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16 February 2009

Things that scare me

By: Jessica B.
Tagged: Uncategorized

I’m not a scardey cat, but there are a few things that scare the sh*t out of me. My friends find many of these items amusing so I figured that I’d open up the shame to everyone else!

Here are the things I’m scared of:
  • Mice – My stepmom and I have the same reaction when we see mice, we scream and run for high ground. Until mice start climbing stairs, I will find refuge from them on another floor
  • Pigeons – Especially city pigeons. I’ve said this before, but they scare the crap out of me. When they come uncomfortably close to me, I scream like a girl and hide behind the person walking next to me. Yes, I look crazy
  • Bees – Speaking of crazy, I also look crazy when these little bastards come around. I will do the absolute wrong thing and swat at them, squealing like a baby and running away. It’s amazing I’ve haven’t been stung more
  • Grates – I’m terrified of catching a heel in a grate (like JLo in Wedding Planner) or it breaking while I walk over one. I never walk over them if I can help it. When it bounces, it makes me very nervous.
  • Sharks – Thanks to Jaws, I’m terrified of any body of water, including a bathtub and swimming pool. Showers so far have proven to be safe
  • Bats – In Minnesota, I woke up one morning with a bat flying around my room. I won’t lie, I thought I would die of rabies. I wasn’t bitten by it but still, it still haunts me
  • Unattended dogs – I don’t care how well behaved they are, if I see a dog leashless or unattended, I panic mildly, thinking it will tear off my face. Most times dogs are very well behaved in the city, but there are a few with negligent owners who ruin this
So what I have learned from this list? I am a total sissy. S-I-S-S-Y.
What are you afraid of? I can’t be alone in some of these fears.
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15 February 2009

Key Learnings, flowers, holding an Oscar and housekeeping

By: Jessica B.
Tagged: Uncategorized

I’m super excited that I get to squeeze one more day out of my weekend. Of course, this is my last “holiday” until Memorial Day, so I’ll definitely make it count! 

So while I’m preparing for another day off of work, here are some key learnings.
Key Learnings:
  • If someone asks you what you think of their mustache. Answer honestly, they did ask for your opinion
  • Describing a dress color as “turd-like” near a salesperson is not a good idea
  • Laying on the couch, watching TV and reading until noon should be a daily requirement
  • It’s okay to whisper, “mama loves you, come back to me” to your laptop before leaving it with the Genius Bar for minor repairs
  • Shopping for wine glasses can be very confusing/time consuming. They all look alike!
  • Popcorn + soda = good, but popcorn + soda + more popcorn + beer = tummy ache
  • Don’t remind your single friends that they’re “alone” on Valentine’s Day. Thanks, we got the memo
  • The Oscar award is heavy, but a good bicep workout
  • The weather really can go from 60 degrees to snow in one week. Thanks global warming!
  • Unfortunately, little cleaning elves that will clean your apartment while you sleep and disappear in morning do not exist. Darn.
  • Hearing someone say, “I like spending time with you,” is always a nice warm fuzzy moment
Suck it Valentine’s Day
I know it’s dumb, but Valentine’s Day is a buzzkill for me because it reminds me that I’m single, not that there’s anything wrong with that. And for some reason, this year, I was extra down about it. But fortunately I was off Friday and avoided watching the cavalcade of flowers come in the office. Yes, that’s never fun to watch either.
But this year, dad came to the rescue again, sending me a lovely card, saying how much he enjoys spending time with me and how proud he is of me. Yes, I teared up while reading it. It’s always nice to hear someone say that about you. 
Then the real surprise came on Saturday when I was getting ready to go out and I got a call that there was a FLOWER DELIVERY for me. For me! I ran downstairs and found that dad sent me the most beautiful arrangement with pink tulips. He is the best.
Dad says he will recognize Valentine’s Day for me until I have a nice guy who will take his place. Man does not know that he will be paying out for this holiday for the rest of his life :)
You like me, you really like me!
We are one week away from the Oscars and this week I have to finalize my picks and opt into my work Oscar pool. Feeling good about the latter. 
But before the big event, I was greeted by a traveling Oscar exhibit at Nordstrom on Saturday. For free, you could have your picture taken with a real Oscar replica (yes it’s heavy) and see Clark Gable’s original Oscar from 1934. 
I wanted to bask in the moment of holding an Oscar replica and thank my family, but you were quickly ushered in and out, so that was short-lived, but here are some pictures from the exhibit. My Oscar photo isn’t available online yet, but I will post it soon!
Housekeeping:
Two final quick notes:
  • I included a badge on my sidebar for the Everyday Adventure’s blog network on Facebook. If you’re on Facebook and want to join my network, that would be awesome! Let’s network and connect

  • Don’t forget to enter my balanced living giveaway, last day to enter is Wednesday!
How was everyone else’s weekend? Am I the only one who has tomorrow off?
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12 February 2009

Defining your sense of style

By: Jessica B.
Tagged: Uncategorized

A treat from the Postal Service arrived tonight in the form of the new Nordstrom catalog, which got me thinking about fashion, and making of list of things to by for summer.

