Happy Holidays!

Today is my last day of work before I'm off for a whole week for the Holidays!

I'm beyond excited!
I'm leaving for my parent's house tomorrow and it is going to be a day filled with holiday cheer!
First, we're going to have our (extended) family Christmas at my aunt's house! That should be an adventure, since her house is prettyyyyy small. But she felt a little left out since we've had Christmas basically everywhere else (even my apartment!) so we're giving her this one.

I'm still super excited!

Then, basically right after family Christmas, it's friend Christmas!
We started this little tradition last year and it was so fun, so we decided it obviously had to go on!

Last year, we drank wine and baked/decorated Christmas cookies.

Well, this year we're going to have a Gingerbread House competition!!
It's going to be parents vs children, which should be exciting.
I'm a bit competitive, so things may get a little out of hand.

Okay, so I'm really competitive. A lifetime of doing well at band & orchestra competitions didn't exactly make me humble.

My World is Changing

Most definitely.

I've almost been at my first big girl job for almost 6 months!
I've had Rory for just a little over a month!
My roommate for over a year just moved out!
My dream job is an open position on Kate Spade's website!!

That's just a peak into what is going on in my life, lately.
It can be a lot to handle at one time, but I'm getting through it!

My job has had it's ups and downs lately, but I am so grateful for the experiences it is giving me. The people here are truly wonderful and though sometimes I disagree with the operations of things, I love the work that I'm doing.

Rory is still the most adorable thing I have ever seen in my life! His potty-training is going well and he's so playful! Although I have to admit, he probably isn't my biggest fan right now: We haven't been on a walk in almost a week because it has just been so cold. Maybe soon! For now he's just zooming around the apartment and absolutely enjoying himself when I have company over and they want to love on him!

My roommate! (Ex roommate?) Well, we had a good run these past 18 months, but she had to move on to bigger things! Those bigger things? Her belly! She's pregnant, and so for the good of herself and her future child, she has moved back to be near her family! It's kind of nice to have the place all to myself (at least temporarily) but I am in process of locating someone to take over her lease! Until I find someone, her room has become my craft room! It's definitely exciting.

AND THE BEST NEWS OF ALL.
My DREAM JOB is open at Kate Spade & Company!
And I APPLIED FOR IT!
I'm definitely qualified, but the fact that I would have to move might be a downside that keeps me from getting it. Also the fact that I only have about 2 years of experience in my field and most of the is through internships.
It might be a bit of a reach, but no one ever got anywhere by just sitting still and staying exactly where they are!
Here's hoping something comes of it!!

So, all these life changes and yet my life still seems so boring.
I'm sure with the holidays coming up that will all change very soon!

If anything big and exciting (or even little and seemingly unsignificant!) has happened to you recently, tell me all about it!
I looooove comments and emails!

So, About That

Aaaand it's been almost a month since I last posted.
I am just all over the place lately!

I'm thinking I need to sit down and reorganize my life; it seems ever since starting my real job it's been more difficult for me to follow a set schedule. Well, I need to fix that!

So, I've decided: Starting on Sunday, I am going to create a new schedule for myself!
I'm a type of person who likes to have a bit of disarray in my life, but for the most part I need structure. Basically just a basic plan of when I'm going to do the few things I consider important: walking my dog, working on projects, blogging, etc.

So, here we go.
I'm going to use this blog to hold me accountable and maybe that will be the kick in the rear that I need to get back in the swing of things!!

Bonus:

Here's a picture of my adorable puppy, Rory, in his new reindeer antlers! SO CUTE!

Hi There!

My name's Brittany, which I'm sure no one knows because IT HAS BEEN FOREVER SINCE I BLOGGED, GUYS.

Sorry about that to the maybe 2 people that read this perhaps once a month!

Well, I'm back.

AND I HAVE A PUPPY. (One of the few many reasons I've been MIA the last....how long has it been?)

His name is Rory and he's 6th months old and I adopted him from a rescue on November 8th!

He's a weirdo, but he's adorable and I LOVE HIM.

I've also been working on my portfolio and developing my new website, so maybe when all that's done I'll post a link so anyone who would like can have a looksie!

These things coupled with working all the time have really taken up a great big chunk of my life, which left little room for blogging. I'm working slightly less now though and I am doing better (still not great) with my time management, so here's hoping I keep up with this thing!! (I used to be so good at time management...what happened?)

If all goes according to plan, you'll hear from me on Friday!

All Hallows Eve

Today is the day!

One of my favorite holidays!
(Not only because I can eat my body weight in candy and it's socially acceptable. I promise.)

Halloween is just the perfect excuse to get with your friends and have a great time!
On Halloween, you can be anything you want to be, whether that be a princess, a doctor (or the doctor), a pirate, or the ridiculously overdone (but still seriously punny) cereal killer.

There's no stopping you! Unless of course you have a job and you have to work Halloween night.
In which case, I am very sorry!

I actually ended up taking off from both of my jobs for Halloween this year!
I needed to use up my PTO for my real job and well, if I'm not going into my real job, there is no way in hell that I am going to set out to Mellow. Sorry, team.

Since no one took my poll (yeah, you guys suck, btw) and I ended up spending all of my money on Clinique and Bath and Body works (hey, there's nothing wrong with wanting to look and smell nice, okay!?) I am going as the Eleventh Doctor this Halloween!!

I may or may not post pictures.
I guess it really depends on how the night goes.
We shall see!!

If anyone else has some super awesome Halloween plans, let me know!!

Halloween Help!!

Okay guys.
I am completely obsessed with Halloween.

Like, the decorations, the costumes, the candy.
It's the BEST.

But I have a problem this year!
I just cannot seem to figure out what I'd like to be for Halloween!

My friends and I are going to a party one of the fraternities at my university holds every year called "Fright Night" so I absolutely have to be something fabulous.
But also significantly nerdy, you know? Because that's just who I am.

So I am asking for YOUR help!

If you could just choose an option from the poll below, that'd be awesome!!

What Should I Be For Halloween?

River Song

The Eleventh Doctor (Female Verson)

Danaerys Targaryen

Hogwarts Student (Slytherin)

Other (Please Leave a Suggestion in the Comments!)

pollcode.com free polls

If you can think of something else, let me know in the comments!

What are you going to be for Halloween?

Busy, Busy, Busy Bee!

Things are really picking up at work!

Which is super weird, since that is the exact opposite of what everyone was expecting!

I do the marketing and design for a Real Estate company and, as I'm sure you can assume, not many people typically move during the Fall/Winter months.
Well, not so this year, it seems!

We have had SO many new listings and closed listings I just cannot keep up with it all!

I'm designing new brochures, flyers, and postcards like a mad woman!
At least I'm keeping busy!

I also have recently been added to the blog for our company, so that's exciting!
Right now, I'm just blogging about our new listings, but maybe someday soon I'll be able to contribute some actual content!

I am also still in the works of developing a remastered social media marketing plan, so that's pretty exciting!

I know some of you out there have got to be into marketing, or at least social media, so any tips would be extremely helpful!
I learned a lot in my coursework and internships, but there's no reason to not look for a different insight into it!

 

I Guess It Could Be Worse

Can we just talk about how insane this week has been??

First things first, I've been super busy at my full-time job (why is everyone selling their houses this week??)
I cannot even tell you how many brochures and postcards and flyers (Oh my!) hat I have made for our agents this week. Plus, I'm taking over some of the corporate marketing since another marketing production assistant is going part-time. This week has been CRAZY.

Then there's the fact that I've been trying to get better about eating at home, so every night when I come home I spend probably an hour cooking when I would usually be relaxing on my sofa with a quesarito. And that relaxation would be accompanied by a few hours of watching The Big Bang Theory Re-Runs.
Well, NOT ANYMORE!
My roommate and I recently decided to get rid of cable, so every time I turn on the television I get a screen full of fuzz and a heart full of disappointment.
But don't worry too much. We might be getting Directv by the end of the month!

To make all of this even worse (is that even possible??) I started coming down with something Wednesday.
And it has progressively gotten worse and worse and today I feel like death.
Hopefully I'll be able to make a doctor's appointment for when I get off work.
One of my lovely friends agreed to cover my shift at Mellow Mushroom so I can go! Hooray!

My focus for next week?
Less stress.
More relaxation.
Less sickness.

Let's hope I can see it through!

Future Endeavors

 Okay, so I'm thinking of starting a little Etsy shop!

I paint, design, do paper crafts (think invitations, thank yous, paper boxes) and a bit of sewing, so I think it might be a good idea!

I have to set up a sort of "business plan" and starting working out when I'll work on the projects and stuff before I even set the shop up, so there's plenty of work for me to do. I also think I might wait until I get a new computer so I can better run my programs and such (I'm looking at this one. What do you think?)

Once I have everything finalized and I have the shop all set up, I'll be sure to post about it! 
This will be a way for me to have a creative outlet AND make a little extra money on the side! I'm pretty excited.

Has anyone else set up an Etsy shop? I definitely need some tips before I hit the ground running!

Think Pink!

As I'm sure many of you know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

I'm not able to participate in fundraisers like I usually do, because of my job, so I'm sporting the pink in the office!

I'll be wearing my "Think Pink" ribbon that the ZTA chapter at my University chapter passes around every where for the rest of the month.
And I'll definitely be donating to Susan G. Komen!

Be sure to look around your area for any fundraising participation options so that you can help increase awareness and join the fight for a cure! And don't forget to make a statement by sporting your pink!

Handling The World's Worst Coworker

I'm sure we've all been here.

There's that one person in the office who just doesn't sit with you. She's rude; she's obnoxious; she's just flat out AWFUL.

Or he. 

(It just happens to be a she in my case)

How do you handle the person who speaks so condescendingly toward you and your fellow coworkers? How do you get her to stop stealing your desk supplies? And how do you get her to realize that the world doesn't revolve around her?

Well, I haven't quite figured it out yet. 

But I think I'm on my way!

My main firepower right now? Being as nice as I can be.

We've all heard it: "Kill them with kindness"

Well, so far it's working. She seems pretty startled and occasionally returns  the kindness. 

WEIRD.

My other method? Honesty. I tell her what she can and can't do in our office. She is slowly coming around and realizing that this isn't her old company; she is not the boss anymore and she needs to learn how to deal with that.

Does anyone else have a coworker that is extremely difficult to deal with? (I'm sure you do!!)

Let me know your best methods for handling them so I can try to apply them to my current situation.

I appreciate any suggestions!

My Sunday Funday!

Do you remember this post about budgeting that I posted just yesterday?

Well, in that same day I managed to reinforce the reason I need budgeting help!
Between my trips to TJMaxx, Michaels, WalMart, and IKEA, I spent entirely too much! But I saved a bundle too, so that counts, right?

Okay, not really.

Despite my obvious lack of self control, I did a lot of crafting this weekend! SO excited to show you!

First, I made up this cute little centerpiece using a craft pumpkin and some artificial floral picks! It looks super cute on my coffee table and matches my leaf garland! How perfect.

My other project?

Turning this:

Image from IKEA's US Website

Into THIS:

Okay, so it wasn't much of a change.

But it's amazing what a few coats of gold paint can do!

Aaaand the final touches:

It's perfect!! In the little drawer I've got the rest of our shot glasses (you didn't think we only had four, surely!) and our bottle openers and wine corks. 

I'm sure everyone else has a DIY project that they've been working on! Tell me all about it! I love getting new ideas for decorating my apartment; it's pretty dull at the moment!

Fall Fashion

I recently read this post over at allisonleighann.com about what she's anticipating for Fall and it got me thinking about my favorite aspects of Autumn!

1. First and foremost, fall flavors. Especially pumpkin. Yep, I am that girl. Give me some pumpkin pie, a pumpkin muffin, and a pumpkin spiced latte and I am one happy woman.
   Then, of course, there's the seasonal beers.
   Sam Adam's Octoberfest?
   Hands down the best part about Fall. No contest!
   
2. Bonfires. Yep. Who doesn't love sitting around a bonfire, preparing to roast marshmallows? No one? That's what I though. The smell, the crackling, and the beautiful light; what's not to love?
   
3. Corn mazes! Now, I'm not one for those haunted corn mazes. There are very few events in which I'm okay being scared willingly (see below,) and corn mazes are definitely not it. I just love getting all snuggled up in my Fall clothes and wandering through the corn maze with friends and family. Bonus points if there's a hay ride!!
   
4. Scarowinds!! Scarowinds is when Carowinds becomes absolutely festive for Halloween and it is perfect. Everything is decorated and they have "cast members" who wander around the park and scare you, plus they have little "haunted house" type things that you can walk through all over the park! My favorite thing to do is talk to the monsters; some of them get a little startled and that's a nice turn of events! Oh, and I definitely can't forget to mention: the rides are open. Want to wander through a haunted high school and then hop on a thrill ride? GO FOR IT.
   
5. Fall fashion. I will be the first to admit how much I hate cold weather. If it could be 80+ degrees every day for the rest of forever I'd be mostly happy. But I would miss Fall clothes. I am so in love with the sweaters and boots and scarves and everything in between. Give me a good Fall wardrobe and I'm one happy girl...as soon as I get over that nip in the air.

Now I know everyone else out there has their favorite things about Fall! If you post your own to your blog, don't hesitate to share the link in the comments so I can go take a look! I'd love to see it!

Budgeting?

You may have noticed that there's a question mark following that.

Why, you ask?

Well, this isn't a post full of suggestions.
It's a post full of questions.

I have no idea how to budget.
You see, I'll think that I'm doing really well and I'll have a budget set up for the month.
But then the month actually happens.
And I don't stick to the budget.

I am the queen of impulse purchases. And that is starting to wreak havoc on my finances!
I definitely need to get my stuff together so I can actually start saving (instead of buying that cute Kate Spade bag that I want. But it was the surprise sale, so that makes it okay, right? Yeah, not really.)

So here I am. Asking you.
What do you recommend?
How do you budget?
And more importantly, how do you stick to your budget?

That is probably the biggest struggle in my life right now and I seriously need to get this budgeting thing under control!

LACK Hack ~ Part 2!

So, you may or may not remember this post.

If not, I talked about the super cheap coffee table I got at IKEA and how I planned to paint it to make it beautiful!

Well, about 3 months later, HERE IT IS!

Okay, it didn't actually take me 3 months to do it. (How sad would hat be?)

In reality, it only took me like a day.

But it took 2 months to actually start.

And then another to post about it.

So, here we are, 3 months later, and I'm finally showing off my finished table!!

I absolutely love it. It turned out exactly how I wanted and it looks soo good in our living room. The contrast is perfect and it matches basically anything, so even throughout the seasons (aka, the 2 we've experience since the first post) it fits in just fine with the rest of the decor!!

I'm so excited it's done and this has given me a new wave of DIY fever.

I WANT TO CRAFT ALL OF THE THINGS!!

I'm currently planning my next project now and I have a gallery wall in the works (did I mention that I rearranged my bedroom? Yeah, I did that. At 5 in the morning. Before work one day. Yep, I'm a freak.)

So hopefully within the next 3 months I'll have something new to show you all! Stay tuned!

1500 Pageviews!

I just hit 1500 pageviews, everyone!!

I know that's probably nothing to most of you, but that is SUPER EXCITING for me!!

So I'd like to say THANK YOU SO MUCH for visiting my blog!
I appreciate it, guys!

Surviving the Average Workday (My Way)

   

Most of us aren't lucky enough to have our dream job at the current moment in time

(Sometimes I think Carly at The College Prepster is closer than any of us, though!)

You know what that means?

A 9 to 5.

Or, in my case, an 8:30 to 5:30 (with an hour lunch, of course)

How are we expected to get through a long work day--or worse, work week--when every second seems like it's dragging on forever and we've been done with our actual projects for hours?

Well, there's problem number one:

You're  never  done with work. If you're in the office, you should be busy.

When I first started my new job, I would spend a good bit of time feeling bored and hopeless.

And then I realized.

There's plenty for me to be doing.

I just haven't found it yet.

So I asked. That's a big part of growing up. Asking.

I asked my boss (the marketing director) if there was anything else I could do and, what do you know, I was handed not one large assignment, BUT TWO!

Those two projects have kept me sane the past two weeks.

They've also given me a sense of responsibility that, prior to now, I didn't really have with this position. I felt like just another marketing assistant, doing busy work. Now I have what I call "real work" in addition to my day-today projects. It's been great.

And when all of those day-to-days get out of hand and I'm a little stressed? A quick break with a hot cup of tea and my sketchpad calms me down. Maybe you'd prefer a glass of water and a game on your phone. Whatever you can do to "get away" from it all will work. It's been proven that taking a break from your work can increase productivity AND creativity! So give it a try and see how it goes!\

Finally? Make friends. Work is going to be no fun if you're sitting around by yourself all day not talking to anyone. Befriend your coworkers; form an attachment with them; eat lunch with them. You're going to be spending 8+ hours a day with these people, so you might as well bond over something.

In summary:

1. Ask Questions
2. Take a Break
3. Make Friends

It's pretty simple, if you ask me.

Now, every workday is not going to be perfect and some days even the most foolproof plan is going to fail, but keeping these few things in mind should make those bad days just a tiny bit better.

Please tell me if you have any of your own tips that I missed! I'd love to be able to try new ways to make my unbearable days a bit better!

Update!

So, as you may have noticed (and as I mentioned in my previous post) my blog ha a bit of a new look!

I'm going for a simpler, minimal look this time.

Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions!!

Under Construction!

As you might have noticed, my blog isn't quite looking like itself today.

Well, that's because I got BORED with it!!
There are a lot of changes happening in my life right and now I think it's only fitting that my blog's appearance change along with the others.

Don't worry (not that anyone was,) I'll still be posting (somewhat) regularly!
My blog just isn't going to be quite as fabulous for a short period of time.

Hopefully once I've settled down a bit and decided what I actually want, it will be even more fabulous than it was before!!

Well, one can only hope, right?

If anyone has any tips for blog designs, hit me up! I'm still not quite used to coding this way, so any help I can get is greatly appreciated!

Morning Survival Kit

I have something I need to confess.

I'm a morning person.

*GASP*

Glad I got that off my chest.

Yeah, I know it's pretty weird.

But it's true. I wake up at 5am (almost) every morning and most of the time I hit the ground running.

Notice I said most of the time.

Some mornings are a struggle! Not all, but definitely some.

And when I wake up as a passenger on the struggle bus, I need to make sure I'm getting off at the next stop.

That's where my "Morning Survival Kit" comes in.

It's things I need to do to feel ready for the morning and prepared to take on the day. This will definitely change from person to person, but here are my basics:

1. A Fresh Cup of Coffee ~ Sure, instant coffee may be convenient, but it's not very good (in my opinion) and doesn't perk me up quite the way a fresh brewed cup can. I prepare my coffee every night and then just press the on switch right before I hit the shower so that's it's ready and waiting when I'm out. If you're more likely to forget to turn it on every morning, you might want to invest in a coffee maker with a timer. Or you could get a one-cup machine, like a Keurig or Tassimo, so you can be ready to go with your cup of coffee! Or 2. Or 5.
   
   
   
2. The Today Show ~ Okay, so I'll admit it. I'm basically an old lady. I absolutely love watching the Today Show in the morning. I turn on the TV right after I pour my first cup of coffee and watch my local news for about an hour and a half. Then? It's time for The Today Show!! I love it because they don't only hit the important news-worthy events that are happening all over the world; they include trending pop-culture news as well! What better way to stay in the loop than to get all of your information in one place? Enjoy your coffee, a nice balanced breakfast, and the Today Show in the morning and you'll be ready to go!
   
   
   
3. A List ~ Okay, so maybe you hate lists. I don't. I absolutely adore them. They let me see a quick overview of what I need to get done that day so I can plan accordingly! And now that I have my super cute Kate Spade Notepad, making lists is an even more exciting part of my morning! The format of your list can vary based on your specific needs, of course. My list items are short and sweet, usually one or two words, but you might need to use a full sentence to get across what you need. Shape it to fit you!
   
   
   
4. Exercise ~ I'm pretty sure every person in the world knows that exercising in the morning can help give you energy for the rest of the day. Well, here I am telling you the same thing. And trust me, it WORKS. I cannot begin to explain the difference I feel between the days I exercise and the days I don't. But I'll try! I have way more energy and I'm more optimistic about the day. You know that dragging, why-won't-this-day-end feeling? I don't get that when I squeeze in some exercise in the morning. And, of course, there are the health benefits, too.
   
   
   
5. Get Started ~ Remember that list I was talking about not too long ago? What better time to start on it than first thing in the morning? If you wake up early enough to have time, do ahead and jump on it. I have a lot of free time in the mornings, so there is absolutely no reason why I shouldn't be able to tackle at least one list item before I formally begin my day. And the great thing about this is that it gives me a jump start on my productivity. If I've already completed one task and the sun isn't even up, what's to stop me from finishing everything else?

There you have it.

My "Morning Survival Kit."

Probably not what you were expecting, since there aren't really any tangible items that you can go out and buy to make your mornings instantly better (except for coffee. Coffee definitely does that.)

But it's the little things that I do every morning that help me tackle my day, one task at a time.

Does anyone else have a similar "Survival Kit" that they swear by? I'd love to hear it. Maybe there's something missing from mine!