Difficulties

I'm having a couple of difficulties this week...

Difficulty #1:

How to fit everything I want to take to Mexico in ONE carry-on...

I have a confession to make, I am an ... overpacker. It's true. I take too many clothes with me on vacations. I justify it most of the time because you never really know what you'll need till you get there, and who wants to be forced to wear a pair of shorts and tank when you could have rocked the cute sun dress? Its about choices, really. And probably, a result of last minute packing, but that's neither here nor there.

Well, we have decided we are going to "carry-on" our luggage for our trip to Mexico this weekend. Initially I thought it was to avoid the extra baggage fee, but there isn't one on trips to Mexico. Its apparently for the ease of getting on and off of the aircraft and to our destination in the quickest way possible (which I am happy about because the baggage claim in Mexico tends to take a while). So, I purchsed myself a brand new carry on bag. And its...small. Yikes. It's 21 inches tall, and well not that wide. The other night, I stood in my bedroom and stared at my small suitcase, and faced the impending dilemma of how in the crap am I going to fit everything into that small bag. That's the difficulty. So, this will now force me to "plan" what I am going to take, and try to consolidate the necessities from the "options". How I am going to do that, I have no idea. But one way or another, me and my carry on will make it Mexico...I hope.

Difficulty #2:

Focus...

I leave for relaxation, fruity drinks, lounging, laughs, and fun in two days. And while I do have a palm tree outside my office window, it's not the same.

It probably doesn't help that I perused the Resort photos over my lunch break either.

But, in any case. I can't focus. I have deadlines and projects and I can't think past what drink I'll have when I first get there, and which swimsuit I want to wear first. Oh dear, Friday better hurry up and get here.

versus

Not the same.

Vacation

In 4 days - I will be looking at the picture above in real life. Oh, I cannot wait! And for that reason, I know this week is going to drag on and on and on...

AND - in 3 days, the boyfriend will be turning 3-5!

What a fun week ahead!

27th Birthday Festivities

I celebrated the 27th year of my life a few weeks ago. And it was a-mazing! I had the best birthday week that a 27 year old girl could want. Here's a rundown -

The fun began on Saturday night with Karaoke madness at Spotlight Karaoke. I can safely say that we rocked the mic singing "Stay" by Lisa Loeb and "I like Big Butts". If you didn't know that I am a world class karaoke singer, then you just don't know me.

Backstreets Back, alright!

We rocked some awesome tunes.

They have my heart.

Law escuela amigas

I heart them.

The BEST boyfriend a girl could ask for!

That night was so much fun, and I had some amazing friends come out to help me ring in my 27th birthday!

Actual Birthday:

On my actual birthday, Cinco de Sara, I once again had an a-mazing day!

I went to work of course that morning. It was pretty low key because all the partners were out of the office that week. I received some beautiful flowers from my parents:

And, then I received some more beautiful flowers from my boyfriend:

I went to lunch with my sister, Katie, and with a bestie of mine, Alisa. We went to The Daily Review, and it was delicious. We sat outside and enjoyed yummy food and very nice weather!

That night, Patrick took me to dinner at a local hot spot called Backstreet Cafe. We sat outside on the patio, and the food, once again, was delicious.

Me at dinner at Backstreet cafe

Happy Birthday Cake, it was delish.

After dinner, we went to see Date Night, which was just okay. Didn't love it, didn't hate it.

Weekend:

That weekend, I went to A-town to see the family to celebrate my birthday, again, and to celebrate Mom's day. That weekend was really really fun! Friday night, we had third row tix to the Rangers game. They were the best seats I've ever sat in at the Rangers game. We were right above the dug out on the first base side,and for once the players all looked life size.

On Saturday, my dad and I went to "Frontier Day" at the Stockyards in FtW. It was weird to see all these people seriously dedicated to this time period. Then we went to see the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Modern Art Museum. That was really cool. He was a strange man. That night, my parents took me to dinner at Tillman's Roadhouse in F-dub. It was probably the best food I have ever eaten! I'm not kidding.

All in all, I had an amazing birthday. My boyfriend spoiled the crap out of me, as well did my parents and my friends. I am truly blessed with amazing people in my life. Thank you to all.

Do I look like i'm 50?

This past weekend, I went to visit my family for my birthday and for Mother's day (I'll post more on that later). It was a great weekend, but the only thing that became quite hilarious was people's apparent desire to consider me a 50 year old (not that there is anything wrong with being a 50 year old).

Take instance #1:

On Friday night, we went to a baseball game. While we were sitting there, these three, girls came and sat in front of us. Their skin was the color of oompa loompas and their shorts barely covered their arses's, and they all had the same hair color. In any case, they came to sit by the guys who were previously sitting in front of us. They began taking an array of photos of, well, everything. But mostly themselves. So, after watching this go on for about 30 minutes, I asked if they would like for me to take their pic for them. To which they responded excitedly, yes! I took their camera and took a group photo of them. When I was finished, I handed the camera back to the lead girl and she responded with  "Thank you, Ma'am".... When did I become a "Ma'am"? It was as if the world stopped, my dad laughed, patted me on the back, and said, you don't look like a "Ma'am". I said thank you, but he is of course, a little baised. I looked down at my clothes, to make sure I wasn't wearing mom jeans or that I didn't have some other type of clothing that made me look like a "ma'am". Sure enough, I was all clear in my tank top and shorts. But apparently, looking mature, not orange, and wearing shorts that don't show my arse, makes me a "ma'am", who knew.

