it's that time again: sponsor time

i'm accepting august sponsors. this will be the last month that sponsorship will be a trade-sies situation. but never fear, i'm not going to charge an arm and a leg...just the pinky finger. see? i'm reasonable.

anyhoo, so if you're a blogger, an artiste (yes with an e), or small/big business owner and you would like to promote your sweet self here, come join usssssss...over there >>>>>>>>>

if ya wanna be a sponsor of romantically challenged, email me at:

challenged (dot) romanticblog (at) gmail (dot) com.

it's a date

indian shirt: brandy melville // cut off shorts: brandy melville // strappy bralette: brandy melville // ripped tights: me // fringe bag: kitson // ring: forever21

so i'm going on a date today. it's been awhile considering the last male i hung out with was rofl at 330am. we're going to eat chow. if you haven't been there you must go. it's yummy for your tummy.

as much as i'm enjoying all this time to myself, it is nice to have a cute boy to share some of that time with. so we'll see how today goes.

p.s. i'm the worst at thinking up ideas for a first date. what is your go-to first?.

laugh out loud

my family has a maid. she's worked for us for a few years. she has cleaned my room maybe 3 times since she has worked here. i've had things go missing so i prefer to clean it myself. anyway, we all know i have a "special friend." i'm a girl, i've been single for awhile, so what? who cares?

so yeah, today, of all days, she decided to clean my room. obviously i didn't think this would happen so i left my friend under my pillow. i got home from work and what do you suppose was placed nicely on my bed? mmmhmm, that's right. my friend. thanks maid!

a big night

 

i hung out with MR tonight for the first time in a month at least. surprisingly it was a really good night. i was actually nervous which is not common for me.

as we were walking to tony's i stopped dead in my tracks. lo and behold, big's car. i don't know if i mentioned 2 things in the past.
a) MR's roommate is one of big's friends so MR knows a wee bit about big.
b) when MR and i first dated i had tried to get ahold of big to try and make nice for times like tonight where we may run into each other. i never got a response. nice was never made
needless to say, we turned in the opposite direction and went to little bear. we had grilled cheese, tomato bisque (the fancy campbell's) and beer. i can't deny that MR is a total hottie. we get along great when i'm not being stubborn and impatient. so here's to patience!

new favorite beer: belgian independence day.

it's raining babies

i feel like i am surrounded by soon-to-be mommies. this weekend i went to my cousin's baby shower. it's crazy to see him married and getting ready to raise a baby girl. we grew up together. he's the closest family member. we used to spend entire summers staying at each other's houses and now he's all growed up. sad face.

currently reading/watching/listening/loving

i'm one of those people that goes through phases of being extremely obsessed with certain things.

1. my boyfriend wrote a book about me by hilary winston - book obsession. she is hilarious. and her life is slightly reminiscent of my own. i just hope i don't have a boyfriend that writes about my fat ass.

2. breaking bad/true blood/pretty little liars - tv obsession. i just started watching breaking bad. i'm already on the second season (after 2 days). true blood is just missing zombies. then it will definitely go down as my most favorite show. pretty little liars is my dirty little secret. it reminds me of the days when my friends and i used to have slumber parties and watch degrassi before drake became a uni-browed r&b singer.

3. old crow medicine show - my dad actually recently showed me these guys. not only is the lead singer a hottie but they play some excellent music.

anyone else have obsessions right now?

it happens to the best of us

so i broke a wee little promise that i made to myself on wednesday night. i went over to rofl's old house to play chandelier (beer pong on steroids) with his old roommates. due to my lack of hand eye coordination and my ruination, i ended up being ridiculous. that's the best word for it. when the ridiculousness caught up to me rofl held my hair back (this is the point where my promise was broken). now that, my bloggy friends, is what i call a trooper.

we both felt like hell the next day but somehow (mostly me) mustered up the strength to see the 330am showing of the dark night. basically, we went in at night and came out in the morning. i'm probably delirious at this point. but i'm happy. very happy. it helps to have awesome friends when your brain is on overdrive. 

p.s. lampshade wore his lampshade hat all night. 

why i blogged

i am asked on an almost daily basis as to why i started my blog. here is the uninhibited, cold, hard, truth version:

last year, some day during some week in march, i met a guy. i can't even explain to you how insanely head over heels i was the second i saw him. it was like (at least for me) electricity drew us together in the middle of the crowded bar (i always compare it to "cheers" because, yes, everyone does know your name there).

i left that bar feeling like god/buddah/santa clause had just gifted me this amazing man and i was ready to show my appreciation.

