We Chilled on Sunday...

I went on a date this week.

A super promising date.

The kind that you plan in your head for days before-hand, just praying that you don't do or say anything ridiculous and strange (as you are prone to do).

It was a strange situation, because this gentleman asked me out, then left the country for 3 weeks. So, 4 weeks later, there we were on a first date.

It was still wonderful. We sat there at the small two top table, far apart from one another, but quite close to the older ladies dining next to us. As we chatted and got to know each other, the loud and boisterous woman sitting to my left kept interrupting our conversation with her raucous laugh and loud exclamations to the lord. My date and I started talking about religions (taboo on a first date, I know), and discovered that we are both from Jewish and Catholic mixed families. My gasp of surprise at this must have drawn the attention of the older ladies, because suddenly the obnoxious blonde was leaning over, whining "Wait, what are you both, what are you both?" as if she were somehow invested in our conversation.
I looked over at her, and explained that we are both from Jewish and Catholic families. Her quieter, brunette friend started to ask about how that works, right as Loud Blonde interrupted with a dry, "So, did you just meet?"
My date joked that we had met ten minutes ago, while I said we had technically known each other for 4 weeks. Great, glad we are on the same page already!
She then asks how we met, and I explain that my date is actually a friend of my father's (no, he's not super old).
Her response was a classic, "Good! If you had met on eHarmony I would've been disappointed,"with a wave of her ring-free hand.
Although my date tried extensively to politely exit the conversation, this woman was determined to learn all about our lives, and to tell us all about her and her friend. Luckily, they were finishing up as we were getting started. Before leaving however, Loud Blonde managed to awkwardly and repeatedly tell my date and I what a cute couple we made. She actually said "I can't wait to see your babies"... which is just too far. Not the first time this has happened with a stranger and this particular gentleman, also. Maybe it's a sign.

Anyhow, they finally left, and we really got to connect.

We drank wine, joked, told stories, laughed, I did some ridiculous things, which he actually thought was charming, not weird.

We listened to each others favorite songs in the car, and I didn't want the night to be over.

We did NOT kiss...

But as he got out of the car, I said the typically girl line, "I had a really great time tonight,", which is code for "ask me out again."

His response? "One of many, I'm sure..."

We will see, sir.

Hope for the Hopeless

I am 26.
I've never had a real boyfriend.
I've never said "I love you" to a man and meant it (other than my father).
I've never wanted to spend time with a man more than I've wanted to be alone.

http://introvertedblogger.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/alone.jpg

These are all true things. I've always felt like I was a late bloomer as far as love, intimacy, and sex go, but I tend to also think of myself as an old soul, with more old-fashioned tastes than my peers. I've had lots of men interested in dating me seriously, but I always have found reasons to break it off before things got "real". It can't be healthy...

Deep, deep, deep down in my heart, I believe that I am meant to marry my first love, and that's why I haven't met him yet. When I find love, it will be the kind that lasts an entire lifetime.

http://www.nuediamonds.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/romantic-proposal-diamond-gold-jewelry1.png

Maybe I'll die a spinster.
Maybe I'll get married within the year.
Maybe I'll turn into a crazy dog/horse lady and decide I don't need men to fulfill me.
Who knows...

But right now, I'm reasonably happy with the way things are going, and I do still have hope. What would giving up get me?

Tell me about you.

Making the Most: I Ain't Got No Regrets

Just kidding... everyone has some regrets, even if they're little things or big things.

I was just stalking myself on Facebook (don't lie, you do it too!), going through all the old photos, all the way back to Freshman Year.

Here's a super blurry photo from the Fall of my Sophmore Year. 

I took a look at this photo, and at the time I remember being disappointed that it was so blurry, because it actually looks like a pretty cool candid shot of me and a close friend of mine. Now, I just love the blurriness, because it allows me to imagine all the details as perfect, instead of reality.

Looking back, I started to feel this intense pull in my chest that said, "Go back... those were the best years of your life... you were so happy then..."

