1/30/10

1. Dan taking my post office errands for me, so I didn't have to leave the apartment all day.
2. Sleeping in a bit more after Dan had left so that I felt rested, but not so late the whole day disappeared (got up around 11).
3. Finally put up stuff on the walls, more color around makes me happy.
4. The swallow kite not looking too strange in the position I put it (to cover up a dirty line on the wall from where the previous tenants had the couch).
5. Watching Frost/Nixon with Dan when he came back home.
6. Making fun of predictable football movies (The Replacements, Varsity Blues)

1/29/10

1. Light phone shift, the highlight of which was a client calling in for DF just to get his personal Gmail address. Love our clients.
2. Client canceling our afternoon call, freeing up lots of time and allowing me to set up a hopefully more useful call with an expert for next week.
3. Good 1:1 with my manager, getting reassurance that I'm doing ok with the difficult client situation, talking about career development.
4. Leisurely lunch, talking to JP about what she likes/dislikes about the training role. I think I would like the preparation of materials and project management and such, as MG says, but it requires more traveling and, well, liking of people than I've got, I think.
5. Finally getting the rest of the kitchen stuff I purchased from a colleague (he'd kept back a set of utensils/plate/bowl to eat off of before moving out) and finding it included a plastic slotted spoon and spatula.
6. Lounging around watching bad TV.

1/28/10

1. Taking time after lunch to make a bunch of personal phone calls (trying to see if MLH wedding site fee is negotiable, getting estimate on cost per person for renting stuff, scheduling more appointments, etc.)
2. Participating in an hour of the DSM beta war room to try to find bugs. I didn't find a bug but did submit a workflow improvement.
3. Being peer pressured to go to TGIF for a bit and getting delicious honey mustard wings therein.
4. Getting Dan's text message about water being out the building in time to grab bottled water from work.
5. Remember to pick up a book from the library before its holding period expired.
6. Watching the rest of Torchword: Children of the Earth.

1/27/10

1. Client being really quite nice on a long call and even apologetic at times for the number of questions they were asking.
2. SS helping me sort through a ton of said client's DSM enhancement requests, resolving some of them without needing to escalate.
3. MG and BB being outraged on my behalf at the 2.5 hour long client call and encouraging me to talk to my manager about it.
4. Updating my manager and at least feeling settled that higher levels will be kept in the loop on what's going on, it can't get to be too much of a trainwreck then.
5. Getting most things under control by staying at work late.
6. Getting around to posting the pictures from the potential wedding venues we visited last weekend.

1/26/10

1. Feeling rather refreshed in the morning, I suspect I was getting so tired from not sleeping enough that I got a lot of nice, deep sleep last night.
2. Putting together a fancier silk scarf and a little vest to gussy up the otherwise boring (but easy) long-sleeve tee and jeans.
   
3. GM spending another hour helping me sort out issues for the call tomorrow, but this time, really feeling like we were getting somewhere.
   
4. Two (!) trainings in the afternoon getting canceled and freeing up my whole day.
   
5. Another meeting with the account manager on the account where I outlined my needs (don't send cases to my corpmail) and got his support for him to communicate it to higher ups at the client's end.
   
6. My Javascript class getting off to a nice, easy start.
   

1/25/10

1. Despite the rain and trials and tribulations with a cab, getting to my desk at 8:58am with breakfast in hand.
2. Really quiet phone shift in the morning, just got one call.
3. An AM finally setting up a group call with a client to go over all of their issues at once.
4. The whole afternoon being free to plod away at work.
5. GM and SS spending lots of time with me trying to teach me more bits about DSM. I really need to learn more!
6. Swimming at the gym briefly and feeling strong while doing it and relaxed afterwards.

1/24/10

1. Dan running to catch up to my 6-8min. headstart on him and not missing the 8:05 PATH train to head over to Newark.
2. The guy at Mountain Lakes House (gorgeous, amazing place, inside and out...sigh) not leaving either and being very patient with us as we walked around the grounds and the house.
3. Managing to go pick up a brass standing mirror for $20 from West Orange. I really needed a full-length mirror to check pants + shoes situations.
4. Lunch in K-Town with RL, an old friend from middle school, who I've really not seen on the order of 10 years or so. Still a really nice guy, and we connected on a lot of issues still.
5. Going home to take a nap amidst social engagements. Mmm napping.
6. Thai food with MG and MS, visiting from Boston. I had a green apple salad, just the right thing after my very filling Korean lunch.

1/23/10

1. Dan getting us to the Woman's Club of Englewood right on time, despite my coming back late from attempting to pickup clothes from the tailor.
2. Maria, the rental agent of the WCE, being so absolutely prepared and full of ideas and just really, really impressive.
3. The rental company rep at Prallsville Mills not having left.
4. Prallsville Mills being just such a cool building, architecturally, and the views of the Delaware River.
5. Surprisingly tasty lunch at the little cafe/bakery near the mills, I got grilled pork loin with pear chutney on a buttery roll. Yum.
6. The tailor being willing to leave my stuff at the salon next door so I could go pick it up later, and the alterations actually turning out quite well. Darts in the waistband to take in the gapping back of a pair of jeans! What a revelation! Tapering some more flared pants so I can wear my retinue of loose tops with them!

1/22/10

1. Lunch&Learn with a campaign manager on the Rich Media team, they've always been so mysterious before but she was really nice.
2. Having a good time proctoring the newbies with some trafficking exercises. I do like teaching and helping bright folks.
3. Banging out some quick Solutions in the late afternoon.
4. Actually sitting down and writing up OKRs that mean something to me, however rough a form they're in right now.
5. BB and MG coming over for dinner and hanging out. I wish BB could be around more often.
6. Plenty of leftover baked tomato sauce for me to have a couple more meals of it.

