Merry Merry Merry Christmas everyone!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday! I'm off to run a few errands (even though I'd love to catch a few more hours sleep) - but I wanted to wish all of my friends in the blogoverse a Happy Holiday (if a bit belated :)

Have fun and stay safe everyone!

The two-hundred-and-seventy-first and two-hundred-and-seventy-second days combined...Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!

I cannot wait for 5:30 to come today. Why, you ask? Because that's when my vacation officially starts - and I can finally get some sleep. Well, actually 5:30 is when I'll be catching a quick nap on the train (and then on the bus) because when I get home, I'll have to head right back out to do some last minute shopping with my family. I really hope we get everything done tonight as I don't want to have to be a Christmas Eve shopper, but with our track record - we'll be out all afternoon tomorrow too :)

I actually just got my paycheck and am now certain that I will be out tomorrow as, silly me, I expected the Accounting department to do what they have been doing since I started working at my job and direct deposit my funds. How silly and naive of me! Nope, they chose to F me over and sent me a paper check - so now I have to wait for it to clear. What joyous holiday merriment. Thanks Accounting!

Man it's cold outside. Now, I know its' cold outside in NY, and you know it's cold outside in NY. Apparently, however, this woman was unaware as she chose to romp around the city in leggings and flip-flops. She was actually on line complaining that she was so cold and had no idea it would be so chilly out.

She knew enough to throw on a winter coat

In happy news, the absolutely lovely Kim from J & K, A Journey (a fabulous blog, btw – definitely check it out if you haven’t already :) tagged me and gave me an award recently! It is the…drumroll please…Happy 101 award! I love this award – and not just because the badge has cupcakes on it – but because this one is all about happiness and some of the things that make me happy :)


So, I have to list 10 things that make me happy, and try to do at least one of them today. Then, I am to tag 10 bloggers that brighten my day. Those 10 bloggers should link back to my blog (if they choose to create their own happy lists :)

And now for the fun:

1) Laughing and making others laugh – I can find humor in almost anything, and when I start laughing, I laugh long, loud and hard! It’s awesome – I wholeheartedly subscribe to the ‘a hearty belly laugh a day (or more in my case), keeps the doctor away’ adage :)

2) Movies :) Going to the movies, watching Netflix movies, watching movies on tv/cable...it's all wonderful.

3) The Ginger People Ginger Chews (original and spicy apple flavors :) They are sooooo good. If you are a fan of ginger candies, you have to try them. If you like them, you can actually buy them cheaper on Amazon too;

4) Writing in my journals. I've kept one since my freshman year in high school, and though I don't write things down as often as I did then, I still try to jot something down every now and then;

5) Writing stories and making up nonsense words. I have an over-active imagination (always have);

6) Gadgets. I love reading about and messing around with new gadgets. Ipods, video game systems, computers, watches, clocks, and so on and so on. I find it all fascinating;

7) Piping hot hot chocolate on cold days - with a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg added, and then topped with a handful of marshmallows and some whipped cream. Yum!;

8) Boardgame/Cardgame nights with family and friends. Ludo, Quelf, Uno, Clue - oh my;

9) Sleep. Ahhh, blissful sleep – especially when it’s actually a relaxing and restful night of sleep; and

10) Saving the best for last – my man and my family. They are just awesome - it's self explanatory, really.

All of the blogs that I follow (and those new ones that I discover each day) brighten my days; but here are 10:

1. Jeanette @ Cooler Ranch or Nacho Cheese?;
2. Badass Geek @ The Badass Geek;
3. Optimistic Pessimist @ The Audacity of an Optimistic Pessimist;
4. Sunshinemeg @ Float On…;
5. Moonjava @ Moonjava’s Muse;
6. Lee @ Photographing the Days;
7. Fidgeting Gidget @ Fidgeting Gidget;
8. Haley Dawn @ Cape Cod Love;
9. Novelista Barista @ The Novelista Barista; and
10. Children of the 90s @ Children of the 90s.

Have an amazing Hump Day everyone!

The two-hundred-and-sixty-sixth day to two-hundred-and-seventieth days combined...Hello Winter, Hello Snow!

Hello everyone :) I hope you all had lovely, non-stressful weekends. My weekend was full of planning shopping routes (Friday) , shopping (Saturday), and then staying home and off the snow and slush filled roads (Sunday).

I stuck to my plan, and am only one gift away from being done with my Christmas shopping - I just have to get a treat for my doggie (he loves Christmas too :)

We headed out early on Saturday to try an avoid the snow. It started coming down very lightly when we were leaving Kohls; but it wasn't until we were leaving the mall at about 5:30 or so that things got bad. One would think that people had never seen snow before by the way people were driving. Thank goodness for hot chocolate and Netflix, because that's how I spent the rest of my night.

