Double Yay

Oops, forgot to give LM a little shout-out for getting a book deal! Yay!

Also, a little shout-out for myself: I got up at 5:30am this morning (thanks to my supportive boyfriend) and went to a 6:15am yoga class. I'm yawning now, but it was worth it.

Jobfriends I Have Known, Installment I

One of the hardest parts of starting a new job is making new jobfriends. Oh, life is hard in a new office without jobfriends.

Back in the crazy days of My First Job (aka Working at a Bridal Mag Is a Good Way to Scare Off Potential Dates), we were a pretty close-knit bunch. When Lisa Marie arrived, I thought she was, at first, a bit kooky because all our EIC had told us was that she was really into weddings. (Which, when you think about it, meant she was actually qualified to do what she did, as opposed to those of us who scoffed at the magazine's mission. But I digress.) I quickly got over this because she had a Pterri wind-up toy and would often imitate him, which cracks me up.

I think everyone else in our office saw our relationship as a little bizarre. We shared a cubicle wall, so we would often throw things or notes to each other. And we made many pilgrimages to the German food stand--Hallo Berlin--near our office, all while saying "Hallo!" to each other, often referring to each other as "Ha" and "Lo." There was a lot of food happening with us--we'd bring each others leftovers to share (isn't that the sweetest thing?) which eventually grew into our Sunday night dinners together. When I got a new job, it was like the saddest day ever. I think we might've cried?

Will someone please just eat lunch with me?

No Nature, No Peace

Because I'm feeling all I-love-trees due to plans next week to go camping (yes, you read that right), I felt it only right to post this utterly depressing article. Look, the Braverkids were not jocks, nor were we especially enthusiastic about many pursuits that didn't involve Barbies or books. But we managed to spend a good chunk of our childhoods frolicking outside. Isn't that part of being a kid? Turn off the GameCube and get outdoors, little ones!

Happy Birthday to Blog

No, not mine. Over at Gimpysoft, the virtual home of my better half, he's celebrating five years. Dude, that's older than some babies I know! I suppose I should go buy one of Fort Awesome's many computers a present now.

The Debate Continues

Prepping for my upcoming New York visit has me back on the sea of indecision. I talked to one of my belovedest friends last week and just wept a few hours later. Hormones? I don't know. I think some of it is missing the way friendships were in my early twenties--when we stayed out all night smoking, drinking and dancing, then hit San Loco and ate greasy nachos. When everyone was every part of your life. I know it crept dangerously close to codependency, and that's probably not the healthiest thing. Then again, neither were the nachos.

A few days later, I was celebrating the affordability of life here, and the fact that I can see my parents and my sister and Harry can play fetch in our yard (well, in the way that only he would play fetch).

Today, perusing the New York Times' food section, I read a review for one of my all-time favorites, Florent. And we're back in the missing zone.

Sometimes I have to remind myself that for every drunken night at Big Bar or splashy opening party with a goodie bag or celeb spotting at brunch, there were countless more days spent alone in my apartment watching crappy television and binge-eating. And that's not really what I want either.