Itsy Bitsy String Bikini!

I have been in a big need of a new bathing suit. Last summer was rather disappointing with all the cold weather and overcast weekends, so I never committed to a new suit. This year, I have a good feeling. My inbox constantly gets bombarded with sales emails from J-Crew and Victoria's Secret. I already tried the J-Crew angle and realized that their sale is still more than I am willing to pay so I figured I would go Vicky Secret.

The store had an amazing green/blue tie-dye bikini that I knew should be mine. It is a halter top (with a little push-up - there I said it) and a string bikini bottom. I have never gone string bikini but I figured, why not just go for it. Sadly, I realized that the suit was not on sale but I didn't want to risk trying to find the same suit online (or more truthfully I wanted a suit for the weekend).

This was the closest bikini that I could find online, which makes me very happy with my on the spot purchase.

I am excited to wear this on the shores of the Narragansett Bay this Memorial Day Weekend. If I could live in a bikini I think I would, oh office dress codes...

Three is the new five

My office has summer hours which begin right after commencement. Today is the first time we get out at 3 pm on a Friday. My big plan was to go home and nap before going out with some girls down in Harvard Square.

We are asked to eat lunch earlier, otherwise those who eat a 2 would have the advantage leave even earlier than the rest of us. Needless to say, eating earlier throws this girl off. Coming back to my desk thinking it is already 2 pm and it actually is only 1 is a definite mood killer.

I don't know how I have managed to get to five pm on a Friday in the summer in the past, because between you and me, getting to three was brutal. Maybe next week will be better?

Coffee that goes CRUNCH

I have been out of coffee for my coffee maker for the last week or so. Being the fiscally responsible woman that I am, I have, of course, begun purchasing iced coffee on my way to work every morning. I can't bring myself to drink black coffee so I usually get a little cream and sugar.

This morning, when I walked over for my morning -- errr late morning/early afternoon -- jump start, I neglected to say "just a little" when quantifying the cream and sugar. Because of this the woman at DD went to town with the add-ins. As I walked out of the store I stuck my straw in the cup and took my first big swig.

Whoooooosh. Not only did I get a mouthful of coffee but along came a substantial amount of sugar. Crunch crunch crunch. Feeling the granules of sugar between my teeth made me flashback into time when I ordered ice coffees (light and sweet) to drink while watching middle school baseball games. It was a nice quick trip down memory lane. I don't have plans going back to that kind of sugar intake, but for the moment it was pretty sweet. (pun intended)

I heart me some Koli Bear.

The Biggest Loser Finale has come and gone. The contestants look amazing, I get so excited knowing that they have changed their lives in such a positive way.

The show opened with the audience learning who was voted into the final three, Koli or Darris. I liked both men and refused to pay 99 cents to vote. Fortunately, there were Americans who were willing to cough up that dollar and Darris was given the opportunity to make top three and compete against Ashley and Michael. Koli had to settle for competing for the at home prize.

While I agree, these episodes are long, I really love all the transformations especially with the hologram comparisons with with final three. It is a little disheartening to see that some contestants were not able to make as much progress as I would hope, but hey, any weight loss is good weight loss for these individuals. Hopefully, they can continue with this path and continue to get healthier.

The pink team looked amazing, both mother and daughter. They are both my new favorites. Love them both and will keep these women in mind as I continue to try the follow through with my running program and ab workouts (well I hope to start the ab work outs soon).

Congrats to Mike the $250,000 winner and Koli that at home winner of $100,000! I hope Koli starts to feel a little better as the week progresses. It looked like his pride was seriously wounded when he wasn't voted into the top three. I think he looks phenomenal and while I understand how people may have felt he was cocky, I think he was just excited for the challenge.

Taking the Scenic Route

I brunched with a few girls this morning down at Masa on Tremont Street. The brunch was tasty, but the services wasn't so spectacular. Today's weather was perfect for a stroll, so I opted to leave the house early so I could get off at Park St Station and wander my way to the restaurant. I saw online that the walk wouldn't be too long and who wants to have to hop onto the Green line for just a few stops anyway?

After checking with Google Maps I saw that the walk should be easy and simple so I didn't bother to print the map or write anything down. Not the smartest move on my part. See, I decided that while strolling through the park I would chat with my grandmother. By the time I thought to check in with my surroundings I realized that I was on a street I wasn't planning on walking on and really had no idea where I was in relation to where I should be.

At this point, I would like to give a thank you shout out to the bell hop that pointed me back in the right direction, as I still managed with this detour to be the first one at the restaurant.

