The splurging continues....

On top of my recent splurges, I have also strayed considerably from my book buying hiatus.... The wait at the library has just been too long, which has forced me to shop at Borders (yes, I am being serious). Number six in line is just too long of a wait for me. I do not like waiting. ;)

I have bought these two books by Sarah Dessen...

(btw, off subject, but has anyone tried to get two pictures side by side in Blogger? This was my first attempt and although I somewhat succeeded I don't understand why Blogger doesn't make this easier to do!)

The first book from the Vampire Academy Series (can you tell I'm on a YA kick right now?)

And, today I picked up Audrey's Niffenegger's newest novel that released yesterday. I'M SO EXCITED TO READ THIS. (yes, that sentence deserved to be "shouted"). I loved The Time Traveler's Wife and I knew I would buy this the second (or day after) it came out. Just reading the inside of the book jacket had me intrigued. Keeping my fingers crossed it's a good one!

Have you bought any books lately?

Sneak a peek at my recent finds...

In the past year I have really disciplined myself and held off on unnecessary purchases, but recently I have indulged in a little shopping...

Here are a few of the treasures I treated myself to!

A brand new purse from Express... It's big and slouchy and oh-so-cute!

A couple of shirt from Express, I also got this in solid black.

This cute scarf from Aerie. I love scarves!!

These shoes from American Eagle. I'm trying to wear more flats because they don't make me want to die about four hours into my shift. I hate wearing flats because I am so short, but I hate having sore feet even more!

This lipgloss from Bare Escentuals. It's actually my third tube of this liquid gold... I frickin' love it! As well as all other Bare Escentuals products... I have been addicted for about two years now! The color I get is called Brandi and it's a really pretty red.

Then after all that shopping I needed this....

Yes, I realize it's fall and I will not be wearing sandals anymore but it was a spur of the moment thing and it felt wonderful!

Have you bought any cute clothes for Fall?

The topic of.... freight.

A couple of you commented from my previous post that you like to hear about my job! Thanks guys! My job is really important to me so that makes me feel really good!! :)

I thought I would go into detail about how new merchandise gets to a store's salesfloor. Now, I was going to go into depth on sweatshops but, honestly? The topic of sweatshops DESERVES it's own post so I will save that for another day!

Let's start with the boxes. Depending on the size of the company and the volume of the specific store most stores get new freight to process daily. My store is one of those stores that gets boxes Monday-Friday. I'm a little anal about getting new merchandise to the floor quick, so I get anxiety if we don't get going on it right away.

Everything comes in typical moving box sized boxes and each item is individually wrapped in plastic. Yes. Each shirt, each necklace, each pair of underwear is individually wrapped in plastic. My store receives between 30-60 boxes a week depending on the time of year. During back to school season that number doubles. Each box takes approximately 30 minutes to an hour to process. In a perfect world.

Ok, ok. So, maybe it's not as many boxes that are pictured above, but sometimes it sure feels like it! Today we received 15 boxes and in those 15 boxes was approximately 700 new pieces of merchandise. Crazy, right? ;)

Now, you've got your boxes. What do you do with them? In my location I instruct my staff to empty out the boxes into large black bins (these look nicer if out on the salesfloor than brown boxes) sorted by tops, bottoms, pajamas, underwear, specialty (like jewelry and small toys), shoes and brand new (i.e. needs to be put out NOW) merchandise. From there each item gets unwrapped, attached to a sensor to prevent shoplifting, put on hangers and from there it's ready to hit the salesfloor!

Is that really it though? If you said no, you guessed RIGHT! Now it has to be displayed (or merchandised) properly. This is where the fun starts! Making outfits! Putting different items together to wait and see if it sells. If it doesn't, you need to move it around. I always tell my girls, "It's our job to make something mediocre look adorable!" So many times we get something in and our first thought is, "WHAT WAS THE BUYER THINKING?!" Then we see it on an 8 year old we go, "Ohhh, it IS cute on her!" :)

Originally, I went to school to be a buyer. I wanted to help forecast trends and allocate goods to appropriate stores. I quickly found out that I belong out in the field. I did not like sitting at a desk all day. I enjoyed being out and mingling with people. I enjoyed leading a successful team. And I especially loved the number crunching and (although I hate to admit it) the pressure to make that sales plan!

