Getting ready to head out to a Memorial Day barbecue with friends or family and plan to spend several hours with them? While the first hour or two can be spent catching up on lost time, what else can you talk about before the conversation goes stale? Well, here are a few conversation starters that might cause uproar, debate or juicy conversation around the grill.
1. Should President Obama visit Arlington National Cemetery in honor of Memorial Day or share a burger with his father-in-law in Chicago? Just heard there’s a storm brewing on the Internet over whether the president should take the weekend to spend quality time with his family rather than honor fallen soldiers. He is taking a side trip to New Orleans to assess the oil spill but that’s a whole other conversation that we’ll get to next.
2. What the heck is going on with that BP oil spill anyway? According to the most recent reports, the latest method to stop the oil from spewing millions of gallons into the ocean has failed. Are you kidding me? We can send men and women into space; we can build defense weapons that can annihilate entire countries; but we can’t plug a leak? I think they need to speak with my plumber John, stat!
3. Sex and the City anyone? According to recent reports from friends who have seen the film, it’s not very good at all. Which means, do not, under any circumstances drag your husband or boyfriend to see it. However, do feel free to drag your girlfriends and hit the mall afterwards, because no matter how silly it is, there’s something about the Sex and the City gang that makes me want to you shoe shopping.
4. Talk about Diets. While you’re inhaling a cheeseburger, hot dog and steak, talk about the latest diet fad to have hit the market. In fact, discuss the pros and cons of sampling a master cleanse; whether it’s worth it to plunk down several hundred dollars a week for that new Freshology plan that all the stars are now on; or if Weight Watchers is still the way to go. Also talk about all the outdoor activities you plan to do this summer as you finish your key lime pie.
5. Excuse yourself from the conversation so you can read a good book. There’s something about the start of summer that makes me want to ignore everyone around me so I can read continuously until Labor Day. And for some reason, on Memorial Day, it’s quite alright to leave the table, curl up on a chaise lounge, read and take a nap. Sure it’s not a conversation starter, but it’s certainly one of my favorite things to do hands down!
Co comment Parenting Challenge – Week III!
It’s week three of the co comment parenting challenge so hopefully you know the drill, read my post and get ready to comment because you can win cash prizes! At the end of the month we’ll be awarding prizes to our winners so hopefully this topic will hit home with you and will get you inspired to let your fingers do the typing.
Dressing Room Disaster…
It happened again. After inhaling french fries, pizza, wine, cookies, cakes, smoothies, ice cream and other calorie laden foods that normally go right to the back of my thighs, I am once again facing a weighty problem. Translation – I need to go on a diet.
The icing on the cake, so to speak, took place yesterday at an outlet mall. While vacationing with friends, the hubbies dutifully took the kids to a water park while my girlfriend and I decided to hit our favorite stores. But a funny thing happened on the way to J Crew and Banana Republic. Either they’ve started to cut their sizes a lot smaller than they used to, or my tush is now about the size of Delaware. Either way, when I excitedly grabbed an adorable selection of outfits to try on at Banana, I had a serious wake up call with my dressing room mirror when nothing, and I repeat NOTHING fit properly. The skirts were all snug around my hips, the shirts pinched my flabby arms and even my middle – which normally is flat, hung out of a dress that I thought would look so cute on me at a Bar Mitzvah we’re attending next week.
Recently, I read a blog post about how dressing room disasters usually cause women to go on diets immediately after they stare at their cellulite ridden thighs. Well, I have to agree, my rude awakening in the Banana Republic dressing room has left me with no choice. It’s time to either hit Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, the Zone, Atkins or some other cockamamie diet so I can be thin by Christmas.
There honestly is no justice when it comes to me and weight loss. I’m always chubby in the summer and then I slim down in the winter. And so, here I am again, with a few more french fries and barbecues to inhale before the official end of my personal chow down.
If you have any suggestions on how I should attack my weight loss this time around or if you’re facing a weight loss crisis, or if you believe that Banana Republic and J Crew are intentionally making their sizes smaller to make me feel fat, then weigh in now!