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| $17.43McDonald’s breakfast. A Starbucks double shot espresso. A
bag of Ritz bits. Two 12-packs of caffeine free diet cola. $17.43. That’s what
I spent in the last week, besides paying bills. Pretty good, huh!?
It’s not like I really had a choice, because I left
myself only $55 for the week after accidentally paying my car payment two weeks
in a row (fucking around with the recurring payment option and forgot to turn
it off). So I’ll be ahead later in the month, which is great, but I showed
myself something.
But it wasn’t hard -- I really didn’t have to restrain
myself, I just ate lunch at work (thank goodness for a never-ending supply of
free pizzas and bringing lunch from home). Spending had just become a habit for
me, especially when it comes to clothes/accessories shopping and ordering
things on the web. Shopping online is a big problem for me. I usually have
something delivered to the office once a week! Dresses, lotions, makeup,
shampoo and conditioner, whimsical magnets, perfume, etc. The girls in the mail
room love me, I always open my package in there and we ooh and ahh over it. I
don’t particularly need any of those things, I just feel like I have money and
it’s there to be spent so I spend it.
I’m not saying I’ll never order anything again or that I
won’t be at Target this weekend, but I am saying I know it has become a
problem. That's all I'm saying. | | |
| Summer Dresses and Festivals and such
I am wearing a bright
pink shirt dress today that I bought at Lohman’s a few weekends ago when I went
to Chicago with
my sisters. It was one of those things that you try on a few times, aren’t sure
about, then end up getting because you can’t bear to leave it at the store, but
keep in mind that you could return it if you wanted to. Anyway, the fit was so
perfect, but the color was so bright that I was nervous I couldn’t pull it off.
Plus there was a button missing but Kate helped me with that this morning by pulling
one from the bottom and sewing it where it would provide more coverage. And I
have decided that I love this dress!
Dresses and skirts
have been a staple of my wardrobe lately. I haven’t worn pants in weeks. And it’s
kind of my signature look this summer, except for some of the cooler nights or
mosquito ridden bonfires and such. A year ago I was taking pictures of my look
every day and I kind of want to start that again but it is hard to remember
every day!
I moved into a new
cube at work, it’s called the Herman Miller Mystudio. It’s pretty awesome
because all the walls are whiteboards for dry erase markers so I have decorated
where possible, although I am lacking in artistic talent. There are windows you
can open to see your neighbors and a door you can close to the outside world.
At first I thought this space would be too small but now that I’m moved in I
really like it. Although I’m not sure my cube mates appreciate me, I feel like
I am a loud typer who listens to music too loud and has a fan running too much.
But they can complain if they want.
I went to Summerfest
twice this week already – Beth, Kim and I pre-gamed on Sunday to see (oh god
who did we see Sunday? I was a little too drunk to remember) and then the next
day Kim and I sent and saw Matisyahu and Paramore. Not on the same stage – that
would be awkward. We started out at Matisyahu, standing on a crowded picnic
table, and then went over to Paramore, whose only fans are 14 year old girls,
apparently. And you could not get close enough to see nor hear that band so we
begun to walk back to Matisyahu but just ended up leaving. There’s only so much
Summerfest you can take, because yes it is great people watching but my god
everyone starts to look the same.
I am going back to
Summerfest again on Sunday to see 311, and trust me that is one concert I will
not lose my seat for. Not even for beer! And I WILL be pregaming but not so
much that I can’t remember it!
I
have tickets to the Brewer game tonight, but I lost them. The last time I saw the
tickets was the day I bought them and since then they have been nowhere to be found.
I’m slightly upset, but I guess it’s not that bad because even if I found them
I am too broke to afford nachos or Dippin’ Dots or any of the other fun stuff
that I go to baseball games to buy.
PS.
