My work instigated some firewall that won’t allow me to comment on anything but Wordpress and sometimes that won’t even work.  IT’S DRIVING ME CRAZY.  I love getting and leaving comments and I hate thinking that people aren’t getting comments from me because of stupidness, but that’s what’s happening.

I would normally just comment from home, but lately?  I have ZERO desire to be on the computer at home.  I sit here in front of the thing 8-9 hours a day and I’m burned out by the time I get to the house.  I need to plant my butt in front of the TV clean and work out and do all the important things I should do at home.

Now this issue, mixed with the blogroll issue I mentioned yesterday, is making me out to be a HORRIBLE blog friend.  I’m not, I swear.  If you’ve ever left me a comment, there’s a 99.9% chance I added you to my blogroll and my reader and that I read EVERY SINGLE post you write.  I swear I do.

I guess I just wanted to publicly announce my love and affection for all of you and let you know I AM reading . . . just not commenting for the moment.  Sigh.

The ten year reunion? A million times better than I ever expected it could be. I went to school with some of the world’s neatest people, who grew up into some of the world’s coolest adults with some of the world’s CUTEST kids. Also, the dress I FINALLY found at the midnight hour? A-MAZING. It’s my new favorite thing ever. I felt SO good that night, which made it all the more enjoyable. I will see what I can do about posting some pictures. I took a lot of other people and only a couple of myself and my girlfriends, but what can ya do?

The new boss is still as cool as I thought he was. We’re digging in this week and getting started on a new website, new messaging, new collateral, new press information . . . basically NEW EVERYTHING. I have my work cut out for me. Luckily, I like the general giving the marching orders, so I’ll march happily.

It’s hot here. Really, really hot. I’m not surprised or anything, I’ve just been lucky to have missed most of the really hot days so far this year. Now I’m sort of immersed in hotness. It’s a little bit uncomfortable. We were thinking of getting the hell out of here for the 4th but I’ve been gone SO much, all I really want to do is hang out at our house and catch up on some sleep, so we’re staying in the hot and having an indoor BBQ. Without fireworks. Or something similar that in no way resembles the 4th of July holiday festivities I grew up with. And now I’ve successfully made myself homesick. There’s nothing like the 4th of July in Provo, Utah. NOTHING. Sigh.

I can’t get my blogroll to work on this Wordpress template. I recently realized how LAME I am for not having a blogroll, so I am going to work on a post with ALL the blogs I read (there are zillions) and then I’ll post THAT post as a page. Sorry to all of you who I read and I don’t currently give linky love to. I’ll fix it, I swear. It’s just going to take a while because there are A LOT of you.

And now that I’ve let my brain explode all over the computer screen (you’re welcome) I am off to do, like, work stuff. Unless I can find something else to distract me . . . hmmmmmm

**Edited to add:  I just realized it’s my psuedo half birthday!!! (Since there’s not a June 31st you see.)  That also means it’s Miss Molly’s half birthday as well!  Happy Half Birthday to us, birthday twin!  Yaaaaay!

So now, with new genius marketing boss, the list of things we have to do?  Oh it’s endless.  The time we have to do it in?  Nonexistent.  Also, more travel appears to be on the horizon.  Boston in July . . . possibly DC in August, Vegas in September, maybe Boston again in October . . . wOAh.

What this means is that, at least for a little while, I am SWAMPED.  So um, I might not be, like, blog present, for like, awhile here.  I know you’re all crying right now.  Sobbing hysterically, really, right?  No?  Just me?  That works too.

I’m sure I’ll still be around . . . I mean my ten year reunion is this weekend and you KNOW I’ll have lots to say about THAT.  I just won’t be AROUND around . . . if you know what I mean.

And with that, I’m off to market stuff.  Riiiight.

“Hey!!  Do you guys want to go to Lit??”

My cousin, the genius, says “No thanks.  We’re Mormon and married.”  (I’m Mormon and married, she is definitely not but I understand why she said it and thought it was hilarious.)

The guy stands there, confused for a second and says “You’re Mormon and married?  I don’t even know what that means!”

Then there’s a long pause . . . followed by

“OOOooooh so you guys are vegan!!”

I seriously laughed so hard I almost peed my pants.

So far I’ve:

Witnessed a screaming “f-you” fight between two cabbies while myself and a mother with two very small children were their passengers.  It was on a one lane, one way road.  My driver was mad at the other driver for . . . taking up too much of the road???

