Seriously, do I look Chinese?!?

I’m convinced that 75% of the people I work with are complete morons (attorneys included). 

I had a mini-conversation (also known as small talk) with a co-worker today in the elevator that went something like this:

Me: At least it’s not raining today!
Her: This is true.  I didn’t realize that we had nor’easter yesterday until I heard it on the news.
Me: Yeah, it was bad.
Her: And how ’bout that earthquake in China!  You’re pretty lucky you weren’t a part of that earth quake!

Dude, WTF?!?!

I can’t tell you how many times people have assumed I’m Chinese or Japanese.  And usually the people who make the assumptions are white, under-educated morons.  Furthermore, it really does piss me off when people make comments such as those and think nothing of it.  I mean, at least have the decency to ask me what I am.  Don’t ever just assume.  It makes me never want to hold an intellectual conversation with you ever again.  In fact, it makes me never want to talk to you ever again (unfortunately with my job, I can’t do that).

I need to get one of those t-shirts that has an arrow pointing to either the left or the right that says, “moron” and wear it next time I’m standing next to her.

In other news… I finally got a knee brace over the weekend.  About a month ago I tore my meniscus playing hockey.  One of the guys took me out at the knees and it was not pleasant!  It’s not a serious tear, but every time I play hockey it hurts like crazy.  The doctors are hoping it will heal on its own (although I don’t think playing hockey 2-3 times a week is helping the healing process) and that I won’t need surgery.  I hope the knee brace helps, especially for my tournament/tryouts this weekend.  I’m also hoping this sucker heals fast and it doesn’t result in a more severe injury like a torn ACL.  If that happens, I’m out of commission for 6-8 months!

 

F*ckers

It was an interesting weekend. 

Saturday afternoon I got my hair cut and highlighted.  I went to East End Salon in Olde City.  It was a complete 360 compared to the salon I go to in Pittsburgh!  I had to change into a “robe” when I showed up.  Then I waited about 30 minutes.  Then I met my hair stylist, Cindy.  I sat in the chair as she examined my current (but fading) reddish-copperish highlights.  She whipped out a coloring book (no, not like a 2 year old’s coloring book - a hair stylists coloring book with different hair color samples).  We tried to match my red highlights via the book, but it didn’t go so well.  I told her that I had wanted to do brown highlights, so she said she would make that work.  Well, 4.5 hours and 4 beers later (yes, they serve beer at the hair salon!), I had blondish-brown highlights and a cut!  It looks fabulous.  I’ll try to upload some pics of it soon.

And of course it was all down hill after that.  I’m walking to the subway after my hair appt., and I notice this guy following me.  He stopped as I approached the subway stop, so I proceeded down the stairs.  Bad idea.  He attacked me from behind, I went tumbling down the stairs, and the f*cker stole $60 that I had just taken out of the ATM.  I was able to grab the guy’s shirt, and throw him against the wall… and then I sucker punched that f*cker right in the face, but he still ran away with my money!  The cops showed up about 20 minutes later (must have been too busy trying to decide what sweetener to put in their coffee), and they were able to track down my cell phone, but that was it.  Needless to say, I won’t be taking the subway anymore.  Or maybe I’ll invest in that can of mace I’ve been meaning to buy….

And to top it all off, this morning I get stopped by a NJ cop (and not just any cop, but a Special Operations officer).  He issued me a $54 ticket due to “maintenance of lamps.”  My brake light (which is also my turn signal) had just gone out this morning, and of course since no auto shops are open at the ass crack of dawn, I couldn’t do anything about it.  Well, that f*cker said it doesn’t matter, that I shouldn’t have been driving at all.  OK seriously?!?!  So I should just call out sick because I’m endangering the lives of 3948592 people driving on Monday morning at 7:45am??  I should have punched that f*cker too!  OK, maybe not, but a small part of me wanted to. 

Ugh.  I need to drink 5 bottles of wine tonight!

rain, rain go away…

what a crappy day out!  but at least it’s friday.

Starbuck’s was packed this morning.  And my coffee still hasn’t kicked in.  I think I drink too much of it that my body just reject the caffeine.  What I need to do is start going to the gym in the mornings.  Of course, at 5:30 in the morning I’d rather sleep in my warm, cozy bed than get up and work out.  I had this conversation with the Boy the other day.  He gets up at 4:30am every morning to go to the gym (well, also because he’s a teacher and he’s gotta be at school at like 6am every day).  He told me I need to start going to the gym in the mornings instead of after work.  Of course, it sounds like a good idea…but I know it won’t be at 5:30am.  However, perhaps a morning workout will wake me up every day.

