Curtain hanging.

I am a domestic goddess. Go me.

Before:

After:

Jennifer, Jennifer Butkowsky

When it comes to my last name, I've always chosen to have a sense of humor about it as people misspell, mispronounce, and just generally mangle it on a day to day basis. I understand it is somewhat intimidating and, unlike many Polish last names, is spelled with a "Y" at the end instead of an "I" which can be confusing. Generally I just laugh it off, tell people I've been called worse, or tell them that, unlike my brother who is stuck with it for the rest of his life, one day, I'll get married and can get rid of it. 

Trust our Federal Government to get it wrong to a point that I can't really overlook it as shown on the Change of Address Confirmation I received from the Postal Service today:

As if "Duck," "Doobie", and the plethora of other names I was called growing up wasn't insulting enough...imagine "Butkowsky" actually being my real last name....I might have put myself up for adoption.....

The real question is though....where the hell is all my mail going??

Venus Williams Channels Moulin Rouge

I'm totally not a tennis fan. I actually find it about as boring as watching paint dry...but I'm totally digging Venus Williams' French Open first round outfit. Slight deviation from boring old tennis whites I'd say. 

Images via The Associated Press

Eye Candy - Turquoise Doors

I just finished doing a blog post for Fusion Tampa Bay with a section dedicated to turquoise or teal accessories, so I have the color on the brain at the moment. Doesn't hurt that I'm totally in love with this color right now. How it manifested itself into my searching Flickr for turquoise door images I have absolutly no idea. Who knows how my mind works sometimes?

1. Turquoise Shutters, 2. Turquoise, 3. Door, Turquoise, 4. Turquoise Gate, 5. Turquoise Door, 6. turquoise door, 7. death's door, 8. Santa Fe Blue Door, 9. Turquoise, 10. Turquoise, 11. indian summer, 12. C6gzv, 13. Triangles., 14. Use Other Door, 15. walk out of any doorway, 16. March 14, 2006: The Day We Bought the Boler, 17. Garage door, 18. Door Number Three ~ Postcard

Just looking at these has made me fatter

But it was worth it! How super cute are these Cupcakes in a Jar by Cakies? I'm in the process of planning a bridal shower and wouldn't they make the best treats? They might even be able to do double duty as shower favors! Two for the price of one! Yummy!!

Quote of the Day - 05.19.10

I've always had a thing for quotes - I think most people do actually. Some like the funny ones, some prefer the religious ones, other people I know can quote The Hangover in its entirety. Well I like them all...except for maybe the really sappy ones, or the super religious ones....and probably not any from The Hangover,  which, while funny, really wasn't my type of movie.

I'm really liking this quote that I read in Glamour Magazine yesterday while I was on the eliptical at the gym. They credit it to a Winnie the Pooh book , so I'll do the same (I'm a stickler for citing sources), but I don't honestly know where I came from:

Always remind her that she's braver than she believes, stronger than she seems and smarter than she thinks.

A moment of appreciation

This morning as I took a nice warm shower with clean, drinkable water, got ready to go to a job that I love more than anything in this world, working with another woman I respect and adore, I came to the realization that my life is pretty darn good. Don't get me wrong, I fully realize and appreciate that I live a very blessed and fortunate life, but I think sometimes, in the hectic grind of the day to day, I don't stop and appreciate that enough. So lets just stop for a second for a moment of appreciation - because with over 800 billion people in the world without access to clean water...I'm double damn thankful for that hot shower every morning.

Meeting People and Making Friends - Does this come with an instruction manual??

I've lived in Tampa now for about four years, and the one, consistent complaint that I hear from a lot of people I talk to is that, unless you're pretty heavily into the bar scene, it's really hard to meet people. I can totally attest to that. I've finally gotten to the point, within the past year or so, where I can confidently say that I've met some wonderful friends. But it took about three years of searching and trying different things to get to this point. Meanwhile, I'm still searching. I've always firmly believed in quality of friends over the quantity of friends, and much with like men, where they say you gotta kiss a lot of frogs to find your prince...well I think you have to sit through a lot of lame lunches, bowling, women's groups, gym classes, etc, etc, etc to meet a quality friend. 

