DATE NIGHT OMG and other updates

So, tonight I finally had date #2 with Fun Guy. It was, as promised by his moniker, fun. I had as good a time as I did on the first date, which, given most second dates, was remarkable. My one hang-up is that I'm just not sure I'm attracted to him, like, at all. It's not that he's unattractive, he just reminds me a LOT of my brother, but (and I mean this in the nicest way possible) more effeminate. So, brotherly and not super-manly. Not the most potent combo. That being said, it's only been two dates, so I am going to go out with him again (likely to a movie next weekend) and we'll see how that goes...

In life, I've finally come out of the closet to my boss and all my coworkers about (gasp!) applying to two new roles outside my current job - both of which are in MTV/SF! I had a long talk with my mom this evening after my date about the whole thing. We talked about NY and SF and how my overall health, well being, and happiness have been in both cities. Objectively, we couldn't avoid the truth: in SF, I was healthier and had a wider, more diverse friend group. I met more guys in an organic (read: not online dating) way, and the commute, while shitty, was not as problematic as a.) my job content at the time, and b.) my roommates at the time - the two factors that truly made me miserable there. My goal now is, regardless of my city of residence, to have my own place within the next 3-6 months, and to have a job I enjoy somewhat (and which doesn't involve the endless stress of clients yelling at you for stupid perf shit that is entirely out of your control). Looking at the choices at my company, the roles I've found in SF are perfect - and there are simply not really any NY-based roles available. A year ago, I wouldn't have been qualified for them, but now I have the experience and confidence to perform them well as well as the SENIORITY to actually be considered - shocking, I know! In other words, I'm excited, though nothing's been decided yet. I still am trying to enjoy the moment per my earlier post this week, but I have to say having some change to look forward to is nice.

My one potential loss is being near to my immediate family and friends here on the east coast should I move :( The good news is, though, that I make more $$ than I did 3 years ago, so somewhat frequent travel is much more do-able now than it was before, which is nice. Also, my brother is likely remaining in CA after graduation, and my uncle and his family are there, so it's not like I don't have family there, too.

The upshot is, despite a couple of bouts of an extremely upset stomach (story of my damned life), it's a good week. To keep the karma going, I'm now going to go listen to some nature sounds. YES, NATURE SOUNDS. Deal with it. And enjoy the picture.

<3 <3

Soooooo, how're things?

Oh, hey you guys! How are you doing? Yeah, I know you haven't seen me in a while. NO ONE'S SEEN ME*. I have no real excuse for not posting except that--

a.) I am not famous or important or rebelling against a Middle Eastern dictator, so, like, who was gonna be reading it anyways?

b.) Awards season

c.) There have been a lot of pop songs released recently, y'all. That's, like, a million hours I have to spend bopping around my apartment and running errands while listening to "Born this Way" and "TTWE" on constant repeat on my iPod every week. Huge responsibility, I know, but someone has to do it.

d.) I am lazy

So, updates...life is ok. Indian Doctor Girl and Indian Engineer Roommate found out that they will be spending the next three years in San Francisco (!) so, yeah, all you SF residents can stop your gloating aaaaaaany time now. I'm really going to miss them both, but who knows...maybe I will end up in SF sometime in the near-ish future? ;) There are certainly more roles available there than in New York at work!

Speaking of my job, things are about the same as usual - "meh." The dreaded performance review period (*shudder*) is upon us again, which is always hell, but I'll get through it. This is actually the first cycle in a long time when I don't have to run 3 or 4 sessions - only 2 this round, which is a huge relief. There's something to be said for being slightly more advanced in the org and having dedicated clients, I guess. My Tokyo work trip was canceled for obvious reasons, so now my training program is sending a bunch of us to the U.K. the first week of May, which should be interesting. There's actually going to be a lot of travel coming up in the next couple of months, both work- and life-related...don't be surprised if you get random pings/calls from me when I'm in your city :)

I sort of dropped the 30-day reset, but I am going to take it up again, but not here on my blog. I'm pretty sure I don't want all 2.5 people who've ever read this to see some of that stuff. In all seriousness, however, I do think that part of the reason I stopped posting for a bit is because all that introspection was getting a little heavy and I didn't want to really share it here, which I'd pledged to do. So my decision is to keep going, but I won't use this space to talk about it. I think I'll feel safer that way, because it was honestly getting to the point where I was almost having a little anxiety attack each time I thought about posting. Once I made the decision not to do the reset here, though, the block lifted. Also might have something to do with Miss Cleopatra Jones's awesome blogging of late serving as my inspiration, however.

Outside of work, things have been nuts - Indian Doctor Girl had her penultimate rotation here in NYC last month and I feel like almost every night was a party lol. Thank goodness I had my personal trainer; otherwise I would have gained 15 pounds from alcohol alone! As it was, I remained stable in terms of weight, but I do feel SO much better, endurance- and strength-wise. I can also see some progress in my arms and legs - they're more toned and slimmer, thank goodness. This month I want to punch up my healthy eating and get my weight down - the wedding in May is getting closer every day and now that I have my saris in my closet it's become painfully clear that my stomach is going to have to be a focus point haha. Regardless, I am so happy with my decision to do training. It's a surefire way to ensure that I work out hard and on a regular basis. I really recommend it if you have a way to do it at all, even for a few sessions.

I've been on a couple of okCupid dates, one of which sucked hard and was super-awk, and the other of which was fun. However, Fun Guy has 2 flaws: 1.) he reminds me a little *too* much of my little brother, which is weird, and 2.) he hasn't called me back yet to set up our second date. Sooooo we'll see what happens there. In general, I've been thinking about it and while it's effective in terms of actually getting dates, I don't know if I love the online dating thing. The problem is, in a city as impersonal and huge as NYC, I really have no other way to meet anyone...but ugh it's just weird with the profile and the email messages and the whole thing. I don't know. If anyone has any suggestions for how to actually meet people in real life I am totally up for them.

Ok I've probably bored you to death, reader, so I'll leave you with this piece of advice: if you download ONE song from Britney's new album, download "Trouble for Me." So. Freaking. Good.

Peace :)

*Inside joke for those of you in a certain group in college. Apologies to all others.