Today was not a great day. I'm feeling very tired, very frustrated, and cranky. I had a headache, my hair was uncooperative and looked crappy, my outfit was boring, etc. Work was really busy, yet I felt like I got very little accomplished. I had trouble concentrating (probably because of the aforementioned headache...just looking at my monitor hurt my eyes) and spent much of the day getting more and more irritated and stressed. One of my good friends from school had a baby last night and I'd love to visit but I really don't have time, so I feel like a shitty friend. My dad thinks he's got rheumatoid arthritis but won't go to the doctor and my grandmother is seeing a shrink. I'm sure I would too if I'd buried two husbands in the past five years. On top of everything else, I gave up dessert for stupid Lent, so I can't even console myself with a big chocolate brownie or bowl of ice cream. Yogurt and frozen grapes do not cut it when you're feeling this glummish. I want to go shopping but I'm trying to save money for the wedding, and I hate budgeting. I'm still driving around with my broken windshield from Christmas break and a wallet full of American cash I need to convert back to Canadian, but I can't find time to actually make an appointment at Speedy Auto Glass and get into the bank. I really want to either crack into my very nicely stocked wine rack and get obliterated (not a good idea with a 7:30 am meeting tomorrow and a performance review at work in the afternoon), or put on some emo music and sweatpants, get into bed, and have a good sob. The early morning meeting is also keeping me from doing that...can't show up with swollen, puffy red eyes!

I'm determined I'm not going to let February 25 be a shit day. It's 8:47. I have three hours and thirteen minutes left to make today awesome.

1. I am getting into my gym clothes and working out for 45 minutes.
2. I'm going to have a shower with my awesome Philosophy Cinnamon Buns shower gel that smells actually good enough to eat.
3. I'm going to wrestle with H2B. I always kick his ass. He is super careful not to bang my head against the hardwood floor, whereas I totally beat the crap out of him, stone-cold stunner style.
4. Before we fall asleep, I'm going to make H2B tell me things he likes about me and things I'm good at. I'm going to make a mental note of them, and then pull them out during my performance review at work tomorrow :D

OK...three hours and six minutes left. Time is a-tickin'. If I'm going to salvage this Wednesday, I've got to move! Surprisingly, I feel a bit better even after writing this post.

Why was today so sweet? Let me count the ways:

1. I started off the day with a 4.3-ish mile run. AWESOME. I love running in the morning, both because it gets it out of the way nice and early and frees up my schedule for the rest of the day, and because it gives me such a nice burst of energy that lasts a while and a sense of accomplishment that stays with me all day long.

2. When I was in the shower post-run, H2B went to Starbucks and bought me my grande coffee with nonfat milk and Splenda. He's trained really well.

3. Megan and I went to see Confessions of a Shopaholic--mediocre film made much better by the fact that a) it's buy one ticket for regular price, get the second for $1.99 weekend at Empire and b) it meant we had Kid's Packs for lunch.

4. Went to Michael's, saw the wedding invitation DIY options, and was able to relax a little.

5. Painted two new acrylics. I'm a shitty painter, but I'm really liking these two. They're a set and I'm very happy with the end result. Clueless was on while I painted which was a great little blast from the past.

6. Cinnamon buns are baking as I speak so the apartment smells all domestic and cinnamony.

7. Next up is dinner and drinkypoos at Moxie's with H2B, Adam, and Heather. Super pumped for that (I'm starving and have been sneaking bites of raw cinnamon bun dough for the past hour.) I plan to get shittered and foolish. After that we'll either head downtown or back here for some Guitar Hero. Either option sounds equally appealing.

I'm feeling 100% better today compared to earlier this week, when I was all funky and down. I love Saturdays like this where I'm productive but don't head into the weekend with a ton of plans. Best day I've had in a long time.

<3

Yesterday started off as a crappy Tuesday. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it...Monday may be the redheaded stepchild of weekdays, but if that's the case, Tuesday is the fat asthmatic kid that Monday throws his moldy sandwiches at on the school bus. On Mondays I come into the office feeling semi-fresh and kinda sorta ready to go. I'm rejuvenated and I've got my brand-spankin'-new to-do list of tasks for the week...clean slate, all that jazz. By Tuesday the post-weekend happy buzz leftover has completely evaporated and there isn't even any good teenybopper TV to lift me out of my funk. Yesterday was no exception. In addition to nursing my headache which seems to want to take up permanent residence inside my skull and navigating the daily cluster-eff that is merging morning traffic on the Mackay Bridge (SERIOUSLY, IT IS NOT THAT HARD TO LET ONE CAR GO AND THEN DRIVE BUT ASSCLOWN FUCKTARDERSON AND SLOWY McRIDESTHEBRAKESALOT HAVEN'T FIGURED OUT THE TECHNIQUE), the typical work dramas were ongoing, my apple had a bruise on it, I dropped my mittens into a puddle, and on and on it goes. Boo-frickity-hoo.

ANYWAY, I got home from work and that frown was quickly turned upside down when H2B decided to stop teasing me with the big V-Day plans he's been hatching for next month and fessed up to why he asked me to take Feb. 13 off work. Guess where I'm going??!!



I couldn't be more excited. We fly out early in the morning on Friday, February 13 (unlucky, I'm scared and come back to N.S. on Sunday, February 15. It's a pretty quick trip, so we probably won't take in too many activities--we aren't planning on any Broadway shows or hockey games, for example; they just eat up too many hours out of an already short stay. We're probably going to spend the vast majority of time just walking the streets and ogling stuff with amazement, like two country bumpkins who are just getting out of the sticks.

Super super pumped for Central Park (maybe even a carriage ride...God, we're cheesy!), a meal at Tavern on the Green, checking out Chinatown and Little Italy, seeing the Statue of Liberty, probably getting totally lost in the subway and ending up in the ghetto to die, and of course...


SHOPPING!! I'm going to go absolutely nuts. So many stores I want to visit: Macy's, Bloomingdales, Barneys, Topshop, H&M (we don't have it here, so it's kind of a big deal), Sephora, Saks...but I'm also excited to see the smaller markets and independent vendors. I am going to blow so much cash it's going to be ridic.

My trusty camera will follow, of course, and I hope to have a million new photos on Flickr afterward. In the meantime, the countdown is definitely on and I can't wait to see the Big Apple, even just for a couple of days. I think the plan is to pound enough Red Bull into ourselves that we go nonstop the entire time we're there.

Anyone have any suggestions? Must-sees? Cheap thrills? Things to avoid at all costs?