After 5 years of being single, with about a dozen or so dates during that time period, I decided to take matters into my own hands with my dating life and joined Match.com. It was an interesting experience to say the least. I had joined once before when I was about 23 years old and only stayed on it for a few weeks due to all of the creepers I encountered. However, this time around I made a promise to myself to stick it out for the 3 month membership I signed up for and be more open. One of the reasons I have probably been single for so long is because I am so darn picky!

Immediately after joining, I started getting emails and winks. Was I excited? Yes. Once I logged onto Match was I still excited? Not so much. While I don’t think I’m stunningly beautiful, I do know who is and isn’t in my league. And let me tell you my friend, a majority of these men were not in my league. But that’s also the great thing about online dating. You can approach someone by emailing or winking at them and have nothing to lose. Whereas if you’re at a bar or out and about and approach someone, the rejection can be a million times more devastating.

While I wasn’t too impressed with the pickings, I began talking to a fireman in the southside suburbs. He was cute, funny, and could definitely put me in my place when he needed to; however, he was way to perverted for me. By no means do I consider myself a prude, but I didn’t sign up on Match to find someone to hook up with. I wanted someone to date and hopefully end up in a relationship. After a week of talking, I had to put an end to the disgusting things he was texting me.

I was lucky because shortly after that I started talking to a great guy. He was Italian, very sweet, sexy, and seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. We started talking on Match on a Wednesday night, talked on the phone the next night, and then went out for dinner the following night. It was one of the best first dates I ever had! We continued to talk non-stop for a few more days and even went out to dinner again 3 days after our first date. I thought it went well, minus the moments of silence, but we were still getting to know each other, so I didn’t chalk it up to much…until later that week when he told me he didn’t see it going anywhere.

Normally, us girls just “want to know” when someone isn’t interested in you instead of just being ignored. But I’ll tell you, once someone tells you they don’t see it going anywhwere, it probably hurts just as much. But at least you have closure.

Instead of dwelling on things not working out, I decided to get back on the horse and keep searching for my match. I began talking to a guy who didn’t necessarily seem my type, but I decided I needed to go outside the box and give it a shot. We went out for drinks after work one night and there was no connection there whatsoever! While we made it to 3 bars that night, that was the farthest it was going. If you’re looking for someone to chill and smoke pot with, then this guy is probably your guy! Not to mention I paid for a majority of the drinks that night.

I wasn’t phased by the second date “failure,” and kept looking. I randomly came across this guy who was attractive and looked kind of douch-ey, but figured I’d wink at him anyway. My wink sparked his interest and we exchanged a few emails back and forth and then exchanged phone numbers. We talked for hours and went out for coffee the next day. Unfortunately, nothing developed after coffee and I got my second “I don’t see this going anywhere.”

I was upset, but I still had a little under 2 months left of this membership. I kept looking, but I was still texting with this guy I met on Match who had cancelled our date hours before we were supposed to meet. At first, I thought he was just blowing me off and had no intentions of talking to him. But he kept texting me and I began to believe that something really did come up last minute and I decided to give him a chance. After texting for about a month, we finally met for drinks and hit it off. Four dates later, things started to fizzle off (not sure why) and we haven’t spoken in two weeks.

I may not have gotten what I was hoping to get out of this experience, but it got me back into the dating field. Also, I really can’t complain because while I invested about $54 in a 3 month membership and paid for a couple dates, I made out pretty well.

I’m sure this isn’t the end to my Match.com days!

The original concept of my blog was to focus on reality TV. After Tweeting my thoughts about reality TV shows I had been watching and even getting a follow from Kelly Killoren Bensimon from the Real Housewives of New York (mainly because I was making fun of her repeatedly, which I then blocked her from being terrified of her), I decided to expand on my love for writing and reality TV. However, my idea didn’t hit the level I wanted it to hit. To be honest, while I watch a TON of reality TV, I don’t watch that much of a variety. My reality TV watching is pretty much limited to MTV, VH1, Style, and Bravo (and Oxygen for the Bad Girls Club, of course). You can only be so creative when it comes to writing about the same shows over and over again.

After abandoning my blog for quite some time, I decided to expand on the focus of my blog. Why not expand it to my thoughts on everyday life? It would give me a lot more to comment on, expand my audience, and give me more opportunities to write. So here’s to new beginnings!

I have been laughing since Sunday night after hearing Teresa’s daughter, Milania, tell Joe Guidice to “Give me pizza you old troll!”  While for the most part I was getting irritated by her screaming and talking back (I like kids, but don’t particular like their whining — I think it’s due to being 10 years old when my sister was in her terrible 2 phase, but that’s a whole other story), the “Give me pizza you old troll!” definitely made up for it!
 
