I’ve worked at several offices and odd jobs and there are always common themes of things that happen that are annoying. So I thought I would explore these further.

Oh, and as a note, this is NOT about any one person or place I’ve worked at :)

• Paper jams – Paper jam? WTF? I don’t know how to fix that. Or when I do follow the directions, taking apart half of the copier, there is no paper where the diagram tells me there is. No paper? But you’re telling me there is a paper jam. Just tell me how to fix this! This is right up there with seeing PC LOAD LETTER on the printer. DISLIKE.
• Stealing from the fridge – This has been an ongoing issue at several jobs. Fortunately (knock on wood) things have been better lately. But stealing from me is a big mistake. Let’s just say, I know how to steal back :)
• Private conversations at a loud decibel – It’s a reality of cube life. But yes, I’m glad you’re calling to refill your birth control and making your yearly PAP appointment. Oh and yes, I think sleeping with that girl this weekend and her friend the next night must have been fun, but maybe using your indoor voice would be a better idea
• Pen tapping or loud chewing – Please, for the love of god keep it down, it’s like nails on a chalkboard when I’m trying to focus
• Always having to refill paper in the copier – Seriously, how does this ALWAYS happen to me? I am not your paper mother!
• iPod karaoke – I listen to music at work to help me focus, but I had a coworker that always sang to her iPod out loud…in cubes…at a high decibel. It took all of my strength not to scream, “SHUT UP…PLEASE”

What about you? What are your office annoyances? (Side note: conference calls on speaker is still my number one annoyance).

Growing up, my grandpa was a master photographer. He took pictures of my brother and me all the time and I loved it. I would faux model and goof around and it was standard that on any birthday or holiday, we all had to take family photos before opening presents or after (if we couldn’t control ourselves).

I look back at those photos now and smile, having fond memories of those times (and a good laugh at my often horrific hair, glasses and outfits).

But on a bad day, I see nothing but flaws when I look at them. The way I hold my head gives me a double chin, my hair laying limp around my face reminds me of a female Cousin It from the Addams Family. And can I give a shout out to the braces? Oh lord.

Now, I have a certain way that I will stand and tilt my head in photos so that my face and body looks slimmer (or as I like to say, keep my stomach from looking three months pregnant). And if I can’t get in that position, I will awkwardly adjust my body to try and mirror parts of it. People may make fun of me, but seriously, knowing your angles works!

Getting my picture taken, especially when it’s for something official, now turns me into a nervous wreck. For example, recently, we had office picture day, where all staff had to come to get their photos reshot for project presentations, etc.

The first time, I didn’t take it seriously, walked in, found my mark, gave a little Blue Steel and then went over to see the results, where I learned two things: I need to lose 40 pounds and my head is freakishly small compared to my big body.

When I heard reshoots were available, I laid out an outfit, applied full make up, washed and styled my hair, put together jewelry and worked out the day before so my arms looked extra “cut.”

In spite of this, I still looked huge and now, PALE. That was…deflating.

I think I’ll stick to being behind the camera or in random candid shots with friends. And I may start randomly getting down to do 10 push ups to get back in shape. Hilarious? You bet. Will I do it? Maybe.

What about you? Do you like getting your picture taken? Or do you have any funny stories about past school or work photographs?

• I do not like Nutella. At all. I’ve had it in crepes, on toast and in desserts and I just don’t like it. I don’t mind chocolate hazelnut but I’ve never been a fan. People I lived with in Germany thought I was a freak
• I’m terrified of grates in Chicago. In fact, I refuse to walk over them if I can help it. I have this horrible fear that I’ll fall through
• I get ready for work the same way every day. I tend to be forgetful so the routine helps me make sure I don’t forget to brush my teeth, or put put pants on
• The smell of fresh laundry is one of my favorite smells ever
• Sometimes, I laugh so hard that I can’t talk or breathe. I love that feeling
• I don’t know how to drive stick shift. People tried to teach me but I never completely learned. And I have no plans to do so
• I prefer white chocolate to dark chocolate (even though the latter is healthier)
• I am ridiculously uncoordinated at dancing. In fact, I only know about 2-3 moves and repeat them, trying to look like I know what I’m doing
• I have NEVER made an NCAA bracket. I have no idea why
• I do not drink coffee or tea. I don’t like the taste of both. I will have a mocha or some girly kind of coffee-like drink once in a while but if you see me drinking coffee, something is seriously wrong

So do you think I’m a total freak? What are some quirky, odd things about you that you’d like to share.

