Change the Funk

I've been in a bit of a funk today so here are my suggestions that helped me cheer up a bit.

1. Walk around Target aimlessly. Purchases not necessary.
2. Read the current issue of Glamour with Amanda Seyfried on the cover. I'm so looking forward to spring clothing and bright colors.
   
3. Listen to music. Tonight I paid a visit to Judy Garland and Adele. And it was perfect.
   
   
   
   
4. Look at pretty things. Stumpz notified us of a Kate Spade sale and I picked out a few things for myself to look. Le sigh.
5. Make a list of all the trips I want to take categorized by country, of course.
   
   
6. Read childhood favorite Anne of Green Gables. It was either Anne or Lucille Ball who began my love for gingers. Maybe it was both.

I'm feeling loads better now so, hopefully, I'll be able to get a good night's sleep with some lovely dreams.

Online Dating 2: Electric Bugaloo

Alright. Even after I made my dramatic statement about giving up on online dating, my friend convinced me to join again by reminding me I could block people very easily.  So I'm officially going on record to say that I'm back on just one dating site.  But let me restate...as I haven't dated since 2007, I am now beyond neurotic and feel the need to consult friends frequently.  Who else feels neurotic about dating?

 Why is there this smiling blonde girl on the cover when the woman in the workout is Asian?  Anyway, I've only used the cardio part of this dvd, but it's 20 minutes long and I enjoy it.  Some of it is 'kickboxing' and I enjoy pretending to punch the woman in the face.  I love that the girls in the background don't really know what they're doing.  Also the girl doing the lower impact version of the workout seems really pissed at the other girl.  Basically, while I'm punching the Asian woman in the face I think about how that girl is pissed off.

The best thing about 20 minute workouts is that 5 minutes in you can think oh I only have 15 minutes left, let me punch this woman really hard!

(I bought this dvd at Marshalls for $2.99 a while ago. Amazon has it for full price still, boo)

Rehabbing

Rehabbing my knee that is. Not running and limping for a month has transformed my body to jelly (and the slightly tighter fit in my jeans confirms that).

I started doing this yesterday.  It's currently $6.85 at Amazon and worth it.  One thing I hate about workout dvds is how everyone in the background are like the size of my leg and can do all the positions like it's super easy.  Not the case here! There are normal people who have normal body shapes and whose legs shake when it's a hard pose just like a normal person.  Emphasis on normal...the music is kind of hilarious because it sounds like it's taken from a Michael Bay movie..but I kind of like it. Lightens the mood.  Also, Bob Harper is kind of hot.  He's super nice, he knows the workout is hard, and he keeps reminding you that it's weight loss yoga and it's good for you. Also, I kept looking at the tv to see if he'd take off his shirt. This is why a workout dvd led by a man trumps the ones led by women. Keep your shirts on ladies, I don't want to see how your abs compares to my flabs.  I did the Level 1 workout (20 minutes) and I broke a sweat and felt the burn.  They also offered lower-impact variations on the poses.  

I have never seen the show but I read that the people in the background are from the show...good job guys

Social Anxiety?

Let's be real...it's been a long time since I've interacted with people other than law school students.  Add to that the time that I've spent at home unemployed and I'm upgraded to full on social awkwardness (in addition to being overly excited about getting dressed in something other than leggings and oversized cardigans). 

Cup of Jo has this blog post today about how to talk to strangers...but I feel like her tips are even more awkward.  Conversation tips in your pocket? I'd rather do the Elaine Benes dance, that's a good ice breaker. 

Anyway, now that I'm thinking about it, I don't think I've ever actually ever attended a party alone.  An old boss invited me to an event being held on 11/11/11.  My plan is to make it rain with business cards.  My real concerns are 1. not be awkward around new people when I don't have a friend safety net  and 2. how to suavely give someone my card

any tips?

