Say Yes to Saying No! or How Do I Get Myself Into These Things?!

Convo From Last Night:

me: ...and I'm going to be home late tomorrow night.
C: Why?
me: Because my mom has a business plan she wants to go over with me (2).
C: *look of mild horror*
me: No, we're not starting a business together.
C: Oh good. Now what's going on next weekend?
me: I'm going to Philly to choreograph the dance for Shari's* wedding (1).
C: Baby, sometimes, you just need to say no.

It's true- I have a problem saying no. Well, saying it and hearing it- I don't like "no." I try to find ways around hearing or saying "no."I think it's due in part to a sales/customer service background; "no" was not an option.

And I don't like letting people down. So when people ask for my help, my immediate (sometimes too hasty) response is always "yes." Even if I don't really want to do whatever it is I'm agreeing to.

{via}

Case in point (1): I received a text on Tuesday morning from one of Shari's bridesmaids asking if we (Shari's friends) would be interested in/willing to do a dance for Shari's wedding. (Shari is Indian, and this is typical in Indian culture.) So I thought a bit, and figured that if this bridesmaid wanted to pick music and choreograph and dance and all I had to do was learn it, sure! I could do that, and it would make Shari really happy.

But no, that's not what's happening. After a few more texts, I agreed to call the bridesmaid that night. She said she had one of the THREE songs and that she wanted ME to pick the other 2- one song reminiscent of college, and another that is a bhangra/reggae mix (Shari is Indian, her fiance is Jamaican). Also, for the first song, she had another bridesmaid choreographing, but for the other 2, she wanted my "help" (which I'm reading to mean, can you choreograph them?) AAAH! So upon arriving home, I started ransacking my apartment for the Cd's we used in college...we're going back to 2002-2003 here people! Do you know how many times I've moved since then?! A LOT!!

Side note: They were right below the stereo. But I was looking for one of those round CD holders (what stores sell blank Cd's in) and they were in a CD case. Oops.

So The Bridesmaid calls, and tells me the above (about me "helping" choreograph). So we nail down a date- May 6-7. Basically, I'm leaving work (in northern NJ) and taking at least 2 trains to PHILLY. Because that's where The Bridesmaid lives. And staying over at her place to "help."

Case in point (2): I met with my mom on Monday night, because she has been trying to get me to go shopping so she could buy me "an Easter dress." To which I explained that I don't need an "Easter" dress, and I already bought one to wear to an upcoming wedding, and I am trying very hard to save instead of spend. She was not hearing me. (I blame my frivolous spending habits and lack of savings skills on her!) So I finally agreed (I also wanted to give her a very belated birthday present).

We went to TJ Maxx (love that store, and she works there part time- additional savings for me!). After I said no to dresses, she was trying to get me to buy suits, claiming they had a stellar business wear section. (I didn't notice, I was too busy looking at shoes!)

Fast forward to Wednesday mid-day. I get a text from her (yes, my mom texts. She learned the hard way this is the best way to get in touch with me- oops!) ... I get a text saying that she told her boss about marketing their business wear to soon-to-be college graduates in the area. Her boss LOVED the idea, saying that maybe they could do a fashion show, etc, but then left it in the air. So now my mom "wants to discuss a business plan with me." We are meeting tonight to discuss.

So I repeat...how do I get myself into these things?!?

*names changed to keep the privacy of those who don't know they are being mentioned on a blog!

So What! Wednesday

This week I'm saying SO WHAT if...

1. I'm wearing socks that have a hole...in each one. Unless I have a little piggy sticking out, they're still good!

2. I had a smorgasbord of leftovers for dinner last night that included yellow rice with corn, ground beef in taco seasoning, stuffing with gravy and cranberry sauce.

3. I really enjoy watching shows like Hoarders, simply because it makes me feel like my apartment is clean!

4. After watching Hoarders, I get these sudden urges to go scrub my bathroom, reorganize my linen closet, and declutter the mail and other "problem areas." But then another show comes on and it goes away. womp womp.

