My Thanksgiving and what I'm currently doing...

Oh man, you guys. I am so exhausted! As many of you were enjoying a glorious four day holiday vacation I was working up a storm! My store opened at 12:01 am on Black Friday and didn't close until 10pm that night. I worked from 11:00pm on Thanksgiving evening to 4:00 am Friday morning then again at 10:00 am until 5:00 pm. Now, that makes for a long day!

Our Black Friday was verrrrrrry successful though. So successful that I got a call from my regional manager (whom I have only spoken with twice) to congratulate me!

Besides work, I do not have very much to talk about lately. I'm boring! So, I thought I would steal this cute meme from Lisa's Yarns!

Current Book(s):
I am still reading Kate Brian's Private series. I just finished the last book in the series, Suspicion and am now starting Last Christmas, which is a prequel that came out a year ago. After this I'm hoping to pick up The Lovely Bones before the movie comes out.

Current Music:
Christmas music!! During this time of year my radio is always tuned to the Christmas station. I am also loving Lady Gaga. Every single she releases I just love! I really need to buy her album.

Current Shame-Inducing Guilty Pleasure:
Lately, it's regular Pepsi. Usually I am a die hard diet soda drinker (moderately, of course) but my family had regularly Pepsi available at Thanksgiving and since then I have been craving one almost every day - and obviously, I have given in to that craving!

Current Colors:
Plum purple. It's so pretty! I really want a coat that color!

Current Obsessions:
Christmas decorations -- I just can't get enough! :)

Current Drink:
Pepsi... see above!

Current Song:
Bad Romance by Lady Gaga. I just love it!

Current Movie:
The Blind Side. Cy and and saw it last night and I absolutely adored it! If you haven't seen it, you should go!

Current TV Shows:
I haven't really watched any tv lately. I'm so, so behind on all my shows!

Current Wish-List:
Black Uggs that zip up the back, they are SOO cute! A cute house with a fenced in back yard so Zeke can run around.

Current Needs:
Someone to come deep clean my apartment. I can't seem to get it clean enough lately!

Current Triumph:
Beating last year's Black Friday sales by $15,000. Yes, you read that right. $15,000! Total craziness...

Current Bane of my Existence:
My irritating, impossible work schedule. It does not leave much time for a social life!

Current Goal:
To eat healthier through the holidays...

Current Indulgence:
Pepsi (and the occasional chocolate)

Current Blessings:
I am so blessed right now and am so thankful! My crazy family, amazing boyfriend and supportive friends. I'm a lucky girl!

Current Slang or Saying:
Hmm... I'm sure I have one, but I can't think of one right now!

Current (Fav) Outfit:
Black turtleneck with buttons going down the side and dark skinny jeans with boots. My favorite boots that Cy calls my "pirate boots"... Men! They just don't get it.

Current Excitement:
I have this Sunday off and I'm SUPER pumped! I hate working Sundays!

Current Mood:

Honestly? This is unfortunate but I'm kind of grumpy. I'm looking forward to relaxing on the couch for the rest of the night! I blame it on my hectic weekend! ;)

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!!

Giving THANKS!

It's Thanksgiving tomorrow and what I want to give thanks for has been weighing heavily on my mind for this past week.

I want to give thanks for all the happiness that has entered my life this year, after it started off so miserably, it is a wonder I can be left so happy.

Let me explain to any of you that may be new around here at ALPITC. Around this time last year the company that I worked for announced it would be closing down at the end of January. Instead of planning Christmas and New Year's parties for my staff we were planning how to close as profitably as possible.

I can without a doubt say that it was one of the worst times of my life. It was like watching my home being auctioned off to vultures. No, I am not exaggerating. Scavengers practically come out of the woodwork for a deal and then try to negotiate an even better deal. It was sickening.

Besides all of that sadness though, I know I am very blessed. I landed a new job (and a raise!) rather quickly and was able to enjoy a month off of work with pay. I realize how truly blessed I am to have not suffered financially through the recession.

I am thankful for a job.

I am thankful for an apartment all by myself (I get the feeling that my days of living alone will soon come to an end...)

I am thankful for an amazing family that is so, so supportive.

and

I am thankful for an amazing boyfriend that I someday hope to call my husband.

So, although my year did not start off bright, it is ending brighter than it's ever been. Thank you.

Greatest invention EVER!

Last winter I picked up this pill remover for sweaters at Bed Bath and Beyond because I hated those little pills that gathered on my sweaters. When I saw this little guy I just had to have him!

When I bought it we were just getting done with sweater season so I hadn't had a chance to use it. Now that I am wearing sweaters again, this thing is like magic! It makes sweaters look brand new!!!! I'm so obsessed with it, it's almost always in my purse! If you don't have one, you should get one! I think I bought mine for something between $10-$20.

Has anyone ever used one of these things before?

Out of control shopping...

My shopping has been out. of. control. Seriously. I need to set a limit on what I can spend on myself for the next two months otherwise my family and friends are getting nada for Christmas!

Oh, and my limit I can spend on myself should be NOTHING! I do not need anything for the rest of the year. I'm a bargain shopper and couple that with being a fashion major and knowing the insane mark up on clothes stores have means I always find ridiculous deals because I'm willing to wait. But, those ridiculous deals add up.

