My 4th of July Weekend has Inspired me to Join the Circus

A weekend full of surprises, that's what I had!

Surprise #1. Finding out that we would not be traveling to St. George (Utah, not the island) the night before we were supposed to leave due to some issues with accommodations. I was absolutely crushed because I had really been looking forward to getting away, but after killing myself on the treadmill I decided to suck it up and make the best of my weekend vacation time no matter what we did.

Surprise #2. Discovering that my 50 SPF spray sunscreen was not as effective as I would have liked. We went boating on Friday and Sunday at Utah lake and who goes home looking like a lobster? Me, that's who. Of course it helps that my sister is already tan and my parents keep almost all of their clothes on except when entering the water. Regardless, I got burned and it hurts.



Surprise #3. Crashing on the wake board and jacking up my sunburned neck. I fell 4 or 5 times so it's hard to be sure which one caused the damage. I think it was number two...but at this point what does it matter?

Surprise #4. Getting to meet a group of ED's best friends that he has been keeping hidden. Actually I'm not sure if it was me he was keeping hidden or them... The best part of this surprise is that they were all amazing. I loved getting to know them, and in the end they seemed to "approve" of me, and I them. I'm looking forward to spending more time getting to know them in the future.

Surprise #5. Learning how to hula hoop. Also known as making a complete jack ass out of yourself and being caught on video while doing it. FOR THE RECORD: I had no idea my future brother-in-law was recording us!
The blond closest to the camera is my older sister who brought the hula hoops and is very good, the other blond is my younger sister who has a day more practice than me and I'm (obviously) the uncoordinated brunette. I will say though, this is after practicing for about 2 hours. I'm not sure if that makes this video impressive or pathetic...


Surprise #5. Remembering how great it is to just lay on the lawn while the neighbors light illegal fireworks that they bought and paid for. No parks. No crowds. Just family, friends and a dozen or so neighbor kids running around shooting bottle rockets at each other.

Just the way our fore fathers would have wanted us to celebrate.

Blogfully yours,

Summer

Next Thing You Know She'll Be Kissing Girls

Last week my sister asked me to pick her daughter Brielle (a.k.a. the worlds littlest princess), from daycare and watch her for a few hours. I told her it was no problem because I really enjoy watching her for a few hours. Emphasis on "a few hours".

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore this 3 year old princess and I am partly responsible for her princess complex. I spoil her rotten, put make-up on her, buy her toys, give her candy, cookies, yogurt and fast food, paint her nails, buy her coffee and let her watch PG-13 movies. In return she torments my cat, spills juice/water/wine on my couches, gets chocolate basically everywhere and makes me wipe her princess butt after she screams from the bathroom "SUMMER COME WIPE MY BUM!"

During this particular "few hours" visit I asked her what she wanted to do. Without hesitation she told me she wanted to go feed the ducks. We grabbed what little bread I had and walked over to the pond at my apartment complex.

Now I'm going to wager a bet that her mother is letting her watch more than just princess movies because a diva personality like this only comes from watching too much VH1 reality TV and/or pop music videos.












Watch out world! Miss Brielle Gaga-Perry is coming through!

Blogfully yours,

Summer

PS - For those of you who are not familiar with pop-culture references (Grandma I'm talking to you), "I Kissed a Girl" is a song by Katy Perry pictured above left.

Fat Kids Love Cake

ED and I went on our first ever double date. It was us and ED’s best friend and his wife. We went to dinner and after we went to Poplar Street to watch a blues band play called Blues 66. They were absolutely amazing. We ended the night around 10:30 because the other couple has children and babysitters to attend to. 

I know you are thinking, whoopd’y shit. What’s the big deal? Sounds very normal and boring. Well, that is where you are wrong. You see, ED and I only get to see each other twice a week and we tend to be a little selfish with our time. We have to get enough of each other on a Saturday night to last us until the following weekend and that is hard to do when you are with other people. 

When we first started dating, an additional reason for our selfish exclusivity was that we wanted to be sure about the relationship before parading each other around our respective friends. Because honestly, there is nothing worse than bringing a new guy around, letting your friends get to know him only to tell them 2 weeks later that they won’t be seeing him again. Ever. It’s way too much work, plus it’s embarrassing. 