So, that is a little insight to what I do! There is much, much more!

Weekend recap!

Sunday night?! Already? I suppose that makes sense, my weekend was pretty busy!

Friday night I had to work till 10pm, but we ended up getting really busy so we stayed until 11pm to get the store back in shape for Saturday. Saturdays we do about 40% of the weeks business so I get anxious if everything isn't done by close of business on Friday night! Things don't sell from the backroom! Which... speaking of that. Kind of gets me thinking. I bet ya'll have NO IDEA what it takes to get merchandise from the box it comes in to a salesfloor, do you? Unless you have worked retail, of course! Maybe someday I will go into detail and tell you all the tedious fabulous details!

Back on track....

During my break I decided I just needed to buy something. Do you ever get like that? I had no idea what I wanted to buy, I just wanted something. So, I headed over to Barnes and Noble and picked up two more Sarah Dessen books and then over to Aerie (you know I love that place) and picked up a really cute scarf for this scarf swap that Katie from Loves of Life is hosting. I also picked up a really cute ring, but it already broke so I'm returning it this week. My shopping has been out of control lately. I'm usually very disciplined when it comes to shopping (you have to if you work in the mall) but lately I have not. I will post pictures of my recent indulgences soon! :) Luckily, I have earned two bonuses at work so I guess I deserve a few treats, right? After work Friday I went home, read a little more of The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen ( I have no idea why it's taking me so long to finish, it's not like it isn't good!) and then I went to bed. Livin' on the wild side...

Saturday morning I had every intention of being in my store by 7:30am to get a few things done (I don't usually go in until 9 am) but I just couldn't drag myself out of bed! It was rainy and gloomy. Basically, the perfect weather to just stay put under the covers. I got to work at my normal 9 am, which was fine. What I wanted to get done was not urgent, so no worries. We had a fabulous day, doing about 30% better than last year. Woo hoo! This numbers driven gal loves that! I also had worked so much this week that I needed to cut an hour (we aren't allowed to go over 40 hours. Isn't that nice?!) so I went and got a pedicure! It felt amazing, my tootsies needed it. After work I headed home to let the Zekester out of his kennel for a little bit, then (sadly) it was back in the kennel he went because I was headed out for dinner and drinks at The Cheesecake Factory with two of my girlfriends. I had the lettuce wraps (which were okay, nobody's lettuce wraps compares to Chili's which were taken off the menu awhile ago. Sad!) and the three of us split the red velvet cheesecake. It.was.amazing. Seriously, SO good.

Sunday morning I got up, had to run into the store real quick to finish up payroll, then I met my Grandma and my Mom for lunch at Spaghetti Works and to see....... WICKED!
Man, oh man! It was so good! SO GOOD! I have been to lots of musicals... Thoroughly Modern Milly, Grease, Mama Mia!, Legally Blonde... seriously, I see as many as I can and this one blew me away. Usually I get a liiiiiittle antsy sitting for that long, but the time flew by with this one. I'll admit the first half didn't go as fast as the second half but it didn't feel like almost three hours at all. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. Very cool set, very cool scenes, and a very cool story! Who doesn't like The Wizard of Oz?

I also bought this t-shirt and this cute magnet for entirely too much money. But aren't they cute?!

That's not me in the pic! I found images here, where you can also purchase all the cool Wicked stuff!
Oh, and my magnet doesn't say Australia! :)

Now, I'm back at home and I just got done eating some very yummy enchilada pizza! This is another Iowa Girl Eats recipe and it gets an A+ from me! I will definitely make this again, it was quick, easy and delish!
The only difference between mine and hers was I added onions to mine and I burnt it a little. Yep, sorta got distracted by the old episode of Laguna Beach on tv. Oops. I'm still learning how to be a good cook! Luckily, it didn't burn too bad and it still tasted great! I also cut my finger on the refried beans can, but now I have a cute Strawberry Shortcake band-aid on it so that makes it all better! Ha! :)

What did you do this weekend?

