Top 3 Internet Time-Wasters

I’m going to guess that like me, many of you have a lengthy to-do list you’d like to tackle this weekend. Mine includes finishing up some projects for work, cleaning out my flower beds and conquering the mountain of laundry that I’m fairly certain has devoured at least one of my cats.

But, instead of getting started on my to-do list, I’ve decided to waste time playing on the internet. Here’s a list of my favorite things that I’ve discovered on the internet while procrastinating on my to-do list:

1. I found a way to express my inner-hero.

My super powers include flying throughout the city saving stray cats!

2.  I started following askastripper on Twitter. You never know when you might have a question that only a stripper could answer, or what valuable insight she might have into life’s everyday dilemmas. Also, I love that she uses phrases like “Peace, love & boobies”!!!

3.  Much to her disliking, I’ve decided to search the internet for a boyfriend for one of my single friends. Let’s just call this friend Kitty. Kitty isn’t the kind of girl that’s desperate for a boy, but this isn’t about her, it’s about me finding new ways to waste time on the internet. By using one of my other friend’s Match.com account I have found the perfect guy for Kitty. I’ve spent some time trying to stalk this guy on Facebook & MySpace, but still haven’t found him.

So, there you have it, my top 3 internet-time wasters. Go forth and have fun creating your own hero. Maybe you can ask the stripper for advice. And please, give your superhero the power of internet stalking so I can continue to embarrass my sweet friend, Kitty.

Tags: Friends, goofing off

Twitter Love

I’ve been using Twitter for a little over a year and I love it! It is a wonderful and fun way to connect with friends. But, yesterday I experienced true Twitter love.

Desperately wanting a cranberry orange muffin from Captain Buzzy’s, but feeling a bit lazy and silly. I Twittered that I would willingly give my love & friendship forever, in exchange for one of these delicious treats. Later I went outside to get something out of my car, and nearly stepped on a brown paper bag sitting on my door mat, and inside of that small bag was a delicious muffin from Buzzy’s!

Now I will commit my love and friendship forever to a certain, sweet lady.

Friends are friends forever, if they treat each other to muffins

(Sh! Please don’t tell her that I was already planning on being her friend forever!)

Tags: Church Hill, Friends, twitter

My Friends

Dear Friends,

I’m sorry that I have ignored your phone calls, Facebook messages and smoke signals this week. It’s not that I don’t like you, because I do, I love each of you madly. But, it’s just been one of those weeks. You know, the kind of week that beats up on you some, and leaves you wanting to forget about the world while soaking in a warm bath.

Next week I’ll return your calls and messages. Maybe we can even get together and you can tease me for being so pruny from all the tub-soaking.

xoxo,

Alicia

Tags: Friends, Letter

Reminder: Clothing Swap

Ladies - This is a reminder that this Saturday form 1-4 I will be hosting a clothing swap at my house. Feel free to bring yourself, some friends and some clothes/shoes/accessories/purses you don’t want any more and we can trade.

Hope to see you there!

Tags: Friends, Home

Clothes Swap!

Do you have some clothes you need to get rid of? But also have the urge to add some new pieces to your closet?

Instead of throwing out our clothes and buying new ones, let’s trade!

Bring out those clothes, shoes, jewelry and handbags that just sit in your closet and trade them for something “new to you”.

I’m inviting girls of all styles, shapes and sizes. Pass along the invitation to any girls that you think might be interested!
Date: 8/16

Time: 1-4

Where: My house (email/leave comment for address)

Tags: Friends, Style

A good weekend to come

I’m loving the relaxed summer life that makes people focus a little less on work, and little more on what is really important to them. I’ve recently had some great weekends spent with friends. Lots of fun and laughter. Why don’t we live like this all year round?!

