Important Things No One Tells You...

So I used to think I haven't always been this cynical. Like maybe I only became cynical two or three years ago. Then I came across this post I wrote on Facebook shortly after graduating college. It was entitled "Important Things No One Tells You..." I read the post and thought 1. Hahaha, this is all still so true and 2. Man, I guess I have been cynical for longer than I thought. Kind of. See the thing is I can be pretty cynical, but I joke a lot too. Anyhow, I am posting the important things no one tells you below. I will include my 2012 commentary in parentheses.

1. Life, as you know it, is over after college. (This is mostly true. Life is much different after college. Some of it is good. Some of it sucks horribly. Having more money is good, but working in a job where you'd rather have strep throat than go into the office sucks horribly. Yay for not being in that situation anymore!)

2. Therefore, you should fail a few classes, double major, or whatever it takes to stay five, six, or so years. Come on, at least four and a half. (I think if I had stayed longer than four years I might have been sick of it after the Fall semester. Therefore I stick by my last sentence...stay an extra semester. The extra football season alone justifies that decision.)

3. Get ready for people to ask, "Sooo what are you going to do now?" To which you should start thinking of answers and/or lies instead of the same old, "I don't know... find a job?" and... (Well obviously I'm not asked this anymore since I am five years postgrad. Now it's just the constant, "So what do you do?" which is a DC thing, I think. People here think they're oh so important because they happen to work in a job where they "once stood 6 feet from the director of ABC agency!!!" Anyhow that could be a blog post on its own.) 

4. Aren't you glad you're done??! To which you will reply, "Oh yes, responsibility, bills, work; what more could I ask for? I am just THRILLED." (Umm, yeah I still stand by this. Graduating college was easily the best and worst thing that happened to me. Sure, I received a diploma, but come on the real world is....THE REAL WORLD. College is a beautiful bubble for most people.)

5. It's hard to find a decent, somewhat enjoyable job in which you are passionate about unless you majored in something with a clear cut path like finance, engineering, or education. (I still think this. I have friends that love their jobs, but they're few and far between. Even more so now, it's hard to find a job, let alone a decent one.)

6. What ever happened to the 9-5? As far as I can tell it's non-existent because all I ever hear is "Sooo how do you feel about a 60+ hour work week?" Oh I feel GREATTTT about it. (Haha, this is kind of funny for me because my average work week is, and always has been 40 hours. I am lucky, but I don't expect it to be like that forever and I do not envy my friends that work 60, 70, or 80+ hour work weeks!)

7. Four dollar pitchers? $2.75 supermugs?! Forget about it... that will be $4 for that lousy bottle of beer. And 5-9 happy hour, yes. 4-7 happy hour, no. I mean who can be at the bar by 4 when you're working 60+ hours a week? Oh, an unemployed alcoholic. (This is true! I hate how happy hour starts at 3pm in a lot of places in DC. Come on!)

8. BILLS, BILLS, BILLS, can you pay my automo'BILLS. Okay someone probably told you about this (dad), but you figured, "hey, I had bills in college...I can handle bills." Now there are a lot more though. (I used to tell my dad that I couldn't wait to "grow up and be an adult." He would laugh and just say, "Wait until you have bills to pay, you'll beg to be a kid again." He was so right!! I hate bills!)

9. While college was only a short four years, work is a LONG 478 years and then you retire to enjoy wearing depends, playing bridge, going to bed at 8 pm, and whatever else you can do at 70. (No arguing this point. TRUTH.)

10. Remember when they asked you, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" in elementary school and you said something like a) a ballerina!! b) basketball player or c) the President of the United States. Well quit dreaming and wake up, Billy... it isn't gonna happen! (HAHAHA! Cynical.)

Where to go from here?!

Wow, so I really suck at this blogging thing as of late, huh? I guess it's kind of hard to find time to blog when I now have a full-time job in which there is actual work to do. On top of that, at the end of the day I always have plans whether it be working out, friend commitments, happy hour, or just personal reading.