If anything this weekend has taught me I should be more diligent about printing maps or getting addresses of places I need to go. Friday night I had a similar experience in that when I finally found parking I realized I wasn't sure where the restaurant was that I was supposed to eat dinner at. Thanks to a friendly policeman, I again made it just in time. :)

Hungry and not sure what to do?

What The Fuck Should I Make For Dinner is your answer!

This website provides suggestions to the lazy cook. The best part is if you click on the meal it suggests, the website connects you to a recipe. This will be bookmarked on my computer!

Bacon on the Brain

This weekend I will be heading back to RI for a super fun bbq. My friend just got her Master's in Marine Affairs (and sadly, no, that does not mean she gets to stare at men in uniform all day). Conveniently, her graduation coincides with her moving into a new apartment, so of course, a party was a must.

My original plan was to make some bacon pasta salad*. Then life happened and now I realize I will be home and available to cook for maybe an hour between now (Friday at noon) and when I must leave to get to RI (sometime around 3:30 tomorrow). I would rather avoid the stress trying to get the pasta salad made, so I will probably go with option 2. Beer.

Just as I was about to write yet another post about bacon, I checked my email. In my over stuffed inbox I found an old one advertising a bacon scented candle. Could not make this up if I tried. I don't know how I feel about this product. Do I really want to smell like bacon if I didn't get to eat any??

---------

*Bow Tie Pasta Salad

1 (16 oz) box bow tie pasta

1 – 1 ½ bottles Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing

Raw veggies (i.e. red peppers, green peppers, pea pods, etc.), cut up

Cooked bacon (approx. 4 - 5 slices), crumbled in pieces

Salt

Pepper

Cook pasta according to directions on the box. Rinse pasta with cold water, drain, and put in large bowl. Chill for about a half hour, and then add enough Ranch dressing to keep it from sticking. Chill again. When chilled, add cut up veggies, salt and pepper to taste, and enough dressing to coat the pasta. Toss well. Add bacon before serving, and toss again.

Can't pull my eyes away

A friend sent me the link to an article higlighting Romain Laurent's photography. From there I went onto view his website. I love the pictures and can't take my eyes away from them. I don't know what my problem is, but I have a hard time scrolling from picture to picture, but that could be because I was trying to peruse between phone calls at work.

I would highly suggest taking a look, but then again, if you are a gchat friend of mine, I am sure you already have as I have listed his website has my status all day.

Pretty Damn Cool

This is video showing how flights were affected by the ash from the volcano. You can see how as the ash settled more and more planes were able to take to the skies. I like that you can tell when it is daytime versus night.

Airspace Rebooted from ItoWorld on Vimeo.

*Video is from Buzzfeed.com

Life is (still) Good

My cupboards were not bare, but they didn't have the most useful items in them either. A meal consisting of diced tomatoes in garlic and oil with a can of baked beans and some crackers wasn't going to cut it, so I decided to stop at the grocery on the way home.

I bought way more groceries than I intended, I just cannot control myself when I am hungry, and hopped into the car to speed to my apartment before the ice cream had a chance to get melty. As I walked up the path to my apartment building, I went to reach for my keys. Not in my bag.

I frantically started pulling the bag apart and dumping the contents. That is when I realized that I had made a huge mistake leaving my coat on the back of my office chair. My morning routine consists of me slipping my apartment keys into my coat pocket. Sometimes these keys are later transferred into my bag, but this was not the case today. Ugh.

After a few calls to the property building and the various handymen, I was able to get in and save the frozen foods. An hour later I went to grab my bag so I could pick up my friend from the bus stop and go over to trivia. As I grabbed my phone, car keys and spare keys, I noticed something was missing. That sometime was my wallet.

Again, I tore everything apart and even searched the car. No wallet. I know I bought my groceries so I called the market. Thankfully someone turned it in!

I raced over and everything was there, my credit cards and my money. Sigh of relief!

As much as those two hours caused me extreme stress, I will walk away thinking that it could have been worse. I am thankful things worked out so well for me, and I even was able to pick up my friend and make it to trivia. We only missed out on the first question!

You win mtv. I now watch The Hills

Two weekends ago there was a The Hills marathon. I randomly turned on the tv during day two and tweeted about watching my first episode. A friend immediately replied that I should start from the beginning. So I did just that.

Season 1 Lauren and Heidi

In about two weeks time I have now seen every single The Hills episode made. Being able to watch them in succession like that really allows one to see how the show's "reality" has deteriorated over the years. The plot lines have become thinner and the cast has evolved in strange ways.

