Last week was definitely a huge bummer.  Well most of it was grand.  Never saw it coming.

I got laid off from my job on Thursday.  It's funny how things work like that.  I had a huge revelation on Wednesday night.  I was feeling super positive and  was really hitting all my marks and getting really great feedback.  

Then Thursday morning the head of my office walked in and shut the door and I was like - eh.  I knew it wasn't going to be good.  Eight of us got laid off that day.  They have been laying people off since October.  I guess they were banking on scoring a few pieces of new business - but because they didn't - they had to make the decision to get rid of some people.  

There is a lot I would have changed about the experience (besides the whole not having a job thing).  I really loved my job - but more I liked the people.  I'll really miss working everyday with Bethany and Kathleen.  I'll miss the routine.  I already have gotten up at 7:30 and started to get ready - to only remember that I don't have a job.  Just sad.

Anyways.  This weekend definitely made up for my shitty week.  Friday night, I went out to this place Hanabi in Marshfield with my favorites.  REALLY good food and they have one of those tepanyaki tables where they cook the food in front of you.  We opted to sit in the main dining room.  Super cute.  We then met more folks in the bar area for some drinks and dancing.  This band Six Foot Sunday was playing and they were pretty sweet.

Saturday I woke up bright and early for the trip to New Jersey for Bamboozle.  I picked up Robyn and we were on our way.  I was a little hungover but as soon as we loaded up on some Dunks we were good to go.  I love driving down there.  Reminds me of college.  So many random memories on 95 South lol.  We made it down there around 12:30.  We killed some time and then headed down to Meadowlands.

Bamboozle is now like an two day Warped Tour.  I miss it being at Asbury a little.  JUST a little.  First band we wanted to see was the Bloodhound Gang.  Also one of the bands that convinced me to actually make the trek down.  They were awesome.  They played Ballad of Chasey Laine, F.U.C.K., Uhn Tiss, Three Point One Four, Bad Touch and Fire Water Burn.  I love Jimmy Pop.  The crowd watching them was really cool too.  No 14 year olds.  This was the best picture of them I got.

We also watched New Found Glory, and Ace Enders and a Million Different People.  Ace was great.  Made me miss TEN a little bit.  We killed some time before Third Eye Blind.  Right before Third Eye Blind there was supposed to be a "Special Guest".  Circa 2004 at Skate and Surf in Asbury we were also promised a special guest.  It was Joan Jett.  This year - it was Journey.  YES.  Like Don't Stop Believing Journey.  I also learned the next day that the lead singer was NOT Steve Perry.  It looked just like him.  We were far away.

Third Eye Blind was AMAZING.  They played all the goodies and again the crowd watching them was really cool.  Met some fun dudes who enjoyed them as much as we did.  We peaced out after that as we didn't really want to see Fall Out Boy and we were starving.  Thanks to VZ Navigator we found a Taco Bell REALLY close to our hotel.  Roads in Jersey are totally screwy so we got lost of course.  When we finally got back to the hotel we scarved and passed out. The hotel wasn't bad for the $90 we paid and the people who worked there were super sweet.  

Next day I picked out a cute outfit (yeah whatever) to only find out it was pouring.  Again, giving props to my VZ Navigator, I decided we should search "diner" and go to a legit Jersey diner for brunch.  We picked the Gotham City Diner in Ridgefield NJ because we liked the name.  Duh.  It was amazing and super affordable.  I got some glares and dirty looks with my red sox hoodie (with ended up coming with me for the rest of the day - smart).

When we left it was still crazy downpouring.  So again with the trusty navigator we found a Borders and killed some time.  I seriously could kill a day in Borders (and probably will with my current state of non-employment).  

We headed to the venue again.  It was probably the grossest place I've ever been (next to Warped Tour 2005 in Northhampton MA).  It had been raining all day and they didn't clean up from the day before.  So use your imagination.  It was insane.  We actually got to catch this really cool band from Florida called Versaemerge.  They were playing on one of the smaller stages.  There were a ton of carnival rides at the venue.  We didn't check them out because we thought you had to pay for them (we're that poor - did I mention hot dogs were $5 and beer was almost $9).  Well the second day we checked it out and road the ferris wheel.  SO cool.  Wish the weather could have been a little better.

That was our view of the venue from the top.  Cool that you can see the New York skyline in the back.

We then watched Demi Lovato (who was adorable and seriously bad ass for holding her own up there) and The Used (who I used to LOVE but they are really not good anymore).  Bert is WAY less crazy and both him and the instruments were really hard to hear.  After that we went to dry out inside Giants Stadium and sit.  They actually let us sit in the stands.  It was cool.  This is also the time that Robyn and I enjoyed an Arepa.  I don't know the background of these amazing works of food but - they are two flat cakes of cornbread and in the middle is mozzarella cheese.  AND it was really good.  We had some laughs about how random it was.

