Work it

My friend Maureen over at New on U featured me in her Work-it Wednesday post! It is my first time ever being featured on a blog so I feel super official. Even though I know Mo personally, I still feel special. :)

So check it out!

*I think Maureen's Work-It Wednesday post was good luck! The day this blog was published I was offered my "promotion." I have been working 11 hour days to get caught up but I don't mind because everything is new and exciting.

So if I fall off the blog wagon for a little bit, I hope you will forgive me. The dust will settle soon!

I'm workin' it girl ;)

Jes

Cubicle Blues

I move into my apartment August 20th and my creative wheels are cranking. I'm excited to have an apartment to decorate and I look forward to sharing my new ideas with you all. My first project is to make over a tiny breakfast table set my mom found at a garage sale for $15. This little table will make the cutest patio table on my new porch :) Look for updates soon.

With my new apartment also comes my new job.. and for those of you like me who are still in an office cubicle.. you know that it helps to add a few warming touches here and there to brighten up your work day.

I have been eyeing these perfectly tiny terrariums for quite some time now and I finally purchased them to accent my cubicle. They only require a drop of water and minimal sunlight so they will survive in even the dreariest of offices. I may purchase another set for my apartment because they would look so cute lining a window sill.

You can find these cute terrariums and other furry goodies at Tortoise Loves Donkey's Etsy page.

On another exciting note.. I am only about 120 pageviews away from 10,000 views! Thank you so much for reading everyone! XoxoX

Doggy Style

Friday the phones were out all day at work. Now let me just say that this was fantastic! I answer the phones and forward calls in the office so it was nice to have a little time to concentrate on my work without interruptions. Want to know what's not so fantastic?!.. yelling "DOGGY STYLE" in your office (especially when no one is on the phone so the office is quiet).

What?! Don't look at me like that. It was an accident!

So, the office phone situation was finally resolved around 5 pm.. just in time for my older sister to call me and ask for my advice on a flyer she was having trouble with for work. She wanted to fit 2 flyers on one page. So I asked her if they were doggy style. After a "psshht ummm okay... *awkward silence*" from the other line, my face became flushed with embarrassment! And stumbling over my words trying to explain what I meant:

"I mean the page... Doggy style, like hot dog/hamburger... how you fold the paper... you know like when we were kids... is it long ways or short fat ways... know what I mean?! Yes?..."

Apparently my big sis has no idea what I was talking about and thinks I'm a big creep for basically yelling "doggy style" in my office. *still blushing*

But seriously?! Does anyone remember the ol' "fold the paper hot dog style or hamburger style" speil? Or am I just the office perv...

I even drew you a pretty picture.

Close Up Shop!

While my computer was being worked on at work, I was privileged enough to sit at Senior's desk. He's my boss' dad and he needs to retire. He still comes in the office every now and again to take care of some "administrative tasks," but most importantly, he makes sure to "Close up inventory."

oh the weather outside is weather...

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Jet-Setter

After 10 days away from my new home, I forgot how beautiful DC was. A week in Atlanta almost made me forget the beautiful Autumn weather that I got to return to Sunday evening. The leaves have turned so fast over the past 10 days and the commute to work is beautiful!

Arlington Cemetery

My trip:

1. OU Homecoming was amazing! Surprise, surprise. It felt so good to be reunited with my best friends and walk on the Court Street bricks again. There were some people I would have liked to see that I didn't get the chance to due to day long binge drinking but it's so tough to cram it all in. Luckily I got Sunday afternoon to spend with my old roommates, best friends, and family. 

Going back was so much fun but I noticed that I'm not the same person I was 4 months ago, and neither are a lot of us. Relationships change over 4 months and that can't be ignored.. no matter how hard you try to ignore it. Some relationships however remained exactly the same :) Laughs are shared as if you never left. I also didn't realize how much I missed inside jokes! I say things to new friends around DC and I realize, they have no idea what I'm talking about... (followed by awkward silence and awkward laughs) ha.

2. Week long conference in Atlanta. The hotel was contemporary and beautiful and I got some free wine out of the gig :) My favorite part of the conference was dinner at the Georgia Aquarium. We had exclusivity of the aquarium from 6-7 and then had a dinner/cocktail reception from 7-9.

Underwater Tunnel

 I didn't touch the ocean until I was 18 years old so as beautiful as the aquarium was, it terrified me at the same time. I screamed when one of the bull sharks swam above me and I was around all of my "clients" so that was just dandy. But they're massive... honestly 20 feet long. How the hell am I supposed to feel comfortable getting into the ocean, pre-wrapping myself in a wet suit, and hoping on a board that is ironically shaped like a seal. Seriously? I'll pass.

3. A weekend in Atlanta with my big sister :) Due to the nature of my job, I got a free stay in the Ritz at Buckhead in Atlanta. I have never stayed in a Ritz before but walking through those massive wood and gold plated doors was enough to make you suck your cheeks in, walk straighter, tighten that gut, and smooth your hair.

HUGE!

