Monthly Archives: July 2010

Nora Confessions Part X

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View all previous installments here.

* I’ve never read or seen The Lord of the Rings Triology. Some say this makes me strange.

* It’s really hard for me to stay out past 11pm these days. Even harder for me to drink more than one drink a night.

* There are days where I strongly consider going to law school; I just don’t know if I’m ready to give up my “real life” job and current lifestyle to do it. I also wonder if I’ll regret if I don’t.

* When I have to leave Jack with the dog sitter during my work trips, I get super sad. A small tear may or may not make its way down my face.

* I was fortunate to stay in a four star hotel during my business trip; as much as I enjoy the luxury I always feel guilty that there are people on the streets with no bed, no shelter, no food. (Yes, I am doing something about it. I’m actively donating money to local charities and considering new volunteer efforts.)

* I ruined my no late fee stretch at the library this week. I’m a little disappointed in myself.

* I will always be Team Edward when it comes to Twilight and a fan of Mr. Big when it comes to Sex and the City.

* On the weekends I get up early but I secretly wish I were sleeping until noon or lying in bed watching movies, being totally useless.

* I think baby showers are fun.

* When people ask my why I’m not married yet I have to physically restrain myself from either punching them or screaming. I’m ONLY 26!

* With that said, there are some days my hopeless romantic heart and soul are seriously tested.

Anything you’d like to confess today, big or small, serious or silly?

Last Chance! If you haven’t done it already, don’t forget to enter my giveaway for a chance to win a $50 gift card from CSN stores! Enter by tonight at midnight!

Blushing Nora

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I’m still in DC and loving it, well, aside from all the work stuff that I have to do on a daily basis and the fact that I can’t go exploring whenver I want. On the flip side, I’m making some professional strides, learning quite a bit and a super bonus, people watching the conference attendees, many of whom are from all over the world. Which brings me to the time my totally awesome dad embarrassed me big in front of people from my favorite country: Italy.

The men from Italy are some of the finest dressers I’ve ever seen: whether they are in jeans or a suit, they look amazing. I love their food, their wine, their culture, their country, their accents, language and voices. Imagine my delight when by chance, a few Italians attending the conference sat with my dad (aka my boss) and me at lunch earlier this week. (Lunch is served at the conference center in one giant room, about 900 tables seating 10-12 cover run nearly wall to wall.) I don’t speak a lick of Italian but I could listen to the language for hours and hours.

My dad, proud of our Italian heritage, struck up a conversation in his (very) broken Italian in a matter of seconds, explaining where our family is from, what we do at this conference, and other light chatter. Suddenly I hear him tell the gentlemen that I’m his figlia, (translation: daughter) and isn’t she bellissimo, a bella donna? (translation: lovely pretty woman).Within seconds I could feel my face turning a deep shade of scarlett. The table erupted into laughter and “si, si” at which point the Italian to  my left commented on the fact that I was blushing (said first in Italian, then in English), complete with hand gestures complete with rolling laughter from the rest of the table.

This situation reminded me a lot of the time my dad shouted after a (different) Italian guy who was flirting with me to “stay in touch with my daughter!” as said guy walked away. Needless to say I never heard from him.

Anyone else have similar embarrassing parental unit stories?

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway for a chance to win a $50 gift card from CSN stores! Enter by tomorrow at midnight!)

Truly Amazeballs*

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It happens to me every time.

Nervous stomach. Sweaty palms. I pace back and forth outside the building once, maybe twice.

This isn’t my usual for a first date- it’s my usual when I meet new people, specifically bloggers. Even more specifically bloggers that I’ve known for over a year, some I’ve just “met,” though it seems like I’ve been reading them forever, and others still that you meet by chance and instantly know that you want to be best friends with them and countless other fabulous women, some who blog, some who don’t, but all who are intelligent, hilarious, open, and fun.

I was greeted by hugs, handshakes, smiles and after that it was like I was hanging out with 25 of my closest best friends.