We then headed back down and decided we wanted one more ride on the Ferris Wheel.  We got paired up with two really cool dudes.  We bonded over the fact that we were all over 25.  LOL.  Nerds.  After the Ferris Wheel we went to go check out Taking Back Sunday.  Before TBS we stopped at the Gen79 tent to meet one of my favorite blogger gals, Jessica, over at tried to live forever everyday of the year.  She is SOOO super sweet and was rocking the LAMB like myself.  We chatted for a bit and then met up again to watch No Doubt.  We watched TBS from the No Doubt stage because we really wanted to get a good spot for ND.  TBS were good and I think I'll try to see them again when they come to Boston.

No Doubt was incredible.  Speechless.  I got the chills when they came out and opened right into Spiderwebs.  I was wet and cold and tired but I danced and jumped my booty off.  Amazing.  We left about three songs early to make the 15 minute walk to the car, so we did "hear" the rest.  Finally got back to my apartment at 3am and I was showered, hydrated and snoozing by 3:15.  Good times.  Good times.  

Cinco De Mayo celebration tomorrow night!!!! 

xok

Happy Hump Day!
This week so far has been agonizing work wise. Four more people got laid off at the company I work for. First it was a number of senior management in October. I was pretty confident I would be safe as my salary is quite low and I'm sure it wouldn't make a difference if they were to let me go.

Then Monday we got an email about a emergency meeting 10 minutes from then. We knew it had to be about people getting laid off. Bethany and I sat there staring at each other being like "They'd have to call us if we were getting cut right... right??" Then all of a sudden my phone rings. My heart probably stopped for like two seconds - I'm sure of it. It actually was my supervisor letting me know she wouldn't be calling in but she wanted us to tell her what was being announced.

Four really good people got laid off. What's scarier is that they were at my level. One of the guys that got laid off had been working on an account with me - now that he's gone I'm getting his hours and his work - it sucks but - I couldn't be happier to take on more work! Two of my favorite gals also got laid off. One who was a Assistant but man she was awesome. Another who was my total BFF during the election. Total liberal asshole like myself. We also did Boot Camp together and if she wasn't there all the times I wanted to break down - I probably wouldn't have made it.

I guess I'm just lucky to still have a job. So I'll leave it at that.

The weekend was great. Friday the whole gang (minus P. Dunn) got together at Chili's for some drinks and apps. Twas a good time! But I'm totally jumping ahead of myself. Before I met the gang at Chili's I bought a new mattress!

I was super intimidated as I always am when it comes to buying big items. I hate when people are super eager to sell you something - it makes me so nervous. So I marched in and I was like "Listen - I did my research - THIS is the bed I want." He made me feel smart and also made me get on this super scientific bed to figure out my pressure points and how I like to sleep. He kept making awkward gestures to my "top heavyness." To alleviate some of his awkwardness I was like yeah I know I have big boobs let's move on. My mom was mortified. Oh yeah I harrassed her into coming with me. And it's a good thing I did because he took $100 off the mattress I wanted because she bought her mattress there last year. So I got me a sweet new matress and boxspring for $542 and that includes delivery.

After Chili's a few of us moseyed on to The Half Door in the always lovely Quincy Center. It was fun - but super crowded. Robyn and I saw our BFF from High School who looked and smelled totally cracked out. She awkwardly wanted to take a picture with us. So bizarre.

Saturday Missy and I went around to some places looking for stuff for the apartment. We found an entertainment center and a coffee table but are still looking for the kitchen table. Nothing that we've fallen in love with yet. I got a new duvet from Ikea and some frames (which reminds me I need to go to CVS and print out a shitload of photos from my cam) and also some cute decorative stuff.

Later in the day Hillary, Robyn, Alyssa and I went to see the Wrestler. How painful was that movie? I felt like I was watching an episode of intervention. Mickey Rourke was amazing and would have deserved the Oscar (but Sean Penn won and deserved it more!). It was just so depressing. Wrestling was his drug. When things were going good he stayed away from it and when things were hitting the shitter he would torture himself.

