My News Year's Resolutions: READ MORE BOOKS and gain a magical power

I'm not one to make resolutions for the near year. I'm already trying to drop a few pounds (I've lost 5 over the past few months) and I'm trying to swear less (this one isn't going so well...) but I've decided to set a reading challenge for 2015.

I'm going to read 40 books in 2015.

It's in BOLD so you know I'm serious. I was considering attempting to read 50 books but I think that might be a little much for me considering I didn't even read 20 books in 2014. As a book lover I'm ashamed to admit that.

The book I finished yesterday is my last book of 2014 and it was probably my favorite book of the year.

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas.

Heir of Fire is the third book in the Throne of Glass series and unexpectedly my favorite in the series. New characters and story lines were introduced but the characters I loved from the previous two books were not forgotten. The world building in this series is fantastic. I wish I could come up with something like this. Sadly I am not so talented in the writing department so I'll just enjoy every moment of this series and wonder why I can't have fire powers.

Anyone else have any resolutions or challenges for 2015? Also, feel free to suggest books in the comments. I'll read almost anything.

Ghost hunting at the Omni Parker

Ok so we weren't really ghost hunting but I did keep my eyes peeled when I stayed at the Omni Parker House this weekend. It's supposedly one of the most haunted hotels in the North East.

Many famous people have stayed and worked at the hotel. Ho Chi Minh and Malcolm X both worked there. John Wilkes Booth stayed there not long before he assassinated Abraham Lincoln. JFK had his bachelor party there. There was the Saturday Club where writers, philosophers, scientists and historians gathered for dinner. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow were members of the Saturday Club. The hotel certainly has a rich history.

I love the feel of the Omni Parker. It feels like history. The lobby and elevators are beautiful.

The only ghost we saw was Casper because the movie happened to be on tv when we were drinking our champagne in the room. Probably for the best because I would have been freaked out if I actually saw a ghost.

I highly recommend renting a hotel room rather than exchanging gifts with your significant other. We already buy the things we want for ourselves so why not do something fun and different?

And all was quiet on Christmas Eve (hopefully)

The college students have returned home for the holidays and it's finally quiet in Allston. I'm going to savor every moment.

I'm working today. I usually end up working on Christmas Eve. It's a popular day to take off but our office is open so I volunteer as office tribute! We have a few people holding down the fort. Fingers crossed that there isn't a client crisis.

It's funny how Christmas changes the older you get. I sometimes wish I could have that I'm so giddy I can't sleep because I have butterflies in my stomach feeling on Christmas Eve again. I do enjoy opening gifts but I think Christmas is now more about the family and food. I mean I really love a big Christmas dinner.

At least I don't have that paranoia that I would catch Santa in the act and get in trouble. I don't know why I thought that but boy did that worry about that as a child. Oh yes I am still just as anxious as an adult just over different things.

I hope you have a stress free holiday full of food and family.

The internet in North Korea

I don't trust anything that comes out of North Korea. Apparently the five people with internet access in North Korea experienced a blackout and the U.S. is to blame. Maybe it's true, but keep in mind that anytime anything bad happens in North Korea it's not their "Dear Leader's" fault it's the United States' fault. Drought, famine, electricity being out, all of that is blamed on the U.S.

I'm trying to imagine what they would even be able to access on the internet in North Korea. There's probably like two sites that are allowed, so really I don't think they're missing much. I wonder if Kim Jong-Un has a blog?....

To the racist woman on the phone today

Why would anyone want to call you back after you say to our receptionist "well I know it wasn't you I spoke to because you have an accent. I spoke with a white woman like me."

Your lucky you claimed you had a head injury from an unfortunate accident with an animal years ago.

Have you seen Boston's Keytar Bear?

Boston is known for it's many entertaining buskers. One of the most beloved local buskers is Keytar Bear. I've heard of Keytar Bear but I've never been able to catch him out performing.

Recently Keytar Bear has been spotted in Brooklyn.


Let's hope Keytar Bear is just visiting. He has had it rough recently. Keytar Bear has been attacked and robbed multiple times in Boston. Seriously guys, just leave Keytar Bear alone.

Here's Keytar Bear playing a medley of songs nominated for song of the year at the Boston Music Awards.

This was the weekend of eating food as large as my face.

I have a few photos to share from my weekend adventures around Boston and Cambridge.

There's a giant Menorah in Copley Square. I love this area around the holidays. You have the Menorah, a Christmas tree and the Trinity Church all beautifully lit up.

Friday night I went to Yard House near Fenway and ate a chicken pot pie as big as my face. In fact it might have been bigger than my face.

It was delicious. I ate half of it before I had to throw in the towel. And yes I'm the asshole who used my flash but I just had to share how big this thing was.

