Wednesday, November 30, 2011

bangs n' boots

Loving the bang trend going on. Oh yes. It is still happening. I decided to join in on the fun. The bangs of 2009 don't compare with the upgraded 2011 version thanks to my stylist Joanne St Onge.

 2009 and 2011


So I used a little color enhancement on 2011 but you get the idea. Glad to see I am improving on my make-up skills.

With the seasons changing and the temperature dropping I have been really into boots lately. Boots of all kinds...

The snowboard boots are similar to the ones I own except mine are accented with purple of course. The other two were found at Nordstrom.com this season. I am a fan of real leather and real lamb's wool from Australia. I am going to have some fabulously warm feet this Winter.

Time to hit the slopes!

Monday, November 14, 2011

The Civil Wars

I have fallen in love with this music. You should too. I am going to see The Civil Wars tonight and thought it was definitely blog worthy. Feel free to discover what you are missing out on. The dynamic duo sings with so much emotion it makes you want to cry. Powerful stuff. Pretty awesome. Thank heavens for music. I plan to dance to this song at my wedding someday.


Up next... deets on my recent makeover...

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Holstee Manifesto


A very special coworker of mine found this and said it reminder her of me. I was flattered because it is pretty freaking amazing. So I ordered a poster for my office and would love for you to enjoy the vid. Apparently Holstee is company that sells some random stuff and apparently has some pretty inspired marketing writers.

Adele 21



First of all... Thank you to Laura for the birthday present!


This album is amazing. I have always been a sucker for emotional music especially coming from power singers like Adele. I have had the album for 6 months now and continue to be obsessed. The album is inspired by one of Adele's relationships that happened to be a very difficult one that ended pretty badly. According to Wikipedia this is what Adele says about the dude she was with:


He was my soul mate. We had everything—on every level we were totally right. We’d finish each other’s sentences, and he could just pick up how I was feeling by the look in my eye, down to a T, and we loved the same things, and hated the same things, and we were brave when the other was brave and weak when the other one was weak...and I think that’s rare when you find the full circle in one person, and I think that’s what I’ll always be looking for in other men.


I feel for Adele but am grateful for artists like her who bare their souls through their music. Those artists make the best music that can really affect the lives of it's listeners. I used to have a cheesy sign in my room that read "Music is what feelings sound like." I said it was cheesy! But I love it and it's true. And one more thing, emotions sometimes get a bad rap but even the pain we feel is a beautiful thing. Embrace your emotions, we have them for a reason, and don't forget the Kleenex when you listen to this album. 


My fav songs are "One and Only" and "Someone Like You".  

Friday, August 12, 2011

The Burberry Boots... a short story by Tanya Robinson

If you are up for some light reading check this out... http://sessionsofsara.blogspot.com/

She's good right?

