i need to vent.

wednesday is my monday, awful!
i work wednesday through sunday. if there is one thing in life at the moment that brings me down it is my job!
i would love to find a new job one of these days (soon).

when i leave work at 5 on sundays, i'm usually quite annoyed that i had to work all weekend while everyone else was out with friends watching football, or shopping, or getting manis and pedis, just anything but working. sure, i get days to do those things as well, but not with my friends! not like a normal person...AH!

so anyway, i work at an up-market, high end contemporary italian furniture store as a design consultant. i am 100% commission (gagg)!! with the economy, we haven't been doing as horrible as one might think, but we haven't been doing awesome either. over thanksgiving, my entire family came to dallas b/c if they didn't, i wouldn't have been able to spend the holiday with them b/c i only had the one day off of work. everyone rolled into town on wednesday night and we all went to dinner when i got off work at 7. then thursday...YAY! i was off work! next comes friday...while my entire family hung out all day, watched LSU football (sad story this season :( !! ), ate, drank, played, danced, cooked, all those fun things!...you guessed it, i had to work! friday was SOOOOO SLOW! black friday is NOT meant for furniture and we should all be closed! needless to say, i was in the worst mood possible for the remainder of the weekend b/c we were just dead and yet we all had to be here working, while not getting paid (that whole commission thing!).

so my weekend finally rolls around and i didn't do anything but get my eyebrows waxed,start this crazy blog world thing!, and laundry. my main focus was to get out of my funk b/c it's very hard to spark new business when you are feeling blah about what you do. i watched movies, tv shows, SATC (sex and the city)...anything to help cheer me up! last night (tuesday night) all i could think about was how i was going to show up at work today, on my monday, and be positive...think positive, act positive, and stay motivated (ha, and here i am writing a blog). "it's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me...and i'm feeling good!" (michael buble) all was going well, until now...it's 5p, and i have only helped ONE customer today! ONE CUSTOMER!!! and...i am here until 7! are you kidding me?

i need motivation! does anyone else have days like this? if so, what do you do to get out of the mood?

mailbox yumminess :)

i just went to the mailbox to get the not so fun envelope that had my rent amount in it..ICK!
but, it also had my new issue of Cooking Light magazine :) yes!!

on the front cover was this divine holiday treat that i must share with you!

HOT CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKES



i have not made this yet (obviously) but i can not wait to try it!

Recipe:

These hot-from-the-oven desserts are ideal for a holiday celebration and can mostly be made up to two days ahead.

Yield

10 servings (serving size: 1 cake)

Ingredients

• 3.4 ounces all-purpose flour (about 3/4 cup)
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 5 teaspoons instant espresso powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup egg substitute
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 (2.6-ounce) bar dark (71% cocoa) chocolate (such as Valrhona Le Noir Amer), finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

Preparation

1. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Sift together flour, cocoa, espresso powder, baking powder, and salt.

2. Place butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed 1 minute. Add granulated and brown sugars, beating until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add egg substitute and vanilla, beating until well blended. Fold flour mixture into sugar mixture; fold in chocolate. Divide batter evenly among 10 (4-ounce) ramekins; arrange ramekins on a jelly-roll pan. Cover and refrigerate 4 hours or up to 2 days.

3. Preheat oven to 350°.

4. Let ramekins stand at room temperature 10 minutes. Uncover and bake at 350° for 21 minutes or until cakes are puffy and slightly crusty on top. Sprinkle evenly with powdered sugar; serve immediately.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

260 (28% from fat)

Fat:

8.2g (sat 4.5g,mono 2.3g,poly 0.2g)

Protein:

5.1g

Carbohydrate:

43.9g

Fiber:

1.8g

Cholesterol:

12mg

Iron:

2.3mg

Sodium:

189mg

Calcium:

63mg

picture and recipe courtesy of cooking light

connected...FINALLY!

a little over a year ago, my boy and i (yes, i live in sin) moved into a new apartment. this tiny little place is perfect for us. i love it love it. it's small, but oh so cozy. besides the lack of space (more like lack of storage) all is great with one MAJOR exception....NO CELL SERVICE!!

my boy is in real estate and works from home. he has to leave his cell outside on the patio so that he can hear it ring. for me it's very funny seeing him constantly jumping up from the table to run out the door to answer his phone :)

me? well, i don't so much NEED cell service in the apartment...but i'm a girl, and what girl doesn't want her life line, at ALL times??!! thank you. my days off are monday/tuesday every week which normally consist of me doing laundry, going grocery shopping, catching up on my shows, and playing on the internet. i hate my days off because i never have anyone to hang out with since i don't have a normal weekend :( and i'm not one for a lot of alone time (right, e?)!

last week with work, i had a huge problem arise with a client coming in and no one could reach me (they failed to remember i have a home number--which is a whole other issue). due to no one remembering to call my home number, i lost 1/2 of a HUGE sale! (i work retail and get paid 100% commission).

now the good part of the story...today...not only did i figure out how to do a call forward from my cell to my home number, we also got long distance AND caller ID! before, we had a land line, but no long distance because we were not interested in paying for it. but now....WE ARE CONNECTED!!

PS ... if any of you are in the DFW metroplex and are looking for a home, hit me up and i'll pass you along to my boy, sean. he'd love to help!

twenty-seven to be exact

on november 12th, i celebrated my 27th birthday.
yea...i know. OLD.

i have friends all over the dallas metroplex and wanted to figure out a way for everyone to be able to come. i ended up with a fantastic turnout (my middle brother and his girl even drove in from the port city!). we celebrated in grapevine, tx - a fabulous, cute, quaint little town - b/t dallas and ft. worth. the bar's name is lazy bones. music, darts, foosball, drinks, and friends...the night couldn't have been better! we basically took this little, local bar over and ended up shutting it down at 2...wow! been a while since i've done that.

i had work friends, childhood friends, new friends and sean's friends....it was SOO fun.
here are some of my favorite pictures of the evening...


on my actual bday, my boy took me to dinner at tillman's roadhouse.
my friend/co-worker sent this cake to the restaurant and i was totally surprised!
this is me on the phone thanking her for the cake...how ironic was it that i shot the sheriff was playing!


this is me with my middle brother, can you tell we're related?


amanda, melanie, and myself dancing...or something?


sean (my boy), a richie, a hooper, scott....AND me

i loooooove birthdays!

here i am...

for a while now, i've been obsessed with reading certain blogs. i will start reading one, then i click to another, and another. my boyfriend thinks i'm crazy and can't understand what i like about them so much. it all started with my best friend at blue eyed bride. She has been blogging for over a year now and i love reading what's going on in her world since we live so many miles away :( i miss her so much, but thanks to technology, we are able to keep up with one another. love you, e!!
here's a picture from the good old days, carolina cup....

(that's me on the right)

SO, with that said...HERE I AM!