Monday, September 28, 2009

Dressaholic

Hello everyone, my name is Larissa and I am a dressaholic.
"Hi, Larissa!"

Nothing quite gets me like the rush of garnishing myself with a pulchritudinous dress. There is a welling deep inside of me that just knows that my closet is the place this luxurious, lavish piece of fabric has been longing to call home, that just knows that my body is the perfect hanger to drape itself upon. When I am having a downer day, I am perked up just thinking about what I will adorn myself with come Sunday. Each of these little lovelies is like unto a child to me.
Therefore, I have.... an addiction, if you will.
The first step is admitting you have a problem....and I have 70 problems to be exact.
That's right - I own 70 dresses. My name is Larissa and I am a dressaholic and I will never hang my head in shame, but I will hang my dresses in bliss. (after all, I get most of them on ebay for only $5-$15 dollars brand new with tags!)

Friday, September 25, 2009

What's in Your Wallet?

I have the most random collection of gift cards in my purse (a very cute, very little purse might I add), as well as several other strange objects...

Gift Cards
3 Cinemark Passes
1 Smith's Grocery
1 Einstein's Bagels
1 Jordan Commons
1 Staples
2 Starbucks (I don't even drink coffee! But one is from Ellen Degeneres...)
1 MasterCard
1 Barnes and Noble

Other Objects
1 Bulldog and Cross bones temporary tattoo
1 First class Stamp
1 Insurance card
3 Photos of my niece and nephew
3 Pairs of stick-on earrings (thanks, Karl)
2 Savings Bonds
1 Eyeglass prescription
1 Rock of Ages LED light shaped like a lighter
1 Shiny square of confetti from Rock of Ages
1 USB drive
1 Memory Card to USB drive converter
1 Nail file from Le Parker Meridien in NYC
1 Wallet
1 Pack of Gum
1 Le Parker Meridien Pen
1 Camera
1 Phone
1 Container of hand sanitizer
1 Victoria's Secret lip gloss
1 Hair tie
3 tickets for Arsenic and Old Lace at the Empress Theater

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Unwanted Dates

Looks like no one wants to have dates at work. At least that's what it looks like in the lunch room. :-)

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Mini Freak Outs

Every day I have some mini freak outs about a few things:
1. I l-o-v-e my new sunglasses from Hawaii. They are pink, sparkly and I perhaps should not love them as much as I do. Every day as I leave work, I immediately panic - where are they?!?! Whew...always nearby (except yesterday when I left them on my desk). You just know how you search forever for that perfect pair of sunglasses and then you lose them? What a nightmare!
2. I am at a red light. The light turns green. I start to go. Um...why is no one else going? I panic. I look around. Ok, ok, finally other people start going too.
3. I wake up without my alarm. Oh crud, did I turn off the volume and it is now 10am and I am late for work?
4. I press "send" on an e-mail with incriminating information. Did I send it to the person I meant to or the person it was about? (yes, I have before made that mistake)
5. Where are my mail keys? I only put them in one of two places, but a few months ago I knew where I had placed them and they were MIA. I had to call the locksmith. I am a neat freak, as you all know, and they were nowhere. Gremlins?
6. Did I pack my gym clothes today? Yes, I have shown up at the gym before, gotten half changed, then realized I had no pants. Sheesh.
7. Am I forgetting anything? I wonder this all the time about everything. Like this post - I'm sure there are other mini-panics I have ever day, but I'm just forgetting... :-)

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Triple Rainbow

I emerged from the gym Friday evening to the most glorious sight - two rainbows to my right and one to my left. I've never seen three rainbows in the sky at the same time! Doesn't a wonder like this just cause you to pause for a moment, releasing all of your cares, and realize life is just pretty much amazing? :-)


Friday, September 18, 2009

Rear Ends

This sign cracks me up every time I drive by. Enjoy :-)

Tiger's Blood

I have an ongoing debate with one of my besties.
Tiger's Blood, the flavor, is it raspberry and coconut or strawberry and coconut?
I am definitely under the impression it is strawberry, and I have photo evidence!
Vote on the poll on the side if you want:-)

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Seating Arrangements

Kind of carrying on the same topic as "stall choices", I am also a little mystified when I take a seat at the airport, or anywhere else with mass seating accommodations, and some sweet soul feels the need to pop a squat next to me.
Never you mind that there are 100 other seats available....heck, the personal-space-invader could have an entire row...but no...they choose to sidle up next to me. Why?

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Bathroom Choices

When you enter a restroom and there are five stalls and all of them are empty, do you choose to go to the middle stall? No! This makes any new bathroom-goer have to a) walk across the entire bathroom to the nether regions of the room b) Choose the peep show stall (first one) where everyone sees you through the cracks as they walk by or c) awkwardly enter a stall next to you - making the situation uncomfortable for everyone!
This irks me every time at work. We make wise decisions every day, I think that should carry over to the loo!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Eating Out

I have decided I will not eat out until Halloween. I am experimenting to see if this will save me money and fat. There are three exceptions to this rule:
1. I am invited to go out to eat - as a date or with a group
2. I get to go out for my "Birthday Dinner" since this is my birth month and I haven't done so yet
3. I am running on "E" and it is one of those days where I am away from home from 7:30am-10:30pm
Do you think I can do it?!?