Saturday night I went to the Plough and Stars in Cambridge. It's a tiny place but it has a nice cozy vibe. I like the red walls and the Plough and Stars behind the bar.

Here is where I had a giant serving of mac and cheese. Also the size of my face.

After dinner we headed next door to People's Republik. I would not describe the People's Republik as cozy unless you find a Russian Communist Themed bar comforting. I do enjoy the bar though. The propaganda posters and bombs are interesting for sure. I just wish it wasn't cash only.

Please say hello to the capitalist pig if you stop in.

It's a dental Christmas miracle

If you read my blog regularly you may recall this post about some expensive dental work I was having done. As it turns out insurance ended up covering all of it and then some. I have a $15.00 credit on my account. I don't know what my dentist did when they submitted the claim but I'm not going to ask any questions. Maybe I should have my dentist submit all my insurance claims.

I ate some candied nuts made by Derek's mother and the tooth passed the nut test.

Today I came home to a notice from UPS on my door. Someone sent me something. I'm dying to know what it is. As an adult I can decide to open before Christmas right?

I also received a Christmas card from my brother and his family. My mother is visiting them in Florida right now. I miss these cute little faces. Caroline is now 9 months old and Hunter will be 3 in January.

I think I better get Caroline some more headbands.

It's hard work raising money for dumb fashion ideas

Have you ever thought to yourself "hmmm I really want to wear a pair of overalls but they just don't fit my hipster aesthetic." Well luckily we have these three guys who worked very hard asking people for 25k to create "Rousers". Overalls for the urban man. Apparently regular overalls were too farm like.

According to their kickstarter they are "perfect for any occasion". May I suggest wearing them to your next job interview. I'm sure you'll get that job at Urban Outfitters wearing a pair of Rousers.

Read more via BDCwire

Bands and singers that most people like and I do not. A very important list.

Everyone has that band or singer that they just don't like but it seems that everyone else does. I thought I'd share my list of bands or singers I just don't care for despite being popular.

1. U2 - ok U2 you used to be kind of good. Your songs used to have a point. I will never forgive them for singing about a mole digging in a hole. There's a right way to do dumb lyrics (see Train) and a wrong way. Also, all your newer songs sound the same. I can't tell them apart. Bono, lose the sunglasses, you look like a fool, a FOOL I say.

2. The Foo Fighters - I think Dave Grohl is a nice guy. I've never met him but that's the impression that I get. I just can't like the Foo Fighters. Their songs are boring to me, very blah and generic. I feel bad for saying it because I like Dave Grohl but that's just the way it is.

3. Coldplay - I do like a few Coldplay songs it's just that I don't understand the hype. How are they as big as they are? Why does Chris Martin creep me out so much? I do not want to meet Chris Martin, I'd probably run away.

4. John Mayer - He sing talks. You see it's a trick to make you think he's singing but really he's talking softly. I hate it. I imagine he's very full of himself, flipping his hair and hitting on 21 year old girls telling each one that this song was about them *wink*. This is what I picture him doing in my head. Seems pretty accurate to me.

5. Beyoncé - I think I will get a lot of shit for this but bring it. I can't stand her singing voice. I can barely make it through any of her songs. Trust me I've tried because it seems like everyone LOVES Bey but I just can't get into her music.

Feel free to share your picks in the comments.

How many panties does it cost for dental work?

It's December which means some event will happen that will cost me a small fortune. Some years it's my car, some years it's my cat's teeth, this year it's my own teeth.

Dental insurance in the US is a joke. Your dental work costs $2,000.00 (for one tooth mind you) and insurance is like "hmmm well we can cover about $200.00 of that). Gee thanks! That's really swell guys. Who needs teeth anyways? I do have some money saved and there is always the option of selling my underwear online....This is what you've reduced me to Blue Cross. How many panties does it cost to pay for dental work?

I'm currently trying to eat less food which will hopefully help save my expensive teeth some wear and tear. Not eating all the things is hard. It's one of my favorite hobbies. I've been doing ok and trying my best to ignore being hungry. I'm not starving myself, I'm eating 3 meals a day and they are not celery sticks, I'm just used to eating way more than I should be. It has been getting a bit easier. Whenever I want to keep stuffing my face I remind myself how much better my reflux will be when I drop the weight.

Now I'd like to discuss how crappy the weather is out today. It's cold and rainy and I don't like it. The only positive about weather like this is that it makes me feel more creative. I have the urge to write more, to read more, to create more. I like writing random poems, really random poems. I haven't done that in a while.

Oh the weather outside is frightful

But then again so is your face

Pale and soggy, plastered with stringy hair

Get out of the rain

You're melting

And I'm afraid

The Pizza Underground at the Brighton Music Hall

Did you know Macaulay Culkin is in a band? Well he is and it's called the Pizza Underground. They sing Velvet Underground covers but change the lyrics to be about pizza.

