Monthly Archives: December 2010

Dec152010

A New Look

So… You may have noticed the new look around here. And if you’re reading this via RSS feed, come check it out!

I finally decided to figure out how to mess with the code enough to make the changes. Huge thanks to Emeric Photography for the picture that is not only my new header, but also our desktop image.

Now if only I can figure out how to move the date from the top of the post to the bottom, change it to mm/dd/yy format, and add the time. The I think it’ll be perfect. For me.

Oh, and the “k1p2” line is because when ever I’m knitting, both Steve and my dad think they’re funny and say “knit 1 purl 2” even though I rarely knit k1p2 ribbing.

Enjoy the new look!

Dec142010

South Floridian Looking for Admin Job.. Help?

OK, truth time. I need a job. Pretty desperately. Yes, I have a part-time job 3 days a week and average about 20-22 hours per week. So for a pay period, I make what I used to make in 1 week. Ouch.

So we have this “plan” for me to get a job… any job [that I’m willing to do] for a few months while I continue applying all over the country. I hate Miami. I feel like a teenager living here full of hatred for this city waiting to escape it. I can’t really explain why, I just hate it. I never went out partying, and never wanted to. I don’t drink [since I was 19] or do drugs [never touched any] or anything else. And that’s not just about living like I’m pregnant, I was never interested in drugs or losing control like when I used to drink.

Tangent, what?

I know it’s horrible to take a job knowing you’ll only be at it for a few months, but I just can’t see us living here very long. I’ve been looking all over the country, with focuses on Austin, DC, Madison, and a few other places. The good thing about DC is all the government jobs. The bad thing is how long and seemingly ambiguous their application process is.

Right now I’m looking for an administrative job. Something in the admin assistant range. We just need the money. My current job is making it really difficult to pay the bills. Steve has been footing the majority of the bills lately and lemme tell ya, it’s a horrible feeling. Sure I’d like to be a stay at home mom one day, but only IF we can actually afford it. And even then, it’d be to home-school our kids.

How can you help, blog friends? If you know anything in the Miami area in an administrative capacity, preferably something temporary, could you please let me know? Yes, I have an MBA, but at this point, I just need some extra money to pay bills. I’ll worry about using my degree later on. Please post, RT and spread this post as far as you can in South Florida. I will love you forever! And if your lead lands me a job, I’ll send you something yummy made especially for you!

Thanks!

Dec132010

Reception Location

Picture it: Lush green open space, swaying palm trees, hanging orchids and bromeliads, candles and bunches of carnations in a fishbowl on all the tables, and twinkle lights and paper lanterns as far as the eye can see.

That is the vision I have for our reception. In this space, which is to the left of my parents house. My father has been landscaping and cleaning up the area for a few weeks now. They had a holiday party last night in this area.

I just love all the gorgeous land my parents have and that my father has a real eye for landscaping. No wonder where I got my creativity from! Only mine comes in the form of graphic design and knitting. 🙂

Whatcha think? What do you picture when you see this raw open space?

Dec122010

Thank You Notes Revealed

I totally forgot to post this! About a week or so ago, I ordered our Thank You notes from OvernightPrints. For those curious, I designed them in PhotoShop CS4 using their basic guidelines to ensure everything stayed in the printing lines, popped it onto their system and boom, ordered! One of the main reasons why I love OvernightPrints over VistaPrint is they don’t charge an upload fee.

After finally deciding to go with a horizontal photo, I messed with different fonts, wording, and layouts. In the end, it was down to 5 pictures. We chose the following picture and simply Thank You in a beautiful script font…

And of course gave credit to our fabulous photographers, Emeric Photography on the back of the card. I just love the blue, but maybe I’m biased…

Dec112010

First [Non-Cash] Wedding Gift!

beccablogsWhy yes, we did get married 2 months ago. But that doesn’t mean we got any presents then. When you essentially elope – even though the whole Facebook/ Twitter world knew about it – you get no presents. We also weren’t expecting any. Duh.

