My Life

"My daughter asked if I had gotten her anything for Valentine’s Day. I told her I gave her the..."

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:00:05 -0500

“My daughter asked if I had gotten her anything for Valentine’s Day. I told her I gave her the gift of life 6 years ago and it was time she gave me a present to thank me for that.”

- My boss is becoming my role model.

He thinks he's a comedian

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 10:30:05 -0500

Me: I'm so excited that you finally joined Goodreads!!! You'll love it. I'm obsessed.
Ryan: (Looking for books to rate) Ooh, Twilight. Gonna rate that a 1. For awful.
Me: You can't rate Twilight! You never read it!
Ryan: I tried. I just didn't get that far because it was so bad I had to stop.
Me: How far did you get?
Ryan: The cover.

K: Aren’t you going to Weight Watchers today? Me: Nope. I gained 5 pounds, I don’t need...

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 10:13:36 -0500

K: Aren’t you going to Weight Watchers today?
Me: Nope. I gained 5 pounds, I don’t need that recorded anywhere. Plus I ate breakfast already - it’ll be that much worse.
K: But they’re giving out free snacks.
Me: Okay I’ll go.

Aww!!! Tumblr Buddy - Thank you soooo much. Once again, you have outdone yourself. This...

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 00:36:11 -0500

Aww!!! Tumblr Buddy - Thank you soooo much. Once again, you have outdone yourself. This Valentine’s Day package was wonderful. I wish I had a picture with everything all nicely wrapped, but I was too impatient for that.

The mental notes were my all-time favorite but there didn’t need to be quite so many boxes, all I need is “eventually forget” and “ignore.”

Also, gotta say, notes from my TB are really motivating me to not give up on this new-discovery of mine they call running.

And I hope you had a wonderful Valentine’s Day as well!

Phew

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:04:08 -0500

I almost had an entry for DamnYouAutoCorrect. I wrote “Ryan’s Boss sucks” in an email. My iPhone changed it to “Ryan’s Dad sucks” (you know because those words are so closely related).

People the email was addressed to? Ryan’s dad.

Papyrus was packed this afternoon with delinquents who...

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:00:32 -0500

Papyrus was packed this afternoon with delinquents who didn’t get their act together until this afternoon - a.k.a. Just me and about 10 random guys fighting our way to the front of the Valentine’s Day rack.

Also!!! Day 14: Hearts - oops I’m so behind on my February daily pics.

I’m sure that email will get to me any minute now.

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 20:38:00 -0500

I’m sure that email will get to me any minute now.

"One Planned Parenthood clinic does more in a day to prevent abortions than the entire Pro-Life..."

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:31:03 -0500

“One Planned Parenthood clinic does more in a day to prevent abortions than the entire Pro-Life movement does in a year.”

- Helen Philpot (via feminishblog)

I went to Planned Parenthood in Boston during a Pro-Life protest in front of the building (not smart). I was accosted at the entrance and had my arm yanked back in an attempt to prevent me from entering (Boston police, where the hell were you?). I finally made it inside after being screamed at, called a whore, and told I would burn in hell for all eternity.

The reason I was at Planned Parenthood was to get birth control.

"To pass through Grand Central Terminal, one of New York’s exalted public spaces, is an ennobling..."

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:03:11 -0500

“To pass through Grand Central Terminal, one of New York’s exalted public spaces, is an ennobling experience, a gift. To commute via the bowels of Penn Station, just a few blocks away, is a humiliation.”

-
“A Proposal for Penn Station and Madison Square Garden,” from The New York Times. (via taylorlorenz)

Apt description.

(via timeoutnewyork)

As someone who used to start her commute at Grand Central and end it at Penn Station… I whole-heartedly agree.

The Awful Cover Letter All of Wall Street is Laughing About

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:35:00 -0500

The Awful Cover Letter All of Wall Street is Laughing About:

1/23/2012

J.P. Morgan

Dear Sir or Madame:

I am an ambitious undergraduate at NYU triple majoring in Mathematics, Economics, and Computer Science. I am a punctual, personable, and shrewd individual, yet I have a quality which I pride myself on more than any of these.

I am unequivocally the most unflaggingly hard worker I know, and I love self-improvement. I have always felt that my time should be spent wisely, so I continuously challenge myself; I left Villanova because the work was too easy. Once I realized I could achieve a perfect GPA while holding a part-time job at NYU, I decided to redouble my effort by placing out of two classes, taking two honors classes, and holding two part-time jobs. That semester I achieved a 3.93, and in the same time I managed to bench double my bodyweight and do 35 pull-ups.