Instance #2:

On Sunday, we went to brunch for Mother's day. Afterwards, my mom and I went to CVS to get some "necessities" (which by the way, when my mom and I go to CVS we always ending up buying everything but necessities). I walk up to the check out counter, happily hand over my CVS rewards card (which I am glad I could find because nothing is worse then being asked for your rewards card and embarrisingly having to say "I do have one, I just don't have it with me"). The check out lady scans my purchases, I pay, and then as I am about to walk away, I hear "Have a very happy mother's day, ma'am."....awkward pause..."Uh...thank you?" Apparently, the CVS woman thought that not only was I a "ma'am" but that I also MUST have had children already.. Silly me. I appreciated the nice message from the check out lady, but "Hey, have a good day" might have done more for the ole self confidence.

In any case, after this weekend, I'm taking a closer assessment of my appearance, just to make sure its clear that no, I am not a "ma'am"..yet, and hey its okay that I don't have children.

The 27th Celebration of Cinco de Sara

I turned 27 today at 6:35 a.m. I didn't wake up for that moment but I reflected on it at 7:30 when I did wake up. I think 27 is a good age. I'm not a fan of the "odd" number birthdays but I think this will be a good year. It's hard for me to imagine that I was 17 ten years ago. Most days I still feel 17. In honor of this, my 27th year of life, here is a recap of my 26th year of life in hopefully the least boring way possible (and yes I am consulting my planner to remember - my paper planner that I still use everyday, I like the writing down of things rather than the typing in of things into an iPhone - its cathartic):

• Ran an entire 5k for the first time without stopping.
• Ran 8 miles (on a 5/1 interval).
• Went back to blonde.
• Maintained the same job at the law firm.
• Went on vacay to Mexico with the boyfriend in July.
• Went to several fun concerts.
• Was lead attorney in my first bench trial before a federal court judge.
• Won my first trial in front of a federal court judge.
• Took my first deposition.
• Travelled to NYC on business for the first time!
• Celebrated my two year anniversary with the boyfriend in San Antonio.
• Hired a maid (this is momentous because I finally gave into the hatred of cleaning, I can afford it, so why not, even if I only live in a one bedroom).

I'm sure there is much more that I did in my 26th year of life, but that list will have to do for now!

I arrived at work today to find a bouquet of flowers from my wonderful parents (picture above - ignore the messy desk, I'm in the midst of drafting a 25 page response to a motion - its intense), a cake from the law firm, and a balloon that sings from my legal assistant. I'll recap tomorrow about all the wonderful things I did today on my 27th celebration of Cinco de Sara.

Random act of kindness.

My apartment building is, well, like a compound. Its surrounded by gates which you cannot gain access to without the special "card" (walk though gates - drive through gates). As a tenant, a card was bestowed upon me for my use. I kept it in safe keeping for 3 years, and at some point last fall it became "lost" or rather fell out of my car somewhere in Houston. What they don't tell you is that this card costs $50.00 bucks to replace, that's a new pair of shoes. And I'd much rather spend my $50.00 on a pair of shoes then a new "card". So, rather than spend the $50.00, I have a refined system to get into my apartment (which my boyfriend thinks is ridiculous and that I should just go get a new card, but I stand firm). I wait in the bank parking lot across the "street" from the entrance for a car to enter the gate, and then I annoyingly follow behind that car. Sometimes, I even try to sneak in the out gate. Yes, friends, all these efforts so that I do not have to spend $50.00 on a new card. Some call me frugal, others call me smart. I take the latter position.

Well, last night, as I was waiting in the bank parking lot with the food I picked on my way home from work from Whole Foods, the hot food that was getting colder as I sat and waited for someone to come through the gate, the "out" gate opened and a truck rolled through. As this was happening, I thought to myself, wouldn't it be nice if that person in the truck stopped and swiped his card on the "in" gate side to let me in? And what do you know, that's exactly what he did. He rolled through the gate. Stopped, got out of this truck, and let me in. For that he got a very friendly wave and smile.

And this folks, is why I love living in Texas.

A hatred for balloons.

Unbeknowst to me, my cat, Callie, is horribly afraid of balloons. I did not realize this fear until this morning. I noticed she was avidly avoiding my living room. She was hiding under the bed, crouching near the door way, and not being her usually friendly self. So, I picked her up, which normally does not bother her, and carried her into the living room - begin freak out. She jumped off of me (which felt awesome) and ran to the window sill across the room and began making these deep meow noises that I didn't know that cats could make. Then the shaking started. The whole time she was staring at this busshel of Happy Birthday balloons that were hanging from a chair in my dining room (my dining room is a part of my living room - the joy of living in a 750 sq ft one bedroom apt). I removed the balloons and it took her approximately three hours to stop shaking and for her poofy tail to shrink back to its regular size. Needless to say, my happy birthday balloons are now residing in my closet. And my cat is now back to her normal happy self.. Who knew.

My birthday is on Wednesday. I had a fabulous friend birthday celebration last night that included margarits, shots, and a karaoke bar. I will do a birthday celebration post later this week.