How did the weekend treat all of you?

Santa at the mall

The beginnings of the blizzard

P's holiday gifts for me (she had quite the Hello Kitty theme going with the ornament, Pez, and socks)

Have a great day everyone!

The Friday 5

T.G.I.F everyone :)

I'm sitting here trying to plan out my Saturday shopping schedule so that I can ensure that I do everything I have to do while still getting home before the snow starts. So far, they have my area down to receive 6-12 (or slightly more) inches in blizzard-like conditions :) I just hope it all melts or is plowed before I have to head to work on Monday!

In the meantime, here's the Friday 5:

1. How seriously do you take gift-wrapping when you give gifts?
Very seriously :) I am all about presentation as a gift enhancer. Things always look so wonderful when they’re wrapped nicely.

2. Do you save gift-wrapping to re-use later?
Nope, all that wrapping is great to look at, but it gets ripped and then tossed.

3. How picky are you when it comes to selecting wrapping paper?
I’m more of a what’s-on-sale buyer :)

4. How much attention do you pay to the way gifts you receive are wrapped?
A bit, but not that much.

5. Among people you know, who is the most talented at wrapping gifts?
Not to pat myself on the back too much…but I’ll say me :)

Enjoy the rest of the day everyone!

The two-hundred-and-fifty-ninth through two-hundred-and-sixty-fifth days combined...I've been quite the busy bee :)

Hello everyone. I hope you're all doing well this Hump Day. It has been such a busy week, jammed pack with school and work and all that jazz.

Last week was full of paper writing and finishing up all my last minute stuff for school. I did it though :) The term's over and I can relax a bit - at least until January.

My sister's came home for their winter break on Saturday (awesome!), and then on Sunday we headed into the city to take part in the Amazing New York Race scavenger hunt thing. We tried to find things, but it was simply raining too hard. Sooo, we gave up and just decided to have lunch and then hang out for a few hours.

This week's been good so far - full of food and candy at work thanks to an end of the year breakfast, a department potluck, an award ceremony, and a holiday lunch (tomorrow). And then...the best part of the week...Friday off! S'wonderful!

Here are some pics from Sunday :)

The ginormous tree at Rockefeller Center

Charmin's providing 'fresh, clean public restrooms' right there in Times Square :)

The three of us ended up at Ripley's Believe It Or Not! Odditorium. It was awesome. We had such a blast seeing all the weird and creative stuff in there. I swear, we were at a maturity level of about 10 the second we walked in, and we were about 8 when we eventually left. It was too much fun :)

A stallion sculpture made of recycled chrome car bumpers

A gumball Barack Obama

The real Popeye?

A little hologram dancer singing a ditty about Ripley's.

This chicken had 4 legs

Tourist statues (his camera flashes as people walk between them)

A Lincoln penny portrait

Eerie similarities between JFK and Lincoln

The Last Supper on a canvas of spiderwebs

This was the Black Hole (the camera flash ruins the effect, but it was like walking into a dark, awesome, mind-bending vortex)

My sister (Sis 2) and I took part in the Laser Race, and tried to dodge the laser grid like secret agents

My final score :) I actually made it to the far wall without touching any of the lasers, but on the way back I broke three at once. It was exhausting but so much fun

One of the exhibits in the lobby - Sexy Sadie, the bearded lady and her man. They lip-sync to whatever music is playing in the lobby at the time. When we walked through, they were rocking out to 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart'

It was a wet but ridiculously fun day :)

On another note, seeing as how I am going to be off on Friday, I was going to stay late at work today to get some stuff done. I was thinking that until I saw this message in my e-mail:

"We believe there may be an insect infestation isolated to two specific areas in our office space, a 14th floor closet and a 12th floor storage closet. We have blocked off both areas and will be exterminating them tonight at 7:00 PM. Please make sure you are out of the office by 6:30 PM to accommodate the cleaning crew. The areas being cleaned may be safely entered four hours after the cleaning, so there will be no problems accessing these areas tomorrow. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. Thanks"

What?! I think not. I was out promptly at 5:30. I asked a few people to better define what type of infestation was occurring, but received no answer. No answer = I go home. Creepy.

Well, how's the week going for all of you?

Have a great night!

The two-hundred-and-fifty-eighth day...

I could barely focus at work today. It was raining so hard this morning that I was already exhausted by the time I made it in. Thank goodness my man was wonderful enough to drive me in because the train service was pretty much non-existent. Traffic was moving so slowly, but I was so grateful to be in a nice warm car! P called me a handful of times as she was waiting for her train. She waited for more than an hour before one finally stopped. It was just that kind of morning.

