Young, gay and fabulous

Time sure flies when you are having fun.

Since my last post, I have taken a fantastic trip to New York, been ensuring to get my groove on every weekend and just returned from a very inspiring trip to my home office for work.
I am feeling energized and the positivity of 2008 continues.

New York was incredible. Everytime I go there ~ I decide that I should live there. Unfortunately, my bank account will not afford me that luxury.
In the course of 3 days I managed to spend enough money to take me round trip from DC to Rome. It is enough to make a girl think......was that money well spent?

Hell yes it was.

Did I buy expensive clothes and shoes? See multiple shows? The answer is no.
I spent money on food and alcohol.
And it was yummy.

My friend and I went to great restaurants and ate great food. On Friday night we also hit the gay bars.....
I met a most fantastic photographer named Jean-Francois in a gay bar. I decided that Jean-Francois is the best name for a gay man from Belgium. He and I were pals the whole night. He even bought me drinks. At the end of the night, I felt bad that Jean-Francois could not get any action, but we formed a nice little friendship and he said I didn't look 36....so I love him very deeply.
I was also decidedly happy to not be a gay man. Oh the pressure.
I thought being a woman was tough. Try being a gay man over 30. Most of the men in there were young and a collection of the most beautiful people I have ever seen up close. It was like watching proud peacocks march around all trying to outdo the next one.
My friend that I was with (not JF....but the friend I went to NY with) is 45. Poor guy. Can you imagine having to compete amongst the beauties? Why are we so shallow? Granted, one is hardly going to meet the man of thier dreams in a gay bar....but you should at least be able to feel like you can be yourself and still get noticed. He didn't get noticed.
I enjoyed the night. I was one of 3 women in the place...and everyone told me I was pretty...and if they didn't like boys, they would like me. I also was touched inappropriately but felt no threat...just flattered. (that's what a girl gets for having boobs amongst young gay men)

Busy Bee

This is such a cop out ~ but I have been so busy.
Don't think I don't have stories to share! Because I do! I just need a moment for everything to calm down.....
Stay tuned!

And the Oscar goes to.......

Yes friends. It is that wonderful time of year again. Award Season.

Golden Globes? Grammys? Oscars? No -

Service Awards (5yr, 10yr, 20yr), Manager of the Year Awards, Assistant Manager of the Year Awards, Rookie Manager of the Year Awards etc...at my company.

It is that wonderful time of year when I get to present a plaque and pose for a photo op. While I am happy to give awards and recognition ~ I don't so much like the photo part. Ugh...my hair is flat! (I need a haircut) I'm all washed out! (that lipstick color is not good) Meanwhile look how cute my manager is! I should have knocked her over and stolen her lipstick.

But enough about me for the moment ~ it did bring me great pleasure to surprise this particular gal with her 5 year award ~ you never saw someone so excited to get to pick a gift from a catalog of cookware, watches, golf bags and mantel clocks. (She seems to be leaning towards the cookware) She brought a tear to my eye when she told me how much she loves her job and wants to retire from this company. She never wants to leave! Such dedication. Such loyalty. It was like an Oscar speech ~ only better.

Does it look like I have trouble getting anything I want?

Oh the Birthday Celebration!

What a fantastic time I had on Friday night!
I had 3 requirements for the festivities:

• dinner
• cocktails
• cute boys (I know I should be politically correct and say attractive men)

When I arrived at Michelle's house - she informed me that of course it could be difficult to get all 3 requirements in one place - so we opted to optimize the experience by hitting 3 different places.

One place to eat, one place for cocktails, and one place for boys.

Dinner was at a familiar restaurant - (they happen to have excellent cocktails too.) I chose a simple cuban sandwich that was fantastic with my mojito. After spending a few hours chatting and eating, we headed up to stop #2 for the cocktail portion of the evening. This particular restaurant had a bar with a large selection of Sangrias. I chose a white wine sangria with peaches and cinnamon. It was delicious and comforting. Cinnamon has that effect. The bartender thought he was a cute boy, but his personality left much to be desired. Instead of lingering, we headed for our final stop.....Where the boys were.

