Extraordinary Ordinary Life

Seeing a movie is one of my favorite things to do. I would say it is up there with reading a good book and discovering a new restaurant. Seeing a movie with my mom? Well, that may just push it into the number one spot.

This past weekend my mom and I had a rare moment of quality time. I say "rare" because over the past month, our time together has been at my sister's house spent with a cooing baby. As much as my new nephew, Noah, has won over my heart, it was really nice to have some time just mom and daughter.

On this day, we took in an afternoon movie downtown and watched About Time.

A little over 2 hours long, this movie explores the idea of choosing joy and appreciating the moments while you are in them. The movie is slow at times, but once it is finished you can't remember a single scene they should cut. Instead, it felt real, the ideas explored attainable, and an extraordinary ordinary life could easily be yours.

Yesterday, a girl just two years older than me lost her husband in an accident that happened at work. Although I have known her at a distance for nearly 15 years, we were not close. In the last few years my parents spent more time with her and her husband and grew to love them. As my parents called to tell me the news and share the heartache, I couldn't help to think back to this movie. How many times do we talk about treating each moment as our last but never take action upon it?

A life is measured by births, weddings, and funerals. But it is the moments in between that count and are made more meaningful by the people we choose to share them with.

This is my extraordinary ordinary life and I need to be about enjoying it and sharing it.

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Office Romance

It is estimated that the average american spends 30% of their life at the office. With nearly as much time in the cubicle as you do sleeping, what do you think about office romances?

The Pros: It is convenient and accessible and comes with a common bond... If Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie can fall in love over Mr. & Mrs. Smith then it is just as likely that I will fall for John over TPS reports.

The Cons: With office love may also come office heartache. There is no way to avoid the ex and you very well may run into him every day at the water cooler.

But, if you have evaluated the pros and cons of an office romance, and yet you feel there is far too much chemistry exchanged in those lingering glances across the cubicle walls.... what now?

My parents were in town for a week to meet my new nephew and I was able to score some time with them over dinner. Since they had "been there, done that" at some point in their life, and had obviously captured each other's hearts, I used this precious opportunity to solicit their wisdom on the art of office romance.

Me:  What do you think of office romances and how does one move from quick glances to something more? (Hypothetically speaking, of course)

Mom: Details please... (with a romantic sparkle in her eye)

Me: You know, say there is this man at work that I have a big crush on. I always catch him looking at me so I think he might have one too. But, I never have the chance to talk to him. So, what should I do?

Dad: Just walk up to him and ask him to coffee.

Me: That's it? I don't think that would work!

Dad: Yes it will.

Me: If a girl asked you to coffee what would you say?

Dad: That I'm married.

I want to know what you think... Would you dare an office romance? Or take a chance with a coffee request? I'd love to hear your office tales and advice.

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8 Minutes

8 Minutes.

The exact amount of time it took me to

powder my nose,
reapply lipstick,
fluff my hair,
order a rooibos tea,
pick a seat,
adjust my outfit,
change seating positions... twice,
clean my glasses,
pull out a book,
pretend to read,
take a sip of tea,
re-adjust my seat again,
and tuck my hair behind my ear.

In Pursuit of Perfect

As women we have a tendency to sell ourselves short.

We are...
too thin.
too fat.
too loud.
too quiet.
not smart enough.
not pretty enough.

If only we had...
better hair.
longer legs.
tanner skin.

We are in pursuit of perfect.

Online dating.

Confession time:

To Fall in Love

(image courtesy of Lovescene)

I am a romantic. A hopeless romantic.

I have daydreams of a "white knight" and grand gestures that rival an ABC Family movie or Nicolas Spark books. But growing up, with all of the romance I hoped for, I never dreamed of marriage. I didn't plan a wedding like many little girls and as I grew older I often said, "I am not sure it is in my future."

I did hope to fall in love though.

Love, Dates, & Hipster Style

I went on a blind date the other day.

I've only recently started dating again and even with this I was dreading going. My family and friends had to verbally drag me through the door as I clawed to escape. Dramatic? Yes, but accurate.

Blind date

 

People love to set me up with their single gentlemen friends. I've narrowed it down to these reasons why:

1. I am a huge dork.
2. I am kind.
3. I love coming home to tell all of the stories from the night and laugh at myself.

I'm pretty sure it is mostly because of the third reason.

I was set up this week. Complete blind date status. Never met him. Never talked with him. I saw only one Facebook picture.

I saved half of it for you.

I am terrible about talking about myself. It may be hard to believe since I have multiple blogs, twitters, and social streams where all I do all day long is talk. But in general, most of my conversations revolve around the other person.

I love people. I love getting to know someone and really caring about who they are.

I hate telling people about me. I am far too private. If I am talking about myself I try to make it into a joke.

Which is why, when someone sees me or sees things that I don't blatantly parade, I am delighted.
I dated someone earlier this year. It was never serious, just off and on when both of our busy schedules would allow. But I will never forget our first date.

I am ice chewer. It is a habit that I barely notice I do but I eat ice like it is your favorite chip. Most often I will get large glasses of ice and chew all day. I have no plans to break this bad habit despite how annoying it may be to those around me. I just love it too much.

Back to the first date...

We were meeting at a cozy restaurant in Portland. Candlelight, fireplace, charming service... a perfect first date spot. I remember he was wearing a sportscoat and waiting at the bar when I arrived. I was so nervous. We started with drinks and conversation quickly got in the way of ordering dinner. As the evening progressed and my date ordered another drink, I was content with what I was drinking:

"I'll have another and can I get a glass of ice for her."

Thinking about that still makes me smile. I don't recall having a conversation about chewing ice. It may be silly to be delighted by that gesture but it had shown me more than an evening of conversation could ever say.

Fast forward half of a year and I am moving from Portland to Seattle. We had not kept in touch. In fact, we had a pretty terrible falling out months prior. But here and there, little moments of reconnection... Texts on birthdays. Running into each other in a different state. Casual twitter conversations. Then when he heard I was moving, he rearranged his schedule so we could have dinner together before I moved.

This time we met at his place then made a few different stops for drinks and dinner. The places weren't as cozy as before but I was still nervous. We never talked about our falling out. We didn't need to. We caught up on all that had gone on in the past 6 months... family, work, relationships and everything in between. During dinner, the ice had melted from his scotch and he asked our server for some more. Once the ice arrived, he poured half into his drink and set the glass in the middle of the table. We continued talking and planning what the rest of our evening may hold. It was my last night in Portland, I was hoping to make it memorable. Then he said,

"I am surprised you haven't eaten that ice. I saved half of it for you."