"Are you going to be able to pay for dinners now?"

After months and months of worry that I'd be destined to a life of working in retail, I got a new internship! Thanks to a professor who got the ball rolling and helped with my resume and to a friend already working there putting in a good word or two about me in the mean time, I interviewed last week and got the position!

Finally. Things are turning around and are "as they should be." I only say "as they should be" in the sense that I've graduated college and am not wasting my degree at a dead-end job.

No more weekends. No more late nights. No more customer service problems and trainings.No more fighting for commissions. I. CANNOT. WAIT.

This new position does seem daunting, but if they didn't feel I was qualified, they wouldn't hire me, right?

I'll be making just about the same amount of money as I'm making now, which is fine with me. I'd rather be making less money using my degree than more money working retail.

Of course this means that I will be working early morning, full-time, commuting and driving and sitting at a desk all day, but I don't care. I'm just too excited to actually have a "real job."

When I told "The Boyfriend" about my new job, the first question was, "Are you going to be able to pay for dinners now?" Obviously not. He'll deal.

The position is a 9-month internship at a local newspaper where I'm sure I'll have amassed a wealth of knowledge and experience by the end of it and can find my dream job come June.

In other news, my birthday is coming up and I will hopefully be in California visiting my sister and her fiance the week of my birthday. I hope that we can find an affordable ticket so The Boyfriend can join me, making it a nice dual-birthday vacation for us, since his birthday follows pretty close after mine.

I'm very excited and cannot wait to start working, I'm not delusional, I know it's going to be hard getting used to actually working and acting like an adult, but we all adjust and evolve. It's in our nature.

Day trip to Washington D.C.

This summer has been filled mostly with work, a little school and the occasional romp through Fun Town.

Last Monday I was with my friend Linda at A.C. Moore and she was saying that she hasn't been anywhere this entire summer and that since she's about to start grad school, she deserves to go somewhere. So we decided to take a day trip to Washington D.C. on my next day off, Thursday.

We woke up super early, left my house around 8:00 a.m. and hopped on the NJ Turnpike and got to the nation's capitol in about four hours. We didn't have an exact address to input into Linda's GPS which she's named "Susan," so as a destination we entered in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and Susan was more than happy to oblige.

A few hundred miles and a pit stop later, we parked in the nearest parking garage and ate our packed lunches.

Our first stop was at the National Air and Space Museum:

It was pretty rad to see how far we've come in terms of flight and such, and to know that I won't have to fly cross-country in something like this anymore.

After that we went to the National Archives, where I couldn't help but feel like Nicolas Cage in the "National Treasure" movies.

"No flash photography of any kind," was the motto of this particular building, so I lack awesome photos of really old papers like the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

The steps outside of the Archives building were surprisingly conducive to taking "Congressional/Law & Order" pictures of my friends Linda and Alisha, so we did.

After the Archives building, we went to Ford's Theater where Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth. No awesome reenactment, but there was plenty of air conditioning and some displays and such in the basement including a statue of Honest Abe reading a book.


 Across the street from the theater is the house where he actually died, with original furniture and memorabilia from the time.














The last museum that we went to was the National American History Museum. We went specifically for the First Lady exhibit, to look at all the inaugural dresses and the place settings.

Barbara Bush

Our favorites were Barbara Bush's ensemble, Hilary Rodham Clinton's lacy blue number and Michelle Obama's large Jimmy Choo's.

Hilary Rodham Clinton

Michelle Obama

Slowly but surely, our energy started to dwindle so we didn't make it to the monuments like we wanted and planned to but we were nonetheless satisfied with our trip.

I promised I'd keep this up.

So after my last post I swore to myself that the 25-year-old Ana was going to be a better version than all the others that came before. (Dramatic, I know).

I'm starting this big change with my health and fitness. I'm not one of the disillusioned fat girls that think it's wonderful to be big and that in the state my body is in will lead to lifelong health, but I am comfortable with myself, my body and think everyone is beautiful at every size.. but enough pontificating and let me get back to my point.


I'm pretty much obese. And I can't blame anyone but myself for it. I've been perfectly able to feed myself for quite a while now and its my own fault for feeding myself junk and then being lazy and not doing anything when the needle on the scale started tilting in the wrong direction. I can make excuses all I want, "school is too stressful, there's only fast food in the mall where I work, I'm too tired to go to the store." But let's be serious, its really not that hard to pick up a little cup of yogurt instead of a bag or chips.


So that's my plan: better choices. I don't plan on restricting myself from entire food groups like some diets tell you, I fail instantly if there's any kind of restriction. I've tried it all, low-fat, low-carb, no-carb, no-meat, no-dairy - whatever the diet flavor of the month is I've done it or at least tried it.


I'm also trying to make exercise part of my routine and so far I've been doing ok. Since last Thursday, July 26 I've gone to the gym or worked out in some way, shape or form five out of six days.


I'm on a mission.


I started the Couch to 5K program, and its not too bad. I feel pretty accomplished after each session and do about a mile each time and then if I'm at the gym I'll finagle with the weights and try to do some work on my incredibly noddle-y arms. These 12-inch "guns" are gonna be lean and mean one day, no flabby wings here.


My immediate weight-loss goal is to lose 10 pounds by my birthday which is September 14 and fast approaching. Once I reach my goal I will continue with small incriments that are far less daunting then the overall goal.


My plan is to make realistic goals and take realistic steps toward them. I won't throw out any hard work because I slipped up along the way, I will be level-headed and healthy and if it takes me six months, a year or even 10 years to get to my goal then so be it.
Hopefully you'll be align for the ride. :)

Poached eggs and the Publick House

Eggs Benedict used to creep me out when I was younger - until I ate it. Poached eggs are glorious. And I finally made some for breakfast last week. It was a bit daunting but thankfully YouTube is always there in my time of need.

After watching a few short videos I was in the kitchen simmering some water and crackin' some huevos.

I toasted some wheat bread, threw a couple slices of cheese (because who doesn't like cheese with their eggs?) and BAM! Breakfast was done. Sprinkled with some salt, pepper and dill I was a happy camper.
The yolk was nice and stiff around the edges and runny in the middle. The sunny yolk leaked out of the egg and drenched my toast in deliciousness. It was rich, creamy, buttery and so satisfying since I actually didn't mess them up.

Feast your eyes on my beautiful eggs.

On another note, last Saturday the boyfriend and I went to dinner at a restaurant we've been going to since the beginning of our relationship. I always like going there because its a nice little spot on a busy corner in Mountainside and it satisfies my need for "fancy." Plus, I've never met a dish I didn't like there.

We shared the truffle Mac and cheese as an appetizer and we both ordered the hanger steak as an entree.

The steak was like butter. It was by far the tenderest piece of beef I've had in a long time. I'm never disappointed at Publick House. The steaks were served on a bed of roasted potatoes and broccoli rabe which were equally delicious.

For dessert I always get the homemade shortcake with seasonal fruit and fresh whipped cream an the boyfriend got his favorite, bread pudding. I personally have never been a fan of the stuff, but he loves it.

I never have a bad time at Publick House, their appetizers and entrees are fantastic and I love knowing that it's a scratch kitchen.

I'm pretty sure that I will continue to go there for years to come.