Stress and Comfort

Well well well lookie here, the end of the week has arrived! If only this weekend was actually a break and not a continuance of the busy/chaos. Yesterday was pretty rad because I got to leave work at 1:30 to go to lunch with my mom at OPH. Not only did I get an apple pancake, but I also got to leave sups early! Win-win. After that we both went home and semi-napped for a long while. Then I had to go to rehearsal, but we got out slightly early after finishing our two runs. SOLID. I got home in time to see the Lochte-Phelps 200 IM showdown, and the final floor routines of Gabby Douglas, Ali Raisman, and the Russian girls. Go team USA!! Right after the Olympics ended for the night, I rolled over on the couch and passed out until my mom woke me up and told me to go to bed. Average evening.

Now today/this weekend is anything but average. Today after work I will be scooting home to change into something nice, then heading to New Brighton for the wake of my step-grandma. She passed away earlier this week after never really recovering from a surgery she had a few months ago. She and my grandpa hadn't seen each other in a while, since he has been living in a home specializing in Alzheimer's care and she has been in recovery. I actually haven't seen either of them since Christmas, so this is all a very weird and surreal process. This weekend will be a lot of dealing with family I don't know (her kids and grandkids from her first marriage) without a lot of the buffer of my family. Both of my sisters are out of town this weekend on trips they planned months ago, and only 2 of my cousins will be there because the rest are also out of town. My mom's really stressed out about it all and is afraid that the other side of the family will be snotty that not everyone dropped their plans to come; we'll see how it goes... The funeral is tomorrow morning at early o'clock and is a full Catholic mass.
Not to mention this is opening weekend of Fringe/our show. I'll only be able to stay at the wake for about an hour before heading straight to our final rehearsal. Similar story tomorrow after the mass, I'll be running home to get ready before going to dance, and then a short break before our show! It's just a lot to take in at one time. It'll be a busy week, but a good one hopefully.

Then a week from Monday Natalie and I are leaving on our road trip! It really snuck up on us quickly. My dad's booking a flight home for me as we speak (or as I type...) I'm sooo excited to just travel around for a while, and to see Denver, Las Vegas, LA, and, of course, Omaha, Nebraska. Destination hotspots! My mom and I are going to go to AAA to get some guidebooks with more activities, but as of right now we'll be hitting up Minnesota's Largest Candy Store, The Roller Skate Museum, Zion National Park, the aforementioned cities, and all of da naturez in between. My plane ticket is now booked and the trip is a go! yayayayayay roadtripsummeradventures

Reaching hot mess status- running around so much has reduced me to ignore the fact that it is indeed summer and don my most comfy leggings and a t-shirt. Tonight I will most likely be in uncomfortable conservative clothes, and so I wanted to get the comfort factor out of my system (what? does that make sense? no)

I wore my most favorite Target maxi dress yesterday but I didn't take a picture, so instead here's a picture of me wearing it 4 years ago with Allie in Italy...

I feel like this guy right now (eeeee baby sloths!!!!)

Lunch Drams

Today has been a day of ups and downs so far: first, I was planning on having lunch with my mom at OPH today after she met the plumber at Allie's apartment. However, she got hung up there because she realized we had to take off all the tape and edge the bathroom, so she cancelled on me to work there today (we'll probs go tomorrow, so it's all good). BUT then, I hadn't prepared a lunch for today, as I was not expecting to need one! I had my PB&J that I brought yesterday, but didn't eat because of the gyro, but I had nothing to go with it because I ate my grapes yesterday! An old PB&J on its own would not be great. BUT NOW it's free lunch day! Even though it's not a Friday! I am still very confused and surprised but so please because it could not have come at a better time. Pulled chicken sandwich heading my way!
Phew that was a stressful experience. Work today couldn't be going by slower, unless I didn't have internet again. I read our latest MSP Magazine this morning, then started looking up pictures of our clearance stock on lighting websites. I've made it about halfway through my list of inventory, so I figure that's enough for today... gotta save some work for the rest of the week, right? So tomorrow I'll finish finding those pictures, and Friday I can finish the inventory that I need a ladder for and find those pictures. Solidly splitting up the work, holler.