The Burberry Boots... a short story by Tanya Robinson


I have this friend. You may have heard of her. She is extremely talented in many different ways and happens to be fantastic at being a friend as well. I love her so, enjoy.
The Burberry Boots... a short story by Tanya Robinson
I don’t know how we met.  Not really, anyway.  It was one of those mysteries of the universe when a normal girl meets someone like him.  Sweet, and funny, and oh so attractive, I’ve come to know him as a normal guy, but with a name that people shout at us on the streets sometimes.  Sometimes they’ll shout out the names of characters he’s played, and that always makes me laugh.  I would never have shouted at him.  I would have played it much too cool, and probably never met him, until the accident where the universe throws you on someone.  Literally, throws you on them.  And that’s how I, a regular girl, met him, a regular guy.  
On a far too-humid day for my liking, in September, almost a full year ago, I tripped on what I swear must have been a crack in the concrete. He swears whenever we tell the story that it was only my feet and my imagination.  I landed, Jennifer-Lopez-movie-style, squarely on top of his impeccably casually dressed self.  Me and a giant laundry bag, smothering him.  As we’ve come to grow more serious, he’s seen me trip many times on my imagination, so he was probably right, which I’ll never admit.  Some things in a relationship are meant to be secrets, like that you watch him sleep sometimes.  That is far too creepy to admit. In any case, we’ve been together nearly a year, I’ve met his parents and tried to act normal, he’s met mine, and pretended not to notice their inability to act normal.  Thankfully, no one asked for an autograph.  Or at least not to his face.  My cousin did ask me if I could ask him to post something on her facebook wall though. He laughed when I told him, and posted “can’t wait to see you again,” on her wall.  She is now the most popular girl in school. 
Tonight is my birthday, so we’re going to a fancy restaurant that we never go to, and dressing up like adults.  I’m wearing my most expensive dress, which is way less expensive than the suit he’ll no doubt show up in, and I’ll do my best not to drool.  That’s the key to dating someone with far more money than you have, pretend that you don’t notice.  It’s not like he’s flashy that way, or that he is overly frugal either.  He does, more often than not, pay for our dates, but I like to believe that’s just because he’s a gentleman. Actually, really, the key is, to get to know them and find out if they’re a normal guy, and then a decent guy, and focus on that. 
He shows up at my door, and greets me like always, “Hey there,” and a kiss, but this time he is also carrying a big Barneys bag.
“Hey yourself.  Look at how sharp you look.”  He didn’t just look sharp. Sharp was me trying to play it cool, which I still do sometimes.  If I didn’t, I’d always walk around with my jaw on the floor, drool coming from the corners of my mouth, stuttering.  That is not good for anyone, so I play it cool when he comes over to my tiny apartment in a perfectly tailored suit looking so dapper I’m almost at a loss for words.  I should also mention, that one of the things that I really like about him is that his apartment isn’t much nicer than mine.  He has better electronics, but I think that you’d find that in most guys’ apartments.  Our homes feel even, which kind of balances out the great disparity in notoriety.
“I know, I had a date before this.  I hope you don’t mind, I didn’t have a chance to change first,” this is our joke, because one time I lost my ability to play cool, and had a meltdown about the women ogling him on the street.  I’m not usually one of those whimpering women, but I’m still not sure I can really compete with a Victoria Secret model.  So I made him promise that if he ever wanted to date someone else, he would tell me.  Which, of course, is the most ridiculous agreement ever, but somehow it made me feel better, and so far, there has only been fictitious other women.  Occasionally I’ll have fictitious other men in my life too, just to spice things up.
“No problem.  Another woman’s hand-me-downs are my good fortune.” Do you ever smile at someone, namely a guy, and hope that your smile isn’t as goofy as it feels on your face.  That is what happened here.  I froze in my entry way, and by entry way, I mean the space right before my living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom.  Something about him is like if you put one of those exercise bands around two people, and they can only pull apart three feet or so, when he’s around I can’t seem to move more than a few feet away.  Probably hugely unhealthy.
