So she's going to the Super Bowl party, chaperoned by Myrna, and trying to avoid too many high-fiber or otherwise gas-inducing snack foods. I thought she might mention the calories and Dad's monitoring, but YAY! She just wants to avoid thunderous disruptions of the game emanating from the bathroom. (Though if she really wanted to deter Sam's "sugestive" mooves, this might just do the job...)
Gross, as usual. The whole office is stareing at each other's bodies when they're not contemplating each other's bathroom odors. As for Sam's invitation, it sound's like Ellen didn't necessarily trust that it was actually going to be a Super Bowl "party"--she thought it was more along the lines of a hoax to get her alone.
My guess is Myrna will be game to come along (oops, I'm punny)
Ellen may have left Alan in the du'st long ago, but some of her alter egos are still slumming. Another reason she's such a shining example to other fictional phantasms, I suppose.
This wasn't her first appearance, but I'll try to be better from now on about it. Notice the completely useless content of Yanoula's reply (OP is asking about how to demand her money back, not whether she should do so), as well as her mockery of Corporette trends--this time "rawr."
You know what it is, back in the building...
Wait--if I get too fat I'm supposed to switch from skirts to pants? I thought it was the other way around! Maybe MP's premise is that he wants plenty of leg to look at around the office, as long as it's SVELTE, but once you're over the line it should be all fabric? Spoken like someone whose only experience with these issues is as a spectator, that's for sure.
Probably right about Fred's calculation (in Para. 2)--he thinks no way could Ellen do any better than the spoils of a stinky pet store. Time will tell, hate to say it!
I'd like to know more about how Mason responded to being counciled on tuchus-grabbing...? Finally, I'd bet MP already knows about it (and then some) and look forward to his rendition on disastrous mishandling.
Finally, I trust that the Sunshine Girls will look up and post here some aid for Ellen about this prospective "international" practice. They haven't failed her yet.
Interesting--Alan applied to b-school but apparently didn't get in. I've always known he was a CPA but I also thought he had the MBA. We're scaling back our assessment of Alan all the time, it seems!
As for Mason, I notice that the narrative has found a way to make his sexual appetite Ellen's problem even though it is (thus far, amazingly) not directed at her. It's true, though: she has no idea what she's doing even with her own workload, and manageing people--particularly in the absence of even one good example above--is totally foreign terrain. I like that more characters are in this mix, but as usual, the outlook isn't very bright! YAY!!!
Once again, Ellen specifies which moguls and superstars might have a chance with her, and on what conditions. DeKaprio is known for dateing supermodels, but he'd probably respect someone who forewent that opportunity in favor of a different longterm earnings strategy. Wikipedia says he has an apartment in Manhattan...
Meanwhile Sam is comparing his love interest to an elephant and Fred is sending cat litter. If anyone were to ask me, I'd say pass on the further set-ups with friends of Ed's. If Fred was the top contender, I shudder to think who may be next.
Lovely, mascot.
I like this sub-plot about Mason bringing home Lynn and the ongoing makeing of eyes around the office. As Ellen points out, it deflects attention from her, and worse things could happen for Lynn as well. One problem I may raise for the longer term, however: they get married, Lynn quits to become full-time Mrs./Mommy Mason, and Manageing & MANAGEING LLP is stuck looking for a new secretary. The new one could be an improvement, but more likely, we're dealing with more eye candy (hired by MP, after all) and thus more guys stopping by the office to see Ellen but deciding they got all they needed at Reception. (I can't find the link right now, but I'm looking at Fred.)
The proper partnership lunch--I like it, but I'm also a bit suspicious. Why isn't Mom coming? The combo of Dad and Leyeh make's me think this is some serious sit-down about needing to be married yesterday and/or looseing even more control over her finances. These are the common denominators on the Barshevsky side of the family, where Mom is more of a moderating force.
I did not know previously that Alan is a year younger than Ellen. She isn't aging, so this either means Alan has passed her long since, or that he too has been the same age since ~2009. Follow-up would be great, especially since we'll be celebrating yet another numberless Ellen birthday this quarter (March).
I count three S's there. I'm picturing Madeline hissing at Ellen when she was a new hire, for example.
This is the first time Ellen has mentioned wearing jeans, to my knowledge. I didn't know she was so hip! Again, she met MP in an elevator when she was in his building running errand's for her former boss.
The "exemption" Ellen wants is presumably from Dad's Fitbit expectations for daily step count.
Ellen wants to avoid looseing some of her professional duties to Mason because it would mean she gets less shopping time on the company clock. Lean in.
Genius plan; no surprise coming from a genius. This emergency fund has been depreciating for years, the broccoli's sell-by date was in 1999, and no doubt Ellen would have a more graceful tuchus if she'd eaten it rather than CRUMB'S.
So Ellen has become more ambivalent about the idea of marital intimacy with Sam. Maybe this is why Dad's airfare offer, which is actually very generous, is being taken as a nuisance (?) Perverse, since so often when Dad gets up to all kind's of BS she has no words of protest.
Again, she is potentially non grata at Bloomie's because she deliberately wiped poo off of her shoes in their home goods department. I already linked to this once before, so just trust me.
The only news here is about Dad's recent property acquisition. Are he and the Missus actually going to relocate? Is this just a winter digs? Does this mean the potential job at Duke is off the tabel for good? Is something up at UVA instead?
First of all, the issue of Ellen prematurely giving away a relatively new coat that was a gift from her parents just will not go away, will it? I was the first to express my disapproval, and unsurprisingly Dad is upset too. But interestingly, his position on puffy-looking garments is that his daughter is a hopeless case regardless, so she should just keep wearing them. I don't know how many marriage proposals have been drawn with this strategy, but we won't find out with this test case anyway because Ellen donated it: the puff is long gone.
In other realms needing review, if you're wondering why Ellen can't stop thinking about Sam's nether regions, it's because of the INADVERTEANT flash she got way back in August. No amount of apology for that is enough, it seems, even though Sam is the only male character in our entire story who has ever been cited as remotely attractive. Now he's forthcoming with an offer of marriage (and possible dental)? Dad signed off on this a while ago, so nothing is in the way...
So yes, it was in fact a typo when Ellen stated recently that March 2013 was Dad's deadline for controlling Ellen's cc. It's actually this coming March (though I'm not optimistic that he won't re-freeze soon after that for whatever other excuse).
In Para. 3 below, Ellen admit's that it isn't always necessarily by sheer brilliance that she win's cases or get's promoted. All the more reason to be terrified of "older me"--she's used up most of her cuteness already, in fact.
YAY!!!! The new associate dogging Ellen finellaly get's a name! I had suggested that she might be stalling on this because she's already used up so many common men's names in her story, and her going with "Mason" seems to vindicate me there. We'll take it, though!
More puzzeling about Mason is the fact that he's the only person to enter the narrative for quite a while who isn't an idiot. They obviously can't become friends, and I assume she thinks he's too young and green to date. So why isn't he being denigrated? Is Ellen setting herself up for a professional rivalry?
I suspect the highlight here was a typo on Ellen's part (shocking, I know). March 2014, is it, when Ellen will regain access to her own damn money? Around the time of her 3-Nth birthday?
tesyaa aptly points out that Ellen has correctly used "spendthrift" where so many others fail. I think it's beautiful that we can appreciate rare glimmers of correctness in a dark sea of fooeys.
Monday 
Rosalita 
anon