"Vol EMT"

I got an email last night from a guy and ALL of his pictures were taken by him, in front of a mirror.  I'm serious when I tell you 10 out of the 11 pictures he had up were of him taking pictures of himself (the last picture was from a webcam, so obviously he took that one himself too)!  Do you seriously have NO friends that can take a normal photo of you?  Do you really never go out? No family functions?  No birthdays? That can't be normal!  I actually think it's kind of creepy and it reminds me of some of my sex crimes cases in the DA's office.  I found the email kind of funny, so I'm sharing it with you: 

Okay, I have a few comments about this email....first of all, I'm glad you're single...after all, you are on a dating website.  Second of all, your profile tells me your age and exactly what town you're from, so the fact that you tried to be vague and tell me the county was pointless.  I'm glad you think I'm pretty, most days I think that too...You also think we have a lot in common, but didn't mention anything other than you being a 'vol EMT firefighter', which I clearly am not, so I'm not sure what you were referring to...unless it was maybe the county we both happen to live in?  You also couldn't take the time to type 'you' more than twice in the email, because you changed it up to 'u' towards the end...I don't think this is going to work.  There are other fish in the sea. 

Ha Ha

This was my horoscope yesterday...notice the reference to hamburgers and steak (while I wrote about running and weight watchers):

It's not just me...

I'm sorry I've been MIA lately, especially since I've been working from home for over a week and I don't really have an excuse, but I'm going to blame it on me trying to get skinny.  Let me just tell you that Weight Watchers is the best thing on the planet and Jennifer Hudson knows what she's talking about.  I lost 7.4 lbs in my first week!  The woman behind the counter let out a little gasp...it's an awesome feeling to accomplish something.  I even ran 3.5 miles yesterday AND went for an hour walk last night...I'm telling you right now...there will be NOTHING jiggling on this girl come Memorial Day Weekend...except for maybe boobs, hopefully they don't go anywhere.


On to the blog post...I have a friend that is in her mid-thirties, she's smart and successful, owns a townhouse, an awesome car and is beautiful...she's also single. When I tell you that this lady has tried everything, she has really tried everything.  I got this email from her this morning explaining the situation of her latest dating snafu: 

So I was on this Indian dating site.  Saw this guy so I sent him an “Interest”  He accepted and we exchanged emails.  Then I went back and saw 2 flaws:  1.  He is only 5’4” (a whole inch shorter than me)  2.  He is only 27, that’s 8 years younger than me.   So he called me on Friday while I was in the middle of dinner and we spoke briefly and then I told him I would call him back over the weekend.  I got caught up with things and didn’t get around to calling him.  So then I sent him a txt yesterday morning saying Hi, and he was downright rude saying:  I thought you were going to call me.  I explained I was busy and then got into the football game and didn’t get around to calling him.  He then says, you mean to tell me in the whole 48 hours you didn’t find 5 mins. To call.  I didn’t want to play the game so I just said Ok I will call you tonight. 

I was turned off by his behavior and decided that I really didn’t want to pursue it.  I thought I would be nice and let him know by sending him an email this morning and this is how it went:

Hey,
 
Listen I put some thought into it and I don't think this will work, after much thought the age difference does bother me.  I know it's just a number, but with you being 8 years younger than me is an issue with me.  If you were in your 30s that would be different.
 
Wish you Luck!!

-M

His response: 

Honestly to tell you the truth, I was turned off on how the "football game" means more to you than trying to get to know someone. It explains a lot on how your in your mid 30s and still single. Clearly we're on different maturity levels and so its best we don't pursue anything further. 

Carry on, 

-M

Okay, ladies and gents, I should first tell you that I died laughing when I saw that he closed his email with "carry on"...I don't know much about the guy, but I'm 99.9% sure that he's not British, which would be the ONLY time that "carry on" is an acceptable closing.  Now while I don't agree with exactly what my friend wrote, I do like that she was honest. She's not saying "I was in 2nd grade when you were born, I've had so many more life experiences than you and you're an immature loser" she's just saying that the 8 year age difference was an issue for her, I think that would bother a lot of women, especially if they're the older party.  Just for the record, someone 8 years younger than me would be a Jr in high school, gross.  And what else is she going to tell the guy, "I'm sorry, you're a midget"...that wouldn't be very nice.  She also wished him luck, which shows that she really does want him to find someone, just not her.   

