Well…
Maybe not.
At least, not right now. I started my new job last Friday and I’ve been doing a lot of training, not a lot of actual work. It’s been hard to get used to working 8:30 am to 5:30 pm, especially since I actually have to get out of bed around 6:00 am.
Well…today’s really the only day I actually woke up at 5:45. Most other days it’s been around 7:00 and I have to run around frantically trying to get ready.
I really think I’m going to like my new job. Everyone seems super nice and the atmosphere is really casual. I still can’t get past the idea that we’re actually allowed to drink at work.
I’m not even joking people. On my first day I walked by a guy that was carrying a beer. SO weird.
Anyway, I know I haven’t been posting much (at all) lately… I’ve just been so BUSY. I’m not complaining by any means, but I’m worn out. This is the first night I haven’t had anything to do in a couple of weeks and I’m not quite sure what to do with myself. I’m definitely going to try to go to bed by 10:00 at the latest. I haven’t been able to get to bed before midnight since I started working…so every day I’ve been running on around five hours of sleep.
Lucky for me, they also have a very casual dress code. It helps to know that you can throw on a sweatshirt and jeans when you wake up fifteen minutes before you have to leave. Not that I would necessarily do that. I’m just sayin’.
My life outside of work has been pretty great, too. I had an awesome dinner with some friends Monday night and they made a chocolate cake for me to take home. A WHOLE CHOCOLATE CAKE.
That earned them favorite people status for at least a week.
Of course, I haven’t had a single piece of it yet. I took it to someone else’s house last night in an attempt to share and ended up leaving it there. Now my chocolate cake is being held hostage and I’m busy making sad faces.
So that’s what’s been going on with me…
And I’m tired so now I’m going to bed. At 8:45 pm.
Don’t judge me.
Well guys…Tomorrow morning I start my new job. It just doesn’t seem real yet. Oddly enough, I’m not really feeling nervous now but I’m sure that will kick in tomorrow morning.
I don’t know what got into me today, but I went on a crazy organizing rampage in my bedroom. When Stef and Jess moved in I waited ’til the last minute and then piled a bunch of stuff on my bedroom floor. It’s mostly been a mess ever since and it was my goal to take care of it during my unemployment.
Of course, I waited ’til the last day.
I’ve done at least 4 loads of laundry today (including sheets and towels) and I still have a lot left BUT the pile on my floor is gone. Hooray! I also figured out how to store my earrings and necklaces so they won’t end up in a tangled mess. I’m pretty proud of myself.
This morning I printed and filled out all of my new-hire paperwork. I even managed to locate my checkbook so I’ll be able to set up direct deposit.
My travel coffee mug is clean and I have my clothes picked out for tomorrow…I even organized my purse and painted my nails.
I feel like a real grown-up!
Actually, now that I think about it, I feel like tomorrow is the first day of school.
Moving on…
Earlier this week Jesse decided to make fried chicken for dinner so I made mashed potatoes and green beans to go with it. I have to say, for the first time he’d ever tried to make chicken it was pretty awesome. I have pictures, so as soon as he gets home I’ll find out what recipe he used and post it.
I’m not much of a girly girl… I think we can all agree on that. I HAVE recently found some beauty products that I absolutely love and I’m so nice that I’m going to share them with you! I’m even thinking of doing a contest with one of the items as a prize. Who doesn’t love free stuff?!
Bath and Body Works Twilight Woods
Pictured:
- Shower gel
- Body lotion
- fragrance mist
- Eau de toilette
- Pocketbac
- Travel size lotion
I’m OBSESSED with this stuff… I love the way it smells. I’ve also always been a big fan of Bath and Body Works body lotion. I put it on right out of the shower when my skin is still a little damp and it lasts all day. Find everything pictured and more goodies here: Bath and Body Works
Fekkai Technician Color Care
This stuff ain’t cheap… I got a starter kit (travel-size shampoo, conditioner, and a 3-minute mask) for $26.00. It actually lasts a while for me since I try not to wash my hair every day. If you’re buying full-size (8 oz.) bottles they’ll cost you about $26.00 each but it really is worth it. I’m convinced this stuff is the reason my hair color is still as pretty as the day I had it done PLUS it seems to make my hair behave like nothing I’ve tried before. Add in the fact that it smells like I’d imagine a unicorn fart does and I might never use another brand. EVER. Find it here: Fekkai Website
Mirra Cleansing Cloths
It’s no big secret that I’m super lazy when it comes to taking my makeup off at night…But having these around makes it a lot easier. Each cloth has an exfoliating side that has rough little nubs on it. They seem to do a really good job getting rid of makeup and they help quite a bit if you have some dry, flaky skin. Mirra is actually a Kroger brand, so if you have a Kroger grocery store near you look for them in the skincare section. Here’s some more information about the other products offered by this brand: Kroger site Also, sometimes you can find the products by searching on Amazon.com.
