luluving

i do what i wantttttt.

My baby Olive is sick with some sort of liver problem (again), so I've decided that accepting the situation followed by a heavy dose of distraction are the best solutions.

The morning of school pictures in 2nd grade my mom yelled at me for dressing too trashy - it was a blue and white striped shirt (think trainwreck zebra...) that had the shoulders cut off with 4-5 strings laying where a piece of cloth might belong. I felt uber grown up and trendy and was forced out of it and into a hand me down carnation pink dress with gray circles all over it. Compromise, my ass...

The following year I really showed her by staying up late the night before school pictures with my Tean Beat magazine and decided which teen sensation I would emulate. I chose Kris Kross. Yes the boys.  I broke into the medicine cabinet and shaved off spaces in BOTH eyebrows. Sick. Really Tubular & Radical. Also I tried on my overalls with one strap down for good measure. WTF why can't I be tan?!!?

 

It worked out well until that meddling ***** freaked out (why MOM seriously... I look SO toughhhhh), and pencilled in my eyebrows. Foiled again.

Just recently I realized that I am a grown-up, and guess what? Now I can wear what I want and NO ONE is going to stop me bahahah!!!

Eat your heart out. Vomiting Rainbow Explosion!!!!

Yup. Colors abound. That's all for now, think sweet thoughts for my little bullie love.

blogging can be for fun too :)

I have updated my goals! But I am not posting them... Way too personal and timeline oriented. Rest assured, I am still holding myself to them. In the meantime I will write about vapid things like Christmas lists and fashion blogs :D

For my new job in Marketing at TJX, I play a role in Social Media and blogging. One of the best parts of the job is the fact that I *must* stay abreast of fashion blogs. They don't look so hard, so I've decided to merge some of my (often misguided) style choices into this blog. For example, my Christmas list (which I am not inserting a hyperlinked list for, as these are material items and I am so personally fulfilled without them that it's an exercise more than anything) ::

Yes. the Nike Free iD does say "LULU" and "OLIVE" <3

My list is better than last year's list though. Oh wait. They're the same.

On another note. here are some excellent fashion blogs to follow:

Kendi Everyday

Shabby, Chic, and Cheap

Kitten Lounge

Saucy Glossie

Keiko Lynn

Merry Christmas, from Cindy Lu Hoo!

triple double rainbow.

But what does it mean?

It means that when you put yourself out there & really stick out the tough times through the tears and pain, there will be icing on the cake. At least that's how it's going for me...

And now to revisit my goals... Again. Funny how I haven't looked at them in months and although some details are different, the big picture is the same. The best part is that I've been able to identify more core values that I have. 

catch 'em by surprise

I haven't been too blog-a-licious lately, but everything is going pretty spectacular. 

• Moving into a new loft in the S End on July 1st w Margaret & AJ (Dad is visiting to help us move)
• I turn 27 this week, meaning I have successfully survived 27 years of being a human
• Just switched my schedule at Towne to Wed/Fri... meaning I finally get WEEKENDS!!
• I've walked away from a few relationships that were only "good enough" so that I don't settle and end up miserable years down the road
• At work I've settled in, love my coworkers, and turned around my main account's Twitter presence (just hit 8k followers!!)
• Stress levels have dropped and with Margaret's help our dogs are no longer neglected :)
• I cook every weekend for the week... this weekend might be Moroccan and Jamaican food + maybe a cookout
• There are a few things I need to decide on personally and professionally regarding direction, but there is no rush and on top of that what's going on right now is really cool

 

I meant what I said and I said what I meant.

bunny.

and I'm crying. for the good reasons.

I just looked at my goals today. I know, it's getting old. But I read them through and realized two things:

• It doesn't matter how messy that break-up was or what the details were, because when I read where I'll be in 10 years with that wonderful man who I'll end up with NONE of this BS will matter. None :)
• I exceeded my own career expectations... by a month. The first concrete career expectations I've made for myself and I exceeded them.

So seeing as I am #winning so non-stop with checking off challenges in life I revised the goals to incorporate where I am now... check it:

Download 10_years_30Mar11

And now for ridiculously cute animals.

love this cat... find your bliss

 

living the dream... mine

save yourself.

1/4 life epiphany

This is a true story.

