It was an interesting night

I know none of you are going to believe this, but...I was just e-mailed by the sad princess Eliza who has lost her father and needs to get to America with her millions of dollars...what a predicament! I can't get any photos until I email her back, but I imagine she is looks something like this: Unfortunately, she doesn't know my name, (she found my email on the "internet record", whatever that is) but she is in desperate need of my help. You see, she has just escaped from her evil stepmother (who probably looks something like this):She needs me to give her my bank account information so she can deposit into it her 8.4 million dollar inheritance that her stepmother is trying to steal. She can't do it herself, you see, because she is a refugee and the bank won't let her. Guess what? I ALSO get 30% of the money when she arrives in the states just for my help! Not only that, but she is asking me (ME!) to offer her financial advice. I mean, I AM listed on the "internet record" as a financial expert. And don't worry, this is all confidential. It's almost like it's too good to be true, or a scam or something...

(thanks google for the pictures!)

It was a boring afternoon

So boring, in fact, that I started taking pictures of how bored I was...So I decided to un-bore myself--time for a project! What you need: One old (flat) picture frame...One bag of square mosaic tiles (you pick the color)...An old paintbrush and some new Mod Podge...

The cutest dog in the world (who is willing to lay on your legs while you work)...

And then you start paint-gluing those tiles right on! First it looks like this... And then the cute little dog decides she wants to help after all... With her help, it's almost done...And then, voila! A brand new picture frame!

"It was a good morning" (or, "I am in an exaggerating mood")

I woke up late this morning. I drove 89 hours (45 minutes) to stand in line for 16 hours (25 minutes) for a parking pass, only to realize...I left my wallet at home. I then parked in Libya (a 15 minute walk away) from the bookstore to retrieve my books, and carried my 17 two ton bags (2 bags at about 20lb. each. I'm estimating.) back to my car. I finally got home 3 months (45 minutes) later, only to realize I had forgotten to go by the bank and drop off a check and had to turn right back around.

Why then was this a good morning, you ask?

1. I got to sleep in!

2. A very nice lady at the parking pass place (say THAT 19 times (3 times) fast) told me not to worry, just park anywhere I needed to tomorrow, and if I got a ticket to bring it in and they would handle it.

3. A very nice man at the bookstore helped me find all my books.

4. Another very nice lady at the bookstore cash-stand let me type in my credit card number from memory (yes, I am actually so absent minded that I have memorized all of the important numbers in my life) since my credit card WAS AT HOME.

5. My sister called and made me laugh. Like usual.

6. I got this:

stamped on my bank receipt!

See? A good morning!

Look look look!

So...I was lucky enough to be the winner of a wonderful giveaway hosted by Melissa at So about what I said! She is such a fun, honest writer; go check her out! And look look look what I got!: This pretty (and PINK!!) bracelet is gorgeous! Thank you Jo at Lifestyle Bohemia for making such a beautiful piece! I am having so much fun wearing it!

(Do you see the heart?? Isn't it lovely!?)

Crosses

I have been thinking lately about how much is going on in my life, how much is changing, and how much I am dealing with. And it reminded me of a story...

Once, there was a man who felt as though the world rested on his shoulders. He thought his "cross to bear" was too great. He had so many problems, it felt as if his cross was weighing him down. So this man asked God to take his cross away, to let him bear a smaller burden. God heard his request and came to the man. He took away the man's burden laden cross and told the man he could choose any cross he wanted in its place. He took the man to a room filled with crosses.

The man looked around. Many crosses were as large as trees, built thick and strong. Some were riddled with nails and thorns. The man thought he would look around and choose the smallest cross he could find. He looked and looked, and finally found the smallest cross in the room, leaning against the wall. He told God that this was the cross he wanted. God smiled gently and said to the man, "But son, that is the cross I have just taken from you."

You never know who around you is dealing with a loved one dying slowly of a disease, has been layed off, can't afford to feed their family for a night. Be patient, be kind.

I love this story, because it reminds me that no matter what we have in our lives to deal with, it won't be any more than we can handle. Be glad-not that others are suffering, but that you have the ability to handle the load you have been given.

(thank you psychologytoday, faithandfacts, and nzhistory for the pictures!)

What I will NOT miss about my store

1. The 87 people who call every day asking for tickets to the Grand Ole Opry. I'm not sure when we changed our phone number away from what the Opry's used to be, but I think it was back in 1902. Stop calling, people.

2. Dealing with mean spirited customers. That's all I'll say about that one.

3. Having to work 65 hours a week with no overtime.

4. Madly scrambling for a mop and buckets when the air conditioner starts leaking.

5. Never being able to do enough.

6. Making the (approximately) 23,541 trips to the dumpsters, which are (approximately) 23,541 feet away to take trash out.

