Friday, November 27, 2009

Friday After Thanksgiving

I was reading an interesting list not too long ago, one of those email forwards that everyone can relate to but no one really vocalizes. I'll post the list in it's entirety below but today I wanted to focus on my favorite:

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

The reason why this is especially hilarious is because today is the day after Thanksgiving so today is especially hard to concentrate.

First of all, it's Friday... My "moment of the day" comes far earlier on Friday than any other day of the week.

Second of all, there's literally 6 people in the office today.

Third, we're getting out at noon today.

This has basically pushed the threshold of my workability to zero. So I decided to blog about it, and it's not even that good of an entry if I do say so myself... I need to step up my game if I want people to actually read this :)

Anyways, enjoy the "Random Musings" below. For the record I had no part in writing this, I'm not taking credit for it but I think it's funny enough to share.


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1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after BluRay? I don't want to have to restart my collection... again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this --ever.

15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damnit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

17. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

18. My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How do I respond to that?

19. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

20. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.


***For the record, I decided to experiment with colors today.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!

There are so many things about this holiday, both good and bad that I can write about... seeing as how I'm just so darned upbeat it's going to be focused on the good.

This past week was a little rough for me, I was extremely disappointed in the actions of someone who should be closer to me but chooses to pay as an extra in the movie that is my life. Gah, I was so embarrassed, I was sobbing uncontrollably at work on Friday and ended up leaving around 1:30. The pain that this person has caused me over the past 13-15 years of my life is unbelievable and it's clear that he doesn't want to atone for his behavior. I've come to the conclusion that sometimes people aren't meant to be in your life the way you'd like them to be.

That being said there really is a lot to be thankful for, and I don't think we take the time to really focus on it each day. This year I'm extremely thankful for such a supportive and awesome family and friends! I have two older sisters and a younger brother, each of whom have significant others, I also have three nephews and a niece and my Mom who basically rules at life!! My relationship with each of you is what makes life worth living!

I just wanted to say thanks everyone! I love you all :)

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

A Penny Saved...

Every day I'm becoming more and more frugal. This all started after this economic downturn and I was laid off in November. This resulted in me taking a job that pays me far less than what I was getting paid before. If my employer ever reads this I hope they know that although I'm not making as much, the people/personalities of the office far outweigh the cost of the stress and working with people who have the personality of a brick wall. That being said, I wouldn't mind a raise at the end of the year :)

So I've started keeping a closer eye on my expenses. I took a second job working at Bath and Body Works for the holidays. I'm trying to put any cash I make from my second job towards my Wells Fargo Visa bill and Discover card bill. My credit cards piled up after I graduated and moved to Chicago. A lunch here, a trip to Ikea there... well lets just say it's added up.

I think it's been at least 4-5 months now that I haven't used my credit cards at all and I'm just working on paying the balances I have. When those are paid off in full (hopefully less than a year from now) I plan to responsibly use my credit card for every day purchases and PAY IT OFF at the end of the month. Ahhh it's nice to have a responsible boyfriend who has somewhat motivated me and taught me how to be a good spender.

From what I've learned over the past few months I know that there are certain tricks to being frugal that can really help everyone out!





Today's Lesson: Ask to pay less!!!



While this concept is foreign to most, paying the "sticker price" is actually far less common than you may think. Recently, I had an issue with a doctor bill that had me down... I unexpectedly received a bill for $160 that I thought was a covered visit by my insurance. (If my employer is reading this, I'm very vocal about how much I HATE my current coverage... I'm sorry but I can't lie about that) When I got the bill it was rough! I finally had the money in my account that wasn't dedicated to rent (or Rent tickets haha) and was getting ready to write a check for the full amount.

Stop!!!

If you're paying for a service you have far better negotiating power than you may let yourself believe. In my case, I called my doctor's office and asked for their Billing department. Simply put, I explained my financial situation and let her know that I wanted to pay her but couldn't pay that much. After a little back and forth discussion she finally realized "oh you want a discount!". DING DING DING - we have a winner! Now I was hoping to spend about $120 on this visit but she offered up settling the cost for $100. Woot woot! That means I saved $60 on an expense that I otherwise would have paid in full!! Hmmm after writing this I kind of wonder if I could have gone for $80...

I used to think that asking for a lower price somehow indicated that you were poor- this isn't at all the truth!

My experience is that asking for a lower price is most accepted at:
  • Smaller boutique stores.

Generally if a manger is present, they can bend the rules for you. Especially if the item has a defect. Example: I saved 20% on a pair of patent leather shoes that had the teensiest of scratches just by pointing it out.

  • Markets/Fairs/Generally anything you're buying from under a tent.

