Alright babies, I'm sorry, but Catherine's on her way to my apartment and there's shopping to be doone and errands to run before tonight's fabulous soiree, so the Best/Worst Life Moments of 2009 post is going to have to wait until tomorrow, when I'm experiencing my first Great Crippling Hangover of 2010. In saying goodbye to 2009, I'd like to thank you all for being wonderful, wonderful readers and I can't wait to see what the new year brings us!
Boston baby, Boston!
XOXOXOXOXO - Christine
P.S. If you're anything like I am and you need a social spotter when you go out (at all times?) so you don't drunk dial your lady doctor, your best friend's parents, and the school of the child you mentor (true story...thanks first night of junior year), then may I recommend the Don't Dial app for iPhones? See the magic at work here:So far, I've locked 34 numbers out of my phone until 8 o'clock tomorrow morning...everyone from my tailor to my extended family to my man friends, so I am now officially ready to rage. See you next year bunnies!!!!
I was just watching the premiere for Real World DC and saw the latest trailer for MTV's newest hit show, "The Buried Life." Basic premise: 4 guys made a list of 100 things they wanted to do before they died. They bought a bus, traveled around the country (world?), made their wildest dreams come true, and filmed the whole thing. For each item they were able to cross off their collective list, they helped a complete stranger accomplish one of their own goals. Check out there website here, and some of their footage below.
Here's one of the older trailers:
And the newer one:
After watching something like that, you can't help but think about your own goals, and New Year's Eve being upon us....your resolutions. Of the 100 items on the guys' list, I've already managed to accomplish the following:
7. Plant a tree (gotta love middle school earth days...) 9. Destroy a computer (it's called college, and, well...my life in general.) 10. Learn to fly(I took flying lessons one summer when I was a camp counselor.) 11. Get a college degree (Graduated in '07 baby!) 13. Help someone build a house (I helped build two houses when I spent a summer as an assistant site supervisor for Habitat for Humanity in Portland, Maine.) 23. Learn how to play an instrument (I think with piano, viola, saxophone, and drums under my belt, I've got it covered.) 25. Drive across North America(We roadtripped to Derby last spring...does that count?) 27. Give a stranger a $100 bill (I gave $100 to my favorite sober, smiling, cvs-door-holdinghomeless man at the end of the summer I lived in Cambridge.) 29. Scream at the top of your lungs(who hasn't done this?) 49. Take a stranger out for dinner(I actually did this once when I made bff with a slightly crazy older woman at the MAC counter in the mall. We had a blast and met up a few more times after that for mentor-style lunches.) 51. Climb a large Mountain (Katahdin baby!) 58. See a dead body(Sadly true thanks to a handful of funerals.) 65. Learn how to sail (I used to sail at camp when I was younger and spent this past summer relearning how with Bobby as my coach.) 72. Throw a surprise party (My parent's surprise 25th wedding anniversary party was a huge hit!)
82. Win an award (This counts, right? Seriously? Why not?)
86. Teach an elementary school class (DONE. And this list didn't even specify that I had to teach them about sperm, trannies, and lady parts! Seriously though, that happened to me last spring. Sex ed in 5th grade is apparently no joke.)
88. Jump off a waterfall (Thanks Adventure Camp!) 90. Ride a rollercoaster(I still remember the first rollercoaster I ever rode...the Scooby Doo one at King's Dominion in Virginia when we moved to Savannah. Embarassing, but true. Cut me a little slack though, I was 9, people!) 92. Learn how to surf(I halfway accomplished this during one of my visits to my parents' condo in Florida. Too bad I got stuck in a rip tide and then crashed into a reef that we later found out was installed by the association next door to "maintain the shark environment." Good times.) 98. Race horses (I used to ride in Jimcanas at camp.)
Total: 20
Twenty out of one hundred? Without even trying? Not too shabby!
