Its a Midwest thang, yaaa'll

Upon opening my Yahoo Home page this morning, I ran across an article citing the 11 Most Dangerous Cities in America. Surprised I was not, that St. Louis earned the top mark. I mean when I lived there, I lived and worked downtown. I borrowed my dad’s Dodge Ram pick-up truck for a week shortly after moving there so that I could haul some furniture. As I was walking to the company parking lot at 4:45PM with a co-worker, he asked, “Where’s your dad’s truck?”

I was shocked. Where in hell was the truck? We went back to the office and went back through some security surveillance tapes of the parking lot, and I’ll be…there was a man that walked up to the truck, confirmed it was all locked up, had the door open in less than a minute, and had it started within 5. No rookie I assume.

The spooky part is that this all went down about 15 minutes before I walked out. What if I’d left earlier when he was mid-steal? Eek, probably best not to think of that. They did find Dad’s vehicle a couple days later in downtown STL’s northern neighbor, a hood named “North City”. It was on fire and stripped of all its parts. The parts my dad so adored. You know, like dual exhaust and chrome everything. Of course this wasn’t exactly surprising either because what do they do in north city? They make a living by running black markets (black markets filled with stolen goodies), roam the streets in packs; daring someone to make a wrong move, and what bad neighborhood is complete without an active drug trade?!

It was interesting to see that the #9 spot was taken by Kansas City, MO. I mean essentially Missouri has an abundance of rural space, lots of lakes, a plethora of sports bars, Imo’s Pizza,  a few major universities, and only two major cities. Its major cities made this list. And you thought Midwesterners were sweet and innocent. Ha!

PASSAGE JUST SUMS IT UP FOR ME....DAILY READ

"Life is short. So break all the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably, and never regret something that once made you smile." 

Don't you love how this encompasses so much with so little words? I would not be going out on a limb to say that I haven't lived my life unafraid to explore the road less traveled and being a rule breaker has been instilled in me since toddler'hood. I'd also say that I am quick to forgive. I might have to attribute that to being a Sagittarius though. We Sagi's simply don't have the patience to brew in vengeance (we will get mad when our feelings are hurt or neglected, but it’s short-lived as we think of all the things that are more fun to think about). Hmmm, slow kisser? Depends on the situation. I do love truly, but not without barriers…probably one to work on. I love to laugh uncontrollably and it needs to happen more often. Last, I’ll need to work on not having regret for something that once made me smile. I will say I don’t dwell on things I wish didn’t exist even though they once made me happy. I just wish I could make a few revisions to that experience!

In closing, here’s a good one I came across yesterday. For me, this is encouraging:

“Don’t be afraid to give up something good, and go for something great.”

I love all things that are great! Obviously I love great quotes. 

Find it funny how since I posted my blurb displaying my dislike of UGG boots, the ad space on my page is none else than for....wait for it....UGGS.

SUPERBOWL XLV

This was my first Superbowl attendance and I can't think of a better place than Cowboy Stadium in Dallas for that to happen. The stadium is UNBELIEVABLE. This is no ordinary place. Every detail is spectacular. Its modern arches on the outside only give a sample of the grandiose’ness of inside. Then again, everything is bigger in Texas.

 Amongst meeting up with my LA friend KG, who did an amazing job of engineering the sound for Black Eyed Peas, I also saw my good ‘ole pal Martin.

In addition to witnessing a Packer win, I also saw one of the most amazing halftime shows ever. They gave everyone in the crowd of 106,000 peeps a glow stick to wave. You could feel the energy of show and the fans…enough to give me goosebumps!

Another awesome weekend….check. 

                      OUR RIDE TO THE GAME

                                                     COWBOY STADIUM!

                          FUN WITH GLOWSTICKS!

             

Come on with this trend. They are hideous, unflattering, and somehow have had unrelenting staying power for several winter seasons. The only possible reason I can come up with as to why any woman with a lick of sense would rock  the flat, shapeless UGG boots is for comfort. However, there are so many comfortable options like flat booties or tennis shoes. If you have to wear ugly boots, they should at least be water-proof right? UGG should be UGH!

UGGS should’ve followed suite to the Croc. Remember that summer when people were actually sold into thinking Crocs were cool? Fortunately, that fad died after just one season. I’m sure there are still a mass of people who wear them…and most of those probably reside near the Mason Dixon line. Love ya’ll, but its true. The only circumstance you’d catch me the plastic catastrophe of a shoe would be on a float trip.  

I don’t know why I care so much, but I do. Stop the madness, stop the ugly UGH fad now, please. 

