waiting for magic...

Alright, alright, I know you were waiting with baited breath to find out what my happy news was. It has been a long time since I’ve done anything significant to my hair. I trimmed it a smidge before I started my job (all the way back in August), but since then, nada. The last drastic move I made was a few years ago when I dyed my hair red. I loved my red hair and I got a lot of positive comments on it. However, the red didn’t last very long (I was a redhead for a week, a strawberry blonde the next). I’d been thinking recently about doing something drastic with my hair (I was thinking very short…Miranda’s cut during season 6 of Sex and the City was my big inspiration) but I liked my long hair and I just never found the motivation.

After things ended with Eric, I was initially a little down about it, but then I realized how awesome I actually am (this is not a post of modesty, so those of you looking for it, let me show you the door). I also realized that the ends of my hair were incredibly dry. Don’t ask me why I had both of these revelations almost simultaneously. There is no reason or logic behind my nuttery. All last Tuesday night (or so it seemed), I dreamed about my hair. About doing something different with it. When I woke up in the morning I was a woman determined. A fresh start with my hair was just what I needed…something that I was doing just for me, for my own happiness and no one else’s.

Natalie has been heavily suggesting that I try her salon, and fortunately it’s in the Downtown Denver area (I already had a stylist I liked, but she lived far away and I’m all about spending as much time in my city as possible), about 5 minutes from my apartment. I called them up on Wednesday and they were able to fit me in for a cut and color later that evening! I tossed around a few ideas (about the only thing I was sure on was the length…cut the damaged stuff off, lots of layers, swoopy bangs, not too short), and I finally narrowed my hair color choices to either chocolate brown or blonde highlights (as good as I look as a redhead, I was hoping for something a little more permanent, and a little more…mine. Red just doesn’t feel like it belongs to me…hopefully that feeling will go away someday).

I arrived at the salon and realized that the highlights were the pansy approach and decided to go guns blazing…brunette. My stylist thought I would look good with some lighter brown highlights (I agreed). When she showed me the chocolate browns, I felt a little concerned because none of them looked rich enough…I guess I wanted something a little auburn. We decided to mix a slightly redder color in with the brown.

Voila! 2.5 hours later and I’m a saucy brunette/redhead who didn’t realize how Brook Shields her eyebrows had become (she had to dye them too so I didn’t look like a freak). Fortunately a little tweezing solve that problem. Check out my online album for more pictures.

Posted by Dana at 1:51 PM | Permalink | Comments

I've been in Baltimore for about 17 hours now and I'm so exhausted that it feels like I'm being tortured. You know the kind of exhaustion I'm talking about.

I didn't even find out about this trip until a week ago. My boss hunted me down in the lunch room (well me and the other marketing coordinator) and asked if one of us would like to go to Baltimore to attend a proposal seminar. Still being new to the profession (not to mention an education junkie), I jumped at the chance, especially when the other MC didn't seem to care either way. I thought about staying for more than a day, but was worried that I would end up exhausted and my weekend entirely spent.

The seminar was scheduled to be an 8-4 thing on Friday, so I scheduled a flight for Thursday afternoon. Although I wanted to fly out more in the evening (to get more work done during the day), I couldn't get a reasonably priced direct flight. My 2:20 flight still didn't land in Baltimore until 9:30. Leaving any later would have put me in way too late.

My Thursday started out pretty much the way any of my days have been starting out. I woke up at 3:30 a.m. (by far the earliest time my insomnia has assaulted me) and couldn't fall back asleep (helped partially by Gatsby, but I really can't give him too much credit. I've just got problems). I finally resigned myself to getting up at 4. I managed to work out and get a little cleaning done, not to mention getting ready (I did my hair and everything!), and still ended up at work an hour early. I had some good news to share at work (see my next blog post) so I was in a great mood, despite my very tirededness.

I left work at about 11 to go have lunch with my mom. She shuttled me to the airport. Yay! I wanted to be excited. Travel usually has that effect on me, but all I managed was a nap on both my flights, which were thankfully both on time (I love that that's such an oddity anymore that it shocks me). I got into Baltimore and realized a serious problem.

