It's here! Many thanks to the fantastic Brian Saycocie, for designing my new logo and starter site!
There's still a ways to go, but for now - check it out!
xo
Monday, December 26, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Big Changes and a Brand New Job
I have been looking for a job in counseling/therapy since we moved to Minnesota and haven't had much luck. I was genuinely excited to take the Business Manager position for Chanel in Minneapolis, but definitely wanted to keep my options open in pursuing my career in the mental health field. I have thought about grad school a lot more lately too.. struggling with the outstanding costs and sacrifice of time I would be making, not to mention.. it's school. It would be sweet to go back. Well - bittersweet, anyway.
My resume has been all over a handful of general and mental health job-search sites plus my manual search for jobs had been pretty tiresome and dead-ended. I decided to put as much of me into Chanel as possible, as a manager and freelance makeup artist, since I love Chanel more than just about anything. I repeat - I love Chanel. I hate retail. This was my 3rd time working for Macy's and the management, structure and communication skills have been different every time. I am not writing this to speak badly of Macy's, I think it just comes down to my disregard for all retail in the world. Of course, I took the job at the perfect time - end of summer, ready to roll full-forced into Thanksgiving and Christmas. Schedules grew worse and my patience grew thin. It was fun while it lasted though. I made some great friends and met some fantastic people during my short time there.
It all happened really fast. A few weeks ago, I received an alert for The Minnesota Autism Center looking for therapists to work with children who have autism (ASD - Autism Spectrum Disorders). I looked at the qualifications and thought I'd at least email my resume, even though my exposure to autism was mostly limited to children with Asperger's. I was shocked to receive an response from an actual human being within a half hour of my email. I was given an interview for the next afternoon (yee!) and I just so happened to have a short shift, allowing me to make it to the interview. I kept my hopes low, so I wouldn't be down on myself if I didn't get it. The interview went well and I found myself praying I'd get the job. Cell bill reimbursement, great pay, great hours, great experience and most of all.. paid tuition for grad school. It seemed too good to be true. Less than 2 hours after the interview, I received a call with an offer. Ah!!! I had to keep my mouth shut until I was able to give my notice to my Chanel Account Executive and Cosmetics Manager.. I was pretty shocked how fast it all happened - I still am. Within 24 hours, my life had gone from no job leads to an offer. My last 2 weeks flew by. 2 weeks full of long hours, giftwrapping, Shanghai Wok & LeeAnn Chin (not that I don't mind, haha) and crappy, overplayed Christmas music. I definitely won't miss Macy's, but I'll miss the people.
I had a nice long weekend to relax before I started my new job. It's been really great so far! There are a handful of MAC Centers around MN and the first MAC School (where I work) launched this past fall. I am a behavior therapist for 5th grade, working one-on-one with two children on a daily basis (one in the morning, one in the afternoon) providing ABA Therapy and assisting within the school setting. The structure and ABA Therapy is actually pretty incredible. I'm pretty new to it all, but I really like it. I feel like I've learned so much already, on top of absolutely falling in love with each of those kids. Each child in our little class is so entertaining in their own way and so smart! One of the kiddos I work with has me laughing all day with his sweet personality and mannerisms.. so cute! It's pretty exciting to be back in the mental health field again, not to mention the joy of being to freelance for Chanel on the side. It's so nice to have a regular weekday schedule where I don't have to drive to Minneapolis, the parking is free and I finish before 4pm. I forgot what it felt like to have weekends and a normal social life! More than anything, it's incredibly rewarding to be able to work with children again.
If you wanna know a little more about MAC - The Minnesota Autism Center.. Check out a couple videos below.
xo
My resume has been all over a handful of general and mental health job-search sites plus my manual search for jobs had been pretty tiresome and dead-ended. I decided to put as much of me into Chanel as possible, as a manager and freelance makeup artist, since I love Chanel more than just about anything. I repeat - I love Chanel. I hate retail. This was my 3rd time working for Macy's and the management, structure and communication skills have been different every time. I am not writing this to speak badly of Macy's, I think it just comes down to my disregard for all retail in the world. Of course, I took the job at the perfect time - end of summer, ready to roll full-forced into Thanksgiving and Christmas. Schedules grew worse and my patience grew thin. It was fun while it lasted though. I made some great friends and met some fantastic people during my short time there.
It all happened really fast. A few weeks ago, I received an alert for The Minnesota Autism Center looking for therapists to work with children who have autism (ASD - Autism Spectrum Disorders). I looked at the qualifications and thought I'd at least email my resume, even though my exposure to autism was mostly limited to children with Asperger's. I was shocked to receive an response from an actual human being within a half hour of my email. I was given an interview for the next afternoon (yee!) and I just so happened to have a short shift, allowing me to make it to the interview. I kept my hopes low, so I wouldn't be down on myself if I didn't get it. The interview went well and I found myself praying I'd get the job. Cell bill reimbursement, great pay, great hours, great experience and most of all.. paid tuition for grad school. It seemed too good to be true. Less than 2 hours after the interview, I received a call with an offer. Ah!!! I had to keep my mouth shut until I was able to give my notice to my Chanel Account Executive and Cosmetics Manager.. I was pretty shocked how fast it all happened - I still am. Within 24 hours, my life had gone from no job leads to an offer. My last 2 weeks flew by. 2 weeks full of long hours, giftwrapping, Shanghai Wok & LeeAnn Chin (not that I don't mind, haha) and crappy, overplayed Christmas music. I definitely won't miss Macy's, but I'll miss the people.