Burt's Bees
Ok, seriously. Who doesn’t love Burt’s Bees? If you haven’t tried their lip balm you’re seriously missing out. I can’t be without the beeswax lip balm and right now I think I have about ten of them. I picked up the tinted lip balm in Red Dahlia yesterday and of course it’s good stuff, too. The color looks pretty dark in the tube but when you put it on it’s actually quite light and pretty. The only thing I don’t like about the tinted balm is that it doesn’t make your lips tingle like the regular beeswax balm does. I’m seriously addicted to that tingle…so much that I have to layer the tinted balm over the beeswax balm. Check out all of their awesome all-natural products here: Burt’s Bees
MAC Eyeshadows and Primer
Pictured:
- Primer (Painterly)
- Beautiful Iris
- Hepcat (this picture doesn’t do the color justice)
- Amber Lights
- Vanilla
- Retrospeck (goes with almost any color…it gets A LOT of use, as you can probably tell)
- Steamy
- Shadowy Lady (this one gets used quite a bit as a liner…it’s a very deep purple)
Words can’t express how much I love MAC eyeshadows…The colors are amazing, they blend well, and when used with the MAC primer they don’t crease. Come to think of it, even without the primer I don’t have an issue with creases at all. This isn’t my entire collection, but these are definitely the colors I find myself using the most. These aren’t cheap eyeshadows… You’ll spend about $15.00 for each one. I usually buy three at a time as a treat when I can make it to the MAC store. I’ve also ordered online, but there’s just nothing like paying a visit to a MAC counter and being able to try the colors out. Here’s an index of their current colors: MAC Cosmetics
Physicians Formula Shimmer Strip in Smoky Green Eyes
Given my affection for expensive MAC eyeshadow, I was incredibly surprised by how much I liked this stuff. I picked it up on a whim one day while grocery shopping and it’s become my go-to eyeshadow for daily wear. I use the bottom three colors the most, because they give you a little smokiness that’s still appropriate for daytime. I was also surprised to find that I actually like the little sponge applicator for lining my eyes. They have a different combination of colors for every eye color out there…my eyes are actually hazel but I wanted to see if it would make the green in my eyes stand out… It definitely did! Here’s a link to the different eyeshadow products they offer: Physician’s Formula
Try some of these out and let me know what you think! What are your favorite products?
Also, let me know which products you’d like to have a chance to win in the comments. I’m definitely thinking about doing it soon.
Um, hi guys… It’s been a minute.
Things have been SO busy for me lately…I’ve not only neglected my blog but also my Facebook and Twitter. The problem is that I don’t exactly want to share what I’ve been doing.
It’s nothing bad or illegal…it’s just…mine.
I know, I’m not making any sense right now. I’m not used to being quiet about anything, especially when it’s something good. Trust me, a big part of me wants to write a long post in bold caps lock about everything that’s gone on in the last couple of weeks. The thing is, some of it doesn’t involve just me. Out of respect for the other person (who doesn’t even know I have a blog) I’m going to keep my trap shut.
BUT.
Never fear! I do have a bit of good news I can share with you!
Starting Friday morning at 9:00 am I will officially re-enter the world of employment! I got the offer last Friday and I’m very much looking forward to working for this company. It isn’t another school, thank God, but it does still involve sales. It’s also in downtown Indy, which means it would still be an hour drive. Luckily, once my regular hours start after training I’ll be working 11:15 – 8:15 so I won’t have to get up early for too terribly long.
One thing about this job that excites me quite a bit…I can wear jeans every day! They actually said I could wear whatever I want…I saw a couple of guys walking around dressed as if they were going to the gym. The whole atmosphere seems very laid back and everyone seems to be friendly. I’m really looking forward to getting started!
Things are going so well for me that I’m almost holding my breath all day waiting for something bad to happen. I haven’t been this happy in…um…well, I can’t recall. Maybe EVER.
I’m sorry I haven’t kept up with you guys and I promise I’m going to make more of an effort. I hope y’all can forgive me!
Pie can’t compete with cake. Put candles in a cake, it’s a birthday cake. Put candles in a pie, and somebody’s drunk in the kitchen.
-Jim Gaffigan
Sunday was my dad’s birthday and we planned to go to one of his favorite restaurants in Greencastle (a mom and pop place called Mama Nunz) and then hang out for a bit at my Mamaw’s house. Dad isn’t a huge fan of cake but he does love pie so I decided to make him a birthday strawberry rhubarb pie.
