Viva Madrid!

I had the most amazing weekend in Madrid! Fue muy fantastico! Seriously, Spain is the best country ever and I'm so glad to have gotten to go to both Madrid and Barcelona in the past month! I could so live there. I SHOULD so live there.

The Madrid trip was actually supposed to be about business - well at least for me. But luckily that business included my two favorite female team members. The thing is that they had been planning a weekend Madrid trip together with their boyfriends forever. But suddenly we realized that the only time we could do the "business" was the weekend before their fun couples weekend. So, I decided to crash it. Luckily, they kind of like me and let me join them. And we had A BLAST! The only terrible part about Madrid, was of course leaving Madrid and even worse, leaving Madrid a day earlier than my friends because I had to work on the bank holiday Monday. Boo!

But anyway, below you find the 11 (I can never stick to 10) best things about my trip to Madrid

1. The TAPAS!!! If you are ever in Madrid, you must go to a tapas restaurant called Lateral - it's amazing! In fact, it was so amazing that we went there twice although to two different locations. My favorite is las croquetas! YUM. The problem is that I was so hungry every time I saw them I didn't manage to take a picture of them ever as I was too busy stuffing them into my mouth
2. The crazy "hole-in-the-wall" autentico Gin and Tonic bar we found after work on Friday - Our Spanish hosts left A and I on our own for a few hours on Friday. Our idea was to participate in the amazing Madrid shopping scene... but we tired of that quickly as we found that we were incredibly thirsty (hey - it was Friday) so A decided to ask a girl on the street where we could go for a drink. She says "Do you like Gin and Tonics?" A amusingly replies "For example." The girl tells us to go up the street and look for a yellow sign and not to be put off by the look of the bar, but to go inside and have a gin and tonic. She also warned us that this place was not for tourists but surely had some of the best Gin and Tonics in all of Madrid. We were not disappointed! Not only were the gin and tonics amazing. The bar was full of characters in the form of interesting men! To our right was a group of a bit older gentlemen and to our left was a group of rather hot young men. It was however the group of the older gentlemen who began to chat us up first. And it was ok because they were totally amusing!  
3. Las canas* - small glasses of beer - preferably eaten with such small snacks like potato chips with oil (yum) or olives or of course TAPAS!  
4. The nightclub Joy where we partied the night away until 4 am on Saturday morning
5. La movida - the lifestyle in Madrid where you move from bar to bar all day drinking cervezas and sampling various cervazas - after a few hours of sleep we hit la calle around 13:00 on Saturday and found the first tapas bar where we drank beer in the sunshine (and also witnessed an amazingly massive drunken screaming fight glass throwing battle at the table next to us of hard core partiers who had been at it all night and all morning - Ah.... Viva Espana). Then we moved on to about 4 other places and continued to sample amazing tapas, drink beer, manzanilla and finally MOJITOS!
6. The MOJITOS deserve their own shout out because I do believe that I had some of the best Mojitos ever. The bar specialized in mojitos and the bar man mixed them up so fast it was impressive. The only problem was that being the tourist that I am... I took a picture of him in action (actually, I was trying more for a picture of the mojitos) and the guy went mental on me for some reason telling me that I had to ask his permission to take his picture and going off on how rude I was and couldn't I see he was working... It was a complete and total overeaction and was kind of a bummer since he continued to bitch about it to my friends and I (in Spanish by the way) for the next 5 mins. I mean seriously, if I could count the number of times people have taken pictures of me randomly without permission... It's not a big deal especially when you work in a bar that does cater to tourists in Spain. What in the world do you expect? So, just because he was such a jerk, I'm posting his picture below.
7. The drunken poses we were doing in the Mojito bar - by the time we left the Mojito bar we had been drinking for around 6 hours, as you can imagine we were quite borracho by that time so we got a bit silly in the hour before we left and someone challenged everyone else to do a drunken pose where you stand on one foot and put the bottom of the other foot on your other foot on your opposite knee so it forms a triangle, then bend down and put your elbow on that knee and then put your hand to your nose and stick out your fingers (I dare you to try this right now) - the challenge was to see how long you could make that pose for and who could make it the longest - I won of course (which really didn't mean I was more sober than anyone else, just a bit more coordinated) - we made fools amusing ourselves with this for a VERY long time (isn't it funny the things that can amuse you when you are drunk) - and then when we got bored of that we started to sing and make up songs although finally settling on Dahhhh... dah dah dah dah dahhhhhh (C'mon you all have done this before) which we proceeded to sing the rest of the night (in a very mature way of course)
8. The Penthouse - the amazing roof terrace club we partied at on Saturday night - it was over looking one of the plazas and the weather outside made for a fantastic roof terrace night
9. The great weather - it was like 30 degrees both days and sunny with beautiful blue skies. What more could you ask for?
10. The fact that I totally crashed a long planned couples trip and that everyone was completely ok with that. What a nice group of people I was with. The women I work with and really like but we hadn't hung out too much outside of work. And their boyfriends of course I had met on several occasions, but as I have found many times in the past, traveling can be a stressful thing and cause people you thought were perfectly nice and normal to show a whole scary side of them - so I'm always a bit weary to travel with new people. And although it is unfortunately often the case since I seem to be the last single person standing of all my friends, I don't particularly like hanging out with couples and being the one single person. But this group was amazing. Just good fun the whole time. Very relaxed. No drama. Perfect! And the fact that I was a single girl with two couples was not a big deal at all. They made me feel totally comfortable.
11. Our amazing hosts B and C - Que buena gente son ellos! They showed us an amazing time in their city. It could not have been a better weekend and it was all thanks to them!