During my 36 hours of blogger meet-up in DC, I was a back-up dancer in a Rick Rolling video (just ask LiLu, she has the proof). I wore a fake mustache because it seemed like a fun idea:

I shouted across the street as Mandy showed up out of the metro. I shared a salame pizza with Maxie and company, laughed wildly with Ashley, talked about buying purses at Hallmark, what STL and the midwest is really like, randomly shouted Twitter handles as more friends appeared at the bar. (Really, it’s the only way to identify one another. My name for the evening was Nora, WalkingWithNora.)

I talked life, love, my pursuit of happiness, snapped way too many pictures and yet not enough at the same time, took a tequila shot for the first time in ages, managed to survive Chinatown in three-inch heels. Watched a girl (not in our group) throw up while walking and guys (not in our group) take photos of said throw-up. Hailed a cab in two seconds flat, and the minute I got home? Missed everyone immensely and began the process of mentally planning the next gathering.

On Saturday, I indulged in a scrumptious breakfast at Furin’s, a family owned & operated restaurant that came with a side of cute (the owner is smoking hot), indulged in a chocolate milkshake on steroids, oogled the ridiculousness that is the Twilight table at Barnes & Noble. I bought a few more books to add to my ever-growing pile of addiction, laughed like it was my job and just basked in the friendship and outpouring of love that I felt with my friends. My. Real. Life. Friends.  

Special thanks to Lilu for organizing the DCAmazeballsHH (VOTE for her for MTV’s First Twitter DJ while you’re at it!), to all the women (and brave men!) who were there, to Becky for making a rad (yes, I just used the word rad) video of our day on Saturday, and to the blogging community for continually inspiring me, for being my friends and a constant reminder that anything really is possible.

(Don’t forget to enter my giveaway for a chance to win a $50 gift card from CSN stores! Three more days to enter!)

30 Before 30 (Part Two)

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Thanks to all of you for the fabulous feedback, suggestions and enthusiasm about my 30 Before 30 Part One! I’m thrilled to know there are some bloggers in Alaska, ladies who want to skydive with me, and of course, a group interested in the France/Italy trip.

Here’s the next 10 on my list…

1. Get up early enough to watch the sun rise. Ideally this would take place in Florida or one of the places I’m determined to go before I’m 30, but I’ll settle for it taking place in the STL if need be.

2. Be a vegetarian for a month. (I’d go vegan but I’m allergic to way too many fruits, vegetables and etc, so I’d pretty much starve for 30 days.)

3. Go camping. (Yes, you read that correctly. Go camping, for the first time before I’m 30.)

4. Read Gone with the Wind.

5. Go to the new New York Yankee Stadium, hopefully before Derek Jeter retires. I’ve had a celeb-crush on him since I was 13.

6. Watch at least 25 of the Oscar’s Best Movies from the last 75 years. It’s amazing to me how much cinematic genius is out there and yet I’ve seen very few of them.

7. Sing karaoke. In public. My family always teases me because they never hear me sing. In actuality, I sing all the time, just when I’m alone.

8. Make a scrapbook of all the letters and postcards from my grandfather and great grandmother. At present they are sitting in a keepsake box collecting dust; I think they deserve more than that considering how special they are to me.

9. Take myself on a solo vacation: no friends, family or signifcant others.

10. Plant a garden and keep it alive for an entire season.

I have ten more to go. Any more suggestions for me?

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway for a chance to win a $50 gift card from CSN stores!

Tidbit Thursday: Condos, a Giveaway, DC, & More

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Time for another installment of Tidbit Thursday, but first, I have another special giveaway for my readers:

* Since I’ve started looking at condos, I’ve been perusing a lot of home & decor websites, dreaming of how I’d adorn each room. One of my favorite home decor sites so far? CSN Stores: they have over 200 websites and amazing products including everything from platform beds to wall clocks, to children’s bedding, to kitchen gadgets and other housing necessities. CSN Stores was kind enough to offer one lucky reader a $50 gift card valid for use on any of their sites.  See below for the entry details. ***

* You give me (condo) fever. Browsing available condos and townhomes in the area is totally addictive. I’ve promised myself that once this finance class is done (four weeks! FOUR WEEKS!) I’d start looking on a more regular, more focused basis. I’m fortunate to have a great realtor who is a friend of the family so she’ll be helping me out while I figure exactly what I want/need/can afford going forward. There are still some big decisions to be made regarding home ownership but I think I’m honing in on the answers.

