Wednesday, January 27, 2010

I want to be a foodie

One of my favorite channels is the Food Network. I LOVE watching cooking shows and all the other programs they have. Unwrapped, Best Thing I Ever Ate, and Diners drive-ins and dives are my favorites.

I like to pretend I’m a foodie while watching these shows. I tell myself that I’m going to download these recipes and try them out myself. In my head I’m this amazing cook that can whip up these things no sweat.

The problem?

I’m a horribly picky eater. Seriously. If you ever saw what’s on my plate you’d think I was five years old.

I hate that I’m so picky. I want to break myself of this horrible habit, but I don’t really know how. I want to be able to make these amazing dishes that I see, but when I see an ingredient that I don’t like I stop myself.

Also because of this, I eat crap food. I want to eat healthier so I get my body in better shape, inside and out. I was thinking about maybe going to see a nutritionist but I feel like that’s a waste of money. However I basically need to re-teach myself how I perceive and eat food.

Have you ever had a bad eating habit? How did you break it or how do you incorporate more vegetables and fruits into your diet?

Monday, January 25, 2010

Better luck next time...

Going to look at the apartment this weekend was a disaster. I’ve never driven to Hoboken before so I was a little nervous. Plus I am one of the few people left that doesn’t own a GPS. It was Mapquest all the way for me. Needless to say, I got lost. Really really lost.

I was fine until I was right near the city. I missed the street I was supposed to turn onto, so I figured I would turn down the next one, make a few right turns and be back on track. But then the street was a one way, so I went down and tried to turn and before I knew it I was in Jersey City. That’s when I really started to panic. I was really out of the way now, and I just kept driving aimlessly hoping to see SOMETHING that would get me back on track.

I called my mom, she grew up in Jersey City and knows the area really well, but of course she doesn’t answer the phone. I should also backtrack here, I told my mom I was going to look at a place that morning and she got really upset with me. Like crying hysterical upset, which I’m assuming is why she refused to pick up the phone when I called.

Finally I saw a group of woman who were soo helpful and was able to give me CLEAR directions that lead me back to where I should go. (BTW don’t you hate when people give you ridiculous direction that only makes sense to them? While you are sitting there shaking your head like you understand…)

I called the girl whose apartment I was seeing and she FREAKED out on me for being so late. It’s not like I was planning on being late. Apparently she had to go to work that day and had a million things to do before hand. Well, if you had work then why didn’t we set up the appointment for earlier that day??? Also, as I said before, I wasn’t planning on getting lost. She should have been a little more understanding…

I finally get there and the apartment is not that great. It’s actually a nice size place considering the area but it was REALLY dark inside and my room didn’t have a closet. I would have to use one in the kitchen. I wasn’t too crazy about that idea. The place really wasn’t bad, but I didn’t feel like it was right for me. I didn’t feel very comfortable there, not a homey inviting atmosphere. Also the girl who would have been my roommate couldn’t get me to leave fast enough. I was there a grand total of five minutes.

Defiantly not a match made in heaven. It also gave a big realization that I would be spending a ton of money to live in a tiny apartment. I’m not sure if I am ready for that yet. I will continue to look at ads for apartments but I am in no rush to move yet. If I am going to spend so much money I want to absolutely love the place. Also it wouldn’t hurt for me to save up more money.

Maybe I’ll have better luck next time. Or maybe I can save up enough to buy a house in the next few years…

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Apartment Hunting

I was finally able to get in touch with apartment girl. She apparently never checks her e-mail during the week. That’s already a strike! Just kidding. But really I can’t imagine that. I have to check my e-mail every day. I NEED my internet.

Anyway it’s all set up for me to go see the place this Saturday!! I am trying not to get my hopes up or anything. I’m actually really nervous though. About seeing the place yes, but more so on the fact that I might actually be moving out! I have so many what ifs and I haven’t even seen the place yet.

I think it’s because of my traditional Italian family. Pretty much you grow up thinking that you don’t move out UNTIL you get married. The fact that I want to move out now, is like sacrilegious. There is one other person in my family to have EVER moved out before she got married. Just one. My mom’s sister back in the 80s.

I mean I haven’t even told my mom yet that I’ve been looking at apartments! She knows I want to move out, but she’s pretty against it. So, of course, I feel guilty because every time I try to bring it up she asks why I want to abandon her. lol. Classic family guilt.

Like I said though, I’m not going to think about any of this until I see the place and decide to really move.

Wish me luck!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

I heart 3 day weekends!

I love having three-day weekends. The weekend seems to be the perfect amount of time to relax and unwind, but not too much that you get bored. I wish every weekend was three days!!

On Saturday, about 10 of us went to Atlantic City for the night. It was a blast! We stayed at the Tropicana, which is my go to place. It was crazy crowded though. I have never seen so many people in AC before.