Been screamed at for not having cash for my cab ride.  Don’t install a CREDIT CARD MACHINE if you’re not willing to ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS.  The guy called me a “b***h whore.”  Uhhhhh thanks?

Had a cabbie INSIST that I was at the right place, despite my adamantly disagreeing and NOT being in the right place.  He’d gone to the east side and not the west side.  I had to WRITE the address down for him to convince him.

Been dropped off TWICE and told my destination was “a block or two back down this road.”  Aren’t I paying for a cab so I don’t have to walk several blocks??  If I wanted to walk a few blocks I would have WALKED or taken a subway.  Sheesh.

I guess a solution would be to stop taking cabs . . . but that would mean getting up earlier in the morning.  And we all know that isn’t going to happen in THIS lifetime!

Other than the time difference, I love me some New York.

I walked around for hours on Monday afternoon, just taking it all in.  It was an amazingly beautiful day, aided by the rain that came and went throughout the day.  It was humid, but there was a nice breeze and the temperature was awesome.  I ate Lombardi’s pizza and just had a great, exhausting day.

My hotel is a little boutique-y place with rooms the size of tissue boxes, but it’s SO adorable, I just love it.  The doorman already knows me by name and has recommended some great little diners for breakfast.  Love.

Tuesday was interesting and fun.  Someone stole the plasma screen I use as a display in our booth while it was in transit from Phoenix.  It cut my set-up time in half, which was nice, but it wasn’t exactly a pleasant thing to discover.  I used the saved time to go shopping on 5th Avenue.  I went to Zara and H&M.  Aaaah bliss.  I didn’t buy anything at Zara but can’t say the same for H&M.  There was some damage done.  Oh how I love that store . . . AND there’s another one a few blocks from my hotel which I will hit up today.  I looked at the window display and they have totally different stuff.  Sweet.   There was a cocktail event for the show I’m attending that night and it was . . . boring, to say the least, especially for a girl who doesn’t drink.  After dinner I met up with my fantabulously amazing cousin (and namesake) Katie.  We went to a place in the East Village called Caravan of Dreams.  I must admit I was terrified at first because it was a Vegan Kosher Organic restaurant.  Uhhhh . . . yeah.  But then?  I was totally surprised.  Everything we had was fantastic!  The grilled tofu was even delicious and I do NOT normally like tofu!  We had a great time and great conversation.  My little cousin has turned into and amazing woman and I’m excited to spend more time with her later this week.

Today is ALL show.  7:00 AM to 9:00 PM SHOW.  I’m on booth duty pretty much the entire time, so while the retailers are in session I have a few minutes to catch up on email and do some other work stuff . . . and to blog.  Duh.

Well I’ll end the rambling, but that’s my New York update!  Love and kisses!!

If you need to catch up on my story, hit up the Soap Opera Sunday category link on my sidebar.  Just a quick synopsis . . . I’ve been dating Richard for a very long time.  He’s a jerk.  I’m trying to date other people to get over him.  It’s not working.  

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I was trying to date, I really was, it just wasn’t working out so well, as witnessed by the last two dates I went on, so for a while, I gave up and focused once again on Richard.  Once again, he was great for the first week or so that I was “back” and then, the real Richard would rear his ugly head and I’d be back to spending weekends alone, driving to Salt Lake at his whim and wishing the whole time I could just get over him already.

Then I met Tim.  I was working at the sporting goods store and this very attractive young man, very obviously in the military (judging by the haircut) came into the store and just sort of . . . stared at me the whole time he was there.  I was flattered of course, and did my best to give him some attention so he’d know I was interested if he was.  Eventually he worked up the courage to talk to me and we started talking and laughing.  He was on a short leave from the Marine Corps, and my brother happened to have just returned from a tour in Iraq with the Marines, so we had a lot to talk about.  Eventually he asked if he could call me and I gladly gave him my phone number.

He called me that night and asked me out for the next day.  Since I never had set plans, I said yes.

