Wednesday Ramblings and Fun with Some ECards

I had really great intentions of doing my vacation re-cap dureing the week but I wanted to spend some more time on it so it will be sometime this weekend. I have to confess that coming back to work and trying to get back to the grind has drained me a bit {read: I started watching The Bridges of Madison County when I got home from the gym tonight and ran out of time}.  It's always good to get back to the normal routine after vacation but it seems extra hectic with the holidays upon us.   

A few things for this week so far: 

- There was a certain amount of disbelief when I came back to work with an email from TDH that he sent to me on Saturday night...that he hoped I was enjoying NYC and some other crap about the game.  I've been glaring at it in my inbox all week.  It's doubtful I will respond.  It doesn't even come close to an acceptable apology.  Not even close. 

- I am determined to make my master Christmas list and complete all shopping except for small stocking stuffer items by Sunday.  

And seriously I'm not trying to be a Grinch this year but I haven't put any decorations out and I don't think I will.  Ok -- I take that back.  I unpacked my holiday wine glasses.  Those are out and currently in heavy rotation.  I just feel like the holidays are super hard for single people {maybe that's just me}.  It's not that my family isn't close by and that I don't get to see them -- I do and we have Christmas practically all of December -- but it's not the same.   

- In honor of my love for hot chocolate I have signed up for the Atlanta Hot Chocolate 15k {9 mi} for January 13th.  This leaves me a little less than 6 weeks out with not much running since the half  marathon in October so it may not be a stellar performance but I think I can easily handle the distance.  

What are y'all up to this week? What are you tired of? Anyone done with their shopping? Training for any races? 

Love you. Mean it. 

~the single gal~

Where I Talk About Embracing Poverty and Adventure in NYC

So.....I leave tomorrow. Yay for getting up at 4 a.m. No seriously, I'm ok with that part.  

The part I am NOT ok with...TDH had the nerve to cancel on me {real talk}!  When someone says to me, "I'll make it happen. Buy the ticket" I take that to be pretty damn suggestive of a 100% commitment.  Even more of an insult? Waiting until less than 7 days before to actually cancel.  Are there any grownups left in this universe to date? Is it too much to get some general courtesy between two people?   As a result earlier this week I was stuck scrambling to find a hotel room and now I'm taking suggestions for my weekend time alone in NYC.  I was going to crash in Long Island with Little A's in-law familia but I felt like I was imposing.  And it was super last minute.  And y'all know it would kill me to feel like I was being rude or freeloading.  So, I just decided that I was going to get a hotel and spend some time {and an exorbitant amount of money} in the city alone.  

Am I terrified that I will get lost and die? Absolutely.  But my hotel is pretty close to Central Park and MOMA and surely I can find a coffee shop in between if I need to kill more time before checking in to my room for Saturday.  I refuse to let it ruin my last vacation of 2012.  Little A may come back into the city Saturday to stay with me and watch football but if not, someone at least find me a good Thai place where I can order  dinner to take back and eat in my bed. 

And if all that fails there's always vodka.  Lots of vodka. 

{More news -- I'm clearly in an emotional cul de sac. Discuss.} 

So off I go to embrace poverty, adventure in NYC, and ponder the emotional cul de sac. 

Love you. Mean it. 

~the single gal~

Friday Check In

Happy Friday, all! It's the Single Gal again. And it probably will be until further notice.  Obvs since the Housewife brought home two new adorable additions to her household it's going to be super cray over there until they get their new routine, schedule, and family life worked out.  I will try to get some small posts out of her for sure, but just going to the hospital for like an hour there seemed to be a lot of activity! And that was without #1 around. 

Things I'm pondering today....

...what does one wear to a doggy play date that's also a date? I'm supposed to meet my young man (dubbed The Italian Stallion/Rocky by my friend at work) and his dog at the park today with Hogan and I'm at a loss.  

...also, went to the movies last Saturday with Rocky.  He doesn't open car doors. BIG PROBLEM. I may have been a bitch about it. 

...20 days until NYC.  Arguably incredibly excited about this and seeing TDH as he opens doors.  All of them. All. The. Time. And more. 

