I'm Still Alive

Folly here. I finally took a jump and did something I've been thinking about for a while for this blog, so I guess I'm "under construction" at this point.

When the time is right, I'll reveal the new Folly...

Stay tuned!!

:)

Folly is still alive! It's a miracle!

I have been working on and attempting to write this post for over a week now.  The delay is partially because I've been so darn busy, and partially because I just didn't know how to fit everything into one post. I say that a lot - maybe if I didn't spread out my posts so much I wouldn't have so much to say!

I finally saw my GP about Trevor and his issues.  I was hesitant to bring up the depression on it's own because I still had this nagging feeling that something was very different about this funk, that it wasn't actually a depression but a symptom of something else. Plus, the most important thing was to take care of Trevor. GI issues are hell, and if I could figure out Trevor then maybe I could figure out my head.

I was super nervous going into the appointment.  Doctor visits alone don't make me nervous, but I hadn't been in for about three years, and I was terrified of two outcomes - the Dr would tell me I'm crazy and causing the problems myself, or he'd rush me to the emergency room. Neither of these was an acceptable outcome for me. Surely, I thought, there had to be a middle ground.  Nevertheless, my heart was an Indy car driver in my chest, and the nurse had to tell me to relax and calm down while I sat in the pediatric room (all the other rooms were full).

I had my notebook and list of symptoms, everything I wanted to discuss with him and then some. I laid out my symptoms, gave a time frame, discussed in detail the sharp, stabby pains and the burning and the cramping and the whatnot. I was the golden patient.  Then he did what all doctors are so very good at doing - he asked the question, the question, the one I was not prepared for but was so, so simple, so uncomplicated, so....obvious.  And he asked The Obvious Question so calmly and simply that I thought, "Why didn't I think of logging that symptom? Why, I have no idea how to answer that."  I glanced at my notes and stumbled, mumbling "um, I don't know. No?"  Suddenly I didn't feel like the golden patient.

Probably more golden than most, though. I mean, I must give myself some credit.

Then he asked questions about fiber pills and supplements, why I stopped taking some and why I wasn't taking others, and again asked obvious questions that I hadn't thought of, and I felt almost defeated. "That's it, I'm bringing this pain on myself, I didn't need this visit. He thinks I'm an idiot I'm sure of it!"  I answered his questions, trying to be as honest as possible - I am in pain, after all. 

Side note: He's been seeing me since I was 7 years old, so if I was an idiot I'm pretty sure he already knew that.

He then turned more toward me on his little rolling seat and said, "Well, it looks like we need to get more aggressive in our treatment."  He walked over to a shelf on the wall, grabbed a full-color illustration of stomach and GI issues, and explained to me that I have...

Acid Reflux.

Wha--? Acid Reflux? The annoying thing with the acid and the throat and the whatnot? You mean, I'm not dying? You see, Folly is a bit of a hypochondriac.  A hypochondriac in denial, if you will.  I always assume it's the worst condition, and any little pain I have MUST be indicative of something larger, but I also believe that I must be exaggerating, so I never get anything checked out. As an example, it had crossed my mind that I may have the HIV or the AIDS or the Colon Cancer, despite any sort of evidence to the contrary.  Please have a laugh at my expense - it will make me feel less pathetic.  Plus, I didn't see how I could have acid reflux without feeling that annoying reflux part - isn't that, like, the whole point of a reflux condition?

Then he explained the condition to me.  Yeah, turns out, I have that.

I'm now taking about 9 pills a day split between the morning and evening, with 7 of those pills relating to Trevor and his issues. It's a lot, but it sounds like it's temporary for now.  I have to see the doctor again in a few weeks to see if this is working.

Almost all of my morning pills. Ugh.

I'm so happy to have some explanation for Trevor. I've been able to reintroduce - slowly - foods I used to enjoy, including foods that have onions in them. Not a lot of onions, mind you, but little bits here and there. It's been almost refreshing to be able to eat again!

Something else that came out of that doctor visit is that I am very low on Calcium and Vitamin D. I now have to take a daily supplement to ensure I'm getting enough calcium, as not only am I getting enough, but all the pills I'm on hinder calcium absorption.  So, these two giant HORSEPILLS are part of my daily 9 pill haul. I hate them. But...butbutbutbutBUT:

I feel so much happier.  Not that there's a lot of conclusive evidence that the two are related, but Vitamin D can (can, not does or will) help with mood elevation.  And guess what? Whether it's a placebo effect or for realsies I feel so much better being on this supplement. Maybe one day I'll eat enough calcium and get out in the sun often enough for my body to make the vitamin myself, but for now the supplement seems to be working.  Yay!!

