Sunday, January 4, 2009

Key Learnings, bloggy visit and getting back in the groove

After two blissful, busy and holiday-filled weeks, my vacation ends today. Of course, it went by too fast and it's bittersweet, but I'm looking forward to getting back in a routine and seeing the lovely ladies I work with :)

So before I begin laying out clothes for the week, let's enjoy some key learnings!

Key Learnings:
  • Don't stick NYE party favors in your cleavage, because the color dye might run and turn your boobs colors, like...green
  • A sweater vest should cover your stomach and touch the top of your pants. Anything smaller than that means it doesn't fit
  • As you get older, the harder it is to bounce back from a night of heavy drinking
  • A feather bed is like sleeping on a cloud, everyone should have one
  • I hate cleaning my bathroom, especially the tub
  • Michigan Avenue protests can really slow you down when rushing to a movie
  • You can never have too many purses or shoes, especially when they are on sale, like another 40 percent off the latest markdown
  • Paying $10 for a one-way cab ride to the cable company's service center to swap out a defective remote at 9 a.m. on a Saturday can start your day off wrong, especially when the transaction take only two seconds
  • Indigo denim looks hot but leaves a blue ring on pink Uggs (shoot!)
  • I suck at saying no to shopping peer pressure. Looking at you Jenn
  • Getting back in the gym routine is not as much fun as getting out of it
Bloggy visit
To get my holiday-induced fat a** back in a routine, I tried twice to go to the gym and got a big FAIL on both attempts. But instead of working out and burning calories, I opted to spend Saturday with two lovely visiting bloggers, Jenn and Rebekah, for lunch and shopping on chilly Michigan Avenue. One three hour lunch and chilly shopping trip later, I'm pleased to say I learned three things:
  1. Jenn loves to shop almost as much as me, and will peer pressure me into buying adorable shoe booties from White House/Black Market (see picture below)
  2. When sick, Rebekah can rally and keep up with both of us
  3. Conversation with bloggy visitors can cover any topic, from family to shopping to the benefits of self-hosting, which Rebekah is a master of knowledge
Rebekah has even gotten me thinking about self-hosting this little site. She can be quiet persuasive, so I think I'll be following up with her on it.


Back in the groove
Vacation has been great. I have enjoyed the fun of not showering every day, or wearing makeup all the time and, per usual, my body has adjusted to a new sleep schedule just in time to change it back!

So today I did the following to get ready for tomorrow: packed the gym bag and purse, cooked dinners for the week, got lunches organized and began digging for ideas of what to wear. 

But the one thing I like about vacation (and not on weekends) is the cool stuff you see on the street that you miss while working in an office. 

For example, check out the below picture of a plastic penguin, lounging in a local restaurant before it opens. It's quirky and kind of cute and it definitely caught my attention as I walked by. These are the kind of cute things I love and miss far too often.

I just hope he got some bread fast because penguins can be quite loud.

Is everyone else already been back at work since Christmas? I was shocked to find out people were in the office Friday, the day after New Year's Day.

(Not the best picture, but it was unusually sunny that day)

34 comments:

EP said...

No, you can never have too many purses or shoes. And those booties? Lovely!

I'm happy it has been a good holiday for you! That photo of the penguin is currently making me smile -- I love random stuff like that!

Maki said...

I think many people nowadays do work the very next day after the New Year's Eve - kind of crazy..

New Year's festivities last 3 days in Japan (at least) and all the stores and businees closed for at least five days when I was little. Funny how differnt every culture is..

Happy New Year, Jess! It seems you had a nice holidays:)

Ashley D said...

I love the shoes! And the penguin is too cute. Totally something I would have taken a picture of too. :)

Becky said...

Great shoes! White House Black Market is always a huge success for me.

The penguin is so adorable. I hope some little girl/boy was eating lunch with him.

Anonymous said...

Oh! I LOVE those booties. I bought a pair of black booties last year from Nine West & they're forever and always my go-to black dressy shoes. Love =)
Good luck going back to work! I'd feel worse for you if I wasn't back at work the day after Christmas..

Rachel said...

so the real question here is;
are your boobs still green?

Kyla Bea said...

Those shoes are really divine! Beautiful find!

Maxie said...

Green boobs? ZEXY!

