Working from home, with toddler in tow part 3

You can catch up on my decision to try and keep my 1yr old home with me while I work and read how our first day went.

Im going to try to wrap the next two days up into a quick summary, as they were honestly quite the same as the first day, with only a couple differences.

Lets start by saying that the number one thing I noticed was that the days where Matthew woke up between 7-7:45am (Wednesday and Thursday), the rest of the day panned out alot better. The one day (Friday) where he slept in till about 8:45 kinda threw me for a loop.

You see, normally, during the school year, I need to have him up, bottle fed, and in the car by 8:20am to head to my sisters. This way it gives me enough time to get across town and drop him off, pick up my nephew and drop him off at middle school, and be back to my house and begin my work day by 9-9:15am. My sister then feeds him breakfast (so I dont have to wake up even earlier). However, during the summer, when my niece and nephew dont have school, my sister instead drops them off at a summer camp around 8:45am and its on my side of town. Thus, she comes and picks him up for me, and thats normally around 9-9:15am. Meaning both of us can sleep in till 8:45am if we wanted, but normally we will wake around 8:20am, and i still have enough time to feed him breakfast before she gets to my house.

Now if were being 100% honest, my sister has mentioned to me multiple times that if I would just get up earlier in the morning, that he would nap alot better during the day. To which I have replied multiple times, that Im not getting up earlier if I dont have to and she will just have to figure it out herself. (i know im a mean "boss" and sister :P) Well, i guess this is where it comes to bite me in the ass. And against better judgement I even admitted it to her that she MAY (and i mean that with only a slight possibility) be right on this one.

We did our normal thing in the morning, whether it was earlier or later. Bottle, cartoons, getting ready, breakfast, etc. Then i logged into work. Matthew entertained himself for a lil bit while in his walker. I brought a couple of toys, including a book, into my office to pass to him if he were to get a lil antsy. Once he was bored with the book, he tried playing with the bubble wrap again. Unfortunately (or i guess fortunately in my case) his lil fingers cant pinch the bubbles hard enough to make them actually pop, so every now and then I would pop a few for him and man would his face light up!

On the good day (ie earlier wake up) he went down for his nap around 10:30am and I was able to get alot of stuff done before he woke up. On the off day (later wakeup) he didnt go down for a nap till 11:30am and then ended up sleeping till 1pm, right thru what would have been my lunch break. Technically it wasnt a big deal, as I didnt have any client calls, and I just took my lunch later. But it threw my schedule off because I knew he then wouldnt go down for another nap around 2:30 like usual. He would instead go down around 4:30, only leaving me about a half hour left of my work day. And as a consequence mess with bedtime. But, as I knew before going into this, there are going to be great days, off days, and bad days. Thank god I havent had to experience a bad day yet.

Both days, lunch went smoothly. I tell ya, this kid will eat anything and everything, which makes mealtimes so easy for us. And as a plus, when hes home with me, i feel like i eat better/healthier opposed to snacking all day on junk. I figure since i have to make him lunch (pb&j, i know extravagant right? lol) i might as well make myself a healthy lunch too. I do admit tho, its a little more difficult trying to figure out multiple healthy options for lil man. Would love to hear any ideas on this, as im kinda stuck in the pbj, grilled cheese, ham & cheese sandwich routine.

After lunch, we took a ride over to the post office since i had to send off my Ergobaby carrier for exchange (absolutely cant wait to get the correct one!!!). By pure coincidence as we were walking up to the post office there was a train passing by. Matthew has started to love trains, i think mostly because of "Choo Choo Soul" where we get up and dance when its on TV. So, even though it was like 90* + degrees outside, i couldnt help but stand in the hot sun and watch as my son pointed and smiled at the train going by.

When we got home I set up a the living room as a play area for him and grabbed my laptop to sit on the couch and work while he played with his toys and occasionally watched the TV. I want to point out right here, that Im a little nervous that if I do keep him home with me during work hours, that i will rely on the TV almost as a babysitter. And I really dont want to. What I want to do is have more interaction with him and teach him things during that time. I know that the TV does occupy him if im in a crunch, but its just something that worries me.

The day we didnt visit the post office he ended up playing in the Tupperware drawer during this time. It absolutely amazes that he has no shortage of toys whatsoever, yet can be completely entranced with Tupperware for a good hour.

