I saw this A-Z about me meme on annabel lee’s blog and thought it would be fun. I know…volunteering to do a meme, what’s up with that? Enjoy!

Accent: Not so much anymore, but when we first moved to California I got teased. Now people say they hear it in certain words.

Booze: Vodka martini, dirty, extra olives. Or Pinot Noir. And no, I have not seen Sideways.

Chore I Hate: Cleaning the bathroom.

Dogs/Cats: Not a cat fan. Love dogs.

Essential Electronics: TiVo, mp3 player, cell phone, laptop.

Favorite Perfume/Cologne: Clinique Happy.

Gold/Silver: Platinum?

Hometown: Bloomfield Hills, MI.

Insomnia: No. Unless we’re talking the coffee shop on Beverly. Then yes. Except I hate all the people with their laptops, so maybe no.

Job Title: Writer.

Kids: Not yet. But yes, I definitely want them.

Living Arrangements: Apartment in Hollywood.

Most Admired Trait: My baking abilities.

Number of Sexual Partners: A good number.

Overnight Hospital Stays: Zero.

Phobia: Needles. And never getting married and being a mommy.

Quote: “A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous.” (Ingrid Bergman)

Religion: Jewish.

Siblings: A younger sister.

Time I usually wake up: 6:15 a.m. Ugh.

Unusual Talent: Stubbing my toe on anything and everything. Not good enough? Okay then…I can hear music in crowded and loud places when no one else can. I think I have super powered ears.

Vegetable I refuse to eat: Tomatoes, unless someone is willing to pay me $100 to eat them.

Worst Habit: Clenching my jaw, hence my super expensive nightguard.

X-Rays: Unfortunately, I’ve had a bunch.

Yummy Foods I Make: Cookies and cupcakes.

Zodiac Sign: Leo. Roarrrr.

No tagging required. I feel so free.

Dislaimer: I’m well aware you probably don’t care about this, but I’m quite proud and excited (yes, I get excited about silly kitchen stuff) and wanted to share.

My disorganized kitchen has been driving me nuts, and I hated searching for lids in my narrow, deep cabinet. So, I went to my favorite store and bought one of the most wonderful inventions ever–a pull out, sliding, lid organizer.

Before:             After:

Next up, my bedroom closet.

Has anyone else seen the beer ad where the girl is speeddating? Too funny!

- - -I’ve been using the new Yahoo email in beta for the past few weeks, and ever since, I’ve stopped receiving emails from Jdate and Friendster. So odd.- - -There appears to be a renewed interest in my Age Game post, and there are some very interesting comments, from both men and women. Do check it out.- - -Don’t forget–my header image contest ends next week!- - -My parents leave for Italy tomorrow–so jealous! Have an awesome time mom and dad! And bring me back something cool. (Yeah, I’m 10-years-old again.)- - -I keep hearing the Blue October song Hate Me on KROQ. Could there possibly be a more depressing song ever? I think not. Especially with the whole answering machine part.- - -In TV news, How I Met Your Mother totally rocked, yet again. Slut up! Also, I have not had time to watch The Amazing Race so please don’t tell me who lost the last leg.- - -And finally, last night was our third blogger shindig, this time at The Well. It was a great turnout, I met a bunch of cool new people, and I do believe a good time was had by all. And no, I didn’t run into CL Guy or Midwest Guy. Thank God.

January 1979. Bethany is three-months-old, I’m four-and-a-half-years-old.
So cute. Such innocence.

Friday
After work, I had my $30 eyebrow wax. She did a good job, but she ripped the skin slightly under my left eyebrow. It hurts. I had told her I was on acne medication (I know, in my 30s, life is unfair), and she said it wouldn’t be a problem. Perhaps it was just a fluke but of course now I’m paranoid.

After that, I took my aloe vera covered self to the market and bought ingredients for chocolate covered pretzels for annabel lee’s party. Then I finally came home, tinkered with the new blog theme a bit, watched Las Vegas (who’s gonna marry Delinda? hmmm?), and crashed.

Saturday
I woke up nice and early thanks to my Little calling me twice before 9:00 a.m. Ugh. I then dragged my butt to Weight Watchers and re-enrolled. After that I came home and made the chocolate covered pretzels. And had only one bite. I’m quite proud of myself.

That afternoon, I relaxed for a bit, found out Eve bought a condo walking distance from me (yay! mazel tov!), got ready, and headed out to the party. It was a fun time–lots of yummy food and nice people (including another Hilary with one L!), and I even chatted with a guy I had a date with last year. In typical Hilary fashion, I didn’t realize it was him until midway through our conversation. Unfortunately I can’t blame it on the alcohol, because I’d only had one glass of wine.

