I stayed in for New Year's Eve this year but it was an enjoyable evening with my fiance.

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This morning my first meal of the day was a Cookies and Cream Poptart and a big glass of milk!

Hm, resolutions, this is always a tricky one... I guess I would say pay off my student loans. That would be nice to take care of this year. Stop putting so much effort into things that don't really matter, and in general try to make improvements in my life. It's pretty generic but then again I'm not usually the resolution type...

A is for applesauce! It's totally my favorite, I even have a jar in my fridge!

I probably won't be using my bag today but here's a list of what's currently in my purse:

Earliest memory, hmmm, this one is a tougghie. I guess it would be when I was in pre-pre school at the church and this lady brought a turtle in for us to see. I guess I must have been about 4 years old a the time?

I honestly can't remember what brought me to Mene but I definitely heard about it from someone on Gaia. I guess I decided to come check it out. I liked it from the beginning, the people were nice, but the forums were a bit slow and the roleplays seemed kinda eh. I came and went. I was here and there and was often on hiatus because I was still more active on Gaia. Eventually I found some good roleplays that kept me around and ended up staying here for good. Now I've almost completely abandoned my Gaia account and Mene is my hone. I've made so many friends here, I couldn't even imagine leaving!

Hm, random fact about me? I totally sleep with a stuffed animal. >.>

Today my mom came for a day trip to NYC with her coworker. It was suuuuper cold and I had to get up suuuper early to meet her but it was nice to see her, even if for such a short while. We stood outside in the freezing cold weather to see Garth Brooks at the NBC Today show, visited a Kimono exhibit at the MET, ate lunch at a French restaurant and did a bit of shopping.

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I would have to say that my best Mene friend is Cora. My best IRL friend is probably my coworker, Oriela. We met at work a few years ago and I honestly didn't like her that much in the beginning, LOL! Now we're super good friends.

I sent my mommy home today, how sad. V_V On the plus side, my half sister is coming to visit tonight! Yay! I have to pick her up from the bus station after work.

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As for what I'm wearing today:

So my sister made it here safe and sound. We were a bit worried because the weather was pretty crappy and some of the roads were closed but she made it with no problems, just a bit late. I ended up going shopping while I waited for her. I got a baggy white tee that I've been looking at, a three dollar dress in a color I've been looking for and a ikat printed button up shirt. When we got home I got my Christmas presents from my dad--lots of candy, an itunes gift card, and a check so I can buy whatever I want. Still trying to decide what music I want to get with the itunes gift card. There are so many albums that I want recently...

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As for my favorite song it's really a hard call though lately I've been playing Girls Chase Boys byIngrid Michaelson a lot.

I never leave home without my phone (well except when I go to do laundry because it's literally right downstairs on the corner, LOL!). I live in the city so it's easy to get lost and I prefer to have it in case of an emergency.

I took my sister back to the bus station this morning. It was good to see her but after my mom's random visit and not sleeping well lately I just got tired and a bit annoyed with her a times. I'm feeling super drained now that everyone's gone. I have laundry and cleaning to do, a roleplay reply to write up, mod work to handle but ugh, just so tired... I think I might just take the rest of the night off and try to tackle things tomorrow.

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As for my room... I dunno. I actually have an apartment that I share with my fiance so it's not like I have a room to myself. Also my head hurts too much to really write any details about it now. Maybe tomorrow I will find the energy to describe it. Otherwise I suppose it will remain a mystery...

So I rested last night and I'm feeling much better. Now I have a ton of things to catch up with though, laundry, cleaning, mod work, etc. I'll try to get what I can done tonight.

Now for my apartment... It's a 3 bedroom on the fourth floor (penthouse or top floor for those of you who aren't familiar with the term). As soon as you walk in the door there's a long hallway. The first door on the right is the first bedroom, which we use for the office. It has my desk and my fiance's desk as well as an overflowing book shelf. The next room is the bathroom. It's quite small but about average for NYC apartments. After that there are two closets (everything is on the right) the first being for jackets/linens/paper products, etc. and the next one is for my work clothes. After that is the kitchen with the super old fridge and over but lots of counter space which is super rare in NYC. We have a small table so we can even eat in the kitchen which is even more of a luxury. Around the corner you have the living room with all of our gaming consoles and TV, the couch and the giant bean bag chair. On the far wall to the left is the door to the bedroom with our bed and dresser. The windows in there are the only view we have outside of the apartment (the rest look out on the courtyard) and this is the room that gets the most sunlight. It's definitely my favorite room of the apartment. Back in the living room to the right is the last bedroom. We mostly use it as storage or a guest room for when people come to visit.

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And lastly for my favorite movie. This is a real toughie, I'm terrible at choosing my favorite anything to be honest. I guess I'll just say that fantasy or adventure movies are usually my favorite. The most recent ones I saw include Interstellar and the last Hobbit movie. Both were quite good.

Dream job. Now this is something I don't have an answer to. Something artsy and Frenchy but besides that I haven't gotten very far. >.>

Today I received the madeline (French cookie) book that I ordered on Amazon with some of my Christmas money:

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I'm suuuper excited to try some of the recipes. I think I'm going to stop at Target on my way home tonight to try to get some of the ingredients I need. I plan on making the Eggnog ones (before all the eggnog disappears), and the Herbes de Provence ones, since I've never had a savory madeline before. That will all depend on whether or not I can find the cheese I need or not though... Gruyere is hard to find around here.

