I work hard and (try to) play hard, but I must admit, my need for eight hours of sleep a night often trumps my attempts to party like a rock star. Funny people are my favorite people, but I don't mind serious conversations either. I write and talk for a living, so I try to choose my words carefully. I never cry over spilled milk and always share the remote control. To me, life is fun even when it sucks, because that is when it's the funniest.

I work for the City of New York making sure that the marketplace is fair for consumers. An average day consists of calls to reporters, distributing press releases, launching public awareness campaigns and reading more newspapers and Web sites than most people can stomach. I am a bona fide news junkie.

--Cooking
--Comforting
--My job
--Sharing
--Keeping my cool
--Achieving my goals (most of the time)
--Being silly
--Talking trash (especially when I'm playing basketball)
--Being serious
--Adapting

...my smile. I get it from my daddy.

Books
--Their Eyes Were Watching God
--Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
--The Eternal Spring of Mr. Ito (My 6th grade book report! So good!)
--Black Boy
--Wuthering Heights
--The Oddessy
--Night

Movies
--Dirty Dancing (No one puts baby in a corner)
--The Sound of Music
--Requiem for a Dream
--Lethal Weapon (all of them)
--Talladega Nights, The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

Music
--Country: Merle Haggard, Garth Brooks, Alison Kraus and Deana Carter
--Hip Hop: Common, Mos Def, Lauryn Hill (still a believer), Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West and Lil Wayne
--Soul: Sade, Eryka Badu, Maxwell and Robin Thicke (I think he counts)
--Pop: Justin Timberlake, ColdPlay and Gwen Stefani
Other: Hall and Oates, Al Green, Prince, Michael Jackson (before he went crazy), George Michael, Lionel Richie, Daft Punk...The list goes on and on.

6. Sex
5. A fulfilling career
4. Vacations
3. Fancy food every now and then
2. Family
1. Love

...new delicious recipes I can cook for my friends. I also think about the next career move ad naseaum. When I'm not thinking about those two things though, I think about where my next vacation will be.

***Addition***

Lately, I have been thinking about being single and what’s so bad about that.

Growing up in the South, young women are (still) often socialized to want to get married and have babies at all cost. Maybe the cost is career. Maybe it’s family or friends. Maybe it’s actually love. At 25, I was already an Old Maid in the South. Everyone I knew was already married, pregnant and working on baby number two in some cases. But I rejected that model because I didn’t want to give up one set of ideals (career, friends, family, love) for another (marriage and babies). Moving to New York took the pressure off because people here are smart enough to realize that you have be crazy to think that you are ready to get married at the age of 23! But the pressure isn’t gone.

Because I am single I have been able to accomplish things my married and coupled-up friends have not: my career has steadily progressed because I haven’t had to relocate for a partner or take time off for a baby; my relationships with my friends and family have never been better. But New York City has its own pressure: perfection. So while people say, “sure it’s OK to wait to get married,” tens of thousands of people are on sites just like this one looking for that perfect someone – the same way New Yorkers hunt for the perfect job and the perfect apartment. But if that perfect someone never shows up, so what? Right? Two out of three ain’t bad.

I also spend a lot of time thinking about why I am such a commitment-phobe.

...tired, but I try to rally! I usually have fun dinner plans or a party to go to. My schedule is usually packed pretty tight.

...is my bedroom constantly looks like my closet exploded onto the floor. My apartment is clean as a whistle, but when I'm rushing (and I always am!), I never hang up or re-fold a shred of clothing. Worst. Habit. Ever.

--you're cool.
--you're screen name is clever and does not include the words soft, slow, kiss, smooth, love (or the ever-popular luv), any wine names, such as shiraz, or any thing that is cheesy in a non-ironic way
--you're fun and funny
--you're not just looking to get laid
--you're not opposed to dancing in public
--Southern accents don't curdle your blood
--you can use a comma correctly (This is MANDATORY actually)

Bonus points if:
--you speak another language
--you play an instrument
--you can juggle
(A girl likes to be entertained some time!)

Doube bonus points if:
--you're left-handed (Because I'm just weird like that)