...I made pumpkin chili last week and I will try to get that post up soon. It was awesome. And I still have tons left. It will feed an army. Or a Single Gal for 1.5 weeks. 

Oh -- I also bit the bullet and got those black Sperry boots. They were already on sale at Piperlime and then they did an additional 15% off this week.  So I did it.  It's not like I can't send them back so I am not sure why I am pretending this crisis means the end of the world. 

Little A is in town this weekend as well as Em.  We are having girls dinner with Elise at Canoe on Saturday night. I've been dying to go for years. I hear it is incredibly beautiful there and tasty! Review to come! 

I have to go clean up dog vomit and freshen up for the park.  

What are your weekend plans? 

Love you. Mean it. 

~the single gal~

Weekend Recap!

So...Monday morning I was incredibly sad to see last weekend come to an end.  Well, I was sad for like 4 hours until my flowers were delivered!

My weekend started early.  TDH really likes to be the one to make the plans (no complaints here) but since he is an out-of-towner I always send a list of suggestions and he goes from there.  I was beyond excited to finally eat an actual meal at Little Alley Steak in Roswell {reviewed previously} rather than just sit at the bar, drink too much Chard, and harass the awesome bartenders.  I figured a nice steak dinner would be good prep for my race on Sunday, too.  Boy was it.  I had the small filet and successfully ate every bit of the mac and cheese on our table.  And maybe had a lot of wine.  We had a fabulous dinner! We were almost 30 minutes late for our reservation but I have yet to see a hostess that isn't immediately disarmed by his ridiculous Scottish accent so I knew we wouldn't get any static. 

Little Alley place cards!
*image from atlfoodsnob.com*

The only crazy part was that we had to make our exit right by Tall Stu who also happened to be right outside with some friends that night.  Awkward. I prayed he didn't see me but I think he did! It's not that I'm sneaking around but I didn't exactly feel like making introductions either. 

I was up late for sure but managed to eek through Friday at work and then speed into Atlanta to meet up for our reservation at Murphy's {I know, I know, we went there last time, but Murphy's is never a bad idea. Ever.}  We ate on the patio.  We drank beer.  The food was perfect.  The service, as always, was spectacular.  I also love that he recognized that I was hardly keeping my eyes open and I got to go back to the hotel and watch TV in bed until I fell asleep.  Speaking of sleep - I didn't get out of bed until well after 9 a.m. It was so nice to just pop out of the hotel and be right in Atlanta.  We walked around a lot, talked a lot,  had coffee, and then meandered to ESS for brunch.  Where we talked more, ate more, laughed more, etc.  {I even cheated and had a bellini the day before my race.} 

Anyway. He is super fun. And its always nice to go out with someone that takes care of all the little details where you don't have to worry about anything.  The accent, good looks, and perfectly fitted suits don't hurt either.  

Sunday was race day!!!

I already gave y'all the only picture I took when I did Monday's post.  So sorry about that.   I had such a great day! It was so easy to get to Athens early in the morning, they had plenty of free parking,  and there were only about 3,000 people racing.  My original goal was to shoot for a time anywhere from 2:10-2:15.  The last official time I logged was 2 years ago for a half and it was around 2:26.  I got my race results -- and I officially came in at 2:09:38!!!!!!!!! I can't believe I beat my ultimate goal of 2:10.  I needed a good race to get out the crazy bad juju that was the Las Vegas Marathon.   I am so proud of myself - especially considering I trained alone and wasn't even sure I could run that fast.  Again, I ran like hell to get that time.  I looked at my race photos yesterday and I basically have a terrible look of pain on my face when I crossed the finish line, but I did it! 

I came home and sat on the couch the rest of the day and watched girly movies with Em and it was glorious. So was the pizza we ordered.  And the beer we drank. 

Love you. Mean it. 

~the single gal~

Monday Obsessions: The Mindy Project + Some Other Stuff

Whew.  Y'all, The Housewife is right. I am exhausted. Or whatever is more exhausted than a normal level of exhaustion.  Serious thanks to her for keeping the blog going because I have barely been home.  

