Month: September 2012

On My Own

Lauren4 Comments

You know those people who can’t be alone?  I’m so not one of those people.  Actually, I really enjoy spending time by myself.  I mean, I’m not a recluse or anything.  I do thoroughly enjoy being with others, but I’ve always needed a good dose of alone time.  Joey took a short weekend golf trip with his dad, brother and cousin this weekend, so alone time is exactly what I got.

I think a lot of people are really uncomfortable with doing things completely by themselves, but this weekend I did a lot of things on my own and it was really refreshing.  I took myself on a walk on Friday morning and it was not only a welcome change in pace (I’m usually running past this barn), but it was also nice to just enjoy some peace and quiet.

Until the lens of my sunglasses fell out.  And then I got to enjoy my favorite solo activity: taking stupid pictures of myself!  I think this Instagram filter really showcases my pastiness, don’t you?  Also, I don’t bother making my hair look presentable when I’m by myself.  Clearly.

I seriously contemplated stealing my mom’s dog for a sleepover, then realized I’d have to walk her and that she probably wouldn’t protect me from any monsters anyways.

Saturday morning, I decided to be one of those people who gets a giant sugary pastry for breakfast and deem it “healthy” because it’s from Whole Foods.  When I’m not busy being one of those people, I’m busy making fun of them.  It really works for me.

Then I launched into what I’ll call a sugar and caffeine induced state of euphoria and felt really lucky to live in a state as beautiful as Colorado.  Where the mountains are right in front of your face and people spend 15 minutes disinfecting their table and chair before sitting down to drink their wheatgrass smoothie.  Only in Boulder.

Things got awkward when my sister found me hanging out at her place of work.  For the second time that weekend.  Luckily she’d forgiven me for trying to freak her out about getting her wisdom teeth out the night before.  I’m a really great big sister.

Resisted the urge to buy one of these to eat by myself.  But only because my mom gave me peanut butter cup blondies the other night.  Other alone time weekend activities involved going to yoga, reading on the porch, a Saturday morning run and watching the same episode of Say Yes to the Dress twice.

If you haven’t done so in a while, I encourage you to spend a good chunk of time all by yourself.  Everyone should be comfortable to stand on their own.  And take pictures of themselves with sunglasses that are missing a lens.

****************************

Do you enjoy spend time by yourself?

Do you feel uncomfortable being alone in public?

What did you do for yourself this weekend?

Things I’m Okay With

LaurenLeave a comment

Joey being in charge of dinner.

I’ve come to a very serious conclusion that I don’t like cooking as much as I like eating something home-cooked.  Unfortunately, it’s difficult for me to give up control of the kitchen.  Maybe that has something to do with the fact that I find onion pieces on the floor and dirty spoons sitting next to to spoon holder on top of the stove when Joey cooks.

Free grape samples at Whole Foods.

Actual fall weather.

It was cold, gray and rainy all day on Wednesday.  We wore sweaters and ordered Chinese for lunch at work.  It was awesome.

The return of Pumpkin Spice Lattes.

Catching up with my best friend while drinking said lattes.

 Finally being able to bottle our beer!

Riding in Joey’s dad’s new Mercedes.

It has a voice command feature but no matter how many times I said, “Buckle me” or “Drive us back to the office” it wouldn’t listen.

Emails from Joey inviting me to lunch at Chipotle.

Serious conversations had during lunch:

“Do you think my dad will buy me a Mercedes??”  Answer: No.

“Do you think you’re dad will trade cars with me for the day??”  Answer: Also no.

Eating this for breakfast all week.

Except I made them into giant muffins.  And except that all the muffin tops broke off when I tried to get them out of the pan.  And except that I glued the tops back on with frosting.  Joey still referred to them as the “Best muffins ever!”  I concur.  

Pulling the newest edition of Cooking Light out of the mailbox.

Especially when I saw the section on quick breads.  Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Bread?  I need that.  Because those muffins are going to run out at some point.  Maybe I can make the quick breads into giant muffins that are glued together with frosting, too!  Or maybe I’ve just had too much caffeine today!

Having my last day of work be earlier than expected.

They needed to shift some people around anyways, so they had someone to fill my spot right away and staying till next week seemed kind of pointless.  I’m totally okay with it because it means I get a few extra days off before starting at Joey’s office on Monday.  

Hello, 4-day weekend!