editalways

[editalways]

Stitch Fix 4.22.14

Over the last few days I have realized I am utterly terrible at explaining quite what Stitch Fix does, so I'll leave that to them and this link; but as a birthday present to myself, I figured I might as well indulge. My fix arrived today (two days early!!) and I was so excited to check everything out.

  AVAH CHEVRON PRINT DOLMAN SLEEVE TOP     $58.00

I love this top, except the dolman sleeve. It's a weird fashion quirk of mine, but I always feel a bit like I'm about to catch some air when I wear sleeves like that. Also the price feels $10-$15 to high. While the shirt is very soft and a better fabric than you'd find in many of the trendy stores, it’s a little too casual for a work shirt and too pricey for something I'd just where running around town.

  PIPPA SWAROVSKI CRYSTAL CLUSTER NECKLACE     $42.00

The necklace was a little boring for my tastes. I like an interesting pendant or chain and once in a while venture into some statement pieces. A very light chain and a few swarovskis, while classy, just don’t speak to me. The stylist recommended that it could worn with anything and she was right, but thats because a barely-there silver chain and clear crystals blend into everything. And I feel bad saying it, but I could make that necklace for much cheaper than $42.

  FILBERT ABSTRACT FLORAL 3/4 SLEEVE BLOUSE     $58.00

I love this shirt! Both the pattern and the cut are just what I'm looking for in tops. It would be so easy to go from work to casual with some quick accessory changes. But it was a struggle to get it on, and there was barely room for my chest, even after I unbuttoned it. Once on, it looked like I had been sewn into it, and I couldn't move my arms. If it fit, I would have absolutely kept it.

  GALEN RACERBACK POLKA DOT DRESS     $78.00

The fabric was great for a summer dress, but that was the only thing I liked. Polka Dots are pretty hit and miss for me, as is the racerback style (I think my shoulders look too broad). My biggest issue was that the low waistline sat in the wrong spot for my shape, and ended up hiding my natural waist. I ended up looking chunky, and unhappy as you can see from the photo.

  SOPHIA TALL LENGTH SKINNY JEAN     $88.00

I wanted these jeans. They fit like a glove, a sexy glove, a sexy glove that hits a normal waistline and doesn’t flash some crack when I bend over. They were a little long in the leg, I generally fit better in regular leg lengths than tall but it often depends on the brand. I didn't mind though, I would have just cuffed the ankle and been happy. But at $88 I just couldn't pull the trigger; I wanted to, I was all set to talk myself into it, but my boyfriend had to go and be logical and sensible and talked me down. 

I totally loved my fix, but unfortunately, between the prices being just too high and the size issue with the Filbert Abstract Floral shirt, I just couldn't keep anything. I will definitely be back soon for another Fix.

Just incase you want to check it out and maybe get a fix for yourself, use my referral link: https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/3374653 (Just to be upfront, I do get credit towards my account when others order their first fix using my link)

[editalways]

It's a little grainy and certainly not the best photo I've ever taken, but the view from my window tonight.

[editalways]

Michael Aranda is going to make some woman very happy someday.

I don’t know who or where you are, but I miss you, insomuch as one can miss someone they’ve never met, or something they’ve never felt.

I miss waiting impatiently for you to get home from work so that we can watch the next episode of The X-Files on Netflix. I miss the smell of your hairspray that...

[editalways]

Arrested Development

I just spent the last few days powering through Arrested Development and I've got to say this: I don't get it. 

So many people have told me for so long how much they loved show and how funny it was. I completely agree that it was absolutely crazy and very intricate. And I'm sure, were I to re-watch it, I'd pick up on even more of the jokes and little details. But it was just all over the place, and at the end of the day, I, at best, felt bad for some of the characters, but I didn't like any of them. The funniest moment in the whole series for me, was the last scene before the credits in the final episode of season four. And even then it was because George Michael finally stopped giving a shit and just punched his dad in the face. 

Maybe it doesn't help that my initial watching of the series include the controversial Netflix produced fourth season. Everyone ended up becoming sad over-the-top caricatures of their already zany selves. Seriously, in all that time, not a single person picked up on how pathetic their lives were? In the first three seasons Michael was constantly drawn back into the family and you could see how much he enjoyed being needed, but that final season he was just as completely nut ball as the rest of them.

I get it, they were all developmentally arrested, haha it's the title, but I still don't understand why so many people love this show.

