My #1 Professional Goal This Year

So, normally I don't write about my professional life on my blog... I do, after all, have very strong feelings about keeping my personal and professional lives separate (blog stories about my work travel do NOT count!).

Today is going to simply have to be an exception to the rule.

Okay, so I received an email earlier today regarding putting together a plan outlining my goals for the upcoming year... you know, nothing out of the ordinary. Normally, I actually do like to give these some thought because... well, to be perfectly honest, because I really just like "checking things off" a list.

Seriously- do you guys keep To Do lists? Omg, they are seriously one of my favorite things EVER (yes, I'm a nerd). And not just any To Do lists... others are perfectly content just typing their lists out into Word, Notepad, iPhones, or whatever... but not me.

Nope- I definitely still "write out" my To Do lists... you know- like on paper and everything... you know- like, the old-fashioned way, if you will ;). But seriously, the self-satisfaction that can be derived from PHYSICALLY being able to strike through a handwritten To Do list... well, GOD. It has honestly GOT to be one of the best things ever (I already TOLD you- I'm a nerd, yes, I know.). In any event, physically crossing something off my To Do lists FAR supercedes the self-satisfaction derived from striking through items in a Word document or Notepad (or even deleting... I mean, what's the POINT of deleting?? What's the point of doing all your activities if you can't even SEE the physical progress you've made with your list? I mean, honestly, people- plain logic, here).

Anyway, believe it or not, this post wasn't actually intended to be about To Do lists... but I digressed (imagine that). So, as the thought of putting together my professional goals for the year sprinkled through my thoughts on my bus ride home this afternoon, my mind quickly wandered (doesn't take much, really) to creating a To Do list for my personal life as well. I'd been talking with a few of my friends about the thought of putting together a "bucket list" for this year just so I'll actually DO more stuff, but to be perfectly honest, I think I could die today and be perfectly happy. Okay, that came out a lot more morbid than it actually was meant to be- but... well, I just think life has been fairly good to me thus far. Nothing wrong with that, right? Right. God, if "life" could have a cheerleader... well- sign me UP! Hahah.

Lord, this post is all over the place. Okay, so I actually ended up creating a little list of personal things I want to accomplish in the next year but again, believe it or not, this post isn't about my personal To Do list for the year. Rather, this post is SUPPOSED to be about the ONE professional item that made it onto my personal To Do list for the year (see? Told you I'm fairly adamant about keeping my personal and professional lives separate).

The fact that this one professional item made it onto my personal To Do list clearly goes to show just how BADLY I want it. I mean, I can safely say I've never wanted something in my professional life as badly as I want this. Now, I'm sure the suspense is absolutely killing you so... without further ado... I present to you... my biggest professional goal yet...

Okay, so I work at a large company (like national/international reach), right? And periodically, they hold these firmwide video broadcasts where they provide updates on the company, upcoming events with the company, what the company's leaders have to say... sigh- I think I'm the only one who like avidly watches these things like it's a movie thriller or something. Seriously- next time one of these things is broadcast, I'm going to pop myself some popcorn (I guess it would help if I actually liked popcorn...), kick back and just relax with all the happy firm news being broadcast.

Anyway, so to be creative (I think), some of these firmwide broadcasts involve having junior staff interview various members of the company for a variety of reasons.

So that's it! That's my goal! I want to BE one of those INTERVIEWERS!!!

Hahaha... was that a total buzzkill for all of you? Oh well. But honestly, wouldn't that be the BEST role EVER?!?!?! I would take it more seriously than almost anything else I've ever taken in my professional life... after all, I see this as kind of a platform, if you will... I mean, if I'm going to be the next Oprah, I have to start SOMEwhere, right? Right. And what better platform than something that already has national REACH, RIGHT?!?!?!

You know what's funny? I feel like some of interviewers could be super nervous because, well, you're being broadcast across the country. But me? Well, I think my biggest concern would be to tame my smile a bit, so that I don't come across as... well, I don't know- too excitable/"happy-go-lucky"/"heads in the clouds"-ish. Because you KNOW I would be. ON. CLOUD. NINE. if ever I had this opportunitylasjfdlksjdf! And, I mean, even I know I'm fairly excitable on a regular basis. Can you imagine just how spirit-fingery frenzied I'd be if my #1 professional goal (EVER) actually came true?!?!?!