Then as it neared naptime again, i gave him another sippy cup of milk, and off to catch some zzzz's he went. I headed back to my office, set up the monitor, and went back to work. Of course on the day that he didnt go down till 4:30 for his second nap, i ended up working all the way till about 5:45pm when he woke up, catching up on stuff i didnt get done earlier. Usually i dont like him sleeping past 5-5:15pm because it messes with bedtime, but i needed to get some projects finalized.

So that was my not-so-quick summary of our 2 final days of trial period. Some things i need to look into more about this whole work-from-home-with-toddler-in-tow include sleep schedules (not only his, but also my own), engaging activities we can do together, and healthy mealtime options. I think that my #1 problem/concern, is that if he does sleep in, i need not sleep in with him. I need to still get up at the 7-7:30am time, if not sooner, to get work done while hes still sleeping to make up for the time i wont get later in the day. As for the activities and meals, i will be scouring Pinterest to try and find some ideas, or any suggestions are welcome!

Working from home, with toddler in tow part 2

written Wednesday July 24, 2013

So today is the day. Our first official day in our Work from Home with Toddler in Tow Trial Period. To sum it up real quick: So far, so good!

Heres the detailed breakdown of how things went on Day 1:

7:30am (early for us)
Matthew wakes up

7:45
Bottle for Matthew in his little rocker in the living room as Mommy feeds the cat and dogs, makes the bed, puts in contacts, gets dressed.

8:00 - 8:45
Playing on the floor with some toys while watching Disney Jr. Says hi to Poppy who came over to take trailer to the local dump. Who also mows 1/4 of the lawn were the trailer was, and leaves the rest unmowed. So annoying......

8:50
Mommy makes juice, cheerios, strawberries, and bananas for Matthews breakfast. A smart ones breakfast quesadilla and the trusty ol' Red Bull Total Zero (zero points on Weight Watchers by the way) for mommy

9:05
Clean up baby and turn on work computer.

9:15 - 10:25
Matthew plays in his walker, getting into everything and anything (bubble wrap, cat litter box, pool toys) while mommy does some work, checks emails, reads some favorite blogs.

10:30
Breathing treatment for little man, as he has a lingering cough and refuses to let me do the treatment any other time besides right before napping or going to sleep

10:35 - 12:00pm
Matthew naps. Mommys works some more. One conference call. Aunt DeAnna stops by to drop off some mango. Mommy finishes mowing the front lawn before Matthew wakes up.

12:05
Matthew is heard loud and clear screaming through the monitor while mommy is out front finishing the lawn.

12:10
Mommy makes some lunch, turkey and cheese sandwiches for both of us. Applesauce for Matthew and some mango for mom. Matthew got to taste his first little bit of mango. Seemed to like it, but didnt want to give him too much as Poppy, cousin Andrew, and Uncle E all have mango allergies.

12:45 -1:00
Clean up lunch mess. Play with matthew and dogs on living room floor.

1:00-2:00
Somewhere during this time Matthew must have pushed to hard on Ruger (our bigger dog) which startled him, and in return snapped on Matthew. I think it was more of a shock and scare for all of us, opposed to an actual harmful or worrisome situation. I grabbed matthew who hysterically started crying, disciplined and threw the mutt outside, and continued to console my lil one. There was no blood, nor broken skin, but you could see something, either a nail or tooth must have scrapped the side of matthews face. I was able to calm him down, and he went right back to playing as normal. Unfortunately, it scared the shit out of me, and the for the rest of the day I was extremely cautious and a tad nervious anytime Ruger was around.
note: Our dog has never shown any aggression towards any of us, and is actually extremely protective over Matthew, so Im not too worried, and honestly think it was one time thing (i hope)

You can barely see it, but by the corner of his eye and the two lil marks on his che

2:15
Set up a play area for Matthew using my sisters gate she lent me for the couple of days shes gone. I knew I had my biweekly 1x1 with my manager from 2:30-3 and didnt want to take the chance of matthew getting into something if I wasnt watching over him for a couple of mins

2:30-3:00
Matthew plays in his area, mommy has conference call. We did extremely well. Only thing I would change is next time I will set up the monitor to point into that area because I completely forgot about this part, and literally was peaking around the corner as I was trying to pay attention to the conversation but all keep an eye on him.

3:30
Matthew gets a sippy with milk, while watching a cartoon in his rocker in the living room.