 This week is a busy one for me. I have Chinese visitors here for work. Wednesday is the big SATC2 night and on Thursday night I'm off to Stockholm where I will work from the office there on Friday, have a birthday celebration with all the girls on Friday and then attend a wedding of a wonderful couple on Saturday. 

So, if you do not hear from me much over the next couple days, never fear! I should be out and about collecting really fun stories to blog about. And vacation is just a couple weeks away and then I plan to blog A LOT! 

*There is supposed to be a tilde here - you know the thing that little swirly thing that goes over the n, but since I do not know how to make them on my computer, I swear I am leaving them out on purpose (not because I don't know they are supposed to be there).

I leave you with some pictures of my amazing Madrid trip. Have a good week!

TAPAS!!!

The mean bartender who makes a "mean" Mojito!

This picture is only significant in that it's just 14:30 in the afternoon and the bar is crowded despite it being a beautiful day outside! Gotta love it!

The best named Tapas bar ever! We unfortunately did not grace it with our presence -but we probably should have!

And more TAPAS!!! Yummy!

The Anticipation of Sex and the City

It's finally ALMOST HERE! The movie we have all been waiting for (well, at least since the first one). Sex and the City 2. Seriously, Are you as excited as I am?

Women everywhere have been gearing up for this even for the past few weeks and months: dreaming of Manolos and Jimmy Choos, spending money on beautiful dresses, ordering cosmos, gossiping about men with their girlfriends, using the word FABULOUS more than is really necessary. And the commercial cash-in has taken London by storm. It seems like everywhere you look there is a poster with 4 women modeling glamorous clothing. Every single page of every single magazine seems to be referencing SATC. And today I got at least 4 emails from different London venues totally promoting pre-SATC cosmos and something called a Hunk Martini.

Well, I'm going to see Sex and the City 2 with a sexy girl group next Wednesday. And I can't wait! And we are so totally going to rock pretty dresses and drink cosmos before. As you should!

Just watching the trailer gives me chills! If you haven't seen it, check it out!



Ahhhh!!! Isn't it great? I so can't wait to see what unfolds between Carrie and Big. And AIDEN!! I can't believe he just shows up!! Ok for real... how hot is Aiden? Out of all the guys Carrie dated, he was my favorite. I never really quite understood the attraction to Mr. Big or the Russian for that matter.

Speaking of ex's popping up randomly. The Beautiful Swede Facebooked me (yes, I do believe it's a verb these days) today. It was a stupid message to say he still thinks of me and that he hopes I have a great birthday (which is by the way still well over a week away and I will be in Stockholm for it - although he doesn't know that). The NERVE! I mean, we all know he has a girlfriend! Why is he still stalking me? LEAVE. ME. ALONE.

