~Seize The Moments~

Shopaholics Anonymous

2010-09-05T23:32:00.000-04:00

Me: Hi, my name is Ebony Jewel, I'm 27 and I'm addicted to shopping.

My Shopaholic Anonymous Group: Hi Ebony Jewel!

Seriously, I am addicted to shopping! I'm always out looking for the latest and greatest trends; this time it just happens to be fall trends! I decided that I was past due for some new fall looks.

Here's my list of "go to" stores for the fall:

Cole Haan - I love their shoes, seriously they are THE MOST COMFORTABLE pumps I have ever owned in my whole entire 27 year life! Majority of their shoes are enfused with Nike Air technology, making them feel like a gym shoe, yet they look like a classic chic pump! Check them out, you won't be disappointed.
Banana Republic - Yeah yeah, typical of me right? I don't care what you say! Banana Republic is one place where I can find really cute outfits for work & play. The same little black dress that I doll out for work, I can glam up for a night out on a date! Their clothes are so versatile, they just keep me hanging on!
Ann Taylor and Loft - Let me start with Ann Taylor! I love their dresses, dress pants, and most of all their jewlery. On first glance, Ann Taylor seems a little stuffy, slightly pretentious but classy nonetheless. When I'm looking for lined dress pants (of course in Tall) Ann Taylor is my first stop. Now the Loft - thankfully the Loft is a younger, hipper version of Ann Taylor. The Loft is perfect for a 20 something like myself! Their clothes are a little less pricey than the sister store Ann Taylor, but they're cute, fun and flirty - totally fits my personality & personal style. I can take a shirt from the Loft and throw it under a suit from Ann Taylor; keeps me feeling young, cute and refreshed!
Charming Charlie - I think Charming Charlie is a southern thing, so for all of you Southern Belles who love jewelry, Charming Charlie is the place for you. The store is filled with coloful trinkets of absolute fabulousness! I'm addicted, every time I walk in there I'm overwhelmed! I can never remember what color clothes I purchased, so I have to bring them with me when I go to Charming Charlie!
Coach Factory Outlet - Purses, purses, purses. A girl can never have enough purses; hit up the Coach Factory Outlet for some awesome deals! I did over the Labor Day weekend and I totally lucked out. You'll see shortly!
Louis Vuitton - Oh Louis - you and I have a love/hate relationship. I love you Louis, I think you're too freakin expensive though. When I landed my first consulting gig I told myself with my first pay check I'd buy my first LV purse. (Lots of firsts there huh?) I don't remember the date, but it was some time in August of 2007, I purchased my first LV Speedy 40 bag at the Louis Vuitton store in Boston. Then in the summer of 2009, almost 2 years later, I purchased my 2nd LV bag at the "flagship" store on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris <- that was HEAVEN! After purse #2 & almost $2K in Louis Vuitton purses, my fascination with the brand had faded away. Don't get me wrong, I still love LV, but it's just a purse & just a brand. Yes, I want another one and I'll get another one, but not quite yet! Anyways - my two LV purses have lasted and will continue to last throughout the seasons: Summer, Winter, Spring and Fall - they're timeless pieces that I love!
DSW - Shoes, shoes, shoes! Yep - I like DSW; my only complaint is that I find better sizes online than I do in the stores. To complicate that, ordering shoes online sucks...seriously!
New York & Company - I can remember when NY&CO was the ONLY store I ever needed in my life. Actually back then, it was Lerner New York & Company. Over time, New York & Company has transformed into a company that sometimes I love and other times I question. I question where the ideas for their outfits come from & what happened to the young, but sexy office wear look went. In any event, I still frequent New York & Company, I'm a little saddened to hear that you now to have be a credit card owner to get coupons from them because I am not a card holder, but I don't think that will stop me from shopping there!

So! Visit some of the stores above, you know you wanna! They should be paying me dangit - I'm advertising for THEM for FREE!!!

Without further adieu, here are some outfits I'll be sporting this fall! I've purchased a lot of timeless classics that I can mix and match, you'll see!

Ann Taylor dress, NY & Co cardi, Coach Purse & Cole Haan shoes

Ann Taylor dress, Banana Republic cardi, Cole Haan shoes & Coach purse

New York & Co suit, Coach purse & Cole Haan Shoes

New York & Co jacket, Loft shirt

Banana Republic skirt, Loft shirt & Loft necklace

Banana Republic cardi & silk shirt

Banana Republic sweater & sleeveles ruffle shirt

Black Cole Haan pumps

Brown Cole Haan pumps

Brown Coach purse

Coach makeup bag

Now you've had a chance to peek into some of my fall fashions - what are YOU buying for the fall?

My Life: A Moving Target? Naaaah!

2010-08-01T22:24:00.000-04:00

For so long I have lived in a town close to the friends that I've known for years, close to my family, somewhere safe when I could just run home if there was a problem. A few weeks ago, I decided for sure (this time) that I'm going to change that. At 27 years old, it's way beyond time... I've been taking care of myself since I was 18. Yes, I admit that my parents helped me along the way, but for the most part I've done this alone. Here I am 27 years old and totally unhappy about the city that I live in. It's an awesome place to raise a family, but not such an awesome place for a single 20 something like myself.
Needless to say, I put together a plan - by August 31st, 2011 I plan to be in my new place in life and in a new state. I debated long & hard about where I wanted to go & I've settled on the big city of....drumroll please...CHICAGO! I've been to Chicago plenty of times, I know that parts of Chicago are dangerous, scary, super nice and super expensive, but I'm ready to take that plunge. I don't care that it's expensive, I can afford it - I may have to do without shopping every weekend, but that's okay - I'll survive. Who the hell needs 3 closets full of clothes and shoes anyways?! I definitely don't!

Anyways - here's the plan....

I'm going to stay in my condo until December 2011. At the end of December, I'm putting my stuff in storage and moving in with my parents (don't want to, but I need to save some major $$). I'll rent my condo starting January 1, 2011 that way I'm not only making $$, but I'm also saving money - no bills other than car note, car ins and student loans.

I'll take a few trips to Chicago in the June/July time frame to solidify my condo or apartment there; I plan to sublet a fully furnished place for 6-8 months so that way I can see if I like the area then either rent or buy something in that same area. By mid August I'm going to take a week or two vacay from work & make the move to Chicago!

So operation pay off credit cards starts now! That way, the only bills left are my car note, car ins and student loans. I've already paid off 1 card - 4 more to go which I plan to do in the next 2 months!

Wish me luck - hopefully there are no hickups in the next few months - I need my plan to stay on track 100%!

Memo to my neighbors

2010-07-19T06:23:00.001-04:00

I cannot sleep all night because I have to listen to your fuckin yapping ass dog all night long.

Am I a bit hostile about this? Yes, can you tell?

Seriously you inconsiderate assholes, the entire neighborhood complains because you leave your dog out all night. How rude of you to disturb your neighbors when we're trying to do something as important as sleep. How dare you think this is acceptable behavior.

If I could figure out which house the barking was coming from, I'd open your gate and let your dog run free, free as the wind blows! In the mean time, I have to listen to this bullshit all weekend.

I won't be home again until Thursday night and I swear if your dog is outside all night yapping away the two options will be animal control or antifreeze. YOU pick your poison.

Happy Monday!

P.S. I love animals and your probably can't tell it, but I'm tired of this dog barking all night.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Last Few Months

2010-05-23T22:00:00.001-04:00

Hopefully this will give a little insight into where I've been for the last few months.....

In my post here I mentioned that I was going to do some renovations to my condo. I had a contractor ready to go, estimates were in and I knew exactly what it was going to cost me. Just before I called the contractor to start, there was a little hiccup in my life and my finances. I never really talked about this hiccup because I didn't want anyone to "feel sorry for me" and quite frankly it depressed me to even think about it.

I, a woman who was totally independent, a woman who "lived the life" a lot of 20 somethings dream of, a woman who was financially stable....was let go from my job. It happened at the end of January. I kind of, only kind of, knew that it was coming - the company was failing miserably financially, there had been other cut backs & I was happy to not be one of them, but I knew my time was coming. The good thing for me is that I had been on a mad hunt for a job. When I was let go, I'd previously had 2 interviews with a company (that I was dying to work for) and was waiting on my third and final interview at which time I was advised if they liked me, they would make an offer. My third interview was a week after I was let go & I landed the job that day! I was ecstatic, absolutely ecstatic! Not only did I land a job with a company that I've been wanting to work for for the longest, I got a pretty steep signing bonus for accepting the offer. My skill set is one they've been looking for since the economy picked up; so the signing bonus was pretty freakin sweet as was my salary offer.

I started at the new company at the beginning of March, so in all actuality I was without a job from the end of January until the beginning of March, but the break was good. I got to spend some much needed quality time with my niece, see my friends who I hadn't seen much and get everything straightened out for the renovation. Since I started the new job, I'm back to traveling every week. I've been to Chicago, NYC, and a couple of other pretty cool places. All and all it's been a good, but life changing experience.

I truly believe that everything happens for a reason, I believe that when one door closes another door opens & not only did God know it was time for me to move on, he made sure I had a place to move to. He works in mysterious ways doesn't He?

Off to bed now - I have an early morning flight to Charlotte - hope everyone had an awesome weekend!

Monday Morning Madness

2010-05-03T03:48:00.001-04:00

Rain?! The weather man [or woman] has been predicting rain all weekend and I have yet to see one iota of rain. I would like them to stop lying ASAP! I could have used a good rainy weekend at home, instead it was a hot overly humid weekend. Guess there were some good points of the weekend tho. Office social on Saturday night was outside & didn't get rained out!

Moving on! Today marks my first day on a new project at work. I'm excited and nervous. You never know how clients are going to react to you, or how well you'll mesh [or not mesh] with your new team, so wish me luck. I've met some of the team members before and they all seem really cool, but seeming cool & being cool are two different things right?

Can I just express to yall the new found excitement I have about blogging? I am always at a computer, but I rarely ever have time to blog while I'm working. Plus new job heavily monitors laptop usage - so I try to keep my personal usage to a minimum. I downloaded BlogPress to get around that obstacle. So expect more posts and potentially more craziness from me!

Alright off to the airport! Holla! Happy Monday peeps!

~Ebony Jewel~

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Let's Hear It For New York!!

2010-04-16T08:11:00.000-04:00

Yeah! Yeah! I've been a slacking crappy blogger lately!! What you should know is that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, I'm just busy as all get out with work! Plus I'm not sure how much this new company monitors my laptop usage, so I try not to read blogs/blog while I'm traveling. I ~~think~~ know I'm going to start carrying my personal laptop!

New job is going pretty well...some days I really like it, other days I can't stand the immaturity of some of the people - but that's everywhere you go! However, the one grand, really super awesome thing I LOVE about the job is FLEEEEEEEX TRIPS!!!!!!

I've been working in NJ for the past couple of weeks, actually in the middle of "suburbia" where there isn't much to do. At least I haven't found much to do since I've been there! I've decided that next week, I'm going to exercise this flex trip option & stay in NYC over the weekend instead of flying home to GA!

If anyone is going to be in the NY, NYC, or NJ area 04/23 - 04/25/10 please let me know! I'd love to meet up with some of my blogger friends! I fly into EWR on Monday the 19th & will be flying back to GA on the 29th!

Temporary Hiatus

2010-03-28T00:43:00.000-04:00

Please excuse me while I take a temporary hiatus from blogging. I've had a lot going on....a lot is a bit of an understatement actually. So here's a short update....

My house is a total damn wreck right now, I'm in the middle of living through a home renovation. While I honestly believe that the end result will be worth it, I'm getting pretty freakin frustrated that progress has been slow & there have been a few bumps in the road....from having to replace my entire back door (frame & all) to water spewing throughout my bathroom from a broken copper line. Grrrr!!! I love you house, but you're draining my bank account....REALLY!

Three weeks into the new job & I've had tons of "time to shine," but I'm getting an even bigger moment next week. I worked last week with a senior manager who recognized my industry knowledge, my talent, my drive & my ambition. After she sang my praises to several other executives, they jointly decided to bring me out to a new business opportunity next week. I expressed my interest in sales, something I loved even at my prior job so next week I get my chance to work with the sales team to help us "win" a great opportunity. Keep your fingers crossed folks, we're up against some tough competition.

Life outside of work & this crazy ass home reno project...well life is insane. My niece is growing like a weed, she was 5 months old on the 24th & she FINALLY has her first tooth. She's such a cutie, love her! I saw her today & she's all about chewing on my fingers & making sure she gets all kind of drool down my arm. I went & saw Hot Tub Time Machine tonight with BFF, totally stupid movie. The previews make it look so good & yes there were good parts, but it was crap for the most part!

We're supposed to have crappy weather tomorrow, so I hope to spend some time catching up on blog reading!! Hope all of yall are well!! I'll try to post more often....I promise!

Old Navy Super Modelquin - CALLING ALL VOTERS

2010-03-05T17:11:00.000-05:00

YES! I totally entered the Old Navy Super Modelquin sweepstakes. I don't expect to win, but I thought it would be great if I could at least get some votes! LOL

So...go here & vote for me...

I know this is totally silly, but hey I had fun doing it!! :) Now off to a surprise party!!

Child Directs Plane At JFK...INSANE

2010-03-04T11:11:00.000-05:00

I'm sure everyone has heard about this on the news, read about it in the local paper or even on the internet. BUT if not, here's a little glimpse of the kid who was taken to work by his father calling the shots for many plans that departed and landed at JFK.

