16 November 2013

Roses and Thorns

Last summer I worked for a super fun family.  Each day at dinner they did something called "Roses and Thorns" where each person told a highlight/good thing (rose) and a low or tough moment (thorn) that happened.  I believe they got this tradition from the First Family.  I'm going to share my Rose and Thorn for the week.

Let's start with the Thorn.  On Thursday, I found out the job I'd been interviewing for was offered to the other candidate.  A bummer for sure, but I'd started to get that feeling when I hadn't heard any thing by Monday.  The search continues!

My Rose this week definitely has to be hanging out with two of the snuggliest cats ever in DC.  


I'm house/cat sitting for a friend's neighbor and am really enjoying my time here so far.  I get to see one of my besties pretty often and it feels like I'm in college as I go downstairs in my pajamas and flip flops to get something from his apartment or use his microwave.  I am also planning to check a couple things off my 101 List!  Stay tuned!

06 November 2013

101 List. . .the 2013 Edition

After many days and a few edits, I think I'm ready! Here's my new 101 list.  If you're up for joining me on any of these tasks, let me know!

The idea is to make a list of 101 Things, be they minor or major, that you'd like to accomplish in 1001 Days (about 2.75 years).

Start Date: 06 November 2013
End Date: 03 August 2016

1. Go to Europe or Australia
2. Go to Trivia Night
3. Apply to Grad School
4. Create a business plan
5. Clean my things out of my mom’s shed
6. Put loose photos in albums
7. Make photo books for China, Colombia, & Germany trips
8. Take a Spanish class
9. Take a photography class
10. Buy a DSLR
11. Watch Deer Hunter
12. Watch American Gigolo
13. Read or Listen to the Pelican Brief (I’ve seriously been working on this since I was in 7th or 8th grade. I really think my Social Studies teacher gave it to me.)
14. Go on Vacation with my mom
15. Visit Talishia; meet Athena
16. Visit Katie; meet Creede
17. Visit Christy; meet Samuel
18. Go Tubing or Whitewater Rafting
19. Read Anna Karenina
20. Take tennis lessons
21. No television for a week
22. See a Broadway show
23. Finish a 5k in 36 min or less
24. Finish a 10k
25. Pay off student loan and credit cards
26. Start a Gratitude Journal
27. Complete an Ab Challenge
28. Go to a Bowie Baysox game
29. Take a real estate course
30. Go on a camping trip
31. Host a taco party
32. Lose 20 lbs
33. Go to VA Beach
34. Go to Topsail NC
35. Take the Cape May-Lewes Ferry
36. Go on 5 dates in 4 weeks
37. Have my pearls restrung
38. Swim in the Gulf of Mexico and/or go on a snorkeling trip
39. Go to the Ballet
40. Complete my RHCP collection
41. Go to the Philadelphia Museum of Art
42. Go to an amusement park
43. Organize recipes in a binder or box
44. Buy a shredder
45. Organize magazine articles in a binder or file folders
46. Finish filing system for financial documents
47. Buy a proper desk
48. Go to Tea with my mom, Aunt Dorie, and Marianne
49. Go to at least 3 concerts, which will hopefully include RHCP and Anita Baker
50. Buy a Vegetarian cookbook
51. Buy or make at least 30 things from my Pinterest boards
52. Take a Ballroom or Latin Dance class
53. Go indoor rock climbing
54. Read three non-modern classics
55. Take a knife skills class
56. Go skiing or snowboarding
57. Go to Boston
58. Floss at least 4x/week for a month
59. Make my bed a least 4x/week for a month
60. Volunteer at least 3 times
61. Give up Facebook for a month
62. Take a trip to Hawaii
63. Host Girls/Wine Night (I haven’t had a home since Girls Night began)
64. Make new one recipe from each of my cookbooks (will count cookbooks once I have a home)
65. Go to Las Vegas
66. Visit with Shannon for more than a few hours
67. Go to the driving range
68. Visit the MLK, Jr Memorial
69. Visit the Air and Space museum. DC and VA parts
70. Write 20 letters, not cards
71. Get InvisAlign and Damon consults
72. Buy a printer
73. Move all my retirement accounts from old employers
74. Buy a headboard
75. Frame door photos from Colombia
76. Replace batteries in all my watches (and have links removed in the Seiko)
77. Buy a Skagen watch
78. Read Daring Greatly in an effort to live Wholeheartedly
79. Exercise BEFORE work 10 times
80. Go to a Meet-Up
81. Attend a Bikram Yoga class
82. Get a new job
83. Buy a Plant
84. Go Skeet Shooting
85. Participate in Project 365
86. Complete at least 15 days of the FlyLady program (part of me thinks this lady is nuts, but the other part thinks she’s onto something)
87. Be able to complete 25 consecutive push-ups. Maybe with this plan.
88. Make a new friend
89. Buy the CORRECT version of Shag on DVD
90. Read at least 6 books I own and haven’t read including
-When You are Engulfed in Flames
-Game of Thrones
-Make your Creative Dreams Real
-The Pure and the Impure
-Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil
91. Write 30 blog entries in 30 days
92. Watch the sunrise at the beach
93. Watch an outdoor film in Baltimore
94. Lead a “Gifts of Imperfection” book discussion
95. Enter a photo contest
96. Go to the Drive In
97. Submit something to PostSecret
98. Start an Outstanding in the Field Fund!
99. Leave a 100% tip
100. Convince at least one new person to join in on the 101 Fun (Michelle, I’m looking at you!).
101. Ride a John Deere!


04 November 2013

A Week Later

What a difference a week can make.  Last Sunday I posted that maybe my luck was changing.  Monday, a friend called and said she'd spoken to someone at a company where I'd applied for a job and asked for my resume.  Tuesday, I got an email about having a phone interview that afternoon.  Thursday, I had a Skype interview with the same company.  Today rounded out the process with an in person interview. 

It has been a crazy week with lots of research, chaos, and some freak outs, but overall each step went well.  The interviewer said he was pleased after the Skype interview and seemed pleased today.  Hopefully, it will lead to an offer.  I should hear by the week's end. 

Fingers crossed!!!