There were some other musical acts. One of my favorites was the Candy Boys.

And this would be Macaulay and the lead singer of Har Mar Superstar. It was an interesting night for sure.

So I guess we all know what Macaulay Culkin is up to these days. Well worth the $15.00

I did it! No fried food for a month!

In the beginning of November I decided to do a no fried food challenge for the month of November.

I'm here to tell you I did it! I survived and it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. I did have french fries last night to break my "fast". I'm going to try to keep the fried food to a minimum but I'm happy that I made it for the month. I think knowing that it was only for a month helped. I knew there was a french fry waiting for me at the end of the tunnel.

I think now I'm going to only allow myself one fried item a week. Once a week is cutting back from my normal intake of all time. Yes, it's bad, might as well face it I'm addicted to fries.

Updated to add (thanks to Joeh for pointing this out): My weight stayed about the same which I think is good considering Thanksgiving and not being as active as I should have been. I notice that not eating fried foods helps me not feel so gross after eating. No shock there. I'll try to update again in a month with how things are going. Can I limit myself or will I fall back into old ways?

Who doesn't love a good binge watch

I love tv. Give me a couch and some Netflix and I'm a happy girl. 

Season 3 of House of Cards is premiering on February 27th which is a Friday so I can binge watch all weekend. Bring on the Underwoods.

Speaking of binge watching, I've been missing Orange is the New Black but have found a new female prison drama to fill the void. I started watching Wentworth this weekend on Netflix and I'm already on season 2. Franky Doyle is pretty much my favorite character on tv right now. 

I also love Aussie accents. Maybe I can come down with that weird affliction where you start talking with a different accent? I think it's called foreign accent syndrome. That would be great.

Thank you Netflix. You are the best thing since sliced bread.

Like mother like daughter

On Thanksgiving I was going through some old photos at my mom's house. I found the photo above of my mom in the early 60s. I think I can see where my mom got the idea for my haircut circa the early 90s.

How to have an office Thanksgiving

First you must work on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

Make sure there is some event where you have to order food a few days before. We had two birthdays and a baby shower.

It helps if you have a co-worker that purchases breakfast and gets bagels, fudge, sweet potato pie and mini coffee cakes.

If your office has gotten a holiday basket bust that open and spread it out on the table.

Now you must eat all the food because there is a long weekend ahead and you can't let all this food go to waste.

Here is a list of the offerings at the office Thanksgiving

salad

two types of cheese cake

vanilla cake with buttercream frosting

bagels

lasagna

pizza

nuts

danish

sweet potato pie

fudge

mini coffee cakes

jelly beans

some kind of orange jam

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Find something more important to be outraged by. Christmas tree edition.

Sometimes I read something and I just get so rage filled that I have to take to my blog and share the outrage.

I came across this article on Boston.com 

Belmont PTA Decides Students Can Handle ‘Offensive’ Christmas Tree in ‘The Nutcracker’

Apparently some of the religious content in the Nutcracker could be offensive towards some students. The biggest offender being the giant Christmas tree on stage.

Are we for real here? Do we need to shelter our children from anything that might be deemed "offensive"? Is a child really going to be offended by a Christmas tree? No, it's the parents that are "offended" and projecting this onto the children. Then send your child to a religious school of your choosing where they will not be exposed to any culture or art that could be related to another religion. Don't take them to the mall or drive around your neighborhood until January. Problem solved.

Do these parents know the history of the Christmas tree?

"The use of evergreen trees, wreaths, and garlands to symbolize eternal life was a custom of the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews. Tree worship was common among the pagan Europeans and survived their conversion to Christianity in the Scandinavian customs of decorating the house and barn with evergreens at the New Year to scare away the devil and of setting up a tree for the birds during Christmastime." - source

Instead of complaining to the PTA why don't you talk to your child about the history of the Christmas tree and take them to a performance at your place of worship. Let them go to the Nutcracker which is a classic ballet that everyone should see at some point. Stop sheltering your children and instead talk to them.

Honestly I'm sick of people complaining about seeing a Santa or a tree somewhere and being offended. Get yourself educated. Santa and Christmas trees are both based on pagan traditions. Find something more important to be offended by.

I'm moving into a panic room and training my cat how to use a flame thrower

Oh hey guys. If you need me I'll be moving into a panic room. If you know me at all you know I freak out over everything but I have a legit reason to be freaking out this time.

So about a week or two ago Derek and I found a bright orange WARNING on the door to our apartment building. It was a waning from the Boston police department to be on the look out because there has been an increase in break-ins in the area. Derek showed me a crime map of our neighborhood and it is not good, not good at all. There have been many break-ins recently and it freaked me out.

