Embrace Change

I've got living paycheck to paycheck down. I get paid, I'm rich, I buy those Steve Madden boots I've been eying and that fall jacket I've convinced myself I sooo desperately need. The next day I check my bank account and am angered at its mysterious disappearance. Flash forward to the not too distant future. I'm at day 3 of peanut butter and jelly phase and still 1 week until payday. Let me tell you, pb&j isn't the best motivator to endure a rainy lunchtime walk home. So I decided to suck up my pride, grab that tiny jar of change that's followed me to 2 apartments and hope it's enough to get me some lunch in the Bellevue food court. So I sorted out the random nails and brought the bag o' change to Commerce bank. I was hoping for about 10 bucks. (It was a small baggie and no quarters. Damn you, coin operated laundry. You can't see it but I'm shaking my fist in the air.). So I went in dropped my change in the counter and left with 35 bucks! Holler. So of course, I rewarded myself with a pumpkin spiced latte.

The beauty of the Commerce is that even if you don't have an account there, you can use their coin machine and they won't take a percentage. Take that rain. I win, you lose. mwa hahahahahahahahahahaha (that's my victory laugh)

Haunted Happenings

Looking for something scary to do before Halloween? Well my game night crew (yes, I realize how awesome this makes me sound) and I went to the Sleepy Hallow Haunted Hayride in Newtown this weekend. The Hayride alone is $15, but you can also get a bundle package which includes the hayride, clown vortex, haunted house and corn maze. Oh and yes you read that correctly, a clown vortex. When we got there at about 9 on Sat, the line was insanely long. I didn't think we'd even be able to make it on the ride, but we were told if we wanted to pay $10 more we could buy "RIP" tickets which bring you directly to the front of the line. Well worth the extra money. The hayride, while cheesy at times actually had a lot of legitimately scary moments. I may have jumped onto the calm little girl sitting in front of me and I think I have prevented one of my friends from having children. After the hayride's over, there are plenty of bonfires around and a band. So we broke out our smore paraphernalia and natty's (it's byob) and went to town.

Aside from the couple with their tongues down each others throats on the ride (sometimes a fake chainsaw just gets you in the mood). And the fact that when the band played Cotton Eye Joe, everyone else there knew some sort of line dance, I would highly recommend as a good night out with the friends.

Grab your wieners and your natty's and get to hayridin'.

See It!

Philly's movie scene is growing by the minute! Not only is "Lovely Bones" kicking off this week in the 'burbs (sorry Colleen! I am sure Ryan will find you some day), but "Bella," a locally produced and financed independent film that is winning awards left and right, makes its debut this weekend.

Bella is a heartwarming story about life, family, and our capacity for love in the face of the unexpected. It has a beautiful cast (hello Eduardo Verastegui!) and an even more beautiful message about relationships, redemption, and the power of the human spirit. It lives in good company as a Toronto Film Festival People's Choice Award Winner, with the likes of Hotel Rwanda, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and my personal favorite, Life is Beautiful.

Bella is only around for 2 weeks and is in very limited locations. Check out the theater options at http://www.bellathemovie.com/.

Mrs. Colleen Gosling- So close but so far away

To all of my fellow mourners, Ryan Gosling has dropped out of filming the Lovely Bones, which was supposed to start filming this week in Malvern. Marky Mark is in. This was supposed to be when we met, locked eyes and he said to himself, "Rachael McWho?" Shut up and let me have my dream.

Now I'm going to have to break out the old trench coat and book a flight to where ever it is that crazy Canuk is hiding out these days.

Hire Me, Please.

I remember a time, at the tender age of 22, when I was excited to bid adieu to college and start my wildly successful career. Oh the paychecks, the working woman clothes (I would look great in a classic Chanel suit), glamorous business trips, the promotions, the sheer grandeur!

Then I woke up. The cold, harsh reality of monotonous administrative office work began to eat at me from day 1. Alright, so maybe I never had " career goals" per say. Sure, I thought things would simply fall in to place if I could just be patient. Granted, I work at a place that has skyrocketing levels of executive turn over, and all the money makers are chauvinistic/egotistical lecherous men, and we teeter dangerously close to bankruptcy each year. Still, I used to have pep talks with myself while fighting back tears in the shower each morning before work. In each chat, I'd assure myself that "my talents would be recognized and I'd soar, all the way to the top". Oh, poor naive girl.

This unfortunate tale leaves me where I am today, dear reader- in the same dead end job for 3 years. Sadly, still light years away from the Chanel suit. I fear I'll never know anything but H&M. Every day I job hunt. I interview every now and then too. Still, nothing. While frustrated and anxious, I haven't given up. I remain hopeful. One day somebody will hire me. And I will be one step closer to the ideal job I've so skillfully created in the inner chambers of my mind.

Instant Gratification

Let's face it. Whether you want to admit it or not, you know within the first few minutes of a first date if you're gonna be into it. People have been making me feel bad for dismissing potential suitors so quickly. But c'maaan. I judge, it's what I do. It's my gift. And if I'm not feeling it after the first date, why do I have to give the poor guy a second or third just to solidify said disinterest? Wastes time for both parties. So I figured, in an effort to broaden my dating my horizons I will go... wait for it... Speed dating. I've only seen it in the movies but I feel like it's very suited to my instant judging style. I can just see it now--me, a room full of 50 year old men and I'm allowed, in fact encouraged, to dismiss him after 3 minutes. "Hi, I'm Colleen. So you love sandwiches. I can tell. Put mine down." NEXT "Hi, I'm Colleen. What's that you say? You live in your parent's basement. Jesus, those 2 minutes and 59 seconds really flew by." NEXT.