4:00 - 5:15
Matthew naps while mommy gets some more work done.

5:30-6:00
We play and have a few snacks as we wait for daddy to get home from work.

All in all, it was a good day. Im sure there will be days that are completely out of control, and possibly some days that go even smoother, but I defintely think this is something that we will be able to do moving forward. Which makes me one happy mama!

Working from home, with toddler in tow part 1

For anyone who knows me well, knows that my dream has always been to be able to work form home while having my kids home with me. Its basically my #1 reason for wanting to be a graphic designer in the first place. When I first starting working from home it was actually kinda by accident. The company I worked for got bought out by an out-of-state company, and i was actually kind of forced to quit my job. Then they came to their senses and realized they needed me, and that I could technically do my job just fine remotely.

I was thrilled, I would finally have the opportunity to possible fulfill my dream, seeing at the time i didnt have any kids. I also didnt know how difficult it in fact would be to work from home. Not the job part. That was easy. I love my job, so it doesnt really feel like work. But being a remote employee definitely comes with its challenges. For one, you have to make sure you are in fact an asset to the company, being that they dont get to see you walk into the office everyday like all their other employees. And two its easy to be and feel left out of your team and the day-to-day tasks, so you must remember to constantly keep in touch, be it video conferences, instant messages, email, or hell just pick up the telephone (in my case a VoIP phone).

 So Ill be 100% honest with all of you, I was scared shitless when I did become pregnant, on whether I would be able to handle caring for a newborn while working. My number one fear being, "what would I do if I was on a call with a client and the baby starts hysterically crying?" I was so in fear of how I would be able to balance both being a stay at home mom and a work from home mom, that I decided to give up on my dream entirely and asked my sister if she could watch Matthew, mon-fri 9-5, while I worked from home.

I always told myself that when he was on more of a schedule and I could plan around his naps, that maybe i would then keep him home with me. But as every mother knows, you cant always depend on a childs naptime. One day it could be 45mins and the next 2hrs15mins. It could be 1 long nap, 2 short naps, or no nap at all. But I always had this deep feeling of missing out on all of my sons firsts.
I knew my sister would take lots of pics and videos. We also often facetime at lunch so I can see him and talk to him. And I love that its family that is watching my son grow up. But Id be lying if I didnt say I was a little jealous. I see how he reaches for my sister. Almost like shes his mother too.

Now dont get me wrong, I love their bond, and am happy that he loves her and is comfortable with her. I hope they have the same type of relationship I have with her kids (my neice and nephew). But it does sting a little when we are both around and he reaches for her. And i cant blame him. His time is basically split between the two of us. I know I get him on weekends and such, but during the week, by time we get homes, its dinner, bath and bed. Not much quality time if you ask me.

I was originally  a little nervous to talk to my sister about it. I didnt want her to think I was taking him away due to something she did. And I know she counts on the money each week, and I didnt want to take that away too. But I had to at least try to live out my dream right? So I basically put it out there to my sis that maybe 2 days a week he could stay home with me. And on those two days she could go clean our friends house (for which she gets made alot more hourly than I pay her daily). Turns out, she was kind of thinking the same thing and didnt want to hurt my feelings by having my think she was trying to "get rid of my son" lol.

Unfortunately, at the time we had this discussion we were currently living with my parents during out bath renovation. I told her I thought we should kind of do a trial period once I moved back into our house, to see how it would work. As i didnt want to try it at my moms, where I had my moms help, lots of room, and get comfortable with that setting only to fail at it once we got back to our normal routine.

We agreed, and figured the week of July 23rd would be perfect, as my sis and her family were going to be out of town for Lobster mini season that Wed-Fri. Well thats this week, and I feel like I want to make sure to document it and see how it either works out or doesnt. Im hoping it does, because being with my lil man will always trump my work day!

a quick update

remember that time i took an unexplained bloggin hiatus for 2 months? yeah, im not going to try and explain, lets just say, life gets in the way sometimes, and unfortunately this little blog here of mine ends up going on the back burner. No need for me to try and make excuses, ill just skip over all that and jump right back into blogging.

note: i wish I had some elaborate reason like we won a million dollars and have been vacationing for the past 2 months, or hey baby #2 is on the way and i just havent had the energy to blog, but instead you get the lame "life happens" reason, sorry.....

moving on......lets do this is bullet fashion for the time being

• Matthew turned 1 three weeks ago today! I cant believe how time has flown by so quickly. We had an awesome mickey mouse inspired birthday celebration the Saturday after his birthday. Man does this kid have alot of people who love him and want to spoil him! You should see all the new toys, to the point where im thinking of hiding a few and rewrapping for christmas? what?! dont be jealous you didnt think of it. is not like he will even know, especially if he never gets to play with them in the first place

• Speaking of Matthew turning one, i still havent published his birth story. i know total mom & blogger fail. Part 1 is complete and i should just hit publish, but if I do that it means i have to finish part 2......