My sister adopted the "Ritz walk" one foot in front of the other, ever so lightly ha. You had to see it I guess. Oh! And there was a chandelier in the elevator. No biggie.

When we approached our hotel room door we noticed massive double doors and a sign that read "Presidential Suite." We opened the doors to find a luxurious room with a kitchen, dinning room, office, living room, master bedroom and master bath. 

Only separated by 6 inches of acrylic!!!

The first-class experience was complete when we noticed the complimentary bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. We persisted to parade around the room in our robes, drinking champagne, and taking ridiculous photos.. (anticipate photos later).

I had an amazing couple of days with the people I care about most, and the job perks definitely helped! :)

Hot-lanta

Leaving Athens is never easy, especially when that means leaving my family and friends in Ohio. I did however have an amazing weekend in the promise land. Kegs n' eggs at 8am was considered a mild morning compared to others who were waiting at the bar door at 5am or those who didn't even bother sleeping (I'm amazed by their super strength).

After having at least 5 shots by 11 am... I regretfully didn't last past 9pm. This may sound like a failure to Bobcats but I did however drink heavily for 12 straight hours so I did my best....

Well for now, I'm in Atlanta for a conference and I'm staying at the Hotel Palomar Midtown. It is absolutely beautiful and it is pet friendly so it's nice to see a lot of furry friends around here! The conference ends Friday, but I am staying for the weekend to visit with my sister! :)

P.S. Last night at dinner we had a $450 wine tab... awesome night = bad tomorrow.

I'll update when I get back in D.C. next week.

xoxox

Hotel Palomar Atlanta lobby and fish tank!

Today is Thursday...

That means that last night was kickball. I was feeling so chipped (see?! what the f' is chipped? That doesn't even make sense.. chipper*) this morning and BAM! I look at my clock and sure enough.. it's 2 pm.

I don't know why 2 pm likes to torture me so much but it never fails. That's when my hangovers come.

If I ever get stranded in a desert and I'm too dumb to figure out how to tell time with the sun (very likely) I will just find booze to get hammered on. Then, when my hangover hits me.. I'll know it's 2 pm.

Shit.. It's going to be a looooong day.

Would it kill you people to comment? And where the F is a Sonic when you need one.. I want some cronic ice cubes!

Warning: Lava isn't Fun to Eat

I'm sorry for my lack of posting last week.. I'm sure you were all checking your computers every hour anticipating another blow your mind blog post, and I apologize for letting you down.

However, I was busting my ass all week in Philadelphia for my first grown-up business lady work trip. Hustle and bustle. We arrived by train which is a short 2 hour trip to the Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia. It is a beautiful hotel and the staff was amazing. "Yes Ms. Armstrong," this, "yes Ms. Armstrong," that (royalty treatment)... and the FOOD?!... Amazing.

The company card helped as well. Four days of great food and wine and.... cha ching!.. all on the company. It's enough to spoil a girl. As soon as I got back Friday I was too exhausted to cook, and had no food so I had pizza delivered. I stared at my pathetic debit card... shaking my head. Damn it. This ones on me.

As you know, I was on the hunt for an authentic Philly cheese steak, and let me tell ya. It was an experience..



Before I added the "hot" sauce

 First of all, I pictured cheese steaks as full of mushroom sauce and oozy goodness. But to my surprise, it came dry with cheese and sauteed onions.. the "saucing" is up to you. Maybe you can order it with mushrooms... I dunno... I'm a newbie.

I decided to go with Geno's because that is what my Twitter friends recommended.. and I'd say by the size of the crowd that we made the popular choice.

So, I made my way to the sauce counter to pick my poison. Hot sauce?!.. Score! It was even in one of those nifty ketchup pump things so I thought "perfect! I love hot sauce! This looks so yummy!" .... I sat down, had my first bite, and thought to myself.. this hot sauce has a bit of a bite and I like it. In a twist of irony, Mo sat down and said, "I hope this hot sauce isn't too hot because I put a lot on mine." We carried on eating our subs and conversing when all the sudden we both got completely silent.

HOLY SHIT THIS IS HOT!!! She was choking, I was coughing and gaging, we were both basically crying. At that moment we both made eye contact with our miserable tear filled eyes and started cracking up because at the time we didn't know what else to do about our pain. The only thing to temporarily dull the pain was to rub ice on your lips. That shit needs to come with a disclaimer!! It wasn't hot sauce, it was lava. This is what the disclaimer should look like:

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

So tomorrow I leave for my first "work trip".. destination Philadelphia.

The last time and only time I've ever been to Philadelphia was for my 8th grade class trip. It was the most boring trip of my life. We listened to an Abraham Lincoln impersonator talk for 3 hours... it went like this:

in 1809 I was born

in 1810 I learned to walk

in 1819 I turned 10

in 1820 I kicked a ball, one time, in a field

...

in 1865 I was shot in the head and died.

Every 8th grader's nightmare. You know what? Any sane person's nightmare. It was quite possibly the worst 3 hours of my life. I still remember it.