This especially applies if you're buying more than one of a product. If a deal isn't posted somewhere, ask the person who is in charge if they can offer you a reduced rate if you buy in bulk. Be sure to do this when the tent isn't as well trafficked for two reasons.
1- Other people around may scare the vendor into thinking that other people may hear the deal you're offering and they may the same deal or an even better deal.
2- A less trafficked market will give the effect that business is slow and it's better to sell 2+ items at a reduced rate than 0 products.

  • The last day of the Market/Fairs/ Generally anything you're buying from under a tent.

This is key, vendors don't want to take anything home! Packing it up it a chore in their mind and the more you're willing to take off their hands the better. The vendor also isn't worried that he/she will run out of supplies by the end of the Market/Fair... you get it. This leads to easier bargaining.

***I haven't tested the "ask for a lower price" method at Retail stores as I fear their strict rules make it harder for the average employee to offer a lower rate. Feel free to try it, or if you have any good examples, share it in the comments below!


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This post has inspired me to write more about the deals that I find going out and about, so be on the look out for more ways to save money and ways to have fun on the cheap!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Twilight Sucked


Movie Review time! I saw a movie for the first time since the Hangover this weekend and I'm sad to report it was the box office smash, New Moon - The Twilight Saga.

Call me brave or just stupid but I went there on opening night dispite the rumors that the movie had sold out days before.
I have to admit that there's always a special vibe you get going to a movie with a following like this on opening night, for instance, when I saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire* at midnight there's a scene where Harry has to get into the bath tub in order to hear a clue about his next challenge. As he takes off his shirt you hear the girls in the audience cooing and even one special lady who yelled "Statutory!!!". I found that this movie was no different when Jacob, played by Taylor Lautner, takes off his shirt to reveal his physique the girls howled- pun intended.
Since I haven't read the books I can't compare the plot to the actual piece of literature but I can say as entertainment goes, I thought that New Moon was just OK. I certainly couldn't recommend this to my vegan roommate because this movie was extremely cheesy. Poor Bella, so sad that Edward left Forks, PA with his family and dumped her saying that he would never return is so heart broken that she writes emails to Edward's sister, Alice, that are constantly "returned to sender".
My favorite scene had to be when Bella was staring out the window and "October" appeared across the bottom of the screen. The camera panned a 360 view of this depressed teen, who's hair is getting excessively greasy, while she looks out of the window until it completes the loop and we see "November" appear on the bottom. Of course as she's looking out the window, each month shows the weather typical to that of October, November and even December if memory serves. I have to relate this scene to the Black Eyed Peas song "I've Gotta Feeling" when they start saying the days of the week. We get it. You party every day just like Bella is sad each passing month.
So finally, I have to give this movie a C-. Overall story line was predicatable, but cute. I'd recommend it if you have $10 to blow and are in the mood for a sappy romance involving your friendly neighborhood vampire, the girl next door and the werewolf that may or may not get in between the two. I'll let you guys figure that out yourself though.
*Interesting the Robert Pattinson was in both the Goblet of Fire and Twilight. Maybe he's what draws me to movie premieres ;)

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Call Me A Liar...

I don't have any pictures from Greyhound to post. It's because, sadly, my camera has the life of a fruit fly. In leiu of pictures I will just have to tell you about the crazy woman on my bus...

I'll start of by saying she wasn't crazy *on* the bus rather in line. While waiting this woman wouldn't stop talking about her twin boys who live in Las Vegas. She just got back from visiting her kids at her ex-husband's house. I don't know the logistics of where she was staying but I pray for her ex's sake that she was in a hotel far across town. However, due to the entertaining anecdotes she told (and the fact that she's taking the Greyhound), I have to assume she was staying at his house. To make matters more interesting, and possibly the plot for a reality TV show I may pitch to network studios, the ex's girlfriend was there too.

So this woman has done something in her life to lost the custody of her kids which honestly isn't at all a shock to me. She bashes the girlfriend who is feeding her kids "healthy" food (yes, she used air quotes when saying "healthy") bringing about examples like the made from real fruit-fruit roll-ups. Which, to her credit, do suck however I don't think it's bad that kids in this world have some healthier options.

To our luck, another passenger from another flight was pregnant with twins. As if this woman didn't talk enough, now she could go into detail about the delivery of her babies. To spare you the details I'm just going to end that story here.

Giving this story a happy ending, I didn't get decapitated. You can't ask for much more on a Greyhound now-a-days.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Make Believe Fridays!

I love it when I have short weeks like this one! I'm waiting for time to stop standing still so I can gather my bags and head over to the Chicago Greyhound station. I'm going to make a point to take pictures or a video while I'm there this time because I don't think anyone could possibly believe how awful this place is.

To give you an idea, it's like an airport full of homeless people. Oh and there aren't chairs to sit on. Oh and the staff are absolute idiots, very mean and short with people who have questions. To give them the benefit of the doubt, I'm sure they deal with all sorts of, shall we say "raw" people on any given day and they probably make just barely minimum wage.