So here we are, 5 months into round 2 of dating and we are doing “coupley” stuff with other couples with no anxiety or second-guessing. It’s really…cool. Finding myself in a happy, healthy relationship with potential for a future is somewhat uncharted territory for me. I haven’t been this comfortable or happy in a long time. 

Sometimes I wonder when the rug is going to get pulled out from under me and when he will turn into a controlling ass hole. I’ll eye him suspiciously expecting the transformation to take place right before my very eyes! But, instead he just smiles at me and says, “Aw honey, I love you. Like a fat kid loves cake.” 

Then I melt. All worry and suspicion floats away and I continue to let myself just be happy because fat kids really do love cake and I really do deserve to be happy.

Blogfully yours,

Summer

The First Time Around

As some of you may or may not know, ED and I dated 2 years ago which is how he got his blog name "ED" in the first place. It stands for Environmental Dating, as in dating the same person twice or, for all intents and purposes, "recycling".

Karina the Russian was going through her pictures last night and came across this picture. ED is just so freaking cute I couldn't help but share it with you. This was during my swoopy bangs period and I think my face looks slightly retarded, but I think you can see he made me (retardedly) happy back then, just like he does now.

Blogfully yours,

Summer

Park Lunch With the Russians

I was tired (and by tired I mean too busy trying to catch up on my DVR shows) last night and didn't get a new post written. I decided to bring my laptop with me to work so that I could write on my lunch break. So, since it's lunch time and since I am sitting in a Russian owned coffee shop plus I have these adorable pictures I have not shared... here you go!

My darling BFF, Karina the Russian, often joins me for lunch and brings along her (our) 2 beautiful Russian children. On this particular beautiful spring day last week, we decided that lunch should consist of pizza at the park. The kids couldn't have been happier with this idea.

We soaked up as much sun and grease as we could. Karina commented on how it was so beautiful that you don't even need to close your eyes to "create a moment". Creating a moment is something we often do. You simply take a bite of food, shut your eyes and focus on simply being in that moment closing out all other thoughts. We even do this with the kids so when Dimitri heard his mom say this he promptly spoke up, "nut-uh! Mom you have to close your eyes to create a moment. That's how you do it!"

Not to be out done, little Pasha decided to teach us a lesson as well. Although she is better at letting us figure it out for ourselves rather than telling us. So what did we learn? Do not, under any circumstances, share a drink with a 2 year old child - especially one who is eating pizza!




Blogfully yours,

Summer

Mothers Day and Lowered Expectations

Ahh, Mothers day. The day we show the woman who brought us into the world just how much we care. And for me, what better way is there then to place her beautiful smiling face on the internet to be adored by all.

It was a lovely Mothers day. I came over early to help my Dad cook dinner (shh! Don't tell ED, but I actually do know how to cook). My two lovely sisters came a little later. Yes, my lucky mother had all of her daughters present. I've always looked like the mailman's daughter but she and my Dad both swear I'm their spawn.

In the card I gave to my mom, I told her I wanted to have dinner - just the two of us. I said I couldn't promise it would be home made, but I could promise there would be food and quality mother-daughter time together. After reading my card she promptly pointed out that last year I made my Dad a home cooked dinner for Fathers day. To which I replied that that was back when I used to keep food at my place. Right now all I have to offer are pickles, ketchup and a few other various condiments. We laughed about it, but sadly it's true.

How embarrassing! The only good thing about having no food, is that I have lowered everyone's expectations of my domestic skills to the point where they have forgotten I have any. I am now only assigned to bring pre-made pies or a bag of ice to family get-togethers. Much easier than homemade caramel pies or fancy appetizers. Not having food is actually working out IN MY FAVOR!

Blogfully yours,

Summer

Excellent Babysitter, Horrible Mother

I watched my niece Brielle on Saturday for a few hours. We painted our finger and toenails (pink of course) while watching Spiderman and eating chocolate. I only have one "real" kid movie, and Bri didn't feel like watching it, so Spiderman was the next best thing.