I also went to Norfolk, Richmond, and NYC recently. I feel like I have a lot to write about, but whenever I have time I'm not inspired. I will tell you what I am fucking inspired about: spring game! I will be leaving this over-crowded place for Blacksburg around noon on Friday and I CANNOT wait!! We have also moved up in the world. We used to always stay in the Red Carpet Inn, which is nicer than it looks. Well forget that! We're staying at the Courtyard by Marriott this time and it's pretty awesome. I'm also a Gold Elite Marriott member so hellllllllo points!! As my friend Allison was saying, it's funny how we went from staying somewhere free to a place that cost $50 per person for the weekend (thinking that's a lot) to a place that cost $100 per person. In all fairness none of that is a lot because Blacksburg is cheap. As we always joke when we go back to Blacksburg, "Look at this tab!! I'm rich!" DC, and many other places are just expensive and Blacksburg is not.

Next subject. I'm the first person to get woe, is me when things in my life aren't going great. I used to be a lot worse, but I am better about it now. I have so many things to be thankful for: my health, family, friends, job, home, income, etc., but I forget about it sometimes and want to have a pity party. I have noticed it's usually due to one thing, or more so, a person at that given time. Now is as good of time as any to remember that I'm alive. At the end of the day, that is huge. I always try to remind myself of the 32 who were killed at Virginia Tech in 2007. Would they be complaining that a stupid metro train is running late? No. No, they wouldn't because they would just be happy to be alive. Furthermore, I know a lot of people that have dealt with cancer lately, whether personally, or through a family member. It's truly horrible and they don't know how many days they have left. Some beat it. Many don't. That's also why I take my health pretty seriously. There are so many things that we can do to prevent disease and cancer, so why not? Besides, I am actually one of those annoying bitches who likes working out. Sorry, I'm not sorry!

Sleep, or lack thereof

I am hoping that writing this will help remedy my recent insomnia. I started having sleep issues about a year and a half ago, but through a lot of stuff I was able to improve it. In fact, it was really good this past summer and fall. Then winter hit, which is always the worst season for me, but it still wasn't as bad as it has been.

Yet, for some unknown reason my insomnia has resurfaced the past three weeks. It's not that bad as I can usually fall asleep by 1 or 2am, but that sucks when you start trying to sleep at 11pm or 12am. It sucks even more when the alarm clock goes off at 7am. It's better than it was at its worst when I didn't fall asleep until 4am some nights. The thing that's bugging me is I cannot really pinpoint as to why I can't sleep! I am not particularly stressed--really very little stress. I am not anxiety ridden, although that is the time that I worry the most. It's like as soon as my head hits the pillow it starts..."Did I pay x bill?" "What do I have to do at work tomorrow?" "Is the door locked?" "Oh, I am going to wear those pants to work tomorrow with that shirt." "Why did X say X?" Haha, so as you can see nothing that important, but obviously not very helpful when you're trying to sleep.

What usually helps is going out on the couch and lying out there. I usually fall asleep and wake up after a bit then get in my bed. That is obviously not ideal though. What are your remedies when you cannot sleep?

Social Networking

Obviously, I love social networking. I have been on Facebook since 2004 and Twitter since 2008. I used to LOVE Facebook and I was always on it. Even though I signed up for Twitter in 2008 I didn't really start using it until 2010 or so. And I didn't like it. I didn't see the point, to me it was just like a constant status update. So I continued to hang out on Facebook—status updates, photos, perusing profiles, stalking other "friends" and eventually chatting. Then I started to get more into Twitter so now I was spending a lot of time on both sites. Facebook went through change after change, while Twitter stayed the same for the most part. I started to see the light with Twitter. I could keep up on so much there—sports, metro woes (a big point of contention with me as you know), friends, health and exercise, music and more.

Somewhere along the way I started to really get into Twitter and began tweeting a lot more. I'd say it was about a year or so ago when I was really bored with my old job and started getting on Twitter to see what was going on. I also started following people I didn't even know and I also gained some followers that I didn't know. Some tweeted about running or DC-related things, but a lot of them were Hokies. No surprise there considering how obsessed I am with Virginia Tech.