I say these things only because solid evidence is more convincing than unverifiable statements, and I want to demonstrate that I am a hard worker. J.P. Morgan is a firm with a reputation that precedes itself and employees who represent only the best and rightest in finance. I know that the employees in this firm will push me to excellence, especially within the Investment Banking division. In fact, one of the supporting reasons I chose Investment Banking over any other division was that I know it is difficult. I hope to augment my character by diligently working for the professionals at Morgan Stanley, and I feel I have much to offer in return.

I am proficient in several programming languages, and I can pick up a new one very quickly. For instance, I learned a years worth of Java from NYU in 27 days on my own; this is how I placed out of two including: Money and Banking, Analysis, Game Theory, Probability and Statistics. Even further, I am taking Machine Learning and Probabilistic Graphical Modeling currently, two programming courses offered by Stanford, so that I may truly offer the most if I am accepted. I am proficient with Bloomberg terminals, excellent with excel, and can perform basic office functions with terrifying efficiency. I have plenty of experience in the professional world through my internship at Merrill Lynch, and my research assistant position at NYU. In fact, my most recent employer has found me so useful that he promoted me to a Research Assistant and an official CTED intern. This role is usually reserved for Masters students, but my employer gave the title to me so that he could give me more work.

Please realize that I am not a braggart or conceited, I just want to outline my usefulness. Egos can be a huge liability, and I try not to have one.

Thank you so much for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Best,

Mark

We have a first-year position open at my company. I want to invite this guy in for an interview. I plan on asking him if he considers himself an efficient worker. I’ve also bolded the best parts.

megburns: Connecticut, in a nutshell. I have a co-worker that...

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:14:29 -0500

megburns:

Connecticut, in a nutshell.

I have a co-worker that lives in Bridgeport. We tease him relentlessly about it. He’s this huge guy that can take care of himself. He also takes a cab for the 5 minute (walk) between the train station and his house when we work late because the one time that he didn’t he was harassed all the way home. Though he’s not sure if he was harassed by a girl gang, or hookers.

People that take off their engagement / diamond rings before weigh-in at weight watchers

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:58:15 -0500

If it’s not some blinding 20 karat monstrosity - it’s not changing your weight.

Chowdafest 2012

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:54:46 -0500

Saturday was for stuffing my face with 30 different chowders from Fairfield county restaurants at the Annual Chowdafest in Westport. I don’t remember ever hearing about a past Chowdafest but at some point in time I had written a note to myself to check out this February event. And who am I to argue with myself, after all? Turns out, I was not disappointed. Chowdafest 2012 was amazing!

(photo via The Daily Westport)

In a nut shell, 30 or so restaurants donate their time and their soup(s) to serve thousands of hungry fest-gatherers. Chowder loving people pay $6 for a ballot and a spoon in order to sample all the chowders and vote for their favorites. And all of that admission money goes to the Connecticut Food Bank. Pretty awesome… all the way around. But contributing to a good cause is not all you get if you are a winning restaurant. You also get the coveted chowdafest ~~trophy~~ football helmet.

While almost all the chowders were extremely good, there were three that stuck out in my mind as the best of the best: Clam Chowder from Rory’s in Darien (already really good straight out of the soup vat but made infinitely better with a dab of sherry offered), and the Crab Chowder and Lobster Bisque, both from Stamford. Clearly I’m going to need to visit Rory’s this weekend to have an entire cup-full. And I’m going to have to start adding soups to my list of reasons to hit up the Crab Shell. I go there a lot during the summer, but it’s usually for the music and the beer.

And because I’m nothing if not service-y, here’s a couple of things I’ve learned to help you enjoy Chowdafest 2013 - because you really should go to it:

Go ~~hungry~~ starving. Each serving was only a couple of tablespoons so I figured a professional stomach like mine was up to the challenge. But those tiny sampler cups are bigger than they look. I had to be rolled out of there when it was all over.
Go early. We got there with 2 hours to spare but already missed out on some that looked like they’d be sure winners in my book – especially an Oyster and Pork Belly Chowder from Nicholas Roberts Gourmet Bistro.
Go with lots of time to spare. We were nervous about getting to try everything before they ran out (see #2) so there was a lot of burned tongues. Or just mine. But still.
If you are lactose intolerant, plan accordingly. This is probably a pretty obvious one to everyone, but I don’t know what I was thinking. I have a pretty mild case of it – pop a pill before eating a bowl of cereal and no party foul. But somehow I didn’t put together that a) chowder has cream in it and b) I would be consuming A LOT of chowder (see #1).