I am excited to be back.  I am especially excited to talk about my newest TV obsession - The Mindy Project.  I mean, as someone who is hardly ever home and usually doing a ton of other things that don't ever involve watching TV it's a pretty big deal for me to stop and tune into a show on the day it actually runs.  Mindy Kahling was good on The Office.  But she is fabulous on her new show.  I probably like this because I kind of feel like this is my life right now. 

Are you watching it?! Discuss. 

A few side notes.  I totally have a great weekend recap in the works for y'all! 

BUT....

A few things that just couldn't wait. 

After two amazing date nights with TDH who finally made another appearance in Atlanta I actually rushed home for lunch an hour early because I had a call from a florist about a delivery.  I. Almost. Died.  Never, have I ever received a flower delivery.  And it's beautiful. And perfect.   And I can't stop looking at it.  Like I legit want to carry it around with me so I can have it in whatever room I happen to be sitting in at home. 

instagram of the day #1

and now I'm just plain gushing. 

I also took this before I started my race! Turtle and I had a wonderful early morning in Athens this weekend for the Half Marathon.  And trust me when I say, I ran like hell on Sunday.  And for me to do that when I have felt beyond tired since Thursday was a big day. 

beautiful starting line for the Athens Half. 

I also came home to some sweaters I ordered from The Gap in my mailbox today. 

I may have just had the best Monday of my life.  I hope you all did, too! 

Love you. Mean it. 

~the single gal~

Out With the Old...In With the New

Again, this week has just been off.  New schedule.  New people.  Training on a new claims system. New problems. Tons of paperwork.  I am just not feeling on top of things -- I forgot to pay my student loan bill on the due date. For the first time in 6 years.  And probably the 4th time I have ever forgotten to pay a bill on time...EVER.  But shit happens I guess.  

Other major things happening this week -- our dear friend Em is uprooting her life {willingly!} and staying on Mackie's couch in NYC for a bit to start a big adventure and find a publishing job! I am going to have to live vicariously through her ability to just pick up and go somewhere new for a completely different life. The Housewife and I had dinner with her earlier this week as a "farewell for now" celebration at Nine Street Kitchen in Old Town Roswell.  We had great service, great wine, a million laughs, and a lots of nostalgia for dessert.  Em seemed so cool, calm and collected.  And here I am having a mini breakdown over a new job with a 15 minute commute. 

*not my photo*

I didn't get to see my handsome traveling business man this week like originally planned.  His trip got pushed back because of some client issues...or rescheduled...whatev.  I'm trying to put on my "big girl" panties and not make a big deal out of it, but being happy even when plans change is not my strong point. At all. {Seriously.  Ask The Housewife. It puts me over the edge.} I am working to get better at this.  It's really not a big deal.  And, it was probably best since I had so much going on this week with starting my job.  

On that note, I am jumping on the bandwagon for this Fifty Shades of Grey business.  All my friends are talking about it and all my internet friends are reading it, too! I feel left out. However, I am in the middle of two books right now so it will be sometime in May before I can get to this one. 

I am going to try to use the rest of this week and this weekend to get in some gym time, relax, and allow myself as many glasses of wine and trips for FroYo as I want.  What are you guys reading? What are you doing this weekend?

I originally sent 3 Putt some well wishes this week since he is playing in a Nationwide event {kinda a big deal} but I am thinking of taking them back since I haven't heard from him and its highly likely he has fallen deathly ill or is in a place where he has no cell service.  Why is 3 Putt are people so intent on pissing me off? In reality,  I am probably just tired and grumpy because I have been up so late texting with TDH -- you know, because I am apparently a teenage girl {one that forgets to pay her bills on time}. 

I'm not a playa I just crush a lot.

Love you. Mean it. 

~the single gal~

Catching Up

Hi, Everyone! Just wanted to drop some quick lines so we can all catch up since life has been so busy! 

The Housewife has been super MIA. I am sure you noticed. But, she does have a valid excuse.  She is mid-rennovation this week and has been staying with her wonderful In-Laws while all the dust settles on those gorgeous hardwoods.  They ended up starting two days later than planned when The Housewife noticed that the brought in the wrong size planks for her floors.  It's always something!