I just downloaded the voice translator app on my phone and I'm going to get my nails done tomorrow. I can't wait. I'll finally learn what they're talking about non-stop during my mani/pedis!

MAM's definitive thought of the day....

Flexible determination (noun):
       The act of laser-beaming your immediate goals without setting  one's sight on only one way to get there. 

TWENNY ELEVEN

Happy New Year to you, my followers who lead! I can say without a doubt that I’m relieved to put 2010 behind me. It wasn’t all bad, but better decisions could’ve been made and some decisions that were made could’ve been more timely. But, I feel good knowing that some life lessons are more difficult to absorb and pertinent life lessons were finally absorbed and learned from. I am now a woman more the wiser.

Also, a new foundation has been set for me in the past couple months. It has not been set in just one aspect of my life, but most of them. Instead of that fact being overwhelming, its incredibly exciting. I possess the opportunity to start this brand spanking new year with my footing in place, but the rest still open for me to build whatever my little heart desires. And 2011 will be all about fulfilling goals of the past, present, and future.

Do you think it sounds cliché to sound so positive just because it’s a new year? I see that, but I also recognize that my situation is unique this year and I will own 2011!

I had a marvelous NYE this year too. I was fortunate enough to spend it with some of the best people I know. WOO to the HOO…Cheers to our future!

My Man with the Plan- Alon 

Happy NEW YEAR

January 1. We just had a little champagne

Coaches Club seats. How we roll. 

Ahhhh

I’m aware that I haven’t been giving you much of “MAM’s reason why” and more “MAM’s activity updates”, but I’m just having so much fun and want to tell someone! I promise that I have some interesting pieces coming to you after the New Year. In the meantime, this is my new post.

Well they had a white Christmas in Missouri, but the snow arrived in New York a day late. It sure made up for its late appearance by piling 18” of the white stuff on Manhattan. I was happy to have the day off work to play in it, but being stuck in two different cabs with no option but to walk in the frigid weather…not so much. I wanted to capture its beauty while it still has a “blanket” effect on the city. As we all know it will turn to a salty, muddy mess by tomorrow and we’ll be seeing the remnants of the black plowed frozen snow-gunk on side of the streets for a LONG time (those piles never seem to melt).

                   F baby in Rockafeller for Sunday Snowy Fun Day

Of course we made a stop in Godiva for gigantic chocolate covered strawberries- YUM!

           My street walking home from Sunday Funday

         And my patio the next day. I think you can call this "snowed in"

              I think he might need a nice ice scraper. Don't you?

   Enjoying my day off in Central Park. I have a photo in the same spot from last summer. Love the contrast!

WOW

What an absolutely amazing, exhausting, action-packed week I've had! My dad came in to visit and it was his first trip to bustling NYC from rural Missouri. I think he was a little uneasy dealing with the masses of people at first, but he no doubt acclimated himself very quickly. He’s not a shy one and actually had a blast talking to everyone he could on the subway…and embarrassing me with this most of the time!  The trip couldn't have come at a better time either. It was my birthday weekend so he was able to meet a lot of my peeps AND there’s nothing better than the holidays in New York.

Then, I had my birthday dinner last night and it suddenly dawned on me that I am SO darn blessed! My crew is the coolest...seriously. My 27^th was one of the best yet!

With all the action the past two weeks, I’m several hours behind on sleep so I think I’ll hibernate the rest of the week. We’ll see if that sticks though. Gotta be rested for the MO besties flying in next week for NYE!

FIRST WEEKEND OF DECEMBER

What a wonderful weekend I had!

Friday night was filled with fun, friends, F’s 30^th birthday party, ear-splitting music, and free flowing booze.

Saturday entailed relaxation, spending time with nature, visiting with my (not mine but the animal in general) beloved horses, indoor swimming/tennis, and having super enlightening conversations with one of the most incredibly successful financiers and notable philanthropists, George Soros at his estate in Westchester County. Mr. Soros’s political views, for the most part, differ from mine; but I’ve come to realize that while I have my beliefs, they are better demonstrated when I actually listen carefully to those who have opposite perspectives. I have been guilty of finding more pleasure in conversations with those who are like-minded to my viewpoint because we could fire back and forth about how right we are and how wrong they are. However, it also made me ignorant to the other side’s point and therefore making me less able to competently debate my side. So, I didn’t do a lot of talking for once. I did do a lot of listening. Mr. Soros is a brilliant man. He’s 80 years old and is an avid tennis player and his mind is as sharp as they come. While there has been a bout of recent controversy regarding his philanthropy in the middle east vs. Israel, it would be unfair to say he has ill-intentions. Stepping back and looking at the big picture, I can see both sides. Being that I don’t fancy political warfare, I’ll just leave that…at that.

