One more small piece of you seems to fall into place.

Sometimes, life is not that funny.

Sometimes, I literally look up and think, is this some sort of cosmic joke? Cause I am NOT laughing.

For example:

Sometimes, I run out of Diet Coke.

Sometimes, the guy on the muni smells like urine and trash. Usually, he is sitting next to me. Or practically on my lap.

Sometimes, there's typo in a client email, and I realize it the moment I'm hitting send.

Sometimes Glee is not new.

Sometimes, my hair is really, really grown out and I don't realize it until I'm horrified in the bathroom mirror.

Sometimes, I drop my iPhone in Safeway and screen cracks into a million pieces.

So sometimes, I need to find the humor in an otherwise unfunny day.

That said, I thought I'd share some hilarity throughout my day today, courtesy of the people I love the most.

It's kinda like "Texts From Last Night," but better.

(209) You are now. Have always been. And will always be. Boy crazy.
(415) I'm some kinda crazy, that's for sure.

(415) UGH I know. It was from a porn shop.
(208) WHAT?
(415) Yeah, like an erotic bakery?

(415) Do you eat macaroni and cheese?
(778) Yes, I like Kraft but real McCoys is so delish!
(415) You know what I love about us? I always ask you random shit and you NEVER ask why.

(208) ...she legit thinks color blind people can't see anything that's red or blue. Like, it just disappears.
(415) OMG nooooooooooooooo way.
(208) I'm serious. Like I feel like I'm being punk'd. Ashton?

(415) Yeah, we like have an understanding. I took the high road, and you know how much a girl hates to take the high road.
(760) Nice. How very mature of you?

(415) I don't want him alone at my house.
(415) Wait, Why? What do you think he's going to do, smell your sheets?
(415) ...Maybe!

I have SUCH a fantastic f(r)amily. I seriously love them. Thanks for making my day!

Wherefore Art Thou...Romeo?

Okay, so I've totally fallen behind on my 30 day challenge. But for good reason!

I've been dreading day 3. "Describe your current relationship status." Ugh.

Well, as I'm sure you are well aware, I am currently, and perpetually single. So, instead of talking about the perfect guy (like anyone is perfect!) or how difficult he is proving to be to snag, I am taking this a different route.

Are you surprised? Well, you shouldn't be!

In church on Sunday, there was a lot of discussion concerning goals and becoming a better person.Which, let's be real, is kinda what church is about, BUT sometimes this sister just needs a reminder; apparently this Sunday proved to be just that nudge I needed to take a single step forward.

My parents were always telling us growing up that it's important to try and have the qualities you would like in a companion. I basically thought this was dumb because I thought it would be nice to have someone to balance out my basic nuttiness with some stability.

But as I've gotten older and more than just looks and a good trust fund have become important to me, I realize the value in the sage wisdom. It has, on several occasions, occurred to me that in order to match up with the "steady eddy" I love so dearly, I myself need to be more even keeled.

That said, I present you with my goals for 2012. I plan to have more/be more:

Patience: We could all use increased patience, but this one is for real. If I expect someone else to be have a loooooooooooong fuse with me, I need to return the favor. I have been super blessed to have excellent friends who truly exhibit ridiculous patience and I love them for it.

Kindness: Believe it or not, I can sometimes be a little judgy! (Shocking, I know). Though for the most part basically hilarious, this is definitely something that can be detrimental and relatively hurtful.

Honesty: You can rarely hide from the truth, it always catches up with you. There is no better feeling than when everyone knows the real story. This is a particularly difficult one for me. Not because I lie my way into or out of things, but because when things get personal, the truth often takes a back seat.

I'm not talking about padding timesheets or embezzling millions of dollars. I'm talking about the lie in bed at night and think about what's really going on in your life and what you are going to do about it. I guess it's more about being honest with yourself than anything else.

Frugal: We all know I'm terrible with money. This is the year I finally save some. Maybe. Probably. Hopefully. I'll try? I swear.

Selfless: When you're single it's hard to be selfless, because for the most part, it's just you! What do I want for dinner? What do I want to watch? What should I do this weekend? BUT if I get into the habit of thinking about others (like friends) first, I think it will help me consider someone else's feelings/dinner preference (in a proverbial sense) before my own.

Okay, I think that's enough goals. But you get the point, right?

Would A Rose By Any Other Name Smell As Sweet?