I have to say though, I'm quite proud of myself. Unlike last time, I didn't totally loose my shit. This time, I only spent 5 minutes composing answers in my head like "Who are you? I have erased you from my memory." Then I deleted the message and went to the gym. Ok. Ok. I lied. I didn't delete the message (I tried to but for some reason my finger wouldn't press delete - Bad finger)! But I did leave the computer and go to the gym (eventually). And I did not even spend the whole time taking my aggression out on the stairmaster and composing alternative responses in my head. Ooops. Lied again. Sorry.

But I digress - as usual. Back to the topic of the day (or at least of this blog): Sex and the City. The funny thing is that the first time I watched all the episodes (yes, I am a faithful fan and I have done the box set rounds at least twice), I was in my early twenties (imagine). And I have to say as much as I found it amusing and funny, I couldn't really relate. It was probably due to the fact that I was living in China, had a boyfriend and was insanely poor so fashionable clothes and Jimmy Choos were not even a thought on the horizon... But mostly, I was just YOUNG! I guess I couldn't really relate to the girls because to be honest, I didn't ever see myself as BEING those girls. I'm pretty sure that I thought I would be happily married and having children in my thirties and therefore would never really experience that lifestyle. Plus, I was kind of a prude and I couldn't believe that single gals could have that much SEX! (Oh what little did I know).

Fast forward 6 years to the second time I watch the series (just this past autumn actually). And SUDDENLY I had the revelation that I assume many 30-something women have: MY LIFE IS SO LIKE SEX AND THE CITY. Ok without the Jimmy Choos. And without the fabulous wardrobe (although with definitely a more fabulous wardrobe than in my 20's). Ok and without Mr. Big. Ok and without quite the same amount of sex... But you know what I mean. The point is. I suddenly totally get it. These are women in their 30's who have either decided not to get married and have babies or it just hasn't happened for them yet. They are beautiful, they are confident, they are sexy, they have careers, they are enjoying life, they are dating lots of men, they have cash to spend on clothes and shoes, they look amazing. and they are Freaking FABULOUS!

I mean why did I start to write this blog? For the same reason. I wanted to represent the alternative lifestyle for single 30-something women out there. I wanted to show that there is something to do in your thirties other than have babies and husbands (not that I have a problem with it - it just hasn't happened to me yet). So, instead I'm focusing on being FABULOUS. And of course, there is no better inspiration than Sex and the City. Thank you Keri, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha for showing me it can be done. And it can be done with style. And it can be done in very high heels. And it can be lots of fun. And there can be lots of men. Oh - and there can be lots of SEX.

So, in anticipation of a great movie... I leave you with some words of wisdom from the one and only Carrie Bradshaw:

Later that day I got to thinking about relationships. There are those that open you up to something new and exotic, those that are old and familiar, those that bring up lots of questions, those that bring you somewhere unexpected, those that bring you far from where you started, and those that bring you back to life. But the most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you can find someone to love the you you love, well, that's just fabulous.

-Carrie Bradshaw

Summer in London

It's official! Summer has finally come to London. It's amazing that in just one weekend people went from being pale and white and covered from head to toe in winter clothing to being tan and showing as much skin as possible. I LOVE summer! It makes me a nicer and happier person.

I for one am VERY happy to break out my summer wardrobe. My summer wardrobe is just SO much better than my winter one. I'm a big fan of summer dresses and accidently bought 3 new ones this weekend. But hey - I have 5 weddings this summer... I am in serious need of some new dresses even if I financially should not be spending the money.

The bad thing about summer in London seems to be SPIDERS! I am not a fan of creepy crawly things. Cocroaches and spiders are #1 and #2 on my list of things that totally freak me out. So far, I have found and killed 2 spiders in the past week. And I can't stop thinking about all the unseen and unknown spiders that are probably lurking around. I seroiusly need a boyfriend for this. Every time I see a bug, I want to scream for the closest man around - usually in the form of a father or a boyfriend. But since my father lives on another continent and has spent at least 18 years killing bugs for me... I think it's time for a boyfriend to take over these duties.

