My friend E came to visit this weekend—she’s a party and a half. We just got back from the bar.. where after one drink, we were served two free ones. Ah yes, the insider does very well with bartenders. Maybe it’s the flirting..? Hmmm….

But that’s not the most interesting part… teehee. E is now trying to cajole her very straight-laced boyfriend (who lives several states away) into participating in a, shall we say, “interesting” phone conversation. Fortunately my place has enough space that I cannot hear her… all that well. LOL.

So the day? Not so good. The night? Better.

I am participating in a favorite therapeutic pastime.. no, not that. Let it go.

I am curled up on my big chair (you two know which one), with one cat curled at my side and one at my head, listening to the lovely voice of Josh Kelley, happily catching up on rss blog postings from the past two days.

This was, of course, after the venting of the frustration during the long ride home from the main office. The poor coworker, she got an earful.. as did her brother, actually, who called whilst I was yelling and she was attempting to sleep. No worries—I took the phone and proceeded to vent to him as well. (This was vent number four, as I had vented to the guest, my sister and the blog… yikes!)

Due to recent events (all of our jobs suck and some recent breakups), we are all now moving to Mexico to live on the beach and sell mangos. Feel free to send money and presents… we will be poor, but happy.

Oh, and feel free to join us.

To get there: head South. Once you cross the border, head West. There you will find a beach, with white sand the consistency of powder. Look to your left. See the colorful hammock swaying in the breeze? The little huts with wrap-around porches? The outdoor grill and the surfboard? That is where you will find us. We will be sipping on margaritas, while listening to the guest noodle on the guitar and watching the sun set over the Pacific.

By Invitation Only…

Actually, most of the day was just blah… but we did go to the favorite restaurant with the Mozambique and the Borba and the espresso, so that made it far more fabulous. (The coworker is back—YAY! Happy! Joy!)

Then I just got off the phone with an old friend who graduated from college with me. She has been very worried about getting a good job, so she’s been stressed. But… she was just offered a very, very plum job with an awesome political foundation in D.C. (her dream). They are paying to fly her down, paying to move her down and they want her ASAP. Since I apparently send out getting-a-new-fabulous-job vibes, I will now concentrate all of my attention toward Anne. (I don’t want you to have to marry for citizenship if he isn’t dreamy… 😉 )

Oh and Netflix arrived today… yay again. “L’Auberge Espagnole”—I know, I know, but I love this movie—and “The Last Kiss”… what can I say? I like foreign films and indies.

Hmmm… what else, what else.. oh yes, the outsider’s birthday present (the last part) arrived. And now the worst part of birthdays has begun… the damn waiting. I want to give it nooooooowwwwww. I love giving presents—natural high, kinda like flirting. 😉

Sadly, the guest is having a bad day… so besos y abraza mi hermano. Prometo mejores dias para venir.

There’s something weird about Tuesdays. It’s not Monday, so no end-of-the-weekend blues. It’s not Wednesday, so there’s no thank-god-the-week-is-halfway-over sighs. It’s not Thursday or Friday, the days-that-aren’t-really-meant-for-work… just weekend planning. No, it’s Tuesday.

In my world, we publish on Tuesday. Basically, this means that Tuesdays are comprised of several stressful and highly-charged hours. Typically that also means the coworker and I have a fabulous late lunch.. with liquor. Sadly, she was still sick today, so no wonderful lunch… just an obnoxious day.

EXCEPT… there is a shining light on Tuesdays. iTunes adds new music.. yay, yay, yay! And I just spent some cash… and found a new group that I like: Phoenix. Very good stuff.

Other New Stuff (because my iTunes Library isn’t big enough at 3,321 songs…yowza):

• Frou Frou’s new altar ego Imogen Heap’s CD is only available in the UK, but there was a new single “Hide and Seek.” It’s rocking my world right now.
• Phoenix.. a band from France. A couple of interesting songs.. kinda rockish. It’s working for me.
• The Cast of Rent just put out “Seasons of Love”—It’s a great song. Y’know the one, goes like… “525,600 minutes..etc…how do you measure a year”
• The free track of the week is Daniel Powter.. he’s Canadian, song title is “Bad Day.” Reminds me of.. I don’t know. But it’s good.
• Oh, and Nickel Creek did an iTunes session. Love them.. they’re folk and bluegrass and very, very talented.

Sadly, the songs/artists I look for every time still aren’t up. Songs are… Aimee Mann’s version of “Shed a Little Light,” Alison Krauss and Sting doing “You Will Be My Ain True Love,” Bap Kennedy’s “Moonlight Kiss” and Eva Cassidy’s “Songbird.” Artists include Sia (Australian) and Corneille (France.. thanks Anne!). Then there is the ridiculously long list of entire CDs that I want—Peter Mulvey (several of his actually), Josh Ritter, Nick Drake, the new Lori McKenna and the new The Ben Taylor Band.