Once we had our fill of all things unhealthy and we both started getting cranky for a nap, I called up Brielle's mom to come and get her. She cried when she had to leave. It was strangely satisfying to know that she had that good of a time.

I am obviously an amazing aunt/babysitter.


When it comes to my own demon child, my cat Aurora, I am not such a good mother. I honestly think she is either possessed or enjoys driving me crazy. She bitches (meows) at me non-stop. I pet her for a minute, but then she just goes right back to it. I let her out on the patio (I'm on a second floor and she is too chicken to jump) and she'll be happy for maybe 5 minutes then she is meow-meow-meowing again. She is getting worse too. She has now decided that I do not need to sleep. It is much more important to wake up at 3 AM to pet her. She will voice this in one of 3 ways: the traditional meowing, making noises by batting the blinds or opening drawers, and the very worst of all - licking my hair!
I have learned of only 2 things to make her temporarily shut her trap:

1) a squirt bottle of water. I keep one by my bed and one in the front room.

2) The vacuum. It will make her hide under the bed for at least a good hour.

But does it make me a bad parent/pet owner to use either method, just to get her out of my hair? It seriously makes me wonder what I would do with a screaming child! Right now I am considering hiring a pet psychic, THAT'S HOW BAD SHE IS! I just need to understand how to make her happy.


Blogfully yours,
Summer

My Mom The Drunk

I can't stop laughing. Just typing the title to this post is cracking me up. You see, my Mother is an incredibly religious woman. She dragged my, as well as my sisters, collective asses to church every Sunday. She was Young Woman's president, Primary president, and held a million other positions. Growing up she placed a "Return With Honor" sign on both the front and back doors. She makes Sunday dinners every week and before anyone can touch their food, a traditional Mormon blessing is said.

So you can imagine my surprise when I read the following text message from her:

Mom: "So funny! I am at a church chili cook off contest right now. The winner of 30 entries is sitting at a table. He is my neighbor. I quickly got up so I could try a bowl of his chili. When I took my first bite I thought I tasted alcohol, I asked him. He grinned and said yes. I think that is so funny!

Me: "Wow mom! Not sure which is worse... The fact that there is booze at church or that you recognize the taste of it!"

Mom: "I'm a woman of vast experience."

Who knew! St. Victoria had a crazy side to her at one time. I am thinking of ways to use this information to my advantage. I haven't come up with any yet, but it's just a matter of time.

Blogfully yours,

Summer

4 hours with a 3 year old

Saturday I woke up and had the day all to myself. Only problem with that is I'm not paticularly good at it. I scheduled myself a massage and while Miss Boney Fingers was jabbing away at my aching muscles I thought about how I should spend my day. For some reason my adorable niece Brielle kept popping into my mind. I hadn't seen her in forever. A few days earlier my sister had called and put her on the phone "Do you want to ride the train with me Summer?" Just like that. She is speaking in full clear sentences! To clarify as to why she was asking me about riding a train, last September Karina and I took her 2 kids ("our kids") and Brielle on Utah's public transportation system called "Trax". I guess my sister had driven past it and Brielle couldn't stop talking about it. It's amazing the things kids remember.

When I was finished being torchered by my sadistic massage therapist I called up my sister to see if I could borrow her daughter for a few hours. She was thrilled because she and her BF needed to do "homework". When I picked up Brielle she couldn't contain her excited because we both had on boots and hats which made us twinners.

As we left my sisters 2nd story apartment, Brielle sang a familar song I had so cleverly taught her once when I didn't have the ability to carry both her and grocierys "Stairs, stairs, stairs. I love stairs!" yet another thing I can't believe she remembers.

I took her to a bunch of really fun places, like the dry cleaners, the grocery store and the mall. She was a trooper through most of it. I will say that picking out the perfect Valentines card is near impossible with a 3 year old interrupting you every 30 seconds "can I have a teddy bear?" OK. Only if you are good. "I want some candy" No, you are getting the teddy bear. "I don't want my coffee anymore" There goes $3 out the window. "Hold me" Give me one more second princess. "I don't like this store anymore!" Until finally I choose a card, grab the stuffed animal, throw down some cash, bolt out of the store and head to my parents house for some back up support.

