I have spent the most wonderful week in Arizona. My trip started out on Tuesday in Scottsdale for a business conference where I was able to network, listen to amazing speakers, and most importantly, catch up with old friends, including a former crush of mine. Not to worry, there was no round deux for me (a test I was not sure if I would be able to pass). But, everything seemed to work out fine and I think this is why:

What I have realized is that more times than not, the grass is greener on the other side. And when you you are faced with staring over to that lush, green "other side" day in and day out, it kind of makes it kind of hard to move on and it becomes very easy to convince yourself that somehow, life with that boy, or with that job, or whatever would be way better than what you have growing in your own backyard. However, lucky for me, I was able to move away and with time, I didn't think about this guy as much . . . and then not at all. Seeing him again only reminded me that sometimes having amazing "chemistry" does not necessarily translate into endless love.

After the conference was over on Thursday, I headed down south to my old stomping ground, Tucson, with my good friend V. Our plans consisted of sleeping in late, hitting up our favorite Tucson restaurants, and catching up on all kinds of crazy gossip.

Thus far, we have been successful in all endeavours. In 1.5 days, we have hit up 5 different restaurants!! Umm, yeah, I went on a 5-day cruise last year and didn't gain a pound. I am pretty sure a 3-day trip to Tucson is going to net me at least a +5 on the scale. That = not cool. However, the taste of Cafe Poca Cosa on the lips = totally worth it. Oh, and seeing a hot bartender dressed up for Halloween in an authentic flight suit from his Army days was a totally yummy experience that I would not trade in for anything. *Note of Importance: There is just not enough of that manly hotness going on in Dallas! Dallas needs more flight suits!

Tonight we will hit up a Halloween party where I will most definitely NOT be dressed up. And then tomorrow, I will head back to "the land of the beautiful-no matter what the cost." Speaking of the old adage "the grass is always greener on the other side." I sometimes wonder what it would have been like to stay in Tucson instead of moving to Dallas. Being here has made me realize once again, that the grass may be greener in certain places, but that I really did make the right choice in moving back to Texas.

No Payment Is Necessary

Last Saturday I had a revelation. Do you want to know what it was? Well, it all started when I agreed to attend a 60th birthday party with my father while my mom was on vacay in Italy (yes, I agree it's a shame that Queen Gin&Tonic and Sweet N' Lo could not meet up for cappuccinos while they were both there), but I digress.

First, let me just let you know that 60 is like the new 40 -but better. I mean, back in the day, 60 was old (to me anyway). Now, 60 is retired, custom-built house on a hill with a view, and plenty of beer and wine. So, I went to this party expecting to have a fairly good time with my father and some of his fun-loving friends, and ended up meeting one of the 20-something sons of the couple that threw the party.

I guess the whole "revelation" thing started when I realized that I would not have to hand over my 16-digit credit card number in order to "view his profile" a la Eharmony. In fact, I owed this guy no payment at all except for good conversation in return for his. We ate, drank, and talked pretty much all night long about everything in the world and nothing in particular. I could tell he was into me because a) after we would drift apart in the crowd, he would come and find me; b) he is a Longhorn, but still checked the A&M v. Tech football score for me; and c) would say things like, "Wow, I think I am telling you way more about myself than you would ever want to know." Yeah, kind of, but it was also kind of refreshing to be around someone who wasn't trying so hard to be cool that his personality was a big fat zero.

Unfortunately, this guy lives in H-Town and I live north of Big D . . . so . . . yeah . . . that stretch of 45 is just so painful. But here's the deal: He invited me to be his "Charlie" from Top Gun for Halloween, but I had to say no due to plans to visit friends in Tucson, but we exchanged numbers at the party anyway.

And he called tonight. Seriously. I paid for no subscription. I wasn't at a fancy bar wearing my "keeping up with the Ashley's" trendy look. I mean, this was like a simple five step process. The very thing movies are made of! We said hello. We talked. He asked for my number. He called. He asked to see me again. BAM!

Now, I am in no way saying that I am in love at first sight with this guy. I don't even know him, but I just find it amazing that after months of paying Eharmony to introduce me to singles in my area that are compatible with my personality on "28 different points", that I have personally met only two of them. And free of charge, this guy wants to drive 4 hours north of where he lives and take me to a Dallas Stars game (or whatever I want to do).