PS: My friend Lesli over at Pretty Random Thoughts is hosting a fall giveaway on her blog! Check it out!! :)

Penne and chardonnay....

Earlier today I was looking at my bank statement online and was shocked to see how many times I ate out in the past month. It was shocking! Too embarrassing to admit the total... So, trust me when I say it was ridiculous.

Today I went to the grocery store and stocked up on ingredients to make homemade dinners and easy to pack lunches.

Iowa Girl Eats is one of my favorite food bloggers and I bookmark many of her blog posts because they contain recipes I just have to try. One of these is Drunken Garden Pasta. I just can't resist a recipe that calls for penne noodles. I don't know why but I just like them more than any other noodle, they're just... better. This dish was no exception. It was so tasty and easy to prepare.

First I sauteed chopped garlic and onion...

Then I added spinach and tomatoes to the mix.

Meanwhile I was cooking my penne noodles.

Once those were done and while they were draining in the sink. I added a splash of chardonnay and a little bit of balsamic vinegar and olive oil to the pasta pan, just like she said. Then I heated it for about 20 seconds or so and added the pasta mixed with the sauteed goodness and a sprinkle of feta cheese.

And this is what I got...

Mmm, mmm good! I loved it! It was perfection with a glass of chardonnay! Such an easy meal to make that is healthy! Most of her recipes include healthy fruits and veggies so I always feel good when I make them. They also always seem to include common ingredients that are already in my cupboards! Makes things that much easier.

I'm glad I tried this one and will definitely make it again. Next thing I'm going to try is her Enchilada Pizza. Sounds tasty!

Who doesn't like to win stuff?!

o ... m ... g ....


What a great giveaway!!

I have recently become obsessed with book blogs and Park-Avenue Princess is definitely one of my favorite book bloggers!! Check out this sa-weeeeeet giveaway she is hosting!

Hurry though! It's almost over!!

Cutest Pet?! Pshhhh, yeah right.

This is Rambo. The cat that won the Cutest Pet Contest that I entered Libby in a few weeks ago.

photo courtesy of www.dmjuice.com

Now, Rambo is cute. I admit it. But as cute as this?!

I don't thiiiiiiink so! She was robbed. Robbed!

PS: I'm not a sore loser, really I'm not. I'm entering her again next year and she WILL win. If it's the last thing I do....

PPS: Seriously, I'm happy for Rambo. Really.

PPPS: Actually, know Rambo's owner. We worked at a restaurant/bar together in college and she's a really sweet girl! ;)

Congrats to Rambo!

Ooooh, Wicked!

I am so excited to see Wicked this weekend! It feels like we purchased our tickets so long ago, which, I guess we did. We bought them back in the spring around the time I went to see Mama Mia!

I am going with my Mom and my Grandmother who have both seen it once already. It will be my first time. My dad has read the book (seriously, the man reads everything!) and he swears that we should read the book before seeing it so we understaaaaand what is going on. He's more passionate about reading books before seeing movies (or plays in this case) than I am! Now, that's pretty bad...

Have any of you seen it? Read the book? If so, do you have an opinion ?

From Coach to tween....or tween to Coach...

I just opened my new copy of Self magazine that I got in the mail today (you can read about my obsession with magazine subscriptions here) and I noticed an ad for Coach shoes and their new line of flats.

These silver sequin flats?



We carry the same, almost exact shoes in my store for about $29.90. I find this hilarious. What's even more hilarious (or ridiculous, whichever you prefer) is the fact that I kind of want them now...

Just kidding. No, I don't.

Magazine Junkie

It all started with Highlights magazine for kids. No joke. My grandparents got my sister and I a subscription to this magazine every year and from there my magazine obsession continued to grow.

From Highlights it grew into Tiger Beat and Bop.

Do you all remember reading those magazines? I would beg my mom to buy me those magazines filled with pictures of my favorite celebrities. She always gave in and she even let me pin them up on my walls -- after promising that I would NOT put holes in the walls, of course!

From there I matured to Teen and YM. I loved the "Why Me?" sections of embarrassing stories and the advice columns.

As soon as my copy came in the mail I would plant myself on the couch and not move until I had read the magazine from cover to cover.

