Why I Loved This Weekend

Happy Monday everyone!

I kicked off my Monday by landing my client an interview with The Wall Street Journal, so excuse my being overly excited about anything and everything. I was sick last week (boo), but thanks to my awesome doctor, I was back in action just in time to have an absolutely delightful weekend. Why, you ask?

Saturday I spent the morning pampering myself and it was just lovely. I got my highlights touched up and eyebrows done and ran a few errands. I'm headed to Boston/Maine this weekend for a wedding, so it was nice to be out and about getting what I needed for the trip. I followed this up with a really fun dinner with my two girlfriends.

Sunday I had the pleasure of spending the day with my parents, brother and one of my sisters in Orlando. We all had things we needed to pick up for our trip, so we set out on a shopping adventure. My dad and brother aren't the biggest fans of day-long shopping trips, but they hung in there! We took a break for lunch at one of my favorite little restaurants in downtown Winter Garden, but other than that we shopped until we dropped! I am a little obsessed with some of my purchases. So much so, that I need to share them with you.

Nike Lunar Forever running shoes.
I can't wait to run in these tonight!

This shirt from Forever 21.

Eurostep Women's Adrift Boat Shoes.
These are so cute and so comfortable.

Fast Track by China Glaze.

Sundays with my family are absolutely delightful. It doesn't matter what we're doing, the day is always full of love, positivity and lots and lots of laughter. Spending the day with them Sunday left me feeling so giddy and grateful.

And this weekend we're off to spend Friday night in Boston and the rest of the weekend will be spent on a lake in Maine for my cousin's wedding. Should be a blast!

How was your weekend?

Any Man of Mine

Shania Twain’s “Any Man of Mine” is one of those country songs that never gets old. You have to hand it to her...the girl knows what she wants…

…a man who is proud of her, who loves her even when she is ugly, someone who is on time even if she is running late, who doesn’t mind when she changes her mind a million times.

How many of you have heard one of these phrases from someone every time you go through a break up?

“Well, at least you learned something…”

“Now you know what you are looking for out of a relationship.”

“There is someone better out there for you.”

These are all SO true despite the fact that nothing anyone can say will really make you feel better.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how every relationship does teach you something about yourself, about what you need out of a relationship and what you won’t stand for, about how when you do find that right person, all of the trials and tribulations will be worth it because it all brought you to this person.

I can’t help but think with the dating I’ve done and still have yet to do, all the “lessons” I’ve learned about relationships and the things I’ve learned I’m looking for in a relationship, that by the time I find the right person, I won’t realize it because I have way too many “criteria” at that point. I can’t help but wonder if “kissing lots of frogs before we meet our prince charming” might end up making us too picky, too selective.

I may be overthinking this, but I guess I’m a little nervous that the more you date, the more choosy you become, making it even harder to meet someone (or give someone a chance) who can make you happy.

Reminder to myself and those of you in the same boat: Let’s not forget to keep an open mind. It’s important to know what we want, but we also need to know that we want and what we need can sometimes be different. You don’t know unless you give it a shot.

Stress Relief According to Me

For someone with a positive outlook on things most of the time, it may surprise you to know I have my fair share of meltdowns. I get stressed out, I over think things I shouldn’t, I cry a lot and I call my momma for guidance and support several times a week. I’ve learned that one secret to being happy isn’t being stress free, as that is nearly impossible, but finding ways to relieve stress that work best for you.



photo source

It’s interesting to see how differently people handle things like stress. Some people eat, some people drink, some get really mean and others shut down completely. Now, I don’t think I have any groundbreaking stress relief techniques (though some are wonderfully weird or so I’ve heard) but I thought I share them with you today.

Go to Target

I just love Target. I love the clothes. I love the home décor. I love that I can get my groceries there. I just love it. I don’t always have a long list of things I need to buy, but I love just wandering around, seeing what is on clearance, what new clothes they have, etc.

 

Dance around my bedroom

I’ve told you before I have very little dance ability. That doesn’t stop me. Sometimes, the best way to end a stressful day is to dance the stress away. ‘Breathe’ by Michelle Branch is one of my favorite songs to put on for this situation.

 

Exercise

Yep, I’m one of those people. Exercise is a great way to take your mind off of things!


Take a Bubble Bath

Obviously.

 

Lay on the floor of my bedroom

This is a weird one…I can admit it. You would be shocked that with several seating options in my bedroom, I choose the floor. There is something very relaxing about lying on the floor, in the middle of my bedroom under the fan. What? Don’t knock it until you try it.

Clean

Yep, I’m one of those people, too. Cleaning is therapy to me. Throw on some music and a few hours later I feel a little more relaxed AND have a clean little house.

 

Write

Another obvious one. I obviously love to write and find it very therapeutic.

Family

Any one of my family members can help me when I’m feeling stressed out. Whether I am spending time with one or all of them or call them to talk things out, they ALWAYS make me feel better.

