So Greasy, But Oh-So-Happy

Normally, I like to avoid being greasy in life. General rule. However, if I'm greasy as a result of 60 full, fantastic, amazing minutes of someone else doing nothing other than rubbing down my entire body...I can get onboard with that. In fact, I kind of like it.

Over the past month I have developed a habit that is either wonderful or awful...and that is going to get regular massages. It's wonderful because they make me so happy, and so relaxed, and make me sleep better, and lots of general goodness. It's awful because it's a bit of a pricey habit...especially on weeks when I get really weak and go 2 or 3 times. That's absurd. I'm aware. But I can't help it! It's what I would assume getting addicted to drugs feels like...I just want more and more, and what used to satisfy me isn't enough anymore! (I haven't gotten to the point of getting 'the shakes' yet if I go too long without...but I'm terrified that it's right around the corner)

Here is the place I've been frequenting in Santa Monica:

Part of the grand problem? This awesome place is exactly 1.5 blocks from my apartment. Come on! It's right there and I have to look at it and pass it all the time. It's like a muse calling my name. I can't resist.

The funniest part of the addiction? As weirded out as I was when I had a man give me a massage there a month ago, I've actually come to enjoy having guys! I switch back and forth between guys and girls there, but I think guys might be where it's at. They generally have bigger and stronger hands, they go a little easier on the oil/lotion, and they don't really try to chat with you at all...they like quiet during it as much as I do...brilliant.

Since I'm moving away in one week, I don't have much time left to hit up the good old Massage Place. I probably have 2 visits left. I will make the most of them, and then I will walk away. But I will be looking for suggestions for massages in Chicago immediately...so if anyone has any good ones, please send them my way. I'm guessing addictions do, in fact, follow a person from state to state. So I'm just going to try to be ready.

An even better solution? If I could find a friend who gives as good of massages as I do (I'm surprisingly good at it!) and then we could be each other's clients. I will literally make a new friend solely for this purpose if I have to. I'm not above that.

This Could ONLY Happen to Me...

I just think it's way too often that my life feels like a sitcom.  Sometimes I can't believe the situations I find myself in.  I mean, you can't make this stuff up.  And, thankfully for all of you that get to hear about it, lunch hour today was no exception.

As my days are numbered here in Santa Monica (I'm not ready to talk about it), I am trying to do as many of the things I love, as much as possible, before I ship out next week. One of my favorites? Taking walks and/or runs along the beach, of course! It's just too easy, with the beach being 6 blocks from my apartment. Today I was feeling particularly ambitious, so I laced up for a legit run (extremely rare for me). I did a little warm-up, stretched out, and then hit the pavement/sand. It felt really good.

Almost too good. What do I mean by that? Oh, just that I got so lost in my run/playlist/beautiful surroundings....that I accidentally ran all the way to Marina del Rey. To some of you that might not seem like a big deal, but to a lame-o non-runner like me? HUGE deal! By my calculation (and MapQuest's best guess) that was a cool 6.4 miles. I usually run 2...maximum. So yes...I found myself in a bit of a pickle.

Just turn around and run back, you say? Yeah, that was my first thought too. However, by the time I realized how far I was from home, I was exhausted and seriously parched (no water bottle, of course). Crap. Now what? I start walking back towards home, feeling dejected and helpless...and apparently it was written all over my face...because lo and behold, a nice gentleman who happened to be walking by on the same path stopped to talk to me. Here's about how the conversation went (to the best of my recollection...I was kind of delirious by this point):

Guy (who I discovered to be named Adam) - "Nice day for a run, huh?"
Me - "Yeah...well, it was. I got a little too ambitious and now I have to get myself back home!"
Adam - "Where's home?"
Me - "Just up in Santa Monica, but at this point it seems really far away - bad planning on my part."
Adam - "I live in SM too! I'm actually heading back there now, if you want a ride? My car is just about 3 or 4 blocks away."
Me (in my head) - "No...bad idea...don't do it."
Me (mouth not listening to brain) - "Yes please!"
Adam - "Cool. That seems like a way better idea than walking or running back."
Me (in my head) - "What the heck is that supposed to mean?! You think I can't hack it?!"
Me (mouth speaking the truth) - "YUP."

So we proceed to walk to his car (a super sweet Jeep Wrangler with the top down) and get in. I don't know how he let me in there...I was a sweaty mess from my run. I suppose it didn't hurt that I had my tank top rolled all the way up and tucked into my sports bra, so he could see those washboard abs I have. NOT.

Anyway, we have a nice little ride back to Santa Monica, chatting the whole way. Turns out he lives just 10 blocks from me here and is in vet school (a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e). And how does he want to be repaid for saving my sorry butt from my ill-fated run? By taking ME out for drinks on Thursday. Seriously?! Am I on TV or something?!

