Archive for October 2009

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20 October 2009

A shirtless man makes me happy

By: Jessica B.
Tagged: Movies

Sometimes at the end of a rough day or week, I need a little pick-me-up.

This can come in the form of:

  • Beer
  • Comfort food
  • Random men (kidding)
  • Online shopping
  • A combination of this entire list

And trust me, the beer + online shopping is the worst combination.

But sometimes when none of these things look appealing, I just like a little guy sex appeal. And now that fall is here and Chicago’s cute boys are forced to bundle up and layer clothing on to their delectable bodies, I can’t objectify them as easily on the street or bus. So I have to objectify men the old fashioned way, by watching movies with hot guys not wearing shirts.

Yes, that’s correct. Nowadays, I get my dose of man candy through movies.

And movies that have hot men walking around without their shirt (or less) on is fine with me.

But I should clarify, we’re talking hot no-shirt action like Daniel Craig in Casino Royale or Hugh Jackman in X-Men, not Will Ferrell or Seth Rogen.

Case in point, this weekend the Netflix gods were kind to me, sending me The Proposal and Fast and Furious. Yes, I voluntarily put the latter in my queue. Netflix knew I needed to see Ryan Reynold and have a mix bad dialogue, muscle cars and muscle men wearing wife beaters strained within in inch of that cotton’s life. L-u-c-k-y me.

Anyhow, on Saturday night, I put on my fuzzy slippers and cotton leggings and sat on the couch, devouring Chipotle and starting my Man Candy Marathon with The Proposal, with the idea and anticipation of shirtless Ryan Reynolds dancing in my head.

And when that moment came, which included gratuitous ab shots, with a sneak peek at his right butt cheek, it was everything I hoped it would be…and more. ScarJo, way to go girl, well done.

One movie that also should have been added to this Man Candy list is an oldie but a goodie, Top Gun. HELLO, the beach volleyball scene? Pre-crazy Tom Cruise? Yes! Let’s just say, I appreciate that scene SO much more as an adult :)

So that’s my story, when I’m feeling down, I objectify men in movies by picking fluffy movies where they take their shirt off. Now if they could just jump off the screen and unload my dishwasher and scrub my floors, I could die happy.

Did anyone else see The Proposal and enjoy the shirtless Ryan Reynolds scenes? What actors do you not mind seeing shirtless in the movies? Um, guys you can also list female actresses you appreciate too.

Anti-phone: Also, I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who has phone anxiety or has seen their social skills take a hit thanks to texting and Twitter. I still prefer to talk to people one-on-one but man, my phone skills have gone way down. As usual, I’m glad other bloggers are in the same boat :)

Blog note: It’s come to my attention again that several people are having trouble leaving comments because WP is telling them their comments are spam. First, thanks for letting me know and my designer and I are working on it now. It appears as though my spam filter is taking it’s job a little too seriously.

If you ever have trouble commenting or using anything on the site, feel free to email me anytime and let me know: myeverydayadventures@gmail.com.

You guys rock, thank you!

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32 Comments

19 October 2009

Good online bad on the phone

By: Jessica B.
Tagged: Friends, Random, work

I’ll be honest, I spend A LOT of time online or in front of a BlackBerry between work and blogging. Somehow the pre-Twitter and smartphone days seem like a million years ago.

I think my old cell phone that barely allowed texting has faded into my memory bank, along with floppy disks and typewriters. Actually, I still keep that old phone…as a paperweight.

Anyhow because I’m so “wired” with technology, I’ve found that some of my social skills, like having a one-on-one in-person conversation or even talking on the phone seem like…so much work.

Why do we need to talk? We can DM or text in 140 characters.

But while I’m still good at talking to people in person (and often prefer that over email, especially on heavy email days), I am awful at talking on the phone.

Awful.

When you talk to me you’ll hear lots of “ums” and awkward pauses and probably hear me actually lose my train of thought. I even find myself needing to get up and move around when I’m on the phone because I get so distracted if I sit and just…talk.