We are still in full-on Bridesmaid mode this week! Today we leave for a girls trip to Folly Beach/Charleston, South Carolina for Little A's Bachelorette Weekend.  This vacation couldn't come soon enough for me for a few reasons.  First, I have decided to take another job.  I had some interviews over the last few weeks and found a more stable company that is also closer to home.  It's been a rough week because it's hard to put in your notice at a place you loved and leave your work family.  I have so many co-workers there that I value and some incredibly close friends there as well.  More on this later! Secondly, I have had to cut some vacation time I already had planned out since I have to start my new job where I need to accrue my PTO {lame}.  So I am going to enjoy every second of my time off until I go back to work on Tuesday. 

In other random news, I was jokingly texting Little A about TDH and then I sent a second blip about wanting to beg him to be my wedding date in June. Except I sent that text to TDH. Yes -- you read that last sentence correctly.  It didn't really mention him by name, but I was mortified.  Actually, I am still mortified.  I said "beg" for goodness sake! Beg!  I was dying {why does this not look like a real word????}.  Seriously.  I am a moron. 

Thank God he is nice and understanding and wrote me back immediately that it was "no big deal".  It doesn't appear that I have sent him running back into New Jersey to disappear forever {not yet anyway}. 

Also, I hate my iPhone right now.  You know, since it's my phone's fault, not mine...

The Housewife and I wish you an early "Happy Weekend" since we are hitting the road this morning! 

Love you. Mean it. 

~the single gal~

Date #2

I'd like to think you have all been on the edge of your seats dying for my date re-cap all week, but even though that's probably not the case I am going to divulge the details anyway. Well...most of the details. 

Again -- this weekend was so much fun! First -- I had the pleasure of an overnight stay at The Grand Hyatt here in Buckhead.  I never think much about our hotels here in Atlanta because I live here so I never really pay attention to one over the other.  Holy Moly! Wonderful, wonderful hotel and staff.  They even had a driver in the hotel SUV take us to dinner so we didn't spend money on cabs! Joe was our driver -- he was a darling to chat with and provided us excellent transportation. 

To say the least, I was really impressed with TDH {again}.  I was going to try to snap a picture of the beautiful view of the city from the 19th floor...but I would probably have to explain a few things...like blogging about him.  

Since I didn't have to work we went to happy hour at Dantanna's!  I don't really keep up with basketball but we had a ton of fun chatting, laughing and watching Norfolk State beat out the number two seed Missouri {this apparently screwed up a lot of brackets}.  Don't y'all love my basketball jargon? I  got carried away by how cute my koozie looked on my Coors Lights and almost had one too many beers before dinner...luckily I reeled my crazy ass back in and was able to maintain my ladylike composure {or, I really hope I did anyway}. 

I got the feeling that TDH really wanted to plan dinner so I gave a few suggestions but was really pleased to hear we had a reservation at Nava!  The Buckhead Life Restaurant Group has a ton of amazing places to choose from but with this gorgeous weather we were able to eat on their huge patio -- it was just lovely and the food was so, so, so good!  

And, no trip into the city would be complete without breakfast at The Flying Biscuit.  We grabbed spots at the counter because it was super packed.  Confession -- we got there a bit late because I dropped my contact lens on the floor of the bathroom while getting ready and ended up spending an extra 20 minutes in there crawling around on my hands and knees for what seemed like an eternity trying to find it so I could see farther than 3 feet in front of me. I think he probably thought I had died in there. For realzies.  But back to breakfast. Our server John was so kind and super funny!  Breakfast and coffee are some of my two most favorite things on the planet and honestly this was probably my favorite part of the weekend.

We also had some time to kill so we wandered down to Phipps to browse and had some St. Patty's Day beers at The Tavern.  I really can't believe he bought me those beautiful Kendra Scott earrings from my Monday post! I love them.

Clearly this Single Gal couldn't have asked for more out of a weekend at all!

Love you. Mean it.
~the single gal~

Just Be Cool. And Wear Bright Lipstick.