Sunday was low-key as I prefer my Sundays to be. I spent most of the day throwing out worthless papers I’d accumulated over the years, brainstorming decorating ideas for my apartment, and grabbing some grub in my new hood with Greerface.

I’d say that’s a good weekend…indeed. 

SMALLTOWN, USA

I've said this more than once and questioned it on numerous occasions, but how can Manhattan feel so similar to a small town all the time? I had a conversation on this topic last night and several others said they feel the same way, so that confirmed that it isn’t just my mind making something out of nothing. Seriously, passing friends on the street, going to a party and finding that “6 degrees of separation” is really like 2 here, etc.

I was invited to a birthday party last night and upon walking in, I was pretty astonished to see my own friends there. Not just friends that all knew each other, but ones that I knew and they didn’t know each other. When I was introduced to the birthday girl, we both realized that we actually knew each other too. We met at a dinner party a couple months prior and had a deep conversation on love and life, got distracted talking to others across the room, and one of us must have parted before exchanging information.

Missed connections have better odds of uniting again in Manhattan than in, say Missouri or a real Smalltown, USA. We Manhattanites also randomly run into our peeps on this 23 square mile island in which +1.6 million people call home. That’s weird though. Cool…but weird. 

NEW TWITTA ACCOUNT

User Name: MAMS00


FOLLA!

THANKSGIVING 2010

‘Tis the season to give thanks. I especially felt the need to give a shout out of my thanks this year,  because God knows I have SO much to be thankful for. Even though I found myself toughing out many struggles recently, I am truly blessed that with those struggles, I found more strength within myself than I knew I ever had. My attitude had become self-defeating. As of late,  I wanted to accomplish certain objectives on my own, but lost the confidence that I actually could do them alone. I’d always considered myself a strong woman, but after months of emotional wreckage, the only strong part left was the exterior; leaving the inside a little broken and scrawny.

But funny how life throws you a sucker punch, and those ever-instilled fight or….’er fight responses kick in. The flight response doesn’t really apply to most situations we deal with. What are you going to run from? Whether you stay or leave, the world keeps turning and your existence still exist, with or without your willingness to participate. An analogy for life would be that it’s a game that you are taught to play. The only thing is that there are no forfeits or time-outs. Hopefully the coach was thorough enough to show you how to win and not to just “run the bases”. My point is, every time I find myself in a predicament with no choice but to fight, I also find this amazing strength within. A strength so powerful that I sometimes look back a few days later and think, “Wow, I accomplished all that on my own?”

I guess this further proves that the saying “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger” really is true. I’ve never been fond of people saying that to me when I felt the shadows of walls closing in on me, but then there’s the good ole’ “sometimes the truth hurts”.

In closing, even as I chop down these mental barriers I actually built myself, I wont pretend (or do I want to) that I don’t have one of the best support teams a girl could ask for. God has blessed me with an extraordinary group of friends and a family that has shown me that no matter what the circumstances are, I can look over and they will still be standing on my side in the end.

For Thanksgiving, I give thanks to those friends for being in my life. Each and every one of you bring something unique and special to the table and I can only hope that I can do the same for you. I give thanks to my loving family. Mom, for listening to the long phone calls when I feel in despair and the times of joy I’m glad I can share with you. Dad, for your words of encouragement, making me promise you I will actually learn from my mistakes this time (I promise you again!), and for booking a ticket to come see me in a time I need you the most. Matt, for being such a protective big brother and listening to me when I am terribly upset and when I am able to share stories of elation, and for making me laugh when I come home by making fun of my newly adopted mechanisms (that weird drunken New York accent, saying “right?” in response to comments, etc). My sister Melissa, for your straight forward approach in getting me to open up and feel comfortable telling it as it really is, for your heart-felt messages to me, and for consistently showing me how much you care. Nick, for making me smile every time I speak to you on the phone because of your very 9-year old southern accent and reminding me how much you are a Dad Jr. when you intentionally say things that you think will annoy me. To the grandparents and extended family, I am thankful for you all!  Last, I cant leave out my employer as they recently helped me accomplish a goal I’d been set out to do for a while.

THANKS TO GOD, FAMILY,  AND FRIENDS FOR BEING THE BEST DAMN CREW ANYONE COULD ASK FOR. I LOVE YOU ALL.