Day 36-Comfort for the Single Gal's Soul (Sponsored Post)

One of my OTMITM goals this year was to amp up my skills in the kitchen. Well, a month to go, and I've yet to make the leap from culinary newbie to seasoned chef. Though I still plan to continue on this quest, there is thankfully a wonderful option to make sure this Off the Market gal doesn't starve--or permanently live a life of peanut butter and jelly.

Enter Soup Singles. This great brand offers delicious go-to meals in prepackaged packets designed specifically for single servings. And with all the gloomy rain days we've had in NYC lately, this is just the dose of feel good I love to keep on hand.

Plus, one of the biggest deterents to cooking for me is the time factor. I'm constantly on the run, and Soup Singles makes it easy to have a bowl of comfort at a moment's notice as I run out the door or crash on the couch after a fabulously long day. Plus, the extra time I find from NOT cooking can be spent enjoying a well-deserved glass of white!

Since I'm a foodie, I love challenging the taste buds with new eats and flavors and Soup Singles has 8 tasty ones to enjoy. Balsamic Tomato Rice & Vegetable anyone? AND, the soups are made with only the freshest ingredients but minus the sodium that saturates other brands. Normally, I can't eat soup regularly-I'm a bloater :-) But with Soup Singles, I can get the satisfying taste without the salt. The soups are also low cal so they are perfect for helping me get myself in prime swimsuit shape.

Even better? Soup Singles is also designed with the single gal's budget in mind. I can get 5 Soup Singles for just $5 at participating ShopRite stores, leaving me with more funds to spend on new dresses or spontaneous happy hours this summer. Goodbye expensive frozen meals!

Soup Singles has bought me the time I needed to master my skills. And should I have another person across the table, I can create a meal for two without the embarassing interuption of our apartment's fire alarm going off... or maybe I'll save this bowl of comfort for just myself. Thanks to Soup Singles, a little self love is never far away.

I'm Off the Market & In the Moment-and now quite hungry!

Check out their Facebook page for daily deals and more information.

Day 41-Off the Market Crisis

So this week has been interesting....lots of reflection, confusion...and more than a few tears of frustration. Let's just call it a mid-twenties crisis. What to do with my life? Where to live? I hit all of the biggies with very few answers.

Needless to say, I've been stressed and not at all in the moment. So much for the last month of the blog mission! Fortunately, a wise friend caught the signs and sat me down for a chat, all the while instructing me to think about what I'd want out of life if there were no limits (rent, fear, hours of the day...RENT). So that's what I did. I took the time to figure out my hopes for this very short life and wrote them down, in no particular order.

-to travel

-to act, dance, and sing to my little heart's content

-to LOVE

-to learn French

-to own my apartment (remember the sky's the limit, even in Manhattan!)

-to volunteer

-to have a family/children

-to have a beach retreat of my own

-to learn how to cook (I can dream, can't I?)


Some things are obviously more superficial than others, but these are my top wants which I have now sent out into the universe. I guess you can think of this as a vision board of sorts-though I assume it will grow and change as I continue to do so. And of course, I expect additions.

Just looking back to Day 357-Making a List where I numerated goals for my year of OTMITM. Fortunately, I've crossed off being in a show since though I've yet to make it to my ballroom class or again, fix anything other than a PBJ and popcorn for dinner.

While I don't know what my next steps are any more so than I did on Monday, I'm a little more at ease getting this all in writing. And realizing that while these are all life-changing decisions, they are positive ones and not at all crisis-worthy as I make them in my head. Hopefully, now I can just release my hopes enough to get back to what's in front of me. And be patient for the answers to come.

I'm Off the Market & In the Moment

Day 51-Taking a Moment

So I've been MIA once again due to lots of rehearsing and little time for much else. I'm doing my best to hang on here! But, I didn't want to leave OTMITM hanging for another week so wanted to take a moment and share this quote that was sent to me courtesy of The Daily Love:

"People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you selfish, ulterior motives: Be kind anyway. What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight: Create anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway. Give the best you have, and it may never be enough: Give your best anyway. In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway."

--Mother Theresa--

Day 65-Getting Back into the Game for Spring (sponsored post)

The sun is finally out. The temperature is steadily rising. Tulips of every color are blooming up and down Park Avenue. We've faced more than our fair share of April showers this month in Manhattan, but spring has finally sprung! The city dwellers have finally stopped hibernating and are venturing outdoors-what better way for this In the Moment gal to spend spring than by getting over her Off the Market winter fling with some fresh dating prospects. It's time to get back in the game!

Ok guys-before you go Groundhog Day on me and threaten to crawl back into your hole until my prowling calms down, remember this is all about casual dating fun!

Thankfully, I found a site that has great tips for helping to put the spring back into my step: HowAboutWe.com. Get this-they match singles up by what types of dates you want to go on!

Even better, they are sharing some great spring fling tips for how to get yourself out the house and into the arms of another single cutie pronto! To make life even easier, the site is even offering a special 33% discount on membership with their services (promo code: SpringFun).

5 Easy Tips for Successfully Landing a Date This Spring

1-Ladies, ASK GUYS OUT: Men and women are asking one another out at equal rates and in fact, ladies are at a slight advantage. Dates proposed by women get an average of 5.8 responses each, while men get 5.5. Who knew! I think this theory will be tested by me on the guy down the hall at work...stay tuned. They are away this week!


2-Be SPECIFIC: Dates that involved doing something, such as eating at a specific restaurant or doing a specific activity, are 40% more successful than an ambiguous date idea. As a single girl who has spent one too many "dates" staying in, please do yourself a favor and take this advice. Don't leave it up to your significant (or insignificant) other!