First off, how could you not laugh at that?  Second of all, I think it is HI-larious that she told Joe Guidice of all people that.  I like Joe, but I don’t think I’d want to call him a troll.  However, the fact that he doesn’t respond to her calling him a troll shocks me (unless it wasn’t shown on TV).  Third, where the heck did she come up with that?!  It’s not like you hear people calling other people “old trolls.”  And even if troll dolls were still popular, I don’t think she would have come up with that from a rhinestone, belly buttoned creature with colorful hair.
 
While I have no idea where Milania came up with that, it brings me great joy thinking about it and watching the clip again and again.  If you missed it, you must watch it (although it’s probably not as funny as watching the whole episode of the Real Housewives of New Jersey):

Not only is it the return of me blogging again, but it’s the return of the Jersey Shore.  While the cast isn’t in Seaside Heights, they’re bringing the Dirty Jersey all the way to Florence, Italy.  My last post was about my slight dislike and hesitation about the cast filming a whole season in Italy, but the first episode changed my mind quickly!  Here are my 10 favorite moments of the first episode of season 4:

• Deena saying she “won’t do the sex.”  While I understand what she means by that, I sometimes wonder where they get their sayings like “do the sex,” “do you,” or “get it in.”  Obviously you know what they mean when they say these, but how do they come up with the actual wording for these sayings? 
• Vinny talking to himself in the mirror practicing he’s talking to girls in Italian. 
• The ultimate bromance: Vinny and Pauly.  The two of them always crack me up, but their phone call was just precious to me.  The smiles on their face display how much they can’t wait to see each other.
• The boys’ sleepover at Vinny’s house reminded me of the Saved by the Bell episode when Slater and Screech sleepover by Zack’s before the sneak out to go to the 18+ nightclub.  Again, Pauly and Vinny are just precious.  They’re like best friends you can’t tear apart.  Vinny is laying on the couch under the blankets and Pauly is on the floor sitting right next to them. 
• I was thankful Vinny knew what a bidet was when he went into the bathroom.  About 99% of the time you see someone on TV or in a movie not know what it is.  They either pee in it, turn it on and freak out when they see the water shoot up, etc.
• Pauly’s blow dryer dying.  This wasn’t necessarily a “favorite” moment, but I could relate to him.  I went to Italy about 6.5 years ago and brought a convertor.  What they don’t tell you (or this was just an issue at my hotel) is that all convertors or appliances don’t necessarily work in all outlets.  I nearly broke 2 convertors and killed 2 hotel blow dryers because I was plugging them into an outlet that only an electric razor could be plugged in.  What’s the point of the convertor (even with the right voltage)?!
• Ronny falling off his chair was funny, but not as funny as Pauly laughing and yelling, “That was the best day of my life!”
• The fact that Snooki knows how to drive stick amazes me.  I love Snooki and by no means think she’s stupid like some people do; however, I wouldn’t expect her to know how to drive stick!
• While we’re on the same subject of Snooki, homegirl looks good!  She is looking so in shape it’s amazing!  She has motivated me to get back on track with healthier eating (and maybe even start working out again)!
• Last, but certainly not least, just getting to see the ultimate bromance and the meatballs for another season!  Since they filmed season 4 and 5 back-to-back, my Twitter timeline wasn’t nearly as exciting and I forgot how much I miss them (even though it’s just thru the TV and Twitter )!

…the cast of Jersey Shore is going to Italy?!  Most people would think I would be excited about this considering how much I love the show, but to be honest…I’m kind of indifferent about this “situation.”  I’m pumped that there is going to be a 4th season since I was hearing that the current season was their last, but I’m not sure I like the location they chose.  I think they need to keep the Seaside cast in Jersey or other US-based locales. 

Since this is brand spanking news, I’m curious to see how long the cast is out in Italy.  I think if MTV and the producers wanted to make the season successful, they’d base them in Miami, Vegas, or another party place and then send them on a “surprise” trip to Italy for a week.  I honestly don’t think sending them out there for a whole season is going to be successful, but what do I know?

And if Italians weren’t speaking out about the self proclaimed guidos and guiedettes before, they sure will be now!  While Pauly D says in his song, “Beat Dat Beat,” I don’t represent all Italians, I represent myself, I’m still convinced this isn’t going to fly well with the hot headed Italians out there.