this was right before st. patrick's day. i invited him to come out with my girlfriend and i, which he did. he left his friends to come to me (his 15th gold star that week). i stayed at his house that night. he told me he wanted to wait to have sex because he believed it would be more special (gold star 24). we literally spent the next week falling asleep together, spending all day in bed together, talking about how perfect we were for each other...together. then, one week later, he disappeared out of thin air.

literally, POOF! we'd been talking happily all day. he was supposed to come to my house to help me with a paper i was writing for creative lit (which i failed and i have no idea why). but he didn't. he didn't answer his phone, texts, emails. he was gone. even samantha was baffled and she was supposed to be the one who had a logical explanation for things.

so one day she came with me to drop off his jacket at his apartment. we got there (possibly subconsciously/consciously planned) at the same time he should have been getting home. but he didn't come home. i know this because we waited so we didn't have to run into him.
my theory is he died. or became a CIA undercover spy. or got abducted by aliens. regardless of where he did or didn't go, he left a big hole in me. i had 2 weeks of the best relationship of my life. then poof.
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that was when samantha told me i date the weirdest guys and have the weirdest experiences. so i figured i should share all this weird with you lovely people. and now here i am. i still, sometimes, sort of think about that guy. i contemplate emailing him and saying "hey jerk! what happened?" but i don't. i'm single now. it's been some time since i've had someone that i can feel at home with, but that's ok. i feel at home with myself now which is something i wouldn't have been able to say a year ago.

costa rica dreamin.

so, as some of you may know i have been extended the insane offer to go to costa rica for as long as i would like. until december that is. all i have to pay for is my plane ticket and bring some extra cash for any random stuff i feel like doing while i'm there. this is where i would stay:

ummm yeah, gorgeous right? i'm a lucky girl.

if you have known me pre-blog or outside of the blog in general, you know that i am one of the last people to go lay out at the beach/pool or wear a bathing suit in general. just not my thang. lately, i've developed a new bathing suit addiction. my new fave, maaji (pronounced mahi). adorable, unique, reversible, and inexpensive. right up my alley. i'm onto my second suit from them in 2 weeks. seeing as i will need many suits in costa i figured it's kinda necessary right? i own the top 2 suits.

maaji: molly brown's swimwear

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shoes, let's get some shoes

you are what you drink.

when i was 13 i came up with this idea that you could judge a guy by his shoes. i am completely unashamed at the fact that i still immediately look at a guy's shoes before i decide whether or not i'm interested. there are times where i literally catch myself complimenting a guy's shoes right after i meet them. like they care! but let's just say if you get a shoe compliment out of me you are already a winner.

so clearly this led to my "attraction is the key to my heart" philosophy. if i don't find you irresistible (even if no one else in the world agrees with me), if you wear ugly shoes, it ain't gonna work homie.

my biggest flaw is being immediately attracted to someone and not wanting to accept that that is all there is. this always, always, always leads to me being insanely annoyed by something they do that is completely irrational. it could be the way they walk, how they say a word, the way they smell, the hair product they use, being too nice (yes, this has bugged the hell out of me). this fact has also led me to believe that i will eternally be single. well, at least i won't be annoyed and divorced...right?

i have slowly learned to let some small things go. but sometimes i just can't and it's all downhill from there.

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here's where i show how to fishtail braid your hair

 

sup yo. so kate from kate as of late saw that photo on my instagram and asked how i fishtail braid my hair. here is the vid.

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as if!

yes, my friends, i am doing a nineties post and attempting to bring back "as if!" so my faves of the 90s?

1. clueless - i don't think there is a rad enough word to describe my love of clueless. brittany murphy, paul rudd, alicia silverstone...umm obsessions. and like i've mentioned before in "f-off friday," cher's closet!

2. tamogochi - i had like 10 of these. and killed all of them.

3. mary kate and ashley - i watched each and every movie on abc family till i was 15. they always had the coolest parents and met the cutest guys. bitches!

4. are you afraid of the dark - watched this show every day. i felt like my life wasn't complete if i missed an episode. naughty little secret? i may or may not still watch this once a week.