His response was a little harsh.  And I think the difference in emails backs up his claim about the 'different maturity levels' (clearly my friend was more mature, given the situation) but to call her out for being in her "mid 30s and still single" that's not fair.  She's single because she knows what she wants (it's not a baby midget) and she isn't willing to settle for anything less and I admire her for that.  And just in case I needed one more reason to take her side, those were two really good football games.

Selling, Copyright Laws and an Idiot

I joke a lot on this blog about how my mother tries to take my first amendment rights away by censoring what I right, what emails I share and what pictures I show.  Her latest request is that I don't post screen shots of emails because she's convinced that when I signed up for Match I signed something that said I wouldn't share the messages verbatim with the 3 readers of my blog.  While she probably has a point about people's profiles, I think that once they message me, the message is fair game, after all, it was sent to me.  I did a little bit of research and I found out that I basically shouldn't use the Match name unless I link the actual Match website to the word Match.  I'm sure I could just link the first time I use the word, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.  So to be extra safe, I am no longer going to use the name of the dating site where I am a member.  It will simply be referred to as 'website'.  As far as the messages go, they're mine and I will continue to share them with you.  I probably wont share screen shots of profiles anymore, but I will most definitely still copy and paste.  Mom, you 1/2 won this one...and you should probably consider supporting the SOPA/PIPA bills if you're so concerned with censoring the Internet.

Okay, with that out of the way...I bring to you the cocky ass:

That's ALL his email said.  Sir, I hate to break it to you, but I am not going to be the one to 'purchase you', even if you were a Birkin at an 85% off sale.  You should probably mark yourself down and move on to the next girl...because this one isn't buying it.

Glutton for Punishment?

I'm seriously considering joining Match again.  I know, you probably think I'm insane, delusional, or any other negative adjective of your choice.  But I promise you, there is a reason for my rational. 

Here is my logic:

1. I originally thought that when I got off of Match, I would meet guys at Starbucks, in my building or on the street cornor, none of which have happened in the last 2+ months. The closest thing that happened was meeting a guy at a friends boyfriend's birthday party and texting for approximately 24 hours and never seeing each other or speaking again....If I was 12, this would be perfectly acceptable, however I am 25 and that's not normal.

2. I have been out on two occations, with two seperate groups of people where my friends have given my number to a waiter and told him to call me....It's nice to know that my friends and family think I'm a 'catch' and are trying to help me out...but this isn't the movies and the waiters never call....and to be honest with you, I can't blame them.  They would look CRAZY if they actually called.

3.  I am approaching this with a new outlook...I have no expectations.  I am going to date and have fun and just see where this experience leads me.  I am also going to have my ex boyfriend/bff help me with my profile.  I think part of the problem from last time was having females look at and critique my profile...I think I need a guys point of view.  I also think that I dated my ex for so long, that maybe if he helps me with the profile and tells me what he would rather see, I'm more likely to meet someone I'm compatible with (ie with similar qualities to him). 

Now...If  I could just think of a new tagline..."You miss all the best things if you keep your eyes shut" by Dr. Seuss obviosuly wasn't getting me normal men, but I should've realized that no normal guys know Dr. Seuss quotes...see I'm learning already!!

What a day..

If you follow me on Twitter, you know by now that today was my first (and most likely last) time "modeling" on national television.  I was on The Today Show in a Marie Claire segment focusing on dressing 10 lbs thinner and how to disguise 'body flaws'...and it's the first time my hips actually did something positive for me ;-)  I can't even tell you how nervous I was...In all my years of cheerleading competitions and softball tournaments, I have never ever felt this way.  It was a combination of waking up after a nightmare and running 84 miles without stopping...it wasn't pleasant.  However, I smiled and 'posed' the way I was told to and made it out of NBC Studio's alive.  WHEWWW. 