This weekend is a continuation of the fun. Tonight I’m going down to Virginia Beach. Hopefully I will be able to find a not-so-crowded spot to rest by the waves and enjoy some reading, writing & napping. After the beach I will take my sunburned self to a friend’s house for an evening of beer making….and drinking. On Sunday I will do some much needed housework after having brunch with ladies who are interested in starting a book club. A few of my favorite things, with a few of my favorite people.

Tags: Friends, Life

Need a housesitter?

I don’t have any big travel plans for this summer. I made a trip to Baltimore, will head to Narrows for a weekend or two and if I’m lucky I’ll get to go to the beach for a day. But, while I’m spending most of my summer in my inflatable kiddie pool in my backyard, my friends, family & co-workers are traveling the world. Here is a list of some places they are visiting or have visited this summer:

Ireland

London

Italy

Paris

Spain

California

Seattle

Vegas

Milwaukee

OBX

Va Beach

Cancun

Grand Canyon

Canada

Belize

Texas

Savannah

Smoky Mountains

Tags: Family, Friends

Anne & Nate

Along with some friends, I took Friday off of work and we all headed up to Baltimore for a fun-filled weekend. We ate good food, drank, went to a concert, shopped, played in a pool, drank some more and spent more time playing in the pool. We treated each other to dinner, and made each other breakfast. We laughed a lot and also talked about uncertainties we have about our future. It was a wonderful weekend that left me wanting a little more time with my friends.

Sadly, it was the last full weekend we will have before our friends Anne & Nate (aka Nanne) move away. Lately they have become a very important part of my life. In the past I have struggled with recognizing the characteristics of people around me that are positively impacting me. But, with Anne & Nate it is impossible for me not to see their influence on me. Genuine and secure in who they are, I long for more time with them. More time to create memories with them, and to selfishly see how the friendship I have with them will fashion me into a better person/friend.

We have one more week with them before they leave Richmond. One more week to create some more memories. One more week to submerge myself in a friendship that I can never imagine not having.

Tags: Friends

Poetry Lovers?

I’m wondering how many poetry fans are out there. Especially, how many of you would be interested in a Wine & Poetry Night? Are we comfortable enough with each other to read our favorite poems with each other…..or, if not, are we comfortable enough to get together and drink all the wine necessary for us to share our favorite poems with each other? I’d like to think this could be an experience that leaves us inspired and refreshed….not weirded out. What do you think?

Tags: Friends, Reading, Writing

Under the Rose

Jealous of my VP’s extensive vocabulary, a co-worker & I signed up to receive “Word of the Day” emails. One of my words over the weekend was sub rosa which is a new phrase to me, but truly captures my circle of friends. Meaning secretly or privately, sub rosa comes from Latin, literally “under the rose”. From my Word-A-Day, I learned that the rose had a strong association with confidentiality in ancient times. The ceilings of Roman banquet-rooms were decorated with roses to remind guests that what was spoken sub vino (under the influence of wine) was also sub rosa.

Sub vino. Sub rosa. How perfectly that describes the level of trust among my friends. We welcome each other into our homes for sharing of wine and life. We trust each other with all the hopes, dreams, fears, silliness, sadness and happiness that may happen to come out after a couple of glasses of wine. We trust that all of our thoughts and feelings are welcomed, valid and sub rosa.

On another note, I think Sub Rosa sounds like a great name (or at least serve as inspiration) for the girls only book club I mentioned starting 100 years ago…..

Tags: Friends, From another, Reading

Take note

Two of my favorite women have started blogging. Announcing my beautiful sister, Fawntane. And, my friend Keila. Not only are both of these ladies amazing mothers, they are creative, authentic, funny and have similar tastes in wordpress themes! Enjoy!

Tags: Blog, Family, Friends

My Birthday Potluck

Last night was my Birthday Potluck. I can’t remember a time when I’ve heard a group of people sing Happy Birthday so loud, and having a group of friends serenade me has never meant as much as it did last night.