Trust me- this is a HIGHLY valid concern. I mean, I'm not going to lie... there are points where I'm sitting in meetings with certain coworkers that I just want to sit back, rest my chin in my palms and well, just BEAM because they make me SO HAPPY!!LKJlfkajslfdjsl! Hahahaha. I can't even imagine how that would play out if I ended up living out my dream role...

(NOW do you see why I have to be extra-conscious about maintaining a professional persona in the workplace? Like, can YOU imagine if you looked over one day and one of your coworkers was just sitting there BEAMING at you? Thank you very much.)

Anyway, you know me and that whole shamelessness thing. If I want something badly enough, shame has no bounds in my mind... as such, if you or anyone you know (coworkers or noncoworkers alike!) know of ANY avenue to become one of these interviewers... please do let me know and help make my #1 professional goal for the upcoming year come true.

In return... well, I will be eternally grateful (I may have a bad memory, but I NEVER forget about people who help me out) and bake you treats.  That should totally suffice, right?

"You Don't Understand... I Love You" (aka: The Will Smith Story)

When one of my coworkers/friends recently Facebook friended me, her first comment was "I didn't know you'd met Will Smith!" to which I replied with "Umm... how did you find that out?"

Now, I don't really know why I questioned how she figured it out (as if I were trying to keep it some kind of secret... HA). I mean, come on. I can still recant that story (every. intricate. detail) of meeting Will on the set of Hitch (remember? When he flashes back to his college days when he was super awkward with girls... HA- as if THAT could ever be the case.) as if it happened yesterday. Rather than going into the (kind of long) story about how I met Will Smith, I simply just forwarded along the email that I'd sent to a small group of my friends about ten minutes after that moment in the sun occurred. I mean... if that email doesn't speak for itself, I just don't know what does.

After forwarding along the email, I actually took a few moments to reread it myself... relive the moment if you will. And... not gonna lie- my heart still picked up the pace (and/or my knee started jiggling... and/or I started experiencing slight shortness of breath... well, you get the idea) as I was rereading it.

This is all very pathetic, yes, I know. But whatever.

Needless to say, I can safely say that July 2, 2004 was the happiest day of my life to-date.

As such, I figured... what better way to spread the excitement than by... simply copy/pasting the email (complete with all the typos, since I clearly couldn't type straight, given how flustered I still was) for all the world to read (okay, one little part was cut out since it's not exactly the most appropriate for broader audiences, but that's it!).

All I have to say is... enjoy.

And GOD, if Will Smith is out there reading this... dare. I. dream.

The Email... from July 2, 2004

happy summer everyone!!

i was just writing this email because i definitely have some necessary emotion to be released at this point in time and i dont have many daytime minutes so the one time i actually WNAT to be on the phone, i cant.  however, i just need to share:

first off, i love columbia and ny. because of this program and the wonderful people i have met? eh not so much although its an alright program but ive mostly just been antisocial and scurrying across town to meet up with the osu contingent of nyu. however, this week has been amazing. why? Last tuesday or monday or so, who was sitting outside of one of our buildings reading a book but RIDER STRONG! high five. i love him. and for you true disney channel fans and simply pouty guy lips heartthrobs out there, its shawn from boy meets world, one of the best shows ever. two of my friends and i went up to him and i (just like a typical fan) asked him to take a picture. he was so nice about it. i like him a whole lot more now :) but I would just like to share that the picture is wonderful: he has his arm around me and my other friend but his head is totally tilted in my direction. i LOVE it. lol