A couple of weeks ago Payless Shoes had that 50% off sale and I went a little crazy buying shoes. I love name brands and would much rather be able to drop the dough on some Uggs or great shoes from Aldo, like these (which by the way, have turned out to be the most comfortable boots ever and I can wear them for 8 hours standing and not have sore footsies) but I'm not and I'm happy with shoes from Payless every once in awhile!

So, last night Cy and I were watching tv in my room and it was only the second time he had seen my bedroom (I am not that type of girl, it's just easier to lay down and watch tv there than the living room) and well, I had a mountain of shoes piled up against the wall. Including all the boots I have bought recently. Of course he noticed and asked me if I had enough boots... which of course I replied with a girl never has too many shoes...

It was funny, but a little eye opening. With only 50 days left to shop for Christmas I need to stop being so selfish! I haven't even started shopping yet, or made a list. Have you made your list or started shopping?

Today I'm off, so it would be a perfect day to get out there and pick up a few things. Tonight Cy and I are cooking enchiladas together. Should be interesting! I will let you all know how it goes...

Hope you're all having a great week!

MIA

This week has flown by! Holy moly, I can't believe it's already Thursday! I am glad it is though, I've got plans tonight that I have been looking forward to all week.

Well, I know I have been MIA lately. It's due to several reasons. Being busy with work and my internet connection being really sluggish are the main reasons. I am so flippin' impatient and I hate it when it takes more than a few seconds to load a page. I know, I'm a spoiled brat. I just can't help it, it grates on my last nerve. I pay for a high speed connection so I was really annoyed when I figured out that that was what it was. Originally I thought I had a virus or something. This is probably because my parents had to have their computer restored recently because it was so overloaded with viruses. I have a Macbook and they have a desktop PC. It's about their third computer in a short while because of viruses and they will not listen to me about the quality of Macs... tsk, tsk! I'm a Mac girl through and through and will probably never change. The quality of the computers and the friendliness of the employees in the Apple store have won me over! Are you a Mac or a PC?

Anyway, back to my point. I took the computer into the Apple store and the internet popped right up so we knew then it was my connection. They told me to come home, turn off the router for a bit and that might do the trick. It did! Yay!

So, hopefully I will back blogging regularly! Good thing I didn't do NaBloPoMo, I would have failed miserably already.

Where I have been and what I have been doing!

Hey guys! Did you miss me? I can't believe I haven't posted since Thursday! I've been busy working and.... spending lots of time with Cy! I have been trying to tweet more though, so if you're not following me on Twitter please check out my tweets here! :)

Since I have left you all hanging here's a recap of the past few days!

Thursday I had the day off and I started it off by sleeping in. After getting my healthy eight, nine, ten hours of sleep I got my laundry together (which was three baskets overflowing!) and headed over to my parents to get it all done. While hanging out there I caught up on some tv shows that were on their DVR and read at little bit of Kate Brian's Private series. That night my sister and I decided to go shopping after we saw the 50% off coupon for Payless Shoes. I'm not picky about brands so I was all about this! I bought FOUR pairs of boots! Haha! I just couldn't resist. We also hit up Gordman's because they were having a clearance sale and all their clearance was an additional 50% off! What can I say? We were in the mood to bargain shop! Do you have a Gordmans near you? It's pretty fun if you're in the mood to dig! Here is what I scored:

The fourth pair of boots are not pictured because I bought them the day after this haul, but they are the taller tan ones. I know, I know I did not need both the short and the tall ones but I don't care. For $20 I can have them!

Besides the four pairs of boots I scored:

A pair of skinny Silver jeans for $10. Yes, $10. That is a steal!

A fleece jacket for $15

A cute tank top (pictured in the middle) for $3

Two basic camis for $15

A dark green sweater (b/c I decided I needed something in that shade of green) for $13

A bottle of Kenra hairspray (the best hairspray ever) for $15

Three pairs of earrings for $2

Black legwarmers for $2

Total spent (with cost of boots) $120! Can you believe it?

Tomorrow I'm headed to Express to pick up some more of their skinny jeans because they are on special at buy 1 get 1 half off and I am in desperate need of skinny jeans. All my jeans are flares and tucking them into boots just doesn't work.

Friday I slept in till about 8:30 then headed out for and oil change and my bi-weekly manicure before going to work at 1pm. After work I headed over to Champps for a couple of beers before seeing the Michael Jackson documentary, This Is It. It was really, really good! It was very interesting to see what went into putting together his concert. It looked like it would have been a phenomenal concert.

Saturday I had to work til 2pm, then I headed to my parents for a little bit then home to get ready to go to a Halloween party with Cy. Neither of us were dressing up as it was sort of a last minute thing. We had a good time though! When he came to pick me up he had a present for me... He bought me the movie Muppets Christmas Carol! It was really cute because the other day he found out I hadn't seen it and decided I needed to so he bought it! It was very unexpected and very sweet!

Sundays I usually go out with my old roomie for "Sunday Funday" and this time I invited Cy. We met at 10 am to headed over to a local sports bar for bloody marys, lunch and some football. One of my favorite things to do on a Sunday! We hung out there for awhile then decided to go rent some movies. He hadn't seen The Proposal or Across the Universe, two of my favorites so we went back to my place and parked ourselves on the couch until about 11pm that night! We had so much being couch potatoes together!

That pretty much sums up what I have been up! What have you been up to?