Today is a weird day. Am I invisible and is someone playing Jumanji?

I  started off this Monday morning on the wrong foot by accidentally washing my hair with my body wash. Not the end of the world but it took a while to wash the body wash out of my hair.

This morning in the elevator I walk in and head to the back like I usually do since I'm on the top floor. Some woman comes in, walks towards me and then turns around right in front of me to face the front of the elevator. I try to back up because I prefer to leave more than a half inch buffer between myself and the person in front of me, but I really don't have any place to go since I'm already in the back of the elevator. I step to the side for some breathing room. Am I invisible? Can you guys see me? I feel like that Mindy Kaling commercial.

Weird thing #2

Found on the way to the ladies' restroom. Who put it there? How long will it stay there? Is it a real or fake plant? Is someone playing Jumanji without me? So many questions, so little answers.

A balcony tour

Would you like a tour of my balcony? It's one of my favorite spots in the new apartment so I thought I would give you a photo tour.

Here's the view from the balcony, first to the left.

Now to the right.

Sometimes I see bunnies hopping around down bellow which is very cute. You wouldn't expect that in the city.

The balcony itself is more like what you would expect to see in the city. I like having the dividers so our balcony is private.

As you can see the previous tenants enjoyed spray paint. Thank you Prince Ahmad.

There's no light out on the balcony so we added Christmas lights.

Oh look, we have a furry visitor.

Bosco loves looking out the screen door.

Sorry buddy but I can't let you out on the balcony. It's a bit high up and I'm a paranoid cat mom.

And that concludes the balcony tour. Please make sure you take all of your belongs and cats as you exit the tour.

Thrift store werewolf

I haven't done a photo post in a while so if you like those you're in luck.

Let me tell you about Brookline. It's pretentious, has good bars/restaurants, lots of wealthy people with some college kids mixed in and it's lovely. You can live on the T and be close to the city but not live in the city dump known as Allston. I live right on the boarder so I'm in Brookline all the time. Seeing the FOUR Baby on Board stickers I was like, yea this is 100% a Brookline car. A car parked two spots away was also sporting some Baby on Board stickers. As we all know Baby on Board stickers prevent accidents. I was going to hit your car but now that I know a baby might be in there, I changed my mind.

Do you remember the plant the was left above my mailbox? Humor me and say you do.

How could I not take this plant? This was before I cut it down a bit. It was a little wild.

Last night I met up with Germana in Allston for some dinner and drinks. I took a quick pic of myself on the way because I thought my hair was looking good (after taking the pic I think that's up for debate). I'm also actually wearing lipstick here. WHAAAA?

I'm not normally a big makeup person but I think I should give lipstick a shot more often. Start with more subtle colors and then go CRAZY.

I should have ordered the giant sangria at Sunset. Live and learn. Germana got to enjoy that lovely drink.

My disgusting dinner. It's actually delicious but you feel horrible about yourself after eating it. There's spinach artichoke dip on the top there. I'm actually on day 3 of a diet. Basically I'm just trying to cut back on the amount of food I eat and trying to make better choices. I probably shouldn't have ordered this but I barely made a dent in it and I stopped before I was full. I call that a success. I also went for a nice walk today and was good with my other meals.

So what should I be for Halloween this year? Creepy thrift store werewolf? I was actually quite impressed with this display. Maybe after I walked by his head slowly lifts up because he's alive!

WHAT IS THIS KNOTTY PINE? One of my favorite moments of American Horror Story. The MBTA is a real treat design wise.

I'm so glad it's almost October and praying to the tv Gods the new season of AHS doesn't suck as bad Freak Show. Will Lady Ga Ga be good or will this be the final death blow of AHS?

It's bath time and I'm the bathtub. I've accepted my fate.

The universe can suck it right now

My mother called me this afternoon crying to tell me that Mr. Binx most likely has cancer. I feel horrible and I would like to request that the universe give my mom a break already! He is still eating and getting around ok. My mother said he was even playing with a toy mouse when they got home. She's not going to have further testing done or pursue treatment. Once he starts declining she'll bring him in to the vet so he won't have to suffer. Ugh! Why you do this universe? Can we get a miracle here?