secondly, and for the REAL reason for this email. rider strong high five right/ that made the highlight of my week earlier. but then today, Friday july 2nd, we noticed all these random cameras and whatnot and we were walking to this office that we had to do some work in. we didnt really  think twice right? then we're working for like an hour or so and this girl from our program rushes in and shes like (shes so cute shes from spain) "you know uh will? smith? you like him?" and of course literally no joke my mouth drops open and i start having a bit of trouble breathing. nothing serious but it was funny cause i had heard that he was going ot be on trl today and i was so wanting to go to the mtv studio but i couldnt cause of my office work. however then she shares this and i was freaking out like oh my goodness hes just visiting for an hour and im stuck here??? she was like "hes right outside!!! here you want to see pictures? i even took a little video" so there i am (along with a few others who are much calmer just to paint a mental picture) watching her little video clip but not really  paying attentino because im trying to figure out how to get out of office work but theyre pretty strict about actually, oh i dont know, STAYING on the job? So literally for like 45 mins i was just standing there because i got done with my stuff (cause lets face it, when i heard will smith, i was frantically sorting through my files and shoving them into place... this one girl i was working with was just looking at me in amazement and cracking up) but i was so scared i would miss him! so then they wouldnt even let us leave the office cause we were waiting for everyone to get done. i was getting VERY annoyed... will was so close yet so far. so anyway, then it got really chaotic and whatnot so i just left. i wa slike screw this i am not missing will for this unorganization. (my logic i know :)) however, they had just finished doing a scene so will was on a little break and he was talking to a bunch of people so i scurried on down the columbia steps and was literally five feet away from him. (it turns out i wouldnt have missed him anyways cause he would be there for an hour or two more) i was snapping my camera away in simple awe. he was talking to a theater group from phillyl so we werent allowed to get any closer. still it was good enough right? then the directing people kept on yelling at people to clear out cause they were going to start another scene for his new movie (first and last kiss or somethign) it takes place in the 80s. me being the clueless one that i am start chatting with this asian lady that was sitting in the grass just watching everything happen. then the directing lady starts cuing everyone off to the sides whos not in the movie and figuring the asian lady is off set i settled down next to her. then the directing lady starts going across the walk and is like "youre in this scene youre in this scene etc" because there were so many extras... then she comes to me and I really had no clue that i could have been in the scene until she stopped  and was like "youre not in this scene" and i just was like "what? oh this is for the movie? im so sorry!" and she was really nice and was like "oh its not a problem you could be in it but its set in the 80s and your clothes dont  look 80s enoguh" really nice about it seriously! but what the heck?? i was  almost an extra in will smiths movie! so you think thats all, right? oh no no no... because i definitely wait aroudn and watch the scene being shot. it was pretty cool... then everyone (all the fans and whatnot) started leaving casue they got bored but not me the faithful will supporter that i am. i was just watching and watching and then it started to rain a little bit... just sprinkling. so of course they called the scene off and i was at such a far distance but i could see will just talking to people and then i saw pepoepl scurrying towards him to get a picture/autograph so i start walking towards him. but there are a few people and a couple of girsl wanted their picture with him so i was like "i can take it for you if you would like" and of coruse they let me so i took it. and then i wanted to get in a picture but I wasnt with anyone so who would take it? so of coruse i was just less than a foot away from will and he is adorable. and then all these other girsl start swarming in to take a picture so i was kind of like hwat the heck? all this for nothing? 

so then the directing lady starts shooing us off and was like "sorry we have to keep the crowd moving" and my face literally dropped and since i was in the front he saw that and he knew who i was since i had offered to take the other girls' pictures. so he knew i was a relatively nice person i guess? lol i liek to think taht at least. but listen to this: so he sees my face drop and all these other people had started backing away per the director's orders but i was just stockstill for a second and he just looked at me and i was seriously nearly in tears, my voice was shaking and I just said "you dont understand... i love you" lol lol lol.

seriously TOTAL teenybopper. but whatever. and he was like "aw thanks" (with his beautiful eyes and smile that has his eyes crinkle and his lips droop down....  aughhH!:) ) and he came up to me and was like (to me) "just one more, baby, just one more" with his typical fresh prince charm. i love him. love him. so what did he do? not a normal pose and have someone else take it cause there was no one else to take it. he definitely took my camera, put his arm aroudn me and held the camera out and took the picture.

I was in literal heaven.

seriously. hands were shaking voice shaking everything. not only did i see will smith... not only did i take pictures of him. but our FACES WERE TOUCHING. he had his ARM around me! who does that happen to?? the girl with the computer wallpaper collage of will smith, the girl whos watched every fresh prince multiple times. I [EXPLETIVE] LOVE him. the nicest guy ever.

LOVE. oh im swooning im swooning. LOVE.

and that my friends, are the adventures of the celebs thus far. i could die and i would be perfectly happy. i LOVE will. and I love you guys. thanks for listening to this tale.

love
christie :)

Please note: Cheeks. Are. Touching.