He hugs me and kisses my forehead, “I got you a gift” he says, raising the Barney’s bag in a retail version of a Bicep curl. 
“Oooh, really? I thought it was for the other woman.” For the first time tonight I take my doe-y eyes off of him, and notice the bag.  Nice sized.  Not really sure what it could be though.  I haven’t dropped any hints, and quite frankly, am just happy he remembered and arranged this whole evening.  Even though we’ve been together almost a year, the first birthday with someone can be a little touch-and-go, ‘will he remember, how will it go, will he think I’m too needy, will he get me something hideous that will prove that we have no business being together and he doesn’t know me at all?’  All of these thoughts had zoomed through my head in the last month.
“No her birthday isn’t until next month,” he teases and half smiles before plopping down on my sofa.  He sets the gift next to him on my beat up couch.
“Should we open now, or after dinner? Do we have time?” I look at my wrist, but I haven’t worn a watch in years.  Still a habit though.  Most of the time he teases me good-naturedly about this habit too, but not tonight, it’s my birthday.
“You know you want it now,” he says as he pats the couch next to him, and I tried not to be nervous. ‘Please don’t let it be something awful.  Please give me the strength to say thank you even if I don’t like it, and please let there be a gift receipt.’
“Yes please.”  I plopped down on the other side of the Barney’s bag. Why is it that sometimes in relationships little things become so heavily weighted.  If this gift is something that I would never in a million years want, then it becomes a symbol of how well he knows me.
“you know what I like about you?”
“What’s that?”
“You didn’t do that pretend, I don’t want anything for my birthday.  Don’t even worry about it...” he raised his voice unnaturally high, and did his best jersey girl impression.
“Well, I didn’t want anything, but if you happen to give me a gift, I’m certainly not going to turn it down.”
“uh huh.  Sure.”
“How was your day?  You had Letterman today, right?”  I don’t know why, but I was still not ready to open it.  What if it’s awful.  It probably won’t be, he has great taste.
“yeah.  It was good. Letterman makes me nervous though.  I hope I didn’t make a fool of myself. Open it!”
“I’m sure you were great.  I have the tivo set.”
“Will you open your gift already? And, I’m not watching that tonight with you.  Are you kidding me?”  He kicks off his shoes and puts his feet on the coffee table.  His socks are striped. Something I find incredibly endearing. 
I pulled a box out of the bag, “you wrapped it too?”
“of course I wrapped it,” he smiles at me, and conveys another, are you kidding me.
“I’m impressed.”  Now or never.
I tore open the wrapping paper and inside was a big, beautiful Burberry box.  I’m not the typical girl who goes ga ga over the Burberry plaid, but I have to say that I do love their classic design aesthetic.  Also, it’s fun to open a designer box, it’s like when you see that Tiffany blue, which of course we’re not there quite yet, but it’s fun.  “What is it?”
“Open it,” he was full on grinning now.  I can tell even though his mouth is hidden by his hand because his smile is the kind that doesn’t just stay on his mouth, it spreads across his whole face and crinkles his eyes in a way that turns me to jello.
When I pulled the box open, there I saw the most gorgeous boots.  I’ve been drooling over them for so long, but at nearly a thousand dollars I couldn’t ever buy them. They are black and look like they have been loved for years, with straps and buckles in exactly the right place.  I pull them out and clutch them to my chest.  When I look up at him to thank him, my eyes fill with water.  “These are too much.  I love them so much, but too much.”
“Do you like them?”
“I love them, are you kidding me, but-”
He interrupts my protest by pulling me to him again and kisses the top of my head. “Happy Birthday,” he says.
                “Thank you so much,” at this point I am crying like he had just given me a kidney or something.  I’m not quite sure what my problem is, but I’m sure that this is the most generous birthday present ever. Not just because of the monetary value, but because I have no idea how he knew.  “How did you know?” I ask as I try to make myself look like the cute girlfriend he saw when he walked in the door, but I’m sure I’m not. I’m a mess.
                 He shakes his head, and laughs, and then kisses me, his sobbing mess of a normal girl girlfriend, who is still clutching her Burberry boots.  We ended up twenty minutes late for dinner, and I may have had some strange looks because the boots most definitely did not go with my dress.   Or maybe it was because I was with the guy they all wished they were with.