3-PLAN ahead: Wednesday is the best day to ask someone out on a date. The worst day to propose a date? SUNDAY. Good news because I don't know how I'll ask a guy out while simultaneously sitting on my couch in pj's...


4-Keep it SHORT: A date idea that gets communicated in the 120-140 characters is ideal, so keep it to the length of a Tweet. But let's clarify-don't rely on social media to get your point across. Phone or in-person always trumps other forms of communication. Just thought I'd slip that in as part of my anti-text campaign...


5-2-Part Dates have the MOST success: 60% of the most responded to dates are two-fold: a short, active part followed by a more intimate second location. Example: "How about we practice our slices at the driving range then get some slices at my favorite brick-over pizza joint- it's just a few blocks away." This reminds me-I've never been to Chelsea Piers to the driving range...or to the Bronx zoo...or the Central Park carousel, all of which would be PERFECT dates followed by my favorite food pizza.

So step away from the computer already and enjoy the weather. I know this OTMITM girl is going to do so!


I'm Off the Market & In the Moment!

Day 76-What Goes Down, MUST Come Up

So last time I wrote, I was having a pretty low point, flailing about in life, especially in the dating department. Since then, it's been a down and up kind of week. I ended my casual "whatever" when I realized we weren't on the same page. An old love suddenly popped back in my life, now in the form of a old friend (which was particularly welcomed, especially coming off of a "whatever" breakup that was nevertheless hurting from the day before). And I went on a legit coffee date. Ok, not sooo legit in that I paid for myself before the guy arrived in order to secure a table. Guy was nice, but right now, a guy needs to walk through hot coals to get my attention. But the week has shown me once again that you have absolutely no idea what the universe has in store and despite how down things are feeling, feelings are temporary. Meanwhile, I am DONE thinking about guys (despite the fact I spotted some cuties this week on our floor). I have way too much on my plate and now's the critical time to focus and stay focused...did you know women are more relationship-focused while men are more task-focused? Apparently, that's always been my problem so I'm tapping into their mindset and working on my own skillset and 401k. More acting, blogging, dancing and getting back to what I want out of this life.... Which is suddenly TBD. But I'm ok with that. My favorite line from You've Got Mail, one of my favorite go-to romantic comedies, is "there is the possibility of someone else." Well, I'm not looking for the possibility of someone else per se, but possibility, in general. And that's the best part of the unknown. What goes down must come up and vice-versa. And I'm now in the mood to get back in the moment and set myself up for some good possibilities. Plus, we're shooting a promo video this weekend for Single Edition which is exciting, my parents are in town to visit, and I just treated myself to a facial for getting my tax refund. Maybe I'll even take a break from thinking about the possibilties. This moment is feeling pretty good just as is. I'm Off the Market & In the Moment!

Day 82-Not Feeling So In the Moment

I've been a really bad Off the Market In the Moment girl lately. I am just totally lost and can't seem to re-connect with the empowering feelings of purpose and independence I had when I started this blog. Instead, I am having trouble staying grounded and in control. And analyzing and re-analyzing....sound familiar? But I guess I haven't been acting the part of OTMITM lately either...sometimes life gets in the way, and staying true to yourself just gets really hard. So I've avoided writing about it in hopes that the situation would just go away. Oh yeah-I've given up Facebook for the time being, too. It was pulling me down in a big way as I find that I constantly compare myself to others when I've got downtime before work. And during work. And after work. When I wake up on Saturday mornings....and it's just an energy and time drainer. I'm sure I'll be back soon, but for now, I need to self-protect. Didn't you know that comparison is the thief of joy? As I look back over the past few months, I should have seen these feelings coming. I grew slack in writing, didn't hold myself as accountable and started wearing my heart on my sleeve again. And while I am hands down, not in a relationship, let's just say that I've discovered that casual dating is never casual unless you just don't care. So here I am, trying to check in with 80ish days left, and I'm not much better than I started. Though wait-I am aware of what I'm experiencing. While I still may have trouble controlling these bouts of insecurity, I am at least now recognizing the source. So I guess that's progress? Maybe? I am grasping at straws.... But if there's anything I've learned, it's that life is a process, and so I need to recognize that a year's mission is just not going to change 26 years of behavior. Even Elizabeth Gilbert, author of EAT PRAY LOVE had a sequel! I just wish I didn't struggle against myself so hard. It is just EXHAUSTING. But today's a new day, and I will continue to work on it. I'm Off the Market & In the Moment

Day 91-Gotta Get Myself a GAGGLE

So these writers first caught my attention in last week's Time Out New York's entrepreneur feature, and now Simon & Schuster has just bought the rights to their book (a six figure deal, I might add for any of you looking for that motivation to get writing!). So I may be behind the curve, but I am loving WTF is Up With My Love Life! They had me with just the title of their website...these people get it! But, not only do these gals supply great original pieces, they also recognize the decline of old-school dating (if it even exists at all anymore...). Even better, they are reframing what could be a totally discouraging situation (AHHH!! no more dates?!?!?) into an empowering opportunity, a new "romantic order." Enter The Gaggle: a "select group of guys in your life who compel you to put in that little bit of effort because they are, or potentially could be, romantic prospects." For instance, The Ex-Boyfriend Who's Still Around, The Ego Booster, The Boyfriend Prospect, The Accessory, The Unavailable Guy, and The Guy Who Just Blew You Off, to name a few....all take roles in your love life, all the while letting you experience yet stay open-minded until you find the guy that's right for you. We've just been given permission to never worry about dating again. I LOVE IT. Time to get your gaggle on! I'm Off the Market & In the Moment