Tuesday I get a knock on my door. I open the door and it's my neighbor who shares the first floor with us in our building. He asks me if I noticed anything suspicious as he was robbed!!!! I asked him how they got in and he said through the windows in the front. Of course the front windows are the only windows that don't have bars on them. They forced open the window and left through the door. They did not break the glass so from the outside you couldn't tell.

I am of course freaking out. I didn't sleep well and have still been stressed about it. I'm mostly concerned about my cat Bosco.  I don't want him getting out or hurt. Honestly Derek and I don't have super expensive crap. We have laptops but no ipads or other fancy eletronics, my tv is old and is on its way out and I have no expensive jewelry. It's more the violation that bothers me and the fear of my cat getting out.

Derek and I went to Home Depot and got another set of bars for the window that is right off the porch. We also have wood poles that go in the windows to prevent them from being opened even if they're locked. I feel a bit better now but I'm still nervous. I would think that the burglars wouldn't hit the same apartment building twice but who knows! It seems that they've been making their way up and down the street. The crazy thing is that they usually do it in the morning after people have left for work or school.

Needless to say I can't wait for our lease to be up in August. I am so glad Derek was working from home that day or it could have been us.

But seriously, I am training Bosco to use a flame thrower so back to fuck off!

Let me put on my knit head wrap and grant you three wishes

It's really gross outside in Boston today. It's rainy, windy and cold. I bundled myself up real good.

I was on the T heading into work and a young boy got on the T with his father. The boy was so excited to be on the T and kept telling his father to look at things out the window. It was cute. I thought to myself "Enjoy it while it lasts kid because when you're older you're going to hate riding the T." Ah the bitterness of adulthood.

One good thing about being an adult is I get to buy my own stuff. One thing I've been considering buying is a knit head wrap. At first I was very anti-head wrap. I thought they would look silly on me and that only girls who wear Uggs and drink Pumpkin Spiced Lattes could pull the look off. I'm starting to reconsider my position though.

The Tasha "Fab Sparkle" Knit Head Wrap speaks to me in someway. It says "look like a genie but be warm and fab and sparkle". I can see Derek shaking his head now.

$28.00 at Nordstrom

Always mind your zippers

For a long time I never gave much thought to zippers. I thought they were very functional but I never considered how they could make me really want a sweater.

I probably still would have bought this sweater from H&M even without the zipper because I love animal print but the zipper is what sold me. I've worn this sweater twice and both times received many compliments. If they've only seen the front I turn around and BAM they're even more impressed. The sweater is also very soft and machine washable so yea I love it.

Knit sweater from H&M. On sale for $24.95

Let's just change the name of Thanksgiving to Black Friday Eve

Best Buy has decided this year to open at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving for Black Friday. That's one hour earlier than last year. Their reason is that other stores do and because they didn't open that one hour earlier last year lost money.

Well Best Buy why not just open on Thanksgiving morning at 6 a.m. I mean it's not like your workers have families and if there are people already camped out outside of your store two weeks before Thanksgiving clearly they don't want to spend time with their families either. They also don't have jobs. Wouldn't any true American chose a bargain on a tv over spending time with their loved ones or getting a job?

Let's just change the name of Thanksgiving to Black Friday Eve. It's like Christmas Eve but instead of people going to mass everyone will wait in lines.

So on this years Black Friday Eve I hope you gather round the table with your loved ones (unless they are working retail of course) and map out your plan of attack for the best deals. Maybe bring your unemployed aunt who's been waiting outside of Best Buy for two weeks an extra blanket. God bless her strength for waiting in lines for the best deal on a TV.

After you get your deals don't forget to gather round the tv to watch news coverage of people being trampled in a Walmart or a mother punched in the face for hoarding Xboxes.

MERICA!

I fed the troll

Well guys I broke one of the top internet "rules". I fed a troll. Sometimes I just can't help myself.

It all started when I tweeted about Julien Blanc who is a "pick-up artist". Julien teaches men how to pick-up woman with such tactics as the "choke opener" which is exactly what you think it is. You go up to a woman and put your hand around her throat. Why say hello when you can just put your hands on her? He also suggests grabbing a women's head and shoving it towards your crotch. Julien even posted videos and photos of him doing this to women with the hashtag #ChokingGirlsAroundTheWorld. He also teaches men how to have sex with women who have said they are not interested. That sounds like rape to me.

There has been an uproar on social media about his upcoming tour and many venues have cancelled his events and his work visa has been pulled in Australia. I believe there are petitions in the UK and Canada to have his visa pulled in those countries as well.

Now regarding my tweet. I tweeted that the "choke opener" is basically assault. Let's look at the definition of assault.

"Generally, the essential elements of assault consist of an act intended to cause an apprehension of harmful or offensive contact that causes apprehension of such contact in the victim." - source

After my first tweet about Julien Blanc there was a man who tweeted back at me saying that calling it assault doesn't "sit well" with the claim that the problem is that these men fly under the radar.

