"Sexy _________"

*insert noun here* 

That was my brother's response to my frantic text asking for advice on Halloween costumes last night. I forgot how, in college, any costume worked, as long as one half of your body was readily visible. Oh, those were the days. Except that I never really did sexy? Not well, anyway. 

Freshman year: as Sarah Palin herself - Miss Alaska 1984. Complete with hatchet and borrowed snowboots.

Sophomore year, nothing. No Halloween. Working at Wawa, you guys - it's not for the faint of heart. They don't let you off work early for anything.


Junior year, apparently I felt like an American flag. In moccasins, after two hours of my feet hurting. 

Last year, I was a cat. A really thrown-together, last minute cat. There are exactly two pictures of me, because I felt ridiculous. 

So obviously, "sexy _______" was never really in the cards, although Sarah Palin got some whistles. I guess freshman year was my Halloween prime?

Tonight will be another last-minute, scrambled Halloween at the apartment. No dance parties or stumbling around til the late hours of the morning for us working stiffs. Just a few people over, lots of candy for the kiddies, possibly a dressed-up baby, and a Funfetti cake. Really, what else is there to life? ;) 

I'm a little sad that A won't be there, but determined to make the best of it anyway. He's working so hard at school and it feels silly to be complaining, but this being an hour away nonsense is really no fun at all. 

What's everyone else doing for Halloween? Anything exciting?

letters, then

It is the very, very BEST day of the week, you guys. A day with a lot of promise and excitement! Because tomorrow is SATURDAY! Which is the second best day, in my humble opinion. And it's going to be a very big weekend, with lots of planning for future-y type things. It needs to be five o'clock, like, right now.

One: Dear Lily - you have a face that only a mother could love. Lucky I like you.
Two: Dear self - facemask more often. Duck lips, less often. 
Three: Dear A - I love you. You don't even know. I love that everyone who comes into my office sees that note on my white board and smiles. 
Four: Dear Texxy - same to you. And afternoon porch naps.

Dear Inna - thank you for letting my take pictures of you and your beautiful boy. I hope I can be half the mother you are, someday. And thanks for feeding me, two days in a row. You know I will never, ever, turn down free food. 

Dear five o'clock: LET'S GOOOOO!

really, the title is appropriate

When I started this blog, back over a year ago (how did that happen??), I settled on the decidedly ambiguous name of "What Now, Life?" Mainly because I honestly had no idea what was going to happen after college, and partially because I like sounding gangster in my spare time. Whatever. 

Anyway, that weird title has never been quite so true as it has the past week. I've been feeling caged and a little cornered lately - like I'm somewhere I never wanted to be and have no intention of staying. Like my job is a giant soul-sucking waste of time, and that I'm bored, and slowly growing complacent. And that's a hard feeling for me to deal with. My mom has always told me, since I was born practically, that I need to be challenged in life, and it's true. I'm not one for boredom. I guess that makes me kind of a nomad? 

Over the past week or so, all that has changed drastically. There are some big - and I mean REALLY BIG - announcements that I have to make :) No babies, no marriage (ye gods), but still, very big things for me, and I'm so excited to have them to share. 

In the meantime, I will tell you this: that I had the most incredible weekend and am looking forward to yet another one (my first post-grad homecoming!!), that I got to see my incredible friend Molly that I studied abroad with, and that I've refined the techniques of "hawk dancing." 

Oh, yeah. And the cat is still a raging biotch. 

whatno,I don't cheese at work

Somehow, I JUST found out that there's wifi at my job. Like, how did I not know that?! It seems like a very important thing that one should know. There's been a lot of Pandora and Pinterest today, and nobody's checking the history on my laptop to say "hey, we're not paying this girl to imaginarily craft!" 

Emily 1, Job 0.

I believe that's what we refer to as "WINNING!"

That was so last year, but whatever. It's been a busy today. Gotta love a job that keeps you hopping. 

The best part of today though? You ready for this? I talked to a sales rep today who is taking a trip to the UK next spring, Edinburgh and Wales specifically. Um, who lived in Edinburgh for 6 months? This chick did. We spent 40 minutes talking about British guys and got no work done whatsoever. She also agreed to put me in her suitcase so I can find my way back to my favorite city in the world. I miss it like someone would miss their hand if it disappeared. 

THAT'S A LOT OF MISSING. I mean, would you just look at this place?

Hey Elizabeth - if this whole joke about taking me to Scotland doesn't actually happen? I'm taking my business elsewhere. And you will be dead to me. Kidding. Mostly. 

(But seriously)


Over and out.

if you *actually* want things to change

This is the only time I’m going to address politics here this year: 

Regardless of your political views or opinions, have them. Have your opinions. 

Post ten updates about every debate or commercial aired. Whatever. 

Please, be involved with the process. 

But, coming from a former politics student, do *not* make yourself out to be a giant political activist if you just started tuning in these past few months. 

Do *not* act like your vote is going to change the world. 

Vote. Make your friends vote. It’s incredibly important. 

But in our system it’s literally impossible for one man to change the course of our country, so if you want to get involved, start paying attention to smaller politics. Listen to local political agendas. 

Neither Obama or Romney can promise all they do, and neither of them can “fix” everything. 

We have a tri-part political structure foe exactly that reason - 

so that no one man can do all that.

You want change? You want hope? You want jobs and a good economy and better systems in place?

Actually pay attention, and look further than the presidential race if you actually want to know what’s going on in the county – if you actually want things to change. 

Look at lobbying groups, look at congressmen, look at state senators and local supervisors. 