Here are some of the things I'd like to accomplish in the coming year(s):
In 2010... 1. Go paintballing (something I promised Ali for her bday last year and we still haven't gotten around to doing.) 2. Run a half marathon...full marathon if I'm feeling gutsy. 3. Relive my childhood summers by convincing all of my friends to go camping with me. 4. Head up to Maine and tackle the Class 5 rapids that almost killed me back in the day. 5. Become a poor man's Former Roommate Jenn, meaning that I not only want to teach myself to cook, but I'd also like to make it look half as effortless as she does. 6. Smoothly and successfully reonvate and decorate my new condo (more to come on that in 2010!!) 7. Get ballsier with my snowboarding and wakeboarding skills. Breaking my wrist while snowboarding left me a little gunshy, but I'm slowly getting my snow legs back. 8. Suck it up and hop the bus/train to visit my friends/family in NYC more than...never. The lofty goal: 4 times in 2010, versus 0 times in 2007, 2008, and 2009 combined. I'm looking at you, Lee. 9. Be outside all summer, hopefully while working at a non-profit day camp on one of the islands outside of the city. 10. Buy myself fresh peonies every week while they're in season (May and June). Few things make me happier than a vase full of these can. 11. Apologize to everyone I was bitchy to in 2009, namely the match.com date that looked like Tony Soprano's half-sibling who I disappeared on last spring, among others. It's never too late to say you're sorry, especially if you mean it. 12. Write more thoughtful birthday messages to all (okay, most) of my facebook friends. 13. Send Christmas cards for once. 14. Finally get my helmsman certification for sailing. 15. Go to more live shows, especially if Kings of Leon, Vampire Weekend, MGMT, La Roux, Drake, Jeremih, Lil Wayne, or Jay-Z come to town. 16. Be the best friend/daughter/cousin/niece/dog owner I can be.
Long term goals (to cross off in the next 5-10 years)... 1. Skydive 2. Swim with sharks (preferably in Australia...Bobby, you in?) 3. Sell the condo I just bought and buy/build a dreamhouse/penthouse. 4. Fall in love (cheesy, but we're talking long term...who doesn't want to fall in real, non-high-school-boyfriend-forever-and-always or maybe-gay-college-boyfriend-who-lives-down-the-hall-and-is-convenient, love? I promise to still be just as ridic after this happens, though I may have to retroactively delete some of my more risque posts...talk about a dilemma!) 5. Publish a book...or two...or, you know, three. 6. Be a contestant on a gameshow...or win a bananagrams tournament, whichever comes first. 7. Travel. Everywhere. 8. Make a tangible difference in the lives of my students. Help them get into Prep to Prep and ABC programs so they can go to prep/boarding schools for free. 9. Open a summer camp so city kids can experience the backwoods of Maine or New Hampshire. 10. Say yes to every spontaneous adventure proposed to me.
Lofty goals? Perhaps. Acheivable? Absolutely. Looks like I've got my work cut out for me come Friday...wish me luck! And get ready, the Best/Worst of 2009 post coming later today!
Christmas has come early this year, in the form of the following Jersey Shore video. Words cannot sufficiently express the joy these kids bring to my life.
And, my personal gift to you...here's some gossip (via Gawker) from a woman who bumped into the whole cast (minus J-WOWW) at Marquee in NYC last night. Enjoy!
"Like an early gift from Santa himself, last night I met the entire cast of Jersey Shore. Here's how it went down. I do not regularly go to clubs, but last night my friend wanted to go to Marquee and after several rounds of drinks, who was I to say no? We go and the first thing we notice is a black pompadour sticking up over one of the couches. And next to the pomp, was a definite situation. Seated was Paulie D, The Situation, Sammi Sweetheart, Ronnie and that other one. Here's the rundown on our friends from NJ.
