Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Happy Almost-New Years!


Today is my last day of work before my next long-weekend for New Years. Tomorrow we have a whole crap-load of friends coming over to celebrate with us! I know we'll be busy getting ready, so I am doing my "New Years" post today! What are my new years resolutions? So far I have only thought of one really good one - go to bed early and be ready for the next day before bed each day. What does that mean? 

Well, I figured that I need to be in bed around 9:30pm each night (since I get up at 5:30am) to get 7 hours of sleep. And, before bed I need to go back to my routine of laying out my clothes before bed each night (which I still usually do), and packing my lunch before bed (I never do this anymore), and setting my programable coffee maker so I don't have to sit around and make coffee in the morning. I just started to use the program feature on our coffee pot ... it's awesome. I love it! I figure this will allow to me to get a full night's sleep each night, which should cause me to snooze less in the morning (husband's big gripe!), and feel more prepared for work each day. If I pack a full, nutritious lunch before bed each night, then I won't be scrambling around for anything the next morning! 

Beyond that, my resolutions are pretty much just keep doing what I am doing already - keep working out on my lunch hour - maybe re-dedicate myself to that, as I haven't been as motivated lately to go every.single.day. Plus... the April vacation is always a good motivator - there is nothing like a bikini to get a woman in the gym! Happy New Year everyone!

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Mini-Update

Yeah... so that didn't work.  Personal-Space-Invader already crashed my office and practically sidled up behind me and nearly perched on my shoulders while I tried to keep facing my desk/computer... hoping she would catch the hint and walk around to face me. 

Definitely didn't catch-on! I will keep trying... but I think I might have to try the "have a seat" method. Ugh... why do people irritate me so?!

I am seeing another new side to this blog... office annoyances! 

Personal Space Invaders


Not feeling so hot today. I have a sore throat and am nursing my Starbucks peppermint mocha latte. You know I'm sick when I go for the fru-fru coffee drinks. I'm normally a black-coffee chickee, but not with a sore throat!

I am a hot mess today. My awesome holiday-red nail polish is chipping away, and my nails are just a hair too long... definitely needed to cut them down last night. So, they look even worse. I'm probably pretty pale, when I don't feel well I just can't be bothered to pay close attention to make up.

I haven't even eaten my breakfast yet. I never stall on breakfast. I forgot my trusty Motrin at home, and my two coworkers who always have a stash are both on vacation this week. And... I'm not really keen on going through their things while they're out.

Here's a new little irritation with my new office: Coworkers come into my office to chat or ask me a question, and rather than speak to me from the appropriate side of my desk (where there are 2 chairs), they walk around my desk and get on my side of the desk and speak to me from there. Umm... I have this whole office and you have to come around and practically sit on my shoulder? Irritating.

My game plan is to keep my body facing my desk - facing my computer. So that when a coworker comes around my desk to speak to me, they will virtually be speaking to the back of my head. I'm going to try that for a while - maybe painfully crane my neck around to see them occasionally to get the point across? If that doesn't work, I'm going to start saying, "Have a seat" when someone comes into my office. That's a last resort, though - because when I'm busy I don't want to encourage visitors sitting down in my office for long periods of time. I have read that you're supposed to keep people standing if you want to get rid of them quickly!

I am a big fan of personal space. I feel uncomfortable when someone touches my arm or shoulder or anything in the office environment - and I'm not a fan of close talkers. I am a big advocate of this sketch I found online!

Monday, December 28, 2009

I'm Still Here!!


Wow... been a while, huh? I've been super busy with work in the weeks leading up to Christmas, and of course Christmas shopping and prepping kept me as busy as the rest of the world. I had my in-laws over the weekend before christmas for our own Christmas celebration... and it was a big hit. My Christmas dinner was delicious, and the table setting (my favorite part!) was perfect. 

