weddings always bring out the family drama

Here is something I have been wanting to blog about for awhile, sorry if it is kind of long. It's just annoying and I feel like I need to get it off my chest.

First, some back story. I have three cousins on my mom's side of the family. Her sister has one son and her brother has two daughters, I am not that close to any of them, but they are family so I have to see them from time to time. My uncle's oldest daughter, M, is getting married in June in Massachusetts. She got engaged when I was a senior in college and I actually haven't seen her since before that, but my mom has so she knows some details about the wedding. To say that my uncle's family is dysfunctional would be an understatement and my cousins have had to take care of themselves for a long time. M and her fiancee are doing everything on a very small budget with no parental help. While we have a small family her mother (my ex-aunt) has a very large family so M decided that she was only inviting cousin's significant others if they were married and not inviting any cousins under age 18. She is also having a cash bar...but let's not get started on that tidbit.

My sister and I were not upset at all that we couldn't bring our boyfriends and totally understood where she was coming from.

My mom's sister's son, T, was a different story.

T's life is basically one long summer vacation. He was raised by his mom, who divorced her bum husband when T was very young. He never has had any relationship or gotten any support from his father and his mom never remarried. Since it was just the two of them he has been very coddled. He has gone through a lot of jobs, became a pro golfer and tried to "make it" several times, had a bunch of girlfriends and dropped out of college at 18 to get married (that didn't end up happening, thank God.) He is now in his early 30s and still lives with his mom (and is supported by her.) I don't mean to bash him, this is just the way it is. At this point he is finally going to community college so maybe he will start acting like a grown up, but who knows.

When T found out that he couldn't bring his current girlfriend (who he has been dating since the summer) he got all mad about it. My sister has been with her boyfriend for two years and K and I have been together for five years and live together. Neither of us cared at all about not being able to bring our boyfriends but T called M and asked if he could bring this chick. As it was told to me she "hung up on him" which may mean she just ignored the question but still, I was happy she stuck with her guns.

Even though the girlfriend isn't coming the whole thing just pissed me off.

What is it about weddings (and other big events) that make family members who are: 1) not helping to pay and 2) not helping to plan, feel like they have some say over the bride and groom's decisions? And this situation was nothing compared some some stories I have heard from other people/families. I makes me seriously dread the drama whenever I end up getting married.

Did anything like this happen at your own wedding or weddings of friends and family members?

Wishful Wednesday: Gown

I wish I could have worn the gown that Lea Michele wore at the 67th Annual Golden Globes Awards!

How amazing was this dress? Seriously she looked flawless! The dress is by Oscar de la Renta and I definitly think she was one of the best dressed stars of the night. Plus I love Glee.

My second choice would be Zoe Saldana's Louis Vuitton gown. I know this was on some worst dressed lists but I really liked it. It's unique, fun and looks great on her. Maybe I have bad taste...but I would totally wear it.

pictures found here

the (not so) secret life of the american teenager

About a year ago some of my college friends recommended I start watching "Greek" on ABC family (which is actually a really good show.) Somehow that led to me watching "The Secret Life of the American Teenager," which, I'm sad to say, I still watch.

If you don't watch it...it's basically about a town of extremely horny people who love to over share details of their sex lives with the entire planet (hence the lack of a "secret" life.) They all have sex with each other and talk about it or talk about how they are not having sex. And it isn't just the teenagers, all of their parents are having sex with each other and talking about it too. Some of the parent have had affairs with other kids parents or have been married to other kids parents. It's really weird. But, I can't stop watching.

As if the plot wasn't enough, the writing is absolutely horrific. After every "important" line someone repeats it. Example:

Character A: I think we are going to break up.

Character B: You are going to break up?

Character A: We are going to break up.

Watch the show people...it happens about 300 times in each episode.

These are the "main characters," although there is also a compelling Greek Chorus of other sexually active American teenagers. And of course, the super skanky parents.

(from left to right)

Jack Pappas: Jack is the Jock of the group and the on-again-off-again boyfriend of Grace. His hobbies include oral sex and football. He also seems to enjoy dancing by himself in his bedroom. Generally, Jack is the most boring and I wouldn't consider him a main character...but since he was in the pic (which I found here) I went with it.

Grace Bowman: Grace is the Goody Goody. She is a cheerleader, Christan, and aspiring doctor (in fact she went to dr. camp then told the football coach about groin injuries.) Her dad died in the plane crash on the night she had sex which led her to believe that having sex causes the death of loved ones. Now she masturbates (and of course talks about it all the time.) She has an adopted brother named Tom who has Downs Syndrome and a girlfriend named Tammy that he has phone sex with. Her mom is now having sex with the brother of the pilot who was flying the plane her husband crashed in.

Ricky Underwood: Ricky is the Bad Boy. He is kind of a man whore. He also lives by himself (above Ben's dad's butcher shop) because his dad is in jail. Ricky is Amy's baby daddy but they were never really together, now he is with Adrian but has trouble committing. He reminds me a lot of Dylan from 90210...except Dylan was never in the marching band. And Ricky doesn't have a porsche.

