• last night, i had a free hour. i considered using it to run. instead, i ate ice cream and took a nap.
• i was once mid-workout at the gym, frustrated, and asked myself why i was having such a hard time losing weight. at that same moment, i looked down and noticed a chocolate stain on my sweatshirt.
• lisa and i once bailed on the gym mid-run and ended up at fatburger.
• signed up for biggest loser at work (1st place wins $200) and my treadmill broke on the 3rd day. for once, not my fault. but now i'm typing this while basically inhaling a box of girl scout cookies.
• once patted myself on the back for a workout so great that i could feel the soreness in my abs.... found out an hour later that it was actually just 1st day menstrual cramps.

• the torture of writing papers
  • i can't remember the last time i turned a paper in completed & on time. and i've written a LOT.
  • the writing process had made me cry on numerous occasions.
• sacrificing sleep on countless nights
  • big ups to wawa coffee for making my degree possible.
• never seeing paul or my friends
• being trapped inside doing work on warm, sunny days. especially sundays.
• summer school - clearly a creation of the devil.
  • i can't say i haven't ended up on the beach tanning with my chemistry book, notes, and calculator on the day of a final exam. it was 102 degrees that day. i mean, w...

• method man & mary j blige - you're all that i need : love can (and for me, should) exist in its full form without excessive overt sappiness
• 2pac - me and my girlfriend : loyalty
• the roots - you got me : faith & trust
• common - the light : respect & adoration
• nas & kelis - popular thug : the ideal union between good girl & bad boy. it's what dreams are made of.
• talib kweli - never been in love : what it means to be the girl who changed his mind
• jean grae - whatever : you can never predict the outcome, but if you like the boy, take your chances with him
• common & qtip - come close remix : opposites really do make the best couples

• when your card gets declined for a small, dumb purchase. ("do you have another method of $2.50 payment...")
• overdrafting.
• seeing kelis & nas get divorced. they were my favorite couple EVER. how am i supposed to have faith in love if they can't stay together? (please refer to my 'favorite hip hop love songs' list)
• turning in a half-assed assignment that could have been way, way better if you had more time to work on it.
• owing money on your tax return.
• any form of helplessness.
• mixed-alcohol hangovers (the morning after consuming beer, liquor, AND wine)
• when it turns out the hottest guy at work has the most appalling girlfriend imaginable. not that this happened at my old job or anything. (...)
• anxiety.
• deep regret.

• my car. hands down, best purchase ever. i would have died in a claustrophobic panic attack if i'd kept driving that freaking rodeo. i still get mad when i think about how the windows couldn't roll down when they were wet.
• my black dress. badass.
• all of my swimsuits. especially vix summer, torey, bia, and odyssey.
• haircut from justin at anthony & co in ghent (norfolk). looking back at this disastrous year of my life, at least i know i had good hair. thank you.
• my first couple of years of college. paid for out of my own pocket = that much less i have to pay in loans!
• my digital camera <3

• wikipedia.org
• okayplayer.com
• princessmelissa.com
• vixswimwear.com
• jabbawockeez.com (plus supplemental videos on youtube.com) i am obsessed. don't judge me! i met them and i'll never get over it.
• bn.com
• amazon.com
• mtv remote control - abdc
• blogging abdc again, don't judge me. haha
• fmylife.com
• textsfromlastnight.com

prude alert.

• smoke.
• have personalized license plates. they're corny.
• wear colored contacts or acrylic nails.
• intentionally litter.
• undergo vanity-based cosmetic surgery.
• pierce or tattoo any (additional) part of my body. my ears are pierced and that's enough.
• crimp my hair for any reason.
• intentionally wear matching outfits with paul. i can't think of anything more lame.
• fake cry to get my way (i.e., crying to get out of a ticket).
• key the car of someone i dislike. it's cowardly, and they'd just key mine right back. but i might consider putting a humiliating bumper sticker on someone's car.
• be unfaithful. the whole concept is dumb ...

