My Favorite Things: Bead Up

I LOVE jewelry and crafts and all things handmade and beautiful. I LOVE that Esty opens up  doors for fabulous artists who want to make their dream a reality.

One of my amazingly talented sorority sisters, Christyn  recently opened her shop Bead Up and has generously donated one of her best selling items.

Bead Up

Choose from Live, Love, Laugh, Hope, Dream, Believe.

So now the rules…

1.  Leave a comment telling me your favorite item from Christyn’s shop.
2. If you post about this contest on your blog or twitter  you will get an additional entry. You must leave a second comment with the link to your blog saying that you did!
3. You do not need to have a blog to enter, just a valid email address and a willingness to give me your info to ship you the book.
4. All entries must be in by Thursday, May 7th at midnight. I will announce the winner Friday, May 8th! Get excited!!

So what are you waiting for??? GO to Bead Up…NOW!!

Springtime Luvin’

Hello my long lost blog friends! I’m so sorry that I’ve been MIA lately. Work is sucking the life out of me and spring just seems to be a pretty busy time of the year.  When I saw that Jules was the only one keeping things afloat around here I was so embarrassed. My blog needs some good lovin’.Although I’ve been swamped, I have a few new additions to my life that seem to be making things better/ easier/ more fun lately.

 

Exhibit A: New Coffee Maker.

My Savior

I know that this sounds crazy, but above coffee maker changed my world! I can’t begin to tell you how great it is to wake up to fresh coffee. It’s so much better than waiting and has been helpful in getting my day off on the right start.  Best $40 ever spent!

Exhibit B: Closet Store Solutions

I was on the verge of throwing all my shoes out the window due to my frustration with my closet storage. Then a friend introduced me to Neat Containers.  Pretty much the greatest storage solution every, clear containers that turn your closet in to a perfect shoe dresser!  Go to the site and check it out.

Exhibit C: Home Movies

 

I invested in a FLIP cam.  (Of course mine is pink.) I haven’t had a lot of time to play around with it yet, but I think it’s going to be a great investment for the future of this blog. Once I become a bit better, I’ll be sure to share with you. Right now they all look like “Blair Witch Project” material.

Exhibit D:Say Hey by Michael Franti

 

I am seriously in LOVE with this song. It just makes me want to roll down the windows in my car and dance!

PS- If you can tell me about a great summer song that I just have to have for my Zumba classes that I don’t have yet, I will gift you this song on iTunes.

Exhibit E: Tomorrows Giveaway!!! Get excited!!!

What have you been loving lately that I just HAVE to know about??

MMM v.8: A Silver Lining…by Jules

Mr. Grabby Pants

Now I can’t speak for all ladies but a piece of advise as it pertains to me, a guy doesn’t need to spend a lot of money on dinner to impress me.  I could care less whether my meal is $100 or $10; what matters most is that a guy puts some real thought and creativity into planning an evening for us.  So when my big Wednesday date chose TGIFridays as our destination, you can imagine my first disappointment (no points for originality).

Then….ahhh the beauty of technology!  Now-a-days, a total frog can make themself appear like a prince in a picture with the right lighting, angulation, and cropping.  My first red flag should have been that he only sent one picture.  To my dismay, once again I fell victim to creative editing and was duped into a 2 hour long dinner with a man who wasn’t attractive at all.

To his credit, he was a very nice guy.  Potentially, a really good catch for some girl down the road.  Then we got to the parking lot…. In the words of Miss Keri Hilson:

“now wait a minute lil busta u got one more time to feel on my booty,
better recognize a lady that aint the way u do me, ya turnin me off.”

Yup you got it! Mr. Grabby Pants went right for it, a two handed grab on my booty!  Then, when I asked him to stop, he giggled and went at it again!!!  After he got done hanging on me, and molesting the goods, he tried to go in for the kill…. NO WAY JOSE!  No kisses for this one, and as a matter of fact, no more phone calls either.

Game over A Watched Pot Never Boils

I’ve had it, I’m giving up!  I’ve lost almost all hope and I’m tired of this emotional abuse I continue to enovoke upon myself.  This week I considered offering a randsome to anyone that can find me the man of my dreams….then I went out Saturday night.  Armed with my I-don’t-give-a-damn attitude, low key outfit, and low maintenance hair/make up, I went out to meet up with a group of friends. 

Eventually our group fizzled out and another group of my friends showed up so I went with them.  I was so pleased when this gorgeous new man joined us.  I knew I had to talk to him.  After a few hours we locked eyes, smiled and the rest is history.  We spent all evening talking and later that night he walked me to my car.  He took my number and suggested that we get coffee or drinks soon.  I haven’t been able to wipe the smile off my face since.  Here is a preview: this is a picture of me and a couple of the girls I was with.  New Big Sexy is in the background at our table.

