Another year, another dolla, holla!

As most of you know, I turned 26 on Sunday and celebrated Saturday night in the best fashion I know how—food, laughter and booze with all my best friends. My birthday party this year really quite literally topped all the years gone past, in my opinion. I had the most fabulous night and want to sincerely thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for making my evening so special and starting my year off right. I woke up the next morning, glowing.

My birthday is my absolute favorite day of the year. It is the one day that I have the opportunity to see all my best friends, from many different groups, in one room. And, it is a celebration of my life! How can it get any better than that? Each year I try to host a party that is both enjoyable for me and the awesome friends who grace my life. This year, the destination was Solo Bar for a red-themed cocktail party. And yes. For those of you who know me well, you know that my outfit matched the bar, the table centerpieces, and most the drinks I was consuming that night. Does it get anymore Jeanna than a matchy-match party? (Yes. I am capable of admitting how ridiculous I can sometimes be.)

Solo is a fairly new bar on lower Queen Anne with an intimate atmosphere and a relatively inventive and inexpensive cocktail menu (everything ranges in prices from $6 to $7). Red curtains drape the windows, the room is filled with tall, modern tables, a couple couches and chairs, a large video screen in the back that plays old movies, drop lighting, local art on the walls and low-key Indie music from their Rhapsody music player. The bar owner roped off three-fourths of the bar for me, and I placed on each reserved table a stemless wine glasses from the dollar store, filled them with glass red rocks, one red Gerber daisy and a little sign, displaying the theme of my party: 26 and I Still Got It! (Courtesy of a joke phrase Larisa and I say all the time, for each year we get older.) The tables were adorned with my homemade, cheap centerpieces and strips of shiny red confetti. I paid for Solo to cater the party with a few cocktail trays—imported meats and cheeses, a Caprese salad tray with marinated beats and garlic spread, and open-faced quesadillas with marinated pork skewers. Finally, I decked myself out in a sparkly red cocktail dress and invited all the people in my life who are most important to me, including my parents who were the hit of the party. (And who met Baby Daddy for the first time that night. He totally passed the parent test AND the large social party test. Yes!)

Everyone showed up in their best-dressed outfits and the glasses of wine and Cosmos were free flowing. I have the most amazing friends, really. My parents were far impressed, as were the bar owners who said they were surprised with how nice all my friends were. I feel so lucky to start my 26th year as happy as I am. Thanks to all of you, again. I couldn’t be who I am without you.

P.S. Forty plus people at the party, and I seem to have the same eight people in all my pictures…figures. Send me your pics please, if you have some!

Currently Feeling: Like these 60 days seem to stretch forever ahead right now.
Currently Anticipating: Catching up on some home cleaning and organizing tonight.
Currently Reading: “My Sister’s Keeper” by Jodi Picoult.

Don’t be such a tease, ABC

Did anyone catch the premier of “Cashmere Mafia” on ABC last Sunday? I wouldn’t have glanced twice, or stayed up way past my Sunday bedtime, if I hadn’t of run across the large-and-in-
charge article in the Sunday Times. “New ‘Sex and the City’!” it boasted. SCREEECH. HAAAALT. New “Sex and the City”? Now you have my attention. After a little bit of research, it seems as if everyone this season is trying to replicate the women’s cult following seen with “Sex and the City.” Darren Star, the executive producer of SATC, is trying his hand a third time at creating an influential TV show. (Apparently, “The L Word” was his second attempt.) And, NBC will premiere their SATC-esque show in a month, “The Lipstick Jungle,” based on yet another novel by Candace Bushnell, the genius author who’s book started my increasing obsession with all-things SATC. Both shows feature four friends living in New York while balancing their high-power careers and men. Except this time, “Cashmere Mafia” and “The Lipstick Jungle” throw in the mommy factor. Will this be as relatable for young women and SATC has been?