I love and hate google maps. I love its convenience, but I hate that I have grown to depend on it so that there are times I don't question its wisdom, despite the fact that I should. It told me a week ago that the Baltimore airport was just a hop skip and a jump away from my hotel and seminar. However, when I got to Baltimore, it was a slightly different story. A very nice man lent me his Maryland map and we poured over it looking for my necessary locations. Turns out my google "directions" were worthless and there was no way I was going to drive a rental car the 20 or so minutes through a foreign highway system and downtown...at night.

I took a cab. A $32 cab rid none the less. My cabbie couldn't find my hotel at first and when we finally pulled up to it I was pleasantly surprised. It was a lot nicer than I had been expecting. I got inside, waited for the desk lady to get off the phone, only to find out...I was at the wrong hotel. Right hotel line, wrong hotel. Fortunately, MY hotel was only a block away and the bellhop was kind enough to walk me to it. This was more my style (or at least price range). It was an old building that had gone slightly to seed, but it seemed like it had a few botched cosmetic surgeries over the years (the renovations inside my room didn't exactly mesh).

I was starving (at this point, it was 10:30 Baltimore time) and fortunately you could still order food in the hotel bar. I ordered a giant burger medium rare and for the first time in my life actually received a restaurant burger...medium rare. MR is how I take my steaks, but when I order burgers that way in a restaurant, they usually bring something with just a bit of pink in the middle (which I prefer, because this is ground random beef were talking about here). I had to send it back, and the chef came out to see what was the problem. He was pretty friendly when I explained that he was the first chef to cook my burger to MR specs (most restaurants don't do it because of the health issues, but I didn't point that out). After eating about half of my recooked burger, I admitted defeat (it was huge) and headed up to bed. Due to the combination of my naps earlier and the time change (it was only 9:00 in the CO), I didn't manage to fall asleep for quite a while.

The alarm going off at 6:00 a.m. was an unwelcome shock, but I rebelled by refusing to take a shower. Even though I wasn't due to be at the Engineer's club (the mansion hosting the seminar) until 8:00 and I was only a mile away, I left the hotel around 7:00 (on foot this time...to heck with taking a cab just around the city). I was feeling pretty smug, thinking I would stop by Kinkos to check-in for my flight and print off my boarding pass. Wrong! Of course Friday is the only work day that Kinkos doesn't open until 8. Boo. However, I did manage walk around historical downtown Baltimore for an hour, which despite my misgivings (Baltimore doesn't have the best crime record), was an awesome adventure. Lots of historical buildings, and the grey sky couldn't dampen my spirits. Also highly recommended: doing it all in heels. Despite my best efforts, my heel got caught in several grates and had to be freed.

The mansion itself was gorgeous. I have no pictures because I've been a horrible picture taker as of late (I know, it doesn't sound like me, but I just haven't had the inclination). Dark wood banisters, marble floors, conservatory, vaulted ceilings. Pretty much your run of the mill mansion (I'm an expert). The room the seminar was in was paneled in dark wood and dimly lit (imitation candlelight). Great for PowerPoint presentations. Bad for keeping Dana awake. I was so sleepy, but I didn't nod off once. The material was mildly interesting (some was interesting, some I already knew). The highlight was by far the plate of cookies that accompanied the lunch spread and I enjoyed a few sugar rushes.

I called a cab from the mansion and after a very frustrating conversation - the cabbie and I had a) completely different accents and b) cell phone reception issues - I managed to get a cab to pick me up after only 30 minutes. A $40 cab ride later (don't ask why it was more expensive than the first round) in the pouring rain found me safely to the airport. I breezed through security, feeling confident until I found out that my flight was delayed (mechanical difficulties). It seems every time I fly into O'Hare Airport, I have to do a mad dash through it's phalanges (and a dash it will be in that hell). Here's hoping my flight isn't delayed anymore and that I do make the connecting flight...

Update
OMG, happy news! I'm sitting in the boarding area when I'm called to the podium. This doesn't usually seem to bode good news, but when I get up there, she asks, since my flight is delayed, how would I feel about a direct flight back to Denver?! I practically leaped over the counter to hug her. Well, okay, maybe I just exclaimed loudly and promised her she made my day. This flight was apparently delayed as well. Although that means I'm stuck in this airport until 8:45, I get into Denver around 10:30. My dad will be thrilled and I don't have to do a marathon sprint through O'Hare (although I had already changed into my tennis shoes just in case).