7. Spiders. And beetles. Ick.

8. Metal wall decor. Not fun to open, not fun to merchandise.

9. The thievery! Believe it or not, people actually think I won't notice that they are wearing a giantly oversized, suspiciously bulky trench coat in August. Go figure.

10. I KNOW 100% that I am not meant to be there (in charge, anyways). I am meant to save lives! So Master's degree, here I come!

(thank you redbubble for the picture!)

Why I will miss my store

1. I have met some of the most wonderful people (both employees and customers), and some I am positive I will know for a lifetime.
2. Making my own schedule. Nothing beats picking your own days off.
3. Unloading and processing our trucks. I know, I'm weird...but I LOVE seeing all the new and fun things we get in!
4. Re-setting the store in one giant overnight with friends and cookies and chips and trips to Target to try on footie pajamas and take pictures in the kiddie section with them on and be politely asked if we could cease and desist (true story) because we are tired of working.
5. CHRISTMAS! The best day of the year is Christmas blitz--hanging up ornaments, decorating the trees...ahhhhh, I love it.
6. Going in early...just because I can..., turning on some quiet music, and catching up on paperwork.
7. Being the first to know what's going on sale!
8. "Free" chocolate
9. Getting to decorate the store with furniture and flowers and accessories so I don't spend so much money on my own place...
10. Our friendly neighborhood stray dog, Macaroni! (We named her that because the first thing we ever fed her were macaroni bites).

To be continued...

(thanks NYT for the picture!)

Love Letters, Chapter 3

Dear One Day Husband,

There will probably be times when you may have to leave me. Business trips, and, I actually can't think of any other reasons why you would leave me. But if any other situations come up (and I SO hope they won't), I would really like to have a run-and-jump-hug when you get back. Preferably with a professional photographer sneaking around somewhere to capture the moment, because it's just so powerful and special and filled with butterflies-in-your-stomach and being squeezed just tightly enough and not wanting to let go and smiles so big it makes you want to cry, don't you think? Maybe we could have one when we first meet, because I already miss you. I've included some pictures for your reference.

Love,

Me

(thank you amolife for the pictures!)

Letters to people I will probably never meet, Chapter 1

*There are always people I see every day that I wish I could ask questions or make comments to. So, since I never have time when I see them (read: since it would probably be incredibly awkward and usually impossible to talk to most of these people), I shall talk to them through letters...which only you will read. Unless I become famous, and then these people might read about themselves one day. But I doubt it.*

Dear 3 women walking down the street this morning,

What on earth were you doing at SIX in the morning going for a walk? Do you have a better time to exercise? SIX?! You ladies are passionate. Now, several things: 1) Woman on the right: a dress is not appropriate workout wear. Maybe you were going to work, but your friends were in sweats. Maybe this would be a good idea next time. 2) You were each carrying sticks. Not big sticks, or baseball bats, just sticks, like my 2 year old cousin would pick up out of the yard. a) Were you carrying these for protection? If yes, did you actually think you would do any damage with them? b) What kind of mugger do you think walks around stalking groups of women at SIX IN THE MORNING (emphasis added) walking in a quiet neighborhood? I AM proud of you three for getting out and going for a walk though. It's more than I did today.

Sincerely,

Me

P.S. SIX?!

(thank you Main street vintage for the picture!)

Body parts of the snake.

I just wanted to remind everyone that I was probably the coolest/cutest/most imaginative kid there ever was. I'll try to do this from time to time, just so you don't forget. And yes, that is a drawing of a snake, and yes, snakes DO have toes. How else would they paint their toenails? I was also a SMART kid! Also, missing there next to the arrow on the right are the "shulders". I wouldn't want you guys to miss out on ANY of these very important body parts. (Sorry, the paper was big and the scanner was small.)

**Please note that at age 4 (or however old I was), "stomach" is spelled "stumike". Just so when you interact with children, you'll know.

Oh Happy Day: the sequel to One Fine Day

I just got this picture on my phone:

MY SISTER IS OFFICIALLY ENGAGED!!! CONGRATULATIONS, SISTER!!!! :)

One Fine Day

It takes me about 8 minutes to get to my store from my house, and today, in those 8 minutes, I realized: Today was going to be a great day.

Call #1 on my way to work came from my AM, who told me that if I could please hurry, she would appreciate it because they were trying to pull together a $2,100 sale. Yeah. As it turns out, the sale ended up being FIFTY SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS!! We made up our entire week's losses with that one sale. Thank you, I'm-decorating-my-office-lady. I appreciate you.

