Got Vitamin D?

A few months ago while having a wedding dress fitting the question was posed to me "Are you going to be tan for the wedding?"To be honest I hadn't really thought about it but the woman who sat at my feet pinning the hem suggested that I take a few tanning sections at a tanning salon to avoid any unsightly tan lines.

It was in the manner that I found myself at the tanning salon a few blocks from my house. I should start off by saying that I hate tanning. A day out in the sun is one thing but sitting under a large florescent light dose not sound like my idea of fun. I expected a slightly grungy room smelling of coconut oil and dead skin and instead found myself inside an episode of MTV's cribs gone wrong. The bright blue carpet was accented by the black leather couch and chairs with a gas burning fireplace in the corner. Above it sat a large TV that constantly ran information about why tanning is good for you.

"No time to exercise? Apply Make-up? Take vitamins?" it asked. "Start tanning and get all the vitamin D your body needs!" Cut to a clip of two women dressed in lab coats saying "We tell our patients, get some sun!" Then to a Harvard doctor saying that "Americans have come to have an unhealthy fear of the sun." Voice over quips in "In the past couple of years Americans have been bullied by the cosmetic companies to cover up and we are paying for it with our health. Vitamin D is an essential vitamin that you get directly from the sun. If you can't devote thirty minutes a day to being the sun you should be tanning."

With all these arguments as to why I need tanning I bought three tanning sessions to make me feel and look better (or at least that's what the advertisement is telling me). In reality what I bought myself was my first panic attack from the tanning followed by a slightly burned stomach. I would have to say I'm not sure it is worth it to have a tan for one day.

Why My Sister Rocks

Today is my sister's birthday. In the past I have posted crazy pictures of her here but I think I will try to do something different this year. Here is a list of my my sister rocks:

1.She still drives around an old beat up van that barely functions and has decorated it with multiple bumper stickers that would get her into a lot of trouble if she drove in the south.

2. She really likes board games.

3. She use to be a vegetarian but quit and now my dad doesn't bother me so much about being a vegetarian.

4.She flew all the way to Boston for my bachelorette party and held my hair when I got sick.

5. After she held my hair she spent the night in my bathroom getting sick.

6. She can totally social work you if you don't watch out.

7. She once stepped in poop with flip-flops on and didn't amputate her foot.

8. She got engaged less than a month before my wedding and offered to not tell anyone about it (Not necessary, when your engaged everyone should know!)

9. She knows all the words to a sesame street Christmas and a Muppet family Christmas.

10. All the other great things about her.

Happy Birthday Sissy!

Work Place Morale

A few weeks ago it occurred to me that very soon I would be traipsing around Italy and would need some sturdy shoes to do so in. My only shoes that were summer appropriate were flip-flops from Old Navy that had already seen better days. I resolved to buy some comfortable yet fashionable summer shoes to wear as I wonder the streets of Roam.

I went to a local sporting good store and bought one set of black Tevas and another shoe that offered a bit more foot protection. The problem was they didn’t have my size in the Tevas. The store clerk (who was really rude to me) helped me order the appropriate size over the phone with a guarantee that I would have my new shoes in 24 hours!

I waited with anticipation to get my “Italy” sandals and start to break them in. Business hours came and went and I still had no shoes, I was resolved to call the company and demand that I get a discount for my shoes when my phone rang.

“Um, hi Ms. Hansen, this is Janet from Mountain Sports…I’m calling about your shoes?”
I was ready to put my mean face on and try to get a discount.
“What about my shoes?” I asked
“Well..um, I just wanted to let you know they weren’t going to be coming today.”
I waited a moment and trying to channel Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada, I asked, “And why is that?”
There was a long pause answered by “Because I’m stupid and incompetent at my job.”
Woooa! I don’t think my acting skills are that great as to convince someone over the phone that they are bad at their job. I felt really bad for my previous statement and quickly back peddled. No one should ever feel like they are stupid and incompetent because of a pair of shoes.
“Oh, I’m sure that’s not true…”
“Where do you live, near Davis square? I ride my bike home that way; I could drop them off at your house if you want?” She was grasping for straws, I felt like her desperation to please her boss was palpable over the phone.
The fact that I had been slightly rude to this humbled employee made me feel awful at the though of her having to bike out of her way to my house. I assured her I could wait another twenty-four hours and wished her a good day. Or at least a better one then she seemed to be having.

Thinking in Blog

I'm not sure when it happened. Maybe it was when I joined facebook or maybe it was before that. I stopped thinking in blog posts. Thinking in blog posts was something I would do all the time. Something would happen, a strange encounter on the T or a sudden rush of emotion, and I would start to narrate it so that I could easily translate it to internet screen and make it a blog post. Posting was something that seemed simple. With all the crazy things I encounter why would I not want to share them with the five people who read this? It was my duty to inform you that I saw a squirrel eating a snickers bar because if I didn't how would you ever know that it happened? Sometimes I felt like there was so many things to share I couldn't post enough!

Then one day I sat down to post and I had nothing. I ran down the events of the day and I couldn't think of anything memorable. Then it happened again and again. Looking back I haven't had more then a handful of posts in the last three months.

Then today for no particular reason blog-thought clicked back on. I was walking home from the dentist pissed off about the fact that I still have an unresolved root canal that was possibly infected. My shoes that I bought specialty to walk around in in Italy were giving me a blister and to turn my foot red when I realized I was blog-thinking. So maybe this means there will be a few more posts on this site. No promises but check back regularly.

City Rant

Summer in the city means long walks along the esplanade, ice cream in Davis square, and most of all being outside. The problem with being outside in a large city is that people are constantly asking you for things. I can handle the occasional homeless person asking for a few extra cents but what I really hate is the young people asking me if I have a minute . "Have a minute to: help the environment, end world hunger, stop discrimination, find world peace?" I know that these young people probably couldn't find any other job this summer and now they have a thankless job where they sit outside all day and harass people as they walk by. I'm sure they don't like it but I like it even less. I don't think any of these problems will be solved by me stopping for a "minute".

Sometimes all I want to do is walk home lost in my thoughts and instead I have to constantly justify my reasons for not stopping. At times it makes me want to drive.

Ohio Tan

So as I have said in my previous post, it's rained a lot in Boston. So much so that upon my return from Ohio many people at work commented on how tan I looked. They asked if I had started tanning in a tanning booth. I let them know that my slightly darker color was simply from exiting the state of Massachusetts.

While I was in Ohio I did not try to get a tan. It was simply a color that came from running outside and playing with the kiddos in the beautiful outdoors.