The weather is looking up and so is life.  Time to stop engaging in the BS, drama, and dark sides of life.  I can't even begin to explain how fast my goals came to fruition after I wrote them out... literally 8 months and I have the salaried career I wanted, the fitness level I strive for, the network of friends and family that keep me centered, and the financial peace of mind that has at times been missing.

I love my life.

the best bulldog ever.

just sayin...

"in the midst of winter, i found there was, within me, an invincible summer." albert camus

"one of the painful things about our time is that those who feel certainty are stupid, and those with any imagination and understanding are filled with doubt and indecision." bertrand russell

So the person who is professing and bullying you with their steadfast knowledge on a matter is in fact the inferior. Me likes. After my dad and I were talking this week I think this wisdom applies also to those so buried with their loyalty to their facts like the MIT professor who "isn't worried" about what's going on in Japan... he's loyal to the science and math to a fault and leaves out room for human error and the unknown.

Dr. Josef Oehmen - MIT

Let's face it, I'm smart but I make some dumb&rash decisions... I never presume to know that they are the right ones though, and so far things seem to have always ended up for the best. Ultimately though, these poor decisions are leading to less poor decisions and a more distinct direction that I am trying to go in... GO ME

As for my goals, here is where am I with those...

I have slacked on:

• the Olive painting
• the demanding respect and care (hell, I have a huge learning curve but progress has been made!)
• yoga

I have accomplished the following, however - and am giving myself mad props for these:

• career goals, outlined and defined - I know the position that will work for me and flourish into a career
• staying in touch with family and social engagements w friends
• cooking!
• workout plans, always changing and adapting to my fitness levels
• paying off another credit card this week
• down to 2 nights a week @ Towne
• visited Buffalo once

hyperbole and a half (best blog)

 

peanut butter pie Christmas

I have been itching to blog again, but have been so busy between my internship in Marketing and the cocktail waitressing that I've had to stay away.

I think I might be seriously "falling into like" with Marketing (quote from one of the 2 people coaching me in the industry, thanks Tom).  I love the analytical side of the industry and being able to streamline processes for "new leads" - I also am re-finding my creative side which was severely suffocated in BioPharma.  Some keys points of what makes Marketing sawwweeeett:

• it's connections to Social Media and Networking
• the interesting periodicals (Ad Week, Ad Age, Fast Company, even the NYT keeps you up on what's going on)
• the ability to be creative, analytical, and always on your toes
• the lack of monotony

Aside from that, I finally realized that since I came to Boston ('02), I have never done anything to get ready for Christmas aside from go home to Buffalo with presents - so this year, in addition to that I hung stockings and am having a Christmas potluck with my roommate.  This is what I plan to make:

http://bakedbree.com/peanut-butter-pie

Christmas cards are ALSO being sent out tomorrow, F yes. Christmas, not Holiday.

The Olive painting still needs some work (I'm thinking some sort of bright and pop-art style background) but Margaret and I are going to start taking are classes at Brookline High School :D Speaking of Margaret, we are going to plan her goals this week on Tuesday over a glorious bottle of wine, and right now I am helping Kelli with her goals and finances over some yummy chai tea :D

is this self serving?

It damn well better be.

I am chronicling my awesome escapades for ME, and anyone else who has time to burn. Possibly someday my progeny (and with 1 ovary left, that isn't even a guarantee, but then again - what is?).

In April of this year I packed all of my belongings and bulldog into my SUV, quit my BioPharma career, broke up with my boyfriend, and moved from Boston to San Antonio to live with my brother.  And now I'm back in Boston, back with the boyfriend, but with a whole new career path, goals, take on life, and self-awareness.  We'll call that my little sabbatical, eh?

So now for the fun part. I am holding myself accountable to my new goals through this blog - cooking, travel, fitness, career (currently Marketing and Event Services), learning, relationships etc.  While working at lululemon athletica in San Antonio, Dani and Kursten gave me an excellent goal coaching session, I continue to build on it and refine my goals, so attached is where I'm at right now...

10_years_01Dec10

The goal setting process helped me to lay out my motivations and values into a logical plan of what my ideal future would look like - things change and shit happens, but it's pretty powerful to have a larger purpose behind small day to day decisions (go to the gym, etc.).  So far I've coached two people on their goals, and I recommend the exercise to anyone (and in fact, offer my help for anyone who would like it).