A Giveaway Winner

I'm not gonna waste any time, especially when there's a special guest involved.

The winner of the Come On, Get Happy giveaway is...

Congrats lady! Email me your contact info and I'll get this fab package out to you ASAP.

Last Chance!

To enter my giveaway! I'm shuttin' it down manana.

Enter hereherehere!

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Oh, and Happy Monday ladies (...and possibly a gent? Eh, probably not.)!

Let's Hear It For Israel (One. More. Time.)

Wow! I get all personal and semi-lame and silly and bam, you guys come right to my rescue. I've said it once and I'll say it again: the amount of support and love in this community never ceases to amaze me.

Translation? Thank you.

Also, another wow is in order. The turnout for my giveaway was amazing and that makes me so ridiculously happy. I think I might have to do some more.

(Cough, giveaway junkie, cough.)

Okay, so I bet you all thought that my Israel rants 'n raves were finished. Oh, don't lie. You so did. I say this because I thought they were too.

Then I remembered that my friend Cory, who runs the blog vlog Wizard Vs. Tree (quite possibly one of the most eccentric sites I've ever seen, which makes sense because Cory is the most eccentric person I've ever met and I think he'd agree with me), did a video of him and I discussing my trip. We did this for his site but I'm sharing it here with you because a) Cory thought it'd be entertaining for me to do so and b) why not?

Click here to watch, but be warned that this is basically me talking and rambling on about the trip. I won't be offended if you stop the video after 3 minutes.

But not if you stop it after 2 minutes.

I don't think I could ever forgive you for that.

[PS: I'm writing this post in non-centered format just for you, Jennifer.]

You've (Only) Got a Friend In Me

Alright.

I'm delving somewhat deeper here and actually typing something somewhat personal for other people to see and judge.

And by judge, I mean give feedback/opinions/shrugs about.

Okay, let's just get to it, shall we?

After much thought and consideration, I think I might just be "that" girl.

You know the kind.
But in case you don't, some examples:

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I think I might be "that" girl.
The friend, the confidante, oh trusted and faithful one.

And only that.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

I've always been a people person. And I've always found it easy to befriend guys. In fact, I've generally gotten along better with guys (though I have a bunch of girlfriends too). Sure, I went through my tomboy phase. Come to think of it, in reality, I was actually one of those wannabe tomboys who insisted on wearing bandanas to softball practice and thought Jenkos were the be-all end-all of fashion.

All together now:

Oy vey, Ali. Oy. Vey.

My point is, I've always been that easygoing girl with a lot of guy friends. My best friend? Guy. Person I'm closest to at work? Guy. Majority of online/Skype/Gchat conversations I have? You guessed it, I have 'em with guys.

There is no shortage of male friendships in my life.

But that's just it.

They're just friendships.

I was having a conversation with someone the other day (a woman actually, gasp!) and she verbalized what I had been hoping wasn't the case.

"Ali, I think you become friends with guys and then that's only how they see you."

And I think said honest lady might just be right.

I don't know how I do it. I am who I am, just like we all are who we are.
But as a 23-year-old, heterosexual woman, this isn't necessarily the label I strive for.

All those women above? I can relate to each of them in some way, as I'm sure many of you can too. I mean, hello...who didn't want to be Joey Potter circa 1998?

But right now, at this particular place in my life, I'm sick and tired of being "that" girl.

So how do I change it?

I really wish I knew.

Thank you for your time.

My First Giveaway!

I've had this blog for who-knows-how-long and to think, I've never done a giveaway.

I know, I know. Lame, party of Ali.

But let it be known that this changes now!

I'm very excited (and slightly nervous, is that weird?) to be having my first giveaway.

I've been banging my head against a wall for days now, trying to think of what I wanted to bestow upon one of you amazing people.

And then I partook in a happy little activity being passed along in the blogosphere and I was inspired.

Taking a cue from numeros 5, 6, 8 and 9 of that post, I present to you...

Ali's Come On, Get Happy Giveaway

Here's the stuff that makes me happy, that I hope makes you happy too:

+ A Starbucks gift card ($15 value) - That's about a week's worth of lattes! Or hot chocolate if you don't play for the caffeinated team. I don't judge.+ A journal - Because we all blog and sometimes, ya just gotta write it down. Oh, and this good 'ole Moleskin isn't necessarily the one you'd be getting; that's for me to decide! ;)+ Sprinkles Cupcake Mix - You pick the flavor! Choose from Chocolate, Red Velvet, Vanilla, Banana or Lemon. Decisions, decisions...+ (500) Days of Summer - One of my favorites, starring my favorite.

Okay, so how's this all gonna work?

You know the drill. But just in case...

Rules as follows:
-One entry if you comment and tell me you're a follower (thanks in advance for being one!)
-Another entry for telling me (in a comment, of course) one thing that makes you happy
-Another entry if you tweet (btw, find me and feel free to follow me here) and/or re-blog this (let me know in a comment, por favor and gracias)
(Feel free to partake in all of the above until next Tuesday, February 9th...'cause that's when I'm closing this thing.)

See a pattern here?
Separate comments are my favorite. They make this whole giveaway world a better place for you and for me.

So I guess that's it. Fun!

I could easily see myself becoming a giveaway addict.

Which, in the long run, really only benefits you.

Just sayin'.

Weekends Are My Happy Place

This weekend consisted of...

* Catching up on a couple episodes of these gorgeous people, also known as The Vampire Diaries. Hey, they're my vampire fix until True Blood returns. No shame!

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* Becoming completely engrossed in this book.

* Am grateful for a couple of awards from Aubrey and Sarah. Thank you, ladies!


* Shopping (I know, I can't believe it either). Some purchases:

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I never buy bags, but I had a credit to Macy's and after thinking this was knocked down to $81 and then being told that it was knocked down further to just $56, it was (quite literally) in. The. Bag. Hey Miss Simpson, you're my new favorite.

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I found it, I found it! At long last, I found the powder oofa's been raving about. And guess what? It's worth every penny...all $15 of it because it was half off because guess what else? Sephora's discontinuing the brand. No bueno. But rumor has it they're moving to CVS (I know, what?!) so we shall see. I also got a shirt that I'm pretty much obsessed with (thanks Liza!), but couldn't find a picture of it. Oh well. I'm wearing it in the pics below if it matters at all?

* Loving on some amazing Birthright people for our friend Dov's b-b-b-birthday. Seriously, seeing and spending time with these people make me happy beyond belief.


* Planning for my very first (and way long overdue) giveaway! Details manana. I'm starting small but am still very excited.

Tonight's the Grammys! I think I'm the most excited for Lady Gaga, what about you?

And your weekend consisted of...?

I'm Brilliant Sometimes

So.

Who's a moron and thought she could change her blog URL and that everyone would just magically get the memo and follow her on over there?

Yes, that would be me. And the error of my ways occurred to me when Stephanie asked where my blog was.

Oops.

Sorry.

I have been wanting to change this blog address to thewayaliseesit.blogspot.com for a while, having finally realized that I didn't have to use my full name (and probably shouldn't). So I just went ahead and did it since my followers remained the same over there.

What I didn't anticipate was the fact that you're not all psychics.

My bad.

So...I am asking all of you to do me a favor...

Please comment here that you read this post and that you will (pinky promise, cross your heart, hope to die) change your feed to http://www.thewayaliseesit.blogspot.com.

I'm making the switch on Wednesday (provided that that URL name is still available for snatching by then), forever and ever amen.

Wow, I'm acting so dramatic about all this, you'd think I was going to WordPress or something.

Okay, ready? Go!