Amy Juergens: Amy is the Teen Mom. She is supposed to be really good at the French Horn but I haven't seen her ever playing it. Now she mostly whines. She had a one night stand with Ricky at band camp which resulted in her son, John. Her boyfriend is, or should I say was since they broke up last night, Ben. They almost got married but didn't. She wouldn't have sex with Ben which basically caused their break up.

Ben Boykewich: Ben is the Nice Boy. He is the son of some meat baron (who was also on The Sopranos) and is supposed to be Italian, which I don't understand based on his last name. He was very devoted to Amy but then he went to Italy for the summer and met a girl named Maria. He has two weird little friends who are always hanging around. His dad is getting married to Betty (played by Jennifer Coolidge) who is a former hooker.

Adrian Lee: Adrian is the Slut. She is also Grace's BFF, which is kind of ironic and would never happen in real life. She wants to get Ricky to commit and agree that someday they might get married. He won't do it. Amy doesn't like her and won't let her be around John. She likes to give sex advice. Her own mother was a teen mom and recently her parents got back together and bought the house next door to the Juergens' family...so Adrian could spy on Ricky when he was there visiting his son.

Do any of you watch this show? What are your thoughts?

bra shopping

Does anyone else hate bra shopping? I do. See I have big boobs but I don't want to buy those giant sized bras that take up your entire chest (similar to this picture.) They all look like something a grandma would wear. I am 24, I don't want a bra the size of Texas just yet. And it's a bra, not a bullet proof vest. What I always end up doing is finding a couple I like and wear them until they get all stretched out. Then I have to go shopping again. I also do not like Victoria's Secret bras. Normally, I just go to Kohl's because they have a good selection with reasonable prices. That's were I found myself today (after about a month of adjusting myself more times a day than a 13 year old boy) and I probably tried on 100 different styles. I kept going in and out of the fitting room and praying that a bra fairy would arrive. Finally I did find a couple that I liked so hopefully they will last awhile...because, bra shopping is just no fun.

happy first bloggy birthday

Wow, a year ago today I started this blog. To say that I had no idea what I would be getting into would be an understatement. After a year or so of stalking reading blogs I decided to try out writing one of my own. I was looking for something creative to do and it seemed like a good idea, why not right?

I figured it would only last a week or so tops, similar to all the diaries I got for Christmas as a kid. They always would have entries for January 1st (about who I liked or what I ate for dinner)then a bunch of blank pages, but surprisingly I have kept on blogging and don't plan on stopping.

It's been a lot of fun this year "meeting" new people and friends here in blogland. I appreciate all of you for reading my random thoughts and for commenting. I'm excited to see what happens in my second year.

super (easy) salsa

I had a fabulous day off yesterday. My sister and I went to lunch then went shopping and got some amazing deals at Old Navy. All of their cardigans were 20 bucks and we got these cute metallic belts for $2.50. No lie. Gotta love Old Navy.

Tonight we are going to watch the Ravens game at a family friend's house (I hate football so I will probably just be hanging out in their hot tub) and I made some salsa to bring. Like most of my cooking I combined several different recipes then left it up to trial and error until it turned out "right." It's super easy and really good.

Here's how you make it:

In a bowl mix together:
1 can of diced tomatoes with roasted garlic and olive oil
1 finely chopped red onion
1 medium to large jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped (if you like things spicy you and try two but I've found that makes it too hot for the average person)
one large clove of finely chopped garlic
1-2 fresh tomatoes, seeded and chopped
lime juice (about 2 tablespoons)
lemon juice (about 2 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1 teaspoon of chili powder
salt to taste

Chill

Enjoy...Scoops work well since it's a chunky salsa.

Random Thoughts on a Thursday Afternoon

-Only a few more hours until my 4 day weekend begins! Jealous?

-I found out today my boss got promoted, I liked him a lot and he definitely deserves it, but I am happier about the fact that when I get a new boss it will take him/her a couple months to get used to the team. Thus they won't be pressuring me to apply for other jobs. I don't want to do that because I am planning on quiting if/when I get into school. My current boss was talking to me about it yesterday and I had to semi-lie. I wish I could be honest about my plans for the future, but I don't trust that I wouldn't get fired. Not sure if that made sense...but oh well.

-Speaking of schools, I still haven't heard anything. Boo.

- My outfit today is really cute (I think.) It's a dress I got from Express a couple years ago and I think was supposed to be for summer, but it is black and brown and I am wearing a black turtleneck and black tights under it. With black booties. Too bad no one at my office ever compliments my clothes...sometimes working with all men sucks.

-All of your comments on my business idea were very sweet! I don't think I will ever want to start my own business but you never know!

-Does anyone know where you can get dog stairs? Hanna sleeps on the bed and likes to get up and down at night. She will jump down but then whine for us to pick her up because the bed is too high. It's getting old.

-The Shred is going well, I have done 3 days so far and am definitly sore. It's not as bad today but last night I was in serious pain. I'm going to stick with it though and even do it on my 4 days off (normally I slack off working out on the weekend but I really want to see this through for 30 days.) Even after 3 days I totally would recomend the Shred to anyone, it seriously kicks your ass.