It's a conspiracy!

Now, I have been busting my a** lately, trying to lose those last few stubborn pounds that found me over the last few months and it hasn't been easy. What makes it even harder is the fact that I work for a company that completely revolves around food. Now, the 25-cent sodas and water are a nice plus, but the spreads that they have in the office on a daily basis are out of control.

Here's a recap:

Monday - stromboli, fresh mozzerella and tomatoes, and salad, courtesy of our chief sales and marketing officer
Tuesday - three dozen Krispy Kremes (the winner of the football pool each week buys breakfast)
Wednesay - barbecue day (yes, I work for a really small company and yes, we have grills outside that people use to cook lunch almost daily)
Thursday - candidate interview day, pizza

And today. One of the guys brought in a sushi platter (?) for lunch.

Then we had a baby shower for one of the guys in the office, and we all pitched in for a gift certificate and a cake. Now, this was no ordinary Costco cake - it was a marble cake, with raspberry filling, whipped cream frosting and buttercream flowers, courtesy of The Vanilla Bean Bakery, one of the yummiest places in the Capital District. I had just a couple of bites, and it was good.

Fast forward two hours. I get a call from the receptionist - there is a package at the front for me. I get to the front desk and what do I see but a giant cookie cake and a dozen cookies from Cookies by Design, courtesy of our PR agency. Good Lord. I brought it right to the kitchen for everyone to share and it took all of my willpower not to indulge, but I didn't. I just ate my South Beach cookies and pretended I was eating something yummy.

One of the guys I work with was telling me that he has gained 30 pounds since he started working here. Thankfully, I have actually lost a few pounds, but it's only because I take my own lunch to work each day and eat almost nothing that anyone brings in.

On a brighter note, one of my other coworkers told me that the holidays are "a real food fest." Lord help me...

Stop Looking at Me, Swan!

Week/weekend recap....

First, we are almost positive that we have a new home - on Swan Drive (hence the Billy Madison reference). Now my brother, who lives in Albany on South Swan, and I have similar addresses - something that my mom loves pointing out... what a great coincidence. Anyway, the people have verbally accepted our offer and when I come back from my final business trip at the end of October, I will be driving from the airport to my new home (I am missing the closings on both of our homes, which is kind of a strange thing - but we'll deal).

The house is beautiful - it is by a great builder in a fantastic neighborhood, with walking and biking trails. It has a heated pool, a finished basement and a gorgeous yard (over .5 acre). I am very comfortable with this decision - Ari and I have always been about buying a middle-of-the-road home in a great neighborhood, versus the best home in a not-as-nice setting... and I think that this one fits the bill. If you were to look at the pics, you would never believe that it was just an average home in the neighborhood, but some of the other houses are gigantic, amazing.

Other things - hubby and I had a very nice, very productive weekend together. We got lots of errands done, packed over 50 boxes, and just spent time with one another, which makes me so happy. I miss him so much during the week, and I can't wait until we are together again.

So, without further ado, my three great things that happened this week:

1. Obviously, the new offer on the new house (having the first one fall through was a blessing in disguise).
2. Had an awesome shopping day today - I needed a bunch of new pants for work, and hit the mall this afternoon. Everything I tried on in a size 6 fit me well (which was nice, because I have been having a lot of fat days lately), and I got some great deals at Ann Taylor and Macy's. Of course, nothing beats my two pairs of dress pants at NY&Co for $25... good stuff.
3. Spending time with the hubby. He is just so wonderful, so loving, and he brings out the best in me. Only a few more weeks until I get to spend every day with him.

I will try to check in during the week. Have a nice week everyone!

The Surreal Life

Does anyone watch this? Hubby and I are catching the latest episode right now.

Janice Dickinson (whose claim to fame is that she was the first supermodel) and Omarosa (from The Apprentice) are in the middle of this HUGE fight... I guess that Janice threatened Omarosa with a knife, and Omarosa keeps on calling Janice a crack whore.

Anyway, Janice just told the rest of the house (Pepa, Jose Canseco, some blonde model, Corey Hart, etc.) that her father was a pedophile. So, she explains to Bronson Pinchot (Balki) that this secret is the reason why she hates it so much when people (read: him) try to touch her... blah, blah, blah...

So, Omarosa is walking around muttering "crack whore" everytime she sees Janice; Janice is alternating between crying about her past and telling everyone what she would like to do to Omarosa.. but the strange part? They keep on showing Balki crying hysterically. Is it because he feels bad for Janice, or because he has just realized that he is a creepy molester man??

Commercial is over - back to the show. Up next? My Fair Brady... yay!

Three great things...

This week was crazy, to say the least. Work has been insane (and will only get busier in the weeks ahead) and I tend to lose focus on the good things in life when I am stressed out. However, it is much better to focus on the positive, versus dwell on the negative.

So, here are three things that happened this week that I can be happy about:

* Our house is under contract and we have an offer on another one (see the hubby's blog for more details)! If everything works out, hubby and I will be living together again by the end of October - thank God (shhh... don't tell him, but I miss him every day).