Sunday
For whatever reason, I couldn’t sleep past 9:00. I hate that. I decided to take advantage of the early morning hour and snag the washing machines (we have only two washers for 21 units) and did four (4!) loads of laundry. Then, feeling inspired to not be a lazy ass all day, I headed to Ralphs and stocked up on low point foods. By the time I got home, it was only noon so I decided to turn the overly ripe bananas sitting on my counter into chocolate chip banana bread for the coworkers. [ed. note: I know, don't you want to work in my office?] And now, it’s time for trash TV, namely, the Surreal Life. I love TiVo.

Bonus–Emails From Italy
Since my parents are in Italy for two weeks, I thought I would share snippits of my mom’s emails (did I mention they schlepped the laptop with them?) with you each day, as I find them quite amusing. So here is email number one–my mom’s fashion report from Italy:

Women are wearing all length pants….HIGH heeled boots (YIKES!!) with shorts, jeans, cropped pants…all lengths. Tight shirts and tees and sweaters, often with midriff and/or decolletage (lots of it). Weird. Watching FOX Europe now.

Not sure why the part about watching FOX Europe was included in that paragraph, but it’s totally normal for my dad to put that station on the minute he walks into a room with a TV. Why should it be any different just because they’re in Europe?

Those of you following along at home may remember tonight was my date with the guy from Speeddating.

You may also remember that we had originally made plans for dinner at a cute little Italian restaurant close to both my office and his apartment. Minor change of plans. Sunday night he called me to firm up our plans and said he’d have to work late Monday and would be unable to do dinner, so would I mind doing drinks on his way home from the office instead. I told him that was not a problem and we decided on (you guessed it), The Well. Anyway, he then threw out 7:00. How 7:00 is okay for drinks but too late for dinner was a little odd, but whatever, I went with it.

Of course, during the day I decided I didn’t want to go and IMd Eve telling her I wanted to cancel. She told me to go, have a drink, it’s only an hour of my day, etc. So I came home, got dressed, ate an early dinner, and left for The Well. And had a surprisingly good time. He’s a lot cuter than I had remembered, very funny, kind, and the conversation flowed nicely. Two hours and a couple of drinks later, we hugged and said our goodnights.

And that was it. No mention of another date. No I’ll call you. Nothing. Oh well. Maybe I should just be happy he didn’t refuse to get me a glass of water, right?

(And yes, I realize that most are pretty insignficant in the grand sheme of things.)

• Incompetent customer service.
• Fighting with my Little’s mom. Then hearing her say, “My kids don’t give a shit about me.” This is what my Little has to deal with on a daily basis. No child should have to live like that.
• My allergies.
• The huge metal plates all over the street that make a super loud thud that I can hear from my apartment, with the windows closed, each time a car drives over them.
• The twenty minutes it took me to go the less-than-half a mile from Little Santa Monica and Wilshire to Santa Monica and Century Park East.
• Mean people.
• The backup in my office building’s parking structure because of idiots not obeying the No Left Turn Between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. signs plastered all around the exit.
• Having a fun date but not being asked for another. Scratch that. Have been asked for another. Yay!

The deadline has passed and here are the entries. Vote for your favorite! Click on the thumbnail to see a larger image. Polls close Tuesday.

Top 10 reasons my mom rocks:

1. When I was a kid, she would stick notes saying she loves me in my lunch. Now I get them in the mail.
2. She put her career as a social worker on hold to stay home and raise me and my sister.
3. She calls to tell me when good stuff is on sale at Banana Republic. And offers to buy it for me.
4. She once offered me $100 to eat a tomato.
5. She taught me to be strong and assertive.
6. She’s open and honest and upfront and nothing is ever off limits.
7. She gave me my love of books and writing and words.
8. She introduced me to baking when I was a kid by making Aunt Helen’s sugar cookies with me and my sister.
9. She taught me the power of the written word.
10. To this day, she still eats the burned cookie.

Happy Mother’s Day mom, I love you!

Friday
Came home from work, relaxed, watched TV, went to bed. So exciting, I know.

Saturday
Went to Weight Watchers and learned I am down 3.4 pounds. Yay! After that, ran errands, went grocery shopping, posted the header image poll, and wasted away the afternoon doing random stuff around my apartment.

That evening, I headed out to Santa Monica to lend my support to Paul at his book signing. On the freeway on the way there, I saw David and Jamie in the car next to me, it was really funny. I met up with them and we headed over to the bookstore where I saw of course Paul and Jen, as well as Keith, and Esther’s friends Mark and Mindi. The reading was a lot of fun, there were some good questions from the audience, and I finally bought the book (and got it signed). Afterwards, David and Jamie and I had hoped to catch Keeping Up With The Steins, but it wasn’t showing until way later so we ended up just walking around the Promenade a bit then heading out. It was a nice night.