I’ve never made a pie before but I heard from more than one person that the filling tends to be runny for this particular kind of pie. I did some internet searching and found a recipe on one of my favorite food blogs, Smitten Kitchen (recipe here). I was a little worried about the use of tapioca because my dad and I are texture people…and we both think tapioca pudding is gross. Still, I didn’t want to chance a runny filling so I gave it a shot.
I did make a change or two to the original recipe. I actually used frozen pie crust (the Pillsbury kind in the red box) because I just didn’t want to mess with making my own, and I left the egg wash off. I also totally forgot about the butter until the pie was already in the oven. Because nothing was in season, I had to use frozen strawberries and rhubarb. They come in one pound bags, so I combined them in a gallon Ziploc baggie and defrosted it all in the microwave.
As you can see, I messed up by trimming the bottom crust before adding the top crust. It was a rookie mistake for sure.
Damn it.
The top and bottom crusts didn’t stay together at all… I think I also may have had a wee bit too much filling in there. The recipe was for a 9 inch pie but mine was a little smaller. BUT.
The filling wasn’t even close to runny…that tapioca worked wonders and didn’t have an effect on the texture at all. HOORAY.
Yes, candles on a pie. I swear I wasn't drunk in the kitchen.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmm...Pie....
My poor mom didn’t even get to taste hers until everyone else was half-finished because I needed to take a picture and she took the prettier slice.
The verdict?
Everyone but my brother loved it. His vote doesn’t count because
A. It just doesn’t
B. He’s not a fan of rhubarb at all
C. It just doesn’t
The filling was just the right mix of tart and slightly sweet, and paired with vanilla ice cream it was delicious.
I did almost have a heart attack when my dad asked what kind of pie I made…
Me: Strawberry Rhubarb *I’m so proud of myself smile*
Dad: …Ah.
Jess: Wait, I didn’t think you liked that kind…
Me: Yes you do! You do, right?
Dad: Well…not really…
Me: YES YOU DO MOM SAID YOU DO SHE TOLD ME TO MAKE PINEAPPLE, APPLE OR STRAWBERRY RHUBARB BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT YOU LIKE
Dad: …
Me: *sadface*
Dad: I’m just kidding *big smile*
My family is so mean to me.
WordPress was kind enough to eat the post I was working on earlier…It was probably the best post ever written by anyone in the whole world BUT no one will ever get to see it.
Ok, maybe not.
I’m guessing you guys are dying to know how the hog nuts were…Unfortunately I can’t tell you because we didn’t have any. When we got to the bar it was packed. Not one table available, not one vacant bar stool. My friend asked if I wanted to go somewhere else to eat and I told him we could stay… He was a lot more excited about eating the hog testicles than I was, after all. After one last glance around the bar to make sure he decided to leave. We ended up having (a normal) dinner at Pepe’s in Lafayette.
I just noticed that we left all-you-can-eat hog testicle night to eat at Pepe’s (some people in this area pronounce it Peepee’s). That’s pretty funny, huh?
Maybe it’s just me.
Moving right along…
Today my friend Brian and I drove up to Indy for dinner and the screening of Red State. The plan was to have dinner at Scotty’s downtown then head to the show. I was seriously looking forward to some Buffalo chicken dip…they have the best EVER.
Well I guess we forgot about this little thing going on…something called the Big Ten. Yeah. Scotty’s had an insanely long line so we didn’t even try it. Every other place we tried had a two-hour wait.
We decided to just drive toward Butler campus and look for a place to eat on the way. I figured a college campus would have at least a few dining options. We saw a Hot Box Pizza delivery car at one point, so I checked my navigator and found one only four miles away. Piece of cake, right?
And once again…we were wrong.
We were following the navigator’s instructions when I decided to check the route summary. That’s when I realized we almost let the stupid thing try to take us all the way back to downtown Indy. We gave up on the pizza and decided to just drive until we saw something. Luckily, after a few minutes we found an O’Charley’s. Probably a good thing, because I was about to gnaw my own arm off. Plus I was hungry.
We did manage to eat and get to the movie with plenty of time to spare… And the movie was great! If you can find a screening of Red State near you I definitely recommend going. Tickets are a bit expensive but you get to participate in a Q & A session with Kevin Smith after the movie. If you don’t want to pay for the screening it should be in theaters soon.
Tomorrow I’m going to bake a pie for my dad’s birthday (which is Sunday) and I’ll try to get the recipe posted this weekend…but it may not happen until Monday.