But seriously, killing bugs is totally not a thing a girl should do. I feel the same about changing light bulbs, using screwdrivers, setting up computers or internet connections, figuring out why the television in my apartment doesn't work, carrying heavy things, hanging pictures, using a hammer, figuring out anything technical, making decisions about electronics, using a power drill, reaching things in high places or basically contributing to any handiness around the house... Alas, I am a single girl. So, I unfortunately have to suck it up and do those things from time to time. In the past week in addition to killing 2 spiders, I also used a screwdriver and finally after weeks of trying managed to get my phone to work again. I'm hoping that a man will rescue me soon from having to do these types of activities. Boyfriend oh boyfriend, where are you? Can't I at least find a stand in man to kill the spiders and fix things in my apartment for me in London this summer? Even a temporary boyfriend should do the trick...

In other news, I had an enjoyable weekend. On Friday night I went to Kensington Roof Gardens, which was nice but due to another stressful week at work, I was too tired to really enjoy it. But I did have an experience that I feel is worth mentionoing: I GOT CARDED going into the club! The funny thing as that at lunch that day I was speaking to some colleauges of a bit of a younger generation then me and they were asking me how old I was - I told them that a true lady doesn't reveal her age... Anyway, they told me I looked young (awww... how sweet of them). As all of us are at least well over the drinking age we started talking about if we ever get carded in London (while this is common in America if you look under 35, it's not so common in the rest of the world). When I told them that I had been carded twice at Waitrose (the supermarket here) however, they did look a bit doubtful! So, that night at the club I couldn't believe it when the bouncer asked me for my ID. My friend with me started freaking out since she didn't have hers with her. So, I asked him "Do you need everyone's ID?" And GUESS WHAT he said? "Nope. Just yours!" That means he actually felt that he needed to check if I was over 20 years old!!! Let me say that one more time:

He thought that I was possibly YOUNGER than 20 years old!

Ok... then he did look at my ID, laugh and tell me I was old. But who who cares! It made my night. Besides, I am old. At least a whole decade plus older than 20!

Other than that, I layed in the park on both Saturday and Sunday - and I have a sunburn to show for it. I read a great book Water For Elephants - if you haven't read it already, then I suggest you do! And I went running. All and all, a nice weekend. I should have done some productive things, and I should have done some work. But sometimes, I need a break too! This week I'm off to Madrid for work on Thursday and Friday and will stay over the weekend. Should be fun! I'm looking forward to it. Stay tuned for a Madrid adventure post.

And if anyone knows of a good man who is handy around the house, technically enabled and doesn't mind killing a spider or two while I cower in the corner... well, send him around!

Have a great week!

Thankful Thursday

So, I'm making an effort to blog more (meaning more frequent, shorter, less meaningful posts). And I apologize for no boy updates recently. I am taking a break from Match.com (mostly due to lack of time) and not exactly by choice but again, more due to lack of time, it seems that I'm taking a break from boys in general. So, I'm sorry not to be entertaining you with romantic episodes... But hopefully I will have some boy updates soon... Anyway, in the meantime...

It's Thursday and I think that I will try doing something different for once. I will try to be thankful....

Here are the things that I am thankful for on this Thankful Thursday:

• I'm thankful for the things that everyone should be thankful for like my family and my health
• I'm thankful for my many friends around the world who make an effort to stay in touch (and read my blog) - more specific friend shout outs below...
• I'm thankful for my amazing group of friends in Sweden who always make such a great effort to plan fun things to do when I visit. And who I'm looking forward to celebrating my birthday with very soon!
• I'm thankful for the S20 girls who I will hopefully see in Boston very soon.
• I'm thankful for my 3 close girlfriends from high school who I will get to see quite a bit of this summer due to the upcoming weddings! B is getting married and S and I will be there for sure!
• I'm thankful for the fact that my sexy single friend A not leaving London although she is leaving my company and I will miss her at work
• I'm thankful for my friends M and T who have been with me on sooo many adventures - most recently Londontown
• I'm thankful that it just MIGHT finally be summer in London! Woohoo!
• I'm thankful for the cold corona with a lime I'm drinking while I'm writing this
• I'm thankful for the nice run I had at sunset in the park tonight
• I'm thankful that the park was green and full of lovely flowers! And that it was finally warm enough to run in shorts and a T-shirt
• I'm thankful that the weather forecast for the weekends say warm and sunny - Finally!
• I'm thankful that I am going on VACATION in just 4 weeks!!
• And Finally... I'm VERY thankful THAT TOMORROW IS FRIDAY!