Sunday
My parents are in Italy so this is the first Mother’s Day I haven’t celebrated with my family. Instead, I invited a friend (hi Ann-Marie!) who lost her own mother way too early, at the age of 18, to spend the day with me. We headed over to the Farmers Market for lunch, enjoyed the absolutely perfect weather, and caught up on a bunch of stuff. After that, we went shopping at the Grove where we each got a pair of $138 Banana Republic shoes for only $45. They have a strappy back and a peep-toe front but I’m going to try getting away with them at the office. I also got a cute polo shirt from Banana as well. (Sorry, can’t find links for either.) We walked around the super crowded Grove and did some more shopping, got a cold treat, then came back to my apartment and chatted some more. It was a lovely day and I’m so glad I got to spend it the way I did.

Happy Mother’s Day mom, and to all the moms out there!

This design, by Maria of Franklin Avenue! And since Maria is local, she gets to pick from cupcakes or cookies. Any readers want to help her choose?

And of course, many thanks to everyone else who participated, I loved all of your banners and the contest was a lot of fun. Stay tuned for the new look shortly!

Why this week is 100 times better than last week:

• The huge metal plates on my street have been removed and I’ve actually been able to get a good night’s sleep.
• I am in love with my tennis racquet.
• Last night’s season finales of How I Met Your Mother and Grey’s Anatomy both rocked.
• I’m going for Ethiopian food with the girls tonight.
• This weekend I will be making cupcakes for a party and getting paid to do so.
• I’m going with Eve and a bunch of others to see The Da Vinci Code on Saturday.
• I was finally able to plan an outing with my Little for this Sunday.
• The sun is out.

And hopefully it will just continue to get better…

My new theme is almost done. I just need to pick some colors to go with my beautiful new header image and find some time to actually change them, then it’s good to go!
- - -
I never heard from the Speeddating guy. He was supposed to call over the weekend to make plans to go out again, but nothing. Oh well. I don’t get why a guy can’t just say he’s not interested. Why say you’d like to see me again but not follow through? Silly.
- - -
I want to see this UCB show about MySpace, it looks hysterical. (I’m not sure why the link won’t work properly, so if you’re interested, just search the schedule for it.)
- - -
I am sooooo glad the hippies won The Amazing Race. Eric and Jeremy just buggged. So. Damn. Much.
- - -
Site of the Week: GroceryLists.org

I got the new theme up and running (obviously). I still have a few things I’d like to change, but for the most part, it’s done. If anyone has any suggestions or notices anything goofy, please let me know!

Also, if you can help me with any of the following, I’ll be your BFF:

• Link my header image. I just can’t figure it out.
• Add commenting ability to some but not all pages.
• Figure out why the comment permalinks don’t work in IE. They do work in Firefox. Weird!
• In the comments, move the comment date and time to the right of the comment author’s name.
• Get rid of the extra bullet on the Archives page that only shows up in IE, but not in Firefox.
• Figure out why the horizontal line above the post date and comments doesn’t display in IE, but does display in Firefox.

Thank ya!

Friday
I finally found the perfect vanilla cupcake recipe! I made a few dozen cupcakes for my friend’s husband’s law school graduation party, and experimented with blue frosting as well. The cupcakes are delicious and my fingers are blue.

Saturday
Weighed in (down .4 more!), delivered the cupcakes to my friend, then got my new blog theme up and running. I’m still stuck on a few things, so if you can help, please let me know!

After that, I ran a gazillion errands, cleaned up my apartment, then rushed to get ready to meet Eve and her friends for The Da Vinci Code. While flat ironing my hair, my phone rang and in an attempt to get it, I knocked the iron off the counter then went to pick it up–by grabbing the metal plates. Needless to say, I burned the inside of my hand and have a small blister as well. I’m such a klutz. But more importantly, I brought Eve some of the reject cupcakes which she snuck into the theater then later declared to be “possibly better than Leda’s.” Hah! It must have been the blue frosting. Mmm. Anyway, the movie was just eh. Everything was basically spelled out for you, whereas in the book, you had to think a lot. But it was sort of to be expected.

Sunday
Took my Little miniature golfing. The weather was really icky and we didn’t want to chance getting rained on in Sherman Oaks so we went to the indoor glow in the dark place off of Howard Huges Parkway. She had a great time, and it was nice to finally spend time together as it had been way too long between outings.

