Putting Dreams into Actions

Ok, so last weekend I blogged about starting a camp store, and while that may not come to fruition for quite some time (because if I do that I will want retail space and that's just impossible right now with n0 money), I've decided I'll start small. Painting trunks for campers and maybe even sorority gifts (thanks for the idea Tracy!).

I like to consider myself a crafty person - I absolutely LOVED big-little week in the Christian sorority I joined because I got to make/decorate 90% of the gifts.

My Spring '08 littles' gifts

My fall '08 little's gifts

Seriously, I loved it. Being crafty is one of my hobbies. Now I just need to think of a cute name and paint a sample trunk to show off. Hey, Sarah, do you want your trunk repainted? That's what seesters are for, yes?

And back to the cute name thing: if you've got an idea, let me know. I kind of want to use my name (last name pref.) somehow, but I know that may not be totally possible, but I'd love to hear any ideas you guys have! Maybe i'll make a little something for you if I use it.

Music Monday

Tim Halperin is in jail until tomorrow morning because he'll be out of his Idol contract and his album, Rise and Fall, releases at midnight tonight on iTunes (hint: CHECK IT OUT)! If you're in the Dallas area he's at the Legacy shops in Plano if you've got some free time in the next 23-ish hours, go check him out! And if you're not in the Dallas area, just watch him on Ustream!



Non-Tim music rocking my world these days:

New Dreams in Life

Last week I joked on Twitter about wanting to become the gatekeeper at Mystic, the camp I've loved and attended for 13 (technically 14) years. A newer camp friend of mine tweeted back that I'd have to get in line behind her for the job and I replied that we could rebuild the gatehouse for a couple of us to live in (because if you've seen it, let's be real: it's tiny).

Today though, I was thinking seriously about what I could do with my life since obviously nothing in the job department seems to be working out these days. Then it dawned on me: where's the camp store in Tyler? For the past few summers at Mystic, girls of all ages, including counselors have been sporting the cutest t-shirts from a little camp store in San Antonio (about an hour drive from Mystic). This store doesn't just do camp stuff (because then they'd only have business for about 4 months of the year), they do hometown/neighborhood school shirts and shorts and other cute stuff to cheer on the home team.

Why couldn't I do that? In Tyler? It's funny because one of the ladies who owns this little store is actually from Longview, about 45 minutes away from Tyler. She was super nice and if I needed help or had a question, I'm almost positive she could answer it (especially since we wouldn't necessarily be competing from 5-6 hours away from each other.

But seriously. There are 2 major camps here in East Texas that tons of kids go to. There's Mystic, Waldemar, and Longhorn, where I know for a fact tons of Tyler kids go. There's two public high schools and a good number of private schools. I could make some cute shirts for the drill teams and cheerleaders. And then on top of selling school stuff year round, I could make some cute camp clothes and sell other cute camp accessories. And since I'll always be tied to Mystic somehow (Sarah will be an aide this year aka her last year as a camper for those of you non-campers. I have a little second cousin there too who's still got 8 years as a camper left), I'll always have an "in" with the big camp trends.

It's just a matter of if I can really do this and the fact that I have ZERO money to do this. But seriously, I could totally do this. Plus I have a degree in Ad/PR so marketing would be a cinch, right? We'll see. This is totally a dream right now, but who know in a few years. This would be an excellent "mom" job (aka something to do when I'm a mom and hopefully my kids are going to camp). But I'd love to do it now too... I guess we'll just have to see.

RIP Hippo

Stay tuned for a ridiculously sappy and pretty stupid post about a dog toy.

Well, Nappy has single-handedly destroyed his first toy. Once upon a time, when Nappy was all of 4.3 lbs (back in July when I got him), I gave him a hippo. He was fluffy and grey and had pretty pink ears and tusks(?), and a nice squeaker. Fast forward two months to today and poor Hippo has seen his last day.

Nappy with Hippo and Frog

This morning I knew Nappy was playing with hippo and I could hear him gnawing on something, but as I am every morning, I was in my own world. When I looked up, there was stuffing in a little trail leading over to Nappy and Hippo. It was a sad moment as puppy mom, but I'm glad I've been on the hunt for a new hippo for about two weeks, fearing the end of Hippo I.

Hippo I

Hippo II

Hippos II and I

Rest in pieces, Hippo I. You were an excellent toy. Good luck, Hippo II.

Your Life Might be a Joke When...

I wanted to wait a little longer to post this, but I'm getting depressed looking for jobs and although this is a tad bit of a depressing story, it's hilarious looking back.

A little over a month ago I had the worst phone interview. Ever. This HR person at this company pretty much called me to tell me my internships sucked, my resume sucked, I wasn't used well in my internships, and that I basically sucked. Thanks. While I was very upset, I decided to use this is as motivation. I would find an internship or job and show them (I mean, not really because I honestly hope to never come in contact with them or that company ever again).

