Friday, January 18, 2008

last day.

Saying goodbye is hard and awkward and sad. I don't like it one bit. As much as I bitched and moaned about this job, my coworkers were the only things that kept me going. I can't explain how much I'll miss them.

Erin left early today, while we were at lunch. As sad as I was to see that she was gone, she was right: we'd be an absolute sobbing mess if we actually had to say goodbye. I've spent so many hours in her office, sharing ridiculous stories, bitching about my bosses, talking about the most random stuff. I know it's stupid to get all emotional about leaving people that I know I'll keep in touch with, but it's hard to know that it will never be the same. Thank god for gchat.


Saying goodbye, going away
Seems like goodbye's such a hard thing to say
Touching a hand, wondering why
It's time for saying goodbye

Saying goodbye, why is it sad?
Makes us remember the good times we've had
Much more to say, foolish to try
It's time for saying goodbye

Dont want to leave, but we both know
Sometimes it's better to go
Somehow I know we'll meet again
Not sure quite where, and I dont know just when
You're in my heart, so until then
Wanna smile, wanna cry
Saying goodbye

-The Muppets

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

daily randoms.

1. How is it already Wednesday?! I only have 2.5 days left here and that's not nearly enough time to get all of this shit done. Maybe I should have been productive the last couple of months weeks instead of leaving it all to the end like this. Oops. Maybe I should stop blogging/yelping/online shopping/staring at the wall? Eh.... Last night I was really productive in re-stacking all of my stacks.

2. I parted my hair to the other side today. It's freaking me out. Big time. I don't know why I did it, but it just seemed like my hair wanted to go this way today, so I let it. Silly hair doesn't know what's good for it.

3. The excitement about the new job is quickly turning into straight-up fear. It's like I'm starting at a new school and I don't think I'll make any friends. Will people like me? Will they be nice? Will I do a good job? Am I in way over my head? What should I wear? I'm flashing back to my first couple of months here when everything was so awkward and I didn't know anyone. Now I'm here with all of my besties in my own little comfortable zone and I can't believe I'm actually leaving. Eeek.

4. The boss-man is taking me out to lunch today to say goodbye and I'm pretty sure it will be the most awkward thing ever. I have no idea what we'll talk about. Actually, wait, I do. We'll talk about Ireland, Hillary Clinton, and Georgetown. Yep. It's gonna be awesome.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

ugh. hormones.

I think that if you polled my close friends about my status as a "girly-girl," things would be pretty split. Sure, I love fashion, chick flicks, high heels, curling my hair, and puppies as much as Elle Woods, but that's all superficial. I feel like my sense of humor, personality, social activities, and affinity for good beer lend myself to being "one of the guys." I've got a pretty even split among male and female friends and feel equally comfortable among both sexes. I have just as much fun at a chic lounge all gussied up as I do in jeans at a basement dive bar. I can't watch the ASPCA commercial without bawling my eyes out, but I can talk about German cars all night long. I'm upbeat but sarcastic, a hyper-planner but also pretty laidback.

My two favorite pairs of shoes (that I actually own):


Ok, so enough of this comparison. What's the point? Well, it's just to reiterate and support how much I absolutely hate "that girl." Y'all know the one. The one who throws a hissy fit when she doesn't get what she wants, drinks too much and then cries about how no one loves her, just wants to be the center of attention at all times. Ugh.

Well friends, you may not believe it (it's hard for me to!), but on Saturday night, I was.... that girl.

I know, I know, it's awful. I can't believe it happened. I'm so ashamed.

So what happened? Well, we were all out, having a great night on the town consisting of Jumbo slice, gin and tonic buckets, and squeeze bottles of SoCo and Lime:


Good times, no? Everything was going quite swimmingly until I decided to tread dangerously closely to "that girl" territory by texting the guy that I've just started dating. Like, just started dating. 3 dates. Luckily he was in good spirits and I didn't come off too drunk, phew. Well then I made my crew go to the bar where he was. And then I went to go find him. And then I saw him flirting with some other girl. And then I grabbed my crew and stormed out of the bar. I was very close to a full-scale hissy fit. It. was. bad.

