What's in a name?

It is another beautiful morning here in Lenox MA. The last couple of days have been quite lovely here actually. So what have I been up to you ask?

Well week 3 of STI continues to chug along... it's fine... we're halfway there. Nothing further that I care to discuss there.

Now for the fun part! Last night after my work day I decided to tag along with Michelle and Meaghan as they met up with their friends from Wellsley.

There they are- the lovely Alumni of Wellsley College.

I have to say though I didn't know any of them I really had a fun time and felt really comfortable just jumping into the group. And I can only account for this unusual lack of shyness on my part by assuming that I was just so happy to be out with a bunch of GIRLS. I. MISS. GIRLS. There are simply not enough of them at Shakespeare and Company. Being out with six other girls and No men just set my mind at ease and I had such a good time with them. It really made me miss my friends from home though. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to the wonderful, amazing, and lovely Lexi and Laura to show up in a mere three weeks. Simple, uncomplicated, girl-time. It's what I desperately need.

So we went into Great Barrington and first stopped at The Well for a drink while we waited for our table to be ready.

I got a mojito. It was lovely.

Then it was off to Baba Louie's (again lol)and I can safely say we demolished that pizza.
Before.

After.

There was not a crumb left on that table.
Then we stopped by the amazing candy store (one of the destinations I plan to take Lexi and Laura to during their visit... and here's one of the many reasons why...

Each of those gummy bears is about the size of a new born baby and costs 40 bucks! That one is for you Laura Cohen.

Then we all made our way back to Shakes and Co for the Friday Night Cabaret. I didn't perform this time. But my boss Mr. Dennis Krausnick did!

He read some of his poetry. I suppose I'm fortunate to be involved in a profession where my superior performs his modern poetry for the company at large. This is a funny place I work at, but what's not to love? Don't answer that.

Something has been rattling around in my head for a while now and I thought I would share. I find that there is nothing I hate more when talking on the phone, or sending text messages then when the person I am talking to uses my name. Now this may seem strange to some- but think about it just for a minute. If you are on the phone with someone, someone you already know, or texting back and forth obviously the other person knows your name. I find in these circumstances that the only reason a person uses your actual name is when 1)They are upset about something and use it for emphasis (almost like when your parents use your full name when you're in trouble) or 2) to be condescending or 3) (though this only applies to one person I can think of) to try to be impersonal.

You see I can always tell when someone is angry with me (or at least trying to be a tool) because they use my name where they don't need to. When someone is just having a normal chat with you they don't call you anything because they already know who they are talking to- or if they call you anything they use some sort of a pet or nickname (darling, hun, girl... something like that) but not Erin. Erin is only used when I'm in trouble for something. Erin is only used when someone is being condescending or trying to make me feel stupid. Calling me Erin in a text or phone conversation makes my spine crawl because I KNOW something is wrong. Is this making sense? I know it seems like a strange thing to be so adamant about, but I've just had so many encounters with it lately and I have yet to be wrong. Perhaps it stems from the fact that I don't particularly like my first name and feel more affection when someone uses a nickname.

My point is I feel that in casual conversation with friends or family using your name is not a necessary part of the conversation, and so it is only used for emphasis purposes, and that emphasis always seems to be for/because of something negative. So in short: Please do not address me by my first name if we are friends, I will automatically think you are mad. ESPECIALLY not in a text message- I mean really it's not like you don't know who you are sending it to and its only a waste of characters, so if you use it there you must REALLY be trying to make a point. Any thoughts on this? Am I just acting crazy? I'd be interested to hear what you think of this my sneaky readers.

In other news I took today off from running but I still plan on reaching my 12 mile goal by the end of the day tomorrow. I just needed some rest- yesterday I was so tired from doing intervals the day before I fell back asleep for 3 hours after my spinning class. I may go this evening actually since the weather has been so nice and cool and breezy here. And next weeks goal? Why 13 miles of course!