Ice Cream Social: With a Cherry on Top

Is there anything better than an ice cream sundae on a gorgeous summer day?

Maybe (shirtless) Ryan Gosling serving you an ice cream sundae on a gorgeous summer day...? 

I wasn't able to deliver the Gos, but we did organize a fun ice cream social to celebrate the beginning-of-the-end of summer. We had it at a very nice and extremely quiet park just down the street from our house, so there was a great playground for kiddos and we were pretty much the only ones there. E was a saint for helping set up our patio umbrella, a shade tent we really didn't end up needing (plenty of trees), and some lawn chairs and lawn games. 

The umbrella with the little lanterns
looks like a sombrero, no?

The bubbles and hula hoops were the best $5 spent on this event--
kept little (and big) kids entertained all afternoon.

We had plenty of toppings and disposables made the clean-up easy... and I was THRILLED that the park had a recycling bin for paper and plastic, so everything pretty much made it in there.

We had some pretty fierce cornhole competition going...

And some fun with the "photo booth."

And of course there was ice cream... and root beer floats and (gluten-free, fat-free, dairy-free) popsicles and ice cream cone-shaped marshmallows. With whipped cream. And a cherry on top. 

The one thing we didn't have was my favorite flavor (I kept it simple with vanilla)... Toasted Coconut from MooTime, this local ice cream parlor where E and I both worked one summer in college.... Lawdy how I miss the free ice cream because that homemade, premium ingredient stuff is sell-your-firstborn prices (maybe not quite, but...). What I don't miss is the crazy boss lady we had that summer, but I digress. 

What's your favorite ice cream? What are your favorite sundae toppings? Do you shoot whipped cream straight from the can into your mouth (and if so, shame on you)? Is anyone planning an end-of-summer party or are you already planning football tailgates, pumpkin carvings and Halloween parties? Do you microwave your ice cream like I do because you like it soft (#TWSS)?

So long, sweet summer (**raises a spoon in salute**)...

Unemployment, Day 1: Bucket List

I'm one of those people that picks their optometrist based on whether they're open on a Saturday and only schedules appointments after 5:30 so I don't have request to leave work early... I've had super-flexible bosses the last few years, should've taken advantage of it, I know...

So now that I have some time free during business hours, and don't have as much pressure to fit fun and productivity into just 48 precious weekend hours, I have the following on my (incomplete) unemployment bucket list.

In no particular order:

1. Use my gift certificate for facial laser peel
2. Go to dentist, optometrist, try to get a referral to neurologist or whoever prescribes the miracle migraine medication
3. Detail the car
4. Organize our closets (clothing and linens)
5. Organize my craft and DIY supplies (side-note: I may have some craft supplies to pawn off on people pretty soon)
6. Use my groupon for carpet cleaning 
7. Start really working out again (ha)
8. Stock the freezer full of healthy crockpot meals that will be ready to go
9. Organize the pantry
10. Go to the beach like I haven't all summer (sacrilegious in SD, I know)
11. Focus attention on my role as Campus Relations Advisor for Alpha Gamma Delta at SDSU and with a charity event project I've had brewing in my head for awhile....
12. Take up my grandparents' always-available offer to come over for lunch or dinner (one of the benefits of living 5 minutes away).

Things I plan to do to stay sane:

Maybe I've been watching too much Orange is the New Black (eeeeee soo good! The Season 1 finale, ohmygod...Pretty sure I'd do alright in prison now) but I believe there is value in creating a routine and to-do list to stay productive and not waste my time not spent working on job applications. As I recall during unemployment it's really easy to get stuck in a rut of wearing pajamas all day, not eating reagular meals, not getting fresh air all day... making you just feel crappy. So my goals for day-to-day include, but are not limited to:

1. Wake up at the same time I normally would if I were going to work.
2. Eat a nutritious breakfast (which I haven't done yet today and now at 1pm I'm on the edge of starving).
3. Exercise, preferably outdoors.
4. Not watch trashy television and try not to work with MSNBC on in the background too much (oops, hour 2 of MSNBC is on as I type this).
5. Get dressed every day, even if it's just shorts and a tee-shirt or something to wear working out. Sure, I'm one to stay in my pjs all day on the occasional Saturday if I'm just doing stuff around the house, but to do so day after day just makes me feel sloppy and lazy... and doesn't project the confidence that I want to portray. 
6. Talk to people, not just online, and socialize. Sure you don't want to go out to lunch everyday or anything, but you can get really lonely and isolatedat home all day and it doesn't take long before you feel like a mjor loser.

