Coming to Terms...

As of late, I haven't felt like my life has been very "fufilling"... I mean, I'm bored - ALL OF THE TIME and often feel like there is NO ONE out there to hang out with lil' ole me. But I'm starting to come to terms with it and think how lucky I am! I mean seriously - I have all of the time in the world -- to work-out, read, bake, go out with friends and really - just "hang out" or as I like to call myself be "a lady of leisure." I've been uncomfortable with this lifestyle because I'm usually running from one thing to the next and barely have time to breathe - let alone RELAX -- but I'm thinking I'm at this point for a reason. Maybe it's the calm before the storm. A good storm -- filled with awesome things, lots of dates and who knows... all kinds of happiness! I'll try and keep you posted. For now, I'm going to feel lucky I have a Friday night at home alone instead of being depressed about it. :) Cheers!

So Much To Tell!

... But I don't want to jinx it! Ugh! How I hate holding my breath and wondering day in and day out about this and that and will he call? Will he text? Does he think I'm interesting? AM I interesting? Maybe I need talking points? Maybe I need to relax? Maybe I need to chill. Shit. Maybe I just need a glass of wine.

This is what goes through my head day-in and day-out. My single friend Erin and I always rate a guy on their ability to give the "stomach flip" about how great guy is. Well this guy doesn't just give me the stomach flip... he freakin gives a stomach full of Olympic style floor routines! I tell ya. And only time will tell...

I also have tons of other updates and adventures to talk about. Amanda's wedding turned awkward to crazy to "I'm getting way too old for this", to my job and all other kinds of opportunities that await my life. I'm thinking 30 might be okay after all. :)

And rounding out the list...

add: dumped via text message. Yep! First it was an email (Chris), then a chinese food restaurant (Erik), now - I've been let go via text message (Matt). I swear - some gals have all the luck! But seriously - my dating life really IS a Seinfeld episode. If only Jerry, Elaine, Kramer and crew were here to talk about how ridiculous it is over coffee...

Oh well, right? I feel like I only update this blog when BIG! HUGE! Exciting! things happen - although not so often - but I guess it is where you can get all the juicy updates and details. :)

At any rate, I'm really sad to see Matt go as he was great - but if it's not meant to be - it's not meant to be - right? (reasoning - we just didn't feel the same about each other. Translation: "he just wasn't that into me").

Although I saw this quote today about intuition and thought it was fitting:
Trust that still, small voice that says "This might work and I'll try it." Which is exactly what I did with Matt... and ya know what? I'm not mad or sad that I did... because now I'll know... that happiness can't be found in Albuquerque after all.

Here's to new adventures, new dates, and hopefully another first kiss which turns out to be the last... because seriously ... I'm getting too old for this! :)

A Rather Productive Valentine's Day

It's official... I've gone from 29 to 62. Only relatively speaking that is. Bless Matt's heart and his OCD tendecies... I finally got my drawers, cupboards, closets and finances ... in order. Yep - that's what we did the entire week Matt was in town... we filed, we purged and meticulously entered every single bill, dollar and number into excel spreadsheets. I think I'm ready to take on the world now - or at least have a more orderly approach to it.

And for all of those wondering - on actual Valentine's Day... we went to church, Chili's for lunch, wrapped up my budget stuff and I took Matt to the airport. Oh - and my most favorite part - Matt surprised me with an initial necklace from Tiffany's I've been coveting. I covet it even more now that I can wear it. Thanks, Matt and Happy Black Sunday everyone!

Somewhere in between Nebraska and New Mexico...

I lost my mind. Or did I?

Here's the "scoop" you've all been waiting for.

Boy meets girl. Girl meets boy. (Boy: Matt; Girl: Sarah). Sarah and Matt happily talk for weeks on end; Sarah complains to Matt how she doesn't have a date to her work holiday party. Matt suggests he be Sarah's date. Sarah wonders how this will work seeing as Matt lives in New Mexico and Sarah lives in Nebraska. Matt offers to take the trip to Nebraska to see family (he's from Lincoln originally) and go to Sarah's holiday party... and we can say the rest is well ... history. :)

Matt flies to Nebraska and goes to Sarah's holiday party.

Not sure if it was the talks until 2am in the morning each night prior to the visit, the walk in the park downtown among the Christmas lights where they shared their first kiss, the brewery where Matt smiled at Sarah, their creative conversation over dinner or when Matt gladly alphabatized and perfectly arranged the nametags and set up the AV for Sarah at the holiday party she was planning did Sarah think she was finally feeling a lot of "happiness" instead of "crappiness" ... courtesy of this boy Matt...