I shouldn't have responded but I did. If you check my twitter you can see the back and forth. There was no name calling involved on either side but clearly this guy would never see my point. After his last response about grabbing a women's hand to save a child I knew that he wasn't even being logical about the argument but he would just keep going because he rabidly believes he's right. If you look at his twitter most of his tweets are responding to people who have spoken out against Julien and the pick-up artist culture.

I am not a fan of the pick-up artist culture. Sure there might be a few guys out there teaching other men how to approach women in a respectful way (and I am ok with that) but most of them teach men how to be aggressive and/or "trick" women into giving into them. I do not agree with any personal threats against Julien Blanc. I do think it's important to raise awareness about the dangerous tactics Julien is teaching. I'm glad venues have cancelled his events after the public outcry.

I need to try to be better about responding to trolls. There is no point to it. It always ends up in a back and forth argument that goes nowhere. I just have a lot of opinions and I have a hard time keeping them to myself.

Let me introduce you to the other Virginia Stanton's

Have you ever searched your name on facebook to see who else comes up? Well I did and here are a few other ladies that share my name.

I think this Virginia Stanton gets the vote for most 90s style Virginia Stanton

This is party all the time Virginia Stanton (she's on the left). From what I can see on her profile she likes to have a good time. Maybe she could teach me how to do my hair? I'm rally bad at doing hair.

This Virginia Stanton has a cat as her profile picture. Are all Virginia Stanton's cat ladies? Hmmm....

Not only does this Virginia Stanton use a glamour shot as her profile picture but she plays guitar and runs her own landscaping company.

Here's one more because she is my favorite Virginia Stanton besides myself.

Amazing, am I right?

Here is a Virginia Stanton that has a boat. Pick your fellow Virginia Stanton up and let's have a boat party.

I hope you enjoyed meeting the other Virginia Stanton's out there.

Get me out of Allston

Surprise surprise I'm taking to my blog to complain about the college students again.

I was sitting in the living room "curating" content for my blog when I heard some hollering and banging outside my window. I look outside and I see three college aged morons jumping onto cars. I swear and grab my keys and try to find my shoes. By the time I get outside they were already too far away for me to catch up to them and I forgot my phone so I couldn't call the police. I check out the cars they were jumping on and three of them have noticeably dented roofs.

I'm so tired of these assholes destroying peoples cars and property. I have the Boston PD saved in my contacts because I am calling the police the second I see a college kid touch a car. I'm done living in this neighborhood. I feel like Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino but you know, less racist.

I hope the snake wins #teamsnake

Some moronic "wildlife expert" is going to wear a "snake-proof" suit and then let an anaconda eat him for a Discovery Channel special. After he's been eaten they're somehow going to pull him out. Will this damage the snake? They don't care. I would be pretty pissed if I ate a delicious meal and someone pulled it right out of me. Is this what reality tv has sunk too? I hope the snake survives the stunt. It's pathetic that this is happening all for a tv special.

Paul tweeted out this confusing tweet.

If u know me - I would never hurt a living thing. But you'll have to watch #EatenAlive to find out how it goes down! http://t.co/QvxZO2dS3V
— Paul Rosolie (@PaulRosolie) November 5, 2014

So we have to wait and see if you do hurt a living thing? Am I misreading his tweet, because that's my interpretation.

I hope the snake wins. I'm totally #teamsnake

I don't need "Wang" on my sports bra

Apparently people are freaking out over Alexander Wang's new collection at H&M. I'm talking massive lines and bracelets to get into the store. Maybe I don't get fashun but I have no desire to wear a sports bra and hat that says "WANG" on it. I also don't wear a hat when I work out. 

So enjoy your WANG gear everyone!

Apple, we have a problem

My mother called me around 7 this morning to tell me something very important. Last night she had purchased what she thought were sweet peppers for her salad and instead bought very hot peppers. Her hands were still burning this morning from cutting them. I tried hard not to laugh and told her to try rubbing her hands on some potatoes. Honestly I don't really know what to do in that situation but potatoes seemed like something that might help. She went the milk route which seems like a better idea than the potatoes now that I think about it.

Two of my co-workers have some beef with Apple. This means I do to because we stick together. One brought her daughter's ipad that had a broken off jack to the headphones stuck inside and the other had a laptop that just died and would not turn on. Apple claimed they had three people try to remove the broken headphone jack but we unsuccessful. They suggest she buy a new ipad. One of our other co-workers ended fixing it in about a minute with a pair of tweezers. Come on Apple. Did you even try? I'm guessing not.

My other co-worker was told it would cost $1,200.00 to fix her laptop. Isn't that the cost of a new laptop? I feel like Apple's solution is to just buy a new Apple product. That solution doesn't work so well for people who don't have all this extra money lying around.

I've been sucked into a new series on Netflix instant.

