chairs in the library for the presentation and introduce our guest speaker. Females from the senior class were also invited to submit original works and read them at our reading. I found the sweet plastic bound booklet and must say, I am impressed with my submission.

"I Hate You"

Throughout my seventeen years on this planet, I've learned many things, some good, some bad. Lots of information was taught to me in school. The really boring stuff I've quickly forgotten, but the more interesting facts have stayed with me. However, the lessons I have learned about life are the facts I value most.

Being in such a tight knit community such as [ my high school ] provides plenty of opportunities for rumors to start and people to turn on each other. Plenty of time I myself have been stabbed in the back by people I considered close friends. But the experience has always brought about a new lesson and a new way to look at things. Over the years I have learned that is not always who you have known the longest, or have the most inside jokes with that matters the most. The tool to measure the value of friendship by is whether you stuck by that person when things got tough and they stuck by you.

Sometimes people don't need a reason to be mean. For some people, being mean makes them feel better about themselves or even brings them excitement to create drama. Some even thrive on drama, believing that life is boring without it.

But don't stress if you are suddenly the outsider. Chances are people are just being mean for the hell of it. Now that sounds horrible and not all people are like that, but there are those out there who take great pleasure in being mean.

Acceptance is very important in high school and some people will go to any lengths to achieve that popularity and acceptance by their peers. If this means being fake to get ahead in life, they just might do that.

High school is a harsh world, but not all of it is bad. Just concentrate on the good stuff, and don't let a few mean people ruin your day. Remember, there are those who feel it's their duty to knock you down, but always remember that there are those who want to be right there to help you back up.

Yes, I left the grammatical errors in there.

High school has come and gone, and cliches are still cliches, but I feel like the underlying message still resonates...haters gon' hate. Do what makes YOU happy.

Suck on that one, clowns.

Also, I got in A LOT of trouble because of this back in '04.

American Reunion.

I have Monday and Tuesday off this week and it is spring break for all the schools, so DKL, a teacher, and I went to the movies Monday afternoon. After paying more for buckets of diabetes than our actual tickets, we were ready to enjoy American Reunion with the seven other moviegoers joining us.

imdb.com

The best part of the movie was probably the music. Not to say the movie wasn't good, but I absolutely loved how they synced the music from American Reunion to the same type of scenes as American Pie and American Pie 2 (I still haven't watched American Wedding). As you can tell, I am a music freak. I kept hitting DLK to tell her that it was a song used in a previous movie. She wasn't as excited as I was. I obviously had the soundtracks to the first two movies and played them on repeat during my angsty teen years.

allmoviephoto.com

I don't know what type of work Chris Klein has had done, or what he has been drinking, but he has aged extremely well. Yes please. I wasn't a huge fan of his back in the day (especially due to him being with a movie with Leelee Sobieski. I LOATHE her).

 

teaser-trailer.com

I loved Thomas Ian Nicholas in AP/AP2...not a fan of the facial hair in AR. I like his baby face.

 

chicagoreader.com

Let's face it. I love Stifler. Seann Michael Scott plays the role perfectly.

If you value inappropriate/vulgar/juvenile humor, I'd recommend checking it out.

The previews however...every preview was for some weird, futuristic, robot/alien/can't happen in real life type of movie. I don't like things that can't happen in real life, hence my Harry Potter/Hunger Games/Twilight aversion.

Hoppy Easter.

Hoppy Easter, Buona Pasqua, Happy Passover, or whatever your little heart desires.

Whatever it was you were celebrating, or not celebrating, I hope you had a nice day with family and friends that are like family.

I like to spend my holidays shoveling as many snowflake rolls as possible in my mouth while wearing Lilly and downing mimosas.

For Palm Sunday I started with a little Lilly to ease into the season...

Of course on Good Friday I had to purchase some Lilly... but it was on sale so it basically doesn't count. Plus it is for a wedding in June. So I already know I will get use out of it. I have this same dress in the Skinny Dipping print and I love it. The length is perfect for my inner spinster.

And then for Easter I wore a dress IN THE SAME PRINT AS PALM SUNDAY. Because I am that cool. Paired with purple tights and green revas I'm not quite sure the 7:30 was prepared for this walking rainbow.

The Easter Bunny sent my younger brother back to school with ALL OF MY SNICKERS EGGS. All of them. RUDE.



Frandoms

I want this dress:

Bloomingdales.com

But it needs to look like this so girlfriend can wear a real bra:

People need to get a clue. Fbook is NOT your diary. I personally don't care what your daily schedule of events might be. Get a twitter. I won't follow.

Also, please see: things that should be text messages not wall posts.

Speaking of twitter, I luff the twitter machine. However, my sister and father both follow me so when I'm trying to tell a super awesome story, they don't even pretend to be interested because they saw it on twitter. RUDE.

