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!