By the way, I just found out that I graduated from college exactly 10 years ago. Thanks C for the Facebook update! I feel old now.

Good night everyone! And be thankful it's Thursday because that means
 TOMORROW IS FRIDAY!

Adding pictures

Well... I have been checking out other people's blogs and I've been realizing that I need to pimp mine out a bit more... try to get people to read it and also maybe make it a bit more visual...

The thing is this blog was primarily started as a writing blog... and I'm not so up for posting lots of pictures of myself (if you are friends with me on Facebook, you really have had enough of that I'm sure). So... maybe I should be looking for other types of interesting pictures to include in my blog post.

So, today, I'm going to do something really crazy and post some pictures. Here goes!

So here is  a little bit of La la la London in the springtime: The famous London Bridge. This picture was taken from the boat trip I took a few weeks ago - you know the one where I got to drunkenly DRIVE the boat down the Thames river. Doesn't it make you want to sing that children's song:

London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down. London Bridge is falling down (does anyone remember the rest of the words?)

And here is a cute little road by my apartment (flat if you will). Don't you love the colored cute houses! This is why Chelsea is so great! Lots of nice little streets like this:

If anyone has some great blog advice for me... well, let me know.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Time Management

So, I'm rushing down the street late - as usual - to an appointment. And someone steps in front of me and says "Excuse me, could I have a couple minutes of your time?" (Apply appropriate British accent since this is London and all). And I yell at him "I'm late" as I push him aside thinking "are you for real? Like I would have any time!" (I'm also thinking kind of mean things like "if I did have time would I spend it speaking to you?" - this would of course have been reconsidered if he was super attractive, and "I'm way too important to spend time talking to you."

But out of the corner of my eye, I see him catch the woman behind me and she is all like "sure I have some time" and she whips off her ipod headphones and settles in on the sidewalk to answer his questions. And right down the street his buddy has managed to capture another woman's time. And neither of them looked stressed or put out at all!

And I start to think... maybe it's just me who doesn't have time. Amazingly enough, it does seem like OTHER PEOPLE HAVE TIME! (Other people also don't seem to feel that they are too important to talk to random people soliciting them on the street. Well noted. I will add this to my steps to becoming a better person blog post: "try not to feel self important for no reason; make time for others even though they may seem inferior to you." Ooops - well. I'll work on phrasing that one right if I ever do manage to write a blog post about becoming a better person. Don't hold your breath).

So, I'm starting to realize that it might just be me who kind of sucks at time management. The thing is that I am perpetually late for EVERYTHING (except airplane and trains and things that really run on a strict schedule - then I'm so freaked out about missing them because I know that I'm a perpetually late person, that I end up ridiculously early although still usually stressed that I'm somehow late). For example, even though I live exactly 1 minute walking distance to my office, I am still late every day. If there is a meeting, I am inevitably the last person in the room. If I'm meeting a friend, I leave them waiting for me (unless they know me really well and then I usually wait for them if I ever happen to be in the vicinity of the right time as they always expect me to be late). Besides being the most impatient person ever, my other huge weakness as a manager/colleauge is not being able to stick to a meeting schedule - EVER. I perpetually run my days 10 mins behind. I tell my teams that if they have a meeting with me... that for planning purposes, they can expect me to be 10 mins late and that I apologize in advance. I also find myself running - yes, running and looking very cool as I sprint down King's Road in my work clothes - to appointments when I make them during the work day. The back Doctor who I see on a regular basis right now always seems slightly amused that I manage to turn up out of breath and sweaty to each and every appointment - he also has suggested that running with a heavy handbag might not be the best thing for my back. Point taken Doc. But I swear every day I try to leave the office a little bit earlier and every time someone pulls something urgent on me right as I put on my coat. I feel like putting on my coat is like the universal sign for everyone to freak out and start asking me questions. Jeez. I'll be back in an hour. I'm SURE the world will not fall apart in that amount of time. And if it does start to, well that's what Blackberrys are for!

