‘guest blogger’ Category

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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.

9 Comments

06 August 2009

Guest post: Ceviche, prosciutto and gnocchi, oh my!

By: Jessica B.
Tagged: Food, guest blogger, television

Our second guest blogger this week is Jamie from Oh How Lovely. Random side note, Jamie was the first non-family or IRL friend who commented on my blog! And I will be back on Sunday with a mini vacation recap so come on back now you hear! I’m still tweeting my adventures though if you’d like to join in :) Now, back to blogging…..

Here’s the thing – I’m a picky eater.

I’m not a big veggie fan. I don’t like seafood. If I can’t pronounce what I’m eating, chances are I might not eat it. Chances are I probably don’t even know what it is. I could probably live off mac and cheese and peanut butter sandwiches. Throw in chicken tenders and we have a week of meals.

I basically eat like a 6 year old. But I don’t want to be like that.

Confession: I want to be a foodie.

Top Chef is one of my favorite shows. Everything looks amazing and delectable but I’m probably afraid to try it because I’m afraid I won’t like it. I want to go to awesome restaurants and try everything and gush over the flavors. I want to make amazing meals that make people beg to step foot in my kitchen.

So, Jess’ blog friends, how does one broaden their palate? Probably just get out there and just start trying stuff, right? Is there a Foodie 101 course? Because there really should be.

So, Jess’ blog friends, how does one broaden their palate? Probably just get out there and just start trying stuff, right? Is there a Foodie 101 course? Because there really should be.

Send all applications to Jamie of Oh! How Lovely!

Everyday Adventures note: ITA with you Jamie. I am absolutely not a foodie but rather a “food enthusiast.” Top Chef is my favorite show and it has taught me a lot, like…layering flavors (who knew?) And when I go out, I specifically will try new foods I heard about on Top Chef. Yes, I didn’t know about ceviche or gnocchi until Top Chef. FAIL.

Giveaway note: Tomorrow, Friday, is the LAST DAY to enter the Gap jeans giveaway on my review blog. If haven’t entered yet, you still have until 11:59 p.m. CT Friday. Hurry!

31 Comments

05 August 2009

Guest post: Stalker and the City

By: Jessica B.
Tagged: Chicago, Friends, guest blogger, gym, work

Hey everyone, while I’m still basking in my week-long vacation, I’ve recruited two bloggy buddies to guest post for me so I don’t overexert myself while laying on the beach drinking a beer or walking around to antique shops. I know, life is hard up north. And our first guest blogger is week is Maggie from Red Letter Haze. Take it away!

While Jess is away basking in the sun on vacation, I’m stuck here in Chicago.

With my stalker.

My FEMALE stalker.

What makes this even more unusual could be one of two things:

  • She is completely unaware to the fact I consider her my stalker or
  • She thinks I am stalking her

Let me back up a few months- I first encountered this woman at my gym when I hit her with a dumbbell. First of all, TOTALLY not my fault. She wasn’t paying attention and walked too close to me when I was doing this exercise with my trainer. Whatever, she should’ve been paying attention! I made sure to give her a death stare to let her know it was her fault I hit her and went about my business.

From that day on, I started noticing her around the gym more. My trainer started referring to her as my BFF since she was ALWAYS there at the same time I was.

But then it just started to get creepy.

I started noticing her nearly everywhere I went. I say nearly because I have yet to run into her at Jewel or in my apartment building. The places I’ve run into her include:

  • At the gym
  • On the bus, which wouldn’t be so creepy except she was waiting at the bus stop by my office and then got on the same bus as me. And then sat pretty freaking close
  • At church, where she proceeds to sit in the same section, two or so rows behind me
  • Walking around the street
  • In my office!! (don’t worry, I’m getting to that)

So without going into too much detail because of the nature of my job here’s a summary:

I get a phone call to set up an appointment. I have to get certain information from people in order to schedule them, including an address. The person I’m speaking with happens to live in the building next to me, which I delightfully proclaim “oh cool, I live next door to you!” So anyway, guess who strolls into my office for their appointment? Yep. Her. Except now I know where she lives and she knows where I live. Not only that, I found out she also works in the same building as me. awkward.

I can’t escape this woman; so far this week I rode the elevator with her at work monday and was in the gym locker room with her yesterday.

So, what do you think? Is it all just a (very strange) coincidence? Is she stalking me? Could she be thinking I’m stalking her? Or are we (as my coworker believes) destined to be friends, since I know as much about her as some of my friends? Or am I just completely insane*?