Listen, these are not the thoughts of a G! I had to check myself, because A) It's not possible to time travel back to college, B) Theses thoughts are really unproductive and don;t help me live my life right now, and finally C) I'm exhausted at 26, and I only go out once in a while. WHAT?! There's a zero percent chance I would survive college. In all reality, I would go back to school and end up trying to take care of all the silly little girls around me who haven't learned all their lessons yet.

No, I think I'll keep my two bedroom apartment, my quiet Sunday mornings without a vicious hangover, having a full time job, and therefore a fully stocked kitchen, and clean sheets, like most of the time.

But, in order to get myself together, I thought, "what is it that I actually miss about college?" so that I could end these negative feelings I had. Here's a short list:

1. Spending a lot of time with very close friends
2. Taking photos of everything, because why not? It's so easy to keep the memories in this digital age
3. Being adventurous, spontaneous, and carefree

These are all things that I'm going to strive for in my life as a twenty-something, to recreate some of those positive things that I miss from my college life! Let's all live in the present, y'all!

Feelin' So Fly Like a G6

I wish I was a fashionista. But alas, I am not.
I DO take a lot of inspiration for my outfits from the webs, though, so I'm also not a total lost cause.

Recently I saw this picture on one of my favorite fashion blogs, J's Everyday Fashion. I love, love, love this blog because she has such amazing outfits, links to where you can purchase all the pieces, and her style is fantastic. I emulate her often, even if the outcome is not AS identical as today.

Here's the inspirational picture from J's Everyday Fashion

J's Inspiration: This Time Tomorrow

Here's my outfit from today, totally inspired by J, and I also received lots of compliments.

I replaced the moto jacket with a red cardigan. It is Valentines day after all! I will admit, I tried to wear gold capped flats, similar to J, but they pinch my toes :(

Also, now you can see why I need to be eating healthier. Oof...

How To: Control the Cravings

I love snacking. I think maybe I was meant to be born a horse, because I could graze all day and never actually eat a big meal.Anyone else like this?

I just love snacking, especially while I'm working or watching TV.

Erry day, erry day, erry day, erry day.

So I need a snacking solution. Here are my thoughts.

1. The snacks need to be super easy to grab. Any prep work takes the snack-iness out of it.

2. The snacks should be reasonably healthy - maybe even labeled with specific info, like calories, carbs, sugar, etc. I might want to stick to 100-calorie guidelines for these snacks.

3. All areas of cravings should be covered. - Spicy, sweet, salty, crunchy, soft, chocolatey, etc.

4. There should be a place for fridge snacks (like fruits and veggies, cheese cubes, etc) and pantry snacks. So two snack areas total.

Fridge:

Sweet - grapes, pineapple chunks, sugar free pudding cups

Salty - edamame, turkey pepperoni pieces, cheese cubes

Crunchy - baby carrots, cucmber slices, celery slices (with pb or cream cheese)

Pantry:

Sweet - sugar free candies, freeze dried strawberries

Salty - plain kale chips, almond meal crackers, beef jerky, almonds, pistachios

Spicy - Roasted hot chickpeas

Crunchy - Roasted chickpeas, freeze dried edamame, spinach chips, zucchini chips

Soft - chickpea cookies

Chocolatey - Cocoa powder (to make other chocolate stuff), cocoa almonds, almond grahams

This is as far as I got.. Suggestions are welcome. 

I personally steer away from white carbs, sugar, and super fatty foods.

My Chick Bad, My Chick Good

My chick do stuff that yo' chick wish she could...

I was a bad chick, now I'm a good chick. Wanna see why?

In my profession, the need to bake cupcakes / treats occurs about once a month. In months past, this would either cause me to plan on baking THE BEST CUPCAKES EVERRRRRR and planning and baking for 3 days OR me forgetting that I needed to bake, and going to the grocery store at 8 PM, and not going to bed until 11 because they needed to be frosted and put together because LORD KNOWS homegirl is not frosting 50 cupcakes in the morning before I leave.

Some of you are like... Um, why is going to bed at 11 a big deal? Well, I arrive to work around 7:00, so getting in bed at 11 means that I don't get my 8 hours of beauty sleep (or my 8 hours of "don't be a heinous brat" sleep).

This is me when I have not had enough sleep. Not a good look, Cameron D.

