2009, Where The Hell Did You Go?

I know it's been about 2 months since my last blog, but it's not my fault. My computer got the AIDS. Thanks to my genius dad, he cured it like Magic.
Anyway, you know how some people send out Christmas cards with letters recapping their year? I figured I'd blog a recap of my year. Or what I could remember of it. Some of the year was kind of a blur and I'm getting to my old age where I can't remember everything.
Soooo, here goes...
January: Started off my New Years at my friends' place in Ft. Lauderdale. Popping bottles off the balcony, many games of flip cup and beer pong. Don't know how I made it to work the next day. The end of January, I jumped on a flight to Tampa for the best holiday of the year: Gasparilla! Saw so many old friends and had good times. I actually kinda remember the parade this year! Too bad my aviators didn't make it. May they RIP in the Tampa Bay.

February: Took my vacation! The only one I had all year. My friends and I packed up a couple of cars and road tripped it from Tampa to West Virginia for some snowboarding and skiing. I busted so much ass snowboarding the first day. I had huge bruises going all the way down my back side. Decided on the second day that if I wanted to not break my ass, I would either need to stuff my pants with pillows or try out skiing. I was flying down intermediate courses on skis by the afternoon. I just kept repeating to myself, "Pizza, French fries. Pizza, French fries."

March: Had it's up and downs. Work wasn't all unicorns and rainbows. After being on the New Stores Team for so long, I forgot how to manage a real, running store. I got a kick in the ass from my boss and decided I needed to do something. So, I pulled my shit together and retrained myself. It must have worked because I still have my job and got promoted 6 months later.
It was Spring Break in South Florida, so some friends came down and we had a mini spring break of our own. You're never too old for Spring Break!

April and May: I moved into my new baller ass apartment and was reunited with a friend from the old school new stores team and I ran into a couple of times during my travels. 3 days later, I had a boyfriend. Too bad he lived over 1,000 miles away. As fast as it started, it ended. 2 months later, I found myself 10 pounds lighter, hungover, and heartbroken. He needed to get his shit together, and my shit was already together. We were literally and figuratively in two different places in our lives. So I picked myself up and focused on other things.

June: I spent this month listening to lots of music, watching He's Just Not That Into You too many times, going out with friends, reading, and running. I ran 3, sometimes 6 or even 9 miles a day. I did way too much thinking for my own good.

July: I spent the 4th of July in Tampa. I reunited with some old friends and just laid back and enjoyed life. I went to the beach and pool every day off I had and got my tan on. At the end of the month, I took another spontaneous road trip to Tampa with Beth.

August: Spent this month with all of my Miami friends. Went out way too much in Ft. Lauderdale and South Beach. By the end of August, my boss asked if I would be willing to move to NY. 2 days later, I was repainting my apartment white, packing up boxes, and mapquesting my journey from Miami, FL to Lake Grove, NY.

September: My first month at Smith Haven = the hardest month in my career. Of course Mike Jefferies, the CEO, had to walk into my store on my 6th day of work. In his words, he said he was "heartbroken". I spent most days running around like a chicken with its head cut off, only to leave work and go to my Extended Stay where all the douche bag construction workers harassed me. By the way they acted, you would have thought I was walking around naked or something. Thank God for Sarah to keep me sane! We finally found a place to live and moved in mid September. End of September, Sarah and I took a road trip to Baltimore to move her stuff. We were truckers on the open road. It was all smooth sailing from there on out.

October: My bestest's sister got married and I flew down for the wedding. October 21st I turned 27. Damn I'm old. Was not excited about that, but had an unforgettable birthday in NYC. Spent the whole day doing touristy things around Manhattan. Halloween was definitely unforgettable too. I got in trouble for the first time with the 5-0. Who knew you couldn't drink on the subway? They sell beer right in front of it at Penn Station! Of course we got tickets for drinking 1 beer, but the guidos I saw snorting coke on the LIRR got nothing but a high.

November: November kinda seemed like a blur because it went by so fast. By the time I realized it was even November, it was already over. This Thanksgiving was the first Thanksgiving spent without my mom and dad. I was thankful for my aunt and uncle and their friends for opening their home to Sarah and me.