Now here's my point of view - it's 2010. Too much shit has happened in the world, please recall 9/11/2001 (we will never forget), the Air France flight that suddenly disappeared (not sure it was terrorist related, but still very tragic) how about the Christmas/Delta attempted bombing (thank goodness this fool wasn't successful). A lot of people are saying it's really not that big of a deal. I wholeheartedly disagree!! JFK is one of the nations busiest airports, the behavior of the father AND the supervisor should be closely scrutinized - honestly both should be fired. We all know that kids rarely listen to the directions of their parents, kids don't understand the consequences of their actions either. What would have happened if this child told a pilot to take off from the WRONG runway or to even land on the wrong runway? Mass casualties - that could have been the result.

Take this comment from someone who is on a plane 2-3 times a week - the actions and behaviors of those who work in ATC should NOT be taken lightly. Here's a picture from US AIR TRAFFIC FOR TODAY AT 10:59 AM. DO YOU SEE HOW MANY PLANES ARE IN THE AIR IN THE US AT ONE TIME?!

So for all you people who think oh - it's no big deal - you're WRONG! Imagine the number of people on each flight & multiply it by each dot you see in that picture & the number of casualties (cause by a slip up by some idiot dumb fuck who decided to let their child direct air traffic) would be so large and devastating! I'm just sayin - this is not something that should be taken lightly. One misstep and lives could unnecessarily have been lost. I fly a lot...I don't want my life in the hands of some careless child.

Ten On Tuesday

2010-03-02T16:15:00.000-05:00

I totally took this idea from Angela over at Craving Cupcakes. Visit her blog when you get a chance, she's fantabulous!

1. If you were given an hour to use a $200 Amazon gift card, what would you buy? I would totally buy a pair of Cole Haan pumps!!

2. Are there any fairly common foods that you’ve never had? Here we go with comments of my Un-Americanness ;). Cheese - the smell of cheese makes me want to vomit!

3. What was your favorite way to use your imagination as a kid?
I played house a lot, I had a play kitchen in my basement & was forever "cooking" for my dolls.

4. What’s your favorite state? Why? Florida because of all of the fabulous sunshine!

5. If it was our culture to have our parents choose our spouses, do you think yours would make a good choice? Oh man...I don't know about that. Thank goodness that's not our culture!

6. What’s your favorite herb? Lavender - makes me sleeeeeeeeepy!!

7. If you could have dinner with one celebrity, who would you choose? Robert Pattinson & not because of Twilight, but just cause he's hot!

8. What’s your favorite Disney movie? The Little Mermaid!!!!

9. If you had to listen to the same song over and over for 24 hours, what song would you choose? Right now I'd have to say Taio Cruz Featuring Ludacris - Break Your Heart **Note: I am not condoning his male whoreism, but I love this song!! LOL It's song #3 on my running playlist!**

10. How do you order your steak? Medium well

Unrealistic Expectations?

2010-03-01T20:47:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had a friend who doesn't want to hear the truth so they avoid certain subjects? Well I have a friend who never wants to hear the truth....I'll speak it, I don't care if I hurt your feelings, because if you were truly my friend, I would expect you to do the same for me. So............

I had dinner with a friend over the weekend when she started talking about marriage & what she would do if someone proposed to her right now, would she cry, would she throw up, would she scream? Further to that she talked about her ongoing relationship with her boyfriend. Let me just say that it's not that I don't like her boyfriend and it's not that I do like her boyfriend, I don't know him. I only know of him what she tells me and what she tells mutual friends. From what she's told me, he's a bit of an immature jackass. She's flown all over the world (using her $$) to see this dude countless number of times even though he's told her he doesn't want to be in a relationship and isn't ready for commitment. (Hello red flag) He's always telling her that she needs to find things to occupy her time, like hanging out with her friends because she's too clingy. (Another red flag)

Anyways, she told him that they've been together (off and on) for 2 years & she demanded to know where the relationship was going. I just kinda looked at her because I thought that #1 that was the dumbest thing ever & #2 if dude has told you once before that he didn't want a relationship or commitment why continue to pursue it? She's dying to get married & I am of the opinion that if it's meant to be, it will be. Neither party should rush it, neither party should nag the other about getting married, and BOTH parties should have mutual feelings about marriage. So....being the honest person that I am - I say why do you want to get married so badly? And she looks at me and says it's not that I want to get married, but I want to know if our relationship is going to lead to that. My response was well I don't think that's a very fair question to ask him - he's not a fortune teller and he can't see the future so why not just take it one day at a time? She then goes on to say that she's been talking to another guy (that she met on the internet) who she think is better than her current boyfriend, not that he's a bad guy, but she's sure there are other guys out there that will treat her better.

At that point I was just tuning her out because in 1 breath she's talking about wanting to know where the relationship with her boyfriend is going to talking about a guy she met on the internet & how he may treat her better than her current boyfriend. I don't get it & I'm hoping that maybe one of my blog friends can explain this idea that I've heard a lot of 20 somethings talk about....

What is the deal with being so desperate to get married & have kids? What happened to wanting to find out who you are before jumping into a marriage? What happened to actually bringing something to the table in a marriage?

Relaxing Before My First 5K

2010-02-26T20:46:00.000-05:00

No crazy drinking binges, no partying with friends - that's right...tonight I'm staying in & relaxing. Totally un 20 somethingesque huh?

Well there's a good reason for my laziness! Tomorrow morning I am participating in my first ever 5K sponsored by a local orthopedic doctor's office. This run is not for a charity, but it's being held to increase awareness of becoming a more physically active community. I have convinced 2 of my besties to run with me and although we don't think we will be able to run the entire way, we're going to give it our best shot!

Today after picking my up registration packet, I drove the route that we will be walking/running. It didn't look too bad minus the three hills that I saw.

Wish me luck, pray that I don't puke everywhere or get some insane leg cramps. This isn't my first time running nor my first time running 3.1 miles - I run quite a bit on my own, but this is my first organized race. I hope this is the start of something great, I hope that tomorrow I meet more amazing people who are interested in participating in other charity races!

So here's to a night of relaxing & mentally preparing for tomorrow's insanity!

X's & O's!

Home Renovations

2010-02-24T10:10:00.006-05:00

Some of yall follow me on Twitter & know that I've been talking a lot lately about doing some work on my house.

I'm planning on putting down engineered hardwood flooring in my living room and tile in my kitchen and bathroom. A lot of people ask why I'm going with engineered hardwood floors & not real hardwood and here's the uncomplicated short answer. My condo is built on a concrete slab, in order to put down real hardwood floors on a concrete slab my contractor would have to build a wood sub floor which would inevitably increase the height of the flooring and cause problems with opening my front door. So the next best choice is engineered hardwood flooring.

I went to Lumber Liquidators yesterday & found exactly what I wanted!! Here's a picture of the flooring that I plan to buy! Sadly it out of stock until mid March, but that's alright!! I can get my kitchen & bath done in the mean time!

Warm Cognac Curupay:

As I mentioned above, I will be putting tile kitchen & bath. Here are the two tiles that I've been debating about from my favorite (sarcasm) home improvement store Lowe's. **If I've never said this before, I hate Lowe's - long story.**

Which do you like better???

A.

So far my friends & family like option A, but let me know what yall think!! Alright gotta run now - going shopping with my mom in a bit to buy some new outfits for work! It's official - 11 more days till I start the new job! Stay tuned for pictures of my new outfits!

Getting Back On Track

2010-02-21T09:46:00.000-05:00

I joined a gym at the beginning of February....now ask me how many times I've gone to the gym. Maybe like 5...which is not very many. I feel like I'm wasting my money, but I need some motivation to get up & go. As if my increasing pants size isn't motivation enough LOL.

I used to run nearly every day, 3-4 miles a day on the treadmill - that was back when I was traveling. I've been home since mid-Jan, but will be back on the road starting March 8th & that means back to running! In the mean time though, I need to take full advantage of my freakin gym membership! I had planned to run in a 5K next weekend & I think I might still do it! I want one of my friends to do it with me, but I can tell she's iffy about signing up! 5K is only 3 miles - I can do that in about 35 minutes, so can she, she just needs a little push lol!

So here's to getting back on track....I'm going to hit the gym every morning next week, count my calories & continue my journey to being a healthier me.

Here are my "stats" at the moment:
Age: 26 (soon to be 27 sniff sniff)
Height: 5 feet 11 inches
Current weight: 159.5
Goal weight: 150

I realize I only need to lose about 10 pounds, but 10 pounds is hard to lose - I swear!!

Snowpocalypse in GA & My Lovely Blog Award

2010-02-12T21:00:00.000-05:00

First I'll tell you about all the wonderful weather that hit GA today - we got SNOOOOOOOOOOOOOW! LOL Now - as many of you know, I travel a lot, I see snow all the time, BUT it's rare that I see snow in my hometown. It's rare that we see snow in South GA at all, but we got loads of snow today!! So here are some of the snowpocalypse pictures!

Here I am driving to get some gas so I can take my BFF a ice scraper for her car! She had to work & doesn't get off till 9 something, so I thought it would be nice to deliver an ice scraper to her!

Driving to Papa John's to pick up our dinner for the night - who woulda thunk that Papa John's would stop delivering due to snow?!

This is what our house looked like after about an hour or so of snow! Isn't it lovely? I wish I could have taken a picture of the people in the field across the street that were pulling kids on sleds with their 4 wheelers!

Alright - enough with the snowpocalypse pictures & on to my blog award!!

I have received the Sunshine Award from love Ms. Michelle over at Desultory Diversions! I love her! YOU should follow her blog & follow her on Twitter!! Michelle I hope you don't mind my pimping you out! ;)

I have to play along with the award game so here are the rules & my fellow nominees you better follow the rules too!!

1. Put the award on your blog (on the sidebar or in one of your posts)

2. Pass it on to 6 fellow bloggers and let them konw they have received it

3. Share the love & provide a link back to the person from whom you've received it

4. Bask in the warm sunshine of your new found fame (I usually bask in my own sunshine cause I'm just hot like that, but I like blog awards too lol)

Now!! On to my 6 fellow bloggers!!

1. Craving Cupcakes

2. Dreams Do Come True

3. Just The Ashes

4. Life After College

5. Tidbits From My Mind

6. 1,2,3...Eleven Petals

Now - I'm off to let everyone know about their award!!

I GOT THE JOB!!!!

2010-02-07T09:10:00.000-05:00

Yeah!! That's right! I got the job with my "dream" company! I finally scored it, it's been a long time coming guys!

If there was one thing that made me want to leave my last employer it was because as much faith as I had in the people that I worked with, financially the company is going south...quick, fast & in a hurry. I really did love my last job, I loved traveling, I loved the people. I didn't love the reduction in pay, the fact that promises were made all the time, but then there were excuses as to why those promises couldn't be fulfilled. (Yes I know that happens at EVERY employer, but on a daily basis it shouldn't) I also knew that part of what I was participating in wasn't totally ethical & that was wearing away at me.

So now here it is 2010 a new year, a new me, a new job, new people, new motivation, new travel! Because this is a much larger company than the company I previously worked for, I think it will be hard for me to gain global recognition like I had at my last job. Across the globe everyone knew me, knew my work & had 100% faith in my abilities. I traveled to many of our offices and worked with a lot of cross functional/global teams, so my name was out there. I know that won't be the case with this new organization, BUT I feel that I will make a great contribution and name for myself in my assigned industry within the firm!

I'm excited!! I find out this week about my potential first assignment - how freakin awesome! :)

Who Doesn't Love Me...Um, I Mean Blog Awards! ;)

2010-01-31T11:52:00.000-05:00

So I know I've been a bit MIA lately, but I have a good reason for that!! No spoilers yet - will tell you once I receive what hopefully will be ~~good~~ great news!!

In the mean time, I must accept three awesome blog awards from the lovely Jill over at Life After College. She's fantastic & so is her blog, so make sure you stop by and show her some love or I'll be very disappointed in you!

Here are the three awards & below are the rules!

Rules:

Accept the award (duh!) LOL

Post the award on your blog & link back to the person who nominated you

Pass to award to up to 15 bloggers

Don't forget to tell your blogger friends that you've nominated them

I will give the award to 5 bloggers - gotta make this short today - loads of cleaning to do! So here are my nominations:

Alright! Off to read some blogs then do some laundry & clean my carpets!

I Need Your Help!!

2010-01-17T04:54:00.000-05:00

Yep! That's right!! I need the help of the blogger community because I may have a "situation" and I'm not quite sure how to solve it. So here it goes...

There's a chance that I may have a job offer which requires me to relocate & I'm not sure where to start looking...for apartments, condos, lofts, whatever. I don't know where I want to live - directly in these cities or on the outskirts, so blogger friends if you live anywhere in the areas, please please please help me out!

My choice cities:

Boston, MA
Chicago, IL
~~Hartford, CT~~
Florham Park, NJ
~~San Francisco, CA~~
~~NYC~~

I've crossed San Fran off the list, I do not want to live on the west coast. Not that there's anything wrong with the west coast, I just don't want to live there. I would love to live in NYC, but I don't think I could afford it & lastly Hartford - well that's just off the list cause it is. I hate Hartford lol.

All of the cities above are pretty expensive & I'm not sure if I can really afford to live in the city right now; I'm thinking outskirts would be much more affordable. Here's my problem though: I own a home (which I would have to sell or rent out), I have a lease on a pretty new Acura TL so I think I've crossed NYC out totally because it doesn't even make sense to take a car with you to NYC.