At the same time though, something I'm sure all our mommies told us growing up, is that you gotta be a friend to have a friend. You're completely delusional if you think that you're going to make friends by simply sitting on your couch, waiting for the phone to ring. And I'll admit, I did a lot of that for the first few years I lived here. Kept wondering why I wasn't meeting people, but I wasn't willing to put myself out there, accept invitations, extend invitations, and be an active participant in my social life. And while I will never be the social butterfly, I can easily say that I am so much happier having the type of social life I have now, one filled with breakfasts or dinners with friends. Group emails. Occasional movies or whatever else strikes our fancy than I was sitting by myself, on my couch, with my cats. BOOOOORING.

So where is this going you ask? Yeah...I often wonder that about my blog posts and conversations as well. Anyway...while I am totally happy with the way my life is turning out, I'm always looking for ways to meet new people and to hopefully extend that branch of friendship out to someone new to town who feels as lost as I felt. I'm no closer to figuring out how one goes about meeting people than I was three years ago, but I refuse to sit by and be a spectator in my life any longer. Therefore I started a few meet-up groups in the hopes of meeting people with common interests that could possibly turn into a few more quality friends. 

So if you're in the South Tampa area and you're looking for ways to meet people, check out my first two meet up groups - they're nothing spectacular, but they're a start!

http://www.meetup.com/SouthTampaSmallDogsMeetupGroup

http://www.meetup.com/SouthTampaWomensBookClub

Weddings and Torture Devices

Countdown to the wedding has officially begun...no...not my wedding...I've yet to find a man either brave enough or stupid enough to take me on...my younger brother is getting the jump on me (as if we ever doubted he would be the first to walk down the aisle) by getting married on October 10th. So it's official...6 months away before I have to stuff myself into a yellow dress with a sash around my waist. Let me repeat that last statement...A SHASH AROUND MY WAIST. WHAT WAIST I ask you??!! Trust me....I have no problem with the dress in theory...honestly I don't even know what they look like and regardless, I'm sure they'll be fantastic...but for a short waisted, no waisted person...drawing attention to exactly what I'm lacking is like my worst nightmare.

But thankfully I have six months to rectify or at least improve upon that sash going area...six months to lose about 10 pounds....I'm thinking that can totally be done...well maybe...ok...I really like food, ice cream in particular, but I'm going to give it a valliant effort. Starting with that evil escalator machine at the gym. Ya'll know what one I'm talking about? 

For some people, torture is a spin bike...well I'm a pro on one of those, so why not go to the exact opposite side of the gym to the big, hulking, box of pain that they unsuccessfully try to hide in the back corner...yeah...sounds like fun. Especially after a full breakfast of yummy french toast....Speaking of toast...I was toast after 40 minutes on that thing...gross, dripping, probably smelly toast. But I burned 400 calories. Hopefully that was enough to cover the breakfast that I shouldn't have eaten. 

Current Forecast - Annoyed with a chance of getthehellawayfrommeori'llpunchyouintheface

I think Blogger needs one of those mood meter things that used to be on AIM or whatever it was I used to communicate a life time ago...you know what...it might actually be Myspace....you could tell people what you were doing and what your current mood was. Too bad there was never a "Current Mood: PMS" or "Current Mood: So pissed off I might actually run you over with my car today."

What's the point of all this? Well because I have had one long, completely annoying day. For those of you who are all sunshine and smiles today...I would stop reading now...I would hate to ruin your good mood with an extended explaination of my bad one. So let's just pull out the bullets (no...not real ones...) and get right to it...

• To the seriously gross and nasty guy at the gym this morning....you can't tell me that you weren't aware of the huge, dripping sweat mark you left on the machine of your back and head. Here's a novel idea...wipe it off...the extra calories you would have burned walking to the paper towels and disinfectant would have been beneficial to you...trust me.
• Dear Landlord....grow a set of balls. Oh...and while we're at it...what's with putting the dumpster right in the middle of the parking lot...really improves the look and not to mention the smell of the plaza.
• What is it with people not using their turn signals? How hard is it to flick it on...I mean for Gods sake, using it will not give your plan away to the enemy. 
• Being pushy and annoying will do nothing but push me away and annoy me. Calm down, chill out, and go find someone else to bother. 

And now I'm off to take my anger and aggression out on a stationery bike in spin class...thank you, and have a nice night...

Shaving and the art of motorcycle maintenance....