Snooki: In person, she's shorter and tanner than you would even dream of. She was cautious and definitely not used to "fame" yet. Her tits were HUGE and she was NOT the center of attention. I asked her to do some back hand springs and she politely refused. I asked if she planned on pursuing cheerleading professionally and she said yes. The Situation: A total dickhead, in just the way I wanted him to be. He was too cool to speak to pretty much anyone other than the other cast members. HIS JACKET WAS VELVET! And he would not show us his abs.
Paulie D:Totally sweet. Talked to us for a while, I asked him about the scene where he turned away from that busted blonde girl and he laughed uncontrollably. I was very scared of his hair, but managed to cop a feel.
Ronnie and Sammi: Looked like they were still together, sat on the couch by themselves the entire night. In a nut shell, BORING! Oh, and Ronnie looks better on TV than in person.
The Other One:Don't know his name, but he was there.
One interesting note... Snooki and The Situation were together ALL NIGHT!! They were practically connected at the hip and I wouldn't be surprised if they are hooking up!"
And finally, in case you're not already doing so, I highly recommend that you follow our little tanned fameseekers on Twitter...like yesterday. JWOWW is @JENNIWOWW (see her website here), Snooki is @Sn00ki (where she talks about doing photo shoots with Teresa the table flipper from Real Housewives of NJ, aka my dream come true. Her website is here, and she costs $2,000 for personal appearances...which means that you can find my bday present donation fund here...kidding, sort of), Pauly D can be found at @MTVDJPaulyD, The Situation's Twitter name is, obviously, @ItsTheSituation, and as far as I can tell, Vinny, Ronnie, and Sammi don't have Twitter acounts, and Angelina might, but everyone hates her, so none of them are folliwing any @KKardashianofSeasideHeights's quite yet.
Love you all and I'll see you back here in a few days!!
The Hangover + Furry party + YouTube sensation "Charlie Bit Me!" + childhood favorites + fast cars = One ingenious video.
And yes, if you were looking closely you saw cameos by Julia Allison (in the yellow dress), Meghan Asha (in a red dress), and, drumroll please...Justin Bobby of Hills fame (with slicked back slimeball hair, naturally).
Heyyyy bunnies! I can't believe I haven't posted this video yet, because it's phenomenal, but dear god am I glad I waited, because I overheard the greatest (and very related) thing last night on my way to Leah's, (after witnessing an almost multi-generational brawl that ended in hugs)...
Leathered up guido to the valet in front of my building: "So, what's this I hear about some show, some show called Guido Shores or Jersey Guidos? Have you heard anything about this?"
Unfortunately, it was freezing and I couldn't stop to hear more, but this, in essence, is my neighborhood. If the North End were an iPhone app, it would most certainly be called "Jersey Shore Lite."
And with that, I present you with "Bobby Bottleservice," a mix of Jon Gosselin, a pudgy guido, and the "such as" North Carolina pageant queen, aka Nick Kroll disguised under a thick layer of shelacking:
As I said to my date from last week (who will heretofor be referred to by his Jersey Shore nickname, "The Operation"), I love life; it's so full of guidos and magic...
Hope you guys all had fun weekends and are getting amped up for all of your upcoming holiday parties!!
Probably one of my top ten internet finds ever. Enjoy:
Favorite line? Try this: "Remember when I showed my penis in Forgetting Sarah Marshall? Well there were no special effects, no no special effects, so if you liked what you saw, well that's exactly what I'm working with. 1-315-329-6673, call it if you need me, 1-315-329-6673, only call if you're disease free."
6,335 views of my profile later, and I am officially done with Match.com. Thirteen minutes from now, or by the time I finish this post, it will all be over...no more coming home drunk and scoping out prospects, no more politely telling middle-aged men and guidos, "no thanks," no more going on dates with borderline alcoholics, only to have them rip shots in my bathroom or call me while riding their bikes back to the south end....no friends, thirteen minutes from now, all of this magic will be behind me.
I have to say, breaking up the homance (Bobby's newly minted term for a lady-bromance) with Match was theoretically hard, but it's also a giant relief. I don't know how much longer I could keep up with the incessant winks and emails from boys who think that we'd be perfect together because I happen to be the proud owner of a hoo-ha and appreciate the oh-so-subtle humor of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia." I mean, maybe I have aggressively high standards, but I don't think it's too much to ask for a tallish, well-educated, cool guy who has some direction and can make me laugh...I'm just saying.
Things I will be more than happy to leave behind? Going on a date, coming home, and then seeing said date online scoping out new prospects later that evening. Granted I'd be doing the same thing...but somehow it's different when their "Online now!" badge is flashing in your face. And this is why I present to you my very best advice for you to successfully navigate the world of online dating whilst maintaining your sanity and standards. Also, we will be recapping what I have learned over the past 9, count 'em, 9, months. Get your pens and pencils out ladies and gents, because here we go...
Words of Wisdom:
1. When emailing someone you may be interested in, remember to reference information from their profile. Not only will it make them feel as though you're being genuine, but it will also prevent you from the pain and humiliation of this exchange. Also, spelling and grammar count, especially if you're over the age of 18 and/or have managed to obtain your high school diploma or the equivalent.
2.DOpost presentable photos of yourself. If you would feel more comfortable maintaining your current look, perhaps you would feel more comfortable joining a dating/Lord of the Rings roleplaying community for fellow hippie elves.
3. If you're only looking for sexy times, please direct your attention to adult friend finder and leave me alone. It's fine if your idea of a dream date would be "dinner, movie, and a good time back at her place," but please, have some tact.
4. If you know that someone's not right for you, don't feel the need to get involved. Just press the "no thanks" button, and move on. There's no use wasting your time or theirs on something that's not going anywhere.
5. Wait an email or two before letting your freak flag fly, DON'T just put it all out there for your friends and coworkers to stumble across and then blog about, with accompanying illustrations.
6.Don't be sketch when you finally meet someone. It may go well at first, and they may think your drunkeness is endearing, but eventually they will find the bottle of orange vodka you hid in the bathroom and they will not be pleased.
7.DObe creative with date ideas! The best dates are fun, interesting, and flow organically. Dinner and a blockbuster can be a good time, but more often than not it should be Plan B, not A.
8. There's no blogpost to go with this, but after a date, wait 24 hours, or at least until morning, before logging in to your account. Otherwise, the other party is bound to think you're not interested or at least feel the sting of post-date rejection even more strongly. It's just a good policy to have because it works in reverse as well. Karma people, karma.
9. Speaking of karma, boys and girls, please quit it with the disappearing acts! I know I've done it to my fair share of online paramours, and that makes me hugely hypocritical, but I've since recognized the error of my ways and have realized that next time I'm tempted to do this, I just need to grow a pair and use my words. If you've given someone your number, or gone on a date with them, I think it's only right to let them know that it's not going to work out as soon as you can find a solid, sugar-coated reason, so they don't spend the rest of the week sitting around waiting for a phone call that will never come, because it's just depressing when I put it that way, isn't it?
10. It goes without saying, but please DON'T be any of these people.
And a bonus for good luck...
11. More than anything else, remember to get out there, have fun, and be safe!
And now, positive recap time. We all know what I have lost via Match.com (time, money, dignity), but what have I gained?
1. Laughter, and awkward stories, which are simply priceless.
2. A lasting and committed love for all things Kings of Leon (thanks to the boy who threw a temper tantrum) and The Script (thanks to last week's concert date) as well as a passing interest in Wilco (Drunk Date).
3. A keen eye for observation, thanks to the balding 23-year old I went out with. Baseball hats in every photo? Fool me once, shame on me...
4. A stronger sense of self and the things I want/need in life and in a guy.
5. And, in all honestly, the most important thing I've gained is a deeper appreciation of my friends, who have been there from every, "oooh look at this guy!" to each, "ugh, he was awful/drunk/balding!" Without you guys, and my faithful readers, I would've pulled an Alexa Ray Joel long ago (too soon?)...kidding, but seriously, I love you guys.