My best friend took almost 10 pictures, of me on her tv and sent them to me:



The both the before and after outfits were selected for me,
I would never wear either of these looks, except maybe the blazer.





















And just in case you were wondering, even though I'm a 'model'...I'm still single :-)

and it begins

I have officially been back on Match.com for less than 12 hours (people can send you messages and wink at you even if you're not active)...and I already have ridiculous stories to tell.  The first is that I had a 'wink' from a guy I know. I swear my mom and her crazy best friend tried to set me up with this tall, political, Greek guy 2 summers ago...we actually volunteered on the same campaign, but never crossed paths.  He didn't have his name in his profile, but I swear it's him.  We're even friends on Linked-In....weird, I know.  I have no idea how I realized that in .4 seconds but he feels the need to wink. I'll keep you posted on the developments of him. 

In other news, as you all know, I have some "requirements" for the people I date.  I think it's because I've been single for so long that I'm not breaking the single-streak for some 5'2 Joe Shmo. Imagine my face when I read this email:

I pointed out a few issues.  First of all his user name.  I am the LAST person to critique someone else's spelling and grammar, however, I ran my profile through spell check at least 10 times before it went live.  I also spell check every email I send.  I have to assume the guy was going for 'gentleman', as there seems to be only one of him.  But to give him the benefit of the doubt, I thought of some other scenarios: He was going for "get nalmen" which would mean he's a bully and has something against the poor person named 'Nalmen' or "getnal men" which would mean his last name is 'Getnal' and he's from a family of men...but I'm pretty sure he was going for 'Gentleman' and spelt 'Gentle' incorrectly.  Even if the username Gentleman was already taken, PICK ANOTHER NAME...don't misspell the one you had your heart set on using!

Let's move on.  I am = I'm not im.  Sence isn't a word.  In fact when you type 'sence' into dictionary.com it actually says, 'did you mean scene?'. He is also looking for a 'good women' which is unfortunate, because I'm only one.  He would also like the women to have a good.  Not a good time, not a good family, just good. He is also unaware that myself is one word.   I'm not even going to touch on his message.

Welcome back to Match!

NEWSFLASH

Askmen.com is slowly becoming my favorite website.  Not only is it hysterical, but often times it has me asking a ton of questions, which I think makes it educational as well.  Just so you know what we’re actually dealing with here…the ‘photo gallery of the day’ was Lindsay Lohan, so some of the people over at Askmen.com have strange taste and poor judgement, but I won’t hold that against today’s writer, who I’ve decided I love.

This gem is written by Dave Golokhov and made me laugh out loud at my desk…at least he has a sense of humor about his job

"And now for some breaking news from the department of obvious: Apparently people like to date hotties.

Yes, that’s right. Researchers from Northwestern and Texas A&M teamed up to find out whether or not people like attractive partners. Since some of us say that physical attraction isn’t always the preeminent factor in a companion, this astute group of scientists has proved to us that we’re lying to ourselves if we say that looks are not that important.

It’s good that this crucial, scientific breakthrough has been made. Even though there is a limited number of sexy partners on this planet, we now know that a large portion of the world's population is settling for less in the looks category -- including old people, who remain agonizingly married to people whose looks have faded.

It has nothing to do with the fact that we accept people for who they are as a whole instead of solely dating for looks. No, as science proves to us, we’re merely misleading ourselves if we’re not dating the hottest piece of ass out there.

Great work, team. Coming up next week: New research suggests that men enjoy the sight of cleavage."

I would first like to point out that Texas A&M is a public University and tax payers paid for this study (Northwester is not only private, but they market themselves as a ‘research institution’ so they get a pass).  I could’ve told you that people like to date hot people and I have a degree in Poli/Sci and Geography…I always wanted to move to Texas for the boots, gun laws and $2,000 4 bedroom apartments…but suddenly I find myself being a-okay with the NY, NJ, PA area, even though the University of Rochester did an entire study on whether or not women are more attractive in red…I kid you not.

