4/26/10

1. Deciding to eat my cereal and strawberries breakfast in the microkitchen rather than at my desk. Nice to focus on food (well, food + phone) and not worry about dripping milk and cereal on my keyboard.
2. Watermelon for dessert at lunch. Mmm watermelon.
3. Working steadily throughout the afternoon on tickets, no meetings or much other distractions.
4. Finding a quick answer to a YT ticket by digging up a spreadsheet in an old email.
5. The fresh guacamole at Mary Ann's (dinner with FJ and co.). I think it may have been the best guac I've ever had, just exceptionally rich and creamy tasting.
6. Getting to The Container Store just in time to buy cedar blocks, on sale.

4/25/10

1. Dan + two Advil helping me deal with a massive random headache that woke me up in the middle of the night. Felt like my head was in a vice.
2. Cleaning up clutter in the apartment from having been lazy the last few days.
3. Dan going out to buy groceries for dinner so that I could stay inside all day.
4. Getting a good amount of mending/fixing up done. My basket of stuff to take care of is quite full right now, though, after adding more dresses to be shortened.
5. Clearing out quite a bit of my Hulu queue as I worked on the above.
6. Dancing around in the kitchen with Dan as I made matzo ball soup for dinner with a new recipe (definitely lighter and fluffier, I'm a fan).

4/24/10

1. Slow-paced morning, heading into Manhattan to pick up library books with Dan.
2. Dan having a whole pack of generic Claritin in his jacket pocket for me to take one. Love you sunshine and green things growing, why don't you love me back?
3. Having a great time just walking around the Manhattan Vintage show, looking at examples of exquisite craftsmanship and some items so old they look they they'd fall apart if you just touched them.
4. Coming across a ton of stuff at the vendor I hit yesterday that I'd somehow missed in my first perusal of her corner. Another batch of dresses, an interesting belt, and one of the things I actually was looking for, a lace camisole.
5. Dinner with AJ and MG at Omai, a Vietnamese restaurant. Excellent fresh spring rolls with prawns and an interesting rice crepe appetizer, plus satisfying pho.
6. Dessert of strawberry rhubarb pie at Grey Dog and continuing work gossip/girly chat with AJ and MG.

4/23/10

1. Styling one of my more formal looking vintage dresses (mostly just because it's all black) with a wide bright blue belt, big blue earrings, and red shoes.
2. Red shoes broken in enough not to need Band-Aids anywhere.
3. Getting my J.Crew silk skirt (that I'd accidentally machine-washed and dried) back from the dry-cleaners looking pretty good, wrinkles in the main body of the skirt smoothed out now.
4. AJ passing on the amazing deal 23andMe ran today in honor of DNA day--80% off their complete package so that it was only $99! Bought one of Dan and me so that we can have fun looking up the data.
5. Finding at least one vendor at the Manhattan Vintage show that had reasonable prices. Bought a 70s polka dot black dress with short puff sleeves.
6. Dan going to Shop-Rite and getting OJ so there's no worry of running out and having to turn to the awful sugar-lite stuff he got awhile back (it tastes like Crystal Light).

4/22/10

1. Excellent instructor, EN, for the half-day 'Presenting with Confidence' course.
2. The small class size turning out not to be awkward and actually quite supportive and affirmative.
3. Catching Dan's email just in time to claim the free Mets tickets from his uncle.
4. Not getting stuck indefinitely on the 7. It was close there for awhile.
5. SHAKE SHACK FOR DINNER.
6. The run-down between 3rd and home, i.e. watch grown men play tag.

4/21/10

1. Getting myself to the gym for the first time in a month. I've canceled my membership after this month, it's been confirmed that I am not a gym person, but I want to make an effort to get some use out of the $82 for April.
2. Getting to the office just in time to scoop up some breakfast. Breakfast ends at 9:30 and they are pretty on the ball about pulling things right on time.
3. My heels no longer rubbing painfully against my new sandals. Hurrah shoes actually breaking in!
4. Well-run team meeting, the last few had felt a bit like we were spending too much time on certain things but today's was far better, in my opinion.
5. Going on a nice long walk with Dan to check out the area of our new apartment again.
6. Same roast duck with pasta dinner again. I think roast duck is one of my favorite meats, definitely.