I'll try to leave this post on a happy note.

I came home from work today and there was an overgrown aloe plant above my mailbox. Clearly the plant was meant to have a new home with me. I took him inside and trimmed him down. He was a little wild. He now resides in the bedroom where he will be safe from Bosco's teeth. I've also decided the plant is a "he". I think once I get the curtains up and maybe some white lights, the window area will look pretty cute.

Maybe that was more of a weird note to end on but finding the plant brightened my mood a bit after the cat news. Give your pets extra pets tonight.

The internet says I don't have OCD but I'm not so sure

I think everyone has a little bit of OCD in them, or maybe I'm just assuming that to make myself feel better. I have a few OCD tendencies but nothing that disrupts my life (maybe just makes me weird) so I think I'm ok. Plus I took an online "do you have OCD" quiz and it said I don't so thank you Dr. Internet. I won't get into all the weird things that give me anxiety but I will share one with you today because it's really bothering me and I can't stop thinking about it.

Blankets and pillows around an air conditioner! Why do people do this? I know the actual reason, because it doesn't really fit in the window and they're trying to keep the cool air in, but oh my God it's so gross. Pillows and blankets exposed to the elements for months! I'm sure they are not drying properly being shoved in between a window and an AC. And please, for the love of God do not bring those back into your home when you take the AC out. Do you enjoy killing yourself with mold? What about bugs? You could have a spider family in your pillow!

From my bedroom windows I can see someone across the way has a comforter shoved around an AC. It looks wet and is discolored from the sun. I make a face every time I see it. I'm waiting for them to take it out and I hope it goes right in the trash. If I see the same comforter in the window next summer I might have a stroke.

Please go to Home Depot and get a portable AC that will fit better or at the very least get some plywood. Just stop with the blankets and pillows!

Allergies for everyone

The cat and I are both on allergy meds right now. Bosco has a swollen lip and I'm a sneezy mess. Derek is the only one not suffering.

If any cat were to have allergies it would be mine. I always end up with the cats that have weird medical problems. My first cat Tigger had asthma. I didn't even know it was possible for cats to have asthma. We had to give him steroids. Roo had skin issues and also had to go on steroids. Boo had to go on thyroid medication. Bosco is FIV positive and has sensitive skin and seasonal allergies.

I think the universe is like since you have all of these medical issues we'll set you up with a kitty who's got some issues too. I never have the cat that you can just throw some food in a dish and they never get sick.

My neighbors must be smoking pot on their porch because it's all I can smell right now and it's making me even more sneezy. Thanks neighbors.

Let's talk about movies and old German folklore

Let's talk about movies. I saw a good one recently and there are two coming out soon that I want to see.

I've been wanting to go see Far From the Madden Crowd but I didn't know anyone who would want to go with me. I'm sure Derek would have gone with me but I wouldn't make him sit through a period drama. So I waited for the movie to show up at Red Box and I finally got to watch it.

Bathsheba Everdene is a beautiful farm owner with quite a few suitors. I was rooting for the shepherd Mr. Oak (that's him above). He won me over when he gave Bathsheba a little baby lamb. You gotta go for the guy who gives you baby animals. She was a frustrating character for sure but I liked her. She wasn't afraid of getting dirty and worked hard for her farm. I have not read the book but it's on my to read list.

There is a movie coming out in October that I definitely want to see in theaters. Crimson Peak.

A scary period film in a cool haunted house with Tom Hiddleston? YES PLEASE. I can't get over how gorgeous the trailer is.

Next up is a movie I'll probably wait to come to Red Box but still want to see. Krampus.


Krampus is an old German folklore. While St. Nicholas leaves the good girls and boys presents, Krampus punishes the bad kids by swatting them, stuffing them in his sack (or basket as seen below) and taking them back to his lair. Merry Christmas everyone!

It would seem the boy was naughty. The girl is like, "I'm all set, I was a good girl!"

I'm not quite sure if this movie is supposed to be a horror comedy or just horror.

Have you guys seen anything good recently? Any other good movies coming out soon that I should know about?

