Well that was quick - I didn't even get another random blog post in between my book reviews. I started The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Sunday night and finished it last night. I can't remember the last time I read a book that quickly, especially one that didn't require a formal essay or paper due in class the following day. The storyline is brutal. After the fall of the United States, North America is divided into thirteen districts - known as Panem. Of the thirteen, one was obliterated by the Capitol - the government as a reminder of what they could do to them. Also as a reminder are the Hunger Games. Two teenagers, one boy and one girl, from each district are chosen by lottery to participate in the Hunger Games. 24 teenagers in an arena, with traps and weapons, and only one is allowed to live. They kill. They hunt. Think Survivor meets Lord of the Flies meets The Running Man. And the event is televised for all to see.

I was hooked. Absolutely hooked and couldn't put it down. I immediately fell in love with Katniss and Peeta and can't wait to start the second book tonight. I gave it 4 stars on goodreads. Tonight I'll start Catching Fire which is the second part of the series.

Loved this book. You should read it. The Help by Kathryn Stockett is set in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi where black maids are good enough to raise white children, but not clean enough to share bathrooms. The reality of the time and race relations is terrifying and disturbing on so many levels. The book is through the eyes of three different women - 2 black maids, Aibileen and Minny, and one white young woman, the writer of their stories. You see the world through all of their eyes and it is beautiful, heartbreaking, difficult and informative. Stockett did a great job at showing all points of view and I think this is a must-read for everyone.

Each character had depth and you instantly loved or hated them. I was afraid for them and had genuine feelings about each. Read this book, you won't be disappointed. I gave it 4 stars on goodreads, but think it's closer to 4 1/2. I'm very picky about my 5 star reads, but this was very, very close.

Finishing this book also means I have completed my 2009 Busy Bookworm Challenge - almost a full month before the deadline. Next up for me is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I have some reservations about this book (and the follow-up sitting on my shelf), but have read some good reviews and decided to give the series a shot. Anyone read them?

Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving Day was nice. I had to pick up G'Ma and head up to my parents house to watch the Packers game and then the family went over to my Aunt and Uncle's house for a lot of amazing food and interesting dinner conversation. I'm going to assume that your Thanksgiving dinner talk did not include a rather in depth discussion of cockfingering, but mine did. Reason 1,546,203 that I love my family. It was pretty uneventful other than the fact that I wanted to become immediately bulimic and then die from overeating. On Friday we went as a family to pick out the Christmas tree and go to dinner, which was really lunch because we're on my nephew's nap schedule these days. Saturday morning I came back to the city to clean up and get ready for my 10 year high school reunion, also known as that-event-I-didn't-want-to-go-to-but-did-and-it-was-a-let-down-of-epic-proportions.

The reunion. Lame. My best high school friend, D, came into town with her boyfriend and stayed with me - which was the highlight of the evening. I haven't seen her in years and it was great to catch up and meet her boyfriend. That part was fun. Then a few other good friends came over for some pre-reunion drinking because I couldn't show up at this thing sober. Yes, I use alcohol as a crutch. No, I don't feel bad about that. So we all piled into two cabs and got to the reunion "fashionably late" which turned out to be a bad idea since then we had to wait in line to get in. Wait in line? I don't wait in lines. But I didn't have much of a choice. So, as I stood in line, watching my open bar time dwindle, I looked around in the line - who the fuck are you people? I recognized 3 people in a line of about 50.

Now my graduating class was large - around 900 - but I thought I might possibly recognize a few more than that. Once we finally got upstairs and I bullied the bouncer and told him he owed me drinks later since I had to wait and miss out on "premium" (we'll get to that in a minute) open bar time. Premium. Premium to me means good vodka - not the kind that makes my stomach ache and my liver rupture. For $80 we were supposed to get premium liquor and "heavy" appetizers. Ha. I drank well vodka and threw a fucking fit. I didn't eat any of the appetizers because they looked quite repulsive. Oh, but I got a "Memory Book." This book included names and addresses for the people in my class (I left my address out because why the hell would I want these people to have my address?)