• We got family photos taken a couple weeks before matthews birthday by the same photographer who did my maternity pictures. I think they turned out great and I promise to share them all with you soon!

• We also took Matthew to the beach for the first time. I know, kinda odd considering we live so close. It was a quick trip with just me and hubs, but i wanted to do the monumental "First trip" before summer came around so that my sister could take him and her kids to the beach if she wanted.

• Operation Bathroom Renovation is in full swing. We're currently living at my parents house and have been since Memorial Day weekend. The first week we were here my parents were actually still in New Jersey, but all the following weeks we've been all living under the same roof again. it was nice in the beginning, having that extra hand to help with Matthew, my laundry getting done every day (my mom has a laundry addiction), and home cooked meals on table before 6:30, but now, lets just say its time to have our own space again. Hubs is working on the bathroom as much as he can, but with him working a regular M-F 9-5 job, he only has the weekends to work on the bathroom, and the past couple of weekends have been extremely busy.

• The big project i was working on for my day job has come to somewhat of a completion. Allowing me a few extra spare moments during the day to catch up on blogging. There are a few lingering projects, but for the most part it was a great success rebranding the entire company. Looking back, i understand why i was so stressed, i mean hell i lost about 10lbs just from skipping lunch everyday for about 3 weeks, but it was all so worth it (not the skipping lunch part, i actually missed that). And because of my hard work and all the effort i put into the project, the head of the company actualy gave me the "Pony of the week" award that our company gives out each week. It was nice to be acknowledged in front of the entire company and rewarded (even if it was only a $25 giftcard) for all the hard work i had done.

• On a completely separate topic, im really starting to get the baby fever over here again. I dont know if its all the mommy bloggers who are pregnant again, the fact that I am planning my sister-in-laws baby shower for this august, or one of my best friends is pregnant again with another baby girl. But im not going to lie, my ovaries are definitely feeling the need for more babies! probably not a good time to bring it up to hubs tho, you know considering the fact that we are currently leaving with my parents again! oh yeah that thing :/

• And also, the next lingering thought in my head, that relates to the last bullet, if we do decide on baby #2 relatively soon, we will most definitely be in need of a bigger home. What am i talking about? whether we have another kid or not we need a bigger home! a 2/1 is just not big enough for us anymore, and I am way over having my office in the dining room, and in return having no dinning room!

• Weight watchers has been going really good for me lately (probably due to the whole stress thing....) and Ive lost a total of 28.2lbs. I felt extremely proud of myself at the birthday party when everyone kept complementing me on how much weight ive lost. Its always nice when someonve else sees the difference and dedication.

• That being I bought my new rollerblades but with the welcoming of summer it has been just WAAAAAAYYY to hot outside down he in SoFl. Plus my stroller isnt really made for that kid of exercise. Ive been on the hunt for a Bob Revolution SE stroller. I tried it out when I went with my SIL to register at BabiesRUs and fell in love. Im not even embarrassed to admit Ive been scouring craiglist like a mad woman. Thinking of maybe stopping by the local consignment shop too to see if they have one.

Ok so now that Ive bored you all with a not-so-quick update like I promised in the title, and no pictures, i let you know that I do have a list of posts i want to get out that include Matthews updates, Bday party, Weigh-ins, photo dumps, etc.

hopefully theyll be posted sooner than later. we shall see.

fridays letters

dear hubby, valentines day is coming up and Im trying to come up with something creative for you as your gift. I know were trying to save some money where we can, so Im thinking of maybe arranging a date night for us to go out to dinner and see a movie (lucky I already have a groupon for the movies)

dear matthew, you are so close to crawling these days. You litterally rock on all fours, and then even sometimes on your tiptoes. Im excited for when you finally do, but i know once you start youre going to be all over the place. You daddy thinks youre going to walk first, but I just know you will start crawling any day now.