I don’t know where to start when trying to describe how I’ve felt over the past week. Simply, I’ve missed Jarrett a lot. For nearly twenty years we celebrated our birthdays together. It was really hard to not be able to do that this year. But, my amazing friends made me feel very loved (and not alone) this week. Last night was the perfect birthday celebration because of the people I got to spend it with - people who bedazzle with me, make me star-shaped tie-dye cupcakes and want to be part of my life, even when things are painful.

Tags: Church Hill, Friends, Insanity, Potluck

Be Stronger Than Your Excuses

So, you know how we all have those things that we want to do….learn a skill, travel the world, start a garden, take an art class….but we never have time to do them?!  Well, one of mine is to craft and sell my crafts to make money to buy more things to craft with.  I’ve been talking about this for a couple years and have now decided that I’m done bullshitting.

So, I’ve started….kinda.  With a couple of awesome gal pals, I’ve applied to Spring Bada Bing!  I’ve also opened an Etsy shop with a friend, our store is named RatherBee (nothing is up, yet).   I also decided to use my other vanity site to showcase (and maybe someday blog) my craftiness.

Yeah, I know, my vanity site looks like it was done in 5 minutes (it was), and the pics posted look like I took them myself in my bathroom (I did), and there is nothing to buy at my Etsy shop.  BUT, its a start to being stronger than all my excuses about why I can’t do this.

Tags: Art Heals, Crafty, Friends

A bad weekend for getting service in Church Hill

I don’t like to talk a lot of smack on my blog and I especially don’t like talking smack about my ‘hood, but I was let down by 3 Church Hill businesses over the past two days.
Let down #1:

For Dan’s birthday party I wanted to get some balloons, so I called up Church Hill Herbs & Flowers. I made an appointment to pick up the balloons on Saturday afternoon, but when I show up they haven’t even started blowing up my balloons. After much fussing between the employees, my balloons were ready 25 minutes later. When I paid for my simple latex, helium balloons I was offered a generous 15% discount because my balloons were not ready when I showed up. However, after the discount I was still paid over a $1/balloon. WTF?!?! I didn’t realize that like gasoline, the price of balloons has drastically gone up.

Let down #2:

For Dan’s birthday celebration, his brother (Mike) & future sister-in-law (Sarah) came down to visit. Today, the four of us, plus another fun-loving couple, decided to go to Jumpin’ J’s for brunch. We were pretty excited because Sarah has never been to J’s before. Last time she came down we tried to go, but it was when J’s changed their hours and we happened to be there on the one day of the week when they weren’t serving any food. So, today we walked down the street, dreaming of the delicious food waiting for us, but when we walked in the restaurant we were “greeted” by the waitress who told us that she wouldn’t be able to serve us any food today. Her reason was that she was leaving at 2:00 (it was just before 1:30) and that no one was coming in after her. So, slightly confused, hungry and a little upset, we left.

Let down #3:

After leaving J’s we decided to go to the Hill Cafe for their Sunday brunch. Again, we ran into more bad service. Our waitress was sweet, but we sat in the less-than-half-full restaurant for over 20 minutes before we were asked for our food orders. Anyway, I was pretty excited about the blueberry pancakes I ordered. I’ve had them before and remembered enjoying them very much because the blueberries are cooked in with the pancake batter…not just placed on top. You can imagine my disappointment when my blueberry pancakes arrived at our table without any blueberries to be found. I could understand a mistake like this in a number of situations…..like, if the restaurant was packed (it wasn’t); or, if I placed a complicated order (I think it seems simple); or, if there were lots of other similar options on the menu that the waitress/cook might get confused (nope, it was the only pancake option for today).

Sorry for the complaining, but I’m wondering, is it just me running into situations like this on the Hill?

Tags: Church Hill, Friends, Life, Richmond

Post-Potluck

I ate delicious food.

I drank very good wine.

I watched The Office.

I spent the evening with friends.
I love pot luck!

Thanks to everyone who came tonight!

Tags: Friends, Life, Richmond