I might have a song addiction problem. Hmmm.

Oh well. It won’t kill me.

OK, moving this up from the comments because a) I love them and want to share, and b) I already uploaded them to the server (all that work, they need to be heard).

I love, love Missy Higgins! All for Believing and Any Day Now are two of my absolute favorites.

For the rest of you who don’t know who we are talking about, listen:

All for Believing, by Missy Higgins
Any Day Now, by Missy Higgins

And Misplacedpom if you like Missy, then you might like Eastmountainsouth: So Are You to Me and You Dance.

And definitely Abra Moore: Family Affair.

And Rachel Yamagata: I’ll Find a Way.

And Amos Lee: Speed the Sound of Loneliness.

It started at 3 PM… and I just got home. These people absolutely know how to party. Kinda makes you concerned that they are in charge of your care, eh? Yeah.

Oh well. There were three offers of breakfast 😉 and one offered to give me children.. lol. I might be a little, wee bit of a flirt. Ahem… hehehe. There’s nothing like a party full of guys hitting on you (unbelievably obviously, I might add) to make the work week fade right away. 🙂

Sometimes life can kick you in the ass. You’re having a good day, or you had a good weekend, and then the shit hits the fan and badaboom.. there you go.

My boss? Crazy. Other people? Crazy.

And I am trying to not let this get me down.

So I will now show some pics of the good times from the weekend…

There were excellent meals.

Made by the three of us.

Then we went to a beautiful beach

Followed by the giant martini glass filled with the good stuff.

And it is these pictures that remind me that life, with all its ups and downs, is still good.

More to come, I promise… but right now it’s the guest’s last night and we are going to start the drinking fest. After a full day at the beach—where all of us got a little too much sun, lol—we have now reconvened at the insider apartment for drinking and games.

Off to make a martini! Ta ta..

Here’s the thing about weekends. As children, we learn that weekends equal freedom from school, i.e., weekends are gold. No alarm clocks, no rules and no bedtimes—as we age, that also includes no rules about liquor consumption.

What am I babbling about, you ask? There was mad drinking last night people, mad drinking. I have a giant martini glass a friend of mine gave me as a gift, and it was put to good use last night. Parrot Bay Coconut Rum and Coke—a lovely drink.

Of course, that was prefaced by numerous martinis, double vodkas and rum and cokes… lol.

This is the first weekend get-together for the Insider’s View of Life blogging team—the friend who came in last night is the guest, here from Minnesota, visiting the outsider and I.

The pictures are going to be a riot, as we three went camera-happy with two cameras… and did I mention the massive quantity of alcohol consumed?

There was a Starbucks run this morning.. and the guest made omelets. (Excellent ones I might add!)

Shall we auction him off? Highest bidder wins a weekend with the guest…. 😉

That’s all I wanted to say. A friend of ours is coming this weekend, so the outsider and I are eagerly waiting for 5:30 to roll around.. 🙂

We three are going to mad party, so there shall be very entertaining pictures up here on Monday!

There is truly no greater invention than the air conditioner.

See, I’ve thought about this for the past two days, as my apartment is now a comfortable 68 degrees.. sigh. (My landlord.. the greatest man on the planet—he came and installed it while I was at work yesterday.)

But I have compiled the following list of the other great inventions… feel free to add to it.

Toilet paper—seriously, need I say more?
Lighters—I can’t light a match to save my life, forget about building one with flint and whatever the hell else you are supposed to use.
Laptops—Joy. Unmitigated joy.
Tampons—sorry guys, but it’s so true.
Takeout—I’ve been unpacking for four days, nothing is being cooked.
Cable TV—I’ve been unpacking for FOUR days…
Blogs—I love blogging.
Gas Power—I have a hot shower now, AND my stove works—bonus!
Dental Floss—Nime chow gets in the crevices, which is highly annoying.
Nail Files—Somebody tell me, what did they do before these?
RSS Feeds—love, love, love.
Printing Press—I love books.
Shoes—Dansko’s.. if you don’t own a pair, you should. These are the greatest shoes on earth.
Starbucks—Howard Schultz is a brilliant, wonderful man.
Microwaves—and with that in mind, frozen dinners and frozen waffles.
Coffee Makers—electronic wonders that make my day.
ChapStick—I could not live without it.
Remote Controls—for anything, air conditioners, TVs, radios…
iPods—and Bang and Olufsen headphones… they get me through the day.
iTunes—instant music at my fingertips.. joy.
CoverUp—lol, another girl thing.
Deodorant—I seriously wish the movers had used some.
Underwire—ladies, you know what I’m saying.

Alright, that’s all I’ve got right now.. any suggestions?