TEHYF Tuesdays: Do I look like a pushover? Don't answer that.

Theeeeey're  back!

• My mom has decided to use me to get re-aquainted with "the one who got away," and if you don't know what I'm talking about then you really ought to be following my Twitter. If you like me in 2,000 characters you'll love me in 140 (or less).

• YouTube and I decided it was best if we started seeing other people for a while. It was becoming an unhealthy relationship. I won't say that I felt like I was giving it my all and getting nothing in return, because it was the opposite - I didn't think I was bringing enough to the table. I was learning how to cook and style my hair, doing 8-minute-abs and I contributed nothing back.

• In other news, me and the New Girl have started seeing each other and I am smitten.

• Certain stores (you know the kind) in my neck of the woods have been trying to pull one over on me. I know I needed a job, like, yesterday, but can you really expect me to work full time 7 days a week? That don't sound right. What are we selling? Crack-cocaine?

• Speaking of crack, I've finally started to get over my irrational fear of strangers. I still think like 97% of people either want to rape or stab you, but living in the "city" is loosening me up a bit. I think that flamboyant crack fiend complimenting me in the subway this past Saturday helped.

• Rosh Hashanah is coming up which means my obligatory Jewish holiday dinner with J's family is also coming up. To say I'm excited for home-cooked food prepared my qualified home cookers is an understatement.

• I also finally figured out how to use my iPhone's iBrain's Maps as a compass correctly so now I don't have to walk 3 blocks in the wrong direction for an interview anymore.

17-year-old Carry meets 22-year-old Carry

For all of you who are mathematically challenged (like I am) that's a 5 year difference. Duh.

This time five years ago I had been a college freshman for a few weeks and I'll be honest, I wasn't sure of myself. I wasn't sure how I would assimilate into that University, especially since I was very much a "people pleaser" - I wanted to get along with everyone, I wanted to do everything, and I wanted to make sure I did all of that without failing out or compromising myself. But although there were times when I got stressed or overwhelmed in school, I never once wanted to rush out of there. I knew that my college years would be the best years of my life, and they have been. So far.

Me at 17 with my lovely braces on the left, 21 on the right. I miss the burgundy-ish hair. Can't lie.

And now here I am, 22-years-old with a brother who just started college and siblings not far behind and I can't help but feel like there's a brand spankin' new chapter of my life unfolding. Everyone warns you about how much "the real world" isn't a joke. No one's going to hold your hand - you either sink or you swim. Now I don't want to say that I'm beyond that advice (y'all know I was nervous), but what if you prepped yourself so much for what was going to come that you're not experiencing any culture shock? I wouldn't say I have a full-proof plan, but I'm feeling good about things to come. I've learned (and continue to learn) that I cannot and will not please everyone. . .I just have to do what's right for me. And right now what's right for me is to compare my 17-year-old goals to my 22-year-old ones.

At 17 in 5 years I wanted to:

• Get a new network of non-high school friends by the time I graduated. Check!

• Get a license. Eh. . .not so much. And now basically living in the city hasn't helped with that. But it WILL happen!

• Meet someone I love spending time with, can be myself with, and won't make me want to attempt homicide. Check!

• Study abroad. This hasn't happened yet but I can go abroad without "studying" there.

• Graduate college with honors. Check! Ideally, I was supposed to graduate into a job. Let's give this a half-check.

And now, at 22 in 5 years (hellooooo, 27) I want to:

• Visit Europe at least once.

• Finally have my tattoo *cough*andthatlicense*cough*.

• Be set in my career, whatever that might be.

• Hopefully about to start a family with  a bunch of little CarryMels and Js. I'm not big on kids (no secret), but I feel like I might like my own.

• Be a certified Zumba instructor - everyone laughs at me when I say this but I am so serious. It's something I enjoy doing! 

I kept the list short and sweet, but there's a lot more I want to do in 5 years. I think constantly keeping sight of your goals helps a lot with making them realities, but I also think leaving a little mystery and not stressing them is what makes the ride more enjoyable.

What about you guys? What's one thing you really want to see yourself do in 5 years?

PS - I've been slackin' on my mackin' by not being consistent with my Tell 'em how you feel Tuesdays but I'm going to get that back up and running. I'm also thinking of doing something like a "Featured Follower" every week or so to help cross promote other blogs. Gotta plan that out. Oh! And I want a site button :], but I need help making one, lol.

Thrift Store Pen Pals Review: My first Vlog!

Imagine my surprise to come home after an extended weekend and find this waiting for me on my bed.

Photo taken with my iPhone 3Gs. Sorry for the crappy quality.

Okay, I wasn't surprised, per se. . I knew something was coming, but my point is everyone loves packages. Even if you know what's inside it. This time, however, I didn't know what to expect.

Since I was lucky enough to be randomly selected by Woody to participate in Thrift Store Pen Pals, I decided to make a video all about it. I could have done a blog post with a ton of pics, but I really wanted a video and to be difficult. So ta-da!





I ramble for a bit, so skip to 1:24 for the actual review, haha. Also - I apologize for the sizing issue of the video. Blogger put me through Hell trying to upload this and have it look nice.