The Boy took me to this fabulous BYO Thai place in Manayunk.  I had the crab pad thai and he had some kind of super spicy chicken stir fry, and we had the spring rolls and scallops for appetizers.  Absolutely delicious!  I need to go back there very soon!  We got 2 bottles of wine (and of course guzzled them both down) and enjoyed the yummy food.  I heart thai food.

Pens-Flyers game is tonight.  Holla.  There was a rant all this week on radio station 610 about some guy posting on craigslist to get Pittsburgh fans (who live in Philly to put a Crosby jersey on the Rocky Statue.  Well, word leaked out to the Radio station and they put up a protest and had people out at the Rocky statue on Wednesday afternoon, protecting it all day.  OK, seriously?!?  The next day they found a Crosby jersey about 10 feet away from the statue.  That damn thing never made it on there!  And of course the radio guys were trying to find a Pittsburgher to put a Briere jersey on the Rocky statue, take a picture of it, and send it to the news stations in Pittsburgh.  Wanna hear something bad?  I seriously thought about volunteering to do that!  I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love the Pens and I definitely want them to crush the Flyers, but I also love the Flyers and would want them to play the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup!  Anyway… so yesterday I read a post on one of the Pittsburgh news websites that someone here was trying to get a Flyers fan who lives in Pittsburgh to put a Briere jersey on the Pitt Panther in Oakland today during the Rally.  Now that would be kinda funny….

OK, enough blogging for now.  Time for productivity. 

Peace out, girl scouts.

 

 

time for a change

I’ve been going to the same hair stylist since I was 4.  She knows exactly how I like my hair.  I love that.  I love that I can walk in there, tell her I want more drastic highlights and she knows exactly what to do.  I love that I can tell her I want an angled bob (which by the way, looks really good on me!) and she just does it without even asking.  And I never spend more than $120 on a cut and highlight. 

Well, this Saturday I’m being adventurous and going to a new hair salon.  It was voted “city’s best hair salon” for the last few years.  I’m pretty anal about my hair, so I figure I might as well go all out and find the best person to do it.  Well, this is apparently going to cost me an arm and a leg.  I called a few salon’s to get pricing on a cut and highlight.  Hair cut = $65+ (includes shampoo, cut and dry).  Highlights = $100+  Okay, seriously?!?!  One hundred dollars for highlights???  And $65 to chop 3 inches off my head?  C’mon!  And of course that doesn’t include tip.  If I put that in there, this trip is going to cost me about $200!!!  WTF?!?

This is one reason why Pittsburgh is better than Philly — cheap prices.  Cheap drinks, cheap gas (well kind of), and cheap hair cuts!  God, I can’t believe I’m going to drop 2 bills on my hair this weekend.  I just hope this is worth it….otherwise, I’m going to be making trips back to Pittsburgh every 6-8 weeks! 

Arch-nemesis

When I was in junior high and high school, I always competed against this one girl.  She was the popular one whom everyone liked and every guy wanted to date.  She excelled in all that she did (or so it seemed) without even trying.  We played soccer together and I felt like she was my biggest competition on the field.  A part of me despised her because she seemed to have it all - looks, brains, personality and athleticism.  We both tried out for Penn’s Forest (a premier traveling soccer club) and the one year she made it and I didn’t.  It was like she was rubbing it in my face all the time.  During our senior year of high school we had kind of bonded, mostly because we played soccer together and were around each other all the time.  Keep your friends close and your enemy’s closer, right?  We talked, we laughed, we cracked jokes - it actually felt like we were really good friends.  Then graduation hit and we went our separate ways. 

It’s been about 4 years since I’ve seen that girl, but somehow I feel like it’s high school all over again. 

Next Saturday are the tryouts for the USA Women’s National Hockey Team.  I plan on trying out.  Now whether I make it, well that’s a completely different story.  Anyway, so… there’s this girl, let’s call her Curly Sue.  She’s my arch-nemesis when it comes to hockey.  She’s very talented at the sport.  She’s fast, she’s very athletic, and she plays on every team in the tri-state area.  It makes me sick how good she is.  I know she will be trying out for the National team.  And I’m almost certain that she’ll make the cut.  I feel like I’m in high school all over again though.  She’s good and she knows it.  It’s like she doesn’t even have to try.  Yet, here I am, playing as much as I can, almost killing myself playing the sport, and I can’t quite get up to her level.  I really, really want to make the team.  I want to accomplish something spectacular.  I want to prove to everyone that doesn’t think I can do it, that I can…that I have what it takes.  And a little part of me wants to show her up. 