That is all.

Happiness is...

Let's just cut right to the chase. All you need to know about Sydney is that it is happiness... just plain happiness.

Happiness is...

Perfect. Views.

View after view after view of the Blue Mountains...

Across the world reunions with some best friends... aaaand feeling like I'm going to fall off the edge of the mountain... trust me, I wouldn't put it past the two of us.

Did I mention the views?

Tiny kangaroos!

Snakes?! Sure, I guess that can be happiness... I guess. (I swear, the things I do for a blog post...)

Blue skies... blue water... perfect days.

Let's take a look at the skyline just one more time...

Okay, I lied. That was just one more view!

Perfect coastlines...

Across the world reunions!!

Sigh. I don't want to leave.

Oh well. My next options aren't too shabby... off to Melbourne for the next few days! Cross your fingers for some more sunshiney goodness!

Another Twitter Success Story... c/o the Mayor of Ithaca

Oh, Twitter, it's so good to be back.

The past couple of months have been so crazy, that I've had little to no time (especially during the week) for some of my favorite things in life... yes, including Twitter. That's right, Twitter's totally made it onto the shortlist of "some of my favorite things in life". I mean, you have to admit, Twitter's been pretty good to me in the past.

As per usual, I was traveling for work this week. Typically, while on the road, our team doesn't get back to our hotel rooms until about 9 or 10 PM (since most of the time, there's some sort of a team event going on after work). This past Wednesday just happened to be slightly anomalous in nature- there was a freak snowstorm going through Connecticut, so most people in the office were leaving earlier than normal in order to minimize the risk of the quickly worsening road conditions. In any event... sweet success! I actually made it back to my hotel room at a reasonable hour and was able to catch up on some good old-fashioned television-watching... and discover Rock Center on NBC.

Have you seen this show?? I mean, I've heard of the show before, but I've never actually sat down to watch it... a little surprising considering how much I love all those "news magazine-y" types of shows (i.e. 20/20, Dateline, Nightline, etc.). In any event, I was so pleased with how Rock Center was panning out... I mean, you can't really go wrong with Brian Williams (and I just realized, Meredith Vieira is a special correspondent?!?!? Yep- you've just 100% won me over!).

Anyway, one of the stories on Rock Center this week involved a profile of Ithaca's newest mayor... who just happens to be the ripe old age of 24. Isn't that crazy?!?! I was immediately intrigued. And rightly so- Mayor Svante Myrick's story is incredible. From growing up homeless to graduating from Cornell to, oh yeah, becoming Ithaca's mayor at the age of 24... it's clear that this guy has a very bright future ahead of him. But that's really not what struck me the most... sure, he sounds good on paper, but so do like 75% of the other Ivy League politicians out there.

Nope- what really sticks out about Svante is how GENUINE and humble he is. Of all the things that he interviewed about, the one thing that has stuck with me is the amount of respect and credit that he gives his mom and grandparents in raising him (during a very difficult childhood). Let's be honest here... heartstring-tugger.

Anyway, I was so pleased with my first viewing of Rock Center (in no small part thanks to stories like this), that I decided to take it upon myself to get right on Twitter and let those Rock Center folks know that they just won over a new fan... gotta spread that sunshine and happiness at any and all life's turns, right? Right.

And would you look at that? Shortly after tweeting them, Rock Center totally FAVORITED my Tweet!! (I don't really know what that means, but I got that notification in my Inbox and, quite frankly, was on cloud NINE!) Not only that, but a supervising producer of NBC primetime news totally mentioned me on Twitter as well!! You'd think that would be the end of it, right?

Well, it wasn't. Because, that's right, the next day... Mayor Svante Myrick replied to my Tweet!!! As if that weren't enough... umm, that's right. He started FOLLOWING me on Twitter as well!!!! lkjlkjlkfajdlkfajdslkjfdslkj!!!! Not gonna lie, it was a little hard to concentrate at work that day as I was seeing those notifications coming through my Inbox... I mean, YOU try maintaining neutral expression as you read (and re-read... and re-read) your Gmail notification that the mayor of Ithaca is now following you on Twitter. alkjfdslksajflkjdslkfj!!!! Come on!! I know I have NO poker face whatsoever, but even people with the BEST poker faces would have trouble containing their excitement with such monumental news, right?! RIGHT?! Right.

