Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Dizzy

I've been so incredibly busy recently, but Mr. B said he was jonesing for a new blog post, so I figured my other loyal readers (all 10 of them) must be as well! Busy is probably putting it lightly, as the title of this post implies, my head is spinning and I can't think straight I have so much on my plate!

When I look at my current career from the outside, I feel successful and proud even though it completely strays away from my intended career path. It took me a while to figure out, as someone who is ambitious and extremely hard on herself, that a career is just a fancy word for job, and in the end that's what it is, a job. It was my husband that helped show me that life wasn't about work, it was about finding happiness in whatever creates it for you. And when I accepted this, I left my "career path" for a job, related, but outside that box that I thought would make me happier. For this I was rewarded with a job where I was appreciated, needed, and promoted fairly quickly.

Truthfully though, my job has been creating a lot more stress then I'd like to admit. Unfortunately I'm having a lot of trouble in my new position, and with my new boss. I've been thrown into something that I think a normal person would have walked away from before they even got started. The guy I'm working under doesn't have a clue and plays mind games, and I feel like I'm constantly struggling up stream against a million obstacles. I'd like to say that I can just walk away, and leave things at the office when I come home, but unfortunately I'm not that type of person and it's really affecting me. I really need to start focusing on what I know is important.

It's hard for most of us go-get-em young women to accept that maybe a job is just a pay check, but it is, and I feel it's important to share that with as many women, men and children as possible. Who honestly is happy sitting at a desk from 9 - 5 (who works until 5 I'll never know, try 8), writing emails and having someone bark down your back when all you do is work your butt off to try hard to please that same person? I'm definitely among the disgruntled recently on this subject.

I'm not condoning working hard and trying to be successful, mind you, I'm just saying it shouldn't come at a cost. I will never be the type of person that can't work, it's just not in my DNA. Sitting still was never for me, not even in college. For Hanukkah one year one of my close friends bought me a book titled "The Book For People Who Do To Much," I think she was trying to tell me something. Even now, when I tell people I feel like an old fart that never goes out or does anything they tend to baulk at me, and retort that I'm always busy! And I guess I am.

So, to get to my point, even though I'm busy, and stressed, and maybe loosing my mind a bit at the moment, I need to take everything with a grain of salt and look at the silver lining. My job, is just a job, and if I'm unhappy with my situation, I can change it. Truthfully it could be a lot worse, because even though it doesn't feel like it most of the time, I know I'm successful, and accomplished, and an important person to my company. I have an amazing husband who loves me more then anything. I'm young, healthy (for the most part), and active. My busy life catches up with me, but I'm blessed to have so many great things going on in my life.

For now I will look at the bright side, and I urge all of you to do the same. So I hope you take away from today's very cheesy blog post, that you hold your happiness in your own hands. Find your happiness where ever it lies, may it be rock climbing, baking, or traveling, and let that be your life, not your "career," that's just your funding. Excuse the cheese. Later. SB :)

Friday, March 26, 2010

Living with a P.hD Candidate

I don't think I've gone into it much, but my husband is currently finishing his PhD. It's way, way, way to long a story to get into now, but he sent me a funny cartoon today that got me looking at other cartoons on a very funny webpage , and I though I'd share a comic with you that explains how I usually feel about the whole process:



More on that later. SB

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Stroll Down Memory Lane

So as I mentioned in my St. Patty's Day post, my husband has been away this week. Like the good grandson he is, he's in Florida helping his Grandmother since she had eye surgery. Hence, I naturally jumped at the opportunity to get out of the house today, when my brother-in-law invited me to brunch to celebrate his finishing the NYC Half Marathon (Congrats to him by the way!).

It was a real pleasure for me to head into Manhattan on a weekend, something I rarely do any more. The weather this week has been incredible, and the first full day of spring was no exception. Let me tell you, Manhattan in spring time is like bears coming out of hibernation. People come out of the wood works and are walking every where, shopping, going to brunch, anything just to get out of the house and into the weather. I was loving the vibe in the city as I headed all the way down to Wall St. to meet the 1/2 Marathon Crew.

I think it's important to mention, for those of you who may not have caught how I met Mr. Blue, that my brother-in-law and I were neighbors and friends, and that I met my husband through him. When we lived next door to each other we used to hang out all the time, and I knew many of his friends who were over often, especially for our frequent parties. So it was an added bonus to get to see some familiar faces today, drink some beers, and reminisce, while still catching up on and joking about our current lives and lifestyles.

My favourite part of the day however, was my long stroll from Wall Street to the Port Authority to head back to NJ. Now, while I did not really plan to walk 3.8 miles and countless blocks today, I will say that though my feet and back hurt by the end (I know I'm an old lady), it was really nice to be out and about in the city with no real trajectory or place to be. Admittedly my lovely stroll began with a phone call to Mr. B that turned into a fight, that delayed my getting on the subway, which turned into us making up and not wanting to hang up with each other, so we wound up taking a long "stroll" together on our cell phones hundreds of miles apart.