***Check out the boots here.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

A NYC Must

Lately a certain friend of mine and I have been dreaming about an upcoming trip to NYC we will be taking in October. We dream of running into John Mayer, eating various delicious street foods, and of the wardrobe we must acquire before our trip, so we look hip in all of our Big Apple pics of course! This item is on the top of my list. The Stephanie Air Chukka shoes. Compliments of Colehaan.com.


The thing is I refuse to buy these shoes at full price, so I will be impatiently waiting for them to go on sale. They really are lovely and would go with pretty much anything, like a skirt, leggings, the streets of NYC, a new pair of pants, a new yellow coat (still searching), oh wow... this trip could get expensive.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

asos

I've never been into politics but fashion yes. This blog post happens to involve both. Our First Lady, Michelle Obama and I happen to have something in common. We both have an eye for affordable fashion. Thanks to her example I have stumbled across asos.com.  See her modeling the stylish yet decently priced dress below:


Ever since I moved to Seattle I have been exposed to all sorts of styles and fashions I never dreamed of in Eastern Washington or Idaho. I am in love with solid colors, mixing brown and black, and pieces you can wear several different ways. I have discovered a few Canadian brands that have European influence which I love, however these stores are usually pretty pricey. After finding asos I won't have to wait around for the sporadic sales! asos  is completely affordable. Here are several reasons why this is a great place to shop and why you should check it out:
  • Huge selection of international styles
  • Completely affordable - designer styles for a third of the cost
  • Sizing is specific - so no worrying about ordering the wrong size
  • They have petite sizes! Amazing for short people like me.
  • Shipping is always free, ANYWHERE in the world!
  • Men and women can shop here! - Pick up your bf a new t while you are buying that new dress!
  • Online shopping is perfect for those who are lazy aka don't like to shop
  • Why not buy unique and intriguing pieces that no one else has?
Check out the below screenshot of the overwhelming amount of fashion forward, affordable dresses... my heart almost stopped when I saw this page...


So far I have purchase one item from the site and have been VERY happy. It is safe to say I have found a new favorite place to shop. Trust me. Follow my lead, Mrs. Obama has got it figured out, well fashion anyway. 

asos.com is my latest  and greatest discovery. Now go buy yourself something pretty.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Pure Barre is Pure Genius

As a former dancer it has been a hard journey learning how to work out like normal people. I had to learn how to lift weights, use big machinery with lots of buttons, and how to wear shoes when exercising. It's been tough. I love working out and trying new things though, so when I discovered Pure Barre I was really intrigued because it is said to be inspired by ballet movements. Mostly I fell in love with the idea of regaining my long lost flexibility I used to have as a competitive dancer back in my "glory days". 


Check out Pure Barre at http://purebarre.com/:


 results in just 10 classes.
My triathlete training and hot yoga didn't prepare me for Pure Barre but I do feel right at home in the mirrored room and ballet bars. After the first class I was really sore and had a hard time sitting for a few days after. This week I have done back-to-back classes drinking lots of water, eating lots of protein, and taking baths if I'm sore. I am definitely sore enough to know it is working but sitting quite comfortably now. I was really surprised at just how hard it was with the small controlled movements over and over again. It completely exhausts your muscles. But hey "...by small and simple things things are great things brought to pass..." (Alma 37:6). Yeah my backside feels pretty great right now. 


I recommend the Bellevue studio for sure. Sami is my favorite instructor so far. It is just a coincidence that Pure Barre in the Seattle area happens to be one of my clients at work. By the way if you have a PRIME card you get a discount, which you will need cause it's spendy. But really can you put a price on being healthy and looking hot? I think not.


Next... Tahitian hula please. 

I love it. I want it. I have to have it.

Yes I am aware that the title of this blog post makes me sound nothing less of a complete brat. Really though, "I love it. I want it. I have to have it," is exactly what runs through my head when I discover something that has "it". "It" meaning awesome, amazing, beautiful, fun, and something I definitely want everyone else to love too.

I have a big heart and I love lots of things very easily. For some reason I get really excited and maybe slightly obsessed when I discover something that I adore. So this blog is all about my obsessions or 'sessions (per blog title). Yes my excitement might exceed that of the average person, and yes, my obsessions can fade as fast as they are discovered, but that is only because I find something new to be excited about! Trust me it is a great way to live. You should try it!

The purpose of this blog is to share some of the obsessive love I have for the little things in life. If it brings you a smile, tear of joy, laugh, or some sort of positive energy then mission accomplished.

Why blog?

So I must say that I believe I have failed at blogging. I think it might have to do with the fact that I don't have pictures of adorable children to post. Who knows. I am considering closing down this bad boy just because I don't want my blog to become a journal or get to deep on the 5 people that read it. I definitely don't think my life is boring, I just feel the need to blog with a purpose in mind. So I am going to follow my pro blogging friends examples and start a new blog with a focus. I'm about to blog for a purpose!

My new blog is solely dedicated to my obsessions. It is called 'sessions and can be found at sessionsofsara.blogspot.com

I have the tendency to become obsessed with things very quickly and suddenly. You better believe I switch obsessions just as fast as I find new ones, so documenting it will be fun for me! My memory also seems to fade fast so why not create a collection and documentation of things I love? This could include a range of items such as delicious and/or healthy treats, new found forms of exercises, travel experiences, attractive soccer players, magical lip gloss, emotional music, and more. It should be a lot more fun... at least for me.

