Leaving my Childhood

So now for the answer to yesterday’s mystery picture…

Last weekend I managed to clean out our guest bedroom closet and do some rearranging. One of the things that I decided to part from was the box below. You see in the ninth grade I starting dating an upper classman (despite my parents dissaproval) and for Christmas he walked into my house with a big Victoria Secret bag. My parents almost died. Lucky for him, he had only give me a perfume set that was in the white box. To this day I sware the only reason he gave me that perfume was to get a reaction out of my parents when they saw him with that big pink bag…

Anyways, that boyfriend came and went along with a few others but I always kept the flowers that each one gave me and put them in the white Victoria Secret box. As I went through the dried up flowers this past weekend most of them were corsages from school dances and proms but there were a few roses in there too.

I had always told myself that once I was married I would part with that box of flowers…and this past weekend I did. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. The idea of throwing away a piece of my childhood seemed so sad but when it came down to phsyically doing it – it wasn’t that bad. I am in a new chapter of my life now and I couldn’t be happier.

I still have a big box of love letters, stuffed animals, cards and pictures of my high school boyfriends at my parents house. Those items are not as likely to attract bugs as my flowers! I think I’ll leave them in their box for a while and hopefully on a rainy day go through them with my sister and have a few good laughs.

Can you guess what this is?

Running for Purple

In the past three weeks I have seen a complete change in my attitude towards running. I never thought I would say this but running can be addictive! I actually enjoy my morning routine of getting up at 6, driving to the gym, doing my thing and heading into work. I realize that soon I won’t be able to get in the mileage I need to before work but for now I am happy to build my core strength in the beginning training stages.

Part of the reason my attitude has changed is the immediate results I have seen in my body. Am I losing weight? Nope! I am getting firmer though!! Even Mr. Stilettos has made a few comments!! That feels so good!

Another factor in my attitude has been my purpose for running. Not only will I be running for myself in May but I will also be running for a friend. We will call her Mrs. Purple. We met in 2005 and worked together for a few years before I headed to another company. We became close and I was with her as she walked down the isle and celebrated the joy of having her first baby with her husband. What seemed like a picture perfect story soon turned into a nightmare. Mrs. Purple discovered she had lymphoma just days after delivering her daughter. Today, she only has three more chemo treatments left and I am so proud of her! What was once a tumor the size of a large starbucks coffee in her chest is now 70% smaller! She is such a trooper!

The Lymphoma society is what I will be running for in May. I figure – why run for nothing when you can run for a great cause. Let me tell you – since I decided to run for Amy and so many others with Lymphoma – I run a little faster! Today I discovered that Magnolia Belle is making t-shirts to raise money for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. What a great idea!! I have already ordered one so that I can sport the shirt while I train for my run in May. Thanks Magnolia Belle! Why don’t you go over and check out her t-shirts?

We’re Working On It!

Here is a little story to bring a smile to your face…

Recently, my hubby’s aunt had a death on her side of the family so she took her one year old with her to Texas and left Andrew, her 4 year old with her husband. While her hubby was at work Mr. Stiletto’s grandmother offered to watch him. One afternoon as they were playing Andrew announces that he would like a baby brother for him and a baby girl for his sister to play with. Grandma thinks that twin siblings would be wonderful and tells Andrew that he should tell his parents his wishes.

Andrew quickly responds, “We’re working on it Grandma!”

I can’t wait to remind Andrew of his statement in fifteen years…

Happy Monday!

Cannoli

If you ask my husband, my mom, or my sister (the people who know me best) what my favorite food is they will immediately tell you a cannoli! If I come across these heavenly creations I will keep on devouring until I am ready to puke! I’m not sure what it is about this cheese creation but I love them so I am adding them to my favorite Friday list.

I can’t say that I have ever made a home made cannoli. Costco has these wonderful kits with mini shells and packets with the cheese and chocolate chips that you can assemble yourself. My mom discovered them and I swear I’ll never forget the day she showed them to me! It was a happy day in my book!