Honestly, how can something so adorable be so incredibly overwhelming? I watched her for a total of 4 hours and that was enough. Her way of thanking me for buying her a teddybear, putting makeup on her and letting her wear my jewelry, was to give me material I will use to blackmale or at the very least embarass her in front of a cute boy one day. I suppose you could call it a messed up parting gift of sorts.

"SUMMER! Can you come into the bathroom? I need HELP!"

I walk in and she tells me she needs me to wipe her. She jumps off the potty, turns around, puts her head down and her poopy little bum right in the air. Completely unabashed with a smile on her face.

Renting a kid is fun, but I have to say, the best part is getting to returning them.

Blogfully yours,
Summer

Sometimes you just need someone to tell you that you've done a good job

Last night I finished writing the first draft of my reflection paper. It is my first college English paper, written in MLA format and following all of the writing rules that we have learned so far. I have been working on it for about a week and I finally finished it at 10:30pm the night before it was due. I read through it several times and got really excited. My first real college paper! A piece I am calling "Starting Over". I was so excited that I wanted to share it with someone. But who would think I wasn't crazy calling them so late to read them a 4 page essay all about me?

The boyfriend had already gone to bed and so had the Russian BFF. I tweeted about it to see if anyone was online. My beloved friend and fellow college student Sarah, who I almost just called, responded but it was after I had already given up on Twitter. So I called the people who I knew had an obligation to be there for me, my parents.

Me: "Hi Dad, is Mom awake?"

Dad: "No she had to be to work at 5 this morning so she is asleep. Is everything OK?"

Me: "Yeah, I just thought she might find my college paper interesting and was going to make her listen to it. How do you feel about listening to it?"

Dad: "I could do that."

Me: "Are you sure? It's like 4 pages long, but I am really excited about it."

Dad: "Sure."

So I read my essay that I had poured my heart into to my Dad over the phone. Being the wonderful parent that he is he gave me his full attention and when I was done he validated that what I wrote was indeed good. My Dad is not the type to get all worked up with praises, but if there is one thing having all daughters has taught him, it's to sense when his girls really need to hear those praises. He told me my essay was well written, that it had just the right amount of personal information but not too much and that he enjoyed how it ended on such an upbeat note. I know that he is my Dad so he is all but required to say nice things, but it was still so wonderful to hear.

I suppose that every once in a while even the strongest of people need to hear that they did something good. Thank God for parents who tell you that you've done just that.

Blogfully yours,

Summer

The Year For My Girls

I am overcome with...emotions. Saturday I took my darling BFF, Karina the Russian, to the airport where she flew (on her own) to Denver for her first business trip as the manager of an Aveda store/salon. As she walked away, baby pink suitcase in tow, I have never been so proud! I wish I would have taken a picture. I felt like a mom sending her child off to school for their first day. I know it sounds silly, but there was a time when my confident Russian beauty doubted herself and didn't think she was qualified to run the show. Now, a little over 2 weeks in, she is kicking butt and taking names and I couldn't be happier for her.

Saturday I also spent the night at my baby sister Staci's new apartment. It was her and her daughter Brielle's first night there, I guess mine too. Talk about another huge accomplishment. My sister is 26 years old and has never moved out of my parents house. I understand that when you are a single mom living in a house with 2 other adults, who are always there to help you with your daughter, becomes very comfortable and hard to leave - but she did it. To celebrate we went to WalMart and bought all of the beginners grocery essentials she would need, drank a bottle of wine and watched Sex In the City. I am happy to report that Brielle even went to bed fairly easy too. I am so proud of my sister.

As for me, I am plugging along. I start school today. I am taking 3 classes or 9 credit hours this semester. I am a little worried about finding time for everything. I guess you could say that today marks the end of my social life for about 5 months. Oh well, it will all be worth it. To be honest I am actually looking forward to getting back into a rhythm with school and work. I kind of thrive on being busy. Plus it allows me to be completely selfish with my time and no one can say anything about it. When you tell someone you have homework or need to study, they always seem to understand and never give you a guilt trip. It is perfect. Honest and perfect.