So, sorry the world’s best post EVER got eaten before you could all enjoy it. I know this post is probably pretty sub-par BUT the Alka-Seltzer I took for my cold has started to work and I’m extremely sleepy. I should have probably gone to bed as soon as I got home but I wanted to post something…I feel like I’ve been neglecting my blog.
See? I’m dedicated.
I’ve had too much coffee. Consider yourself warned, because I’m just going to be throwing a bunch of random crap your way with this post…There’s a chance none of it will make sense but sometimes THAT’S HOW I ROLL.
So I went to the gas station today to pick up some smokes (how I let myself get down to only two left without a backup I don’t even know) and realized something weird.
I parked, turned my car off and got halfway to the door before noticing I didn’t have my phone with me. I had to turn around to get it because, you know, what if the place gets robbed? I could be the hero that calls 911 while hiding under a powdered donuts display. I realized that I do this often…I won’t go into a place unless I have my phone with me, specifically because there’s a minuscule chance that I could get stuck in a hostage situation and HOLY CRAP I would need to be able to tweet…er…call for help.
So that got me thinking…I always create crazy situations in my head, then devise exit strategies. When I lived with my parents in their two-story cabin I would lie awake in bed coming up with ways to get the hell out of the house if someone broke in. At one point, there was a scaffolding on our deck because my dad was doing some repairs to our upstairs bathroom window… Those nights were the best because I had the PERFECT plan: I would creep out of my room and crawl into the bathroom, carefully shutting the door behind me. I would then open the window, pop the screen out and climb down the scaffolding. Since this was before the days of cell phones, I figured I could run to our neighbor’s house and call the police.
Then they finally took the scaffolding down and I was stuck trying to figure out how many bathroom towels I would need to make a rope and if they would hold my weight.
Anyway.
Speaking of my mom and dad’s house…
I was over there last night chatting with my mom and watching TV when Glee came on. I’ve never watched it before but everyone I know seems to think it’s the greatest show EVER.
REALLY?!
As a former show choir member, I was offended. During choir class and practice, we didn’t sit around and talk about our feelings and we CERTAINLY weren’t encouraged to sing a song about them for the whole class. Dude, we were there to work. I can remember running through the same show over and over and over and over until I was practicing choreography in my sleep. Our director didn’t give a rat’s ass if a couple of girls suddenly developed confusing feelings for one another. She DID care that we sang our part perfectly, knew the choreography and OMG FACIALS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD SMILE!!!
Honestly, I hated that show. HATED it.
What else?
OH.
I’m going to a bar tonight for… Are you ready for this?… All you can eat pig testicles night.
TRUE STORY.
I’ve never tried them and the whole idea grosses me out, but because I’m a brave soul I’ve agreed to at least taste one.
*insert nut jokes here*
Should be interesting.
So I thought unemployment would mean I could do some serious couch sitting in my jammies for a few days… It kind of didn’t happen that way, though.
Friday I was jolted out of sleep at 8:15 by a call from my mom reminding me that we were meeting for breakfast at 9:30. I kept the conversation short so I could go back to sleep for a few minutes, but just as I was about to nod off…
Yeah, my phone rang again. I assumed it was my mom reminding me to bring my grandma’s mail or something, but upon checking my caller id (by holding the phone an inch from my face and squinting because I’m blind without my contacts) I realized it was someone else calling. A BOY.
Calm yourself. I’ve known him since close to the dawn of time and we saw each other recently so even though his call was sort of out of the blue it didn’t seem like a big deal.
Of course I tried really hard to sound awake but he still made fun of me for being in bed at the ridiculous hour of 8:30 am. He wanted to know if I would go with him to a birthday thing Saturday night. I agreed, of course.
So I managed to get to the restaurant before my mom and grandma, we had a lovely breakfast chock full of cholesterol and as we were finishing up another friend sent me a text asking me to go shopping with her. I left the restaurant and headed to her house, and when I walked in she handed her baby over asking me to burp her. A lot of my friends keep telling me I need to have a baby of my own but I like being Aunt Ashlee to all of their babies. I get to cuddle and feed and play with them, but when they get fussy or poop I can hand them back over.
We spent the day looking for an outfit for said baby and doing some shopping for ourselves, then parted ways because she had to get to work. I made my way home, prepared to finally spend quality time with my couch and Netflix.
So I got a couple of hours of sitting around in before someone ELSE called to see if I wanted to play cards and have a few beers at her house.