The same friend who advised me to watch from the beginning stated that she felt the show really took a turn when Lauren Conrad left. I would have to agree. Without her, there doesn't appear to be center. Now you see Heidi 3.0 and Spencer fighting for the spotlight while Kristen from Laguna Hills has returned to be the voiceover, but unfortunately, pretty much everyone hates her and she might be on drugs.

What I will say is it is a shame that the cast loves to stay in the gossip rags. If we didn't already know what Heidi looked like from the pictures in People Magazine, I think the editing for the episode where she reveals herself to her mom would have been more shocking. But, I was still on edge waiting for the cameras to zoom in on her puffy face rather than the back of head or scanning up to just below her boobs.

Heidi Season 6

I will say, Heidi's mom was right. Not only does she not look better than before the surgery, but the surgery has aged her dramatically. I would never think this girl is 3 years younger than me.

Celebrating my sister's academic accomplishments

Normally, I try to keep my blog centered around me and my life. But today, I would like to say congratulations to my sister and her classmates at Assumption College for graduating. Sadly, she does not yet have a job lined up, but I am sure things will work out. I didn't have one either, but that was a different economy, so who knows how long it will take for her to get something going.

As the supportive sister that I am, I opted to get her a tool to prepare her for the workforce:

Bathing Suit Blues.....and greens and pinks

Bathing suits are already going on sale everywhere. In order for me to get a suit for this summer, I realized I should get a move on because sadly one cannot find anything decent if one waits until June or July, you know when swim suits are actually needed. But there is no need to get into that old tired issue.

Victoria Secret has been bombarding me with emails about their swim sales. I have never purchased a bathing suit from them, and since they don't have the best return policy (and there is shipping costs!), I decided if I was going to go for it, I better know exactly what I wanted. The Mall at Chestnut Hill has one of the stores so I trekked on over. Sadly, they carry no suits, so I was stuck.

As I walked back to my car, I remembered that the Atrium Mall (across the street) had a J-Crew and they were also sending me numerous emails. So off I went. There were a number styles available for me to try on. I loaded up my arms with bottoms and tops, and headed into an oddly lit changing room. If that lighting is suppose to help me look better, I don't ever want to see myself in a bathing suit in normal lighting.

Bathing suit shopping should never be done when

• a) you are still pasty from the winter
• b) just ate ice cream at your office's meet the new coworker's party or
• c) not 100% full of confidence.

I did not fulfill any of these requirements and eventually had to just put the suits away. I like one suit, and I am pretty sure it was flattering, but I just wasn't ready to put down the $57 dollars (that was after the 30% off). Hopefully things will look better when I try again in a week or two.

I should just become a clown.

Whenever I begin to get overwhelmed (this averages to about once a month) I remind myself that in order to fly one has to leap. Which means I try to live life as aggressively as possible. The upside to this philosophy is that my life tends to change every 5 weeks or so. While I am constantly juggling all my commitments, things stay interesting by the mere fact that various jobs or activities are being added and subtracted regularly.

Currently I have a full-time job, 2 part-time jobs (as of the May 22nd), kickball, a running program and an intense social life (which includes a number of weddings and graduation events in the near future). Come this fall, kickball will most likely fall to the wayside but I will pick up night school. Yes, I am aware that a love life was not in these lists, but, hey, I just don't have time. I can only hope that I meet someone who is just as busy as I am and can deal with knowing that I can't be bothered to sit still for more than an hour or two...

I just found a note book and am using it to keep track of all of my To-Dos and lists. In the matter of minutes after I gave the book a purpose, I managed to fill the first few pages with household chores and packing lists for the upcoming weekend. Maybe with this notebook I will be able to find more time for enrichment. I recently realized that the best use of my lunch hour is to spend it reading as I never feel good about sitting on my couch with a book. A friend of mine just recommended me a few different On Demand exercise programs to help me with my goal of getting in shape. I think if I start waking up at 6 am every day rather than just the days I have to go running, I can get my body in tip top shape in the next month or so.

Let's keep my fingers crossed that I can keep everything moving and I don't have to sacrifice. I know that sacrifice is something that you are suppose to do when working towards a goal, but I am just not ready for that and would like to keep all this going as long as I possibly can.

Puppy after my own heart

I subscribe to The Daily Puppy. These emails definitely help me get through the hours between nine and five by giving me a dose of AWWWWWWW each morning. Today's little pooch is not only super cute, but also a coffee addict. :)

When I Grow Up....

I want to be a cougar.

Seriously.

Last night I had the honor of dining with four fine cougar women and had an absolute blast. Half of us at the table were under 30, the other half, well, weren't. But all were fantastic.

