Happy Anniversary

5 years today. Weird to think that I have been dating Ryan since I was 20 years old, that seems like soooo long ago!!! We are going to celebrate at The Melting Pot tonight, provided that the snow and ice doesn't change our plans.

Weekend Review

Friday- My friend Mallory was house-sitting for my boss' best friend, so I met her over at the house after work. We didn't have any plans, so we decided to drive around the Paseo Arts District and stop wherever looked interesting. We wanted to have dinner, so I drove us to Cheever's Cafe because it's a unique local spot I keep hearing about. From the outside, it doesn't look like anything special, but when we went inside it was so fancy! We quickly realized the food was out of our price range, so we told the waitress we were waiting on friends and would be back later.

We got back in the car and I turned on my Garmin and typed in "restaurants" to see what else was around. We saw a place called "Funk's Kitchen," and started laughing...we decided to go there next. We got close to the coordinates and didn't see Funk's Kitchen...but there was a shady looking Chinese place called "Fung's Kitchen!" Nice work, Garmin. It did NOT look appetizing, so we were off again in search of food.

Third time's a charm because we drove by the massive gold dome right up the street and Mallory saw a sign that said "Prohibition Room." There was an old car show outside, with a live band. I remembered Ryan talking about the Prohibition Room before, so we went inside to check it out. It was a giant wide-open building that looked vacant besides the restaurant. There was nothing spectacular about it, but the host was charming and won us over after he showed us the huge drink menu and his 3-year old son crawled up to us on all fours, barking like a dog. We stayed and had dinner (Chicago dog and a $12 bottle of wine, the special of the night! Fantastic!)

An hour later, we were off to Cuppies and Joe so that Mallory could check it out. She bought an Oreo sugar cookie, but I decided not to get anything because I was so full from dinner. We still didn't have a plan for the rest of the evening, so we just got back in the car and turned up the music....that led to discussions about visiting one of the dance clubs in Bricktown but we were both without our men and didn't feel like enduring all of the creepy advances that were inevitable. Mal's boyfriend Patrick was at the Thunder game with Rob at the Ford Center and it was getting ready to let out, so we started calling them to see if they would meet us for drinks somewhere. We ended up at TapWerks, and sat at the bar. I heard my name, and looked up to see my friend Lindy working behind the bar! She gave us t-shirts, Heineken glasses and a blinking Heineken sticker for our shirts (classy, I know) and then used a wet towel to tattoo us with a Heineken symbol. I guess they were having a promotion? Patrick and Rob showed up, and we had a blast until Rob had to leave to get home. I made friends with some crazy old guys who were in the city trying to sell art...I think they were from England and France? Patrick made friends with another guy also named Patrick....and before too long, it was time to leave, before the designated driver had to call a taxi!

Saturday- I was dying to go buy Twilight!! Ryan came home after lunch (he had been in Shawnee the night before to help his mom fix her computer, and they ended up at the casino so he spent the night.) He asked me if I wanted my 5-year anniversary present, but it's not until this Friday....so I said, no! I wanted to wait so I would have a surprise on the actual day! But he kept insisting, so we got in his car and he drove us to Best Buy. I had no idea what he thought I would like there....when we got inside, he led me to the aisle with the Wii games and told me to pick out my favorite game to go along with my new Wii!!! I was kind of in shock, I didn't believe him for awhile. Turns out he did pretty good at the casino the night before, and wanted me to have something to keep me busy while he was on his computer. So I grabbed the last Mario Kart and we picked out the system, along with an extra controller and battery charger. I also bought Twilight while we were there, so I was giddy on the way back home!! We played Mario Kart for a few hours, then cooked dinner and started getting ready to go to the movies with Sean and Jamie. Sean called at the last minute and said they weren't going to be able to make it, so I asked Ryan if he would watch Twilight instead. He agreed! Hahaha. He fell asleep halfway through it, so I paused it and we watched the rest on Sunday (which was uneventful). And this post is way too long, so I will leave Sunday out.

Back to work. I hate Mondays.

Etsy!!!!

I am always SO EXCITED near the end of the day Friday (as I'm sure 99% of the country is too!) I have big plans for this weekend, beginning....in one hour.