Living in the city, I see a lot of glamorous women, dressed in designer clothes or looking more put-together than me on a good day.
This can give any woman some anxiety about their looks. They say fashion should be fun and effortless, but it doesn’t always feel that way.
I guess I’ve been watching a little too much What Not to Wear lately :)
For me, I love a classic, elegant style, circa Grace Kelly or Jackie Kennedy. Their looks were refined, subtle and multifunctional. You could take one staple item and dress it up multiple ways for different looks. That’s why, for me, a classic LBD is a great investment because you’ll have it forever.
My fashion magazines say that in your 20s, you should try a lot of different styles and play with fashion. I may have started on this concept a little late, so I’m giving myself an extension still for a few years. My staples are black, gray or white, which I love to dress up with fun jewelry. Since my clothes are pretty simple, I like big expressions of color with jewelry (without being garish.)
Cocktail rings, bold necklaces or even a crazy belt can make any gray long-sleeve shirt look more than casual. I focus on this more because as my weight has fluctuated, so do the clothes that fit, so jewelry is best because it always fits, much like purses.
Oh and you can bid on John Krasinski’s tux from the SAG Awards. I wonder how much extra it would cost to have him show up wearing that. It’ll be on my floor very quickly :)
So I’m wondering today, how do you describe your personal style? And if you could only save one clothing item or accessory from a fire, what would you save?
And in case you didn’t already, enter my giveaway! 
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11 February 2009

Purple nail polish and bloggers

By: Jessica B.
Tagged: Uncategorized

I love the color purple and bloggers, but I do not love that I’ve become a morning person.

I tried to fight it, but mornings are when I’m the most productive. I can multi-task easily, don’t get easily annoyed by things (cough in the office) and have the most energy to go out and take on the world! Of course, that means I’m ready for a nap by 3 p.m. or need to “power nap” before going out at night. But at least I don’t eat dinner at 5 p.m. so that doesn’t make me…too old…right?

And yesterday morning I was bursting with excitement for a spa night (more details to come), running downstairs to some co-workers to say, “woo, woo, it’s going to be a great day!” They thought I was crazy. In fact, by 9:30 a.m. I was at work, in my favorite JCrew cords that fit again (yay gym!), working easily through e-mail and saw yesterday’s post was on Brazen Careerist’s Web site. I was on fire! (not literally)

So what better way to celebrate a great morning than hang out with some awesome Chicago bloggers at Spa Soak in Bucktown, courtesy of BOCA? Note: BOCA is a company client.

BOCA treated us to a lovely evening of mani/pedis (which my fingernails were very excited about), chair massages, drinks and nummy food, including some amazing coconut cookies. I’ve not eaten a lot of BOCA burgers before but the few I have tried have been very tasty. I like meat, but these aren’t a bad alternative.

I even got to meet other Chicago bloggers, like April and Nilsa, for the first time too! I love meeting new people in the city. Especially when they are hilarious and fun to talk to. Oh and I have super awesome purple fingernails. They are fierce.

And another huge highlight of the evening (which caused me to spend an hour picking out the perfect outfit ahead of time), I got to meet one of my favorite bloggers, Miss Zoot. Her blog was one of the first ones I’ve ever read and I think she is hilarious. I also think her youngest son is adorable. Like too cute for words, I can’t even begin to describe the cuteness. She was at the event and I tried not to sound like a scary superfan, which was very tough.

Who’s got two purple thumbnails and feels more relaxed? This girl!

Giveaway:
I even got a nifty BOCA gift bag to giveaway to one of my readers! The gift bag includes: a yoga mat, reusable shopping tote (perfect for unexpected purchases while out), relaxing CD and day planner. The photo below isn’t the best but this is a great gift bag.


To enter: Leave me a comment letting me know what you do to live a balanced life. This can be anything, such as going to the gym or for a run, playing sports or taking an art/writing class. Cut-off date to enter is Wednesday, February 18. So tell your friends and tweet out the news!

Don’t want to enter the contest? That’s cool, feel free to still leave me a comment about how you pamper yourself on a daily basis. I’m a big believer in a little treat each day.

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