Oh No...

It's going to be one of those days

Askmen.com

Okay, I am a subscriber to both Cosmo and Marie Claire (shocker) and they often get me thinking about the advice that men get from their own magazines and websites.  I was assuming it had to be completely different and that I would most likely disagree with all of it…But after reading an article by Ian Lang from askmen.com…That wasn’t the case.  I apologize in advance for the length of this post!

Use Pictures As A Guide, But Don't Always Trust Them
“…Another thing to keep in mind about pictures is that nine times out of 10, a girl is only as attractive as her worst picture. It sounds cruel, but it’s true. The picture that some girls select as their main profile picture often varies wildly from the ones you don’t see without looking for them…I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a girl’s profile picture and thought, “Oh, here we go,” only to look at the rest of them and immediately wish I hadn’t. Everyone wants to put their best foot forward, but some girls find shots of themselves that look so much better than any of their other pictures that you’d swear they were Photoshopped.”

For those of you who read this blog regularly, this directly contradicts the women’s dating advice in this post of  ‘posting your most vampish’ picture (which for the record, I disagreed with). So while women are told to put up the picture in which they look the hottest, guys are told to disregard the hot picture and make their expectations on the gross one, that’s cute.

Nice Girls Will Wait For You To Email First

“… nice girls don’t make the first move. I don’t know why, but it’s true. When/if you get an unsolicited email from a girl, they almost always reek of desperation, and in my experience, they aren’t much in the looks department. That’s not to say you should ignore them because you never know what might happen, but the desirable ones tend to know they’re desirable, so they have no incentive to reach out to you, because they’re getting 50+ emails per day and can take their pick…At all costs, avoid reading her profile and then launching into a long diatribe about either how pretty she is, how much you have in common, or both. You’re still a stranger to them, and as such, laying it on that thick is really off-putting.”

Okay, first of all, I’m a ‘nice girl’ and I sent emails first once in a while…Mainly because I’ll see a profile I like and it will say ‘message me’ at the end!  Do I consider myself desperate?  Absolutely not…I consider myself really good at following directions. And for the record, gushing in an email to a girl you’ve never met is creepy, telling someone you’d like them to be your “wifey” and ending a message with "mwah" will not earn you any dating points.

Going on a real-life date

“Congratulations. You’ve found someone who seems normal enough, appeals to your eye, can hold up their end of an email conversation, and has agreed that it would be a good idea to meet a veritable stranger in public…Once you meet, you realize that all of the prior emails and innuendos and witty banter go out the window. You know very little about this person and your only topics of conversation appear to be the standard “Where are you from?"…type questions, which are inherently un-sexy…Also, booze helps. But not too much…In regard to the venue, I always, always opt for happy hour, and preferably at a bar convenient to both of us.”

Oh boy…well I think he’s right in pointing out that “What do you do?” is an un-sexy question, especially if your date is a conveyor belt repairman or something of the sort.  But what else are you supposed to ask someone you’ve just met?  I think “Have you ever cheated?” and “How many people have you slept with?” are inappropriate and extremely personal first date questions.  Alcohol helps ease most situations, but also clouds your judgment (not that I’m speaking from experience) so I think happy hour is a peculiar choice for a first date. When you’re at happy hour and you know drinks are cheap and you’re nervous to meet this person AND you know you shouldn’t drink too much, I can see how people would freak out and start tossing back Amstel Light bottles (again, I’ve never personally had this experience).  I love that he says you shouldn’t drink too much, but that he ALWAYS opts for a bar during happy hour.    WTF people, hypocrite much?

It all comes down to the right attitude

“That brings me to my last point: intentions. Be open to the new experiences, because you’re going to have them. You’ll meet girls who are only interested in a quick fling or casual sex, girls who want a boyfriend, and even girls who already have a boyfriend…Without fail, every girl you meet will have some kind of prepared speech about how they only signed up for online dating (because their friends made them, they were drunk, it was a dare, etc.) as a means of conveying to you that they aren’t taking it too seriously, even if they really are. And, really, that’s the key to success with online taking: not taking it too seriously…but no matter what, you’re going to have some stories to tell. For me, that alone made it worth it. Oh, and the hooking up. All of the hooking up.”