The company is only offering $10K in relocation, which isn't bad, but for someone like me with a mortgage payment and a new car payment, $10K isn't much. In essence, this means I will be making a mortgage payment, car payment, rent in a new city, and all of my other bills that I have to pay. I think it's probably best to sell the house & I will definitely look into that!

So folks - right now my top choices are Boston, Florham Park, & then Chicago. Does anyone live close to or know anyone that lives close to these cities? If so, are there any suburbs around them that are fairly safe AND inexpensive? And by inexpensive I mean $800 - $1000 a month in rent. Because this job, like my current job entails quite a bit of travel, I probably won't be driving my car much; however, I need to live somewhere that is accessible to public transportation - (train/subway) so I can get back & forth to the office and the airport.

My next task is finding a moving company that can come to GA, pack my stuff up & move it to one of these cities. I know of a couple of moving companies such as UPack, Allied Van Lines, & Mayflower & need to contact them for a quote.

Nothing is finalized yet; I had my 3rd interview on Friday, January 15th, but the guy that I interviewed with said I did an excellent job & he was quite impressed. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the best! My recruiter has already advised me that she wants me to fly into Charlotte on 1/29/10 for my final interview if the 3rd interview went well. I'll know more on Monday hopefully & when I find out, I'll be sure to give yall the low down! :)

Thanks in advance for all of your help, I definitely need any help/advice I can get right now!

Back To Life...Back To Reality

2010-01-03T20:16:00.000-05:00

HA! I'm so old school - do yall remember that song? If not, let me refresh your memory! Soul II Soul - Back To Life video! LOL

Tomorrow marks my first travel & work day of the new year. Am I excited? Hell no, no...I'm not! I'm just not ready to get back in the groove of work, but I don't have much of a choice at the moment. I mean I haven't won the lotto or anything, so I must continue to work in order to maintain my semi-crazy lifestyle! I really think 2010 is going to be a great year though; I'm hoping that my career will reach new heights, that I'll make new friends, maybe luck up on a good boyfriend, and possibly meet some of my bloggie friends in real life.

Who really knows what 2010 has in store for us...well God knows, but I can only wait in anticipation to see exactly how 2010 plays out. Hopefully lots of good things are in store!

I must call it a night pretty early! I have to get up at 1 AM to drive 2 hours to the airport...sucks huh!? Hope everyone has a great week! :)

Beautiful Blogger Award

2010-01-02T09:55:00.000-05:00

I got another award! YAY! And now keep reading.....

I've been awarded the Beautiful Blogger award by bloggie friend Ashley over at Just The Ashes. Be sure to check out her blog cause she's full of awesomeness! Here are the rules...and yes you must follow them!

1) Thank the person who nominated me for this award.

2) Copy the award & place it on my blog.

3) Link to the person who nominated me for this award.

4) Tell us 7 interesting things about yourself.

5) Nominate 7 bloggers.

6) Post links to the 7 blogs I nominate.

Here are my 7 interesting things! *drum roll please*

1. I have spent 2 years in the software consulting industry and absolutely love it. I believe that I have found my career niche & I'm so proud of that!

2. I spent 8 months of my life exploring Europe in 2007 and had the best time ever. I would give anything to go back & I honestly believe that there's an opportunity for me to do so in 2010 - keep your fingers crossed!

3. I would love to move up north. I love the warm weather of the south, but it often times get too freakin hot to enjoy & it's rare that we see the true changing of the seasons. I'd love to live in a city where there are actually 4 seasons!

4. I am currently considering changing employers. I love my consulting career, but I am hoping that 2010 will boast loads of opportunities for me to learn, grow, and advance in my career. I'm not sure if my current employer is totally open to offering me that opportunity. The next few weeks will tell, but ultimately I need to pursue what makes me happy & I think one of the "big 4" consulting firms may swallow me up! :)

5. My world has been completely changed with the birth of my niece. She is the sweetest little thing & is growing like a weed. It's been such a joy to watch her learn and grow over the last 8 weeks. Although the circumstances around her conception weren't the best, I want her to have the best & I'll do anything to make sure she does!

6. As I write this post, I am starving! LOL

7. I was supposed to get my hair done at 9 AM so I thought, but I forgot to make an appointment, so I'm going at 11:00 AM instead. Annnnnd in true black folks fashion, I will be in the shop alllllllllllllll freakin day because of this! I've charged up my phone, gathered my magazines, and made a few playlists to hopefully counteract my bordem!

Now I've got to nominate 7 lovely bloggers - so here goes...in no particular order!

Alright - I need to clean up my kitchen before I leave for the day! Later taters!

New Year's Day Superstitions

2010-01-01T10:19:00.000-05:00

Today is the first day of a new year & I'm feeling good!! For those of you who follow me on Twitter, I've changed my name to CallMeMs_TL! I felt like I needed a new name that had some meaning! :) Don't be skerd to follow me for all you new folks! I'm fun! LOL

How was your New Year's Eve? Mine was just scrumptious! Went to 2 parties - kinda last minute plans...one wine tasting party at a friend's house who I haven't had the opportunity to hang out with much because she's been busy moving her life back to the US & GA! I'm so happy she's home!!! The second was at a long time family friend's house. Good time, good food, lots of fun, & that was my New Year's Eve!!

NOW! On to what this post is really about - are you superstitious? Are there things you don't do on the 1st day of the year, or the last Friday before the new year?

I'm not totally superstitious, but here are some superstitions that I kinda believe in!

Kissing at midnight: Kissing someone at midnight ensures that the affections & ties you have to one another will continue throughout the next 12 months. (Maybe that's why none of my boyfriends stick around - cause I don't kiss them on NYE; we're always out doing our own thing) LOL
Lots of food in the house: Your new year must not start with bare cabinets or else, that's how the rest of your year will be.
Nothing goes out: That's right - absolutely nothing, not even garbage is to leave your house today! I mean YOU can leave your house, but don't start throwing away stuff you don't need in your "new years" cleaning - wait until Jan 2nd to do that!
Food, good ol southern food: It's common tradition, especially in the southern States of the US to eat black-eyed peas on New Year's Day for good luck & a green leafy veggie such as collard greens or cabbage for financial good fortune. For meat, don't eat poultry cause poultry scratches backwards, don't eat beef cause cows stand still, but eat pork because pig roots forward! So have a pork chop or 2 to go along with your black eyed peas and collards or cabbage!
Work: Do some kind of work today & make sure that it's successful even if you don't go near your job. Only do a small amount of work because engaging in a serious work project on New Years Day is considered unlucky! I've resorted to checking my email & responding to at least 1.
Laundry: I've heard so many different variations of this, so I'm not sure which one is true. I've heard that you never wash clothes on the last Friday of the year, I've also heard that you never wash clothes on New Years Eve, & that you never wash clothes on New Year's Day and the reason is because you will "wash away" a family member from your life. Either way - I didn't wash clothes the last Friday of the year, on New Year's Eve, nor am I washing clothes today.

So that's all I can think of at the moment. I'm sure my blogger peeps can probably add more to this list!!

Happy 2010 yall!!!

2009 Survey!

2009-12-29T19:38:00.000-05:00

Album of the year. What’s rocking your world? One Republic – Waking Up.
What’s the best change you made to the place you live? Painting!
When did you get your best rush of the year? When my niece was born!
Best packaging. Did your headphones come in a sweet case? See a bottle of tea in another country that stood off the shelves? My Bose earbuds came in a pretty sweet case!
Tea of the year. I can taste my favorite tea right now. What’s yours? I don’t drink tea – makes me want to vomit!
Project. What did you start this year that you’re proud of? My weight loss journey
What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before? Tried a bunch of new foods
Did you keep your New Years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I have no idea what they were! I’m sure I’ll make more that I will have no memory of in late 2010!
Did anyone close to you give birth? My sister
Did anyone close to you die? You know…not that I can think of.
What countries did you visit? Unfortunately the US only L
What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? Cash…cash $$!
What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? October 23rd - my niece was born!
What was your biggest achievement of the year? Getting a promotion
What was your biggest failure? Not finishing up my masters
Did you suffer illness or injury? Thank goodness no!
What was the best thing you bought? My iPhone
Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Depressed – no one’s behavior depresses me! Appalled – well there have been a few “friends” who have appalled me, but I just had to shake it off…kinda like Mariah!
Where did most of your money go? Bills, bills, bills...oh and shopping!
What did you get really, really, really excited about? Hmm…I was excited about quite a few things!
What song will always remind you of 2009? Bad Romance!
Compared to this time last year, you are:
i. happier or sadder? Happier
Thinner or fatter? thinner
Richer or poorer? Bout the same
What do you wish you’d done more of? Running!
What do you wish you’d done less of? Drinking lol
How will you be spending Christmas / Hanukkah? I’ve already spent it!
What was the most embarrassing thing that happened to you in 2009? I don’t get embarrassed!
Did you fall in love in 2009? Nah!
How many one-night stands? HA! I’ll never tell
What was your favorite TV program? The Good Wife & GLEE!
Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Nah, I don’t hate anyone at all
What was the best book you read? Suze Orman's - The Money Book For The Young, Broke & Fabulous
What was your greatest musical discovery? Leona Lewis
What did you want and get? Lots of job interviews
What did you want and not get? More money!

The Temporary Absence Is Over...Kinda

2009-12-22T22:22:00.000-05:00

I totally failed at Nablopomo this month! I knew something would throw me off track - that something, was something pretty important...you know the thing that pays the bills - work. I traveled the week of the 14th, my working hours were ridiculously insane, plus there was a ton of partying since we were completing the final stages of the project & bringing our last few days of the year together to a close. So....no blogging the week of the 14th - well not much blogging at least!

Anyways! Today I must vent....and it may be a long vent, but this needs to come out! I went to dinner with a friend of mine tonight - he's such a lifesaver! He always listens to my craziness & I think now he understands why I get so pissed with people. A few days ago, my aunt, who is 50+ years old, not disabled by any means, called me to ask if I had some money to pay their electric bill, cause it was going to get cut off the next day. I wanted to hang up the phone when she called because the thought of her having to call her niece and ask for money is just ridiculous - I'm 26, she's 50+ something is just wrong about that! I told her that I didn't have the money (I did, but she damn sure wasn't getting it) and I would have to call her back later because she called during work.

When I hung up the phone, I called my mom & said look, your sister in law just called asking for money to pay their electric bill because it's going to get cut off tomorrow. She said I hope you said no. I said you're damn right I said no, I'm not paying their bills - I don't even live there.

Let me tell you why I said no.....and here goes my rant (you must excuse the vulgarities):

I am 26 years old & while I may have some high paying what everyone thinks is a glorious job, I have BILLS. Right, I have a mortgage payment, car payment, car insurance, cable bill, electric bill, water bill, cell phone bill, student loans, credit cards...I HAVE BILLS! I don't get paid and get to blow all of my money on ridiculous shit, like paying YOUR electric bill. Hell I have my own electric bill!

You KNEW your electric bill was going to be cut off MORE than a day before, so why the hell are you just calling now? You are a able bodied adult, why don't you get off of your lazy ass and find a job? I work, so why the hell can't you - the world doesn't owe you shit! And to top that off, you must not be hurting too damn bad, you sent me an email so that tells me your internet is on. When I talked to you on the phone (you know - when you were asking for money) you said you were watching tv, which means your cable hasn't been shut off, and you picked up the damn phone to give me some sad sob crying ass story about how you needed money to pay the electric bill, so your phone wasn't cut off.

There are these things called PRIORITIES and these things called NECESSITIES! Let's talk about how you need to get your priorities together, stop living beyond your means & have only the shit you need to get by!

Maybe I should explained to you what exactly a necessity is.....Webster says necessity is "the condition of being essential or indispensable."

LIGHTS, WATER, FOOD, and TISSUE - those are necessities. If you don't have shit else, you better have those 4 things!

Now - what's not a necessity - INTERNET, CABLE, THE MEAL YOU ATE AT RED LOBSTER, WENDYS, SUBWAY, CAPTAIN D'S, THE NEW SHOES YOU BOUGHT, THE 5 WII GAMES YOU BOUGHT FOR YOUR CHILD, THE NEW POLO (YES, POLO RALPH LAUREN) SWEATER THAT YOU BOUGHT FOR YOUR CHILD, THE MONEY YOU WASTED ON CIGARETTES <- I do not see a damn necessity in that list!!

If your ass ain't working & doesn't have a steady source of income, I suggest you take a look at your expenses and cut the fuck back......maybe then you won't need to call me & ask to borrow money. Or how about you just get off your ass and get a job....that wouldn't be so bad huh?

And my vent is totally over with...I think I'm going to bed early because this same aunt that I'm bitchin about in my post has asked me to come pick her & my cousin up tomorrow because they don't want to spend Christmas alone & they don't have the means to get to my parents house. I'm only doing this for my cousin - I don't believe that any child should be forced to spend Christmas without their family. I know how happy my parents made my (many) Christmases as a kid, I want her to have the same happy family memories. I'm a softy for kids - can't you tell?

14. I'm Stuck In The Airport - Why Not Blog

2009-12-14T09:34:00.000-05:00

Yours truly - blogging from Washington Dulles Airport! Yep! Working/blogging from IAD because I missed my connection to my "final destination." ;) We had some crap weather in Atlanta this morning - extremely foggy, so loads of flights were delayed and/or canceled. Typical Monday!