I was in the shower this morning, a place where I do some of my best thinking, and I started pondering a very important question...am I the only female that routinely shaves their whole leg? I mean outside of swim suit season? I know a lot of women just shave to the knee, really...what's the point of going any higher since very few people see above that and for most women, thigh and quad hair seems to be thinner and lighter (are you totally grossed out by my TMI yet..)?

Anyway....I do...and I always have, except for those years in college when I swam and didn't shave any part of my legs for months...but that's a different story for a different time. So enlighten me fellow readers...are you a half leg or a full leg shaver...inquiring minds want to know??

The meaning of crap...

Have I mentioned lately that I'm moving? Like tomorrow? Oh...I have? Oh...a thousand times? Really?  Yeah...sorry about that. There are very few things I HATE more in the world than moving. Blame in on a childhood full of boxes, packing tape, and moving trucks. I would almost rather go to that dentist I went to when I first moved to Tampa. For those of you who haven't heard the story....think along the lines of a seat mate with uncontrollable gas on a cross country flight. Not pretty.

Anyway, I'm really trying very hard to take a different mental approach to this move. First of all, it's actually one of the easiest I've ever had since I'm literally moving five minutes down the road. So instead of having to pack everything up in one shot, I've been taking my time at it or as my mother so eloquently put it early this week...slowly turning two homes into a disaster area. Second of all, I'm trying to look at this move as an opportunity to purge. See the last post I wrote if you have any questions about my need to get rid of stuff...

As I was unpacking a box earlier today in the new house - I had an epiphany of sorts. Am I the only person that collects sentimental souvenirs that eventually cease to have any meaning? I have jars of sea shells in my special curio that have spent the last, who knows how many years, sitting next to some of the most valued treasures I own...and yet I couldn't tell you where even one of those shells came from. I'm sure at one time those shells were really important, like, for a month after I came home from whatever vacation I procured them from....but the last beachy vacation I took was probably in 2002 and I really don't know if I even picked up any shells then or if they made it into the curio. 

 I'm a firm believer in leaving something behind for the generations that come after me, but if what I'm leaving behind has very little value to me, why would I kid myself into thinking that someone else would find value in it? Morale of the story....keep only what you will remember and what maintains sentimental value for you....or else label the jar so you can jog your memory in a pinch...

Moving and Stuff

I found out today that moving day for me is rapidly approaching. What...I didn't mention that, on top of helping my brother move and moving Sweet Emotion into Why Not Boutique all within the past month or so, that I myself was also moving? Yeah...I just love doing it so much that I decided to do it three times in a  row. Super fun. 

One thing that becomes glaringly obvious each time I move is the massive amount of stuff that I have. Massive. There should be a support group for stuffaholics. Now stop right there...I know you were just picturing me on the next episode of Hoarders or Buried Alive, but I can confidently say that my stuff addiction has never and will never get that bad. But a group still would be super. Hello, my name is Jennifer and I'm a stuffaholic. Hello Jennifer.

Morbid Musings

For my book club last month, our pick was The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, a book in which I spent the fall of my sophomore year in college stubbornly avoiding since it seemed like everyone else on the swim team was reading it. I'm weird like that - I refused to read The DaVinci Code for years because it seemed like everyone else was (long story short, broke down and picked it up - read it in one day, I couldn't put it down). But, one of the main reasons I was so excited to join a book club was to help me get outside my comfort zone of romance novels and chick lit, so I again broke down and read a book I swore I would never read.

Again - phenomenal. A little slow in places, and you really have to push yourself through the first chapter or two - the subject matter is disturbing to say the least, but it's well worth it in the end. Without giving anything away, since the narrator tells you this within the first paragraph of the book, but one of the main themes, if not THE main theme of the book is death and how it effects people and changes relationships. And there are a few characters in the novel that had vague connections to the narrator in life but are profoundly effected by her death. 

It got me wondering crazy morbid thoughts about the people that might miss me if I were to die tomorrow (knock on wood). By this, I mean the people that I probably wouldn't normally think would miss me - the people that I don't have close ties to in life. Who would come to my funeral - not out of curiosity or duty - but because I genuinely touched their lives in some way and because they would honestly miss me? Am I the only one who believes that you can tell a lot about how a person lived based on the number of people that attend their funeral? All I can say is that I hope when the time comes, my funeral is standing room only.