• paul
• june
• rachell
• ted
• jason
• jessiboo
• smook
• gingaling
• cj
• richelle
• ethan + milla + gavin
• april

• spelling, grammatical, and punctuational errors
• anything wasted
• back fat
• bad hair days. invariably, bad hair = bad day.
• emo people, hair, and music
• boys in tight pants. it's just wrong.
• sensitive, crybaby boys
• people who always want to be the center of attention
• pity whores
• idiots
• the new stoplight at dahlia & lynnhaven - unnecessary
• wearing glasses
• people who despise valentine's day and want everyone to know
• people who are over-opinionated and want everyone to know
• war

• fergie - glamorous
• hinder - lips of an angel
• hinder - better than me (this band is an atrocity.)
• pat monahan - her eyes (hate hate hate hate this one!)
• nickelback - photograph
• nickelback - rockstar
• anything by creed
• backstreet boys - larger than life
• sarai - ladies (__please__ youtube this if you don't know what i'm talking about)
• eamon - don't want you back
• crazytown - butterfly
• tom jones - sex bomb (everything about it makes me uncomfortable)
• master p - make em say uhh
• project pat - chickenheads
• anything by or featuring mike jones! especially the song with the ying yang twins. listening to it is like being in a 4-minute nightmare.

• lauryn hill - the miseducation of lauryn hill
• common - be
• common - resurrection
• talib kweli - quality
• mos def - black on both sides
• jimmy eat world - clarity
• the roots - things fall apart
• alicia keys - the diary of alicia keys
• raphael saadiq - instant vintage

• English teacher overseas
• travel writer
• book editor / publisher
• greeting card maker (the words, the lettering, and the drawing - all of it)
• hotel property manager
• interior designer for high-end hotels - I think I’d be most excited to come to this job
• architect - commercial properties/hotels
• cardiologist - I think this would be important and satisfying work, since I’d be in the business of actually keeping people alive, but that it would also be terrifying, exhausting, and as the stress builds I’d be asking myself why I did it

according to april & me. list in progress and not in order yet.

• there's something about mary
• dumb & dumber
• forgetting sarah marshall
• superbad
• old school
• airplane
• coming to america
• zoolander
• anchorman
• wedding crashers
• borat
• meet the parents
• dodgeball
• austin powers
• space balls
• naked gun
• american pie (1, 2, & american wedding)
• me myself & irene
• ace ventura

• caffeine (coffee)
• flat ironing
• working
• credit cards (getting better...)
• target

• hey, whats up. nothing here, i heard you fell.
• haha i walked into smooks house with a huge smile and mook was sitting on the couch and he was like ew rachell. whys ur face like that.
• SOOO CUUUUTE!
• hahhaah sooo cute..that's hilarious...i can see u doin that..lol u were prob talking about phi or ben bc u kept making faces everytime u were near them.
• so you know that storm that just hit like an hour or two ago? ya i was out on a boat, that started sinking and had to get on a coastguard boat that had to save us. / well btw the reason i text you originally was cuz after we got to land the coast guard guy took his jacket off and was wearing a jabbawockeez shirt hahaha
• haha oh i remember. omg kevin told me i accidentally left him a vm with me u and t...

• my gym membership. i got nowhere in a year and a half, then lost 10 pounds after canceling. what the hell.
• my 21st birthday outfit. the top alone was $80, and i never even got photographed in it because i was pretty much dead by 11 p.m.
• gassing up my old car. i used to spend over $200 a month on gas, when it was still $2something a gallon. ridiculous. i should have bought a honda 5 years ago.
• i once dumped someone and then transferred $40 into his bank account because i felt bad. stupid. if there were some price tag on the grief he caused me, he'd be paying that shit in installments for the rest of his life.
• prom. it was at least $500, and i didn't even have fun. and my hair got messed up.

• lillian vernon call center, order service associate: christmas 2002 & 2003
• bed bath & beyond, sales associate: 10/2003-05/2004
• door-to-door sales. can't remember the company name because i quit on the second day. 05/2004
• sheraton oceanfront hotel, restaurant hostess: on & off 05/2004-03/2007 and never again!
• waldenbooks, sales associate: 08/2004-09/2004 (@ sun valley mall in concord, ca. whackest co-workers i've ever had.)
• 'ocan' data entry: 03/2007-01/2008
• we'll refer to my current job as "the E" (i refuse to be accidentally googled by anyone at the corporate office, especially with the things i've said here...), fit specialist & assistant store manager: on & off 06/2005-present