*don’t answer that. we all know the answer to that question is YES.

Everyday Adventures note: Um, yes, I have the same thing. Mine is a co-worker though and I always see her at the gym or around my house. You are my twin :)

Giveaway note: You can still enter the Gap jeans giveaway on my review blog! Free jeans? What? Giveaway closes Friday!

12 Comments

12 June 2009

Guest post: Childhood summers

By: Jessica B.
Tagged: family, guest blogger

This guest post comes from Mandy at Just A Small Town Girl. Mandy is one of my favorite bloggers who writes the some of the most thoughtful and memorable posts in my Reader. I love her style and am thrilled that she’s guest blogging for me! Enjoy!

The other evening while watching my cousins softball game (one of the three teams she is on this summer) I made the mistake of asking my grandma how another cousin was spending her summer. I should have known better. My grandmother went into a diatribe about how this 12 year old was spending the summer just hanging out, not doing anything in particular. Unbeknownst to me this is a very touchy subject. Heaven forbid a child not have every moment of her day planned out for her.Heaven forbid a kid be allowed to be a kid.

This conversation made me think about my own childhood.

My friends and I ran wild for three long, completely unstructured months. The whole town was our playground. My brother and I would leave the house in the morning and often not return home until dinner time. We rode our bikes from one end of town to the other and everywhere in between. My friends and I played kickball in the middle of the street, occasionally bouncing a ball off a parked car. When we tired of that we would go to the library or to the cemetery, where we made up stories about the lives of the people whose gravestones we casually lounged around on. Lunch was eaten at whatever friends house we happened to be at the time — usually peanut butter and jelly or bologna and cheese. Every mother in the neighborhood always had an endless supply of either with a loaf or two of bread made from the local bakery.

Our imaginations ran as wild as we did. We went on safari’s trudging though overgrown grass and bushes of vacant houses. We were tightrope walkers gingerly walking along the high wall on the backside of the elementary school. Sometimes we hung out on the walkway over the state route , overlooking the football stadium watching the high school boys practice plays and whatnot for the upcoming season. Sometimes we would ride our bikes uptown to the Newstand, which didn’t sell newspapers or magazines but rather had the best chocolate peanut butter ice cream around. After ambling home and hastily scarfing down dinner, we would find our friends again playing kick the can in uneven alleys until the street lights came on. After the street lights came on we usually scattered about going back to our respective homes. Sometimes a few friends and I would sit out on a deck or front porch with citronella candles that never quite kept the bugs away.

I loved having the days to do whatever I wanted. No one thought there was anything wrong with just doing as we wanted, going from here or there. We didn’t have music lessons or traveling sports teams. Most parents worked and we kids survived just fine. We defined the lazy days of summer. We were just kids, and it suited us just fine.

How did you spend your summers as a child?

14 Comments

10 June 2009

Guest post: Guilty blog fodder

By: Jessica B.
Tagged: guest blogger, Random, television
Why hello there everyone, it’s Katelin here from gorgeous footsteps in the sand… and for
some reason Jessica let me take over her blog today. Really, I don’t know what she was thinking, haha. But anyhoo, moving on.

So recently (aka today’s post) I said there were some things that I would not write about on my blog anymore, but that doesn’t mean I can’t blog about them over here!! :)

Heidi and Spencer. Oh my gosh. They are probably the most annoying people out there right now, but also the smartest. Everywhere they go they make a spectacle of themselves and some media outlet picks them up! Ah. It’s a vicious cycle! I can’t stop reading all the craziness of their TV show adventures (even though I refuse to watch that ridiculousness) and their newest endeavors like selling shampoo. Seriously, gaaaaaaaaah. When will the madness stop.

Octo-mom. Now it’s been a while since I’ve talked about this crazy lady but with talks of her getting a TV show and saying crap about Kate Gosselin, yeah I’m going to try and avoid her like the plague.
The Gosselin drama. I haven’t really talked too much about the family drama on my blog but it’s almost getting hard not too. Every episode has been awkward and the family is taking over every tabloid like wo. But from here on out I’ll avoid the drama talk and just stick to the cuteness of the kids and the show.

Twilight. Yeah right. I can’t stop. It’s like an addiction. Anything Twilight I have to read it! I cannot wait for the new movie to come out and I’ll probably reread the series again and pictures of Rob Pattinson make me swoon and ummm I’ll just keep being a spokesperson.

So is there anything you want to stop blogging about but can’t? Or am I alone in my habits, haha?

9 Comments
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