Office Order, Part 2

At the office: Today and tomorrow are meeting heavy days, which means...oh yes, food at the office.  After I parked in the garage, I checked my phone for office emails and there was one saying that there was breakfast food in the kitchen.  Perfect timing.  One of my friends was at the front desk to let guests in.  I offered to make him a plate as I was getting my food.  It paid off nicely because he set aside some lunch leftovers (pad thai) for me because I had an afternoon of conference calls.  I also got some colleague good-bye cake on my way out.

I know of 2 meetings that are going on tomorrow.  Mwah ha haaaa.

Card: So this is Part 2 of the office order that I received on Monday.  Here's the card from Part 1.  I was asked to make 11 gender-neutral anniversary cards.  I'm starting to get the hang of these gender-neutral themed cards lately.  Basically: no glitter, no flowers, no pink.  Teal and orange are good go-to colors.

Card Specs: 
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Deep Lagoon, Charcoal.  Stampin' Up in Riding Hood Red.
Stamps: Hero Arts- Everyday Sayings, Hero Arts- Envelope Pattern, Stampin' Up- Definitely Decorative Ferns
Paper: Chatterbox, American Crafts- Classics

Office Order, Part 1

I decided to work from home today because I had a longer-than-usual list of things that I needed to get done.  When I telework, I feel obligated to get as much stuff done because I never want my boss to feel like I'm not working hard at home.  I love having the flexibility, and I wouldn't want that privilege to be taken away.

I went to spin class tonight after a 5 minute debate with myself.  As usual, "spin" always beats "no spin."

The Human Resources department ordered some birthday and anniversary cards today, so that's what I worked on tonight: 9 birthday cards.  I definitely borrowed the idea from this card that I found on Pinterest.

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Charcoal
Stamps: Studio G
Paper: American Crafts - Abode, Pebbles- Cats and Dogs, Chatterbox
Embossing folder: Basic Grey- Dots Set #2

Songs of the day: "Anything Can Happen" - Ellie Goulding and "Working Man" - Imagine Dragons.

Fall-To Layout #222

Thankfully today went by so much better than yesterday.  I went to an hour spin class this morning, stopped by my parents' house to say hi (and ate some leftover veal parmesean that was in the fridge), and ended today with making a big pot of chicken vegetable soup for the week.

Card: Here's my take on Fall-To Layout #222.  Purple's not my usual go-to color, so I decided to switch it up a little bit by featuring it in today's card.  It also gave me an excuse to use one of my Basic Grey fabric flower stickers.
Card Specs:
Card Base: Recollections
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Whisteria, Charcoal
Stamps: Me & My Big Ideas- Sassy Icons (flourish), Fiskars- Just Between Friends
Punch: Fiskars Apron Lace border punch
Paper: American Crafts Specialty Paper in Pearl
Floral sticker: Basic Grey Bloomers- Sweet Threads collection
White Gel Pen: Uni-Ball Signo Broad White Gel Pen

Patience is a virtue.

I feel like I need a reset button to my day.

I was on my way to my friend Cristina's house for a potluck with some other friends from graduate school, and I got a little lost.  The street that I was on was a dead end to someone's driveway/house.  If that wasn't scary enough, as I was approaching the house, I noticed two big dogs in the yard, unleashed.  I backed up slowly so that I could turn around, and the back of my car tapped the lamp post, causing it to lean a little.  A big older guy came out of the house, "I can't believe you knocked into my lamp!"  Ugh, great.  I got out of the car and he proceeded to get very stern with me.  I profusely apologized and automatically offered to pay for the damage, but he proceeded to rant.  Ok, do you think I did that on purpose?  I'm already lost and late.  What else do you want me to do?  I was trying to be careful so that I didn't hit your dogs with my car.  Whatever I said (which is a blur to me at the moment)  seemed to calm him down enough to help me guide my car so that I could be on my way.

This whole situation didn't really upset me until I got home.  I don't really deal well when I get the sense that I'm backed into a corner.  Anyway, I feel like I learned a valuable lesson today.  If I should ever be in that situation again and the roles were reversed, I would know how NOT to act.  Everybody makes mistakes!

It also didn't help that a cab driver got fresh with me at the gas station for taking longer than normal to pull out of the gas station pump when I was finished filling up.  I was getting my GPS ready for my trip to Cristina's place.  It's not like there weren't other gas pumps that were free!  RAWR.

It's situations like these that really test my faith in people.  However, tomorrow's another day to get it right.  I'll try to make it to spin class in the morning.  Maybe the endorphins will perk me up.

On a brighter note, the potluck was fun.  My contribution was Banana-Black Bean Empañadas.  Cristina was gave us a tour of her house, which was beautiful.  She also let us know that she's expecting in June...identical twin boys!!

Les Misérables

Movie night: I haven't even made it through one week in the new year, and I've already been to the movies.  Tonight, Meg, Robyn and I went to see Les Misérables in Chinatown.  I haven't seen the musical, so what I know about the story came from Wikipedia.  I wasn't sure what to expect since I've heard mixed reviews, but it was pretty good.  I wouldn't say that it's something that I would buy on DVD just because I spent so much time crying through it, tears just streaming down my face when Anne Hathaway sang "I Dreamed a Dream" and at the end of the movie.  It was really different to see Hugh Jackman so sickly looking, since in my head, he will always be Wolverine from the X-Men.  But I guess that goes to show that he is a versatile actor.

Presents: Meg got me a fun tumbler for Christmas.  If you look carefully, it says CRAFT: Creating Really Awesome Fun Things. I also got some cookies and Hershey's Kisses, which I'm eating for "dinner" since there wasn't time to get a bite to eat before the movie.  If we waited any longer, we would have had to sit in the very front row.