Call #2 came from my friend who is also a Store Manager in Nashville to tell me that someone had run their CAR into her STORE. I guess she didn't see it or something... I'm not lying. I know, it sounds like a movie. I laughed so hard I cried. It made this hole in the incredibly thick glass:And then it completely shattered while she was standing there looking at it:

Once again, I laughed so hard I cried. I mean, really? How do you explain that to the insurance company?

"Uhh, I have just had an accident."

"Whose fault was it?"

"Well, I was the only person involved."

"Oh. What did you run into?"

"Um, A STORE."

And THEN, as if that was not enough to make my day, as I was turning into my shopping center, I saw a man. Dressed like an elf. A Christmas elf. Green coat looking thing, black belt, HAT. People, I cannot make this stuff up. I slammed on my brakes and madly scrambled for my camera, but he turned a corner and went inside some apartments. So, make do with this picture of Will Ferrell from Elf...it is a pretty close representation of how this man looked. I think this guy was wearing tennis shoes though. And he had green pants with fur. But other than that:

And you're probably thinking, how could it get any better? It did. THIS little guy came into the store as I was leaving!:

Isn't he precious? His name was Edward (after Edward Cullen in the Twilight books. Seriously.) He was like a tiny little furball!

Here's to a great end to a fun week. Can't wait for next week...last week being able to call the store MY store!

Cliche

"There will be storms, child

There will be storms

And with each tempest

You will seem to stand alone

Against cruel winds

But with time, the rage and fury

Shall subside

And when the sky clears

You will find yourself

Clinging to someone

You would have never known

But for storms."

-Margie DeMerell

If we don't fail, we won't know success. If we don't fall, we can't pick ourselves back up. If we don't cry, we don't know whose shoulder we can cry on. We wouldn't have great days if we didn't have bad days to put up in comparison. The sun couldn't rise if it hadn't set, and there wouldn't be rainbows without the rain.

Smile. It's always going to be alright.

Little Brother goes to college

Up and at 'em bright and early at 6:00am! Sister and I rode with Brother down to Samford. (Mother and Dad drove the SUV with the actual dorm room clothes/goodies in it.)These green shirted helpers swarmed our car like locusts when we got there. The luggage was in the room before we had the car stopped. We "decorated" Brother's room. (This consisted of hanging his clothes in the closet and making the bed. Oh, boys will be boys...MY dorm room was full of cute pictures and shoes.)

We met Brother's Roommate--a football player! He's a good seed. We visited Brother's friend K's room and she got a picture with Brother......and with me and Sister!We visited the "bookstore", also the size of a large bathroom or small hut, and I got this cool shirt...gotta support the Little Brother!We go back to Brother's dorm and see this sign (visitation between 2 PM and 12 AM!!...HA!):No late night parties...that you get CAUGHT having ;)

We got the typical sibling picture right before we have to say goodbye ;(.

I am going to miss Little Brother! He always makes me laugh and makes a bad day better. We have such a good time together and we have so much in common. I am so blessed to have gotten such a good one! Thanks for being one of my besties, Brother. ;) Happy College!

P.S. The sky gave us a show on the way home!

That's me doing the bunny ears

Finally, what you've all been waiting for: proof that I was just as big a goofball 17-20 years ago (sorry, no date on the picture) as I am now.

A day (-ish) in my life

Morning-ish (I sleep late, remember?):

I woke up and remembered it was my first day off in SEVEN days (YAY!), grabbed my morning can of diet coke and my breakfast bar, and headed to the computer for a leisurely hour of online window shopping. I admit, I have a problem with shoes. And purses. Not that kind of problem. Problem as in I would rather have a pair of Christian Louboutins than, say, eat dinner for a month problem. I'll have to mention that to One Day Husband. ("Sorry, honey. Tonight we are going to sit in front of the fire and look at my shoes instead of chowing down on chicken and potatoes. And that's what we're going to do tomorrow night too. All the way until October. It'll be great!") Christian Louboutin and I are actually in love. These are his new (ok, new-ISH) limited edition Marie Antoinette heels. And I MUST have them. (You know, with that spare $6000 I found yesterday in my winter coat and couch cushions.):

Sometime after my shoe lust had waned (a TEENSEY bit):

I shopped and ate, and ate and shopped, and then I realized...I hadn't checked my phone since yesterday! "Maybe someone will have sent me a fun message!" I thought. As it turns out, I had several messages, but none of them were fun. Apparently, I thought it would be a good idea to completely forget about (and hence sleep through) my weekly conference call. You know, the same call that has happened EVERY WEEK at the SAME TIME for THREE YEARS. And so...I began to hyperventilate. When I could breathe normally again, I called my RM and it turns out...it wasn't a huge deal. Thanks. They could have told me that in one of those texts I checked before I went into major-panic-so-hard-I-need-a-nap-afterwards mode.