And Monday it is - MUUUUUUUUUUSIC Monday! I figure I'll share with you what I'm listening to & I suggest you go get it or at least download it!

There are 14 tracks on Alicia Key's new cd & every single one of them is good! There isn't one that I would skip! Yes, listen for yourself! I promise, it's good.

See...I'm all about sharing! Sharing is caring! ;)

Have a happy Monday lovelies! Now back to work for me....people are counting on me & I have tons of meetings this week, bla!

13. Google Waaaaaaaaaaave! I'm Am In....Are You?

2009-12-13T19:00:00.002-05:00

Do you have a Google Wave account? I do & I have several invites (7 as of now)….so send me your email address to msebonyjewel@gmail.com & I’ll send you a Google Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaave invite! And if you already have a google wave account – add me with msebonyjewel@googlewave.com

What is google wave you ask?
It’s a personal communication & collaborating tool introduced by Google. It’s kinda a way to merge email, IM, and social networking into 1 area.

So here’s what I think of it……
Have you ever wanted to ask a question to 1 or more people? Yeah we can do that on our blog, but we can’t collaborate in real time. So let’s say I wanted to know if a blog topic was a good idea, or I wanted to know how everyone felt about a career change, an outfit, just an idea in general…well Google wave will let all of us collaborate & answer each other’s questions. And that means 5 or 6 people can comment on one subject/topic/quote/picture at one time & see each other’s comments. Just seems like a super cool way to collaborate if you ask me!

Come get your google wave invites – here here! LOL

Really though, email me and I’ll send you an invite! :) Happpppppppy waaaaaaaaaaaaving!

12. OMG THIS IS HUGE!

2009-12-12T21:36:00.000-05:00

So…

I know I’ve talked about work & I know I’ve talked about being satisfied with my job (sometimes) & I love networking, I’m totally outgoing, crazy, fun, I like to make money, I like career progression.

Something weird has happened….I’m not sure what the hell to make of it & I’m not even sure what to do – your advice is greatly appreciated!

I applied at several companies months ago when I felt like my career with my current employer was going nowhere. At times I still feel the exact same about my career at times I don’t. After talking to those in upper management – I was offered to transition into the sales force (which I blogged about here).

Now my dilemma – one of the companies that I applied at was Accenture. Accenture is one of the “big 4” consulting companies & in a way I’m dying to work for them. Having the name Accenture on my resume would be a huge plus for me, hopefully a great way to progress my career and working for Accenture would have HUGE travel opportunities seeing as it is an international company. I love consulting; I love working on projects & learning the ins & outs of businesses. My specialty is insurance – property & casualty, w/c, disability, etc, but I’d LOVE to learn something new & I think Accenture would offer that opportunity. I'm torn though because someone who has had a lot of faith in me & been my biggest supporter at my current company has made it possible for me to transition into sales as I've been wanting to do forever.

I have a phone interview scheduled with them for next week; I’m going to go through the interview process just to see how strenuous it is, plus I love interviews & networking with people.

I hope this all works out for the best, I hope that somehow there’s a sign that will tell me the right thing to do!

11. I suck

2009-12-11T23:52:00.000-05:00

I was totally supposed to post something else, something meaningful, but I just can't today! Today was a looooooooooooong crazy semi productive day & I'm beyond drained. Back on track tomorrow!

10. I GOT A BLOG AWARD!!! LET’S CELEBRATE!

2009-12-10T22:33:00.000-05:00

Tiffany over at Dreams Do Come True gave me a super fab blog award!! Had it not been for 20SB, I never would have lucked up on Tiffany's awesome blog & I'm so thankful that I did!! Make sure to add her to your google reader! Love her blog!

Here's the award:

Here's what I gotta do to accept the award: list 10 things that make me happy, try to do at least one of them today, and tag 10 bloggers that brighten my day. For those 10 bloggers, you must also link back to my post!

Soooooo....without further ado! 10 things that make me happy:

Waking up - Knowing that God gave me the opportunity take another breath, the make a difference, to annoy some innocent person - that makes me happy! LOL
Babysitting my niece - She's the BEST form of birth control ever! Yes, I want kids, but at 26 years old I know for sure I'm not ready!
Seeing my family - They may be totally silly, but I lurve them!
Text messaging - What did we do before text messaging? I seriously can't live without it lol!
My house - It's mine...well mine and Bank of America's.
Security - Knowing that I don't have to wonder about where my next meal will come from, how I'm going to bathe myself, or where I'm going to sleep.
My job - As much as I sometimes complain about my annoying coworkers, they're absolutely hilarious. They talked to me this morning as my niece threw a temper tantrum throughout our entire conference call.
My bloggy friends - Lately my bloggy friends have been emailing me & I LOVE LOVE LOVE that! It makes me feel like I'm really not worlds away from people my age!
My IRL friends - Tried & true yes they are! I love my IRL friends & hope that one day some of my bloggy friends will become my IRL friends! :)
Blogging - Blogging has become my release! I can let it out here & I'm rarely criticized.

Now 10 bloggers that brighten my day (in no particular order):

Now take it away folks!!

9. I’m Traveling Next Week – How I ‘Work It” On The Road

2009-12-09T20:34:00.002-05:00

Next week will be my last week of air travel for 2009! I’m super excited about that! I try to pack as little as possible when I travel. I have 1 carry-on bag & a laptop bag (either my Coach laptop bag or my Swiss laptop bag). Unless you’re traveling internationally; a domestic checked bag is a LOST bag & I can’t risk someone losing my bag with my goodies in it! I’d be pissed!!

So next week – because it’s my last week of travel, I’m being a total minimalist! And here’s how I plan to accomplish it:

Decide on a color for the week & work around that “color scheme.” Next week’s color scheme will be black (so that means I need only 1 pair of high heels & that’s a black pair of pumps). When I leave for the airport on Monday, I’ll be wearing a pair of Jessica Simpson flats that I got from Macy's – ultra comfy, ultra cute, and compactable if I have to throw them in my suitcase! I also pack my gym shoes inside of my purse which is also packed in my small carry-on.
Two pair of pants for the week (I travel Mon – Thurs); so a black pair worn Monday & Wednesday then a gray pair worn on Tuesday & Thursday. I’ll pack 3 shirts/blouses & a scarf or two to dress up the outfits.
I have a very small jewelry organizer that holds interchangeable jewelry for the week.
I ROLL ALL OF MY CLOTHES! A trick that I learned early on in the game! Rolling your clothes makes life a ton easier & you can always buy the Downy Wrinkle Releaser travel bottles to de-wrinkle your clothes if you don’t have time to iron!
I also pack an outfit to workout in, an outfit to sleep in, socks, long johns (cause it’s gonna be cold), panties, & an extra bra.
I put all of my 3 oz or less liquids into my 1 qt plastic bag! Check out this website for tons of travel sized goodies: http://www.minimus.biz/default.aspx I get extremely pissed when people attempt to go through security & argue because they don’t want to throw away their liquids! Check your bag & shut up, or throw that mess away! There are people in line behind you! LOL

I’m totally a minimalist when it comes to travel; I don’t have time to be lugging a whole bunch of stuff around the airport, especially when I have 30 minutes or less between connections. I need my bags to be light so I can run through the airport like a crazy ass! If I run you down, I apologize, but I’ve got places to go and people to see!

8. Install In Progress

2009-12-08T23:16:00.000-05:00

I'm blogging from my work laptop today because I'm currently installing Windows 7 on my personal laptop! Gonna make this short and sweet tonight! Today I did something really good for my sister, her ~~no good sperm donor~~ boyfriend, and my cutie pie niece!

My sister's boyfriend called me in a panic tonight because their 6 week old baby (my adorable little niece) wouldn't stop crying. My sister had gone out with a friend of hers, he was at home by himself with the baby. So when he called he said hey do you have the thermometer at your house? I said huh, no, why is the baby crying & he said I don't know, she feels warm and has been crying for the last 30 minutes, your sister is gone with her friend & doesn't have her cell phone! I immediately dropped everything & rushed to the rescue! My niece is the cutest thing ever (so I think)! By the time I got there she wasn't screaming like she had been on the phone, but she was still a little fussy. I notice that she was fussy this morning too when I kept her. I called my mom to tell her that the baby was okay & that I was going to bring her over to see her. So I took the little munchkin over to my parents house so she could see her grandma and paw paw (we're so country LOL)!

I was forced to be the meany and take her temperature. My parents, although they took our temperature rectally when we were kids, refuse to take her temperature with a rectal thermometer. She didn't have a temp, she was just fussy. I think she has a bit of gas, but that's all! I'm such a good aunt! LOL

7. Windows 7: To install or not to install

2009-12-07T22:23:00.000-05:00

That is the question!

I purchased a new laptop several months ago & the laptop purchase came with a free Windows 7 upgrade. I received the upgrade disc in the mail last week, but have not installed Windows 7 yet. I'm currently using Window's Vista which I hate, but I'm scared that I may completely screw up my PC by installing Windows 7. Are you, any of my fellow bloggers, using Windows 7? Do you love it? Hate it? Did you install it yourself and was it hard or easy? I have yet to decide what I'm going to do, but I think I should go for you....what do you think?

6. My Productive Sunday

2009-12-06T17:35:00.003-05:00

Well it started off productive! I took some of Suze Orman’s tips & organized my credit cards into a spreadsheet by highest interest rate because obviously that is the card I need to pay off first. I looked at balance transfer options too & decided that I will be transferring the card with the highest interest rate to a card that I have that only carries a 6% interest rate.

Then I organized my Christmas presents, just to be sure that I have everyone covered! I don’t! So I still have a bit more shopping to do for “the kids,” not my kids, but the kids in the family! THEN! The big thing that I did today was painted the trim in my kitchen & hallway. I’ve got a bit to go, but at least I got started!

Now I’m sitting on my butt watching tv & thinking I still need to clean up this mess I made in the living room! Might oughtta do that now because I’m going to be gone tonight!

Hope everyone had a super productive Sunday…kinda like I did!

5. My Dilemma - Solved By Suze Orman

2009-12-05T22:37:00.033-05:00

I must thank my bloggy friend Becca again for this suggestion!! I decided to pick up Suze Orman's - The Money Book For The Young, Broke & Fabulous. I'm not totally broke, but who couldn't use some tips/tricks on finances & navigating the credit/financial/career world.

Let me just say I'm only on chapter 2 & I think that every 20 something broke or note should read this book. I have been struggling with a dilemma for quite some time now & I hope that Suze Orman's advice is right; I hope she knows what she's talking about because if so - she's just solved a big problem for me!

In this post I talk about receiving an offer of employment from one of my current employers competitors. I also mentioned that my current employer offered to move me to the position that I've been wanting for a while in sales/marketing. When I was advised of the promotion to sales/marketing, we talked a bit about compensation and the compensation structure when new deals were won, but no numbers were set in stone; I suspect that may be up for discussion come January.

Well Chapter 2 - Career Moves in Suze Orman's book has the following problem:

Problem: I'm being given more responsibility but not more money. (I don't know yet if that's really my case, I don't believe it will be, but we'll see)
Her solution: That's actually a very good thing, if you know how to play it right.

What she says in this section is that if you're doing what you're passionate about, you put in extra hours, you show that you're willing to go above & beyond the call of duty, then you will be recognized and rewarded for all of your hard work. She says take in as much information & take on as many responsibilities as you can, even if that means longer hours in the office because the only person who benefits from this in the end is you!

I think there's some truth in that! When I first came to my company, I was a work-a-holic, literally spending 14 - 16 hours working because I knew that I was at a disadvantage; there were other consultants in the company that knew the products & I didn't because I was new. When I went to work overseas with our internal team, I got the competitive edge that I needed, I was on the leading edge team & the only consultant from the US that got to work side by side with our internal team for 8+ months. I established the right relationships so that I can now call on the people I need when I need to & they have yet to fail me & me yet to fail them. For that, I was rewarded. When I returned home from overseas, I was seen internally & externally as the only product expert in the US for our company. Although there was no monetary compensation, I gained job security knowing that I had a skill/knowledge/expertise that many of our other consultants lacked.

So Suze Orman - I'm going to trust that what you're saying is right! I'll be sure to keep yall posted on my promotion & how it goes! I'm so ready for this new season in my life it's ridiculous! Anyone else looking forward to a change?

4. Let's Talk About Home Ownership!

2009-12-04T22:00:00.109-05:00

Today's post is inspired by a blogger friend of mine, Becca Christensen, who will soon be a homeowner - just like myself!

Did you know that more single women are buying home than ever before? Yep! Record numbers of single women are buying homes.

Here are some stats:

More than 1 in 5 home buyers is a single woman.
Twice as many unmarried women are buying homes than single men.
Single women make up more than 1/3 of the growth in real estate ownership since '94.

So why am I blogging about home ownership today? Well it's quite simple - I'm a homeowner! I purchased my first home (a condo) in 2004 at the ripe old age of 22. My condo was built in 1996, it is a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom condo & while it may only be a little over 1000 sq feet, I am happy to call it mine!

Here's how I made it happen.....