• american eagle jeans.
• victoria's secret bras. go get fitted at a european boutique or at a fancy department store. if you haven't, you don't know what you've been missing!
• aldo's (at hilltop). so overrated.
• pop's diner (lynnhaven pkwy). gross.
• the girl with glasses at nordstrom's espresso bar (@ macarthur). she is forever messing up my coffee.
• trade secret @ macarthur center - every employee i've dealt with there has been weird and/or rude. like the girl who was on a personal phone call the entire time i was in the store (including when she was ringing me up), or the barefoot girl who was pointing at bottom shelf items with her toes. ew. that's why i'm a loyal customer at blooming beauty..
• chili's @ macarthur. always something wrong with the food and/or service.

• "to hell with brett. i've got a vibrator." *matt dillon laughs in the background* -there's something about mary
• "what is this? a center for ants!?!?" -zoolander ("how do you expect to teach children to read if they can't even fit inside the building!?")
• video of big ryan rolling down a hill in a wheelchair
• the soul glo commercial from 'coming to america'
• kristen accidentally farted in front of allan and "hoped he wouldn't smell it"
• "here she is! brian, i present to you your polished turd for the evening. FYI, the carpet matches the drapes. in color and quantity." -family guy
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1-a1Pe8g...
• jim carrey as vera demilo on in living color. it never gets old.
• celebrity jeopardy on saturday night live...

• eternal sunshine of the spotless mind
• clueless
• there's something about mary
• 10 things i hate about you
• the science of sleep
• be kind rewind
• dumb & dumber (classic.)
• beauty & the beast
• lilo & stitch
• finding nemo
• fools rush in
• borat
• dodgeball
• anchorman
• old school
• the wedding singer
• selena
• forrest gump
• up!
• away we go

• carne asada fries
• chipotle steak burritos
• anything from chipotle. (the love of my life.)
• pelon's fish tacos
• pelon's chips & salsa. so good.
• fajitas texanas (especially from mi casita)
• five guys cajun fries
• five guys burgers.
• chick-fil-a fries
• french fries in general. it's just the most banginest shit ever.
• suuuuuuuuuuuushi!
• BEEF SINIGANG
• nilaga
• kare kare (with mad bagoong in the rice)
• beefsteak (i just salivated, haha)
• pho (pho 78 - holland rd)
• vietnamese vermicelli
• crab rangoon

• when walking through the empty parking garage during exam week dec 2007, i asked myself what i'd do if someone put a gun to my head and tried to rob me. the answer was that i'd let that person shoot me, because I'd rather die than take exams.
• i just saw this really skinny guy eating a snickers bar and i got all pissed off. i'd give anything to be that carefree in eating a 500-calorie candy bar. (02.22.08)
• the odu computer lab consultant takes his job way too seriously. he even has his sleeves rolled up, walking around pushing all the chairs in. (you're fooling nobody! i know you don't do anything!)
• one of my professors picked up my notes and waved them in the air as an example of how to NOT prepare for case discussions.
• i might never understand this whole no-jo...

• making the band 4 (a total guilty pleasure)
• the hills
• the office
• rob & big
• i love new york
• fresh prince (classic.)
• saved by the bell (classic.)
• no reservations with anthony bourdain!
• anything on the travel channel.
• america's best dance crew. (obsessed.)
• the city
• vh-1's i love the 80s/90s series. (hilarious.)
• say yes to the dress
• jersey shore (addicted)

• knowledge & awareness- of myself, of the human experience, and of the world, even when the truth hurts.
• control
• polyglotism.
• peace of mind
• a quick mind & sharp memory
• tact. (my stock is limited.)
• financial comfort/stability. i definitely wouldn't complain if i were filthy rich, but it isn't the most important thing to me. i just want to have enough to where i know money issues won't be holding me down.
• to be thorough in anything and everything i do ("whatever you are, be a good one.")
• to be balanced
• to travel extensively. i can't stand the thought of living in this world and not exploring it.

