Leap Day

Unless you've been completely separated from the world and every type of media outlet today, you would know that it's Leap Day.

...As well as hump day... 

But let's not get sidetracked.

To me, it seems like everyone thinks today is some sort of holiday. Let me be clear: it is NOT.

Christmas and Easter are holidays. Even freaking flag day is a holiday.

A mere left over day from extra hours accumulated over a four year timeframe, does not constitute a holiday type celebration!

You can call me a grouch. You can even call me a sourpuss (yes, I am an old fart at heart).  But I've got to say, I am not a fan of Leap Day.

Ok, I have no idea what's up with the rhyming, it's spilling out of me like word vomit. But I promise to keep the Dr. Seuss lingo to a minimum for the rest of this post :)

Obviously my day was crappy. I'm talking "one-contact-out" and "coffee-all-in-my-purse" crappy. And, no, I'm not a moron, I know that my bad luck today has nothing to do with the fact that it's leap day.

Regardless, I'm choosing to believe that all this nonsense was because of a stupid day that comes (thankfully) every four years.

And not because I stayed in bed longer than I should have this morning to snuggle with my gorgeous husband. No that's definitely not why....

Ah well. Cheers!

Adventures before April: 2

Hello all!!

Now that I’m finally starting to feel settled in with my new job and a new routine, I promise to make my posts much less sporadic and much more consistent! 

I also wanted to thank everyone for all the love and encouragement when hearing the news of my new job. Ya’ll are so sweet, thank you :)

In other news, Mr. C and I have been trying to cram as many adventures as possible in the remaining weekends before his deployment. I realize it’s been a while since I’ve posted an Adventure before April Post, and I was surprised to figure out that this one only makes two. 

Yikessss.

That’s a big my bad on my part and I’ve made a mental note to be more consistent on that too! I’m a work in progress, people!

I digress…

This past weekend Mr. C and I took Ro back to his favorite place ever: Da Dog Beach!! He was in heaven and it was adorable, as usual. Except for when he would attack random strangers with kisses but, hey, no one's perfect.

Afterwards, Mr. C and I finally visited the SAFARI PARK! We had heard so many awesome things about the place and, let me tell you, it definitely lives up to its hype! 

It was also a perfect opportunity to use the handy dandy camera. Double plus! 

If you happen to be in the area or live here and hadn't had the chance to visit yet, I highly recommend you do! So much fun!!

Until next time...

For Sorry's and Safaris,

Back in Action!

Hi friends!

First, let me apologize for not posting in, what feels like, forever! As some of you may know, I was recently offered a position as a senior consultant with the consulting firm, Booz Allen Hamilton. Within days of accepting, I promptly flew off to the East Coast for their week-long training.

Lucky for me, the training was in Virginia where, it just so happens, my family lives too! Family, who I haven't seen since the wedding... That's five about five months.

Obviously I was ecstatic with this news!

My days were spent in class, while my nights were spent with my family and friends that were available. It was fabulous. And just what I needed.

Needless to say, there wasn't much time left in my days to post.

But I'm back now, a new job AND a new car later. The in-laws came in the weekend before my flight out for training and helped me in my first car shopping experience.

Check out the new wheels I decided on...

It's a Mazda 6! Ain't she a beauty?

My first day at the San Diego office begins tomorrow, so I've got to get back to prepping myself mentally/not sleeping from excitement and anxiety!!

But before I go I've got to mention my baby Roland at least once.

On my trip back home, my flight had a layover in Colorado and I thought I'd surprise Mr. C and Ro with some knick-knacks from my trip. Here's a picture of the knick-knack I gave Roland, a mere day later:

That's my boy!

Until next time...

For family and new wheels,

Weekend Recap!

Hi friends! 

As some of you may have heard through various other social media sites (can't keep anything on the DL these days obviously) I've finally landed a job! If you've been keeping up with my posts, you should know that this has been an ongoing worry of mine and this job offer is nothing short of amazing. And lucky for anyone that reads this blog because now I have one less thing to rant about. Hurray!

After getting the great news yesterday night, the hubs and I celebrated by going out to the new local pizza joint, Flippin' Pizza. It was perfect. And delicious.

Did I mention they also serve wine with their pizza? LOVE.

In other news: This past weekend, as promised, Mr. C and Roland took me out to see the gorgeous, and might I add, very plush Orange County. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to take any pictures. Honestly, I was too busy window shopping and drooling over all the fancy-shmancy stores. Keyword being "window"... haven't started that job yet people.

But I did come to some sort of realization while having a mild anxiety attack in the middle of a ridiculously expensive boutique that I should have never walked into in the first place.

Shopping is fun in that it's fun to see what sort of styles are out there and get an idea of things you want to buy in the future (clothes, home decor, accessories, etc). But it's also quite depressing in that you realize how much of it you don't have and probably wouldn't be able to afford it all anyways. It's overwhelming.

Which leads me to my realization: I love shopping, but I hate it.