Christmas was great, my husband gifted me with a new Tiffany right-hand ring. Sigh... he knows how much I love anything that comes in those perfect little blue boxes :)

Now work is slow, as I am one of few folks here this short week, and this weekend is our big new year's party! We have some friends coming in from out of town to celebrate with us, and I'm super excited, but I am also nervous. Nervous that someone will break our brand new champagne flutes, or spill booze on our brand-new carpet... you get the picture. Or worse... vomit in our brand-new sectional. So - my plan is to offer plenty of food, minimal hard alcohol (mostly beer and champagne) and try to make the party feel a little bit more upper class... hopefully our guests will follow suit.

Monday, December 7, 2009

New Digs New Dress


I have officially walked through our new office - it's incredible. The best part? I may sound like a high-school kid here, but there are only two levels of management with offices instead of cubicles, and I'm one of them!

Maybe it's childish, but that separation definitely makes me feel more important, like an instant-promotion. The new dress code still allows for nice jeans, but I've decided to only wear my 'dress jeans' on Fridays. They always say to 'dress for the job you want, not the job you have' right? Well, this is my way of showing the rest of the company that I am setting myself apart - I'm taking my career to the next level. Even if I am just starting with my wardrobe!

Plus, now I have a very real reason to go shopping! Hooray for new work clothes. And, a whole new side to this blog - corporate fashion! (By the way, the picture above is from J.Crew... love that store!)

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

All Grown Up

My company just built a new office! I just got a sneak-peak, and it's fantastic! The part of me that’s so dorky about this is that I feel like in the new office I’ll have a ‘real’ job and be a ‘real’ grown up.

Let me explain... My first job out of college my work space consisted of a drawer. I got to use the label maker and stamp my name on it, so that was cool. Then in my next job I had a desk, we all had desks along a big wall in the basement of the building. To be fair I had more than a desk, we each got a shelf too. Then, moving up in the world – I came to my current company where I got a whole corner. When the powers that be realized how cramped we really were, they shuffled work spaces and I was awarded my very own cubicle. Now – I am getting a REAL office! It even has a door.

It's given me a new sense of motivation for work. I feel more professional surrounded by our modern office, in my own private office all dressed up in a suit. Is everyone else as affected by their surroundings as I am? I can't wait for 2010... it's going to be a great year!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Random Thoughts

I am having a rather scatterbrained afternoon... And struggling to string together some coherent thoughts. So, instead I figured I’d just share all of my random thoughts in no particular order:

*I need to be a better friend. I don’t call, write, email, visit enough. I don’t do enough really thoughtful things. I need to start because I value my friendships and want to keep them going even though we are all scattered all over the eastern half of the United States now.

*I have to pay bills tonight. Ugh. I don’t know why I dread doing this every two weeks, after I am done it feels
so much better knowing exactly how much money we can spend on fun stuff that week. I dread it, every time.

*My best friend is having a baby (yay!!!) but it’s unplanned (a little scary) but with a great guy who she is going to marry (yay, again!)
Wow. That’s a lot to handle. Her head must really be spinning right now. I did already order her baby girl a bib and tee shirt with our sorority letters on it. I couldn’t resist! So excited for her!

*I didn’t feel like running on my lunch hour today, so instead I did upper body strength training. My arms felt like jelly all afternoon!

*I wish I could get up early every morning and go running. But, when I get up it’s pitch black outside, and we can hear coyotes in the cornfield across the street. Probably not wise to run 

*I have a soccer game tomorrow night. I really hope I don’t suck like I did last week... And that I score another goal again soon! What an awesome feeling.

So I guess that’s it. These are the thoughts ping-ponging around my head right now. (ooh... Maybe my husband and I could play ping pong tonight?!) Seriously... I need a vacation!

She's a Perfectionist


The perfect girl. You know her – you’ve met her! She is exactly the right height – not too tall, not too short, is skinny and super fit, has that shampoo-ad hair, flawless skin... Not too mention a great job that she’s great at, a closet full of kick-ass clothes and everything else that comes with Barbie. The great boyfriend, the super cool car, the adorable pup, and a group of super-loyal and adoring friends. Oh, and did I mention that she never watches TV, has time to train for marathons, teaches kids to read, goes to church, and is a regular old Mother Teresa? Oh yeah, and she recycles.

