Adios to the OG's of Teen Mom

Tuesday night marked the series finale of the original Teen Mom. Yes, yes, I still watch Teen Mom on MTV. (Okay, okay, and Teen Mom 2). So what? It's awesome.  It sounds cliché but I have enjoyed watching these girls and their babies grow up right before us since they were on 16 and Pregnant. Farrah, Macy, Catelynn, and Amber have all had their ups and downs and the MTV cameras were there to catch most of them. And if the MTV cameras weren't there, usually the paparazzi cameras were and they were documented in the tabloids. Farrah with her new boobs, Macy and her on and off relationship with Kyle, Catelynn and Tyler's future wedding plans, and all of Amber's legal woes. (I'd say poor Amber, but I don't feel bad for her at all.)

Since these girls are pretty mainstream lately, most people have at least a little idea of who they are. They are on the cover of tabloids and probably will continue to be for a little while longer. It's amazing to me that four girls, who made irresponsible decisions as teens have become "famous" because of this. But I guess that's the monster that is reality TV in this century. At least their children are set-up with college funds from the money they make from the show. With all that being said, here are my thoughts on the four "OG's" of the Teen Mom empire.

Happy Anniversary to Me!

Thank you. Thank you. You are all too kind.

So today is the one year anniversary for Someone Will Appreciate!!! Can you believe it? Because I kind of can't. This was a project that I had been wanting to take on for a while and then just kind of started it on a whim not knowing if I'd have anything really interesting to say. But apparently I had a ton to say. 171 blog posts worth of stuff to say. Wow. Go me! Apparently I had lots of information and opinions to impart upon all of you. Topics ranging from guys to movies and TV to poop to fashion to just random things that happen to me in NYC or Chicago. It all became fair game for me to write about.

Since I have done this for a year and I love making lists, I thought I'd make a list of my top five posts of the year. These five posts are ones that meant the most to me, ones that I took the most pride in, or ones that I thought were pretty fantastic. (And let me tell you, it was hard to pick just five!) They also may mark something important that happened or affected me greatly. Obviously there are just so many great posts written since I have begun this journey, but If I had to pick my five faves, these would def be it. Go back and read them. You are sure to enjoy them a second time around.

Sizzlin' Summer TV

Summer TV programming is always fun. Your regular shows are on hiatus for the season and out filming for the new upcoming season which can sometimes be a bummer. However, there are a lot of re-runs on that can help you catch up on series you may have missed and want to give a try. Or watch shows you loved over again. I myself have now watched and the entire series of Laguna Beach on MTV retro mornings twice. Yes, twice. Don't judge. It's been awesome. And Style Network has just started airing Gossip Girl from the beginning on Wednesdays nights which I will obviously be watching. It's fun to watch those shows you haven't seen in ages begin all over again.

On top of my usual Teen Mom, Real Housewives of New York AND New Jersey, Real World and Bachelor Pad, (and let's be serious, sooo much more) there are some new summer shows that I have been tuned into on a weekly basis. They have kept my attention. None are serious dramas, but hey, its summer. Most are pretty thoughtless, and some might even call one or two of them "trashy," but I am an equal opportunist when it comes to my television viewing. I will give most shows a one or two episode trial before I drop them. Fortunately, the shows below made the cut for the summer. And hey, I wouldn't mind so much if they stuck around for a while longer.

"Feeding" into the cycle

It's not a secret I am always trying to lose weight. Or at least not gain anymore. Ever. It seems that the watching of my waistline never stops. This has been an ongoing issue since high school and I don't think its a fight I am going to win.  Even though I am not at a weight that I am happy with, I do however, consider myself to be very knowledgeable in the area of dieting, nutrition, and fitness because it has been such a big part of my life. It's always on my mind. It seems that 90% of my life is worrying about my workouts and my food. It's awfully tiring.

The diet industry continues to make millions and millions of dollars every year and its because of women like me. And even though I know this, I feed into to fad diets.  And fad diets really are just that: diets. They are not lifestyle changes. People will go on these diets, lose weight, and then once they stop, they gain it right back. When they do this, they either go back to the original diet or they try a new one. I know this from experience. A lot of experience. It's not something that I am proud of, but it is the truth. I wish I was someone that ate to live, but as it happens to be, I am someone that lives to eat. I love to eat. There I said it. Eating is fun. It can be sociable. And it's oftentimes delicious. Food can make me feel better and put a smile on my face. I am not ashamed to say so. However, sometimes its the over consumption of said food that then makes me feel even worse. It's a bad cycle to fall into.

My terrible, horrible, no good, very bad WEEK

I've had a pretty awesome summer this far. I have been healthy (Ulcerative Colitis is finally under control) and I have been having so much fun. Trying new things. Partying. Meeting lots of new people (hello gentlemen). Getting my tan on. However, last week was just awful. With a capital "A." I was Alexander, and it was my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad WEEK. After everything was going so well for so long, it was about time for that other shoe to drop, and I guess better now then two weeks from now when work starts up again. Blaaaah. My luck has already begun to change a bit this weekend and things are definitely start looking up. It has to. It needs to. 

I hate to think that I was so lucky to have things work in my favor for so long that something bad was bound to happen. That's no way to think through life, but that's how my brain works. I can only hope that because all these bad things happened within a one-week span, that will be the worst of it and things will continue to turn around for the better. So what happened in the last week that really dampened my spirits. (As I wrote this Friday night, things had not yet started to turn around. However, after I had originally written it, things began to get better as evidenced by my updates.) Well, here it goes...

What's In MY BAG?

Last week I wrote an blog post similar to an article that is published in US Weekly every week. This week I decide to be a biter and follow their cue again, but this time with their "What's in MY BAG?" article. This article asks a celebrity (in this case me, again) what is in their everyday purse. I'm sure its not what's in there every single day, but in general, what do they have in their bag on a normal basis?

I have many purses and rotate them pretty often. But there are quite a few things I transfer each time or have in each bag. But my main bag, my black tote is my everyday bag. So, what's in MY Marc Jacobs tote? So glad you asked.

Never leave home without them.  I always, always, always have Chapstick and my iPhone with me. The thought of not having my Chapstick medicated (light blue tube) just makes my lips dry. I am most def addicted to it. And my other semi-addiction is my phone, obvs. This is a big fat duh. I feel naked without it. I need to know numbers and dates. And have music if I am walking around or taking along train ride. Plus I have games too and a camera if I see something or someone I must take a pic of.

Yoga...its more than just the pants!

One of my goals this summer was to begin to take yoga. For both my physical and mental health, many of my family and friends, and even when I was in the hospital, my ER nurse suggested it. I mean, really, yoga couldn't really hurt me, but I really did want to get some benefits from it. I was hoping it would increase my flexibility, help with my upper body strength, lessen my anxiety and basically just mellow me out.

There were many reasons that I didn't do yoga before. I thought it would be too slow. Too boring. Not good enough of a workout. Too expensive. So many excuses. But this summer I vowed to give it a go because I thought I owed it to myself and my friends and family that really thought it would be beneficial to me.  Now that I have been doing yoga for a month now, there are quite a few things I appreciate it about it now.

Waiving those Red Flags

When you start dating someone, you are happy, giddy, and excited. You finally met someone you are interested in and may want them to become your official significant other. When you guys are together the first few times, you are the best "you" you can be, all while being yourself. You assume the same about him as well. You two want to get to know each other and show each other why you are so great and should be with each other. During this initial courting/dating period though, sometimes us ladies might ignore the "red flags" that guys might be throwing. These are things you notice in other people all the time, but the blinders might come on when you actually like someone.

It's good to be open-minded when you are first dating someone because you don't want to dismiss them for one little thing. But if that one little thing that is annoying/rude/irritating keeps happening, can you ignore it? If he does a bunch of different annoying/rude/irritating things that all keep adding up, can you just forget about them because you like him so much? I don't think so.  How many red flags are too many?

Songs of MY Summer

With about three weeks left of my summer, I am trying to take in as much as I can. So far this summer I have been going out a lot and running a lot. This means I have been hearing a lot of music. And when I hear good music, my head starts boppin', my shoulders start shruggin', and my booty starts shakin'. Sometimes I just can't fight it.

Most of the songs I have been listening too aren't exactly new, but more-so new to me. And so I have been listening to many of the same songs over and over again. It's a little bit of a problem, but I'll survive.  (I need to make up for lost time after all.) All the songs pretty much are of different genres so the list below might look a little strange if it was a playlist. But you know what, its my playlist and I can play whatever I please! The one thing that all these songs do have in common is that they are ridiculously catchy and awesome. Does a song really need anything more than that? I think not. So with all that being said, here are MY top 5 songs of the summer of 2012. Rock on.