4/20/10

1. Making it to the classroom right on time at 9am, even with grabbing my laptop and breakfast first.
2. The class of 'Managing Your Energy' actually re-presenting known tips about improving your productivity in a more helpful and useful way.
3. Sushi for lunch!
4. Feeling a kindred spirit in another woman (L?) who was at my table for the training for the afternoon, who had recently moved to this office from the London office.
5. Briefly browsing the wonderland that is an Anthropologie store (a new one just opened in Chelsea marketplace).
6. ES helping out with a ticket that got updated as urgent today.

4/19/10

1. Instructive lesson on the political landscape for YT as a client from SA.
2. AF call planned by DM going over well with the client.
3. Finally getting to finalizing my Q2 OKRs.
4. Reassuring chat with MG at his office hours regarding the management change.
5. Roast duck from my mom with pasta, tomato sauce, and pea shoots for dinner.
6. Reading the copy of Catching Fire MG brought in for me while Dan watched sports.

4/18/10

1. Leaving my parents' with loads of food, per usual.
2. Easy pickup of an Ikea two-tier coffee table offered for free from a colleague.
3. Delicious, delicious nap once I got back to the apartment, and waking up early on enough in the afternoon to feel like I still had much of the day left.
4. Catching up with LW on the phone.
5. Reinforcing the shoulder seams of one of my new-to-me vintage dresses.
6. Successfully shortening one sleeve of the Liberty of London coat I bought on the spur of the moment at Target last week.

4/17/10

1. Papaya salad and red duck curry for lunch!
2. Walking in the park with my mom and the dogs to the monthly Shiba meet up.
3. Getting the same pair of Clarks sandals I'd ordered from Zappos last week at a much reduced price.
4. Parents approving of the decreased sugar and added nuts to the banana bread cake I made for my dad's birthday.
5. Spending quality time with my mom watching NCIS.
6. Fixing up the holes in the pockets of the new-to-me plaid coat.

4/16/10

1. Realizing during the O&O weekly meeting that I needed more info from SA on the politics of the different client/internal interactions.
2. Not too busy during the extra phone shift I took to cover a coworker in the afternoon.
3. Good chat with NA about the unsatisfying/weird prio meeting yesterday, feeling he's on our side and is a good person to advocate for improving the process to PM.
4. Picking up and dropping off items at the tailor's and getting a bit of a discount on some alterations, I think because of the delay for the first batch due to one of employees getting sick, but hopefully my politeness of the unexpected delay helped there too.
5. It not raining heavily outside when I needed to get to and from the PATH station with my items from the tailor.
6. My parents coming to pick me and my batch of laundry up from the apartment so I didn't have to take the train back.

4/15/10

1. Being able to walk more easily in my doctored up Clarks sandals (padding strips to soften rough edges, gel arch supports added.
2. Hearing a lot of support from fellow GTS people for the feature enhancement request from my client.
3. Being validated by others in my feeling that the response from PM was kind of weird.
4. Learning that EL is also a knitter and that she wants to start up a crafting group with people interested on the team.
5. Being successful in feeling better about the day by spending the evening at Barnes & Noble reading the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy, Catching Fire.
6. Dan complimenting me on my outfit for the day looking a bit 50s (black cropped shrug with front ties and gray silk skirt with roses).

4/14/10

1. Getting to the office by 9:30 without anything specific scheduled then.
2. Submitting a referral and actually getting a personalized email from the recruiter asking about interested in another role.
3. Offering to make curtains for SA's new apartment and finding out that she's into Marimekko prints and they have a store in Manhattan on the Upper East Side. Hopefully we'll take a trip there together and I can get to know her better this way.
4. Making it to Target with Dan before it got dark and crossing a few things off my errands list, including a poster frame for my red Keep Calm and Carry On print (it'd been lying flat on our coffee table for months) and an expandable duffle bag to avoid future instances of overweight baggage fees.
5. No issues returning an opened and used Olay facial moisturizer that wrecked havoc on my skin.
6. Getting inspired to clean out my closet and weeded out quite a large bag of items that don't fit my lifestyle or body anymore.

4/13/10

1. Remembering to call my dad to wish him a happy birthday.
2. Not being late for my 9:30am 1:1 with my manager.
3. Getting positive feedback from my manager on the strides I've been making for career development and getting out that I would like to work towards getting promoted this year.
4. Submitting a question for the Town Hall meeting that didn't get any thumbs-down votes and clarifying it somewhat articulately when it was addressed.
5. DF canceling his Excel tips and tricks session this afternoon so I could spend uninterrupted hours dealing with my queue that got a bit active all at once.
6. Multiple mysterious issues clearing themselves up or being resolved by the client themselves.