The holidays come and go and Matt has to drive back to New Mexico - a 14 hour drive - all by his lonesome. He invites Sarah to go and since she has the week off work - she thinks why not?! This could be fun. And in fact it was fun!

(now I will stop talking in 3rd person and revert to 1st person)

The only thing I could think of was "how in the world will I tell my parents?" Suddenly - the scene from "Father of the Bride" comes into my mind... you know when she's at the dinner table telling her parents - "Mom... Dad... this is Brian and we're in love and we're getting married!" And Steve Martin suddenly sees a 5 year old telling him this? I wasn't getting married but that's all I could think... "Mom ... Dad... I met the most wonderful man and I'm driving 14 hours with him back to his home in New Mexico. Love ya! Bye!"

But I trusted my instincts which never fail me and decided to embark on an adventure I was in dire need of. And an adventure it was! With a tri state tour of rest stops and horrid gas station bathrooms (they get worse as you travel west), a romantic new years eve dinner at the foot of a mountain overlooking the albuquerque lights, holding hands wherever we went, eating lots and lots of buffalo wings and nachos and drinking many margaritas, bottles of wine and beer, shopping (!), watching football, playing card games and mario kart... it was a grand entrance into 2010. I sadly flew back to my boring life in Omaha...

But here's to another adventure: a long distance relationship. I'm hoping it's full of more adventures, fun weekends across the US and a lot more happiness... as opposed to crappiness.

I'll do my best to keep you all updated... that is when I'm not tripping and falling in love. :)

Could this be the Happiness?

So I know its been awhile since I updated this but a lot has been going on in my life. The house is wonderful - slowly, but surely I'm decorating it and making it my own. I decided on purple as an accent color for my living room but need to find some lamps that match.

In other news; I am absolutely, positively, 100% - on cloud nine ... and yes - it's because of a wonderful guy ... his name is Matt. And I actually met someone with that name purpose so that my dad could keep names straight (my sister's husbands name is Matt too) - haha just kidding.

Anywho - we've only known each other a week but feel like its been years. He makes me smile and that's the least I could ask for. I don't know where it will go or end up but for now - I'm definitely enjoying the ride.

I don't want to disclose too much right now or jinx it - but I will definitely have more to write as this is already reminding me of a movie or a chapter in a book. :) Stay tuned.

Lessons Learned from Home Buying

So of course I'll write more later but here are a few tidbits and lessons learned from the home buying/ownership process thus far:

1. Home buying is STRESSFUL. No one tells you that either. I'm going to write a book about buying a home - especially as a single woman. It's not that fun.

2. I should have a part time job as a "moving conductor." With a little help from my friends I was able to get the place painted, furniture delivered, light fixtures changed, cable installed, tv installed, carpets cleaned, locks changed and all moved in within a week! Not bad.

3. Women Power! I hung a mirror - all by myself. I measured and everything. Pretty proud.

4. Target is my new best friend and worst enemy. I think you know where I'm going here.

5. My parents were foaming at the mouth waiting for me to move. Just when I thought I had all my crap put away - my dad showed up with a truckload from our basement of ALL of my memorabilia... from my first dance costume, to class photos, yearbooks, prom and bridesmaid dresses... forget my guest bedroom - it's now a storage room.

More later - including a video tour if it works out right. :)

Adventures In Home Buying...

So holy crap - I close on my house this Friday. I can hardly believe it's coming to fruition. I've kind of been in denial just thinking something would go wrong - but it looks like it's all gonna happen - so tonight I've gone into house mode.

What's that entail you say? A grand ole trip to Nebraska Furniture Mart. I used to look forward to shopping for furniture - thinking it was "fun". Tonight - all by myself looking to furnish my home - was not fun. In fact - I was so sick of thinking about options - I just made a decision and got one of those, one those, 2 of those and oh ya - throw one of those in too.

I felt like I was going to throw up. I still do. But I'm also thinking how cute my new home will be and I will have not once had to compromise for an ugly piece of furniture or a paint color I didn't like. So there. :)

So without further adieu - I share my newest home furnishing purchases with you :)

Couch for upstairs. I didn't get it in this color though as this is the color I'm painting my walls. It will be in a darker brown like seen on the pillows. The downfall - I had to special order it so it won't come in until like December or something crazy.

I got a night stand and a dresser and oh yes - a dining room table but no photos. Yet. To come - I'll post later - or you can all come visit!

More to come. Here's a rundown of the schedule incase you really care:

Close - Friday, October 9

Paint - Sat - Wed

Carpets Cleaned - Thurs

MOOOVE - FRIDAY!

Some Funny Sh*t

So amongst buying a house, working a ton, and volunteering my life away - I'm dating a wonderful guy. Not only is he wonderful ... he's HI-LAR-I-OUS.

