Ten Things Tuesday: I Need Inspiration

I haven't blogged lately. I haven't even felt like blogging lately. To be honest, all I've felt is guilt because I feel this is something I should be doing. But I'm just uninspired, and I don't really know why that is.

I felt like I should try to get back on the horse today though, so I'm starting with a list of things that usually inspire me. Stay tuned this week to see if they do the trick.

1. Sunshine. Duh. But this weekend really put me in a much better mood than the dreary one we had the weekend before last, so that's a good start.

2. Laughter. And especially, people who make me laugh. I've been spending too much time at work lately.

3. A good book. I'm not even a snob about only reading high-quality literature. If it can keep me entertained on the metro or by the pool on the weekends, I'm a fan. Plus, summers are made for trashy beach reads. So yeah, I jumped on the Fifty Shades bandwagon. I'm not even ashamed to admit that I've been sucked in so far. I'm sure, like every woman in America, I just want to fix Christian Grey.

4. Food. I love trying new things or tucking in with an old favorite. I've been eating a lot of salads lately though. There's only so much inspiration to be had from a salad and I think I missed the boat on capitalizing on that one. My stomach is trying to tell me that a pizza would be really inspiring tonight, but I'm trying to ignore that.

5. Flirtation. What can I say? I'm human. I enjoy the newness of witty banter with an attractive man who hasn't yet found a reason to leave the area and douse my hopes. Believe it or not -- and really, my friends have a hard time believing it without thinking I've been punked -- I went out on a date with a man after The Marine left. One date. We had a lot of fun and he made plans for the next one. Then he went on a short work trip, impressed the pants off his supervisors and got himself a promotion and a transfer to Seattle. Let's just say that while his "you are a great woman and I really enjoyed getting to know you" email was nice and all, I didn't handle it as gracefully as I could have. Because this is just bullshit.

However, I'm considering starting a service, a la Good Luck Chuck. Need a promotion, relocation and drastic career change? I'm your girl. Just one date with me, a little look of smitten hope in my eyes, and you should be set.

Anyway, I still have some new flirtations, though they just aren't as exciting as before. Maybe some of the shine has worn off, maybe I'm still not over The Marine, maybe I'm just tired of feeling lonely. I actually know that it's a little of each of these, and I also know that's why I've been avoiding writing lately because I just don't feel like dealing with those emotions. And that's also why I'm burying them down here in this list.

7. Shopping. No, I don't even feel a little shallow for putting this on the list. I wanted to put it at number three. Now that I've finally crawled out of the hole that funemployment put me in, I'm ready for a little retail inspiration. I might finally visit the new T.J.Maxx downtown, just in time to start working on my list of fall must-haves.

8. The country. I'm a country girl at heart and that will never change. When I'm hanging around the house, my playlist always finds its way to country. I try to drag my friends out to Nicks every so often to get my fix. And I'm insanely excited about the Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw concert in a week and a half. Please start saying some prayers for us now, that we might end up tailgating next to a truck full of cute, age-appropriate, single cowboys who look like they've been bucking hay since they were boys. (That's country girl speak for nice arms and pecs, for all you city kids out there.)

Also, I could go for getting lost on a country road with a boy from number five. That might certainly do the trick.

9. While this isn't a family-friendly blog necessarily, my mom does read it. So I won't put down what I'd like to here. But I think y'all can figure it out.

10. Love. I mean, that's what a lot of these items were dancing around, right? I miss it.