Where the $*#^! have you been?

My oh my, it's been an awfully long time. Yes, I've been "ghost" but I've missed you. REALLY. Today I was reading through some of my favorite blogs (because believe it or not, I do still read and try and catch up with you all every once in a while) and while reading Katie's (one of my personal favs) read a line in one of her posts that basically said, the longer you go without blogging the easier it is to well....ditch it. (I'm paraphrasing). Not because you don't love doing it, but because you get out of the habit doing other things or in my case, get lazy.

It's almost like working out. In the beginning, you're all gung-ho, going every day and giving it your all. But as time goes on you feel more comfortable so you take a day off...(and get lazy)...and then one day turns to two and two turns into a week and a week turns into a month and the next thing you know - BOOM! You've missed SEVEN whole months of working out (blogging). Shame on me. I know. But I hope you understand.

Given the fact that I've been completely incognito, I figured I'd answer the question most commonly asked: Where the $*#^! have you been?

December 2008
Well, December was a whirl-wind I tell ya. I basically gave up friends, family and damn near food for the GMAT, which I took December 18th. I wish I could tell you how wonderful I did and how I scored a 700+ and now I'm going to Harvard or UPenn. Uh, no. December 18th was a crappy day. The GMAT kicked my tail after endless hours of studying. In fact, I've never works SO damn hard to not see the fruits of my labor. It was depressing. I decided I wouldn't give up, but I needed time to decompress.

The holidays were awesome though. My cutie patootie Isabella celebrated her 1st birthday, Amy had her annual holiday party. Overll: Good time, good food, good family and good friends. I am blessed and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't thank the man upstairs for all that I have.

January 2009
I rang in the New Year in the city (aka NYC) with the some girls of mine (freezing my tucchus off, but whatevs) and as the clock sriked midnight I made a vow to me, myself and I to try and live a happy life and make this the year for great things. It was a year to get finances in order, take my job to the next level and to ditch an BS/drama and negative energy. I think 6 months in, I'm doing a pretty good job.

I went to the inauguration in Washington, DC which was life changing. Freezing outside for a gazillion hours and getting a frost bit face was totally worth it. After the inauguration, I made it back down to the MD/DC area for my company's national sales meeting where I learned that my name had been thrown out to take on a new position. I went back and I interviewed for the position the last week in January...

I also celebrated 4 birthdays: Grandma & my wonderful friends A, K and S.

Oh and I told the guy I picked up at the Halloween party in October to kick rocks. <-- yes, those were my exact words. He was being a prick and knowing my new years resolution aka vow to myself to not deal withe the drama, I told him to beat it and I never looked back. Call me sassy, fiesty, or whatever you want...but you want call me a sucker.

February 2009

I GOT THE JOB!!! (and a nice increase in salary too). I did my annual Miami trip (meeting up with some of my Maryland girls) to visit my girl Kim, local radio personality in the area, for her birthday. Hanging out with her is always a good time and we all enjoy catching up. This time we stayed at the Mondrian Hotel (which was fairly new) and enjoyed nice views of the ocean and interesting encounters with Suki, the wall art in the hotel. (Suki is not the name we have her...that was done for us by one of the fantastic bell hop guys).

After I returned from Miami, I went started transitioning into my new role...so much to learn; including forgiveness, which is what I did towards the end of the month. A friend of mine was celebrating her 29th birthday at a club in NYC and I ran into my ex (the one who stomped all over my heart - TWICE) and had a nice long conversation with him (granted not in the most ideal setting) and sqaushed any ill-will or negative feelings, whatsoever. This was so freeing for me and really showed me how much I've grown over the past couple of months or so. It's just so incredibly draining when you put so much energy into loathing someone...

March 2009
As psuedo-spring started to approach (and I say "psuedo" given the fact that it's June and still teeter -tottering between 60 and 80 degrees -gotta love NJ weather) I got into party mode. The new job was kicking along with my new salary, St. Patty's, March Madness; all good times.