Things I hate to love about J

As promised, here's a post about the mystery man to most of you (unless you know me in real life. Then you hear about him 24/7).

What better way to get to know him than to get to know him like I know him? :]

Things I hate to love about J

 This picture of him makes me laugh every time I see it. And if he doesn't like it, he shouldn't have it on Facebook. I'm just sayin'.

How he feels compelled to shower every morning, even if he showered the night before and did nothing but sleep and wake up. Somehow showering energizes him. I couldn’t fathom this until one day I told him not to shower because we were in a rush. I watched as in a mere 20 minutes his body literally shut down and wasn’t revived until water touched his skin. It was remarkable.

His refusal to eat collard greens even though he knows damn well that I caught him eating them at a restaurant. Apparently what he meant to say is he didn’t eat my family’s collard greens. Oh, okay.

How eerily similar our grandmothers are. They look nothing alike but my grandmother is the Jamaican-Methodist-shopaholic equivalent to his cute, Jewish, always-wearing-pink grandmother. It’s very interesting to see how two women who have never met can have such a similar impact on their first grandchildren’s lives. There are times when his grandmother talks and I swear it’s like my grandmother possessed her body. Grandma, is that you?

How he loves me in sweatpants, hair tied, chillin’ with no make-up on. Or in my case - pink super woman pajamas, glasses, and a headscarf. I hate when he invites people in with me looking like I just woke up, but he doesn’t think it’s a big deal because "I’m beautiful no matter what" – yadda, yadda, yadda. I’m no stranger to Vicki’s Secret when I need to be but he has seen me looking craaaaazy and I’ll admit to that. My whole thing is – as long as it’s not a habit, let me live. Thank you. And he does.

Him taking up SO MUCH space in bed. This isn’t the biggest deal because I like that he’s 6’3, but there are times when I forget that he’s a person with feelings and I want to fight him and throw him overboard. Somebody’s gotta go. . .

His Football Sundays. HUSH! I want no backlash for this. Everyone knows that Sundays are reserved for WE Weddings, The Kardashians and True Blood! But even though I’ve always been one of those girls who likes the team whose uniforms are the prettiest (as in, with the least color clashing), I appreciate him for being so determined to keep this tradition alive with his friends and brothers. I even learned a thing or two about how great of a game football is, and he trained me to recite Mark Sanchez as my favorite player on the Jets – but I will always be a Giants girl thanks to my dad.

You need this in your life

Check me out with two blog posts in one week! I'm proud of myself, even if you guys aren't impressed because you do it all the time.

Since you know I've been having an ample amount of free time on my hands, I decided to let you in on a couple of random things that made me smile this week, and will probably make your Sunday better.

Where my first checks will be going

(after the less fun but more crucial things like student loans, groceries, bills are paid for):

I stalked yelp.com for found this cute little vintage store up the block selling a bunch of things I'd love to have in my life.

It's an envelope and a laptop case. It's an enve-case! I feel like this is so clever, even though I have a perfectly good PINK laptop case already. Whatever.

This exists! A tree branch iPod music thingamabob for those times when everyone wants to listen to the  iPod/iPad at once. Sure, you could just take the headphones out, but this is exponentially cooler. And $10.



Cupcake-shaped chalkboard. I know it's probably for children ages 5-7, but I'd get crazy if I had this in my kitchen.

Divorce is not a laughing matter, but if it was, this is how I feel it should be portrayed:
(Thanks to Xay over at Que The Lights for sharing this video)

I thought it was hysterical, and while it would certainly help his chances in that competition for you to view it/call the hotline, I promise I'm posting it because I genuinely thought it was funny. But again, it wouldn't hurt for you to view it *hint, hint*.

"The Saddest Thing In Life Is Wasted Talent"

What a melancholy title, huh? Lol. Don't worry, I come with great-ish news.

I'm going to start off by saying I HAVE FINALLY MOVED. Everything is set up. I can actually sleep in the apartment without a nightlight on (that means I'm comfortable, folks). So that is what I have been spending all of these days doing through a power outage, various days of applying to jobs and a couple of family outings.

I see that big things have happened - like blogger finally getting it's life in order and giving itself a makeover. I still don't really have any idea how to find your sites through this new navigation but I'm sure it'll happen sooner or later.

I've been spending my days cleaning and cooking, so yes, I'm getting the wifey points up. I even entertained this past weekend! I started fantasizing about possibly being a housewife and leaving the money making to my man since I'm getting so good at these domestic duties, but then I remembered that I need to have the money to buy my own shoes and Sims games.

Fun fact - My first "real" job at 16 was at Walgreens where, I promise you, I got it so I could save up for all of the Sims 2 expansion packs. I got all of them and almost quit after I made enough money. Are you judging?

True Blood is an episode away from going away for a whole year and it. is. killing. me.

Special shout out to all of you who tweeted, messaged, email'd  me, sent smoke signals, etc., trying to see if I survived the hurricane and was ever going to blog again. So, um,  I did. Yay! More consistent posts to come!