dear south florida, oh how I love you so! my lil trip to NYC last week really made me appreciate the nice weather we have year round. i dont know how those northern folk deal with freezing cold weather ;)

dear self, youve got alot of goals on your mind lately, and i do want you to achieve every single one of them, but try to focus on the small ones first. they are more achievable and will help motivate you to complete the larger ones. lets start with your 10lb goal (you only have 2.4lbs to go!) and spending less money (eventually we will pay those credit cards off, i promise!)

dear work, how am I ever going to get longevity with a company if you keep getting bought out?!?! the company I first started with out of college got bought by a larger corp within 1 year of me starting, luckily I was able to continue working from home for the other company, I moved within departments and was able to get 3 years with this company, and then my department got bought out last week by another company. Again Im lucky to be able to continue working from home, but Im not going to lie, the benefits are quite different. not necessarily bad, just different. Im excited for the new change, but sad that I technically start over as a new employee again :(

dear credit cards, i will NOT use you, i will NOT use you, i will NOT use you........unless its a  good deal or an emergency ;)

dear house, please clean yourself today, my mother-in-law moved back to florida last night and were hosting dinner here tonight, unfortunately I just dont have the motivation to clean

dear hubby, we really need to sit down and figure out how to divide and conquer when it comes to household chores, as previously mentioned, the house is an absolute mess! I know neither of us enjoy doing housework (come on who does?) but it still has to get done. i volunteer for laundry, dishes, and vacuuming. If you could just take trash, litter box, washing the dogs, and mowing the lawn that would be perfect! lol

dear matthew, i dressed you in the most adorable overalls today that your Aunt DeAnna got you. I couldnt believe just how big you look in them! Your Aunt Denise even said you "no longer look like a baby," when I dropped you off this morning. Please can you stay my baby just a lil bit longer?
and speaking of baby.....we got some wonderful news this week, youre going to have a baby cousin this october! Aunt DeAnna and Uncle Eric are expecting! We are so happy for them, its been a long time waiting. Shes only 5 weeks, but we couldnt be more excited!!

And i would never leave you without a cute photo. Sorry for those of you who already follow me on instagram, as youve already seen one of these..

p.s. i just noticed I am only 2 followers away from reading 100! maybe Ill have to do something special when I hit the big number!

p.s.s. go check out this awesome Jo Totes giveaway!

show & tell: careers

So I didnt get a chance to post this yesterday since I was so excited about my very first giveaway. The odds are looking good for you guys right now, not too many entries, you should def go check it out!

This Weeks Questions: Careers/Your "Job"
1. Tell us what you studied in college. Is your job now related to what you studied?
I studied and graduated with a BFA in Graphic Design, and today, my 9-5 job is working remotely as  Graphic Designer for a large corporation in their Advertising department. So yes, I think I studied the right thing in college!

2. Tell us what your everyday job looks like.
Well lets see, after I drive Matthew over to my sisters (yes even though I work from home, I still have my sis watch Matthew during the week while I work), I login for the day. I check emails, make sure I know my schedule for the day and if I have any client calls, and then I get down to the real part of the job. I create & design ads for the web. You know, the ones that show up on the sidebars of webpages like yahoo. And I do this for some major companies, im not at privilege to say which, but lets just say I definitely have more fun designing the ones that are for fashion and brands I like ;) 

3. Do you have a picture of you at work? Show us.
Wow, so please excuse the crappy quality, the messy desk, and the crazy bad hair.  I literally just took this photo. (unfotunately this is usually how it all looks though) Anyone notice my "My Vote Counted" sticker? Did you all vote? You better!

 4. In 10 years, what do you see yourself doing? Same thing? More? Tell us.
Honestly, I would love to continue what I do, but be on a more flexible schedule. And really I already have a very flexible schedule. I would just love to be able to work only mornings, so I could spend more time with matthew and our other children, when we eventually have them ;)

5. Tell us what you have learned, and what {if any} recommendations you may have for those looking to go into the field you are in. 
For those looking to go into the graphic design field, my number one moto is: if you are a designer, you are an artist, the computer is your tool, not what makes the art. You have to know the basics of design, color theory, layout, typography, etc, before you can even begin to use the computer. Then once you have that, you can use the computer as your tool to make great designs. (my college professors would be so proud of me! lol)

And Wow, there is actually alot I have learned being out in the real world. For one, if you find something you love to do, you dont ever have to "work" another day in your life. I know it sounds corny, but I absolutely love designing, so to me when I go to work, it doesnt even really feel like "work."
I could go on and on about all the things Ive learned, but I would rather sum it up with a few motivational sayings that help me while I work:

 

                                                Source: lovecreativerooms.blogspot.com via Lisa on Pinterest

                                    Source: tabletonic.blogspot.com via Lisa on Pinterest

 

                                                Source: health-girl.tumblr.com via Lisa on Pinterest

Dont forget to go link up with Becky.