To be honest, I feel bad posting my opinion about this since I love, love, love the show and the cast, but I can’t help the way I feel about this!  However, I will obviously still be watching and am excited to see how the season in Italy turns out and hopes I’m completely wrong!

With 2010 ending in just a few short days, we can expect to see a lot of the different “Best of 2010″ lists going around.  One of the ones that caught my eye (obvs.) was Jezebel’s The Top 10 Reality TV Moments of 2010.  While I haven’t seen all of the shows the article mentions, I can agree with a couple:

“#6: If you have to cry, go outside don’t wear bronzer.”  In my personal opinion, I think this should have been higher on the list.  I mean, come on!  I already loved Andrew (Bronzer Boy – not to confuse you with the other assistant, Andrew), but that moment just made him even more amazing.  Don’t get me wrong – I’ve been in his situation and can relate to how stressful the PR industry is, but his bronzer running down his face was priceless!  And what made it even better was that Stefanie Skinner showed that she has other emotions other than her constant Debbie Downer ‘tude.  Not only was this a hilarious moment, but it also taught me a valuable lesson: Never get my weekly spray tan before going to a sad movie unless I want to leave the theater with a streaky face.

“#1: Scary Island.” I can’t help but completely agree that this was the #1 moment in Reality TV in 2010.  As much as I hate that crazy bitch, Kelly Killoren Bensimon, I can’t help but thank her.  To be completely honest, her constant delusional behavior is one of the things that inspired me to start my blog.  I was constantly Tweeting during episodes of the Real Housewives of New York about the chaos of the show, especially Kelly.  I had so many responses from people how funny my Tweets were and I started thinking about how much I would love to start a blog dedicated to Reality TV.

In addition to these 2 Reality TV moments that were included in the Jezebel article, I have to say that I’m a little shocked and sad that there weren’t any Jersey Shore moments.  The show took the nation…and the world…by storm this past year!  Congratulations to them and the best of luck in 2011 to the East Coasters!

Lastly, how could they forget The Hills?  While the show was no longer too entertaining by the time it reached it’s 6th and final season, we still couldn’t take our eyes off the train wreck cast!

When the new season of the Millionaire Matchmaker started, I thought it was going to be the best season yet based on the previews.  For starters, it was taking place in New York this season.  I love, love, love New York, so how could it not be good?  Plus, it had the charming and good looking Manzo brothers from the Real Housewives of New Jersey.  However, my excitement quickly disappeared when I realized the returning millionaire looking for love in seasons 2 and 3 would not be returning: the infamous Jimmy D.  As far as I’m aware, he’s not going to be on this season (based on the season’s previews I saw).

 What you ask makes me swoon for the 30-something year old?  One, I find him incredibly attractive…although, I wouldn’t mind it if he did something with his hair.  Second, he has that Chicago Italian “swagger.”  It’s hard to explain…he’s proud of his Italian culture, but he has that attitude and confidence.  There’s something about it that makes me want to be a housewife and take care of my man!  Lastly, it may be the “D” at the end of his name.  For anyone that knows me, they know I am absolutely in love with Pauly D from the Jersey Shore. 

 Maybe I should be happy that he’s not on this season of the Millionaire Matchmaker and can hope that I run into him some time in Chicago and hope that I can convince him to go out with me!  Or maybe I can hope and dream that Patti Stanger (@PattiStanger) will somehow stumble upon my blog and set me up!

One of the top-selling Halloween costumes this year was the “Snooki” costume.  Whether or not you bought the “Jersey Poof,” “Guidette wig,” or “Jersey Shore Snooki wig,” you or someone you saw were rockin’ a poof!

Considering I have people calling me ”Snooki,” “Snickers,” or “Snooks” on a regular basis, I figured it was only fitting if I honor the Jersey Shore guidette and dress up as her for Halloween.

While I didn’t buy the dress Halloween costume stores were selling, I had a couple outfits I thought were Snooki-esque for my Halloween parties.

Party 1:

Party #2:

I had a lot of people yelling, “Snooki!” at me and even had 2 people ask me to take pictures with them.  I would say I pulled my costume off pretty well.  However, I can’t say I did a better job than this Jersey Shore-inspired group: 

Unfortunately,  I can’t give credit to anyone for this picture because I don’t know who took it, but Snooki retweeted it on Twitter (follow her at @Sn00ki).  However, the boys and the girl dressed up as Snooki legit look like little versions of the real cast!

Last week was Customer Service Week and every year at work, it is PURE FUN!  Each year there is a different theme and this year it was dedicated to Reality TV.  Now, the few people (if any) who actually read my site must know how excited I was by this considering my blog is about Reality TV.

