"Who's Viewed Me"

So way back in January my friends and I answered all of a dating sites questions while drinking obscene amounts of wine because we all thought it would be 'fun'.  After a date with an alien and a man with a snaggle tooth (who lured me into his house with promises of a puppy) I quickly decided this particular site wasn't for me.  So imagine my surprise when I went online and clicked that handy little button "Who's Viewed Me" and laid my eyes on the snaggle-toothed puppy man! My computer promptly alerted me that he was "Online Now!" and I didn't want to take any chances in having him IM me or anything of the sort so I quickly moved the mouse to that lovely little 'x' on the side of his information and sure enough, I opened his profile...NOW HE'S GOING TO SEE THAT I VIEWED HIM.  This is terrible...So bad that I would consider ending my membership all together, but then what would I write about?! Let’s join in a group prayer and pray that he doesn’t ‘wink’ at me…

I should also mention that this happened once before when one of my 'Daily Matches' was my high school crush and curiosity got the best of me and I had to see his profile then realized that he would see that I viewed him so I wrote him a note that basically said "It's pretty funny I'm getting set up with people I already know..." After a few days passed without a response, I realized I didn't sign my name and he probably had no idea who I was...He did and he responded. This story actually has a cute ending, but I'll save it for another day.

Oh online dating…

And just for good measure…F Buffalo…don’t get to comfortable leading your division…it won’t last for long.

Na Na Na Na...Hey Hey Hey...Good Byeeee

The Yankee's have clinched a playoff spot!  Yippee...Go Yankees!  And sorry Boston, but you still suck. 



I was at the game on Tuesday night and it was my last regular season game of the season, it was kind of sad saying good bye to the friends we made all season long (more specifically KJ the 3 year old who danced with us and gave us hugs and kisses on his way out)...but it was honestly one of the best summers yet, I got to see my best friends at least once a month and bond over Wholly Guacamole and beer.

In other news...Peace out Real Housewives of New York!  I couldn't even watch the reunion show because Jill Zarin made me want to poke my eyes out with my finger nails...and now she got the boot (along with 3 other obnoxious 40 somethings who thought they were celebrities).  I wish the Countess was gone as well, she's just as pretentious as the rest of them...but I'll take what I can get. 


(picture courtesy of the Hollywood Reporter)

And the best news yet, the republican debate is tonight...WHOOO HOOO....Romney is climbing up in the polls so I'm expecting him to get pretty banged up...and Perry as always is a target because of his extreme beliefs...and Bachmann, well, she's Bachamann...hopefully she'll just practice being a mute.

Fall TV is Back! And Syracuse is in the ACC?

I will be the first to admit, I do not have good taste in TV shows.  Not even close.  I watch a lot of crap, but I love the crap I watch!  Last night started a fall television extravaganza with Dancing With The Stars and Castle (both on ABC).  I am OBSESSED with Castle, I love love love this show.  I think maybe 10 people in the world watch it and enjoy it, but it must be just enough to keep it on television in the 10pm spot. For those of you who don't know, it's about a mystery writer (Castle) who's friend (the Mayor) allows him to follow around a female detective (Beckett) to gain inspiration for his new series.  He loves her more than anything in the world, but she's emotionally challenged (among other things) so as a viewer you never quite know how they're going to end up.  Her mother was also murdered by someone believed to be in the police department and Beckett is making it her life mission to find out who killed her mom...Just start from season one and watch it...Castle is hysterical and has some pretty witty one liners and I actually do laugh out loud. 



Now on to Dancing With The Stars! It's no secret that I love Maks (friends at my old job know this better than anyone else)...he's a New Yorker and my god just look at him.  I was very nervous when he was paired with Hope Solo, she's very pretty, but lets be honest, she doesn't really have the 'Erin Andrews grace factor' that Maks is used to with his partners (minus Ms. Alley)...but they did alright...better than Ron Artest... WTF is wrong with that man?  I know he's a little nutty, but he was a full-out wack job last night, hopefully we'll say 'Adios' to him tonight.  I also have a new found love with Carson...he mentioned glitter and sparkles approximately 10 times in his 60 second interview...then he started to dance and I fell in love.  He dances like an uncoordinated white girl (me) and he had me cracking up. 

Favorite of the night?  David Arquette who looked like a new man (and danced like one to)...he also said that his daughter, Coco was the light of his life...she was so freaking excited to hear her name, she actually looked at her mom and said "That's me! They're talking about me!".