To illustrate how completely opposite my sister and I are:

Thursday morning as she was leaving for an appt and I was finishing getting ready upstairs (p.s. we totally had a seester moment brushing our teeth at the same time but it ended with me in my parents bathroom because I have to walk around when I brush my teeth and she was impeding my prance), this happened:

Her: There are flowers outside!

Me: FROM WHOOOOO?! WHAT KIND?! FROM WHERE?!

Her: On a bush. It flowered overnight.

Me: Oh, bummer.

It's not that I don't appreciate nature, but when someone says flowers outside I'm thinking I have a nice bouquet of tulips with my name on them waiting for me.

I actually hate getting flowers sent to me because usually they have something gross in them I hate and I get more upset by receiving the not perfect flowers than I do enjoying the fact someone sent me flowers. Also, I typically never receive flowers so this only happens once every five years.

Today is Good Friday + Passover begins. I have a not-so-secret secret. I love Judaism. Like I have spent hours researching the tenets, holidays, talking to friends who are Jew-ish (dad is Jewish mom is Catholic; never converted thus the -ish). While I love the traditions of my religion, I really respect the role of women in Judaism and the teachings. Hopefully Seth Cohen shows up at my door (with flowers) and we will live happily ever after. Orrrrr Brendan Fraser from School Ties. Or even Sandy Cohen...sorry Kirsten.

I have a five day weekend and I am going to enjoy every second.

An Open Letter to Dressing Room Patrons

I had a solid four hours to kill in between work events on Tuesday so after I ate two bagels in my car like a sad lonely squirrel, I obviously stopped at Marshalls to browse. While I'm not currently purchasing, obviously I can still browse and try on. I had about ten items to try on so I headed into the dressing room. This Marshalls is located near one of our "nicer" malls, at the crossroads of major highways, near an affluent town, and on the bus line. I say this because you literally never know what demographic will be in the store.

Dear Dressing Room Patrons,

     When you accept the ticket with the number of items you wish to try on, you are not accepting a ticket to Narnia. When you walk into the dressing room, you are not magically transported into an alternate universe. You are still in public. And by public, I mean that I can essentially see and hear anything you do in the general dressing room area. Even when you close the flimsy latch I can still hear you. So when you are a grown woman and you try on a juniors dress and proceed to flit out into the main dressing room area while I'm frantically trying to find a non broken room to try on my moderately priced Calvin Klein, you are going to be in my way, and I'm not going to be that apologetic. P.S., when your boobs meet your waist, it is time to a- get a new bra b- stop wearing juniors.

    When you are a mother, and your sixteen year old daughter is in the room next to you and you demand she comes out to show you a TANK TOP she tried on, you are going to annoy me. When she comes out to show you said tank top, and you proceed to tell her she is not going anywhere looking that ghetto, you are going to bother me.

    If you answer your phone while you are trying on clothes, and have a conversation regarding a custody dispute, I am going to judge you. The family court is closed for a reason, these are matters best kept between the family and only a select few who need to know.

Best,

 KK

The woman who kept saying ghetto this, and ghetto that, probably had never even driven in the "scary" part of town. She had no understanding of the word, and the history behind it. What did she mean by ghetto? Did she mean a government contrived section of Venice where Jews were required to live starting in the 1500s? Or was she referring to a sociologically perpetuated area of a city or town in which ethnic minorities have traditionally lived, usually with rampant poverty, crime, and social disorder? Either way, I doubt a tank top from Marshalls could express ghetto-ness. What she was doing was perpetuating a stereotype. Based on her and her daughter's conversation regarding school, I figured out where she lived- an affluent, roughly 95% Caucasian town where the term ghetto was used by privileged white kids when they wore their hats crooked.

How did she know that I wasn't from an inner city community marred by stereotypes? There is no way to know that about anyone.

Basically, keep ya mouth shut in public unless you absolutely know what and who you are talking about.

Reasons why I am super annoying.

I wear things like this to work:

Upon returning home after work, my sister, seeing me for the first time, blurts out "Violet, you're turning violet!" And then laughed at me.

  Purple sweater, purple tights, purple plaid skirt, purple scarf. Yup, annoying. At least I don't own purple boots...

And this:

 Grey sweater, grey, blue, and black plaid skirt, blue scarf, blue tights, and black revas. I like to coordinate, okay.

I aggressively demand that I be able to use my Blush Art before my mother donates it.

Girlfriend has just got to get crafty.

I keep things like American Girl doll trading cards a solid 13-15 years after I stopped playing with said dolls.

Not sure why I have Addy and Kirsten cards if those were the two of the original five that I didn't own...

There are way more reasons. WAY MORE. Happy Hump Day/Faux Thursday/Fursday.

Signature Dish.

I have zero wife skills. Zero. I usually can manage not burning the house down (I did set a plate on fire cooking an egg in college), but I like to be supervised in the kitchen. For the safety of myself and those that will eventually consume the food I make.

