Catch Up! April 2, 2008

Psha Psha Psha……  I have a lot of random things to write about today.

I had a great day on Monday.  It was my darling DAVE’S 3-0 th birthday.  WOW!  That’s old, but I’ll be up there in 5 years.  Isn’t that crazy!  Well our day started off awesome!  Then we went to Fido.  I got my spuds mc-cheesy with a coffee and Dave had a bagel and a million dollar orange juice, oh and we shared a rockin PC Muffin.  Yummy!  After that we went downtown and walked around for a few hours, then went to Ru-Sans for all you can eat sushi buffet.  Yum!!!!  Then we went back downtown and walked around some more.  Oh and we went shopping at American Apparel, I bought a plain t-shirt and Dave got 3 shirts.  They look super great on him!  I’m happy he got to buy clothes because he always lets me instead of him so I’m just happy for him.  While walking around we went to a few bars and had a few beers.  Yes, we did have beers at 2 in the afternoon.  I really felt like maybe I am an alcoholic as I was drinking during the day AND not at work.  But it was a fun day.  We also went to Legends, which is pretty cool.  I love the way it looks and feels when you are inside.  What I didn’t like was that there weren’t any specials and they charged $3.75 per beer.  Whatever!  I’m going to Joes Crab Shack from now on, 2 for 1’s there all day everyday.  Heck ya!  We met Megan and Seth and went to dinner and then got ice cream!  It was the best Ice cream that I’ve had in quite a while, but the cone was icky!  I’ll just get it in a cup next time!   But I think that Dave had a great day for his birthday.  He was able to go wherever he wanted and to do whatever he wanted and that makes him happy, which in turn makes me happy!

So I was working at Express last night and I heard some dude tell his girlfriend that our jeans are for male-erexic men.  That phrase doesn’t even make sense; I can understand man-erexic but not male-erexic.  LAME!  AND it’s not like our pants are small, we carry up to a 38 inch waist so stop wearing your pants down to your ankles and you will be fine or go to Big and Tall, that’s why the made that store and it does have nice things (I used them for a fashion show in High School so I know they do).  I’m not being mean about big people, I understand that’s how you are and I used to be heavier too, but this guy was not, he just liked his pants to hang to his ankles.  So there you have MALE-EREXIC!  Use it everyday!  What a word!

So I’m a little sad because Creation Station, one of the local scrapbook stores in my area, will be closing soon.  They sent out an email.  It makes me a little sad.  I never bought anything there because they closed early and I’m not THAT into scrapbooking.  But I was hoping that I would be once I got back from the convention.  Sooo Boo!!!!!  They said in their email that they aren’t planning on a big sale…..yet as they are hoping that someone will want to buy the store and keep it going.  I’d love to do this.  I emailed Dave and told him but I didn’t get a response.  I’m assuming that means NO, which is understandable because he knows I’m not very creative.  But I would love to own my own business and to spend all day doing that.  That would be neat!  So if any of you feel like it, please send them an email wishing them happy thoughts and positive things.

A few more things and then I think I will be done for the day, I know it’s horrible how much I write, isn’t it.  But Dave is happy I put it here so instead of emailing him he can look when he wants.  HA!!!!!!!

Amanda and I had a fun day on Saturday.  We went out for coffee and then scrapbooked.  That was fun!  Went to the Frothy Monkey.  They have the best freaking coffee ever!  Please Please Please go there when you come to Nashville, I don’t think you will be disappointed, unless you buy a muffin, I’m iffy about those.  Anyways.. We leave tomorrow for our awesome scrapbooking weekend.  Hell YA!  We are heading to St Louis for our scrapbooking convention and it’s going to be so much fun.  We are staying at an awesome hotel, I think, and here are some cool amenities that it has, free breakfast with waffles and sausage and eggs, 3 free alcoholic beverages at night, workout room, free popcorn and soda from 3pm-10pm and a business center.  I’m just excited for the breakfast part!  Yay!

On a side note, I’m not sure how much I will be posting while I’m gone but hopefully I’ll be able to get on here for a little bit to post about the classes and all my other randomness.

Ok that is enough for now.  I’m going to head over to Walgreens to pick up my pictures for the trip!  Woo Hoo!!