Luna and I, just hangin' out

After work imma be heading over to Natalie's house so we can start planning the road trip! One stop that is a must: Minnesota's Largest Candy Store. How I never knew this place existed, just like 45 minutes south of the Twin Cities in Jordan, is a mystery. It looks INCREDIBLE. I just, I can't, too excited.
We'll plan our route and figure out which day I'm flying back, and then the stops we want to make along the way. This should be fun because I love planning...

It's our last day with Nugget :( I really don't want to give her back. Can't decide if it's a better idea to go home after work quick and snuggle her or just leave it- Nugget goodbyes are hard! Just look at that little face!

Rehearsal tonight at 7 until 10 again. Last night was fine, just long. It's a little weird because all of our set is in the space now, so we're like pantomiming benches and podiums and stuff that you think we would need in the last week of rehearsal? I don't know, it'll be fine, it's just strange. Still no word on when we'll get our costumes... I'm antsy, I just really want to see them! Most likely it'll be like a black and white dress, but who knows.

A Day in the Life

The internet isn’t functioning at work today. After my initial panic at this fact I am now trying to brainstorm what I can possibly do, and so I’m writing this blog post in a word document to be transferred online when I get home. Also my phone is low on battery and I don’t have the charger with me so I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. I’ll probably end up falling asleep at my desk for the greater part of the day. Contemplating going to a caribou and opening up a bunch of articles that I can read without internet… Whine this is gonna be so boringgggg

Photobooth selfies at work: feeling 100% sane

Yesterday Natalie confirmed that she wanted me to come roadtrip back to school with her in LA. I’m excited, but also a little bummed because I don’t think I’ll be able to go to New York to visit people now. My mom was very wary about the idea of a 19-year-old and 20-year-old driving cross country, but then she reminded me of the lovely fact that at this point in time when she was 19, she was planning her wedding and would be married in a month. After getting past that realization, it was decided that I would be allowed to go, given that we plan out beforehand how much we’re going to drive each day, what activities we’ll be doing, and which hotels we will be staying at. The basic route goes from Minneapolis, to Iowa, to Nebraska, to Colorado, to Utah, to Nevada, and finally California. I was planning on looking up activities along the way today, alas I have been smited by the internet jerks. Ones we’ve already discussed/thought of: Las Vegas, Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, something in Des Moines? What is there to do in Nebraska? We need guidance! Travel books! Now I’m wishing I brought a book to work, how good of an idea would that have been. Also a nail file. String for friendship bracelets. My room to clean. A pillow.

Just niped some paper from the copy machine so at least I can draw or something now? For 7 hours? It’s 9:15 AM now, I will update periodically throughout my day with how I’m coping. This is definition #firstworldproblems.

10:02 AM: HoCho’s gone. Semi napped for like 20 minutes and now mailing checks. Actually doing something for the company I’m working for! And dragging the job out for as long as I can.

10:29 AM: Finished mailing the checks and caught up on filing. I just realized it was the 31^st of July and had a minor spasm. How??? I thought it was like… the 12^th of July. This month is rapidly disappearing which means that summer is rapidly ending and then school blech. I now am going to play with Luna for a bit and then update my iPhoto faces stuff. That should take me a while I would imagine.

11:35 AM: Okay this faces stuff is actually pretty fun. Apparently all of my friends look the same because it just cannot keep em straight! Also it keeps bringing up randos in the backgrounds of pictures, especially from this one album I have of pictures from a show. I refuse to tag people I don’t speak to! Eventually I’ll have some inventory to do on clearance items but I’m waiting for Gerry to finish sticker-ing what things are clearance.

1:26 PM: After doing inventory for a long while and then running out to pick up Jon’s lunch, and a sandwich that he very generously offered to buy me, I have returned to my desk and WHAT HO! Discovered an Ethernet cable!! And this:

http://thefw.com/olympic-diving-funny-faces/

And also that my profile on Facebook automatically switched to timeline. I’m not pleased. I had been holding out so long! And now I have the added project of finding a cover photo. Curses. Time to eat my gyro yum. I think I may continue to do faces on iPhoto because it’s actually really entertaining.

1:49 PM: At some point while I was doing inventory, Gerry left for the day and so I have the office space to myself wooo. Also Jon gave me a $10 caribou gift card that he got from a client because he doesn't drink coffee!!!! Crazy person!! I am so pleased. But still mad at Facebook. We shall overcome!!!