The 100 is like a futuristic Lord of the Flies. After a nuclear apocalypse the humans that survived took refuge in space stations joined together now called the Ark. Three generations later the Ark is dying and so the juvenile prisoners on board are sent to earth to determine if it's habitable. Yes some of the story lines are predictable and there are quite a few injuries that should have caused deaths yet didn't but it's a fun show. What can I say, I'm a sucker for drama, action and sci-fi.

Do you give your passwords to your significant other?

I saw a debate emerge on facebook regarding relationship advice. The person who started the debate is somewhat well known. I won't say who they are because that doesn't matter. What they said is that in order to regain trust after someone has cheated they should be 100% transparent and give the other person their passwords to everything. They also said that in every relationship they offer their significant other their passwords to show that they have nothing to hide.

I do not agree with this and so I am taking to my blog to share my opinion and thoughts. 

I think there's a difference between demanding someone's passwords to "rebuild trust" and not hiding anything. For example - Derek does not know my password to my email or my facebook but I don't log out of it on my computer or phone. If he wanted to he could bring up my gmail or facebook and I don't care. I trust that he wouldn't snoop but I also don't have anything to hide. He also knows the password to my phone but that's because sometimes I need him to access something on my phone when I'm driving etc. I didn't demand that we exchange passwords. I don't know his email password and I don't care. That's because I trust him.

My other problem is if you're significant other cheated and you demand all of their passwords do you alert friends and family to this? What if a friend reaches out via email or text with something very personal that they don't want anyone else to know? If you're checking their emails and texts you could come across something that someone thought would be private.

And how far do you go? What about work email? Do you demand that password too? Work emails could be considered confidential. Where is the line?

I think every relationship needs some privacy. I think it's fine if you both have access to each other's emails or phones but demanding someone's password as a way to prove trustworthiness after that trust was violated, well that's like my cat not scratching on something because I'm standing there. He knows he shouldn't and because I'm watching he won't but the second I turn my back he'll start scratching. How long do you want to be standing there?

So do you exchange passwords with your significant other?

What I didn't do on Halloween

Many people were surprised that I decided to stay in on Halloween. I usually wouldn't pass up a Friday Halloween opportunity but this year I just couldn't muster up the energy. I had a rough week stomach wise. I'm trying to lower the amount of Zantac I take and well there's this lovely thing called acid rebound and it was not fun. Basically things get worse before they get back to normal. My sleep was interrupted and I just felt very blarg. My stomach seems to be doing better now. I hope I can eventually get off Zantac completely and stick with the double dose of PPIs. I don't know how I have any acid in my stomach anymore honestly.

So what did I do on Halloween? Well Derek and I watched the Purge: Anarchy I ended up passing out and missing the last few minutes of the movie. All that poor sleeping caught up with me. We kept looking out the windows to investigate loud noises to make sure the college students weren't destroying anything. It's like I live the Purge every weekend. There's no passing out candy in my neighborhood unfortunately. We're all apartments and there's not too many little kids.

The rest of the weekend has been pretty lazy. I re-watched North and South on Netflix yesterday because um...

I can't help it, I love me some BBC and period costumes and accents.

Today it was sleeting out and I went to the super market to be greeted by Christmas decor and candy canes. Too soon super market. I got adventurous and made these zucchini tots which came out really really good. I doubled the recipe. They were pretty easy to make too. I'm learning in the kitchen. I still would rather be lazy and order takeout but I'm trying!

The weekend is almost over and Bosco stole my spot on the couch but I'm full of zucchini so all is well.

I will be dressing up as "concerned 30 year old"

My mental decline seems to be continuing. Today at work I thought I lost my purse. I went around the whole office asking if anyone had seen it. I then had half the office helping me look for it. I decided to give my desk one more look over and started pulling open all my drawers. Well guess what. I put it in a drawer and forgot about it. I never put my purse in the drawer but today I did and rather than take the time to look around my desk and open a drawer I panicked. I'm pretty good at panicking especially when it comes to my purse, wallet or phone. Oh and my cat.

Tomorrow is Friday and Halloween. I will be dressing up as the concerned 30 year old who does not want drunk college students destroying her car. Should be a fun costume.

I tried brushing my teeth

My dentist told me I should get an electric tooth brush. Ok dentist, I will listen to you since I have nightmares about all my teeth falling out. I will do anything you say dentist so I don't end up with wooden dentures. What my dentist didn't tell me is that electric tooth brushes feel really weird in your mouth. It's like this weird unexpected vibration and my right shoulder wants to start twitching. 

Does that mean it's working? I don't know.

I guess I should have read the directions because I turned the toothbrush on before I put it in my mouth and guess what happens when you do that.

Imagine this but with toothpaste.