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I wish I could...stop thinking so negatively. As jelly likes to remind me, I tend to think very negatively of myself all the time. If I could be less negative and more confident, I think I would be happier in life.

Work is getting very stressful. I've been really tired/depressed recently and it's effecting my creativity. Now I'm going to have to make an ad from scratch to approval in like 24 hours next week which is going to be a miracle if it actually happens. The president of the company is suuuper picky and I'm probably going to have to go through like a million revisions. I really don't see any way that we're going to have this done in time. Also with my crappy lack of creativity I'm having a super hard time coming up with the Valentine's Day promotional banners for the website. I've tried so many things and they all come out looking cheap and ugly. I'm running out of time to get everything done. There's just too much to do in the next week, I really don't know how we're going to manage to pull it all off in time...

Well anyway, it's the weekend so I guess I should try not to worry about it. I'm pretty tired so I'm headed to bed early(ish) now.

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I would have to say that my favorite place is a quiet, nature scene. Somewhere near the woods but sunny, with a slight breeze. Nice and warm but not too warm... I really miss nature now that I'm living in like the biggest city in the world. V_V

Today I did my first online groceries deliver through Amazon Fresh. It was a pretty interesting experience but unfortunately I can't just do the delivery thing since there are some things I can't get through there that I can only get through the grocery store. I'll probably only order online occasionally because some of the things honestly aren't all that much cheaper or anything and in some cases there's less selection. I can however get a few things through there that I can't find at my store so it would be nice to do it once and a while to stock up on those things. I totally ended up ordering one of those new Ben n Jerry's core ice creams with the caramel in the middle. The only ones they have at my store are fruity flavors or like peanut butter. I can't wait to try it later tonight...

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The weather is currently about 34ish and sunny. I actually haven't been outside yet today but that's what my weather app tells me. I'll be heading out grocery shopping after I post this though so I'll know for sure.

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Todd was my first cat. I had always wanted a cat and finally convinced my mom to let me take this cat from a yard sale. He had already been named Todd. I was thinking of renaming him Garfield or something else but he ended up keeping the name. He was young but not a tiny kitten when we got him and he loved to play and get himself into trouble. Boxes and string were his favorite and he went crazy for cat nip.

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Later on I also convinced my mom to let me bring this bunny home from my aunt's house. Moca was tiny when we brought her home but she quickly found her place. She loved to play with Todd, even though he was a bit scared of her, and they had some pretty funny adventures together. Moca loved to chew on cardboard, rattle around the papers in her cage, and eat clover blossoms. Yogurt chips were her favorite treat.

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Eventually my half sister convinced my dad to let her get a dog. We named him Kenshin after our favorite anime character. He's quite the old man now but still going strong. When he was younger his favorite pastime was chasing moths in the back yard. He's the man of the house and he knows it. He has his own spot on dad's chair and gets plenty of treats every day. Dad will even cook him up his own steak once in a while and every now and then he gets his own bowl of vanilla ice cream.

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Since Moca was too old to take to college with me my senior year, my mom suggested getting a hamster. Chibi was unfortunately quite short lived but he loved to stash his food and run on his wheel. It always amused me to see him shove what looked like impossible amounts of seeds in his mouth and then methodically nibble on sunflower seeds. I would often lay on my bed and let him crawl over me. It really tickled but it was nice to feel his soft fur on my neck.

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Yuna is my baby now. She's the queen of the apartment and she knows it, a far cry from the timid little kitty we brought home from the shelter. She loves her styrofoam balls and will even play fetch with you. She thinks the bean bag is her throne, and likes to come visit me when I'm in the shower. She's totally adorable when she's sleeping but when she's awake you better watch out. She loves to pounce one feet!

Something new... Well there's that new madeline recipe book that I mentioned earlier. I tried the recipes yesterday for eggnog madeleines and herbes de provence madeleines. They turned out very yummy. I'm super happy with the book and the new glass bowl that I bought for baking.

So yesterday my apartment ceiling problem came back. Joy.

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In other news, I finished Don't Give up, Don't Give In: Lessons from an Extraordinary Life by Louis Zamperini and David Rensin:

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I borrowed it from my dad thinking that it would be the story of the Unbroken movie but it's actually not. It did reference it quite a bit since it was about Louis Zamperini and the life lessons he learned but it isn't a pure biography. The book I really should have read would have been Devil at my Heels. I'm thinking about buying it, reading it, and then sending it to my dad when I send him back the other book. Overall the book was very good, very inspiring. I wish I could be more like Louis.

The next book I started is this one:

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It's super funny. It's a parody on Ikea where they employees end up staying overnight in the store to try to catch the culprit of various damages that have been going on in the store after closing but it turns out to be a horror story. I wouldn't say it's super scary but it's scary enough for me and I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

Last night I went ice skating at Bryant Park. It was super fun. I convinced a stranger to give me some lessons and I totally plan on buying a pair of skates and going back. The only unfortunate thing is that I fell and ended up hurting my hand. It's not broken that I can tell so that's good but it still really hurts. It's much better this morning compared to last night though so hopefully it'll heal up pretty quickly.

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My middle name is Marie. It seems like it's a pretty common middle name because a lot of my friends have it too. I believe it was after my great grandmother who passed away before I was born? I could be mistaken though...