And please remember Being able to vote is such an American privilege! I hope you go out there and make a difference with your vote!

  

busy in NYC: featured post

Hey everyone, since I took this mornings red eye to NYC and am busy meeting all my new teammates  and have lots of conference calls, I may not be able to blog for a few days.

However, if you were ever wondering how me and my wonderful hubby first met (10 years ago) than I suggest you go take a little trip over to Katies sweet blog where our love story is being featured today.

I love how this girl features everyone's different loves story. Some are sooooo romantic (not necessarily ours lol) and heartfelt.

Oh yeah, and Im hopping someone here at the NY office hs an extra mac charger, because i definetly forgot mine at home :(

Happy Monday!

moving on up......

Source: longdistanceloving.net via Lisa on Pinterest

So if you guys havent noticed, Ive been a little absent from my blog in the past week or two. Im not going to give you a long list about whats been going on in my life, but I am going to give you one big detail of an event.

!!!!I GOT A PROMOTION!!!!

You guys dont even realize how excited I was to hear about it. Technically, I dont really consider it a promotion, because my previous position was with a different team. But the hubs says I have to consider it a promotion because, well its a 30% pay increase HOLLA!!! can you say wifey wants a new purse? (ok no, Im not going to do that, Im not going to do that, Im not going to do that).

You may be wondering, well what does she do now? Well remember this post? First time in NY, but it was for work? Well the team I went up to help, was outsourcing all their Creative Services, so they offered me a full time position. Im so happy, because when I was up there all the people on this team made me feel so welcome and I felt like I belonged there. Not in New York, (well maybe) but in that department. They were my kind of people. Im still working for the same company, but now instead of designing mobile web sites, Im designing web advertising for basically the same clients plus loads more.

I still get to work from home, but there will be more traveling involved to the New York office. What a shame right? lol. Im actually scheduled to go for a work related trip next Monday - Wednesday. And yes, i couldnt help go on a mini shopping spree for new work clothes. A working woman has got to look good right?!?! Especially when her office is on Park Ave!

And this promotion came at a perfect time. I was starting to question my job security in my previous department when 2 of my hardworking coworkers got laid off. Not that I didnt like my job before, just this new path seems so much more ME. Plus the pay raise is definitely a major plus as we try to finish the kitchen renovations before me start making babies :) (sigh, I think I might be a little baby crazy, I will never admit it to the hubs though)

But I now get excited each time I log onto the computer to see which creatives I will be making today. And they even want to send me for some training in Adobe Flash. Which is awesome, because Ive always wanted to learn Flash.

And its funny, I remember my grandfather always telling me,

"If you find something you love to do, you'll never have to work another day in your life"

Its so true! I love me job. And it doesnt even really feel like a job anymore because I love what I do!

my control station

Of course, Im way late with the post, but what else is new? Every Monday is supposed to be a link up with the sweetest barganista Lindsey and her home tour series. I know Im a whole week late, but better late than never right? And that just means my take on the series will last one week longer.

So you might be wondering by the title of the post which room were exploring today.  Last weeks room was either a spare bedroom or an office. And since I work from home, I figure what better to do than share my office, or as my friends call it "My Control Station." See, out of all my friends Im probably the most tech savy of the group, and a definite die hard apple advocate.
A little background on my job, I worked for a company right after getting out of college with the office literally 5 mins from my house. I worked there about a year and then the company was bought out by another company based in Boston. Unfortunately they dont have a office in Fl so we were all told to either move to one of their US locations or we would be out of a job. And well, you know us southern girls, we like to stay in the south, so I told them sorry, but "PEACE." I had till March to find a new job, so basically 7 months. Then the company realized, they had no one else to do my job, and really, there was no reason  I couldnt work from home. So 2 weeks before I got married, 1 week before we closed on our new house, they came to me and offered me a full time work form home position. SCORE!!! Conveniently, the office was closing the next month, and there were a few things in the office that our old owner had left and the new company couldnt claim, so our CEO called me and asked me if I wanted any. And this my friends is my Control Station.