Prediction?  Either Ron Artest or Elisabetta Canalis (George Clooney's Ex) go home tonight. And just for the record, Elisabetta isn't that pretty...George Clooney didn't wait 50 years to settle for her.

In other news, Syracuse to the ACC?  Really?  So long Big East, it's been real.  I said this Sunday and I'll say it again, our AD (Daryl Gross) has wanted nothing more than for Syracuse to be in the national spotlight and I honestly don't think  he cared how he did it.  The bottom line is that unlike other schools, lacrosse is our 'money maker'...we've won 11 Championships (one was taken away for a rules infraction, but we still have the most in the country with 10)..our lacrosse team competed independently until last year when they started playing in the Big East, where there is no competition for the Orange.  It also wouldn't hurt having Duke, UNC, Syracuse and Pitt in the same basketball conference...or would it?

It's Friday, Friday

"It’s Friday, Friday
Gotta get down on Friday
Everybody’s lookin’ forward to the weekend, weekend"

Happy Almost Weekend!!  This is what my horoscope said today...Maybe the stars know something I don't?

Clearly this astrologer hasn't read my blog, I don't really do the texting (or stalking for that matter)

Or maybe I'm just not as much of a Capricorn as I thought I was...


In other news, my bus got into an accident this morning and when I signed into Facebook, on the left hand corner where they put the new feature "On this day in 2009"...this was there:

Weird, right?

Once Upon a Time...

Once upon a time (August 22), I wrote about a guy who was extremely rude when he met my friends and ‘broke up’ with me via text…well ladies and gentlemen, he’s back!   The exclamation point isn’t for excitement, it’s for disbelief! I think I made myself pretty clear when I said I didn’t care about his glasses because I don’t have to look at them, that our “friendship” wasn’t going anywhere…and I thought he got it…until today at 9:43am.

Him: Hey stranger, how’ve you been?

Me: Good, u?

Him: Good I was thinking about you lately I miss hanging out with you (you should’ve thought about that before you acted like an idiot)

Me: That’s random!

Him: Eh not really, I always liked [you] but you would text me pretty short answers I figured you didn’t wanna hear from me

Me: Well I wasn’t really in the market for more ‘friends’ (this isn't true, you can never have too many friends...but I don't really want to meet new friends on an online dating site)

Him: Ah well I understand I just figured I’d ask if you wanted to hang out get drinks dinner whatever if not that’s cool but it would be nice to see you

At this point I wanted to scream…Who the heck do you think you are that you can just stroll back into my life whenever the hell you feel like it?! I was not happy, this sounded like a terrible idea and I did NOT want to go.  So I reached out to the only person who understands how my head actually works (my cousin) and her response was “I think you should go.  He seems like the type that just figured out he might have screwed up a potential wife”.  Gosh darnit, why did she tell me to go?!  WTF. It must be a conspiracy!

I went back to the texting and said:

Me: Possibly, let me know what day you were thinking and I’ll see what I can do

Him: Tomorrow or Saturday doesn’t really matter I have class tues and thurs but other than that I don't really make plans (now I KNOW he’s gone crazy…he thinks I’m giving up a WEEKEND to meet him…Get the F out of here….no way Jose…weekends are for dates, best friends and family, and you are none of those)

Me: I actually can’t do either of those, but maybe Monday or Wednesday (Ha, imagine that, I’m busy and can’t rearrange my life for your impromptu visit)

Him: Yea it’s up to you if you wanna hang out just text me (Now we’re ‘hanging out’…that’s what friends and hook-up buddies do…again, not you)

The bottom line is this…I’m going to get a drink with this guy…And it’s not so I can “see what happens” or “see if I’m still attracted to him” (I heard all of your comments in my head just now)…I’m simply going to see if he is in fact a decent human being and maybe we could actually be friends, he did introduce me to Archer after all.  But you should know that my ‘second chance rule’ is about to be revised…

I knew I loved Andy Rautins for a reason:

That basically sums up how I currently feel...Thank you allergies.

Venting Session Pt. 2

Good Morning! I'm in a much better mood then I was when I wrote yesterday's post, but I promised you part two of the story so here it is...

There was obviously stupid chatter back and forth, the initial text came on September 10

Him: Heyy  (he really likes that 2 'y' hey, doesn't he?)
Me: Hi
Him: Tomorrow night (he really likes complete thoughts as well)
Me: What about it?
Him: Let's go out
Me: Ok
Him: How about like 8, I'm in a golf tournament at 1
Me: Sounds good

And I never heard from him again.  Literally...It's been almost three days.

I'm contemplating sending him a text message with the simple question, "Are you alive?" and if he responds "yes" I'll follow up with "Are you stupid?". 

File this under: You may be athletic and tall, but I am no longer interested.

Venting Session Pt. 1

I'm not sure why this didn't auto post...but today's your lucky day, because you're getting Part 1 AND Part 2 in the same day!


My online dating disasters are not a new topic for any of us. However, this weekend, more precisely, Sunday at approximately 9:32 pm (the time I'm writing this) I have had enough.  There is a guy that I've been talking to via email/text for two months (despite the fact that he has ONE picture up on line)...and I have never met him.  I will be the first person to admit that it's not normal to talk to someone for that long and never meet, but it's not like we haven't tried to meet and here's where the story begins:

2 weeks ago we decided we were going to meet during Labor Day weekend (he lives about an hour and a half from me and after commuting home from work the LAST thing I want to do is get in my car and drive to a remote meeting spot in PA and go on a date with a stranger that probably won't end well given my dating history).  It's easier to break this down for you if I highlight some of our conversations in chronological order (unedited of course).

August 30
Him: Are u busy over the weekend
Me: Umm..a little bit.  I'm busy on both Saturday and Monday afternoon, but that's it.  What about you?
Him: Let's do something
Me: Haha...Okay!
Him: Saturday is the start of college football big day Saturday haha, I'm good Sunday or Monday, Friday I work until 11 so it might be to late
Me: Let's do Sunday
Him: Sounds Good

Random texts back and forth about nonsense continue for the rest of the day and on August 31, It's nothing that will effect the outcome of this situation, I assure you.

August 31
Me: What do you want to do Sunday?
Him: What do you like to do, Im up for anything
Me: I'm up for anything too

September 1
Him: I'll look around, see what I can find

Again, random texts continue.

Him: You can make a decision what do you wanna do
Me: ...Or you could make a decision :-) lol
Him:  Haha alright, we're only 1 15 from each other   (I don't have my real town on my profile, I used to work in law 'enforcement' and 60% of my cases started or ended online...I'm not stupid!)
Me: That's not bad at all

September 2 and 3 had random talking yet again...and in case you were wondering Kourtney is his favorite Kardashian sister.

September 3
Him: Where we going tomorrow it's a mystery
Me: Mystery as in you're not telling me, or mystery as in you have no idea? lol
Him: The second one lol
Him: I have no problem finding something to do, just a city to meet.

September 4, 3:26pm
Me: Do u still want to try to hang out tonight?

That's 24 hours passed without him responding, on the day we were supposed to meet

September 5, 4:52pm
Him: Heyy
Me: Hi
Him: I'm driving to the Phillys game (Did I ask what you were doing?  I don't think so, I'm pretty irked.)
Me: Fun, except it's the Phillies
Him: Haha I bet the Phillies go farther than the Yankees
Me: I'll take that bet, you're 100% wrong
Him: I'll put 100 on that bet (Note to self: Another reason not to date Philadelphia sports fans, they're not very bright)
Me: Deal
Me: So what did you end up doing last night?
Him: I ended up doing nothing, it's pouring (I don't care about the weather in Philly.  You did NOTHING?! Oh that's funny...I'm pretty sure you had plans)
Me: Oh, interesting
Him: What did you do
Me: I was supposed to meet this guy, but didn't hear from him, so I went out with some friends
Him: Yeah I know that's my fault, I work 3-11 all week (Um, I'm sorry, do you have a surprise schedule at work?  Most people know at least a week a head of time when they are working for the next week, even if they don't work a 9-5.)
Me: That's fine, I just wish you would've said something Saturday (You know, like when we were talking about hanging out and what we were going to do)
Him: We need to make plans and go out soon lol (Yeah, because that worked so well yesterday,so let's try it again)
Me: I'll believe it when I see it...lol
Him: It's gonna happen
Me: lol...okaaayyyyyyy
Him: What's your town again?
Me: TOWN NAME

Okay...I am looking for ANY explanation for this behavior.  I don't care if you defend him...I don't care if you tear him a new butt hole, but If someone can make sense out of this, I would greatly appreciate it.  How you do make plans with someone (I realize there wasn't exactly a 'plan' per se, but there was a meeting in place) and just NEVER contact them about it?!  WTF...if you have something else to do, I completely get it...send a text and be on your way!  But for me to leave a day open to hang out with you and then you just completely blow me off....that's 100% inconsiderate! It's even crazier to me that we talked about it literally 24 hours prior and instead of coming up with ANYTHING to do, you did "nothing".

This isn't the first time I've had a 'phantom date'...The farmer was notorious for doing stuff like this...but that doesn't make this any less frustrating...he's lucky he's tall and athletic and that I give everyone at least a second chance (except Armani boy)....This story isn't over by any means....Part 2 comes in tomorrow's post. 

Life's not always easy...

Today has been a rough day for a couple of reasons, but I'm not going to use my blog as a source to exploit family drama and personal problems. I would just like to say 'Thanks' to everyone who has given me a virtual hug today. 

In other news, last night during the New Orleans/Green Bay game, Mayor Bloomberg and Ray Kelly came on TV to discuss "a credible terror threat" that involved car bombs, bridges and tunnels...Now for those of you who don't live or work in NYC this probably sounds like not such a big deal...but for someone who uses a tunnel to get to and from work everyday in RUSH HOUR, it's somewhat scary.  It's even scarier to think about the false threats that the CIA picks up on daily basis and to think that this one must have packed a punch, because I have to believe the Mayor wouldn't want to 'alert' the public if he didn't think it was necessary.  Today was completely normal, until I came back from lunch and the street in front of my building was blocked off by NYPD with their lights on.  I'm not talking one police car, in Mid-town Manhattan that would be completely normal...but enough to make me stop for a second and say "Oh, sh*t!" in my head.  It ended up being a car check point with extra vehicles and officers... but it got me thinking about 9-11-01 and how much the world changed that day.  I am SO insanely thankful that I didn't lose anyone that I loved in the attacks, but with that comes the hurt for everyone I know that did lose the people closest to them. 

Every Anniversary I try to watch the tributes and news coverage and it doesn't really get easier....I always go right back to my first day of high school when Mrs. Bilby said, "They told me not to turn on the TV, but I think you guys need to see this, it's history" and proceeded to turn on the news.  Going to a private school in Northern Jersey, quite a few parents of students worked in NYC, I think if I remember correctly, 6 students lost an immediate family member that day.  I realize this is an insanely small number in the scheme of things, but when you're 14 you don't really have a concept of how big a 'terrorist attack' really is. 

Here are some of the pictures that I've seen over the last 10 years, that I think have 'best captured' 9-11-01 and have become somewhat iconic.

My thoughts and prayers are with all those effected by September 11, the soldiers (and their families) who fight everyday for our freedom and the brave men and women of the NYPD/FDNY.  God Bless and have a safe weekend!

How to lose 35 lbs in 9 days...

Okay, I'm kidding with the title....but starting today I have made a resolution to cut carbs out of my diet until Saturday, September 17.  I'm going to a wedding with a friend and refuse to be the fat 'date'!  Also, I'm already taller than the friend I'm going with, which means I'll be wearing loathsome flats with a cocktail dress, which really isn't flattering on anyone.  Speaking of flats, I have 2 pairs in my bedroom and 3 pairs in the mail all for this wedding and none of them match my dress...how is that humanly possible?!  Does anyone realize how much preparation a girl puts into attending a formal event?  A LOT.  I LOVE to get dressed up and have my  hair blown out and my make up done and I love the pictures that come from the finished product, but the whole dress/shoe/clutch (the purse, not the car part) situation is kind of stressful.  Now trust me when I tell you that this particular friend has seen me at my absolute worst, so I really shouldn't care what I'm wearing, but there's something about me that doesn't want to 'disappoint'...I know that's silly, but at least I'm honest! I will most certainly post a picture or two from the wedding.

Here's my Adrianna Papell dress that I'm obsessed with:


In other news, the GOP debate was last night!  Yes, this is the same debate that Obama tried to ruin by making another speech on failed job creation at the exact same time, so media outlets would televise him and not the debate (this of course didn't work, much like the stimulus package). And I have to say I'm a tad bit worried about our (the GOP's) options.  The front runners are Perry and Romney, by far, but people are saying not to count out Bachman and that scares me.  I have nothing against conservative women in politics, hell one day I hope to be one, but something about that woman, mixed with confidential information and the task of leading our country is terrifying. 

I like Perry, but there are a couple of issues 1) his lack of immigration policies/reform - I don't understand how a conservative politician from TEXAS can have such lax views on immigration 2) he worked for liberal crazy-man Al Gore in 1988...lets be honest people, Gore didn't deserve the Nobel Peace Prize (or the Oscar, Emmy or Grammy)...the  man is a straight loon and 3) Perry compared homosexuality to alcoholism in his book On My Honor and suggested that gay people stick to abstinence.  Come on people...it's one thing to be stupid in the privacy of your own home...but why on earth would you publish something that ridiculous!?!?  (I guess now we see why he and Gore were buddies)

 I'm going to take this opportunity to say that if I end up supporting Perry, it's not because all of our views align, it's because I can identify with [most of] his positions more so than I can relate to those of Barak Obama.

Mit Romney on the other hand has been through this rodeo and knows how to answer debate questions and present himself to the public. I love his stance on foreign policy matters (doubling detainees at Guantanamo is the first thing that comes to mind), his view on aboortion (he's pro-life except for in cases of rape, incest and life of the mother), and he supports a 'three strike law' which icreases peanalty for multiple offences of DUI.  His stance on immigration is actually right on par with how I feel, he is against amnesty for illegal aliens, but doesn't think hearding 11 million people and forcing them out of our country is the right thing to do either.  His goal is to have illegal immigrants register with the government, pay taxes and apply for citizenship...he also believes that they should NOT be given priority or special treatment over immigrants who have applied for citizenship the proper way.  I would like to add my personal belief that once an illegal immigrant is arrested, they serve their time and then they should be deported (I know what argument is going to come from my liberal friends here...bring it, I dare you). The fact that Romney is Mormon really doesn't bother me at all...I know it's a 'weak point' from the stance of the base of the GOP and I'm sure the Dems will take as many jabs at it as they can in 2012...but New Yorkers are already learning about Mormanism...in the back of our cabs and in Times Square there are paid advertisements for morman.org...no joke.


(picture courtesy of the Huffington Post, 6/22/11)

No matter who represents the GOP in November 2012...just know that election season is upon us and it's not going to be pretty...but let the games begin!

Are You Ready For Some Football!?!

This post isn’t about dating, politics or shopping, or anything that I normally write about.  It’s about something MUCH more important…Fantasy Football.  Anyone who knows me knows that I take ‘fantasy’ very seriously, I’m talking binders of research, highlighting, divider tabs and the like.  I think I go above and beyond because as a female, I’m expected to lose…when you add the preconceived notion of a girl not knowing about football and add it to the fact that I’m the only girl in the league you get one VERY determined fantasy coach…that’s right, I’m the coach of “I’ll show you my TD’s”….sorry mom, but it’s better than last years ;-).

Let me just give you a brief background of this league:

-       My ex boyfriend is the commissioner (basically the owner).

-       I dominated in 2009 when I had the first pick in the draft and picked AP and ended up winning…the next year (2010) the league was renamed “The He Man Women Haters Club” – Thanks MP.

-       Last year I finished a pitiful 9/12 and my ex won (I did however win another league).

-       The other owners are all of my ex’s friends from home/college/the street I have no idea where he meets some of these people, but there in our league none the less.

So you can understand how important this is…If I finish last, it’s because I’m a girl and girls know nothing…If I do something well, it’s because of luck….When I had the first pick in the draft, it was because I dated the commissioner and it goes on and on. This year, I almost missed the draft all together due to an unforeseen circumstance that we won’t be discussing (last year I was one minute early and was told I was a "typical female waiting until the last minute").  There have actually been attempts to kick me out of the league (which if I finish last, I’m SURE it would be done).  The bottom line is that I prepare and take this pretty seriously. 

This year I had the 13^th pick…which isn’t so bad, you could get yourself a nice running back and on the way back pick up a top 3 wide receiver…unless you’re me and your computer flips out and auto draft kicks in and picks two wide receivers in a row WITH THE SAME BYE!  Not only would I not have picked a WR first…I sure as heck wouldn’t have picked TWO in the first two rounds with the same BYE.  I was livid…especially because I had what seemed like a year to think about it while waiting for my next turn.  I of course blamed my ex and was promptly reminded that he “doesn’t control [my] internet” and told to stop complaining.  The rest of the draft went okay, until it was time for me to pick a defense.  My options were: 1) a team with the same bye as BOTH wide receivers or 2) my exes team, where he actually plays on the d-line.  This decision was quickly made for me when the guy before me took option number 1 and left me with a crappy defense, or literally drafting an ex.  I now have my ex playing on my fantasy team, how does that even happen?! And who else can say that’s happened to them?! I swear sometimes God uses me as his personal comedian.

Okay, I know you’ve been waiting to see my team…here it is:

Now the things marked in red are the problems (I’m sure there are more, but we’ll tackle these for now).  1^st of all, my second best running back (the players that arguably score the most points) is only starting on HALF of the teams that he was drafted on…that’s not looking promising.  Second is the Ravens defense, which I already touched on above. 3^rd would be LaRod Stephens-Howlings..You’ve never heard of him you say? That would be because he’s a running back projected to bring in a whopping 48 points this year and 2.5% of fantasy owners actually drafted him.  And Kevin Walter is just an extra weak link.

And there you have it…my fantasy team in the only league I really care about.  I’ll see you out there!

MmMmM

I am writing this as I drink my first Pumpkin Spice Soy Misto of the year! If you've never had it, you have to remove yourself from whatever seat you're currently sitting in and head to your nearest Starbucks...it is honest to goodness the BEST (well that's not true, Pumpkin Spice Lattes taste like pumpkin pie, my drink resembles pumpkin pie and has less calories...it's a win-win really).  Okay a friend of mine (who's actually famous in the world of social media/blogging/twitter...look her up www.christinerochelle.com) has a habit of sending me funny things about dating and being single...which actually get me through some of my days.  I laugh at just about every single one of them...but last week she sent me something entitled "A Checklist For Single People" by Thought Catalog....now, the website didn't exactly come with instructions, it was just a list (which is below) but as I was reading it, I realized that I do A LOT of the things on the list, now of course I have no idea if that's a good thing or not (because there were ZERO instructions) or who knows, maybe this is a checklist to remind me that it's okay to be single...I'm not really sure. But either way, I figured I'd post it for all of the other single people out there and also let you know which one's I do regularly (as per usual, they are in pink). Enjoy.

A Checklist For Single People

Sep. 1, 2011

By January Nelson

January Nelson lives in Brooklyn.

Read more »