Case in point - I share this story:
So everyone is giving me trouble for the stupid post/basket that the Shawn dude gave me (refer to previous post titled wrongly - "luckiest girl alive") ... ya know - the one for our "one month anniversary." I'm not gonna lie - it was fun at the time - but in retrospect - that whole piece of my life was ... WEIRD.

So anyway - I'm talking to John about something and he's like oh ya - tomorrow at work - I'm gonna give you a gift basket and guess what's gonna be in it...

"A bag of crap - because YOU'RE THE SH*T"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I don't know if you think this is funny - but I sure do! (Oh and yes - he knew about the "basket" I received previously...) :)

Update-palooza!

MAN! I have so much to update everyone on! It's so true with life - everything likes to happen at ALL at once!

Here's a rundown:
1. I am a homeowner! Well - almost - I don't close until October 9... but needless to say - I purchased a townhome. It's 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and slowly but surely - I'll make it one happenin' party pad. Here's some photos:
2. Work has been GRRRREEAAATT! But sooo super duper busy! 12 hour days are back again. I'm now more on the marketing side (versus the pr side) so I'm still learning new things everyday!

3. I've gone on plenty o bad dates; some mediocre ones and some fabulous ones! Lately I've been hanging out with this WONDERFUL guy named John. :) I don't want to jinx it so that's all you'll get for now. No crazy stories or deliveries of cherries from this one though (which is a good thing :))

Just crazy, crazy getting ready to move, working, hangin, and volunteering. I'll post more as the house project progresses!

First Date Language Translated

1. He yawns during your conversation = he's not interested ... in you or what you have to say

2. At the end of the date if you get a half hug and a "I'll talk to you later" = he will not talk to you later. He will never talk to you again.

3. While having a conversation; he doesn't make eye contact = he's not interested. Again - in you. or anything you have to say.

Hi.Lari.Ous.

So I have a hilarious story from the weekend and yet another "that would only happen to me," but it's so good that I don't want to write about it... someone might steal it for their Bridget Jones Diary type book :)

You let me know if you want the details and after you sign a contract - I'll tell you :)

Talk About a Boost to Your Self Esteem!

Men, women and children - gather 'round... have I got a secret to boost your self esteem! Go to a shady dance club!



I am serious. Here's the formula you need to follow:

- Have a few drinks

- Go about 45 minutes before it closes

- Order a drink at the bar

- Hit the dance floor

- Wait for the guys to make their move



I had one dude do that old school move where he came and "accidently bumped into me" and walked away. Seriously! How hilarious. I forgot how fun going to dance clubs could be... yippee!

The cliches have it ...

Just like they say... all good things must come to an end... things that are too good to be true usually are and so on and so forth. I'm sorry to say my friends that Shawn and I broke up. It's crappy but at the same time all things happen for a reason and God just has another plan for me. I'm thinking that plan might very well be that I'm supposed to write a book. Seriously - I have had more Seinfeld episode like experiences happen in my life the last few weeks... it can only mean I'm supposed to compile all of these episodes into a best selling novel or a tv sitcom based on yours truly!

At any rate - I'm back at it world so if you know of any dudes who are single and are looking to mingle ... send em my way. After all - I'm sexy, cute and popular to boot.

Parties by Sarah

My parents have an annual backyard party by their pool every year. This year I decided to take charge and give it that Sarah swirl... here are some photos from the set-up!

This is the food table inside. Complete with tissue paper lanterns I learned from my friend Martha and a cupcake tower in the far right.


I purchased these bouquets of roses from Target and arranged them myself!

A close up of the flowers


A view of the backyard

I learned this from Martha herself... she made a chiller for around the vodka bottle for the bar. I put limes and flowers in mine here
You know who to call if you need your party planned!

My Newest Hobby ... Cupcakes!

Shawn bought me a book all about cupcakes and how to decorate them so I'm officially obsessed. Thankfully, there have been many birthdays so I have been able to try out my new cupcake decorating skills for well deserved occasions!

Here are a few of my creations:


This was for Melissa's birthday and it's supposed to look like her dog Ruby. As you can see - it didn't turn out so well...

So I scrapped the dogs and just made some other pretty cupcakes for her. Happy Birthday Melissa!

Then came Misty's birthday and Misty LOVES penguins. Of course there were penguin cupcakes I just had to try and make for her! They came out with a little character as you can see... definitely homemade and not quite Martha pristine perfect - but oh well! (*note - there were more, but a few had some casualties on the way into work...)

And then Misty took one of me with the cupcakes! Happy Birthday, Misty!

The Many Faces of Me ...

