That's it! I'm building an ark!

Ok, maybe building an ark is a little ambitious, but all my fellow Boston-dwellers have to agree that the rain here is ridiculous! At first I was like "woo-hoo! Rain = free car wash" (which I really needed), but now it's more like "wamp wamp... rain makes everything dreary and it's not fun getting my work clothes all wet."

That gives me yet another reason I am beyond excited to go back to Chicago this weekend! I can't wait to see some friends and spend Easter with my family. I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but my family is very big on getting together for holidays, and sometimes it's just weird to think I live 1,000 miles away from anybody related to me...

My current obsession is getting free stuff - who doesn't like that? I'm a big fan of the sitewww.heyitsfree.com Not only does it have an awesome name, but he gives great freebie tips and there are links to tons of other freebie sites. So far I've gotten a ring sizer from Blue Nile and a sample of Hyland's Restful Legs (because I'm seriously convinced I have Restless Leg Syndrome and I'm hoping this helps), and I'm still awaiting tons more things I ordered the other night when I couldn't sleep :)

I hope you had a wonderful March (and that you stayed dryer than I did!) Now go order some free stuff and I'll be back next month with more wonderfulness!

Short month.... BIG Cause

Oh my goodness, February went by so fast I almost didn't get to write my monthly update! In my defense - it IS the shortest month of the year!

Work has been super crazy, but I did get to go to Toy Fair in New York where there were over 1000 exhibitors. I saw more toys than I even knew existed, and it was really cool getting to meet all the different people. My hotel was right down the street from Times Square and it was a great experience for my very first business trip :)

That was fun and all, but on a more serious note - I just got back from seeing this documentary called "Lumo" about women in Africa. I had no idea how terribly the women of Africa were treated and how they have become such victims of the ongoing wars. There is a Heal Africa hospital where the women can go to be treated for the awful injuries they've sustained. I've decided that this is a cause definitely worth my time. I knew so little about it before this weekend, but now I want to help raise awareness and raise money to help out the hospital (who's budget has been seriously cut, and they are in real need of assistance). I don't feel I should go into too much detail at this time, because it's extremely graphic and tragic, and I'm still learning about it.
A group from the First Baptist Church of Wollaston (MA) is looking for ways to help, so a benefit concert is now in discussion and I'm sure I'll post more once we get it all figured out. I'm not technically a member of the church, but my boyfriend is the music director there, and since I don't really have a church of my own, they've been kind enough to accept me :) And I'm so excited to help them plan this fundraiser!

Please visit healafrica.org to learn more about the situation, and maybe you can help, too!

"Be the change you want to see in the world" -- Gandhi

What happened to my good karma?

I've been putting off my January blog post because, to be honest, this has been a crappy month. I swear I'm a good person and I continuously do good things to put my good karma out into the universe and hope it comes back to me. This month was mostly bad, but there was one or two little things that were good.
This month, somebody somehow got my debit card number and charged about $300 worth of online games to it. Games like World of Warcraft and Age of Reckoning are really not my style of things to buy. Luckily my bank caught it early enough that I'm really only working to get back about $40. I have NO idea how this person got my card number, but it has been a serious inconvenience trying to work it all out and I'm still debit card-less which is annoying in itself.
My other item of bad luck was my car. Driving home from work one night I must have hit a bad pothole or something because my tire completely died and ripped apart. Apparently the wheel (the metal part) was damaged too, so 500 some dollars later, I have a new wheel and tire on my car.
Needless to say, this has been an expensive month. I'm about to make it even more expensive because I'm about to buy my plane tickets home for Easter (at least that is a happy expense!)

The good news of the month - I have met a few girls through the book club I joined and I think they might actually be girls that I will hang out with! I'm so excited because this has been a loooonnnnggg 5 months without friends.

I've made it through another month on my own living in Boston, and I have to admit that living here continues to offer me interesting experiences and I do believe they are helping me build myself into a better and stronger person.

~ until next post! Peace!

Peace Out 2009

So 2009 is at an end... I thought for sure this was the last year we would see those cooky glasses using the 0s of 2000 as eye holes... I was wrong. Some genious figured out how to make the 1 into an eye hole as well. Proof that there is some serious talent in this country (or China - I'm not sure which) :)



This has been an interesting year. I feel like I accomplished a lot. Let's review: I graduated from college, moved to Boston, worked some temp jobs, found a job as a marketing assistant/coordinator (Yeah, I finally found a job... even if it is only part time), saw Ben Afleck, visited New York City for the first time, and just recently joined a book club. So many things!!!