Anyone have advice on how to stay productive, focused and positive? Anyone on their second round of unemployment? :(  Any ideas on what I should add to my lists? Anyone want to hang out so I'm not such a loser?


 Halfway done with Day 1!

Unemployment: T-minus...

Starting Friday I will be unemployed. For the second time in five years (I was laid off Jan. 2009 the day I came back to work from our short honeymoon). This is basically how I felt on Monday when I found out:

It sucks. It's scary. When I lost my job right after we got married I was out of full-time work for almost 11 months... and then found a HORRIBLE job that resulted in me coming home crying almost every day... so I was desperate to take a chance on what is my current job six months later... despite it being only part-time... and what was supposed to be part-time for 2-3 months stretched into a year of part-time work... during which we went through a lot of our savings and I feel like we're still playing catch up despite me now having been back to full-time work for two years (so to all the friends and family asking why we haven't had kids yet and when we're going to, there's the long answer).

Enough of the pity party.

I'm lucky to have had this job the last three years... with very nice people, a good work environment, and even though it pays below what I understand is the industry standard, I've had some really great opportunities--like, working with international companies and organizations, meeting some awesome business and community leaders, and writing more than I ever thought I would. Back to doing what I thought I'd be doing when I majored in advertising and pr (more or less) and helping some clients that made me feel good about putting something positive into the world (more or less; I mean, it's still work and it has its days).

But we've also worked with some really difficult people (we always figured it was a side-effect of us all being too nice to say no and thus taking on a lot of pro-bono work, delivering above-and-beyond, etc.) And it was a super-small, family organization; meaning that at some point the principals would be ready to move on... unfortunately that time came sooner than any of us expected as it was expedited by some of the aforementioned really difficult people. Long story short, the agency is closing its doors and my job of three years is no more.

It's not the worst thing in the world (at least not yet). I had come to the realization in the last few months that I had done about all I could do in my current position and with the business not really growing, it was time for me to move on (I was also soooo ready to be done with the aforementioned really difficult people). So I was already kinda' keeping my eyes open for the next thing. Of course, I would have liked to be able to continue working full-time while searching for the next opportunity and making that transition. And you know, keep paying rent and eating.

But there are a few advantages:

1. Not having to "sneak around" trying to apply and interview while still working full-time. I've only done it once and some casual browsing but it's like, you feel deceitful, you know?
2. My bosses have TONS of contacts and are being extremely supportive--giving me archives to add to a portfolio, sending my resume to their colleagues who have already promised to forward it, and offering recommendations. I am confident that their support is going to be an asset.
3. I have a few things that I've been wanting to get done that I was trying to schedule around business hours (appointments, carpet cleaning, etc.); so my hope is that I'll be not working just long enough to take care of a few things.

I also have incredible family who are supportive and sympathetic and have promised to not let me end up being a hobo (although sometimes that doesn't sound like a bad option, trains are cool).

I've had my mind on some goals and "to-dos" for myself... because I know that unemployment can be super frustrating and depressing.

So I'll be putting those down in writing and hope that helps me stick to them so that this time, however long (hopefully short!) it is will be productive, healthy and mainly positive. I'm doing my best not to freak out.

Please wish me luck, pray to your Diety of Choice, send me the good vibes that you have, and let's hope karma is on my side. Unfortunately karma doesn't pay the bills so let's hope "Getting A New (and much more lucrative) Job Is In My Very Near Future."

Here goes nothing!

Ain't No Party Like a SpeakEasy Party

Some friends had a birthday party last week (one twin planned a joint birthday as a surprise for the other)...

As you might have guessed from my rsvp, I like themed parties :)

A "Goodbye 20's, Hello 30's Party" at the "Blind Tiger Speakeasy (password, "White Mustache"), complete with "bootleg" drinks, a name-that-iconic-moustache game (which we won, woot!) and dress code.

The boys looked adorable (esp my 1920's tennis player) and the girls got dolled up pretty nice, too.

I love costume parties but won't spend much on a costume.. the top I found for $3 at AmVets
and safety-pinned it to a skirt that hung in my sister's closet for the last five years or so
to make it an empire-waist dress... good thing the pins held up! 

Inspiration here; racquet from Goodwill
(we now have about 7 antique wooden racquets, four of which still need to be displayed.

It was swell! 