Saturday I did get to be lazy ’til about 6:00 when I had to get ready for the party… My friend asked if I was hungry so we stopped for dinner and then off to the party we went. I had a blast, met some awesome people and had a few too many beers. My friend was cool with me crashing at his place instead of driving home…then I spent the entire next day hanging out with him watching cartoons and eventually Indiana Jones. It was pretty cool, except for the fact that I was supposed to be at another friend’s house at 3:00. When I actually looked at the clock it was 7:00.
Oops.
So I took off and she had saved a plate from dinner for me so I ate and played Legos for a little while with her four-year old. He wanted me to build something “cool” and he ended up with a lopsided house that didn’t really have a door or a roof. It’s pretty sad when a four-year old has to point those things out to you and then calls you silly. Once the rugrat went to bed we had some girl talk ’til her husband came from his job as a pizza delivery driver. He had made a pizza at work that he was kind enough to share with me. He used a hand-tossed crust and topped it with garlic butter instead of pizza sauce, then covered the whole thing in cheese, american sausage and a couple of other things. Healthy? Probably not. Delicious? Absolutely.
I finally made it home around 1:00 and went straight to bed.
Today I FINALLY got the chance to act like someone that doesn’t have a job…Not that I’m super proud to say this, but I didn’t even get out of bed ’til noon and kept my pajamas on ’til almost 6:00. I thought it would be awesome but in all reality I wanted out of the house so badly that I told my roommate we were going grocery shopping when she got home from work.
After shopping we made a pretty fabulous dinner of Salisbury steak (frozen), corn, Brussels sprouts and smashed taters.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love the fact that I actually have time to spend with my wonderful friends and family…But I’m not kidding, the battery to my phone isn’t even lasting an entire day due to the high volume of text messages and calls I’ve been getting.
Does unemployment = popular?
It kind of feels that way.
Well I’d like to say I jumped out of bed this morning and got a lot of stuff done but…
That didn’t happen.
I woke up the first time my alarm went off at 9:00 which is pretty much unheard of… It took me a few minutes to realize that I didn’t have to work. I still had to make the drive into the big city today so I got up, took a shower and straightened my hair. That’s real excitement there, people.
The stupid navigation app (or maybe it was my fault but I’ll never admit it) on my Blackberry got me a little lost but I finally got to where I was going. After an hour I was back on my way home… and have I mentioned how much gas costs now? Holy hell, I can’t be making unnecessary drives anymore, that’s for sure.
I went home and ate an unhealthy amount of mac and cheese while aimlessly clicking the Stumble button to find something worth looking at. I eventually ended up at a free games website.
I’ve been playing this incredibly stupid game ever since. There was a brief intermission that involved Easy Cheese and crackers followed by ice cream for desert. I’m not proud of it.
Tomorrow I’m getting up early to have breakfast with my mom and Grandma like we always do on Fridays…and I’m going to break the news to them. Should be a good time.
…Sarcasm.
So there you have it, the incredibly exciting events of my first day as an unemployed person.
I could barely handle the excitement myself.
Well.
I certainly didn’t expect it to be THIS fast, but as of about 6:45 today my employer and I have parted ways. While I’m certainly not going to miss that place, I’m definitely going to miss some of my wonderful coworkers. This post is really for those people.
PAY ATTENTION GUYS.
I’m REALLY going to miss all of you. It does make me sad that I won’t get to see you guys every single day…because let’s face it, I spent more time with you than I did my family and friends. Over the last two years you guys became a sort of family for me. You’ve definitely seen me at my most frustrated and grumpy and I hope you all know that it was that place, not you guys, that made me that way.
I also hope you guys will try and remember me mostly from the last few weeks…because once I realized I was on my way out I felt like a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders. I wish I had more time with those of you that sat closest to me because I loved all of the goofy conversations we had. It’s just too bad that damn dialer had to keep interrupting all of the time!
I’m going to miss tormenting Boss, too… especially since I never got my CUPCAKE. I’m guessing he probably threw a party after he lugged all of my stuff out to my car for me.
Oh who am I kidding? I was his favorite employee. Boss, you’d better keep that cupcake picture I made forever and ever.
I’m sad I didn’t get to say goodbye to my Beanerschnitzel… And to a lot of people, actually.
Just before they walked me out I was playing with the different settings on my new camera…So I have some action shots of me hard at work:
Er...maybe not.
At one point, one of the ladies behind me caught me doing it and I yelled “Don’t step to my game!”
I still don’t know what that means.
Now it looks like I'm working. Right?
ANYWAY.
Guys, I’m not kidding when I say I’m going to miss you AND I expect you all to stay in touch. Do me a favor and comment on this post so I have your email addresses. Just because I won’t be there with you doesn’t mean I can’t still pester you!
And really, don’t worry about me. I’m gonna be just fine. :)
Willfully Disobedient 