For those of you who are interested in my life, I will update this one occasionally but you can keep up with me via Facebook where I post most of my pics anyway.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Strength

I think lately I have learned a lot about strength and just how much of it I have. You always hear that the Lord will never give you things you can't handle. I know that is the truth. But really our tendency as imperfect humans is to underestimate ourselves. Why is that? I am 25 years old and just really learning just how strong I am emotionally, spiritually, and physically. It is a fantastic feeling to accomplish and live through things you for whatever reason never thought you could.

For example. My second triathlon ever and first triathlon this year came and I did great. I trained, I put the work in, and it totally paid off. I remember while I was swimming last year thinking, "can I really do this? I feel like I'm going to drown!" but this year my thoughts were "This should be hard, but it isn't... I am so much stronger than I have ever been... I can finish this and finish strong!" So that's exactly what I did. I finished in 1 hr and 38 minutes beating my last years time by 7 minutes or so and placing 2nd in my age group. I have made amazing strides in my athletic abilities especially since I didn't know I even had any until last year.


I am so grateful for my Aunt Debbie for doing the tri with me. She is an inspiration and I am so lucky to have her. I pretty much volunteer her to do this with me every year, send her the training schedule and she still kicks my butt every year. Anyway she is amazing, maybe I will beat her one of these days.

We have a sweet new baby in our family. Jace was born two weeks ago, a few weeks early but healthy. Then a few days after being home he was back in the hospital for a transfusion. It was pretty scary and I felt pretty helpless being in Washington, they were in Idaho. I haven't really had a lot of experience with babies in hospitals or any kind of risk of my close family members being ill. It was really scary and hit me really hard. I kept going though. You keep moving, you pray a lot and you keep living your life. Baby Jace is now back at home and is doing so much better. He is strong, even for a little new born. The whole thing made me grateful for my family and our close relationship. I don't know what I would do without my family. They make me who I am. I get to go down to Idaho in July for the baby blessing, so I am really looking forward to meeting the new addition then. Skype just isn't enough.

I'm not sure why but the last few months I have been pretty brave. It's like Andrew's daredevil skills have transferred to me since he is on his mission and unable to use his. This year I have jumped and landed on a snowboard (definitely have fallen a lot), I have drove a four wheeler of a ramp and landed, got about an foot of air, oh yeah! I have learned how to long board which is huge because falling on the cement hurts! And I can wakeboard better than ever including a few jumps here and there. It is crazy! Things I thought I was too wimpy to even attempt are happening. It may seem like a simple thing but it is so empowering and I feel like I can do anything. I love my life right now.

So now for the spiritual connection. The more you understand just how much potential you have, you begin to see yourself as our Father in Heaven sees you. Pretty cool huh? And you begin to recognize the potential in others because from your own experience you have overcome great things and you know others have the same potential. So your job is to instill that power and strength in others. You feel the love from our Father in Heaven and naturally you want to share that with others. Life is definitely about loving and serving others but before you can really understand the importance of that, you have to understand who YOU are. Hope that makes sense. So the moral of this post is... You are always stronger than you think you are. You can always do more. You have so much more to give than you even realize. And you really can make a difference in the lives of others because you are so much better than you even know.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Sun & Shine

I can't complain. The last few weeks have been pretty amazing. I have been training like crazy for my upcoming Triathlon. I swim. I run. I bike. I hot yoga it up. I was about to hit the burn-out stage but then I bought new shoes which changed everything. Funny how pretty feet can make such a difference. Soon this will be me... yeah the girl in the front!
ppliances, delivered right to your door.
After this first one in Moses, I plan to do another in Seattle and call it good for the summer. In the next couple weeks my 2nd 5K I have volunteered at for Girls on the Run is going down. It has been a real blessing volunteering for this organization... even when it feels like a second church calling, I really love it. The website is here...girlsrun.org. You can still sign up and run the race! Those girls amaze me. I wish I would have been inspired enough to run a race that young!