December: I spent most of my days and nights at my store. Even Christmas. It all paid off though. Mike Jefferies was no longer heartbroken over the store. We had a successful visit. I spent my first Christmas away from my family. I got to go to Florida the weekend before, but it wasn't the same. It was nice to go back though and see some of my family, my bestest and the Hatfield's. I picked the best time to go: during a blizzard. I had to dig my car out of the snow when I got back and drove in the snow for the first time. I have to say, driving in the snow isn't has bad as I thought. Guess I better get used to it. And buy a shovel.

So that was 2009 for me, in summary. I know I've probably forgotten some things, but I will never forget the people that have made my 2009 so awesome. It seems as I get older, the years get shorter. Hopefully 2010 won't fly by like 2009. I'm not getting any younger and I wanna savor my 20's as much as possible. It's almost scary that I don't know where I'll be next year at this time. Last year I never even dreamed I would be living in New York. But it's also exciting to not know where I might be. Maybe NYC, maybe London, maybe back in Florida, somewhere else in Europe or Japan, who knows, maybe I'll be right where I'm at right now. This is just how I live my life: unscripted.

27

27. This is my new age. 3 years away from 30. Almost a decade of being an adult. No longer in my early or mid 20's. Now in my late 20's. Further away from 20 and closer to 30. 2 years more than a quarter of a century. I really can't believe I'm this old. I don't feel 27. I probably don't act 27. I know I definitely don't look 27. Hell, I still have pimples that pop up. What 27 year old still gets acme? Maybe my parents lied about what year I was really born. I think maybe I was born in 1988. I mean, I don't really remember anything before 1988, so who's to say I was born in 1982 when I don't remember it? I feel more like I am 23. I think I look more like a 23 year old. 23 is a great age to be. A lot better than being 27. I think I might start being 23 again. Fresh out of college, got the whole world ahead of me. Don't have to worry about marriage or babies or mortgages. Can do what I want, no one holding me back.
The reality is that I'm not 23. I am 27. 27 with the whole world ahead of me. 27 with no worries about marriage or babies or mortgages. I'm 27 and I can do what I want, with no one holding me back. Most 27 year olds can't really say that. Most 27 year olds that I know are married or getting married or having babies or have toddlers. Or at least are in a committed relationship. There's many times that I ask myself, shouldn't I be doing this? Shouldn't I be planning a wedding and then giving my parents grandchildren soon? But I'm not the typical 27 year old. I chose my career. My independence. My need for adventure and randomness with nothing to stop me. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great if you're 27 with a husband or wife and a couple of kids. I just couldn't picture myself married at this time in my life. So maybe I will be an old maid when I decide to take the plunge, but at least I will be ready for it. Times have changed this day in age anyway. People are getting married and having kids later and later in life. 30 is the new 20, right?

Adios Miami, Hello New York!

It looks as though I need to update this thing. So much has happened since my last blog. I've been so busy that I haven't been able to just sit down and type. Here's an update with my life.

About the middle to end of August, my district manager gets an email saying they desparately needed managers in NY. Knowing that I wanted to live in big cities and didn't enjoy Miami all that much, she asked if I would be willing to relocate. I have always said I would relocate and have named off New York, Vegas, Chicago, international cities, etc. With this company, if you are willing to move, then you usually give yourself more opportunity for promotions. I didn't really think relocating that far would happen though. I knew a few other managers at other stores were up for the position that was available too, so I figured I'd just be stuck in Miami for a while. The next day, my DM tells me I need to find someone to take over my lease on my apartment. Well then, that sounded a little more serious. Could I actually be doing this? Moving over 1,000 miles away? By the end of the week, my DM announced I was the new Bra Manager in Long Island. Wow. I didn't expect this at all. It was all so soon, within 2 days time. And in 1 week from then I would be moving. Driving through 9 states. 3 days of driving. 489 South of the Border billboards. Wow. Thank God for my brother. The trip would have sucked if it weren't for him.

So, here I am. In LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOng IIIIIIIIIIIIIIsland, as the natives call it. I've had people ask me, why Long Island? Well, why not? I've lived in Florida my whole life. Yes, Florida is beautiful, with the greatest beaches, no snow, and where most of my family lives. But Florida also has hurricanes, humidity, and lots of old people. I just need some change, a different environment. Yes, Long Island is quite the extreme of changes, but I gotta live and learn and adjust to different environments and people. I want to be able to go into the city whenever I want, and see the seasons actually change, and learn the ways of the Yanks. I might regret this when I'm freezing my ass off trying to drive to work in the snow while my fellow Floridians are calling me while laying out on the beach, which by the way, I wouldn't be able to answer that phone call while driving or I'd be breaking NY state law. But, I am so ready for this change. Bring it on, New York!