Just doing a Single Gal "check in" for Wednesday! I am trying to allow the general public some peace and quiet from all the Taylor Swift songs I've been blasting for basically two weeks....but I can't stop.  I've tried.  I am the Single Gal and I have stayed up late way too many nights texting like a teenage girl with TDH (obvi). This is an activity which I am now trying wean off of because I am desperately trying to play it cool.  As I am sure you other Single Gals know -- playing it cool and being all "Oh I'm not really all that interested but you're so fun" is almost harder than waiting to see them again.  

I would like to say that I am trying to be rational about it and take this one date at a time since it really has no lasting future, but hey -- you have all probably read long enough to know that the Single Gal is really not a rational person at all. Not even close.  So, the "one date at a time" philosophy is hard.  Really hard.  Crazy hard.  Especially since the dates may be few and far between.  TDH is back this week and I decided I deserved some time off work so I took Friday as a personal day.  This way I don't die from staying up late.  You know, since I am not actually a teenager and I need some freaking sleep. 

Also, these dates are not helping my shopping problem. I just allowed myself to buy this beauty -- and then I caved and got a new shirt/lipstick for my date the other week. Total budget FAIL. 

I am obsessed with this purse.  I would have put it in the next "Monday Obsessions" but The Housewife keeps beating me to the feature and I didn't want to wait.  I also recently purchased a NARS matte lip pencil in "Dragon Girl" (because I am so pale I need a lot of contrast to look alive) for my date and it passed every test. Totally worth the $24 price tag. 

 It faded a little bit but totally stayed on through dinner and just needed minor touching up all night.  It's really red but if you have cool tones like I do it works because it's very pink at the same time.  Is anyone else braving the brightly colored matte lips? I really love it! 

I would say that I am going to spend the next few days trying to act a bit more sane, act totally aloof and non-chalant in response to all texts, and maybe borrow a top from The Housewife rather than buy one for my other date.  Except, what's the fun in that? 

Love you. Mean it. 

~the single gal~ 

And In Other News...The Single Gal Actually Had A Date

I know y'all are probably raising your damn jaws from the floor right about now since I suddenly have a small bit of a social life again. Seriously--I am surprised, too. If you follow on Twitter (one day we will get a button up) you know that I had a date last Thursday.  A big one.  A date with a man I met like 2.5 years ago. In Las Vegas. Absolutely nothing ended up happening on the trip but we have texted and kept up with each other ever since. And if he happened to ever ask me to run away with him I would probably just go and see how it all panned out. Anyway, I guess we sort of became friends. But, who really knows?  I am obviously not a good person to ask about defining relationships. 

Long story short, Tall-ish, Dark and Handsome (TDH) travels a million air miles each year and happened to have a project/meeting in Atlanta (finally) and asked me to have dinner with him. I pretty much didn't really believe it was happening but y'all we had a real dinner date!!!!!!!  It was so surreal that it was kind of a blur but I'll give a basic re-cap. 

-8:30 dinner reservation at Murphy's in VaHi on Thursday night. I love this place and while I am sure everyone in Atlanta has already been there I would still like to profess my complete utter adoration of this restaurant. 

Dinner was amazing. We racked up a huge bill and they started cleaning up the entire place around us basically kicked us out/made us leave. 

-Fast forward to a bar across the street (Fontaine's). Not a stellar or very clean establishment but a good classic I suppose.   A few hours later they finally turned the lights up and also made us leave.  I didn't even realize how late it was. 

I was after 3 when I got to bed.  And then I had to work in the morning.  And I completely forgot that we had a meeting at 9:30...which I totally missed because I was just getting in the car to finally drag myself into the office. Then I begged to leave at 4:30 that afternoon because I felt like death.  It's never good to be on the boss's "Shit List", but I probably have never been on it in the three years I have been there (that I know of....).  I didn't even drink that much but I can't function without 7 hrs of sleep, let alone on the few I got Thursday night. 

But -- It. Was. So. Much. Fun. And totally worth it!  

Here are the "cons" of The Date:

 TDH is considerably older than I am.  So, probably not a future husband.  I really am not sure if I will see him again anytime soon, especially because he basically logs 60-90,000 air miles each year for work.  And he most definitely doesn't live nearby (obvi). 

If you need me, I will be dreamily singing Taylor Swift songs all week. 

Love you. Mean it.

~the single gal~