It’s good to know that my attitude (which is currently “I have zero expectations”) is a good one, according to him…this attitude also makes it A LOT easier to go on dates. I also find it extremely comforting that he too gets enjoyment out of his online dating stories.  And I’m sorry guys and gals, but he said it himself, it’s worth it for the hooking up. So if you are in fact looking for a relationship, maybe you should be open with your intentions right off the bat…I can’t believe I just agreed with him.

Disclaimer: I did sign up for online dating the first time because I was drunk on NYE and my friends convinced me to do it (I have about 10 people who will confirm this, ½ of which completed my profile and one of which STILL edits my profiles).  However, when people ask me why I’m on a website now, I explain to them that I wasn’t meeting ‘quality’ people in bars, which is completely true.  The older I get, the less interested I become in the ‘hook up scene’ and the more interested I become in finding someone with potential. 

Can Blogging Ruin Relationships?

If you read my blog you know I share A LOT of information.  I blog about guys, dating, family, etc.  What you don’t know, is that one of the guys I blogged about (literally one of the first few posts I ever did about Match) found my blog and confronted me via email about it.  Luckily, he wasn’t one of the losers I described (even if he had been, I don’t write anything that I don’t stand by) and needless to say I found the entire situation a lot funnier than he did.  He asked that I don’t publish his email, so I hate to break it to you, but you’re not going to read what he wrote to me…and while I’m tempted to post my response to him, I won’t do that either (yet). But this article from Yahoo! Had me thinking about relationship blogging…

It’s one thing to do an online search for the name of a prospective date and find a few embarrassing photos or a mention or two in the local newspaper. It’s quite another to find the person’s blog. In fact, on our third date, upon hearing that I had a blog, my current boyfriend asked nervously, “So, uh, are you going to blog about me?”

Aside from the occasional vague reference to him and his willingness to help me pick out new computer gear, I haven’t. And he’s fine with that. My blog doesn’t cover dating or relationships, but plenty of others do. With more than 150,000 new blogs created every day, according to Technorati, the odds are good that even if you aren’t a blogger yourself, you might be dating one.

While it provides an outlet for sharing experiences and connecting with a community of like-minded people around the world, blogging also raises questions of privacy. How much of your personal life are you willing to share with readers? How much should you share? And how does that impact the people you date?
 The downside to dating blogs
Says Rachel Hurley, a Memphis-based blogger who writes Rachel and the City, “The more personal my blog was, the more readers I attracted, but the more I wrote about people in my life, the more friends and potential boyfriends came to resent me for it.”

As a result, she removed several posts after the subject requested she take them down and eventually stopped blogging about her personal life altogether. “I now use a Tumblr site that pulls feeds from my Twitter feed and work-related projects,” Hurley explains. “My readership has gone down tremendously, but my life has become much less dramatic.” That solution works well for Hurley, because it gives her a creative outlet without creating tension in her personal life. If you’re concerned about upsetting other people, this could be a good compromise.

I don’t use names (unless it’s discussed beforehand), I sometimes use initials and 99% of the time it’s only for good things.  If people don’t want me blogging about them, I would hope they have enough sense to tell me. While I am a humorous writer and I have many talents, mind reading isn’t one of them.  If people don’t want me blogging about situations that involve them or nonsense they write, maybe they shouldn’t be idiots…then I’d have to shut up, because I’d have nothing to write about.  To be honest, I would love for someone to write about a date with me, maybe I’d learn from it and see how others perceive me, I think it would be rather educational.

The benefits of blogging
However, for some, blogging can improve (rather than impinge on) their dating lives. “Since my habit is often to peruse a lot of profiles without actually writing messages, it became an accountability issue,” says Karin,* who writes the Single in the City blog in Boston. “If I told my readership that I was going to message a certain number of guys or update my profile, I knew that I would actually have to buckle down and do it.”