Review blog update: Summer movie trailers are out so I made a list of movies I can’t wait to see

Back on point! I look forward to Fridays because I walk into my office and yell out, “It’s Treat Friday!” and I hear some of my coworkers mumble back “it’s Treat Friday!”

Before I sat near them, they had no idea what it is and now Fridays take on a whole new meaning in my part of the office.

Actually, that might be a crock, but I like to think it isn’t.

Treat Friday is simple: On Fridays, you eat WHATEVER you want. Calories, carbs, fat grams, sodium, alcohol content (to some extent) don’t matter. AT ALL.

Treat Friday is all about treating yourself.

Why? Well…why not? Don’t we all deserve a treat at the end of the week?

I bring my lunch to work four days a week and now that I can’t eat chocolate candy because of Lent, I am in NEED of a pick-me-up on Friday and Treat Friday is just that.

Hannah’s Bretzel for lunch? SURE! Milkshake from Potbelly’s? GET TWO!

On Treat Friday, it’s whatever you want whenever. So when Treat Friday rolls around, my cubemates and I discuss what we’ll be having for lunch that day as our indulgence.

It’s pretty great. Tomorrow is another Treat Friday and I cannot wait.

I’m trying to decide already how I will reward myself for another week of work :) Plus, I’m taking the day off so it’s like a DOUBLE treat.

What’s your idea of a perfect Treat Friday?

My official Oscar picks: The big show is this weekend and I absolutely cannot wait! So to get in the Oscar spirit, I’ve listed my official Oscar picks in the major categories.

Let me know if you agree or think I’m off my rocker.

Chocolate candy.

That’s right, until Easter, there are no more morning (and afternoon) mini-candy breaks.

I have to say no to my beloved M&Ms, Almond Joys, Snickers and Milky Ways because I’m testing my willpower (mostly to see if there is any left) and trying to go without.

I must be out of my f*cking mind.

Candy is my friend! It’s also my biggest vice (next to drinking vodka for dinner sometimes).

When I’m stressed or need a quick fix, I always reach for it and I realized how bad the cravings have been lately when I found more than a handful of wrappers at my desk. It was really embarrassing. I don’t even remember eating some of them.

I’m trying to stay on the healthy living train but it’s been tough. I’ve been stressed lately and candy is how I cope. Then my cubemates set up an office challenge to see what everyone was giving up for Lent and made them write it on a chalkboard so we’re accountable for it. And after one last binge, I went up and wrote “chocolate candy.”

Some people think this is cheating and providing too many loopholes. Why? Because I’m not saying no to sweets or chocolate. I can still have Skittles and I can still have chocolate cakes or brownies but the point is, chocolate candy is what I crave the most so this keeps my goal attainable.

Plus, by getting rid of it from my diet, that will help me moderate consumption after Easter.

We’re not even a week in though and I’m struggling. I see chocolate candy in my office and I want it SO BAD. But I’ve remained strong. Here’s hoping next week is easier.

What about you? Did you give something up for Lent? Or what would you NEVER be able to give up? For me, it would be swearing or shopping. That’s not possible.

I’m back from a business trip and Chicago is supposed to get 7+ inches of snow over the next 24 hours.

Kill.me.now. Let’s hope that’s not a reality.

This weekend I went to the Lone Star state (first time!) for the Mom 2.0 conference where I got to see Katelin, meet Allison in person and make a new Twitter friend, Brittney.

And we did manage of spend some time together in the hotel bar, where we got a little rowdy talking about Dawson’s Creek, Twilight and pop culture. I may have also reenacted the birth scene in Breaking Dawn on my Blackberry cover too. And we may have been the loudest people there and screaming and hitting the table (in excitement) near Dooce and people on a date. That’s how we roll. And then we only got one photo together over the course of three days. FAIL.