[editalways]

Holy fucking crap

When I got on the flight to NY yesterday I almost had a panic attack. I'm actually doing this! Is this really going to happen? I just got out of my interview and fucking Yes it's going to happen. The interviewer loved me, and wanted me to start Monday. Unfortunately, my lease is still tieing me to Tampa and I can't leave that soon. But she said she can absolutely find a job for me in July, I just have to be in New York. The goal for the next two months is save ALL the money and start getting rid of (hopefully, selling) all the crap I don't need. No more Florida leases, no more Florida transit, NO MORE FLORIDA!

[editalways]

Sad

I actually had stuff to do at work today! For the first time in over a month, I had a full and productive day. It was mostly because everybody else ran out of shit to do and went home early leaving me to do all the end of day crap, but still. It feels really good to actually be able to do my job for once.

[editalways]

I just spent close to three hours helping someone edit their group paper. It was both exhausting and exhilarating. I wasn't even fact checking, just grammar and fixing citations and I'm only halfway through. 

It's silly how much I missed this. Some of the writing was so bad I just wanted to throw my hands in the air and scream "Why!?", but just as bad I wanted to dive in deeper and fix everything. While writing isn't my greatest love (clearly something I need to push myself to do, as I have completely failed at this 'write everyday' idea) good editing is something I'm extremely passionate about. I just want to fix the things I read so they sound better and more people are able to get enjoyment out of them.

I just had to relate this frustration/elation feeling to my roommate and ended up using his love of technology as a comparison. Every time my phone or computer goes crazy, he spends hours tinkering with everything, trying to find what went wrong and how to make it better. Even though he gets exasperated, he keeps going because, truly, he enjoys it. 

That's how you realize you're passionate about something; no matter how exhausting and frustrating, you want to keep going, you want to keep striving for more and better.

I think I just equated passion to masochism. Whoops.

[editalways]

And thats how I learned to stop wearing T-shirts to work

The office I work in re-defines the term casual. Well, re-define isn't the best term, more like "laughs in the face of;" seriously, there is a girl who comes in dressed as if she's pretty much rolled out of bed. I asked her once, she really had rolled out of bed, shoved her feet in some uggs and shown up for work.

We are very often casual about everything in the office, from really inappropriate topics of conversation to in-office haircuts to showing off new tattoos in... um... locations. Because of this relaxed attitude, I often feel comfortable wearing t-shirts to work. 

Which is why, as I wondered into work wearing my headphone chimp t-shirt, I was bit blindsided. Turns out we got one days notice that several of the employees needed to update their paperwork. In the course of figuring out how to get this all entered into our HR system, as a new manager, I also found out that the last manager had been super slacking on a bunch of things. 

I had to give one of my best employees a write-up today. She is an incredibly hard worker, first in the office and often last out the door; but because of some paperwork she messed up weeks ago, more than 20 orders got screwed up and we almost lost our biggest client. 

Here I sit, 24 years old, first-time manager, goody-two-shoes, having to give someone who is awesome at her job an official write-up that goes in her performance record. I had to tell her that if this were to happen again she could be fired. I just made someone cry, and all I want to do is cry myself.

I don't know what I'm doing, and sitting there looking like a kid, feeling like a terrible person, I regretted even taking this job. Not just the management position, but the first job I had with this company. It led me to this, to making people feel like shit.

I know I did the right thing, heck, she even thanked me for being nice about it, and I'm going to have to accept that I will continue to have to talk to wonderful people about shitty things like this because thats my job. But I can't keep coming to work dressed like a kid, because if anything it only makes me feel like one and then I lose confidence and act like a crap manager. 

I don't think any of that even made sense. I'm not sure it even connected in my brain. 

[editalways]

Olde School Fun

Renaissance festivals get a bad rap. They're often portrayed as full of geeky dorks who have nothing better to do, and the talent, dedication, and hard work are often overlooked. A few friends and I spent a day at the Bay Area Renaissance Fest, hosted by MOSI and had a blast. Full of shops and shows and gimmicky games, all of which are designed to draw you in and empty your wallet, the Ren Fest is an easy place to lose yourself for an entire day.

In public, even with my friends, I am often the shy one, nervous to join in, but at Ren Fest I become a whole other woman. I'm bold, take charge and scream and shout with the rest of them. I know I can't maintain that sort of attitude all the time (my throat is killing me from screaming so much) but to do something so outside of normal once in a while is fantastic.

