Category Archives: random

dating, random

Stop Judging Me, Television.

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Recently, I spent my first Saturday night in in…2 months(?). The fact that I can’t give you an exact date should tell you that I have a moderately awesome social life.

So, due to a number of circumstances (horrible, horrible Saturday when everything went awry and I knew if I further subjected myself to humanity, sh– would hit the walls), I elected to do myself (and most everyone else) a favor to stay parked on my couch. Of course by staying in, I mean me plus a bottle of Rioja.

Fun fact: Saturday night is a good time to catch up on Liz Lemon and her many misadventures on your DVR. Then when you’re done, Saturday night TV has great TV like Iron Man and Sex and the City reruns. Horrible fact: media planners (evil little 20somethings in my business) have somehow decided that this is an optimal time to air Match.com commercials to us sad spinsters home on a Saturday night on our sofas.

The worst part of said evening consisted of me pouring myself another glass of wine in the kitchen and returning to a commercial of an image of the world’s saddest sea otter on the TV staring at me. The commercial voiceover went on to explain that “if you suffer from depression, then you should consider XX medication.”

Oh hey television, just because I’m home on a rare Saturday evening, that means that I am single, lonely, and suffering from depression? Fine, judge me all you want. But why did you have to bring the sad sea otter into all of this?

douchebags, random

Jimmy Kimmel Proves What a Bunch of A-Holes Los Angelenos Are.

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In case you haven’t heard (and I really hope you haven’t, because this is not a newsmaking event), it’s been cold in LA for like a week. By cold, I mean below 70.

Ok, so it has been like 45 degrees at night but I’m getting really tired of the Los Angelenos who are wearing a thin USC or UCLA (double idiot points for the UCLA) sweatshirt at night and complaining about how freezing it is while they stand there shivering. I’m from Chicago and when it is 45 degrees outside*, you put on a decent jacket, jackass.

So when this Jimmy Kimmel clip popped up in my Facebook newsfeed, it had me rolling on the fl0or. My favorite is the douchebag standing in Long Beach with a ski coat and ski gloves acting like he’s covering Battery Park during Hurricane Sandy.

Happy Monday!

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* The one exception to this rule in Chicago is when it has been 10 degrees for a month straight and one magical, sunny, 45 degree day happens in February. Then you may run around the city in a tank top and shorts because your skin has adapted to have bear-like strength to hold heat.

random

Cheers to 2013!

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I have to admit, I was a fan of 2012. New job, new apartment, new (cough cough) blog, new car. Seeing as those some of the previous years were not auspicious (I’m looking at you 2008 and 2010…and the end of 2011), I can only hope 2013 goes half as smoothly as 2012 did and I’ll be a happy camper.

As for resolutions, I don’t really believe in them because I get really, really angry over how crowded my pilates and spin classes and gym get starting on January 2 with all those people and their “fitness resolutions”. Then those fools clear out by mid-February and I’m happy once again.

So here’s hoping for lots of good drinks, friends, not crowded fitness classes, and of course dates in 2013!

Cheers and Love,

A.

random

My Very First Big Girl Purchase.

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Good news — I survived the holiday office party with no hangover, no having to talk to boring married couples (guess what – most were fun and doing shots at the bar!), and doing lots of this:

But perhaps the most exciting news of the weekend was that I bought my first car all on my own. As a single woman, this was more terrifying and overwhelming than navigating OkCupid.

The time had come to retire my 15-year-old Honda Accord as it leaked on me when it rained (and in one instance, leaked on one of my dates when he sat in the passenger seat) and the driver side window decided it didn’t want to open anymore. So I did months and months of online research and finally test drove a certified, pre-owned Sonata and fell in love.

But if there’s one thing I loathe in life, it is negotiating. Thank goodness I work in advertising and not litigation. I actually walked out of the dealership on Saturday because they were pressuring me far too much and gave me a crap offer on my (granted POS) Honda. I spent a night doing further research on Kelley Blue Book and talking with a friend who used to work at a dealership and who had all sorts of tips. The next day, I walked back into the Hyundai dealership much more confident and negotiated the price of my trade-in up and the price of the new car down. And now, I have a car with Bluetooth AND it doesn’t rain on me when it rains outside.

I learned a whole lot over those two days:

  1. Confidence is key. In life, on a date, in a car negotiation. 
  2. Don’t be afraid to walk away from something if you feel overwhelmed or pressured. A night to sleep on it is sometimes all you need.
  3. Research, research, research. I spent months reading car reviews and talking to friends who owned cars I was interested in before I even test drove.
  4. Visit Carmax for a quote on your trade-in. I didn’t wind up using them but their quote gave me extra ammunition in negotiating the price of my trade-in.
  5. Don’t be afraid to ask a friend for advice.

By the way, some Los Angeleno jerk driver scratched the rear bumper on my 4th day of ownership and didn’t leave a note. Typical.

random, single woes and married foes

Navigating the Office Holiday Party.

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I for one love a holiday office party. As long as open bar is involved. My new company (I only started this job in July) is holding theirs on Friday and I have high hopes that the night will look something like this…

Carlton!

And not this…When I get home from my work holiday party after talking to married couples all night. (myfriendsaremarried)

(but I’m sure knowing my luck, it will be the latter)

P.S. If you thought this article was about HOW to navigate your office holiday party, I have no idea.  My first full-time job out of college was working for a small start-up smack dab in the middle of the recession so I didn’t experience my first holiday party until age 27. So I haven’t been hit with the jaded boredom of these events that I think most people have acquired. I’ll leave the advice to the good people of Yahoo and GQ to help you out.