Yes, you do see 2 computers. one personal and one work. The gigantic screen is what I inherited from the owner of the original company. Its mine free and clear. I additionally have a 3rd large screen in my spare bedroom thats not hooked up, that is supposed to be my "work screen" from the new company. But as I said, Im a Apple advocate, and the third screen is a dell (i know pathetic). The french doors we just put in less than a month ago. I love them!!!! They are sooo much better than the sliding glass doors that were inoperable, of course that is until the day we took them out and figured how to actually open them.

This view is looking the opposite way. The shelf I also inherited from the office. the door on the left opens to the backyard and the door on the right opens into the carport (eventually a hallway to a master suite). Of course Im showing some proud alumni swag with my FAU flag. The painting to the left of the shelf is actually a painting I need in college for my Painting 1 class. Its theme wa "Inside Looking Out" and shows the back patio and pool at my parents looking out their dining room window. Im so glad I chose that view. I cant count the number of times the backyard has been changed out there and love that I captured at least one of them.

I have another set of painting hanging on the opposite wall. Starting from the top, is a watercolor and ink painting that my Pop-Pop made before he past away. I actually never realized it until after he was already gone, that the boat in the painting is named after me, written small in ink it says "Lisa C." I had to have it and I have hung it in every place I have ever lived. The middle painting is a revisiting of a famous sisters painting (i completely forget by who as Im writing this). The third is a painting showing vantage point in a garden area at the college campus. The bottom 2 were painted in the painting class as well.

So that my friends is my "Control Station." I dont really have inspiration board for this room yet. Eventually when we close in the carport for an extra bedroom, this room will go back to what it is supposed to be: a dining room. Sorry again it was so late. Next week (or maybe if i get a chance this week) be prepared to see my Kitchen!

Want to catch up on my other rooms? (i know your dieing to! lol)

• my bathroom
• our bedroom
• the living room

the big apple

This post, along with many other catchup's, is well overdue. But like I always say, better late then never!

Last week I had a work trip planned to New York City. It would be the first time in the big apple, and I was definitely going to take advantage of my two cousins living there and willing to show me around.

airplane photoshoot (me looking out the plane window)

I flew into La Guardia airport Sunday around 12:30. I took a taxi (first one Ive ever been in by myself, i know, dont judge until youve been in a cab in south florida) to the hotel to check in and drop my bags off. The ride into the city was almost like me living out a childhood dream. Im sure all the New Yorkers out there are asking "Is she kidding?" right now. But you have to understand. When I was little, I dreamed of moving to New York. Becoming this big fashion designer, or magazine editor. Living it up on the upper east side (I know, a little too much gossip girl, sorry). Looking up and seeing these huge buildings. Waling down 5th Ave. Shopping, shopping, oh and some more shopping. So, when I saw the city skyline as we drove over the bridge, you could imagine all the things going through my head.

 

Once I was settled in I gave my cousin Kristin a call. She's originally from LA but once she graduated college she ended up moving to the city and landing a pretty nice PR job. My other cousin, Ryan, her older brother, lives in the city as well and works for a record company. (I know, totally livin the life the two of them, can you say jealous?) But they both were awesome as usually. Kristin taking me around during the day. Giving me the express tour of the city. We walked everywhere. Time Square. Central Park. Rockefeller Center. Empire State Building. Apple Store. (squeezed that one in there. hehe). Madison Square Park. The Flat Iron building. You name it, we went there.

Work was also really good. The company I work for has offices all around the country (I guess world too) and Ive now been to 3 of them. Boston. Atlanta. New York. Ive decided, New York is by far my favorite. The people were so nice. The hotel is literally right across the street. Its on Park Ave so its within walking distance to any place you can imagine. The boss even ended up taking me to dinner one night at Les Halles, which is Anthony Bordain's restaurant. The Filet Mignon with Bearnaise, was absolutely to die for! yum yum.

So the trip was a success. Cant wait to go back (they say in prob bout  60days they want me back up there). And for you? Here is a bunch of photos from my trip: