NYE...plans?

So it's New Year's Eve, again. Seem like only a last weekend that I was at The Hills in Rochester with my old college friends.

Oh that's right, I was.

But I mean for New Year's.

It was amazingly fun, and we were all obsessed with the disco ducks in our wine glasses.

Anyhow, enough about last year.

This year, I have big plans - or at least, thought I would.

During my trip to Somerset a couple weeks ago with one of my favorites, she helped me pick out this slammin' outfit, perfect for NYE festivities.

After much deliberation, we've decided to go to dinner.

Yep, that's it. Dinner.

And there's the potential for a house party in there, but that'll only require jeans anyhow. It appears that, this year, people just aren't making elaborate plans.

At least it's dinner at Parallax - one of my favorites in this town.

So all the preparations and excitement of a rather expensive outfit...for dinner.

Honestly, I'm completely okay with that given that I've caught a touch of this crap that seems to be going around.

Sniffles or not, I'm not missing out on some amazing sushi tonight.

What are your NYE plans?

Cheers!

-A

Another one bites the dust

Another friend that is.

A male friend.

*gasp* Shocker I know.

Luckily, it really has nothing to do with me - it's all about the new girlfriend.

Gah! The girlfriend gets me every time!

Why is it than when a guy starts dating a new girl he has to give up his current friendships with people of the opposite sex?

Now, don't get me wrong, some of my best guy friends have managed to stick around through relationships and even marriages - granted, I'm usually friends with the wife, too - but it pisses me off to no end when a solid friendship we had before she came along has to be ruined purely because she's insecure.

Bitch.

And odds are, it's you she doesn't trust. Not me.

Idiot.

Maybe you two do deserve each other after all.

But I have to admit that I feel a little bit bad for the poor bastard. Too bad he can't grow a pair and stand up for a friendship he once cherished.

See?

See how happy people can be in platonic friendships?!

Yes, I am wearing Pooh Bear gloves. Shut it.

This goes back to my question about friendship in your 20s. Sure, it can be a struggle to keep friends in and out of new relationships, but seriously, if the friendship came first, shouldn't that be taken into consideration before kicking them to the curb?

I certainly think so.

-A

p.s. - thanks for untagging yourself from all my Facebook photos. One more way to drive the point home, eh?

Necessary update

Hey Blogosphere,

Remember me?

Yeah, I know, I suck. I said I'd still be around then I dropped offline for a week. Yikes!

The holidays have this way of sucking me in and pulling me away from the normal routine. And I must say, it's been difficult to get back into the swing of things. Next week, after a break for the New Year's holiday and a big move to a new apartment, I'm sure it'll be just as difficult.

So here's the update on what's been keeping my time so occupied this last week.

-Two family Christmas parties. Light load, I lucked out this year!

-Completing Eclipse and starting into Breaking Dawn. Yep, still addicted.

-Getting to see Joe after his (extremely too long) absence while stationed in Iraq.

-Attending the MSU vs. Oakland basketball game at the Palace with my old college crew.

-Getting to see one of my favorites, Chris, who came in to visit from LA! You still reading, Chris?

-Planned a trip out to LA to visit the rest of the crew this summer.

-Played many a game of Mad Gab.

-Officially picked a dog breeder and mailed in my deposit.

-Met up with one of my bestests for coffee and to meet the SO.

-Discussed the art update with the BFF who's decided to use my photos as a staple throughout his house!

-A 5 hour drive to visit the 'rents, a 4 hour drive back to OH for one night, a 3 hour drive back up to the D and another 3 hour drive back the next day...whew!

On top of all that, I'm attempting to fight off the plague that seems to be circulating through the SOs family...fingers crossed.

One more day until New Year's festivities begin - anyone have any fun plans this year?

What did you do to celebrate the holidays?

Cheers!

-A

Holiday cheer

Not only am I in high holiday spirits because it's officially my winter vacation this week, but today has brought me a number of gifts - blogger gifts to be exact.

After a lovely lunchtime yoga class (that I never can find time to attend during the work week) I came back to my apartment to find my mailbox full of lovely holiday cards from my fellow bloggers.

*tear* I'm touched.

They're all officially read and hanging on my wall next to my stockings.

Given that I was a bad blogger friend this year and did not send personal notes via snail mail to y'all, you'll have to forgive me and consider this your "card" filled with holiday cheer.

I'm so lucky to have the best blogger friends anyone could as for - those real life friends and those that will become so in 2009.

Enough sap, it's lunch time for this vacationing gal.

Cheers! And happy holidays!!

-A

p.s. Special thanks to Ben for the puppy card that totally made my day, and Matt for realizing that yes, I have been good this year!

Photography Friday: Office Party

Welcome to another Photography Friday. This week, it's the office Christmas party edition.

And yes, this is a cop out because I haven't gotten out to take pictures recently.

Winter is usually one of my favorite times to capture the changing landscape, but honestly, it's been so windy and rainy here, I've been too much of a puss to actually go outside.

So this is what you get, deal with it.

Last night was the office Christmas party. This year definitely had it's surprises.

Last year we went to a Cavs game, which y'all can imagine how fun that was for me as a die hard Pistons fan.

The year before that I was in Texas, and all the TX offices got together at a resort in Dallas - it was fantastic, but I still think this year may have won.

Before the party we had a staff meeting at a "surprise offsite location."

Most of us had figured out that it was going to be at our future office space - but I don't think any of us knew how cool it would be. The space has yet to be designed, but the layout looked amazing and the attached parking garage is definitely a plus.

(This is me on the bus ride over to the new space.)

After a quick meeting and a champagne toast we headed over to the martini bar to get the party started.

As you'll notice, I have no other pictures as I was terrible about actually taking them during the party.

Photographer FAIL.

See this truly is a cop out...

This year, we were allowed to bring a guest, so the SO came to meet my co-workers. He's been getting rave reviews around the office this morning.

After some free food and drinks we went to a comedy show, which we all enjoyed.

Today, I feel extra tired and hungry (free food wasn't exactly dinner). So my team and I are heading out for a lovely digital lunch for some greasy Chinese food today.

And then, it's vacation time! Woohoo!

But I'll still be here, dear readers. You can count on that.

Cheers!

-A

The woman and her Beamer

True story.

Early this morning, as I was getting out of my Saturn Vue in the parking garage below my office, a woman in a 3 series BMW pulled in next to me.

I was gathering my things as she got out of her car and proceeded to turn around and wait. As I climbed out and started toward the building entrance I realized, she was waiting for me.

C'mon now, lady. I'm not going to do anything to your precious car. Granted, I do drive a Saturn, but it's new, and pretty, and yes it's actually made of metal. And really, do I look like a girl who's about to smash open your passenger window and hot wire your car? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Being a little irked by this I decided to dawdle and fumble with my things a little longer, just to make her wait. Her anxiety shown through even more when she clicked the lock button on her key fob once more, in turn beeping the horn, just to let me know that indeed she did lock her precious vehicle.

Once I started toward the building she turned to walk five paces in front of me - as if she'd never even seen me.

To further test my theory - not that much testing was needed, given that it was 6:30 a.m., we were the only one's in the garage, and she was looking directly at me this entire time - I quickly spun back toward my car as if I'd forgotten something.

When she realized I was no longer on her heals, she stopped immediately, turned in my direction and proceeded to wait...again. Her glare could have burned a hole through me.

I shut my drivers side door and made clear eye contact as I locked my car, hitting the button twice, just to be smug.

As I followed her into the building, she pretended as if I wasn't there and never once held a door for me.

If you're going to non-verbally accuse me of wanting to steal your car, the least you can do is hold the door for me when I don't.

Bitch.

-A

I wish(ed) your wish

Last weekend on the trip to Pittsburgh, we stopped by Carnegie Mellon for a quick lunch and a visit to the Natural History Museum.

The SO was looking forward to the dinosaur exhibit - which I admit was pretty cool given that they had two T-rex skeletons - and my attention tended to gravitate toward the geology portion of the exhibit.