Late Morning-ish:

I am still (--insert sneaky happy face--) online window shopping when I hear Mocha playing. "How cute," I think. "I shall play too!" Turns out, Mocha was trying to wrestle with my ankle brace. Not a toy Mocha. Good imagination though.

Early afternoon-ish:

I go for a run. 3 miles! Yay me!

Late in the early afternoon-ish:

I get out of the shower, put on a robe, and realize it is going to take me 13 hours to dry my hair.

4 days later:

My hair is dry.

1 minute later:

I realize my hair looks like something from the Addams family.25 minutes after that:

My hair is saved by my Chi (Ok, and Mother. Oh c'mon! The back parts are hard to reach!).

3 minutes after that:

I put on my jeans. (Don't worry, I am going somewhere with this one.) I know exactly which shirt I want to wear. I look in my closet. Nope. Dirty clothes? No. Clean clothes on my couch? NO. Random pile of clothes I STILL haven't folded from my vacation? NOT THERE. At this point you'd think...she's going to pick another shirt! You'd be wrong. Now it's personal. Between me and the shirt. I WILL find this shirt, and I WILL wear it; I don't care how long it takes.

49 minutes later:

I win. Take that, shirt! (Imagine how I am at board games.)

Early evening-ish:

I get my toes done! This is possibly one of the ONLY financial splurges I ever make (unfortunately, buying $1000 shoes only happens in my head). But seriously, it feels amazing. Am I right?So yeah, that's how my life generally goes every day. Eat, shop, lust after shoes, panic, write, shop, fight with my hair, fight with my clothes, shop, eat (insert "work" in between fight with clothes and shop on a non off day). I didn't say it was exciting; it's just my life. And I can't wait for it to all happen again tomorrow.

Except tomorrow...PROJECT RUNWAY IS BACK!! woo!!

Love Letters, Chapter 2

Dear One Day Husband,

I know you will be going off to work every morning (I hope), maybe except for Saturdays and Sundays (and a few Fridays when we're feeling sneaky), and I want a kiss before you leave every morning. Even if I am still asleep (I may as well go ahead and admit it...I sleep late. I know you still love me anyways). Even if I am so groggy that I don't know what's going on and I throw a pillow at you. Even if I am awake, but still tired and I throw a pillow at you. And I promise to kiss you back. (Unless I am asleep. But then I promise to dream about kissing you.)

Love,

Me

(image from ffffound)

Conversations.

Made me laugh out loud in the Movie section:

(Overheard)
8:42 a.m.
Target employee #1: "You know how hard it is to stop smoking? As hard as it is to start flossing."
Target employee #2: "You don't floss?"
Target employee #1: "My friends say to me, 'Why are you so jittery?', and I say, 'Because I am about to floss.'"


My life is comparatively boring:

2:04 p.m.

K: (walking into my office) "I punched my boyfriend in the face."

Me: "Did he deserve it?"

K: "Yes."

Me: "OK then."

How I know I have been at the store too long:
4:18 p.m.
S: (reading from a greeting card at the store) "'Yesterday is history...'. You know, yesterday was a good day. Why can't today be yesterday?"
Me: Because (reading from same greeting card), 'Today is a gift'."
S: "But I don't like today. Can't I return it?"
Me: "Only with an original receipt dated within 30 days of the purchase."

Guys, I know I complain about the store, but I really am going to miss it. Maybe I'll share the things I will miss (and what I WON'T miss) in a later episode. 10 days left!

I have a confession...

...I love cupcakes. Mostly the cupcake tops, with a lot of icing, and just a little bit of cake. But if the cake is good enough, then yes, that too. Don't these make your mouth water for a cupcake?: And my life-long-love of cupcakes has finally met its soulmate: Gigi’s in Nashville. Her cupcakes are to die for. She uses exotic ingredients to make the most delicious cupcakes I have ever tasted. Also, her cupcakes are HUGE. Let me break it down for you...you are given a SPOON to eat your cupcake with. The company was started by...who else...Gigi! She learned to cook from her great aunts as a little girl. On her home page, she says "My mission is to touch each person with that special kind of love and hoping you will live life to the fullest one cupcake at a time." Doesn't she sound cool?! Currently, there are only stores in Tennessee, but she is opening new ones in CA, GA, KY, TX, and AL soon! People all over Nashville love Gigi's cupcakes, and with names like:

White Midnight Magic Chocolate Chip,

Caramel Sugar Mama,

Chocolate Malt (it comes with a straw!)

and Key Lime,

how could anyone turn a cupcake down?!

(thank you google, the groovy baker, and Gigi’s for the pictures!)