What distracts me? Twitter, online shopping, email, IMs, TV, you name it and I get distracted and then the “ums” get started again. It’s like I have phone-induced ADD.

I’m not the only one who is bad at the phone. A friend can only handle talking on the phone for two minutes before he just stops. I kid you not, I check my call counter every time and usually around 1:45 he gets anxious and stuttery and then at 1:58 he says, “hey yeah want to meet up, I have to go.” And then he just hangs up. Boys.

He prefers to meet in person or converse by IM because he’s wittier that way. Me too.

Do you like talking on the phone or do you also get super distracted? I really need to be better at focusing on the phone with people but I just prefer to get together in person :) Let’s the conversation flow so much more naturally.

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18 October 2009

Weekend recap: Sweetest Day and hair therapy

By: Jessica B.
Tagged: Chicago, family, Fashion, Random, shopping

Happy Sunday!

I wish I could regal you all with stories of an exciting, thrilling, action-packed weekend but really, I laid around and did a whole lotta nothing. And it was awesome. But it wasn’t totally boring.

Sweetest Day: Pile of crap?

To start, Saturday I woke up and heard that it was a national holiday…Sweetest Day!!!

*crickets chirping*

Sweetest Day is like a rash. You wake up one morning and notice is something different, then suddenly it starts spreading and realize you’re out of cortisone cream and can’t do anything but ignore it until it goes away. Yeah, I’m reaching a little bit but I think you get my point.

For as long as I can remember, Sweetest Day is for couples, almost like a mini-Valentine’s Day. But according to Wikipedia and the official Sweetest Day Web site, it’s a day to celebrate all the loved and special ones in your life.

I really like that explanation more, too bad it’s only really associated with couples, full of cards, flowers and candy. Kill me.

But is it really just another Hallmark holiday? I think so.

Wikipedia says the “holiday” is celebrated primarily in the Great Lakes area (which is where I grew up and grew to hate this holiday) but I think Neil Kramer said it best on Twitter Saturday:

“Happy Sweetest Day to everyone who lives in upper Midwest where it must have been invented to ease your way into freezing winter.”

Oh Neil. There is so much truth to that statement.

Therapy time at the salon

So as a single girl, how did I celebrate this “holiday?” It started with a trip to my bi-monthly therapy session at the salon for a haircut and color. My hair grows very quickly so I have to get it cut every other month and I always look forward to it for one reason: scalp massage.

A good scalp massage is better than a good workout and a mani/pedi because it kneads out all the stress and you feel completely different (and relaxed) when it’s done. Couple that with a complimentary glass of wine and paying for those services is so much easier :)

I love going to get my hair done because I can talk my stylist about anything and just have a sympathetic ear to whatever is bothering me friend-, work- or family-wise. Actually, it might be better than retail therapy (almost).

And once I had a sexy, cleaned up cut and color, I took that sassy bob downtown to go shopping…but came home empty-handed.

Seriously! That’s always my luck, whenever I want to go shopping, I can’t find anything. Oh well, another time. Next weekend is full operation gym shoes, shoe booty and fall sweater. No mercy!

How was everyone else’s weekend? Do you look forward to going to the salon? Or do you celebrate Sweetest Day? I’m always curious to hear who knows about it.

Also, thanks everyone, both pro- and anti-pumpkin, for weighing in on Thursday’s post. I’m glad to hear there are other non-pumpkin fan supporters out there and for those who do enjoy it, we will agree to disagree on friendly terms :)

Review blog update: Yes, I’ve been slacking on this one but I’m back with part two of the MAC Volcanic Ash experiment, this time, the Thermal Mask!

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15 October 2009

Anti-pumpkin

By: Jessica B.
Tagged: Food

Earlier this week, I sent an @ reply to Jenn on Twitter about pumpkins, specifically pumpkin-flavored foods. And, well, it got a little bit of a response from other local and non-local bloggers who jumped to defend everything pumpkin.