These women shared my love of crass conversation, high heels, big jewelry, and booze. By the end of the night I consumed more food than I care to admit and was quite happy about it.

I learned that as a cougar you must own fancy cars, arrange amazing trips with friends, go out for fun dinners, and be good at euchre. If that doesn't sound like the perfect lifestyle, I don't know what is.

I am woman. Hear me whirrrrrrrrl

A few weeks ago I went to IKEA and bought a cart for my tiny kitchen. My neighbor bought the same one and said it was the hardest thing to put together. Being the overwhelmed and under-motivated individual that I recently became I opted to allow for mine to stay in its box...until today.

I quickly understood why the cart was considered so difficult. You have to screw all the pieces together. The first few spins - easy peasy, then BAM the freaking thing wouldn't move. I tried so hard to get the stupid hardware into the wood. After a blister formed on my thumb, I decided to think of a Plan B.

Electric Drill.

Perfect plan, just needed to acquire one. I figure why not hop over to SEARS in the CambridgeSide Galleria real fast. All I would need was something small , nothing to fancy, but with enough power to help finish the job.

When I got to the store, holding bags from J-Crew and H&M - can't go to the mall without checking out sales -and I tried to find the power tool myself. A few of the men who worked in the power tool section saw me walking around and asked if I needed help. I gave in and said, sure, might as well get this over fast. I just remembered that I had another belated birthday gift to find.

Major pet peeve about being an independent female shopping in "man stores", is the way the employees tend to treat me. I may not be completely sure of what I need at times, but honestly, don't look at me like I am completely helpless. Instead of just pointing me in the right direction the guy came over and read me the information off the placards that were next to the drills themselves. I could have done that myself.

When he asked me what I was looking for and I explained I was hoping for a small drill like the one my friend owned which was powered by a battery pack. He replied, "Where did she get it?" and I said "I wasn't sure where HE got it". I don't know why it irritated me, but honestly, why assume that my friend was female? If I said I wanted something smaller that super huge, plugs into the wall variety that my friend has, would he have used "he" instead? Ugh. I just hate being looked at as helpless, or cute that I am trying to do this kind of stuff on my own.

In the end, I got what I wanted and was able to finish the cart when I got home. Interestingly enough I ended up using a screw driver to tighten the screws, as I have no skill at using power tools and couldn't get thing to screw past the original point of no return. At least I now have a drill if there is ever an event that calls for one.

Happy Mother's Day

This year I am being a bad daughter by staying up here this year. But I will be seeing her next weekend for my sister's graduation! Hope all mom's have a great day!!!

Don't eat gummy fried eggs

This afternoon I went with a friend to Sugar Heaven on Boylston St. Oh man. How have I not been there before??? I am not the biggest chocolate fiend, but I love gummy candy like no other. Specifically I have a special place in my heart for green frogs.

The shop has two walls of candy that you can buy by the pound. It is a little more pricey than other candy places I have frequented in the past, but considering the shop is in the city, I get it. One particular perk is that the employees let you taste the different candies! Most of the candies we tried were very tasty, the one that I would urge you to stay away from is the fried egg gummy.
The girl told me it was like circus peanuts, which made me a little concerned. First, I sniffed the candy and detected that buttery scent...eeep. Then as soon as I popped it in my mouth I was disgusted. It was a painful chew. The two employees felt bad for me so they gave me a fancy peach candy to cleanse my pallet.

In the end I walked away with a great bad full of green frogs, grapefruits, peaches, clown fish, raspberries and peachy penguins (yes they are as adorable as they sound). I think a night of leftovers, gummies and movies are in my near future.

Cinco De Mayo

Being the original ladies we are, my friends and I decided that we should go out for tequila and nachos. I mean, who else would think to do so on May 5th?

I was able to get to Sunset Cantina first and put our name in for a table. I thought only five of us would be there but I also was afraid I miscounted so I went up to the hostess and said "5??" when she asked for the size of the party. I tried to look as confused as possible, I had a feeling I was wrong.

Well I was, but not because I couldn't count, but because a friend brought her fiance. I had to be sure that the number was updated so that we could get the proper sized table. Feeling like the waitstaff was super stressed, the bar was backed up and there were so many waiting for a table, I went up and told her "So I gave you the wrong number because I forgot to count myself, there are six". The hostess looked at me like, oh I am sorry you are stupid, and updated our info.

I like playing dumb at times. I know that as a customer service person I am slightly more patient with dumb blondes than I am with any other type of dumb person. I guess that could be considered unfair, but hey, get over it.