I was working at an insurance company in a pretty sweet job, I made good money, and had saved quite a bit of cash "for a rainy day," but didn't know when that rainy day was really coming. I was living in an apartment with my boyfriend (at the time) & my lease was coming up for renewal. There was a letter on my door that showed that my rent was going to be increased by approximately $100 a month when I renewed my lease. I thought WHAT?! $100 extra a month - I'm not getting any more space, I'm not getting a nicer apartment, I'm getting this same apartment for $100 more...how about no - there's absolutely no benefit in me renewing my lease. So I started talking around, talking to the girls that I worked with who, BTW, were all homeowners & they suggested just looking around at homes on the market. Initially I thought OMG, I can't imagine buying a house, surely I can't even afford a house! Little did I know, I could, and the whole process was totally easy.

I had 3 months left in my lease, so I started looking around. I knew my criteria - I wanted a condo with at least 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom. I didn't want anything that I was going to have to initially throw money into, I wanted a place with a small yard & a place that had been well maintained. I wanted a place that was 1000 - 1500 sq feet, in a nice neighborhood in the middle of our "city." I knew exactly what I wanted - I wanted a nice property that was going to be low maintenance. My parents and I looked around for about 2 weeks before we lucked up on the condo that I now own. We called the realtor, who also happened to be the owner, and she pointed me in the absolute right direction. She first showed me the house, told me that if I truly intended to buy it, she would cover everything because she was so proud that a young woman like myself was going to take such a huge step & make such a responsible purchase. I remember walking into my condo, laying in the middle of the living room & saying this is it, this is mine! People always says if you speak it, it will come true. From then on things seemed to move so fast! The realtor set me up with a local mortgage lender, who pre-qualified me for a loan of waaaay more than I felt I could afford - some ridiculous amount of like $290K. The qualification was done the same day that I looked at the condo. That next week I had a home inspection - ALWAYS HAVE A HOME INSPECTION PRIOR TO PURCHASE EVEN IF THE HOME IS NEW! The home passed the inspection with flying colors! Then came closing - seriously, this whole process took about 10 days. At my closing I was hit with a bit of a surprise and a very good surprise. The owner of the condo, also the realtor, had placed a warranty on the condo for 2 years - so if anything went wrong in 2 years the home warranty would cover it. She also gave me a $2500 Lowe's gift card. Closing took all of 20 minutes - I was expecting much much longer - but I walked in, talked with the lawyers about the paperwork, signed my name on several papers that said if you don't pay us we're going to come get you lol. After my hand was about to fall off from signing my name, I was handed my house keys & sent on my merry way!

How can you do it? The same way I did!!

Save yourself some $$ - even if it's $5K, $5K is better than $0!
Pay down/off your debt
Get pre-qualified for a loan & make sure you explore all of your options. If you're a first time home buyer, make sure to ask about special loan programs for first time home owners. Sometimes if you can show that you have enough money in savings a lot of lenders will waive PMI, finance you at 100%, or offer other incentives.
DO NOT overextend yourself in debt - be realistic about the mortgage payment you can afford. There is no purposes in purchasing a home that has a payment so big you can barely afford to furnish it, or barely afford to pay for the utilities.
When you start looking for a home & when you find one you like look at it during the day & at night. My mom has always said a neighborhood may look great in the day time, it make look safe during the day time, but ride by on a Friday or Saturday night; you can tell a lot about the area on a Friday or Saturday night.
Don't be afraid to make the purchase - home ownership is a great thing, any home, unless you totally trash it, will increase in value over the years. The more work you put into it, the more $$ you will get out of it if you intend to sell it years down the road!

Now...go out and buy yourself a house dangit! ;)

3. Tonight I Must Say Thank You

2009-12-03T06:00:00.073-05:00

Last night I walked into my hotel room after a long, kind of frustrating, yet productive day at work to find this

laying on my bed along with a thank you note from the hotel management & concierge staff.

I ♥ the hotel that we stay at during the week, I love the hotel manager, she's an absolute doll! I love that when I arrive on Monday evenings, everyone and I seriously mean everyone welcomes me back to my home away from home with a smile. I love that when I leave on Thursday mornings everyone says have a good weekend, we'll see you next week. I love that once a few weeks ago I called room service to see if they had any cheesecake & was told no, cheesecake wasn't on their dessert menu, yet 20 minutes later a piece of Cheesecake Factory cheesecake was delivered to my room. I love that I can walk into the hotel bar, sit down to chat with my coworkers, and minutes later have a chocolate martini in hand because all of the bar tenders know that's my drink of choice & that 1 perfectly prepared chocolate martini is enough to make me happy. I love that the hotel staff has dealt with me on my good days & bad days, but continue to treat me like I'm the most important guest they have.

I text the picture above to some friends of mine & got a reply that said you're excited about that? You've literally stayed there every week this year & you're excited because you got a pillow with a monogrammed pillow case?

I'm excited because it made me feel special, important, like I am the only guest who matters. It's totally the thought that counts & tonight I want to say thank you to all of the Marriott staff!! I know that the NaBloPoMo theme "mitzvah" encourages us to do something nice for others, but I could not resist telling the world about the nice thing that was done for me!

2. Trying New Things

2009-12-02T05:26:00.000-05:00

I WAS worlds pickiest eater. Really, I swear...ask my parents, they totally enabled me to be that way all of my life!!

When I was younger my mom would make a separate meal for me if she made something for the family that I didn't like. I got used to not being forced to try new foods - veggies excluded, always had to eat veggies, like it or not!

In my ~~"older age"~~ really after I took the consulting job, I realized that the world was a place full of new, exciting things and people who had tried these new, exciting things. I also realized that my sheltered eating habits hindered my desire to try new foods, new ethnicities of food, and trying foods that I would typically claim to "not like" having never tastes it.

My coworkers often made fun of the "Princess" as they call me because I was so picky! I used to stick by a list of things that I REFUSE to eat/drink like cheese, scrambeled eggs, milk, collard greens, ahi tuna, sushi, lamb, and hot dogs - just to name a few. (The list could probably go on) HOWEVER, in the 2 1/2 years that I've been in the consulting industry I've tried & enjoyed tons of foods that I once said I would never eat like ahi tuna, sushi, lamb, collard greens, crab cakes, fried calamari, just to name a few. The saying never say never is sooooooooooo true! I'm living proof!

Last night 2 of my coworkers wanted to eat at a Somolian restaurant. Initially, I wasn't really enthused...my mindset was going back to I don't like that (even tho I've never tried it) but I went anyway! I didn't want to be the 1 person who ruined the chance to try a new food for everyone. I had chicken kalankal and it was freakin yum!! I was not disappointed & I was (again) very proud of myself.

1. High Blood Pressure!!!??? Weight Loss? Workout? WHAAAT?

2009-12-01T06:19:00.000-05:00

You may be wondering why I have the number 1 outside of my post & guess what if you’re not – I’m going to tell you anyway!

I am participating in NaBloPoMo, National Blog Posting Month. I must write at least 1 post a day for the entire month of December. Now we all know that I’m a busy ass person, but I’m gonna try this out & see how it works.

The NaBloPoMo theme for this month is Mitzvah. Mitzvah means to express an act of human kindness.

My bloggie friend Soph! asked me how I started running & if I had any tips/tricks to this workout/diet thing. So today’s post is just for Soph! – sharing my experience so she (and others) can benefit is my act of human kindness for today! :)

So here goes….I’m going to lay it all on the line…well on the blog! ;)

How I started:
I went to the OB/GYM to talk with him about my birth control pills & the problems I was having with spotting. At my visit he told me that he would switch my pills, but also was a bit concerned that my blood pressure had been consistently high in my last 3 visits, not alarmingly high at like stroke level or anything, but high for a fairly healthy 26 year old. He told me a nice, doctor-ish, round about way that from the blood workup that he’d done in a previous visit, he didn’t see any factors that were contributing to my elevated blood pressure other than my weight, which then turned into a conversation about the foods that I ate. Love my OB/GYN BTW, he’s the best! I told him that I had a family history of high BP & diabetes & asked what I could do to decrease my weight & ensure that my BP was at a normal level. He first suggested that I limit my daily caloric intake to 1500 calories a day, get at least 30 minutes of cardio a day, and STOP DRINKING SODA. He also gave me an appetite suppressant to help with the first part (daily caloric intake) cause I probably would have eaten myself out of house & home if I didn’t take the diet pills.

Let me just say before I go into details about my “numbers” & my “plan” – I travel for a living, so finding something healthy to eat on the road EVERYDAY is a bit hard (hence the reason why I gained so much weight). ANYWAY!!

My starting numbers (5/09):
I’m totally not ashamed of my starting numbers so I’ll share them with you..

Age: 26
Height: 5 feet 11 inches
Weight: 180 pounds
MY Goal Weight: 150
Doctors Goal Weight: 157-160

My meal plan:

No more soda, no diet soda, no X-zero (you name it sprite, coke, etc) soda…NO SODA!
Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day
Eat a healthy breakfast. My usual breakfast consists of a cantaloupe bowl from Publix, Yoplait yogurt, and 1/4 cup of bear naked granola & a bottle of water with Crystal Light strawberry & lemonade mix ins.
Subway for lunch – usually a 6 inch ham on honey oat, no cheese, toasted, with onions, regular mustard, light oil & light vinegar, a bag of baked lays chips, and a bottle of water with crystal light strawberry & lemonade mix ins.
Snacks – 100 calorie cookies, chips, trail mix, etc – you get the picture!
Dinner – I eat whatever I want, but I don’t go overboard!

My Workout Plan:
So this is the part that people really want to know about – how did you go from not working out to running like a maniac?! I armed myself with a few handy gadgets.

I already had an iPhone 3GS so I could mark that off of the list.
I ordered myself some NikeID shoes that were also Nike+ compatible. (FYI there is no need to order any NikeID shoes – they’re too damn expensive so skip that step, just buy some shoes that are Nike+ compatible)
Purchased the Nike+ sensor to put in my shoes
Registered at the NikeRunning website & joined several challenges that they have on their website – nothing like motivation of other members on your “virtual” team.
Purchased a handy dandy sports case for my iPhone from the apple store…Marware Sportshell Convertible for iPhone 3GS
Turned on the Nike+ iPod application on my iPhone & performed the calibration for both running & walking.
I made a playlist of songs to listen to (If you want the list let me know and I’ll hook you up) & I told myself the following: “I will run to the chorus of each song & walk through the verses.”

I went on for about 2 months of running to the chorus only & walking through the verses, each session my workout time was getting better & better – totally proven by the workout history on my Nike+ iPod app! I ran more on days that I was super stressed out because somehow running became an effective way for me to get in my 30 minutes of cardio, but a way for me to release the stress of life & work.

Each run I pushed myself to run a little longer than the chorus, to see if I could make it through the chorus & the verse, then walk & try it over again & that’s how I made it to 3 miles in about 35 minutes.

I also downloaded an app from the iTunes app store called C25K – Couch to 5K which helps you train for a 5K run. The app is pretty sweet & can be found in the iTunes app store.

My best mile to date is 10 minutes 12 seconds & my best 5K is 31 minutes 53 seconds. My longest distance is 5.30 miles which I did in 1 hour 1 minute & 34 seconds.

My current numbers (12/09):

Age: 26
Height: 5 feet 11 inches
Weight: 152 pounds

Some days my scale says I weigh 154 pounds – some days I say my scale is a POS and can’t make up it’s f*cking mind how much I weigh! ;)

Yesterday I got back on track – I ran 4.21 miles in 45 minutes 58 seconds with a pace of 10 minutes 54 seconds per mile. Not too bad considering I had just finished eating dinner & was running on a full stomach.

I’m well on my way to being a much happier & healthier me! When I go back to my OB/GYN for my annual visit, I’m sure he’ll be happy to see that I’ve lost the weight and am keeping it off.

Monday Morning Madness

2009-11-30T06:06:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting in the Atlanta airport now as I write this blog post. Loads on my mind this morning, but the most important thing at this point is the fact that I've completely and totally blown my diet - yep! I overate at Thanksgiving, overate this weekend, I'm overeating now - having a Starbucks pumpkin spice latte & a danish. This all ends now though; when I finish this danish & coffee I'm getting back on track. I worked too hard to get down to 150 & I'm not going to let 1 silly holiday ruin it. ~~(Now Christmas may be a different story)~~

I'm going to commit to running 3 miles Monday - Wednesday, because I can definitely do that! ~~Hopefully I'm not dead tired after work.~~ I'm going to commit to eating healthy this week while I travel, fruit and yogurt for breakfast, subway for lunch, & who knows what for dinner. Clearly I am on the only person who's in control of my life & my weight, so I need to make better choices right?!

Happy Monday!

I WANT!

2009-11-29T20:53:00.000-05:00

I went shopping over the weekend (who didn't?!) & ventured to the Coach Outlet store. I found this beautiful jacket, the jacket was on sale & I mean massively marked down. Regular priced $448, on sale for $180 + tax.

I walked away from the jacket because I really don't need it. I've bought 3 jackets already during the fall. This particular jacket is just a want right now, plus I would have had to put it on a credit card (didn't really have the extra $200 - I had already shopped) & I don't want to overextend myself in credit card debt!

Yes - I'm trying to cut back on my shopping because I do a hell of a lot of that! I have clothes in my closet that I haven't worn in years & clothes that I bought over 2 years ago with tags still on them.

Someone please tell me I made the right decision. BLA!

Happy Thanksgiving! What Are YOU Thankful For?

2009-11-26T10:03:00.000-05:00

Well it's Thanksgiving morning & before I head out to be with family & friends, I wanted to first with everyone a very happy Thanksgiving & reflect on the many reason I have to be thankful!

I'm thankful for...........

