shameless self-promotion

i have a confession.

i've been cheating on spinlizzy. with a new blog.

after a particularly rough week at work, i was blubbering to the boyfriend about how i didn't think i'd be able to stand the hours and the demand my career gives to me. he responded by asking what job would get me excited about working, and i repeated over and over 'i don't know.'

after a long pause to think about it, i told him that i needed a job that somehow blended my life's top loves: writing, shopping, sports -- particularly football, baseball and snow-skiing -- drinking coffee, eating and relaxing.

his response: "you're the modern girl. you can talk most guys under the table about sports but you still love to shop. you know how to balance your budget and pay a mortgage. you're conflicted when sportscenter and sex in the city are on at the same time. you should start a blog for people like you. maybe you can turn it into a magazine later."

well, unsure about the magazine part, but two days later i have a new blog up and running complete with fun design and funky widgets.

it's my new baby, my new project. it's going to be focused on sharing stuff related to what a Modern Gal, like myself, might be interested in.

here's the bad news. while i'm not getting rid of spin lizzy, i do imagine it will be neglected more and more as the weeks wear on. and face it, that may not be a bad thing. the interestingness of my life ebbs and flows, so i'll blog when i've got a funny story to tell, but won't force a post when i don't.

so in the mean time, catch me at my new blog.

did i mention i have a new blog?

p.s. PLEASE LEAVE ME SOME FEEDBACK EITHER HERE OR ON MY NEW BLOG. I CAN ONLY PLEASE YOU IF I KNOW WHAT YOU WANT. TO READ. WANT TO READ. AND I VERY MUCH WANT YOU TO READ.

what happened to the spin lizzy i used to know?

a: i'm right here. i've worked a ridiculous week and all free time is dedicated to sleep. hang tight.

take some action today!

i only just discovered it, but today is blog action day:
and in honor of the day that is, i share with you some of my favorite causes. i encourage you to check out at least one and consider adding it to your own list of faves. also, i'd love to hear about your favorite causes, cause i might just find i want to participate too!

1. the hunger site (in cahoots with the breast cancer/child health/literacy/rainforest/animal rescue sites): if you look at no other cause today, check out one of these sites. they make it amazingly easy to help out. all you have to do is click a button. that's it. in clicking you help provide food/mammograms/healthcare/books/protection/care. make it a part of your morning check e-mail, facebook, myspace routine. it takes 30 seconds.

2. the hands on network: ever feel like you should volunteer more? here's another organization that's all about making it easy, and it's got LOTS of local affiliates (atlanta, milwaukee, d.c., etc.). organizations that need volunteer manpower go to these networks, which in turn publicize the volunteer opportunities. you can volunteer as much or as little as you want, plus you can find opportunities that suit your causes or your schedule. i first got involved with hands on memphis as a high school student, but it was hands on nashville i turned to when i didn't know many people after moving to my current hometown. as a result, i've become a regular volunteer with the salvation army's soup truck, providing food at area homeless camps. it's been a real eye opener to in regards to poverty, hunger and homelessness (not to mention shattering a few stereotypes). i've also had the chance to continue my longtime volunteer work at the ronald mcdonald house.

3. the one campaign: one is all about fighting the issues that contribute to poverty, including hunger, disease and accessability to clean water and good education.

4. and for those of you who haven't figured it out, i'm an environmental nut. i'm all about going green. thinking about changing some light bulbs, carrying reusable grocery bags, putting an end to the buying prebottled water trend and parking the car to walk. for more tips, check out: environmental defense.

5. and a few that probably don't need explaining:
_ habitat for humanity
_ the red cross
_ united way
_ unicef

i challenge you to do one thing today, be it volunteer, make a donation or learn about a cause. and don't forget to share your causes here!

delurk, damnit!

ahem, i draw your attention to a button that's been located on my blog for a week:

i know it's dated for yesterday, but i was on the road yesterday and unable to remind you mofos to delurk.

so, i beseech you, do your delurking duty and start commenting. i know you're reading my blog. i see your presence on my hit counter. y'all used to be more chatty before i started posting more regularly. what gives?

am i boring you? is that it?