Stephy

Falafel is still funny to me March 26, 2008

Yay!  Yippee!  Super excited!  I wasn’t expecting but it is super awesome!  We got our reviews at Express and I assumed that I wasn’t getting a raise because I had just gotten one with the promotion that I got.  But I did and I’m super happy.  This will be a nice 3 months.  Yes I am lame but I’m still excited.  What is funny is that I now make more at Express than when I worked at CHS and Officeteam.  HA!  Glad I got out of those jobs!

I’m trying to get my mosaic up but the site is being silly so I can’t get it on here.  Silly website is not working.  Come on Big Huge Labs start working! Puh-lease!

I’m kinda tired this morning.  Dave and I went to the game last night, and then afterwards we went out and drank a few beers, ate some pizza and went home.  But I’m an old lady and I need more than 6 hours of sleep so I’m tired.  God I’m an old lady stuck in a 24 year olds body. 

Davey’s birthday is next Monday.  YIPPEE!  He is going to be 30 and I’m kinda excited for him.  Megan and I went out shopping for him yesterday and it was lots of fun.  Can’t really go into too much detail because he reads this but I think he will like what was purchased for him.  I need to get together with Megan before Monday so I can get his present out of her vehicle.  I can do that on Sunday when we go to the guy’s hockey game.

Dave said the funniest thing to me yesterday.  He said that he’s gone out drinking more  in the last 2 weeks then he’s been in his whole life and he’s gonna be thirty next week.  I think it’s funny because I feel like I’m actually starting to act my age and not be an old married lady, and I really enjoy it.  I haven’t had a real “girl” friend that I hang out with a lot until recently.  I know I hang out with Amanda but not all the time, because we are both always super busy.  But it’s kinda neat that I have friends now.  That sounds real bad doesn’t it?  I’m used to being a loner because I don’t like most people out here so it’s neat to like a group of people.

 Two Peas Challenge~
What are you planning to create today? 

I’m working on my inspiration notebook today.  It probably won’t look great but I’m still messing with it and having fun.  It’s a start towards being a more creative person.  My plan is to put things in there that inspire me to scrapbook, well actually it’s to make me want to be crafty.  I am really wanting to scrapbook lately so I’m hoping this will help. 

Okay, I’m gonna go for now.  I’ll probably write later because I’ve been super duper talkative lately.

Steph

I’ve got a lot to say today March 25, 2008

I think today’s post is going to be a long one again. I feel like writing a lot lately so I have to break it up into a few days because otherwise I may overwhelm my readers (HA, cause I have so many-sarcasm there), and I don’t really have a whole heck of a lot of time to spend writing on here as I have lots and lots of work to do!

First thing first. I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I have been working at the same company for close to 6 months and I have to say that I still LOVE working there. I have worked at some many companies where within the first 2-3 months I have started looking around for something new, only to stay because I can’t quite find the “perfect” job. But for the first time ever I am working somewhere that I really and truly enjoy working at. Looking for another job hasn’t even crossed my mind; in fact what has crossed my mind is if we decide to ever move back to California then maybe I can transfer to the Chatsworth location. The only reason I write this is because it’s just weird to me to actually enjoy where I work. YES! I think for the first time in my life I am really and truly happy with where I work and I am so thankful to feel this way.

Something totally random but I’ve been thinking about it lately. Falafel. That is a weird word. It sounds funny. Everytime I say it I want to laugh. Falafel. Falafel. Falafel!!!!!

Fa-la-fel [fuh-lah-fuh l] noun Middle Eastern Cookery.
an appetizer or snack
consisting of a small croquette made with fava-bean flour or ground chick peas,
seasoned with toasted sesame seeds and salt, often served in pita bread.

Sorry but I was telling Dave about how weird it was yesterday and he thought I was nuts!

I was reading Ali Edwards blog a few months ago and she created a Want Book. Here is her definition of it and some key points about it.

What do I want?
You, like me, may go through your day and think of lots of things you want.
Because I like to go to antique/second hand stores for lots of these sorts of things I decided to start a little book that sits right below my computer monitor. Easily accessible. And tangible. A home for all these wants. And something I can take along with me to remind myself of the things I have wanted (and I can add things like dimensions + such for larger pieces).