So spring still hates Seattle and hasn't arrived yet but I just happened to make a quick trip to New Mexico last week for work and I enjoyed some sunshine, Mexican food, and some other great things. I wish I could have stayed longer, I really miss the desert. Luckily, work is sending me back down there this week to Arizona. I have already penciled in some time by the pool.

Things are picking up, as they do during this time of year. Saturday soccer has started and so far no black eye but I'm not making any promises... I need to start working in our yard, I plan on spending as much time as possible outside this year with lots of BBQ's and bonfires. This is most likely the last summer in our super amazing house which makes me so sad. I have loooved living here. Also some more exciting news, Nic's baby is on it's way and I already have a trip planned to go down to see the new little guy as well as a brand new litter of baby bunnies. Yes I still want one!

One more thing... spoke to Elder Hyer last night. I love him. It really is such a blessing to have such a positive, happy brother out serving the Lord. Maybe he keeps the bad stuff from us but I'm real proud of him. He was robbed the other day and apparently was mad about it at one time but totally laughs it off now. He has a great Mexican accent and trouble speaking English already. I love it. I always remember people saying how much of a blessing it was for their family to have a missionary serving and I never knew what exactly that meant until now. It's kinda a big deal. Family is great and I'm lucky to have mine.


Life is so good. Here's to today.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Thursday, April 14, 2011

My Fav'

I don't usually do this... but I feel it might be helpful to someone else so here we go... Sometimes it is hard to see the bigger picture, aka the Lord's plan for us. Life is full of disappointments OR opportunities for growth. It is your privilege to decide which it is. It's all about your attitude! We know that God has a plan for each and every one of us. We may not understand it now or anytime in the near future, but all we are asked to do is have faith in Him and pray that we will be able to align our plan for ourselves, with God's. He knows what's up, even when we don't. Which for me is 99% of the time. I loved D. Todd Christofferson's talk from this last General Conference...

"I would like to speak of one particular attitude and practice we need to adopt if we are to meet our Heavenly Father’s high expectations. It is this: willingly to accept and even seek correction. Correction is vital if we would conform our lives “unto a perfect man, [that is,] unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). Paul said of divine correction or chastening, “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth” (Hebrews 12:6). Though it is often difficult to endure, truly we ought to rejoice that God considers us worth the time and trouble to correct. "

So I am grateful for this opportunity to grow and become more like my Savior. Do I know what is going to happen? No. But I know that Heavenly Father has a plan, and He knows what He is doing. So I'm going with that. I also know that even though we may not understand everything, we are never alone. I truly believe that people have been placed in my life just at the right time. They probably don't even realize the influence they have, or how much they help others. I am also so grateful for the people in my life who make me a better person and serve as great examples to me. It's great to feel loved. Time to pay it forward.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

25 and Alive.

My 25th Birthday was a few weeks ago. It was a fantastic. My friends Tara and Monica did all the planning and my roommates Robyn, Katie, and Katie all helped with the delicious food. The theme was a surprise  to me but I LOVED it. It was a "White" party, Diddy style. It ended up being a Mormon version of Diddy's famous White party he throws every year. The decorations were amazing and we had these fancy waffles I love and homemade oreos too. Thanks to my wonderful friends I felt loved, just as an b-day girl should feel on her special day.


 




My new job is fabulous. Thanks again Robyn! I am soooo happy to be working at Passport. I love that I am working for a successful and exciting company where I get to work with great people! I love that I get to travel and meet with clients and plan, plan plan! I have some fun events coming up for work where I will get to travel to Arizona and New Mexico. I hear there isn't much to do in New Mexico but I don't care, I am just excited to get to go somewhere!

Also, speaking of Robyn. She got married! I was happy to be one of her bridesmaids. It was a beautiful day for a wedding and it was a really fun day! I am sad to lose her as a roommate, she has been awesome. I am so grateful for our friendship. It really hit me hard when I realized I would be losing her as a roommate. We have been through a lot together the last 2 1/2 years of living together but I know she is ready to be married and I am so happy for her. Luckily she will still live close so I will get to see her occasionally :)

I also got a new calling in my ward keeping me busy. I plan all the FHE activities, which is a lot of fun. I am also volunteering for another Girls on the Run 5K event which will be coming up in May. And finally triathlon training begins THIS week. I get a free gym membership through my work, which includes pool access so I am anxious to start using that too.