I had a nice long weekend to relax before I started my new job. It's been really great so far! There are a handful of MAC Centers around MN and the first MAC School (where I work) launched this past fall. I am a behavior therapist for 5th grade, working one-on-one with two children on a daily basis (one in the morning, one in the afternoon) providing ABA Therapy and assisting within the school setting. The structure and ABA Therapy is actually pretty incredible. I'm pretty new to it all, but I really like it. I feel like I've learned so much already, on top of absolutely falling in love with each of those kids. Each child in our little class is so entertaining in their own way and so smart! One of the kiddos I work with has me laughing all day with his sweet personality and mannerisms.. so cute! It's pretty exciting to be back in the mental health field again, not to mention the joy of being to freelance for Chanel on the side. It's so nice to have a regular weekday schedule where I don't have to drive to Minneapolis, the parking is free and I finish before 4pm. I forgot what it felt like to have weekends and a normal social life! More than anything, it's incredibly rewarding to be able to work with children again.
If you wanna know a little more about MAC - The Minnesota Autism Center.. Check out a couple videos below.
xo
Friday, December 2, 2011
Soundtracks: Drive
Justin and I saw Drive a couple weeks ago and it was definitely not what I expected. Well.. It kind of was, in that I expected it to not be a typical Ryan Gosling-ish kinda movie. I just didn't expect to love it as much as I did. We tend to enjoy a few of those movies out there that get the bad reviews for being so nontraditional or "weird".. Not sure why. Maybe because we make our own opinions based on expecting the movie to be pretty blah. He did fantastic in the role, as always. Ryan has always been one of our faves - What a doll!
The movie was pretty awesome and I definitely give huge credit to the soundtrack. The score was pretty simple, but something about it somehow added intensity to the film. Can't seem to get a few of the first songs off of repeat: Kavinsky & Lovefoxxx, Desire and College. I'm pretty into The Chromatics' track as well, with the remaining tracks as the score from the film, by Cliff Martinez. Honestly, the only song I could have done without is Riz Ortolani's "Oh My Love" - eugh, not a fan. Aside from a pretty sick soundtrack, Justin keeps trying to give me a list of reasons why he seriously wants and has to have the 'Scorpion Jacket'. So cute!
The movie was pretty awesome and I definitely give huge credit to the soundtrack. The score was pretty simple, but something about it somehow added intensity to the film. Can't seem to get a few of the first songs off of repeat: Kavinsky & Lovefoxxx, Desire and College. I'm pretty into The Chromatics' track as well, with the remaining tracks as the score from the film, by Cliff Martinez. Honestly, the only song I could have done without is Riz Ortolani's "Oh My Love" - eugh, not a fan. Aside from a pretty sick soundtrack, Justin keeps trying to give me a list of reasons why he seriously wants and has to have the 'Scorpion Jacket'. So cute!
Drive
Featuring: Kavinsky & Lovefoxxx, Desire, College Feat. Electric Youth, Riz Ortolani Feat. Katyna Ranieri, The Chromatics and music by Cliff Martinez
Friday, November 25, 2011
A Gold + Aqua Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving, loves! This year, I used all decor I already had, summarizing the dinner party as probably the cheapest "parties" I've ever set up for. It wasn't super embellished or detailed, but I did my best to make it nice with spending as little money as possible. I spent $2.99 for a can of spay paint, which I'd say.. is pretty stinkin' budget-friendly!
xo
I pulled most of the decor with greens, golds and aquas in mind, by filling in with some mixed prints and brighter colors like fuchsia and mustard. Lanae and I came up with all of the Indian-inspired names for the place settings and everyone had a pretty good laugh. It was exciting to use my new collection of vintage goblets I found at my favorite thrift store this summer - Eee!
My mom wanted to have 2 turkeys this year since we were having so many people join for dinner. She told me she had a new, secret turkey-cooking tip that she "read it on the internet" in which you're supposed to flip the turkey upside down so all the juice stays in the turkey. Great idea, eh? It was.. until there wasn't any juice/grease to use for the gravy. Cheapest! The boys had to run to the store for the 4th time that day to get ingredients for gravy... Oh man. The turkeys were extra juicy though, so the tip actually works (just kinda jips you on gravy)!
This Thanksgiving was actually one of the most entertaining ones I've ever had - Between the chaos of my mom and I serving all of the food with the giggles, running out of serving spoons and making sure everyone had what they needed, I was exhausted and totally happy with how everything turned out.
The Menu
2 13-lb. Turkeys
Mashed Potatoes
Cheesy Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Corn
Honey-Cinnamon Carrots
Raspberry Fruit Jello
Orange Cream Jello
Mom Andes' Cherry Muffins
Dinner Rolls
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Weddings Inspired by the Roaring 20's
Augh! I'm obsessed with the 1920's (as if you haven't read that by now). I just can't get enough. I don't know where it began, but I love everything about the era. The headbands.. the makeup.. the fashion.. Just today, Green Wedding Shoes featured a to-die-for 20's-inspired wedding and I had to pass it on myself along with a collection of some of my favorite flapper-filled photos from 100 Layer Cake. Enjoy!
xo
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