* This time tomorrow I’ll be on a plane to Washington DC. The sole purpose of the trip is for work: a very long week of conferences, meetings, key notes, networking. The secondary purpose: take my photo in front of as many monuments as possible while meeting all the fabulous DC bloggers and the other ladies who will be in town for various reasons. I am literally jumping out of my skin with excitement as I finally get to meet Mandy, LiLu, Suburban Sweetheart, Becky and Ashley TIA (and so many more that if I linked to all of them you’d be bored with this sentence). I’ve not been to DC since I was five; I can’t wait to explore the city and geek out on a daily basis. I am, after all, a dork for all things political science.

* Running! I’m officially running again, and so far, 100% pain free. I’m taking it slow and steady, ignoring my pace and mileage and just enjoying the fact that once again it’s me, my running shoes, some tunes and my thoughts. Even after almost three months, running still feels like “home.”

* Wedding (and baby) Season! It’s that time again. This year it’s different: I have more baby showers than weddings. The next few months are a whirlwind of baby showers, bachelorette parties, bridal showers, weddings and other friend-focused festivities. I have eight friends who are pregnant currently and I have to say, I’m enjoying attending the baby showers. Maybe it’s because I’ve been to over 20 bridal showers so baby showers are new to me, or perhaps it’s because I learn something new at each shower. I’m looking forward to this season of weddings too as one of them will be a mini college reunion and the other one is for one of my favorite people. (Plus between the baby showers and weddings, I’m sure to get eat some really good cake!)

Any tidbits you’d like to share today?

***There are two ways to enter the giveaway:
 *For one entry, leave a comment here with how you’d use this gift card if you win.  
* For a second entry, blog about this giveaway; come back and leave a comment with a link to your blog.

Who can enter? Anyone from the US and Canada!
Enter by Thursday, July 15th at midnight.

My (Fur) Baby's 6th Birthday

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It’s hard to believe sometimes that Jack went from this (Nora aged 20, Jack aged 10-12 weeks):

to this (Jack, aged almost 6):

The day I adopted Jack, my College Boyfriend and I were incredibly bored. Having exhausted the mall, walking around campus and perusing the bookstore, we decided to stop by the Humane Society.

From behind the barbwired cage, Jack looked at up me with the puppy eyes (which he still reserves when he really wants something), pleading with me to take him home. We played with him for an hour and when it was time for us to leave, he whined. My heart was both broken and over the moon in love with him. After a brief “fight” with my landlord (the lease I signed said I was allowed a dog yet they told me I wasn’t allowed one), and 400 non refundable dollars later, Jack came home.

As a puppy he was nothing but adorable: housebroken within a month, learning tricks after two months, perking up to rap music like the Black Eyed Peas, Nelly and Ludacris, loving car rides, his chew toys, long walks and puppy cuddles.

Within a year he had learned to sleep in late like his mama, wrestled playfully with other dogs and became a huge hit among my friends. I have blocked out the few pairs of shoes he ruined, lamp wires that he chewed through and the few times that he kept me up late wanting to play instead of going to bed.

To this day he loves his toys, behaves more like a border collie than not (I swear he lays around and counts the number of people in the house each evening), he prefers ice cubes to water in the summer, he’ll sleep in his bed until 5 am each morning when he decides cuddling with me is more to his liking. He’s terrified of the swimming pool and hates baths, waits at the stairs for me each morning, won’t eat until I tell him to, alarms me to other dogs, runners and strangers on the street and most of all, he greets me each day, happier than the day before with tail wags, kisses and endless love.

Happy 6th Birthday, Jackers.

Love Always,
Your Dog Mama

The Weekend: Four on the Fourth

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I’ve spent the last four days living life outside of the office, away from the wires of the internet, detached from the shrill sound of my cell phone.

