My New Hero

I have thought about two things recently. Heroes and the greatest athletes of all time. I have never been one to have heroes. I often have wondered if anyone, including my own family, will ever become a hero to me (although truthfully I have added my parents to the list so I have at least 2 heroes). But I can finally say there is now someone else I can call a hero. I have also wondered if during my lifetime I would see the greatest athletes ever in their respective sports. We live in the golden age of sports, able to experience so many amazing feats in so many different arenas, courts, tracks, fields, and pools. I was not alive to watch Ali or Pele and there are too many great baseball and football players to even attempt to name the greatest ever. We are currently in the midst of figuring out if Tiger Woods is or will become the greatest golfer of all time and nobody can dispute that Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time. Luckily I was born at a time to be old enough to watch Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan compete at their highest levels, and old enough to appreciate the significance of the USA Dream Team in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, the greatest collection of basketball players ever on one team. In an era where we have to differentiate between eras (Modern Era, Steroid Era, etc) I wonder if we're witnessing history in any era. With these 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing I have to wonder if we're witnessing the greatest swimmer of all time take aim at the world one race at a time and blow them out of the water (no pun intended).

He's not Superman, he doesn't go and save the world, he's simply a swimmer. Although to call Michael Phelps just a swimmer would be an injustice of epic proportions. The Olympics are fun and exciting and there is no other sporting event in the world where everyone is invited and everyone can compete and have a chance at storied glory and delirious defeat. Michael Phelps came into these Olympic Games hoping to match and maybe surpass fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz and win 7 (or even 8) gold medals in single Olympic Games. A few days ago Phelps surpassed the most successful Olympians of all time and earned his 10th gold medal. And tonight, after winning his 13th gold medal overall and 7th of these Games, he became my hero. I've never really been a Michael Phelps fan but I was never NOT one one either. I just said "eh, good for him" and moved on with my life. But I will admit after watching him tonight I've become a Phelps Phan for life. No worries, as a "Phelps Phan" I have no interest in finding out who he's dating or imitating his eating habits, but I will forever root for him from now on. I am no longer a sideline spectator when he swims. What he did tonight was just amazing. It was hard to get excited before tonight because if you remember Phelps has already won 6 gold medals before (along with 2 bronze). He did it 4 years ago in Athens. Until tonight all he'd done was repeat what he'd done 4 years ago. Until tonight he was merely mortal. But tonight he made history and won his 7th gold medal in the most exciting fashion possible, beating Milorad Cavic by a mere 0.01 seconds, the closest a race can possibly be! True, Mark Spitz still trumps Phelps because Spitz had 7 world records to go with his 7 gold medals and Phelps only managed an Olympic record tonight. But still, with one more win tomorrow in the 4 x 100 medley relay, Phelps can become the most successful Olympian in a single Olympic Games with 8 gold medals. He's already become the most successful Olympian of all time, now standing 4 gold medals above the previous group of most successful. Tomorrow he has a chance to earn his 14th gold and his 16th medal overall. The most amazing thing in all of this? It's not the totally unfathomable come from behind win in the 4 x 100 freestyle relay (thanks Jason Lezak), or the 0.01 second difference in the 100m butterfly tonight. No, the most amazing thing is the fact that tomorrow he can 1 up himself (as if that's possible). And four years from now in London at the 2012 Olympic Games he can add to his medal haul and make even more history.

UPDATE: The USA Men's 4 x 100m medley relay team won the gold medal in world record time on Sunday in Beijing, meaning Michael Phelps won his 8th gold medal of these Olympic Games. He surpassed Mark Spitz in total number of gold medals in a single Olympic Games and tied Spitz with 7 world records (and 1 Olympic record) in a single Games. With his 14th gold medal he is the most successful Olympian of all time by an astonishing 5 gold medals. Phelps now has a total of 16 Olympic medals, breaking the previous male record for total Olympic medals (15) held by Russian gymnast Nikolai Andrianov. The all-time record for total Olympic medals (18) is held by female gymnast Larysa Latynina. Who's rooting for Phelps in London in 2012?! I am! ;)

Laura Mercier’s Flawless Face

Do you guys ever get those pimples on your face that you can’t see or feel but you know they are there because when you touch that area it hurts? I had one of those yesterday. I hate those little bitches! I woke up this morning and although I did not have a bump, I did have a red spot. Really? I’m 28 freaking years old. What the hell?

