Navy Boy Update

Hi! Sorry, I've been MIA. I really have no excuse...but I do have a Navy Boy update! This past weekend, we talked a lot! I cleared the air about how I feel about him, and we both came to the conclusion that we 'like' each other (I feel like I'm in middle school again HA!). But that is just about as far as the conversation went. We didn't discuss the future or anything. He still wants me to come visit, so I want to plan a trip down there in the 2nd half of July! I'm super excited, and I hope this trip actually happens.

Other than that, there isn't much going on in my life. I'm still half-heartedly looking for jobs. I'm looking in the event planning industry, or maybe the hospitality (resort, specifically) industry. Too bad those choices are both suffering in this economy. If any readers out there have some connections or suggestions for these industries, I would love the help!

Now I'm off to catch up on my reader...I'm scared to see how many there are.

Weekend Recap

Navy Boy and I went down to the beach this past weekend! It was really really bitter-sweet. I really like him! But I wasn't sure how to act all weekend because he is leaving tomorrow to go to FL and probably won't be living back in NC anytime soon. We rode down to the beach together and had a great time. Then once we got there it was so childish. Neither one of us knew that the other liked them, so we kind of just acted all weird around each other. We did kiss though! Which makes me smile just thinking about it! HA! I feel like a little kid right now.

Here is the deal: The Dentist tells me that Navy Boy has 'no game'. Which he is definitely right about. Well, I'm one of those old fashioned southern girls that believes that the guy should make the first move and all of that good stuff. So I just kept waiting and playing off of how he was acting - which was shy. Ahh! I wish I just would have taken the plunge and flirted a little more to show him I was interested. Then maybe he would have felt more comfortable.

Whatever. I still believe that everything happens for a reason, and if we are meant to be together we will. Navy Boy mentioned several times that he would like for me to come visit, so I want to plan a trip ASAP. He told me the drive from NC to Pensacola was only 8 hours. Google Maps says it is almost 12 hours. I'm definitely leaning towards flying there. There is no way I could spend 12 hours in a car! The catch is, I may or may not feel weird going by myself...so I would need to talk The Dentist into coming as well, and maybe even my sister because she may feel weird if I'm taking a trip with her boyfriend without her. I should just get over feeling weird about going by myself and just do it. We'll have to see how things play out once Navy Boy gets down there and settled.

Any suggestions/comments!?

Foodie Friday.

I have only been in the kitchen to make cereal, sandwiches and salads lately, so I don't have a crazy good recipe for you. But I have found, thanks to Dad, these great little peanut butter bars. I usually have one mid-morning to get over that hunger that sets in at about 11 AM. They are made by Nature Valley and are called Sweet & Salty Nut Granola Bars. The only flavor I have tried is the Peanut, but I think there is an Almond and maybe one or two others. If y'all are looking for a great little pick-me-up snack that has a reasonable amount of calories (170 to be exact), get these bars! Here is a picture to supplement your imagination:

JUNE 19.

Will be the best day of my life, so far. I might be exaggerating, I don't know what has been the best day of my life so far...that is kind of depressing, but off topic. Back to the good stuff. On June 19 two of the greatest things will collide:

1. BRITNEY SPEARS IS COMING TO NORTH CAROLINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OHMIGAHOHMIGAHOHMIGAHOHMIGAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! June 19 is the day the tickets for her additional North American tour dates go on sale!!!!!!!!!! I wanted to go see her super bad when she was in Atlanta, because that was the closest, but now she is coming to my home state! Only an hour away from where I live!!! I might jump up and down just thinking about it. (I know what you are thinking, "Britney Spears!? Whaaaa!?" Give me a break people, she is crazy but so am I, what of it?
2. June 19 the new iPhone comes out! What what! I'm super psyched because I have the first generation iPhone, thought about getting the 3G, but now I'm super glad I waited for the 3GS. It has a VIDEO CAMERA! and so many dank-ass features! I simply can not wait. And it is only $200!