The rest of the afternoon was spent grocery shopping, doing laundry (only after I removed men’s rhinestone studded underwear from the washer), and making cupcakes for Tuesday’s girls’ night (with another set of girlfriends) and for the boys I’m having drinks with tomorrow night.

Now I’m going to make dinner then collapse and catch up on Law & Order.

I am fortunate to have three friendships with women I’ve known for a few years suddenly grow and flourish.
And sadly, have one end.

I met a man I wanted to kiss.
And was kissed by a man I could have gone without meeting.

I am watching my Little turn into a woman and reach out to me.
And I have to fight her mother for a chance to help her.

I have friends who are pregnant and friends with adorable little kids.
And I know a teenager who won’t live to see 2007.

The past couple of months have been fun, busy, and stressful. They’ve also reminded me that although life’s not always fair, I’m quite lucky.

This week has rocked so far!

Monday night was drinks with Paul and Jason and Jason’s friend (who I think finds me uncool because I live west of La Brea). As always, it was nice to see Paul, and it was super cool to finally meet Jason in person. I brought some goodies in with me so they both finally got to taste my cupcakes, and from what I could tell, they were a big hit.

Tuesday was supposed to be fondue with my fourth Tuesday of the month girls’ night posse, but due to it just being one of those days, we ended up on this side of the hill at Luna Park instead. We had some amazing wine with dinner then I introduced my friends to the make your own s’mores. It was a blast catching up with everyone, and I am so looking forward to our trip, wherever it may be! After dinner, I had the chance to hang out with Jason until the wee hours of the morning, which was also tons of fun, then quickly fell asleep.

Tonight I have absolutely positively nothing planned and couldn’t be happier. Tomorrow night is tennis, Friday night a friend and I are going to see Internet Dating: The Musical, then Saturday I’m heading down to San Diego for major R & R, a visit with Julie and the boys, and hopefully some batting cages. I so love three day weekends.

Over the past week or so, I’ve received a couple of emails from people via my baking blog asking how they can order cupcakes. I’m considering selling them, we shall see. Has anyone ever had cupcakes mailed to them? How were they packaged so that they didn’t fall over and get squished?
- - -
This morning in the elevator at my office building, a very cute man in a suit (why am I suddenly finding men in suits totally hot?) told me I have beautiful curls (I’m having a good hair day). And I was running late so I rushed out blushing and barely muttered a thank you. I’m such a dork sometimes.
- - -
I went to bed at 9:00 last night! It was sooo nice waking up feeling refreshed for a change. I haven’t slept that much since I had mono.
- - -
In dating news, there is no dating news. The guy I met at Speeddating who asked me out again then never called is now on Jdate, go figure. Speaking of Jdate, I hid my profile because I think I need a break from the site.
- - -
Just because I like funky gym shoes and printed t-shirts does not mean I want to live in Silverlake/Los Feliz/Echo Park. The end.
- - -
Thank you to the woman at Weight Watchers who was trying to be kind by asking if I am at my goal weight then proceeding to tell me I don’t need to be counting points. But that doesn’t help me…I want to be back at my skinny weight.
- - -
My TiVo is empty. Empty! Damn you sweeps. Bring on the summer shows.
- - -
You may have noticed a few weeks ago I made all of the Flickr pictures of me, my family, and my friends available only to “friends and family.” This means you need to have a Flickr account and be my Flickr friend. Let me know if you want access.

I’m not sure what happened, but I somehow managed to lose my last post. It’s baaack, as evidenced below. Weirdness.

Some recent searches that landed people here:

• kickycowgirl
• rent a boyfriend
• can i put a marshmallow inside the middle of a cupcake?
• wore diaper under dress
• thank god im a jewish boy
• super internet fun time! yay!
• how does jdate do it
• if i had to choose between you and the sun
• how long after receiving dental novocaine shots in the mouth should i be numb
• how to know if theres a second date?
• a strange thing happened to me in the street
• slept with boyfriends sister
• stretch it like taffy between her fingers
• what chinese eat at christmas
• husband and i offered to swap with my sister and boyfriend
• i am a 48 year old female what are my chances of getting married
• if you’ve just turned thirty congratulations and welcome to the over thirties club. if you haven’t turned thirty yet fuck off the grown ups are talking here. to the rest of the club a quick word in your shell like.
• maybe bed bath & beyond i don t know
• what does it mean if you have dents on your thumbnail?

As always, write a story using at least five of the search phrases. And if you’re a new reader, tell me how you got here. Please.