It’s not a good picture but at least you get the idea.  I really hope he calls but only time will tell. 

MMM v. 7: Home, home on the range….by Jules

Farmer Pete

It keeps getting better and better folks!  This week my match was described to me as:

• Name: Mike
• Age: 29
• Description: light brown hair, blue eyes, 5′8″, rugged
• Occupation: Computer Programer

As Mike walked in to Jackson’s (20 minutes late) I thought, “Thank God, at least this one is cute.” And then he opened his mouth:

Mike (in a very angry tone): “I’m Mike”

Julie: “Hi Mike, its nice to meet  you”

Mike (in a very angry tone): “Sorry I’m late, this A** Hole customer kept me on the phone for 30 minutes.”

Julie: “That’s ok, did you have a bad day?”

Mike: *launches into a 5 minute angry rant full of expletives.

Not exactly the best start to a date right?  To give Mike some credit, he did calm down after 5 minutes and he was able to shake his anger and have a great conversation.  However, once we got to talking, I quickly realized the information I had been given on Mike was incorrect.  He was no computer programer, he serviced John Deer tractors!  And even better he had been raised on a farm where they raised and slaughtered cows and pigs, and grew corn and other vegetables. 

Even though there was definitely an attraction and the conversation was interesting, our lifestyles are definitely different.  He wants to move to Kentucky within a year, live the country life, and raise a family.  However, I’m no country girl and I’m not in the business of wasting anyone’s time so I probably will not be seeing Farmer Pete again.

It’s Just NOT Lunch

This week I found my own date! When SJ introduced me, she mentioned that I had tapped out Match.com.  I thought that I had too until I continued to get emails in my account.  Out of curiousity, I signed up for a 3-Day trial.  No good potentials were in my inbox but within a few hours a mystery man with no picture sent me a “wink.”  It just so happened that he was online when I read his profile so I went out on a limb and IM’ed him.  We chatted for a while and he emailed me pictures.  To my surprise he is super CUTE!!!!!

Here are is stats:

• Name: Jon
• Occupation: Corporate Asset Manager
• Appearance: 5′10″ and cute!
• Education: BA from Penn State, MBA from Pitt

We had our first phone date tonight (Sunday) and I can’t wait to talk to him again.  We have plans to go out on Wednesday, location TBD.  I’m really excited about this one, much more so than any of my IJL dates so far.  He is so nice, really cute, well educated, with a great job, outgoing, social, and most importantly…..he thinks I’m pretty and isn’t affraid to tell me so! 

After 3 years of failed dates and potential relationships, I’m always afraid that guys won’t like me.  I hope he thinks that our phone date went as well as I did, and that he still wants to meet me on Wednesday.  When do you think is too soon to call him again?   

MMM v. 6: Meet Ups and Mini Breaks…by SJ

Hello Loves. Sorry that Jules didn’t get a chance to have her regularly scheduled MMM post, but she’s been traveling loads and hasn’t had any new dates. But have no fear, she’ll be back next week with some juice on her latest!

For those of you who don’t know, Jules and I talk about 100 times a day, but we don’t live near each other and only get together a few times a year. Part of her travels were coming to visit me and a mini break down to Charleston, SC a few weekends ago to “Get Over It” (aka- The Cooper River Bridge Run).  Jules and our other far away work friend P2 became BSR’s while running their 1st 10k!!!

BSR's Peggy, SJ and Jules with the Drinking/ Running Club of FL

I miss my buddies so much! Thank goodness for phones, bbm and email!

But have no fear there will be more SJ and Jule’s meet up stories soon because….WE’RE GOING TO GRAND CAYMAN ISLAND in May!!! Whoot Whoot!

I’m going to Zumba on the beaches of GCI! AHHHH!!!!!!!!! And Jules is coming along for the ride! It’s going to be the best time! I can’t wait.

Back to your regularly scheduled MMM next week!

xo

 

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from Not Your Plain Jane!!!

xxxo,

 SJ and Soph Dog

PS- Just want you all to know how much I HATE it when she dresses me up like this!

That’s Not My Name

I adore the Ting Tings song “That’s Not My Name”. My favorite part is when he says Jane…which is really not my name, just part of it! But that’s not the point of this post…

I think it may have been an early 80’s fad to drop the “h” in Sara , but I’ve grown to love it. When I was younger it didn’t bother me all that much when people didn’t spell my name correctly, but as an adult, it’s become one of my biggest pet peeves!

I don’t mind so much when my customers mess up in the beginning, but it seems like they aren’t the one with the problem. The problem lies with my co-workers, and only the co-workers that already get under my skin that can’t seem to get it right.

It kills me. Seriously. This is why…

1. When searching for my name in our company data base, I am listed as S-A-R-A

and

b. I sign off all emails as S-A-R-A

It’s not a hard thing to do. As sales reps, it’s our job to notice the little things in life.