In other news, WNG pops up every now again, texting at odd times, not responding, then finally responding at odd times again.  He's a bit of an odd duck, that one.

And in other OTHER news, I am all signed up on eHarmony.  Sort of.  I haven't paid yet.  A friend of mine who used the site and found her fiancee said if you make a profile and then don't sign up for a week, they send you a great coupon.  So I'm waiting for my coupon.

Meanwhile, I've had at least 12 men want to initiate the "Guided Communication" with me, and two more emails are sitting in my inbox so it's probably more like 13 or 14 guys.  HOLY CRAP FOLLY IS OVERWHELMED BY THE MEN.  I don't get ONE guy to talk to me per MONTH in real life, much less 14 in LESS THAN 24 HOURS.  That coupon should probably hurry up, or all these emails are going to scare me away from the site!

But I'll make the guys sweat it out a bit. No need to look desperate 'round these parts. Right? RIGHT?

Right.

UPDATE: I decided to go ahead and pay for the eHarmony subscription.  I looked at the costs, and what I would save with the expected coupon, and I decided it's not worth it to wait a week. Oh, and the number is up to 16 17 guys wanting to talk to me now. Schiesse...

It's A Cup-Cup-Cup-Cake World

I'm not a food blogger, and I have no intention of becoming a food blogger, much as I love cooking and baking.  Other people have that niche covered, and they're much better about it than I am.  Also, they're probably much cleaner in the kitchen.

But I was so tickled and amused with the Banana Split-flavored cupcakes I made this morning for a work barbecue this afternoon that I had to share everything with you!

I wanted to come up with a great dessert for my office peeps, one they hadn't seen before.  I make brownies all the time so those were nixed.  They love my homemade marshmallows, but a) they've seen them before and b) they're pretty labor intensive.

Then I got my daily email from Hungry Girl and she had a bunch of nifty cupcake recipes.  Hungry Girl is a fun website for healthy food tips, tricks, and recipes that use items most Americans probably have in their pantry.  Now, I'll be honest here and let you know that sometimes she uses processed foods along with fresh foods for her recipes and I'm not big on processed foods. I also don't have many of them in my pantry (or I try not to, anyway) so I don't often make her recipes for that reason.  Since I had to go shopping for food for the barbecue anyway, I didn't mind picking on of her recipes for this occasion!  (All her recipes use Weight Watchers Points so if you follow that diet/lifestyle, it's definitely worth checking out.)

ANYHOO, this is the recipe I used: Banana SplitCakes (that's the printable recipe, so if you click it a fun little window might pop-up. It's also the third recipe down here)

The very first thing I did was make the frosting - Cool Whip and Strawberry Preserves.  Easy peasy.  My apartment gets h-o-t, as I've discovered when making homemade buttercream, so I didn't want my frosting to melt before I had a chance to decorate!! I set it aside, in a bowl in the fridge, and then made the batter:

Yummy, yummy batter

This made me nervous, because I didn't follow the recipe on the cake mix box, but instead followed the Hungry Girl recipe.  As such, I didn't add egg or oil, just some baking powder.  I wasn't sure what to expect (I'm notoriously awful at baking with a recipe - I can either wing it, or I need the recipe to be very, incredibly specific).  The hardest part of the entire process was right here, when I needed to mash - by hand - 4 bananas.  I thought I could just take a fork and mash-mash-mash, but apparently my bananas weren't ripe enough for that. So. It took a while.

Ready for the oven!

I'd also like to point out that this was the TASTIEST cake batter I've ever had.

The recipe said that the cupcakes would take approximately 20 minutes to bake.  I ended up baking them for closer to 30 minutes.  It was hard to tell if they were ready because of the banana in the cake batter. 

Hmm, so far they look normal!

Then I stuck all the cupcakes on a tray and put them in the fridge to cool down while I went to shower, get dressed, and pretty myself up for the barbecue.

The next step was frosting the cupcakes.  I have a nifty cupcake carrier, so I put all the cupcakes in their position before frosting.  It's a little harder to frost them that way, but I'm less likely to drop them or mess them up.  I put the frosting into a plastic baggie and cut the end off so I could pipe it onto the cakes - I figured this would be the least messy way.