I was still on Facebook as much as Twitter and catching up on what happened there after I got out of work. Something happened over the past three to four months though. I just don't enjoy it. I am either angry at something someone posts or incredibly annoyed. So most people would probably say, "Okay, well no one is forcing you to be on there so delete it moron." And I have thought about it, but I do love seeing some of my friends' babies and keeping up with other friends on there. So I am slowly deleting "friends" that I find annoying or who are just incredibly ignorant. It's funny to me how different Twitter and Facebook are though. I am probably, maybe, kind of, sort of—who am I kidding—definitely addicted to Twitter though. I tweeted (somewhat jokingly) a couple weeks ago that Twitter was starting to take over my real life as I didn't know if I had heard something on Twitter or in my real life! Sometimes I think I like some of my Twitter "friends" (people I haven't met in real life) more than my real friends! That's not really true because I love all my real friends (for real love you guys), but I definitely love my Twitter "friends" a lot more than my Facebook "friends." I have met the Facebook "friends" before too. They're people from middle and high school, old jobs, college, random other life happenings, but I don't care what's going on in their lives.

So in honor of this post I am going to go over some of the most annoying Facebook offenders. Please note that this is not meant to offend, and I know I have posted dumb or annoying things.

1. "My baby [insert name here] just ate peas!" Okay, really?! Do you think all your friends want to know this or care? No, they don't. Your baby just crawled for the first time? Okay maybe. Your toddler said or did something really funny? That's a good post.

2. Ex, baby mama drama, forever alone, etc posts. I will admit it is funny when boyfriend and girlfriend, or I've even seen husband and wife, fight on Facebook for everyone to see, but come on?! Let's be adults and take this to text message, the phone or in person.

3. Long ass, ridiculous posts about ANY subject. If I turn 30 by the time I read your post we have a problem. This is Facebook, not your journal so please get a pen and paper if you have that much to say.

T-t-t-acos!

And another weekend has come and gone. I went out Friday night and it was pretty fun, but damn some people can really get on my nerves. Saturday I was so lazy that I never changed out of my pajamas. I went to Brooklyn Bagel and Whole Foods in my pajamas. I also never showered, listened to music on my computer for hours, and watched at least three episodes of Pretty Little Liars. Sorry I'm not sorry. So I feel like I used to post more recipes here, but haven't lately. Truthfully, I haven't been cooking a lot, and when I do it's something lame. I kind of lose my appetite in the winter so I just eat whatever. It's nothing anyone would find very good. However, I was inspired to make something good last night and decided to make this! I left out the lime juice and added in some hot sauce instead. That's typical of me, but you can do whatever you want. I also used fresh tilapia instead of frozen. They were really good and pretty too!

If you don't like fish you could swap it out for chicken or beef. It's finally really cold here, which I don't really mind. It was only 28 this morning (supposedly felt like 14 with the wind chill), but I ran eight miles up into Glover Park and back. It was great! (I'm sure you're thinking wow, what a crazy moron, but I saw at least six other runners so I'm not alone). Also got a massage after that, which was much needed. I am really sore lately. I guess I am getting old! AARP here I come.

And finally, shout out to Sheena for recommending Blind Pilot and The Avett Brothers. I am now OBSESSED with Blind Pilot. Check out New York, Half Moon, and One Red Thread by BP.

Uninspired

I have not been busy at all lately. Honestly, I've been laying low and staying home more than usual so I've had time to write, but I'm uninspired with what to write. The thing is I don't have as much to write lately because I am content. I think I could write the best posts when I am angry or sad, which probably makes sense. I used to be really angry and sad so I wrote a lot more. Now, not so much! That's good for me, but bad for this blog. Of course I get angry or sad sometimes, but it's usually fleeting and I usually just tweet it!

Anyhow, here are some things I want to mention. I recently got hooked on the show Pretty Little Liars on ABC Family and I am obsessed so I spent most of the past week at home, and watched all of season one of that show. (Cue loser trombones)! Also, I am so over my piece of crap Dell, or was so I went out and bought a MacBook Pro, which I love. I'm getting the hang of using it and I love all the features. I also finally opened a Spotify account. Essentially I am working, working out, watching Pretty Little Liars, and listening to music! I have a lot going on starting this weekend through the end of March though, so this time spent with myself is much needed. And this is random, but it got me thinking about songs that I'll never get sick of. A song that has so much meaning to your life, or takes you back to an exact moment. I started a list about a month ago of songs like that and I just finished it...

