I fail to understand this logic. If you're sick with a contagious disease, such as H1N1 flu, seasonal flu, or strep throat, WHY are you at the mall? Better yet, why are you at the mall telling everyone who's helpful to you in a store that you or your child (who's coughing like mad or sneezing everywhere without a tissue or sleeve in sight) are getting over swine flu? "He has to be fever-free for at least 24 hours before he goes back to school, and he's had a fever for two days that just won't go away!" was a phrase I heard three times yesterday. Two elementary school-age kids and one adult in their 20s or 30s were in the store yesterday telling me all that. The same thing happened multiple times on Saturday too. The best part is that now I'm running a slight fever and sneezing/coughing like crazy. I'm keeping my fingers crossed it's just allergies.

The Holiday Summit was SO MUCH FUN!!! I got to meet the CEO and most of the regional directors, as well as district managers (a lot of whom I spoke to knew who I was!) and store managers, all from across the eastern half of the country. Got to see Innerpartysystem perform, showed off some of my favorite fashion sites and blogs, saw new fashions coming out in the coming weeks and months......it was a lot of stuff, but I couldn't have been happier to be a part of it all. My props were a hit too! I think the funniest moment though was when my boss came up to me and said he didn't recognize me earlier in the evening. He went on to explain that I "looked like a girl today" and normally when he sees me I'm in jeans, flip flops, and a flannel. I had on the same outfit as in the photo below, just with buckle platform boots from F21 instead of the flat boots from the photo.



I told my boss that when he sees me, I've been working long hours for days on end and just don't feel like giving a hoot, but it's my goal to stop blending into the brand reps and stand out as a manager. My boss actually gave me a hug and a huge "thank you" when I said that! I'll actually dress the way at work that I normally dress when I'm not at work.

I'm waiting for my new laptop to arrive before doing anything with the photos from my trips. It'll take forever to get the photos uploaded onto this computer, and then I'd have to transfer them.....so patience please.

The computer I really wanted, Sean didn't like. The computer Sean wanted me to get, I didn't like. Okay really, I couldn't justify spending such a big chunk of money on a computer that I just need to house my music and photos and get me to the Internet. He wanted me to spend WAY more than my budget would allow and couldn't convince me at all about all the "nerdy" stuff that's important to someone like him that it should be important to me too. It's quite difficult to get a computer expert to settle for a cheaper computer!

After much back and forth, this is the one that we finally agreed on. I can even get free express shipping if I order it by 11am tomorrow and have it Thursday. Too bad I'll be in Philly again when it arrives!

I want my vacation to be over, but I don't want my vacation to be over. I'm going to miss the pool in the backyard, the humidity, the sunshine. I know that I definitely want to live down here one day. Not necessarily Florida, but the closer to it I am, the happier I'll be. North Carolina gives you mountains AND the beach, so both Sean and I would be happy.........but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

I'm going back home with more new clothes than I could have imagined! If I continue procrastinating with packing, maybe I'll be able to post pictures of ALL the non-touristy pieces of clothing I got.

-- Dolman Sleeve Sweater in black
-- Dolman Sleeve Top in grey
-- Watercolor Dolman Sleeve Top (I think I'll like these when the weather warms up a bit next week, plus they'll work at both work and play)
-- Fox flannel top
-- Metal Mulisha tee
-- Zoo York funnel sweater (which is the first, probably last, thing I've gotten from this brand and I'm totally wearing it on the plane tomorrow since it's damn cold back home)
-- Menswear vest.....I couldn't resist, ok?
-- Skinny Bootcut jeans in solid black
-- Toasty warm scarf (again, because it's cold back in VA)

There's more but I got most of the other stuff at the Hurley outlet, because that's my brand and I wear it a lot at work, so it'll have to wait for a photo op back home. The stuff I got isn't available on the Hurley website anymore! I also snagged some touristy stuff, like a Jimmy Buffett tee and Ron Jon hoodie, that'll have photo ops later on this week. You can't get away from it all!

So far, my trip has been a good one. The flights down here were quick, and when I landed, I couldn't have been happier to see sunshine and palm trees. I'll post a more thorough update later on this evening after some shopping. I'm most excited to go to Ron Jon's Surf Shop in a little bit! I need a new bathing suit before Key West. My aunt helped me come up with one of my props for my personal "brand" project that I have to do before I go to Philly in a new weeks. It involves a Figment stuffed animal. Figgy is my favorite thing at Epcot, though I dislike the new ride immensely. It's just not the same without Dreamfinder and the original "One Little Spark" song. I get made fun of at work sometimes for singing that song, in particular the part that goes "Imaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaginaaaaaaaaaaation" LOL.

I hope eventually, probably/maybe this evening, I'll be able to put some pictures up here, so definitely check back.

I've been searching for flat black boots for weeks now. Everything I've liked was either too expensive or not quite right. Then, I found these!

While at work today, a teenage boy came to my register and asked me if I could give him change for a dollar. It's store policy that we don't open the registers to give change because we've had serious problems with it in the past, i.e. money disappearing from registers, quick-change artists, and just general abuse on the nice public's behalf because word got out that we would give change. After running out of quarters by noon on a busy Saturday, it was decided that we wouldn't give out change anymore. I politely told the boy that I could not give him the change unless he purchased something. He said "Ok, thanks anyway" then went back to join his mom and siblings as they perused the store.

A few minutes later, one of the boy's sisters comes up and asks for change. I explained to her that I couldn't open the register for change unless she purchased something, she sighed, said thanks, then went back to join the family.

More minutes passed by, and finally the mom and children are ready to pay. My brand rep starts ringing up their purchases when the mom asks if she can get some change. She was chipper and said "Yeah, no problem!" I thought, ok, the mom is paying in cash, that's fine. Turned out that the mom was NOT paying with cash, but instead using a credit card. While she's arguing with my brand rep about how she should "just open the stupid register, it's not that hard," the youngest of the children comes up to me:

Little Boy (LB): I'm going to give you a dollar, and you're going to give me a dollar back.
Me: I don't have a dollar to give you.
LB: You're going to give me a dollar back when I give you my dollar.
Me: I can't do that, I don't have a dollar to give you, I'm sorry.
LB: Ugh, you WORK in a STORE, that means YOU have money! You're going to give me a dollar! Where do you keep YOUR money? JUST GIVE ME ONE DOLLAR!
Me: (trying not to bust out laughing) Yes, I do work here, but all my money goes into my bank. I don't carry around dollars in my pocket.
LB: YOU WORK IN THE STORE AND HAVE CASH REGISTERS! You should give me a dollar from one of them, it's just that easy. I'm not going to give you mine now. You're just going to take one and give it to me.
Me: I can't give you a dollar just because you want one.
LB: YES YOU CAN! You're just OLD and MEAN!
Me: I'm not mean, I just can't open up the register because you want me to give you a dollar.
LB: YOU'RE LYING!
Me: No, I'm not lying to you. It's the store's policy. If I just take a dollar out of my register and don't replace it with a different dollar, that's stealing, which is illegal and will get me in trouble.
LB: Fine, you're stupid.
Me: (internally going, what the frickety frack just happened?!) O__o

The mom got mad at my brand rep about not giving her the change, then turned to me, after the little boy returned to her, and said "Thanks for NOTHING. I don't understand why you're being such an annoying person. You're not being very helpful." Really, was that necessary? I helped your young teenage daughter find jeans that she liked by pulling over 30 pairs of jeans off my wall (she bought ONE PAIR), then I helped your teenager son choose some sunglasses, and finally I helped your other daughter choose scarves that would match her favorite outfits. There were TONS of people in the store, but you asked for my help and I did what I enjoy doing without a single problem from anyone in your group or within the store. Just because I can't be of even further assistance by giving you a dollar in quarters doesn't mean I'm an annoying person who hates you. It's simply the store's policy and I'm not going to bend over on it!

It's only when I work ridiculously long days that the really weird things happen.

Well, if fashion continues repeating itself, I'd say the same stuff we're wearing now, i.e. 80s throwbacks. All these neon colors I'm seeing constantly are making my eyes hurt!

So the mall doesn't open till 10am. It's only 7am now, and I've been up since 5:45am. I've taken the dog outside twice, and my arm hurts from throwing the tennis ball so much. My mom is upstairs reading a book and feeling generally better. My step-dad is still asleep, thank goodness. He was driving me crazy yesterday with his paranoia, both at the hospital and at home. He attempted leaning on little old me when he started feeling faint. Thank goodness the chair was right behind him.

At one point in the evening, after my mom had gone to bed, I went to the kitchen to get some candy. I was digging through the cupboard and found a Snickers bar, followed by a Crunch bar (which is even MORE awesome than a Snickers bar), and went "Oooh oooh OOOH!" like some excited kid finding the last popsicle in the freezer. My step-dad jumps halfway out of his recliner and goes "What's wrong with Mom? CHECK ON HER SOMETHING'S WRONG!" I didn't hear anything, so with a confused look on my face, I popped my head into her room. She's sound asleep with the dog at the foot of the bed. With an even more confused face, I turn back to my step-dad and said "Nope, she's fine. Just sleeping." He asked me to check again because he was absolutely sure that she was gagging (wtf?!). Again, nope, everything's fine. I actually used the phrase "Calm the fuck down" at one point. Whenever my mom needed something, she came to me. We've known all along that I handle medical stuff way better than my step-dad, and yesterday was no exception. I went back to the pre-op area, I was the one who spoke with the doctor and took notes on the post-op care, I helped my mom get ready to leave, I drove us all home, I took the prescriptions to the pharmacy.......you name it, I did it. My mom and I purposely avoided making my step-dad do anything, though he did insist on going back with me when it was time to go to the recovery area (such a bad idea). He really should have just listened when we both said he should have gone to work!

