Twenties Vs. Thirties

•In my 20s, I could spend hours looking at clothes online that I wished to own, and fantasizing how I would look in them. Now I can spend hours on Zillow, thinking how I would improve a room, and shamelessly judging people for their paint color choices.

•In my 20s I drank cheap beer. Now I am much more refined, and drink cheap wine.

•In my 20s, being healthy was not eating cake. In my 30s being healthy is still not eating cake, but also keeping stress at a minimum (which would be easier, say, with cake).

•In my 20s I cared about having a job that was good for the present. Now I care about having a job that will be good for the future.

•20s = sunburns. 30s = sunscreen.

•In my 20s I thought it was better to have lots of friends. In my 30s I have realized this is definitely one of those times where quality > quantity.

•In my 20s I was jealous of my friends' nicer cars or nicer clothes or better hair. Now I'm just jealous of their babies.

•In my 20s I imagined the Perfect Guy would have movie-star looks, be full of romantic surprises, and always say the right things. Now I know he is drop-dead adorable and will make good-looking children, that movie romance is basically bullshit, and he says the right thing when I really need him to (and it means much more).

•20s ~ "Does this moisturizer fight pimples?" 30s ~ "Does this moisturizer fight wrinkles?"

•In my 20s I could stay up until 3am and think nothing of it. Now, if I'm up at 3am it's only to pee or because the cat is being an asshole.

•In my 20s I would shower and put makeup on before even a quick trip to the grocery store. Now I'm lucky if I put a bra on, much less fresh clothes and makeup.

•In my 20s I went to several concerts and got smashed at all of them. A friend and I are going to see Lana Del Rey tonight, and will be damned if I spend $10 on a plastic cup of warm Bud Light (football and baseball games are different, the beers are cold and large and it's part of the experience). I imagine singing along is much easier also, when you can remember the words.

•In my 20s I didn't really worry about my future because I honestly couldn't picture having one. Find the perfect guy for me and have a house and a family and all of that stuff? It just wasn't meant for me and I pretty much accepted it that way. It was easier that way. No big deal. Then I met Nick. It took a while to change how I thought and to believe in it for me, and that maybe I could Have It All too. And when I lost my brother last year I made a promise that I would do my best to have that life, not only for me but for him too. Now, it's all I think about and am very much looking forward to every bit.

So at 32 (and-a-half) I may still be just starting my thirties, but for the most part so far, and with what should be to come, they're putting my twenties to shame.

HIRED

Whole Foods Market
Speciality Department Team Member

I got a job!

Shortly after posting on here this morning, I got a call from Whole Foods asking me to come in for a second interview. Within the hour. So after taking the world fastest shower, and quickly making myself presentable, I zipped down to the store.

Met with the General Manager (or "Store Team Leader"). He was super nice and asked a few basic questions about me, and how I am as an employee, etc. I think he was surprised by how enthusiastic I was, but I was so excited to have gotten called back I couldn't help it. I have been applying to this company for over a year. After about 15 minutes he asked me to wait there a minute, and then the two ladies I met with yesterday came out and sat with me. They said they loved me, loved my energy and offered me the position! Balloons fell from the ceiling and all the shoppers and employees threw confetti as a marching band made it's way through the store. Ok maybe that didn't happen.

So what is the Specialty Department? Coffee. Chocolate. Beer. Cheese. So pretty much the coolest part of the store. If only stores in CT had wine! OMG. So I will be learning tons about their products, most of which will probably be the cheese section. They have the most amazing cheese selection, if you've never seen it. I'll learn how to roast coffee. I'll learn how to make beer recommendations. I'll eat pounds of chocolate. I'll cut the cheese (hehe), weigh it, wrap and label it. I'll create glorious displays. I'll also be cross-trained as a barista. I'm excited to learn as much as possible.

de Mayo

It's May! One of my favorite months (along with July). Actually it's May 5th already, Happy Cinco de Mayo tortilla and tequila lovers.

So far, May has been pretty ok.