Life has been so busy the last month. So many changes and adjustments. It has been difficult for sure but change is good. Our trials are given to us to strengthen us. Changes and trials in our lives are opportunities for growth. I def keep reminding myself I will never be given a trial I cannot handle. I get a little bit stronger every day! And every time I do a Jillian Michael's workout vid she reminds me that "You are stronger than you think you are." Yes I'm still a huge JM fan haha. I have been so blessed and am so grateful for all the exciting things going on in my life... plus Spring has arrived in Seattle :) I love it here.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

"This is my life."

I have survived the first week of my job. It has been fantastic but overwhelming. Lots to learn and the perfectionist in me was fighting to prove to be amazing the first day I walked through the door! But I know these things take time, things are already clicking. Every day I am grateful for this wonderful opportunity and excited to be a part of such a cool company.

So I have finally landed a great job... now maybe time to move on to the next step of my life? I think this little girls got it all figured out... "This is my life."


Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Making It

I think I have finally made my way in the world... at least career-wise. I received a fantastic job offer and will begin my new job at Passport Unlimited as an Account Manager this Friday. I am ecstatic. So many things happened along the way that made me realize that it was a complete miracle and such a blessing!

A few months ago my roommate Robyn (who currently works at Passport), decided she would go back to school full-time to pursue a Masters in Teaching. She suggested I apply for her position and I agreed. Ever since she got the job I have thought, that is definitely something I would love to do. Event planning, occassional travel, account management, promoting a well-known corporate discount program... great things. After she helped me get my foot in the door and my first interview, I felt great about it. With this economy it has been difficult to even get an interview. Luckily they liked me enough to come back for another interview and then a final interview with a panel of 3 people. I was nervous and not sure that it would work out but prayed that whatever happened was meant to be. I haven't prepared for an interview so much. I studied, and asked Robyn questions, and practiced interview questions, and worked hard to prepare myself. It is great to have your hard work pay off and to feel like I am on my way to really beginning my career here in Seattle. I have enjoyed working downtown Seattle but my current position wasn't going anywhere... and not paying enough to support the wardrode I wish I had, so it was time for a change. I will be working on the Eastside about 10 minutes away from home, so no commute for me. What a blessing!

It has taken 2 1/2 years to get here but it was worth it. I am soooo grateful for this opportunity! Thank you Robyn, I owe you dinner... for a year!

Monday, January 24, 2011

2011

Out with the old and in with the new. 2010 was good to me and even though I prefer even numbers, I am willing to give 2011 the benefit of the doubt.

The holidays consisted of lots of food and family. I have to say I didn't necessarily enjoy being the only kid at home for Christmas, how do you single child people do it? The presents from Santa did help though. I also took a trip to Idaho right after Christmas and spent some quality time with the niece and nephew AND getting stuck snowmobiling. It was really awesome. Thanks to Scotty and the Mallard family to treating me to a winter paradise! Also shout out to Dad for taking me to the airport when I have flight issues, never flying Delta again.

New year means new goals. I have big plans for this year including completing my second and third triathlons. Training will actually start next month. I am currently obsessing over hot yoga again. A healthy obsession yes? I also look forward to turning 25, making more money, and passing the dreaded GRE so at some point I can have the option to apply for grad school. Yeah that's right.

Also, check out Girls on the Run. It is a really cool organization that I started volunteering for a few months ago. They work with girls between the ages 3rd-5th graders and help them train for a 5K. It is a big deal! These girls learn all about confidence, teamwork, and pushing yourself to be your best. It is a great cause and I am loving being a part of it. Plus I get to use my mad event planning skills as a volunteer in organizing the festival portion of the event. Check them out here: http://www.girlsontherun.org/ If any of you are interested in becoming involved OR just running the race let me know.

In conclusion I will make a better effort to have more exciting things to blog about. Live strong.