It's like my love, hate relationship with pinterest. I mean, I'm obsessed with it. But really, when will I ever be able to afford a lavish home with an entrance like this:

Source: Uploaded by user via Kirsten on Pinterest

Or a phenomenal kitchen like this:

Source: houzz.com via Kirsten on Pinterest

The correct answer is: Probably never.
But hot damn do I fantasize about it. It's just depressing when I put it into a realistic perspective. Oh well gotta get back to daydreaming about walk-in closets...

Until next time!

For Employment and Epiphanies,

Oh Happy Day!

Let me just preface this post with a warning: If you are a debbie downer and/or are easily annoyed by upbeat people, you should probably close out of this blog right now. Today, I am in the BEST mood and I will not refrain myself to try to seem cool and collected.

There are two reasons why this day has put me in such a splendid mood:

The first being that I have another job interview tomorrow!

Can I get a Hallelujah?

Not to sound like a broken record or to repeat the obvious to anyone else thats been on the job hunt 24/7, but it's a dead out there (not to mention SUPER depressing).

Whoever said "it's all about who you know" was seriously spot on. Literally the only positions where I have even made human contact are from those jobs where I had a friend, (or friend-of-a-friend, etc.) vouch for my credibility to someone in the company. Without mentions like that, I feel like one could be on the job hunt for years. It's torture.

Needless to say, this interview is wonderful news (and a much needed self-esteem booster). So props to me on that feat.

The second reason is that Mr. C has semi-surprised me with a trip to Orange County/L.A. this weekend!

Yes, it is partially because there is a gun show going on this saturday in those whereabouts, but I'll take what I can get! I've been dying to make a trip up that way and this weekend is it!

Source: socialmediatoseo.com via Kirsten on Pinterest

I've already started planning out every moment of our trip and found the most fabulous shopping area. Fashion Island! And of course, I will be bringing my handy-dandy camera with me for any and all photo-ops!

That's it for now! Have a fabulous day and pass on these good vibes!

For Interviews and Road Trips,

Rainy Day Blues

Happy Tuesday all! 

For the past couple days I've been in an odd funk and I'm quite certain it has something to do with all the rain we've been having. The fact that San Diego has seen this much rain is, in itself, completely bizarre.

I know, I know... poor me, blah blah. I'm not shooting for sympathy here just stating truths.

Regardless, I am now reminded how much the weather can affect my mood. Maybe it's Seasonal Affective Disorder, or more likely, the rainy day blues. Either way, I plan to pull myself out of this state by reliving all of my sunny adventures through my photography. Also it will give me a chance to upload all of the photos I've taken yet have procrastinated posting.

Boom! Thats called multitasking people!

Enjoy! :)

Carlsbad Beach

Hiking Trail at Lake Dixon

Pacific Beach

San Marcos Trail

Check out the rest of shots on my photo page here. That's it for now!

For Procrastination and Photos,

An Ode to Mommies Everywhere

Earlier this past week, I was able to meet up with an old co-worker downtown for drinks. She had come in from Virginia for a work conference in San Diego and I was ecstatic when I heard the news! It's nearly been five months since seeing her and I'm always excited to see a friendly face! (She is also the reason I got my last promotion when she continually pushed for me and sang my praises throughout the office. SO, yes, she's a favorite of mine for sure!)

As one would expect, we got straight to catching up. We talked about our families, shared a little bit of gossip (Hey, I'm only human) and she filled me in on how the office was these days. Among our catching up she asked me something that seems simple, a legitimate question, but I couldn't give her an answer. 

"So what do you do now?"

Welp. That's a good question. What the hell do I do all day. There's still a few hours a day being spent on telework, but other than that.... (???) So I thought and thought, and without trying to bore the conversation into my daily play by play, I simply told her we got a dog and quickly changed the subject. Pretty easy to do, considering... I mean, just look at this face. 

But back to the issue: What do I do all day? Without a steady full-time job it would seem like I have TONS of free time to lounge and relax. (Clarification: I rarely do either of those things. The latter being obvious to anyone that knows me. Not stressing is not one of my strong points) 

But I digress... I don't feel overly relaxed or bored with my days like an unemployed-stay-at-home-wife might seem. Quite the opposite, actually. Between teleworking, applying for roughly 450,687 jobs, and taking Roland out to play every two hours, there's always something else I need to do, something else I need to clean, or organize, or file, or pick up... I can keep going. 

My point is not to be a dramatic whine or to suggest that I don't love every second of my life. I'm so blessed and so grateful for all of it, and it's possible that I'm stressed because I am a stressed out freak. My point that I am trying to make is that if I'm constantly going and I'm technically, unemployed, and without children... what does that say about the mothers out there?

To be blunt: How the hell did our mothers do it? And for those of you just catching on, by "it" I'm referring to "everything", obviously. I've always known that my mother is wonderful, I just never understood fully or could relate to it all. 

My Momma with me and my sister

So get off your tush, and if you're near the woman that brought you into this world, give her a hug and tell her you love her. Hopefully, I'll be able to do this myself soon!

Until next time...

For Gossip and Mommies,