Then I grabbed a pinchful of chocolate chips and sprinkled them on the cakes, and topped with a hand-cut maraschino cherry (do you know how EXPENSIVE pre-cut cherries are? Ridiculous.)

Mmmm, hand-cut cherries...

The end result was some pretty stinkin' beautiful cupcakes, and they tasted amazing too!

bon appétit!

STOP THE PRESSES!!

Good heavens, Follies, STOP THE PRESSES!!

WNG contacted me.  The guy I'd completely written off contacted me, eager to get together after a few busy weeks at work.

Say wha--?

I'd really written him off.  I mean, sure, my gut a while back told me to wait it out, and my two closest, bestest friends told me to wait it out a bit longer, but based on every previous experience ever, when a guy says he's too busy, it does NOT mean he's too busy.  It means he's not interested in ever seeing me again and can't say so.

But now, here's WNG.

We have two dates set up - today and Tuesday.  I was just perusing a singles event at the local zoo (happening in two weeks) and was pricing tickets when he contacted me.  I wonder if I can convince him to purchase a ticket...we can pretend to meet there...I mean, listen, people at this event get to take part in interactive exhibits with the animals.  I could meet a giraffe, or an elephant.  So, I kinda want to go.

Anyhoo, back to the point of this post - not that there is a point, but I'll try to come up with one - apparently, guys really can be busy.  I don't think it excuses him disappearing for a while, but in his case, it was true.

Which means I really don't understand guys now.  But at least I have one happy point back in my life. Now, to work on happying the other points...

Love is an Angel Disguised as Lust -- (Aymes Repplier)

Well hiddy ho there fellow Follies.  Hope you enjoyed that little story about the Lawyer.  Pretty good story, amirite? I've followed up with the girl who set us up, and she thanked me and was impressed with me being so honest with my feelings (I may have left out a detail or two).  She's also promised to let me know of other eligible bachelors she meets.  So.  We'll see.  I haven't told her I'm dating someone else since WNG and I haven't exactly had a talk yet about exclusivity.  Speaking of WNG...

Things are going well.  SUPER well.  I'm trying not to get too wrapped up in him, you know, avoid the whole "Halo Effect" thing, but he's just such a great guy, so it's becoming very difficult to keep my wits about me.

Young love, I s'pose.

We've been dating just under two months, and while we've discussed certain things like religion and families (religion, Follies, this is huge for me!), we've not discussed whether or not we're seeing other people, in a relationship, etc.  This is the part of dating I hate - that whole in-between part where you're not just getting to know someone but you aren't in a relationship just yet.  Okay, to be fair, I hate dating in general.  I like first dates....and being in a relationship.  That whole in between part? No, thank you.

He's been super busy with work lately, but he's still making an effort to see me, which tells me things are still well and good with us (I get super anxious with guys...so the little things HAVE to count).

I've also been giving more thought to the future of Folly of One and I've decided...what if I started a Tumblr? Same name (Folly of One, assuming it's available), I could keep the Twitter account, I could post smaller posts - maybe funnier posts (assuming you think I'm funny...humor me and say I am), or more pictures, or both, and it could be something I could keep private if I wanted or share if I wanted.  Most importantly, it could be something I could start without having the dating background to it.

That's ultimately the issue with this blog - moving forward and away from the heavy dating background.  That's not something I necessarily want to delete, as I feel I'd have to do with this blog to keep it around (and with the comics and the history, it's like deleting a child!), but something I feel like has served it's purpose.  I no longer need the blog to share my feelings and get over D, but I am interested in sharing my funny, innermost thoughts online (sort of).

So, what say the Follies? If I moved to a Tumblr would you still follow me? Is it a smart idea? I like the idea so far, but I don't want to rush into anything -- I have a habit of doing that online, and I want to really think smartly about this.

(Of course, if I made the move I'd update you all on the new site.  You've been great Follies and I don't want to lose you!!)

And because I hate posting a blog post without a picture or graphic of some kind, I give you:

The Picture Alone Makes This Post Worth Reading

ummm......YES PLEASE

I had a wonderful date Friday night with Wednesday-night-guy (now known as WNG, because it's shorter).  We went to dinner, split a bottle of wine, and spent so much time talking and laughing that our waiter had to come back more than four times to get our dessert order! After our three-hour dinner, we didn't want the night to end so we went to a movie theater to see "Thor".  I didn't think I'd enjoy the movie - I'd picked it because it sounded like a good movie for a date - but the movie was AMAZING.  A partially-undressed Chris Hemsworth doesn't hurt either ;)

He held my hand during the movie, he gave me a goodnight kiss, and I'm basically in love with this guy. (Also, totally in lust. What?? I'm honest!)