But I did take a lot of random pictures because it was my first time staying in a Four Seasons hotel and ZOMG I would give my left tit to stay in another one. I cannot even begin to tell you how amazing it was. And it made me realize I might be grizzled, jaded city person.

Why?

Because the hotel service was amazing. I cannot gush about this enough. Staff always asked if I needed help, if I was having a good time, if I enjoyed my meals, pronounced my last name correctly, had turndown service, always smiled and delivered things to my room in the most timely manner I’ve ever seen. Even when my event had some bumps, people were there to help. I told everyone I ran into at the hotel how nice it was and how blown away I was by the service. The kitchen staff even brought food out to my booth for me and my co-workers to eat because we usually ate last or not at all. I mean, seriously?

So the jaded part comes in response to this over-attentiveness. The first day when people asked if I needed help, I said, yes or no, by day three, I was like, “why? what’s your game?”

How sad is that? People are trying to be nice and I’m thinking they’re doing it insincerely. I’m ashamed of myself and my city-attitude.

I’m going to be uploading my oodles of photos to my Flickr page over the next few days but for tonight, I leave you with a picture of me and my co-workers with the Chipmunks. Yes, you heard me correctly. And no, it’s not  coincidence I’m standing near Alvin :)

How was everyone else’s weekend? What is your favorite Chipmunk? Or what is the nicest hotel you’ve ever stayed in?

Review blog update: Gasp, I updated my review and it’s not a movie review this time! Check out my review of CoverGirl’s Lash Blast mascara.

In fact, I’ve been pretty lucky in the boss field.

Sure, I haven’t gotten along with all of them, but I can only remember one boss I really, really hated.

I mean, hated to the point of cringing when she would speak to me and watching her smile as she tortured me in the office. Belittling my work, nitpicking to the point of making me cry almost every day because I didn’t end an email the way she liked or I didn’t magically know what she wanted at any given second. When I heard she was leaving, the smile would not leave my face.

I even had another boss who told me that I wouldn’t amount to much so I should look at another field where my expectations of success would be lower.

I’m not saying I’m a massive success now, but part of me dreams of finding that one again, showing her my business card and telling her to suck it.

I would never do it, but it’s a great daydream.

And now that I manage staff, I look back at my past bad boss experiences and learn from them. I try to be a better listener, communicator and manager than some bosses were to me. But let me tell you, this sh*t is HARD.

Yes, I’ll make mistakes and some decisions may not be the most popular, but I know that the more I try to do better than those before me, that  years down the road, my girls (yes, that’s what I call them) will look back at me and say, “she wasn’t half bad.”

Fingers crossed.

Do you have any boss horror stories? Or what have you learned from bad bosses or co-workers from your past (or present?)

Tardy: I loved reading everyone’s responses yesterday to the “tardy for the party” post. I’m so glad to hear I’m not the only one who arrives at places early or has friends who constantly run late. So glad to hear!

Movie review: Just a friendly reminder that the Dear John review is still up and with a three day weekend coming up, I’m off to the theater yet again!

1. It had to get up to an alarm and shower
2. It didn’t get to eat junk food all day

Since I work up today, I rotated between feeling like a bear waking from hibernation and a baby getting fussy that it wasn’t being fed on its regular schedule.

Normally, I’m pretty quick and have a good memory but today, everything seemed to take longer to process, including simple math (yes, addition and subtraction, it’s tough).

Someone asked me a question and I stared at them blankly for about a minute before actually answering the question.

I also had trouble training my body to like a regimented diet of daily healthy brown-bagged lunches. I had candy-craving pains ALL DAY and then when I wouldn’t feed my stomach candy, she just wanted salty food. WTF stomach?

And lying to myself that carrots were just as good as candy or chips was a total crock. I anticipate a few more days of fussy b*tchy food cravings and then I’ll be back on track.

Even the gym was tough, which I’ll blame partially on this cold because it’s sucking away my will to live. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical and nearly fell off of it gasping for air. An elderly woman next to me made her machine her b*tch, which was ridiculously embarrassing.