1. Danza Kuduro- Don Omar Ft. Lucenzo. This is a song I have heard a few times before, usually from my students. I always liked it but didn't think anything of it because it was in Spanish and I couldn't really sing along. However, the beat is so awesome I finally asked them the name of the song and artist so I could download it and dance to it in the comfort of my own home. I don't know how people can stand still hearing this beat.

Olympic Fever

Myself, like many others the last week or so has been swept up in Olympic fever. I am embarrassed to say how much Olympics I have been watching. But I love it. I am in awe of so many of the Olympians. The time, the effort, the sacrifice they have given to compete in these games is just incredible. And many of them have such inspirational stories, some of them even overcoming adversity as well. And I'm sure we all know that when I see a personal profile or montage on NBC about their inspirational story, I cry like a baby. Typical.

And lets also not forget about all the eye candy at the games as well. Hello Ryan Lochte, Jeff Adrian, the many Men's water polo teams, The US basketball team (obvi!), Matt Anderson (US Men's volleyball) and the list certainly goes on. And on. (Seriously, click those links!!) (And while you're at it, this one too because it will give you a chuckle.)

25 Things You Don't Know About Me

Every Thursday I run to the mailbox to get my US Weekly. It's one of the best $52 I spend all year. It's a good magazine for someone like me that has ADD. The articles are pretty short and not too wordy (I am looking at you People!) so I can cruise through it without much thought and learn a ton. Usually by the time I get the magazine I know about 70% of what's in it (from the news and other blogs I read), but I still love reading it and catching up on all the new celeb gossip. I sometimes even get good book recommendations in there. Who would have thought?

Anyway, each week US has a featured "column" with a celebrity called "25 Things You Don't Know About Me" and the celeb goes ahead and lists 25 random fact about themselves. I always, always think to myself as I am reading this "What if US called me and asked me to do this? What would I write down?" Well, why should I wait for US when I have this great avenue to make this exact list? (And we all know how much I love lists!) The stuff I put on this list, some of you who know me well might already know, but others might learn something new about me.

Screw the Rules

One of the many shows that I watch is Bravo's Miss Advised. If you haven't seen or heard of this show, its about three women, who are "dating experts" yet are all single. They all give advice to other women all over the country from their respective roles (author, matchmaker, sex expert), yet don't seem to follow their own advice when it comes to guys and dating. So that's the role I am going to play today. I am the single 30-year-old woman giving dating advice. You know, because I am such a pro at landing a man. Work with me here.

Even though its 2012, there still seems to be these "rules" out there that both guys and girls think exist and have to be followed to gain a significant other. Well, guess what? They don't. If you like someone, freaking call them. If you have sex with someone on the first date, you are not a whore or a slut. Do what feels right. I mean, really, if you know who you are and what you want, then do what you need to do. Screw the rules.

The Summer of George

"I proclaim this...the Summer of George!" One of the most well-known Seinfeld moments in the show's run. And this summer is not the first time I have used this mantra for myself, and I am sure it won't be the last. But this summer I am taking it up a notch.  I not only have the whole summer off to do whatever I want, I have decided that I want to use this time to try new things and explore more options for myself. I want to rise to a higher level. This my friends, is going to be awesome. Obvi.

I am going to have my "Summer of George" by trying to new things and taking a few more risks that I wouldn't normally do. It's not anything too out of the ordinary, but for me, its something new and exciting that in the past I may have poo-poo'd or not even given a second thought to. Some of the things I have tried/am going to try are...

1) Yoga. I have been told by numerous people to try yoga. It would be good for both my mind and body. I have always been told that I need to mellow out and yoga would help me do that. I have been told it might help with my stomach/UC issues as well. I also know that doing yoga would increase my flexibility and strength which I would def love, especially with my running. However, my major problem is that I am a little ADD. This was always my fear with yoga. I was afraid I would be so bored because of the slow pace of class. I mean, I am used to hard core spin or kickboxing classes, not mellow yoga. But you know what, I decided I wanted to incorporate it into my weekly routine and go at least once a week. So far, I have been good and stuck with it. And surprisingly enough, I have felt it in my body. I sweat like I am spinning and my muscles definitely were feeling it the next day. It's been an awesome challenge. But I must admit, that it has not been mellowing for me.