Our “wedding reception” is in just over a month. Holy cow, that’s soon! Our registry is finally getting some notice, and stuff being bought.

Yesterday afternoon, my mom called to ask if I had ordered anything as she saw a big box inside our fence. Upon further inspection, it was a Bed Bath & Beyond box and, according to the Fedex label, weighed 29 pounds. Being the registry stalker that I am, I knew exactly what it was… only I was wrong.

The problem begins with Fedex’s complete disregard for fragile packages and customer service. We live on a large piece of land with lots of animals and have a fence going around our entire property – like everyone else in Homestead. This fence is electric and without the remote, you can’t get in. long ago, Fedex and UPS decided to not even bother honking to let us know a package is here and to just chick it over the fence. But hey, at least they put the boxes in a plastic bag in case it rains.

So, yeah, 29lb box sitting inside our fence wrapped in a bag. I suspected what it contained and was terrified that it was broken. When I got home from work, I lugged it back to our house and proceeded to open it.

My wedding present, and mom was excited to open it too. Nice.

Without further ado…

hmmm... what could it be??

The kids didn't care, they were otherwise occupied by the plastic bag and a bowl of water.

Ahhhhh! KitchenAid Stand Mixer! (insert hyperventilation here)

Mmmmmm Pretty *pet pet pet*

My family, they're awesome! <3

And what's this? A surprise gift! Gorgeous flatware.

That’s right, the coveted KitchenAid Stand Mixer is mine! Errm, I mean ours.

Right right, ours.. there’s a husband here! He actually does cook quite a lot, but I have a feeling that I’ll be using this baby more between baking bread, cupcakes, cookies, pastries, etc etc etc.

When I said I was wrong about about knowing exactly what was in the box, it’s because I had no idea they’d bought us the flatware too!

I called to thank my aunt and she said she knew how much I wanted the mixer, but the flatware was so we have “no excuse to sit down to eat dinner together with [our] matching flatware.” Love her!

So there it is, our first non-cash wedding gifts. Now to get our thank you cards from @OvernightPrints so we can deposit the checks and send the thank you notes!

Dec082010

January Reception on my Mind.. Among Other Things

We’re closing in on the January reception pretty quickly. As of today, we’re about 5 weeks out.

Over the weekend, I started a list of things I want to price check, such as the disposable plates, cups and flatware, the paper lanterns, string lights, and favors. Good thing is, the Christmas clearance sales will be a few weeks prior so I’ll be able to pick up a few dozen twinkle lights for dirt cheap.

Tonight I was debating between Hershey’s Kisses and M&Ms. They’re both chocolate, so chances are it’ll come down to price. I found both on Amazon, free shipping and no tax, so that’s an option if we can’t find them locally. Also, the containers – 2” square, cones, or organza bags – was researched and all can be found on eBay for a song! While the cones are adorable, they’ll only work if I end up with M&Ms as the Kisses will only fit 3 or 4 at most. The 2” boxes max out at 11 Kisses, but I don’t know about the bags. I want favors to have enough chocolate, but not too much.

Hey, at least they’re delicious favors and not something that’ll get thrown in a drawer or stuck on a shelf to collect dust.

We also need to decide on the food, desserts, music, and everything else. Dad has a good rental place for tables and chairs that he uses for a lot of events here. The music is most likely going to be iPod music for background noise.

Food? We’re thinking Pollo Tropical, a bunch of desserts both homemade and store-bought, Publix cake is a given. Umm, yeah I don’t know what else. I know it’ll all work out in the end.

I’m really excited about this party as there are a lot of family members that we haven’t seen in AGES coming in for it, but I also cannot wait for it to be over. I kinda feel like it’s keeping me tied here.

Steve wants to stay for a while so we can pay off/ down our debt, but the job market is horrendous here. For me. He has a job. I wish my aunt had enough work for me to make 40 hours every week instead of every 2 weeks.