He's already called to set up a second date.  Meanwhile, the Lawyer (one of the set-ups by a friend) has called to set up a coffee/drinks date to get to know each other for Monday night.  So within the span of 8 days, I will have had three dates with three different guys - D, WNG, and the Lawyer.

I'm trying to go into Monday night's Get to Know You with an open mind -- I've only been out with WNG on one date, and I like this guy too much to have it turn into a Crash-and-Burn situation -- but I'm already trying to figure out how to nicely tell this guy Thanks But No.  Seems like a good idea to see him though, to keep myself grounded.  As I said, I don't want to have a Crash-and-Burn with WNG by getting too involved too soon.  This guy seems genuine and nice, and I don't want to lose him.  Plus, I did tell my friend I'd see and go out with the Lawyer.

It will be fun! I mean sure, I can barely handle one guy at a time and now I'm juggling two (possibly three...we'll get to that story in a bit) but it is a bit of an ego boost to have different guys clamoring for my attentions.  Plus, seeing more than one guy (if only for a little bit, as intended) can be a great way to see if the standout guy is really the standout.

Okay sure, I'm probably just trying to reassure myself that this is actually an okay thing to do.  But it makes sense!

Then, of course, I'm still dealing with D.  D and I met for dinner last Monday night.  In contrast to my three-hour dinner Friday night, the dinner on Monday night lasted a mere 30 minutes.  We had nothing to talk about.  D even looked bored!  He told me he wants to start hanging out more, and go to dinner again, and he's going to give me a call.  I'm so over him, and it's just sort of amusing at this point.  It's like he misses the relationship and what we had (makes sense) but he's confusing that with missing ME (which is not the same).  We'll see how things go with him.  I've tried to be open-minded to the whole being-friends-with-an-ex thing, but I just don't think it's for me.  To paraphrase Samantha from "Sex and the City",  he needs to channel his love for me toward his next relationship.

So it's been a crazy week! And it looks like the next week is going to be just as crazy.  But I'm super excited about life right now, which is great because I was so depressed not that long ago.  Things are going much better at work, which makes me feel much better about my future.  The only thing that saddens me right now is this crazy-busy social life leaves NO TIME to go to the gym!! Ahhh! I'm dying here without my gym time!

Guess I just need to hunker down and really make time for it.  But who wants to make time for the elliptical when I could be out and about with WNG? ;)

Death Becomes Folly

Zombie Folly was unproductive at work the next day

Holy frickity frack.  Follies.  FOLLIES.  I am tired.

Wednesday night was a huge work party.  When I say huge work party, I mean we filled up a bar with the press, various politicos and VIPs, and the GOVERNOR.  I'd intended to stay out until about 9 or so, then head home, get a full night of sleep, and go in to work the next day all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Guess what didn't happen.

In short, I stayed out at the bar until 12:30, caught a train, drove a drunk coworker home, and then crawled into bed at 2:00am.

2. am.

I then woke up at 6am to go to work on time.

WHA--?? *record scratch*

Yesterday, after I got home, I slept for 16 hours.  I feel so out of whack.  My sleep is off, my exercise is off, Trevor is off, everything is off.  All because I barely slept for 4 hours, and didn't even sleep well at that.

I wasn't drinking the whole night, which almost made it worse because I was sober and therefore painfully aware of the time all night, and since I didn't want to walk in the dark and the pouring rain alone to catch a train at about 9, I stuck around at the bar with my drunk coworkers.

This, my follies, may be the smartest thing I've ever done.

Early in the night, I'd noticed a very attractive guy near our table, staring and smiling at me.  As more people joined our party, I lost track of the cute guy.  At one point I made the mistake of telling my supervisor, who was a little tipsy, about him.  She then took it upon herself to find him, talk to him, and bring him to me.  So I watched her walk up to him, who happened to be talking to Coworker (remember her? The Bandleader coworker?) because they know each other outside of the office.  So my supervisor and Coworker conspire to bring this guy over to me.  Coworker introduced us, and next thing I know, I'm spending the next two hours talking to this guy.

He was awesome.  We even played Skee Ball at the bar together (I won, best out of three games).  We really hit it off, and of any of the guys I've met in the last week I felt the most connection with him.  At the end of the night, he got my number.