Either way, it's the least I can do for my sweet rescuer, right? Oh yeah, I think so.

A Majestic Land

Alright...prepare to be jealous. I got to spend this work week in...Jackson, Michigan! Try to contain yourselves. Maybe someday you all can go there too.

Jackson is pretty small and quiet, and about 65 miles west of Detroit. There's not a LOT of stuff to do there, but the week managed to be AWESOME regardless! I got to spend the week with some of my absolute favorite coworkers there, so we had a blast. You could put us in the middle of the desert for a week and we'd make it fun. Probably the biggest reason I love my job so much. So what made the week so fun/interesting/entertaining/great? Let me tell you.

1. After the drive from Detroit to Jackson late on Monday night (I was the last to arrive, coming from LA), 3 of my guys were waiting for me in the lobby of our hotel! There's just something about walking in a Country Inn & Suites (oh yeah) and seeing faces you love, getting some huge hugs, and then hanging out until after midnight.

2. The clients I got to work with this week are spectacular! They are friendly, welcoming, funny, smart, focused...everything we could ask for. I was excited to go into work every, single day...even though I only got about 4 hours of sleep a night. That's saying a lot.

3. One night, during a huge storm, the 3 boys and I hung out in a hotel room, drank beer, and laughed our butts off...for lots of reasons, but in large part because we were acting out weirdo (but hilarious) comic strips for each other in teams of 2. If you think this sounds UN-entertaining, you need to try it before you knock it.

4. We ate lunch at a place called The Pickle Barrel. Nothing else to say. It's just pure deliciousness.

5. We survived the big earthquake together in our team room! So yeah, the earthquake actually happened in Virginia, but we seriously felt it pretty strong all the way in Michigan. The conversation was pretty much, "Who's shaking the table?" "Ok, stop shaking the table!" "Wait, what's going on?" "This is making me feel drunk." "Whoa."

6. Upon arrival back to my hotel room the day of the earthquake, I found my dresser drawers like this as a result:
7. But then that top drawer opened itself 2 more times during the week. So obviously we decided my room was haunted.

8. Dinner one night was dirty martinis and one pound of crab legs...perfection. Well, aside from the butter running down my arms, and my coworkers being purely entertained while watching me try to crack those suckers open. (Sorry JK, for squirting you in the eye with butter)

9. This isn't actually a good thing, but it's too annoying to not mention. Look at this picture that was hung over my bed:
Um....crooked, off-center picture = Lindsay's minor OCD kicks in. This bugged me allllll week. And I'm pretty sure it at least partially contributed to my lack of sleep this week! I almost just ripped it off the wall multiple times.

10. And the icing on the cake to the week? Getting to the airport early enough to share beers and nachos with one of my besties! Sad part? My flight was ontime...his ended up delayed over 2 hours...poor guy.

Aaaahhhhhhh, it feels good to have such a great week of work...well, work AND play. We always do both. And very well. And now I'm sitting on a plane (in 1st class, thankfully...it's a 4 and 1/2 hour flight), waiting to land at LAX airport for the very last time as a resident of Southern California. Wow...how crazy is that?! I'll probably be a little emotional upon leaving the airport. It's been a great home airport for me for the past year. Not sure if I'll see as many celebrities all the time at O'Hare or Midway...which is sad, because I love celebrities. But on the flip side, I'll have a way better chance of meeting Oprah by living in Chicago. Sweet.

Load 'Em Up!

I think many of you know by now, have guessed by now, have heard by now, or know me well enough to have read my mind by now...that...(drum roll, please)...I'm moving again!! Nope. Don't adjust your screen or book an appointment to see your eye doctor. You read that right. This girl is moving again. And could NOT be more excited about it. Seriously...not possible.

And also don't worry that your memory is failing you, as in "Gosh, I thought she just moved recently, but I must be forgetting or getting my years all mixed up." You are absolutely correct. If you remember, I started this whole blog when I was going through some big changes...biggest of which was that I was moving from North Carolina out to Southern California. Just because. And do you remember WHEN that was? If you said "about one year ago" then you are absolutely correct. It was about one year and 3 weeks ago when I posted for the first time, saying "I'm moving to LA." So I guess it's fitting that it's just past the one year anniversary of this thing when I'm saying almost the same thing...but different destination this time. Very different.

Where is the Lindsay-train off to next, you ask? Well, let me tell you. The next stop on this wild ride I call "life" is the home of deep dish pizza...the home of the world's largest public library (Hello? Who loves libraries more than me?!)...the host of more than 200 annual parades...the city whose first major civil disturbance was the Lager Beer Riot of 1855, in which citizens protested the Sunday closing of taverns and saloons (smart people)...and is Frank Sinatra's "kind of town." That's right. I'm off to CHICAGO!!! Windy City, baby. Here I come!!!!