Now don’t let a little thing like being lactose intolerant stop you. I subscribe to the Anthony Bourdain school of thought:

“Good food and good eating are about risk. Every once in a while an oyster, for instance, will make you sick to your stomanch. Does this mean you should stop eating oysters? No way.”

I can’t wait for next year.

Photo

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:30:05 -0500

Day 2 - February 2 - Words In particular, words that make me...

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 23:36:46 -0500

Day 2 - February 2 - Words

In particular, words that make me laugh. Yet, they are so true.

Agreed.

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 22:52:28 -0500

Agreed.

Spam absolutely loved the puppy bowl’s kitten halftime...

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:31:00 -0500

Spam absolutely loved the puppy bowl’s kitten halftime show!

Day 1 - February 1 - Your View Today Welp, here we go again. This was my view on February 1st. It...

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 16:40:53 -0500

Day 1 - February 1 - Your View Today

Welp, here we go again.

This was my view on February 1st. It was a big deal. A very big deal.

As you know, I am the queen of lazy-dom. The queen of making up hundreds of excuses why I cannot exercise today. Which isn’t a problem, because I’ll just exercise tomorrow. Or the day after that.

But that was all changing and I was on my way from couch potato to marathoner. Sure, that was a little presumptuous as I hadn’t even made it to a 5K yet but I was sticking to my work out for two months (I don’t think I’ve lasted that long consecutively working out since I was 20). Instead of saying my ankle or back was too sore, I massaged muscles with bengay and added ankle braces to my gym bag. When the pain got really bad I would yell to myself, “you are better than this!”

That peptalk worked on January 2nd when my abdomen was killing me from what I assumed was a prolonged New Year’s Eve hang over. It was hard to stand without being in pain. So I stared at myself in the mirror and said, “suck it up Sonja. You’ve come this far. You are going to do this!!!” And I did. I’m proud of that. But the next day all that work came to a grinding halt when I found out that I wasn’t in fact hung over (I didn’t think I had drank THAT much!) but that I had appendicitis.

One tiny, stupid, unused organ was not going to defeat me. That’s why the first question I asked the doctor during my discharge was “when can I work out again?” Not because I’m tough (world’s biggest wuss over here) or even enjoy running (that runner’s high is totally a myth!), but because if I stopped I didn’t trust myself to start again.

I read online about a guy that completed a triatholon 5 days after his appendectomy. That was going to be me. But then I wasn’t really walking too good 5 days later. And then when I was walking better it was with the help of some heavy duty pain killers. And so while I waited for my body to catch up with my newfound desire to run - I lost the desire. I got a clean bill of health from my doctor and was told I could exercise. I told myself, “what does she know?” So another week went by. And then another one.

But on February 1st I ran out of excuses. So I moved my C25K app back to Day 1 (sooo disheartening) and I started again. It was the worst experience ever. I was running for 45 second intervals only and I was barely able to breath. My heartbeat was coming in over 185 bpm. I had lost everything I spent two months trying to achieve. I came home almost in tears. And I found excuses not to go back the next day. Or the day after that. Or the day after that.

But I really couldn’t find anything preventing me from going today. (It helps that I forgot my wallet at work and the gym is one of the few places I can go without needing money.) So I went. And I completed Day 2 of Couch-to-5K. Again. I was embarrassed to be panting after running those 45 seconds when there were people sprinting through miles on treadmills next to me. But I felt good. The breathing came a little easier. The heartbeat didn’t go quite so high.

And now I’ve found the motivation I need to not quit. The motivation of being devastated to find out that after 2 months of running, stopping for 1 month got me right back to where I started. And I never want to be there again.

(via tehvalerie; definitelyjennifer; heylaney; thegirlkyle) When...

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:18:59 -0500

(via tehvalerie; definitelyjennifer; heylaney; thegirlkyle)

When I saw this back in January I thought, here is something I can do daily to jumpstart my blog again. But with pretty much everything in life I get excited about doing… I’m late. So I’m going to have to step it up a little bit here.

"You ask me, [Obama] should have put that mother-f*!cker on ice and defrosted his ass Nov. 1."

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:55:43 -0500

“You ask me, [Obama] should have put that mother-f*!cker on ice and defrosted his ass Nov. 1.”

- Samuel L. Jackson on Osama bin Laden - @davecatanese (via brooklynmutt)