So, now I can add him to the list of guys, which includes the guy from Friday night, the set-up from Bookclubber, another set-up (with a lawyer) that I was just asked about on Tuesday, D - who suddenly wants to get together for dinner next week, and now this guy.

I'm going to need a spreadsheet to keep these guys straight!!

My weekend in pictures. Sort of (just Friday night).

Follies, I'm not in college anymore.  I can't stay out until 3am every night dancing, drinking, and cavorting with friends.  I couldn't even handle that shit in college, but there's no denying I had far more tolerance for partying and drinking pretty often back then.

Things have changed.

I am beyond exhausted after this weekend.  Last night I nearly passed out at a barbecue with friends, and this morning I couldn't pull myself out of bed.  I'm sore, I'm tired, I'm mildly bitchy . . . but I certainly wouldn't have had my weekend any other way.  This weekend was amazing, but Friday night was the real party.  Immediately after work I caught the train and ran home, quickly changed clothes and purses, and headed back downtown.  I now present to you:

Friday: In Pictures

First a group of us - KB, her hubs, her friend, and myself - went to Rock Bottom Brewery and drank some brewskis.  I also went off-menu with my sandwich, which apparently amuses my mother (something about When Harry Met Sally, but I've never seen it so I missed the joke).  Sometimes you just crave a decent BLT.

Then we headed to see Whitney Cummings perform stand-up at the local comedy club.  On our way, we noticed a heavy police presence in the area.  We knew they were upping the police in this area as the warmer weather (and corresponding higher violence) approached, but something seemed off about the police crowds.  There were a LOT.

Then we realized: There was a protest downtown! A group of people were protesting recent issues within the police department, and while the cops were certainly letting them protest and march, they had their riot gear on and ready.  KB and I were inching closer and taking pictures.  I even recorded part of it.  Her hubs kept watching the cops in riot gear growing in number as the protesting marchers moved onto the pedestrian mall, and insisted that we head on our way and out of the mess (what a party pooper!)

 After the protest, we made our way to the comedy club where a few more friends met up with us.  Whitney was AMAZING, as usual.  At the end they had a drawing for a gift certificate...and I won!

Yay me!

The show got off to a late start, so we ended up leaving the club way later than usual for the late-night comedy show.  The friends who met us there left, and so the four of us decided to head out on the town afterward.  KB and her friend decided I wasn't drunk enough, so we went down to what I call The Meat Market of lower downtown.

We ended up at a deceptively-themed bar.  I ignored the throngs of people I could see through the windows and outside the bar and thought it was a sports bar type of place, in contrast to the flashier clubs around it.  I may have been wrong.  And when I say I may have been wrong, I mean we walked into a bar filled with mahogany wood, blasting music, slutty and drunk women, and bartenders who wouldn't look at me because I looked like this:

Instead of this:

Go figure.  The bartender looked incredibly pissed that I even watned a drink, and you should have SEEN the glare I got for daring to ask for a glass of water.  Psh.  See if you get my return patronage, buddy.  We met plenty of guys, I drank gin & sodas, and I just want to tell all the men out there: Unless you are making your  money off your genius guitar playing, you are NOT a musician.  I met plenty of those Friday night.  Turn off!!

KB's friend started dancing with a totally drunk guy, and I started talking with drunk guy's buddy.  About diagramming sentences.  Yes, this stuff:

 Totally nerds, I know.

Anyhoo, at the end of the night...He got my number.  And I got his.

Well wouldn't you know.  I met a guy at a bar.  Crazy, right?

I then got home at 3am and promptly passed out, which is what I will also be doing tonight - after The Killing is over, of course!

Out to strike while the iron is hot!

I just wrote an incredibly heartfelt post about my mood swings, my mental state, and my having a quarter-life crisis.

Then read through it, teared up at the emotion behind my words, and realized there was no way I could post this.  Not yet, anyway.  It made me sound far more depressed and sad than I'm currently feeling.

I look cute, I'm in a chipper-for-my-current-state-of-mind mood, and feel like now is the time to get out among people while I have the energy!  Plus I'm still feeling all lovey-dovey after today's wonderful, uplifting, and GORGEOUS nuptials, so instead of catching up on others' and my own blogs, I'll instead be out grocery shopping whilst overdressed in the hopes of getting my flirt on, or at least keeping my chipper mood alive for as long as possible.  Might as well strike while the iron is hot, amiright?

