Author:bluelollipoproad

City Girl Meets Hippie Chick

Ahhh, spring has sprung. It’s 83 and sunny today. (Insert content sighs and distant daydreams of all the fun outdoor activities to come…)

On my way into the office I passed by the cutest little hippie chick with LONG dreadlocks. She was standing in a grassy median on a beautiful street in my current city just hula hoopin’ away,totally happy, all alone, not a care in the world- just loving being out in the sunshine. Awesomeness. I love coming across people like this who own who they are/what they do and could care less if anyone is watching or not. 

As I just Googled “hula hoop”, to my pleasant surprise this website popped up. There’s the photo of the day with more peeps just livin’ it up and hoppin’ happily, in the snow even! They just so happen to fit the exact vibe of todays chica I am writing about and they’re back in Vermont, my birth state too. 
This all made me think; No matter how many cities I live in, how much glitter I wear and even though I’m a sucker for tall buildings, bright lights and complete chaos, I will always be that same (as many people tease me lovingly) “Friggin’ Vermont Hippie” sorta like these peeps. Thankfully something as simple as a sight on a drive to work can make me instantly channel my chill, earth, peace-lovin’ roots and appreciate where I came from. I should grow some good dreads to sport with my heels so I can show on the outside what I feel on the inside. It’d be like two great and opposite worlds colliding in harmony. I like the sounds of that.
I love spring and all the things that come along with it.
I Hate to run, but I have a date with a patio at an ale house. Man life is hard when it’s 83 and sunny and my toughest decision during my afternoon work meeting with my sweet job is pilsner or lager…
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Happy Birthday Grapa!

That’s what I used to call my Grandpa when I was little. Today is his 80th birthday.

I always tell people that my Grandpa is the finest man I have ever known. He is the single cutest and sweetest man on this earth. 
On the same day I could feel so sad and terrible and write a post like the one below titled Why?- I can remain hopeful, because of people like my Gramp. He is a true heart and soul. If more people were like him, I really believe the world would be so much bigger and better than any of us could ever imagine…
Happy Birthday Grapa! I love you! 🙂
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Why?

Yet another daily dose of morning news as I get ready for my day with the latest teen who has either been beaten into a coma or committed suicide because of school or internet bullying. Now I’m hearing about this “trolling” thing where strangers apparently post on Facebook/other social media sites and send emails to the families of these now dead people taunting them, telling they “deserved it”or poking fun at the lost love ones.

Is this happening? Is this the twilight zone?

There is no way I could ever describe the disgust, anger, sorrow and confusion I feel as a perfect stranger watching these stories and I’m not even connected to these poor families. 
These kids who taunt and tease each other so much that some of them get pushed to the point to kill themselves? School officials often KNOWING about the relentless and dangerous bullying and doing nothing about it?! I am horrified.
What can we do to STOP this from happening? How can we help young people (well, any age people for that matter) build self esteem so they live healthier and happier and don’t have to attack other people because they hate themselves so much?
I personally will always fight to stay positive about the world. I do think there is hope and possibility for everything for everyone, but we have got to find a way to put an end to these nightmares and start protecting each other more. I believe goodness starts from birth and in the home, but for all these innocent kids who are born into awful situations that offer zero chance for them to become successful, how can we as communities and neighbors better love and support them so they are gifted that deserved chance to grow up and be decent humans?
Someone please enlighten me. I am just beside myself with the constant beat down of senseless tragedy.
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VOTE FOR RYAN AND AMANDA!

Here they are. Could they BE any cuter?

They are my pals and the are pretty much like the awesome-est ever. (Yes, I know that is not a word. I am trying to be funny and cute:)

Jump on the bandwagon and vote here to help them win a $100,000 wedding. Can you imaging how much booty-shakin’ music and cake they could buy for 100k? Wahoo- I’m in for that!
Vote, vote! DOOOEEET! 
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Precious

If you have not seen this movie yet, I encourage you to, just be prepared. Get your Kleenex out and don’t plan on scarfing any treats because your stomach is guaranteed to turn during the viewing. 

This movie is incredible. By that I mean an incredibly disturbing and enlightening look into what happens behind closed doors in too many kids lives. The acting was off the charts. Oh my god did Monique deserve that Oscar. I mean talk about channelling some inner demons. She was ugly and evil. An absolute monster to the core. She played her part impeccably. 
I watched this movie two nights ago. Falling asleep both nights, I haven’t been able to get the sickening but real images out of my head from this flick. I cannot remember a movie ever doing that to me before.
I’d like to give props here to all those teachers (like the one portrayed in this movie) and any other “safe” adults who work with, support and love the kids that come from these horrific abusive households and somehow mange to show them there is hope out there.
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Vote For My Friends!

I need your help!!!

My cutie patootie friends Amanda and Ryan have entered the Crate and Barrel Ultimate Wedding Contest. They can win a super pimp daddy $100k wedding! 

PLEASE CLICK here TO VOTE FOR THEM!
Amanda and Ryan and are in the serious running, they’re hot to trot but other couples are blasting in votes too so we need your help to push them past the finish line. VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!!!
Maybe I love Amanda and Ryan and think they deserve this ultimate wedding because they are insanely fun and adorable and because they are so good to me as friends. Maybe it’s because we’ve dropped it like it’s hot at a party or 2 and on a dance floor on a fairly regular basis (we all know that’s a requirement for a good pal), maybe it’s because I love that they represent what I believe in too; Health, wellness, love for the earth, feasting with your neighbors, living life to the fullest and just simply being happy.

