I'm Quitting

I gave up cocktails a while ago, and so now Ive only been drinking beer and/or wine at the suggestion of my doctor. But after the way I felt last Tuesday, after drinking beers while floating on the bay Monday, I will now add beer to the ‘things I don’t eat or drink’ list. I just can’t do it anymore. It makes me feel terrible, I get bloated, and I eat things I normally never would (like Del Taco). Thats also when I tend to yell louder. And I just don't like any of it.

So I'm sure I'll have a refreshing sip of ale here and there, but for now, I've consolidated to wine only. My heart and my tummy will thank me for it.

How to behave in a Senior VP's office

Or rather, how NOT to behave. I flew up to Oakland for 2 days of meetings, for work, and although I'm back safely in San Diego, I really wish those 2 days just never happened.

I will preface my actions below by saying that I was up at 4:30am, on a plane by 6:45am, and working non-stop since the plane landed in Oakland at 8:00am.

By the time I reached my Sr VP's office for our 3pm meeting, I was exhausted. I don't know about you, but when I am tired, I get weird. Or, my weirdness starts to show itself. As soon as I sat down in the last open chair (4 other higher-ups in the room with us), I kind of just slumped down in relief and then put my forehead on the edge of the table. WHO does this, you ask?! THIS clown. In my state of sleep depravity, I had totally forgotten where I was. My Sr VP lightly pats me on the shoulder (like a puppy dog), in sympathy I am sure, and says something to the affect that we've all been there. Small, sweet gesture that only made it worse! AAHHH I couldn't believe what I had done!! Completely mortified.

By 430pm I was already looking at a 12 hour work day, so I decide to vent to my friend A-Lu. I was looking for understanding in the fact that I most likely just ruined my 6 year career in a swift and murderous blow in the form of 1 hour with my superiors. Instead, she finds it hilarious and insists that I tell the world. After much thought, I decide she's right. Yes, my mistakes are funny when you're on the outside looking in (and slightly funnier to me now, 24 hours later). But in all seriousness, there are certain things that just aren't done in the corporate setting. Not if you want to keep your good reputation, pride, and paycheck, that is.

So here's the start of my list of things NOT to do in the office:

• Do not attempt sleep on your boss' desk. Or any other desk for that matter.
• Do not attempt to make jokes/quips like 'lights on but nobody's home'. Not only are they rude and not appropriate for the work place, they're not funny. Don't try to be funny if you're not. If you're not sure if you're funny, you're not.
• Do not slouch in your seat and sling your arm over the chair when talking to superiors. This is not appropriate body language for that setting. Remember that you are the inferior.
• Do everything you can to avoid being tired at the office. It usually doesn't go well.
• Do not personally insult the work ethic (or lack thereof) of Directors who are not even in the room. The office is a rumor mill in which you should not participate or perpetuate.

Today is 'Day 1 After The Incident' and I am happy to report that at this time, I still am employed.

My Locks are Lacking

I would like to think that I take good care of my hair, but in reviewing its quality lately, I might have to re-think that statement. Seemingly out of no where, my hair is broken, damaged, dry, uncooperative and an all around hot mess. I can’t figure it out.

Yes, I have always bleached my hair. Yes, my hair grows quickly and therefore I typically have appointments every 5 weeks. So that really shouldn’t have too much of an affect. I use my KPak deep conditioner once a week, I avoid heat as much as possible, and I drink my water. What gives?!

I typically use a different shampoo each wash, just to mix it up so that my hair doesn’t get used to one and in essence stops being as effective. Right now my shampoos are Organix Moisturizing Coconut Milk, John Freida Sheer Blonde, Aveda Damage Remedy, & Head and Shoulders.

My daily conditioners are Matrix Sleek Look or Aveda Blue Malva, and then weekly I use the Joico K-PAK Deep-Penetrating Reconstructor which I typically leave in overnight.

Perhaps my hair needs different/better products? What am I doing wrong?

Must.Find.Out. Before all my hair breaks off and I’m bald like the eagle.

Weeks 1-10 of Mission: FitBitch

By now you have all probably heard of the books SkinnyBitch. If not, its a quick read and quite entertaining. It basically promotes vegan living, which isn't really my style, but I did learn several food and fitness tips that I have incorporated into my life. Ever since I read the book, I find myself saying things like "I want to be a Skinny Bitch" but really, when I think hard about it, its not that I want to be skinny. What I want is to be fit, to feel good in my clothes, to feel light in my own skin, and to know that I'm healthy.