After watching the first episode of “Cashmere Mafia,” I have to admit I’m not totally hooked. It felt sort of fake and forced. Even the theme music is practically the same! It was like it was trying to be the new “Sex and the City” a little too much. After a scene where the four ladies texted each other, “Usual place, 15 minutes,” the show and the women’s friendship seemed more contrived than the natural meeting up of my favorite SATC girls for breakfast or coffee at their café. And, I was less-than-impressed when one of the main characters (Lucy Liu! I’ll admit that’s kinda fun cause I like her!) beat out the love of her life and fiancé for a top position at her company, and then he left her. WHAT?! The whole “men need to be on top/the major breadwinner in a relationship” cliché of 1950 more than irked me. I’m a career woman! I think it’s appalling to think a guy would leave you just because you got the winning career move and he didn’t. Yikes.

Despite my lukewarm impression of the show, I’ll probably stick around for a few more episodes. Cause just the mere thought of a show coming close to the fuzzy feeling I get from watching SATC makes me frantic with excitement. It would be nice to have a reason to mix up watching SATC episodes for the 10th time through…

Currently Feeling: Annoyed. I would stab her in the eyeballs with my stilettos and rip out each of her eyelashes, one-by-one, if I could.
Currently Anticipating: A romantic dinner for two at Duke’s tonight. Their macadamia nut-encrusted halibut is DreAMy!
Currently Listening To: The Kings of Leon CDS James sent me all the way from London!

Breaking down my barrier, letting someone in

I’ve realized in the last two months that I forgot how incredibly nice it is to have someone to do nothing with. And it scares the bejesus out of me.

It has been so long since I’ve had a boyfriend (!!) that my prolonged single life allowed me to forget how great it is to have someone else to share days, hours and moments with. I think this is sort of survival mode for singles. We learn to do everything independently and be really, really happy with it. “I LUURV being single!!” we tell everybody. And there’s definitely some truth in it. But, during all those single moments, sometimes a little thought would creep into the back of my mind… “Man, it would be really, really nice to have someone to stay in and do nothing with tonight.” But, as a perpetual single, I pushed the thought aside and filled my quiet moments with books, bars, family, cats, music, friends, exercise, writing and a few short-lived men. And it’s been an incredibly satisfying and enlightening chunk of time.

But the last couple months, I’ve suddenly found someone who fills all my quiet moments. I’ve had someone to go to all those restaurants with that I’ve always wanted to try; to take the bus downtown and peruse through the Market; to stay in, getting silly off wine and watching trashy TV; to hold hands with around Greenlake; to snuggle with in bed till 2 in the afternoon; to plan dinners and evenings out with and to go anywhere, or do anything, and have the most amazing time because you’re together. Through this time, I’ve realized that I’ve held in a whole lot of love and affection for years that I’ve been dying to unleash. And it feels really, really amazing.

But I’m oh so scared that this feeling will take away my contentment with being alone. I’m scared that when he’s gone, or if things don’t work out, I’ll have remembered how great it is to have someone to care for, and who cares for you, and being single will suddenly lose the shine that it’s had for me in my 20s. I’m worried that while I’m potentially building a foundation for a new life with someone, I’m erasing a foundation of independence that it took years for me to build. It’s scary to feel like you’re letting go of a part of yourself and letting someone in. Breaking down that barrier. Hoping that if and when it’s over, you won’t have completely lost sight of who you are and how it’s okay to be alone.

Currently Feeling: Chunky and squishy. I really allowed myself to enjoy the holidays this year.
Currently Anticipating: Getting a call back for a second interview?
Currently Watching: My So Called Life on DVD.

I did it…2007 was a Year of Me

It is the beginning of 2008. The end of another year inevitably means that I begin reflecting on the past 365 days, how I spent them and what I accomplished. For me, 2007 has been a year of mixed reviews. I can say with some conviction that I am most proud of how emotionally stable this past year has been for me. During 2007, I really focused on what makes me happy and doing away with all that doesn’t.

If you remember from last year, this is what I posted for my New Year’s resolution in 2007:

I’m officially declaring that the year 2007 is for me. While reviewing my year, I couldn’t help but to think about all the bad dating situations and jerks I’ve been involved with in the past year. In 2007, I’m going to try my damndest to stay far away from that. Being alone is always better than being with someone who makes me unhappy.

