It's the weekend.

typical morning

Upon some morning reflections over coffee with my absolute favorite coffeemate creme brulee creamer, I have decided that this is definatley it. This is the blog I will keep and maintain and nurture, hopefully for years to come. I am on a serious mission to bring more order to my life and I think routinley keeping a written log of my thoughts and comings and goings will be a big step in that direction.

That being said, time is not something I have a lot of. My usual days go something like 6am wake up, work from 8:30am until anywhere from 5pm to 12am, then passing out without taking my make up off. No explanation necessary on how exhausted I am after a 14 hour day, and even when I'm off at 5:00 pm there is ususally no energy left for coherent writing after cleaning or errands or friend time.

School will be back in session soon however which will give me a lot more time at the computer, and the aforementioned jobs do provide me with lunch breaks and down time. So that is when I will blog.

What am I doing all day at these jobs you ask? Absolutely loving life. After a lot of hard work and mistakes I have managed to get to a really good place in my life. One aspect that was never dificult for me to master or excell at however is work. I love to work. Dont get me wrong, I love money. A lot. I love to shop and eat out so working is a necessity to me. But more than that I love the sense of accomplishment and validation I get when completing a project or knowing I truley contributed to an organization. Even if that organization is just a wing joint :)

I have worked at Roosters for almost two years now. If you are not familliar it's like a Frickers or BW3's or Hooters. I love it there. My coworkers are some of my best friends and our management staff is supreme. I drive them crazy and I complain a lot more than I should, but I am so thankful to have a place I can go to make money that will work with my school and internship schedules unconditionally. Shout out to Roosters for keeping a roof over my head while I try to hustle my way through UC!

I also currently intern in the public relations office at UC's Academic Health Center. This is by far the most enjoyable place of employment I've experienced. My boss and the other employees in the office are so friendly and helpful. They are also amazing writers and I'm elated about having such awesome people in my network. The fact that they pay me to edit, update websites, and write is almost unbelievable to me. I do these things for fun anyway, so it is definatley my dream job.

ANYWAY

That is where I work. For now. Two new internships coming for the fall, but I wont get into that just yet.

I am a firm believer in the term work hard, play harder. What is it they say?

(I keep this on my windowsill)

So I do find some time for fun too. This usually consists of exploring the streets of Cincinnati with my friends, reading, trips home to Dayton or my absolute favorite and most addictive hobby: shopping.

I love to shop. I do not see it as simply buying clothes. I see it as collecting wearable art. Clothes say so much about a person, escpecially in the public relations industry. A lot of people probably dont agree with that, but I believe if I expect someone to trust me with their image, mine better be damn good. All the worlds a stage, life is a fashion show, all that. I eat it up.

But let's pull in the reigns a little. I am not rich. I do not have thousands to spend on all the georgeous pieces of art that taunt me from the store windows at Kenwood, so I improvise. I am an expert shopper. Name any item, color, style, and I will tell you where to find it and how much it's going to cost you. I know which stores have the best clearances when. I pride myself on good finds. My latest love is online shopping.

This will be my first official blog attempt to give advice. Hopefully, someone actually reads this and it helps.

Online Shopping Tips

1.Retail Me Not

AMAZING website. Retain me not is a wonderful site I pick up tons of coupons from. You can type in any brand or store, and it will provide you with online offer codes that other users have submitted. It also tells you which ones work the best, how long they last and so on. Somtimes they're a bust, but I have gotten 25% off or free shipping on more than one occassion.

2. Endless

Another fabulous find. One of my best friends Megan and I share a love for shopping. I can't remember if she told me about this site, or I her, but it's one of our favorites.

I love this site for many reasons.

a. Multiple brands. They have a wide variety of brands and price ranges so you can find what you need no matter what.

b. Multiple search options. If you are a freak of nature like myself, it can be hard to find sizes. Endless allows you to search by size, price, brand, or color, all at the same time. This is invaluable when searching for the perfect item.

c. Discounts. Almost all of the items I've purchased from endless have had free shipping, sometimes even free two day or overnight! Also invaluable to the avid online shopper.

I could go on, but just check it out for yourself.

3. Don't judge a book by its cover.

Now I have no idea what the official retail policy is on this, but I often find much better deals on the web than I do in the mall. It's also easier to brease through a website than it is scour the stores.

I have a favorites list of my favorite store's clearance sections. I check it often, and I also check frequently to see what online offer codes/discounts the store is providing. This is a GREAT time to start doing this since things always go on sale when the seasons are changing.

So there it is. My top three tips for online shopping. Here are some of my favorite shopping destinations I know have awesome clearance sections.

Metro Park
Nordstrom
Victoria's Secret
Urban Outfitters
White House Black Market

So not that you have the overview on my work situation and one of my favorite non work activities, I will close with the two themes I'm trying to integrate in my life and will undoubtedly be talking about frequently here.

The quest for global domination.

Also known as graduating and finding a job.

I will soon begin my last year of undergrad, so it's now or never. Last chance to raise my GPA and get all that I can out of the college experience, academically and socially. I must also soon begin the search for a job in the public relations world. That may be here in Cincinnati, but maybe not. I am definitely a midwest/east coast kind of girl, that thats the only limitation to my search. Chicago? New York? Maybe even somewhere a little south? This and much more will be explored in the months to come.


The quest for balance and calm.

I currently posses neither of these things. I will never be calm. I am a mile-a-minute kind of person. But instead of being the storm, I'd like to at least be more "eye of the storm". Have some sense of calm and regularity at my center. I believe this is crucial.

I hope to accomplish the above by:

-creating a budget/saving money


-making my home more beautiful and functional

My new sheets :) If I can find other things this exact color to coordinate, it will be a miracle.

-following a schedule


-keeping my car/house clean and orderly

This is obviously unacceptable.

-consistently eating healthy and working out


-balancing school, work, family, friends and me time

If I close out my college career regularly doing all of these things, I will truly be unstoppable.

If this is actually possible.... the jury is out.

More to come,