(Watch Svante Myrick actually read this post and proceed to unfollow me. I guess I should be a bit more concerned at the prospect of potentially being unfollowed, but, quite frankly, as this thought just crossed my mind, I got a little more distracted by the thought that... oh. my. Lord. What if he actually DID read this BLOG POST?!?!?!?!? Dare I DREAM!)

Sigh... chalk it up to yet ANOTHER Twitter success story. #happiness doesn't even begin to describe it. All I can say is... lesson LEARNED- never again will Twitter fall to the wayside, no matter how crazy life gets. Priorities and all that.

Travel Guidebook Happiness

Lately, I feel like things have been so all over the place that I simply haven't had time to do some of the things that typically keep me sane (reading, exercising, BLOGGING, lounging at cozy coffee shops... I could go on and on, really).

It certainly doesn't help that lately, I've had this incessant feeling that something is going to go terribly wrong in the very near future. My stomach is constantly in knots (I swear, I'm about to develop an ulcer) and that "feeling" literally just will NOT go away.

God. Talk about the OPPOSITE of happiness and sunshine, right? Sigh. I swear, this post isn't an ENTIRE buzzkill (please do keep reading!).

Anyway, after yet another work week (sigh, corporate America), all I wanted to do was come home and...

Well, to be honest, just curl up in a ball and go to sleep for a very long time. (Let's just say, after last Saturday's 18 hours of sleep, I couldn't help but hope for a similar weekend this weekend.) Seriously, my entire bus ride home, I was contemplating different ways to turn down the birthday party I'd promised to go to on Friday night so that I could honestly just go to sleep at like 8 PM.

It's amazing what a looming vacation can do for a girl's mentality. All I've done for my March trip to Australia thus far is book my flights... and that's because I HAD to... who knew how much higher ticket prices were going to get?! Additionally, last weekend, I finally buckled down and secured my purchase for the Lonely Planet Australia guide on Amazon. I'd actually completely forgotten about that purchase until I arrived home on Friday night, to the brilliant surprise that I had a package! (Because I travel during the weeks, I typically catch up on all my mail and stuff at the end of the work week.)


Happiness. Pure happiness. That is the only way to put it. I couldn't believe how much my mood changed simply by riffling through the first few pages of the guidebook. I could literally FEEL the relaxation of the Australian lifestyle emanating through those pages. Not to mention the EXCITEMENT!!! Have I shared how I'm so excited for this trip? Have I? So excited I can hardly STAND IT?!!

And seriously, with the rate things have been going lately, don't put it past me to just park it in Australia for the rest of my days...

HUGS all around!

"A hug is a smile with arms, a laugh with a stronger grip." - Terri Guillemets

guess what this entry is allllll about? the wonders and delights of... the HUG!!! lakfjlaksjdf!!! I LOVE HUGS!!! giving them, receiving them... the best part about the hug is that there IS no difference. you give a hug, you get a hug! i mean, what better way to spread joy to the world, RIGHT?! (speaking of joy to the world... did you hear that miss mariah's coming out with a new christiemas album?! no worries, just a slight side note. there will be a future blog entry devoted to THAT in its entirety, rest assured.)

okay, so in my twenty-seven years on this glorious planet we call Mother Earth (i know, introspective, yo), i feel like ive seen enough to make some fair conclusions. one conclusion being that there is simply just not enough happiness in this world, gosh darn it. i know, i know, talk about stating about the most obvi of the obvious. BUT i also really think that most, if not all, the world's problems could really be solved if people would just start off and end any potentially tense encounters/meetings with a hug. think about it- who DOESN'T feel good after receiving a hug (well, let's just pretend creepy people don't exist in the world for a few moments)? RIGHT? i KNOW. if people started off every encounter with a genuine, hearty hug, you are pretty much guaranteed to formulate an innate bond with that other person, thus mitigating any tense feelings or potential sources of conflict that could arise in the remainder of your encounter/meeting. and THEN, even if said encounters go horribly awry, if you conclude your encounter/meeting with a grand hug, that innate bond is automatically re-formulated and all is merry again.