At some point today I'm heading up to Annapolis to exchange flip-flops for my step-dad and see Transformers. I want to go to the beach, but I also really really really want to see this movie! Sometimes you have to make tough decisions I guess, hahaha!

I need some book recommendations!

I've officially read everything on my bookshelves, and I also ran out of space on my bookshelves, so I hope these recommendations can be found at the library. I'll read just about anything and everything, so if there's a book out there that you read and enjoyed, tell me about it!

Finally, after WEEKS of waiting and my aunt bugging me almost every day, Kenny Chesney's website had the ticket info available for the show at the end of August at Nissan Pavilion. Tickets go on sale FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!! And I won't be at work until 1pm so I don't have to worry about my aunt messing something up because I can order the tickets myself!

I know very few people on here get the excitement, but Kenny Chesney, to me, is my favorite country artist ever. I've seriously had his albums on repeat on my iPod for the past two weeks, and it's not going away anytime soon.

I've been wanting to go to a Kenny Chesney concert again since before the show even started at the one I went to last year. I could care less about the other two acts at the show - I just want to see Kenny!

As many know, I've been talking for sometime about getting a dog. I really really REALLY want a Golden Retriever, but I know it'll be years before I can get one because of the size of my apartment. I like big dogs and muscular dogs, i.e. a dog that can scare the heck out of an intruder. Since it looks as though I'll be in apartments for awhile, I'd pretty much given up on ever getting a dog anytime soon. Also, toy breeds annoy me - too yappy and tiny for my liking. Then my mom told me about..........

( the future new edition to the family )

How did I miss the news that Bea Arthur died?!

I was trying to get out to Gainesville, Virginia tonight for a little date. I was told to take 15 South to 66 East. Here's the thing - 15 doesn't meet up with 66. Oh, and also, 15 South and 7 East are the same thing, but they split at one point without ever really telling you that. So, I ended up going WAY north to go southwest. When I say way north, I mean almost to West Virginia. I also got to drive along 66 starting at mile marker 0.1 because I'm just THAT awesome.

I eventually got to where I needed to be, had a nice tasty dinner, got to play with two Golden Retrievers, then got home without getting lost because I knew the roads. I also Google-mapped the directions from my store to the place I was going tonight and discovered what had happened and where I got confuzzled. I knew I should have gone with the road names/numbers I already was familiar with!

Oh well, at least I got to see some really pretty areas of Northern Virginia!

TWICE in my 7.5 mile drive to work yesterday, I was asked by different people "to turn that shit down." I'm sorry, what? Turn UP my music? Sure!

I had Kenny Chesney blasting. Warm weather + my car = Kenny Chesney albums. At least it's family-friendly country and not some ridiculous rap song. Maybe today I'll blare some Sugarland.

The downside to having a Blackberry? You can't download ring tones from Verizon (I found a way to get them from a website, but I'm still deciding on what I want to get). Oh, and I have to pay my step-dad $30 a month for unlimited email and Internet access. But I guess that's a small price to pay for having a pretty, shiny, brand new Blackberry Storm!

I'm currently playing on the computer while emailing my mom from the phone. Weird, yes, but I'm starting to see why it's been nicknamed a Crackberry. I'm also putting in all my calendar info so that I don't have to carry around my obnoxious planner anymore! I could be here for a few hours.

I'm not sure which day out of the week I least look forward to. I think it depends on what I have to DO on any given day that determines if I'm looking forward to it. As for the one I most anticipate, that's easy - whatever my one day off happens to be!

I have $4.11 left on an iTunes gift card. I'm out of ideas as to what more to download since I already have a TON of music. So, give me some suggestions! No pop, no whiny rock, nothing like that....I'm kind of in the mood for some real ROCK.

I just accepted a promotion at work! I'll be working in Leesburg, VA, just outside of DC starting in about a week. Oh, and I'll be looking to move closer to work in April! The big question now is - what is there to do in Frederick, MD? And is anyone willing to help out with the move when the time comes?

I'll likely be working 6 to 7 days a week for the next few months. Seems like I'm going to have my work seriously cut out for me!

I barely slept at all last night. I can't wait to get home. I can't wait for today to be over!