5. I'm jumping on the cake pop bandwagon. I want to try one at Starbucks, and then I want to try to make them myself! Bite size treat on a stick? Yes, please!

What are you saying "So What?!" to? Link up with Shannon Life After I Dew!

Top 2 Tuesday: Things You Collect

1. Christmas Ornaments

This is a new one for me, which was started in the last year or so. Because my "family home" was sold and a lot of the old things lost or boxed away somewhere, I have started a new tradition of getting cute meaningful Christmas ornaments each year. I also pick ones up when I go on vacation to remember the trip!

2. Shot Glasses

I've been collected these since college. Whether I've gone somewhere or someone I know does, they know to get me a shot glass! Some have not made it between moves, but I still have a pretty eclectic collection of glasses from around the world!

These are the 2 main current collections. I also "collect" quotes, but I'm not sure that would be classified as a real collection item. I used to collect rocks, stamps, and pogs (anyone remember pogs?! I had books filled with them!)

Do you collect anything? Link up with "The UnDomestic Momma"!

Monday Motivation!

This girl certainly has some goals...and seems to have her priorities straight! I'd love to see what she has to say when "Life" comes up and tries to throw some obstacles in her way! But this was pretty inspirational for someone so young! Enjoy!

April Goals Update and Where'd My Money Go?

(To see my original April Goals post, please go here.)

Updates:
1. Go to the dentist!
I have talked to coworkers to find the least painful a good dentist in our area under our plan. I have the name and number, and will be calling on Monday.

2. Read more.
Read "Living Dead Girl" by Elizabeth Scott in 2 days. Huzzah!

3. Be more creative.
Continued 30 in 30 Remix Challenge. Threw a baby shower.

4. Remove clutter from my life.
Done: Cleaned up iTunes. I think. In progress: washing all our throw blankets before putting in a vacuum bag for storage. Next: Organizing pics on computer.

5. Figure out my future.
Went to a course on event planning at The Learning Annex. Left more confused about my future, but at least did something to learn more about this option.

6. Eat out less.
Chose to eat leftovers twice this week when C ordered out. Only ate out once, and that was because I was out late with a friend, and she had never had NY pizza...smh. Huzzah!

7. Open a High Yield Savings Account.
I was planning on doing this yesterday. But then I saw my checking account balance and noted my overspending as of late (which also prompted this post). So I'll have to wait a little bit. Fail.

8. Make a Budget (and stick to it).
Please see above. Fail x 2. Hmph.
-----------------------------------------------------

Bills
$237.08 - Comcast
$310 - loan repayment
$86.28 - cell phone
$15.00 - bank fees
Total: $648.36

Extras
Entertainment
$0
Shopping
$90.90 - Anthropologie dress
$166.61 - Target (Baby Shower presents, Godson presents, and misc.)
$9.62 - Bath and Body Works
$39.48 - Bed Bath and Beyond
$17.00 - Barbie tea set (C is actually paying me back for this one since it is a present for his Goddaughter- I just bought it because he was working and couldn't get to a computer before it potentially sold out)
Total: $323.61

Other
$58.45 - The Learning Annex (event planning class)
$7.00 - Metrocard
$7.15 - 2 slices of pizza
$20.00 - drinks
$145.00 - misc. bank fees
$24.87 - Post Office (sending the presents I bought my friend and Goddson)
Total: $262.47

Grand Total: $1234.44

I have decided that I hate "Where'd My Money Go?" segments. Or rather, I hate breaking down the numbers and finding out how and where I overspent. In my defense, this includes the last 2 weeks (because I hate this process!).

In other defenses, I bought (and sent) a lot of overdue presents for people. I'm glad I finally bought and sent them. The dress was necessary for a wedding I have coming up in mid-May. It's gorgeous. And I really couldn't wear one of the dresses from my closet because everyone going to this wedding has seen those that are appropriate for a beach wedding at previous beach weddings. (Does that sentence make sense? I hope so.)