Yep, it’s all that- but mostly because they are amazing people with incredible hearts, that have been through their share of life’s challenges and somehow seem to to always keep smiles on their faces and light up every room they walk in to. 
GO AMANDA AND RYAN! WE LOVE YOU! 🙂
PLEASE VOTE AND PASS THIS ON SO OTHERS CAN VOTE TOO! 
If they win maybe I’ll take you as my date to the wedding. Um- can you say party? Did you hear the part about droppin’ it like it’s hot? Oh yeah…
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Drop And Give Me 20

If you ever feel like a super bad-ass because you run and play sports and are “in shape” and you want to get knocked down a few notches, go to a boot camp class. I went to an hour and half class the other night with a friend and tried my best to put in 110% effort. I jumped around with weights like a frog, sprinted suicides like I was trying out for varsity soccer again and lifted and pushed up while counting out loud like I was trying to get be a Navy Seal.

IT KICKED MY ASS.
I mean, not in a bad way. In a wow, I have been an athlete my whole life and I didn’t even know I had those muscles way. It is now 2 days later and I just had to get out of my chair at the office like I am 9 months pregnant because my legs are so sore. I have have stretched and stretched while my muscles scream and I even went for my run this morning to try to conquer the pain. Um- can you say quite a sight? I’m confident I looked like a complete idiot and I was laughing most of the way. Couldn’t stop thinking- yeah Di, you sure are a bad-ass, you can barely freaking walk! 
Spring has sprung and if you’re looking to get that killer bikini bod for summer, I’d suggest a humbling boot camp session. What a fantastic and thorough ass kicking for anyone. 
Now where’s my Bengay…
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A Short In The Life Of Me

Yep. This is about me and my day today. All complete truth and play by play. I decided to write it in a fun way like my own little movie:)
And scene…
She’s cranking out work feeling like a million bucks after a very early morning run and up and atem smile to start a new day. Life is good. She love’s her job, family, friends, hobbies. She’s just come off a girls weekend (see below) like you read about- so much fun she’s still flying high. She’s just finished a conversation about weekend plans and she’s getting excited for those already even though it’s only Tuesday. Out of nowhere she happens to run into something totally random and in a split second 6 million little pieces of something from her past fit together, and not in a good way. 
Enter that feeling that 50 people have just taken their shoes off and smashed you in the face with them.
She realizes, sitting there happily alone in that chair at Starbucks cranking out that work and about to pack up and get into the office that indeed her ex fiance’ had been cheating on her. 
Fuckface!- she thinks to herself. Then, hmmm- I don’t much think about this person from long ago, If I have moved on, if I’m busy doing 100 other things just now, how the hell is it that this was the day those 6 million pieces popped in my head to make sense of something that I was wasn’t even looking to make sense of?
Ahhh, yes of course. Like it or not the truth always shows up, and at random, whenever the hell it wants to- even if it’s a hundred years later.
First she feels rage, then she wants to cry. She wonders why if it’s been so long and she wants nothing to do with this person anymore, if life has moved on and there’s even been another romantic relationship in between why she’d feel anything at all. She then realizes being made a fool of is humiliating. She’s horrified to think it’s possible for someone to sleep at night after they’ve looked into someone else’s eyes swearing up and down about certain things and defending x,y,z. How can anyone just bold-face, flat out lie?
Maybe she could’ve avoided that nightmare she had lived; months of sleepless nights and no appetite, the buckets of tears, the lost, hopeless, confused, insecure feelings of “what could I have done so bad/wrong?” and  “How could I have been better?” Then- “To think I almost hit the point where I didn’t believe in anything anymore- all because of one deceitful shmuck.?!” Argh!!!
She sits for a few minutes, shaking her head thinking; What a piece of shit.
Enter simultaneous vision silver lining, flash to what’s nowrealtrue and today; March 23, 2010. While she has another moment of feeling pissed off and like the world’s biggest idiot for letting herself get hosed, she realizes she had probably actually been in denial the whole time not seeing the forest through the trees anyway. What she can see now is how hard she’s fought and fought and busted 66 asses to get where she is, she has a bagillion things to be thankful for and look forward to. She feels a furry of all the good (friends, love, lessons, vision, etc.) that ended up coming from that past nightmare she lived and a peaceful feeling rushes in along with a coy smile spreading across her face. Oh the places she will go she thinks, and this just more fuel to feed the good fire. She feels immense pride knowing she will never disrespect another human in the way she has been.
…and scene.
Dearest Craig,
From this day forward I will see you only as a first-class piece of shit. I feel sorry for anyone else you include in the path of your destruction. I am so very thankful for you dumping me when you did so I could be free to someday happen upon a guy who is not a piece of shit.
Even though you are an enormous asshole, I’d still like to be nice and offer you a friendly piece of advice:
Watch your back. See, karma is a bitch and it always comes around to bite you in the ass. Enjoy trying to avoid that one. I’d start running now if I were you.
Yours truly,
Diane 🙂 
***Ahhh, freedom of speech is incredible.
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Nice

Saw this on an end cap clearance rack at Target the other day.

Does this mean there wasn’t a bum rush of people to buy these?
What gives? I mean- every dog needs a Snuggie right?
Ridiculous. I love it.
This video on the “Official website Snuggie for Dogs will have you rolling…
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