Bits & Pieces of This & That

Every day I come across things I find interesting or trigger random thoughts in my head, so I thought I'd share a few of them here to make room for some new ones.

New Online Distraction: Polyvore.com

One of the blogs I read regulary is by Bethany Joy Galeotti, an actress on One Tree Hill. I'm a huge fan of her personal style--it's quirky yet feminine, classic yet edgy, comfortable yet pretty damn cool, at least in my eyes. One of the things I love about her style is how she personalizes her pieces to create something that's one-of-a-kind. In one of her posts she talked about buying a necklace from a popular retail store and transforming it into something personal and unique. Yesterday she posted a collage and I noticed it was created on Polyvore. I'd heard of it before but never took the time to explore. Well, after two minutes on the site I'd already signed up and started creating my own inspiration board. I had so much fun. It reminded me of actual boards I created for my interior design classes back in the day. I've already created two more! Here's a look at My Sweet Dreams Seaside Bungalow and The Summer Look I Wish I Could Pull Off.

My Sweet Dreams Seaside Bungalow on Polyvore.com

Orange & Turquoise Summer on Polyvore.com

Pleasantly Surprised Me: Ice Loves Coco

I admit it, I judged this couple based on what I saw on the outside, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out I was completely wrong. After watching the first few eps of their reality show, I have to say that they have one of the healthiest relationships I've seen on reality TV--and even in reality. They understand what a marriage means and they do what they need to do to make it work. I know you can't believe everything you see on TV, especially when it's reality TV, but their relationship doesn't give me the fake vibe. They talk about supporting one another and loving each other, but you also see that they have their disagreements like any other couple. At the end of the day, they know what really matters and they've somehow managed to keep it together for all these years.

Made Me Geek Out a Little: Green Lantern

I watched it this weekend and loved it. When I started to get my feet wet in the world of comics, I discovered there was a comic book writer that was being praised for giving new life to DC Comics characters that weren't as well known and beloved as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. One of those characters was the Green Lantern. I didn't end up reading the comic books, but my research did lead me to others he'd written that I really liked. As I became a fan of Geoff Johns, it was hard not to become familiar with the Green Lantern Corps, so when the movie came out I felt I needed to show my support and watch it. It didn't hurt that Ryan Reynolds was the lead, but as the movie progressed, I found myself appreciating the meaning behind the Green Lantern. Most people, like myself, wouldn't think much about a superhero with a lantern, but I definitely changed my tune after this movie. The lantern and its power are awesome.

Totally Craving: The Buttery Bakery

About two weeks ago I went to Santa Cruz for my cousin's graduation. While I was there I visited an old friend and asked her if she knew where I could get a graduation cake. Without hesitation she recommended The Buttery. Wow, that place is amazing! I had one of their fruit tarts and a macaroon--both so yummy. Although their signature chocolate cake, which is what we ordered for my cousin, was simply amazing. We had them add fresh strawberries to the buttercream filling, and that only made it even more perfect. I'm drooling just thinking about. Wish I had a picture of the slice, but this one will have to do.

Interesting Read: The California Dream is fizzling out

I came across this article on CNN.com and as I started reading it I found myself thinking about the Orange County, California, I knew growing up. Sadly, it barely exists anymore. The orange groves that lined Irvine Blvd. and the smell of strawberries in the summer air are now gone and have been replaced by strip malls and housing developments. I'm no stranger to change--I know it's inevitable--but it's still hard to see pieces of my childhood disappear each time I go back for a visit.

Music Monday Playlist #1

I was looking at my iTunes library, and I thought it would be interesting to see what kind of playlist my iTunes DJ could come up with today. Take a look:

Use Somebody—Kings of Leon

Don’t Waste Your Heart—Dixie Chicks

Suffer—Staind

I’m Only Me When I’m with You—Taylor Swift

Little Children—Everly

Smells Like Teen Spirit—Nirvana

Everything You Want—Vertical Horizon

Take a Bow—Lea Michele from Glee

So What Does It All Mean—Gould & Fitzgerald West

Waiting—Trapt

Selah—Lauren Hill

Holiday—Madonna

You and I Both—Jason Mraz

Mexico—James Taylor

Hmmm, an odd collection of songs. There were two more, but the Christmas song and classical piece only made this list look even more random. Let’s see, of the 13 songs listed here, I’ve only listened to seven in their entirety. Can you guess which ones?

To keep me posting on a more regular basis, I think I’ll make this a weekly thing. Happy Music Monday!

Everything’s New Again

Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve stopped here for a visit. A new job has been keeping me busy the past six months, and although I haven’t quite gotten used to the new gig yet, I figured I needed to get back into a routine outside of work. I need something to try to keep me sane when I’m feeling out of control.

Don’t get me wrong—I love the new job and I’m so thankful for it—but like any job, you have your good days and bad days. The one thing I’m struggling with is adjusting to working for such a large corporate company. I’m slowly catching on to the game and trying to figure out the best way to approach it. Let me tell ya—it’s mentally exhausting and I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever be able to get it right. The truth of the matter is I really have no right to complain about anything at work. I have a job, a better boss and a steady paycheck. Right now, that’s all that matters.