Posted by Dana at 2:08 PM | Permalink | Comments

Well, it was fun while it lasted (mostly) but Eric and I are no longer seeing each other (he ended it). I'm bummed about it, but I think it's probably for the best. I was starting to feel insignificant to him, and that isn't really the direction I want to go when I'm seeing someone I like. I don't really have any more to say about this. I like putting happy things in my blog.

And the grass it was a ticking
And the sun was on the rise
I never felt so wicked
As when I willed our love to die

And I was your silver lining
As the story goes
I was your silver lining
But now I’m gold

Posted by Dana at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments

It seems as though the weekend is the thing to write about these days (well at least in my happy little world). I can’t really blog about work and the weekends are so awesome that I like spending time recounting them.

My Friday night started off at a bar for Boot Camp Happy Hour. Yes, sadly (or not sadly, I haven’t decided yet), boot camp is over. However an awesome highlight: we did testing during the first and last weeks of camp and guess who was most improved? That’s, right, yours truly! I celebrated my awesomeness with a few beers before meeting up with Eric. We walked over to the Denver Center for Performing Arts (a little village of buildings home to anything from ballet to opera to theater performances) for a showing of the play Our House. Although interesting, I found the message a little heavy-handed and the comedic parts too few and far between. After the theater, we grabbed some dinner at a funky little diner with tasty breakfast burritos (still walking) and awesome French toast (which I didn’t order, but had no problem mooching). The evening finished off with a walk back to the car. At this point my feet were dying in their heels so I took them off (I pretty much had to jog to keep my feet from resting on the pavement for too long).

On Saturday morning Eric and I headed to breakfast at the Bump and Grind Café for their Petticoat Bruncheon (the waiters dress in drag) before hopping on the freeway up to Fort Collins to visit…New Belgium Brewery. For those of you who don’t know New Belgium is a local Colorado brewery (perhaps its most famous) with delicious beer (I love the Fat Tire and the Mothership Wit, an all organic beer). Although we arrived too late for tour tickets, we did get to wander around and enjoy 4 free tasters. I left with a nice buzz (glad Dana the lightweight wasn’t driving) and some presents for myself (a shirt and some beer (duh!)).

I’m happy to report that using “city” as an adjective has finally caught on (as in my lovely phrase, “That’s so city!”). Sarah and I were driving around Denver on Sunday, looking for a place to park (we were going to go see a movie), when suddenly she exclaims, “I just had a city moment…with the tall buildings and the snow swirling and the cab right in front of us. So city!” It may have been so city, but I’m ready for winter to be over. We’ve had quite a few nicely tantalizing days, ones that beckon torturously, promising spring’s around the corner, before tossing me back into grey skies and snow flurries…I’m so spoiled.

After our movie, the sisters headed to the parents’ for more movie watching (I love lazy Sundays), chili relleno eating, and peach cobbler gobbling. I headed home around 9:00 and my weekend finished off with a visit from Eric and…more movie watching :)

Posted by Dana at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments

Ah, winter in Colorado. I can’t do enough to sing its praises. Those of you who’ve been with me for a while know that I wasn’t too keen on the Iowa winters. Cold, windy, and NO reprieve. Yesterday on my drive home from work Sydney (my car) informed me that it was 66 degrees outside. And it felt like it. I had my window rolled down, the sun was setting, absolutely gorgeous. Eric made me salmon for dinner and the windows in his house were wide open. We played some Wii sports (so addicting), walked to the convenience store for movie snacks, and fell asleep watching the Simpson’s Movie (in my defense, he fell asleep before I did).

This morning at 5 a.m. I walked out to my car to go to boot camp and found 2 inches of snow on it. I’ve cleaned off my car 3 times this morning. 1) going to boot camp 2) going home to shower after boot camp 3) going to work. The slopes are going to be crowded and powdery this weekend!

Posted by Dana at 8:44 AM | Permalink | Comments

Well dear readers, my weekend didn’t turn out nearly as bad/boring as my Friday post might have led you to believe. Eric came back into town at around 9 or 10 and we went out for late dinner at Jerusalem, a great Mediterranean restaurant in Denver. Eric has been living in Denver for pretty much his whole life so he knows a lot of tasty and interesting food places, which is good because with someone as indecisive as me, I need someone who can throw out suggestions like that.

