Tuesday, March 31, 2009

"What I Learned from Dating 100 Men"

Ok, I haven't dated 100 men, at least not with in the last 6 months and there are some shady instances that certainly don't count as dates in my eyes, but I digress...

My sister sent me a message about this article: http://www.oprah.com/article/omagazine/200302_omag_100_dates

The tag line? "She was 34 and she meant business, so she placed an ad with an online dating service and let the e-mails roll in. By the end of her dating experiment she found someone, but she also found herself."

That's the ultimate goal right people? Finding yourself? Who you are, what you want, what you will and will not tolerate...and to be able to communicate that without hesitation or question...

Friday, March 27, 2009

Single in the City

Reene Zelleweger recently had this quote on a magazing cover - "I'm not single, I'm busy" I immediately loved it, but after thinking about it a little more, I wondered if busy was an excuse. Just because you're busy doesn't mean that you can't put yourself out there and date and have a good time, you know, if you want to.

I'm single. And for the most part, I'm ok with that. I'm busy and have great friends and certainly don't need someone to complete me. However, certain times of the year, summer especially, I'd like to be dating someone. While I don't ever mind being the 3rd, 5th, or 17th wheel, when it comes to doing things with my friends, it does get a little old and I feel more often now than ever before, my "coupled up" friends are busy doing their coupley things and I don't get included....and I don't blame them for that nor do I think it's being done intentionally, it's just easier to go to dinner with another couple versus another couple and Jen.

The other reality is, I'm 28, an age that yields a most of my girlfriends being or getting married, or seriously dating someone. That leaves me often home, on a Friday night, blogging.

It's not like I don't try - or don't put myself out there and while I guess I could do more and get involved in different groups and organizations and whatnot, I don't have a great deal of time in my life with a two hour drive every day, county board, and lots of running. (excuses, I know).

Where am I going with all of this? Well, I've decided to try online dating. I'll be honest, I've done it before and I've never had good results, however, I am at a different point in my life and I figured I'd give it a shot. And, I figured I'd chronicle my adventures here on my blog, promising to change the names of the unfortunate, the lucky, and the jackbags because I've decided that while I may not even meet anyone who I actually like, it may provide lots of entertaining stories, and who doesn't love a good story?

I signed up for Match.com on Tuesday. The good news? 652 people have looked at my profile. The bad news? Out of that many people, I haven't recieved much contact. And while I'm not a math major, I can tell you that those odds don't seem very good.

I also don't know how to go about doing this - when do you email someone? When do you "wink" at them? How long do you wait to reply to their email? How do you write a profile that says how awesome you are without seeming too cocky? How do you pick your pictures? Do you have to tell people who contact you that you don't like do you have to tell them? Or do you just ignore?

So, here I go. This will be an interesting learning experience, one that if nothing else, will provide some good stories, and I promise I'll share!!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

I Heart Marathon Training

I climbed onto the treadmill this morning at 4:45 and started an 8 mile run. During the first couple of miles I started to think about training and the fact that I REALLY enjoy it - which I know, I know, makes me weird (we've ALL got that figured out now!).

Here is a portion my list of things I love about training for a marathon ( yes, most of them have to do with food):

1. Smore's Luna Bars - LOVE these things - a great pre run snack!
2. Peanut Butter Power Bars - I eat these before long runs and like the peanut butter more than any other flavor - and I don't love the fruity ones!
3. Espresso GU - has a little caffeine to give me a kick during a run and strangely, I find it tasty.
4. Luna Moons - yummy little chewy "fruit snacks"
5. Chocolate Milk - such a fantastic recovery drink
6. Peanut M&Ms - while I've scaled back on these this time around, I still love them dearly
7. Pasta, bread, and all things carby and delicious - I love any excuse to eat an abundance of carbs!
8. A fab play list - last time around I ran to country - this time I'm going a little pop with lots of Natasha Bedingfield, Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Colby O'donis, Jason Mraz, and I really add some fun with a little NKOTB!
9. Having the mental focus to do this. I'm a true believer that marathon training is 80% mental and 20% physical.
10. killer quads, hamstrings, and calves - my legs shape up nicely during training and I love them for that.
11. My feet. They're not the best looking feet I've ever seen and they have some callouses and bruised toe nails, but they're awesome. They carry me through lots and lots of miles and I love them.
12. A stronger core. Which in turn makes my SI joint oh so happy.
13. Oh yeah, I can't forget bananas - I heart them all the time, but even more so while I'm running!
14. I sleep REALLY well while training.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Who Knew...

So I know that I haven't blogged in awhile but wow - not at all in March?!? Hi! I'm still alive!

I don't really have any big thing to blog about so I figure I'll do some random musings...

**I really hate lifting weights. I know that I should do it. I know that I have to do it. I just really don't enjoy doing it. I would rather run or bike or swim. However, I lifted yesterday and then the crazy lady subbing in my class made us lift again today. So, while I hate it, I do think my arms will be in good shape for tank tops this summer.

**I really love fondue and especially enjoy the Melting Pot where someone mixes all the right things together and makes it delicious. Last night I enjoyed a great night of fiesta cheese (so fantastic with a beer base), lots o' meat with amazing dipping sauces and some original chocolate (mixed with crunchy peanut butter) - all with my great friend Bridget. A great meal with fantastic company is always appreciated.

**I'm finally feeling back to "normal" - I went through about three weeks of a sinus infection, TMJ dysfunction, an abscessed tooth, a root canal and a killer cold and now my head is feeling clear and I can sleep at night with out the aide of vicodin or Nyquil.

**While I don't know if I REALLY like the new look of Facebook it's not bothering me that much. It's funny how change can really rock people's worlds, I like to try to take it in stride.

**I can't, for the life of me, get into the book "Marley and Me" - I want to LOVE this book. I LOVED the movie and my mom keeps telling me the book is WAY better and I want to love it, I'm just having a hard time.

**My final homework for my creativity class is due next Monday, it feels like I just started the class. I'll sum it up on here at some point after we're done - I will say that I have really enjoyed it and think that I have great tools to move forward in my creative life.

**I REALLY could use a yoga class - it's been WAY too long and doing it at home here and there is beneficial but I really love going to class.

**I went to the mall in Madison last night before dinner and I was not inspired at all. Usually the mall is where I find a lot of inspiration to be creative and nothing was doing it for me last night. I think it's that I'm not in love with any of the spring trends - it may have something to do with too much color. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy color but as an accent, not as an all over whatever.

**I have really been on a fashion kick lately, which is why the above statement really made me disappointed. I've been reading a lot of blogs that have to do with fashion but did you know that some people take pictures of themselves every day and blog about their look of the day? Who knew?! And by the way, I totally enjoy them.

**The nice weather that we've had over the weekend and the last couple of days has made me want to party plan. I love throwing parties and would love to have one on the patio with the grill going, summery drinks flowing and people sitting around a fire until all hours of the evening, talking, laughing, eating, drinking...