Get this! I met my goal of losing 5lbs by the 1st. *confetti*

I did some form of exercise every day last week including Pilates. I slacked yesterday, but had an interview which I'll get to in a minute. Today is nice so I will be hitting the trail in a bit.

I still have plenty of weight loss/fitness to accomplish, as evidenced by the jeans I put on yesterday and ripped.

As far as the rest of my goals for April, I have to say I think I did pretty well. Definitely at least 60% success as promised. The biggest thing I failed at is not getting a job yet, but believe me, I'm still trying.

It's been warm enough to have the windows open during the day sometimes, and I have learned that although I do curse from time to time (not in inappropriate situations or anything though), the kids that live next-door to me make me seem like an Amish Mormon nun (I know, I know). Holy sh*t. It's like The Maury Povich Show in their backyard, only not censored by what I can only imagine is a person after 75 cups of coffee (I stopped even trying to watch that show after the bleeps started interrupting the reading of the lie detector and paternity test results, sheesh).

A couple long distance friends had an adorable baby boy on Friday, he just looks soo perfect. I am very happy for them. Yesterday, Nick and I visited a couple more local friends and their baby, who will be 6 months in just a few days. He is seriously one of the cutest things I have ever seen. Especially his drumstick thighs. And so happy. (By the way, they have a story on "Motherhood Methodology" on The Today Show as I type this) Also cute? My Florida friend's baby girl, 1.5 months now. OMG. She is just. The Cutest. I can't really form an opinion on my favorite pregnant friend's baby based on the blurry pics I saw at the ultrasound I accompanied her to about a week ago, but I just know she will be super cute too. So yeah. Babies and more babies. I'm very lucky Nick is pretty patient with my impatience. Thanks babe.

Flower trees make me happy.

I had my interview at Whole Foods yesterday, which was quite different than the last two I had. Really the only similarities were that it was 1.) an interview, and 2.) the first of possibly two. It lasted only 15 minutes and was with two ladies from the department for which I applied. The Team Leader, and who I assume was the assistant leader. They both seemed very nice, though I could not tell if they liked me at all. I was really nervous too and they could probably tell. Oops. The questions were pretty basic and I probably could have answered a couple of them better, but did ok. I was just so nervous! Anyway, I walked away from it feeling less than confident in my chances to get called for a second interview. Which sucks because I usually nail interviews, I just haven't been hired due to circumstance, not because I wasn't the best for the job. I'm rambling. They're supposed to call me this afternoon to let me know if I have been selected to come back for Round Two.

OMG like 8 ladies just surprised their moms Live On The Plaza with the fact that they are "Pregnant!". WTF.

But hey, I lost my 5 pounds. Sigh.

In memory of Eddie from El Sombrero's

Finally!

First, I'm finally doing a blog post after quite a few days of not.

And today we finally got a pretty nice day again, weather-wise.

So I went for a walk on the trail, and finally decided to just walk to the entrance closer to my house. Driving to take a walk seems silly when it's less than a mile to walk there. Well. It made it different, that's for sure. Walking there wasn't bad at all, every street I had to cross had perfectly placed crosswalk lines. When you're dating a safety technologist, you notice these things. Nick would be
proud. Speaking of safety, I'm still not completely convinced yet that I won't be the first murder victim on that trail. Watching ID for hours on end will do that. I can't decide if it's made me more paranoid or just less naive. Either way, I should probably start carrying some sort of personal protection. Maybe then I won't find myself looking back every 50 feet or so. Anyway, the walk there. About halfway is when I realized I had more to worry about than predators.

Oh sh*t.

I'm not sure the picture shows how steep it really is but let me just say, as soon as I saw this all I could think about was walking up it. It was hard to walk down. Murderers were no longer my only fear on this walk. Though when I got to the trail head, it crossed my mind.

Hmmm

Not at all like the other end, with a parking lot and very wide, open trail. Luckily it was only like this for a minute, but the first section is definitely more secluded and made my eyes as shifty as a mystery wrasse (a new fish Nick got yesterday, that darts it's eyes back and forth and makes me giggle. It's a pretty little thing so I thought I would give it a shout out).