One even went so far as to infer that loving pumpkin foods and being awesome go hand-in-hand.

That is actually not always the case.

Why? Because I am awesome and I don’t like pumpkin-flavored foods.

That’s right. I’m NOT a fan of pumpkin.

*shock!* *gasp!*

This includes: pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, pumpkin-flavored candy or muffins and…

Starbucks’ pumpkin spice latte.

Ohhhhhhhhhhh snap, no you didn’t, yes I did!!! *insert sassy finger wave*

I’ve never had a pumpkin spice latte and I don’t want to try one. I still go to Starbucks (which is a client) but I stick with my white hot chocolate (with skim) or mocha. There is something about the taste of pumpkin that just turns me off, same with the scent of pumpkin candles. Ick.

So how did I become anti-pumpkin? Well, as with many things, I blame my parents (I’ll work that out in therapy later) because we were never a big pumpkin-fan house. My parents don’t eat pumpkin pie and every year at Thanksgiving, there is only one piece eaten because the one person who does eat it takes his piece and then doesn’t take the whole pie home with him.

What is up with that?

Anyhow, I’ll take a lovely pumpkin and gourd assortment (with seasonal corn) any day in my apartment or at my desk and I love pumpkin seeds but I just don’t like the taste or smell of pumpkins.

Maybe digging out the pumpkin guts for all those years as a kid turned me off to it.

But…give me a chocolate mint drink or any mint-flavored desserts and I’m in heaven. I’m minty fresh, not pumpkin soft.

What about you? Are you pumpkin obsessed now that it’s fall? And do you indulge in all things pumpkin while it’s in season? Or are you anti-pumpkin, come on ladies, don’t leave me as the only non-pumpkin fan out there!

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14 October 2009

Guest post: Friend trouble

By: Jessica B.
Tagged: Friends, guest blogger

Hi everyone, we have a special guest post today from my buddy Angela about an issue we’ve all had, friend trouble. So without further ado, on to Angela’s guest post!

Hi everyone. It’s Angela from over at My Quiet Testimony today. Jessica was nice enough to let me post on her blog today, not that I need to be anonymous for this post, but simply for the fact that my own blog is not the best venue for this particular topic, since the people I am talking about might stumble upon it. Now onto my story.

I hate being brought into the middle of things, and I hate being pulled in multiple directions. But I also hate leaving people left out.

If you’ve read my blog for any amount of time, you might know of the situation between two friends of mine, Callie and Justine.* To make a very long story short, they cannot stand to be around each other, based on a situation about a boy from over a year ago.

Now, both of them are my friends. And, I like hanging out with both of them. Callie also happens to be one of my roommates this year, along with Sophie. Unfortunately, I can’t hang out with Callie and Justine at the same time because of their dislike for each other. Many times when we all make plans, Sophie and I either hang out with Justine, or with Callie. Or, Sophie will hang out with one and I’ll hang out with the other (this happens most often). When this is the case, I feel like I’m leaving one of them out. I don’t want to leave Callie out when we make plans with Justine, and vice-versa.

The thing is, sometimes I feel like Callie resents it when Sophie and I DO make plans to hang out with Justine, especially when Callie doesn’t have plans of her own. So sometimes I’ll decide to hang out with Callie instead so she doesn’t feel left out. And then I feel bad because I want to hang out with Sophie and Justine, too. I feel like I can’t please everyone.

I know both sides of the story of why they don’t get along. It happened over a year ago, and our other friends who know both sides think they should just try to make amends. We understand that they’ll probably never be friends again, but it’s stupid that they can’t leave what happened in the past. I wish that we could all make plans together and Sophie and I don’t feel like we have to watch what we say or feel on edge about what might happen.

I just hate feeling like I can only hang out with one and not the other (and kind of resenting it), and also feeling like I’m leaving someone out.

* Names have been changed.

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