Other than work, well…not much else is going on right now. The winter weather has kept me indoors most of the time. It’s officially spring, but the weather still hasn’t changed much. Last night I actually went out into the city and had a girls’ night. It almost felt like SATC. I was sitting in this lounge taking in everything around me and it was weird to actually be in the middle of it all instead of watching the entire scene on a TV screen while sitting on my couch. Yes, I really do need to get out more often.

Anyway, AR invited me to an event TBJ had at the Alphabet Lounge featuring two of the artists she manages. After my bad week at work, I needed something to take my mind off it and this was the perfect distraction. AR and I started off the evening by having sangria and tapas at Tapeo 29. We stumbled upon it while walking around and were so glad we decided to take a chance on it. The tapas menu looked great and the specials that night smelled amazing. We opted for the patatas bravas (piquant fried potatoes and yams served with aioli and romesco sauces) and chorizo al sidra but they made a mistake and we ended up with the chorizo al vino (chorizo glazed in red wine), which was pretty fantastic so we didn’t complain.

We got to the lounge just in time and saw TBJ doing her thing. She was like a mama bear taking care of her cubs. She’s so good at what she does and I’m amazed that she gets all this done while raising one of the cutest two-year-olds I’ve ever seen. After giving her big hugs since we hadn’t seen her in forever, she introduced us to the poet and singer performing that evening. Let me tell you, these are two very talented guys. Justin Baron was rocking that keyboard and singing his heart out. At one point, I could hear TB mumbling next to me about how he needed to sit back down on his chair before he busted a knee. Then Miles Hodges went up on stage to perform his poem “From Head to Toe” and he killed it. If you ever get the chance to see these guys perform in person, you definitely should. They’re so engaging and did I mention incredibly talented, too? Added bonus for the ladies—they’re adorable and very charming. If I were younger I’d be one of their groupies, but stalking them at my age would just be wrong, very wrong.

Once the show was done, AR, TBJ and I decided to get some dessert and catch up at this cute little place we’d passed earlier called Cocoa Bar. They served a bunch of chocolate desserts, wine and a bunch of cocktails. While AR and TBJ opted for the wine selection, I had something called a French hot chocolate, which was dark hot chocolate with cognac. We ended up sharing the Chocoholics Platter that had a flourless chocolate cake, two chocolate patties and six chocolate bonbons. It was pretty much the perfect way to end the night.

I’m hoping as the weather gets better I’ll be able to spend more time in the city. I miss it and I like that I miss it. Now that I don’t have to commute into it every day, I have a newfound appreciation for the sights and sounds of NYC. It’s nice.

Stand Still & Move Forward

My horoscope was so right on today I just had to share it:

At the moment, there's nowhere else you'd rather be than home, and while you can't click your heels together and get yourself there, probably because of a work situation, all you can think about is shuffling through the front door, pulling down the shades and curling up with the cat on the couch. Fade to black. That's not the kind of thing you'd ever do, though--unless you'd really had it with the entire world.

Yup, that's kind of how it's been lately. I'm Dorothy clicking the heels of my ruby red slippers together over and over, but it's just not working. Don't get me wrong, nothing horrible or catastrophic has happened in my life lately. I've just kind of had it with all the little annoying things and stupid people I have to deal with every day. What I need is a real vacation AND a trip home.

Things are happening right now that I'm not ready to discuss yet until a few things are ironed out, which is why I've become an anxiety-ridden ball of stress. Even complete strangers are asking if I'm OK and telling me I look tired. Sadly, I don't think a real vacation is possible anytime soon mainly because of the "work situation" mentioned in the horoscope, and I may not make it home until Christmas.

In a previous post I talked about initiating change and starting new things, but I'd forgotten how stressful change can be even if it's something you're willing to embrace. It's scary and exciting and nerve-wracking and completely necessary if you want to move forward. I just wish I could fast forward through a couple of things and get to the part when I finally go on that much-needed vacation where I wake up to the sounds of a gentle breeze and a small bird's chirps, stretch out in the biggest, fluffiest, most comfortable bed I've ever slept in, and then open my eyes to see the most beautiful view Mother Nature has ever created.

The Kindness of Strangers

One of the things I actually love about my job is how it can sometimes pleasantly surprise me on any given day. Friday was one of those days.

Maintaining a Twitter page for our company is one of my job responsibilities. I retweet what others post and I comment and have conversations with people from time to time. There’s one person I interact with mainly because I find him interesting and entertaining. He drives across the country doing something he really loves for a living, and you can see it on his website and in his tweets. One of the things he tweeted Friday morning included a picture of a popular burger chain out west called In-N-Out. Since I’m from that side of the country and love that burger joint, I tweeted back, “I’m so jealous.”

From that point on we were engaged in a bunch of direct messages. Long story short, he basically asked for our company address and before I knew it a delivery guy from the deli around the corner was handing me a box full of cupcakes:

This virtual stranger I had exchanged pleasantries with a few times online had a dozen cupcakes sent to our company from across the country. What was his reason? It was very simple; he wanted to thank us for being so kind to him and thought we at least deserved cupcakes for working so hard. Sure, there could have been an ulterior motive—some strange marketing ploy, I don’t know—but my gut tells me this was just an act of pure kindness. Well, at least that’s what I choose to believe. There are so many things in this world that make me lose my faith in humanity, but it only takes one small ray of sunshine to erase it all and give me hope.