But, I only had two small pieces of candy today (my stomach would NOT take no for an answer) and still made it to the gym after leaving work late. So that’s a plus for me!

Now I’m having mixed greens, walnuts, cranberries, raisins, balsamic, chicken and goat cheese salad for dinner. Let’s just hope tomorrow is better.

How about you? How was your first day back at work or the gym? Did you find it tough to get back in your daily routine?

Vote for me! That’s right, this little blog was nominated for an 20sb award! So help me bring home the bacon and share it with all of you. Vote for me here!

Or as I like to call them “things I try to achieve when I’m not lazy.”

But before I go out tomorrow night, drink loads of champagne, possibly force a guy to make out with me and spend the first day of 2010 hungover on my couch, I want to highlight a few 2009 highlights (in no particular order):

• Vegas – holla bloggers!
• Boston with dad
• BlogHer 2009 – did you see this video of Katelin, Jamie and me? That’s how much fun it was
• New blog design/URL (I’m such a grown up blogger now)
• Target Bazaar party with Ed Westwick and Jessica Szohr (I die!)
• Turning the big 3-0
• Received a promotion at work (WOO!)
• First ever VLOG about my then life as a twenty something

All in all, 2009 was a pretty good year, lots going on but a lot of positive things too. So as I continuously try to become a better person, let’s look at how I plan to do that starting Friday. Oh and this is separate from the yearly pledge to lose more weight.

2010 resolutions:

• Sign up for dance classes (real ones at a real dance studio)
• Run a 5k (and start the Couch to 5k program)
• Be a better friend and daughter
• Start a knitting project (other than a scarf) and FINISH it
• Make one new recipe a month
• Be more active in blogging communities in addition to my blog

Well that’s my 2009 wrap up and 2010 sneak peek for now. I hope 2010 will be as exciting and good to me as well as for all of you. I think 2010 could be the year of me!

I’ll be back this weekend with more but in the meantime, I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year! My New Years Day plans involve my couch, a pizza and lots of water and Naked Juice. Let’s party.

What was your 2009 highlight (blog or otherwise) or what’s your big 2010 resolution?

New movie review is up! You can read my full review of the musical Nine, get those jazz hands ready!

What I’m wearing: Sunday, I put up a picture of me wearing the below outfit over the holidays and then I didn’t share what stores I got everything from! I’m sorry! Details on my comfortable, “trendy” look are below.

Outfit breakout:

Shirt: Old Navy

Long vest: Banana Republic

Leggings: Hue, purchased at Nordstrom

Necklace: Banana Republic outlet

Boots: Banana Republic

Bracelets: Old Navy (black jet beaded ones) and David Yurman

As many of you know, I’m a huge Gap/Banana/Old Navy fan. Minus the Yurman bracelets, the most expensive item from this ensemble was the boots, which were $100 on super-end-of-season sale. Everything else individually was $40 or below.

My parents are divorced so every year I have two Thanksgivings in one day. Moms in the morning and dads in the evening. And the first year we worked out this arrangement, I thought my stomach was going to explode from all the food. My dad found me passed out with a plate of turkey next to me and woke me up to go to bed.

The image of me passed out on a couch, drooling with turkey next to me is hilarious. I wish I had a photo of it.

Anyhow, tonight I’m on my way back to Wisconsin to be with my family, shop my heart out and try to get into the Christmas spirit.

But before that, it’s time to share a silly and serious list of what I’m thankful for this year.

Serious:

• Family (we’re not perfect, but they’re mine!)
• Friends (even those I’ve been estranged from lately)
• A good job
• Good health
• No credit card debt
• A good life in a great city

Silly (this is more fun):

• Jacob’s abs (cougar time!)
• Glee
• HD-TV
• A full head of hair (I would be more thankful if I didn’t have so much gray)
• iPods
• Text messaging
• John Krasinski’s hotness
• Push up bras
• Cotton leggings
• Nordstroms
• A good sense of humor
• Twitter (which will help me get through four days at home)
• Mac and cheese (or just cheese)
• Honey crisp apples
• Cupcakes

And of course, thankful for all of you :)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

So what are you thankful for this year? It can be silly and serious!