Every year we’re grouped into teams to participate in activities.  While it is a lot of fun, it’s a great way to improve team building skills (which is probably one of the main reasons we get to take some time out of our work day all week for some fun).  I’m sure everyone knew which show I wanted to base my team on since I’m OBSESSED with the Jersey Shore.

Needless to say, my team was lucky enough to get to base our team off the Jersey Shore.  We did a spin off of it and called our team the Windy Shore since we’re located in Chicago.  Everything about our teams was Jerselicious!  We had our tanning lotion, Ed Hardy hats, blow outs, and of course, pickles.  While I won’t post a picture of our whole group, here is a picture of me as “Kit Kat”:

I was the “knock off” of Snooki.  We came up with the name Kit Kat since the cast sometimes call Snooki “Snickers.”

In addition to our Jersey Shore-inspired team, we had 5 other great groups:

• Ash and PK + 3 (based off of Jon and Kate + 8)
• Flavor of Dave (based off of Flavor of Love)
• Tiers and Tiaras (based off of Toddlers and Tiaras.  The reason it was called “Tiers” is because our different teams are called Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3).
• Deadliest Catch: Taming the Crabbiest Clients (based off of the Deadliest Catch which follows Alaskan King Crabbing boats)
• ***** Hair Battle Specactular (based off of Hair Battle Spectacular on Oxygen.  The ***** represent our company name, which I didn’t want to post)

After a week of competing in Reality TV inspired and work-related trivia games, my team came in 2nd place (and only lost by 6 points)!  We had a mini awards ceremony, which names the 3 winning teams and “voted most likely” awards.  I must say, I felt pretty popular because I “won” 4 awards:

• Most likely to be on a reality show
• Most likely to be on the Real Housewives of Chicago (now Bravo just needs to add Chicago to the series…and I need to find a hubby)
• Most likely to go tanning (last year I was voted most excessive tanner)
• Most likely to fist pump

This leads me to question…Why am I working a “normal” 9-5 job and writing about Reality TV and why am I not auditioning for Reality TV shows?!

In honor of it being Jersday Thursday, here are my top 10 favorite Jersey Shore quotes!

10. “I thought I broke my vagina bone…it was terrible.” – Snooki; This isn’t so much funny as me relating to her on this.  When I was about 10 or 11, my younger sister was jumping on the bed and accidentally landed on me.  I honestly thought she broke my crotch bone.  And I can concur with Snooki, it is TERRIBLE.

9. “It’s gorilla central out there, get the fuck up, juice-heads everywhere!” – JWOWW

8. “Jenni’s tits definitely defy gravity. I think Albert Einstein should come back and rewrite his laws of physics and work it around Jenni’s tits.” – Vinny

7. “I just met this girl and she’s already stalks my whole life.” – Pauly D

6. Mike: “I like my clothes like my women…options.”   Pauly D: “You like your girls like your underwear… dirty.”

5.  “What I would love to find is a guido, juicehead with my style who’s not a cheater cuz I’m not gonna go on Match.com again.” – Snooki; This just cracks me up because the first part of this sentence is old news, but then she busts out with not going ton Match.com again.  Oh, Snooks!

4. “OK, KimKardashian – more like the RobKardashian of Staten Island, u ugly bitch!” – Vinny; I can’t agree with you more!  That girl thinks she’s Gods gift to men.  Hunny, get glasses!  Maybe if Kim Kardashian got run over by a bus then you may be the Kim Kardashian of Staten Island…

3. “We’re beatin’-up-the-beat, that’s what we say when we’re doing our fist pump.  First, we start off by banging the ground, we’re banging it as the beat builds ‘cause that beat’s hittin’ us so we’re fightin’ back, it’s like we beat up that beat.” – Pauly D; This just gives you a mental image of how they do it in the club.  And don’t tell me you didn’t work your way up from the floor to a solid fist pump!

2. “My ultimate dream is to move to Jersey, find a nice juiced hot tanned guy and live my life.” – Snooki; This is my dream too.  I think we were separated at birth.

1.  “Angelina is like the Staten Island ferry; Everybody gets a ride, and it’s free.”  — Situation; This has got to be the BEST quote ever.  Even if this was said about me or my best friend, I’d probably laugh my ass off.

I’m sure the most Jersey Shore episodes there are, my favorite quotes may change.  Each episode gets funnier and funnier!  My neighbors probably think I belong in the loony bin due to my hysterical laughing on Thursday nights!