grocery store antics

so this evening i was in the grocery store and the produce storm started... you know when it rains on the vegetables and there are thunder sounds? so yeah that started to happen and this couple start freaking out. i don't know how they'd never seen that happen before but they start freaking out and turn to me and say WHAT IS GOING ON?!? and i said 'oh it's so the vegetables feel at home... they're used to being outside.' i thought the woman was going to hug me the two of them were laughing so hard.

i really hate thunderstorms. they seem to come out of nowhere and are scary. i got caught in a downpour today. it reminded me of the tram ride at universal studios... you know the part where they turn on the rain and then the mexican village floods? it's JUST like that here.

only a few more days until CA. EEEEEK. i'm so excited to get some wienershnitzel. i want some chili cheese everything. yummmm.

so today i was at this uhh festival thing at the university. we had a booth to hand out coupons and whatever. mostly whatever. anyway, this guy stops so i figure he wants to talk about why i'm there. i say 'have you been to dave & buster's?' and he starts rambling about how he doesn't do chain restaurants and it was very awkward. at any rate i realized today that people in college are SOOOO weird. it made me thankful to be a worker!

remember when i used to think there was sea salt in my scalp? those were the days.

shew fly don't bother me

so there was just a ridiculously loud fly in my apartment. like at first i thought maybe a helicopter had flown inside by mistake. but it turns out no it was just the world's noisiest fly. i'm not totally sure whether it was louder than the average fly or if i just don't hang out with flies that often. anyway, at first i tried to hit him with a roll of paper towels, which seemed to make it drunk. which was fine, until he spilled his tiny fly martini on the carpet and started saying things he's going to regret in the morning. he eventually flew over to the door and sat on it. so i opened the door and he flew out. it was very odd. i never expected him to just fly out the door. flies! they're just full of surprises.

less than a week until i go to ca... or was it the swiss alps? i can't remember anymore. at any rate, i'll be getting on an airplane and leaving richmond. and going to one republic or another.

today i went to barnes and noble and bought too many books. i also bought hans christian andersen the movie. i love that movie. it reminds me of the first time i came to richmond, when i was sicky and had to stay in the hotel when i should've been looking for apartments. it makes me want a sundae. at any rate, i love when he makes all the ballet slippers. and when he sings i'm hans christian andersen! i just love it.

be excellent to each other

so i'm starting worry about my absorption in work. i spent the evening laughing about something that you should've been personally a little heart breaking and yet crying about work. the realization of this only made me cry more... why should i not care about boy drama any more?!? suddenly the thing that is truly heart breaking is the arcade?! who am i? and when do i get my life back?

i feel as though my life is a romantic comedy beach read book... you know the one with the brightly colored cover... there's a cartoon woman looking frazzled and yet some how together... the woman who though she seems to have it all together... the job, the friends, the quirky view on life... is still hopelessly unlucky in love. note to the universe: that's supposed to be a book. NOT MY LIFE. and yet there's the the usual characters: the guy best friend who's there through thick and thin, the ex who is obviously no good and yet is always popping up, the string of unfortunate dating mistakes and good ol' me, just rollin' with the punches. doing the joke arms (if i've never shown you the joke arms i'm more than willing to demonstrate at parties) and waiting for the day it all makes sense. my own personal aha moment. the kind where i say, that's what that was all about.

tonight it was the kind of situtation that should be funny a few months or a year down the road but for whatever reason in the moment it just made me laugh. i suppose the laugh was less 'this is hilarious' and more 'i could not have dreamed a better plot twist.' it's not that what happened was funny just the way it all played out. have no fear friends, when i do write the book i will change your names, paint you in a favorable light, and send you a check for your share of the story.

i need this trip to ca... probably more than anyone really knows. here's to hoping i come back.

california knows how to party

Babies don't need a vacation but I still see them at the beach. I'll go over to them and say, 'What are you doing here, you've never worked a day in your life!'.
-- Stephen Wright

8 more days until california.

things i love about california: a list

seeing the california niece and nephew
pinkberry
seeing the fam and friends
disneyland
traffic
feeling nostalgic
the getty
mexican food (any chance i'll be able to get california burrito from san diego?!)
la
palm trees
knowing the stations on the radio
the california missions
acting like a tourist in a place i lived for over 23 years
being allowed to say things like "the 57" and "parking structure"
farmers markets
the village
24 hour donut stores (especially freshhh donuts and manna donuts)
jack in the box
red tide
feeling like i'm home <3

i'm already sad about coming home and i haven't even left yet!

that's b-awesome

ok so i took this fabulous picture today while waiting at a red light. the yellow car is sitting in oncoming traffic... pretending that it is the correct place for waiting at a red light. you will notice the black car on the right hand side that his driven past... very slowly. no one wanted to drive past the yellow car. i think everyone was just too stunned. i was not too stunned to pull out my camera and snap this photo. i mean i can totally understand how it can happen... it's not like the directions of traffic are separated by an island with trees and plants... oh wait, it is. well the lady was old so i'm sure that's what her excuse was. 'what?!? i'm old!' after i took the picture i looked over at the car next to me where they were pointing in the 'do you see what's going on' fashion and i was like 'i know, i took a picture ::shrug::' and then the old lady's light turned green and she turned left just like you would if you were in the correct lane. it was awesome.