Blogfully yours,

Summer

The aftermath of Christmas parties

My favorite part of throwing Christmas parties is getting to spent time with friends. My second favorite part of throwing Christmas parties, is leftovers. I had so much food and booze left over from my Tacky Christmas Party that I invited a few friends over the following night to prevent me from eating a whole plate of 7 layer dip by myself.
My small leftover party ended up being a lot of fun. Midway through the night, we decided to change the theme of this party into a pajama party. Which basically means take your bra off and get comfortable. I am proud to report that I have the best time for removing my bra out from under my clothes. Like, 5 seconds flat! Freedom!

I'm not quite sure why we decided my tree needed more decorations, but I think stiletto heels (or "hills" as Karina calls them) and bras made a nice addition.

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you have the "breastest" one ever!

Blogfully yours,
Summer

Tacky Christmas Party

This year I let Christmas take over my tiny 1 bedroom apartment. Instantly I started regretting getting so festive once I realized that the only people who would be seeing my festive bachelorette pad, would be me and my cat. My simple remedy?
Throw a party.
Nothing big, just a few of my closest girlfriends. My place is tiny, any more than 8 - 10 would have been uncomfortable anyway. I chose a theme, which was inspired by my Mother.

Behold the tacky Christmas sweaters in all their glory!




Of course to thank my mother for letting us borrow a few of her sweaters, my sister and I took this picture which we printed out and framed for her.

I'm pretty sure my Mom thinks it was a giant party to mock her, but it wasn't! In fact, someone wanting to be like you is the biggest form of a complement. So that makes us saintly daughters. You're welcome Mom!

Blogfully yours,
Summer

Princess Party Hell

After spending Friday night partying with rock stars, I woke up mid Saturday morning knowing that I had another very important party to get going to. So I rolled out of bed and managed to get dressed. I sleepily walked into the kitchen to start some coffee only to look out the window to see 6 inches of new snow! I seriously considered just going back to bed, but the consequences of having to face my niece after missing her 3 year old princess birthday party were just too great.

My princess baby sister decided to play along and dressed up in an old bridesmaid dress. Here she is holding the birthday princess, her daughter Brielle.

A swarm of princesses buzzing around the birthday princess opening her presents.

There had to be 8-10 little princesses running around. Even my "daughter" Pasha made it, thanks to her father being an incredible sport. She was a little shy at first, but just like her mother, Karina the Russian, give her a little candy and she warmed right up! She did however feel the need to stay incognito to avoid the paparazzi.

I brought my makeup to the party and put blush, eyeshadow and lipstick on all of the girls. Of course the pink eyeshadow was the most popular color chosen. I'm slowly creating little monsters everywhere I go. Already both Brielle and Pasha ask me for lipstick every time they see me because they know a) I always have it on me and b) I am more than happy to put it on them.

So that is pretty much most of my weekend. Partying with rock stars one night and going to princess parties the next. Never a dull moment it seems. At least that is how it can seem if you only ever hear about the exciting parts of my life.

Blogfully yours,
Summer

Tacky Christmas Sweaters and a Sing-along

Last night my family and I got in the holiday spirit and went to "The Forgotten Carols" by Michael McLean. Now for those of you who are not familiar with The Fogotten Carols, let me tell you, in Utah, it is a big freaking deal! My mother bought the tickets about 2 months in advance. It is a live performance of the book and the soundtrack which are about a woman who learns the true meaning of Christmas through a series of "forgotten carols". Very Mormon, very spiritual, a little cultish.

This was my third time seeing the carols. As a young teenage girl, I read the book and fell in love with the story and the carols. In fact, this year is one of the first years I have not listened to the soundtrack as I decorated my tree. It has probably been 8 to 10 years since I last saw the carols being performed, but I remembered it almost perfectly. Honestly I was a little scared to go. I'm far from religious but this show always seems to make me cry and I have had enough crying to last me a while.

I made it through the first 30 minutes; cool and collected. Then the stupid song about Mary letting someone hold her baby (the baby Jesus) so she could rest and it changed this lady's life because she could never be a mother, but it made her feel like one. Ahh! Tear jerker! My cute little sister sitting to my left, who IS a mother, takes one look at the tears that are running down my cheek, reaches over and holds my hand. She knows. She knows heartache and fear that I suppress. Always cool and collected on the outside but slightly tormented on the inside. At least when it comes to the subject of children. Then my Dad, who is on right, notices my snitch tears and puts his gigantic hand on my leg. Luckily intermission was shortly after that song so I was able to pull myself back together.