Anyway, once we got upstairs and I got my shit-vodka tonic, I started walking around and slowly started recognizing more and more people. The only people I really talked to were those of us who went to junior high together - there are a bunch of feeder schools that fed into my high school, but us DW kids always shared a special bond. My two junior high crushes were there, one is still a dick and the other is still hot. The evening was a royal let down. It was crowded and obnoxious and I couldn't wait to leave. Two of my cousins were downstairs in the regular bar part and I kept running to them for escape. Once the open bar ended, we left. Seemed like a bunch of people were going to this place called The Empty Bottle in West Town - a part of the city I never go to because I value my life and don't want to get shot, stabbed or raped.

The place was a dive, the music was bad, but cute junior high crush went too so we got to chat a bit more. He told me I look gorgeous and (swoon) I ate it up. Only it ended there because we all wanted to leave and I lost track of him. Damn it all.

I was really hoping to have some great reunion stories to tell you all, but really - my night ended with feeling sick from cheap vodka, and an empty bed. S and I ended up at Bar Louie eating sandwiches at midnight because we were starving and it was closer to our respective condos - away from any immediate danger that didn't involve drunk yuppies. D and J came back to my place early and were in bed when I got home. They had about 30 blankets on them because apparently not everyone likes sleeping in a 50 degree room like I do.

Anyway, so that was my reunion story - boring. Like the reunion. I think I'll be skipping my 20 year. Oh, and that stupid bitch I mentioned in my earlier post about the reunion was not there. Actually, none of the people I hung out with in high school were there. I can't decide if that would have made it better or worse, but I'm not concerned with finding out either way.

*Update: Just got a Facebook message from an old classmate that said "Hey, it was great to see you last night. You look hot." Now that is what I like to hear. And I don't care if he was lying and/or drunk.

Nothing big on the agenda this week - have a few meetings, work, holiday cocktails at the Trump Hotel on Wednesday, then Friday night my parents, sister, and I are going to dinner downtown and then to see A Christmas Carol at the Goodman Theatre. Then probably more holiday cocktails somewhere. I'm actually looking forward to a relaxing weekend after all the ridiculous running around I've done lately. I haven't had a good couch-pug-wine-Netflix night since early October and it is needed. Hope you all had a great weekend - sorry I don't have any interesting stories to share.

So everyone and their mother is writing an "I'm thankful for..." post today. I am not going to do that. Today I am going to give you a nice list of everything that I wish someone would die (slowly and painfully, preferably feet first through a meat slicer) for bringing into my life. In other words, things I am most definitely not thankful for. Here we go - feel free to contribute in the comments section because chances are you will write something and I will say "Oh hell yeah, me too!"

V is not thankful for:

• Broken elevators in my condo building - Stairs and Carmen Electra can rot in hell.
• That little red exclamation point in Outlook that comes up on emails that are Urgent! Seriously lawyers, not everything is urgent. Really. I promise you. At least, it's not urgent to me and I will get to it when I'm goddamned good and ready.
• Twilight.
  
• Living closest to Grandma so I have to pick her up tomorrow morning.
• Having half of my office in a part of the world that does not celebrate Thanksgiving and will be working all week/weekend, which means that I too will be working all week/weekend.
• High school reunions.
• Co-workers who chew loudly. It's insanely loud. Excruciatingly loud. Barf-under-my-desk-because-hearing-people-chew-is-the-sickest-thing-ever loud.
• The snow that's on it's way here to make Thanksgiving Day driving so much more enjoyable.
• Newlywed neighbors.
• Homeless people.
• Bathroom soap - why is it so difficult to find a decent, economical soap for office bathrooms that doesn't dry out my hands to the point where my cuticles are cracking and bleeding?
  
• This newly acquired heartburn I can't seem to get rid of.
• The fact that the bars will be crawling with 18-21 year old kids home from college tonight wearing little-to-no clothing and trying to pass off fake IDs. Yes, I have been there, but I'm not there anymore, so get the fuck out of my bar and put some goddamn clothes on, it's snowing. I am staying home in my AFTPs watching The Ugly Truth and hopefully going to pick up my Gerard Butler dreams where they left off - which involved a bathtub, hair pulling and a spatula.
  
• Red light cameras.

Oh the list could just go on and on and on but I'm interested to see what you guys come up with.

Let's talk about reunions...and how I have my ten year high school reunion next Saturday night. 10 years?! Really? Sometimes it feels like it was 20 years ago, and sometimes it feels like it was 5 years ago - so I guess now when I think about it, 10 years makes sense. Fuck. 10 years ago I played field hockey, went to prom, wrote college entrance essays, and had the greatest group of friends imaginable (well, until I met other, better friends).

I grew up in Chicago, on the outskirts of the city and my family moved to the northern suburbs at the end of my 6th grade year so my older sister wouldn't have to go to a Chicago public high school. The move was the best thing that ever happened to us, and to me. Not only did we get into one of the highest ranked public school districts in the country, but it was a whole new world - no more uniforms, nuns, and how the fuck do you work a locker? All things that took some serious getting used to - in a wonderful and exciting way.

In high school, I wasn't one of the cool kids, but I wasn't a loser either. I was just kind of there, in my little friend bubble. We had jocks and drama people, and nerds and popular kids in a group of around 20 - we were a great Abercrombie and Fitch group. We got invited to the popular kid parties, but never went. We were perfectly content in our bubble with each other. I was never Homecoming Queen - though I was in the Homecoming Court my freshman year. I wasn't the prom queen, didn't date the quarterback of the football team, or win any lame awards like "best attendance." It was a great time, but by the end of it, I was so ready to move on. To say I had senioritis would be the understatement of the century. Prom came and went. Graduation came and went. And that summer before I left for college seemed to drag on like you wouldn't believe. But, now it's time for my reunion.

I wasn't planning on going - the thought of spending $90 to go to a shitty bar in the city and see a bunch of people I wasn't friends with didn't sound all that appealing. Especially now with things like Facebook where I already know you're married, or have kids, and sadly I know all about your goddamn farm in Farmville (that's another post entirely). So at Q's birthday party, shortly after we all found out about the reunion, they attacked me in a vulnerable (drunken) state and I agreed to go to the reunion. Three of us were at the party and all decided to go. I only agreed if I could look hot, tell everyone I'm a lawyer, sit at the bar and make fun of everyone there. They said that was just fine.

But this was back in May, and now that it's actually a week away - I'm having serious reservations about going. I am fatter than I wanted to be. I have no money to buy a hot new outfit. I will have K, S, D & S there with me, but still. You know that little pang of insecurity that hits you randomly? I've got it right now. Yet I'm also very proud of who I am - I was a lawyer at 24 years old, I have great long blonde hair, I own my own car and home and I'm fucking fun to be around. So why be nervous? L. She was one of my best friends in high school. Then, our senior year, when we were talking about colleges and what we wanted to major in she said something that affected me in a way I should probably thank her for now. She was in all the AP classes and was either going to go pre-med or pre-law. I told her I was going to be pre-law.

V, you're not smart enough to be a lawyer. You should stick with interior design, you're so good at it and then you can decorate my home when I'm a rich lawyer!

Ouch. Bitch. Fuck you I hope you get kidney failure and die a rotten painful death alone where the only good thing is that your student loans will be absolved - oh but fuck that because your parents are probably paying for law school anyway.

To be fair, I wasn't ambitious and was pretty much a straight C student in high school because I couldn't be bothered to study. I was lazy and wanted to spend time with my friends - but that statement, that hurt. And it also propelled me into my future success, so again, I guess a big hearty thanks is in order. So what's the best way to get back at a statement like that? Become a lawyer? No. Get into law school, pass the bar exam and become a lawyer one year before she does? Yes! And that's exactly what happened. We didn't speak, but still had a mutual friend who I'm sure gave us both updates. I knew she knew. And that made me happy, in a sick and twisted, triumphant sort of way.

Anyway, I think she'll probably be there, and while I've seen her a few times since then I still feel like I need to try and be better than her. I'm prettier, but she has a fucking amazing body. We're both obviously smart, and I'm definitely funnier, but that little high school insecurity just comes creeping back in. She'll be coming with her boyfriend I'm sure.