Every morning, I get up, shower and try to put together something cute to wear to work. Then when I actually get into work, I realize my office building is f*cking freezing and I need to usually add one to two more layers of clothing over my cute outfit to keep myself from shaking at my computer.

Dramatic? Hardly.

But when I reach for a sweater at work, I have options! Why? Because I have two at my desk, along with a lovely assortment of shoes. Right now, I have four pairs of shoes at my desk (all black, two flats and two heels) to change in to when I arrive at work in sneakers.

One girl I used to sit by had a Rubbermaid bin of shoes at her desk. I swear that bin had 10-12 pairs of heels. I wondered what shoes were even left at her apartment.

People may tease me for this, but collecting a mini-closet at work is easier than you think. It starts when you leave one pair of shoes at your desk by accident, then the next day you think, “well I’m going to wear them at work anyhow, so I’ll just leave them there.” Then the shoe stockpile starts multiplying like bunnies and suddenly the only shoes you have at home are sneakers and sandals.

But when young professionals have to be prepared for anything, it’s not uncommon to keep extra clothes at your desk, especially if you work really long hours. I draw the line at pants and extra shirts though because the one time I’ll want to wear them at home, I’ll remember they’re in my desk drawer, which is not clean at all.

I’m trying to slowly take a few of my pairs of shoes home, but I’m sure it’s more likely that they’ll be multiplying at my desk again, especially with winter coming up.

Do you have a mini-closet at your desk? If so, what do you stockpile? Shoes? Sweaters? Jackets?

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.

For example, last night I meant to upload photos from my camera but didn’t because I was distracted by downloading Glee episodes on iTunes. I blame the change in seasons for that musical distraction.

But along with blaming the seasons for my absentmindedness, it has also caused some dormant “old lady” habits to surface too.

I started thinking about this after I saw a picture of my 14 year old goddaughter/cousin on Facebook going to her freshman year homecoming. She looked so beautiful and I choked up because I remember holding her as a baby and holding her hand as she learned to walk. And then I looked a picture of her full dress and said, “hmm that hem could be a little longer, below the knee Grace!”

Yes, that’s how sweet I am.

Now on to the other “old lady” habits I’ve adopted lately:

• Unable to stay awake past 10 p.m. on weeknights (and wanting to sleep until 10 a.m. the next morning)

• Commenting that high school girls’ senior photos look a little sluttier every year (my cousins showed me their yearbook)

• Inability to understand “kids” lingo. For example, a younger coworker said the word “baller” in a sentence to me and I have to think about what that meant

• Dislike of loud TVs or parties when I’m trying to go to sleep

• The attraction and longing for napping

• Exponential increase in bounce back time needed from drinking

Yeah, I need to get out more and be more reckless. Or I need to move to California where it’s sunny, warm and heavenly all the time. Or maybe it’s time for me to find a cul-de-sac in Florida where I can rest my back and swim by the pool. Sounds nice.

Have you noticed any “old lady” habits lately or a change in your moods because of the seasons? Or what would you like the blame the change in seasons for? Feel free to share, it’s not your fault!

About a month ago on Facebook, I marked on my status that I received good news. And then like a b*tchy little tease, I didn’t give any context as to what kind of news I received. Yes, it was a crappy thing to do but I promise it wasn’t intentional. I was just on such a high about the good news that I had to say something but I couldn’t say anything publicly until now.

So here it is: I got promoted at work.

WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What does that mean? More responsibility and more project and staff management. Scary? Sure, but I’m excited and I can promise that I won’t be like this guy:

OR this guy:

Yeahhhhhh my staff won’t have to come in on a Saturday or do TPS reports. K? Thanksssssssss.

So on top of my big birthday just a little bit ago, there is lots to celebrate (and treat).

I know, not earth-shattering news, but if you know me, you know that I take my job seriously so hearing news like this was really, really great.

So now, it’s time to officially celebrate and get me something to say congratulations, and I think I know JUST the thing :)

Cough, cough

What do you think? Is this news purseworthy?

Also, does anyone have big plans for this upcoming long weekend? I cannot wait to lay around on Monday and do NOTHING.