When we went out that night, there was an hour wait to get into one of the clubs! We decided to just go to one of the many bars in the hotel. Which I prefer going to, rather than a club that costs 20 dollars to get in and you can't even hear yourself think. Also not being able to sit down unless you get bottle service is a little ridiculous. Anyway, the place we went to was great and so much fun.

Also that night was the first time I ever wore leggings. I was so nervous about looking like an idiot and how I would feel. But, I LOVED my outfit and wearing leggings is literally the most comfortable thing in the world. I loved it so much that I actually went out and bought another pair of them! lol.

Sunday was a raining and gross day, which was perfect for me to just stay home, relax and recover from my night in AC. If I can, I will try and post some pictures up!

How was your weekend? Do anything fun?

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Changes

I am finally getting pro-active about changing things in my life.

After going through tons of craigslist ads I finally found a person that sounds normal and the rent is totally doable.

I will still be basically living paycheck to paycheck which will be a huge adjustment, but at least I will be out of my mom’s house.

Although I still have a lot of nerves about the whole thing. Like what if I can’t make the rent? Or what if I lose my job? What if I don’t make any friends?

But I’m forcing myself to not make any kind of decision before I see the place.

The only thing I’m worried about right now is the girl has dropped off the planet. We set up so that I would go and see the place this weekend. I e-mailed her on Sunday for the exact address and directions. It’s now Wednesday and still no word. Isn’t it a little strange for someone to not be checking their e-mail, especially when you are looking for a roommate? Maybe she found another roommate, but they should at least give me the courtesy of telling me.

Do you think I should e-mail her again or just hope she eventually gets back to me?

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Recaps

I was going to do all these posts about my break, but I’m just too lazy. lol. Anyway I decided to just do some recaps and then get back to normal blogging!

Christmas

Was really nice. More low key than usual. My cousin who has hosted it for the past 20 years, decided to cancel at the last minute. My aunt stepped it and had it at her house. Two of my cousins and their family couldn’t make it, so it was just us, my aunt’s family, and my uncle and his son. I liked it better because it was casual and just us enjoying each other’s company. My cousin who usually hosts it is crazy and you always feel a little on edge when you are at her house. I also got a beautiful book case for Christmas. I’ve been wanting one forever. All my books were all over my room and it was getting to be a mess. Now I have a place to store them all and to put a lot of pictures up that I have been meaning to get around too.

My break from work

Much needed and wonderful. I did a whole lot of nothing. I felt recharged when I went back to work. It was hard adjusting to getting up early in the morning though. I wish it could have been a little longer.

New Years

I always have put pressure on this holiday. In the past I have always wanted to have an amazing New Years. You hear people talk about it all the time, and here I was just sitting at home watching the ball drop. Finally I realized that a lot of people put ridiculous expectations on this holiday. For what? This year I vowed to just go with the flow and not put any pressure on myself. And you know what? I had great night! A friend of mine had a Black and White party at her house. It was just a small, fun group of people celebrating. My mom was awesome and was my DD for the night so I had nothing to worry about. It was a fun night and I’m so happy that I let myself off the hook and just enjoyed the night.



How were your holidays?

Thursday, January 7, 2010

A snowy wedding

This time I’m back, for real. Work this week kicked my ass so I wasn’t able to post like I had wanted to. Now that I’m all caught up, I can return!! I’m really missed blogging. There is so much I want to write about that I don’t even know where to begin.

I guess I’ll start with my brother’s wedding reception. Or should I say the wedding that happened in a blizzard?

Yeah, my brother was supposed to have his big wedding party, Saturday December 19th, the day that the east coast got slammed with snow. It was a mess. Luckily my family left early Friday so we missed having to drive in the snow. Some of his friends though left later and it took them almost 7 hours to get there! One didn’t get in until 6am Saturday morning!! It was awful out.

Saturday morning the wedding band cancelled. Most of the guests called saying they couldn’t make it. Virginia never having this much snow, didn’t know what to do with themselves. Roads weren’t plowed, they even shut down a portion of I-95 which is a MAJOR road there.

Some of the guests came on Friday, like my family, and we were all staying at the same hotel. Since we were basically snowed in, my brother being a quick thinker, decided to move the reception to the hotel. It was originally supposed to be in the big mansion built in the 1700s but since nothing was getting plowed it would have to impossible to get there.

The hotel was incredibly helpful and set up their conference room. It ended up looking really nice. The caterer was able to come to the hotel and get everything set up. My brother went to the mansion to pick up the liquor and flowers that were there and brought them back to the hotel. The photographer was even able to make it!

I felt so bad for my brother and his wife. However we made the best of a crappy situation and it ended up being really great. Everyone who could make up got all dressed up and we treated like a proper wedding reception. There were originally 91 people coming on Saturday, only 35 were able to make it, mostly because they were already there on Friday. Basically everyone got 2 dinners! lol.

With everything that happened the weekend still ended up being a lot of fun. Also my brother and his wife have a great story to tell people from now on.



The snow outside the hotel!


My brother (yes he wore a top hat lol), me and my mom


The Happy Couple