So... I am already behind on my 30 day challenge, but here's to playing catch up?

Work has be absolutely CRAZY this week, not that its ANY excuse but I leave in the dark, dark morning and come home in the dark, dark night.

I digress. Day Two: Explain your middle name.

I was born in May. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I am Taurus through and through, from the stubborn tendencies to the unfailing loyalty.

That said, when I tell people my middle name is Mae, they always ask: oh, were you born in May?

Well, sure. I was. But that's a mere coincidence.

Mae is a family name.

I am merely the latest in a line of gals who bear the middle name Mae. I must say, I love that.

When I reached my mid-twenties (GASP!) I came to the realization that so many of my first real adult(ish) milestones have been reached as a Wallace. My first published story reads Caitlin Wallace, as well as my college diploma. Knowing that Mae will stick with me through the rest of life's big moments is the best of both worlds.

My mom and I have always been close, so I love it that we share a middle name. It feels appropriate to talk about her since today, January 11, is her birthday.

She and I share more than just a name. We share the same taste in movies, meals and muscle relaxants. We know exactly when to stash a Diet Coke in the fridge, purse or car. We both agree that the gift shop is really the most interesting room in any old European castle, even though it was likely built hundreds of years later.

We are both total anglophiles, and, to the astonishment of her current husband as well as my father, woke up at 2 am to watch Kate and Wills tie the royal knot until the final coverage subsided around 5 am PST.

I've always struggled with the whole, "things happen for a reason" concept, which is maybe why certain prayers have yet to be answered. I am undoubtedly being taught patience, trust and let's be real, life lessons; BUT there is no doubt in my mind that I was born into the right family.

I have my Dad's sense of humor and body (thanks for that?), but I'm mostly my mom. I like to think God knew we would need each other to make it through this life and on to the next.

Here's to my middle name and (hopefully) my daughter's after that.

**The photo above is of me, mumsy and her sister, my aunt, the last time we were all in San Francisco together. We were in the lobby of the Orpheum to see Wicked!

G.O.A.L.S.

So, when you graduate college and enter the "real world," a funny thing happens.

You lose the will to live.

Okay, okay, it's not THAT dramatic. But things do change drastically.

A few years ago I read a blog post (that I have yet to come across again) about a girl who graduated college and found herself a few months later, sobbing in the shower. This gal had been a well-adjusted co-ed who found herself, soon after she left the safe confines of her college existence, lost and confused about what the next step was.

Sure, she had a job. She had friends. She lived on her own. Her life was, as they say, on track.

He whole life had been about goals. Go to kindergarten. Get to elementary school. Start junior high. Make the high school cheerleading team. Be asked to prom. Receive a college acceptance letter.

Find an apartment.Choose a major. Study abroad. Complete an internship. Graduate.

Get a job.

Okay so I made the last few parts up as they are applicable to me. But, you get the point. Hopefully, you see that all this is to say, I am feeling a bit aimless.

Sure, I love love love my job. I have fantastic coworkers and phenominal clients.

But a full life is well-rounded. Therefore, new year, new attitude. This year is going to be about goals.

But, I'm going to start small. I was on Facebook tonight and came across the blog post of a fantastic gal pal from BYU-I who has decided to do a 30 day challenge of posts.

The first day is the task of posting a picture of yourself and telling 10 things people might not know about you.

The photo above is of me in April 2010 on the St. Charles bridge in Prague, Czech Republic. It was one of my most favorite days, ever. Here goes:

10. I watch at least one episode of Gilmore Girls every day. It makes me feel like things will turn out okay.

9. I cry at everything. I cry when I'm happy. I cry when I'm sad. I cry during Grey's Anatomy. I cry at church. I cry when people talk about France. I cry when I can't get PeopleBrowsr to work. The Golden Gate Bridge literally makes me sob.

8. I can almost never turn down cake. Chocolate, vanilla, red velvet, ice cream. You name it. I seriously love it.

7. My mom is my best friend.

6. I love the rain. I'd take the rain over the sun any day. I love the smell of the pavement when it rains after it hasn't for a long time. I love the sound of the rain on the roof and windows. I feel like when it rains, everyone can start over.

5.Contrary to popular belief, my future husband does not need a trust fund or a Mercedes. Just endless patience, a sense of humor and long legs.

4.I have several serious vices, one major one is Diet Coke. My dentist has been scolding me since my late teens, but hey, I'm keeping him in business.

