I wasn't really that into you...really.

**Update**

I have now seen this movie a handfull of times, thanks to HBO and the fact that there was nothing but reruns on over the past month.

Here are my thoughts:

Overall, I did like it. I knew I would. There are some cute moments and I sure have known someone who reminded me of most of the characters.

This movie strengthened my dislike for both Kevin Connelly and Scarlet Johanssen. Kevin Connelly has always annoyed me on Entourage and he pretty much played the same unlucky in love schmuck in this movie as well. Scarlet Johanssen is just annoying period, and I hate her lips. At least they portrayed the fact that sometimes...just sometimes...chicks are not that into dudes either and dudes are annoying and don't get the picture.

It also however fueled my ever growing love for Gennifer Goodwin. Even though her character GiGi was the kind of girl you want to take into your arms and shake the shit out of while telling her to snap out of it, she was adorable none the less and I want to move into her apartment and steal her wardrobe.

I don't really know how the movie applies to the "lessons" of the book, because as I mentioned below, I would not touch that book with a ten foot pole. It was entertaining though, and I'm sure in years to come, when I see it on TNT or TBS on a Saturday I will end up watching the whole thing and not taking a shower until 4 o'clock in the afternoon. It's just that kind of flick.

I am sort of disappointed that I didn't hate it. I always wanted a reason to write an expose...

Original post from 2/3/09:

I have officially been courted, woo'd, and bedded by this "He's Just Not That Into You," movie. I can't believe it. I hate myself for it, but I can't, as in CAN. NOT. help but be drawn to it. The stupid commercials are funny and charming. There are very attractive young actors in it. The stupid songs in the commercials are good. My two favorite Jennifer (Gennifer)'s are in it. I actually want the soundtrack!!!!

Perhaps you don't get it. Maybe you don't understand. Well let me explain...

When this stupid book came out like 4 years ago, I saw the authors on the Oprah show and I was horrified at what they were preaching to American women. So much so that I actually ORDERED the transcript of the show because I was going to write this big ol' expose on why this book is a piece of shit and why women in America are way smarter than these people are making them out to be. I mean I realize there are some pretty dim broads out there, but these women in the audience were like crying and shit and this guy was seriously warning them not to "waste the pretty" because pretty soon they will be dried up old hags with no prospects and living with thier elderly grandmother and her seven cats.

I don't know exactly why it enraged me so, but it did. I think it's because I have never been an idiot woman, and I feel like this book--and of course Oprah--were making the female population out to be huge dummies. I don't know about any other women, but I have dated more guys who I just wasn't that into and who didn't get the picture either! I don't understand why it has to be Him who is not into Her. Men are not really that good at picking up signals either, believe me!

Well, I never wrote that expose, hell, I never even read the transcript. But, the one thing that held true for all these years was my hatred and disgust for this book, the authors--specifically Greg Behrendt, and lastly, for the fact that women need an effing book to actually TELL them that when a guy doesn't call them it's because he doesn't like them??? WTF else would it mean? I get it, it made for a great episode of Sex and the City, but that is a TV show!

So, after years of holding on to this bitter pill about this book and the ideas surrounding it, the movie comes along and makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I look forward to the next time I see it (or at least previews of it). My ears perk up when I hear a song from it's soundtrack. I'm like a love sick teenager.

Maybe I'm becoming soft in my old age, but I feel like I should give it a chance. If I hate it, I can always dig out that Oprah transcript and start my expose...better late than never right?

Where's my dinner, biotch?

"What do you want to eat for dinner?"
"I don't know, what do you want?"
"I don't care, whatever you want..."

An hour later...you are either eating take-out, again, or making some very unappealing meal out of whatever is left in the fridge.

Sound familiar?

I don't doubt that everyone has had this conversation and has wandered around the grocery store, dropping random things in your basket only to get home and realize you spent a lot of money on food and you have absolutely no plan for using it.

Pizza, again? Blarg.

After living together for a few years and experiencing this struggle with what to make for dinner EVERY night of the week, Sean sent me a link to a Lifehacker post about making a meal plan. We decided to go ahead and try the template from Unclutter and we've been using this method for just about a year. We started out using the exact template they created but over the year we have edited to fit our exact needs. You can see our template here.

In a nutshell, we make a menu of meals for two weeks, go shopping on Sunday or Monday and we get all the food we need to eat for those two weeks. Occasionally, we will make a trip to the store the next week to stock up on fresh produce. We keep a record of all the meals we make so that when planning the menu we have a running list of what we've had over the past few weeks and also we have a great list of ideas to choose from. There is a space for a shopping list on the side, so as you put the meal in, you can list the ingredients needed right away. We add anything else we need for lunches, snacks, household items ect., print off the list, head to the store and get our shopping done quickly, affordably and (usually) without any bickering over what we do and don't need. Now, if only that pesky produce boy would find another job and stop talking to us every time we are in Jewel...but that's a story for another day.

Now, while I am singing the praises of the menu, there are a few things to take into consideration.

Sometimes it's damn hard to think of what you want to eat for 14 days straight!
I would say I have a love/hate relationship with the menu. The minute the words "we need to make a menu" come out of Sean's mouth, my eyes start to roll back in my head, I slouch down in my seat, let out my signature groan and with the attitude of a thirteen year old girl, say "I don't care...just pick something." (I know, he IS a lucky man to have me). But, every time we finish the menu, I feel relieved that we have a plan and I'm glad we did it.

Nothing sounds remotely appetizing when you aren't hungry and you are looking at a list of meals in a spreadsheet.
You have to use your imagination and remember that next week when you come home from work starving, you really ARE going to want to eat Pad Thai. You may not have a taste for it now, but eventually you will want to eat it.

You have to keep things interesting.
Make sure you are putting meals on the menu that you are going to be excited about eating. In the interest of saving time and "just getting it over with," you may want to throw the meals on without any thought or plan. But, when the next week rolls around and you have both breaded chicken and breaded pork chops on the menu, you are going to want to barf and end up ordering a deep dish pizza instead. $25.00 later, you are on the couch in a shame spiral and you still have pork chops in the freezer and produce going bad on the counter.

What do you mean you don't want to eat sausages again?
I got two feet of this stuff in bulk!

Every few weeks, I go online and look up new recipes. I really like realsimple.com and the Food Network for finding easy to make meals or you can check out more homegrown sites such as No Take Out and The Kitchn to get inspired to make creative and impressive meals with easy to follow recipes. Make sure to peruse the grocery ads to see what's on sale, it might spark some ideas for meals and will help save you additional green.

Remember that sometimes, it is okay not to make dinner.
Don't get burnt out on the menu. If you decide to go out for dinner, it's okay to skip a meal but be smart about it. Some meals have ingredients that expire sooner than others, so if you need to skip a day, you might need to move the meals around in order to not waste ingredients.

While it does take thought, effort and planning in advance, the payoff in the end is well worth it! Coming home from work and being able to just make dinner right away without even an ounce of thought as to what the hell you are going to eat is a huge benefit. We've saved time and money and we no longer have to have the dreaded "What's for dinner?" conversation. Plus, miraculously, I actually enjoy cooking dinner now.

If this plan seems a little too stringent for you, you are in luck. There are lots of useful links on Lifehacker or you can find more ideas just by doing a simple google search. With all the meal planning Web sites out there, and templates for making menus, you can be sure to find the system that works best for you and you can stop eating the same five things every week.

Warm it up...

The holidays are over...everything is boring and ice cold from here on out. Or at least until April (at the earliest). The only good thing about the cold is getting to wear sweaters.

Currently, I am looking for a big, chunky, cream color sweater. And...I found the perfect one!

Not the perfect price though.

Look at the buttons!

Even with my $25.00 gift card, do I dare spend that much on this sweater? I do love it so. And I would get a lot of wear out of it...

In the mean time I went searching for some less expensive alternatives.

The gap has one...I don't necessarily love the ribbing on the sleeves though.

Meh...

There's this one from Urban that is cute. Doesn't look as warm, although the model looks like she is warm enough not to wear a top under it...

ooh la la

Nothing compares to my very favorite sweater. Sigh.

This is my year for sure...

Hello baby new year...what's that you have with you? Ah, I see...optimism, new starts, fresh expectations and a new set of 365 days to accompany them.

2009 was all about the wedding. Planning the wedding...having the wedding...recovering from the wedding...our honeymoon...and then came the holidays. It was a pretty awesome year and it went by really fast. It wasn't without it's stresses though. Both Sean and my dad got laid off. Sean was lucky enough to find a new job (or two) pretty quickly. My dad was not so lucky and still is looking for something new. I'm hoping that 2010 will bring those new opportunities to him and to other people who found themselves in the same boat this year. I also hope that at some point this year I might be faced with a new and improved employment situation for myself. I've been at my job for almost 4 years now and I often struggle with the fact that it's secure and pays well but I am so bored and I feel like I'm wasting away. I realize that opportunities don't often just show up on your door step, so I guess this leads me to my "to do" list for 2010. I don't like to make resolutions, but I think making a list of things I'd like to accomplish is a better idea.

1. As I mentioned above, I need to seek out a new and improved employment option. I don't really even know exactly what I want to do, but I know there has got to be something better out there!

2. Make improvements to our house in the kitchen, family room, and some various fixtures throughout. We've been here for 4 1/2 years now and with the way the market is currently, we will probably be here for a bit longer. I'd like to take the opportunity to make some enhancements to the house that will, by the time we do sell it, help it gain value. And at the same time make it a better living arrangement for us while we are still here.

3. Continue to knit and learn more advanced patterns and techniques. I really like knitting! It's become a fun hobby for me and it doesn't take up a lot of space at home. I'm going to start making a hat next week and I hope to learn more and more patterns this year!

4. Take a trip to the Pacific Northwest and down the California coast. This is the trip I most want to take this year. I've always wanted to go down the California coast and I've recently really become interested in the Pacific Northwest and I'd love to see Portland and Seattle.

5. Lose a few lbs and get back into the shape I was 4 or 5 years ago. I'm sick of not being able to fit into my pants. If I lost even 5 lbs and toned up, I would feel much better about myself.

6. Quit smoking for good. I don't smoke during the week, yet I can't seem to kick the weekend habit. It might take me the whole year to do, but I want to be totally smoke free by the end of 2010.

7. And I realize this is not 100 percent up to me (nature has to agree as well), but I'd like to start our family by the end of 2010 too...and by that I just mean to have a little bun in the oven by then.

8. The final thing is to start writing here again. I don't really have a fabulous idea for a blog, but for now I will just write what I want and see what happens.

So that's it. That's my wishlist for 2010. I hope this year brings everyone an easier time of it.

Cheers!

k.