At the end of the concert, Mr. McLean who is staring and narrating the show, leads the audience in a giant sing-along complete with linking arms to the person next to you.

"Everybody now! We can be together forever someday! We can be together forever someday! We can be together forever sooommmmeeee DAAAAYYYY!"

*insert giant eye rolling and slight feeling of nausea*

I was definitely in the middle of my biggest nightmare-de ja vu-flashback of my upbringing. But it was, after all, Christmas and my Mother had gone to the trouble of organizing the outing. Anything to bring a little spirituality into her heathen daughters life.

Being in the middle of a Mormon concert has it's advantages however. Like the people watching. I swear to you I have never seen so many tacky Christmas sweaters in one place! As soon as the show was over I told my sister "quick! Grab out your camera phone and start taking pictures of the Christmas sweaters!"

Unfortunately the only pictures I was able to capture were of my own mothers hideous sweater.















Mom: "Why are you taking pictures of me? You're not going to put this on your blog are you?"

Me: "Of course I am."

Mom: "I want you to know that there is a whole womens center at my work who wears sweaters like this. You tell them the 50 year old women are rebelling!"

Me: "OK Mom."

Mom: "And you're writing about the concert too?"

Me: "Of course."

Mom: "...and you will only talk about it with...?"

Me: "Complete respect."

Mom: "Good girl."


Blogfully yours,
Summer

My Big Fat Mormon Funeral

The past week has been an incredibly challenging one for my family and for myself. Now that the viewings and the funeral are over I am finally able to sit back and reflect on everything that happened.

I'm not a super private person, but my feelings of regret and sadness I will keep to myself. Instead I wanted to share a few stories/memories that I will take with me.

My older sister deliberated on whether or not to bring her 9 yr old son (Daemon) and her 4 yr old daughter (Rowan) to the funeral but in the end was talked into bringing them. She and I walked her son up to the casket to say goodbye to his great grandpa that he had only met twice. We had all tried our best to explain to him that grandpa had died, but it was OK because he is in heaven with Jesus. When we approached the coffin, trying to stay strong but felt the tears about to fall (yet again), my nephew looked at his great grandpa with a studious eye, taking everything in, but all he said was "it's sad."

I went to sit down on one of the sofas aligning the room. Daemon came and sat down next to me. I felt inclined to share some of my adult wisdom with him, to comfort him somehow or maybe it was to prepare him.

"Wow... So I guess this is your first funeral... But unfortunately you will be going to a lot more in your life time because eventually everybody dies."

Not super smooth, I'll admit. But I was grieving and it was the best I could come up with. It didn't phase him however. He looked right at me and said, "Yes but they also live! People get born and they live and they live and they live. Then when they are older, like 89, they die. It is the circle of life Summer."

He said it so matter of factly. I just stared at him and the tears came unabashedly rolling down my face. Here I am trying to tell him about the harsh realities of this world. In an instant he spins it around to let me know that even though there is death, and yeah, that sucks, there is also life! My grandfather lived a long happy life and I would like to believe he would want me to do the same! In fact I know he would. So that is what I intend to do. Keep on living. Keep celebrating life. Learning from every experience, good and bad, cause that is what grandpa would want me to do.


Blogfully yours,
Summer

Cat Lady

Me: "Hi my name is Summer and I am a cat lady"

Everyone: "Hi Summer"


I have come to terms that I am a 28 year old cat lady. Most nights, it's just me and Aurora, 2 peas in a pod... only problem is my other pea is a bitch. Yes, I just called my cat a bitch. I love her dearly, I do! But she is so demanding and grumpy that I don't know what to do. She hates everybody else but me, which is endearing in a lot of ways but mostly it's exhausting. I mean I can't pay attention to her at all times! Blast it all! Cats' are supposed to be the low maintenance version of a kid! Work with me kitty! Work with me!!!