3. I have never understood why people in Australia are not upside down. The concept of gravity is just too much for me.

2. I would rather walk than drive.

1. I am allergic to Ibuprofen, which is in like every medicine ever. So please never offer me Advil.

So, that's it for today!

Why Being Single at Christmas Sucks.

So, I’m basically pretty successful. But, you likely know that if you know me and read my blog.

I graduated from college, moved to San Francisco, got a job and have, in the last few months, managed to have several great things happen to me at work.

2011 has been one of my best years yet.

However, there is nothing like the holidays to make you realize you are severely lacking in one or more areas.

For me, one thing I can never seem to get right is my love life.

Sure, I’ve dated.

Well, been on my way to dating.

Er... laid the groundwork to be on my way to dating?

Okay, I don’t really date.

Other than two high school boyfriends and a slew of gay guys, the only consistent man in my life has been my father. Which, don’t get wrong, is great! I mean, he buys me stuff, cares about my life, helps me move, checks my oil, gives me advice about work etc.

Buuuuuuuuuut, as I round the bend of of 24th year of life, I certainly need someone else.

I’ll paint you a picture.

From the moment my trip home for the holidays began this year, my singledom stared me in the face.

I had to get my oil changed, because, as I’ve learned the hard way, that check engine light is not merely a suggestion. I thought to myself, if I had a boyfriend, this would definitely be a boyfriend-type thing to do.

But, there I was at 7 am, rolling into Noe Valley Auto Works with my hot pink Kate Spade purse and polka dot checks trying to convince an auto repair man that I do in fact know the date of my last oil change (which of course I only know in the context of which Cosmo magazine I was reading while I waited.)

Oh, don’t give me that look. That’s the same look my mom has when I tell her I want to get married because I seriously need a second income.

It’s not JUST about needing someone to meet the cable guy because I have a client meeting.

Which is where the holiday season gets to a girl. Really, it’s about needing an ally.

It’s about having someone to exchange a look with when a family member says something outrageous.

It’s about splitting a Xanax under the table.

It’s about knowing when to sneak into a guest room and split some See’s candy and Diet Coke.

It’s about having someone to crack up with at night by the fire after everyone has gone to bed about how crazy ( and semi-ridiculous ) the holidays can get and how you can’t BELIEVE your brother/sister/aunt/cousin did that/said that/thinks that.

It’s about laying in bed talking about Christmas when you were little and how fast the time has gone. It’s about telling stories that explain how you got from where you were to where you are.

It’s about remembering how beautifully BYU-Idaho was decorated at Christmas time.

It’s about having someone to rest your head on while you watch The Grinch for the millionth time and laugh at all the same parts.

It’s about not having to sit at the kids table; OR getting to sit at the kids table together with your niece just to catch a glimpse of what it would be like to be parents.

It’s about having someone to sit next to in church on Christmas day. It’s about having someone to hold the other side of the hymn book. It’s about finally being able to have someone to introduce the ladies in your parent’s ward to.

It’s about being able to say, WHY YES, I AM DATING SOMEONE.

It's about Christmas sex.

It’s about having someone to sit in traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge with. It’s about having someone to talk to about how gorgeous Marin County is and how many celebrities are always spotted out to breakfast there.

It's about not sobbing in the car when a Rob Thomas song comes on because you are such a "great catch" but no one seems to be fishing.

It’s not necessarily about having someone to split the driving with, although that would be nice.
It’s about having someone else pick the radio station for once, or suggesting we stop at the Starbucks in Willows instead of Williams this time.

It's about having someone to turn the lights on ahead of you when walk in to your freezing cold house.

And lastly, it’s about having cocoa together when you get back home and talking about how fast it went and how you can’t believe you already have to go back to work.

It’s not like I don’t like this time of year. I LOVE it. Christmas is the best ever. It would just be nice to have a boy to love it with.

Happy Holidays?

So I'm Basically An Adult Now, Right?

HA. As my favorite 90s diva says, AS IF.

Though I do generally feel pretty far from adulthood, things have been feeling more grown up lately.

Let's start with my work holiday party last week.

You'd think after growing up going to church every week I'd be immune to a man in a suit.

As my favorite Glee star says, hell to the no.

See below for context.

Our Christmas cocktail soiree was held last Thursday on the top floor terrace of the St. Regis in downtown San Francisco. I was dressed to the nines in a peach-turned-salmon colored tapered flowy number with the gold toga shoes of a Greek goddess and party hair Blake Lively would kill for.