She’s also found that blogging helps her think about her “thought process between dates, my impressions of the dates or even my rants when my dates have broken things off. Writing, for me, sorts out the emotions.”

Writing about dates is my way of getting through the emotional roller coaster of dating and it’s an emotional outlet.  Some people have diaries, I have a blog.  I think my life is too random and ridiculous to not share with the people that are interested.  Also, I forget some of these stories sometimes, so I love to go back and reread them and laugh about it all over again.
 
Avoiding TMI
Karin uses code names for dates — a popular strategy that not only protects other people’s privacy, but it can also help protect the blogger from a potential lawsuit. Tina B. Tessina, Ph.D., a licensed psychotherapist who writes the Dr. Romance blog, recommends that bloggers “disguise [their] dates’ names and details… you don’t want to be sued for defamation.” She suggests that bloggers also consider writing under a pen name. But this can backfire if the blogger relies too much on a secret persona, reveals a few too many juicy details and later gets outed. Using your real name (even just your first name) keeps you accountable.  I’m accountable, as a left-handed human being whose first name starts with an “M”.

Whether or not you’re blogging under a nom de plume, it’s important to think about what you post and whether it might be hurtful to other people.  I’m the first to admit that a couple of my entries are harsh, however, most of them are about people that I don’t know, that acted in either an inappropriate or idiotic way. I would love to call them out in person, but that would mean I’d have to be in contact with them.

“Often, even though I thought that I was being very straightforward and objective when relaying a story about something that happened to me,” says Hurley, “I would be totally surprised when I included someone in the story who would come back to me and see the situation completely differently.”  This is actually what happened with the guy that emailed me about his entry.  He saw the situation completely differently than I did and while he probably felt better writing the email, the situation didn’t change, and I stand by my entry and my take on the events.

The bottom line is be a normal human.  Don’t send 85,000 text messages and then fall of the face of the Earth.  Don’t send messages asking my chest size (or how ‘strong’ my legs are).  Don’t be a jerk on a date (making fun of the overweight girl at the other end of the bar IS a d-bag thing to do BTW).  Don’t stop contacting me without a reason and don’t assume that I will sleep with you just because you bought me dinner.  If guys conducted themselves in a polite, honest, respectable manner, I wouldn’t have to blog about them. 

2012 Yearly Horoscope

I'll be the first to admit I'm a little crazy.  I believe in psychics and astrology (to a point) and I am about to try Reiki Therapy for the first time. So at the beginning of a new year I always check my yearly horoscope, just to see if anything is coming my way that I might need to prepare for.  This is the site I use for most of my horoscope needs and below is the yearly Capricorn horoscope, with my commentary, obviously. 

Overview

The confusion of 2011 is about to lift as clarity returns in 2012. You've no doubt been through a series of powerful metamorphoses since 2008, when Pluto took possession of your stars for the long haul. You're not even a quarter of the way through the 18-year shedding process that Pluto requires ... and yet you're not the same person you were just a few years ago by any stretch of the imagination. In some ways, you can expect this year to be a long, dramatic pause. You'll be questioning many aspects of your existence, especially your professional life. Mars, the planet of work and action, will be retrograde for the first quarter of the year in your house of higher learning and travel, putting you in a deeply introspective and philosophical mode. During this time, you'll be less inclined to hit the road than you will be to hit the books.
This does not look promising.  18 year shedding process that started in 2008!?!  I'll be 40 years old when that's over!! Thank God I'm not the same person I was a few years ago though, that's good news for everyone around me.  I question my existence almost every day and my professional life is no exception...however, I'm not quite ready to go back to 'hitting the books' just yet.

Love is in the air with generous Jupiter in sister Earth sign Taurus, showering your romantic sector until June. The planet of fortune will provide ample opportunities for you to fall in love with someone new - or simply love the one you're with. Pleasure becomes a key theme for the first half of the year, providing a nice balance to your normal dutiful life.