1:58 PM: NO, I don't want your number. NO, I don't want to give you mine and, NO, I don't want to meet you nowhere. No, don't want none of your time. I don't want no scrub, a scrub is a guy that can't get no love from me, hangin' out the passenger's side of his best friend's ride, tryin' to holler at me. I don't want no scrub, a scrub is a guy that can't get no love from me...

2:18 PM: Sups full from lunch. Bubble Town level 6. No Scrub still playing in my head, intermixed with songs from Salem.

2:30 PM: Level 9. Maybe time for a short desk nap.

2:56 PM: I've been alternating between Family Feud and semi napping and thinking about how freezing it was. Then I remembered that I'm the only person in the office and can turn off the air conditioning. I'm stupid.

3:01 PM: Wait, Gerry just got back. I guess he wasn't leaving for the day? Now the air conditioning's off... I hope he doesn't turn it back on.

3:30 PM: Apparently the ethernet cable I was using, when disconnected, disconnected the internet for everyone else... whoops. Luckily no one else really uses the internet because they have real things to do. However, going along with that, we figured out how to get the wireless working again! And so everything is back on track.

3:41 PM: Get me out of here. It is time to leave. Antsy antsy antsy. 

3:54 PM: Packing on up. Planning on heading home and relaxing for a couple hours before rehearsal tonight, 7-10 oufff

London 2012

The olympics are on! Too bad I missed the majority of the opening ceremonies due to rehearsal. It was sad but I still got to see the lighting of the torch and Paul McCartney! We've had the games on for the past few days, but it's hard to watch with my mom (especially swimming) because she gets really intense and yells at the TV.

Leotard. In love.

Desperately need to paint my toenails... to do this week

Anyway, this weekend was a blessing; last week was a muck of work/Salem/work/Nugget/work/House/work. It was exciting for me on Thursday when I got to leave work at 2:45... because I had a dentist appointment. That was my only outing/event week, minus when I was social for like two hours on Tuesday and went swimming at Natalie's house. Like, how sad of a person do you have to be when you look forward to the dentist? Mockery of a sham. I feel kinda like my whole summer has been this way, though. It's just work all day, and then in the evenings I either have rehearsal or am too tired to meet up with friends and fall asleep on my couch. The mess in my room has been piling up and I never have the time/energy/commitment to clean it. I've been okay about working out, but this week I haven't been doing every day like the weeks before and so the laziness is catching up to me. I did manage to go for a run on Friday, but as tonight is my only night this week without rehearsal (we open on Saturday!) I'll probably just nap when I get off of work. I also want to find new audition material, both monologues and songs, and try to master it this summer, but that hasn't happened yet. I haven't been on the lake yet or to a bonfire or made a s'more or done any of the usual Minnesota summer activities. Like, I say that I'll just do this stuff later, but then the next thing I know it'll be September and I'll be back in school thrown into what I know is going to be a challenging fall quarter. Maybe I'm just whining because this summer hasn't really been fun or exciting, but I feel like I haven't even accomplished anything either. Yes, I'm making a good amount of money at work, and I will be in a show, I've only missed two ballet classes (for rehearsal and then painting this weekend), but that doesn't seem like enough to me. I guess this summer is teaching me that what I find most important is professional fulfillment, and I'm just not getting that. There are plenty of people who would be happy to get paid for doing little to nothing at work, but it makes me think that I'm cheating the company out of money that they need, like they gave me this job as a favor to a family friend and while at certain times I'm useful- like when the phone's ringing- for the most part I'm a drain on resources. Also I'm mad at the government for taking almost $200 out of my last paycheck.

Okay, there's a rant that makes me sound like a really angry person, but I'm not really angry, it's more of a mild annoyance that's in the back of my mind. And I'm not thinking about my strugs this summer all of the time, just times like this when my mind is wandering. But the weekend was good! And there are still a lot of fun things to look forward to. This morning I made a chai tea in our Keurig, and it's actually surprisingly delicious. I didn't have any cavities at the dentist and the technician said she saw a huge improvement in my gum health. I'm on level 13 of Bubble Town for the third time and will get to 14 today if I have anything to say about it.

