My DUH Moment

Let's rewind back to Wednesday night, shall we?  I was getting my lunch ready for Thursday. I was pretty excited about a salad I was making. It had romaine lettuce, some diced green and red peppers, sliced strawberries, and some fat free cheddar... SO delicious!  I also packed a little container of frozen chicken pieces. My dressing is a strawberry vinaigrette.  Doesn't that sound refreshing?!?!  Well... On the way to work on Thursday, I realized that I forgot my dressing.  My options were to either save the salad for Friday and bop on over to Subway for a salad, or "borrow" some dressing from the fridge at work.  I told a couple people that I forgot my dressing and they both offered theirs!  Perfect!  I found a tasty balsamic vinaigrette in the fridge and was good to go.  Bonus, someone brought in a bag of nuts so I was able to have fresh cracked walnuts, almonds, and pecans on my salad, as well!

Lunchtime comes around and I am probably more excited for this salad than is normal, but who cares?!  I popped the chicken into the microwave for a minute and began cracking my nuts.  I was getting too frustrated with the stupid wrench that we had to use to crack the nuts (note: if you take a sack 'o nuts into your workplace, take a freakin' nut cracker!) and finally gave up.  I was able to get a few walnuts, a couple of pecans, and one lonely almond.  I poured the dressing on and ate that salad right up!  It was really good!

After we got home from Jaden's school carnival last night and I got both girls in bed, I grabbed my lunch bag from my diaper bag so I could pack my lunch for Friday.  That's when it hit me.
MY CHICKEN WAS STILL IN THE MICROWAVE.
That's right.  I never took the flippin' chicken out!  Are you kidding me?!  I was looking forward to that salad all night and day!  How on earth could I have forgotten the chicken??

I got to work this morning and immediately went into the lounge and saw that the microwave still said "END."  That means I was the last person to use it and sure enough, there sat my warm, smelly chicken.  Today, I packed another salad.  I brought my dressing and another piece of chicken.  Let's hope I still have half a brain by the time lunch rolls around again!  Totally explains why I was so hungry by the end of the work day yesterday... TGIF.

Shanterest: Designing 800

Day 17: Design

As a profession, I'm a graphic designer.  No, I don't like my job. I do, however, like design. I appreciate good design.  I like getting ideas and inspiration from Pinterest.  I like finding awesome pieces and creating them myself.

Here are a couple of design ideas that I fell in love with:

Source: etsy.com via Shannon on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Shannon on Pinterest

Source: eighteen25.blogspot.com via Shannon on Pinterest

I had fun recreating these pieces for myself.  I am not going to give them to you or sell them in my Etsy store because, well, I pretty much copied them spot on.  I'm pretty good at that because, well, that's what I do... design, not copy.

BUT, inspired my the idea of using lyrics in design, I did make my own, using my favorite line from my favorite song.

I am listing this print in my Etsy store.  Because this very post happens to be my 800th post, I'm offering all of my blog readers 50% off anything in my Etsy store for the remainder of the month!  Enter the coupon code: FALL50 at checkout for the discount!  Not valid on private listings, sorry.

Thanks in advance and HAPPY 800 DAY :o)

Seriously.

Yes, I believe this is IN error.

Just so you know, I found this devastating news out only when I tried to access the site for a work-related search.  Love it.

A Blessing In Disguise

Once upon a time, there was a girl that aspired to be this great, wonderful marketing designer.  She studied hard and put everything she was into her work.  One day, this girl found out about a job opening.  She applied and was called almost immediately for an interview!  The girl was so excited!  She prepared for her interview and went in with all the confidence in the world.  It went great!  The company loved her!  The job seemed to be everything she had been hoping and dreaming it would be!  She went home and waited... and waited...  Later that evening, the girl was called and asked to come in for a second interview later in the week. 

With even more confidence and excitement than before, the girl went into the second interview.  Just walking through the doors, she knew that this was the place for her.  She loved the product that she would be marketing and the people she had already met were so sweet.  She couldn't believe that she was a serious candidate for the job.

The first lady the girl met with talked to her about salary and benefits.  The benefits weren't that great... pretty NOT GOOD actually, and the pay, well it was the same as what she was already making.  No raise, but this was her dream job, remember?  At least it wasn't a pay cut.  The lady also talked to the girl about hours.  She was required to be there a minimum of 46 hours a week.  The girl thought that seemed like a lot but was still so excited that she didn't really care.  The lady also explained to the girl that she would have to work most holidays and even some weekends.  The girl was finally starting to feel the thorn that this rose of a job had.  The girl left the second interview kind of bummed that it wasn't the perfect job that she thought it would be.  However, she did learn that out of over 200 applications, she was one of 20 to be chosen for a first interview and one of three called back for a second interview.  She was still holding her head high!

A few days went by and the girl was starting to lose hope until she got another phone call.  The company wanted her to come back for a third interview!  She was in the top two for the position!  When she went back for a third time, her balloon started to rapidly deflate.  The girl was being told about all of the overtime she was expected to work and not be compensated for (since she would be salary, not hourly).  She was calculating in her head all the time it would take her away from her family.

Days went by.  The girl thought and thought and thought about all this potential job entailed.  She wanted so badly for it to be a perfect fit for her.  She tried to convince herself that it would be a mistake not to take it should it be offered to her.  She studied and compared the income, benefits, and hours to her current job.  She tried to convince herself that those were not the important parts of the job; that she would be doing her dream job!  No matter how hard she thought about it and how hard she tried to convince herself, she knew in her heart of all hearts that this potential job would wreak havoc on her family time and relationships.  She felt that the job would have to be number one in her life and she could not bring herself to put her family second.  As much as she wished she didn't have to do it, the girl prepared herself to turn down her dream job should it be offered to her.

One cloudy, rainy day, the girl came face to face with the best case scenario!  She wasn't offered the job!  You would think that she would be all depressed and bummed out but she wasn't!  She was relieved.  She didn't want to make a mistake whether it be to take the job and regret it because it cut into her time at home, or to turn down the job and regret it because it seemed to be everything (mostly) that she was looking for.  Thankfully, the girl didn't have to make that decision.  She did however, realize one important lesson in her journey.  She learned her self-worth and that she is good enough not to have to settle for something that isn't perfect for her and her lifestyle.  Oh, and she lived happily ever after :o)

The end.