Today I am a subscriber to a ridiculous amount of magazines. It's almost embarrassing the number of magazines I get each month, but the thing is, it's cheaper to subscribe. If I don't subscribe I will end up buying the magazine and spending A LOT more a year.

Here's the list of magazines that make it into my mailbox each month...

♥Glamour

♥Self

♥Cosmopolitan (I have contemplated giving this one up, but each year the renewal rate is too cheap to turn down)

♥In Style

♥Elle

♥Shape

♥Marie Claire (One of my faves!)

♥Allure

♥Lucky

These are just the ones I subscribe to! I don't usually buy many more in the stores because I think they're ridiculously priced. I spend many of my lunch hours in Barnes and Noble and that is where I read People, US Weekly, OK! and In Touch. My mom also has a subscription to US Weekly, so sometimes I will borrow hers when she is done reading it.

In fact, speaking of my mother... she is the one that probably started this little obsession (well, her and my grandparents with the Highlights magazine) because she used to buy Enquirer every week. Not kidding... she was obsessed with the National Enquirer. She doesn't buy it anymore because it appears she has moved on to more trustworthy publications (cough, US Weekly, cough) but she used to! In fact I was pictured in the magazine after she sent in a picture of me as a baby and it won some award! Maybe someday I will post it... So, I believe this may be where the addiction started....

I'm sure many of you are magazine junkies too. Which ones do you love?

Why I hate dating...

I hate the games!

That guy I mentioned before? We had been emailing since, oh I think Tuesday or Wednesday and last night he asked me if I would like to go to a concert with him on Saturday night. I honestly couldn't decide if I should say yes or no considering it was such short notice. Now, technically I didn't have plans besides having to work until 6pm on Saturday leaving plenty of time to make it to the concert, so that left no reason why I shouldn't say yes.

This morning I replied to his email around 10 am and said yes, that would be great. I figured I shouldn't play games and just do what I want to do. I didn't have plans, I knew the band and would like to see them. In his email from Thursday night he gave me his phone number so in my reply I gave him my phone number and said to get in touch if he would like. LIterally an hour later he texted me.

He said, "Hey Amber! How's ur day so far?"

About 15 minutes later I replied and said, "Hi! Not too bad, just running some errands before work!"

Then..... nothing! I haven't heard back from him!

Was it because I didn't give him a reason to respond? Should I have asked him how his day was going? Looking back, I think I should have. But then again, looking back I think.... Whoa, here you go again, over analyzing. AGAIN! It's a disease that medication should cure. Which, come to think of it, there probably is.... but that is a totally different post.

Argh... Well, now I'm curious. Do I plan on going with him? I'm a little annoyed now... If something else comes up for tomorrow night I'm not going to say no. He should have confirmed the plans if he was serious!

What do you guys think? I'm beginning to think I may have wasted too much money on Match.com. Sigh.

Is this guy for real?

Below is an email that was sent last night to my Match.com account. This is what I am talking about when I say generic, copy and pasted emails that are mass distributed by men. Sigh. His account was gone today so I didn't even get to see his picture!

Keep the success stories coming because I'm beginning to think this is a lost cause.

I am still emailing with that one guy I was hoping to hear from, but I'm just so skeptical. I'm doing my best to stay open minded yet not hold too many expectations too soon.

Hope this email gives you a good laugh.... Good night all! :)

I never beleive in love at first Sight until i got to your profile.
i try to forget you but it seems coz you were like a music that keeps playing in my head.you looks like an angel that comes from above and a flowers that blooms in spring and have the most beautiful lips as red as an apple.how could i forget you? if when i sleep you still in my memories.in my dream you smile at me and touch my face your lips meet my lips.then i suddenly hear your voice telling me that you love me.then i open my eyes wide like an owl how could i forget those cute eyes it's like a diamond in the sky.but still it's just a dream
I have realize that god used you as an instrument to make me realize that i can still love. that's why i wrote this poem so i can thank you for opening my eyes and my heart that love at first sight is true.

Can we make this dream a reality?

Can we start as friends and see what happens?

My subscription will end today and i dont intend coming back.Lets get connected on my private email:
XXXXX@talkmatch.com

I looking forward to reading from you soon.