Awkward and taping

Nugget loves painting. And look at those edges! Works of art!

We spent this weekend painting my sister's new apartment, and it's starting to come together nicely. We finished the bedroom, and edged the main living room/kitchen. The bathroom will probably be edged today, and then we'll try to roll the big room sometime this week. Also, painting takes a long time. Or not even painting, but taping. I spent the entirety of Saturday just taping- what?? But we got King and I Thai for dinner on Friday because it is one block away from Allie's place (!!!!). It was so good. We got the cream cheese rolls and pad thai and feasted. And to celebrate our work for the day we got McFlurries for dessert because McDonald's is the only/closest ice cream place open at 10 o'clock. Sunday I spent edging, then peaked at 4:30 to go to our four hour tech rehearsal at the Rarig. The space is really nice, big, but our technicians were kind of rude. Understandable since some of our people in charge were not listening to their instructions, but still. It was nice to see our space and how lighting is going to work and everything, but just a draining, rough experience, as most tech rehearsals are. We were also a few minutes over the Fringe time requirement of 60 minutes, so this week we'll really need to tighten up timing because if you go over the time at all they bring up the house lights on you- not a great way to end your show. Chex mix and bars for dinner after the rest of my family had a delicious meal at our family friend's house of pork, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and fave buns. Whatever. The best news of all is that we get to keep Nugget for another couple of days because her owner is working late at the Twins games for the nest few nights! Yay!!!

                                    Living Room/Kitchen                                Bedroom

Bathroom

Goosebumps

What an exciting couple of days at Terradek! I have made two presentations/catalogs on powerpoint for Auroralight and Kichler, which took a surprising amount of time for both. Screen shot-ing, formatting and labeling, oh my! I just finished the second one about a half hour ago, and am just waiting to get another... in the meantime, I have been given 10 businesses to call and confirm that they received our purchase orders, which is my least favorite thing to do ever. I don't know why, but I just really dislike talking on the phone, especially to strangers. It just makes me uncomfortable to not see the person I'm talking to? Who knows, but I'm thinking of putting that off until after lunch. Thus procrastinating by writing this post.

ombre nails- my latest attempt to be good at nail art

Rehearsal has been going pretty well the past couple of nights. We finished blocking, and open in about a week and a half. It all looks/sounds good, except for this one song that just does not fit at all. It's called "It Ain't the Devil's Magic," and is sung by Bridget Bishop, the floozy harlot of Salem, right before she's convicted for being a witch. Issue #1: it's a hoochie-coochie jazzy strut-type song, so musically it just doesn't fit with the eerie legato line of the rest of the show. Issue #2: the men are in the background dancing and singing about how hot Bridget Bishop is, and the dance is just bad and tasteless. Issue #3: no one knows why this song is being sung! It doesn't make sense or fit with the story. Basically, it's not a good song and should be cut. Hopefully that won't be the only part of the show people remember...

I've been feeling the ultimate laze-fest recently. This morning I could not get out of bed, and grabbed the first maxi dress I could find. I still haven't really figured out how this drop waist fits on me, because my torso's a little too long for it to be a normal drop waist. Not like it matters here since I'm once again bundled in my huge sweater- my reign over the A/C has come to a close and I'm reminiscing about those 4 days when I didn't get goosebumps at my desk. Anyway I'm going through the whole work out vs. watch tv argument in my head. I have a little under 3 hours of free time after work and before rehearsal: I can spend about an hour working out, half an hour showering, and an hour plus relaxing and getting dinner, OR I can shower quick then pass out on the couch with Nugget right when I get home, which is really, really tempting. I also desperately need to clean my room, but that keeps going on the back burner. I just learned we only get to keep Nugget until August 1st because her owner finally got out of jail :(. We still don't know what he did... can you sue for custody of animals? I wish.

It's the Lupus

I was talking to my friend Hillary today about how lately I've been really tired a lot of the time, but I have no idea why. Sure, I have to get up at butt o'clock for work, but it's not like I'm particularly active on the job. Usually I'm asleep by 11 or 12, so what's the problem? Maybe I have African Sleeping Sickness, like in that episode of House, which I just watched because Allie and I have decided to start from the beginning and go through all 7 seasons that I have on DVD. I don't know what the problem is, or if there is a problem, all I know is that I'm a hypochondriac and convinced that I have Lupus or MS.