Sooo, with that in mind, I have changed my 'Mission: SkinnyBitch' to 'Mission: FitBitch' because I WANNA BE A FIT BITCH. There, I've put it out there, don't judge me.

I've been tracking my weight and here are my results for the first 10 weeks:
Week1: Start weight, 'X', aka the-most-ive-ever-weighed-in-my-entire-life
Week2: X-1, or, I lost 1 pound
Week3: X-1, or, I weigh the same as in Week2
Week4: Forgot to weigh myself
Week5: X-1, still the same same same
Week6: X-2
Week7: Forgot to weigh myself
Week8: X-3, hurray!
Week9: X-3, still hurray
Week10: X-2, boooo I gained a pound, but still down 2 lbs overall

So as you can see, I haven't done jack shit, and it is now time to get motivated into exercising and eating better.

Automatic Pick-Me-Up

Having a bummer of a day so I decided to treat myself to an on-a-whim $20 Mani. Asked the girl to chop off all my nails and paint them a deep, dark red.

“Sure you no want French?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Dark red please.”
“Sure you no want long nail?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Chop them off please.”

She does her thing, and then reminds me to pay now before we paint (so it doesn’t get chipped). After a quick goodbye to my hard earned $20 bill I hand it over to her. And she comes back with $10! Oh happy day, things are looking up.

“Sure you no want lighter color?”
“Yes, I’m sure. Dark red please.”

She paints a swatch on her nail then shows it to me, as if to prove what a terrible color choice I’ve made. Ugh. She’s right. Damn her! I wrinkle my nose, shake my head, and give her the puppy dog apologetic eyes. She nods her head in silent understanding as I get up to go pick a new color.

Not wanting to disappoint again, I spend a little longer looking at my choices. It doesn’t help. Now I’m stuck at indecision point and can feel the eyes boring into the back of my head. Then I have a sudden epiphany, smile to myself, make a grab, and essentially skip back to my seat.

I hand over the nail polish bottle and she paints a swatch on her nail again, with a slight nod of approval this time. I giggle and stick out both my hands, ready to go.

Turns out that if you choose your nail color as if you were 5 years old again, it can bring a smile to your face. This one reminds me of Watermelon Bubblicious and it makes me happy. Super impractical and I love it!

Goals for 2009

I'm definitely not one for New Years resolutions, but this year boyfriend and I actually did write down our goals for 2009 in the hopes of sticking to them. I'm going way out of my comfort zone here by posting this, but I'm doing so in the hopes of keeping myself accountable. This way, when/if I slack off, I'll be embarrassed into motivation. And considering that summer is almost over...maybe this will kick me into gear.

MUST Goals:

• Pay off all credit card debt by 05/31/2009 - This was done on target, early actually, but then I've added some more since then so I'm starting from scratch for year end.
• Lose 8 lbs by 05/31/2009 - This did not happen :^( But I have lost 3 lbs, so its a start. Only 10 lbs total to go by year end.
  
• Have $5k in savings by 12/31/2009 - Long, bad story b/c I screwed this up on my part. But basically starting from scratch on this one.
  

HOPE Goals:

• Lose an additional 5 lbs by 12/31/2009
• Have a visible six pack (this one makes me giggle, but I AM serious!)
• Plan and have money allocated for a 2010 Europe trip by 12/31/2009
• Be kidney stone free this year - I do have a stone, and have had it for quite some time now, but technically this one is still met b/c I haven't passed any stones this year.
  
• Have $20k liquid available for a house down payment

How to get rid of unused products

Without having to sell on eBay or Craigslist! The only other way I could think of was maybe doing a blog sale, but that only works if you've got a gazzilion followers. Then today I read a post by All Dolled Up about a website that you can use to swap beauty products! So here's the scoop. You go to http://www.makeupalley.com and create a profile. Then you add items to your Wish List (things you want, thing you'd like to have, things you need) and add items to your Swap List (things you have around the house that you'd like to be rid of). Then you find people that have things you'd like, ask if they'd like to swap. No money exchange involved, you just have to pay to ship to them and vice versa. Seems pretty cool. I started both of my lists and within about half an hour I had an email asking if I'd like to swap! We'll see how things go but I'm optimistic.