It was a fairly broad and somewhat easy New Year’s resolution, but I stuck to it. How many people can say that? I made 2007 about me. I didn’t cry, feel depressed or let someone walk all over me. I focused on the activities and the people who make me smile. I didn’t enter every weekend and every bar, hoping to find my next great love. I took my energy off obsessing over finding a man, and put in into just having fun. I definitely spent energy on a few guys who ultimately didn’t work out, but I never lost site of what I wanted and who I thought I was. I didn’t let a guy’s opinion on me determine my self worth. I started to understand that I have a lot to offer someone else, and am pretty damn great. I feel like I gained—and maintained—a confidence in myself that I had yet to see in years gone past.

I am really fortunate to say that I feel like I’m definitely in a positive place while on the cusp of turning 26. I have a stable job, however boring it might be sometimes, and an apartment that I love in a pretty stellar location. There are moments when I get home, put on sweats, curl up on the couch in front of the TV or with a book—with Stella of course—and I am ridiculously satisfied and content. I have seen myself change this year from a person who previously couldn’t spend five minutes home alone without wanting to rip out my hair, teeth and eyeballs, and then head out on the town for six nights a week, to someone who is okay with being home most nights during the week and who really enjoys—and needs—alone time. I also feel that I’ve really blossomed into my career, and hobby, as a writer. I started writing for both Metroblogging Seattle and The Seattle P.I. in addition to continuing this little homespun project here. I have not only seen myself emotionally evolve this year, but professionally evolve too. I feel ready to channel myself into a great relationship and a great new career.

Which leads me to the mixed review portion of my reflection. While I feel stable in some parts of my life, I feel unstable and unsure in others. Most say this is the mantra of your 20s, so I suppose I’m just like everyone else. But, I’d like to make some significant changes this year. I sometimes wonder if I’ve spent my time out of college in the most productive manner. This year, I’d like to be more purposeful with my choices. I’d prefer not to float through my weeks, but to work hard to achieve the past vision that I saw for my life, and how I see it now for the future. As were beginning another year, and I’m nearing my 26th birthday, I’m focusing on professionally advancing my career, thinking about grad school and perhaps obtaining a new job that could eventually lead to a location change. Because I don’t want to wake up at 30 and wonder how and what I did with my 20s, I want to make 2008 the year I made a significant check next to one of those major life accomplishments.

So, a belated champagne toast to all of you my readers. I hope you’ve had a chance to reflect on the positives and the necessary changes in your lives. Here’s to another year. I have a feeling it’s going to be good. After all, I did find $100 on New Year’s Eve…how many years start out like that?

Currently Feeling: Wee bit nervous for my interview tomorrow.
Currently Anticipating: Closing my bedroom door, turning off my phone, and not communicating with anyone this evening. Don’t take it personal.
Currently Hating: My extreme lack of sleep and lack of personal space as of late.

20-Something’s 2007 Year in Review

AND, of course, the quintessential Year in Review:

Top Three Books I Read: “A Thousand Splendid Suns,” “The Things They Carried” and “The Twentieth Wife”
Favorite Movie: Superbad
Favorite New Band: LCD Soundsystem
Best New Restaurant I Discovered: Barolo and or Moxie
Most Frequented Happy Hour: The Melting Pot
New TV Show Addiction: Ugly Betty
Best Vacation: Oktoberfest in Leavenworth
Best Celebration: Jillian and Shannon’s weddings
Best Month: July
Biggest Purchase: An entire new shoe collection thanks to Endless.com
Biggest Money Blunder: Clogging the toilet at our apartment and paying $75 for a plumber just because I dropped my deodorant in it while drunk
Favorite You Tube Video: Miss Carolina’s retardness
Worst Fashion Trend: Celebrities sans underwear, high-waisted jeans and ballet flats (Ok I like those. I’m just jealous cause I’m too short and curvy to wear them)
Favorite New Fashion Trend: Embarrassingly, leggings with tunics
Biggest Party: Seafair!
Biggest Accomplishment: QUITING SMOKING!! I haven’t really told many people, but I’m 25 days into cold turkey and doing great!
Best New Activity: Kickball! I’m obsessed, and it even delivered a sweet make-out session with a hot boy!
Best Decision: Giving up my obsession with dating someone who looks good “on paper”