Thursday, January 21, 2010

haiti

so, Haiti seems a little more close to home for this middle east reppin' gal right now, given that the support Pres. Obama decides to send distinctly effects when we return home. it's times like these i have to give a shout out to my girl Cher (also very timely as we keep Brittany Murphy's family in our prayers):


"So like, right now for example. The Haitians need to come to America. But some people are all, "What about the strain on our resources?" Well it's like when I had this garden party for my father's birthday, right? I put R.S.V.P. 'cause it was a sit-down dinner. But some people came that like did not R.S.V.P. I was like totally buggin'. I had to haul ass to the kitchen, redistribute the food, and squish in extra place settings. But by the end of the day it was, like, the more the merrier. And so if the government could just get to the kitchen, rearrange some things, we could certainly party with the Haitians. And in conclusion may I please remind you it does not say R.S.V.P. on the Statue of Liberty. Thank you very much."

on a related note, what are your opinions on Royal Carribean returning to Haitian port visits? this Yahoo article is very unsupportive, but it brings up some bold points - for an area so dependent on tourism (hair braiders, vendors, etc.), to even eliminate that form of income is to guarantee more poverty in the area. at the same time, enjoying opulence around the corner from turmoil and utter poverty is nothing if not nauseating. i can't decide how i feel - all i know is that if helping Haiti means that we'll be out here for a few more months, that's a sacrifice I'm willing to accept.

yay!

oh my gosh i am TOO excited...i just figured out how to log into my blogger account IN ARABIC! it has taken me this long for some odd reason (because once we started getting our email server from over here in the middle east, everything switched to Arabic...including Google!). Yay! I can't wait to catch back up with everyone's blogs!

meanwhile, we're still out here in the middle east, fighting the bad guys and defending the freedoms...the usual ;) christmas was uneventful, as was new year's - fortunately i'm used to spending my holidays in the sun! i did have to finally tell off my little marine officer buddy - i'm talking "do not come to my room. do not call me. do not email me. i don't want to be friends and frankly, i'm not comfortable being coworkers. i'm hanging up the phone now, and if i have a problem with you again i'm going to have to tell your supervisor." - tell off! i'll give you details later but gosh! some guys don't get the message!

speaking of some guys, unfortunately received a facebook message from abusive ex boyfriend apologizing and trying to make amends...nooo chance. i wish there was a website where i could warn other girls not to date him.

on a happier note, i am SO obsessed with Stella & Dot jewelry! i have been seeing it in blogs and magazines for a while now, and finally found a friend who was a stylist...of course, as i added things to my shopping cart on her site, i realized i might as well become a stylist, too! lo-and-behold, my new website: www.stellanddot.com/alannastrei ...a little 'after christmas' shopping anyone? it's perrrrrfect to beat the january/february blues and just in time for resort season and spring break!

Starfish Earrings - Silver, $34

Boca Chic Necklace - Coral, $69

How AMAZING would all of this look with the new Lilly that's out? I'll be stocking up immediately! i seriously cannot even PICK my favorite pieces!

Saturday, November 7, 2009

reasons 1-3 not to weigh yourself on a rocking ship:

Weight 1: 148.4
Weight 2: 145.3
Weight 3: 154

At that point I just gave up. I refuse to believe any of those weights and am just going to work out now (FOR 8 MILLION HOURS)...because i of course had spice cake with my delicious dinner. whoever decided to frost it with chocolate frosting was dumb as rocks as it's obviously meant to be with cream cheese frosting, but that is neither here nor there as they recitified their mistake with SPRINKLES. fortunately my guilt is only medium as i slept through lunch and had two hard boiled egg whites and two kiwis for breakfast (= 200 calories). i just hope i don't puke @ the gym after eating the rest of my days' calories in like 35 minutes.

also, so my stateroom on the ship is across from the Commander of Troops's room for the Marines. It means the highest ranking Marine on the ship lives across from me, and when a higher ranking Marine comes onboard, he gets kicked out and the higher ranking Marine moves in. WELL, the highest ranking Marine below General was visiting a couple weeks ago, and i walk out of my room and turn left, and then am directly across from his open door. I glance over and see....FEET! the man has his full camoflauge on and no shoes, no socks, but bare feet propped up on his desk! i got so excited i said SIR! I never expected to see your feet! Well, he thought I was about crazy as I doubt anyone else would have gotten excited over feet but let me tell you...this was like seeing the president of your company with his bare feet up on his desk! something you would have never expected!! the only bad thing is that now...he's coming back...and somehow everyone knows i commented on his feet. awk. ward.

also currently loving Demi Lovato's CD - she totally deserves more disney channel star cred, such a talented singer!

Friday, November 6, 2009

So we've been underway for more than a month now - crazy! I can't believe that I'm slowly, kind of sort of surviving deployment. Things could be better, could be worse, but the most significant things that have happened thus far:
  • told the guy that i went to vegas with that anything more then a professional relationship while on deployment was not worth the time and effort for me. too much stress, too much worry, too much accommodation for someone that i didn't really have much of a foundation for. his response? that he was worried i wouldn't date him when we got back to SD. that in itself is a little bit of the root of the problem - why do you want to date someone who is willing to avoid you for FIVE MONTHS STRAIGHT?? he's also done some very tool-ish things that were a huge turnoff - like handing me his fitrep (like an evaluation in a normal job, i guess) to prove how much better he was then this guy he'd been complaining about. how unattractive!!
  • i got in trouble in guam (oops!) and wasn't allowed to drink or stay out past 10pm in singapore...until the 3rd day, when the CO (Commanding Officer) called me and the other people in trouble into his office and released us :) i did spend halloween on the ship, but that was because it was a normal duty day. bummer!
  • i weighed in at 145!! of course, that day was my last day in Singapore, so i think i managed to eat back a solid 3 pounds. oops. i've worked out every day since for an hour and change each day, so i think i'm doing better, but it's rocking too much to weigh yourself right now. speaking of which...
  • i ran 3 miles! i've never run so far without stopping in my entire life! i'm very proud of myself.
and what is truly my proudest accomplishment, i overate one day in my room, and as was my normal habit, put my boots on so i could go down to the wardroom (our officer's dining area) and just count that day as a loss by eating some easy mac, and then...took my boots back off, slid off my coveralls, and put on sneakers and gym clothes and worked out for an hour and a half! i was SO. PROUD. of myself. i always have a problem with binge eating, and even though i thought to myself, oh, tomorrow is another day, it'll be fine, i then thought to myself, ya, but won't you feel so much better tomorrow if you know you worked out tonight? IT WORKED! i felt great this morning.
so i'm back on the bandwagon, i'm working out and eating right, i have no men as distractions, and OH YEAH! I paid off all of my credit card bills :) everything i make from now on is mine, free and clear, for the next 5.5 months (with no rent or utilities or cell phone bill! just bank!)