Oh Thursday's that feel like Friday! I love you!

Sorry for the short blog, I'll have more to report (with plenty of pictures I hope) on Monday!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

"Hey" is for horses and chickens and fish!

Hey all! I'm becoming an obsessive blogger! I guess that's good right? Basically I want this to be an online journal that I can look back on in a few years and realize how simple I had it way back when... *oh sigh*

So I thought it'd be a fun time to mention that I've got a part time job this holiday season for a little extra cash :) Bath and Body Works hired me!!! WOOHOO! That being said, this skit was on SNL this weekend and I found it super ironic!

I just went through my onboarding which was exactly what you'd think it would be like... except they had me watch a video for training in VHS format... pffffffft! What century is this? It wouldn't be so bad if there wasn't a section on the video about the 2009 line and everyone was wearing current-ish fashions. Doesn't it cost like 20 bucks for a DVD player nowadays? Maybe they're holding out for bluray like I am.

I really wish I had something more interesting to blog about here... there wasn't much to elaborate on! Although a little known, yet widespread problem is that many people think that I'm working at Bed, Bath and Beyond. Simple mistake!! But I work at the place with the lotions and body sprays not the store with the impressive and intimidating kitchenware section!

For the record, I'm labelling this as BBW (Bath and Body Works) which I'm sure if you google is an acronym for something that you may find on craigslist "singles" pages.

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On the side:
I had a dream last night that I was going to Rent with Erick and Brian and a 3rd person, some girl that kept changing... In my dream we forgot to bring our tickets but it didn't matter because we snuck into the play anyways. Seats were general admission and we were late so we got these terrible seats that you couldn't even see the stage! So I made my way down a level or two by jumping and got a really good seat by myself. Then Erick comes along and sits down at a better seat! I wouldn't be mad except he forgot my coat at our crappy seats so I had to go up and get it.

Monday, November 9, 2009

The Weekend!



Whew! This weekend I'm really looking forward to a lot of things! Namely seeing Rent with Erick and going to the last home ISU football game (2009 of course) against Colorado. I'm really excited for both of these things!!!

I get to see ANTHONY RAPP and Adam Pascal live!!! First of all, I've never seen Rent live, but I've listened to their soundtrack enough to know it has to be amazing! I've got to admit that I have a teensy-weensy crush on this guy! My fun story about him is that I actually passed him in the street when I was walking home from work. Stupidly I didn't stop to say hi or shake hands or anything, it was the "deer stuck in headlights" moment where my heart pounded and didn't quite realize the gravity of what happened until after he passed and was about to cross the street. Sigh... So much for "No Day But Today".

Regardless of my celebrity misstep- I mean how bad would it have been to hug him, really?- I still LOVE his character and the play... except I've only seen the movie. I'm lacking in culture.

Speaking of lacking in culture, I get to be immersed in the heart of culture Thursday night when I take the 9:45 flipping Greyhound Bus overnight to Des Moines... I'm sure I'll have a blog entry about the people I meet on that bus alone and a separate one for the rest of my awesome weekend. I plan on downloading a movie to my iPod Touch and taking a sleeping pill so I'm relaxed enough to sleep on the bus, I'll bring my eyemask too because nothing says "I'm better than you" than sleeping with an eyemask after watching a movie on my ipod...

To bring anyone up to speed that's never been on a Greyhound... every time I got to the Chicago Greyhound station I notice the same things:
  • Someone on drugs getting restrained. (I assume they're on drugs anyways, otherwise they're just nuts)
  • Someone asks to borrow my cell phone... I'm not kidding at all on this one!!! The best part about this is that whoever borrows my phone doesn't leave voice messages or their recipients don't listen to them yet because I also always get calls from the people that the stranger in the bus stop called asking me who I am. NOT AGAIN.
  • Some poor person with a story that makes me feel better about my financial situation. (For instance, a woman riding the bus from New York to Mason City, IA to see her grandkids, this is like a 30 hour bus ride, an African refugee, etc)
  • Kids crying and usually ignored by their parents if not beaten by them in the bathroom...
Honestly it's hell on wheels and the customer service is undeniably the worst I've ever experienced.

Well F My Life because this weekend I'll be on that bus so I can get to DSM with enough time to shower and relax before RENT on Friday night.

I guess you've gotta take the good (getting to DSM on time) and the bad (avoiding getting decapitated) when going home. SIGH.

Pray for me!

Friday, November 6, 2009

One Year Anniversary!

I had to make a choice early on whether or not I wanted to gripe on this blog or be more positive. Fortunately for you all I chose to be positive!!! Although the nature of this post may come off negative please understand that this is inevitably a happy story!

One year ago today I was laid off from my job at Bernstein... whew there it is! Now here's the scoop...

I'm sure everyone can relate to "real world" problems such as job conflicts so I'm not going to try and make this seem like a situation worse than others (rather I plan on keeping this story quite short), however I feel like my experience at this company was nothing short of reliving the drama and exclusion I felt in middle school. From the first day I felt their cold, unfriendly atmosphere. Since this blog is public I'm not going to get into the details of the personal events that transpired during my 15 months at this company.

Since I'm trying to keep this post positive I'm going to just move on to the happy ending (not the kind that can get you arrested).

I was laid off on a Thursday, Friday I was offered a temp job at Great Lakes Advisors starting on Monday. They went and hired me full time starting December 1st!!! I was so relieved to have a full time job again and with people that are fun to talk to and are FRIENDLY! I can't tell you how big of a difference this job has been compared to my old job! So in less than a month I will be celebrating my one year anniversary working at GLA as their Marketing Assistant!

The moral of the story, being laid off doesn't make or break your life. Odds are you're going to find something better. However, I do sympathize with everyone who is struggling during these hard economic times.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

My Awesome ROOMMIE!


Is it wrong to post 3 blog entries in one day? I didn't think so!!! I just wanted to give a quick shot out to my roommate, Erica! I love living with this girl!!! We moved in together in January, the day after my 25th birthday (The picture is the day before we were officially living together)

This girl is sort of my inspiration for starting a blog at all! She has a great one (SHOUT OUT TIME!):

It's great, it focuses on being vegan and the YUMMY stuff she eats! I'm not kidding at all when I say this girl got me hooked on pita chips and hummus! I can't say enough great things about this girl! She's always up for a good time, but definitely ok with a chill night at home watching Gossip Girl and drinking Two Buck Chuck from Trader Joes!

If you ever get to meet her just say "Knock Knock" and you'll get the best knock knock joke ever!

Yeah for a great roommate!!! And also, thanks for not judging the multiple posts in one day, I'm sure it will die down after I stop thinking of good topics to write about! But they just keep coming to me!

Halloween!



I guess I want to start this blog off right with a dose of awesome! This year for Halloween I was dun dun duuuuuuun!!!

A SIM! This picture isn't flattering by any means (I was kind of posing goofy Sim poses and my face totally captured the stupidity!!). Needless to say, I was overwhelmed with compliments on the originality of my idea! I hate to toot my own horn (just kidding, I love talking about myself) but I was really well received! By the GAY COMMUNITY NO LESS! What I loved about this was by comparison my costume was far less detailed, less makeup, less effort but I was approached by dozens of people! I was even in a picture with some girls who liked it!

Another bonus of being a Sim? Well I never got lost in the crowd that's for sure! With the plumbob (the diamond thing above my head) making me easily 7 feet tall I kept hitting the ceilings, door frames, bus exit doors, you name it! But the ceilings at Spin (the bar we went to) were definitely tall enough to accomodate me.

Here's the link I used to figure out the oragami to put it all together:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4532798_sims-plumbob-halloween-cosplay.html

What I used:
  • Green posterboard (the brighter green the better, especially if you plan on being in a dark environment). Approx. $0.50 each at Target
  • Glow sticks - I tried both the skinny ones (for bracelets and necklaces) and the fat ones (that you tie around your nect with a string) for the glow. I prefer the fatter sticks, but the skinny ones worked well too. Approx $1/pack at Wal-Mart (please don't hate on me for shopping at Wal-Mart, I'm a target girl at heart but they honestly didn't have glow sticks!!!)
  • A wire clothes hanger
  • Scissors

Optional:

  • Glue or Tape to seal the two halves together

Since this was such a low cost option for halloween I thought it would have been fun to jazz it up with a wig or wearing some fun clothes but money is tight, yo!

If you want to dress as a sim (copycat) I highly recommend it! Just promise to send me your photos! I'm sure you could do a better job than me! And give me pointers on how you fashioned your headband with the wire clothes hanger! Mine was SO TIGHT on my head that I swear I shifted the bones in my skull (TMI?). Three words though: Totally Worth It!

First Entry!

Wow, my first entry on my blog! I couldn't believe that just coming up with a name would be the hardest thing! I really wanted TheEasley.blogspot.com, but unfortunately some lucky jerk named "Todd" apparently beat me to the punch with this wonderful piece of blog fantastic-ness.



No blog posts yet??? Get on the ball, TODD! I'm just kidding of course, if he's an Easley (or just an Easley fan, or a resident of Easley, South Carolina) then we're cool.



Lets see, my main goal about this blog is to talk about my daily life, stuff that you may or may not find interesting such as weird dreams I have (speaking of which I had a dream last night about Desperate Housewives, I need to get a life), work frustrations (not that I have any!), fun nights I have out, and anything in between!