The shops are full of beautiful and of handcrafted things; corsets, dresses, swords, glass figurines, so many times today I had to stop myself from reaching for my wallet. I learned my lesson last year when I bought a beautiful $75 corset I couldn't resist (or really afford) and only ended up wearing it three times, including once at last year's fest and once at this year's.

My favorite part of the festival each year is the shows. I always end up finding the traditional joust and live chess matches a bit tedious, but the comedic shows are true gold. It's absolutely necessary to see both The Washer Women and The Tortuga Twins every time I go. More specifically The Tortuga Twins' final show of the day, which is always the R-rated Beer show. The pure definition of raunchy.

[editalways]

The Promotion

The promotion is official! I am now officially running the Tampa office, versus, of course just doing it unofficially as I was before. Unfortunately, due to this and a couple of other unexpected mountains that sprung up in my way, the Big Adventure is no more. I am going to be making more money, so I'm hoping that I will be able to make travelling a much more consistent part of my future and while the Big Adventure is gone, I will try to take many small excursions into life.

Also, unfortunately, it looks like I'll be stuck in Tampa, and Florida (aka Hell) for at least another year If I want to make anything out of this position. I'm mildly afraid I'll never escape. This fear increases each time I must grudgingly accept "just one more year, next year I'll be free." 

[editalways]

Weekends where I get to socialize are my favorite. Friday night was spent out with some friends for some delicious Indian food. I somehow ended up with Lamb Korma which wasn't spicy in the least but the flavor was fantastic. And my best friend and her boyfriend happened to be in town, so I got to spend all day with them. I love spending time with them because we do interesting "grown up" things. Last time we went out to a wine tasting at a winery in Plant City, today we spent half the day wandering St. Pete and the Chihuly Museum. 

This weekend does have a down side. Due to some power outage or something most of Hillsborough County is in a "Boil Water Warning" so if I want to drink or cook with water I have to either boil tap water or find bottled water. Most stores are already sold out of bottled water, I had to buy a six pack of Powerade since we have nothing to drink in the apartment other than alcohol. Well, alcohol and possibly diseased water.

[editalways]

While the promotion is still not official (which officially sucks), I got validation from someone at corporate at about it, so that feels nice. And though we had a couple of different crazy moments throughout the day, I really feel like I handled it all rather well. Maybe I can actually manage to pull off this whole management thing. On a separate mildly panicky note, I've started to do the math on this Big Adventure of mine and its looking more and more expensive than I had originally thought. A lot of my basic expenses would be covered by the program, but not food or fun things or all the bills I'd still be paying back here in the States, like my student loans and credit card bill.

[editalways]

I found out by chance today that the manager of our New York office is no longer with the company as of today. In a crazy world, instead of continuing to drag me through this will-they/won't-they promote me nonsense, they would just move me into that position. 

A girl can dream can't she?

[editalways]

I just watched last night's episode of Castle, and I need to publicly state this somewhere. 

What the FUCK?! She's Where!?! If I wasn't addicted to this show before, I am now. Can someone figure out time travel so I can fast forward to Monday and see the next episode.

Have you watched it? What did you think?

[editalways]

Not Broke

So I happen to be not completely broke at the moment and it's the oddest thing. I'm so used to only having a set amount of money that covers my bills, food, throw a little into my savings and a tiny bit extra to go to the movies or buy a cute shirt. But right now, I have "so much" (meaning a couple hundred more than normal) in my bank that I keep feeling as if I've forgotten to pay a bill and, after triple checking that everything is already covered, I keep getting tempted to by stupid shit I don't need.

Yes, that camera lens mug is super cute, and I would love to drink my morning coffee out of it, but for $15, I should just save my money and use one of the many mugs I already own. Especially, if I'm leaving the country for 10 months in August and will have to pay to store everything I don't take with me (read:most of my stuff).

Early last year, I read an interesting post on Cracked.com (one of my favorite sites) about how growing up broke affects how you spend money, even after you start earning more than enough to cover everything.

http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-develop-growing-up-poor/

[editalways]

Further evidence of my ridiculousness, I've been killing time in an Einstein's Bagels for the last hour. I need to get new glasses and the only free time the doctor had was 3:15, I know if I go home I'll be to lazy to come back out here. I've got a little over two more hours to waste and the only reason I'm in Einstein's is the free WiFi.

[editalways]

Interview

I had my interview for the Big Adventure this morning and it seems to have gone well. The woman I spoke with said it was likely that I would be going on to the second round of interviews, so yay!