I made some great friends in Miami, and got even more close to the friends I already had down there. I'm gonna miss my awesome roommate Shy. She was the best. I'm gonna miss my Biggie Banal Betty Poo and the friends I made through her. I'm definitely gonna miss my Gilly girls, the best management team ever. I'll most certainly miss Alex and our crazy times at the casino and playing the Wii with him and Sparkles. And I can't forget A. Money, Errol, and Vicki and the fun times in Ft. Laudy. But there's always a flight to Miami whenever I need to get away from the cold and the challenges of my store.

I feel my life has been full of adventures. When I came off the new stores team, I thought my adventures were over, but now I've realized they have just begun.

I'm in Miami, bitch!

How the hell did I end up down here? I thought this to myself after my first trip to South Beach. Some friends and I were walking back to the beach from getting drinks at Starbucks when we saw a topless lady showering herself at the outside showers (you know, the ones that you use to wash off all the beach sand). Yes, I know South Beach is a topless beach, but for a 300 pound 40 year-old lady that you couldn't see her knees because her boobs were in the way? I think I threw up in my mouth at that time.

Well, my new Miami life all began in this magical place called Las Vegas. I was on vacation with two of my teammates and we were just returning back to the Barry Manilow Hotel (or the Hilton) from an awesome night(or early morning) of hanging out in VIP at LAX when my boss called. I decided it probably wouldn't be the greatest of ideas to answer the phone in my state of mind, so I decided to wait until later on after I got some sleep. Being on the New Stores Team, there is a time limit usually lasting a year, and me having been on the team for a year and a half, I knew my call was coming. I liked to think of my boss as being Ryan Seacrest and I, the American Idol contestant being told my journey ended here(which after I ending my phone conversation, I sang my last song, Boys to Men, End of the Road. Pretty sure I was still under the influence from the night's festivities.)

I was offered a position at our newest brand, Gilly Hicks(a bra and undies store by AnF) at Aventura Mall. I knew I would not be living in Tampa after the team. I had been living in Tampa for 6 years, and I needed a change. I had lived in my hometown of Frostproof my whole life, and when I moved to Tampa for college, I knew there was no moving back to my small town. I loved big cities. Not that Tampa is all that big, but it was just big enough for me to get used to living in a bigger and more populated place. I loved living in Tampa, but I needed to move on from my college life.

So, on the 1st of December, with the help of my parents, I loaded up the Trailblazer and started a new journey. A 3 hour journey that landed my nomad life to a life of normalcy and stability. At that point in time, I was ready for my new life. I was tired of eating out every single day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I was tired of waking up and forgetting where the hell I was. I was tired of getting up at 2:30am to make my 6am flight and then working until midnight. But mostly, I was just so damn tired.

Moving to Miami was the biggest adjustment of my life. Okay, maybe moving to Tampa after being sheltered in my 3,000 people town my whole life was a big adjustment, oh and traveling to a new place around the country every single week was even more of an adjustment. In Miami though, I had to adjust in so many ways. I had to adjust to living a normal life again. A normal life of going to the grocery store. Of cooking my own food again. Of paying rent and bills again. Of driving my own car and having to pay for my own gas. Of cleaning up after myself and not having clean towels and my bed made when I came home every night. Of working normal hours and actually getting more than 5-6 hours of sleep each night. Of being in a real running store and helping real customers in a bra store that I had no clue about the product I was trying to sell.

And then, there's Miami. Miami: America's melting pot. My mom warned me. She warned me of the tourists. Of the rudest people you'll ever meet. Of the bad drivers. Of the language barrier. Of sticking out like a sore thumb with my blonde hair and country accent. Of the grocery cart bumping. Of the skipping you in line. Of the non-existence of patience. I didn't listen. She has never lived there, so how did she know? Oh, but how mothers know EVERYTHING!

