it’s getting toasty in here

Okay, it’s a more than toasty…it’s hot as hell.

Yes, it’s summertime in the ATL.

I’ve been trying to stay cool, which hasn’t been that difficult considering I’ve pretty much been locked indoors for the past few weeks. Work has been really busy, which is good…I much prefer being busy to being bored! And (drumroll…) I am on week 3 of getting up early to run before work. I’m running 15 miles over four days each week. I’m pretty impressed with my consistency, if I do say so myself.

I went to a great concert this past Sunday with LS. One of my favorite musical artists came to a free summer concert series held on the edge of Piedmont Park, and I’ve been waiting for about three years to hear her play live. Her name is Alice Peacock, and she’s an incredible singer/songwriter from Chicago. The show was awesome. Seriously…she blew me away and I like her even better than I did before. Afterwards, I got to meet her and chat for a bit, and she’s just as nice as she is talented.

Tonight was the last night of my poker class. I’ve had a total blast with it! For someone who had never played before, I’m pretty proud of my progress. I’ve learned how to play Texas Hold’em, Omaha High-Low, and five card stud and draw. I think my two favorite games are Omaha High-Low and five card stud or draw, but Texas Hold’em is all the rage now so I’ll probably be playing that in the near future.

On another note, I decided to hide my profile on the online dating site I was using. I just couldn’t keep up with my inbox. Not to sound cocky or anything…I think a lot of girls probably get many e-mails or winks and, after a while, it really is tough to keep up with it all. If someone takes the time to write me an e-mail, I feel like I should at least reply in some way, even if it’s just to let them know that I’m not interested or whatever. But anyway, after hiding my profile, it’s been less hectic, but quiet (go figure). I’m certainly not in any rush and have simply enjoyed meeting such a variety of new people, so I’ve decided to just take my time with it all. And it’s funny…it’s been so long since someone has asked me out in real life — not as a result of an online encounter — that I had forgotten what that was like! But someone did indeed ask me out in real life, and I remembered that oh yeah, it happens offline, too. What a computer dork I am!

Speaking of meeting new people, I’ve totally hit it off with one of my newest coworkers. She and I kid about being cosmic twins because we have so much in common. She’s hosting a girls’ night get-together thing at her place tomorrow night, and there are about 16 girls coming. LS and I are going together, and we’ll get to meet lots of other cool ladies too. It should be fun!

Oh — I’m getting my hair highlighted again this weekend. It’s funny, but I feel like I got more compliments on my highlights the more they grew out! It has been months since I got them, and the last time was right before I shot my commercial. I had a semi-permanent color washed over the highlights to tone them down, because I figured the client was pretty conservative and I didn’t want to freak them out by showing up with blonde streaks in my hair. (They booked me directly off my headshot, without an audition, so they never saw me.) So now that the shoot is over, I think I want to bring back the edgier, brighter highlights.

Speaking of brighter highlights, I’m going to the beach in a few weeks for a long weekend. Woo hoo!

Yikes…I should hit the sack. It’s been so long since I’ve posted, I just have too much to say! I gotta get up and run, run like the wind in the morning, and I’m meeting up with CW for lunch and a belated birthday celebration for her. Yay for birthdays! Ohhh…speaking of birthdays (am I totally rambling or what?!) — Kona’s birthday is Friday! She shares a birthday with one of my coworkers, and I always throw a little shindig at the office for her and invite all the humans and their dogs. (Funny typo…I just typed “shindog” instead of “shindig” first!) Anyway, I’ve done little planning for the party this year, so I should probably try to pull it together tomorrow. She’s going to be four…it’s hard to believe.

Okay, okay…goodnight, for real!