7 1/2 Goals

Some people make New Year's Resolutions but I decided to make my End-of-the-Year Goals. Lots of lists have recently been made on Couch so I felt as though I should contribute and I thought making my list public would help keep me on track. We have approximately 7 1/2 weeks until December 31 (Yikes!) so this should be plenty of time to check off every goal on my list. And go:

1. I will lose 10 lbs. I know this is a lofty goal, especially with holiday parties right around the corner. But I think it's pretty reasonable. Again, we have 7 1/2 weeks to go and it would be nice to finish off the year at the weight I was before grad school.

2. I will not let more than 2 days pass in between workouts. This goes hand-in-hand with Goal #1. Too many times I've let my lazy ass be an excuse to not workout. Actually, I was supposed to go to the gym 2 hours ago prior to writing this post. I promise I will go to the gym after I publish this post so my lazy ass can turn into a toned ass. All about the priorities, people.

3. I will have 2 interviews scheduled by the end of the year. This one will definitely be more difficult since the scheduling part is out of my control. But I will just have to do all that I can short of begging and sending gift baskets to make sure my resume gets noticed.

4. I will floss my teeth every night. I've gotten into a habit of flossing my teeth every other night. This one is mainly for vanity because I'm quite pleased with my teeth and want to do all that I can to keep them looking good and healthy.

5. I will be out of bed by 10 a.m. I know. Lazy ass. I can't help it. You'd go to bed at 3 a.m., too, if you had Mr. Darcy (in both the literary and Colin Firth sense) with you. No? Just me? Moving right along.

6. I will call my credit card company to convince them to lower my interest rates. I will be using this tip to help me. Let's see if my negotiation skills can come into play. I should probably add "Better my negotiation skills" to this Goal list. Maybe for the next list.

7. I will send out letters and postcards to friends I've been promising them to for over a year. I'm terrible with that. I even bought pretty stationary (last year) with which to write said letters. Added to that, I will include baked goods.

7 1/2. I will finish a new book. I'm currently re-reading Pride and Prejudice for the umpteenth time (see Goal #5). After that I'll finally finish Michael Pollan's An Omnivore's Dilemma. This is where the half comes in since I've already read the first half of the book.

OK, so that's it. 7 1/2 goals for 7 1/2 weeks.

On why I'm giving up online dating

Let me be clear: by giving up I mean deleting my profiles...I haven't actually been on a date since 2007. 

I'll start at the beginning...in college there was this guy that randomly friended me on FB.  I accepted him because this was the early days of FB so it wasn't that weird yet...and he had some FB friends in common with me...the roommate of the guy I dated freshman year, the girl whose ex-bf told her the only reason he dated her is that I wasn't single at the time, etc.  I hung out with this guy once or twice (I had a bf at the time so obviously it wasn't a date)...his parents and my parents had friends in common so it wasn't as creepy as it could have been. 

But then it got worse! Starting any message with "hey beautiful" if you're not dating the person is weird...especially if you know they have a boyfriend.  Also, he gave me weird details on his devirginization process, which NO ONE in their twenties should be talking about.  But I put up with his weirdness because his family is good friends with the people who live across the street, who my mom was good friends with at the time...

And then I was interning in Berkeley for a summer.  I didn't know anyone in the Bay Area and the girls at work were kind of standoffish towards me. Also, I had just seen my exboyfriend and was heart-broken and randomly bursting into tears on the subway.  So when this guy asked if I wanted to hang out, I said yes. We've all been there.  And when we hung out, he took me to some party where everyone was talking about their I Phones and 4 Square and I just went to the bar and got wasted because it sucked.  And when he dropped me off at the subway station he took my MARC JACOBS sunglasses so I'd have to see him again.  Friends...I did not see him again.  I even defriended him on FB because he was critical of my love of environmental policy. 

Two weeks ago he text messaged me about my sunglasses.  I have moved on to Wayfarers, thank you very much. 

Anyway, the point of this long story about this awful guy is that he is on every dating site with his own name as a user name and every site recommends him to me.  Internet, I say no...Real Life has proven that this guy is a jackass of a high degree.  If your algorithms think we should be together than I refuse those algorithms!!

And that was the last straw with online dating. The end.