I snapped out of it within about 20 minutes or so, but even while in my that girl-frenzy, I knew I was being stupid. I knew it. Overreacting, drama queen, bullshit. Ugh. I so hated myself. I apologized profusely to the poor folks that had to follow me around that night and I nearly forgot about the whole episode by the time my guy left all of his friends to come hang out with us but I still feel so crappy for those 20 minutes. What triggered it? How did it happen? What is it that turns us sane, rational beings into absolute freaks?

Monday, January 14, 2008

interns.

Living on my side of the office (yes, the side opposite all of the "cool kids" but Erin), I see a lot of interns go in and out of this place. Some manage to leave the organization without leaving much of a footprint, while others will be remembered for quite some time....

1. Jon, the most obnoxious intern of all time. He walked in here thinking he owned the place, would listen to awful music sans headphones, and would just sit around and watch YouTube all day. He managed to get all of the other summer interns to think he was the cool kid, and they'd follow him around like puppies. One of my favorite interns saw through his shit and titled him "Pomposity Incarnate." He actually had one of those stupid Staples "Easy" buttons that made obnoxious sounds. There was an unfortunate incident involving Jell-o and that button, but we won't go into detail on that. Let's just say it wasn't pretty... and it's all Erin's fault. We all celebrated when he left. Ugh.

2. The young man that replaced Jon had the same name of a famous rehab-friendly celebrity, which cracked us all up. He spent his days on the phone: chatting with friends, calling for job interviews, and signing up for medical research. I'm not kidding. I think that's how he made his money. You know, the money he spent on his fake Burberry jacket he got off eBay. Among his facebook activities he lists "being perfect," "feeling better," "cleaning up," and "making salad." We learned recently that he did absolutely nothing during his entire tenure here. Well done, friend.

3. Not all of our interns are worthless. In fact, some of them are more productive than the "real" staff. For a couple of months (almost a year, actually) we had no communications department. None. Then someone decided to hire a communications intern (hooray!) who was fabulous. Not only did she get shit done, but she was fantastic and funny. Yay for her! Sadly, they hired a new Communications staffer that "goes to the gym" for 4 hours each day and spends his time cruising gay dating websites and printing out porn on the shared printers, so our lovely little intern went to the Hill. So sad.

4. And that brings us to today (yes, I've skipped over many of our interns, but most of them were pretty quiet and just kind of went with the flow) where the two interns that sit next to me seem to be nice enough guys. They've only been here for a little while and I'm kind of in love with them already. Why? Because every morning I get to come in and say "Hello, Guido" with complete seriousness and then turn to say "Oh, hi Vladimir!" Guido and Vladimir. A match made in heaven.

...also Guido sounds EXACTLY like the butler from Mr. Deeds. It's freaky.

brain fart, writer's block, whatever.

Sorry I've been so MIA. I am having great blog thoughts... just not when I'm near a computer. By the time I actually get in to worked I am devoid of all creativity. It's a problem. One that should be solved soon: when I get my new MACBOOK. Now I just have to save up for it. No big deal, right? I mean, $1000, chump change. ;)

Oh, and thank you for all of your responses about my vacay! I decided to be nice and get a ticket that flies out early Saturday morning. It's not the best, but I don't have to come back until Tuesday so it should be a nice little respite from DC. Woohoo!

...I promise that a more entertaining post will come soon. I hope.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

poll!

Ok, here's my situation:

I told the boss-man on Thursday that my last day would be Friday the 18th. I gave him 2 weeks and 1 day of notice. Now I'm trying to plan my trip to Palm Beach and tickets are OUTRAGEOUS. So expensive. I can find a decent one that leaves Friday morning.

Do I?
a) Tell the boss-man that my last day is now Thursday the 17th, head to Palm Bizzy on Friday, and have a bitching good time all weekend.
b) Suck it up, work on Friday, run risk of not being able to find a ticket to the beach.
c) Ask the boss-man if it's okay to move my last day to Thursday, proceed with choice A.
d) Spend money on ticket to Italy instead, because that's seriously how much these tickets cost. Ignore the fact that I'd have to sleep on a stranger's couch when I got there.

Thanks for your feedback. Oh, and if you know of any good cheap tickets sites beyond kayak, Expedia, and the actual airlines' websites, I'd appreciate that, too. :)

Friday, January 4, 2008

wheel! of! fortune!