Family
Friends
Health
My job, because in this tough economic time, there are a lot of people who are jobless.
The fact that I woke up to sunshine this morning - it's going to be a great day!
And last but not least BLACK FRIDAY!

LOL! So I'm totally thankful for everything! Well my mom just called & said hurry up so you can help with the dressing - I guess that's my queue to shut down the computer & head her way! Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone! :)

Awkward Run-in With The Ex

2009-11-24T21:21:00.002-05:00

I had a moment today, a moment that I've dreaded for a long time! I ran into my ex boyfriend and his wife at the gas station today. I have not blogged about my ex much because he is such a thing of the past, why rehash the past when the present and future is so much brighter? I won't go into much detail, but I caught my ex cheating on me with the woman he's married to now. On the outside, I stayed strong and didn't flinch to him, but on the inside it killed me. I thought that what we had would actually last, I was different from every other woman he had been with. I was a "good" girl compared to all of his other bad girls. I should have known then that he wouldn't appreciate a nice, hard working, educated woman like myself. I should have known that once a dog always a dog, but I thought I could change him. (Never again!)

So anyways, I pulled up to the gas pump, got my debit card out, slid my card and started pumping my gas. I was in my own world actually, Lady Gaga's Bad Romance was on XM, I was singing lowly & dancing at the pump when I looked up and first saw her get out of the car to go pay for their gas. That didn't stop me from singing and dancing to myself though! Then the ex gets out of the car, looks over and says, damn you ride like that now? I looked at him & said in the most sarcastic bitch voice ever yes I do, this is what success looks like. Do you know what his response was? OMG I wanted to punch him when he said this..."the wife is pregnant again." I just looked at him....amazed. I said oh that's great, now more of my tax dollars will go towards taking care of your 5 kids, but I'd rather it be my tax dollars than my whole pay check. He didn't say a word because by that time, "the wife" was walking back to the car scowling at me. I finished pumping my gas, looked at him & said now watch success as it drives away. To that I got no response, I got in my car, turned up my music and drove off.

He text me about 10 minutes ago to ask why I can't just be cordial with him. Why should I be cordial? We have no ties to each other, damn sure don't have any kids together, our families aren't close, we aren't close, as far as I'm concerned he doesn't exist, so why should we be cordial? Clearly he's an idiot! I'm not going to be his chick on the side - he has his "catch" and trust me she's definitely not a catch. She's 27, unemployed, uneducated, and pregnant again. Coming from her mouth - she doesn't have to work or go to school because her man makes sure she has everything she needs, plus going to school, working, and being a mom is just too much work.

Did I mention that she was a catch? ;)

How important is respect in a friendship?

2009-11-23T15:59:00.000-05:00

At 20 something years old, I am learning a very valuable lesson about friendship!

One of the most important "ingredients" in a friendship is respect. Respect, as far as I'm concerned, is a mutual thing. You have to give respect in order to receive respect; you have to respect yourself in order for others to respect you.

Today I found out that a "friend" made some pretty nasty comments about me, of course, not to my face, but to a mutual "friend." After listening to some of the things she said, I really have to question the amount of respect I have for her and the amount of respect (obviously none) that she has for me. She made comments about my promotion and why she thought I received the promotion, about how she thinks he is paying my bills which is why I can afford to drive a "luxury" car, there were tons of other things, but I don't care to rehash.

I considered the person who made these comments a really good friend! We've known each other since we were in middle school & to find out that she said those things about me is flat out brutal. Our friendship hasn't been the same for a while, I felt like we were growing apart, but now I know our friendship will never be the same. I know that as we grow up, change careers, relocate, etc we often grow apart from old friends and make new friends, but I was not expecting this...not from her. I'd like to call her up and ask her why, but it's totally not worth my time huh?

F♥ck It! Let's Do It!

2009-11-22T21:32:00.000-05:00

When will we stop putting our dreams off for "one day" or "some day?" When we will start living in the moment, living as if today was our last? I mean let's all hope it's not our last, but only God knows the answer to that! I watched the Bucket List over the weekend & it made me think of the things I want to do before I die. Some of them I've already done, so I'll mark them off the list!

~~Live in a foreign country~~
~~Sightsee in London~~
~~Sightsee in Paris~~
~~Conquer my fear of flying~~
~~Conquer my fear of heights~~
Try one new food a day
Swim with the dolphins
Go parasailing
Skydive with my BFF
Maintain my sexy <- always a work in progress
Move up the corporate ladder
Become an official member of the 'Mile High' club (LOL)
Run a marathon
Learn to speak French
Learn to speak Hindi
Take dance lessons
Go on a helicopter ride
Drive a race car
~~See the Northern Lights~~
Go to Oktober Fest in Germany
See cherry blossoms in DC in full bloom
~~Visit Big Ben~~
~~Visit Buckingham Palace~~
~~See the Northern Lights~~
Go to rock climbing
Learn to say hello in 50 different languages
~~Join a blowing league~~
Realize that some friends are only around for a reason, some for a season, others for a lifetime

So what would YOU put on F♥ck It! Let's Do It! list?

Remember That Job Offer?

2009-11-08T19:43:00.000-05:00

Remember the job interview that I had & the job offer that I received? Remember me saying that $75K just wasn’t enough? Well, the company upped the ante & extended an offer of $80K to me. All sounds great huh? Yep it does, people would kill to have that kind of salary & so would I! I started looking for a job a few months ago because I felt like the position that I’m in with my current employer would never change. I also felt like I would never receive more compensation for all for all of the hard work that I put in.

I had a conversation with some of my superiors regarding the offer that received from a competitor, advised that I was considering taking the offer because I felt like the opportunity for advancement was inexistent, but wanted to know if they felt there were other opportunities for me with the company. There was some initial discussion of the fact that I had signed an agreement called a non-compete which prohibits me from working for a competitor, but I know those are loosely enforced! Honestly, I didn’t want to leave, I didn’t want to start all over – my job is pretty lax, everyone is easy going & I am so scared that the next consulting firm might not be the same. 1 week later there was another discussion surrounding moving me to another area of the business, something I had asked for previously, but was told no.

Needless to say, I think my current employer realizes the value of some, maybe not all employees, and has made me an offer that I cannot resist! I’ve been looking to move into the sales & marketing side of the business for a while & I’m finally getting the opportunity. This time it’s real! There was talk of this a few months ago, but now it’s real. I’m excited! There will be a ton of work I’m sure, some that I will probably love & some that I will hate, but I’m ready to embrace it with open arms. I like the sales/marketing side of things. I like meeting new people, finding out how business run & how our products can help companies improve their processes and performance, & I like doing product demos. I have a lot to learn though, I’ve done a few demos, but never seen a sales cycle from beginning to end. I’m unseasoned, untrained, totally new, but I’m like a sponge, ready & willing to soak up every bit of information that I can! I’m ready for the challenge, it starts in 2010! 2010 will be a great year! I look forward to blogging about that journey!

Oh! And on a side note!!! I caught up with an old fling over the weekend. We ran into each other at the bank. Now when I say an old fling, I mean like freshman year (2001) of college old fling! We’re going to get together next weekend…I hope he’s still as cool as he used to be!

$75K Isn't Enticing

2009-10-17T01:26:00.000-04:00

Call me greedy, call me selfish, call me an overachiever, call me what you want, BUT realize that I know my value and I KNOW what I want.

In my last post I talked about my job search & job interview. The interview went well on 10/09/09, I met two great people, was exposed to a great opportunity, but now I’m hesitant about accepting the job offer that I received.

Here goes – I work in the software consulting industry as an analyst. I have a great paying job at the age of 26. My current salary is $65K & yes I am thankful that I have a job, I know that there are people out there who would kill to make that kind of money, but I have worked hard as hell to get where I am. My “high paying” job doesn’t come WITHOUT stress nor does it come WITHOUT personal sacrifice! I am a hard worker, a quick learner, I’ll go above and beyond to get my work done, I will help anyone who is willing to help themselves.

Did I mention that my interview with Software Company #1 went well? The job would require me to initially travel to Ireland for a period of about a week or two this year & then travel to Ireland for 4-6 weeks in January. After the training I would be assigned to a project & work with a team to implement the product.

The position is very similar to what I currently do, but I would hope to take on additional responsibilities, to learn more, do more, and advance in my career. I received a call from the HR manager yesterday, she explained that they wanted to extend a job offer to me with a base salary of $75K. Granted I didn’t give her a salary range that I wanted & that’s my mistake, but I was definitely thinking they would make me an offer in the mid to upper $80’s.

Do I think I’m worth that?! Yeah! I have researched my “title,” my experience, my education and all that other good stuff & the median salary is $80K, $5K MORE than their offer & that’s just the median. So I guess it’s now time to negotiate a higher salary. I don’t want to just take their offer, they’ll think I’m a pushover, but I also don’t want to appear greedy.

I’m not getting ready to dish all of my business here on my blog, but $75K isn’t enticing enough to make me leave my current job, a job that I know and do well, a product that I know well, and people that I know well. Monday morning, although I’m traveling, starts salary negotiation! If they are willing to increase the offer to at least $82,500, I am willing to make the move; if not, I’ll stick to what I’m doing & pray that I make it through the next couple of weeks, pray that something better is out there!

In the mean time – anyone got any tips/tricks on negotiating a higher salary?

10/09/09 - Will My Life Change Forever?

2009-10-05T22:25:00.000-04:00

10/09/09 might be the day that changes my life again! Yep, I’m hopeful that 10/09/09 is a GREAT day. I hope that I walk into the office & use my experience, education & charm to “blow them away.”

That’s right – I have a job interview on 10/09/09! Without going into too much detail, I realize that while I love my career, I don’t think my current employer is the long term place for me. I don’t see myself exploring or even realizing my full potential where I am. I haven’t been actively seeking another position, but I’ve placed my resume on several employment recruiting websites. Lucky for me, I received an email about 2 weeks ago with a request for a phone interview. Initially, I was feeling extremely guilty about even doing the phone interview. I felt like I was betraying my current employer by toying with the thoughts of leaving for a better opportunity. I had to overcome that feeling though. After talking to former colleagues of mine who have been in the industry more years than I’ve been alive, they made me realize that companies are no longer loyal to people, just as people are no longer loyal to companies. I need to do what’s best for me & my career. So with tons of words of encouragement, I had my first phone interview in 2 years with an international consulting firm.

Initially I had butterflies in my stomach, but I had to tell myself to stay calm throughout the interview, no need to be nervous because it was just a phone interview. The interview went well, the position offers the same type of benefits that I currently have – 80% travel, great healthcare benefits, a nice 401K program, plus the opportunity to travel internationally! International travel is what gets me giddy LOL! I LOOOOOOOOOOVE to see how the “rest of the world” lives! Anyways, interview went well! Of course, I followed up my interview with a very kind thank you email & within 10 minutes of sending out my thank you email, I received a response from the HR manager requesting a face to face interview! Seriously guys, you have no idea how happy I was.

So here’s the scoop on my interview:

10/09/09 I’m flying to Boston for an interview with an international consulting firm. The interview is scheduled to start at 11:30 AM, I’ll have 2 separate interviews, lunch with my potential employer, and then I’m flying back to Atlanta. I received all of the details of my itinerary last Friday, the company has a great financial rating, the opportunity is absolutely fabulous – now I just gotta ace the interview! I haven’t decided what to wear yet, I’m debating about wearing the Evan Picone dress that I purchased last weekend and if not that a black suit from J. Crew….

Wish me luck!!!

You Better Shop Around

2009-09-29T08:55:00.001-04:00

So I'm always trying to find cute clothes for work. I have this horrible shopping obsession....or either I'm just so narcissistic that I must buy a whole bunch of clothes and ~~think~~ know that I look great in them!
Most of the time I shop at places like NY&CO, J. Crew, Banana Republic, GAP, and Macy's. Since I've lost 32 pounds, I've been trying to find items that compliment my slimmer figure & found the perfect dress in Macy's. It was a red sweater dress with a black belt around the waist. I wanted it soooooooooooooooooooo freakin bad, but the dress was $89 & I thought that was a bit much for a sweater dress. My mother, lovely lady she is, suggested that we check TJ Maxx and Ross just to see what they have & I'll be damned if her idea wasn't just freakin fantastic!

I ended up purchasing 4 dresses for $100, compared to $89 + tax for 1 dress at Macy's!

So here they are!!

Dress #1 - It's simple, but unfortunately not fitted. So I've decided to find a cute belt to go around the waist & then wear with either knee high boots or heels.

Dress #2 - By Roulette, it looks a bit like a shirt and a skirt, but it's really a dress. The top part is floral silk & has ruffles around the buttons. It's super cute & looks great on!

Dress #3 - Not sure who the designer is on this one, but it's so lovely! I bought some knee high boots to go with it; I've decided to bring the dress with me to work this week. I'm wearing it with stack brown heels. The dress is low cute in the front & back - LOVE IT!

Dress #4 - Evan Picone; So this is my classic black dress; it's simple, rouched around the stomach & a bit low cut, but who doesn't like to show a little cleavage? :)

So um - enjoy these pictures & have a wonderful Tuesday!

Traveling Girls Guide – What Makes My Life In The Air Easier!

2009-09-21T20:25:00.058-04:00

As many of you know I’m on the road or really in the air a lot! I have flown over 100K miles in 2008 & 2009. Along the way I’ve found some tips, tricks, and items that make my weekly travel almost stress free!