Days like today remind me how much I really love Manhattan, and made me wish that I put more effort into going into the city when I have time to really enjoy being there. I lost perspective during all the years of daily commuting on how lucky I was to live right outside such an amazing city. Many people baulk at the fact that I moved back to New York from Miami after college, but if you're a New Yorker, you get it. It's this amazing city that has so much to offer for so many different types of people, and is truely an incredible melting pot of activity that sucks you in completely.

So, as I look out my bedroom window at the amazing sky line view of Manhattan, after just re-watching the Sex in the City Movie for the 100th time, I'm insanely head over heals with this amazing city, and I vow to make a greater effort to take advantage of all it has to offer before we move away from such close proximity to it, and begin a chapter of our lives that will make it more difficult. :) SB

Friday, March 19, 2010

New Favortie Products

So it turns out that part of selling your house is making sure every square inch of your space is spic and span! I will embarrassingly admit that before we decided to sell our apartment, my husband and I were not the biggest neat freaks. However, now that we have our place on the market we are very good about keeping our now very empty apartment, clean and free of all clutter, dirty dishes, laundry, etc! We have even taken to cleaning multiple times a week!

I become a bit OCD about cleaning, so much so that I'll notice something is dirty around midnight, and wind up scrubbing floors ceilings and walls until well in the wee hours of the morning until Mr. Blue has to ask me what the heck I'm doing! This week I spent a lot of time with my new favorite product:



I probably went a little to nuts with it, but I cleaned every surface in my kitchen with this miracle cleaner! It got dirty of in a snap, and even removed really tough stains! Have I sold you yet?

Another product I fell in love with this week was the Febreze Home Collection Soy Blend Candles! I bought the Willow Blossom scented one this week as a treat, since I would normally never spend more then $5.00 on a candle. It was well worth it! The scent of this candle is incredible! My husband and I like having candles around to begin with, and who doesn't like the smell of Febreze? I'm telling you go grab one of these!



I think I should get some royalties for this blog post! Brought to you by my new adult like outlook on life, and the little joys in life :) SB

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Ode to St. Patty's Days of Past


So, today I'm definitely feeling my age (not that I'm so old, just old enough). It's St. Patty's day today, and I am not drunk. Not even close, in fact my doctor told me today since my stomach has been bothering me I should stay away from alcohol, caffeine, and dairy (I am a caffeine addict, so that's torture enough!). Now, my party animal has quieted a bit (ok more then a bit) since I met my husband and got married, but I am definitely a party girl at heart. Hence the fact that we did bupkis this year for St. Patty's Day, Fake Patty's Day, etc, is kind of hitting me hard.

Last year though, was the epitome of all St. Patty's Days. Well, actually it was "Fake" Patty's Day in one of the towns near where we live. Fake Patty's Day in this town is basically a big excuse for everyone to get wasted starting at 9 am on. Oh, and there's a parade, I think. We began the day with breakfast and drinks at one friend's apartment around 10:00 am (9 am is when the "younger" kids start), and around noon we moved the party to another friend's place on the parade route. It was a beautiful day, and we spent the time out side on their roof playing flip cup and getting completely trashed. I was in rare form, completely out of my mind drunk! My husband's favorite story from that day is about when he was practically carrying me to the train to go home, and I shouted at a young mother and her child "what the F*ck are you looking at?" Not my finest moment, but was it better then this year?

This sober, non-celebratory year? I didn't even wear green today! I'm so not in that mode I guess, and it's so not typical because Mr. Blue is away all week! My slogan for whenever he's away is usually "when hubby's away I will play," but apparently not this time. Is it that my office moved from Manhattan to Warehouse City NJ? Or that all of our friends have moved into the burbs? Or that I'm just over it? Growing up? I think I'm just going to use the excuse that I've been nauseous all week (and no I'm not pregnant) so I don't feel like I'm getting old.

My friend on Facebook had the best status today about how we weren't really annoyed at the high school kids ditching school and drinking vodka out of water bottles, we were just jealous! It's so true! My cousin goes to college in Savannah, one of the biggest St. Party Day celebration places in the country, and I was definitely wishing I was cool enough to hang with her. I miss being able to drink all day every day and not caring how stupid I am, or how obnoxious, and yet when I say that my new adult self goes "really? you were so dumb!"

So, for all of you non-lame-o's celebrating St. Patrick's Day Today, HAVE FUN FOR ME!!!! SB

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Platinum Weddings

Just a quick note about the show "Platinum Weddings" on WE TV. I LOVE almost all things wedding, wedding shows, wedding pictures, wedding movies, etc. I've decided however, that as beautiful as the weddings are on this show, it makes me completely and utterly sick to my stomach! How is it that these people can spend more on their weddings (one day of their lives) then my husband and I can afford to spend on a house!?!?!?!?! I just wanted to share how sick it makes me, thanks for listening! SB

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Our Lisiting

Well, it's official! I went on our real estate website this morning and our listing is up! They even showed it once already last night! Poor Mr. Stella Blue hid out in the hallway while they were showing it. All he heard was "wow! Look at that view!" Fingers crossed! Here are some pictures from the listing!