Mid-march my best friend college girlfriends came into town (one flew in from Chicago, one drove up from Maryland) to join me and the Jersey gang for our annual St. Patty's day parade and bar crawl. It's a tradition now that the girls come in to town for the "holiday" and we just party and have a good time all day long. This year we had a few extras as well, which made for a good time. My one friend S was the biggest trooper of all and partied with us until 4pm, when she left to go to Florida. I mean, who can party ALL day, drinking and crawling and then catch a flight without feeling like you want to puke your brains out? My girl S. :) Needless to say, the girls were wild and the boys were watching. And the two buys with us were serious troopers - Jimmy, my best friend Kristin's husband and one of the "other" extras (ok, envision this) my best friend Kristin's, husband Jimmy's childhood best friend Jon. I'd met Jon before at the wedding (he was Jimmy's best man, I was a bridesmaid) and we chatted a bit then. Don't know what it was about March 14th - blame it on the alcohol - but I was alerted that Jon and I had a heavy flirtation going on. After hanging out into the wee hours of the morning, I confessed to my girls the next day that I indeed had a crush. Of course, being the bold one that I am, I requested to be facebook friends (thank you technology!) and the next thing you know, we were chatting through facebook messages. A week of that later, and we finally spoke on the phone and I have never gone a day without talking to him since. He is the most fabulous man of all the fabulous men who don't say fabulous. (Sex and the City anyone?) Our first date was at this fabulous spot called the Martini Bar. Over martinis and a dinner, we discovered that while we're very different in some ways, we're also very much alike. He's awesome. Period.

Also, as Maid of Honor to my best friend, me along with the other maids through her a kick ass shower filled with color (lime, hot pink, black and white), laughter, lots of gifts and love. I think she had a great time and that was all I cared about while planning it. We tried to add lots of little personal touches...and I think she noticed all of the effort and caring that went into the planning.

April 2009
April 2nd marked my 28th birthday (old hag, much?) where I celebrated via a casual Thirsty Thursday Happy Birthday happy hour at one of my favorite local bars with many of my favorite people. They just so happen to serve these glasses of wine that I like to call fish bowls. Four fishbowls in, I was a happy 28 year old. During the day Jon surprised me with the most beautiful arrangement of hbd flowers and my co-workers surprised me with some yummy cupcakes. That weekend, I stepped out in my favorite party dress for dinner with Mom to this wonderful new restaurant where we chatted up the owners and made friends with the bartenders. It was a great night and I felt incredibly blessed.

The second major duty of being MOH came this month, too. S's bridal shower was amazing! We started the nigth off at a showing of Tony and Tina's wedding (HILARIOUSLY FUN!) then went to a rooftop bar for some drinks before ending the night at a NYC hot spot called Whiskey Bar where we got a bottle of something special and danced until our feet fell like they were going to fall off. The next morning was hangover city but so worth it.

May 2009
May 1 was Sin's wedding. Gorgeous. Amazing. Fun. I have never gotten down with the get down like I did that evening. Sitting at a table with my mom, her boyfriend, Jon, Kristin, Jimmy and a few others was so much fun -- I think almost everyone at the table missed their calling to be a comedian. My speech went off without a hitch and I got roaring laughter from the crowd. BUT, above all else, one of my bestestes married the man of her dreams in most beautiful of ceremonies and every little detail expressed them and their love for one another.

After digesting the wedding, the summer fun continued with a nice weekend trip to one of my favorite places - MARYLAND! Hopping between Baltimore, Silver Spring, Columbia and DC is always a good time with some great gals and I conquered my first (and definitely NOT last) Wine in the Woods in Columbia. Wine in the Woods is just that -- a wine festival in the woods -- where everyone just drinks, eats and is merry while hanging with friends and jamming to music. I passed out at 8pm. Needless to say, great day. The next day was Jon's birthday where I flew back up the turnpike to surprise him with balloons and red velvet cupcakes. He loved it! (The following weekend we had a "real" dinner in honor of his b-day).

Memorial Day weekend was a blast. First of all - great weather. I spent a lot of time outside with friends, playing corn hole, drinking beer, wine, sangria (I don't discriminate) and simply relaing. Good times.

I ended the month with a party for my godson and his little brother, where I decided, I so want one (meaning a baby/child) of my own someday. So cute.

June 2009
We're only a few days into June and so far, so good. I spent a lot of time with Jon this week, in between working and working out. (Today I ran 5 miles, yesterday I went to the gym, twice, so yea, I'm back on my grind). I also start my GMAT class again tihs Sunday and I'm trying to have a different perspective on it and not put so much stress on myself and the test. Work is coming along...still learning a lot but enjoying the ride.

So as you can see, a GMAT, an inauguration, a trip to Florida, a few trips to Maryland (business and pleasure), a bar crawl, a 28th birthday, a new job, a new man and a new attitude can really keep a girl busy. I'm glad to be "back" and hope to be more consistent this time around. I can't promise I'll be here every day, but I definitely don't want to write six month at a time updates...life is too much and there's too much to share.

Thanks for reading!

ps - I'm trying to load pics...but I'm having problems so I'll upload when I can.

Full Steam Ahead

I'm applying to B-school. I'm writing essays. I'm in a GMAT class. I'm working my tail off in my "regular" job. I am guilty of NOT going to work out in over a week. Ugh.

