My Life, As Told Between (Baby Cakes') Naps

The armchair I bought yesterday arrived at my office today and is sitting next to the cute little table I also purchased yesterday.  I now have a reading nook.  It is warm and cozy and everything a law firm office probably shouldn’t be.  It certainly doesn’t send the message of Big Mean Litigator (of course, being 5’2″ and sounding somewhat like a valley girl doesn’t help).  In a moment of insanity, I also contemplated getting a stuffed teddy bear to occupy the armchair, but then I thought better of it.  I’d like to be taken seriously as an attorney.  A stuffed dog would clearly be much more professional. 

Went hiking this weekend.  Because of the rain earlier in the week, I was knee-deep in mud for most of the hike.  (I feel safe in making this statement only because the friend I went hiking with virtually never reads this blog and will therefore not be able to quibble about whether the mud was knee-deep or, say, barely enough to get my shoes slightly dirty.)

As for the rest of the weekend:  Tried to see a movie.  Unsuccessfully.  Bought the black purse I’ve been wanting forever (will graciously spare you the details about my beautiful new purse).  Made turkey chili, one of the few things I make well.  Bought office furniture (see first paragraph).  Went to a cardio kickboxing class at my new gym.  Did some weights.  By the way, never follow up an hour long kickboxing class and a weights session with a three and a half hour hike.  I realized when I woke up Sunday morning that it’s all too easy to take simple things, like being able to move ones limbs, for granted.

(*Yawn*) 

Okay, even I’m getting bored of this entry.  I’ll stop now.  Night all.  (*Wanders off*)

First day of work was good.  Everyone seems really nice.  Went to a fancy legal aid fundraiser dinner at the last minute, completely underdressed.  May have been the youngest person in the room. Met some really nice people, checked out my office (bigger then my old one, but bad view), and got our blackberries.  They’re the newest ones and are actually black, as opposed to the older blue ones.  And there’s a color screen!  Nifty.  Also, we have casual Fridays.

Yesterday was spent battling a bout of food poisoning.  Feeling much better today.  In a rare moment of extreme optimism, I’m going to head over to the gym across the street and join any minute now.  My collarbone made a reappearance last week, which has inspired me to keep up the diet and exercise.  My friend’s visit this weekend derailed that a bit, but I’m working to get back on track.  Maybe having to pay every month will inspire me to work out on those mornings when I just can’t seem to get out of bed.  Or maybe it will be an extravagant waste of money, seeing as to how I often can’t seem to make it to the gym downstairs in my own building.  We’ll see. 

I start my new job tomorrow. 

One of my best friends came to visit this weekend, so it was spent shopping, drinking, dancing, eating, and recuperating from one of the most stressful weeks of my life to date.  Although having to go clubbing two days in a row was also rather stressful.  Especially when it involves trying to coordinate 30 people on a Saturday night, coming from all corners of the earth (or at least LA), only to find out at the last minute that the club where we were all supposed to meet was closed, thus entailing the making of last minute plans as everyone was en route to the closed club.  A million frantic phone calls later, we all ended up at another LA club, which essentially turned out to be a guest list only venue.  Award for most appalling comment I heard all night goes to the guy who was trying to convince the bouncer to let a big group of his friends in by reassuring the bouncer that “We have a lot of hot women with us and only one fat one.”  Ouch.     

So as some of you already know, I resigned on Friday.  The partners I’ve been working with left for another firm, for a variety of reasons, and gave their entire team the option to come with them.  We all went because they really care about their associates, which (and those of you who work for big firms know this) is pretty rare.  In fact, they volunteered to have lunch with the parents of one of the other junior associates to reassure them about their daughter’s decision.  Yup, you read that right. 

In any case, for those of you who have yet to experience it, resigning is stressful.  Deciding to resign is stressful.  Packing up the office is stressful.  Saying good-bye and trying to leave on a good note is stressful.  Inevitably burning bridges behind you is stressful.  

Be prepared for a host of new complaints in the upcoming months! =)   

Just got back from work.  Yes, my life is sad.  It’s three am and I can’t sleep, even though I have to be back at the office in about three hours.  It’s been a long and stressful day, with an emergency project due and a lot of major changes happening in the office.  I’ll post a more detailed update later this week concerning my efforts to navigate what is turning out to be a political minefield…     

No, seriously.  Why do people keep trying to make me sing?  After dinner yesterday, I was dragged to a small karaoke bar.  There were maybe twenty-five people there.  Keifer Sutherland was one of them.  Weird.  Someone (not Keifer Sutherland) complimented my cleavage.  Anyone who has ever seen me will understand why this is possibly even weirder.

Also attended a great cocktail party in downtown LA Saturday.  The hostess, HB, had amazing appetizers and even better friends in attendance.  I ended up, as is my wont lately, discussing the half ton man.  In exchange, or perhaps retaliation, one of the guests told me an extremely disturbing story involving a heavily overweight woman, folds of fat, and a dead kitten.  (Mental note:  Stop talking about the half ton man.)  The highlight of the party may have been my being drafted into the Cupcake Brigade.  I’m told it’s a great honor.  Thank you, General C.  =) 

In any case, the party renewed my interest in throwing the housewarming party I’ve been talking about since October.  As long as HB caters the party, my friend ML organizes it, and my roommate cleans up afterwards, this party may actually happen.  Maybe in June…

Went hiking with a friend on the Mishe Mokwa Trail in Malibu today.  It was a beautiful day and a terrific one to spend outdoors.  So much better then working.  I need more three day weekends.  

Work has been crazy.  Nothing new to report.  Just wanted to let you all know I’m still alive.

The diet’s going well.  I snagged a new diet buddy (Hi DB!) this week.  We’ve implemented an incentive program, complete with spreadsheets and goal dates.

The electricity in my apartment has been flickering on and off all weekend, presumably due to the storm that’s wrecking havoc in LA.  The old Jewish woman who lives down the hall from me dropped by yesterday, during a period in which the electricity was working, to ask for help in resetting the clocks in her apartment.  I think she wanted the company more than the help, since the clocks were bound to flicker off again anyways.  In the fifteen minutes I was there, she managed to tell me about the family, and the baby, she had lost in the holocaust and the husband she had lost to old age.  Her entire apartment was a shrine to her former life, with faded pictures of her and her husband scattered throughout.  I tried to stay and talk to her as long as I could, but soon the walls started to feel like they were closing in on me and I just had to escape.  It was a sad and sobering reminder of what it must be like to grow old in America.  I hope I work up the nerve to visit her again.  I’d like to, but I’m not sure I’m that brave.     

Aside from no hot water and all the food in the fridge going bad, my roommate and I have been forced to entertain ourselves by telling stories and “using our imaginations” this weekend.  Apparently, neither of us have much of one, so we ended up discussing our current topic of obsession – the half ton man.  I don’t know why I find him so riveting.  I think it’s because he makes me reconsider the limits of the human body.  Or that, even tipping the scales at 1,000+ pounds, he’s been married for over nine years.  The idea of a Mrs. Half Ton Man is mystifying to me.       

Forced to go karaokeing last night for a friend’s birthday.  Painful.  Why do people keep trying to make me sing? 

Ran into someone from HLS at a bar in Santa Monica last night.  I think I may have done a comic double take.  That’s the third HLS person I’ve run into since I’ve been in LA (the other two were at Ikea and the airport).  We were both so shocked, we didn’t even pretend to do the obligatory number exchange and false promise to meet up for coffee.  Oddly enough, even though I’ve seen all these people at totally different places in the city, it turns out they all live within a couple of miles of my apartment.  Small world.

I’ve been inundated with emails this week.  Which is great (because, as y’all know, I love emails), except that most of the emails were from female friends who were perturbed by an article I sent concerning a study on the relationship between marriage and IQs.  In my opinion, the most salient statistic is the study’s finding that there’s a 35% increase in the likelihood of marriage for each 16-point rise in IQ for boys, whereas for girls, there’s a 40% drop for each 16-point increase (and no, I couldn’t get ahold of the actual study so I’m not sure how these statistics are calculated).  I had thought it was interesting, but I apparently ruined a few people’s weeks and started several other people on a downward spiral of self-analysis and doubt.  I’ve already sent out my round of apologetic emails, so I’ll skip that in this post.  However, I thought I would share the best response I received, which was that “at least on days when you’re feeling stupid at work and completely incapable of doing the task you’ve just been assigned, you can take comfort in the fact that maybe you are marriagable after all.”  So on that note, I’m off to work!  Happy Friday all!  

Oh, and for any guys reading this, I promise more guy-friendly subjects next week.  Unfortunately, I have no idea what those subject would be, so if you have any suggestions, shoot me an email.  Otherwise, you may be subjected to a post about the new black purse I’m planning to buy and whether I should also buy a gold clutch to match the gold shoes I rarely wear (in part because I don’t have a gold clutch – such a consumer catch-22). 

One more thing – my diet is going really well, thank you for asking.  Went running this morning despite the storm!  Yes, my gym is indoors.  Whatever.  Anyways, also read a cute quote on dieting/excercise today:  “I’m desperately trying to get to the weight I was when I thought I was fat.”

Dude, I love these things.  A friend just pointed them out to me.  Everyone’s getting one for Christmas next year.  Please act appropriately surprised.

My roommate has requested that I write an entry about her eggs (I think it may have been a joke, but she should know better around me).  She’s been mentioning them a lot recently.  Something about only being fertile for so long, wanting babies, blah, blah, blah.  I told another friend about it, expecting a little sympathy for my plight (after all, I’m the one who has to hear about it all the time), only to be shocked when the aforementioned friend confessed she’d also been worrying about it.  She then proceeded to rub her side and coo, “Don’t die little eggs.  Don’t die.”  She had just turned twenty-five a few days ago.  It was really funny at the time.  Now it just sounds a little creepy.

I worry about a lot of things, my horrible haircut being at the top of the list at the moment, but hadn’t even thought to worry about this.  Apparently I should be.  Yikes.  Okay, I’m now officially and totally freaked out.  When did I get to the stage where all of my friends are worried about their fertility?  And how do I get out of this hell dimension?!  HELP!  S.O.S.!  Someone?  Anyone?

Saw this movie a couple of days ago and really enjoyed it.  I laughed, I cried.  I don’t have anything particularly deep to say about it (yes, yes, you all are shocked, I know), although I practically had to tape my roommate’s mouth shut to prevent her from ruining it with a social critique.  She managed to squeak “Orientalism” before I could complete the job however.  I’m going to have to be quicker next time.

BTW, comments feature is finally working. 

Went to what I thought would be a rather low key wig party.  Yes, for some reason my friend thought it would be fun if everyone was forced to wear a wig to the event – who knew she’d be right? It turned out to be a lot wilder then I anticipated.  I feel I’ve lost a bit of my innocence last night just by being there. 

The highlight of the year so far though may have been arriving home at 7am, to be greeted with an email by a good friend from law school that simply said, “sfucking drunk.”  I love that he was too drunk to properly type “so fucking drunk,” but could function enough to get to the computer and contact his best friends.  Classic.  (CM, that’s sfucking cool.)  

What a great start to the new year! =)