XXXXX

Feelin' special... CLL style...

Last night as I was getting to know a newfound blogger (that I am quickly beginning to ADORE!) Short Southern Momma, I got to talking about my old job with Club Libby Lu.

I realized that weeks ago (maybe months) I hid a post that I wrote back in February. It was my contribution to the founder and CEO's scrapbook that many of her former employees put together for her. I had hid the post in a fit of paranoia over my anonymity on the internet and quickly forgot about it. Last night I found it, reposted it and read through it a couple times. I went to bed with tears in my eyes. In fact, I have tears in my eyes now.

That post can be found here.

As much as I love my job now, I know nothing will ever compare to what we did at Club Libby Lu. The mission statement gets me every time. It was "To make every girl feel special." We did whatever we possibly could to make every girl feel truly special. We made girls feel confident and proud of themselves. They could come into our stores and be whoever they wanted to be and be accepted. No matter what.

I have so many stories of girls that count their days at Club Libby Lu as some of their favorite days in their lives. One story in particular that my old assistant, and now good friend, reminded me of the other day.

I was managing my first location in Overland Park, KS and a very over protective mom came into my store the morning of her 10 year olds birthday party. She was very concerned that the "costumes" we had available to the girls would not fit her 10 year old. Her little girl was a little chubbier than the average 10 year old, but honestly? Was not something that she probably wouldn't lose if she was careful as she grew up.

Now, we were a "never say no" retailer, relying mainly on word of mouth advertisement during the first 4-5 years that we were open. I was so determined to make this mother happy and make damn sure that this little girl had a good time. I saw a little of myself in her. I was always a little chubbier growing up and was very self conscious of it. I wanted her to know that it was okay.

Here is what the mother wanted me to do. She wanted me to come up with "plus size" costumes to mix in with everything we were offering to wear for the parties. Of course I had no way to come up with more costumes as I had no time to leave my store and go shopping. I told her mother that if she bought clothes I would happily place them with our other costumes and offer them to her daughters party without her daughter having any idea. She quickly looked disappointed and said she did not have enough money to cover the cost of that afternoons party and new costumes. Then she asked me if Club Libby Lu would pay for it. Somewhat demanded it if I'm remembering correctly. I told her I would do what I could.

She then went to Nordstrom and spent $200 on clothes, even having them altered and came back into the store wanting us to buy them from her. How could I say no?

Of course I pulled $200 out of our drawers, handed it over to the mother with a big grin telling her to go home, get ready for the party and everything would be just fine.

After she left I looked at my assistant in horror. What had I just done? I just took $200 from the drawer and bought plus size costumes? I don't exactly think that is outlined as okay in the policies and procedures binder.

Then I called my district manager (who is now also a close friend of mine) and told her exactly what I did. And what I planned to do. I was going to offer the clothes to the girl's birthday party and then return the clothes (in perfect condition... besides the alterations. Oops) to Nordstrom. I was aware of their relaxed returned policy and knew they would let you return an old tire if you swore up and down you bought it there. :)

Luckily, I had the best assistant in the world and she did the dirty work for me. She went back to Nordstrom, pretended that mother was her own crazy mother and returned the clothes! Seriously, she is the BEST! It worked like a charm. We got the cash back to replace what I took and this little girl had the best birthday party ever! Her mother was happy and we were happy. It felt wonderful.

See, those were the things we did at Club Libby Lu. We wanted her day to be perfect. We wanted her to feel special no matter what. Those were the types of things all 100 stores in the company did, because it was our job. Hands down, best job in the world and I will never forget it. The memories and the people I have met through this truly amazing concept will never be forgotten.

Do not get me wrong, I love my job now. In fact, with each day I'm loving it more and more. I am working with the same target, the tween market, and it is almost just as good as CLL. I know how very blessed I am and I am so thankful.

Below is a picture of me and that assistant that has become one of my closest, dearest friends in that very store the weekend before it closed.

Match.com ... Round 3?

Ok, so I've joined match.com

Again.