In the past two weeks, I have been a traveling chick-a-dee. Weekend before last, Mom and I went on a fun road trip to my top business school to check it out and confirmed what I already believed: I must go there. I don't know if I'm applying in 2009 or 2010 yet (GMATs dependent upon what I do) but I'm excited about the possibility of going back to school. The weekend was amazing. Beautiful grounds, wonderful friendly faculty/staff, alum and current students...just made me feel right at home. Granted, I know most schools are trying to "Sell, Sell, Sell" (I am in marketing so I know the game), but I have been quite surprised just how friendly the students have remained even now that I'm not walking around on their campus.

Aside from my trip to B-school number 1, this past weekend, I went on a road trip with one of my girls to my favorite weekend getaway [MD/DC] for the Halloween weekend. I had a fantastic time, of course. Dressed up as a fierce black cat, I danced and purred the night away at this great spot in DC with a few close friends. It must have been my lucky night because...I met a guy! I saw him from across the room and something drew me into him. I just had to talk to him. SO being "big and bold" like I am, I walked right up to him and proceeded to tell him just how attractive he was. Yup, I did. *Side note: I was not intoxicated but I had had a glass of liquid courage.* My "line" went something like, "Hey...how are you? You know, I saw you from across the room and just had to come over and tell you ALL B.S. aside, you really are an attractive man and I could not in good conscience leave this party without telling you". I planned on turning right back around and walking away but "E" (<---said atractive man) actually talked to me for about 15 minutes. A little chuckling and a little flirting, lead to a little giving out of nine little digits. He took my number. And even better, he actually called the next day. I wasn't sure men still did that. Someone I actually LIKE. Butterflies. Have interest in. Can you believe it? I mean, it's been almost two years since "he who's name shall not be spoken or written" and I broke up and I haven't been remotely moved by anyone. I have tried to date and have been very unsuccessful. Who knows if my "success" in the wretched dating game is making a turn for the better, but the simple fact that I can feel again?? Words can't even describe. I seriously thought I was broken for a while.

Anyway, I'm charging along, studying, keeping busy and making moves. Thought I would check in and say hello. So...hello.

Hope I'll have more positive GMAT and handsome guy stories to tell you in the near future...back to studying.

oh and ps - this is my WTF moment of the day -- how awful is this? Minding my business at the library studying diligently and notice the man next to me hogging up the local printer that sat right between our desktop stations. I glance over at his screen and do you know what I saw? KIDDIE PORN. A digusting, perverted old man printing child pornography; pages upon pages of it. I almost threw up on the spot. I immediately packed up my belongings, went right to the reference desk, reported the issue and proceeded to go out to my car and scream. Never in my life have I dealt with or seen something like that live and in the flesh...and I hope I never have to again.

to B or not to B

B-school that is. I've been putting it off for years (six to be exact) and now after being out in the working world for some time now, I finally feel like I'm ready to take the plunge. Do I miss endless amounts of homework, meeting with groups on presentations and studying for days upon end? Nope. Do I miss hitting up the little lady at the Latin Cafeteria (thank you MIAMI) at the drive up window for my nightly study dose of Cuban coffee? Not really. (Well actually, I miss the ritual with the girls. And man oh man it does keep you up for hours upon hours). But in my field of work, it's just about mandatory I go back to school and get my MBA.

I signed up for a Kaplan GMAT course last week and begin soon. I've already written one essay and started this whole application process. I'm on my way to my visit college visit this upcoming Friday and working on my first case study for my class visit. What crazy girl decides she wants to go back to business school and apply to SIX schools all in the matter of 8-10 weeks for the Fall of 2009 (less than a year)? That's right folks, me.

Crazy, wired - call it what you may - but when I set my mind to something there is no turning back. Who knows if I'll get into these schools...but I figure worst case scenario (i.e. bombing the GMAT), I've always got 2010.

Other than this new excitement in my life, everything is everything. Life in general is good. I haven't written in a while...needed a serious detox. Although I'm not really "good" at it, I do indeed love blogging. I started blogging during the summer of 2007, while I was mourning the loss of my last relationship and going through a serious EX detox. (Unfortunately, do to the nature of the content, the blog was only shared with close friends and family). After I ended my detox, I decided to continue to blog, but really on write when I have something to say...otherwise, it feels like to too much pressure to keep up with all you lovely writers. So I apologize for my blog shadiness (Shady McMuffin - I have been) and hope that with all this B school stuff and the holidays and all that good stuff, life will pick up once again and give me something to talk to y'all about.

Anyway, thanks for keeping me laughing (and reading) over the past few months. You all are fabulous and so are your blogs, I swear.

Ok, off to finish this case (I can't BELIEVE I'm doing HOMEWORK for a class visit) and watch some Law & Order. Good night lovely people. :)