5. boy meets world - i literally cried when the last episode aired. there are many things i would do to get my hands on the complete series! side note: a friend of a friend is marrying topanga. how dare he steal her from corey.

anyone else love shawn hunter as much as i did?

i've been naughty

i deserve a slap on the wrist. i am trying to save, really i am. especially since an extended stay in costa rica may be in the near future. but i just can't turn down sweet deals and sweet threads...and brain candy (i.e. books).

those black/gold/snake skin goddess pumps (i named them). were originally 120 dollars. wanna know what i paid? huh? do ya? $9.45. mmmhmmm. NINE DOLLARS AND FORTY-FIVE CENTS. i have literally tried those on for the past year and now, they are mine. all mine!

i'm makin a promise to myself to eat more sandwiches from home and not go shopping for the rest of the month. scout's honor.

leggings, men's sweater, rings: h&m // shoes: bakers // maaji suit: molly brown's swimwear // vitamin a bottoms: molly brown's swimwear

lullaby by chuck palahniuk was borrowed from catman. i feel a little better about myself.

gettin' down in single town

see that sushi up there? yeah, i ate it. all by myself. in a restaurant. solo (yolo). and then i went back today and ate all by myself again. i grew up a little inside.

it's funny how being single makes you appreciate doing things alone after awhile. at first, i felt like i needed to have someone all day, errryday. now i'm quite content shopping without even touching my phone and eating without having someone watch me as i stuff my face with gigantic portions of fish. it's quite liberating. i think rofl rubbed off on me a little. he's very anti-people. only likes em around when he feels like it. not that i'm turning anti-people but i am turning anti-people all the time.

i don't really feel that need to text someone back right away or see someone 6 nights a week. i mean, sure i was bummed yesterday when edward flaked on hanging out but then i realized how much time i could spend running errands and messing with the blog. and then...i did it. whoa. who is this miss independent and what did she do with miss please-love-me.

what is your favorite alone-time thing?

p.s. i got voted by girlsaskguys.com as a top 20 dating blogger. made my day a little brighter!

my evil brain is turning it's wheels

ok, so maybe my idea isn't that evil. here is my million dollar thought: a site where you can give reviews on the people you have met or talked to on online dating sites...patent pending. of course this site would be valid for men and women. reviews would be monitored so people who are crazy (like this guy) don't post their craziness for all to see. you could post the site and username. and damn it would be helpful. i probably wouldn't have conversed with half these jerks if i had been able to read about their previous jerky moments. and so we don't have to run into this guy:

after i made that one month rule (not writing about a new datee until we have been dating for at least a month) i've realized how many people i am not writing about. it's kind of nice.

here's what i would say about the recents:

#1 - dirty. wears the same outfit on every date. instagrams photos of girls boobs like he's doing the world a service. flakes way too much. his nickname would have been frosted.

#2 - he seemed great for the first couple weeks. then after planning to hang out one night and bailing after i had already left my house to meet up he became that month's biggest jerk. flash forward 2 months and i finally get an apology. his nickname would have been catman.

#3 - way too damn cocky. still lived with his ex, but he "slept on the couch." you'd have to glamour me in order to fall for that one. felt the need to direct me to a mall he knew i worked at for 2 years. even after i had told him i knew where i was going. oh and let's not forget the moment he told me to watch out for a car 100 feet away. his reasoning, "you're a woman driver." this guy didn't even deserve a nickname.

#4 - just got out of a relationship with his ex. literally only 30 days before. and didn't tell me till after we had been talking for weeks. the week i stopped talking to him was after he was supposed to go on a dinner "date" with his ex and her mom. i say "supposed" because she ended up crying and threatening her life because he wouldn't hang out with her before. his nickname would have been leprechaun.

#5 - definitely gorgeous. no doubt about that. slightly inconsiderate. and then acted exactly like my ex...the one that i hate. obviously a hell no. his nickname would have been hair.

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happy 7th of july!

i can't believe it's been a year since i celebrated the fourth with big (part 1 and part 2). kind of feels like a whole different world. this year i didn't make as big of a deal with it as i usually do. usually i get all red, white, and blued out. this year it was just a bandana. i went down to the parade with my family. we came back to the house and i spent the next 3 hours watching beauty and the beast and game of thrones. very patriotic, i know. i try.

i went over to our annual block party with miranda. it was beer and firework central. but, oh miranda. that girl needs to learn when she can't take care of someone that only brings her down. aka her ex. she left about 2 hours to pick him up because he wouldn't take a taxi home. i even told him i would pay for his cab ride. i knew once she left she would just have to deal with more of his crap. and i was right. i'm about ready to get a hold of this guy and tell him my thoughts on his "issues."

i got to light my first firework this year. i am now a pyro-maniac. and it made me giggle. i think that's a bad sign...or a good one depending on your opinion of arsonists in the making.

i ended the night with rofl. who made all the stress of my week vanish by making me laugh till beer came out my nose (not literally, that sounds a little painful).

the conversation here went like this: "not a fan of that barney?" "he looked weeeeird." hence her facial expression.

p.s. baby you're a firework.