Who's psyched? Who's psyched? Who's psyched? Who's psyched? MEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I want it to be June 19 right NOW)

Jinxed.

So this weekend isn’t looking so good anymore. I definitely jinxed myself by talking to everyone I know about going to the beach with Navy Boy. Here is the deal (I have to tell the story so I can stop fuming about it in my head): My sis and The Dentist (her boyfriend and Navy Boy’s best friend) are going down to The Dentist’s beach house this weekend. Well, as it turns out, his parents are also going down. That means there would be two couches available – one for me and one for Navy Boy. However, I’ve never met The Dentist’s parents and I’m 100% sure that would make for a super awkward weekend. My friend that I usually stay with has graduated from a college there and moved away so I am left with no place to rest my head at night.

All of a sudden what promised to be a great weekend turned into a shitty weekend. Most of my friends here in town will be gone too! Making weekend plans really stresses me out. Especially since this will be the only weekend Navy Boy is in town! Everything would be fine if my sis and The Dentist would be willing to just stay up here this weekend instead of going to the beach. SIGH.

OK now that I have ranted about that, I just have to wait for Navy Boy to call so we can figure all of this out. I’ll keep you posted.

Moms.

I love my mom. OK, with that said, she is on my nerves lately. Big time. As you may or may not know, I have lived away from home for 4 years. Now that I have graduated college and don't have a solid job, I will be moving back into my parents house in August. The lease on my current apartment was a 14 month lease. Both of my parents knew this when they signed the lease and agreed to pay my rent. No one ever brought up the fact that I would be graduating 2 months before the lease ran out.



In the past few weeks my mom has been making snide remarks such as, "Well you can come up to our house and help out since we are paying your rent for the next two months." Every time I talk to her she slips something in, "Well we are paying your rent for you." Yesterday was the breaking point. I jokingly pointed out a ring that I wanted, knowing clear as day that I wouldn't be getting it, and she took off with it. Mom chose to say that she wouldn't even consider buying anything for me since she just 'took me on a very nice vacation' and 'is paying my rent'.



OH NO SHE DIDN'T.

The 'nice vacation' she was referring to? was a weekend trip 4 hours away from home. This 'vacation' was completely paid for by her company - it was work for her. I missed a wedding just to go on this 'vacation' because I didn't want to leave my dad high and dry while she worked.

And yes, Mom, you are paying my rent because YOU TOLD ME YOU WOULD when we signed the lease.


Then she goes on to criticize me for lack of job-searching. I told her I have applied to about 10 different places in the past couple of weeks. She said, "Well maybe you should communicate better." No, MOM, I don't really want to communicate all of my failed attempts to find a job. It is rather embarrassing. I graduated with a 3.67, Magna Cum Laude and can't find a decent job. No, thanks, I don't want to communicate that.

GIANT SIGH.

Anyways, lets end on a happy note. Here is the ring I am in love with:

It is a John Hardy blue topaz ring that just happens to be on sale at Gilt for $325 when originally priced $650.

Pet Peeves

OK I talked to Navy Boy yesterday for an HOUR on the phone...ah. I'm usually not a big phone person, but the boy can keep some conversation alive! I'm pretty sure we are going to be hanging out this weekend. We may even be going to the beach together. No solid plans yet though, so I don't want to jinx anything. BUT...if we were to go to the beach together, he would be picking me up and we would be in the car together for over 2 hours. So, I starting thinking last night of topics to discuss and get to know each other better during the drive. The only thing I came up with was pet peeves. I think this is a great topic because if the other person points out a trait that you have, then you can work to correct it before it gets on their nerves. GENIUS!