Thursday, March 11, 2010

OMG

Ok, so we signed the real estate papers last night to put our apartment on the market, holy heart attack!! I can not believe we are actually going through with this! Both Mr. Blue and I are freaking out, because we love, love, love our apartment and our life right now, but we both know it's time to upgrade to a bigger space. It's an insane mix of excitement, fear, and anticipation!

The photographer came over today to take pictures for our listing with the real estate expert from our realtor's company this afternoon, and after they left my husband called me at work. At this time we both oozed with nervous energy and giggles when he described how much they loved our apartment! The photographer aparently wanted to move in (I'd sell it to her real cheap)!

The kicker is, they are going to start showing our apartment this weekend!!! We are giddy with the idea that we could wind up with an offer sooner then we thought, and crying on the inside with the idea of leaving our palace! Especially when we just made so many improvements that have made us even happier in the space! Basically OMG!!!!

Hoping I'll get to post some pictures from our listing later :) SB

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Flash Forward to the Present

So I've decided I've had enough of dwelling on the past, and that truthfully all of you readers have probably couldn't care less about all that nonsense. I'm sure I'll wind up referring to the scary, adult molding events in my life as the blog goes on, but I have way to much to freak out about now in my current stage of life to continue babbling about things that have already happened.

Flash forward to present day, I've been married a year and a half to my (most of the time) wonderful husband, and we are currently going through some pretty crazy grown-up stuff. For instance, the source of most of my "bug-outs" these days is getting ready to put our apartment on the market. Mr. Stella Blue bought our apartment about 5-6 years ago when he was single, and while it's an amazing apartment that we don't feel quite ready to leave, we're ready to upgrade to something a little bigger.

When I say our current apartment is amazing, I'm not lying. The view from my bedroom window is a perfect Manhattan sky line, for goodness sake!! We have a pool (also with and amazing sky line view, propped ever so nicely on the top of a cliff), a great park across the street, public transportation right outside our door, and we're obviously super close to NYC! So why are we moving?!?!?

View from our pool:


The only thing that has always bothered me about our apartment is that it's really in need of some updating, I never had the energy to re-decorate after moving in. It wasn't a super bachelor pad or anything crazy, so I just figured I'd get my decorating senseabilities in once we had a house. And lets just say, I don't think my husband has really cleaned anything (that men don't think to clean) since he moved in. I cleaned the windows for the first time ever last night, and I can't begin to tell you how much Windex I wound up using!

So, the past few weeks Mr. Blue and I have been cleaning, packing, and updating our place for sale, and we are hoping to have our place on the market by the end of the week!!! It's safe to say that we are both freaking out just a little at the prospect of becoming suburbanites!! More on our crazy adventure in home selling later. For now anyone want to buy a great appartment? SB.

One of my closest friend Camille Ford is the host of the Travel Channels new show Food Wars!! Check out the premier tonight at 9pm on the Travel Channel!!

Best wishes Cammie, I'm sure it's going to be great!!!

www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Food_Wars

Saturday, March 6, 2010

New Favorite Site!

Just recently I got turned on to a site called www.etsy.com. You can find great, original gifts there! It's "your place to buy and sell all things handmade!" I bought this great camera strap for my cousin who is a photographer as a gift for filming a wedding:



Enjoy!!

Money, Money, Money, Money....

Another great way to wake up and go "wow I think I'm becoming a grown up," is to join finances with your fiance. While I was practically living with my now husband, we didn't join our finances until my apartment's lease was up and I "officially" moved in to his apartment (which he owned and we still live in). As I explained earlier I didn't have a budget when I was living on my own, so sitting down and figuring out just what we could afford every month was a little bit stressful for me.

Hence, I must admit I struggled with budgeting, and I was disappointed with the fact that even though we now had a joint income it didn't seem like we had any more money. It took us some time, and some tears from me before we were done, but I have to admit that my husband is amazing at budgeting and money management, and we were able to work out our spending, and more importantly our savings.

My parents were never very open about finances, and although I love them immensely, I feel that they did not really prepare me for managing my money when I was on my own. I think this mostly came from their hopes that I would always stay with them and never leave (seriously). Since I've been with my husband however I've become much more money savvy.

So, the plunge was taken, I added one more notch on my belt into the journey of adulthood. Not only did I now have a budget, but I had a fiance, a mortgage, and a wedding to plan. Holy wake up call!! It would have been so much easier to climb into a tree and forget it all! Play pretend forever! Not grow up!! But, I kept on rolling with the punches, and kept moving further from that tree and closer to the nursing home (well maybe that's an exaggeration).