And that kids of afternoon as I was told that my end of the year assessment has been scheduled for bright and early on Monday morning :) Could be worse though. I'd rather get it over with right away (I actually think mine is the first one for our department), than have to wait till next Wednesday.

During lunch today, I passed two stores with holiday decorations in their windows, and couldn't help but notice the differences between the haphazard mess (you really have to see the whole panoramic scene to get the full effect)...


and the tasteful and lovely display :)


I am so ready for Christmas to be here already. I think I'll go listen to some carols :)

Have a wonderful night everyone!

The two-hundred-and-fifty-second through two-hundred-and-fifty-seventh days combined...

It has been a rough week that's to school (it's end of the semester time!), computer connectivity issues, work stress, and co-worker stress (grownups acting like a petty high school clique = blecch!).

I'm tired, and cannot wait for the 23rd, so I can start my vacation. Next week should fly by pretty quickly though...hopefully. I have a department potluck on Tuesday (still don't know what, if anything, I'll be contributing yet), an awards ceremony on Wednesday (yea, cake will be served), the department holiday lunch on Thursday, and I'm off on Friday. Nice!

I put up my office Christmas decorations already - including my tree :)


I opted for the silver tree/red ornament combo...

...with the Santa tree topper :)

Do any of you guys have office holiday/end of the year parties coming up?

Well, I'm off to work on yet another paper. Have an amazing rest of the night everyone.

The two-hundred-and-fifty-first day...

I went to the Sassy City Chicks Fashion Bash tonight thinking that it would be as good as the Shecky's Girl's Night Out event was. I was so wrong. I will never recommend that event to anyone. After the way things have been at work, I was looking forward to enjoying a free drink or two without stress. I was sorely disappointed.


First, P and I had VIP tickets but, according to the drunk and belligerent bouncer in the lobby there was no difference between VIP tickets and regular ones. Same line = too bad. They had all the attendees lined up on the stairs - and it was so hot. The heat + the wait was making for some cranky people. So a couple of the women went to ask the bouncer some questions. He then started cursing and yelling at them as they walked away from him. Yeah...the customer service went down from there.

Eventually P and I, along with a few other ladies, got pretty fed up, decided to bypass the bouncer's idiocy and seek out a manager. We had been waiting for about 15 minutes, but some people had been waiting for an hour or more. Ridiculous! So we walked upstairs only to be met with another less drunk, more surly and belligerent bouncer who reiterated that there was no difference between the $3 tickets and the $20 VIP tickets, and then passed us off to a manager. She spoke to the whole group yet continued to stare at me and, I have to tell you...I wasn't having it. I've had my bitch limit for the week and was done. I don't know what look she saw in my eyes, but she stopped trying to bs us and yelled out "Do you want to get in here?! Is that what you want? Is it?!" I simply said "Yes". No need for both of us to look insane. She was acting bitchy and crazy enough for three.

She walked us over to the check in table and told them to check us in, while the same more surly/belligerent bouncer stomped over, got in her face and said "Do you see what you did? Now you did this...you let them in...and now we have more people demanding to be let in. You did this!" Yeah, we walked away at that point. I haven't been to an event that disorganized in a long time.

Anyway, the event itself sucked. There were so few vendors there that it was just not worth it at all. This picture was pretty much the entire thing.

I wish I had gotten the names of that manager and the bouncers. As it is, I'll just have to find creative ways to refer to them in my complaint letter :)

Have a wonderful rest of the night everyone!

The two-hundred-and-fiftieth day...This is Howie Do It!

Today ended up being such a crappy day. Why? Well, it ended up being one of those crap-hits-the-fan kind of workdays, and I unfortunately got caught in the storm. I chose the path of least resistance and just nodded my head and then left the room. I seriously hate being lumped in with other people's screw ups. I don't know how everyone will be handling the situation in the weeks to come, but I've had just about enough.

It was such a shame too since the day started off so nicely. First my man drove me into work (awesome!), then I found a great sale (wonderful!) and P and I even met Howie Mandel at his book signing in Barnes & Noble (sweet!).

He was very nice, but the tons-o-security guards and cops warning everyone not to touch him were a bit unnerving :)

It was hilarious. While she was getting her book signed, P asked him "So, when are new episodes of your show coming out?" He started to answer by saying, "Well, Deal or No Deal has -" and P cut him off with a wave of her hand and said "No, no, no. Not that one. No, the other one I like...Howie Do It!" He paused and stared at her for a few seconds, but then he started laughing. Pretty cool :)

... and then the day took a turn :( Crap balls! Oh well, here's to tomorrow being better!

Have a wonderful night everyone!