There is something either really wrong or really right with this situation.

Italia

Well my husband and I got back late last night from ten fabulous days in Italy. As you may have read in an earlier post, we traveled with another couple and I have to say that it could not have gone better! We had a terrific time together.

We started the trip in Rome and despite what people say, you can see Rome in a day or two. Don't get me wrong, we hit the ground running as soon as we got there and we walked the entire city over the course of the two days. We did a tour of the Vatican, which I highly recommend because we learned a lot and more importantly got to skip the massive line outside the entrance.

Our next destination was the Amalfi coast. On the way down we stopped in Naples for a pizza (the pizza was amazing, the town was scary) and then took the local train to Pompeii. I had higher expectations for Pompeii, but I am still glad we saw it. After Pompeii we continued on the train to the Amalfi Coast and it was absolutely beautiful. One of the days we took a private boat tour to and around the Isle of Capri. I have to say I think that was my favorite part of the vacation.

After the Amalfi Coast we went to Florence for three days. We did a Tuscany Bike Tour and it was killer and a killer. They aren't lying when they say the Tuscany area is full of hills. We rode to a winery owned by Prince Cosini and after a tour of the winery we had lunch and two glasses of wine. Unfortunately, the wine did not make the hills on the return bike ride any easier.

After Florence we headed back to Rome for one last day before our flight out. It was a relaxing day just walking around the town. Overall it was a great trip, but I am glad to be home. The flight from Rome to NY was 10.5 hours (including an hour sitting on the runway) and the trip from NY to Dallas was 8 hours (including four hours of sitting on the runway, I'm still annoyed about that). Needless to say I am exhausted and tired of being on a plane. The toughest part comes tomorrow....going back to work.

A Whiner Gets Her Way

Many months ago, right before I started blogging, I was allowed the great privilege of guest blogging on my dear friend Mojito Maven's blog, Make Mine A Mojito. On the guest post (http://makemineamojito.com/2009/08/12/why-must-new-shoes-squeak/), I wrote that due to the very horrendous conditions of Company XX's parking lot, that I was forced to buy new black work pumps because my other shoes had been RUINED by all of the potholes and cracks. Now, let me first explain that this isn't your average little parking lot. I am whining for a cause. This parking lot is like, Walmart on a Saturday times two. It is hell, especially if it is raining (like today) or if you have to park way in the back flow lot (like today) because your alarm just wasn't shrill enough to coax you out of bed on time.

Nevertheless, this story has a happy ending, and it is all my fault. Readers--I am practically a Goddess in my office now. To my co-workers, I am the woman who single handedly convinced, no demanded!, in her finest Southern whine, that the entire parking lot be repaved. And you know what? As a result . . . it's being "handled".

Now to be honest (oh dear, I sound like a lying politician), but really, to be honest, my company sends out an employee opinion survey every few years to gauge what Company XX is doing well and what needs work. I used this survey as a sounding board for my parking lot complaint. I told people about it, and most laughed at me. But now, those same people are looking at me with admiration. They are giving me the thumbs up, they are asking me to draft similar complaints because I am proven to get results, and they are giving me their diet-Pepsi at meetings as a thank you.

The parking lot has been under construction this entire week, and every day that I walk past it, I give myself a little pat on the back for a whine well done.

A Whiner gets her way and new shoes will finally be safe from destruction.

Now I Have Seen It All . . .

It's no secret that I am on Eharmony to try to meet an intelligent, good-looking, compassionate man who understands both complicated technology and the concept of giving flowers to a woman for no reason at all. So almost every day, I scour the "new matches" Eharmony has thrown at me in an attempt to decipher the secret written code of the male species, hoping to find the one for me. Tonight was no different. Let me preface this by saying that I know I have mentioned the horrendous pictures guys put on their profiles in what I can only guess is a bad attempt to show humor and individuality, but there is a reason why I have not gone into great detail about this. And the reason is that just when I thought profile pics couldn't get any worse, I saw #1 below.

But first, a count-down of the runner-up worst profile pics a guy can post. I have not made any of these up; I have seen all of these offenses with my very own eyes. My comments are in italics.

5. Guy + hot girl who is not a family member. (Oh, yes, please let me compete against her!)

4. Guy with a large group of other guys who are all drinking beer, with a caption underneath that reads "I'm the one with the least beer belly." (Oh God, don't make me have to take out an extra small tape measure just to figure out which one you are. Guess what, you all have enormous beer bellies and look the same!)