And I kept trying to free myself from the "buddy system" long enough to get a cheese steak from a street vendor and my teachers kept yelling at me and pulling me away before I could get my grubby mits on one.

Part of the reason why our trip was so miserable was due to that fact that it was thrown together last minute. We had originially planned on going to DC to tour The White House and all that fun stuff, but September 11th was only a month before we left so one board meeting full of terrified parents later, led us to Philly.

I'm excited to go to Philly as an adult because I have heard great things about the city.. my favorite show originated there (it's Always Sunny In Philadelphia), I get to get myself a damn cheese steak, and I finally get to put faces to the people I have been emailing for 2 months now.

Plus, we're staying at the Four Seasons Hotel, and who doesn't love indoor pools?

I'm not sure how much email access I'll have during the week but I will try to update you all if possible. If not, I'll be back Friday! :) Any suggestions on the best place to get my cheese steak fix?

Dare-Devil

Yesterday morning I was suffering from a terrible hangover.. This is usual for Thursday mornings because of Wednesday night kickball festivities.

While waiting for the shuttle bus to work I was awkwardly staring into space.. (which probably resulted in the coffee stain down my shirt that I discovered later in the day when I took a break from awkwardly staring at the wall in my cubicle)... all the sudden this old man comes whipping around the herds of business suits on his power scooter which seemed to be going 35 mph. To my horror... he was headed straight for a little flight of steps.

Before my brain could register what was about to happen (mind you, I think I was still drunk).. the man was going full speed ahead right down a little set of stairs!

THUD

     THUD 

         THUD! zoooooooooom

He didn't even brake at the bottom! He just kept on trucking. At one point, it looked like he was floating. As he was making his speedy escape he yelled "I DIDN'T EVEN SEE THOSE THERE!!! HA! HA!"

Scooter man. You are my hero.

He's a Professional

A text my friend Matt sent me:

"I've gotten so tired of people asking me what an annuity marketer does.. I've started telling people I'm a professional vampire hunter.

When they tell me vampires don't exist, I reply that I'm really good at my job."

I'm so Metro...

At the request of my little sister, I took a picture of my commute home on the metro.

  This photo was incredibly uncomfortable to take because I was crammed on the side with my neck in the oddest angle while I tried to avoid breathing at all costs due to the incredibly smelly armpit dangerously close to my left cheek.

Please note how excited everyone looks.. oh and that guy sleeping woke up right after I took this picture because I forgot to turn off my flash... awkwarddddd.

Overly dramatic sketch of my commute to work

"N as in Nazi"

I got a phone call requesting an email address for a colleague and when he repeated it back to me he said:

"E as in Elephant, U as in Umbrella, N as in Nazi"

...really?! Is "N for Nazi" the first thing that comes to mind? Geesh I could barely contain myself.

I Like to Ramble..

So it's Friday (TGIF!) and I'm bored...

Tommy is moving here today, and my friends from school, Rohan and Ben are coming in town for the night. A little taste of home never hurt anyone :)

Now that I have a full time job, I have been thinking a lot about how people raise families and work full time. I get up at 7:40 leave the house at 8:40 and get to work at 9:30. When I get off at 5:30, it takes me about an hour to get home. So I finally walk in the door at 6:30, then what? Dinner, laundry, sit down for ten minutes, bed.

How do you people do it?! How do you fit a baby in there? or even worse, a bratty teenager! Everyday I become more appreciative of the things my mom did for me growing up (like when I moved into my first house at school and called her crying because I "appreciated her"), and this is just another way of me saying,

Mom, I appreciate you and all you do

Boss Man has his little girls in the office this morning and the little baby boinked her head right into the glass door! So cute.... Ohhh so that's why you people do it..

suddenly it all makes sense ;) I guess a little boink here and there is worth it.

Illegal Aliens??!!

A call I answered today and the "conversation" that followed:

Woman: Hi, so I need help cuz' there are these illegal aliens that are going around stealing social security numbers and they got a hold of my husbands and BOUGHT A HOUSE WIF IT! Now, we have these illegal aliens corruptin' my mortgage and the government just lets them live there! We can't keep lettin' these mortgages go crazy... ya know what I mean?!

at that moment she took her first breath and I barely had enough time to say

Me: Sorry, wrong number.

click..beep...beep

A day in the life of a receptionist

YUM!

Next week, Georgetown Cupcakes in D.C. is starting a show on TLC called D.C. Cupcakes! Since I work in Georgetown, it only seemed fair that I wait in line to see what these $3 cupcakes were all about.

I picked the first cupcake that stood out to me: Lemon Berry :) I cannot imagine working in that small of a space with video cameras in my face. It would be enough to throw me over the edge, but I think they'll survive with the sweet smell of heavenly cupcakes lingering the background. I carefully wrapped my beautifully delicate cupcake in parchment paper and headed back to the office. If I was going to enjoy this cupcake, it wasn't going to be under my umbrella in the rain...

My cupcake was a little melted but it survived and was delicious!