Yes, I'm that big of a geek. But give me a break, I didn't take "rocks for jocks" in college; astronomy was my science of choice.

But I digress.

There also was an exhibit called Life on Mars that we didn't explore much due to lack of time - oh, who am I kidding, and lack of interest too...I can only take so much learning in one vacation.

Part of this exhibit was the I Wish Your Wish wall.

The premise of this interactive exhibit is that visitors take a ribbon from the wall with an imprinted wish on it. Some of these wishes are in English, some are not - giving it an international flare.

These are wishes of visitors past. You take one that most applies to your life - or at least that you find meaningful. The SO and I found a blue ribbon wishing that our actions were not controlled by our fears. Deep. He ended up taking this one in the end. The wish I picked out for myself (on green ribbon, naturally) stated, "I wish I knew if it would all be worth it." Brilliant!

As legend has it, you tie the ribbon around your wrist - or any other part of your body, I suppose - and tie it in three knots, making a wish after each knot. Once the ribbon falls off (on it's own) your wishes will come true.

Then, and this is what I find pretty damn cool, you write down a new wish on a piece of paper and slide it in the hole where you took your ribbon from. These wishes are then printed and placed in the empty holes on the wall for others to read and take for themselves.

Here's the wish I put on the wall: "I wish that I could do it all over again."

What would your wish be?

Cheers!

-A

The Lunch Date: revisited

Detroit was amazing!

Or rather, the time spent with one of my favorites, wandering the streets of Royal Oak and consuming red wine was amazing. And much needed.

(Us back in our college days - this was the only picture I could find at the moment.)

I love those friends where, no matter how long it's been since you have physically seen one another you pick up right where you left off. She is this girl for me. And, we're scary similar sometimes. We are both so graceful, after all.

Sarcasm - if you didn't notice.

When I got in on Friday we went out for a late sushi dinner where we ran into Suton, who I thought would be the most interesting sighting of the evening. But oh was I wrong.

Dinner discussions tended to be in depth and analytical - mostly about boys and our careers. But who are we kidding here, career talk went out the door after the second glass of wine...

So about, oh I dunno, 30 seconds after she had finished telling me about a recent lunch date gone wrong, a visitor slides into the booth next to me.

Given that I didn't see this coming, nor did I know who this stranger was, I let out an audible yelp.

His ears must have been ringing, because it was Mr. Lunch Date himself, drunk as a skunk.

As he proceeded to beg us to come join his group at a bar down the street, I took the opportunity to size him up. Aside from the fact that I think she is way too good for him - though let's be honest, I think that about most men she dates...she's just so special, she deserves someone great - he was rather awkward.

Knowing that he is an engineer I might blame it on that - but the BFF is in the same line of work and he's completely capable of holding conversations in groups.

During our attempted discussion, it came out that I graduated from college a couple years before him. This seemed to take him by surprise. Upon my response to the "so how old are you" question, he says, very matter of factly:

"You look good for your age."

Yes, I'd like another glass of Syrah, please.

C'mon now, really? It was then that I realized just how much better she can do...

This wasn't the only interesting encounter of the weekend, however it may be the most memorable. How was your weekend?

Cheers!

-A

Photography Friday: Pittsburgh

Welcome to Photography Friday, the Pittsburgh edition.

Last weekend's trip to Pittsburgh with the SO was a much needed break from the monotony of winter in the Cleve. Though, I have to say, the two cities are eerily similar - the atmosphere, the people.

The scenery though, that's where the Burgh has us beat. Between the hills, the rivers, and the architecture I was in heaven.

(Editors note: Recommendations on where to go in NE Ohio for good photo ops welcomed - I know I haven't exhausted the city yet, but I'm running out of ideas.)

On our first day there the skies were cooperative, letting the sun peak through at just the right times. We ventured up the incline from Station Square - so that we could grab a drink at Bar Louie and warm up shortly thereafter - to capture views of the city from Mount Washington.

The one at the top is most favored from that adventure.

Of all the pictures taken through the pain and ensuing numbness that my fingers endured to get some quality shots, this has got to be my favorite.

This was probably my third shot of the trip - waiting to head up the incline. Between the depth of field and natural sectioning I'm head over heals.

In fact, this may be the next print for my wall.

For now, I'm off to chilly Detroit for a girls weekend full of Christmas shopping and shenanigans with one of my college favorites. Do you have any exciting plans for the weekend?

Cheers!

-A

Working from home

(I only wish I lived in a place that looked like this...)

In the past, I've mentioned how much I love my job. Not only do I get to do work that I enjoy everyday, but the people I work with are phenomenal. 

And the perks we get are nothing to bitch about.

One of those perks is the ability to work from home from time to time. I assume this is one of those, as long as you don't abuse it, type of situations - but I'm careful not to find that one out.

It's great, though.

If you've got a maintenance man coming over and need to be at home, you don't have to cash in your sick time to get it taken care of. 

And when puppy time rolls around, it'll be nice to know I can stay at my place if the little guy is in need.

Right now, I'm actually utilizing this perk so I can spend the day focusing on a project that will take a lot of concentration (okay, so obviously not right this second).

And let's face it, when you work in an office where you enjoy the company of your co-workers, the day can be a little distracting.

This is only one of the many additional bonuses of working for my employer. 

So tell me dear readers, what are some of the perks you love about your job?

For now, I'm about to turn off all social media (gasp, I know) and focus on the other geeky side of my persona, the techie who loves to edit and produce videos. Final Cut here I come!

Cheers!

-A

When I grow up

...I want to be a chef.

Okay, so maybe not a chef, but definitely a foodie. Yeah, that's more like it.

Recent experiences with the foodie world have drawn me to this lifestyle. Being in NYC at Chelsea Market - surrounded by some of the best chefs and bakers all day, experiencing the best tasting food, touring the Food Network test kitchens, meeting celebrity chefs - I love everything about it.

Being in Cleveland, I'm always hoping for a chance to rub elbows with Michael Symon during a casual stroll down East 4th or swinging by Lolita in Tremont. One of these days, I will get that chance.

And no, that doesn't make me a stalker, thankyouverymuch. I'm just a paying customer who's in awe. I mean, anyone who has their servers wear Converse All Stars during their shifts has got to be pretty fantastic - and c'mon y'all, he can cook a mean meal.

There's just something about being integrated in the foodie world that's so attractive. The excitement of being in a kitchen watching edible masterpieces take shape, meeting world renowned chefs, learning techniques from the pros, promoting one of the best networks on television - The Food Network for those who didn't catch on - and of course the love and appreciation for food.

I've always wanted to be a pastry chef like Duff.

The problem is, I'm not the most creative girl, nor am I the most kitchen savvy but I can be taught, especially if I can get my hands dirty with the the players at Charm City Cakes or go on the road with Bobby for a throw down or head out with Michael on his next Dinner Impossible challenge. And words cannot begin to describe how much I'd love to be a fly on the wall for Iron Chef America or take part in one of the Food Network Challenges.

Or maybe I should just become a food photographer - that would get a foot in the door, right? Hell, I'd even be a personal assistant if it meant spending time with some of the best chefs in the world. Know of anyone in need? *wink wink*

Anyone else obsessed with The Food Network and life as a foodie? What do you want to be when you grow up?

Cheers!

-A

When I grow up

...I want to be a chef.

Okay, so maybe not a chef, but definitely a foodie. Yeah, that's more like it.

Recent experiences with the foodie world have drawn me to this lifestyle. Being in NYC at Chelsea Market - surrounded by some of the best chefs and bakers all day, experiencing the best tasting food, touring the Food Network test kitchens, meeting celebrity chefs - I love everything about it.

Being in Cleveland, I'm always hoping for a chance to rub elbows with Michael Symon during a casual stroll down East 4th or swinging by Lolita in Tremont. One of these days, I will get that chance.