For those of you who are thinking that the fact that I'm late for everything shows a total lack of respect for everyone else who is waiting for me... Well, I promise this is not true - it just means I'm late (always) and actually feeling bad about (always). Although you might not believe me after the comments from the first paragraph (seriously, I am a very very nice person - just not on Mondays).

My problem is that I am a time hoarder. And a time filler. I have an action packed schedule every day. I hate wasting time - I love to overpopulate my agenda. And, i I EVER find myself running early for something, then I quickly come up with at least one (usually 2) projects that I think I can accomplish in the extra 5 mins I might be running ahead. So, I try to squeeze that in quickly and it inevitably takes longer than I planned (and if it doesn't, I inevitably squeeze something else in). These small project include but are not limited to: cleaning the bathroom, various laundry tasks, trying out new hairstyles in the mirror, looking at my pores, rearranging my closet by color, decalcifying the espresso machine (that small project that was going to take me 5 mins managed to take me one hour and made me totally late for EVERYTHING for the entire weekend), checking emails, writing "just one more email" (this is what makes me so late I work), writing this blog, updating my CV etc. You get the picture.

The good thing is, that I'm very productive when I have something else to do or somewhere else I should be - I mean you should see just how much I can get done before going to the gym.

As an old habit, I like to blame my lateness on my best friend from high school S. S is one of the few people in the world who is later than me for everything. I mean like WAY later. In high school we would drive to school together in the morning and we were always trying to convince some teacher (usually of the male variety) to give us a pass so we could pretend we were not really just plain late. We were always the last girls out of the locker room, the last girls off the bench and onto the softball field and the last people to get into the classroom. This summer as we will attend two weddings together, I'm already thinking about the fact that this time we need to get there in a timely fashion. I'm hoping that my other best friend from high school K will sort us out (although I know she hates that we rely on her to do that) because last time S and I went to a wedding together we managed to make it into our seats just seconds before the bride went down the aisle with lots of snickers (don't you love that word) and giggles from those around us who knew us from high school as the girls who are late to everything. But I have to admit that while for a short time in high school and for the couple times a year we see each other now, she does have a negative influence on my timeliness, I can't really find a way to blame her for the fact that I'm ALWAYS late on my own when living on a separate continent from her. So, S - I guess you are finally off the hook. But let's try to get to the weddings on time this year (and hopefully the directions are right this time - see there is always a good excuse for lateness).

So, I guess it's time to take ownership of my own lateness. I'm going to set a new goal to try to be on time (at least half of the time). I'm going to get up 10 minutes earlier. I'm going to watch my clock better at work and see if I can stay on schedule. I'm going to leave on time for my appointments and walk rather than run. I'm not going to send "just one more email" or start "just one small project." And next time someone on the street asks me if they can "have a couple minutes of my time," well I'm probably still not going to talk to them because I probably will still have better things to do (well unless I've started my "be a better person" project by then). But maybe I will at least be able to consider stopping to talk to them because this time, I won't be late!

But oh look. It's now 10 pm. I was planning to go to the gym. But I've procrastinated so long that the gym is now closed. I'm already off to a great start.

Wedding Season Statistics

So, it's wedding season... This summer I have been invited to attend FIVE weddings!

I like numbers... So, let's look at some wedding statistics: 