Bake

I love to bake anyway, but it really helps me take my mind off a stressful situation. When I feel like things are spiraling out of control, I know I can pick one of my go-to recipes, put the ingredients together and end up with a delicious little treat. Plus, if cookies and cupcakes can't cheer you up, nothing will.



It really depends on the stressful situation, but I can usually count on one of these things to help me feel better or at least take my mind off things for a while. What about you guys? Any unique stress relief strategies?



California Girl

My trip to California was everything I hoped it would be. I had a great time with my coworkers, met a lot of great people, worked really hard but had a lot of fun, too.  We even came back with a handful of new clients and I found that clarity I needed when it comes to The Umpire. Where do I start? I think I’ll break this up into sections because there is just too much to cover!

Highlights of my Trip 

My boss took us to Disneyland for the day before the convention started and even treated us to lunch at Club 33! Walking around Disneyland in July is by far much more enjoyable than Disney World this time of year. The sun is shining, it is beautiful, but California doesn’t have the Florida humidity that makes you feel like you might pass out.

Sparkly Minnie ears were a must!

Riding the train

While at the convention, my boss paid for us to get professional headshots taken for our website and marketing materials, which meant getting our makeup and hair professionally done, resulting in everyone calling me Elle Woods/PR Barbie for the rest of the convention. Either way, I can’t wait to see how the photos came out!

If any of you watched Jake’s season of The Bachelor on ABC, you might remember Michelle. She was the one who had the painfully awkward kiss with Jake and was rarely shown on camera not crying. This is so random, but I met her! She was serving drinks at the hotel bar and I immediately recognized her. It took me a minute to figure out who she was and afraid that she might go crazy on me, I finally said “Please don’t get upset with me, but were you on The Bachelor?” She was actually really nice about and I even got a picture with her so I could show my girlfriends back at home. Too funny!

Michelle from The Bachelor

The Umpire: A Tough Call

I set off to California hoping that some distance would help me decide if I wanted to end things with The Umpire. I haven’t gone too much in detail about things, but I haven’t been completely satisfied with how things were with us lately. I feel like things started off really great and maybe we moved too fast, because all of the things I really liked about him at first either changed or started to become an issue for me. When we first started seeing each other, it was like he couldn’t get enough of me. He would invite me out with his friends all the time and while I told him I didn’t want to intrude on boy’s night, he would also comfort me saying he wanted me there and we’d always have a blast. He was really sweet and thoughtful and went out of his way for me. We made equal effort. It seemed like the moment I let me guard down and started opening up to him, all that behavior stopped. I understand that there comes a point in most relationships where that initial excitement fades and maybe my expectations are too high, but I need more…especially when we are only a few months in. When I first met The Umpire, I really loved how fun he was. He liked to be social and go out like I did. We could go out together with a group and have a blast. I recently started to realize that he took that a little too far. I don’t want to sound like a hypocrite because I often go out on weeknights and stay out a little too late, but I feel like going out with your guy friends to the same bar, three nights in a row is a bit much when you are 28-years-old. I don’t know if these things bothered me because I really care about him or because I am subconsciously sabotaging things, but either way it isn’t good. There are things I really like…I love his family, I have fun with him, he is successful and hard working.

The moment of clarity I was looking for came on Saturday. I had been in California for three days and Saturday was the first official day of the convention. I was already in a funk because he hadn’t been in touch with me very much and didn’t seem to be bothered at all by the fact that I was away. I spent 8 hours on my feet working our booth at the convention and I was exhausted. When I looked at my phone realized I hadn’t heard from him all day, I simply texted, “I’m exhausted.” His response? “OK.” OK? Really? I wasn’t looking for a pity party, but a little bit of positivity or consideration would’ve gone a long way. One of the biggest things I try to bring to a relationship is emotional balance. When my friend, my sister, my significant other or my coworker is feeling down, tired or sad, I try to balance that out with positivity, support, enthusiasm….whatever I think will help. I kind of expect the person I am with to be that person for me. I know it probably sounds like I am being dramatic, but his response really bothered me. While it isn’t the single reason I decided to end things, it gave me that “moment” I needed to finally make up my mind. There are so many things I like about him and has a lot of what I need in a relationship…a good family, a good job, a good social life and so much more. But I need emotional support too, and I think that is where we are lacking.

While I made the decision during my trip, I really wanted to have a face-to-face conversation with him and explain where I am coming from. We live in the same area, go to the same gym…we have kickball coming up. I want to be able to end things on a good note. Anyway, I am home now and have yet to have a face-to-face conversation with The Umpire. When I told him we needed to talk, he said he was “going out with the guys and could we do it tomorrow?” That solidified my decision, but our schedules haven’t lined up for me to officially break things off with him. I hope this is the right decision, but that’s the thing about decisions…you don’t always know if they are the right one until it might be too late. You can only act based on what you feel and right now, I just don’t feel like this is right.