I recently updated my LinkedIn profile to denote that I’m doing a nationwide search, not that I think it’ll help. We’ll see. I also started look at alternative options like Teach for America and AmeriCorps. If nothing else, I can do all my research for my yarn store while we’re still living here.

Not having the best day. Sorry for ending this post on kinda a downer note.

Dec062010

Post-Wedding Update Type Post (Including TTD Pictures!)

Whoops! Had that OvernightPrints link all wrong! My bad.

Wow, has it really been 3 days since I last posted? Craziness!

This weekend has been really productive for me in terms of post-wedding stuff. And considering that we bought ourselves a Hanukkah/ early Christmas Wii, that’s really saying something!

Let’s see, in the last 5 days I…

+ordered our marriage certificate
+received our CD of Trash the Dress pictures from the amazingly talented Emeric Photography
+ordered our holiday cards (using an Emeric picture) from Shutterfly
+wrote, completed, changed, and ordered our holiday newsletter from Vistaprint
+ordered our Thank You cards (also using an Emeric picture) from OvernightPrints
+just finished and ordered our 2nd Inkubook that we won in the giveaway (all Emeric pictures)
+played lots and lots of Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
+spent loads of time with my amazing hubby
+began knitting a pair of socks for a test knit

You want to see some of them, right? Seriously, I am in love with these pictures!

Using my Ebates account for Shutterfly, OvernightPrints, and Vistaprint, I am expecting a nice big fat refund check soon. I will never again shop online without first checking there to see what rebates I’ll get. It’s like the best “discount” ever! For OvernightPrints, I already had a coupon (HOLIDAY) for 50% off the cards, so not only was my order discounted, but I’m getting cash back. Yes, I’m cheap like that.

Most of our stuff was dependent on getting the CD, which is why so much happened so quickly. I had everything all laid out and just waiting for the picture. Of course, even then, I was still popping different pictures into the layouts.

This post is not sponsored by any company, I just happen to love Ebates and online shopping. <3

Dec022010

Hello Miami “Winter” – Please Stay A While

Days like today warm my little winter-starved heart. It will be in the 50s all day long in Miami and that just makes me ridiculously happy. The windier, the better because that drops the temp even more.

Sure, I knew what the weather was like down here before we moved. I was never moving here for the weather and was pretty damn depressed that I was leaving my cold weather and chances of snow for extreme heat year round. No, I’m not a freak, I LOVE cold weather! I also hate Miami. Yes, that does make me weird to the majority of the non-Miami residing population. We moved for family, cheaper rent (alas more expensive everything else), and a job. But mostly family.

Never in a million year did this Miami born and raised girl expect to be craving snow and weather in the 20s and 30s. It’s gotten to the point where I am seeking out jobs to apply for in states that HAVE an average snowfall listed. This 50* “winter” stuff doesn’t cut it for me anymore. I want to be able to wear my hats, scarves, and sweaters. Yesterday, it was over 80* all day and I went to work in shorts and a t-shirt. Also, I saw many Facebook postings of snow and freezing weather. Yeah, color me jealous. I’m sure they were jealous of the heat down here and, frankly, they can have it.

Yesterday I was searching through pictures from the last 11 months for our holiday newsletter and relished looking through the 2 folders of snow. It was depressing me. I do know that heavy and long winters can take a toll on people, but that’s what all this heat does to me. I don’t want to leave the house. Our a/c bill skyrockets the hotter it gets. It’s just so blah. Poor Phoenix doesn’t get why it’s so hot out as his winter coat keeps reappearing. There’s seriously enough fur for a whole new kitten every time I brush him.

In other news, I’m finally compiling what is needed for our January reception/ party. With the holidays coming up and mail likely being delayed, I should order it soon. Gotta pow-wow with our “party planners” soon to figure out what we need!

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