Homemade Potato Chips Are More Difficult to Make Than I Expected

I am so behind on the blog reading and the blog commenting and the blog posting and other blog what-have-yous.  Thank you, follies, for your comments on how to deal with Mr. Andy Griffith and on other posts.  Apologies if I haven't responded to them (hard enough to do on Blogger, anyway...). I do have some topics like I'd like to discuss on the blog, but with how busy work is getting and the attention to detail those posts would require, I just can't bring myself to focus on them at all.  Not to mention, the weather is getting wonderful so I'm spending less time around my computer and more time outside.  Good for me...not so good for the blog.

Since the weather is perking up around here, so the shorts and minis have come out of the closet.  On Saturday I wore a wonderful, floral dress to a luncheon.  Felt a little early in the season for such a short dress, but it was 70+ degrees outside! I couldn't resist!

In other news, I haven't yet been in to Panera to deal with Mr. Andy Griffith.  I know I should just nip this in the bud while it's still relevant, but I can't justify buying coffee just to deal with him when I can't afford a cuppa right now.  I sort of went over budget his month and....well, I really need to be making coffee at home for a while.  So.  I still don't know how that's going to end up.  Maybe if I give him a few days and then deal with that will drive the message home more?

I've also been toying with the idea of making this more of a personal blog than just a dating blog.  For one, my dating life isn't moving forward at the moment, and I'm finally okay with that.  I think a dating detox where I just don't focus on dating is a good thing right now.  But that doesn't do much for a dating blog.  I've found that I really love blogging, and for the most part I'm good at keeping up with it, so I don't know that a personal blog is out of the question.  Still toying with that....

I hope the next post will be more interesting for you all.  I'm still alive here, and once work is less busy I hope to have more to post.  Only a few more weeks until the busy season at the office is over!!

And in side news, my new favorite television show is "The Killing", and I wish I could find the original Danish version to check it out.  I think it's genius television, and I'm now convinced that AMC is the best channel ever.  Also, my favorite episode of Family Guy is on tonight ("The Tan Aquatic with Steve Zissou") so it looks like I won't be catching up on some Mad Men tonight.

In yet other news, I'm making homemade potato chips with leftover potato slices from this weekend's family dinner, and I always forget how difficult they are to make.  Half of them burn way too quickly and the other half don't cook at all.  At the crispy ones are tasty!!

And the Blogger Award Goes to:

As a nice break from my normal blogging on about boys and crushes and dating and whathaveyou, I'd like to thank Ms. Josie Speaks Up... for awarding me with a the Versatile Blogger Award! It's a neat little award that goes blogger-to-blogger.  Part of this award is that I must include 7 things about myself and then nominate other bloggers for an award.

So here goes.

|1| Wine just *may* be the greatest beverage ever invented by humankind.  I'm rather obsessed with it, I think it's overpriced in restaurants but drink it anyway, and I try not to sound like a know-it-all when I discuss different varietals and vintages with people.  I don't know that I'm all that successful in that last bit.

|2| I really hate when I get an itch on the part of my scalp directly under a ponytail.  Most irritating thing, like, EVER.

|3| If I could take two foods with me on a desert island, I'd take grapes and potatoes.  It's ingenious, really: Grapes for fruit and sweets, and also WINE.  Potatoes for starches and carbs, and also VODKA.

|4| I just made a hamburger on my indoor panini-grill, and I'm rather impressed with myself.

|5| I hate flirting.  Loathe it.  I'm awful at it, and I can't tell the difference between when I'm being just subtle enough and when I'm being too subtle.  

|6| Despite my sometimes avid twittering, I really don't like Twitter.  But in this social media hey-day it seems silly not to have a Twitter to go with my blog.  So...I have a Twitter.

|7| Ever since watching "America's Next Top Model" for the first time, I practice my model walk wherever I go. FIERCE!

And now for the awards!

 Degree Times Three is awarded . . . The Versatile Award, for being such a versatile person in real life.

 Always Ashten is awarded . . . The Sticktoitiveness Award, for sticking to her set Quote of the Week and Woo Hoo Wednesday like a pro.  I can't even bother to post about my Blasts from the Past on a regular basis, so props to you, Ashten!

 The Fashion Issue is awarded . . . The Most Fashionable Award, for understanding trends and fashions at a different level than most people.