I have become addicted to Etsy this week! For those of you who don't know...it's a website where people can sell items they have created and handcrafted themselves. There are all kinds of cool things that I want to buy, and more awesomely cool things that inspire me to be crafty!

So...I went to Michael's twice this week to pick up some supplies. I found this nifty Martha Stewart sand dollar/starfish punch and bought a professional paper cutter and rounded corner punch. I am going to try my luck at making some of these destination wedding boarding passes:


and if they turn out ok, I am going to try these next weekend:



I know you all think I'm crazy, but people make serious money selling this stuff and if I can figure out how to do it, and then do custom orders in bulk.....extra spending money coming in!!!

Green Beer Day 2009

Some of last night's fun at O'Connell's in Norman!

Ryan and I met up with Ashlie, Blake and Yao for green beer and Irish car bombs....I promised Ashlie I would delete these pictures but they are TOO FUNNY. We had a race to see who could finish their giant shot first and.....well......

Look at her face! It got EVERYWHERE!!! Haha!

There was also some live entertainment provided by a random guy from Ardmore that we met outside. He kept coming to our table and dancing, and trying to get Ashlie to dance with him. I am going to attempt to post a video (which I filmed upside sideways, thinking it would look better?)

Ok, it didn't work.

Secret Shopping Rocks!

I signed up with another Secret Shopper company today and was immediately accepted! I am very excited because my first shop is this week at a tanning salon in Moore and I get to spray tan....for free! Well, it costs $35 and I have to pay in cash but they'll reimburse me. I have always wanted to try it, but it was always too expensive. I did a lot of research on the company before I signed up and gave them all of my info. I am very skeptical and cautious online (I blame/credit my mother for that) but everything checked out.

My other secret shopper company is posting new jobs for April tomorrow. I have to log in early to get the good ones! This week I am going to a BBQ place in Moore and I think I can spend $40 and be reimbursed.

I absolutely love getting things free/discounted and I would recommend these two companies to anybody! It does require a bit of work, filling out the survey when you return from the shop. But in my opinion, it's totally worth it.

Here are the companies, in case you guys want to check them out.
http://www.a-closer-look.com/ (They make you take a quiz and do a short essay on your last experience eating out. I didn't think it was hard, but another friend took the quiz and failed, so....)

and my newest one is http://www.bestmark.com/ .

No More Hibernation

This is what I bought at Target during my lunch break today:

Can you guess what I have planned this week? I just realized that I could rent fitness DVDs on Netflix! So in my queue I have "Fat to Fit- Fitness Ball Workout," "Pilates for Dummies," and I will continue to add. Ryan said that Pilates would be good for my back muscles, so I'm anxious to start and find out what happens. Also, I hate waking up early to go to the gym, but maybe if I only have to make it as far as my living room....I can manage to flop onto the mat and get going.

I found out today that they canceled the adult soccer league!!! I am crushed, I was so looking forward to it. They didn't have enough people, so we have to go back up there and fill out a request for a reimbursement (why did they even cash our checks if they didn't know if there was going to be a league?) Maybe I'll start looking for an indoor team.

My boss is putting his house up on the market and he and his wife are moving into a duplex because of the situation at work. It's so sad. BUT the duplex sounds really great, and he's planning to rent out the other side! It's in a cool location, has giant glass window looking out over a park, hardwood floors, a yard, and there is a washer/dryer. He is trying to figure out how much he wants to charge for rent. Hmmm....

Not much planned tonight since The Bachelor is over! However, I just found out that Melissa Rycroft is on Dancing With the Stars- she stepped in after Nancy O'Dell injured herself. Maybe I'll watch a few episodes and see if I like it.