4/12/10

1. My toes having adjusted to the flip-flop style of shoe enough to wear sandals that showcased my purty red toenails.
2. Receiving zero calls during my phone shift in the morning.
3. Getting a call from the tailor before I headed over there that last week's items weren't ready yet so that I didn't lug over the heavy bag of new stuff (I want to see how last week's turned out first to figure whether the dress length is right).
4. Chatting with SA a bit as we left the office about the joys of nesting and using Apartment Therapy for help dealing with small or awkward spaces.
5. Having leftover slice of last night's pizza for dinner and feeling quite satisfied by that one (large) slice plus a serving of TJ's pear sauce.
6. Watching Tropic Thunder with Dan. OMG AMAZING. Love Robert Downey Jr. more than ever now.

4/11/10

1. Getting brunch at Sarabeth's with the girls. I really like their decor, floral design etched on their glass panels plus brown-hued zebra print seating.
2. Walking around Central Park in the sunshine-y weather, taking photos in a rough gazebo that I couldn't help thinking would be a great place for a wedding ceremony (someone else said it out loud first, though).
3. The Band-Aids I'd placed vertically on my heel staying in place and relieving the rubbing from the new sandals I'm trying to break in.
4. Getting a haircut.
5. Making dinner for Dan for the first time in awhile. I made deep-dish pizza in our cast-iron pan (really helped crisp the crust, I'll have to try it with non-deep dish pizza too). We split the toppings down the middle, mine had caramelized onions, arugula, and goat cheese...his had mozzarella and pepperoni. :)
6. Passing the evening re-reading The Hunger Games. Yup, good enough to read a second time the day after reading it the first time! I've requested the next one from the NYPL, it's still in transit though. I wish MG had given me the second one at the same time.

4/10/10

1. Having time to read and finish The Hunger Games in the morning. So good!
2. Being rested enough to put in contacts so that I can break out a fabulous pair of new-to-me big sunglasses (they have a gold-green ridge just along the top).
3. Finding a nail place right by the Christopher St. stop that has frequent visit card (free mani after 10 visits) and affordable prices ($28 for mani/pedi).
4. PS and MS helping me pick out my daringest pedi color yet--a deep and slightly sparkly pink/red. Really love it.
5. Ending up a dinner place that actually really had excellent pasta (I got the homemade mushroom ravioli with truffle oil) that wasn't too expensive either, even after wandering around for quite some time to find a place that would have satisfactory vegetarian options and could set a party of 7 indoors without a reservation.
6. Not getting peer pressured into staying out late when I wilted quickly after 9:30pm and decided to go home in order to be able to come out for brunch the next day.

4/9/10

1. MS & co. not being offended by my not going out on Friday night with them.
2. Randomly seeing Mama G (and Papa G and MG, of course) while at lunch in Chelsea Marketplace with BB and AJ! Love Mama G, she said my list of ideas for how to deal with the lack of storage in the new apartment seems to indicate I've got it under control.
3. Wrapping up sufficient ticket work to leave for the day right at 6.
4. Making a healthy dinner of tabbouli using quinoa, tomatoes, parsley, and goat cheese. We even still had some TJ's crackers left (I was surprised Dan hadn't gone through both boxes yet).
   
5. Spending the evening chatting and crafting with AJ. I enjoy her company a lot.
6. Finishing up the hem for the first of the dresses I'm doing on my own! Doesn't look half bad if I do say so myself.

4/8/10

1. Coming up with a meaningful piece of feedback in the OKR review conference call. I should participate in more of these sorts of things.
2. Luis at MaximEyes Optical being as gracious as ever when adjusting my glasses for the 3rd time (they got knocked out of whack in the accident last Friday).
3. Quite pleased with the eyebrow threading job of another woman at the Unique Threading on 6th, even the woman I'd asked for (Sweety) was busy.
4. Making it just in time to the Provident Bank in Hoboken to deposit a check.
5. Dan giving up the last two slices of bread and turkey for me to make a turkey melt for dinner.
6. Having the time to mark out the new, shortened hem for the first of the vintage dresses in the 'attempt to shorten myself' basket.

4/7/10

1. Feeling the urge to click my heels in my red shoes.
2. Helping FG craft a response not really requiring that much work since she'd built up a good base.
3. First time really speaking up in a weekly sync meeting about a YT ticket I'd been working on.
4. Getting everyone together to leave work a little early, and walking outside to find it a warm summer night. In April.
5. Fabulous, fabulous time with girls from work (AJ, MF, BB) to celebrate MG's birthday. Lots of gossip, lots of laughter.
6. Not feeling tired when making lemon bars to bring to work for MG's birthday.