I want to do something great.  I wish I had gotten involved in this sport when I was little because I absolutely love it.  All of these girls that will be trying out have been playing floor hockey or field hockey for many years.  I’ve been playing for 2.  Maybe I’m not good enough to make the National Team, but damnit, I deserve a shot at it. 

April showers bring May flowers…

Is it just me or did April feel like the longest.month.ever.  I’m so glad it’s over.  The flowers are blooming and the weather is getting warmer.  I love this time of the year.  I think May is my favorite month.  It’s warm, but not hot, and there’s low humidity. 

The Firm had it’s first softball game last night.  I missed it because I was at a networking event, but we apparently didn’t do so hot.  Our next game is on Monday, against one of our rival firms.  It should be interesting to watch the attorneys attempt to be athletic.  I’m actually kind of nervous because softball is the one sport that I never played as a kid.  Sure, I played it in gym class in junior high school, but I never really tried it recreationally.  This should be interesting.  I don’t even have a glove or a bat.  And even worse, I’m a lefty, so who the eff knows where I’m going to get a lefty glove!

Speaking of lefty… my networking event yesterday had about 50 vendors there, giving away free stuff that i’ll never use and raffling away ipods, phils tickets, etc.  One of the vendors had mini golf! (I heart mini golf!)  If you got all 3 balls in the hole, you won a bottle of wine.  (you know I had to play this!)  So I go to try my shot at winning one of the bottles of wine and go figure…. all the clubs were righty’s!  Seriously, WTF?!?  The guy wasn’t prepared for a lefty to try it!  I told him that I should get a bottle of wine automatically because he didn’t bring any lefty clubs! (he didn’t agree to that idea!)  So I tried my hand at righty and got the 1st ball in but missed the other 2.  Damnit.  Stupid righty golf clubs!  I would have rocked at mini golf had they have the right clubs there!!

 

 

A game I love to hate

I went out to the bar with 3 friends after playing hockey on Sunday morning.  On the table were trivial pursuit cards.  Mr. Cynical picked one of the cards up and asked Blocker and I a question.  We both sat there with dumb looks on our faces.  After playing 2 hours of hockey, the last thing I want to do is play trivial pursuit. 

Tier 3 came into the bar and sat down.  It was at that moment when we decided to create a game using those trivial pursuit cards (since clearly we didn’t have a board or the pieces).  The first person to answer 3 questions correctly, gets to distribute a shot to one of the other 3 people.  We might as well have just titled the game: I do the shots.

Of course, Mr. Cynical is the first one to get 3 points, so as predicted, he delegates one of his shots to me.  Fantastic.  Then Tier 3 gets 3 more points.  And again, the shot goes to me.  Tier 3 once again gets another 3 points and delegates a shot to Blocker.  Clearly, this game wasn’t in our favor.  It also doesn’t help when your competition is significantly older and more knowledgeable than you.

We didn’t do the shots yesterday.  Thank god.  The last thing I needed was to be drunk on a Sunday afternoon.  But I’m sure those shots will catch up to me sooner or later. 

I hate trivial pursuit.  Seriously, no good ever comes out of playing that game.

buy… sell… trade

I need an upgrade.  OK, not really, but I’m sort of thinking I do.

I’m looking at upgrading to an SUV…..at some point.  Probably not for another year or two.  My car only has 73K miles on it and it runs pretty well (although I need to get new brakes on it soon before I crash into a wall), but I’m starting to realize that I lug around too much crap and it doesn’t all fit!  Mostly my hockey sticks, but I carry around a lot of other crap as well.  Plus, I’m realizing that 2 door cars suck.  Seriously.  They were cool in college, but not so much now.

Right now I’m just browsing online to see what kind of SUV I can afford.  That’s another reason why I’m not in a position to get one: money.  If I had to choose between buying a car and supporting my alcohol fund, I’d choose my alcohol fund (clearly I know where my priorities are right now!). 

I’m looking at Toyota 4Runners and the Hyundai Santa Fe.  I think 4Runners are too big for me though.  I don’t need a 3 row passenger car (I’m not a soccer mom just yet!).  The size of the Santa Fe would be perfect I think - 4 door and can fit 5 people in it comfortably. 