On a wider view than just my life: people have been born, people have died, people have fallen in love, and people have taken time to find themselves.
The New Year is an interesting thing. On one hand, it's really just another day - the week continues just as usual. On the other hand, it's a new start. A fresh beginning and everyone has another chance to make this year a great one.

I wish you all a very happy New Year and best of luck in all of your endeavours in 2010!

*Peace*

Reviews and Ramblings #2

I finally decided it was time for me to order some business cards. I know I don't have a business yet, but I do need an easy way to give people my information. I have been asked multiple times if I had a card to leave with someone, and finally I can say, "Yes I do!"
I ordered my cards through VistaPrint.com. My order of of 250 business cards was free, and all I had to pay for was shipping. I decided to pay a little extra (it was really only a few dollars more) and have my cards delivered within 7 days. Within 3 days my cards were already delivered and were waiting for me when I got home from work (one of my glorious temp jobs).
The cards look great. They have a large variety of designs to pick from and you can even upload your own. They also have a ton of other business supplies - pretty much everything you could need - and they can even match the design on your card. I was very impressed with how quickly my order was processed and I am very happy with my results. Thanks VistaPrint!
Also, if you sign up for the mailing list, you get announcements of great deals for free and discounted items in your e-mail.

www.vistaprint.com
You can even follow them on twitter: @VistaPrint

Change is good... bad... different?

I've never been a big fan of change. I like consistency probably because it's what I grew up with: I lived in the same house since I was born, had most of the same friends since elementary school, my family celebrated every holiday exactly the same every year (with the exception of the year we spent Christmas is France, and I cried because we didn't go to my aunt's like we did every other year... yeah, I know. In my defense I was only 13), and I guess I felt safe in my consistency bubble. I have also always been a fan of adventure, but the adventure usually concluded with the safe return to my bubble.

Now that I have moved half-way across the country from my safe zone, I have realized what I guess I have always known: Change is inevitable. And really the only thing I can do (other than eat way too much chocolate fudge brownie ice cream and live in denial) is to make the best of it. So this is the start of my decision to truly start embracing change. It's going to be hard, I know, afterall change can be difficult, but I'm really going to try my best.

I've already begun by slowly accepting the latest change in my life -the transition from college student to professional. While I can't really consider myself a professional anything yet, my hopes are in the right place. Working as a temp also involves a lot of change as I've already worked at two different places since my last post (although the one I was at then is still my favorite). I'm loving my new city, and I'm looking forward to loving a new job and hopefully loving some new friends! I guess life would be pretty boring without change, and I'm pretty sure that any changes that happen to me now can only be good - or at least be a step to good.

Seat Fabric and Temp Jobs

As I sit on the T on my way to and from my wonderful temp job, I can't help but wonder who decides which fabric to use on the seats. You know how seats on coach busses, and apparently the T, have these awful color and design combination fabric? Why would anybody honestly choose that as the best decision? On furthur thought, it is probably to avoid the visibility of strains and other unmentionables that we probably don't want to think about on those seats... eww- I think I'll stand today :)

As I mentioned I have a wonderful temp job. I'm loving the company I'm with and I'm learning a lot from them. The hard part is working week to week and not really knowing how long I'm actually going to be here. I would love to work here permanently, but it's a complicated situation (but that doesn't mean it can't have a happy ending). Working through a staffing agency has proven to be both a blessing and a curse. It is of course a blessing because I was placed at this awesome company and given a great opportunity to work with outstanding people and to learn hands-on about the field I want to get into. The bad part is that if the company decides they want to hire me, they will have to pay a fee to the staffing agency - and with the economy right now, employers are much more willing to hire people they can obtain for free. So, I'm just going to keep working hard and try to prove myself worthy :) I have only gotten compliments so far, so that's a nice ego boost.

Other than that, I have spent my time exploring Boston and, on Sundays, playing softball with the Frostbite League. I'll post a link to my video of one of my solo explorations of Boston once I finish editing on my oh-so-wonderful software of Windows Movie Maker (Yeah, I'm like a professional! HA!)

Here's to enjoying a new opportunity and making the most of what I can :)