Now you may be saying. Colleen, you sound like a terrible person and I'm not disagreeing with you. But I'm also honest. Oh, I'm fully aware that they will be judging me just as well. But this isn't about them. It never is.

While trying to find friends to go on this little adventure with me, we decided that the odds of finding someone cool, our age that's speed dating is slim to none. But that's where you come in. Readers, any suggestions? Does North Bowl have a singles event, where I can meet the quasi hipster of my dreams? Lemmie know and I'm on it like Britney on bacon.

In other news. I need some distractions. I fell into ex infested waters last night and had an hour long drunken phone call. Don't judge. You've been there too. The first step is admitting there's a problem.

Hello. My name is Colleen......and I have a problem.

Double Trouble

I'd like to warn our readers about an area of the city I call the danger zone. The danger zone is a 3 block corridor between 16th and 18th, Sansom and Walnut Sts. Non-shopaholics may simply see this as the French Quarter or part of Rittenhouse Row. It is the home to some very fine boutiques, harbours of high fashion and my own personal shopping oasis. It is also where I often part with my discretionary income.

There are more stores in the danger zone than I can mention in one post so I will concentrate on two personal favorites: Echochic and Kimberly Boutique. Echochic is an urban fashionista's mecca, teeming with bohemian caftan-style dresses, avant-garde accessories and graffitied vintage handbags, cutting edge designers like See by Chloe and L.A.M.B. Over the years I have
found many great pieces, including a butter yellow sundress for my rehearsal dinner, a super-soft Rachel Pally cotton baby doll mini dress, and a few signature vintage pieces that always make an impression. The staff are stylish and helpful, and will actually tell you honestly if a piece is right for you. Echochic is also not a place for a woman whose style errs on the conservative side. Echochic is for the Carrie in us, not the Charlotte.

Which brings me to Kimberly, which is great for the more staple wardrobe "musts" and investment dressing - the LBD, the trench coat, the cropped wool jacket, classic Charlotte-friendly separates by designers such as Susana Monaco and Cynthia Vincent, peppered with the occassional LaRok or Nguyen to keep it exciting. I walk by Kimberly every day on my way to work. I have had many a close call with other commuters (and a few street food vendors) as my gaze gets stuck on its window displays when I should be watching where I am walking. Recently I coveted this fabulously mod Tibi dress for 3 weeks before succombing to its call to me. I knew if I walked in and tried it on, I would have to have it. I was right. In fact I also had to get a new hair cut to match the dress.

There are other shopping corridors around the city that can suck you dry of your savings. But the proximity of this particular area to my place of employment makes this one my own personal danger zone, filled with the pleasure of finding the next best thing and the pain of having to put it back on the rack and resist. Some power lunch, I power shop at lunch. It feeds my addiction.

Echochic, 1700 Sansom St.
www.echochic.com

Kimberly Boutique, 123 S. 16th St.
www.kimberlyboutique.com

Achoo

Pardon my lack of coherence in this one, as my head has been completely consumed by the temperamental bitch that is the flu. Maybe it's of the bird variety. Being that I've already created a sizable dent on my couch and have gone through every program I dvred in the past year, I've decided to be productive. So, I've picked up my bag of dirty tissues and moved the 4 feet to the computer. Annnd I'm spend.

So, I had my date with the guy from grade school the other night (no he's not in actually in grade school, I went to grade school with him and reconnected through intensive MyStalking). We went for a drink after work (which turned into 3, which then turned into 5, which turned into a blur-- I think at one point we started playing quarters at the table) at The Black Sheep. This one was interesting because I knew him, but hadn't seen him since 5th grade. I mean, my taste has changed a little since my youth. Back then my turn ons included, but were not limited to, pinching and hair pulling. Hmmm, on second thought maybe I haven't changed all that much.

All in all, it was a good date. We laughed a whole lot. Reminisced about the time I kicked him in the balls in the recess yard and he told me that my nickname used to be spewie, which I was unaware of (I had a slight problem with motion sicknessback then). The beauty of this date was that there was no awkwardness. So I'd def go out with him again. Not sure if there was any spark though. That's what I'm going to be looking for in dates to come, but I'm not 100% convinced sparks actually happen.
So he emailed the next day, and asked to go out again. I think I will.

Total sneezes while writing post: 6
OK enough of this productivity nonsense. I'm too sick to think. I'm gonna go take drugs. Lots of drugs. Bring on the drugs.

I Heart the Mojito

Nothing says breezy summer night like a yummy mojito. I love them. However, they're labor intensive drinks- drinks I would never prepare for myself at home. In fact, I'm really only capable of pouring wine at home and even then it's a challenge. I used to dream about a whole bar dedicated to the mojito. (I know that some people dream about world peace. Don't judge.) You can imagine how pleased I was when the Rum Bar opened just a few blocks from my apartment.

I have ventured in to the Rum Bar a few times and have never had to fight for a seat. It's the perfect spot to go for a pre/post dinner drink. The bartenders are assertive, friendly and know exactly how to make a drink. There are an incredible amount of premium rums available. It's kind of intense. I didn't know rum could be so complicated. Granted, until very recently, I did associate rum with the Malibu crap we used to drink in college. Along with the nearly 10 different kinds of mojitos on the menu, there are all of the standard bar drinks too.

Whether your looking for the perfect date spot or night out with the girls, the Rum Bar won't disappoint.

The Rum Bar

2005 Walnut St. Philadelphia, PA 19103

www.rumbarphilly.com