 And, lastly, Some Spare Thyme is awarded . . . The Tastiest Award.  Now, I'm exempting Some Spare Thyme from having to post and nominate again because I know she's done this before, but if you haven't checked out her awesome recipes (like red velvet cake balls!) then you must get over there STAT!

A Smile Can Change an Afternoon

Spring has sprung!

On my daily afternoon walk today, I encountered a higher number of fellow humans than usual.  It wasn't all that warm outside, but the intense sunlight probably called people out of their homes and flats and offices to get some Vitamin D in anticipation of Summer.  As is my belief, I tried to smile at each person who made eye contact with me.

And dear follies, I discovered the one reason you should smile at another person as you pass them on the sidewalk: You'll totally make their day.

Don't believe me?

I smiled at a rather good-looking young chap as we passed, and he could barely contain his smile.  You know that smile you get when someone you like calls you, or compliments you, or smiles at you? Or, maybe it's not someone you like but someone who is good-looking, or famous, or just all around nice? That impulsive, automatic tick that turns the corners of your mouth upward and causes you to blush and cast down your eyes because you can't help but react to such a gesture?

Yeah, he smiled that smile.  Which then made me smile that smile.

And I'm pretty sure our smiles, along with the Vitamin D, increased our dopamine levels and made for a great afternoon.

So, smile at a stranger.  You could make their afternoon brighter :)

Love Bites on the Menu

Follies, let's talk about schmoopey PDA.

Last night at dinner, I sat near a couple in a booth whose displays of affection were a little, erm, over the top.

The guy had thought ahead.  There was a gorgeous bouquet of roses and baby's breath already waiting on the table for them.  He was wearing a dress shirt, slacks, and a tie.  She was in a banded black dress so short she was walking with her hand in front of her crotch I KID YOU NOT.  

She noticed the flowers and turned to him, and they started making out.  Like, really going at it.  Then they sat.  He seemed really fidgety, and got up from his seat across from her and sat next to her, café-style.

He fed her little bites in between kisses.

She fed him little bites in between kisses.

It was nauseating and fascinating to watch.  The entire crew of wait staff was watching them as intently as I was.  They had a camera and took cutesy food pictures of each other.  He still seemed nervous.  If they didn't seem so comfortable with each other, I'd almost suspect them of being on a first date.  He kept twitching.  I waited – for a ring.  I thought for sure he was proposing. 

My waiter passed me a note when he brought me the dessert menu. "That just makes me want to, I don't know – throw up?"

Best note from a waiter ever. 

But they kept feeding each other little bites of spring rolls.  They kept tasting each others martinis.  And they kept making out – SERIOUSLY making out – in their booth.   I started to get a little disgusted.  I mean sure, it was like a train wreck – I couldn't look away – but the booths weren't very private.  And as the night got later, the restaurant filled up a little more and the privacy they may have had vanished.  I was bordering on voyeurism as I kept watching.

He never proposed.

He should have proposed.  That would have excused the schmoopey-ness of their date.  We could have all cheered them on.  But they didn't get engaged.  He didn't propose.  Instead, they just ate each other for dinner while we all watched.  Their PDA was, in my not so humble opinion, completely inexcusable (but also pretty damn entertaining).  

The takeaway message here – You should probably save that stuff for the bedroom ;)

Happy Hours can be productive. Sometimes.

I went to a happy hour tonight with some coworkers (though "happy hour" is a misnomer since the bar did not actually have any happy hour specials) and the subject of The Bandleader came up.

First, The Coworker brought some male friends with her, and my Supervisor came up behind me, tapped me on the shoulder, and said, "OH MY GOSH is The Bandleader here??" Naturally, I spun around and was mildly disappointed when The Bandleader was, in fact, not there.

Sadness.

But later, as the night wore on, I spoke to a direct coworker of The Coworker and we started talking about The Bandleader.  Specifically, what I thought of The Bandleader and what he had told The Coworker about me.

Remember this? Yeah, me too. Well, I discussed this with the direct coworker, and I was joking about how slowly things were moving, and how it seemed like The Coworker wasn't going to tell me how The Bandleader felt about our non-date.  I mentioned this, and the direct coworker said,

"Oh my gosh, that's so funny, because The Coworker was totally conflicted about telling you! Apparently The Bandleader was all "tell Folly I had a ball with her if she asks" and so she didn't know whether or not to tell you before you asked her about it!!"