Then we enjoyed a dinner at Abington Ale House (which is a stone throws away from my new apt) and stopped at Target to buy the Dead Like Me movie. I was pysched it was there. They were actually selling the first two seasons and the movie together for $50! I'll have to save my review till the next blog because I promised Pat I would not tell him about it (and he's one of the 6 or so people that read my lousy posts). After that we split up and I decided to go stop by Great Chow to meet Jen and Justin for some drinks. We had so much fun. Pat and friends ended stopped by a bit later. Meanwhile drama is unfolding in the parking lot. A girl that was with Jen's sister got arrested in the parking lot - second DUI in one week crazy huh. After she got arrested she CAME BACK! I'm really thankful I was never that rebellious. I'm kind of glad I was a total nerd. The girls at the table behind us were also causing their own brand of crazy. They were like pulling down their shirts and making out and just - yeah it was funny. So Pat made me capture some of it in only a way I could:

Ladies and gents I present to you - the sly photo. I made it seem like I was taking a picture of P. Dunn but no I was taking a picture of the ridiculously tragic girls behind us who in the picture above - one girl was giving the other a lapdance and was in mid of pulling her pants down. Crazy people I tell you. Towards the end of the night one of the gals had a breakdown and was crying all into her drink. Then the folks she was with got in a fight outside and the cops and an ambulance came. I swear it was like a live episode of Cops that night.

Sunday was the day I wait for all year!! THE OSCARS!! I went to Annies and we had a great time. I made my famous guac and Colleen made Buffalo Dip (which totally overshadowed my amazing guac!) which was amazing and Annie made all these different variations of popcorn (her engaged state has made me so domesticated like). I was very happy with the results of the awards! So happy for Slumdog Millionaire taking home all it's awards and also for Sean Penn and Dustin Lance Black on behalf of Milk. Go google their acceptance speeches. Amazing.
Obviously we kept score. Robyn got first, I got second and Annie got third. It was fun.

We all pretty much had a big fail on the technical ones but we all did well on the big ones. I really liked the show this year. The format was cool and so was Hugh Jackman. Oh and my friend Jessica has done a great blog featuring the best/worst dressed - which BTW I totally agree with.

Oh also - Maxise at "i hate so much" - is featuring a doozie of "Would You Rather Wednesday" - so go check it out. I haven't answered yet. This is a hard one :)

Some of my other favorite blogs this week. This may be my favorite blog of LiLu's so far. Like I mentioned in my last post - this gal is hilarious and would probably be my bff if I lived in DC. Well she blogged about something yesterday that is near and dear to my heart - THE SNUGGIE. Please go read it and tell her how genious it is.

And my last comes from the lovely and talented Kay Hanley. She likes Google Analytics. Alot. Maybe a bit too much. Anyways - go check out her blog (and her post about the Oscars) and read this awesome blog about what she learned about herself when she saw all the things people type into Google to get to her blog.

Everyone have a sweeeeeet Wednesday.

xo

I can't even put into words how amazing the New Kids on the Block were.  How are they still fantastic!?!?  I found out that I was going Friday. On Thursday Robyn got two tickets and because Hillary and I both wanted to go we had to fight it out.   We told Robyn we were going to wrestle but really we picked a name out of a ramekin.  My name came out so I promised Hillary a bottle of wine and a t shirt.

Sunday Robyn and I met Cailtin and Liz at Quincy Adams and we headed in, with a plan to grab some drinks before heading into the craziness.  Well truth be told craziness came when we hit the Green Line and there were a ton of girls with old school NKOTB memorabilia including the mini dinner plate pins and the water bottles.  One of the women started playing Please Don't go Girl on her iPhone (which I decided I want BTW) and I did my Joey McIntyre dance - that I just made up yesterday.

Enjoyed some pumpkin beer and some crazy ass nachos at Boston Beer Worlds and we headed over to the garden at about 715.  I went to go look for a shirt for Hillary and the one I wanted to get her was sold out EVERYWHERE so I settled on an equally awesome one.  We went in to get our seats (which were insane) and watched the tail end of Natasha Bedingfield who is tragic and should be a rock star instead of the crap music she plays. 

New Kids came out around 8pm.  The opening was powerful.  Moving if you will.  Laugh go ahead but man it was chill inducing.  Cliff's notes on the show:

• Their new stuff I decided is NOT good - cept maybe a few songs
• They played ALL the goodies and were amazing doing so
• Jordan totally ripped his shirt off at one point - actually I think a fan (LOL a actual fan not a fanatic - when I read this over I laughed my ass off) blew it open and performed one of his solo songs like that
• Donnie picked up a guitar - but NEVER played it
• Donnie is hot
• Jonathan is adorable and I'm still waiting for him to break out of his shell
• Did I mention how fabulous they are?