It's Friday, I couldn't be more unmotivated at work, and I'm bored out of my mind. Ignore the piles of crap I've got on my desk and the fact that I've got to have it cleaned out in 2 weeks, I'm still bored. This leads to the most random internet browsing.... ever. Read on.

See, the thing is this. I love game shows. I really do. My 8 BFFs and I camped out overnight on the streets to see Price is Right TWICE and I would totally do it again.... if Bob was still the host. But anyways, to the point. My love has been re-ignited by my recent trips to the gym. I always go at night, right when Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy are on. I know it doesn't seem like great programming to watch while hoofing it on the treadmill, but trust me, it's awesome. The only problem is my tendency to shout out the answers or get angry at the stupid/slow contestants. I think my love for game shows is a result of my random talent for game shows. My head is full of worthless information and I think fast. Plus, Wheel of Fortune is always SO easy to figure out. Duh.

So anyway, the crew and I were discussing this at lunch, as we all go to the same gym and watch Wheel of Fortune together. They all told me that I just *had* to try out for Jeopardy, so I investigated. Turns out you have to wait for some bus to come to your city until an online application becomes available in late January. Whatever. So I check out Wheel of Fortune, just for shits and giggles, and hurrah! An online application!

My friends, this application was the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. Some highlights:


  • Are you a teacher? What grade level?

  • Do you have a pet? What kind?

  • Are you a parent with a son/daughter who will be graduating from high school or college in the spring of '08?

  • Are you an NFL fan? Who is your favorite team? Who is your favorite player? (same question for NBA, WNBA, and MLB)

  • Are you in the Armed Forces?

  • Are you a NASCAR fan? Who is your favorite driver?

  • Are you a country music fan? Who is your favorite country singer? (seriously, are they hunting for rednecks or something??)

  • Are you a fan of Soap Operas? Who is your favorite actor? What is your favorite soap opera?

Needless to say, I don't think I'm going to get picked, considering I answered "no" to every. single. question.

There go my dreams of meeting Vanna....

Thursday, January 3, 2008

2008: best year ever.

It's my new slogan, and it's true. Even though we're a mere 72 hours into it (and I spent the first 24 with the worst hangover in the history of the world), 2008 is the best year ever.

Shall we count the ways?

1. First and foremost, I GOT A NEW JOB. A brand spanking new, fantastic, pays a normal salary, can walk to work, free tuition for grad school, event planning, work with fabulous young hip people, non soul-sucking JOB. The possibility of waking up and not dreading work is a new ballgame for me. I've hated my current job since the day I started... a year and a half ago. This is incredible.

2. Said new job requires new wardrobe. A trip to Tyson's is in order for this weekend!

3. I'll be moving into a bigger bedroom in a week. Hooray for more living space and a closet connected to my room!

4. My absolutely fantastic roomies are throwing me a new job celebration tomorrow night at Matchbox, one of my most favorite places (although it does force me to choose between Chimay and Delirium, which is just evil) and I'm pretty stoked about it.

5. I am currently shopping for a plane ticket to Palm Beach to see my ultimate BFF and soak up the sun before starting the new job! I'll be back down there in February but I'm thinking that 2 times within late winter works for me. :)

All in all, things are looking up.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

facts of life.

Like gravity and the law of constant composition, here are a couple of things that I have found to remain true. Always and forevermore.

1. You will spend your days surrounded by bobby pins: in your car, your purse, your pocket; until the day that you actually need one. Then they will all disappear. The same goes for rubberbands, pens, chapstick, men, and money.

2. When a prospective employer tells you that she'll call at 5:30, you won't get a single thing done until after 5:30. And time will pretty much stop right around 4:23.

3. The 50% off all calendars sale at Borders and Barnes and Noble right at the 1st of the year is just about the best thing ever. Something on sale when you actually need it. How novel!

4. Being engrossed in a book is fantastic. Leaving it at home and having to wait for said book to be shipped to you is downright painful.

5. Pearl Jam will never go out of style. Well, maybe out of "style," but it'll still be incredible music.

6. I must sprain my ankle at least once a year. At least.

7. Cheap champagne causes the worst hangovers in the history of the world. I STILL hate you, Andre.