Well, follies, well.  It appears that a) It's a damn good thing I brought up The Bandleader with The Coworker because otherwise I would not have known that The Bandleader "had a ball" with me and b) DUDE, the loyalty here lies with THE GIRL and not THE GUY when you are setting them up *sigh*

Love her, she's sweet, but I swear The Coworker does not know how to set anyone up.  I mean, it's comical.  I laugh about it.  My life is a sitcom, and I'm starting to just embrace that little quirk.

BUT, the direct coworker did reassure me that despite what The Coworker told me the first night of the set up, her intention is in fact getting me and The Bandleader together as a COUPLE, and not just "as friends or whatever might happen" (as she told me that first night).

So, anyhoo, tonight was great, I got some more details on The Bandleader and such (which helps with the whole things-are-crawling feeling I'm getting) , and I'm overall in a great mood.  For that I must also credit the lack of caffeine, which is also helping with my sleep issues.

But I do miss my extra strong, dark roast coffee in the mornings *tear*

I have seen The Couch and it was brown

Okay Follies, I’ll be honest.  I started this post after downing three glasses four glasses a bottle of wine and while watching crazy Melissa Leo stoned James Franco the Academy Awards, so I’ll attempt to make sense of what my drunk self was saying.

First, a little background on why I went over to D’s.

I know that earlier this month I saw D and had A Super Bowl of a Realization.  It was freeing to realize that I really was ready and free to move on, and I felt great if a bit conflicted about the whole thing.  But there’s no denying that my relationship with D was healthy, and real, and if he wanted to talk about us, our future, or the breakup, I didn’t want to turn that down.  Once he called, I knew there was a possibility that he wanted to get back together, and if the appropriate changes had taken place then I was open to discussing that with him.

So, I went over to his house to see The Couch.  And truth be told, it’s a very nice couch.  Really is. I mean, I have some nice couches, but I’m a little jealous of his couch.

I'm a couch!

BUT.

For the first hour of being over there that’s all he could talk about.  The Couch.  Then we watched some NCAA.  He’d watch the game, then talk to me.  Then watch the game, then talk to me.  It was a thrilling hour, let me tell you.  But something happened during that first hour.  Remember how I felt when I was last there? Yeah, that came back, and I realized I just didn’t want to get back together with him.  No matter what he had to say – changes or no – I just wasn’t interested anymore.  I knew that the conversation we’d have later would be that much more awkward, as I’d be basically walking away from him for a second time, and I started to get The Nerves.

Then he played the guitar for me.  He played the song “You’re Beautiful” by James Blunt and I swear to you I almost started CRYING.   

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
There must be an angel with a smile on her face,
When she thought up that I should be with you.
But it's time to face the truth,
I will never be with you.

The lyrics, The Nerves, it was just too much.   I couldn’t figure out if he was playing the songs just to play them, or if he was trying to be all sweet and lovey about getting back with me.  But like I said, that wasn’t going to happen. I mean, when your ex-boyfriend plays the guitar for you and all you can think about is, “The Bandleader plays guitar so much better…” then you probably shouldn’t get back together, amirite?

We’re about two hours into the visit now, and neither of us has yet to bring up the real reason I’m there.  Since I felt like he was being a little chicken about talking to me, I decided to have a little fun see how long it’d take him to man up.  I mean, I didn’t have anything to do until the Oscars telecast so why not?

Yes, I’m playing games.  I know it’s bitchy.  Can you blame me, though?

At some point, he and I were sitting next to each other, both of us having something to say.

Okay pause.  Yes, I did come out and say that to him.  It needed to be said, and clearly he wasn’t going to bring it up.  Let’s continue.

Poor guy looked so dejected, but honestly – what relationship was he in for the past YEAR that he thought that was a viable option?  And I’m sure it hurts to have a girl put you into the “Friend Category” like that, but I needed to make things clear.  If we end up being friends that’s fine, but there will be no benefits to this friendship.  That’s not how Folly rolls.

I felt almost euphoric after the meeting, because I felt like I had really and truly moved on.  Plus, I’m excited to see where things go with The Bandleader, and with any other prospective guys out there.  I feel great!

So, in the end, D-Day ended up being totally fine.  In celebration, I may have enjoyed too much wine last night.  And by may, I mean did.  And boy did I regret it this morning.  Although it did make the Oscars that much more enjoyable. And let's be honest, that Oscars telecast needed something.  For me, that something was, apparently, Red Red Wine.

Lyrics by James Blunt, song "You're Beautiful"