In the end, we had many good drinks and tasty tasty food. I love Cinco de Mayo, but if we were completely honest with ourselves, every happy hour we arrange ends up with a plate of nachos and at least one person drinking tequila.

Where does baby corn come from?

My cupboards are bare. Due to the water crisis in Boston, I opted to stay away from the crazies at the grocery store and instead have been living off of frozen meals. Not the tastiest lifestyle, but hey, it worked. At this point I am dying for some fresh food, maybe a veggie or two, and the company of a close friend. We decided that there was a Thai restaurant close by that would be perfect.

Both of us agreed that vegetable tempura would be a great idea for a starter. The selection was amazing. We had carrots, sweet potatoes, beans, peppers, onions, broccoli, zucchini, squash, and baby corn. While munching on my baby corn, I began to wonder, where does baby corn come from? Is it like baby carrots, cut from bigger corn some how? Is it its own plant? Or is baby corn, really just baby corn? Well my dining companion was just as stumped as I was. Hmmmm...

Well, thankfully, she has a longer attention span than I and googled the question when she got home. Baby corn is indeed, exactly what it sounds like, baby corn. I am extremely excited about this, and am not sure why. But in case anyone else has wondered about that cute little plant. Next time I get some, I think I will pretend I am a giantess eating regular big corn.

Economic Crisis 101

This past weekend I went over to Newton for some light shopping with a few gal pals. While browsing through Anthropologie, I came across the lobster dress.

I love it. I think it is super cute. Personally, I don't care for the taste of lobster, but I have no problem wearing their image on my person. I wanted to show my co-worker the dress. She also grew up on the beach and loves all thing New England. When I went to search for it on google, one of the first images comes from the U.K.'s Anthropologie website. I did a double take, the dress is listed at £118.00! It is $138.00 here.

All I could think of was when I was in college and knew that the British pound was almost $3. I totally thought I stumbled upon the best plan ever, purchasing Anthropologie items and shipping to the UK for the fraction of the cost.

Then I googled the current conversion. £118.00 equals $173.89! When did that happen?? Apparently my knowledge of world economic changes comes from looking up dresses online. Eeep.

Pink is the Purple

Totally excited about kickball starting up again for the season. This will be my third year and fifth season. Sadly, my team color is not pink, but instead, purple. I am not quite ready to hang up my pink tutu so I will be sporting it one more time on the fields.

My teammate and I did find a website that teaches us How to make a tutu and we figured making one would be super fun and possibly economical. We were then saddened when

• a) realized tulle is not exactly the cheapest material to purchase and the cost of the supplies might just reach the cost of a pre-made tutu and
• b) we didn't exactly have much time to spare in our very busy schedules.

We opted to use the tutu's we currently own for now, but hope to be proud owners of purple piles of tulle soon!

I did find the Tulle Source which appears to have some very reasonably priced tulle on their website, making the diy option more tangible again.


Of course as soon as I get back on the make my own tutu boat, I find this beauty (see above) only $28.00 plus shipping!

Oh My Mila!

I am glad to see that Mila followed through with the styling suggestions that Tim gave her. Before this finale, I was never sure if I could see myself in her clothing. Now, there are a few pieces I would love to rock around Boston.

This was the first piece that really caught my eye. Yes, I would get rid of the necklace. It reminds me of those things airplane companies put on small children who fly without adults.

If I remove the accessory in my mind, my body quickly takes the place of this model and I see myself rocking the dress. Where I would go in it is something I will just have to figure out later.

Additionally, LOVE the tights. Nothing gets me more than a patterned tight. The fact that Mila designed her own tights for the show is something I cannot being to wrap my head around.




In the past I found myself hating on the color blocking. It was too mod for my taste and, just like my favorite PR bloggers, found it repetitive. But this is a style I could get behind. Don't think that the garments would be necessarily flattering on me. And if I did go for it, I would nix the gloves.

The tights are interesting, but make me think that the girl is wearing awkward shin guards. I think I would need to see them close up to make a real decision on whether they would be purchased.






I think the picture of the back of this cardigan is way more interesting than the picture of the front of the complete look. Don't get me wrong, this was the first look I knew I would be more than willing to jump the model for and take it all. The look is so style meets comfort and despite what my shoe collection may indicate, that is totally what I try and go for on a regular basis.

Not related to this look, but did anyone else feel like Molly Ringwald made an appearance on the runway?










And of course, how could I not post something about that shiny number? Loved the stripping that is on the inside, adds some extra spunk.

Ok, I'm done. Overall, I think this show should have been a solid second place. Boo judges, boooooo.