• I have been invited to 5 weddings this summer. As I have over 500 Facebook friends that means exactly 1% of my friends are getting married. Ok scratch that. Exactly 1% of my friends have invited me to their weddings this summer. I have a feeling that other people might be getting married and decided not to invite me... They are missing out. I am a fun wedding guest. For Sure!
• There are 3 weddings in the US that take place over the span of 5 weekends.
• There are 2 weddings in Stockholm.
• The first wedding is in 3 weeks. It's in Stockholm.
• At the Stockholm wedding there will be exactly 1 ex-boyfriend (The teacher - who I have not yet blogged about). His Facebook status tells me he is recently single. I hope he stays single. I hope to blog about him after the wedding.
• The second wedding is in 4 weeks. It's in the US. It is actually in W. Mass. I have known the groom since he was 3.
• The third wedding is in 6 weeks. It's in San Fransisco. I have known the groom since he was born. You could almost say that he is like my second brother.
• The fourth wedding is in 8 weeks. It's on Nantucket. The bride is the second of my 3 closest high school girlfriends to get married. I have known her since she was 3.
• The hotel room in Nantucket costs $1404.07 for 3 days for 4 people. It's expensive.
• The 5th and final wedding is in October. It's in Stockholm. The bride is the first of my 8 close Swedish girlfriends to get married. Obviously women get married at an older age in Europe. I'm all for that trend.
• There is a 6th good friend getting married this summer. She is one of my 7 college roommates. Since we went to her first wedding, we are not invited to the second one. Nevertheless, I am very happy for her and think that the man she is marrying is awesome!
• So far, I have 0 ideas about what to wear to any of the 5 weddings.
• Today the weather is 9 degrees (Celsius - remember that I have now forgotten Fahrenheit but I think that is somewhere in the 40's - but anyway it's COLD! Really Cold. Way more cold than it should ever be in Mid-May).
• I might be wrong but I think the weather in London at this time of year should be somewhere around 18 degrees Celsius.
• Because I was stressed out about the not having anything to wear dilemma, I just got up and checked my closet. I have exactly 4 summer dresses that could possibly recycled (I have worn 3 of them once before and one of them 0 times - it has been unloved because it is green and that is not really my color). But it's hard to imagine wearing a summer dress when iMother Nature is insisting on winter weather even though the calender clearly says SPRING!
• There are 5 weddings. I have 0 dates to any of the weddings.
• In my lifetime I have probably attended over 20 weddings. I have had 0 dates for any weddings ever. I sometimes wonder if this "statistic" does indeed make me a very sad person. In fact, I have stopped even being invited to weddings with dates. There is never any "plus 1" for me. It is just now assumed that I am only 1. Dateless. Alone. Single. 1.

Reality TV

All work and no play is making me a very boring person. Or at least a very boring blogger. My apologies to you all.

Actually, work is just one excuse. My other excuse is that rather than spending my precious little free time blogging, I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I have been spending it watching terrible television in the form of bad American reality TV shows. I try to justify this with the fact that living abroad for 8 years has put me in danger of loosing my "American-ness. " And reality TV for some reason makes me feel a bit closer to home. Therefore I spend copious amounts of time watching The Hills, The City, The Real Housewives and of course Jersey Shore - (which by the way is the most awesome bad reality show ever - do you hear they are doing a Miami version - how excited are you)???? Fist Pump!

The other justification is that it's "brain fluff." Now and then you just need a good dose of brainlessness especially when your job seems to demand so much brain power that you sometimes think that your brain might be in danger of exploding because it's so overworked... But seriously, the more stressed I am, the worse my television choices get.

The Real Housewives of New York City Season 3 is my latest fascination. (Yes, I have watched Seasons 1 and 2 and sadly I have also watched the Real Housewives of Atlanta, Orange County and New Jersey - what can I say... I find it relaxing and addicting - a perfect antidote to my stressful job). I have to say that the OC Housewives are my favorites since they are the originals and they are actually "almost" civil to each other - in fact, sometimes it's almost boring because there is such a lack of conflict. But the New York City Housewives on the other hand, well they are truly catty vicious women who just pick at each other incessantly. They have certainly upped the drama in Season 3 although it's getting a bit annoying that all they do is knock each other down. But I secretly like them because they are older women who generally look good, wear great clothes and have fabulous lifestyles and most of them have good careers. I have to say that although I think she is super annoying, her voice is grating and she kind of looks like a frog (something in the shape of her face), I secretly like Bethanney Frankel. Ok - maybe I just like her because despite her documented bad luck in love, she still manages to get married and have a baby (just this week I think) in her late 30's. This all proves that there is hope for me yet!