Monday, September 14, 2009

My Best Friend's Wedding

Are you familiar with the scene in "My Best Friend's Wedding," where the bride and groom are leaving and Julia Roberts, the best friend, is left standing there looking dejected lost in the crowd when all of a sudden her best friend is standing in front of her and gives her a big hug before he leaves?
You know how people always talk about how nothing in real life is like the movies? I beg to differ!
I do not have a "best friend," I love so many folks, but I do have "best friends." One of them, Scot Fetters, grew up with me - our mom's were pregnant at the same time. Whenever I needed anything, Scot was there. Whenever Scot needed anything, from someone to take his extra musical ticket to a listening ear, he would call me. There is no way to describe how much I love this man, how much he means to me, how much he will always hold a place in my heart...
Scot married the most amazing girl, Megan, this weekend. I could go on and on about her, but just knowing she married Scot is enough to tell you how amazing she is :-)
I was so proud of myself for not crying during the ceremony - I have a difficult time realizing Scot doesn't need me anymore, but I am overcome with joy seeing how incredibly happy he is...happier than I have ever seen him and pretty much happier than I ever thought he would be.
I watched as he and Megan had their first dance to "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You." I fought tears, still dry, good. I watched as Megan and her daddy danced...still clear. I then sat there, staring off into the distance feeling a little lost, as Julia Roberts did in the aforementioned movie. All of a sudden, I felt a presence and I looked up. There stood Scot with his hand out saying, "Don't you think you are going to get out of this!" He grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the dance floor and gave me the hugest hug as he danced with me and said, "I love you so much!" I lost it. Heck, I'm almost losing it just writing this. I know what it is like to live a moment from the movies now. An era of my life has come to an end, but an even brighter era is beginning :-)

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Grow

Monday afternoon a long-time friend and I were talking about how challenging relationships can be. The definition of "challenging" can be negative or positive depending upon your view. If you like the game of ultimate frisbee, playing for two hours is a good challenge, but if you don't...
She said, "I ask myself this question - 'Am I in this relationship to be comfortable, or am I in this relationship to grow?'"
I almost felt a switch flip inside of me. I've known this all along - date someone/develop friendships with those who make you better. But how can they make us better? By taking us out of our "comfort zones!" Our relationships need to stretch us, to push our limits to make us more than we are. After all, our muscles need to be stretched and strained to become beautiful and strong - the same goes for our minds and spirits!
Ask yourselves this question next time you are setting out on any new endeavor or relationship: "Will this help me to grow?" Get into a new zone!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Random Laugh-Worthy Thoughts

My friend forwarded me an e-mail. Now, typically I hate forwards, but I read this one and I swear they plagiarized my mind, so I have to share!

I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.


When someone is telling me a story sometimes all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.

Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be ending a work email with the phrase "Regards" again.

Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just figured it out. Today's kids are soft.

There is a great need for sarcasm font.

Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the heck was going on when I first saw it.

I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.

How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

The only time I look forward to a red light is when I 'm trying to finish a text.

Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to say".

I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.

Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".

How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent someone from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!

While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.

MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

Bad decisions make good stories

Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!

If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.

Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....

You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.

There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

"Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.

I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?'


I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Darn it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

When I meet a new guy, I'm terrified of mentioning something he hasn't already told me, but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.

I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.

Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles...

As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone, just so I know not to answer when they call.

Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.

Even under ideal conditions, people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cellphone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet anything everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...

It really hacks me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.

I wonder if cops ever get ticked off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Bud Lites than Kay.

The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by
myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fatty before dinner.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Guilt

Guilt is getting to me!
Guilt for (in no specific order):
- going out with a man a week after he broke up with my friend (thankfully they are back together now and I only went cause he asked and he needed a friend! I swear I had no intentions! I'm pretty sure he didn't either, but it hurt her :-( )
- not spending enough time with my kitty
- not spending enough time with my friends, especially when I know they are crying many nights:-(
- not spending enough time with myself
- not spending enough time with my Heavenly Father
- not spending enough time working out
- not calling my family more often
- living so far away from any family
- spending too much money
- going out with a guy who misled another dear friend's heart (a man whom I never want to encounter again in my life!)
- eating jalapeno burgers when I should be eating my veggies
- having 5 bites of ice cream or a couple handfuls of goldfish instead of dinner...at midnight
- not being more grateful for my employment
- not being more grateful for my reliable transportation just because it is old and cracked
- not sleeping more than 5-6 hours/night
- not showering immediately after the gym sometimes
- then going out in public in my nasty gym sludge
- letting someone give me a hug although I know it is more than a hug to his heart
- not befriending all the new amazing people at church every week
- not keeping my condo a little nicer
- not washing my car more (and replacing the cracked windshield, and torn off pieces, and and and)
- not working harder
- shoving all my CDs/paperwork/what-have-you in a big box in my closet instead of organizing
- not reading all my glorious books - opting for the guilty pleasure of Entertainment Weekly (I don't even have cable!)
- relaxing when I know there are a million other things I should be doing


Ah, the list goes on. Alas, one girl can only do so much. I'm always happy and optimistic, I just always wish I could do SO much more. One thing I am very grateful for is that I usually have my priorities straight- which does lessen the guilt. :-)

Friday, September 4, 2009

Walk Thru

How could I not snap a photo of this man standing in the drive-thru? Ha! Classic!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Hawaii 5-0!

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true existence of my presence in every state before the time of my thirtieth year: "I hold this truth to be self-evident, that all states are visited equal."

My dream has been fulfilled! I returned from Hawaii, my 50th state, last Thursday!
We ate shave ice, snorkeled, toured sets from Lost and Jurassic Park, attended a swap meet, swam in the ocean waves, ate Dole pineapples from the plantation, swam in a waterfall, got stuck and slept in the airport for 2 nights, and the list goes on.

The question is: What should my new goal be to hit before I am 30? I accomplished this goal with over a year to spare. I figure I should come up with something else spectacular albeit a little less grandeur to accomplish!



Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Ironic

Last night I went to musical rehearsal. Fortunately, they deemed me tiny enough to be part of this really neat lift. Unfortunately, it means two men touch my bum the whole lift. How is it that I declare my non-bum touching agenda one day and the next this happens? *sigh*