1. Compare your ex to someone new and feel relieved ANYONE is better than my most recent ex...I do this one often
2. Compare your ex to someone new and feel regret I'm also pretty lucky to have a couple of great exes (yes, I count you as an 'ex') and I do this one once in a while, but I remind myself that exes are exes for a reason.
3. Go on a terrible date that convinces you that you’ll be alone forever Umm...HELLO, have you read the rest of my blog, my life is a series of terrible dates.
4. Go on a series of promising dates and tell your friends this “might be it” I used to do that, until it was never "it", so now I refuse to say anything of the sort.
5. Let the holidays serve as a reminder of the last time you had someone to spend them with This is why the suicide rate around the holidays is so high (that's true folks, the most people kill themselves in December and January)...Don't send me any suicide prevention notes, I'm not talking about me.
6. Spend the night drinking and dancing and kissing; walk home at 6 AM and feel content to be alone with the sunrise These are some of my favorite nights.
7. Listen to love songs that remind you of no one; feel indifferent about feeling indifferent "Someone Like You" by Adele brings me to tears every time I listen to it...it honestly doesn't remind me of anyone, luckily, I don't want the people that hurt me back and I honestly have too much pride to beg...but the lyrics paired with her voice are PHENOMENAL.
8. Listen to songs that remind you of the past and cry in the fetal position I'm sorry to say this is absolutely true...there are two songs that come to mind immediately "All my life" by KC and JoJo (yes, the song from 90's...call me a loser if you  must) and "On Your Porch" by The Format
9. Be enough for yourself I have just recently become perfectly content with myself. There is always room for improvement, but I am finally at a point where I'm good with me.
10. Do the things your past relationships discouraged; be the person your past relationships suppressed Absolutely.
11. Feel woefully behind and kind of nervous every time a friend gets engaged This is an interesting one.  I have only had one friend get engaged and I was SO excited for her and she was older than me, so I think that had something to do with it.  But I have a few friends that are 'next' and it does scare me a little bit...But at the same time I have friends that aren't dating, so I'm perfectly happy being in the middle.
12. Forget how hard it is to watch your relationship dissolve when doling out advice Unfortunately I do this a little too often.  I haven't been in a relationship in a while, so when people come to me with problems I dish out advice such as "do what's best for you", "what's meant to be will be", but there were a few points in my life where that was the LAST thing I wanted to hear and I have to try to remember that.
13. Get defensive when your relationship non-status becomes a topic of conversation at Thanksgiving Luckily, my Thanksgiving dinner is small...My birthday (Christmas) on the other hand I'm not so lucky.  I have actually had family members ask me 'why' I'm single...well folks, if I knew the answer to that question, do you think I'd still be single?!
14. Sleep diagonal because you can In college I had a queen size bed, the best thing in the world was rolling around and not worrying about kicking someone in the stomach or elbowing them in the face.
15. Feel high after a successful first date Yes...believe it or not, I have actually had some good first dates.
16. Wonder if you can fall in love with someone despite the absence of an initial spark I think about this all the time (as you know by my 'second date rule')...I really wonder if arranged marriages work for this reason.  I think if you know someone isn't going anywhere and that you HAVE to make it work  and you like them enough, you could actually fall in love with them.
17. Make out with someone for no reason other than you’re both single and attractive More often then I care to admit
18. Date people who are completely wrong for you because you clearly don’t know who’s right for you I dated a guy who's career goal was to be a comic book artist...I'm not very artistic (I mean I can craft and scrapbook with the best of them, but I have no real artistic talent) so this entire concept was lost on me.  It also made me feel like he never wanted to grow up because he wanted a career in cartoons.  He also smoked and was also in a band (they're actually doing pretty well now) I can't stand smoking and am not really a big concert person.  The icing on the cake was when he told me he didn't want to take me around  his family because I wasn't Jewish....well duh! I wasn't Jewish when you met me...of course I'm not Jewish now!  We were not a fit...at all.  
19. Get drunk and mentally forgive people your sober mind can’t absolve Yes, I do this and feel the need to contact the people I'm mentally forgiving to let them know that I've forgiven them....not the best tactic I can assure you.
20. Discover one day that you’ve stopped looking and started living; let that make you smile Trust me, I'm living and I smile about 100 times more than the average person, but I can't stop looking.  I read a book entitled "The Truth About Dating" by Julie Christensen.  It was about this woman who tried online dating over and over and over again. She decided to 'stop looking' and the book ended with her alone on her 40th birthday.  The entire time I was reading the book, I thought it was fiction...and it ended up being non-fiction and the author was STILL single.  I refuse to stop looking.  I have too much to offer to be alone :-)

So there you have it.  I do EVERYTHING on the check list...does that mean I'm awesome at being single? Or that I'm ready to no longer be single?  I guess I'll leave that up for debate.

HAPPY SEPTEMBER!

It's September 1st which means its the start of all things fall!  Whooo Hoooo! I love fall and everything about it.  I honestly think it started when I was younger and my grandma would take me school supply shopping, wait patiently while I looked around, put stuff back and changed my mind and then literally buy me everything I wanted.  As my mother can tell you (she had to take on the task once my grandma could no longer drive) school supply shopping with me was no easy task.  EVERYTHING had to match...no exceptions.  My mom had to think I had issues before our first school supply shopping trip, but I'm sure the matching notebooks/folders/pens sealed the deal.  After that, I was handed a credit card, told to go in by myself and get what I wanted.  School supplies aside the weather is GLORIOUS in the fall.  The leaves are changing, you can wear dark nail polish and not look 'gothic' AND you can wear jeans with boots...my favorite ensemble of ALL TIME!  By tomorrow night, my nails will be covered in Essie's 'Sole Mate' and hopefully in 2 weeks my shorts and tanks will be replaced with suede and sweaters! The seasonal wardrobe move will be followed by apple picking, wine tours and PUMPKIN PICKING...oh em gee, I can hardly wait.  I actually sent out a 'Fall Festivity Spectacular' schedule yesterday to my best friends in spreadsheet form with ALL of the stuff we're doing on October 9th  (and yes, they're still my friends).  Maybe this year I can convince someone to go to the Haunted Penitentiary in Philly with me?! Any takers?!

MOST IMPORTANTLY Fall means FOOTBALL SEASON!  And the Syracuse Football season starts tonight against Wake Forest (of course I have no power and it's on ESPN3, so that's an issue in itself).  I have high hopes for my alma mater this year and we're starting it off right, we're predicted to win by 6 pts.  LETS GO ORANGE!

Head Coach Doug Marrone (The Savior of Orange Football)

And just for good measure, the Patriots play the Giants tonight...I know it's preseason, but it's on like Donkey Kong.