On Saturday Shaw picked me up (because I was still sans car) and we grabbed brunch (mmm, breakfast burritos) and went shoe/glove shopping. He was looking for running shoes; I was looking for better ski gloves (ones with huge cuffs so my dainty little wrists don’t get cold). I finally got a call from the car place (actually, I harassed them a couple of times) and found out that I not only needed a new tire, but I also needed my alignment redone (and I’d just did that in January!). Oh well…that’ll teach me to attack a curb. Shaw was kind enough to drop me off at the car place and when I got home I parked a foot and half away from the curb (not kidding).

Eric came back from an exhausting day of skiing on Saturday night, so we stayed in and watched a movie. Although we’d talked about hitting the slopes on Sunday, he didn’t feel like making the drive again and I was fully amenable to sleeping in. After some breakfast at Handlebar (a bar 4 blocks from his house with yummy mimosas…hey, it was 5:00 somewhere), we did a little shopping (I finally got my settings corrected on iTunes on my new computer thanks to the geniuses at the Apple store), and finished off the afternoon with some Frisbee and catch in the park (turns out I don’t throw THAT bad and I blame the wind for a lot of things).

Since Sundays are often my days to hang out with Sar, I rushed home so we’d actually have time to do something. We ended up shopping at Whole Foods, making chili and cinnamon rolls back at my place (well I did most of it, but she did add a secret ingredient into the chili…cayenne pepper! We girls like it spicy), and finishing off the evening with Superbad (yeah, all you that told be before were right…hilarious! HI-LARIOUS).

A grand weekend all around, aside from the car troubles (thank goodness that didn’t happen during the week…again). Tonight I’m making dinner for Eric…hopefully I haven’t grossly over-exaggerated my cooking skills :)

Posted by Dana at 3:01 PM | Permalink | Comments

Today is Friday, one of my more favorite days of the week. I should be out and about, trolling around town, perhaps on a hot date. Instead, I’m at home in my apartment without a mode of transportation and my evening driving somewhere between here and Pueblo (about 2 hours away).

I left work around 3, giddy at the prospect of the weekend ahead of me; actually, I had a headache and felt a little ill, but I was still excited to go home. Visions of taking a nap danced in my head. As I was pulling up to my apartment, I nudged the curb with my tire. Those of you who have driven with me (at all) will know that I do on occasion attack poor defenseless curbs. But this was no ordinary curb, oh no. This curb attacked back. I got out of my car nonchalantly and heard the unmistakable hiss of air leaving the front passenger tire. Crap! (I’m pretty sure my expletive was a bit more colorful, you know, like “Shoot!” or “Oh drat!”)

Always the stubborn and resourceful gal, I called no one (never mind that Eric was on his way to Pueblo to help a friend move and Shaw was still at work). I calmly walked inside, put on more suitable clothes (no way was I going to attempt to change a tire in my high heels) and marched back out to Sydney (my Cougar). I pulled out the ingredients: tire iron, jack, spare tire. I popped the hubcap off. I placed the tire iron over the first lug nut. The foot-long tire iron I might add. I turned counterclockwise with all my might. Nothing happened (nothing other than my grunting and me imagining myself as Mr. T. “I piddy da fool who can’t break loose wheel lugs.” Turns out that fool is me). I stood on the darn lug nuts and…nada. No movement. Granted, I might have been more successful with a bigger/longer tire iron, but that was a moo point (you know, a cow’s opinion) seeing as how I wasn’t going to go driving to the nearest auto store to purchase one.

So, what did I do? I called a tow truck. I learned this lesson in December when I had a flat tire (during that venture my dad and I couldn’t get the lug nuts off, but we thought that was because they were rusted on…well they were…then). This was in the middle of a huge snowstorm and instead of wrestling with the car and further, we called a tow truck.

That magical solution seemed to work just fine for me tonight as well. They towed my car to the nearest tire place. Unfortunately, Firestone didn’t call me about it until around 6. Clearly they were not going to take a look at it tonight. The best I was going to get was for them to catch a looksey tomorrow a.m. So now I’m stuck at home with no Cougar and my Friday night plans (Eric) on his way back from Pueblo.

Blargh, Friday night boredom!

Posted by Dana at 7:58 PM | Permalink | Comments