Today I was working in the warehouse reorganizing some stuff, and therefore had to wear "up-to-code" shoes; I hope these count. They're shoes we used to keep in our costume bin at my old house (where we kept all of our old dance/halloween costumes and some vintage clothes from my mom) and I  decided when we were moving to work them into a real-clothes wardrobe. Also apparently I'm really into the grey-navy combo this week, as I have worn it two days in a row. Shows how good I am at picking out clothes at 7 in the morning.

Last night some of my friends and I went to dinner at Minikhada Country Club because my friend Zoey is leaving for Italy on Friday. She's a voice major (dramatic soprano for opera) at Manhattan School of Music, and is going to study for a month outside of Bologna. It was the first time I had seen her this summer and now it'll be another month until I can see her again. Crummy timing if I have anything to say about it. 

Dog Poop

Well here's what happened: I wrote this whole post yesterday, hit save and closed it to add photos when I got home from work. BUT it all deleted and in fact did not save. Boo technology. I am going to try and recreate it with some updates as well.

Friday was my friend Natalie's birthday, and to celebrate we went to Nickelodeon Universe after work. I had been boycotting Nickelodeon Universe because I was a huge Camp Snoopy fan, but the time had passed and the new rides are pretty awesome...

Hittin' up the NU

Also Natalie's mom Kitty got us cupcakes from Yum that were Patti Cake on the bottom and chocolate mousse on top. So so good.

Saturday was spent driving to and from downtown, firstly for my ballet class, and secondly to go to an Idina Menzel concert- the tickets for which Natalie got for her birthday. I'm in a Beginner 2 ballet class, since I thought I should start off slow after not taking dance since I was 8 or 9. Nope. This class is not at all what I would consider "beginner." A good chunk of the class takes many different dance classes at Zenon, and many have taken this class before. It's been an unexpectedly nice challenge, because I really don't want to be the worst one in the class... And I don't think I am. Improving!
That night was the Idina concert, and the poor thing was so sick but decided to go on anyway. She ended up sounding great anyway, and only skipped one song. Also, she's really funny, which I wasn't necessarily expecting. Overall enjoyable way to spend the evening.

Zara skirt, Urban Outfitters corset, Tiffany necklace, ring from Mexico silver mine

Sunday we went to Ikea to scope out furniture for my sister's new condo (she's closing on the 23rd!). It's right off of Loring Park in between downtown and uptown and is pretty great. She's getting really excited for decorating and furnishing. However, going to Ikea mainly reminded me of my lack of apartment next year. The latest on the apartment front is that Evanston Place was too expensive. So then Maia and I looked into another building which is a block down the street called Park Evanston, and basically I'm a little obsessed with it. With 4 people, or even 3 people, it's very affordable. The apartments are about 100 sq ft larger than the EP apartments. There was a doorman. Washer/dryer in the apartment. Walk in closets. AKA perfection. The whole thing just fell apart kind of, with the fee for pulling out of the housing contract, and I'm not entirely convinced that the 4th roommate ever really wanted to move off campus. Now my mom's trying to get me to find a place where I could live with Maia possibly, a 1 bedroom. She's really into the idea of an apartment and hates the dorms because: they're loud, they're crowded, the facilities aren't great, and I'm always sick in the dorm. True life.

Yesterday Max pooped in my office. It wasn't great. We also set up our new tv that we got from my grandpa and it is gigantic. Like, monumental. I also went for a run outside and am now wondering what on earth I was thinking. My thighs and lower back are so achy blech. And yet since I have decided to do this two week shape up type program, I will have to find some other cardio I can do with the strength moves because lord knows I will not be running every day. Hopefully Zumba counts because that's my jam.

Post 4th

Happy 5th of July! Busy week with lots o' American pride and things. The kicker has been this ridiculous heat we've been having all week. The heat index has been 100° or above since Sunday, with humidity at 70%. It's disgusting. I've barely been able to go outside without choking on the sauna air that is the outdoors. They claim the heat is going to break after tomorrow with a storm which would be much appreciated. 
In work this week I've had the job of making lighting fixtures, which was actually pretty exciting. I got to use tools, including solder, and did not injure myself! The steps including cutting lots of cables, splitting the cables at one end and attaching a lead onto each split cable. Then I soldered the leads closed so the wires were covered. Then to put the actual fixtures together, there's a process with screws and clips and washers and voila! Light fixture!