Also, I got a lot of bang for my buck at Bath and Body Works. They had a sale on their candles (which we would normally buy anyway, because they have awesome scents). Usually, they are $19.50 each. The sale price was $10 each. And I had a Groupon for $15 for $30 worth of products. WHAT! So of course I got 3. And then a $1 body lotion (I couldn't resist!). So really, all I paid for was the lotion and shipping. HOLLA!

And the class (and Metrocard to get to/from it) was for my future- so I could learn more specifics about event planning and if that's a direction I really want to go into. It looks really exciting, so of course now I'm more confused about that.

And while I was there I ran into a bloggy friend (Hi Mandy!). That was awesome. And we had to eat- so we got pizza. And then drinks, because hanging out was fun.

I don't really have a good excuse for spending so much at Bed Bath and Beyond. It's always the Beyond that gets us. I did buy part of my mom's Mother's Day present, so that's good. And the belt hook and pantry organizer were necessary for my sanity. We did use the 20% off one item coupon though! Yay? No? Ok fine...hmph.

Maybe I'll do better next week.

Bye Bye Mommy-to-Be, or The First Time I Threw a Baby Shower

Friday was one of my best work friend's last day before maternity leave. Being one of the closest people to her, and the designated party planner office manager, I was volunteered as the one to throw her a baby shower. However, I've never thrown one before, and I've only attended two (and the last one was 2 years ago for a coworker I didn't know, so I wasn't really paying attention...oops).

Also, we just found out the Friday before that (April 1st) that this Friday would be her last-- so I was on a tight deadline.

I sent out an email on Friday morning (as soon as I found out) setting the date/time of the shower, and saying that if anyone wanted to contribute to a group present/cake/etc. to please give it to me by end of day Monday. Then I sent another one as a reminder on Monday morning. I was a little worried that being her friend, and wanting to buy her stuff, I wouldn't have enough money from "contributions" from our coworkers and would have to put out a lot personally. I have to say, I was really surprised by all the money people gave. I collected almost $300, and was able to buy a TON of stuff for her. (I also got lucky in the store- it was closing time, and the lady in front of me had two 20% off coupons that she couldn't use- karma is AWESOME!). Plus the cake and decorations.

I was also surprised by those who did not give. And as it turned out, those were some of the ones who make the most money in our department. That made me a bit sad, that they would be so stingy, when people like me (who make the least in our department) always give at least a little something to everything- birthdays, showers, selling Girl Scout cookies- it's about showing support to your coworkers. And of course, these people didn't attend the shower. Which, being that it was held during the work day and we all know they were in their offices because we could see them, seemed quite rude. I mean, you can't even say Congratulations?? Lame.

Anyway, being that me and the other 2 girls threw her a shower the week before, we were able to re-use those decorations. Yay! And I got a 1/2 sheet cake from ShopRite with strawberries and cream filling...Yum! I know Carlo's Bakery is right down the street, but ya know what? Their cake isn't good. I've had it. ShopRite's cake was fresh, delicious, and reasonably priced- everyone loved it and was surprised it was from a grocery store.

I waited until Thursday night to go shopping because, as usual, not a lot of people gave by the deadline. And I went at 9pm, because I only get home by 8, and then I wanted to go online and look at sales and what I wanted to buy (she didn't have a registry because this will be her second child, and she doesn't know if it's a boy or girl....and I don't have a lot of practice buying baby stuff). Actually it worked out well because C gets impatient shopping with me in general, let alone for baby stuff, so we only had a half hour to shop. Of course this made me crazy, as I've never been in Babies R Us before and don't know where anything is, but I had my list. So that helped. I was able to get her:

- the Boppy nursing pillow (it was between this and the Diaper Genie. I found out at the shower that she already has one, but I was smart enough to get a gift receipt so she can return it if she chooses.)
- Boppy pillow slip cover
- foldable bath (I think this was her favorite- and I was super mad that the store didn't have the "Essential Baby Bath Set" I had seen online with the tub, towels, robe, and everything, so I got this on a whim!)
- Johnson and Johnson "essentials" kit (shampoo, lotion, oil, Qtips, etc)
- ducky robe (this was on clearance- Buy One Get One FREE so I got another one for my friend who's having a shower this summer! Sah-weeet!)
- color changing rubber ducky- because it is my firm belief that every child should have a rubber ducky
- lil towels
- onesies
- receiving blankets
- a keepsake book
- a teddy bear, teething rings, and a phone rattle
- $50 gift card
- all the wrappings and a card

That's a lot of stuff! I realized this at 10:30 the night before, when I started wrapping all of it and didn't finish until somewhere between 12 or 12:30 in the morning. And especially when I had to commute with all of it the 2 hours it takes me to get to work....via 2 trains and a bus. Though I skipped the bus part and just took a cab. I had it split between 2 giant gift bags...so big that I couldn't put my arms down all the way because they would hit the ground! And they were heavy, but luckily I didn't have to actually carry them too far.

The other problem was, even as late as Thursday, we didn't have a room! Our conference room had meetings scheduled, and every room in our 14 floor building was booked. We thought of using the Faculty Dining Room, but the one who schedules that room was out on Thursday. C was trying to help- he suggested the bowling alley (yes, our building has a bowling alley in the basement...kinda weird I know but also pretty cool), but even that was in use. Lucky for me, my boss was able to move the meeting originally scheduled in the conference room. And even luckier for me, the meeting got cancelled (though this only happened about a half hour to party time on Friday, but it was still good for me that the execs didn't have to squish into someone's office because of a party.)

Did I mention it was a SURPRISE baby shower? There were over 30 people invited, so I was really nervous someone would slip and say something. It wouldn't be the end of the world, but it would kinda stink. Especially since the Vice CFO decided to throw a "baby shower" for a computer program they are bringing in this summer. My friend was soooo mad. "Really, they are throwing a baby shower for a computer program, a computer program, and not for me?? SERIOUSLY?!" Hahahaha. And the fact that we (her friends) threw her a shower the week before also completely threw her off. Because if we already did one for her, who would plan another one? In theory, that makes sense, but we wanted to do one for her that was just us, not with everyone- it was much more personal, intimate, and I think special- a true sign of friendship, to go out of our way to do something nice for her.

We had the party on her last day, at 3:30 in the afternoon. She had no idea...until her boss told her some bogus lie to get her to come to our floor. But usually when we have a little party, we have it right off the elevator in the front because there's an empty workspace there. So she comes off the elevator, looking alllllll around for something. Anything. Her boss told her other boss was in a meeting and needed her to come up to verify facts. Being that this has never happened, and it was her last day, she wasn't buying it. (She's a smart cookie). But I made sure that I was at my desk when she came off the elevator, and showed her to the "meeting" ...in the conference room.

Her face. Was. Priceless.

Yes, after her boss told her that baloney, she thought we may have done a little something. But EVERYONE was there (well, except those losers who didn't want to participate, but that was about 4 people out of 30). And we had the room all decorated- balloons, banners, swags of crepe paper in the shape of babies, a yellow tablecloth with the cake on it and some table top decorations, and the presents all around. And all the people, yelling "Surprise!" It was awesome. She was so surprised, and SO happy, and so grateful to everyone, that she was practically in tears (I think I did see her shed one or two...and she's not a crier!).

I was quite proud of myself. And her bosses AND my boss said I did an amazing job, and her bosses didn't realize how big of an event it was and all that it entailed (I'm guessing they meant the decorations, size of the cake, amount of people that came, and amount of gifts...they're men; I don't think they "get" what a big deal things like showers are, but that's ok) and that they were so happy and grateful that I did it all.

Success!! :)

Let's Review!

TV Show - Khloe and Lamar

"Khloe and Lamar attracted) 835% more viewers than the average Lakers home game gets on local cable (Fox Sports Net West) in Los Angeles.