speaking of old people, one time laurel & i went to see a taping of 'freddie.' the episode was about freddie's grandma dating and i turned to laurel and said something along the lines of 'ewww no one wants to watch old people date.' at which point the woman in front of us turns around a yells at laurel 'YOU'LL BE OLD ONE DAY TOO!!!' laurel was just like 'i didn't even say it!' old people always want me to get stuff off the top shelf at the grocery store for them. i'm ok with that.

people are always saying that the grocery store is a good place to pick up on people. one time this happened to me. or at least someone tried to make it happen. i was picking out some yogurt and a man comes up behind me and says something along the lines about how much he loves yogurt and that i should stock up b/c it was on sale blah blah blah. and i was like ok thanks good bye. anyway he finds me again later in the grocery store and says 'whats your favorite flavor of yogurt?' and i said 'uhhmm strawberry.' and he said 'wow! look! i got STRAWBERRY BANANA!' i was like gee that's awesome, i've gotta go creepy. you probably had to be there to understand why that was so creepy.

ok so one more story of something awesome that has happened in the past:
so, this one time in high school i was at disneyland. we were riding on the jungle cruise and these asian people were sitting next to me and across from me. they were all in a big tour group together. anyway, i'm sitting there minding my own business checking out the backside of water when the woman across from me holds out her camera and says 'picture?' thinking she wants me to take her picture, i gladly agree, at which point she snaps a photo of me and the man sitting next to me. the man sitting next to me then switches with the man next to him and we have another photo op. THEN (no it doesn't end there) the woman pulls out her video camera and they start taking live footage of the men pointing out the animals to me... elephants, zebras, hippos... only the finest in jungle cruise action. finally the ride is over and we're getting off the boat and my friends are giving me the WHAT IS GOING ON look and the asians ask us to all gather round for a group photo and then they hand out lapel pins and keychains as a thank you. i imagine that in some wall in some office in some asian country some man proudly displays the photos of the time he pointed out a fake elephant to some american girl. what more could he possibly want?! i am excited to go to disneyland in a couple weeks for obvious reasons.

almost the weekend!

i live in the world's stinkiest apartment complex. i went to get the mail tonight and twice i almost puked. i'm very proud of myself though b/c i didn't.

i'm going to california in less than 2 weeks. i can't wait. i need this vacation like... well i can't think of a good finish to that... but i really need to get out of virginia for a bit. it will be good to see the family and friends and to go to disneyland. YAY. asia told me today that going to disneyland with me is on her bucket list. isn't that sweet?

my gm cracks me up today he randomly sent me an email that said:
the phone, the phone is ringing
i didn't know there were hillbillies in arizona

he enables goofy in the workplace. i think we work very well together. he has managed to get that the phone is ringing song stuck in my head every day for the last week. driving me nuts.

happy calzone day!

today was calzone day at work. which is funny b/c we ate calzones for dinner last night too. and actually we ate strombolli today and we just called it calzone day. at any rate calzone day is a very special day.

so this morning i walk into my office and my boss is sitting there and he says 'so do you want the good news or the bad news first?' at which point i sit down, put my head in my hands and tell him i'll go with the bad. he waits a long time thinking and he turns and says 'uhhh, i can't think of any!' at which point i'm crackin' up mostly from the relief. and i say 'ok great, what's the good news?!' and he hands me a paper and says 'YOU'RE NUMBER ONE!' ok so i realize at this point that no one will know what i'm talking about but i am number in the company in guest pulse results for the quarter!!! i nearly started to cry.

the guest pulse is a phone survey that event hosts take rating the event process from beginning to end. and the results of this are really important to the people at whq. and i am NUMBER ONE... for the QUARTER... for the ENTIRE COMPANY. i've never been number one before. it couldn't have been better timing either b/c i had been feeling really down on myself b/c there is tons of work still to be done and i'm constantly drowning in work and i can't ever get everything done that i need to get done but i'm trying... i'm really trying. at any rate it was just incredible to see us ranked number one. whenever i think about it i feel like i'm going to start crying. what a girl!

so i start working on some stuff and for some reason i turn to james and asked him how much vacation time i have left and he said he didn't really know and i told him i thought it was around 8 days and he said 'well, i need to talk to you about that... we were talking about it this morning and i'm requiring you to take a week off before october b/c you work too much.' i don't know why i feel so validated when people tell me i work too much. ::hahaha:: i think it might be a sickness. definitely a sickness. but now i'm all day dreamy about the week off that i get. i've been imagining all the wonderful things a person could do if they had an entire week off! it just seems to wonderful to be true!

this is what has been going on in my head all day: 'oh, a-week-vacation! you want to take me to the ball?! why whatever will i wear?!' at which point a-week-vacation and i dance around and fall madly in love and live happily ever after in elaina-has-lost-her-mind-land. the worst part about this daydreaming is i'm not able to stop myself from acting out my daydreams... so my coworkers see me sitting at my desk making moony faces and acting like a disney princess. luckily they are already totally aware that i'm insane... they totally expect at this point that i will spend the entire day talking to myself, singing and doing motivational chants. i often have to remind them that they have to worry if i start using different voices when i talk to myself.