Instead I opted for quality time with the family and close friends, knocking out my finance midterm well before it’s due date (and not looking back), lazily reading under the cafe umbrella in the backyard, casual strolls with Jack.

I traveled to the movies to see Eclipse with my highschool gal pals. Post-movie, we hung out in the parking lot for an hour like we used to “back in the day,” talking boys, proposals, babies, trips, memories. I indulged in a late night snack and silly TV.

I watched Crazy Heart (highly recommend it if you haven’t seen it), backed up  my files to a hard drive (totally geeky thing but so necessary), planned out my outfits for the upcoming DC trip (I can such a girlie girl sometimes), ran a few miles (and lived to tell about it, sans swollen knee!), and relished in afternoon naps in the sun. I snacked on Mexican food, chair danced to salsa music.

I helped my Gram with the feng shui of her apartment, treated myself to a new pair of shoes, dropped my feet into the water at my friend’s lake house while indulging in mindless gossip and appetizers, stayed up too late talking to my brother and watching ridiculous YouTube vidoes.

I enjoyed the glow of  fireworks with a few hundred of my closest friends outside the local Barnes & Noble. I sipped Schalfly’s Summer Ale. I ran from the sprinklers that sprung up under my chair during the fireworks, laughing and drenched from head to toe.

I didn’t overthink, overplan, overbook. I didn’t stress, freak out, run late.

I lived in every moment, got back to basics and enjoyed every.single.second. Weekends like this are what summer is all about.

What’s your ideal summer/holiday weekend entail?

 

 

30 before 30 (Part One)

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I’ve been giving this list a lot of thought.

While I’m big into list making, unless it’s directly related to work, school or weekend errands, lately I’ve been awful about crossing things off or keeping up with them (hello, New Year’s Resolutions. I’ve only managed to stick with two of them).  You’d think that blogging about it for the world (or rather, the 150 people who read this each day) would make me more accountable, but alas, not so much.

However, I’m going to give it another try because these are goals that I’ve had swirling around in my head for the last six months or so, things that I’d like to do before I’m 30 for no particular reason other than to say that I did.

1. Read the Harry Potter Series. (Please don’t shoot me! I wasn’t into the fantasy/scifi genre when these came out, but I’m ready for them now).

2. Conquer my fear of heights which I believe will be in the form of sky diving, with  my brother, the weekend before my 30th birthday. A bit drastic but I hear it’s an amazing experience and I know if I summon my willpower I can do it.

3. Self-host my blog and grow it a little bit  more. I know, a tad bit vague but I’d like to ramp this up with either some more readers, giveaways, or a focused theme.

4. Go to Italy & France. Maybe at the same time, maybe not. There’s a good chance I wouldn’t come back from Italy in which case the rest of this list will go right out the window.

5. Donate my hair to Locks of Love. This means no more dying  my hair, letting it grow long, and then chopping it all of. I’ve cut off enough hair before (I used to have a long mane of hair) but it’s always had dye in it, so I’m doing one more dye job and then it will be au naturele for me.

6. Take French classes (again). I used to be nearly fluent in French. Then I graduated college and stopped speaking, reading, writing. I miss it. I want to be in a place where I dream in French (it used to happen to me all the time!).

7. Run a handful of 10ks. Half marathons and full marathons are out for me thanks to Doctor’s Orders, but a 10k or two, I’m allowed. I’d like to run my first one later this year if I can, and then maybe two or three a year after that.

8. Become a homeowner (after figuring out where I want to live, at least for the next five years).

9. Make at least ten cupcake recipes from my Martha Stewart Cupcake book. Sounds like it would be cake (no pun intended…really) but her recipes are incredibly intense and it takes about three to four hours just for the batter!

10. Vacation to Alaska. I have this odd desire to live in Alaska but before I do that, I think visiting would be a good start. I want a real experience, not the touristy kind so I’m thinking a vacation rental kind of situation.

I still have 20 more things to come up with; any suggestions for something I absolutely, positively must do before I’m 30? (I have three years and two months to go!)

To all my US based friends, have a lovely Fourth of July weekend! I’ll be back next week with an Ode to Jack (he turns six!), a giveaway, and weekend updates.