I was invited to a potluck dinner last Thursday night for a few women in my department. I had all sorts of questions such as, Do I really have to go? What if I poison my boss? What will I talk about? What do I wear? Is this some initiation? Will we play light as a feather, stiff as a board? Why are only certain members of our department invited? Is this like a popular thing? Will I get to sit at the cool table on Friday? What if they don't like me?

The entire week I was freaking out but Thursday morning I had to face the music and begin my occupation of the kitchen. I have a few fail safe dishes that I know I can make and no one will die post consumption.

One area where I seem to excel is baking. I know this makes zero sense because baking is chemistry and I have math anxiety and baking is harder than cooking AND BLAH BLAH BLAH. I don't eat meat so for me to cook you a chicken dish means I will wear plastic gloves and a mask and probably burn it. Enjoy : )

My go-to items to bring to parties are red velvet cookies and raspberry squares. And let's be honest, I use a mix and have no fancy tweaks or inspiring garnishes to share with you.

Read box, mix ingredients, pray to the convection gods that I don't give anyone a gastrointestinal illness.

 Spinach and Strawberry salad seems to be a big hit anytime I make it. Plus I love it so this ensures I always have something to eat. I bring Annie's Balsamic Vinaigrette to pair with the delicious spinach.

I hate tomatoes, but I know many people like them, so I compromise and bring side dishes for add-ins to the salad. Buffalo Wing Cheddar is my b*tch lover and while I shouldn't eat it,

IT TASTES SO GOOD.

My womp womp hostess gift. I forgot to grab flowers when I was out running errands so I had to stop at a grocery store on my way, wrap the bouquet in ribbon in my car, and awkwardly hold them in my claw hand to take a glorious picture for you.

I am happy to report all parties are in good health and I received many compliments on my baked goods. Woo woo suck it, Martha.

Awareness

Today is World Autism Awareness Day...wear your blue!

www.autismspeaks.org

The recent news regarding an increase in autism diagnoses is just that- an increase in diagnoses. When the DSM-V comes out in May 2013 it is going to be very interesting to see how the diagnosis rate changes. For more information on the changes to the Autism Spectrum Disorders in the DSM-V, check out DSM-V Autism Spectrum Disorder.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM). The goal of SAAM is to raise awareness about sexual violence and to educate the public on prevention of such violence.

www.nsvrc.org/saam

The Uniform Crime Report (UCR) is a method of gathering information from police departments regarding incidence of crime. The FBI collects and publishes this information to be used in studying crime rates. In 2011 a change was finally made to collect more accurate information regarding sexual assaults. The old definition of rape was such that only a female could be raped by a male, leaving no method of collecting information of same sex assault or female on male. The new categories include broader definitions of rape and sexual assault. This is a huge step toward studying the reported incidence of sexual assault, but there is still more to be done. Spread the word, the best prevention is education!

Both of these issues are close to my heart, I just have to spread the word.

April Goals

I'm working on actually following through with my goals each month, so I have the interwebs to hold me accountable, plus a great goal conversation with PLK this afternoon.

Spending diet

   I need to stick to my self-imposed budget and realize that I have many material possessions so I don't really *need* anything. I am going to save, save, save, and hopefully use that extra money down the road. Europe is definitely calling my name again, and when my parents sell the house I would like to not live in my car.

Watch caloric intake

  I love food. However, food loves my midsections so much that it likes to hangout for months. Not cool, food, not cool. I am saying watch because I never restrict, that is how disordered eating begins. I am more concerned with how I feel and fit into my clothes rather than the number of calories I consume. I also just really like the word caloric.

Smile more

  Even though April is one of my least favorite months, I am very lucky to be who I am, have the opportunities that I have had, blah blah all that nice mushy stuff. I should be thankful and enjoy the ride.

Keep up with laundry

 Once I get going with laundry I really do not mind it, it is getting over that initial wow that's a lot of clothes to clean that I get stuck. I am notorious for never doing laundry and letting it pile up until I literally am wearing those jeans reserved for yard work and a t shirt in public. In college I hated doing laundry in the dorms so much that I would wait until I went home...which usually was at least six weeks. To solve the undergarment issue I would just buy more underwear. To this day I have a solid four week supply. Must.do.laundry.weekly.

Pilates 3x week

No excuses, just do it. I know I will feel better afterwards, and I will get my abs back, and my toned arms, and my Pippa bum...okay maybe it doesn't look exactly like Pippa's, but near identical.

Cut losses

 Sometimes, you just have to let go, to people, to material possessions, and to memories. Peace out negative energy, you betch.

Keep work at work

  My job is unique in that most of what I do is outside the normal workday (that really doesn't make any sense but whatever). That being said, I bring work home with me on a regular basis. I have built in time during the work day that I could be completing these tasks, yet choose to torture myself with completing it on the weekends or at night. I packaged up all of the papers at home, and am bringing them to my desk Monday morning.

April is a blah month in my mind but I'm looking forward to checking off, crossing out, and highlighted my completed goals.