Small victory: As I was walking to the house, the Neighborhood Cat was sitting outside my place.  It ran to me and let me pet...him (I think it's a him).  It's cold night like tonight that makes me feel sad for the stray animals out there.  When the cat and I parted ways, I unlocked my door to a warm house and RJ on his back, showing off his belly.  Anyway, this was a small victory because it's always been very shy and always runs away.  It's never come towards me before!

Call me the Cat Whisperer.

Sweets at the Office

At the office: After having a few days off for the holidays, it was a little tough to get out of bed this morning to trudge to the office.  Fortunately, traffic was very light and I whizzed past many green lights.  I was pleasantly surprised by a little baggie of chocolate that my office mate left for me.  I wonder how long they've been sitting here since it's been quite a while since I've sat in this seat.  I've been setting up camp in the main office the past few weeks just because there was more life in that building lately.  I was hoping that she would come in, but she took a sick day today.  Anyway, the chocolate was exactly what I needed to get through the first day at the office.  This is funny because I got her two packs of Junior Mints before a big meeting that she was running.  Candy solves many of our problems.

Good thing this is a short work week.  I don't think I would have been able to handle a full work week.

I realized this past Monday that there are 2 reports that are due on FRI. (panic ensues)  UGH, if I wasn't on vacation mode last week, I would have drafted it last week when I was at the office!  Fortunately, my boss and I were able to work on it today, and it's now gone out for review.  Whew, that was close.

Family: Julie is going back to school tomorrow, so Dad got some take-out and I went over to my parents' house for our last dinner together until probably March.  After dinner, Julie and I were looking at Pinterest and laughing a photos of Grumpy Cat.

Card: For today's card, I wanted to make a card for my friend Page.  She's on school break for now, but if it's anything like going back to work today, going back to pharmacy school will be just as tough.  I wanted to send her a card around the time that the new semester starts so it'll perk her up as she starts to hit the books again.  I broke out a new punch that I bought a while back, a new ink pad (Sahara Sand), and a new stamp set (Good Neighbors).

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink in Chestnut Roan, Warm Red, Deep Lagoon. Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Vintage Photo. Stampin' Up in Sahara Sand.
Stamp: Stampin' Up- Good Neighbors (houses), Hero Arts- Envelope Pattern
Paper: American Crafts- The Classics
Die: Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 8
Rub-On: Karen Foster Design- Thinking of You
Punch: EK Success Acanthus Leaf border punch, We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper
Other: Stampin' Up Marker in Crumb Cake

Happy New Year!

The year is already off to a good start with going to a 1-hour spin class this morning!  Whoo hoo! 

In the afternoon, I went around to Michaels, AC Moore, TJMaxx, Ross and Bed Bath and Beyond, thinking that I could score on some after Christmas sales.  I guess I was late to the party because there wasn't a lot of inventory left and the stores have started transitioning to Valentine's Day.  Meh, no biggie.  More money in my pocket.

Ok, time to revisit my 2012 Resolutions to complete by January 1, 2013. 

Overall, it was kinda an "eh" year in terms of meeting my New Year's Resolutions.  However, I embarked on things that weren't on the list, so I feel like that kinda balances things out.

• Read 20 books that I've never read before. I wasn't into reading as much this year as I should have been.  There was too much time spent on Pinterest and YouTube.
• Complete all the races that I did in 2011 and beat my times.
  - St. Patrick's Day 8K: 52:43. Meg and I already registered, so that's a good first step. Now it's just a matter of finding my running legs. Time= 54.20.
  - Capitol Hill Classic 10K: 66:14 Didn't do this race.
  - Kensington 8K: 51:35 Didn't do this race.
  
• Use 25 brand new recipes that do not use a crock pot and is not a casserole. 5 of those dishes have to include some sort of seafood. Hmm, I made it to #14, none of them were seafood related and some of them I cheated and used a crock pot. Seafood's still a little too intimidating for me.  Plus, I'm not a fan of fish.  On a better note, I've perfected my chicken marsala and dal nirvana.
• Reach 785 sales on Etsy. This was a very lofty goal.  I'm currently at 714.  I did make some very good sales at the office and offline though.
• Lose at least 10 pounds by April 30 and spend the rest of the year maintaining that weight. HAH, yeah right.  Well, at least I maintained my weight all year, despite all the baking that I did!

Things that I accomplished but were not on the list:

• I taught my first origami class! I hope there will be opportunities to do this or something similar in 2013.
• I dipped my toe in the online dating pool and while I'm not seeing anyone at the moment, it was a good learning experience and exercise in putting myself out there.  As an introvert, I felt like this was a huge step for me.

2013 Resolutions to complete by January 1, 2014

• Decorate my bedroom and living room.  Right now, the majority of the bedroom walls are still void of any artwork, so it's time to fix that.  I have some pieces that I have saved for my bedroom, but it's not enough to fill an entire wall.  I hope to find some good pieces in the spring during yard sale season.  As for my living room, I have one wall left.  The thought of putting up a vinyl quote in both rooms crossed my mind.  I'll have to look to Etsy for something inspiring.
• Save enough money to buy a new car.  My youngest cousin will be graduating from college in the Spring, and the plan is to give him my car (2002 Civic) as a graduation present.  Which means that I'll have to figure out what I'm going to drive after I hand over my car.
• A modified version of one of last year's resolutions: use 15 brand new recipes that do not use a crock pot and is not a casserole or baked good. 2 of those dishes have to include some sort of seafood. 
• Continue to have an open mind about online dating.  I don't think I fully utilized my 6 month membership last year because I only dated 2 guys (1 only lasted one date and the other guy 4 months).
• Get to at least 800 Etsy sales.

Next stop: 30th birthday in February (gah!) and a Bahamas cruise in March!  There's a lot to look forward to in 2013 already!