Happy hour, hot babes and humidity

While hanging out here in Florida, I feel like I’ve been quite productive. Yes, the days have consisted of napping, hanging by the pool and beach and spending time with these pups

but I feel like I’ve gotten a lot done besides that.

I found the local YMCA branch in Boca Raton and dropped in the other day to see if I could work out there. I asked my local branch if they knew the rules when visiting Y’s in other cities and they said it’s at the discretion of the specific branch. So when I went to the branch here, I was pleasantly surprised when they told me I could visit 14 times in one month! woot woot! The place may smell like old people and they don’t have the latest machines like my Y in Charlotte but it is definitely useable. I went the past two days and had some decent workouts.

And holy hot babes at the Boca YMCA batman! I don’t know what these men do for a living but they are gorgeous—kind of like a toned down version of Jersey Shore-current and in 30 years. These men are out of control hot so it’s awesome to have some eye candy while working out.

The dbag wearing a wool hat to the YMCA when it’s 90 degrees outside? Dude, stop trying to be Colin Ferrell.

My mom really doesn’t cook that much anymore and my parents are always going out to eat. I am usually fine with dining on someone else’s dime however I do not want to be going out to eat every single meal since that just spells trouble. I told them instead of going out for every meal, let’s do one meal of lunch or dinner at home then go out to eat for the other. This has been working well except for the fact that my parents keep trying to get me drunk.

Don’t worry, they aren’t trying to take advantage of me anything. Or maybe they are trying to get me drunk so they can steal my car and my dog. Add the fact that I am unemployed to that and I’m a country song!

Ok, maybe not so much but Florida has happy hour specials whereas North Carolina doesn’t. So that means that here they do BOGO drinks from 4 to 7pm or whatever hours they do happy hour.  My parents keep pushing me to get a drink when I go out in a very ABC afterschool special kind of way. They don’t tell me that all the cool kids are having drinks but they are a step away from it. So, with that, more Blue Moons that normal have been consumed.

We went to The Quarterdeck on Tuesday night since we had a coupon for a free half rack of ribs

Yep, frugality runs in the family

We went in and sat in the bar area however once I sat down and saw the sketchers sitting at the bar, I asked the parentals if we could sit outside. I’m all for people watching however these guys were giving me the heebie jeebies! One of them had an eye patch on. I’ve never met a normal person with an eye patch so there has to be a story there, one guy was taking up three seats at the bar and looked like he brought his own pillow to sleep there and the others looked like they just got their sweet freedom from the Broward County Pen.

I ordered the fish and chips with a side of two Blue Moons.

When the fish and chips came out, I was stoked. Nothing like some fish and chips, especially when you’re near the beach but to put it nicely…..it sucked. I don’t know if the cod was past it’s hey day or what but it didn’t taste fresh and squeezing a few lemons and dousing it in tartar sauce didn’t even help. If I ever go back, I will stick to their conch fritters as I have in the past.

I met up with some of my sorority sisters on Wednesday for lunch at Rocco’s Tacos. Even though I went to college in WV, a few of them moved to FL after college and have been here ever since. I love getting to visit family and friends while I drop by.

Seeing friends and eating Mexican food? Count me in! My parents told me their guacamole was out of this world and they make it tableside for you. When we sat down, I was secretly hoping that we would order it and my friends told me we had to get an order. Success!

I could have ordered a bowl of the guacamole and been happy. Seeing that it was $12, it could have been a meal itself! Instead, I went with the blackened mahi taco platter with rice and salad.

The mahi was fresh and flavorful so I was happy with the 180 degree change of fish from the other night. However, instead of little pieces of mahi, they give you one huge chunk so it’s not as messy as potentially could be. A good time had by all though, it’s crazy to think that I’ve known these girls for over 10 years.

Other random things?

*I am totally down for being a Cicada bug. I think I could sleep for 13 years!

*I have a new love and it goes by the name of Temptations by Jello Strawberry Cheesecake

Yes, it may be gone after only three bites but it’s absolutely delish!

*I’m started to develop an unhealthy habit for Dunkin Donuts.

I went to three different DD’s within a 24 hour time span.This can’t be a good thing for anyone.

*I had Cool Whip for breakfast the other day. But then the adult in me spoke out and told me not to have Cool Whip…..put some fruit under it to get my produce in!