Everyone knows I'm famous for my "comical" faces ... I guess I do it more than I realized. Here's a little stream of what I do best ... make weird faces!

Two... Four... Six... and another bridesmaid job becomes Eight!

Yes indeed! I have been asked once again to be a bridesmaid and I'm thrilled! Lucky number eight is for my friend Amanda who I've known since college. We were both transfer students and she had a really cool belt. Anywho, I thought I'd take this opportunity to walk down memory lane and list all of the weddings I've been a part of as a bridesmaid (there would be too many to count if you included personal attendants, planner and reading jobs I've also done!)

Jenni (Hayes) Smith & Aaron Smith
Jenni and I met in high school ... this was the first bridesmaid experience I had and boy was it fun! My hair was another story...

PHOTO COMING SOON

Jackie (Lamprecht) Acosta-Trejo & Will Acosta-Trejo
I met Jackie at Creighton and she pulled me into the pi phi chapter there and became my friend forever! It was her wedding where "Breaking News Live from Sarah" originated from... (I'm in the top right hand corner)

Katie (Shillito) Larson & Andy Larson
Also friends since high school, this wedding included a lot of dancing and singing of camp songs... from what I remember...


Molly (Crouchley) Cihal & Dave Cihal
I met Molly in college as well. She is my "birthday twin"! We were both born on the exact same day at the exact same time in the exact same city. You will often find us wearing the same outfit, driving the same car or shopping at the Gap. All accidental of course! This is also the only bridesmaid's dress I've worn again (it was for Halloween when I dressed as a flapper).
Erin Costello (Baker)
This was for my cousin Erin's wedding. We've been best friends all of our lives and I was honored to travel to North Carolina for her wedding. I also came in handy at the last minute and did everyone's hair - including the brides!


Kelly (Lukas) Dennis
Aww - my sweet sister finally getting married. This is where I made my debut as maid of honor and gave the best speech ever (if I do say so myself!) It was a mix of emotions for me that day... I had planned the wedding, was sad to see my sister go, was elated she was so in love and oh ya ... didn't get a wink of sleep the night before and broke up with my boyfriend. Ooops. She tells me I'll get revenge at my wedding when she announces to everyone she's pregnant. :)

Nicole (Chambers) Cook
This wedding was lucky number 7 and also where I earned my title as "most creative in using a bridesmaid dress" when I figured out that the wrapping in the middle could double as a pocket and a drink holder. We were at the bar where Nicole, Tyler and I went out on our first date. Well, it was their first date, I just came along as the wingwoman. This is also where I told Tyler at the end of the date "now this is where you ask for Nicole's number." Obviously - the rest is history!

Next up: Amanda Gartner (soon to be Oliver)

... to be continued!

One of the Luckiest Girls Alive!

Okay girls - I've listened to you, been there for you and got excited for you when good things happened to you ... but now ... it's my turn to gush!

So today is Shawn and I's 1 month anniversary (I know - silly - but what fun is life if you can't celebrate the little things?) ... so we have big plans tonight but he wouldn't tell me what they were (since I like surprises).

So around 10 a.m. he visited me at my office and brought me this gift:

I'm sure you're looking at it and going - what in the heck is that? Well in it, was this card:
Like most, I'm sure you can't read it so here is what it says:
Our 1st Month's Grocery List Sarah & Shawn

Bread: so that we never know of hunger
(a loaf of bread was in the bag)

Wine: bringing spirituality and laughter
(my FAVORITE wine was in the bag)

Bowl of Cherries: remembering that this is what life should always be like
(a bowl of cherries was in the bag)



Butter & Jelly: to smooth out any challenges we may face together
(apple butter and jelly (jarred) were in the bag)

Oranges: may our lives grow together more fruitful day by day
(2 oranges were in the bag)

Flowers: so that we never forget our true colors
(a dozen roses were in the bag)

Time: for all the cherishable moments we can will together

Also ... one of my favorite parts is something that is totally me... it was this bag of chips with a note that says "because you're all that too"
And the best part: our surprise date is revealed...

I can't even tell you how excited I am and how LUCKY I feel to be treated so well, surprised so much and cared for by so many... thanks for letting me tell my story. I know it will be continued...

When One Door Closes ... Another One Opens...

As per usual, it's been "decades" since I've updated you on all of my crazy adventures - and there are many to be told! But I think the most exciting news is that I have a new man in my life. He's pretty wonderful I must admit... and as much as I'm trying not to get too excited about it - I must say - I have never met anyone who has met me on so many levels... intelligence, humor, accents, skill, agility ... and ... he treats me like a princess. :)

I must say - life is pretty perfect right now. I'm gonna "ride the wave" as long as I can... more soon and definitely more to come as things develop!

See you on the flip side!