I was feeling pretty great.

Little did I know, my male cohorts (though few and far between in a female-dominated industry) were set to out-do even the best and brightest belles of the ball.

Most of them in tuxes, these twenty and early thirty-somethings were killin' a girl in their penguin suits, (I won't even mention their mad skills on the dance floor). Who knew these princes in hiding met their fairy godfathers in the bathrooms at work post press release?

Not I.

I took a few moments in between compliments to the boys and club sodas to take in the breathtaking view of the San Francisco skyline. My heart beat a little faster as I stared at all the lights on the buildings of my own concrete jungle.

Have you ever driven over the Bay Bridge? Similar to my experience at the top of the St. Regis, whenever I come out of the tunnel and onto into the four or five lanes that span the Pacific, I am always in awe of the vast chicness that is the city by the bay.

Whenever I am sailing along at 65 MPH (not speeding, Mom) I always take a few seconds to scan the buildings, Coit Tower, Alcatraz and, on a clear day, The Golden Gate.

As I stared into the night sky last Thursday, I thought, how did I get so lucky?

How did the stars all align and I am standing here, surrounded by wonderful, talented, smart, fun, kind coworkers who love each other (for better and for worse let me tell you)?

The same feeling comes over me when I cross the bridge. A feeling of pure adrenalin mixed with sheer joy and a little teensy bit of gut wrenching panic because there are days when it seems to good to be true.

Well, mostly. I mean, I have my ups and downs.

Some days feel like the work simply cannot get done fast enough or well enough. But, in my quest into adulthood, I take the good with the bad and, as Andy Grammar says, keep my head up.

Other parts of being an adult include knowing when you've perhaps dropped the ball, that being said, sorry it's been so long since I've written.

Getting my job at Access and moving down here was such a huge experience things got dicey for a while. But, I hit my 3 month anniversary there last week and have gotten into an incredible groove, so I believe it is time to resume our regularly scheduled programming.

I have decided to take up reading again. When I was younger, I simply devoured books. As I got to college, my reading skills were reserved mostly for textbooks (and for those of you who knew me in college know my study time left something to be desired).

I, of course, read the Twilight books in a matter of days, and the Emily Giffin Something Borrowed and Something Blue books at the gym during my summers on the eliptical. Right now, I am reading Mindy Kaling's (of The Office) new auto biography, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? It is HILARIOUS.

Other things I am doing: anxiously awaiting the return of Grey's and Private Practice, keeping up with Glee, working out, attempting to eat healthy and drop a few before summer, whitenening my teeth and keeping up my blog.

Check and check.

TV is the Mirror of our Lives

I feel more and more like Rory Gilmore every day.

Let me explain.

I have always been a TV and movie fanatic. I like to think that from an early age, I knew a life of media and pop culture was to be my destiny.

Take for example, the early days of T.G.I.F. I used to live for that line-up of Boy Meets World, Step-By-Step, Full House, Dinosaurs (talk about a blast from the past!), Perfect Strangers and, in the later years, Sabrina, The Teenage Witch.

The best part about the half-hour sitcoms is that they were often mini time capsules of our life and times during that decade. One will never forget that late eighties Farrah Fawcett hair DJ Tanner used to rock, or those crop-tops Dana from Step-By-Step used to sport.

One of my all times favorite shows from the 90s is of course, Boy Meets World. In those days, there was a moral lesson to be learned every show, and Mr.Feeny never gave up on the budding young starlets. In fact, my love for the show was re-affirmed when I read a fabulous post on USA Today college entitled, "Everything I need to know in life I learned from Boy Meets World."

Now that I am older, I am hooked on Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, Drop Dead Diva, The Office and of course, Glee. I find myself often relating to various aspects of each of my favorite characters.

I like to think I have Merideth's patience, Christina's stubbornness, Addison's strength, Jane's poise, style and confidence, Rachel's heart and Kelly Kappor's love for all things girly.

The point is, I can always see some of myself in many of these characters, and I often think, if they can do it, so can I.

It may seem odd to draw strength from actors playing people who don't really exist, but as Sean so fatefully said during an episode of BMW, "TV is the mirror of our lives."

**Please note that my own house style negates the need to add quotes to TV shows as AP Style would suggest in an instance where there are so many shows listed.