man, i really should win the nobel peace prize for this. but seriously, while i do realize i sound like im totally off my rocker with this idea, i REALLY think we're onto something here. i mean, honestly. just imagine if barack obama, mahmoud ahmadinejad and kim jong-il were in one room. i know, right? SCARY- barack, get OUTTA that ROOM! yes, that would be my first thought as well under normal (ie: present day) circumstances. however, imagine if obama, ahmadinejad and jong-il were in christieland, where hugs were mandatory, hugs were genuine, hugs were EVERYwhere! i mean, dont YOU think that these three would more quickly figure out that world peace is simply a mere hug away (and simultaneously figure out that nuclear weapons do NOTHING to help move forward the progress of society and should just be dumped in the ocean and left to rot? no? just me? sigh.)... now, i mean, im not delusional. it's not like i think ONE meeting with a hug will solve all the world's problems. but i DO think that it would increase the rate at which all of the world's problems are solved by, hmm, maybe tenfold. it's all very scientific, naturally.

this may be slightly confusing for some who know me well, as i am certainly NOT a touchy feely kind of person. i mean, im sorry, but personal SPACE, people! but i feel like hugs are in a realm of their own. they're just so powerful in nature. come on, think of the best hug you've ever gotten... omg arent they the BEST?!?! arms WIDE open upon introduction, the warm envelope of the embrace mid-hug, the side to side sway as the hug just continues on and on... lkajsdflkjasdklfjsdlka!!! ahhhhh come ON, if even just the THOUGHT doesnt make you want to squeal and dance in a merry little circle, i just dont know what DOES!!!!

i actually just spent a few minutes reflecting on what could possibly have been the best hug ive ever received. but i cant limit it to just one! there are simply too many different TYPES of hugs that ive gotten that it's simply not fair to limit it. there's those reunion hugs where you do the whole swaying back and forth or get picked up off the ground (okay, OBVIOUSLY it depends on with whom you are reuniting... i mean, never forget the art of common sense here, people), there's those heartwrenching goodbye hugs where one or both of you are crying and you can feel the wrenching sobs (while awful and sad, i still love the hug part itself), and there's those hugs you get from people who are so not huggers on a regular basis and totally catch you off-guard (delicious.). sigh. my heart is so full right now, merely thinking of specific instances of each of these types of hugs ive ever received.

so let's do it. let's start/spread this Hugapalooza. let's make it contagious (and limited to non-creepy individuals). let's make it grand. let's make the world merry again. go on! get out there! give someone (or several someones) a hug today. im serious!!

get ready, world! (and by world, i mean, readers o' the maliyacular, i guess...)

in gratitude of-

HUGS!!!!

Welcome, welcome, welcomelkajsflkasj!!!

hi everyone!

sigh. i'd like to (finally) introduce you to my BLOG!!! lkajsfdlkj! after years of just emailing my ever-ridiculous stories (often about absolutely nothing, let's be honest here) to ever-random collections of friends here and there, i've taken the liberty of compiling all my verbal vomit into one collective environment. i mean, what better way to KIT with all my BFFs in life, right? right. you're welcome in advance.

why now? having just moved for the third time in four years (ridic, I know), i figured this would be the best way to stay connected with my absolute FAVORITES plucked from anywhere and everywhere that i've been merrily traipsing about. i'm the first one to admit that i'm not the greatest at keeping in touch with people (i mean, the phone? please.), but that doesn't mean that i don't WANT to keep in touch. it's just not one of my finer qualities, thank you very much. for some reason, though, i'm so all over email's business, it's not even funny. so why not just compile all my otherwise mass-emailed stories/thoughts into one ridiculous blog?

and the title? sigh. i wish i could take credit for creation of the term "maliyacular". being the heavy advertiser of people that i know and absolutely LOVE, i must give credit where credit is due. so, hazel, thank you for coming up with such a delightful term... one of my favorites in life coining one of my absolute favorite terms in life... so FITTING! laksfdj! for those who haven't yet been absolutely blessed with my verbal vomit in email form, im hoping that as you continue to read this blog, you'll quickly come to realize what the heck is meant by "my own maliyacular". because, quite frankly, i cant really find words to describe it... basically the ONLY thing for which i can't find words to describe but that's just an aside.

with (all of) that said, id like to welcome, welcome, WELCOME you to my blog! sigh. a blog devoted to happiness, ridiculousness, nothingness... and everything else that can reasonably end with a "-ness", apparently...