*Ross sells Philosophy for only eight bones!

*I thought Charlotte had bad humidity. I was wrong. I forgot how bad it is here and am finally just starting to dry off after being inside for 20 minutes. Gross.

*And how is Charlotte out of eggplants when Florida is selling them for $.99? Why is the Sunshine State hogging all the eggplants?

*The Coconut Mocha frappuccino is a gift from the gods. I really didn’t need to know that something so delicious existed but oh well, at least I got it half priced.

What’s your favorite frappuccino?

Do your high school or college friends live in your hometown? A lot of my high school friends still live there but since I went to college 18 hours away, not too many of my college friends?

Proud Tiffany

For the past week I’ve been humming or singing the line “Left a good job in the city” from Proud Mary (The Tina Turner one of course, not the CCR one. Speaking of which, whats Tina Turner been up to these days?)  I would say it’s an appropriate song to have in my head since I did have a good job in the city and as you know, I left it.  I threw deuces at corporate America and just left…..and it feels good.

My last day at work was actually a good day. I didn’t get any going away cakes or lunch from my co-workers but I did get three free drinks from Starbucks.

I had to say goodbye to my Starbucks crew since I won’t be going Uptown anymore. Pay for parking? Hell no. I will just learn to love the Starbucks crew at the one near my house. It took me awhile to get in good with the baristas at the one in my building so now I am going to have to work double time to establish report in two months. Time to bring out the witty remarks and quips!

I stopped by my hippies to say goodbye to them and collect some produce for the weekend.

But turns out they set up at different farmers markets in the area so I will get to see them again! That’s what I call winning!

I got some free samples from the Trident girls working the corner at the intersection my office is located

I came back to find a note from one of my coworkers on my whiteboard

Teardrop. I’m really going to miss my co-workers.

Then I was instantly inspired on where to go for lunch—sushi of course! I went by myself since everyone seemed to be really busy (I guess with me not having work to do, forgot what that was like?) I went to RuSan’s for their $9.99 sushi buffet. RuSan’s is questionable, so much that one of my friends calls their sushi McSushi since it all seems to be fried and all the sushi chefs are from south of the border. When I walked in, the place was bumping for lunch time and knew I made the right selection of where to go. For $9.99, I could get a couple of plates and have a sushi food baby sitting in my tummy.

And sit in my belly it did. And now in a “I think I have food poisoning” kind of way but more so in a satisfied way. It’s a great place to stop by if you’re looking for a quick fix.  I sat around the rest of the afternoon going for walks and reading at my desk. My manager was in a meeting so I couldn’t just scoot. I had to set up my voicemail and give him my badge so I wouldn’t have access to my building further. Because if I could go anywhere in the world, it would be work, not Europe.

Sigh, look at that 25-year-old girl with such hope and aspiration.

Then the fun began! And by that I mean happy hour! Well, after work drinks since happy hour in North Carolina is illegal. Instead of limiting it to a few hours in the afternoon, NC is baller and allows all day drink specials. So I say blame the government if people are drunk all day! 

I need some crackers with my cheese

I declined on the car bombs

PBR ring

 Good times had by all! I can’t believe it’s over though. I keep wondering what’s going to happen on Monday–am I going to wake up early like I always do and get ready for work until I realize that there is no work? Then when we were out last night, it dawned on me I’m employed–eeks! I haven’t been unemployed since I was 25 so this is going to be a major adjustment for me and have to brush up on my interviewing skills. It was difficult saying good-bye to people though and some even snuck out without saying bye–what’s up with that?? It’s my party and you will say good-bye when I tell you to, thank you. I started to get teary eyed when telling people how much I would miss them and how I wasn’t going to see them again at the office. Every emotion was coming out, it was ridiculous. I just hope this leap of faith I’m taking works out in my favor because even though I know this is what’s best for me right now, I go back and forth when it comes to confidence in myself. It has to work out, right?

After all those drinks last night, I’m feeling quite ripe. I got home went to bed and then woke up at 3A and been up ever since. I don’t know why I didn’t get a nap in this afternoon but I just wasn’t tired so I’m waiting to fall asleep as I’m typing.

Do you socialize with your co-workers outside of work or do you keep things professional?