guilty pleasures

First of all, read this: http://www.27bslash6.com/strata.html

It's funny, plain and simple... but you have to make it all the way to the bottom to fully appreciate it! And trust me, it's worth it.

On Tuesday, I have an internship interview. And I am. so. excited. I must note, however, that I hope they decide it'll be paid (that was still up in the air last time I spoke with them). I want this internship sooo much, for a variety of reasons. 

1. I need the experience, BADLY

2. I hate serving hot dogs

3. I want to wear cute clothes to work

4. I hate serving hot dogs

5. Having this on my resume would be spectacular

6. I hate serving hot dogs

5. I want an excuse to buy new shoes... like these:

Ha, who am I kidding? I can only dream of buying these shoes. But that's the point of this internship, kinda. I want to be able to become great at my job, have an astonishingly successful career, and make enough money to splurge on awesomeness such as these shoes. 

If you had money to blow, what guilty-pleasure item would you spend it on?

(pic is here)

sand between my toes

Today, one of my lovely friends made a  toast in her blog as proposed by another wonderful blogger, galadarling. So I've decided to follow along and do the same...

I toast to:

success

a happy home

promising futures

stable jobs

warmth of summer

the beach

family & friends

snuggly kitties

healthy bodies

good hair days

Now, doesn't that feel good? 

(picture from here)

workplace attire conundrum

Lucky me, I got a callback for an internship! It was for a marketing intern at a behavioral health facility... 45 minutes away. *Sigh* Regardless of the long commute, I decided to take the drive down and have the interview. When I got there, I walked into the dark lobby and rang the bell. I was greeted by a nice young woman who asked me to take a seat until my interviewer was ready. As she walked away, I noticed she was wearing... socks. 

That's right, no shoes, just socks. This seemed very odd to me, but I ignored it and continued to wait in the lobby. Another employee wandered up to the front area to use the restroom, and was wearing slippers. Well, this really irked me and I was seriously starting to wonder what kind of workplace this really was. My interview was at noon; I was there 10 minutes early. My interviewer didn't come get me until 12:15, and do you know what she was wearing? Sweat pants!

I'm talking about the kind that have the elastic at the ankle. And to complete the look, she paired it with a solid colored men's tee. What is wrong with these people? Oh, and the other gentleman who was also interviewing me didn't show up until 12:30. Seriously guys, let's get our act together!

Regardless that the company is obviously, uh, very casual, the internship didn't sound too terrible. No, not my dream internship, but it would sure beat serving hot dogs. I also have an interview at an advertising/PR/branding company in Milwaukee next Tuesday, so I will keep my fingers crossed that the people there dress appropriately. 

(picture from here)

summer trends I love

Ah, how a girl loves to shop! I had a bit of a rough day today so I decided to cheer myself up with a magazine and some online browsing... no buying though! Well, not yet at least. Check out these adorble finds from Forever21. The dress above has the most amazing pattern and the greatest colors. The shoes, ah, the shoes... these cork wedges had me reaching for my debit card, but I resisted! They are under $30 though, so very affordable, but I'm still reeling from a recent spree I had at the mall. 

What summer trends are you dying to have?

tacos and travel plans

So... I didn't even make it three weeks as a vegetarian. Gah! Well, I gave it a try and I have determined that I am going to be a pseudo-vegetarian and just eat meat once in awhile. It seems more reasonable for someone like myself who can't cook a damn thing and therefore doesn't have a lot of meal options. Jameson and I had tacos tonight and there were delicious... I bought some awesome tortillas to put them in - roasted tomato basil. Yum!

My summer classes start on Tuesday which means I need to hustle my butt down to Milwaukee to buy my book for the class - Law of Mass Communication. Kill me now! It sounds like its going to be terrible and its only going to take four weeks. Sure, it'll be over quickly like ripping off a bandaid but it's going to be very painful to do that much homework so fast. Ugh. After that I'll have Photojournalism which means I'll have a decent excuse to buy a new camera... yay! After that comes Environmental Geography so that will be another big bummer... but then it will be vacation time!

San Francisco, here I come!

(picture from here)

dreaming of things big and wonderful

How I Met Your Mother is one of my favorite shows... it's funny yet real in so many ways. In a recent episode I was watching, Lily and Marshall are about to get married, and Lily is getting cold feet. Out of nowhere, we find out that she applied to an art fellowship in California... they live in New York. After much debate, she decides she is going to take the fellowship; "I need to figure out who I am outside of us," she tells Marshall. They break up.