He picked me up right on time and was a perfect gentleman from the very start.  He opened every door, he offered every sweatshirt, asked for my every opinion . . . he had a date planned in Park City, which included a ride on the zip line and the alpine slide.  I was having a really good time, but a few things were weird.  We discovered that he was three years younger than I, which seemed odd considering I was only 22 and dating a 19 year old wasn’t exactly something I really wanted to do.  Then he started to get really touchy-feely and clingly, and it was only about an hour and a half into the date.  He was trying to hold me from behind, hold my hand, nuzzle up to my neck, you know what I mean.  People who really know me might be very shocked by this, but I was totally weirded out.  I barely knew the guy, he was younger than me and he was getting a little close for comfort.  I finally broke down and told him that it was a little too soon and that I needed a little more space.  He continued down the path of being a perfect gentleman and backed off.  For about a half hour.  I spent the rest of the evening trying to stay a few feet away from his personal space attack and when he dropped me off, I told him I’d had fun and got out of the car.  He, of course, wanted to walk me to the door.  Ahhh great.  More avoidance.  At the door he tried to kiss me and I stealthily ducked it and headed inside.  He grabbed my hand as I was on the way in and asked if he could call me again.  “Uhhh, sure.”  I hurriedly agreed and closed the door.

Bad idea, Kate.   Bad, bad, bad.

That day, my first and only real stalker was born.

He must have called eight hundred times the next day.  I didn’t answer my phone a single time because I’m a wuss and didn’t want to just tell him he had touchy-feeled his way out of my good graces.  Also, I was working a twelve hour shift at the sports store covering for someone.  It was a long day of working and avoiding, so to reward myself, I bought the first season of Friends and headed home to watch it in my living room.  Ahhh bliss.

Or not.

Within ten minutes of settling in, my phone rang.  It was Tim.  I ignored the call and put the phone on silent.  Bliss resumed.

Not.

About ten minutes after the phone call . . . (and several others I didn’t hear) my doorbell rings.  Without even having to check, I knew it was him.  So I huddled under the blanket on my couch and prayed he didn’t look through the front door and see me.  Right about that moment, I saw the shadow of his head peeking through the arched glass in the top of the door.  So I pretended I was asleep.  While watching Friends and listening to the doorbell right.  Good cover, Kate.

No lie, he was at the door for twenty minutes knocking and ringing the bell.  I was on the couch pretending to be asleep.  Totally awesome.  He FINALLY left and I finished the disc and headed off to bed.

Two hours later, I hear my roommate Jessica come in and shuffle around in the living room for a second . . . then I heard a soft knock at my door.  “Kate?” she whispered.  “There’s some guy named Tim outside sitting in his car.  He said he’s waiting for you to answer your phone or the door?”

Holy crap.  This guy was getting creepy.  And I knew he kept a gun in the car.
I opened the door and let her in and told her the story and told her I didn’t really want to see him . . . and to tell him I was sick and had been at home sleeping all night.  She went outside and told him and we laughed about it for the rest of the night. (While I was secretly relieved he didn’t go all crazy and shoot somebody).

The next day he showed up at the sports store asking my manager where I was and why I wasn’t there (thank goodness I only worked there part time).  Then he called me another ten million times (thank goodness for caller ID!).  Then he showed up at my house AGAIN (thank goodness I wasn’t home).  This happened about every other day for a week or so.  I somehow managed to avoid him until finally, I got an angry message from him.  He was babbling something about a spiritual connection and how could I and blah blah blah blah.

It was at this point that I decided to completely give up every other man but Richard.  And now my resolve to make him mine was even stronger.  He may have been a jerk, but he wasn’t suicidal, completely socially retarded or psychotic.  I was going to make him love me if it killed me.  I was determined that he was going to want to marry me.

If you’re playing along, here’s the Mr. Linky for your linky goodness. If you don’t know what the crap I’m talking about, check out this post about Soap Opera Sunday and the rules. Also, remember that we have an Anonymous Soap Opera site for those of you who want to . . . well . . . write anonymous soapy stories!

Can’t wait to read your stories this week!!

I’m really really excited. I LOVE being back east, especially during this time of year (um, someone please tell the heat wave to vamanos, yes?). I’ve got lots of shopping to do because I need an outfit for my ten year high school reunion the NEXT week . . . plus it’s New York. And there’s an H&M. That’s three stories (two? three? I don’t remember. HUGE.). There’s also Soho and the Garment District and so much fun stuff to do.

Also, food. OH the food. Any recommendations from those of you who’ve been there recently? I’m always up for suggestions!

I’m also going to make an attempt at culture . . . I’ll fo’ sho’ see a Broadway show, since hi there! I’m Kate. I’m in love with Broadway. I’m also planning a trip to The Met, which I’ve (shh don’t tell) never been to before. There also an LDS Temple in Manhattan which I am planning to spend some time at as well. I’s very excited.

So, on Friday the 13th, off I fly. I’m not really a superstitious person, but I’m sort of hoping everyone else is so that I have a plane to myself. I’m not counting on it, but a girl can dream, right??