T: Weird Single Behaviour.

A good friend of mine recently (well…a few months ago) wrote a great blog entry about the little things you notice while living with someone else. http://youandi365.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html Well, as I have recently also begun cohabitation I have noticed things…mostly about myself.

As any Sex and the City fan will tell you…the term is “weird single behaviour”…and Carrie refers to it when talking about eating jam and soda crackers over the sink while reading magazines. The little things you never thought were weird until you were faced with the idea of having someone you love seeing you do them.

Here are a few I have noticed about myself…and I hope maybe someone will share some of theirs

1. I love doing exercises during commercials while watching weight loss shows. I find them so motivating and also it gives me time to rest between sets. Yes, this makes sense. No, I’m not a huge fan of my bf watching me do it.

2. Conversely, on lazy days (when I can’t get motiavted to do #1) I looooove eating a big pile of candy/chocolate/whatever junk food I happen to be craving while watching weight loss shows designed to deter exactly that behaviour.

3. In the evening if I’m bored, and maybe not having a great self-esteem day, I love to shower and do my hair and makeup. It gives me time to play with new looks and gives me a little pick me up before bed. However, I am sure if I were to do this with the bf around he would think I was crazy and would definitely assume there was an event/date night he forgot about. Buuuut….should I have a low self-esteem day anytime soon he may just have to suck it up and deal with the fact that I’ll head to bed looking like Miss America. (I wish)

4. I love eating weird combos of food right after work. Like many other people my snack monster likes to save his attack for right about 4 o’clock – too early for dinner too late for lunch. The first time my boyfriend saw me eating old cheddar and hot pepper jelly on a baguette (simply because that was what I was craving) the look on his face was priceless…and he still doesn’t/probably never will understand it.

…there are just a few…you know, the ones fit to share with anyone willing to read this. (I’m sure there are others that are much worse…but then why risk losing the few readers I still have?)

T: “Stay” cation versus Vacation

Well thanks to a very sweet request (J.) to post more often here I am again, trying to dig through my brain for an interesting and/or witty tidbit to share with my reader(s) *fingers crossed*…but let’s be honest the weather is creeping into the thirties and I spend my days in a fluorescent lit cube shivering due to an ongoing assault by the a/c. My brain is struggling folks, unless it comes to thoughts pertaining to sunshine, drinks (either of the hops and barley kind or those that involve cold wine and fruit), and most of all of escaping everything to lay on a white sand beach.

Why is it that whenever the weather gets nice at home I am seized by an uncontrollable urge to travel? Well since I just started a new job, and don’t want to seem too eager to flee for a vacay before doing any real work, it looks like I’ll be staying put…but why should that mean I don’t have any fun?

I was asked a rhetorical question today that really made me realise how insane my travel bug was at this moment…”Why be in Cuba when it will be 38 this weekend exactly where you are?” so folks, what do you do to make home seem a little bit more like a mini vacay?

Here are a three of my favourite ideas:

1. Lots of hotels have inexpensive last-minute deals and since you’re already in town you’ll never be disappointed if you can’t get a room! Enjoy some breakfast in bed and leave without making the bed….can’t get much better than that.

2. Public Pools are a great way to cool off for just a few bucks. I know my local pool is only 5$ for the whole day! annnnd they have their own bar so no need to lug a cooler on the bus. (word to the wise take a day off to enjoy this one, going on the weekend can be a little overwhelming…even for the kid-friendly amongst us)

3. Three words…Patio. Happy Hour. Most places have great summer happy hours (that involve fantastic summery drinks, like mojitos or sangria) In Ottawa I recommend cornerstone for mojitos and Mambo Nuevo Latino for a beautiful pitcher of red sangria (and an amazing rooftop patio). The best part of happy hour drink deals? you get a prime patio seat before the dinner/social drink crowd descends upon the city.

Mambo's Beautiful Rooftop Patio in the Byward Market

Feel free to share some of your favourite ideas…whether they pertain to Ottawa or elsewhere…I may not be going to the tropics but Montreal or TO are never far from my mind

T: First Impressions.

You know when you were a kid and you would yell “Echo! Echo! Echo!” in a big area and you didn’t hear anything echo back? I feel like this post is kind of like that…a whole lot of useless noise with little chance of getting anything back. But I get it, I haven’t been a very good blogger lately.

Well your first impression (if you ever read this when we first started…which I’m sure you didn’t) seems to have been right on…I’m moderatley entertaining but inconsistent and unreliable in terms of how often I post. So, what do you think? Are first impressions always right-on?

I had to experience one of the most nerve-wracking first impressions opportunities this past weekend…the meeting of the significant other’s family. Now, for anyone who has done this you are aware of the idea that there is no stress-free point in a relationship at which to tackle this event. Do it too soon = you’re weird and rushing things and they’re thinking “why do I care who you are? you probably won’t be around next month anyway”. Do it late = They’re expecting some freak show (why else wouldn’t they have brought you sooner) and you’re so invested in the relationship you’re about to wet yourself thinking that if they don’t like you then what you’re invested in may no longer matter so much.

Now,  timing-wise I think this weekend was about right but it didn’t make it any less stressful. (Especially thanks to many references to “Judgement Day” by  my oh so lovely boyfriend.) In fact the whole experiences ended up being some of the most fun I have had in awhile. I also really lucked out and got to see Niagara Falls and the TO Zoo for the first time (I know I must have some pretty great karma going).

I was even left thinking that in past experiences where I thought a significant others family was pretty cool I may have been settling a bit. Then again do you ever really know how nice and comfortable something can be until you experience something that feels exactly that? 

The above question leads me to ponder a question a friend asked me the other day…how do you know when what you have is what will truly make you happy? How do you know there isn’t something out there with which you would be much happier? At which point are we settling versus being content? 

After talking this over with a few other friends I was left with some good advice to stop looking at the grass on the other side of the fence and to focus on growing my own green grass…well it was put much more eloquently than that but in summary, the idea was to work on what you have.

What do you think? Is focusing on your blessings and putting hard work into what you have at hand now seen by our generation as “settling”? If not then at which point do we differentiate?