Shopping peer pressure is the best. I love putting it on people-- haha

LBluca77 said...

I so hate cleaning the bathroom also. I can be really lazy about it and sometimes the only motivation I have is that someone is coming over.

Erin said...

I went into the office on Friday. Not really sure why.

I'm in a shopping mood lately but I haven't been able to find anything that really jumps out at me. Perhaps I need some peer pressure to get me moving :-)

P said...

I wish I could see the positive side of having to go back to work today. But I can't. Maybe cos I don't have "lovely ladies I work with" like you - instead I have a team at work who are all guys (apart from me, obv!) Oh well, guess I'd better finish getting ready.

Oh, and when you talked about accidentally getting boobs dyed did you mean your own? Did you get the dye out?

Anonymous said...

Haha you will LOVE me for telling you to buy the booties though :) I'm already planning outfits to wear with my new shoes. Can't wait to shop together again (even though it's probably a bad idea. At least now we're Friends and Family at Banana Republic!

Mandy said...

I'm glad that I am not the only one who sticks things down my boobs.

I am back in the office again this morning too and am choosing to ignore my horrific inbox by catching up on blogs instead. I think its gonna take a while to get my groove back.

Ray said...

Cute booties! I may have impulse purchased some blue suede knee high boots over the weekend which I plan on posting about tonight. :)

Also...I am glad you liked the wedding picture! Here are more: http://tinyurl.com/a7k38w

Anonymous said...

Ha is the a penguin at the table in that picture?

thatShortchick said...

great booties!!!

and yes, feather beds are AMAZING! as are pillow top mattresses.

Colli said...

"Don't stick NYE party favors in your cleavage, because the color dye might run and turn your boobs colors, like...green"

Ahahahaha! Love it.
Oh, and I *adore* your WH/BM booties! They're absolutely adorable and might inspire me to buy another pair. :)

thatShortchick said...

great booties!!!

and yes, feather beds are AMAZING! as are pillow top mattresses.

Anonymous said...

You can definitely never have too many purses or shoes!

SA said...

Those shoes are too fierce. Shopping peer pressure is the best peer pressure.

Pretty Unfamous said...

I REALLY suck when it comes to shopping peer pressure. It's bad. I spend WAAY too much.

Unknown said...

I seriously love feather beds too. I just slept on one for the first time last week and it's just like you say, like sleeping on clouds.

Anonymous said...

Cute shoes!

Tag!

Katelin said...

i totally agree that one can never have too many purses or shoes, never! and those shoes are super cute.

Miss Merry said...

LOVE those shoes! love. and i was in chicago this weekend (moving my stuff up, yay!) and we got caught up in the protest too. it was MASSIVE! all we wanted was a little deep dish pizza and cold outdoor shopping....

sounds like you had a fun weekend! :)

Megkathleen said...

The shoes are adorable! I've been shopping like crazy too - I just can't resist all these sales.

KA said...

Have I mentioned how great your lists are? I've come to associate your blogs with lists and somehow, knowing they're there actually makes the post read faster and easier.

Dunno why...

Oh and I'm jealous that you have boobs you can stick stuff down. I'm flat as a pancake, so I'll trade your green boobs for my no-boobs anyday

Jenny Grace said...

Green boobs might be an ace in the hole on St Patrick's day though.

Anonymous said...

Can I have those shoes?

Princess Pointful said...

Today was supposed to be my first day back on campus, but it was a SNOW DAY! (yay!)
Tomorrow is my first day back to work. I doubt I will be so lucky!

Also... I agree with you on the getting back into the gym routine thing. I am so scared about how sore I will be tomorrow.

alexa @clevelandsaplum said...

ok so that penguin? i have the exact same one sitting right by my desk in my office.

hilarious.

The Modern Gal said...

Hmm, the green boob things sounds like a good story.

I've definitely been back at work since Dec. 29, but I work in a 365-day a year business, so I'm sorta used to it.

Dusty @AllThingsG+D said...

Glad to hear you enjoyed your time off. And those shoes are gorgeous--excellent choice!

Rebekah said...

So far behind on my reader because of vacation! But... of course I vote yes for the booties (duh), and you know that if you want to play with blog design, holla! Pseudo-designers like me are free.