Embracing your inner princess

Hello Blogland! I hope that everyone had a fantabulous weekend. I sure did! I watched almost the entire second half of the first season of Mad Men this weekend, which is awesome, because I'll be all caught up just in time for the second season marathon that AMC is airing on Sunday afternoon (forget the Labor Day barbecues... you know my ass is gonna be on the couch on Sunday watching this marathon! I'll grill a piece of chicken on my George Foreman grill while I watch it, haha!). I am so loving this show!!!

But even better, I had such a blast with my sister this weekend. We had so much fun just hanging out. The weather was gorgeous all weekend- sunny and warm but not humid. We took the train into Philly with no set "plans", just to wander. We grabbed lunch at Cosi and I got my Cosi favorite- the Bombay Chicken Salad- and she got her favorite- the Turkey and Brie sandwich- and we met up with one of my best friends, Gary, and we ate lunch in Rittenhouse Park, and just talked and talked and enjoyed the beautiful weather and each others' company. Then we went to Barnes and Noble to wander, and I found two bargain books that I had to own- The Rest of Her Life, by Laura Moriarty (I read another book of hers, The Center of Everything, and loved it, and I'd heard about this book and wanted to read it, so I figured finding a hardback copy for $6 was fate's way of saying I needed to own it- plus I have a B&N gift card from my birthday, so really, it was free!), and Tripping the Prom Queen, by Susan Shapiro Barash. It's a sociological look into female rivalry. It was $5 and I liked the title, plus I thumbed through it and it had lots of pop culture references to things like Mean Girls and Gilmore Girls. I love books like this, so I figured, why not add two more books to No Book Left behind? What's two more? LOL, at this rate, I'll never be able to go to the library ever again because I'll be spending the rest of my life trying to read all the damn books on my bookshelves! Oh well. We pretty much just spent the afternoon wandering around Rittenhouse Park. We saw three just-married couples having their wedding pictures taken in the park. It was so cute... all the couples looked so happy and blushy, and the brides were all so beautiful... it's funny, I'm not really sure if I personally ever want to get married (I know- it's rare to hear a girl say something like that! But to be honest, I'm just not sure it's for me... that's a whole 'nother blog entry for a different day!), but I love weddings. I love wedding shows, reading about the history and sociology of marriage, going to weddings, all that jazz... I'm just not sure I really want to do it myself. But I appreciate being a spectator!

Later in the afternoon, we wandered back to the suburbs and hung out with my roommate for a bit. I don't know how this chain of events occured and I don't remember how exactly the conversation got there, but at some point, the three of us ended up wearing tiaras on our heads. Haha. Like I said, I'm not sure how exactly we ended up there. We were just having a silly girl Saturday night moment, you know? Anyway, we decided to leave them on, and we wore them all night. My roommate took hers off eventually because she was going to the movies, but my sister and I left ours on the rest of the night. Yes, indeed, we sat there, in our pajamas and tiaras, and watched St. Elmo's Fire. And it was awesome. We all decided that there was just something about putting on a tiara- even a silly $2 plastic one- that just made you feel better about yourself. It made you feel silly, and happy, and girly, and pretty, so why not wear it and wear it proud, and embrace your inner princess and celebrate who you are? Why not? It's like the episode of Friends when Phoebe, Monica, and Rachel sit around in wedding dresses, because it just made them feel good, you know? We should all being channeling our inner princess every day in some way or another- maybe not by donning a tiara, necessarily, because people will look at you funny (and try explaining to your boss why you are wearing a tiara at work!), but in some way or another- treating yourself to a new nail polish, or putting a little extra strut in your step when you walk down the street, or pulling out your most comfy cozy pjs and reading in bed- whatever. Whatever you need to do to feel like a goddess, do it, because you deserve it! I've already decided that the next time I need to do laundry or unload the dishwasher, I'm going to put on the tiara. That was the lesson learned from Saturday night.

But the weekend's over now, and this princess is back to the daily grind that is corporate cubicle life. I did get a lot of reading in today on my lunch break- I'm about 75 pages into Two Little Girls in Blue. It's pretty good- it's the typical Mary Higgins Clark story that I expected it to be. It's keeping my attention, but without that can't-put-the-book-down-must-keep-reading-the-hell-with-sleep-and-work sensation. I'm liking it. I anticipate being done with it within the week. Those stories are pretty fast reads.

Well, it's getting late and I need to get up even earlier than usual to get to work even earlier than usual, because this princess has training tomorrow and Wednesday. But the beauty of going in half an hour earlier means leaving a half hour earlier. Hurray! And getting to the gym half an hour earlier, which is awesome because it will be less crowded. Yay!

Annoying CM comes back to work tomorrow. Boo. I was enjoying the solitude. Although it'll be nice to have Annoying CM #2 go back to bothering her. Today she came up to me, tugged at her blouse, and decided to educate me on the fact that the laws of gravity are against her when it comes to her chest. What do you say to that? I gave the most obvious awkward laugh possible and refused to make eye contact. I'm not sure she got the hint.

I'll be back tomorrow with some food product reviews! I tried a few awesome new products over the weekend, and tomorrow I am trying the critically acclaimed Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar that I have been hearing so much about! Goodnight!!!