Weekend Update

Friday- Work was ridiculously boring on Friday, and I don't know how I made it until the end of the day. I still haven't heard anything from DC, and every day I thank God that I still have my job. As boring as it can be, I love the work I do and I will miss it terribly when I finally have to go. I got home around 5:00, because I packed up my stuff at 4:30 and Larry told me I could leave. Ryan and I were supposed to meet his Dad and girlfriend at the German restaurant, and then head to the casino. We had to wait until 7:30 because Ryan realized he didn't have any clean clothes to wear. I stopped doing his laundry this month, so he would be forced to help out a little around the house. Of course, this led to another huge fight about how the chores should be divided. He thinks he helps out a lot and said he does about 40%...I started laughing because that's nowhere close. I know he works 80 hours weeks, but why should I be the one stuck with dishes, laundry, vaccuming, making dinner, etc??? I work a 45 hour week too, AND I'm not his wife. I think that's the part that bothers me the most. He's basically getting a live-in maid and our 5 year anniversary is in 2 weeks.

I don't even think he's close to proposing. I just don't understand...there is nothing he can say anymore that is a good enough reason for not being engaged. I need a year to plan the wedding, and in one year he graduates med school and will start his residency. That may mean moving to another city or state, and I told him I'm not moving unless we're married. So....he's seriously running out of time and I am set on moving out at the end of the summer if it hasn't happened yet. I hate that it has to be this way- I shouldn't have moved in last year, but it just made sense financially at the time. Now it's just stressing me out and when (if) it happens, it already feels ruined. If he would have just done it a few years ago when it made sense, it could have been romantic and exciting. Why does he get to choose when we start our lives together?

Ok, I didn't mean to go off on a tangent.

But I ended up going with him to the restaurant, even though I really wasn't in the mood and it turned out ok. We had a good time with his Dad and girlfriend. They just got back from a week in Mexico at an all-inclusive resort and it made me really jealous and longing for a vacation! We played blackjack the rest of the night at the casino and I lost and Ryan won, like always, haha!

Saturday- we slept in and then I was completely lazy the rest of the day. I watched Anne of Green Gables and napped on the couch all afternoon. Ashlie called to wake me up around 4:30 and asked if we wanted to go out to the Deli to hear Mama Sweet play. I haven't seen her for awhile, and we decided to go. We got there around 9:30 before it started to fill up and grabbed a table. Before long, it was packed! The bands were really good (CharlieHorse opened for them) and Ashlie and I texted back and forth all night since we couldn't hear each other talk! We left around 1am and I was so exhausted.

Sunday- I woke up and decided to clean the house, since I had let it get so dirty to try and make Ryan help me clean. I couldn't stand it anymore, so I did dishes, did all the laundry, took out the trash and then clipped coupons from the Sunday paper. I felt really productive, so I decided to work out and ran 3.5 miles at the gym. It took me a long time, but my back didn't hurt very much and I decided to take advantage of that! I did a few stretches and crunches on the mat before I came home and I feel good. Tonight I think we're going to watch 'Milk' with Sean Penn and make popcorn like we're at the movies. There was nothing playing at The Warren that we wanted to see, so we're staying in (and saving money!)

Samoas or Carmel DeLites?

In less than 2 hours, I will be on my way to a strategic meeting that was set up via Twitter yesterday to purchase my yearly fix of Girl Scout Cookies!! One of my new Twitter friends responded to my tweet about "where to find Girl Scout cookies around here" and is meeting me at Panera Bread down the street from my house. I am dying for some Thin Mints and Samoas!! (By the way, do people still call them that? Or are they Carmel DeLites??) I will try to be good and only eat a few every day....few boxes that is. Ha.

Tent City

I've been reading articles lately about modern-day "Hoovervilles" sprouting up everywhere. People getting laid off, losing their homes, inflation.....it's bad news out there. Who knows, maybe I'll start an Oklahoma City Barackville soon.



Still no word from DC on the situation with the Oklahoma City office. I confronted Larry this morning before anyone else was here and asked him if I should be worried. He told me I need to be looking for another job. They slashed his salary indefinitely....until we can get new clients....and he said he's been looking for something else so that he can get out of here.



I'm going on a secret shop tonight with Hailee. We are going to Louie's by my house, and she asked if we have to go incognito. I told her yes, we need giant sunglasses and aliases! I used to enjoy secret shops, but they're a lot of work for a free meal...I have to write up a report that takes about an hour and rate everything from cleanliness of salt and pepper shakers to how many seconds it took our server to bring our drinks out after we ordered them. At least my guest always has a nice time! I have yet to figure out an inconspicuous way to take notes at the table...I usually feel so obvious writing things down on my notepad and trying to hide it when the server comes by! Haha!