Friday
Saw Internet Dating: The Musical with a friend. It was absolutely hysterical and inspired me to put my profile back up on Jdate. (I know, I’m a sucker.) The songs were great, and the dialogue really funny. The run was just extended, so I recommend going to see it if you can!

Saturday
Drove down to San Diego with my sister. The traffic was horrible and the normally two hour drive took us four hours. Fortunately, I was the passenger and got to enjoy the scenery, music, and be productive for some of the trip. I decided to clean out the text messages in my cell phone but apparently resent a bunch of them in the process. Oops. Sorry everyone.

That night, after receiving some amazing gifts from Italy (leather purse! jewelry!), we went for sushi in Solana Beach then came home (not really home–my parents’ house is being remodeled and they are housesitting for friends) to watch some DVDs my sister brought with her. After spending about a half hour trying out different RCAs, S-videos, and coaxials (remember, not our house), my dad and I finally got the DVD player hooked up. We all watched Shopgirl, which was just as creepy and odd as the book. Claire Danes and Steve Martin together. Eww.

Sunday
Woke up around 9:30, thanks to the weekend Christian concert thing going on at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Then walked with the family and dogs into downtown Del Mar for breakfast. The weather was absolutely perfect–75 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. After eating, we did some damage at Banana Republic, then walked down to the off-leash part of the beach so the dogs could run around. I even saw a three-legged dog. Side note: The tide was super high and my sister got caught in it and got soaked. Her pants, shoes, and socks were drenched and we ended up turning her pants into capris at the beach using my dad’s Swiss Army Knife. It was supremely hysterical.

That afternoon, we checked out the progress on my parents’ house. I can’t wait for the construction to be done–it’s going to be beautiful! Later on, we barbequed then relaxed at the house. We put in Derailed but I got bored halfway through and read magazines then went to sleep.

Monday
Had breakfast at home, then off to the train station. My sister is staying in SD for a couple more days, so I was heading back to LA alone. The train ride was beautiful and relaxing (save for the loud family getting off in Anaheim to go to Disneyland), and I slept through most of it. Since I didn’t have a car parked at Union Station, I opted for the Red Line (yes, LA has a subway), which turned out to be quite a deal.

It was a lovely trip, but I’m disappointed I didn’t get a chance to see Julie and the boys or hit the batting cages. Next time!

Now I’m home. I just went grocery shopping and did some laundry, and I think I hear my couch and the aloe vera calling my name.

More pictures here.

I cried myself to sleep last night for no reason in particular. Nothing is hugely wrong. I wasn’t upset about anything. I guess I just needed a cry.

When I got to work this morning, the office was about 100 degrees and stuffy because the air conditioning was off over the long and hot three day weekend. And I was in a mood.

While IMing with a friend, I was unintentionally rude. (I’m sorry.) I was just cranky and hot and tired (thanks to my neighbors running through the hall at 2:30 a.m.) but then my friend said that she too cried herself to sleep last night and I felt better. Not because she cried–I don’t want my friends to cry. But because I wasn’t crying alone.

The day got better as the office got cooler.

I downed a Diet Coke, learned a friend mailed me a super secret surprise package from New York, and am sitting here in sub zero temperatures wearing a sweater.

And tonight I’m buying shoes.

*Post title courtesy of this book.

When I started this blog in 2003, I was an anonymous blogger writing about my daily life. The site served as a venting mechanism for me–I wrote about my frustrations with dating, my college boyfriend who wanted to get back together, friendships, and just life in general. No one from my “real life” knew about the site, nor did anyone know my real name. As I slowly built a readership, I was amazed that total strangers would check back daily to see what was going on in my life. I couldn’t imagine what was so interesting about me.

Then I got it–my readers could relate. And I gradually began to tell more about me, the real life me. I shared my real name. And for a short while, I shared pictures of me and my family and friends. Since then, I’ve made amazing new friends, shared cookies and cupcakes (and recipes too), corresponded online with people all over the world, and had drinks with dozens of others I probably otherwise would never have met. And I am grateful.

But every now and then, I wish I was still anonymous. I miss the rawness. The realness. The one hundred percent no holding back writing I can no longer do. Or rather, that I choose not to do. I hate censoring myself–I’m a writer and this is my life, yet I don’t write about it wholly.

I want it to be complete. And real. And all me. But–there are so many buts. What if someone I went on a date with finds it? What if I say something about a friend and they take it the wrong way? What if my neighbor reads it? What if someone passes judgment on me based solely on what they read here? What if I meet a cool guy and he reads it and learns about all of my insecurities and my random crying fits and my fear of never getting married and my messy closets and those pesky ten pounds and I become even more exposed? What if a potential employer stumbles across it and finds out all these intimate things about me?

Then what?