That's better

I walked the trail for about an hour, so probably about 4 miles! And adding in the street walking (heh), I'm guessing close to 6 total. But before it was over I had to climb this mountain.

Dear God Not Like This

It wasn't easy, but I did it! Let me tell you, if I walk to the trail from now on, this hill could put my butt back where it used to be. Or maybe even where it's never been. That doesn't sound right. What I'm saying is that I am going to be soooore tomorrow. I'm hoping I will do this enough over the next month that it will seem easy eventually.


Also.

The trees are finally starting to grow leaves back!

Yes!

I feel like I finally have my "diet" under control, and am craving crap food less and less. Even more, I am finally starting to feel the positive effects of it and am feeling slightly better in my skin clothes.


Last. I FINALLY, after over a year of applying, got an interview at Whole Foods. Now, I know very well to not get my hopes up for anything ever again (the sanctuary disappointment was just too crushing), but just getting the interview is kind of a big deal and I'm pretty happy for that!

This lil wrasse-cal finally got his forever home 

This and That

Just a few things.

-I finished my closets! They look lovely and I don't want to touch anything in them now. Also, I caught up on laundry. And ended up running out of hangers/space. Bah.

-I hooked up the DVD player! Yes I both did it and did it correctly. And I will almost definitely put an actual DVD in it today...

-Or tomorrow.

-I have been doing pretty well with eating. Lost a couple pounds and 1.5" off my waist and hips already! Always measure yourself when you're bloated, it is very encouraging to lose an inch or two with little to no effort.

-Speaking of effort, I really need to exercise more. Still. Getting sick with a cold every 10 days or so lately really hasn't been helping. I'm not making excuses. You know this is true because I'll straight up tell you I didn't exercise "because I was lazy". But that's honestly only part of it.

-I think I have a slight obsession with red bell peppers right now. I would like a flat of them and to put them in everything I cook. Ohhhh I should grow some in a pot on the porch this summer.

-I got Panda a new cat food that is made without wheat, corn or soy. It's full of fruits and vegetables and she LOVES it. I hope she doesn't get fat. She didn't seem to like her old food enough to overeat it. But she gets all excited over this one. Which kinda makes me feel bad I was feeding her the same (expensive) crap for 3 years. It's all Goodlife now.

-This weekend was Easter, and there are a few things worth mentioning. I ate zero chocolate. I also passed on the lasagna and ate salmon and salad instead. I wore JEANS. Zipped, almost not too tight jeans. It's the little things. Like this little herb garden from Nick's mom:

And these cute lil daffodils. I sure hope they last longer than a week.

Daawwww

Cats = Great Roommates

If you have a cat, you know that's pretty much a joke. Don't get me wrong, I love Panda. She's adorable and very loving and I wouldn't give her up for a million dollars. I actually mean that. She's the best pet I've ever had. But as far as roommates go, cats are basically inconsiderate jerks. Especially mine. There are so many things she could really improve on to make our cohabitation much more enjoyable (for me). I sometimes think about all the things I would say to her if we ever sat down for a House Meeting. A few examples:



"Carpets, while lovely for you to lay around on, are not the ideal place for barfing"

The apartment is only 50% carpeted. Yet she manages to vomit on a carpeted area 99% of the time. Speaking of..


"You would yak a lot less if you stopped eating your fur"

I don't just mean like from cleaning herself. Yes, she's very soft and fluffy and that can cause furballs from time to time. But homegirl will shed a little fluff puff once in a while and insists on then eating it. Sometimes I can catch her and stop the process but mostly she's a disgusting creature.


"See this little button here? That turns on the Keurig"

I am not asking for much here. The 90 seconds or so I have to wait for the coffee robot to prep itself in the morning seems unnecessary when I have a roommate who wakes up at the crack of dawn. It's just common courtesy if you ask me.


"Plastic bags are not part of a healthy diet"

She has a serious problem. I know not to leave any kind of plastic around if possible, because she will chew it. Immediately. Same with packing tape. She will literally un-tape the ends of boxes and chomp the tape. I have no idea why. I know a lot of cats do this but Panda would probably eat an entire garbage bag if I let her. What an idiot.