I've been trying to think of my top 3 pet peeves...but it is harder than I thought. A TON of things bother me, but I can't freely recall them. Here is what I have come up with (in order of biggest pet peeve to medium-sized pet peeve):

1. A mooch. You know that friend that always promises to buy the beers if you buy the shots? Or lets you over-draft on your bank account because they didn't pay their bills on time and doesn't apologize or pay extra? Or always eats your left overs? (If you are a loyal reader you may know who I am referring to here).
2. A nonsensical liar. This one may be confusing, but there is one person in my life that drives me crazy with her lies. This person will tell a blatant lie for no good reason. I understand white lies to make people feel better and what-not. But why tell someone you don't know, and will never see again, that you ran the NY Marathon when, in fact, you have never even run a half-marathon? WHY?
3. Bad drivers. I'm not referring to the ass-hats that cut you off on the freeway, but more the stupid women (sorry ladies) who don't use the clearly designated TURN LANE to turn. Instead these idiots choose to slow to a complete stop in the left lane (read: fast lane) and then proceed to turn. These drivers are also usually the ones going 30 in a 35, or fail to see the Speed Limit 55 sign and continue to go 45.

What is your biggest pet peeve? Do you have any other topics you think I should bring up if Navy Boy and I wind up going to the beach together?

Dreams and Navy Boy

I had a dream last night that was unbelievably realistic. Most of my dreams are pretty realistic, but this one was out of control. I was dreaming that I had a boyfriend who loved me so much, and I felt the same about him. This is going to sound so cheesy and pathetic, but I could hold onto his arm when I was sacred, he would be super affectionate to me, and I just felt safe and happy.

Then I woke up and reality hit. I don’t have a boyfriend who is like this, turns out, I don’t have a boyfriend at all. And although I woke up and the feeling of having that person was gone, I was still in a good mood because I know, one day, I will find that person. There is a little part of me that is TERRIFIED of not ever finding someone, but most of the time I truly believe I will. I haven’t had a ‘real’ boyfriend in a year and a half. I have had spurts, i.e. Dru, but nothing solid. I really want to find someone who loves my company as much as I love theirs.

Maybe this is all on the heels of Navy Boy. He is supposed to get back into NC today. He graduated OCS on Friday and is now officially a Naval Officer! I’m super proud of him for getting through it all but I’m definitely nervous. He will be here for at least a week and a half, but could stay until June 29 (when he has to report to flight school in Pensacola). If he stays in NC all the way until then, he will have negative vacation days and have to work a ton to earn them back. When I talked to him Sunday it sounded like he wasn’t going to take the full amount of time.

Also, I’m nervous because we haven’t been talking as much as we have in the past weeks. I definitely understand that I was an emotional crutch going into this thing because I was a girl who he had a lot in common with right when he left. I was someone he could talk to for hours besides his parents and guy friends (who would probably give him hell for some of the things he said – haha). So yeah, I realize that, but I guess I’m hoping that we get along for better reasons than that. I was hoping we actually got along because we enjoyed each other.

I am kind of realizing now that he won’t be around for 3 months, so there isn’t really a great chance of this turning into anything. At most he will be here for 20 days then go off to Florida. Turning a friendship into a relationship from 725 miles away is virtually impossible. But I’m not completely ruling anything out. We haven’t set a definite time to get together while he is here, but I’m assuming something will work out. I am waiting until that happens to really determine what I think the future holds for us. If we hit it off and things go great, I will continue to have hope. If things are mediocre, I will understand that we are just meant to be friends and that will be that.

Also, I’m a big believer in the phrase ‘what is meant to be will be’ so I’m just going to let that carry me through this situation and not stress too much.

Vacation!

Sorry kids, no Foodie Friday again. I'm on vacation! Well, a mini-vacation at least. I'm going to the Wild Dunes resort in South Carolina for the weekend! It will be a weekend full of relaxation, sun, the beach, fruity drinks, good food, and golf with Dad. I'm super excited!

Have a great weekend y'all!

MY Idea.