Of course this is all up in the air.  My thoughts change all the time (as does my rational thinking), so by this time next week I could write a blog about wanting to buy a smart car.  Although with gas prices sky rocketing, hybrids are super appealing right now!

*knock on wood* Hopefully I can get another 70K miles on my current vehicle.  Wishful thinking, but I hope so.  At the very least, I’d like to make it to the 100K mark.  That gives me another 3 years to look around and think more about buying a ridiculously oversized vehicle that I don’t need!

“It was made to be worn only on the runway…”

I bought this really cute brown skirt from charlotte russe a year ago.  The problem was I don’t really wear brown, so I didn’t have a shirt to go with it.  I bought this cute brown shirt from NY&Company about 4 months ago and this morning decided (since it’s supposed to be 72 degrees today), that I would wear the outfit.  It looked great.

I walked into my office this morning and sat down at my desk and could feel this hard thing pressing (more like jabbing) into my stomach.  The skirt has a metal belt buckle fashioned on it.  To the naked eye it looks cute, but not so much when you’re getting hurt by it.  I could barely sit at my desk for 5 minutes without the buckle forcing itself into my stomach.  I thought to myself, this is NOT going to work.

So I had a fabulous idea #1: cut the buckle off the skirt.  It makes for a really, really long day when you have something ramming itself into your stomach. 

I walked over to Librarian’s office.

“Good Morning.  Do you have a safety pin?”

“Not that I know of, let me check.” [searches office]  “Nope, sorry.  What’s wrong?”

“Well, my skirt has this gosh darn metal buckle on it and every time I sit down, it jabs me in the stomach…so I wanted to cut it off, but then if I do that, this part will hang down, so I wanted to pin it together.”

“Hmmm, well, let’s see.  I have a bag tie.  Maybe that will work?”

So there we are, at 8:15 in the morning, cutting the buckle off my skirt and trying to fashion a clip to hold the pieces together.  After about 20 minutes of using paper scissors (bad idea #1) to try to cut the buckle off, Librarian realized that the metal bag tie is too thin and flimsy to work. 

“What if we paper clip it?” I said. (fabulous idea #2)

Aahhh, the paper clip.  Funny enough, it worked. 

I noticed by boss had come into by now, so I went to see her. 

“Good Morning, Boss.”

“Good Morning, how are you?”

“Good.  I had a little fashion disaster this morning.  My skirt had this metal belt buckle on it and it kept digging into my stomach, so Librarian had to cut it off and we paper clipped it together.”

[Boss laughs]

“I guess that’s what I get for buying a fifteen dollar skirt at Charlotte Russe!”

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that.  At least it wasn’t a more expensive skirt that you had to cut.  You know, it’s amazing how these people come up with these clothes.  It’s like you wouldn’t know that that buckle wouldn’t have worked out unless you were a buyer.  I mean, even the people who work there don’t even realize this stuff!”

“I know.  I mean, I put it on this morning and it was fine, but then I get into work and sit down at my desk and it’s trying to slowly kill me.  And I thought I would be able to make it till lunch with it, but I could barely sit at my desk for 2 minutes, let alone 5 hours!”

“Clearly it was made to be worn only on the runway!”

So here I am, sitting at my desk, typing up this blog while a paper clip holds the fabric of where my belt buckle used to be.  What an interesting way to start off my morning.

Stupid Charlotte Russe and their skirts with overly large, metal belt buckles!!  Seriously, it must have been a guy who thought up that one. 

Obviously there was a reason why I hadn’t worn this skirt since I bought it.

Me - 1, Charlotte Russe - 0

a practical resolution

When the ball dropped at midnight on New Year’s, I made a resolution that was practical: travel more.

It’s been four months now and I am proud to say that this was the best new year’s resolution I could have ever made.  So far I’ve traveled to the following places:

Washington, D.C.
Pittsburgh
Tampa
St. Petersburg
Detroit
Atlantic City

Okay, so maybe those aren’t the most exciting places to visit, but hey, I have done more traveling in the past 4 months than I did all last year!  Plus, I’m heading to sunny Ft. Lauderdale (and hopefully West Palm Beach/Miami) over Memorial Day weekend, and planning trips to Chicago, Boston, San Fran and LA this summer as well.  Yay!  Plus a trip to Canada in July!

Eventually I’ll go international (when ever I can afford that), but for now I’ll take traveling the states.  Who knows where I’ll end up.

I just hope it’s not on a plane to Jacksonville! =)