So I went on a search for legit-looking ad agencies here in Tyler, because while a job in Fort Worth is the end goal, it might just be easier to get an internship/job here and then work my way back there. So I sent my resume, references, and a semi-generic cover letter to a handful of places that looked to be, by their websites, legit. I heard back from two. One wasn't hiring but said they'd keep my resume (sarcastic "I'm sure," here). The other wanted to interview me the next week.

So one Tuesday morning, I put my puppy in his crate, put on one of my favorite work/interview outfits and drove to this sketchy building connected to the back of a fast food restaurant. It's one of those building that just has offices in them, which isn't sketchy, but the people that work in these offices could be laundering money or something worse. I go in for my interview. The guy talks this "agency" up and tells me all about their endeavors (which I will save for another post because it's just too good). It sounds good to me. He hires me as an intern with the promise of what I consider a "commission" if I sell anything/bring in any business.

I go to work the next day. I get the puppy all set up in the kitchen so he has room to roam a little, has his water bowl, his crate, and a few toys. I spend all morning on the phone. Ok, not totally unusual. An "intern"-like person will have to surely work their way up. But I'm not given a script. No one makes a few phone calls for me to learn from. I'm just thrown there - on my own phone - to talk to all of these random businesses about this ad agency's magazine project while they play with a baby in the other office room they've rented in this building. I do this all morning. Then I decide it's lunch time and leave. They don't tell me to be back at any certain time, but I say I'll be back in an hour because I think that's pretty standard for lunch time.

I spent my lunch hour crying. My mom made me go back. And I spent my afternoon making more phone calls. MY "BOSS" FELL ASLEEP. FOR TWO HOURS. WHILE I WAS TALKING TO HIM. His phone rang at least 17 times. I lost count. His ring tone was some Drake or Lil Wayne song that finds it necessary to use expletives every other word. Before his nap, he spent a good 30 minutes trying to find me on facebook - thank God and Mark Zuckerberg for the option intense privacy settings. Finally about 4, my day was over.

I lied about going to an interview the next day to get out of going to work and was already off the hook for Friday. I spent the weekend mulling over what they could possibly be a front for and whether or not I wanted a job bad enough to feel like I needed to work for these people and gain ZERO experience. The answer now allows me to sit here looking for jobs and e-mailing my resume to more people in hopes of getting some real experience (AKA I still have no job).

So that next Monday, I called my "Boss." When the phone was answered, I heard a message something to the effect of," Hello, the Verizon number you are trying to reach is no longer in service." A few weeks later I learned my friend had worked there. FOR HALF A DAY. She felt like they were just as sketchy as I do. And they had a larger office building a few months back when she worked all of four hours for them.

So, your life might be a joke when: you spend all day on the phone so your "bosses" can play with a baby, your "boss" can take a TWO HOUR nap while you talk to him, your "boss"'s number gets disconnected over the weekend so you can't actually quit, and one of your friends only worked there for half a day before she quit. But hey, at least I made it a full day? HAH. MY life was certainly a joke that day and I'm back on the hunt for a job.

Music Monday

And in honor of National Talk Like a Pirate Day...


Short on music right now, feel free to send suggestions!

Obsessed: Pinterest

So, I've been frequenting it for a while, but I thought I'd finally let you know that I am a Pinterest-aholic. I'm obsessed. I got on for at least an hour (spread throughout the day, not at once) a day. I was already excited to have an apartment to decorate one day but now I'm dying to move into my own place - I've gotten so many ideas off the site. If you haven't gone on yet of set up any pin boards - DO IT.

Macie, Lindsay, and I have decided to have a craft day one day because there are SO many cute DIY's we've all found. We just have to actually find a day to do it haha.

A Note from the Crate of Napoleon Bone-apart

Hello, it's Napoleon again! I'm having so much fun these days!

Last week mama took me to my first puppy class! We've been practicing sitting and coming to mama and lying down and all sort of neat tricks. I made three new friends: an Irish Wolfhound named Odie (like the dog in Garfield mama said), a lab puppy who is really hyper (I don't remember her name), and a puppy smaller than me named Spoons. Odie was very shy last week but I think he seems pretty cool. I wasn't so sure about the lab and Spoons at first so I hung around in the corner at first. Then I warmed up an liked playing with Spoons. The lab puppy was too crazy for me.