But maybe my fascination with the Real Housewives is because if I were in a reality show, that would probably be the most likely one for me... I mean I'm not young enough, cute enough, or had enough body altering "procedures" to be on the Hills. I'm not beautiful or fashionista enough to be on The City. And while I might secretly wish that I was a guidette, I don't think I have the hair volume or the fist pump to handle Jersey Shore.

I could however be that token career focused single gal (A'la Bethanney Frankel) on the Real Housewives... However, I'm not sure I could handle the Real Housewives Drama. Because I have to deal with so much drama in my professional life, I tend to try to minimize it as much as possible in my personal life... Seriously, there is at least one woman in my office who BELONGS on the Real Housewives. If they do a London version, I think I will recommend her. Actually, I will recommend myself. She is just annoying - certainly nowhere near as interesting as me.

Perhaps there should be a Reality Show about a single 30 something International Woman of Mystery. Working hard, playing hard and looking for love in all the wrong places... I think I know a good star for the show.

Me Encanta Barcelona!

I know that you are all waiting impatiently for an update from my awesome weekend in Barcelona...

Well all I can say is that it was an amazing weekend with great people. But for the most part, what happens in Barcelona should really stay in Barcelona. However, fear not although I might scrimp on the details... I will provide you with top ten list.

Top Ten Fabulous Things About My Barcelona weekend

1. Getting to hang out con mi hermano!
2. Getting to meet all my brother's fun and interesting friends - they truly made it a great weekend!
3. Eating really amazing Catellan food cooked by the sweetest gay couple ever! Gracias M and D - you are the best!
4. Drinking Estrella beer in the park while riding on a rocking horse and sitting on ducks
5. Going to a Warehouse party and dancing all night long (and I do mean all night and well into the morning)
6. Meeting a cute Italian/French guy at the said Warehouse party - he invited me home on his motorbike (how Italian right?) but I politely declined.
7. The fact that for a few hours cigarettes and gin were the best thing in the world (I will not explain this one, if you were there, you know what I'm talking about)
8. Not wearing high heels once all weekend - my brother and friends rock a slightly different dress code than my London/Stockholm friends - sneakers and jeans were totally ok
9. Sitting around for hours doing nothing - I didn't even think I remembered how to do nothing - lately, it's all been work work work and go go go; I've forgotten how to relax, I've forgotten how to slow down, I've forgotten how to turn off from work... this weekend I learned the true art of doing nothing from my brother and his friends
10. Good music and the funny You Tube videos I was introduced to by my brother's flatmate S (this was part of the doing nothing thing that I experienced in general my free life doesn't have time for Youtube... if I have free time, I write this blog for my faithful readers) But check out llamas with hats and David after the dentist for a good laugh! (Caaarl... what did you do?) And check out this video full of fun English sounding gibberish!
11. Hablando espanol! (yo se - ya tengo diez puntos pero uno mas esta bien) - Era muy bello a hablar espanol de nuevo. No he hablado expanol hace much tiempo and me encanta el idioma

 Top Ten Not So Fabulous Things about My Barcelona Weekend

1. Lack of sleep from way too much partying
2. Not having enough warm clothes with me... I thought it was going to be warm out - I brought summer clothes. I needed cold weather and water proof clothes
3. The hangovers
4. Stumbling out of the warehouse party at 9 am in the morning to find a painfully bright day and then enduring an extremely long and painful journey home on the subway
5. The torrential downpour that overtook the city on Sunday night - it wouldn't let up so we decided that we would run home - we were soaked as if we had just swam in the ocean (which by the way, I managed not to see the entire weekend)!
6. The fact that I didn't once get to win at the game cheat also known as bull shit or mentira (en espanol) - this is a totally awesome game by the way and you should totally play it (preferably while drinking lots of Estrella beer) but I unfortunately didn't manage to win and that made me a little sad and that's why this is going on my top ten not so fabulous list rather than to my top ten fabulous list (ok, ok, I would have put it on my top ten list but I already had eleven good things and not enough bad things)
7. Leaving Barcelona

Note: There are only 7 items on this list because these were the ONLY bad things I could think of about Barcelona.

Hasta Luego Barcelona. Ya te estrano y necesito regresar muy pronto!  

 (I do not know how to make the accents and tildes on my computer. Lo siento)!