1. Jesus by Brand New
2. Bloodbank by Bon Iver
3. With or Without You by U2
4. The Cave by Mumford & Sons
5. Sleeping Sickness by City and Colour
6. How to Love (COVER!!!) Originally by Lil' Wayne, but cover by Daniel de Bourg (YouTube it)
7. Underneath the Sycamore by Death Cab for Cutie
8. Hometown Glory by Adele
9. Sunday Morning by Augustana
10. Lonelily by Damien Rice
11. Winter song by Ingrid Michaelson & Sara Bareilles
12. The New Hello (Hers) by The Hawk in Paris
13. Heart of the Matter by Don Henley
14. Matter of Time by Cartel
15. Lost In My Mind by The Head and The Heart
16. This Isn't Everything You Are by Snow Patrol
17. Landslide by Fleetwood Mac
18. On A Day Just Like Today by Gabe Dixon
19. Run by He Is We
20. Suffering by Satchel

Random

So I have a few things to say, but they don't relate at all so hold on for an assortment of thoughts! First up, we're going to discuss gym etiquette, or why the fuck are you doing that in a gym?! Granted it's January so we know it's ripe time for amateur hour. On Monday though, ALL of these egregious things were committed in the weight room.
1. Woman doing Jazzercise in the middle of the weight room. If you're still Jazzercising like it's 1994 that's cool with me. I mean who am I to judge, but the middle of the weight room is not the place for it.
2. Wearing slippers/designer moccasins/whatever those things were to lift weights. They make sneakers for a reason so buy some and wear them to the gym.
3. Wearing cologne. I don't even need to elaborate.
4. Hanging out on a machine or a bench. This isn't your living room. Either do a set or move your ass to an open space.
5. Lifting weights that are so heavy you can't complete more than five reps and they go crashing to the ground in the middle of the fifth rep. Men are so guilty of this. It's okay. You're not that strong. Just lift lighter weights, no one else will notice. However, I do notice when 80 pounds of weights hit the ground ya poptart.

Onto the next one. Subject that is. So, there's this random bar called Ragtime near my apartment. I met up with my coworker and her boyfriend for happy hour last night. Oh my goodnessssssssss! Best happy hour ever. I am not even talking about the drinks, but the food! You can get crab legs, mussels, oysters, clams, and shrimp and they're only $3.45 per half dozen. Yesssssssssss, this is my kind of place. It's definitely my new spot on Tuesdays. You know I crushed a dozen crab legs, dozen oysters, half dozen shrimp, and 2 Sam Adams Spring Seasonals. The life.

Last random thought. I am currently obsessed with the band Stars. I especially love their song Personal. You're welcome!

Perspective

Sometimes I get down (the dancing kind), but right now I am talking the depressing down. I guess that's a stupid thing to say because who isn't down sometimes? However, there are times (this past week for example) where it's hard for me to put my life in perspective and pull myself out of it. I know how to do it; you have to fake it until you make it, but sometimes I just let myself spiral into misery.

Well I got some perspective today from a neutral source, and as always it really helped. My friends (love them) gave me awesome advice this week too, but sometimes it's hard to really hear what they're saying. I mean I hear it, and I know they're right, but I don't really want to hear it. I guess sometimes I just want to have a pity party and thankfully my friends generally don't take part in that, as they really should not. I do have one friend who is particularly good about listening to my whining, while also giving good advice that is spot on.

So with that being said, my life is not bad--I have a great job, tons of amazing friends, family, a place to live, car, and more. I need to remember to be in the moment and focus on the now, not yesterday, tomorrow, or years down the road. It doesn't matter. We cannot change any of that, but we can make things happen TODAY.

My biggest problem right at this moment is whether I should go out or not tonight. So I'd say things are pretty good!

Music

I love music. All kinds. I want to write something, but I can't think of anything worthwhile to say. Truth is, I'm kind of down and it would just be a negative post that might make you laugh, cry, or both. (Everything is fine.) So I have just been listening to a lot of music from these artists below and I'm going to post four of my current obsessions. Just a warning: the first three are kind of downers, but the fourth is very upbeat and positive!