When I do get sleep. Hells yeah, I want more things piled on my plate!
Come at me, responsibility.

Anyhow, a few weeks ago I ran across some cute cupcake sets on sale at TJ Maxx. Holla at ya' girl, savings! Seriously, super cute, and about $3 each. I was pumped to step up my cup cake game.

But that didn't solve the problem of forgetting to buy mix and frosting (or ingredients if it's a crazy recipe). I was hoping that the cuteness would help me in forgetting this task, but no.

The only way to make sure that I wasn't making those last minutes cupcake trips to the grocers was to keep a small stockpile of what I needed to make them. But that would be a big expense, realistically. Over time, it wouldn't cost me any more, but in the short term, it really was not a financial priority to stockpile cake mix and frosting. Get real. 

(What's Gucci: The phrase "it's not a financial priority right now" gets me out of doing a lot of things, like going to a amateur soccer game or taking my car to get detailed. Almost as useful as telling someone "You are being argumentative" during a fight. There's no way not to win with that phrase.)

Enter Target. The greatest superstore of all time. I spent an obscene amount of money on a lot of things I "really needed", but one of the best purchases was cake mix and frosting.

I saw that for every four boxes of Betty Crocker mix or frosting you bought, you got a free frosting. Not a super crazy deal, but I'd take it. I was going to buy 2 boxes each of yellow and chocolate cake, and then pay for the frosting it would take to cover that (4 cans), and one can of frosting would be free. Not bad. 

BUT THEN! As I was gathering up the chocolate cake boxes, I noticed that one was on clearance. I checked the experation date, and it was all good. Maybe Betty had a packaging change? Either way, those suckers were only $1, so I grabbed four. That paid for one frosting (so $4 total for for boxes of mix and one frosting). I had already put the yellow cake mix in my cart, but I went back to see if there was any yellow on clearance. YES! (Actually, more like YESSSSS). Same thing, I pulled 4 boxes off the shelf and tossed them in my cart. That meant another free frosting. I also took 3 more frostings, which made one more free (YAY!) and bounced. 

This is now what my cupcake space looks like in my glorious pantry. 

I Spend A Lot of Time on Pinterest.

It may be a problem.

Seriously.

I actually think if I spent less time on Pinterest dreaming about my wardrobe/kitchen/home decorating/body/organization I might actually get stuff done.

Just a short thought...

As a side note, I love Hyperbole and a Half but it hasn't been updated in so long! But feel free to read the hilarious old posts. It's where this little pink character comes from, with the original phrase "CLEAN ALL THE THINGS!"

Strawberry Sorbet, Son!

Eating healthy... Difficult for most of us, no? I know that it is a habit that you can develop and learn to love, but man, do I love fatty, carby, delicious food.

I also love being reasonably fit though, so compromises have to be made.

This is pretty much not a compromise at all, because it's super yummy.

Strawberry Apple Sorbet

1 c. frozen strawberries (best if you flash freeze yourself)
1/2 Granny Smith Apple (sprinkled with lemon juice to keep it from browning - mine was leftover)
2 packets Truvia (please don't start on artificial sweeteners. I know.)

Magic Bullet Blender.

Can't get much healthier for fake "ice cream"... 93 calories!

Magic. Bullet. Blender. Is my life.. JK.
But I do love you, boo.

Next time, I might not include the apple. The bits of skin are annoying, but I didn't finish the apple this morning, and I didn't really want to use a different fruit. Frugal, healthy, and easy. Good start to having it together, I think.

Night y'all,

Chel

How To: Live Like a Ganster in Your 20's

Do I know how to do this... No. I'm not even sure what it means. I guess for me, living like a G means really having all my stuff together.

Recently, in a sad, sorry online dating experience which ended with me daydreaming about him about being my soulmate, until he told me he had a girlfriend "now", this fellow asked me about having it together. He gave me a helpful checklist, which I'll provide here:

1. Job? Yes
2. Car? Yes
3. Own Place? Yes
4. Graduated From? MA degree
5. Job Related to Major? Yes, after 3 years of looking!
6. Relationship? Nope, as you may have guessed with the online dating
7. Parents? Love them, but we have our moments
8. Friends? The best, but they all live in different cities. I have friends around here, but not best friends.
9. Finances? Could be better. Now that I've finally got a salaried job, I can start saving.
10. Health? Pretty good. I'm working on it.
11. Happiness? Reasonably good. I think my anxiety levels are high related to my job, but I'm hoping living like a G can solve that, haha!