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I'm moving there in 3 weeks. It's been sort of in the works for several months now, but the decision was just made less than 2 weeks ago. Instant gratification at its best, people! Chop, chop...let's get this show on the road.

Stay tuned for the insanity, and pure awesomeness, of the next 3 weeks.

Class Grade = A+

I got lucky, again!! Just had another awesome new hire class at work! Another group of fun, smart, goofy, entertaining, sweet newbies. I was sad to be leaving them at the end of the 4 weeks. I think we really bonded!

A couple of the highlights of my time with this group:

Hiking outing in Portland! Such beautiful landscape all over around there, and Multnomah Falls is no exception. Gorgeous. Here we are about to start the hike...thinking it's "not too bad":

Annnnnnd here we are at the top of the falls. The hike was much more intense than we were expecting (2 people didn't even make it to the top!), and we were super sweaty in this picture (but luckily you can't really tell):

And then, of course, a fun Thursday night out on the town in Portland is always in order! Here's me with the snazzy gang outside of Henry's 12th Street Tavern (one of my faves):

Amy happened to have this crazy headband in her purse that night. I, immediately upon seeing it, HAD to have it and wear it for the whole rest of the night:

This is Brandon. He was my sassy new guy...gotta love him though! But for this pic, I had to show him who was boss...clearly he's very worried about it...NOT:

These guys were so sweet, trying to buy me drinks all night! I ended up buying most of theirs though...they had worked hard for 4 weeks and earned them!
And THIS....this is me with JP. This girl is so amazing, I can't even put it into words. I've known her since the day of her first interview with the company. And we've been besties ever since. Love you, JP! You're the best-est!

Don't worry though....there was some learning mixed in with all the fun! Here I'm proudly displaying one of my new favorite books Working with Emotional Intelligence. We taught a module on it for the first time last week, and nailed it! Good stuff. I highly recommend this book...I love it, but even non-nerds would too:

Aaahhhhh...I've said it before and I'll say it again...I...love...my...job. It rocks.

Random Acts of Kindness

I have a huge smile on my face tonight for two reasons:

1. Had a faaaaabulous dinner in downtown Portland with JP - we meant to do some work while we were there...but gabbed the whole time instead. Great drinks, great food, great weather/outdoor table, great city...great decision, for sure!
2. A random act of kindness for me.

I love when people do little unexpected things that are super nice and totally unnecessary. One of the new hires in my class this week did one for me this evening. It was the cutest thing.

During class today, I quoted some episode of "The Simpsons," which led him to ask me if I was a big fan. To which I replied, "Yes!" He then asked me if I knew about a bunch of the street names in Portland (where we are this week) being picked because of the show. I said that I didn't, but that sounded cool. He said, "Oh yeah, it's pretty cool. There's a bunch of them." And then he tried to tell me about some of them, but I got distracted by someone else asking me a question. And then I forgot about the entire thing by about 36 seconds later, space-cadet style.

But what do I find in my inbox earlier this evening? An email from him about it. He had done a little research online, and found some fun info about the street names, and examples, and compiled it and sent it to me. Just because. What a cutie-pa-tootie! He SO didn't need to do that, but he did anyway. How thoughtful. I loved it. And it totally reminds me of why I try to do random nice things for people too...it feels so good to have someone do something like that for you. And I like to try to be the reason that people I care about feel the way I did tonight when I found that. It's the littlest things sometimes that make such a great impact, isn't it?

Take...a...hint....PLEASE

Seriously, I can't even believe this is happening. I am borderline being stalked, and am highly unamused by it.

I met this guy, Max, on a bar crawl several months ago - February or March, I think. He's a real cutie, we had a nice chat, and I gave him my number (which I tend to do too easily...and will obviously stop). But then he started texting me pretty much nonstop. "When can I see you?" "When can we meet up?" "Meet me at ______ on Sunday." Out of control.

But I felt bad for him at first, so I responded to some of them. And then I invited him to a group thing I went to at a bar once...in Culver City...assuming he would never come. Basically an un-vitation. But no...he showed up. And was bothering me all night. I was way less interested the second time I saw him, and I pretty much ignored him then all night. (Cold of me, I know) Literally, every time he walked up to me at that bar, I walked away. Pretty clear message, right? NOPE.

Since that night (over 4 months ago), he still texts me almost every 1-2 weeks, without fail. Asking how I am, what I'm up to, where I am, etc. I have not responded to a single one in those 4+ months, and yet he keeps up. It had been about a month since I had last heard from him this last time, so I thought MAYBE he had finally given up. But the he texted me this past Friday. I didn't respond. And now he texted me again tonight. I obviously didn't respond. Get a clue, buddy! It ain't happenin' - no chance.

I'm just praying he'll stop and move on...I don't want to have to change my phone number. Unless it's to a 1-900 number. Then at least I can make some money out of the annoyance?