Last weekend was fun. On Saturday night Ryan and I met Josh and Jana at Cafe Do Brazil.





It's in Midtown, and none of us had ever been there. I suggested it because I'm always hearing good things about it and I am on a quest to eat at all of the random local places around here. It was great! Live jazz music, great drinks (Brazilian sugar cane, rum and muddled limes over ice!), and the food was interesting and tasty. After we ate, all of us went up to the roof to have a few more drinks overlooking the skyline. Our waiter turned on the outside heating lamp for us, and we stayed for a long time catching up on everything.

This weekend I really need to practice outside with the soccer ball! Our first game is in 2 weeks. I wish my back would magically heal....I'm really worried that it's going to interfere with this season and I can't get in to see an orthopedic surgeon until April!

I'm going to spend the rest of the day hunting for a job online. I won't even feel guilty about wasting company time doing it because I'm so bitter about this whole situation.

Scentsy...it's amazing!

It's been a rough week.

I was on-the-verge of being sick for the first part of the week, then full-blown cold/flu/allergies for about 3 days now. I worked from home after lunch yesterday and had to cancel most of my plans...I'm feeling crummy today, but I came in anyways because I really hate missing work. My boss never believes me when I call in sick.

I'm also (once again!) stressed about my job security. My boss got a call Wednesday from the 'big boss' in Memphis....and he took his cell phone outside to talk to him. I heard him say as he was leaving, "Well, if we're going to talk about this now, let me at least go to my car." When he came back inside an hour later, he was a completely different person. He was quiet and didn't talk to us the rest of the day, which is so unlike him. The next day it was the same thing, only I heard him on the phone all day setting up meetings with different people. He was asking if the NBA team was hiring, etc. Today I heard him say something about March 18...which would be two weeks from the day he got the phone call. I figure the big boss is giving it 2 weeks, and if our company can't bring in any new business by then, he's going to be laid off.

If he gets laid off...I wouldn't last long! An office run by me and Patrick? Maybe we would get to work from home for awhile, but I don't think it would last. I guess we'll see what happens. I'm so tired of worrying about it.

I've found a new obsession through the lady who owns 'Dream Dinners.' It's called Scentsy, and it's a wickless candle that comes in hundreds of scents. You buy a warmer and then bricks of the different scents...a lightbulb in the warmer heats the brick until it is a hot pool of wax giving off a really strong scent that fills the entire room! I've got grapefruit in my office right now...and earlier this week, I was burning the raspberry vanilla brick. I like to play in the wax when it's in liquid from and let it dry on my fingertips. It makes them soft and they smell really good!

They just came out with their new Spring catalogue, which has a safari collection with zebra, giraffe and leopard warmers. I just placed an order not too long ago, so I'm broke- drat.

Sorry this post is all jumbled together...I keep putting spaces in it, and then when I post it they disappear!

On the Town

It was a big weekend!! Friday night was the Medicine Ball through OU med school, then Saturday I headed to Dallas for Margaret's bachelorette party. I love that girl, I am so excited that she's moving to Norman this month. Here are some G-rated pictures from our wild and crazy night! Margaret and Kristin at the Mexican restaurant. Margaritas, live music and a conga line!

Everyone had a mask...I got stuck with "Tease."

All of the girls.

I bought Margaret some "Mad Housewife" merlot....which I thought was very fitting...lol. We stayed at the Palomar hotel, which was a crazy nice boutique hotel in the Uptown area. Our suite was massive and Kristin had it decorated with super-girly stuff...pink feather boas were everywhere! We started the night opening gifts- she got a few hilarious ones, including a whip, gun and holster set and handcuffs. Then we headed out to eat and bar hop the rest of the time. We went to so many different bars that I started getting tired and frustrated because we didn't stay in one place long enough to do anything. We ended the night at Ghost Bar, where I accidentally hit the emergency button in the elevator on the way out and halted its descent. There was a huge group of people in there and they told me that I leaned down to the intercom and told the 9-1-1 person that "it was okay," and "don't come." Oops!