Is anybody here on
Twitter? Drop me your username or follow me, I’m bananza. I’m trying to update as
often as possible as a way of continuing to blog whatever I'm doing at the moment since I haven’t been doing
xanga too much lately. But I still like the micro-blogging aspect, and I can do
it easily on my phone so it just takes a few minutes.
| | |
| Downtown Adventures with DadI had a fantastic weekend. The highlight was definitely my Downtown Adventure with Dad. Kim and I picked Dad up with the intention of taking him to a family favorite, Real Chili. So we drove downtown and parked on Wells Street and decided to walk the city before we surprised him with Real Chili.
It was warm and sunny and Sunday is the perfect day to take a walk through the city's streets, which are a little frenetic on the weekdays, but perfectly peppered with people on the weekend. We stopped on a bridge over the Milwaukee River and watched the boaters touring the canal between the city's bistros and buildings. A rental pontoon boat passed under us, and slowed so the tour guide could explain that the boaters were looking at the Riverwalk's future site for the Bronze Fonz that's coming to Milwaukee in August. As they pulled away, the canopy of the touring boat caught on a speedboat parked at the dock, and the entire canopy snapped loose and dangled pathetically from the nose of the other boat, half sinking in the murky river water. The boat slowed to look back at the damage, but eventually grabbed the one pole that hadn't begun to sink and continued on its way. It was quite a spectacle to inaugurate our first five minutes into the city.
We continued along Wells a few blocks, and while crossing one of the streets I hit a bump and crashed into my dad's wheelchair, leaving a large welt on my leg. I seem to remember the same thing happened last year about this time! Cobblestone streets + my clumsy ass in a dress + pushing dad in a wheelchair = bruise. I will avoid that equation in the future. Our next stop was the Grand Avenue Mall. In it's prime, the Grand truly lived up to its name; a spectacular mall with tons of luxe shops and marble walls and floors. However, with the dwindling tourism downtown, it now has many empty shops and the telltale sign of impending mall doom: shoe stores. There are at least 3 Foot Lockers and many phone stores, a few jewelry stores, and a smattering of independent knick-knack sellers. The stores I rememeber fondly as a child visiting with my parents are gone. The Cookie Store, the Hello Kitty store, Mr. Dino's hair stylists. The unicycle riding bear was gone as well. Only Rocky Rococo was the same! But just walking around the mall I think it was a cool experience for Dad, more about memories than shopping. And we did make a few purchases. We all got Milwaukee Brewer baseball caps at Lids (his served to shield his eyes from the sun, while mine and Kim's were more for aesthetic reasons  and a movie at Borders bookstore.
We left the mall and walked up Wisconsin Avenue and over toward our destination. When we got close to Real Chili we announced to Dad that all the walking around had merely been a ploy to get him to the famous chili shop. But to our dismay it was closed -- 'Closed on Sundays' said the sign in the window. Utterly exhausted and very hungry, we decided to plant it at an outdoor table at the pub and grille right next to it. We enjoyed salads and wraps at Flannery's and soaked up the afternoon sun. We took Dad home and he popped in one of his Father's Day gifts: the 2003 rendition of The Music Man, with Matthew Broderick. It was a cute remake, with Kristen Chenowith stealing the show as Marion and a slightly under-enthusiastic Matthew Broderick as Professor Harold Hill. It was enjoyable nonetheless, and Dad enjoyed it. It was an awesome day!!
| | |
| Recap of the last few weeks...Whew, it’s been a while. Where to start?
My poor car had a tree or some other unidentified object
fall on it. Since I carpool to work, I hadn’t even looked at my car in a few
days because it’s Kate’s week to drive. But Tom noticed if first, a sharp
gashed dent in the passenger side fender/hood. I am surprised I’m not more
upset. I think I’m just over the fact that it happened and there’s nothing I
can do about it but fix it. Tom knows a guy; we’ll see what happens. Cross my
fingers that it doesn’t cost a fortune to repair. I don’t even know how much a
typical body repair is – I’ve never had to repair a car, my cars have never
been worth repairing.