* I got to see hubby this week! He took a trip up to NY on Wednesday so we could go house hunting and we had a great time (all five of us - me, hubby, my mom, dad and MIL). We found our dream house (and had a chance to look at some other great ones), had a fantastic dinner at Red Robin (yum!) and everyone was relatively well-behaved, which is saying a lot.

* I woke up this morning and my back didn't hurt at all. For those of you who don't know me, I have had awful back pain (upper back, around my ribcage) on and off for the past year and a half. I have been to a ton of doctors and nobody can figure out what's wrong with me. Waking up in the morning and feeling pretty darn good is not a common occurence, so it is so nice when it actually happens.

(Bonus great thing - celebrity gossip galore! Britney gave birth to little Sean Preston Spears Federline and my best friend let me know that The Donald will be on Days of our Lives next week... set the Tivo!)

So, what three great things happened in your world this week?

Favorite Songs...

Every time I make the long drive from NY to NJ, I thank God for the brilliant person who invented satellite radio. No commercials on the music channels (I love Alt Nation, First Wave, Big 80s, Faction, 60s Vibrations and...ahem...Elvis Radio, among others), hundreds of choices, and some of the best non-music channels around (my favorites include Talk Central - especially The Radio Chick, E! Entertainment, Fox News, Court TV and Raw Dog Comedy).

Anyway, one of my favorite features of Sirius (yes, I am a Sirius girl) is that you can store up to 20 favorite songs in the receiver's memory, and every time one of the songs comes up on any station, you get an alert so you can change the channel to hear it, if you choose.

Guess that Sirius was playing my songs last night, since I heard a handful of my favories throughout the evening. Some of the songs stored in my receiver's memory are recent songs that I simply enjoy listening to for the pure pleasure of it, but many of them evoke memories of specific people and times in my life.

Here are a few of my favorite songs:

* True Companion (Marc Cohen) - our wedding song, always reminds me of hubby... Taking You Home (Don Henley) and Come Away With Me (Norah Jones) are also saved in my favorites, reminds me of our wedding - they were the last two songs that we danced to
* Anything, Anything (Dramarama) and Popular (Nada Surf) - remind me of my best friend and our times together
* Let's Get it Started (Black Eyed Peas), My Doorbell (White Stripes) - good songs for singing along to
* Out of the Blue (Debbie Gibson) - Debbie Gibson at SPAC was my first concert (I was in 5th grade) and I was a HUGE fan for awhile (Electric Youth perfume, anyone??)
* No Phone (Cake) - brings me back to a memorable trip to Boston with hubby
* She Talks to Angels (Black Crowes) - also reminds me of hubby
* Word Up (Korn) - embarissingly enough, one of my favorite bands
* I'll Be You (Replacements), The Breakup Song (Greg Kinh Band) - brings me back to high school days... even though I was probably in elementary school when those songs came out, my high school boyfriend was in a band, and those were two of the songs that he sang that I always loved
* Kiss the Rain (Billie Myers) - think that it came out during one of those heartbreak times in college, so it reminds me of that time
* Honestly (Zwan) - they never play it, but I am a huge Smashing Pumpkins/Billy Corgan fan, and loved that song when it came out
* Regulate (Warren G/Nate Dogg), Water's Edge (Seven Mary Three) - both remind me of my brother

Now, I have other songs that I would probably consider to be my favorites over some of these, but this list is important to me.

So, what are your favorite songs, and why?

Spoiled??? Moi?!?

So, I am out with my mother on Tuesday night and we were having a great time, eating ice cream and chit-chatting. We were talking about one of her friend's little girls and raising kids in general, when she says, "Yeah, I raised spoiled children."

Excuse me?!? What?!? Now Bryan, my younger brother, is spoiled rotten, but me? I am not spoiled, not in the least. In fact, I know that I contributed to my brother's spoiled personality because I was as bad as my parents, doting on him and giving him everything he wanted.

So, we drive home from the ice cream place, the word "spoiled" ringing in my ears. I get home and tell my mother that I am going to call hubby, he will tell you that I am not spoiled. She tells me not to put him in a bad position by asking him. Hah!

So, I call hubby and the conversation is as follows:

Me: Hi honey!
Him: Hi sweetie!
Me: Honey, mom called me spoiled earlier today! Do you think I am spoiled?
Him: Yes, you are.

What?!? What sort of parallel universe am I living in, where people actually believe that I am spoiled??? Dissatsified with the answer, I call the one person I can count on - my Nana.

Me: Nana!
Nana: Nonie! (my Nana's nickname for me)
Me: Nana, mom said that I was spoiled!
Nana: Well you are, honey!

OMG! This is out of control!

When my dad got home, I tried to tattle on my mom, but he wasn't even getting involved in the situation.

So, let me plead my case. I am a nice person. I am a good friend, a good wife, a good listener. I have a kind heart, am nice to animals. I don't litter, tip well, and always say "please" and "thank you." How can I be spoiled?

And, if I am spoiled, how do I change???