I took four videos and you can see them all at my YouTube page but here is my favorite:

Tonight!!! Kind of my favorite New Kids song. Mostly because it reminds me of being a lil lady and being

sad I didn't have straight hair but when I heard this song and hearing them sing about the "girls with the

curls in their hair" always made me feel cooler than everyone else. :)

We trudged to the T to make our way home. I was tired but still on a concert high which can ONLY describe what happened next. So we're walking down to the platform in Park Street and I see this guy. I'm like I know him. I don't know how though. Ah ha!! I got it!! It's Rich Cronin. Rich Cronin from the band LFO. Don'tlie. You remember them. So blogspot is being mean and is not letting me put the video in here. So click here for some LFO awesomeness. He's the blonde one that points alot. Anyways. I geeked out and apparently said "Oh btw that was Rich Cronin" really loud and then started singing "I like girls that wear Abercrombie Fitch" which probably wasn't so nice of me. Rich I apologize (if I were famous I would Google Alert my name!) for making an ass. Anywho. He looked hot! I wanted to go on his train to talk him up but my uneventful friends wouldn't let me in fear of embarrassment. I just wanted to ask him if he went to the New Kids or the game (my money is on the New Kids). And maybe some more. Oh and also to tell him the Life is Good album was like my anthem of 2001 - and apparently September/October of 2008 because I am so into it again. Thank you Rich Cronin.

xok

I have been so neglectful to my blog lately.

I've been so busy, from two presentations I have to give in Minneapolis tomorrow and Friday and other work stuff that should be taking precedence but isn't, I've barely had time to slow down.  I'm waiting for someone to call me right now so I found it good time to blog it up.

Tie at # 10 but obvs I had to leave the Raconteurs.  Sometimes I look at this and I'm like Hmmm I listened to this and that alot more than I thought.

Anywho.  Speaking of awesome amazinggg mindblowing music - DRUG RUG was on 90210 last night!?!? Seriously.  Who knows of them outside of Boston?  Maybe I'm just being naive but boy was I excited!!  I yelled out many times during last nights episode but that was probably the loudest and most excited.  I also yelled when they KEPT alluding to who Kelly Taylor's baby daddy was and then finally when they revealed who it was.  SPOILER ALERT it's Dylan McKay's.  I was really banking on it being Steve Sanders because of the crazy blonde hair on the kid.  Oh well.  Kudos Drug Rug.

Another 90210 tidbit a co worker and I were talking about.  Remember when the first 90210 was out and EVERY girl wanted to be Kelly Taylor or Brenda Walsh.  Everyone wanted to be them and wear what they were wearing and have a cordless phone in their room (ok maybe that was just me).  I have memories of my dad letting me watch it and I would walk around his apartment pretending I was Kelly.  I don't know if it's because I'm older but I think the characters esp the girls Annie who is "Brenda" and Silver "I don't know who she'd be" in this revival of 90210 are so gross.  I don't look at them thinking "Man they're SO cool I want to be like them" (Ok so I may say that while watching the Hills and/or Gossip Girl ALL THE TIME) I look at them and think "Please eat a sandwich.  No really please".  When did NO boobs or any sort of shape become in??  They are both so frighteningly thin and sick looking it's scary.  Don't get me wrong I totally LOVE this new revival of the very popular 90's show - but I don't think it's going to resonate NEARLY as much as the first one did.

In other awesome television news, Fringe was kind of amazing last night.  Not because of the weirdly aged newborn but for all the Stoughton references!!!! As Liz and I kept noticing - there is NO damn water in Stoughton and there is NO bridge that looks anything like that - or like the Verrazano and I previously noted. Good episode though.  Can't wait till they come to Braintree and bust some crazy science experiment going down at Motel 6.

For good measure - some Drug Rug fun I found on YouTube.  The first one is from March 21 2008 when I saw them with The Cribs (who are equally awesome):

Winter Time

For The Rest of Your Life
This one shows you how incredible the lady singer, Sarah's (who reminds me SO much of Teeter Sperber!) voice is.

xo

Wow late night commercials are crazy.

Just saw one about ExtenZe - I guess it grows the penis.  How does that work? Weird.

Had one of those classic nights tonight.  Andrea, Hill and I went to the movies to see" The Other Boelyn Girl" and it was absolutely fantastic.  Hillary said the story wasn't 100% accurate but I liked it anyways and so did she.  We were running really late and figured it probably wouldn't be sold out - we get in there and there are NO seats left.  We sat in the front row.  No lie.

Then we went to Rick's Cafe after for some drinks and food and some serious girl talk.  I love the boys but sometimes it's really great to go out with the ladies.  Talked about everything under the sun from sex in funny places to diets while enjoying some dirty martinis.  Totally Sex in the City except it was Randolph and well less cool.

Also realized tonight how much I can't wait till the summer.  Can't wait to roll the windows down, leave the jacket at home and enjoy the fresh air.  Nerddd.

Until next time I leave you with this note:

xo