How I felt when I filled out this checklist the first time:

What WHAT! Holler at your girl who's got it together! 

So, while according to this checklist my life is together (heck yeah, homies. I would've failed this checklist this time last year..), I feel like I'm floating, or falling, or spiraling, or drifting. I'm having a hard time getting together the details of my life, now that the big pieces are in place. Anyone else in this place in life?
I've spent the last three years working my booty off to remain independent, go to graduate school, and get by. I wasn't worried about the details, because I didn't even have the big picture together.
Now that I have the big pieces in place (thank goodness), it's time to start getting everything else together.
Does that mean that you shouldn't be here if you don't have your big pieces? No. Maybe getting your details sorted out will help you towards your goals.
I really need the accountability of this blog, however, because I am a flake. Examples? Here are many: 

I tell myself I'm going to eat healthy, but then it's easier to order take-out. Um, no it's not fool. It takes you 15 minutes to decide what you want, it takes ~60 minutes for delivery (because let's be serious, homegirl is not driving anywhere when I'm too lazy to cook). In that time, I could cook, eat, and clean up a healthy meal. But I don't. I order enough food for 4 people, and eat fatty, soggy takeout for days. Because I'm "too busy" to cook. False. I need to actually follow through on my freezer cooking ideas and healthy cooking knowledge.

What I should be eating: Detoxinista Salad

What I end up with: Papa Johns... Not really.
I actually order from a local pizza place,
or middle eastern food, or chinese.
All bad!

I keeping asking my partner at work to join a gym with me. We both moved to the area recently, are about the same age, single, etc. We spend a lot of time together, and it totally makes sense for us to join a gym together. We work the same hours, and live in the same area. However, I use her reluctance (or whatever, feet are dragging and it not just her) as an excuse not to join myself and go. I'll be honest, I'm pretty terrified of just joining and walking in this gym, partly because I'm a bit shy and partly because of the area where I live. I know it's going to be filled with juiceheads, soccer moms, and college girls. Not really my scene. See! More excuses!

If you have to ask, you'll never know.

I bought paint over Christmas for my bedroom, because it was this icy baby blue when I moved in three years ago, and I've wanted to paint it gray since I moved in. Besides taking me 3 years to even buy paint, I have just now (2ish months later) getting around to actually painting it.

It's these things that I want to get together. The stuff that is really not difficult, but when you are stressed at work, and you are just starting out on your own, and you've never done it before, this stuff can be overwhelming.

One More List
What you're going to find here:
1. How To: Cook healthy meals for one or two, and bring healthy food to work for lunch, etc. Healthy cooking stuff, y'all. Maybe workouts, if I ever join a gym..
2. How To: Dress like a G at work all day, 'erry day. I have a small online shopping problem, but never clean my closets out. I think if I could clean out some items I'll never wear again, I could be more on top of looking stylish daily. As it stands, I think I typically have 3-4 "Wow, you look nice!"days and 1-2 "Well, technically it's within dress code..."days... Get it together, girl!
3. How To: Bargain Shop.. so your crew gets jealous. I think I have pretty good style (ahem ahem.. I am dressing myself, so of course I like it). I also shop a lot on bargain sites or in stores like TJ Maxx and Marshalls. I have a lot of quality clothing that I did not spend a ton on.
4. How To: Get and keep your house (or room, or dorm, or suite, or flat...) clean and organized. This is where I struggle the most. I feel like it's playing whack-a-mole sometimes. I get one room under control, and suddenly another room explodes with chores... Is this real life? (David after dentist anyone?)
5. I'm not quite ready to explore my career with y'all yet, but that's a possibility down the line. Maybe some job related stuff here..

Anything else you want to see? Shout out to all the peeps who made it to the end of this long post, and please comment what you'd like to see.

Chel