Anybody else planning a 1920's -ish party? So many cute ideas out there for music, decor, etc. You could incorporate elements from The Great Gatsby, Chicago, etc... I'm thinking activities could include 1920's Mad Libs, a Charleston dance-off and charades using 1920's books, songs and movie titles.

I'd also love to do this for a fundraising gala on a grand scale!

“In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Cheers, old chap!

Sunday Morning Quickie

I had a goal of cleaning this morning... so far I've done about 3/4 of the bathroom... In my defense I went to bed with a woke up with an undeserved headache so I'm taking it slow.

So things worth noting:

• This is a great, quick read. A good reminder. I'm trying to practice it more often. --> "Stop Glossing Over the Good Stuff (How To Be Positive and Happy)".  With that in mind, here are three good things I experienced in the last 24 hours:
• I spent yesterday evening with my parents, brother and his girlfriend catching up with my aunt who was in town. She, my uncle and cousins have lived in Missouri for almost 20 years where my uncle was stationed at the Air Force base so we hadn't seen her in a year or so.
• It's a little thing, but an awesome beach towel that I found at Target earlier in the summer and wasn't willing to pay like, $12 for was marked down to $3.24 yesterday. It has a beautiful watercolor-looking octopus on it. Although when I showed it to E he accused me of being loyal to House Greyjoy (no, I just absolutley lust over the giant squid fireplace... like squealed and made E pause so I could look at it).
• I opened the blinds to see the flowers on the patio blooming like crazy.
• Two episodes into "Orange is the New Black..." watched those with my parents and came home to tell E that he needs to watch it, too. Parents are now on episode 5, I'm hoping E and I can get a few in this week. (Also, finished Game of Thrones. Status: A little traumatized. Trying to convince E to grow out his hair again so he'll look like Jon Snow.)
• This is a great article. E has turned me into a Roger Federer fan and even if you're not, it's a feel-good story about someone going above-and-beyond to make a recovering cancer patient's dream come true.
• If you're the praying or even the sending-good-thoughts-and-vibes type, they'd be much appreciated for a few concerns of mine.
• This isn't totally recent, but since I am always behind in uploading pictures, this was still on my camera... centerpieces I made practically for free (items on-hand, thrift store votive holders and flowers mostly cut from my garden) for a small event we did at UCSD for a really cool nonprofit we're working with... I'm really excited to have a small role in helping them develop and really, really, really want to see them thrive and reach their full potential. You can read more about them at www.katerva.org. Also, as long as we're talking about centerpieces, here's the ones that my sister-in-law designed and I made for my neice's first birthday "Parisian Ballerina"-themed party. Wish we'd had some ribbon to add to these but not bad for throwing them together in an hour, right?

• Another picture that's at over a month old... from a brunch my dear sister/friend and I had at Bistro West in Carlsbad to catch up, celebrate long-overdue birthdays and generally enjoy a girly day. Not only was the food great and the patio seating delightful, but they gave us this amazing dessert. I'm thinking there is a Pinterest tutorial out there for making the chocolate bowl. This was followed by pedicures with the most amazing massaging chairs and an awesome deal on a couple of throw pillows at the Crate and Barrel outlet. I'm a lucky girl to have friends like Heather in my life.

• Several friends just welcomed and/or are eagerly awaiting babies. Excited for them and their teensy blessings.
• Had the pleasure of meeting most of the SDSU Alpha Gamma Delta Advisor Team a couple of weeks ago. Should be having a training session with them soon. Great ladies. So stoked to bring the Delta Eta Chapter back to San Diego State University!

• Went to Comic Con for the first time... well, took the free shuttle to the Convention Center and just walked around taking in the scenery. First of all, more people than I thought even existed on the planet. Secondly, they seem like they're having fun. Thirdly, the event planner in me wants to get my hands on the opportunity to set up some awesome interactive things, exhibits, promos, advertising, etc. Finally, wishing now that I had stopped Khal Drogo when we were walking past the bar where he was having a beer and Hodor when he walked past us in line for food so I could get pictures. But for something free to do (we even got free ice cream from the South Park ice cream truck) and the entertainment value, not bad! Next year (also on my list, Daryl Dixon and Jon Snows, obvs.)
• Finally, planning an ice cream social for next weekend. Need to go work on that, pronto. Will be back with an update on that, as well as our camping trip last month, some fun things we've been doing this summer, and hopefully a furniture remodel :)

Enjoy what's left of summer!