I’ve debated on how to address this issue, and this is where I turn to you my readers for help.

Do I…

a. Let it go? – I fear that if I do this I will be angry with them for something else and explode and say, “Why would I expect you to get it right when you can’t even spell my name correctly?”. This would not be good for my sanity or career.

b. Start adding an unnecessary extra “h” to their name,  like “Thanks Dough” instead of “Thanks Doug”? I think this may be my best idea yet.

c. Act like a grown up and politely tell them that they are spelling my name incorrectly and that I would appreciate if they corrected them self?  No fun, and honestly it can be hard not to come off like a snooty beast via email.

d. Plan B…this is where you tell me your ideas!

Help me blogosphere, before I go mad, take plan A or B…

How can you not LOVE this?

Any one who is my Facebook friend knows that I have developed a passion for Zumba Fitness over the last year. I love it so much that I started teaching in December. A friend of mine who I did some photos with before, Amy Free, did some shots for the Zumba company that I work for. Here is a preview…

There have been some anti-Zumba posts floating around the blogosphere, and I undersand that some people don’t share the love of movement the same way that I do. But if you’ve never tried a class before, you need to. And if you don’t love it, try another instructor before giving up!

So I can hear you all asking, “What’s Zumba?” Zumba is a fitness program that incorporates International rhythms and fitness. So you do all different types of dancing: salsa, meringue, samba, bhangra, belly, cumbia, even some hip hop! With hot moves and bangin’ music, Zumba is more like a dance party than a workout.  The instructor should be telling you what do do next by showing you…NOT verbally cuing you like traditional fitness. This takes a lot of people a class or two to get used to, but once you do it’s so much more fun!

I had a few friends doubt the fitness level of the class because of it’s dance based choreography, but I’ve seen amazing results not only in my students, but in myself as well. I haven’t been in this good of shape since my glory days early college! I’d rather “Shake it like Shakira” (thanks Brandy) than go to the gym ANY day! You can find a class near you by searching the Zumba site by zip code. If you’re in NC, you can get my schedule here.

Weekend Wisdom…

K: “SJ, he’s adorable! Why don’t you jump on that?”

SJ Thinking: Umm….you have no idea…

SJ: “Among other reasons, he’s non-committal.”

K: “One day soon, he’ll catch the bug…until then, HOVER!”

 

MMM v. 5: Common Courtesy….By Jules

No I will not have sex with you

As expected, my French friend Luc (AKA Pierre), offered great stories and provided a unique perspective on life.  Its too bad he wasn’t remotely attractive.  The allure to IJL is that they set you up on a no-pressure first date; either lunch or an after-work drink.  In either circumstance, the expectation is to go dutch.

After we had fulfilled our IJL obligation (one after-work drink) Pierre asked me to have dinner.  Since I was enjoying the conversation I agreed.  I believed I was putting off the “friend vibe” but as the date came to a close I noticed him starting to lean in toward me, a sure sign that he was interested.   I excused myself to the ladies room and came back to our bill sitting on the table.  He looked it over, placed his credit card inside, and passed it to me expecting me to split the check!!!!! CHIVALRY IS DEAD!  

If there had been a chance at any point, that went out the window when he made me pay for my own dinner after he initiated it.  As we walked toward the lobby, he stopped me and grabbed my hand.  As if I wasn’t already turned off enough, he said:

Pierre: “Julie, I’ve have a really great time and I think you are a great girl.”

Julie: *smile

Pierre: “Do I think we will be long-term boyfriend and girlfriend????  Probably not… but I’d like you to come back to my place for one more drink.”

Julie: *jaw drops to the ground

ARE YOU KIDDING ME! At least buy me dinner before you ask me to have sex with you.  And here I thought the French were supposed to be romantic….  Another on bites the dust.

Date post-mortem

After each date I am expected to call into my date coordinator, Jen,  to discuss the positive and negatgive attribues of my date.  Jen was surprised to hear that it hadn’t gone well.  I started by telling her the story above.  She laughed hysterically and couldn’t believe he acted that way.  However, she took offense when I asked her if she had seen pictures of him before she set us up. 

Jen: “Yes, I see pictures of all the men before I set you up.  Why?”

Julie: “Well, because you and I must have very different taste in men.”

Jen: “Wow! You didn’t think Luc was good looking?”

Julie: “I’m sorry Jen, but I didn’t find him even remotely attractive.”

Jen: “Wow, you must have different taste than me…and everyone else!”

WHAT?!?! I though I was paying IJL to be supportive and to find me what I’m looking for.  I have demanded that we go back to the quality-not-quantity model of dating.  There are no new dates for me this upcoming week and I will wait patiently until they find me what I’m looking for, physically and socially.