Be my PR person! Join my team and get paid in satisfaction

Lately I've been getting quite a few emails from companies to post infographics on my blog. You're probably saying to yourself "why do they bother, she has about three readers and one of them is her cat." To be fair Bosco might not count because he just reads to see if I wrote anything about him.

Usually the email is something like this:

Hi Ginny,

I just read your last post and it was really great. I enjoyed it and though it had a lot of useful information.

I thought you might be interested in a infographic to complement the content of your blog. I've taken the courtesy of attaching the infographic. Please let me know if you will use the infographic on your blog.

Thank you

Well I give them points for actually using my name. I can see they're big fans of my blog and all the useful information it has to offer. I try to enlighten minds daily with all of this useful information on my blog. I appreciate the fact they they assume I will post the infographic considering they took the time to attach it to the email as a "courtesy". So thoughtful, so generous. Of course I will plaster my blog with ads for free!

Would anyone like to be my PR person? The job entails emailing digital marketing social media managers back informing them that my rate for an infographic is $1 million dollars and a years supply of Bud Light Mango Rita. You also must make sure there are no unflattering photos of me on the internet, including Facebook. The pay is the pure satisfaction of joining my "team".

The line starts over there.

"I'm really into exercise right now" - she says with a straight face

I remember when life was simple. Just hanging out on a porch with friends while your Mexican neighbor yells "stupid little crackers!" Ah the good old days. Tonight I'll be reminiscing about old times with childhood friends. We will be dining at the very classy Rainforest Cafe. I personally love when an animatronic gorilla starts making noises behind you while you're eating. I want to get the full eating in the rain forest experience minus the getting attacked by wild animals, being eaten by ants and contracting a mysterious parasite (not necessarily in that order).

I'm going to go for a nice walk today so when my friends ask me what I've been up to I can say "I'm really into exercise right now". Technically today is the present which counts as "right now" so I'm telling the truth.

I was going to go with the "I'm really rich now" route but showing up in a zipcar might blow my cover. Maybe my driver just needed the night off? I like to treat my staff well.

But seriously, this is why I will only go to unofficial high school reunions. I don't need to impress anyone, these are people I actually liked from high school. I can just shower and show up because let's be honest, I'm way too lazy to make much more of an effort than that.

Living in the moment even when the moment isn't too pleasant

It was a bit of a rough long weekend for me. I was invited up to Maine but I just couldn't deal with holiday traffic and I wanted to visit my grandmother who's not doing too well at the moment.

Bosco decided he didn't want to pee in his litter box anymore. Yes, the floor looked like a good place for him. So I was freaking out. Usually when a cat pees outside the box they are sick. Not my cat though. I put down puppy pee pads and he was at least using those to pee on. I noticed that he was still acting like himself and not straining to pee with barely anything coming out so I started to wonder if maybe he wasn't sick. I decided to get small litter box at the super market and see what happened. He started using it the second I put litter in it. My cat is a special snowflake who has decided he no longer wants to use his regular litter box.

Maybe the sides are too high, or he doesn't like the cover or maybe he doesn't like the color? You never know with cats. I have a new box being delivered by Petco tomorrow that is the same model as his old one that I had before we moved. The things we do for our pets. I can see Derek rolling his eyes at me now.

So I was on pee patrol this weekend and I also visited my grandmother. She had a major stroke about four years ago and a couple of bad seizures since then but she's held on for four years. My aunt told me that she really hasn't been doing well lately and is getting quite weak. I knew I had to see her soon, I didn't want to put it off and regret it. She was very happy to see me but she is weaker than the last time I saw her. She really doesn't want to eat much and refused food when I was there. We're not going to force feed her. I did get to see some of her high school year book which was nice. I loved seeing her senior picture.

She just had this look when she looked at me like she knows she doesn't have much time and this could be the last time we see each other. I just want her to go peacefully and to not be suffering anymore.

Aging is scary to me. Not that I'm afraid of losing my looks but just losing your ability to take care of yourself and not being able to use your body like you once could. God that's terrifying. I hate being dependent on others. I try not to think about that too much and live in the moment even if the moment currently isn't too pleasant.