"When I lay clean laundry out on my bed to hang up and leave the room for a minute, this is NOT an invitation for you to lay on them"

This also goes for if I leave a drawer open longer than 5 seconds. She could be sound asleep on the other side of the apartment and if she hears a drawer open she's suddenly wide awake!, and right there waiting for me to turn my back to it. A rational roommate would know that the last thing I want on my clean clothes is cat fur, but oh they're just so cozy. I have to also be very diligent about keeping my closets closed, she will make herself right at home on my shelves of freshly folded pants. That reminds me, I need to buy more lint rollers.


"Please, PLEASE wipe your feet"

When exiting the litter box. I swear she opens her adorable little chubby paws in there and then closes them, releasing any litter she manages to grab all over the the floors. It's so rude. A considerate roommate wouldn't walk across the apartment with dirty shoes, so can't we just leave the litter in it's more-than-ample sized box? And while we're at it, let's just take a second and make sure all the poop is safely buried before exiting, shall we? I mean for real, what kind of cat is this?

"The vacuum is not going to kill you"

Vacuums are big and loud and I assume most if not all cats are scared of them. Panda really takes it to the next level. Usually she runs to hide as soon as she sees me touch it, taking out anything in her path. As if that's not enough, sometimes when I transition into the room she's hiding in, she decides it is no longer a safe place to be and tears ass to the other room, again knocking over anything in her way. She has broken stuff before, and probably will again. Good roommates don't break your stuff.

Definitely not listening 

Progress?

I was going to write this yesterday, since it was the month's halfway point. Unfortunately I was too busy trying to get over the terrible disappointment of not getting the job at the sanctuary. Although I was their first choice (and told that before I left the interview) and probably the best person for the job, one of the volunteers decided they wanted it. So basically life is unfair and I spent the last two days being completely bummed out. But life also goes on, so I applied to a few more places and will try to move on from it. And maybe look into volunteering there myself.

So the point of this is to check back on my April goals and see how I've done so far (spoiler alert: not great).

• I think we've already established that I have not gotten hired. But I am doing what I can and have to just have faith that the right thing will come along. And meanwhile, make the most of all the free time I have.

• I am not the proud new owner of apartment plants or a clean kitchen rug. But that's ok because it snowed last night. Wtf.

I have actually made progress in the other areas, little though it may be. But I like to have the glass-half-full perspective (unless it's wine, then I like it all-the-way-full because I have really tiny wine glasses). Really though, just getting things moving in the right direction is good enough for now. I know. I'm such an overachiever.

• As you may have seen, I have gotten quite a bit done in my bedroom, including redoing one of my closets completely. Well I also did the other closet, and just need to organize the shoes in it now. I almost caught up on laundry, and will do so by the end of the week. THERE ARE NO BOXES IN MY ROOM. None. Not one. OMG.

• I have definitely been cooking more. Makes my healthy low-carb not-diet much easier and way more tolerable. Which I have also been doing well with recently (and by recently I mean like 6 days tops). Once I lose the first 5lbs I won't be so carb strict. Mmmm fruit.

• My April of Action. Hmm, let's see here. I haven't exactly exercised every day. Ok fine, just 3 days! But the good news is I found a great trail in town to walk! And the other day I walked over 4.5 miles on it. My average was like 13min/mile so it's definitely solid exercise. I'll be doing this any day I am not working as long as it's not pouring rain. I hope to get up to 6 miles by mid-May. As for the Pilates, umm...where are those cables anyway?...

• I think I can safely say I have watched less TV, with the time I have spent cleaning, organizing, cooking, walking, and reading outside in the sunshine. Alright high-five good job me! (Told you I'd take credit for it.)

So while it was heartbreaking to not get that job, it's probably better to focus on the positive changes I have made, or have started to make. And keep going with them. That's what I am going to keep telling myself. Over and over until I believe it.

The trail will be so lovely when the leaves grow in :)