And I'm going alone - well, with the girls, but without a boyfriend, fiance or husband. See, I don't care that I'm not married or have someone special in my life (I have more than enough unspecial people in my life). But it's that goddamn perception again. It doesn't matter that I've accomplished so much in my life to this point, especially in the last 10 years - if you show up alone, what do you have to show? I can't really bring my law license to parade around, or a mortgage statement to show I own my home. This is one major show and tell FAIL.

I am excited to see my best high school friend D who I haven't seen in years. We still chat all the time, but she lives a few hours away and our schedules never coordinate to get together.

Oh well, I'm sure an interesting post or two will come out of this event. Thanks for letting me vent a bit.

Also, what's the protocol for when someone comes up to you and says something like

"V! Oh my God, it's been ages, how are you, what's new?"

and you have no fucking clue who the hell they are? Is

"actually, it's been 10 years, not ages, and I have no fucking idea who you are and back the fuck off because I don't hug people I don't know"

an appropriate response? I have a firm no-name tag policy and refuse to wear one, but hopefully everyone else will wear theirs.

It's come to my attention that I have collected quite a few more followers over the last few days. Welcome! It's been a while since I did more of an "about me" kind of post, and I thought since I do have some new readers that it might be a good time to do that.

Therefore, I'll open it up to you guys - ask me anything you want (except what happened between the hours of 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. that night I wore Halloween socks).

I will answer openly and honestly. I'll collect questions over the next several days (in the comments section) and do an all-in-one answer early next week. To get the ball rolling, I'll do a Friday Fill-In since it's been a while for that too.

1. We need to all laugh at ourselves a little bit more. While I am aware there are circumstances which call for being serious, for the most part, people get so worked up over the smallest things. We would all be better off and happier if we just stopped and laughed in the mirror for a while.

2. I (not as in me, as in friend, I) and I had a discussion last night about if we would have been friends in high school and it made me smile. He was a nerd and I was just kind of there. I think we would have been friends and maybe gone to the Homecoming dance together, he wasn't convinced. I think he was holding out for someone better.

3. If you want to get to know me - ask me a question!!

4. I have not had a drink since Texas because I'm officially in detox until tonight or tomorrow.

5. Massachusetts has a proposed 5% sales tax on elective cosmetic surgery; I think Real Housewives of Boston will not be happening.

6. Holiday sweatpants makes for a happy holiday. Seriously, there is nothing better than matching sweatpants to pig out and drink a lot in. Hooray!

7. And as for my weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to baking and party prepping for my Urban Family Thanksgiving dinner party tomorrow night, tomorrow my plans include cooking a turkey, and setting up a feast for friends and some family, and Sunday I want to rub my belly on the couch and watch football all day. Go Packers!

Pretty in Plaid: A Life, a Witch, and a Wardrobe, or, the Wonder Years Before the Condescending, Egomanical, Self-Centered Smart Ass Phase by Jen Lancaster is her fourth memoir. Clearly, this is the prequel to her three other memoirs which also have insanely long titles. The book starts out when she's a child and in Brownies (something I never did because that and Girl Scouts just didn't appeal to me. And I got kicked out when I tried to join the Boy Scouts anyway. Fuck them).

Anyway, I struggled a bit with this book and normally love Jen. She's one of those brutally honest writers where you find yourself saying "me too!" at more than one point in a chapter. I love how direct she is, and that she's not afraid to make fun of herself or others (sounds familiar!). This was probably my least favorite of her books to date. I couldn't relate to this one as much as the others, mainly because the whole little girl, teenager, college kid thing. Yes, I was a lot like her back then, but I'm not big on reading about that person now. It was amusing. Funny and entertaining, but again, not one of my favorites of hers - I do recommend her blog though. I gave this book 3 stars on goodreads.

Next up is The Help by Kathryn Stockett and this means I only have one more book on my 2009 Busy Bookworm Challenge! You can see my full list of books on the right side of my blog if you scroll down.

I was thinking about books for 2010 already, and decided that I want to go back to some classics before I read newer things. I've "skimmed" through so many wonderful books in high school and college that I want to actually read and enjoy them (since I won't have to write an essay or something lame about how the book changed my life, or how I relate to a specific character, or what is the metaphor for the second tree on the left). And of course I do all of my reading in thigh-high tights, garter belts and with one finger in my mouth. Why? Because you should never underestimate the power of the finger in your mouth.