Don’t rely on one person to run the country. 

You’re doing yourself, the country, and our entire political system a giant disservice if you do.

good news, bad news, and a post mostly about my teeth

The good: I'm wearing my salmon pants today. Any day with salmon pants is good, in my book. They make me feel fashionably fantastic. 

The bad: I suck at vlogs. Maybe you're supposed to have an agenda when you do those things. And a better camera. And not twitch so much? Most of you look so cool when you do them. Whatever, it is what it is. No apologies. And maybe no more vlogs, haha.

And the post mostly about my teeth:

So my gums have been hurting for a couple days now. It started over the weekend while A was here and got really bad yesterday. Like, couldn't close my mouth all the way because of the little demon back by my molar kind of bad. And I mean, let's be honest - I'm usually talking or eating something anyway so my mouth is rarely closed, but sometimes you just gotta let it rest. Couldn't do that. 

Being at work and having internet access is a great thing. I did some casual Googling and within 5 minutes, WebMD had me convinced that I had a serious case of gingivitis or oral cancer. My death was clearly imminent. I calmly texted A, something along the lines of

"Soooo remember how my gum was hurting yesterday? It's really bad now :/ IT'S PROBABLY CANCER AND I'M GOING TO DIEEEE"

Or something along those lines. Calmly. Not dramatic at all. 

And within 5 minutes he was drilling me via text and sending me websites and yelling at me for not flossing enough (I know, I know - it's gross and I should. Would it be even grosser if I admitted that I didn't even own floss until last night? Yup, probably). He is a keeper, I'm pretty sure. 

In a panic, I called a new dentist right by my apartment, telling them that I was probably dying of some god-awful never seen before kind of gum viral fungal infection and who knows what else, and Mary the nice reception lady scheduled me right in at 7:15 this morning. 

7:15. What kind of dentist is open at 7:15 in the morning??? The busy kind, that's who.

I was a good girl. I bought floss and used it. I brushed well. I gargled salt water religiously all night. AND I was early to my appointment. Which was pretty grown up of me, if I say so myself. 

They took me right back to the creepy little dentist chair room and plopped me down, asked me what I was there for, the dentist gave me a good firm handshake (always a good sign), and started scraping away at my gums. 

"Hmmmm ..." He said. 
"Huhwah?" I answered.
"Well, it's certainly inflamed," he replied. 
Duh, I thought.
Scrape. Scrape. Scccrapppeeee. 
Ow. Ow. 
"Well, there's nothing there!" He announced it sort of grandly and yet perfunctorily at the same time. It was weird.
"There's nothing?" Confusion.
"Nope. Maybe you had something stuck there but it's gone. Keep rinsing with salt water and it should be fine."

And before I knew it I was out of there, without having to pay a cent (although it makes sense, really, since he didn't do a whole lot), and made it to work early. And my gum feels a billion times better. Did it just need a good scraping? (that almost sounds dirty) Was it the salt water? I'm so confused.

The moral here might be that I'm super dramatic. I feel like maybe I dreamed all this up? But that would be really unfortunate if I were actually dreaming, to have to wake up and live three hours all over again. 

What a weird day this is going to be. 

in which I don't really have much to say

22,500

That, my friends, is how much money I saved my company today. $22,500 is nothing to sneeze at. Do you think they're falling over themselves telling me how amazing I am? Nope. Life goes on.

Black nail polish for fall, I think yes. Yes, there are clothes on my back seat. Yes, I live out of my car most days. It keeps things exciting.

Cheer - up pumpkin and chocolates from my wonderful friends in accounting. At least they appreciate me. 

Gorgeous fall leaves in Canada, courtesy of my Juliefriend. Lucky duck has a family cabin up there. Their foliage puts ours to shame. Shame, I tell you. 

Lastly (but most exciting), A has informed me that he's coming to visit this weekend over his fall break. It feels like I've barely seen him this semester what with his crazy workload and everything else we have going on. Usually I barely get to see him for a full day, let alone a weekend. Guys, I'm so psyched :) Boyfriend weekends are the best kind of weekend! 

remember that time? #Forever21

Remember that time I said I was going to New Orleans for a work trip, like three weeks ago? And then I went and came back, took a look at my blog and went "nahhh," and went and did life things instead?

Yeah, that happened. 

Know what brought me back? Forever 21. Weird, right? Yesterday they had their giant Columbus Day free shipping event! And I spent a lot of time filling up my little online basket, clicked "save" at five o'clock, went out for my best friend's birthday, and completely forgot. Until this morning. When I went back to the website and realized that Columbus Day was over almost 12 hours ago. And that, my friends, is pretty darn tragic.

But not really, because let's be honest, you still get free shipping if you spend over $50 and how do you spend less than that at the F21 anyway?

A hates Forever 21. He always says (like clockwork), "you're 22 now, you're too old to shop there!" And I say, "Psh, whatever!" And drag him in there anyway. 

So I knew I couldn't tell A about my F21 failure, because he would laugh, and also tell me I shouldn't be spending money anyway. #notavalidpoint

Sidenote: do you guys use hashtags in text conversations? A and I just recently have, and I feel obnoxious doing it, but whatever, it's fun. Most of our conversations end with #yolo now, even when it's not applicable. Especially when it's not applicable. 

End sidenote. Where I meant to be going with this is that I knew that some people would understand the tragedy of my failure, and that those people could be found on blogland, and so I'm here to say hey, and that I'll start stalking all of you again tomorrow.

I have some shopping to do first.