And no, that doesn't make me a stalker, thankyouverymuch. I'm just a paying customer who's in awe. I mean, anyone who has their servers wear Converse All Stars during their shifts has got to be pretty fantastic - and c'mon y'all, he can cook a mean meal.

There's just something about being integrated in the foodie world that's so attractive. The excitement of being in a kitchen watching edible masterpieces take shape, meeting world renowned chefs, learning techniques from the pros, promoting one of the best networks on television - The Food Network for those who didn't catch on - and of course the love and appreciation for food.

I've always wanted to be a pastry chef like Duff.

The problem is, I'm not the most creative girl, nor am I the most kitchen savvy but I can be taught, especially if I can get my hands dirty with the the players at Charm City Cakes or go on the road with Bobby for a throw down or head out with Michael on his next Dinner Impossible challenge. And words cannot begin to describe how much I'd love to be a fly on the wall for Iron Chef America or take part in one of the Food Network Challenges.

Or maybe I should just become a food photographer - that would get a foot in the door, right? Hell, I'd even be a personal assistant if it meant spending time with some of the best chefs in the world. Know of anyone in need? *wink wink*

Anyone else obsessed with The Food Network and life as a foodie? What do you want to be when you grow up?

Cheers!

-A

Mindless struggles

Don't let the title fool you, it's not as if I'm in a completely mindless state - rather, I'm thinking entirely too much causing my ability to concentrate on unrelated topics to evaporate.

So, today you'll be pointed in the direction of some of the greatest posts of the recent past.

These will give you an idea of where my brain seems to have disappeared to, as well.

I love holding hands - cheesy, maybe. But there's just something about it.

Each day is one step closer to me being a proud puppy owner - a mini dachshund to be exact.

Is there a way to prevent stage 4 from setting in?

What women really want - fascinating. Count me in agreement with the Original List.

Thanks goes out to Mel, Ben, and 27 Dresses for supplying me with content for another cop out post.

Until I'm back on solid ground...

Cheers!

-A

Today is my Friday

That's right, as of noon today I'm walking out the office door and into a long weekend!

I'm heading out of town, only this time, not to Michigan. The SO (significant other, for those who haven't been paying attention) and I will be making a trip to Pittsburgh for a couple days away from normal life.

The first weekend away - big step I know - but I'm excited as I've never been to Pittsburgh.

I know, right. In my 20 some years I've spent weeks in New York City, traveled to Hawaii before graduating high school, and have gone to San Francisco, Philadelphia, Dallas, DC, Chicago, and Minneapolis all in the last year - and yet, I've never made it to Pittsburgh.

As someone who's been spoiled by business travel, we booked a room at the Westin Convention Center - I've heard it's pretty new. I've also been given some great recommendations on where to eat and things to see while we're there.

Mostly, though, I'm excited to get away and take some pictures. It's been a while - since New York actually - where I really got some great shots. This weekend holds much potential.

So since it's my Friday, and I'll be missing Photography Friday, I'm going to post a picture that I took this past weekend during Winterfest. It was cold and crowded and the evening was centered around a parade - which, I didn't care so much about - so we only stayed long enough to get a couple decent shots.

This was one of them.

Ever since my trip to Brooklyn, I've been extremely interested in nighttime photography. The colors turn out so brilliant when you slow down the shutter speed to capture the shot.

The lack of wind worked in my favor that night - there's no way this would have turned out otherwise.

Once I'm back from the long weekend I'll have plenty more pics to share. Until then...

Cheers!

-A

Expectations

All my life I've worked hard to exceed expectations, and I'm usually pretty successful, if I do say so myself.

It's not unusual for people to take one look at me and assume I'm some little blonde girl that has no idea what's going on in the world around her. I take great satisfaction from reactions I get after discussing my career, an upcoming marathon, or current events in sports with people I meet - I guess they just don't expect it. What, does everyone expect me to talk about shopping and The Hills?

Not that exceeding expectations comes easy by any means. I work hard, sacrifice time and put my heart and soul into everything I do - career, running, relationships...everything.