Yesterday's post was about sale websites...so it got me thinking. There are tons of great sale websites that send you emails notifying you of the latest greatest sales. Some of the ones I am a member of are Gilt Groupe, Sale Mail Shop it to Me, and Rue La La. Sale Mail is the only one that allows you to tailor the notifications to your liking (shout out to Diana!). And they definitely let you tailor it. You can specify certain brands, sizes, types of clothing, etc. It really is great. But there are still TONS of results to search through each time an email comes in.

Here is my idea: have a website like Sale Mail, but allow it to be even more customizable. For instance, the first email they send you can contain exactly what I would normally get from Sale Mail - thousands of items. Next, you would go through these items and mark which ones you love, like, and dislike. You wouldn't have to put a preference for all of them, but just the ones you have a feeling towards. I mean, we all do it, right? You are scrolling down the page and you see a hideous dress and think, "Oh, ew. Who would wear that!?" or "Dangggg I would look goooood in that!"

So after a few emails, the database can get a feel for what you think is attractive and what you think is f-u-g-l-y. Then from there on out, you can still give preferences, but the emails don't come with thousands of items. And the things they send you are items you would generally favor.

GENIUS! If anyone out there knows some techies that are looking for a new adventure, direct them towards this post. I could definitely get behind this.

PS Let me know if you want to be invited to any of these sites. I think a couple are invite only.

Guilty.

I am a member of this online sales thingy called Gilt Groupe. It is totally free and they basically just tell you when dank ass designer clothing, shoes, accessories, etc. are on sale. I haven't bought anything from them yet, but the Michael Kors shoes I came across today are REALLY REALLY REALLY tempting. At such great prices! AHHHH! Here are some of my faves:

The first one is called 'Beach' and is $98 on Gilt Groupe (originally $225)! The second is called 'Sage' in 'Gunmetal' and is $168 on Gilt Groupe (originally $375)!

I'm seriously debating the 'Beach' shoe. I'm super into wedges right now. But I don't have anything like the 'Sage'. Buttt 'Sage' is too expensive for what I would consider spending right now. I'll let you know if I get one of them.

PS If you aren't on Gilt Groupe (and yes, there is no 'U' in guilt for them) but want to be, just leave a comment with your email address and I'll send you an invite!

Back on the 'Book

Back in October/November of '08 (why does that sound like so long ago?) I deactivated my Facebook account. I was definitely overusing the addictive social network and all it was causing was emotional distress. Sounds serious, right? Ha. I hate to admit it, but I mainly used it to keep tabs on people I don't even really like and people who aren't a part of my life anymore (i.e. ex-boyfriends). I put up tons of pictures because, in my mind, if I was looking at their pages so much, then they were looking at mine just as much. (What a stupid way of thinking).

It makes me cringe how much I relied on the stupid website to keep me updated on gossip and irrelevant information. And I must say, deactivating the account was the best thing that ever did happen to me (as far as internet dependency goes). Without an account, I realized I could live, much happier I might add, without knowing what and who everyone was doing.

Why did I reactivate it if I was so happy without Facebook? As it turns out, I am in the marketing field and you are expected to be on most if not all social networks to prove that you can use new media effectively in order to get a job. Joining Facebook again hasn't gotten me a job yet, but I'm hoping it will help in the long-run. I have set some ground rules for myself though, so I don't fall back into old habits:

1. No logging onto FB unless I get an email notification or need to research a potential employer
2. No adding photos (I took down all previous photos)
3. No browsing friends, updated sections, etc.
4. Took down 'Wall' and the ability for friends to write on it

I realize this makes my FB page super boring, but all I really want FB for is the ability to network (if I ever get around to doing so) and keeping in touch with friends since we are all splitting up. Oh, and of course, so I can tell potential employers that I am an internet-savvy, perfect candidate.

So if you are a reader of my blog, and want to see what I actually look like (since I keep my face hidden on this blog) send me an email (jyandbbatgmail.com) and I'll let you know how to find me on Facebook. I do want to be friends with the ones I trust!