Cosign

I went to a few places this weekend, which I'll cosign on for you people. First, Friday night I had a massage at Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa in Pentagon Row. (There are locations all over the place so depending on where you live you might have one). I had a gift certificate for my birthday and decided to get a Swedish massage. I wish I could afford to get a massage every week because it was so relaxing and I felt great afterwards. Then I went to Trader Joe's in Clarendon. If you know me, you know I've been cosigning Trader Joe's for about 89 years. Love that place. If you live in Arlington I highly suggest you suggest out the new location because it's actually not as cramped or crowded as many of the other ones.

Next up we have Saturday night in which I went to Dupont to get a pedicure (I know, I swear I don't pamper this much normally), which was awesome because you get free wine or champagne! So while I caught up with Erin and Shawn we drank some red wine and had a nice pedicure! It's called Mimosa Salon & Spa if you're interested.

 Pure bliss

We decided to have dinner at Ping Pong Dim Sum in Dupont. If you live in DC area I highly suggest you check this place out if you haven't yet. I am sure some of you are thinking, "WTF?! Who is this amateur? I've been there a bajillion times." Well, yes this was my first time and I loved it. They have some really delicious cocktails and then a wide-range of small plates. We ordered a round of plates and then did so again two more times. It wasn't too bad price-wise either. We ended the night at MiG Bar in Adams Morgan. It was this dive, hole-in-the-wall, hipster bar. It was interesting and I guess I would go back, but it was super small. They had a good selection of beer.

On an unrelated note, this weather is ridiculous, and yes I am complaining about it. Earlier this week it was in the twenties! Then Friday and Saturday it was in the sixties?! Umm, GET IT TOGETHER mother nature. I know this sounds crazy, but I really prefer running in really cold temperatures. I ran on one of those days when it was only twenty-something out and had an awesome run. I can breathe better and the frigid temperature is a real motivator.

That brings me to my last point, which I DO NOT cosign. The day I had that awesome run was the day I suffered another indescribable heartbreak. The Hokies losing in OT in the Sugar Bowl. Yes, I know, I am one dramatic bitch, but come on! IT WAS A CATCH! And even if it wasn't there was no indisputable evidence to overturn the call. It shouldn't have come down to that one last play though. Another game that we should have bagged early on, but blew it here, there, and everywhere. I was seriously upset about it the whole next day. I think I am only now starting to get over it. Again, I know how dramatic this is and there are MUCH worse things going on in the world, but I get a little too emotionally vested in Virginia Tech football.

2012 Goals

I would say this is a post about New Year's Resolutions, but I think those are dumb. Why would you resolve to make changes at the beginning of the year when you can make a change whenever you want? On a Monday, in April, weekend, yesterday, whenever. If you're ready for change, then change. With that being said, I do want to accomplish a few things this year. This list in no particular order.

1. Double savings account and increase retirement contribution.

2. Stop spending money on things I don't need. Seriously, I used to be really good about this and I don't know what happened. Maybe it's because I make more money, but from buying coffee out to just buying a shirt I've gotten bad about it.

3. Eat more quality food, while continuing not eating low quality food. I don't mean food that is bad for you. Hello, I love cake, ice cream, chocolate, biscuits, and fries as much as the next person. What I mean is don't eat something unless it's truly good food!

4. Visit a new city/place.

5. Read more books.

6. Learn something new, both professionally and personally.

I might add onto this list.

And I'm adding.

7. Don't put so much weight on what others think. Sure, consider other people's feelings when appropriate, but do not make decisions based on what other people might think.

8. Do something new fitness related. Last year I was introduced to baptiste yoga at Dancing Mind Yoga, and it was the first time I was really able to enjoy yoga and the studio. It has so many benefits and I always feel like a new me when I finish a session.

9. Be more patient. Okay, this has been a resolution, goal, ideal, everything since like high school. I.am.so.impatient and I own it. It's not a good thing though and I really need to practice more patience in EVERY ASPECT of my life.

10. Cuss less... hahaha... maybe. I dunno, I am always trying to work on this and sometimes I catch myself. Other times I don't give a flying f... oh. So, yeah, we'll see.