This backfires, however, when rather than meeting expectations, I completely bomb and disappoint someone. As a perfectionist, this hurts more than it should, because in turn I end up disappointing myself the most.

I tend to be a pretty proud person at times - *gasp* I know, right - especially when the things I've accomplished took exceptional sacrifice and investment (read: time, money, the shedding of a few tears). And often in these situations, I'm pleased with the outcome - but what about when someone isn't? When you disappoint someone else because you didn't meet their expectations. And even worse, what if it's a situation that you can't fix? Recovering from this can be the most difficult of all.

In the end, the final product is worth the added stress - or so that's what I tell myself. But sometimes this desire to exceed expectations causes more distress than need be. However, I've yet to figure out how to take a step back and care a little bit less. Because as I see it, that's the only way to overcome this sick need to continuously go above and beyond and blow everyone out of the water.

How to go about this, is the ultimate question.

So what about you - do you find yourself in similar situations? How do you work through situations where you haven't exactly met expectations without beating yourself up?

Cheers!

-A

The Twins

Thanksgiving weekend was delightful. Aside from the 9 hours spent in a car over the course of two days, and the slight disappointment I felt after seeing Twilight, it was quite a lovely weekend.

After returning from a couple days in Michigan with the family, I was put to the test. The friend test. Two nights in a row, actually.

I hope I passed...

Saturday I was invited to attend a house party nearby and meet some of the friends who were in town for the holiday weekend. After a glass of red wine at home this sounded like a great idea - that is until we entered the front door and everyone turned to greet the late arrivals.

Not intimidating at all.

It wasn't that bad, really. Looking back, I probably should have been more intimidated than I was. But I don't usually realize things like that until after the fact - which comes in handy when I embarrass myself and am too oblivious to realize it at the time.

In the course of a couple hours I was introduced to a dozen or so friends for the first time - it was great to put faces to names and to meet all the fantastic people in the SO's life. He's got some amazing friends.

It's weird though, meeting people that you've never even heard of who come up to you and say, "oh, it's so great to finally meet you. I've heard so much about you...."

I hope I'm not super obvious when my response is "thanks, it's great to finally meet you too" when I'm really thinking "who the hell are you and why do you know so much about me..."

The most interesting night, though, was Friday. A fairly relaxed evening in was anticipated, and though it was an evening in, insanity ensued.

Between the Christmas Ale and friends breaking out in song - everything from TI to Boys to Men (yes, seriously) - the evening turned out to be quite the shit show. At one point, people were even sneaking out. Luckily, we were able to capitalize on this moment as well and remove ourselves from the drunken singers - who were not nearly as talented as they thought in that state.

But before all that, I got to meet the other twin.

One of my friends is a twin - something I didn't really realize until just recently. His brother went to a different college, lives in a different town, and it just never came up that his brother was born on the same day. From what I was told they're pretty different, but I managed to make my own assessment after meeting him for the first time.

The physical differences were minimal, both are tall and slender, though one twin was slightly taller than the other. One twin has hair that is a shade lighter than the other. Style, too, seemed similar - but that's difficult to judge after only one encounter with the other twin.

Though they look almost identical, have exactly the same laugh, and for the most part sound the same, from the moment the twin walked in you knew there were big differences.

One twin is much more laid back than the other - his presence is almost calming. He is comfortable sitting quietly, taking it all in, while the other tends to be highly animated and fully engaged in conversation.

There also are significant differences in the way these two interact, and the way they are reacted to, within the core group of friends. It was interesting. Just by observing it was easy to tell how others viewed the twins and the status that each held within this group.

I always thought it would be great to be a twin - you have a constant companion, someone who is just like you to hang out with. But the more twins I meet, the more I realize how it's not like that at all. Being a twin means you need to work just that much harder to make a name for yourself, to stand out and be an individual. And in fact, most twins are quite different from one another. I've even known twins who can't stand each other. It definitely makes for an interesting family dynamic.

So tell me dear readers, what are the twins like that you know?

Anyone else do anything exciting for the holiday weekend?

Cheers!

-A