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.