Well this should be interesting, at least for the rest of you who read my blog and are tired of the same old sh*t I've been writing about.

Romantic

Love is in great abundance during the first half of 2012, while Jupiter showers big fortune on your romantic sector. If anything, you'll be bombarded with so much affection, you'll feel guilty having to break so many hearts. You could easily fall in love overseas or with someone from another country under Jupiter's influence; at the same time, love could take you on such a fabulous adventure that your entire world will open up! In any case, this is a year when you'll fall in love a little bit with everything and everyone. Life itself becomes a daily romantic experience!
The first half?  What about the second half? I will never feel guilty about breaking hearts, mine has been broken way too many times.  The overseas thing could be interesting, especially because I'm planning to go to Germany in September...Hmm, German love?  They're supposed to be tall there...I'll take it! 
Mars, the planet of drive and mojo, will be in positive aspect to your stars for the entire first half of the year. This also bodes exceptionally well for your love life. Your ability to magnetize intense encounters is remarkable under this aspect. The chemistry you have with your partner is what makes life so alive and on fire, so enjoy it. It also makes it necessary for you to have more physical outlets for your surplus of libidinal energy. You're usually more apt to direct this energy toward your work, but during the first half of the year, you're more likely to put it into your love life.
This couldn't be truer.  I normally put A TON of energy towards my work, but I'm kind of over it and very ready to put the energy towards something else, preferably something more useful and more fulfilling. 
With Pluto continuing to excavate nearly every area of your life through its ongoing 18-year renovation project in your constellation, your relationships are no exception. One-to-one encounters are like being in constant psychoanalysis - you learn so much about yourself through the mirror of your relationship, and that isn't always easy or pretty. Still, you'll perpetually unearth some very deep insights about yourself through this process. If you've endured lost love over the past few years, trust that every death in your love life will be followed with a powerful rebirth.

I have learned so much about myself already, just by growing up and I am CONSTANTLY psychoanalyzing myself as it is, I can't imagine what this year is going to be like when my horoscope is telling me that I'm going to learn even more about myself (forget the fact that it's not 'pretty').  I have endured lost love over the past few years (Duh, see the blog posts) and I am ecstatic to know that there are better things to come. 

The 'Career' section was cut out because it was 1) boring and 2) I don't want to think about work or where I'll be at the end of this year, unless of course it's somewhere FANTASTIC.

Christmas/New Year Recap

It's been a while...I've been busy with the holidays and TURNING 25.  Oh my God, where has the time gone. It's not as bad as I thought it was going to be though, the world didn't end, wrinkles didn't appear and I only found one gray hair...a success in my book.  I had a glorious 11 days off hanging with family and friends and today is my last day of vacation.  This 11 day break has made me realize that I would be just fine being a stay at home mom (a thought that NEVER crossed my mind...like ever).  It was nice being out while the sun was shinning and running errands and getting spa treatments and sushi lunches...I definitely could get use to it.

So in true Lefty fashion, my family's Christmas celebration ended with a dog attack..not my dog, he's much too old and well behaved to attack anybody :-) and I wasn't the attacked, but a cousin's dog bit another cousin's boyfriend (badly).  So the day after Christmas I found myself in a Northern Virginia emergency room...typical. For NYE I went to a friends house, her and her boyfriend are the most adorable couple I have ever seen...seriously folks, it doesn't get any cuter and the picture below of their puppy is proof!  But K & S were the hostesses with the most-estes and we brought in the New Year drinking, laughing and playing Catch Phrase...perfect if you ask me.

Mulligan

On my last day off, I have to clean my car, clean my room and clean out any other clutter in my life!!  It's a New Year people!!  And just in case you were wondering, I've already been to the gym today AND I got out of my car and went into Burger King for my medium diet coke...no more driving through for me!

Most of you know that 2011 was basically the year from hell for me, I made some pretty tough choices and was faced with some pretty difficult situations, but I'm taking on 2012 with a positive attitude and my friends and family by my side.  Happy New Year!!

courtesy of Leggings are Not Pants