Day 108: Is this for real?

Holding hands while strolling through the city, live piano music with drinks before dinner, a delicious dinner in a cozy, romantic restaurant, a personal tour of Philadelphia, even entertainment from a most hilarious comedian. I can't believe this whole night really happened! Maybe I've been single too long or have gotten too cynical after years in news to believe moments like this can be real, but I spent the night walking a line between giddiness and disbelief. Even the next day, it was like we ordered the crisp, fall weather and sunshine that let us stroll comfortably through the city again. He even indulged my inner nerd and took me to the Liberty Bell (I mean, it's not every day you're practically on top of a piece of history!). A little lunch, a trip to the art museum (aka, the Rocky Steps), and it was the perfect end to a perfect weekend. Well, there were some blisters involved, wrong shoe choice on my part, but the pinches of pain were totally worth it.

Day 107: Big night out

I'm off to Philadelphia tonight! Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that someone would want to treat me to a whole night out on the town. We're talking dinner, drinks, tickets to a show. It's all been planned and I'm just expected to show up and enjoy! Is this romance? I feel like I'm always struggling to keep someone's interest, and just lucky to have them respond to a text or a phone call...and now, I have someone who wants to do something so sweet and nice for me. How do I ever thank him enough? I wish I could chip in on my share of it all, but dinner, hotel, tickets all add up to more than my budget can allot for right now. Do I offer to pick up the tab on one of them? Offer to pay him back? I don't know how all this works!! Help!

Day 106: A spoonful of sugar...

...not only helps the medicine go down, but makes for a very fun day at work! That's right, the Poppins made another appearance this year, and because I had no Halloween party/going out plans, I was forced to wear it to work! Now, this decision was made after getting reassurance that several other people at work would be sporting costumes...but guess what happened when I walked into the newsroom, complete in skirt, coat and hat? Yes, I was the only one. Whatever, I love the Poppins and I'm pretty sure the costume I put together last year, um, totally rocks. So anyone that made fun? You're just jealous.

Sidenote, but best Poppins story every: I wore the costume last year in Chicago, which meant wearing it on the train to my friend's house. Upon my arrival on the train platform, three guys asked me if I was looking for a chimney sweep, to which I replied sarcastically, "ha, ha, very funny." But, joke's on me, there actually was a man dressed as Bert! Of course, a meet-cute doesn't get any more perfect if it'd been written in a movie script, and I was immediately planning a Poppins-themed wedding, complete with umbrella favors and a choreographed dance to "supercalifragilistickexpealidocious!" But, alas, I believe he played for the other team, so my dreams were dashed in moments. Still, a fun story to share at dinner parties! :)

Day 105: What else am I good at?

Despite my passion for always wanting to know what's going on and desperately wanting to be the first to share that morsel with you, my mind has been wandering... What else could I do? I feel like this path I'm on in the news biz could get overwhelming or to put it bluntly, totally burn me out. But, after such a narrow outlook for the past 6 years, where to start?

My degree was more in writing than in journalism, but what do I do with it? Do I switch gears totally and pick a new path? Customer service? Sales? Healthcare? Or do I try to stay in the field, just a different area of it? I'd love to stay in television, I love the excitement of it, the day to day, minute to minute changes of it. But, I want to help produce a national program, or a syndicated show. The problem? Not knowing anyone who works in a network... There was once this AWESOME job for BRAVO, one I knew I could not only do, but excel in. But, 2 months after I'd applied, my online application remained unseen, my snail mailed resumes never got a response and my attempts at speaking to someone on the phone went nowhere... How do you get there? Ugh. Frustrating. And something to think about for the future...

Day 104: Do I watch too much TV?

Dancing With The Stars. Glee. Fringe. The Good Wife. Cougar Town. Modern Family. 30 Rock. Castle. And that's just what I like to watch on the basic channels! Don't get me started on Bravo, TLC or MTV... Am I replacing real life with fake life? Living alone, I tend to substitute conversation and interaction with television. Even when I'm not watching it, I usually have it on in the background, almost so it feels like there's someone in the house with me. Maybe it's a little lame, but try spending hours on end alone.
You'd like a little company too! My concern is that I'm becoming too dependent on TV shows. I feel like I should find an activity, or a hobby, or just put my time to better use. Other than not really having any excuse to not work out, what else do you really do in the middle of the day? My bedtime's 5p.m., what kinds of things can I fill my day with other than DVR catch up? Scrapbooking? Knitting? Birdhouse building? Give me some ideas before I turn into a total couch potato...

Day 103: Ants in my pants!

Do you ever feel like you're going to crawl out of your skin?? It's usually after I've been in the house all weekend or stuck in the car for hours... I start to feel claustrophobic, like the walls are closing in and I just need something to do! But, I don't know why I got so antsy today. I'm just back from a weekend in New York, I spent the day at work, then running errands and have only really been home for about 2 hours. But I have this itchy feeling like I want to go out and just start sprinting or something. I have been a little lax in the exercise department, not getting in as long or as many sessions as I'd like each week, maybe it's pent up energy? Or do I want to go deeper and think I'm restless in life? I feel like I'm always complaining about that, but I feel like I'm in this awful holding pattern. I'm doing the same thing every day, with let's be honest, quite a lack of passion. I know I don't want to stay in Lancaster, but where on earth do I want to go next? My goal of working and living in NYC by the time I turned 30 is not only running out of time, but may have changed a bit now... Maybe I just need to relax, get off the damn schedule and see where life takes me next. Just hurry up already.

Day 101: A change of perspective

There's no question, Sarah and I had a fabulous time in NYC. But, after climbing several flights of stairs all weekend, dealing with parking my car, trudging through the subway tunnels, and contemplating life in an apartment the size of a closet (but has not closets!) has given me a different perspective on my long time dream of actually living there...

Maybe my priorities have changed as I've gotten older or maybe I've gotten too comfortable in my recent accomodations, but living in the city on a budget might not actually be that fun! First of all, the idea of lugging bags of groceries up 5 flights of stairs does not appeal to me at all. And, that's after lugging them home from the store via walking and subway. Ugh. Not just groceries, but think about laundry, Christmas shopping, plain old moving in! It's exhausting just thinking about it. Gone would be the convenience of parking your car full of shopping bags right outside your door and making the short trip up the walkway... And, what about trying to get anywhere? Forget a car, it's too much of a hassle to park it, let alone drive through the crowded streets. Cabs aren't cheap, and can often move just as slowly as driving yourself. Subways ARE cheap, but there's usually a wait, plus it's hot and crowded...

These are just a few, maybe minor inconveniences...but, I feel like if I'm going to live in the city, I want to ENJOY the city! And, that means an apartment with an elevator and a doorman, access to a car service, getting my groceries delivered, plus the ample funds to be able to afford restaurants, shows and the lovely, lovely shopping. So maybe, the city's not for me? Maybe I'm content to live in a smaller one, or maybe the suburbs? This definitely was a weekend of fun and relaxation, but it also ended up a weekend of revelations...I've discovered new feelings about the dream I've been working towards for so long. What do you do when your priorities seem to have changed? How do I figure out what I want now?