After my initial freak out, I remembered that I had no need to do that. I had a little something called Laura Mercier’s Flawless Face on my side. Now, I very rarely wear makeup other than mascara and some lipgloss, but when I was getting my makeup done for my wedding, I fell in love with this stuff. It really does wonders, especially their concealers and their foundation. It is kind of pricey but totally worth it when you are trying to hide something like, oh I don’t know, A PIMPLE.

Laura Mercier's Flawless Face

The Wire

Since there pretty much isn’t anything going on tv-wise over the summer (with the exclusion of So You Think You Can Dance and Project Runway-one of my faves), Matt and I took up watching The Wire. This is a show that we’ve been hearing so many good things about but just never got a chance to watch. Some of my favorite writer’s love this show, and well, I am a follower so I figured I’d watch it over the summer.



Without delving into the show much, The Wire is an HBO series that portrays both the Baltimore police unit and the lives of the people on the streets selling/doing drugs or committing other crimes. I like this show because you end up feeling for some of the dealers (not all of them, don’t worry. I won’t show up at your door trying to bust a cap in your ass) but I like how it shows the good in some of the “bad” people and the flaws in some of the" good" people. Also, any tv show that prompts Matt to send me a random email in the middle of the day with “YO STRING! WHERE’S WALLACE? WHERE’S WALLACE, STRING?” in the body gets my vote. We are currently a few episodes into season two. Amy Ryan is introduced in this season and I hear that the writers of The Office wrote the character of Holly specifically for her after seeing her on The Wire. (I loooove her on The Office, so thank you Wire for bringing a little Hollyday into our lives).

She said what?

This past weekend, my MIL wanted to go get her nails done, so I took her to the nail salon that was close to my house. Before I continue, let me just say that I’ve only ever had a mani/pedi done at Dolce Salon and Spa, which I adore…and yes, I know I like to spoil myself, sometimes. Sue me. Anyway, I was feeling girly, so I picked this really cute pink OPI nail polish which is a total 180° from the normal dark purple, almost black, OPI nail polish I usually use.

We sit down on the massage chairs and then the girls go off talking but I can’t understand a word they are saying. The whole time, my MIL is smiling and trying to hold her laughter in because they don’t know she can understand every word they are saying. I guess they didn’t think she looked Vietnamese or something. It turns out the girls were complaining about us…and we hadn’t even done anything! My girl was saying something about “Ugh, I have to take her nail polish off?!”…Uh, yeah. That’s your job, fool. Nothing really bad was said but they did talk about one thing or another about us the whole time we were there. I just found it hilarious that they had no idea that we, I mean my MIL, knew what they were saying.

They did an ok job but I didn’t get the same leg and hand massages that I get at Dolce and I actually understand what the people at Dolce are saying. It was cheap, so I have to give them that. The mani/pedi total for me and MIL together was less than just a pedi for one at Dolce. All things considered, I’d rather pay the Dolce price where at least they have the courtesy to wait until I leave to talk about me. Ignorance is bliss, as they say.

Waiting is the Hardest Part

I've been enjoying the Olympics a lot...a lot. I guess it somewhat has to do with some of the sports but what it really has to do with is that I'm getting my first glimpse of Office stuff for the new season. I know, I know another Office related post. It's nice to have your own blog, isn't it?

Am I the only one missing JAM? I don't think this next promo did anything to satisfy my Jim/Pam craving. Oh, how I miss my little couple. (Thanks chica for posting this!)




Also, did you guys catch Jim, Dwight and Andy playing the next Olympic sport called Slap-Face? Gah, how I miss these guys. I can't wait for September 25th.



Aren't the writers great? Ah, to be a fly on the wall.