After I scraped the toothpaste off my face and OUT OF MY HAIR I finally got to the brushing of the teeths. The electric toothbrush has a timer so you have to brush your teeth for two whole minutes! That is like a life time. I start thinking of all things I'm going to do after brushing my teeth, I write a play in my head, I sing a really long Tori Amos song and finally I'm done brushing my teeth. I haven't even got to flossing.

This is a lot of work dentist. I better have the best teeth you've ever seen at my next cleaning.

Here we go again! No fried food for a month.

I've decided to take on a challenge. In the past I've done one month of no fried potato products (I've done this twice and one time I failed the other time I succeeded) but this time I'm doing one month of no fried food. No french fries, no breaded fried chicken, no fried mushrooms, for the month of November. I'm also including potato chips since those are "fried". Baked chips are ok. 

I'm practically weeping typing this. I love anything fried.

I'm starting on November 1 and the challenge ends on December 1. I will check in here weekly and probably do a weekly vlog.

If anyone would like to join in the challenge (or create one of your own) let me know and I'll link to your blog in my updates.

Say a prayer for me. This is going to be rough.

My Phantom of the Opera cat

Having a very productive Saturday night here.

It's wicked windy out here guy

Things I must do that I really don't want to do: straddle my cat to shove an allergy pill down his throat. I tell him it's for his own good so he'll stop scratching his ears but he just looks at me like "WHY?" I found that if I do it before I feed him he's more distracted and the ordeal goes more smoothly.

We've been hit with a fall Nor'easter here in Boston for the past two days. Wait maybe I should make this sound more dire. We're being pounded by a fierce Nor'easter! I wish it was cold enough that it was snow and not rain because then I might have been able to stay home. Instead I got blasted in the face by wind and rain to and from work. Umbrellas are often useless in the city because the buildings create wind tunnels and your umbrella turns inside out. I've passed many umbrella corpses left on the sidewalk.

Derek and I watched a movie on Netflix tonight called Stake Land. It wasn't too bad and it had the younger sister (Danielle Harris) from Wish Upon a Star in it. 

I miss 90s era Disney Channel movies. Apparently Danielle does mostly horror movies now. I'm glad she's still acting, I like her. Stake Land had a horrible ending though. It wasn't really an ending, which to me is the worst kind of ending.

Tomorrow is Friday and this Nor'easter should be outta here. Here's to not looking like a soggy mess every day.

I think I won the fashion swap

Last night I attended my very first fashion swap. I made out like a bandit.

Shoes, clothes, jewelry, cat hat - I've got it all. Thank you Fiona for hosting. I can't wait to do it again.

So I have few thoughts going on in my head about things I've been watching and reading and I thought I'd share them on the blog.

I FINALLY read the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. I picked it up at Goodwill because it's about time I read this classic. It was much shorter than I expected and was a quick and easy read. I mean I would expect so, it is a children's series after all. The scene where Aslan is sacrificed on the stone slab by the White Witch is so descriptive. You're also getting Susan and Lucy's reaction who are watching this whole thing happen. I got a bit choked up despite knowing that he comes back. We all know I'm a fan of cats, lion and domesticated.

I kind of want to try a Turkish Delight now although the photos I've come across online don't seem exactly appealing to me. If you've tried some let me know.

Moving on to what I'm watching.

The Paradise took over a good chunk of my life. I'm talking hours here folks. Damn you Netflix and your making it so easy to binge watch tv shows!

The costumes and the characters are fantastic. Total Victorian era fashion eye candy but beyond that the show is just good. The Paradise follows a young woman Denise who starts work at one of the first high end department stores in England. Of course she falls in love with her charismatic boss Mr. John Moray. I really can't blame her, Emun Elliot is wonderful as Mr. Moray. I was also happy to see Elaine Cassady who I became a fan of after watching Harper's Island. If you like Downton Abbey I would give The Paradise a shot. I think you'd like it. The show is based off a book by Émile Zola which I have not read but probably will now that I've seen the show. Season 2 is currently airing on PBS.

Sometimes I wish I lived in Victorian times but then I remember how much I like yoga pants, modern medicine and being able to support myself. It's the dresses, I just love them.

Something I have been puzzling over all day. What did Renee Zellweger do to her face? She Jennifer Greyed herself. She looks like a completely different person. I can't imagine this will be good for her career. To clarify, I don't think she looks horrible it's just that she looks like someone else.

Well that's enough rambling from me today. Back to binge watching.

Walking through a horde of drunk college students while wearing a witch costume

If you read my blog regularly (as you should) you will know that I live in an area of Boston that is inhabited predominately by college students. I'm walking down my street coming home from a friend's Halloween party. It's about 1 a.m. and I'm dressed as a witch. Here are the reactions of the drunk college students.

"Hey witch you'd get home faster if you had a broom."

"Yo, like your costume."

"Cool hat."