Apple iPhone & Bose earbuds - 2 items I’d be lost without!!

My iPhone holds all of my contacts, emails, travel plans, music, notes, voice memos, pictures, videos; I’d be lost without it. I’ve talked a couple of times about my iPhone, but I wanted to mention some apps that make my travel life much easier as well.
Tripit – tripit is a service that aggregates all of your travel itineraries. Simply make your reservations & forward the email to plans@tripit.com & they organize everything for you in one spot!
Lose it! – Lose it helps me keep track of my diet and exercise while I’m on the road. I find that it’s pretty hard to eat healthy when you’re traveling 3-4 days a week, so I use lose it to track calories & exercise!
TweetDeck – Yep, for iPhone so you can listen to me rant!
Nike+ iPod – Cause I’m a running gal!
Twisty Lite – Because I’m always bored on the plane, Twisty Lite is a great game to play

Moving on!

Bottled Water, Crystal Light, & Benefiber

You can never go wrong with Vasa (cause that’s what they sell in the airport besides Fiji) water! Plus water keeps me hydrated while tearing through the airport like a mad woman! When I need a little flavor for my water, I call on Crystal Light; my favorites are raspberry, strawberry, and lemonade! I also use 1 pack of benefiber a day. Terrible topic to discuss & some people hate to discuss it, but I have found that sometimes traveling & being in different hotels can cause irregularity. I don’t have that problem at home, so I think it has something to do with my travel! So I take benefiber with me every time I hit the road!

1 Quart Bag With 3oz Liquids

Cause TSA says I have to & I freakin hate it! So inside of my little baggie I have a couple of things. I don’t wear makeup, so this is a bit easier for me. Inside of my 1 quart bag I have a ton of stuff, stuff that I need for everyday use: deodorant, mini VS body spray, mini VS lotion, mini Vaseline, mini colgate, mini VS perfume, mini dove hairspray, dove face moisturizer, hydrocortisone (because I break out from EVERYTHING) & finally mascara!

Colgate Wisp & Gum

If I’m awake on a flight, I definitely need a piece of gum or two to stop my ears from popping. Of course they still pop, but not as bad when I’m chewing gum. PLUS who doesn’t love fresh breath? And the gum comes in handy when your flight mate (usually a random stranger) wants to talk a bunch & you don’t want to smell their bad breath! Now the Colgate Wisp; after I eat anything I like to brush my teeth & make sure I don’t have any food in my teeth. You’ll find me in the airport bathroom after I eat something making sure my teeth are cleaned! No water needed, just brush away, smile, and discard the remains. Quite simple actually!

Victorinox Swiss Army Laptop Bag

Every business traveler has a laptop bag. Some people have shoulder bags, some have backpacks, and others have rolling laptop bags like I have. I prefer rolling laptop bags, I can latch it to the stop of my carry on bag & keep it moving! I don’t like backpacks cause they wrinkle my clothes. I do have a Coach laptop bag; it’s actually a Coach baby bag that I use as a laptop bag, but it doesn’t hold enough stuff, so I stopped carrying it! My Swiss laptop bag is perfect, it has several compartments for notebooks, my handy dandy planner, 2 magazines, my laptop & all of my PC accessories, PLUS an overnight compartment for a change of clothes.

Planner & Little Black Book

So many of you have already gotten a sneak peak at my Coach planner, it’s a beauty! My girl Becca recommended that I get one & I got one! You don’t have to buy a Coach planner, but everyone needs a planner! This will help me keep my life or whatever organized! Now when someone says “little black book” people automatically think of some little black book with a bunch of phone numbers. That’s not exactly how I use my little black book. My little black book is one that I purchased from Target (aka tar-jay in my world) & it’s used for me to keep up with my tasks that need to be completed. Outside of each task I do the following [ ] task name. If I complete a task, I put a check in the box, if a task is no longer needed I put an x in the box, and if I don’t complete a task, I put BF for bring forward. Laugh all you want at my method of organization; but this little black book has saved my ass on many occasions!

Let’s quickly address business attire & I swear I’ll be finished! :)

I pack light, extremely light! I pick one color for the week: black or brown & stick with that color. That means one color heels, one color flip flops, one color purse, and always my running shoes. NEVER ANY MORE, never any less! Since my travel days are Monday & Thursday, I wear a comfy, neutral color dress pant on Monday & a cute shirt & wear those same pants on Thursday (with a different shirt of course!). Tuesday is usually a skirt & cute shirt, Wednesday a pair of pants & a cute shirt. I also bring a 2 pairs of shorts & 2 t-shirts. One set for working out in & one set for sleeping in. All of this I shove into a 19” roller board suitcase & carry on the plane! So here are some of my outfits from last week!

On My Mind!

2009-09-07T00:23:00.004-04:00

Many many things – so I’ll just start at the top of the list:

Work – I’m thinking about my career of choice again! I previously blogged about my career frustrations right. Well it’s on my mind again, but this time in a different sense. I’m happy to be a part of the consulting industry, I’m happy to have the industry knowledge & consulting experience that I do have, but I’m not satisfied. I’ve always been a person that wants to take on more because keeping myself busy & pushing myself to the limit is such an exhilarating challenge for me. I am starting to recognize what I want; now I need to create a plan to achieve it! I want to own something, a product, preferably a software product. I want to be the person responsible for researching the needs of the industry in order to document, design, and market the product. I want to work with a group of both business and technical individuals focused on the development & implementation of the product. I’d like to be responsible for setting up the product roadmap & ensuring that product milestones are reached. In essence, I want to be a product manager. How I get to that position, I don’t know yet. I have a job (that I love BTW), but see no potential for advancement. (A while ago I did, I felt like something good was in the works, however; someone put a stop to that quickly & that someone will forever be a roadblock.)

Apartment Living – For the record, I will be so damn happy when I move out of this apartment & back into my house! #1 – I’ll be saving a shed load of money because my mortgage is much lower than my rent! #2 – I’ll finally be back in a place that was once home & that I can call my own! #3 – I can avoid most nosy neighbor prying questions because my neighbors at my house already know me! #4 – I can do all of the painting, decorating, renovating that I want to & no one can say a thing about it! #5 – Overall my bills will be much less! The apartment & house thing is a long story; I’ll save that for never. Just know that when I move back into my house, I will be a much happier person!

Friends – They come & go right? Some people are in our lives for a reason. They are there to help us through difficult times, provide guidance & support mentally, emotionally, and sometimes physically. They may seem like a godsend & most of the time, they are. Others come into our lives for a season. They may only be there for a short period of time based on their premeditated agendas; sometimes they have motives that we wouldn’t necessarily condone. I’m starting to realize that I have some seasonal friends & it’s time to get rid of them because the season is changing for me! I don’t need friends who are around only when they need something, or friends who only want to talk to you when they have a problem, yet your problems are too miniscule for them to be bothered with, or friends who only want to be your friend when they can’t find a man to sleep with! I can honestly say that in my late 20s it’s been really hard for me to connect with other women my age. I find that lots of women my age aren’t women, they’re still girls – trying to “find themselves” in the club every weekend, making poor financial decisions, making poor decisions period. It’s honestly sad because I’d love to meet new people, but I’ve been tainted by some pretty unstable folks! Some of my “old friends” say I’ve become stuck up and snotty. I tend to disagree with them! I think I’ve matured, I’ve moved on past the games that they’re still playing. I have a career, not a job, a career & I’m partially in love with it. I’m no snot, I’m just growing up – isn’t that what we’re supposed to be doing? I hope I don’t have it all wrong!

Now that I’ve shared, I’ll ask – what’s on your mind?

Wordless Wednesday - Things I want...NOW!

2009-09-02T23:09:00.000-04:00

It's Best For Me To Remain Single Until....

2009-09-01T21:12:00.000-04:00

I know I’m been slacking lately by not posting, but man I’ve had a LOT going on!

I had to travel last week for work – Monday of last week was I swear the longest day of my life! Although I slept on my flights, my sleep wasn’t peaceful, so by the time I got to the office on Monday I was beat! Then Thursday was just as bad coming home! Anyways – we’re off to the start of a brand new week & that’s semi exciting for me!

My bad date from over the weekend called me to see if we could get together again. I think he’s lost his damn mind. I was pretty clear that there would be no more get togethers.

I went out on a second date with a guy who seems really nice – we’ll call him E, but boy is he clingy & I don’t like clingy guys. We had been talking on the phone during the week & finally met on Saturday night, now he’s been calling & texting me a million times a day. He needs to AT LEAST act like he has a life! I’m starting to think that I should stop looking – it’s pointless right now! I’m a very busy person, besides traveling for work & working 10-12 hours a day, I’m in the process of doing some renovations on the condo that I own, in the process of packing up the apartment that I live in so I can move back into the condo after the renovations are done, and I also like to save a bit of free time for myself. I’m so easily annoyed by things as well, like terrible grammar. I realize that I’m not perfect & I’m willing to accept that others are not perfect, but please please please proofread your text messages and/or emails before you send them to me.

E is very sweet, but he has TERRIBLE grammar in texts, on the phone, and in person. THAT DRIVES ME INSANE, absolutely insane! I can’t stand it. I know that sometimes when we text, tweet, email or WHATEVER, we abbreviate, but abbreviations are no excuse for poor grammar.

Here are some examples – just a FYI guys – these are a NO NO!

“I want say nothing about it again”

English:“I WON’T say anything about it again OR I WON’T say anything else about it.”

“Okay call me when settle”

English: I have no idea so I won’t even try to translate that!

And as I’m blogging I just got a text from E that says “R u every (possible text mistake) going to stop traveling so much for work cause I won’t never (you have got to be kidding me?!) get to see you.”

I just put my phone down. I’ve decided it is best not to respond to his text message. My likely response wouldn’t be nice, so saying nothing at all is much better right?! (I need a job mofo – I doubt I’ll stop traveling any time soon, my job is fun, challenging, interesting, and it pays well. Until I went the lotto or marry a filthy rich man I’ll continue to travel!)

Yes…it’s best for me to remain single until I find someone who understands my career & my desire to grow professionally.

Blind Date What?!

2009-08-29T00:01:00.000-04:00

I agreed to go on 2 blind dates this weekend – one tonight (Friday) & one either on Saturday or Sunday, the 2nd date is not confirmed because I have other plans on Saturday.

Tonight’s date was a disaster. My friend thought this guy was cute & I thought he was FUUUUUUGLY! Not only was he note cute, he was rude, had bad body language, poor grammar, and horrible dining manners lol. Who the hell rates guys on all this stuff? No one other than me! We met up at a local restaurant, restaurant of my choice actually. When I arrived his first comment was wow you really are smokin. I just smiled, but wanted to punch him in the eye. Thanks for the compliment, but could you say it with a little more class? We didn’t really have anything in common (and I was annoyed by his “compliment”) so when we finally got our table, there was like an awkward silence. When our waiter came to the table, dude didn’t even wait for the waiter to ask what we wanted to drink, instead he says um can you hurry up & bring me a coke. FAILURE! The entire date! I matter of factly (soooo not a real word the alcohol made me type it) advised him that we wouldn’t be seeing each other again because of his rude behavior. Then I called up my friend & asked her what the hell she was thinking along with a few other cuss words! I hope date 2 goes better than date 1!

Date 2 has potential, he went to a great college where he played football. He has a career doing what he loves, he sounds intelligent, from pictures he’s pretty good looking, & our conversations have been interesting. No true dull moments yet with date #2 over the phone – so maybe he won’t be so bad!

Anyways! I’ll blog more tomorrow – got some other stuff on my mind, but I’m too tired to post more, MUST GET SLEEP & GO RUNNING IN THE MORNING!

Later taters!

Red Velvet Cheesecake YUM!

2009-08-20T23:04:00.003-04:00

OMG! I want a piece of cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory.....red velvet cheesecake to be exact.

I shouldn't even be thinking about food at this hour, but num num @ this cheesecake lol! I WILL be visiting the Cheesecake Factory next week!

If I Only Knew Then What I Know Now

2009-08-18T23:12:00.002-04:00

Who the hell really says that right?! Well everyone, but not everyone is willing to admit it.

HOWEVER, I’m willing to admit that I’ve made some mistakes, I’m not perfect, and I’m sure I’ll make more mistakes in the future.

I wish that I would have made more responsible decisions in my past, but that's all behind me. I can be more responsible in the future though…

Here’s my list of things I wish I knew then:

Being successful is great, but along with that success sometimes comes loneliness.
Money does not define who you are, only you can define who you are!
People will befriend you because they think they can benefit from what you have & not from who you are on the inside!
TRUE friends will be there through thick & thin, no matter how much you argue and/or fight, they’ll always have your back.
Student loan debt is a MF, be responsible & only take out the amount you need for school, not the amount you need for school & the amount you need to “have fun” while at school. Paying the loans back SUCKS ASS! I HATE STUDENT LOAN PAYMENTS!
Just because it’s shiny, it sparkles, and it’s new that doesn’t mean you can’t live without it!
Love will find you, there’s no point in looking for love.
Having an affair with a married man will only leave you with loads & loads of heartache, it’s not worth it. Just say no – kinda like what you should say to (illegal) drugs!
Your parents generally know what the hell they’re talking about.
Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer!
If a man is not willing to accept you for who & what you are, walk away because he doesn’t deserve you!
If a man has multiple children by multiple women, he’s probably a dog!
If a man has children & doesn’t pay child support, he’s not worth your time! If he isn’t taking care of his kids, why the hell would he take care of you?
If a man tells you he doesn’t want a relationship, then HE DOESN’T WANT A RELATIONSHIP! Don’t be foolish & try to convince him that he does!
When you can’t figure out what to do, turn on some music & dance your problems away.
Partying & drinking all night the day before a flight & then rushing through one of world’s craziest airports in a foreign country is a very dumb thing to do.
Partying & drinking all night the day before an 8 hour flight is even more insane, hungover motion sickness on a plane is terrible especially when crossing the Atlantic or Pacific ocean!
Breaking the heel on your favorite Nine West shoes because you ran through the airport to make your connection is totally worth it, being stuck overnight in a great city, but a roach motel is NOT worth it!
You’ll catch more flies with honey than you will with vinegar!
Don’t worry about what your “friends” are doing, worry about what you are doing & what you plan to do – only you can determine your destiny!