• mariah carey - dreamlover
• mariah carey - without you
• mary j blige - everything
• whitney houston - i will always love you
• whitney houston - i have nothing
• brownstone - if you love me
• toni braxton - you mean the world to me
• jeffrey osbourne - on the wings of love!
• leona lewis - bleeding love
• madonna - like a prayer
• the christina aguilera / mya / lil kim / missy version of lady marmalade (minus the lil kim part. haha)
• keyshia cole - love
• leann rimes - i need you
• deborah cox - where do we go from here
• janet jackson - again
• shai - baby i'm yours
• alicia keys - you don't know my name
• paula abdul - rush rush
• mariah carey - always be my baby

• kelis - get along with you
• blink 182 - first date
• gwen stefani - cool
• paula abdul - rush rush (keanu! haha)
• boyz ii men - water runs dry
• mandy moore - crush (i love dream themes)
• tamia - so into you (makes me happy)
• janet jackson - love will never do without you (also makes me happy. it's probably good without the audio, too, because of antonio sabato jr.)
• michael & janet jackson - scream
• michael jackson - beat it (still completely awesome.)
• alicia keys - you don't know my name
• kanye west - champion
• kanye west - good life
• mariah carey - dreamlover
• snoop dogg - sensual seduction (still hilarious)

(from love listography)

• gloves and smartwool socks from timberland
• juicy couture keychain
• northface jacket
• miscellaneous outerwear (cute hoodies & pullovers)
• chucks (i think he's bought like 5 pairs to date)
• 'flipper' pumas
• banana republic wallet
• coach ipod case (for old ipod)
• new ipod
• kickass bathrobe
• cell phone
• tootsie bag
• numerous accessories for cell phones past and present
• coffee bean grinder ("you spend too much money on coffee.")
• beach cruiser

• teaching english overseas (spain!) this is my dream job.
• working in an art museum
• freelance / magazine writing
• architect. that has to be the greatest job ever.
• publishing art / photography books (phaidon press, specifically..)
• photographer (maybe i just want a fancy camera.)
• lawyer for a cool corporation (mtv, magazines, clothing designers, etc)
• physicist / engineer - designing roller coasters (if i did this now - at my current math & science skill level - people would be dying all over the place)
• geneticist
• medical researcher
• if i didn't need stability and health insurance, i'd love to travel all over the world and just work odd jobs while experie...

• common - the light (468)
• jean grae - whatever (382)
• alicia keys - you don't know my name (368)
• common - be (359)
• janet jackson - love will never do without you (348)
• mya - fallen (330)
• d'angelo - lady (312)
• bob marley - turn your lights down low (273)
• talib kweli - never been in love (241)
• common - the corner (180)
• alicia keys - if i was your woman (171)
• gwen stefani - the real thing (170)
• jimmy eat world - crush (170)
• kelis & nas - popular thug (170)
• aaliyah - it's whatever (160)
• common - go (160)
• no doubt - underneath it all (156)
• the roots - act too (150)

• paul.
• keanu reeves in the early '90s.
• antonio sabato jr.
• will from making the band 4.
• channing tatum. smokin' hot.
• gael garcia bernal
• luis from passions (ha)
• james franco. so cute.
• ivan sergei (minor role in "the break-up")
• taylor lautner. thank god he's finally 18; i can no longer be considered a closet borderline pedophile.
• chico debarge. in the '90s anyway.

• "be eternal." -'pops'
• "you mustn't take everything so personal." -dr. habib
• "just let him be part of your sexual awakening and move on with your life." -april
• "just start scanning the shit out of it. there's no time for accuracy." -april
• "imagination is more important than knowledge." -einstein
• "simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." -leonardo da vinci
• "always write with a purpose." -professor r. house
• "don't be so hard on yourself. it's just a personal statement. you're not trying to win the pulitzer prize." -karyn stone
• "when you sit down, we want to see shoe, sock, pant; not shoe, sock, leg, pant." -jean harrison, the firm
• "the only person who really, truly knows ...

• spain
• thailand
• hawaii!
• hotel hana maui the honeymoon spot of my dreams.
• portugal
• the french riviera
• italy, especially venice
• rio de janiero, brazil! minus the crime. and i'd have to work out like a maniac beforehand if the girls there look the way they do in rap videos.
• florida (why haven't i been to florida yet?)
• nyc -never enough!
• barbados
• anywhere in the caribbean
• australia
• greece

i really just want to go everywhere. i can't stand the thought of living in the world without exploring it.