I have been desperately looking for an internship for the summer, and my late start is not helping me at all. It's my fault that I waited so long, but regardless, I've been on the computer for hours the last few days applying to just about any internship I can find. Today, while I was sitting at the computer, alone in the apartment, I decided to look up internships in advertising and fashion all over. I applied to various internships in New York... and even one in London.

What was I thinking? I can't explain what came over me. I just did it. Now, don't be scared that this is going to shake my relationship with Jameson; remember, I couldn't get an internship around here... so what makes me think I can get one elsewhere? Perhaps I got dreamy and started thinking about how glamorous and wonderful it would be to have that amazing, once-in-a-lifetime fashion internship that would jumpstart my exciting career in runway or something else fantastic. I don't know what it was, really, but I've still got this dreamy look in my eye just thinking about it. It's fun to wonder what it could be like if a miracle happened....

(picture is here)

things between us are simple

A friend of mine just got back from college and was looking forward to a fun summer with old friends and the exciting possibility of an internship just over the horizon. It's stressful waiting to hear about a job, I know that, but now compound this stress with that of a high maintenance relationship that is going nowhere. She's slowly sucking the life out of him as she does crazy things to attract his attention and that of others. It's terribly sad, watching him waste away before our eyes as this awful relationship drains him. He cares for her, regardless, and wants to be sure that she's okay and that's what keeps him from ending it. That's sweet, I think, because he has the courtesy to ensure she will be fine. The problem is, she doesn't want to be fine.

Watching him struggle with his relationship, however, makes me more aware of how awesome mine really is. I'm not trying to gloat and I'm not saying we don't have our problems - because we do - but we love each other deeply in a way I can't describe. And so I'm thanksful for what I have. Things in my life might not be going quite as I expected, but I can always count on having a great guy to come home to. One who will make me tea and rub my head when I have a headache. One who is willing to move into my parents basement to save money for a house. One who lets me try out ten different colors of nail polish on his toes until I find just the right one. I love him, and I shouldn't take it for granted. There's hardly any bickering, no whining that he's hanging out with his friends instead of me, and no breakup threats. Things between us are simple; we love each other. 

(picture from here...)

Go Veggie!

So recently I decided to try being a vegetarian, and I'm pretty sure I've been successful for 2 1/2 weeks. Go me! Anyway, I read about a town in Belgium that has decided to have a "Veggie Day" once a week... people are urged not to eat meat, restaurants won't serve it, and even schools are being urged to get involved. Why are they doing this? To reduce their carbon footprint. As it turns out, the meat industry contributes a lot to greenhouse gas emissions, especially beef. According to the UN, meat production and consumption cause 18% of greenhouse gases... that's worse than cars! Maybe going veggie isn't for you, but it makes sense to try and limit your meat consumption, if not for the environment, for your health. I became vegetarian for a cocktail of reasons, but one of them was to pay more attention to what I'm eating. Sure, I'm a skinny girl, but I can't honestly think that eating fast food five days a week is good for me.

Want more about the Veggie Day in Belgium? Read these:

Day of the lentil burghers

Belgian city goes vegetarian

I dream of the day when...

... I push open the door to my exciting and fast-paced job at some advertising agency in California or New York or Chicago. I of course look as confident as I feel in my stylish outfit and Christian Louboutin heels. After a hard days work and much success, I will go home to my wonderful husband to enjoy a nice home-cooked meal before we snuggle up on the couch. 

I want that, badly. It's just so hard to hold on to that goal when I'm fighting this day to day battle and dealing with unfair and crappy things. I won't say any more.

slapped and numb

I've hit that point today where I'm saying, "Enough is enough." I have too much passion to be stuck like this. Figuratively speaking, I was slapped in the face at work today. Slapped, and I wasn't sure whether to be mad or upset or pissed off or sad or all of the above and more. And now after I've ventured through more emotions than I can count, I'm numb. Where do I go from here? I was finally at the point where I didn't despise going to work every day, but I'm back at square one again and hating every moment of it. I need a good internship. I need my passion to show through and my luck to turn around because this just isn't fair for someone like me. Someone who is trying to do what's best for herself and her future. I know life is a struggle and it's not all going to come easily, but let's get real here; I am so much more than a hot dog server. Don't get me wrong because I respect every person who has the strength to work a job like that day in and day out because people who work jobs like that don't get the respect they deserve. But that's not for me. I want a chance to learn, I want the chance to show my talent. And for goodness sake here people, I want the chance to put this education I'm paying for to good use. Is that too much to ask? I have two goals to accomplish tomorrow: 1) go to work for 8 1/2 hours without snapping, and 2) find as many internship opportunities as I can and apply, apply, apply. Wish me luck, because I don't think either task is going to be easy.