3. Guy with five pictures that all look like different people. (Hmm, but what do you look like today? Are you most like the outdoor picture where you have facial hair? Or most like the pic of you at the bar with your homees and frosted tips and graphic tee? Ahhhhh!)

2. Guy with the "I took this in the bathroom, but forgot to angle out the toilet and Windex the mirror." (Ok, so I know we haven't really technically communicated yet, but I feel like I know you so well and that we have really reached a certain amount of comfort in our relationship. I mean, gosh, I've already seen your grimy toilet and mirror, and we haven't even swapped first questions yet.)

and drum-roll please:

1. Guy and his friend dressed up as "Dick in a box." (Wow, it's awesome that this was your "coming out" profile picture to all those lucky ladies who pay a shitload of money to meet guys on Eharmony. Oh, if only you really were JT!)

Now I have seen it all.

You Did Too!

Today I got into a verbal altercation with a 17-year old high school student, on his turf. My company, Company X decided to teach a negotiation simulation at a local high school today to give high school seniors a chance to act out a real-world negotiation over two competing record companies.

I was a coach. At first, I was like, I am just going to "guide" my team, but let them do most of the thinking. I thought I did a fairly good job of that, but the team we were negotiating with was very positional and demanding without providing very good rationale for their arguments. At one point, the other team was arguing that the 20% royalties my team was asking for was OUTRAGEOUS. I merely pointed out that earlier, they had insisted that my record company was inferior to theirs because they had a record deal with three out of the four band members, while we held only 25% of the assets, so a 20% royalty seemed reasonable to me if we were going to allow an album to be produced under their label and with their complete artistic control. "Did not" was followed by "You did too!" Then, in not so nice words the boy told me to butt out and that I wasn't allowed to talk because I was a coach and not a student. Not gonna lie, that stung, but . . .

What the hell was I doing??? I got into a fight with a 17-year old boy! I am so not mature! My team, of course, had my back, but still-I got a little carried away. In the end my team did not reach any agreement with the other team, which was a bummer, but I was still proud of them because they really acted like a team and learned from the experience.

The only thing that makes me feel better about the whole situation was that one of the other coaches told me that tomorrow she will probably have a bruised and sore tongue because she literally had to bite her tongue in order to keep from piping up during her negotiations.

Well, I told her, at least you still have your pride and didn't get told off by a minor.

"I Thought I Had Responded"

Remember a month or so back when I wrote a super-excited post about this guy from my past who had contacted me out of the blue? Well, after not hearing back from him for several weeks, I finally messaged him on FB to see if he had received my message. In no less than three days time he had responded, and much to my chagrin, he said "I remember getting your note about being in Dallas! I thought I responded but things have been so hectic with school I may have just thought i did. I started law school about 3 weeks ago at Tulsa! Maybe we can catch up when I'm back for the summer!

What? Two sentences in this message strike me as odd:
1) "I thought I had responded?" How do you forget whether you have responded or not to a friend you have not talked to in years? On a conversation that you initiated no less? Yes, I have a forgetful mind at times, but if I go out of the way to contact someone that I have not spoken to in a long time, I sure as hell respond back to their email and remember the act of doing so.

2) "Maybe we can catch up when I'm back for the summer." Summer? As in the summer season that will be occurring after exactly three more seasons have come and gone? Summer, as in after 75% more of a year has passed? Summer, as in the year 2010? Summer, as in after I must claim that I am one year older than I am today? Summer?

Does this strike anyone else as odd? Any thoughts on this behavior?

Please Don't Hate Us for Our Blogging Hiatus

It may seem like Princess Tartini and I have either forgotten our password to our blog page or fallen off the face of the earth, but rest assured we are still here. PT's internet has been down for several weeks, so she has been unable to post. As for me, I have been swamped with work and with planning a trip to Italy. We leave next Wednesday for ten days and will be going to Rome, Sorrento (Amalfi Coast), and Florence. I thought we were getting prepared at a reasonable pace, but now that it is only a week away I am starting to stress with all the little things we have left to do. We are going with another couple, which we have never done before.

Does anyone have any advice or stories about traveling with friends? We would like to remain friends after the trip ;-)