The Joys of Online Dating

My favorite email from online dating today:

"You have lips I could spend all day with."

Ick. I need a shower.

Delete.

You Want to Talk About Scary…. Try Rejection!

I can't let the month pass by without doing something scary.

So I joined Match.com.

Doesn't sound scary to you?  Oh trust me, it's scary.  Not only are there some MAJOR weirdos in the universe, but it's the idea of putting yourself out there and basically waiting to be judged.

I do this every day in my career, rejection is a part of sales.  And I take it in stride.  But they are rejecting my SERVICES, not me!  This whole online dating thing is totally different.

I've done it before actually, but I don't remember it being as frightening to me back then.  Maybe I had a false sense of security, maybe I felt cuter than I do now, I don't know.  Either way, I feel almost like I'm on pins and needles to see who will like me.

I chose some pictures that I think are my best - but do they?  I wrote a bio that I think makes me sound cute and witty - but do they?  And I don't think this is all an insecurity thing, I know my value and worth.  I think it's like jr. high, just waiting to see what boys will look your way.

But hey, I'm ready to start dating again, so I'm putting it out and we'll see what I get back.  Stay tuned for date recaps….assuming I get one!  :)

Memories Revisited

Is it a mistake to bring up old memories that were once painful?

What if they are no longer painful?  What if now it's just about remembering?

I did a little Facebook stalking this weekend and stumbled upon several old ghosts.  Some of it positive memories, but still memories associated with a difficult time in my life.  So that begs the question, is it a bad idea to go there?

There was a time when my past defined me.  I don't feel that's the case anymore, so with that comes a comfort in going to places I wouldn't have dared before.  And yet I wonder, is that false confidence?

Never Let Your Fear Define Your Fate

Five years ago I took a chance.

I took a job in an industry I knew nothing about, 35 miles from my comfort zone, a $20K pay cut and a big fat risk.  It was scary as hell.

And yet, here I stand. Every goal I set for myself, I met.  Every dream I had to get out of debt and make a life for myself, I tackled head on.  And today, I won our contest for most improved year over year!  BOOM!

Life is grand.  And I owe it all to an itty bitty little risk that led to a BIG reward!

Be brave.

Michael, Marc, Tory… The Gang's All Here!

For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea to go back and read my first blog from 2005-2010.  Wow.  I was a nut.

But it absolutely made my night to stumble across a post about my first designer bag (a fab 30th birthday gift from my sweet brother).  Some girls write about their first loves…I write about designer handbags.

Ah, the sweet, sweet life of a single gal.

A Fabulous New Year

It's a new year, which means a new blog.

It's been a long time since I've kept up with my blog or my writing.  I figure it's a new year, so I'll turn over a new leaf and go back to an old love…. writing.

I'm usually not big on New Years resolutions because I feel like more often than not it sets me up for failure.  But I'm thinking this year, I might just try something a little different.  Instead of the usuals (lose weight, exercise more, complain less, etc), I'm going to make one simple statement: be brave.

Eleanor  Roosevelt said, "Do one thing every day that scares you."  I don't know that I have 365 days of scary in me, but I'm going to see if I can at least come up with 12.  So starting today, I commit to try at least one thing per month that scares me.

I supposed a good place to start would be jumping back into my writing.  What scares me most about that, is failure. Failure to keep up with it. Failure to get people to read it.  Just the idea that I'll set out to do something great, and never really follow-through or achieve that.

Here are a few other nuggets I'm chewing on….

• Leave Fort Worth.
• Take a picture of myself in a bikini.
• Learn a language (that seems hard and time-consuming, y'all).
• Go on a date with someone that's not my type.
• Go to a bar by myself.
• Join a Meetup group.
• Write a book (or at least start one).
• Tell my dad to stop contacting me.
• Take a trip by myself.
• Find a new hobby.
• Go to a party by myself.
• Invest.
• Take a dance class.
• Go without the TV for an entire weekend.
• Try sushi.
• Introduce myself to a neighbor.
• Ask a stranger to dance.
• Tell someone how they changed my life.
• Let someone else pick something off my "scary" list and do it.
• Start running.
• Sing karaoke.
• Two words - bikini wax.
• Throw out old memories.
• Never say his name again.
• Do something in 
• Find a way to enjoy a bath.
• Go to a concert by myself.
• Let you ask me anything.
• Overcome my fear of failure.

That's all I can think of for now…. it's rather exhausting to be scared and yet excited about the possibilities all at once.

Here's to a new year and a NEW me.