(picture from here)

addicted to green

I just want everyone to know that my newest (and slightly over-the-top) addiction is reusable bags. Check out this adorable bag from Forever21... its only $1.50! And the little sayings are too cute. I already have two of them, not to mention the two reusable Aveda bags I have and the three I randomly bought at Pick-N-Save the other day. I use one just like the one in the picture to carry around my laundry stuff, and I haul my school stuff around in another. How is it that I hardly ever remember to bring them when I go to the grocery store? Hey, old habits are hard to break, but at least I'm trying. 

The next green thing on my agenda? Getting my apartment complex to recycle. That's right- there's a dumpster for garbage and a dumpster for cardboard, but nothing for my cans and bottles. Seriously?

add something else to the mix

So I want this Costco job... duh. But I've also applied for an internship with Spreenkler which is a marketing agency of sorts downtown that specializes in social media. Hello, perfect for a 20-something, don't you think? Anyway, I wasn't too sure about it at first because it seemed like a nice place, but I had this Costco thing on my mind and another internship that since hasn't worked out. So I had my interviews today... totally lost track of time before I left, by the way, and half-ran/half-fell down the stairs in my heels as I hustled to get out the door. I made it in plenty of time actually and the interviews went well. Uh, except for the first words that came out of my mouth... 

"So you know about the Human Whiteboard Experiment." "Oh no, what's that?" "Uh, that's what we're interviewing for today..." "Oh! I didn't realize that was the name of it..."

My brain doesn't work at all sometimes, I swear. I hope everything else that came out of my mouth was more intelligent. I initally thought this internship was 40 hours paid (yay!) but it has turned out to be 20 hours paid and 20 unpaid hours of training. Not so great as far as my finances are concerned, but I don't think you can put a price on an experience like this. Its amazing, really it is, but I am at a point now where I have no idea what I want. Costco marketing would be better as far as $ is concerned and it wouldn't end at the conclusion of the summer like the Spreenkler thing would. However, doing cold-calling and selling memberships is only going to get me so far... the Spreenkler thing would be much better experience. Gah! I just hope something works out for me... because if I spend the summer serving hot dogs, I might die...

hoping for a miracle

So everyone knows I don't really like my job. I'm sorry, but serving up hot dogs just doesn't thrill me. I know I should be grateful that I have a job and that it pays me well, but its hard going to work day after day, putting on a hairnet, and fishing hot dogs out of hot greasy water. I applied for a different position, even though I'm not supposed to move out of my initial position during my first 90 days. I was told by the manager of that department, the marketing department, that if I kept it hush hush from the other employees, that I might have a chance regardless. So I put in my letter of interest and some samples of my work in the hopes that it would blow the manager away. In the beginning, she seemed really interested in me, but I haven't heard much from her since, and I'm starting to get anxious. It gets worse, however; I know another person that applied. He is a great guy and a really good employee. He has more seniority over me as well. So if I wasn't nervous enough before, I can assure you I'm really nervous now. The job posting is over in two days, and then they should start doing interviews for it. Hopefully I do really well on the interview. Hopefully I blow them away. Hopefully the fact that I'm an advertising/public relations major outweighs all the things that make my competition good choices. 

I want this job so much. I need this job for the sake of my sanity; I can only serve so many hot dogs before I lose my mind. I need this job for my future; the experience I could gain from this will hopefully help me find my "real" job when I graduate. I need this job for my relationship; Jameson has been great, but I can see that me hating a job that he loves is putting a strain between us. I need this job to pick me up from my rut; looking gross and feeling gross is no good for me, and you'd be surprised what a good outfit can do for my mood. It's sounds pretty shallow when I say that, I know, but its the truth. I don't care that I'd probably get a raise and I don't care that it's full-time. All of those things are great, but I need this for me. For my life. So I'm crossing my fingers and considering having a conversation with God so that I can get this job. Because if I don't get this position, I don't know... I'd rather not even think about that as possibility right now. Hopefully I can express this passion in my interview. Hopefully my work samples will show them what I know and can accomplish. Hopefully I get this job.