So we weathered the Midwest
storms just fine except that little mishap, which I’m not even certain happened
as a result of the storm. But we had very little water in the basement so we
were the lucky ones compared to the horror stories I’m hearing around the
office. Friends of mine had 38 inches of raw sewage in their basement, while
they were on vacation in Vegas. So they could do nothing until they could catch
a flight home, most of which were delayed due to the weather.
And the part that was really impressive to me was that an
entire lake drained. Lake
Delton, in a popular
tourist destination near Wisconsin Dells, washed itself a new channel and 600
million gallons of water drained into the connecting river. There are plans to
refill the empty basin which I think, while economically wise, may not be the
best thing. I mean, let nature run its course, no? I wonder how that will work,
how will they even refill it, and will the wildlife return, etc.
As for me, I recently returned from Las Vegas. I went for the JCK Jewelry show,
which was quite an impressive array of jewelry designers and manufacturers from
all over the world. There was a lot of work, a lot of walking, but I had fun
getting to know my boss (3rd from right), the COO and his wife (far left), and the CEO and his wife (2nd and 3rd) and one of our vendors (next to me). I got
a good taste of Vegas from a working standpoint, but I would love to go back
and enjoy the nightlife with my friends. I even gambled – I know, I went
against my moral principles – but I won! I put $1 in the 2 cent slot and won
$10.12. I took a picture and cashed out – I know how that can suck you in as
soon as you start thinking what you would win if you put a dollar or ten in. We
saw the Cirque du Soleil and ate at Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant, walked the
strip, shopped the Caesar’s forum shops, smoked cigars in La Fuente, and met
countless contacts in the jewelry industry. Unfortunately, all the brochures we
wanted to ship back to ourselves from the Venetian were lost. No telling what
happened to them but a significant reason why you go to those shows is to bring
back design ideas from vendors and that part of the trip never made it back.
I’m glad I took good notes.
As for the homefront, I think Tom’s son Nate will be
staying with us over the summer. He is 15 and he’s a good kid, I’ll just have
to get used to having another person in the house. I think it will be really
good for Tom to spend some time with his son too. Another thing I’m very proud of is that I
have set up a bill payment system which allows me to budget without budgeting.
With National City
I can set up automatic bill payments every week, so I know exactly what is left
each week. The money that’s in there is mine to dispose of, besides gas and
food, etc. So far it’s been going well but unfortunately I have to begin paying
off my student loans in another month because I dropped below half time. And I
need to have a serious talk with myself because I really don’t wanna go back to
school this fall. I know I will lose momentum but it has been kind of nice
making decent money and working regular hours. I get a little sick of the 9-5
grind but in a lot of ways it is better than 7am-6pm days and running to class
and trying to study, meet with study groups, etc. I don’t know yet what I’ll
do.
So that’s my recap to bring me up to speed, so that now I
can just jump in and post random blog entries on a whim. ☺
| | |
| 3 Years on Xanga ...Happy Xangaversary to Me! 
Oh the memories we've had, Xanga. Once in a while I like to take a stroll back through my entries to see who I was a month ago or three years ago. You're always up for a trip down memory lane, and you offer me archives too, so I can take all I've written with me if I ever go. But don't worry about me going anywhere Xanga -- as long as you are around, I will be right here.
My middle name might as well be Xanga, for crying out loud. I think about you morning noon and night, sneak a peek at you at the office, wake up and run to you, and fall asleep reading your member's entries. And I'm not the most social person, I mean it can take me a while to warm up at parties and I never really like to be around large crowds, but you make it so easy to have kind, caring, articulate friends who first listen to me and then make thoughtful statements when I'm through.
I've met some pretty amazing people through you, people who I feel like I've known my whole life and I can open up to more than I can open up to some of my friends here in the 'real world'. My relationship with you Xanga, takes precedence over another anniversary which you share the day with - my work anniversary.
You're much more fun anyways.
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