I now created a little Want Book. Yesterday when I was at Target with Amanda I found a little notebook for 72 cents and bought it. This is going to be my want book. I need to decorate it a little bit, but I really like the print on it so I might not decorate it too much. Here are a few pictures of it before I make any changes to it. I will post pictures after I alter it, if I do. I know I’m silly but I think it’s a real neat idea! One last little thing that has been on my mind for the past 2 months that I’ve really been meaning to mention but never find a way to write it on here. About two years ago when I first started working at Express I experienced something for the first time. I don’t like to single out any of my coworkers, managers or anyone because everyone is great and I love all of them dearly . Anyways…My dear friend Amber, who wasn’t a friend at the time, was and still is a Sales Leader-the same position that I have been promoted to- at the time she was fairly new to our store. Anyways…. I was working zone one of women’s and I was handing out coupons and telling customers about the promotions, like we are supposed to do and Amber came up to me and said the most motivating thing to me. She said something to the extent of “when we first started this segment our conversion wasn’t very high but since I moved you up here it has gone up a lot and I can tell that you are doing a great job telling people about the promotions”, it was something like that. Oh and conversion is basically and average of how many sales we make based on how many people walk into our store, it’s very very very important. Anyways, it doesn’t seem like much but that was the first time I had ever been given feedback while working there and it was really the first time that I’d been given positive feedback in a long time. I think that little experience has made me always want to do well while working there. The reason for this little story is to give an example of the type of Sales Lead that I want to be. I want to be a motivating and helpful Sales Leader. I want the associates to know that I appreciate all of their hard work and everything that they bring every day. Most of all I want to give an employee a good memory of the time they worked at Express. I can bet that Amber probably doesn’t remember ever saying that to me, but I do and that will always leave me with a good memory of her and the times that I have worked with her. Okay enough sappy-ness.

Oh and here is the Challenge question for the TwoPeas:

Are you the type of person who needs a new item in your hot little hands from a store or will you order online and wait for the item?

I guess I wouldn’t say I am either. All that really matters to me is that I get it. So if I have to order it online I’m okay with it. The only exclusion is with clothes. For some reason I will not buy clothes online. It just seems weird. I have a shape that isn’t a weird fit but not all things fit the same. Maybe it’s because I’ve worked in a clothing store for most of my life and I KNOW things won’t fit the same that I wont do it. But that’s me. When it comes to cd’s, books, dvd’s, scrapbook supplies –other than paper, I can pretty much order anything online as long as I don’t need by a certain deadline.

Okay I’m done for the day. I need to post my mosaic Tuesday but I will do that a little bit later.

Steph

Weekly catch up Monday March 24, 2008

I had a lovely weekend. I worked on Friday; it was a long and late night. BOO!!!! But on Sat I only worked 1-6, a nice mid shift. So I was able to go to the gym in the morning and then I went to work and then out with my lovely friends. It was my dear Katie’s birthday on Saturday so we all went out to dinner at Azteca and it was quite unfortunate that the food was bad, the service was bad and the liquor was bad, well Allison’s drink was bad. So just as an FYI, don’t eat there because it isn’t good. After that Dave, Anthony and I went and met up with the lovely Megan and Seth and their great group of friends at the Brewhouse and got our drink on. Unfortunately I did not drink enough to get my pepper on! But maybe next time! HA! After that we dropped Anthony off at his car and on our way back home we got a flat tire! YES! Nothin better than being F-A-Rozen, having a flat tire AND being a little tipsy while we are on the side of the freeway changing my tire. Did I mention that it was F-A-REEZING? Man am I a baby? HA!

Sunday was nice though. We slept in! YES! My favorite thing to do. Then we went to Fido and had coffee and potatoes. It was my first time there and it was really nice. I like the coffee. YUM! BUT I think that I like going to Zach and Joey’s (Sam and Zoes) has a much better atmosphere. Although I do like the coffee better at Fido’s, I think I’d rather go to Z & J’s. My luck Fido has the same coffee as Z & J’s, just like Seth’s Pitcher of Miller Lite tasted better than my pitcher of Miller Lite. I swear there was a difference! I swear! Oh back to my day. Then we went grocery shopping! Heck ya! We went to Whole foods, cause white people love whole foods, and they had free samples of sushi! HOW AWESOME ARE THEY?! YUM! Then we went home and just hung out for the rest of the day. It was a very nice and relaxing day. I feel like I never get days like that anymore. This next weekend will be like that, I hope. I took the weekend off for Dave’s birthday so I’m hoping we can relax and that I can get together with Amanda to scrapbook. Oh and Dave made an awesome pasta dinner. I couldn’t tell you how he made it but I do know that it rocked my socks!