"It's a witch! WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!"

I appreciate that he attempted to use a levitation charm on me and not one of the unforgivable curses.

I'm becoming senile

Last week I ordered some sweaters online. Two weeks later the sweaters still hadn't come in. I figured two weeks was enough time so I start searching my email for my order confirmation but nothing comes up. I check my bank account and there's nothing posted. I sat there for a good minute before I had to admit that I must have never ordered the clothes. I could have sworn I did. I mean I was checking the mail everyday looking forward to my new sweaters. 

So I'm losing my mind. It was nice having it for 30 years. Thank God my mother gave me this bell with my name on it last night so I can remember who I am.

If I could have dinner with any celebrity it would be Pitbull

Tonight I visited my mother for dinner and on my 40 minute drive home I started thinking about life's real tough questions such as if I could have dinner with any celebrity who would it be? The answer was pretty obvious to me. I would have dinner with Pitbull.

You're probably wondering why would you pick a mediocre singer that no one will remember in ten years so let me tell you why.

First of all if I'm having dinner with a celebrity I want an epic adventure. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and you want someone who's going to go all out. I imagine Pitbull would pull up in a stretch Hummer limo in his Pitbull suit and sunglasses. I'd bring some friends with me because Pitbull doesn't care. The party would get started in the limo. We're not just drinking anything, oh no we're going to have Cristal. I roll down the tinted window and attempt to do the Pitbull yell.

We pull up to the restaurant and Pitbull has rented out the whole thing. There's music and dancing and fire dancers while we eat our delicious five course meal. When we're done eating the whole place turns into a giant dance party and Pitbull decides this is going to be his next music video. Pitbull is so impressed with my dancing he calls me a little fireball. I wake up the next morning at home trying to remember what the heck happened. Damn you Cristal!

If you're going to ponder these questions you might as well go all out.

Work stress and binge watching Netflix

This past week at work was one of the more stressful ones I've had in a while. I'm training a new assistant which normally I don't mind but trying to keep up with my own workload and training was just too much. On Monday I felt like crying by the end of the day. I'm trying to train and I was constantly getting pulled aside for things that needed to be done ASAP. I found myself saying "sorry I'm just going to do this real quick and you can watch and I'll show you properly when I have the time". Great way to train someone right?

Training a new assistant takes time. It takes about 2-3 months for a new assistant to start to feel comfortable with the job and the first week you sit with them for most of the day. I've been trading off with another assistant for the training but I still stayed late trying to catch up.

Thankfully I have Monday off. I've been watching the Paradise on Netflix instant. I've watched 7 episodes so far. I was invited up to Maine but I just couldn't handle the long drive after this week and Bosco is starting allergy meds again. I'm not going to make Derek shove allergy pills down my cat's throat. I think it was his scented cat litter causing the problems so I switched to unscented. I think he has sensitive skin. I always get the cats with the weird ailments> I had a cat growing up that had asthma. He seems to be doing better though.

So that's my long weekend. Watching Netflix and drugging my cat with allergy meds. Hopefully I'll be ready to face Tuesday back at work.

Trying to study French with a cat around

Is très difficile

The news is dying and Buzzfeed is killing it.

The news is dying guys. Sites like Buzzfeed and Mashable are taking over. I'm tired of "18 times a pizza looked like a Disney character" being considered news. This is the crap I'm seeing on CNN. CNN should not be modeling their site after Buzzfeed.

I miss real reporters reporting real news. I came across this article on Boston.com that literally copied an Urban Dictionary entry for fishbowl and posted it. Shine up that Pulitzer. Don't forget to thank Urban Dictionary  and "copy and paste" when you accept your prize.

Even weather.com is getting in on the news that's not news action. I go to check the weather and maybe see weather related news and instead I get "the 10 worst places to live". You are weather.com! Tell me about the weather!

Video news stories with no summary below drive me bonkers too. Sometimes I just want read about what happened not watch a video with 10 ads before I can get to the actual video to find out what happened.

Thank you for ruining the news Buzzfeed.

Well it is October

I went to my first Halloween party of the month yesterday. A bit early but I like to celebrate Halloween all month anyways.

This year I went with a classic. A witch. Honestly I didn't have time to be more creative but I was happy with it. I already had a dress so I just bought a hat and the socks.

Annabelle doll made an appearance.

Michael Kennedy was in attendance as well. No football playing allowed!

While I was waiting for the bus I got a thumbs up and a "nice hat". Kerri has a friend in town from Germany and she said that they don't really do Halloween parties in Germany unless you're a college student and it's more like an American themed party. She loved the party. I mean who doesn't love Halloween parties.

After we danced and ate at the party we went down the street to the Last Drop to show off our costumes. As per usual there some "interesting" people at the Drop. Luckily no illegal Irish men offered me money to marry them for a green card this time.