Problem with that part is that I’m not really a regular “lottery player” or gambler. I have no idea how to play slots (shocking but true) and don’t buy weekly lottery tickets.

But I will walk to a gas station and buy a lottery ticket when there is a huge jackpot because, why not? Sure, my odds of being struck by lightening are better than winning, but it’s fun. The Mega Millions jackpot was $330 million or something so Friday night I went to a gas station and bought three tickets.

And while I didn’t win (and have been at work all week), I always let myself daydream a little bit about what would happen if I did win. It was a hot topic one day at lunch too.

So here is what I would do with $330 million (or whatever I get after taxes):

• Buy my parents house and give them a lump sum of money to cover property taxes for the next 20 years
• Let my dad retire and say “f*ck it” to his job
• Buy myself a SWEET condo (lots of room to walk around naked)
• Work freelance and go back to school for my MBA
• Donate a lot of my clothes and replace them with beautiful things from JCrew, Anthropologie and Nordstrom
• Two words: Chanel quilted
• Donate money to local charities
• Volunteer more
• Stalk Oprah.com to get tickets to a taping (since I won’t have to work)
• Get a car, or two (and a parking spot)
• Send my parents to Europe (and get some nice non-addictive, Michael Jackson sleeping pills for dad to help him not go crazy on that flight)
• Travel (hi five-star hotels around the world) and take my closest friends on a nice trip
• Buy a real pony (not that I don’t love my birthday ones, but you know, get a real, live one to love forever)
• Get a dog (and pay someone to train him, kidding?)
• Have fresh cut flowers in my house weekly (I LOVE fresh flowers)
• Go to LA and stalk John Kraskinski (kidding?)
• Get a personal trainer and get my fat a** back in shape
• Hire a cleaning lady (I’ll be honest, I’m lazy and hate scrubbing floors)

As you can see, some are more realistic than others. And it seems I’ve put more thought into this than I imagined :)

What would you do if you won the lottery? Feel free to shoot for the stars (and get creative too!)

Edit: I also meant to add about getting a condo that I’ll have room for Alexa to come live in my “room of awesome” :) FORGIVE ME Alexa!

Why? First, it saves on you having to eat a full dinner because you’re already full by late afternoon! Second, saves the environment and one less plastic bag is being used to bring groceries home. I know, reaching on that one, but work with me.

In my office, I’m fortunate that sometimes, food just magically appears in alcoves so that we can take it as we wish. Past food treasures include: Garrett’s popcorn (the holy grail), muffins, danishes and candy. You do have to be careful though if that stuff is out for birthday parties though and you grab it before the e-mail has gone out announcing it’s free reign. People really don’t like that.

But the real treat is the twice-weekly snack cart, which visits all of our company floors between 2-4 p.m. with a mid-afternoon treat of fruit, cookies, candy or rice krispie treats.

People are known to get crabby when the snack cart hasn’t made the trip around the office around 3:30 p.m., often IM’ing staff members on other floors to see if it’s been by them yet. Hey, when you get hungry, you get impatient.

And when it does come and I hear the bell that it’s close, people around me grab their money, rush to the main walkway and wait. Yes, wait for it to appear, sometimes grumbling if it’s picked over. We’re a tough group. I’ve even had to run after the cart a few times, shouting “wait!” so I can get my apple (or M&Ms, let’s be honest).

Unfortunately, today when the snack cart went by today, I was on the phone and couldn’t mime my order in exchange for an IOU. I’ve even put calls (non-important ones) on hold when the snack cart comes by, some even stop meetings to go grab a treat. We’re hard core.

Let’s not talk about what this is doing to my waistline. To be fair, 90 percent of the time, I am taking the fruit. That is the truth :)

Do you have any kind of “snack cart-like” treat at work? Or what would your afternoon treat of choice be (can be sweet or healthy).  I’m always in the mood for fresh fruit or a rice krispie treat to mix it up. Only on the really bad days do I go for candy. Have to control myself :)

Note: Thank you everyone for the really sweet comments on Tuesday’s make up post. You guys are so sweet with the compliments.

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!