Here’s what on the agenda for this week. I know you are all excited. Leaving early today because I have to go to Costco to fix my tire. Then to Express to work. YAY! Tomorrow I’m supposed to go out shopping with Megan after work for Dave’s birthday before we meet up with Dave and Seth at the hockey game. I told Dave that we should go get drinks at somewhere for Happy hour so we don’t go to the arena and pay $8.00 for a 24 ounce beer. So maybe I’ll get my pepper on when we go out tomorrow. Wednesday and Thursday I work both nights and will be training a bit on my Sales Leader position so that I can be signed off and ready for tax free weekend. YAY for training, YUCK for tax free weekend! Then I’m off Friday through Monday of next week.

Less than 2 weeks till Amanda and I go on our trip to St. Louis. I’m super excited and getting ansy! I can’t wait to scrapbook and have fun with other people like me. I know I totally suck at it but it’s just inspiring to be around people who don’t suck and who do really great work! People joke with me about how I am a 100 year old grandma, they also will then ask me if I knit too, to which I reply with “No but I do crochet!” Which they always laugh and say that their grandma crochets. I just laugh it off, because I don’t care if I’m like an old lady. This is what I enjoy and they will be sad when they lose their memory and don’t have their pictures in order or on a pretty piece of paper.

So I was looking at pictures of me back when I was heavier. I am happy that I am not like that anymore. It’s weird to think that was me, but it really was. I am a little bit disappointed because I have gained like 12 pounds of the 60 that I lost back. I look in the mirror and I know that I look great compared to what I looked like but now I don’t look AS good as I was looking so I feel a little bit frustrated. But I’m really going to have to kick my ass into gear otherwise I’m going to gain all my weight back and then I’ll be really sad!

These are 2 pics from back before I lost my weight. The first is when Dave and I stared dating, the second is when we went to the mountains, I know scary! The third is me now. Know I know I’ve lost a lot of weight but I dont look nearly as good as I did last March. Hopefully I can fix that soon!

Okay, I’m going to get back to my work that is piling up. I will probably write later once I see the twopeas challenge question. Hope everyone had a great Easter!

Steph

P.S. Here is a purse from my daily calendar. I thought it was pretty!

Monday Morning Catch Up… March 17, 2008

Had a fun weekend.

Friday night was great! Dave and I went out drinking with our friends! Had a blast thanks to my BFF Megan! HA!HA!HA!

Then Sat I went to work, Express, and worked till 2 and then shopped as it was a 45 % off weekend. I didn’t spend a whole lot there but I did get 3 t-shirts and a light-weight jacket. Then Dave and I went to the gym for like 30 minutes, not really a motivating workout day. And then we went to Opry Mills and went shopping! Woo! Hoo! I love shopping. We went to sushi too and that was super good. YUM! I bought a pair of Guess jeans, which fit AWESOME (!!!) and a pair of cute flats from Banana Republic for 9 bucks. YES! Oh and I got workout shoes from the NIKE outlet for 15 bucks from the kids section! Yes I’m cheap!

On Sunday we went to Michaels because I had a 50% off coupon and I bought the awesome Making Memories Trimmer that I’ve been wanting for the past week. It was the best deal that I could get and I need it for the convention so it worked out perfectly. I think it was meant to be! We also went to Zach and Joey’s (Sam and Zoes) and had coffee and lunch. It was the best. If you ever go there get the Tijuana Wrap, you will not be disappointed. It was great. We went to see Laurel cause she was working till 2 so we hung out and talked and drank coffee and then went to her house to play with the puppy, Walter. I now want a puppy more than anything. But I cant have one so I decided to carry my stuffed puppy from
FH Schwartz around and make puppy noises. HA! Dave was amused, cause I’m hilarious! God I’m full of myself. HA! Ummm…. What else did I do. Oh I ironed like a good wife. AND I made a bad ass pasta dinner. Thanks Giada De Laurentis. She is the bomb.com. Ya I said it and there is no denying it.

Ok enough bragging out my weekend. I’m back to work today. Yippee! Going to lunch with Megan after her interview and then to Dan McGuiness to party after work. YAY! That’s about it for now.

Oh here are my 365 pictures from this weekend. When we were at the Mills this weekend there was a cool Wrestlemania thing going on and I got a fake Randy Orton tattoo. So I felt it was only natural to take a picture of my tattoo with a picture of him.

Yesterday’s picture is of my new shoes while we were at Zach and Joeys. Kinda cool!

Going to work now.

Steph