So, after moving down to this foreign place and getting settled in to my 22nd floor apartment, I knew my life was about to change. At first, I was pretty depressed. I missed traveling to new places every week with all the awesome friends I had made on my team. I missed people watching at airports and leaning against my window on the plane, watching the city I was about to encounter below me. I missed the excitement of new places, new people, new memories, new challenges awaiting me. I missed setting up perfect stores that I would not have to see getting destroyed by hoovering buzzard customers, picking at their clearance priced prey. I missed lobby cocktails(only 3!), racking up Hilton and airline points, and time warping back to Tampa. I missed my baller rock star type of life.

After living here for 7 months now, I think I have finally adjusted to my new life. I still get a little depressed at times and would do anything to be able to travel again, but thank God I had friends here and have made new ones along the way. They make my Miami life fun and every night out down here is a new adventure.



Here's a few pictures from my travels with my team:


Mel, me and Joe in San Antonio, TX. At that point, Mel and I had worked 25 days straight. We definitely needed a night out, even if it was at a couple gay bars. Chris M. gave Joe and me a celebrity name of "Jella" because we were inseparable. Sucks that we're separated so far now :(


Kelly, me, Betzy, and Joy in TN. That openning was way harsh. I worked my longest shift: 8am-2am, and then again 8am-midnight just to get this store open! Loved this team though. The Southern Belles plus Kelly.

What's a hazmat? How do I know if I am driving a hazmat or not? And is Chevy Chase named after the town or is the town named after Chevy Chase? And who the hell is Jack Meoff? Good times in Maryland with Drew, Alex, and Amanda. The Baller Team.

Oh KevEv how I miss you! Shut the front door! Really? Did you really just go crop dusting?

AH VEGAS! Oh how I miss thee. Lobster for breakfast, who does that? And I only lost $4,000 of someone elses money, no biggie. Can't wait for our annual Vegas trip this year!

Who dreams about blogs? Only me...

I finally did it. I finally decided to start my own blog. This may seem weird, but writing a blog actually came to me in one of my crazy dreams. Which in the last book I read, it said that your best ideas come to you when you first awake. I guess this is why some people sleep with a notebook and pen on their nightstand. Maybe I should do that! Then again, if I can't even get up the 5th time my alarm goes off, what makes me think I'm going to lift my head, arms and hand to grab a pen and notebook and start writing some crazy ass idea down that I probably won't even be able to read when I'm conscious? Anyway, after I thought about this whole blog idea, I thought it would be beneficial in 2 ways:

1. For those of you that REALLY know me, you would know that I am a writer. Okay, well kind of a writer. I do love to write, don't get me wrong, but I mostly just have all ideas in that blonde head of mine. Those ideas could potentially be a New York Times Best Seller or win an Oscar one day! Maybe I'm getting a little carried away, but I really need to get these ideas that elude my brain out before I drive myself crazy. Or before I get into my old age(which is sooner than later) and forget them all. Now, I won't be writing my story ideas in my blog(wouldn't want anyone to steal my best sellers or win my Oscars now would I?) but I thought that if I at least write, it would get my writing juices flowing and I could maybe get those ideas written in Word Perfect or some kind of word processor that I might own on this ancient lap top.

2. I'm not a big blog reader, but I think I get the idea. People write about their lives, thoughts, feelings, experiences, post pictures, videos, yada yada yada. The blogs that I've mostly read are from newlyweds that document their first joyful years of married life, or couples experiencing crazy adventures of parenthood. I do love reading these blogs (especially reading about my man baby cousin Jackson!), but what about all the single folks out there? I'm sure there's a few million blogs out there about all the single people, I know I won't be the first or last singleton out there that writes a blog. But, I think I live a pretty interesting life. Yes, my life was far more exciting about a year ago when I was traveling and I probably should have documented all my travels then, but really, I didn't even have the time to call my own mother let alone write a blog. Which I am sure stories from my travels will be in some of my posts. Stories from my travels are a big part of my life and have shaped my life to what it is today. I mention old memories daily, from the lobby cocktails that ended in a snowball fight in the hotel parking lot in Boston, to watching the sunrise in Vegas while eating lobster for breakfast in a suite at the Wynn(okay, that was vacation, but it was with my teammates!) I'm sure stories from my past I will be writing about, but my life at the present is just as exciting(umm, okay, probably not, but I will do everything I can to make it sound like it!)

So, there you go! I hope you like what you read and I don't offend anyone. My mouth can be like a sailor sometimes, but I will try to censor myself as much as I can, at least for my mom's sake so she doesn't wash my mouth out with the Palmolive next time I see her!