labor day laking

i should have mentioned i was going to the lake this weekend, but during the 25 hours preceeding my departure for the lake, i was working or sleeping. mostly working.

i apologize for the lack of blogging and information. i've only just now reduced my e-mail inbox to a managable size.

i shall fill you in tomorrow on everything that's going on, after i work and before i leave for my work travel o' the week.

until then, i'm getting a good night's snooze while lucydog is staying at the doggie hotel.

and for shades of blog posts to come, check out this fabulous not-so diety food website.

odds, ends

_ as i was paying bills and logging my expenditures into my budget, i noticed at the bottom of yesterday's kroger receipt that i've saved $120 with my kroger plus card this year. go me!
_ the blog redesign appears to be done, with the exception of a few compulsive tweaks here and there, maybe a change in the color. lemme know if you like it.

observations, oo la la

_ any establishment whose soul business purpose is to sell bagels should not be allowed to exist if it chooses not to be open on sunday mornings.
_ 1/2 normal amount of sleep = 2x annoyance by bratty teenyboppers.
_ IT'S RAINING!!!!!!! (halelujah, rejoice)
_ this is spin lizzy's 200th posting

observations du jour

_ so during my recent fixation with redoing my blog (still work in progress) and finishing harry potter off, i totally missed the fact that slave to target is back. woo hoo, welcome back!
_ missed calls from drunken boyfriend who is out with his friends tonight: 7:08 p.m., 8:33 p.m., 12:06 a.m., 12:50 a.m., 1:39 a.m.. i answered at 1:41 a.m. yep. definitely drunk.
_ quote o' the day from the book i'm currently reading, bitter is the new black, on pitbulls: "they aren't evil; they're just misunderstood." so true, so lucydog.

(she's yawning, not about to bite someone's head off)

ok, bedtime, really.

reinvention

realization #1 of the day:
it's f'ing hot

realization #2 of the day:
everyone is especially testy

correlation #1 of the day:
it's f'ing hot, therefore everyone is especially testy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

after spending the day of listening to my boss snap at the slightest disturbance and getting an earful out by the secretary of a mayor of one of the more pretentious towns in the state for merely suggesting that an elderly woman died from heat-related causes while gardening NEAR (not in) NEAR her precious town, i've spent the evening languishing on the couch in avoidance of the heat and reading a book about a girl who bitches all day about the idiots around her.

and, i've thought of these additional things:
3. i've been working out and running religiously for the past couple of weeks and i have not lost weight, but rather gained weight. and before you point out that muscle weighs more than fat, i shall point out that i don't feel any skinnier either.

4. my dog is crazy and needs her ears cleaned out

5. corn puffs probably aren't the best thing to have dinner. i should have tried to actually cook dinner, but it's too f'ing hot.

6. it's too f'ing hot to go out and exercise. this above-100-degrees thing has got to go.

7. i need to do something different with my blog.

don't ask me how i got from No. 3 to No. 7, but the point is i'm there and i'm (slightly) reinventing my blog. i think it first popped into my head as a tool for helping me to once and for all lose the 20 pounds i've been struggling to lose for the past year and a half. if i vent and/or brag on my blog i have a stronger method of accountability by including anyone who reads it in my weight loss efforts. sweet. but don't worry, this is not a weight loss-focused blog.

plus, lets face it, my blog in its former state was fairly boring. i got better feedback on my myspace rants likely because they were more intimate and more like me.

so, the result of my lame evening is hopefully a more interesting blog with more intimate ramblings about the insignificant-to-the-world (yet fucking important to me) struggles of a 20-something working gal living in the kinda big city. i'm sure there's not a single blog out there like it. ha. i'll still post some of the things i would have posted before, but i'll try to use more discretion in doing so.

i'd love to make you laugh a little bit, but i certainly won't gurantee it because i'm not so vain to believe i'm actually funny. but even more important to that, i hope to give you something to relate to.

feedback and suggestions much appreciated

oh, and P.S. i'm trying to find a blog design that reflects my blog's new personality, so forgive its current state of ugliness. it's going to have to do until i have some time to sit down and relearn me some html code. by the way, the template system on blogger is wieldy, annoying and f'ing sucks.