The only thing good about the Cheesecake Factory

My sister Staci decided that for her birthday she wanted to get a group together to go to The Cheesecake Factory. She asked me if I would be willing to go an hour early to get our names on the list, because I am a good sister and it was her birthday I agreed, but dragged Karina the Russian with me.
When we got there they told us it would be a 2 HOUR WAIT!!! Now, I'm not going to say their food is not good - it is. But come on! No food is worth waiting 2 hours just to be seated. Unfortunately, this was not my call to make. At least the restaurant is located right in front of the mall (strategic placement much?) so Karina and I just wandered around the mall. I was on a mission to find a new winter hat. I found one that I am pretty much in love with and am going back to buy after my next paycheck.

The restaurant wait ended up only being 1 hr and 45 minutes. ONLY! Regardless, we had a lot of fun and Staci loved the singing card that Karina and I gave her. "Special, special, yes you are!" I'm pretty sure it was her favorite present of the night. Our server was excellent and didn't even hit on any of us, so that was a bonus too.

Happy Birtday (one day late) Little Sister! I love you more than you will ever know!

Blogfully yours,
Summer

Single for the holidays blows

The time of year that all single women dread is coming up; "The Holidays."

I dwelled on this thought a little too long this weekend. I let my mind wander to the huge family Thanksgiving dinner as well as the Christmas celebrations with all of my relatives. The thought of being the only single one there, while my sisters and cousins all chase around their kids, makes me want to stay home and pull my fingernails out instead. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my family. I just don't know if I have the energy to fake a smile and say the obligatory lines of "yep, still single. No, not really seeing anyone either. Yes, one day I'm sure I will find him. Yes, I realize I'm not getting any younger. Here is some salt, can you please rub it in this open sore?" Smile and repeat with the next well intentioned relative who is just trying to be nice.

Then there are all of the work related parties and New Years. New Years! I haven't been single on New Years in over 10 years! Somebody shoot me now!

Of course I called up Karina The Russian to listen to me bitch.

Karina: "Summer, Christmas is not about being with someone with a cock and balls! It's about being with someone you love. I will be your date! You don't need a stupid man!"

Me: "Yeah but you are dating someone now so you are going to want to spend the holidays with him. Which I totally understand."

Karina: "No, he is not my family. YOU are my family. We will make cookies and drink wine and sit by the Christmas tree and stare at the beautiful lights!"


While I was fishing for sympathy, I also told Sarah how I woke up feeling really low. She told me next time I felt that way to drive over, climb in bed with her and we would watch movies and drink wine in bed.

Basically I've decided to quit bitching for the time being because really I'm incredibly blessed to have such amazing, beautiful, understanding, supportive friends who are always there. They get me. They understand that wine and friendship can get you through anything, including the holidays.

Blogfully yours,
Summer

Sandy Mandy Cookies

The other day I was discussing with my BFF Karina the Russian how certain smells can evoke memories, some painful, some pleasant. The specific one I was referring to was of course a painful memory. An old boyfriend of mine, who turned out to be a royal scumbag but started out as a prince (as they always do), used to make me coffee every morning while I was in the shower. He would bring me a mug, along with a small plate of my favorite cookies, Pecan Sandies. I bought a brand of coffee that must have been similar to what I was buying back then because when I brewed a pot last week it took me back.

Karina: What type of cookies? Sandy...Mandy...pecan-y cookies?

Me (laughing): Close enough.

Tuesday Karina called me up incredibly excited and told me I HAD to come over for breakfast because she had a surprise for me. Of course I would never say no to free food so I said I would be there but I would probably have to finish getting ready at her house. When I got there she told me to go finish putting my makeup on in her bathroom and she would bring it to me. You should have seen the huge smile on her face as she brought this in to me!
Of course I started to cry (I am seriously such a sap!). She told me not to cry cause she had more and bustled off to bring me this:
Then she squealed and said she forgot one more thing and ran off to the kitchen. She came back with this...to help keep me healthy.
When I got to work I discovered that she had also put 2 granola bars in my purse. Now if I learned anything from my PB&J experience, it's that the way to show a Russian how much you care, is with food. Today I learned that if you do, they will never stop showing their gratitude back.

Blogfully yours,
Summer