Last weekend mama took me on a trip to Fort Worth where we stayed with her old roommate, Amanda, and her dog, Paris. I liked Paris a lot. She was a very pretty mini American Eskimo. She didn't share her toys very much, but we had fun rolling around the apartment and chasing each other. When mama wasn't looking I tried to eat Paris' food. It was delicious. Saturday night we went to the dog park with Paris and another Amanda and her dog, Ollie. Ollie is funny. He's 2 and very grumpy sometimes. I wasn't so sure about the dog park at first, but after a while I got adventurous and explored a little bit and played. Mama got a lot of compliments on how cute I was by lots of people. Ollie and Paris wore me out all weekend. I was so sleepy before we left and then I slept the whole way home and most of Sunday evening. I was still sleepy on Monday!

Last night was our second puppy class and the lab and Spoons weren't there. Instead, there was another puggle-like dog there and Odie made his return. Odie was more friendly. The puggle-like puppy kept wrestling with me and biting my ears and it hurt, but I'm ok. I also discovered that I can fit through the holes in the fence the put up in our corner of the building for puppy class. Mama wasn't too happy with that. I just wanted to play with the Springer Spaniel on the other side. We learned how to lie down from a standing position and we got to play with squeaky toys in class! I really like puppy class because I get lots of treats and lots of lovin's. I feel very smart at the end of class.

Stay tuned for more of mine and mama's adventures! We have four more puppy classes.

Music Monday

I almost forgot, but don't worry, here it is!


The past few years, TCU has had some amazing acts come to perform and this year was The Fray. I got to go see them Friday night when I went to visit for the weekend. Tim Halperin opened and both he and The Fray put on a great show!


This is easily one of my favorite Tim songs. It's a fun song and very catchy.


I'm so addicted to this song. I can't get enough of it. And I really want to be one of Selena's besties, I won't lie.


I'm pretty sure I already put this on a Music Monday, but I think the Amandas and I listened to this song about 48 times and that might be underestimating.

Never Forget

Has it really been 10 years? I can't believe that 10 years ago, I was an awkward 13 year old at the orthodontist checking out listening to the ladies talk about what was happening in New York. I was really confused hearing words like "American Airlines," "planes," World Trade Center," etc. For some reason, I thought there were planes that had hit the brand new American Airlines Center in Dallas. By the time I got to school, Kidd Kraddock was talking about it on the radio, the teachers had been briefed during what was the middle schoolers PE time (while I was at the orthodontist) and my bimbo of an 9th grade English teacher was telling us about the hole in the building with her hands (which of course meant very little to us).

Being at a private school, we had an "upper school" chapel and talked about what had happened and prayed. The rest of the day was spent watching TV. All day. When I got home, I watched more coverage. I saw what was left of one of the towers fall. I also spent a lot of the day wondering if our 8th grade trip to DC would happen in February (it did and I remember seeing the construction on the Pentagon and the giant American Flag flying there).

Two years ago, I went to DC for the 2nd time with my mom (who doesn't have a memory of going but apprently went when she was younger). I remember going to the Newseum in 8th grade and how cool it was so I insisted on going again - only they had moved and it was bigger and better than ever (especially for journalism nerds like me). They had a huge 9/11 exhibit and it was awesome. They had the antenna from the WTC, part of the concrete from the Pentagon, the charred eagle from the top of the flagpole at the Pentagon, among other things from DC, NYC, and even Shanksville, PA, if I'm not mistaken. Around the antenna was a timeline of that morning. What was really powerful to me, we one of the walls - covered with the headlines from September 12, 2001. I think they said there were 136 of them - 50 states plus DC, and major papers from all over the world.

WTC antenna

Today we remember the thousands of lives lost and their families and friends and stand together as a nation. God bless America and God bless her allies and even her enemies.

Is This Real?

Every once in a while, I see a commercial for something that I wonder if the manufacturer is serious This is one of those things.

I legitimately just saw this commercial on Cartoon Network, and with the awesome power of DVR, I rewinded to rewatch the commercial because I was so dumbstruck. It's a toy for kids that, I guess, teaches them to enjoy picking up dog poop, to become responsible future dog owners? It's weird, I know. That's why I'm sharing it with you. Feel free to laugh. I am.

Welcome to Blogging, Jessica!

So last year one of my dearest friends Jessica started a livejournal blog. It kind of fell apart and as she says, she's all but abandoned it. But she's back and on Blogger instead!

Follow her and her family's lifestyle change through her blog, the Accidental Nutritionist. I'm so relieved to hear her mom is doing better and anxious to see how her nutrition journey unfolds!

Also, this is hilarious. And please vote for SuperFrog. He's pretty BA.

Music Monday

Music Monday is back again! And so is the cooler weather, thank God! This summer was a ridiculously hot one, as many of you Texans know and now fall weather is finally coming around! It was almost cold this morning when I took Nappy out around 8:30! LOVE IT. For whatever reason, these songs sound like the start of fall to me.









Hope you're enjoying this crisp(er) fall(ish) weather! Happy September!