So that’s my list of “I wish I knew then what I know now.” The last few years I’ve gone through so many ups & downs, bad relationships, bad friendships, good friendships, good fun, good times, & good memories. I don’t want to look back & say I wish I would have, I want to look back & say this is what I did, this is what I learned, and this is how I grew!

What do you wish you knew then?

Career Frustrations

2009-08-17T09:47:00.002-04:00

Has anyone else ever felt like they are stuck in perpetual motion as far as their career goes? Almost like you know you want to advance in your career, you don’t want to be labeled as a job hopper, but you realize that there’s very little room to move in your current position? Well that’s where I am right now in my career.

I thought I was on track to learn more about a different area of my job, but it seems as if some people and or projects are blocking that. The story behind this is pretty strange from my point of view. I have a coworker who has been my advocate since day 1 of me starting with the company. I’ve talked with him about what I want to do & how I see myself progressing through my career with the company. (Notice I say career because I do want to make this a long term thing) He’s been the big push to move me forward, I’ve learned a lot about our product, how it works, and have done a few demos for internal & external customers. I’ve also helped on some pre-sales activities, but I haven’t played as much as an active role in the pre-sales/sales cycle as I would like to. I’m assigned to a project with people who I feel are holding me back from pursuing the other side of what I’d like to do. I know that it’s not all about me, we must do what’s best for the project & the company, but I see no reason why I can’t take on a few extra duties. It’s not as if I don’t work at least 10-12 hours a day if not more! I’m willing to take on extra because I’m willing to learn, grow, and help others! Each time I’m given an opportunity there are 2 people who make it virtually impossible for me to explore the opportunity. The first time there were statements that “she can help with the first session, but not the second because we need her on x project,” the second time around was “we’re at too critical a stage in the project for her to shift her focus off of this & help with pre-sales/sales.”

NOW what annoys me about this situation…2 things: There are 2 business people assigned to my project, me & another person. The other person isn’t responsible, he’s borderline lazy, he’s not proactive & complains about how everything isn’t “right.” (That’s merely his opinion) I think the thought is if I were to shift my focus even the slightest bit, the project may fail because the other person wouldn’t be up to the challenge of doing what I do….even though he has much longer tenure & project experience than I do. The other thing is that when someone else from the project, say someone on another team such as testing, is asked if he/she will do some pre-sales/sales support, the answer is always yes. There’s never any push back from the project manager or any others. The only push back that exists is when someone asks me to help with other activities that aren’t focused on this one project that I’m assigned to.

I’m becoming rather annoyed with this because I have expressed to many people at many different levels within our company that I want to & CAN handle additional responsibilities that aren’t project related. I’ve done a bit of it before when I wasn’t assigned to the project that I’m on now, but since this assignment people have made it IMPOSSIBLE for me to learn & grow. I’ve been trying to figure out what to do, you know….what happens when your company’s goals and your own career goals don’t come close to matching up? Is it then time to move on? I don’t particularly want to move on because I have invested so much time into what I do & just as I have invested time, the company has invested time & money into me. I mean really, the opportunities have been great so far, traveling the US & the world is awesome. I won’t give that up right now, but I need to figure something out. Any advice? Anyone else in the same situation?

What A Week!!!

2009-08-15T01:52:00.008-04:00

This week was a long week, it was a stressful week, I thought that I was going to scream at every single person I work with. I mean it was almost a bit ridiculous! Some days I just can’t get enough, other days I’ve had waaaaaay too much!

So what’s up you ask?!?! I’m moving back into my condo after 2 years of not living there. I purchased the condo back in 2005, lived in it until 2007 & then moved to a bigger city to start on my MBA. After a year of working full time, traveling both in and out of the US, and trying to keep up with course work, I realized that I was failing miserably at school & something had to give. Because I’ve got a totally awesome (yes stressful) job, I knew that my MBA had to be put on hold for a while. At least until I could get my comfortable in my job. I moved back to the town that I semi grew up in (military brat remember) & got an apartment. I didn’t move back into my condo immediately because I was renting it out. Renting a property that I wasn’t able to check into on a monthly basis – bad idea, terrible idea actually. My condo is empty, I’ve started to assess the damage done by others and it’s ridiculous that people could be so careless with something that doesn’t belong to them!

Most of my weekends will be spent getting the house back into a condition that I would like to live in! I had a professional carpet cleaning company come in to salvage the carpet!! Thankfully, the carpet looks great post cleaning, minus the marker spots in the master bedroom. Next week I expect to have the condo professionally painted & now I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the paint color that I picked out! Anyways, it’s a really warm gold tone & I like it! I’ve already put up wooden blinds in both bedrooms, but still have to replace the blinds in the living room and kitchen. I’m also toying with the idea of hardwood floors. I haven’t made a decision one way or another, but I think hardwoods would look great in my place!

I hope the next couple of months fly by & the transition from my apartment to my condo goes smooth! Boy have I learned some lessons from this landlord thing, I don’t think I’ll ever try to do this again; at least not until I have more time to manage it personally! Trying to manage such a thing from another Country, let alone another State is horrifying! It angers me that people don’t respect the property of others, but I guess we all live and learn huh?

On a lighter note, I have fallen in love with Banana Republic’s pants. I heart that place!! 36 inch inseam pants means that I can now wear dress pants AND high heels to work, I don’t have to sacrifice one for the other AND thanks to my corporate card rewards program, I have tons of Banana Republic gift cards! Ladies you know what that means right?! TIME TO SHOP!

Hello world!

2009-08-08T22:58:00.001-04:00

Welcome, bienvenue, willkommen! So my first blog post here on Blogger & I'm not even sure what to say. I guess I'll start by giving you a bet of info about myself. I'm a 20 something college graduate trying to figure out my way through life, love, and my kinda super awesome career. I'm a fun loving, good natured, silly woman. I love going out with my girls, but I also appreciate a nice quiet night cuddled up with a blanket on my couch & a glass of wine. I'm an air force brat & a bit of a daddy's girl - my family is the most important thing to me & your family should be the most important thing to you! :)

This blog is intended to be an outlet for me, so get ready for a bunch of rants & raves about life's ups & downs.

Enough with the intros - my first real post

2009-08-08T20:18:00.000-04:00

Here it is, a Saturday night, almost Sunday morning & I am sitting at home....drinking a glass of wine & enjoying the peace & quiet of my house - well except for my iPhone text message noise.

My mind is filled with all kinds of thoughts tonight, some days I'm not sure where I'm going. I know where I've been, where I don't want to be again, but I don't know where I'm going. It's like I'm lost in a midst of ideas - ideas of what other people think my life should be like. I don't follow a crowd - I'm the crowd leader & it's so unlike me to NOT KNOW my own next steps. Alot of my friends are either getting married or having babies, needless to say I'm a career woman, and right now I don't want any babies (especially not out of wedlock). I haven't been in a serious relationship since 2007 & I'm so unsure if I'll find a man who's ready for a serious relationship anyway. I'm just so uncertain at the moment.

Relationships:

My last serious relationship ended badly & I mean very badly. I was extremely hurt, I won't go into details because there's no point in rehashing it, but I was more in love with him than he was with me. I gave more than 100% of myself to him, I got lost in him, he was my everything & that was the biggest mistake of my life. I never should have made him the center of my universe - soooooooo wasn't worth it. After we broke up, my career took a drastic turn for the better & I threw myself into a new job with new people & new experiences. At first it was great, but I found myself lonely & turning to yet another toxic relationship with a coworker who was (well still is) married. I had never met someone like him & he had never met someone like me - we just clicked from the time we met to the first time to the first time we danced together, then to the first time we kissed, & you know what happened after that. Initially I was so intrigued by him, he left me speechless, he literally swept me off of my feet. We're total opposites, he's conservative, quiet, a bit laid back, & almost comes off as shy until you get him to open up; me - I'm the mix and mingle girl that everyone wants to know, the young career minded, determined, and motivated head turner at our company, I'm not shy in the least, not at all. Anyways, somehow we've managed to have this ongoing (more simply stated) sexual relationship that we've tried to end on many occasions, but always wind up in a situation where we can't control our minds or our bodies. I know it's wrong & so many times I tell myself I'm going to walk away & I am, but I want to walk away to someone. I don't want to walk away & know that I have no one to fill the void. One day in my life I am going to look back on this and realize how terrible of a person I am....I hope.

Friends:

You know that TLC song What About Your Friends? hehehe I used to love that shit! My friends - well, they're all different. I'm a girl with tons of friends, I can hang out with pretty much anyone. The really sad and frustrating thing is that none of my friends are like me. You know that old saying "it's lonely at the top?" I am living proof that the saying is true. I'm by no means at the top, I'm not even in the prime of my career, BUT I've been blessed with a job like no other. A job that is totally stressful, that I sometimes devote 12-14 hours a day to, however, the pay is great, my job is flexible, I get to travel a lot, I have worked in several different countries, and I've got tons of financial industry connections. However, I have no close friends that do the same thing or make the same kind of money. Sometimes I want to go out to a really fancy restaurant, but I know that will prompt statements like we don't make as much money as you, or we can't afford it. That's super frustrating, however, I keep reminding myself that they will soon hit their peak too & I'll be right there with alongside to help them enjoy the fun!

Career:

So I won't tell you what I do, because I do want my blog to remain totally anonymous, but I'll give you some clues. I work in the financial service industry with several clients, helping them to explore new solutions to realize their business goals & boost their profits. I started this job several years ago & I've been addicted to it ever since. Like with any job, this job has lots of ups & downs. When I first started, as you can imagine, I was totally uncomfortable & lacked a lot of confidence in myself in such a controlling position. The business plans that I recommended could potentially change a business forever, so they had to be well thought out, highly analyzed plans. Now that I'm a few years into the job, my confidence has grown & I'm making such a good impression on upper management. I've been blessed with an opportunity to explore a different area of the business, but my current assignment is holding me back a little bit - once it is over, I should be good to move on & learn new things. A part of me is excited for what the future holds, but the other part is nervous at the possibility of failure.

Life....I'm not sure where it's going to take me & I'm not sure if I'm ready for the ups & down to come, but what choice do I have? I never want to look back & say I wish I would have - I always want to look back at the memories, the pictures, the good times, the smiles, the fun, the laughter, the tears, the pain, the struggle & say this is what I did!

It's late - 12:16 AM to be exact & I need to get to sleep. Tomorrow is laundry day...ugh! I need a maid!

~*Seize The Moments*~

Shopaholics Anonymous

My Life: A Moving Target? Naaaah!

Memo to my neighbors

The Last Few Months

Monday Morning Madness

Let's Hear It For New York!!

Temporary Hiatus

Old Navy Super Modelquin - CALLING ALL VOTERS

Child Directs Plane At JFK...INSANE

Ten On Tuesday

Unrealistic Expectations?

Relaxing Before My First 5K

Home Renovations

Getting Back On Track

Snowpocalypse in GA & My Lovely Blog Award

I GOT THE JOB!!!!

Who Doesn't Love Me...Um, I Mean Blog Awards! ;)

I Need Your Help!!

Back To Life...Back To Reality

Beautiful Blogger Award

New Year's Day Superstitions

2009 Survey!

The Temporary Absence Is Over...Kinda

14. I'm Stuck In The Airport - Why Not Blog

13. Google Waaaaaaaaaaave! I'm Am In....Are You?

12. OMG THIS IS HUGE!

11. I suck

10. I GOT A BLOG AWARD!!! LET’S CELEBRATE!

9. I’m Traveling Next Week – How I ‘Work It” On The Road

8. Install In Progress

7. Windows 7: To install or not to install

6. My Productive Sunday

5. My Dilemma - Solved By Suze Orman

4. Let's Talk About Home Ownership!

3. Tonight I Must Say Thank You

2. Trying New Things

1. High Blood Pressure!!!??? Weight Loss? Workout? WHAAAT?

Monday Morning Madness

I WANT!

Happy Thanksgiving! What Are YOU Thankful For?

Awkward Run-in With The Ex

How important is respect in a friendship?

F♥ck It! Let's Do It!

Remember That Job Offer?

$75K Isn't Enticing

10/09/09 - Will My Life Change Forever?

You Better Shop Around

Traveling Girls Guide – What Makes My Life In The Air Easier!

On My Mind!

Wordless Wednesday - Things I want...NOW!

It's Best For Me To Remain Single Until....

Blind Date What?!

Red Velvet Cheesecake YUM!

If I Only Knew Then What I Know Now

Career Frustrations

What A Week!!!

Hello world!

Enough with the intros - my first real post

~Seize The Moments~