On our honeymoon we had the best food we had ever had at a resort – and we have done a lot of traveling together! It was seriously delicious and nothing we were served tasted foreign to us. I felt like we were eating at Ruth Chris every night! I did not think our meals could get any better but then the head chef on the island served us the biggest cannoli I had ever seen – not once but TWICE! Not only was I on my honeymoon but I was in heaven!!

Is there a food that just makes you weak in the knees?!

Office Creeper

I started working at my current office almost a year ago. As soon as I started another 20 something chick who had been working here for a few years immediately took me under her wing and I will be forever grateful to her! One of the things she let me in on was the low down on the office creeper. At first glance he just looks like a very overweight man who could use a haircut. Well, turns out he is socially awkward too. I know every office has one of these people…

Our office creeper wouldn’t be so bad if he knew the appropriate times to have a conversation or knew the appropriate things to talk about. He is the person that everyone runs from when they see him coming because he just never stops talking – and even when you hint or flat out tell him you are busy he just keeps talking!! OR even worse he just stands in your office doorway staring at you!!! Lucky for me I get special treatment from the office creeper! My desk in my office faces my door which is by the kitchen and EVERY time Mr. Office Creeper goes to get a piece of candy on his way to his desk he stops at the counter and just stares at me while he chomps away on his snickers bar. I just want to scream!!!

I really do not like to be mean to people or give the impression that I’m antisocial – because I certainly am not. I enjoy people but I prefer to socialize in doses or when it is appropriate! Our office creeper just makes me feel so uncomfortable when he talks to me and I’m so afraid to carry on a conversation because I never know when it will end!! I would like to say “luckily” everyone in the office knows how it is to be cornered by this guy but frankly, it is not “lucky” – it is just sad! I wish he would just get the hint and not make everyone so uncomfortable!!

Have you ever worked with someone like this?!

Happy Birthday Mr. President!

Mr. Stilettos and I on Halloween….

Do we look exactly like Marilyn Monroe and President Kennedy?? No, but we saved money and I got to wear my junior prom dress again!!

Happy Election Day!

Today as I got up to do my morning run I had completely forgotten about election day so when I approached the local high school and saw the HUGE line outside of voters it really struck me. I was just overwhelmed with this huge amount of pride for our country. At 6:30 in the morning there were people anxiously awaiting to make their voice heard and exercise their American right. As I continuted my run I passed another voting location and that was even more packed than the high school and again, it was only 6:45 in the morning! Today, I could have run for miles if I didn’t have to go to work. It was just one foot after the other as my mind was racing with pride. My sore legs or the cold air did not even faze me! You can ask any of my friends or family members – I am not a political person (I leave that to my husband) but there is something to say for exercising your right to vote and coming together as a community to do it.

Happy Voting!

Post Halloween

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween weekend! I’ve seen some awesome picture postings this morning! As for our pictures..well you will have to wait until wordless Wednesday! I am a little upset over our pictures. You know sometimes how you get ready for a night out and you just feel so pretty? Well, I felt like a million bucks on Friday night as we were getting ready. Something about dressing up like Marilyn Monroe made me feel glamorous! Well, my peeve is when you feel soo pretty at home and then you take a picture when your out on the town and you end up looking like a corpse bride or something!! And I wasn’t even drinking!! Uggh!! I’ll let you be the judge but I was so disappointed! I was hoping for some good Halloween pics in the city!

On a funnier note, how about all those Palin girls running around?! They just crack me up. I wonder what the new year will bring into our lives that will be the next costume craze?!

Happy Halloween!!

This Halloween Mr. Stilettos and I will be President Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe. We are going down to the city to celebrate with some friends after we greet our trick or treaters! I can’t decide which I’m more excited about…I actually think it might be giving out candy! You see, this is our first Halloween at our home so we are looking forward to meeting more of the families in our neighborhood. You better believe I worked hard on our candy bags that we are giving out! I’ll make sure to post pictures on Monday!

On my way home from work tonight I think I’m going to treat us to a hot caramel apple cider from Starbucks. Yes, they are loaded in calories but I like to think that they will be making my skin a little thicker tonight as we party in the streets in 40 degree weather! So, to continue my favorite Friday tradition…I’m adding this tasty drink to my list!

Enjoy your Halloween!! What are you going to do tonight?! Got a costume ready?!