To the men of Match.com, thanks for the laughs; it's been quite the ride.
And now, I pass the online dating torch to my dear friend Lee (the same one who sent me the Jersey Shore Nickname generator earlier today), and I wish her the best of luck in her search for a decent man to call her own.
Ohhhh friends. I'm taking a nice little break from my finals tonight to share with you the joy and wonder that is MTV's newest show, "Jersey Shore." Now, being my readers, I would assume that the vast majority of you have already seen this magical piece of modern cinematography, but just in case you missed it, here's the trailer:
Phe-nomenal.
The first episode was pretty much incredible, with eight leather-skinned guidos and "guidettes" descending on a trashy Real World style house on The Shore, complete with astro-turfed rooftop and mind boggling duck telephone. Since I don't have nearly enough time to recap its magnificence for all of you, may I recommend a review by Meg over at 2birds1blog? Also, you can meet the cast here, and find out what your Jersey Shore nickname is in time to try out for season two (thanks to Lee for the link). Mine is "The Good Time," and to that, I say...of course it is.
In honor of tonight's most excellent episode of Gossip Girl, I present to you, the best of Chuck Bass, which has somehow been condensed into a 3:12 video of his most memorable quotes...impossible, but true. Enjoy:
Also, while I was on the hunt for the above video, I also found the following...
Hey there bunnyfriends, hope you all had fab weekends! Despite almost crashing into the back of an 18-wheeler last night (thanks impromptu snowstorm!) I managed to have an excellent time...mostly because of the nice lil date I went on this past Friday night. While I initially told myself that I wouldn't write about it (to prevent jinxing, obviously), it was just too fun to not share some details with you, so here goes...
I met my date at the Lower Depths in Kenmore, which is a fun little place where dollar hotdogs, tater tot platters, and a fine selection of brews all co-mingle on the menu in complete harmony. I highly recommend the turkey sandwich, as it was unreal with whatever cranberry aioli situation they smeared on it. The tots were also delish, but I was told that the chicken sangwich was the opposite of tender...so perhaps avoid that one if you make the trek out there. My only other complaint is that the restaurant went from being pretty empty and quiet when we walked in at eight to being almost unbearably loud by the time we left at ten, though that could have been due to the Loud Talker sitting at the next table over. All in all, it was a good experience, and I would def go again.
Next, we meandered (okay, powerwalked-it was cold!) our way over to the House of Blues to see The Script. Though I didn't know much about the band before, and only had one of their songs, I now love them. Bandwagon fan, I know, but love is love...what can you do? In case you haven't heard The Script, they're basically Ireland's version of The Fray and they sing some phenomenal songs with lyrics generally revolving around heartbreak and devestation...awesome. Unfortunately, we spent so much time at dinner that we missed a good portion of the show, but we still managed to see them perform the end of "The Man Who Can't Be Moved," as well as "Rusty Halo," "I'm Yours," my fave, "Breakeven," and one other that I can't remember.
Here's a video of the final song of the night. In case you can't see, the lead singer is wrapped in an Irish flag with "Boston" written across it and the crowd went bananas when he threw it into the audience at the end of the show. Enjoy:
More to come later this week, including a wonderful little post involving the findings of The Great Attic Exploration of 2009. Get excited!
XOXO - Christine
P.S. Here's one of my fave Script songs that I don't think we heard at the concert. It's called, "Before the Worst," and it's awesome:
Sorry for the lack of posting lately, but I'm in the middle of finals and things are a bit hectic at the moment. Good news: I dug through my attic when I was home for Thanksgiving last week and found many, many awkward photos, love letters, and original poems from my childhood! Get excited, because I'll be scanning and posting them sometime this week!
Boston baby, Boston!
So far, I've locked 34 numbers out of my phone until 8 o'clock tomorrow morning...everyone from my tailor to my extended family to my man friends, so I am now officially ready to rage. See you next year bunnies!!!!
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