4/6/10

1. Helping Dan find his new wallet, which had dropped out from his designated 'catch all' tray into the recycling bin.
2. Being able to get out the milk stain off my shirt after dripping on myself while eating cereal standing up.
3. Hearing from AJ that she'd gotten the role she'd been prepping for!
4. Getting time to catch up with SA about potential projects for this quarter.
5. Magically resolving a DSM error right before I had to leave work for class. Thanks for cooperating this one time, DSM.
6. Realizing I could spare my wedding blog readers from my feast/famine posting style with scheduling. Love you, internet.

4/5/10

1. Outfit of beige J.Crew sweater, pleated denim skirt, purple chucks, wood bead necklace, and vintage brown eelskin bangles.
2. Forgetting that I'd traded away my morning shifts and so got there before 10 and could just start working.
3. Lunch with AJ and MG. I prefer our smaller lunches than with many people from the team at once, since that's more chaotic.
4. Getting an hour-long massage with MG's favorite masseuse at the end of the day. Amazing.
5. Tailor being really nice and helpful through the fitting for the first batch of alterations from my CA vintage haul.
6. Finding a 'ginger spread' at Whole Foods. A good kind of impulse purchase.

4/4/10

1. Calling my mom and getting her suggestion that a family friend may be able to help us with the moving at a good rate. Need to research what the going rate for moving us would be first.
2. Feeling cute in a new-to-me blue dress with red flower print on it and an interesting neckline.
3. Getting ready in time to leave 10-15 minutes earlier than Dan stated as the time we had to leave by.
4. Dan's grandmother seeming to be in good spirits at the rehab center.
5. Good, pleasant time with Dan's mom's side of the family, first at the rehab center where they set out quite the dessert/candy spread and his aunts/girl cousins being inquisitive about the wedding plans in a nice way, and then a delicious late lunch with his grandfather, mom, and first cousin twice-removed/grandfather's cousin.
6. More quinoa with leftover arugula salad being quite the yummy combo, with TJ rice pudding for dessert, while catching up on Glee.

4/3/10

1. Hauling out my purple cotton knit dress from American Eagle in celebration of the lovely sunshine.
2. Meeting Kelly Prizel and her wife Natalie and being comfortable with them and charmed by them both (plus their bunnies and house and interior design).
3. Dan not throwing any objections to my wanting us to book Kelly as our engagement and wedding photographer and even coming up with the idea of have our engagement shoot in the park along the water in Hoboken for trees + NYC skyline.
4. Stopping at Trader Joe's on the way back and stocking up on all our favorite items (except Dan's frozen foods).
5. Delicious dinner for me of quinoa with peas and eggs with TJ's creamy tomato soup.
6. Watching Across the Universe with Dan and finding the music and dance just as enjoyable but way more trippy than the first time I watched it--how was that not a huge part of its impression on me?

4/2/10

1. Getting notice that we could leave early to enjoy the nice weather!
2. Helping AJ practice her training again and seeing her be more relaxed and confident about it.
3. Not dying after jaywalking in SoHo onto a street that I didn't realize one-way and getting side-swiped by a car. I fell to the ground but nothing got run over or lost, including myself, my bag, and my glasses. So lucky to walk away with just a wicked bruise.
4. Companionably waiting in line for a long time at Shake Shack (MG, AM, AJ, MT, and Dan).
5. MG pointing out the man sculptures, "Event Horizon" by Antony Gormley, scattered around the buildings nearby.
6. Watching most of Music and Lyrics and being struck by the catchiness that is an Adam Schlesinger song.

4/1/10

1. Really quiet phone shift in the morning, so that I could upload photos of the apartments we looked at last night for discussion with other long-time city dwellers with little storage space.
2. Discovered that banks will give out temporary checks, so didn't need to go all the way back to our apartment to get my checkbook. Hooray!
3. Being able to grab a bunch of eel sushi for lunch.
4. Beautiful day outside as I went over to Hoboken to drop off our security deposit so that the realtor would stop showing the apartment to other potential tenants.
5. Getting a pair of denim-ish capri leggings from Kohl's on sale twice (40% off, then Dan had additional 15% off coupon) from their Simply Vera line plus another 3 pairs of trouser socks (they keep the ankles warm when walking...)
6. Getting a note from EF that he thought the content of my presentation at the manager's conference was really awesome :)