Seriously – who are these girls?! There’s not a ton of them... But they’re out there. They are the ones who manage to literally have it at & do it all. They can go out all night in stiletto heels and be the life of the party and then be perky and cheerful the next morning at her 8am meeting, fresh after her morning jog and egg white and vegetable omelet. It's girls like this who make the rest of us feel like crap.

Recently I started thinking about why I am so jealous of these girls. Clearly, because they have their shit together. I knew a couple of these girls in college... And I honestly don’t think that in four years I ever saw any of them watch TV. Maybe the occasional news program while folding laundry... Or the once-a-year hung over movie in your PJ’s – but it was rare! So maybe that’s were I need to start. Less TV. My husband jokes when we’re away from home that our DVR is smoking at home because I record so many shows. Maybe that’s part of the answer – I don’t have time to volunteer to teach kids to read because I’m plopped in front of the boob tube every night watching How I Met Your Mother. (Seriously – this show is fantastic.) I think I need to back away from the DVR and stick to my tried-and-true show – Grey’s Anatomy. I’ll watch this show... And the rest I’ll just have to catch here and there. With an extra 2-3 hours each night, I could pack real, healthy lunches for myself, get in an extra workout, pay bills, clean the house, volunteer somewhere... That’s an extra 10-15 hours a week - that’s like a part-time job! People are always wishing for more hours in the day, well – I could have them if I just gave up a little TV each night. And if I’m not stuck in front of the TV each night I could get to bed earlier ... Meaning I could be on time to work every day, and be perky and cheerful at the same time! (What a concept, right?)

Monday, November 30, 2009

Make Time

As Corporate Chickees I am sure we're all experts in time management, right? Well one thing we all hear and say more than anything, is that we don't have time to exercise. Well of course we don't have time, we're working women, we're busy climbing the corporate ladder. But we need to make the time.

Schedule exercise into your day just like any other meeting or work-related outing. That way you'll be more likely not to cancel or double book yourself. Schedule your workouts on your work calendar, or on your iPhone, blackberry, wherever you keep your daily activities and meetings.

Then, treat it like a meeting. If someone wants to meet you for cocktails after work, let them know you've got plans right after work (your workout!) but that you can meet them later, or during lunch. Find ways to keep the appointment with yourself. After all, taking care of ourselves is priority number one!


Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Beach Vacation!


Last night my husband and I booked our beach vacation for this spring. Yet another good exercise motivator! Everyone wants to look HOT in a bikini... I am no different! Other motivation? Cute white shorts... little sun dresses... tiny tops... any beach vacation is motivation to sweat like crazy in the gym. Oh how I love to shop for vacation clothes!

Ab workout here I come!!

Turkey Day


Thanksgiving is tomorrow! I am so excited to have a little vacation from work! We each get one floating holiday to use anytime throughout the year - I always take mine the day after Thanksgiving! This year Thanksgiving is at my parent's house - which means NO traveling! Very excited about that.

So, knowing my new little-black-dress goal... I am focusing on enjoying Thanksgiving dinner, but not going overboard. That's the trick, you can enjoy holiday meals, just as long as you don't go over board and stuff yourself silly.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Goal Setter


By nature, I am a goal setter. I set goals for everything. At work, I aim to get X number of projects done by lunch. At home, I set the timer for 20-minutes and see how much I can clean. At the gym, I sprint on the treadmill for exactly one-minute, then I do it again... and again...you get the picture.

Maybe it's that I like achieving, so I set goals for myself so that I can feel that feeling of achievement all the time. Maybe it's because I like to be done with things - and I look forward to "being done". Who knows!

I've set a peculiar goal for myself this time - I have actually never done this before, but I think many woman have done it! I bought a dress that's a size smaller than I normally wear! Now I just have to fit into the dress! This dress above is a lot like mine - this one is from White House Black Market.

That's what happens when you're a goal setter. You buy clothes that are too small.