My work station, so legit.

Over this week at work we've also had TWO dogs in the office because the De La Vega clan has gone to San Antonio for a couple weeks, minus Gerry. So he's been bringing in Max, who rules. I've been watching the dogs whenever Gerry or John has to leave the office for a bit, and Luna and Max together are the silliest.

Rehearsal has been going okay. It's a little draggy-on some days, especially last Monday because 10 people were missing and we couldn't stage certain group pieces without everybody there. I still don't know what my part means, only that my name is Martha Carrier, who is best known as the "Rampant Hag" described by Cotton Mather. GITIT. I know, everybody wanted to be the Rampant Hag, but that's my part and nobody else's. She actually sounds like a really interesting person from the colonial era, and was kind of a bamf. 

Now onto 4TH OF JULY aka one of the best day's of the year. I went to an all-girl's camp for 8 years over the 4th, so I don't really remember what we used to do for the holiday when I was little, but it was always really fun at camp. Everyone dressed up in crazy red, white, and blue and we would go to our normal activities for 2 blocks of the day. We had the cabin decorating contest, which was a really big deal and got really heated. In the later years, we weren't allowed to use any store bought items, and so creativity was a big deal. My cabin won the contest once, and got second another year from what I remember. We had the most delicious cookout and our 4th of July dance in the evening (which got moved in the later years to other dates sometimes... weird) and then had campfire. They used to do fireworks on the lake, but new laws were put into play with permits or licenses, so they stopped doing that. Instead, we would have root beer floats and do a candle ceremony. Anyway, what has come out of this is the tradition that every year my friend Natalie and I dress up and play 4th of July tennis. This year, it was just too hot, so we just dressed up in our tennis outfits and made a cake instead.

 You can't see in this picture, but the cake was actually 2 layers with fruit and frosting in the middle. SO good.

We play sports.

I made these red, white, and blue strawberries for an extended family dinner on Tuesday. They didn't quite look like the picture but they were pretty darn delicious.

After making the cake, we went swimming for a long time, which was lovely in the heat, and then Natalie's dad grilled for us. I went home to watch the NYC fireworks with my mom and sister because they were too hot to go watch the Lake Minnetonka ones outside. My only complaint is that they kept filming the people watching the fireworks, instead of the actual fireworks. What?

Update on apartment drams:

    1) Apparently the fee for pulling out of a housing contract began on July 1st, not on the 8th like we thought. And its $500. Nope. Not a fan.

    2) They quoted us incorrectly for the apartment we were looking at so it's about $80 more per person plus utilities. Nope.

    3) There's another apartment available with the same layout on the floor below. It'd be about the same price as we were originally quoted, but the lease starts in August instead of September, and goes through next August instead of next June. Next summer wouldn't be so much of a problem because we could find jobs or internships in Chicago, but I can't get back to Evanston until September this year so I would probably be paying for a month that I wouldn't be living there.

I don't really know what's gonna happen, but we need to decide soon because I either need to talk to my roommate or just live in the dorm. And since talking to my parents about it I would so much rather live in this apartment. Even if the apartment was more expensive than housing (which it's not), we would save a LOT on food costs. I was sick about 50% of the time last year just from living in the dorm. The facilities of the apartment are a lot nicer than the building I would otherwise be in next year. There are just a lot of pro's and fewer (original) cons.

Also I still need to get a camera! Any 4th of July sales still happening? Womp

SVU and Luna Too

Yesterday was an exciting day in the life of me. Firstly, I only had to go into work from 8-12 because my parents were returning from their European adventure (that I wasn't invited to...) and I had to fetch them from the airport. After scurrying home to vacuum quickly, I got to drive my mom's car to the airport, pick em up, and then had the rest of the day off and BEST OF ALL there was an SVU marathon on. Thank you, USA network, for bringing me one of the greatest joys of television in large, uninterrupted blocks. Then off to rehearsal when we were supposed to find out our roles, and yet, shockingly, I still do not know what part I have. Pam, our director, said she would finish casting last night after rehearsal, so I'm just hoping for an email today as I'd rather not wait until rehearsal tomorrow. Shmer. Oh well, I am now at work once again and have tentative plans tonight with a friend who says she was having minor surgery today (?) so it may or may not happen. In my super antisocial/tired state I would be a little okay with it not being a thing...
It's also flooping hot here today, but still freezing in my little ice office. Because of this, I get to do a little dog-sitting during lunch! John brings his dog Luna into work most days, and usually during lunch he brings her along and she chills in the car while he eats. BUT since it's so hot he doesn't want her in the car and that means fundogtime for me! I've been spending a lot of time perusing the Humane Society website during free time at work and wanting to adopt all of the animals and being sad that dorms do not allow pets, so this will be reallah nice. DOGS.

#workinghard

Black is the New Black

Nothing makes this gal happier than a pair of new shoes, and I just found this pair of black Michael Kors pumps for a steal. It was lucky, too, since I don't have a pair of just black heels since my last pair (2-inch patent leather peep toes with bows from 7th or 8th grade...) died. BUT NOW I have these sophisticated business pointy-toe shoes that are definitely for big girls and not tweens, hoorah! Also I finally found a black jersey maxi skirt at Target aka the best place on earth; I have been looking for one for ages, but they were always $50+ and I thought that was a rip-off for a long piece of cotton. Double win!

Didn't actually wear this today since the office I work at is freezing in the A/C (but only in the room I work in, of course) and I actually have to wear sweatshirts to function and not get the shivers.

Lalala sophisticate

Shiny heels add a little spice. I also attempted a new nail-art-type manicure using scotch tape. Thoughts? Musings?

Working Girl

As of today, I have now been working at TerraDek Lighting for one week. I do exciting and dangerous things like filing, organizing, vacuuming, and answering phones. I know, you're really worried for my life, but I will find a way to make it through. Overall it's a good job, relaxed, pays well, but is just kinda slow. Thank goodness I do not have to wear business casual. My next task for myself is to begin my summer playlist, as well as new workout/pump up playlists. 

I've also been in rehearsals this week for my MN Fringe Fest show Salem, which is going to be a new musical about the witch trials. It's a process unlike any I've been involved with before, since our director/the writer of the show is sort of devising as we go based on the cast she has. She's talked about how excited she is to write music specifically for the various voices in the cast, and from what we've heard so far (mostly ensemble pieces with some little solos thrown in), she's pretty solid at writing music. At first, I couldn't tell if this show was going to be kind of a joke or actually good, but as it goes along I'm tending towards the thinking that it might be a real thing. There are also some people in the cast around my age, which is nice, who know some of the same people I know; small world status. Now I'm just waiting to find out what my role is in the show...

Hi-lo skirt day yesterday

Loving open-backed dresses, but haven't decided where I would wear this one yet.

Off to pick up the mail and get a 'bou- classic summer.

HOME

My mama and I drove home on Saturday after a full day of finals/packing/moving on Friday, finals on Thursday, and studying studying studying. But now I am home and officially done with my freshman year of college! I've had a few days to relax a little since I have returned, and start work tomorrow as an "administrative assistant." yippee. Although I did the math and will probs end up making bank this summer if I work consistently through September. I also just found out today that I will be in a Minnesota Fringe Festival show! It's called "Salem" and is a musical, and it's really exciting to finally get some positive feedback from someone other than "oh yeah, we almost cast you." Because, while that's nice to hear, it also wears you down after a while. 
Yesterday I brought my mom to the airport as she was heading to France to meet my dad, then my parents are going on a river cruise starting in Budapest. Whatever. While I was out in Bloomington I decided to make an impromptu stop at Mall of America. Today I was also cleaning out my clothes that I had left here during the school year, and this is what happened.

New cutout maxi dress from Urban Outfitters- even more obsessed because I got it for $10!

White lace from Urban.

The same skirt I got from Zara; I think it's probably the best investment-purchase I've made in a while. Paired with a corset from Urban.

New LBD

Rediscovered this dress in my closet- good find right?

Vintage dress from my sister's friend via my sister.