As we arrived, I was happy to be required to show my id. I know that they were checking everyones id.....but nonetheless, for a brief shining moment I felt really young again.

As we entered the bar (a rowdy Irish pub) we were surrounded by music, cheering, laughing and fun. There was a great Irish band playing, a rowdy crowd and the drinks were flowing. Happily.....there were many cute boys all around. We ordered our beers and began to watch the show. And by show, I don't mean the band.....but the crowd. As is usual, we were chatting with various people and enjoying ourselves. Standing next to Michelle was this very tall woman. We had joked that she made us feel so short....she easily stood over 6 ft tall. Suddenly, she turned and exclaimed how much she loved my white trenchcoat! The trenchcoat led to more conversation - Her name was Theresa, she was an ICU nurse and she was very drunk. When she asked if we were there to pick up hot Irish men ~ I told her we were there to celebrate my birthday.

T ~"Today is your BIRTHDAY? OH MY GOSH! How old ARE you?!"

Me ~"I am 36 today."

T ~ "36?! No way.....I would have figured you for 28 MAYBE"

Me ~ "Theresa, you are my new best friend"

T ~ "no, seriously.....you look great. Do you use Botox?"

Umm, yeah. Thanks for the compliment and insult in under 20 seconds. I decided that I didn't like my new best friend Theresa anymore. I quickly turned my attention to someone else.

Despite my obvious snub of Theresa, she still felt comfortable reapproaching me and asking more questions. And I must admit, I found that watching Theresa was like watching a train wreck in action.

She was on a date. It was clearly a first date. And Theresa was not liking him. To drown her misery, she was drinking beer, followed by shots of whiskey, followed by more beer. She began to work her way down the bar....attempting to make friends along the way. She found a kindred spirit in 'bob girl' Bob girl had a bob haircut, and like Theresa was drinking heavily. T and B began to drink together. And then came the tequila shots.

Theresa leaned over and told me that she was a "raging bi-sexual" (those are her words) and that she was loving the big boobs on "bob girl".

I asked her how she thought she was progressing in her quest, when she said, "Does it look like I have trouble getting anything I want?"

Oh to be beautiful, young and that confident.

As the night continued, Theresa decided to make her move on 'bob girl'

'Bob Girl' was not amused. Uh, no. Hell no. NO. 'Bob Girl' got up and left. I must admit, I was pleased to see that the beauty that was Theresa did not always get everything she wanted.

I did get cute boys buying me drinks.

So in summation. I got my dinner, my cocktails and cute boys buying me drinks.

I did not have botox and I did not have a hangover in the morning. 36 looks good on me.

(don't know that Theresa will ever be able to say the same thing)

Thanks for the card!

I received the first birthday card in my life that referred to me as an old person today.
It was full of references to bifocals, gray hair, memory loss and chin hair.
Ummmm.......thanks Meghan.
When did I go from pink fairys and stardust cards to old lady with wart and chin hair cards?!


I am leading a ban on cards that call people old or have the word fart in them.


But fear not - I am still feeling fabulous....Happy Birthday to Me!
(though I may take a closer look for any rogue hairs in strange places before heading out for my festivites tonight)......gggggrrrr

Countdown to 36!

36 is looming.

I was too busy being a freakfest to enjoy 35.

I am ready to embrace 36.

(aka....almost 40, someday)

This is me on my 6th birthday....

30 years ago!!!!

I look more stunned then ~ than I feel now.

I suppose that is a good sign.

Why is this the longest week ever?

Could it be because we just had 2 "short" weeks in a row? Why do holidays have to screw up our biorhythms?

Could it be because I am not sleeping well? There is no reason for this....I am not particularly stressed and I have been eating well and excercising?

Could it be because I am bored senseless? I need a challenge, I need some excitement, perhaps a project. Hold on, I don't want to wish for too much here.

Weekend, please hurry up and get here.