The first time I joined was two years ago when I first moved to South Carolina. I didn't know a soul down there and was incredibly lonely. A friend of mine suggested it and I figured, why not? Within a couple of weeks I met someone. :)

His name was Craig and he was born and raised in the South, about three hours upstate from where I was living. I could hardly understand him, his accent was SO thick! I was living in a touristy area, so many of the people did not have thick accents. We had a great relationship, but I soon realized that I didn't want to settle down in the South and he told me from the get-go that he would never move back home with me. So, we were doomed.

Seven months later I moved back home and decided to give Match a go again. I live in a rather small-ish city... probably about 500,000 people. Guess that's not TOO small, right? Well, it seems small. When you've grown up in one place your entire life it's hard NOT to run into people you know. Even on dating sights.

Got a little awkward, so I quit.

Then joined again.

Then quit again.

Now, I'm on it again. Hopefully it works out. I'm not taking anything too seriously. Honestly, the best scenario for me would be to be friends first then if something romantic comes out of it all, great! If it doesn't, I've made a new friend!

So far, I have been emailing with one guy that has obviously been burned. Let's call him, "Baggage". Baggage keeps commenting that he is looking for someone LOYAL and that won't LIE to him. Yes, he uses all caps like that. We've become FB buddies and have been chatting some on there (somewhat painfully by me. I've been staying "offline" on FB lately....) I believe I'm setting myself up for failure if things didn't work out. He would always hold a grudge. I'm going in with zero expectations so I'm not let down! I just don't think him and I are on the same path.

Another guy I have been emailing with is funny so far. Let's call him Sporty. Sporty's emails seem genuine and not generic. You can totally tell when a guy is copying and pasting the same email to multiple girls. Uhhhh, douche! This guy and I have a lot of the same interests. So, fingers are crossed! :) Our only difference is, he's a big sports nut and I am not. I'm not totally against it though and actually love going to bars to watch games and just chill for a few hours so I'm thinking that should make just about any guy happy, right? I was hoping I would get an email response from Sporty last night, but no. :( Fingers are crossed for today!!

So, that is pretty much all I've done in the week I've joined Match again. I'm being picky and only responding to people that I'm truly interested in. The other times I was on there I was spending a significant amount of time responding to people that I wasn't interested just to "be nice." Not this time, I'm not going to waste my time or theirs!

I hope my adventures in online dating aren't too boring! I will keep you all posted as I navigate this dating endeavor once again... Thanks for reading!! xxx

FYI....

Good evening friends!

I am a very indecisive person and have been struggling with the decision to keep my blog completely anonymous or just semi-anonymous. Awhile back I changed my display name to "A Little Pink" instead of my real name. Again I have changed it back to my real name, which if you're new here, it is Amber.

I am going to continue to use my real name, but still consider the blog "semi-private".

I know, I know I'm being a nut. I just wanted to let you all know in case you were confused on who this "A Little Pink/Amber" person was commenting on your blog! :)

My tweets will continue to be locked! Please do not let this discourage you from requesting to follow me! My Twitter page can be found at www.twitter.com/lilmissamber

Hope everyone is having a great night -- yay for FALL TV!!

TEAM JORDAN! :)

Teaser Tuesday!

I'm not sure which blogger was the true blogger to start this awesome meme but I first found it over at Sharon Loves Books and Cats!

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page,somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!

This is so life. This is how it is. Up and down and rough and smooth and good and bad. It's wonderful and terrible and forever unpredictable. And I don't mind unpredictable as long as it doesn't hurt my friends. But right now it is hurting Shey, and it doesn't seem fair that just when Marta gets her dream, Shey's world falls apart.

Easy on the Eyes by Jane Porter

I know that was more than two sentences, but I just couldn't stop!

If you're a fan of chick lit, you will love Jane Porter! Most of her books take place in one of my favorite areas of the country, the Northwest! Specifically, Seattle. I was born in Spokane, WA and love, love, love mountains. Someday I hope to live where there are mountains in the horizon again.

Check out Jane Porter's books, you won't regret it! :)

Adventures at the dentist

Friday when I went to the dentist I was referred to an endodontist. Now, I had no idea what an endodontist was and was too embarrassed to ask and figured I probably didn't want to know right at that second.