Keep in mind the Lakers are TOPS in the NBA with 278,000 average households.
In-fact thats 216% more eyeballs than the TOP SIX NBA teams get COMBINED (822,000) on local cable, according to ratings from SPORTS BUSINESS DAILY." (via Fox Sports Radio)

Those stats are pretty ridiculous!! I have to say, I tuned in (and made C watch too, though that wasn't hard since he loves all things Kardashian related).  I also have to say that I didn't have high hopes for the show. I didn't really like Kim and Kourtney in New York (though of course I watched it religiously), but adding a non-Kardashian to the mix (like Scott, for instance) could mean trouble ( he was sooo annoying, and a major douche- sorry for the language!).

But Lamar is funny. And Khloe is silly, which i find endearing. And they're super cute together. And I think there's a lil sumthin-sumthin going on with Rob and Khloe's assistant, no matter how they try to play it off. And teh first episode had real life drama - not some bs about not getting paid to attend an event or setting up your friend on a gay date with an obvious non-gay (that was really funny). In case you missed it, it had to do with Lamar's dad, and understanding your place when there's family drama- you can't just butt in and try to make everything all better- sometimes you have to let it go and respect the relationship.

I will definitely be tuning in next week!


Food - Extra Dessert Delights - Mint Chocolate Chip

I don't really like gum- it always seems like I'm chewing air and whatever flavor it is seems to die out within minutes. I tried this because I got a free sample, and I chose this flavor (between this, key lime pie and I think strawberry shortcake) because it's one of my favorite flavors and I'll try just about anything if it says it tastes like chocolate chip mint. And ya know what? IT REALLY TASTES LIKE THE ICE CREAM!!! And the flavor lasts. And it's sugarfree. What more could a girl ask for??


Beauty - Garnier Nutrioniste Anti-Puff Eye Roller

I have been wanting this product for a few months now, but I wanted to see the reviews before purchasing. For $13.49, it's not bad. The rollerball is cooling and feels nice when applying. It has caffeine in it, which is supposed to tighten up the under-eye area, but I didn't feel any tightening. And honestly, I didn't see much of a difference. But supposedly you're supposed to use it for a week or so before seeing results, and I've only used it twice so far. So the jury's still out, but I have high hopes. Maybe I should have bought the "anti-dark circle" one they have out now though...

Book - "Little Dead Girl" by Elizabeth Scott

*SPOILER ALERT!*

I got this book from Mandy (thanks again!). I read it in 2 days. I jsut found out that this book was banned in schools: “Challenged, but retained at the Effingham, Ill. Helen Matthes Library (2009) despite concerns about its graphic content and the unsatisfactory ending.  The book is about a fifteen-year-old’s perspective of living with her captor after being forcibly kidnapped and imprisoned at the age of ten.  The book has received several accolades from book critics.  Source: Nov. 2009, pp. 219–20.” (Taken from ala.org)


I'm not surprised at all that this was banned. It's an extremely hard topic to swallow. But the most gripping point for me was that this stuff really happens. We just don't hear about it, because these kidnappers are good. They don't let their prey get away easily. It kind of reminded me of that movie "The Lovely Bones." And it's true what people say, it could be that quiet, "normal" looking neighbor. It could be anyone. You just never know. I will definitely take a closer look at people after reading this.


Movie - Love and Other Drugs

*SPOILER ALERT!*

This is the trailer I saw. I just noticed there is an alternate trailer...I wish I had seen that one. I thought this movie was a romantic comedy. Me and my girlfriends rented as our Girls Night In movie pick for that reason- something light and fluffy. Head's up: It's not. This isn't even really about Jamie (Jake Gyllenhaal), as the trailer makes it seem. It's about a girl (Anne Hathaway) with early on-set Parkinson's Disease, how she lives with it, and how it affects her relationship (with Jamie). It's more of a dramedy- there are funny parts, but mostly it's dramatic and sad. Also, I've never seen nor wanted to see so much of Anne Hathaway naked. Seriously, you see everything but her front lower half (and even that gets a bit close because you see Jake's hand down the front of her tiny underwear). Of course, C can't wait to see it. Hmph!