Here is a definition found at Answers.com

n. (used with a sing. verb)

The branch of dentistry that deals with diseases of the tooth root, dental pulp, and surrounding tissue.

[ENDO– + (ORTHO)DONTICS.]

endodontic en'do·don'tic adj.

endodontist en'do·don'tist n.

So... basically a specialist in root canals. I have only had two cavities my entire life and the largest amount of work done in my mouth was braces when I was 12 and 13, which was a nightmare alone for me. I was petrified.

Technically, my appointment was supposed to be tomorrow morning but in the wee early morning hours today my tooth took a turn for the worse and I basically thought I was going to die. I have never felt pain like that before. It was continuous, throbbing, aggravating pain. I was going through bags of ice and I think it was making it worse, yet the only thing making it feel better. If that makes any sense at all. Which, I am aware it doesn't.

I called one of my assistants and she immediately told me not to worry about work and go back to bed. (By the way, this is the assistant I was having troubles with awhile back, she's doing amazingly better. I'm so proud of her). Then I called the endodontist to see if I could get squeezed in today. I think the receptionist could tell I was in quite a bit of pain by my, uhhhh, pathetic teary voice and she got another doctor to agree to see me over the lunch hour. Thank gooooodness!

So, at 12:15 I was sitting in the lobby waiting with my big glass of ice, ice pack pressed against my face, pajamas's (I at least changed my shirt), no makeup and greasy hair. I'm sure I was a sight, but you know what? I didn't care. You just don't care about that stuff when you're feeling some of the worst pain of your life.

The dentist immediately seemed to know what was wrong and guess what! I didn't need a root canal! Although, I think what I got done was pretty similar or maybe I'm just giving myself too much credit!

When I had a bad cavity last year (that I let go for waaaay too long) I had to get a crown to cover it. When they put the crown on I guess they didn't get all the bacteria out of the tooth. How that happens? I have no idea. Don't they basically drill that tooth down to practically nothing and then cover it? Anyway, moving on. They did a filling through the crown! I was so relieved that they didn't need to remove the entire crown and start over. That would have been awful and expensive!

I'm so grateful he could get me in today, I'm sure I would be feeling like death warmed over right about now if I hadn't gone in today. I'm so lucky my staff took care of things for me and I don't have a thing to worry about! Also, since I haven't used any of my 40 hours of paid sick leave I'm taking tomorrow too. So tomorrow will be my fourth day in a row of laying around doing nothing. Ha! I'm so lazy. :)

Thank you to everyone that has sent me messages asking how I was or hoping my tooth gets better soon! You made me smile! :)

So, I'm curious. Are you afraid of the dentist? Have you had an major work done?

What makes you feel sexy?

About a month ago (yikes, I'm late!) Lisa from Knitting Yarns tagged me to do a "5 Sexy Things" meme!

Here are the rules:

* Write 5 things that make you feel sexy
* Post a pic if you dare!
* Pass it on to 5 lovely bloggers

So here goes:

1. "Smoky eye" eye makeup. As I'm getting older I've noticed myself really toning down on my makeup, but I still love to get all dolled up and go out. To me, that means extra mascara, eye liner and dark shadow. I love making my eyes look really big and blue. Makes me feel beautiful! :)

2. Cute little PJ's. Something super feminine but not trashy. Maybe some little shorts and a sweet top that matches. Even if nobody sees them but me, I still feel sexy!

3. Manicured nails. It's a vice of mine, for almost 10 years now I have not gone for more than a month or so without a manicure. Usually I have acrylics but I keep them really short. It makes me feel good to keep my nails maintained (and I'm horrible at doing it myself!)

4. High heels. I don't wear them too often because I hate it when my tootsies hurt, but when I do I feel more womanly and hot. ;)

5. Eyeglasses. I don't wear them that often, usually just at night while I'm reading before bed. When I do I feel like I have the "sexy librarian" look going on and I like it!

Sooo, there you have it. Five things that make this girlie girl feel sexy! Now I am tagging:

Pretty Random Thoughts

Classy in Philadelphia

L.A. to LA

A Dirty Martini Kind of Girl

Crazy Shenanigans

Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend... not much has changed on my end. Still fighting this horrible toothache.