1/21/10

1. Succeeded in getting myself to the gym in the morning.
2. Getting to attend a feature prioritization meeting, it's kind of funny, actually, watching the product manager discuss which features will be accepted and which will not.
3. My webinar on Internal Redirects went quickly and smoothly.
4. PH being willing to cover the last 45 minutes of my phone shift today, so that I was on for only 3.25 hours.
5. Dinner accompanied with hilarious stories by MG, MF, and PD.
6. Having all the ingredients on hand to start another loaf of no-knead bread.

1/20/10

1. A call I'd been dreading about a client's discrepancies with another ad network going surprisingly smoothly and efficiently.
2. Having AL in for lunch at work!
3. Really useful training about Google Accounts and logins.
4. Simultaneously cracking a joke with MG that I was looking over at her computer because I'm a Chinese spy.
5. Getting a brochure for the Mountain Lakes House in the mail, with a floor plan and detailed list of recommended vendors. We're going to visit there on Sunday morning, excited!
6. Work training unexpectedly canceled, so I got time to read The Sunday Philosophy Club.

1/19/10

1. Lemon muffins from yesterday having a stronger lemon flavor today.
2. My dream that MG would also bring in baked goods coming TRUE (in my dream our twin cupcake carriers stood side-by-side on a cubicle partition wall, which didn't happen in real life, but she did also make a lemon baked good...as did two other co-workers!)
3. Quick, helpful responses from many potential venues I emailed last night (makes up for one photographer who will not answer the question, what are your general rates).
4. Lively White Russian-themed work happy hour.
5. Getting back into my work laptop to finish work on a presentation that was due Friday after forgetting the new, more secure password I'd set.
6. Dan heating up dinner for me, perfectly timed to when I got back at 10:15-ish.

1/18/10

1. Sunny, warm day that I actually spent a decent amount of time outside in.
2. Visiting our first potential wedding venue.
3. $0.99 Dunkaccino.
4. Sticking it through to the end of my 30-minute workout at the gym, it went especially slowly today for whatever reason.
5. More meatballs made more efficiently, to have leftovers for the week and to freeze as well.
6. Lemon muffins from the two remaining Meyer lemons I had left.

1/17/10

1. Freshly baked bread with creamed spinach and fried eggs.
2. Dan cleaning the kitchen, bathroom, and dining area.
3. Lounging about reading The Subtle Knife and The Golden Compass (sensing a pattern?).
4. Dan running out to give me my wallet that I'd forgotten.
5. AJ lending me her zebra print (!) umbrella.
6. The detail and care with which An Education was made.

1/16/10

1. Waking up feeling rested.
2. Lounging about reading The Golden Compass.
3. Discovering that the Jefferson Marketplace library has an elevator (DVDs have to be returned to the circulation desk on the 2nd floor), handy for my rolling suitcase of stuff.
4. The tailor I brought a bunch of clothes to seeming to know his stuff. $80 to alter 4 pairs of pants, 1 blazer, and 1 cardigan. Not bad, methinks.
5. Finding cellentani pasta (corkscrew tube) at ShopRite, it's my favorite pasta shape.
6. Baked chicken meatballs and carrots steamed in white wine and ginger (I added a white wine/ginger/sugar glaze) for dinner.

1/15/10

1. Half hour at the gym timed well with the latter half of a Monk episode, even though it was from 7:45-8:45.
2. No need to rush to work at all, with BH having swapped for the 9-10am shift.
3. Indirect vote of confidence from the managers when MG updated me on a client I got from her that she recommended be given to someone who was good with clients.
4. Pumpkin tortellini at lunch.
5. The hilarious frenzy when no one could log in to our products for about 45 minutes.
6. Friday night watching British shows with Dan.

1/14/10

1. Being able to grab breakfast despite the late start to the day because DF swapped the first half hour of my shift with me.
2. Evidence that I have sensible friends (AJ talking about how she doesn't want to do a bachelorette weekend in a city that requires traveling to when attending the wedding itself is already going to be quite expensive).
3. AJ complimenting me on my outfit (self-knit white cardigan, purple cowl neck sweater, pleated denim skirt, and witchy old lady boots).
4. A glass of wine from TGIAF really smoothing out my mood and stress.
5. Only needing to stay until 7 to feel like I had a handle on my queue and emails.
6. Finishing up the Sally Lockhart books I got out from the library.

1/13/10

1. Getting instructive help from DF on a DFA-DFP discrepancy case.
2. Most productive transition 1:1 I've had so far, I think.
3. Dan wanting to make sure he was there when I came home from work. He was contrite on behalf of his sleeping self, who is kind of a blanket-stealing, bed-hogging jerk. With really cold feet.
4. Picking up a number of books and DVDs from the library. Hooray online holds!
5. Reading in bed.
6. Going to bed at 9:30.

1/12/10

1. Getting the overview of our strategy for this quarter at an All-Hands meeting. It's good to know what's going on up above us.
2. Productive buddy time with DM.
3. Lightly toasted PB&J as part of my dinner.
4. Not getting laughed at when I ordered my cocktail, the "Pretty Kitty." It was pretty fruity and tropical, just the way I like them, but it probably would've been better without a cringe-inducing name.
5. Lasting until 9pm (!) at the work happy hour.
6. Coming home to Dan's reassurances that it's ok to be an introvert (I was the first to leave at 9).

1/11/10

1. Finally perfectly timed the morning commute: got in with enough time to sit down and eat hot breakfast and then walk up to do my 9am phone shift with a few minutes to spare.
2. PD being really gracious about helping me out on several tickets I was stumped by.
3. Another efficient and nice doctor's visit (just checkups, 2 weeks ago it seemed like a good idea to try to schedule all these visits at once).
4. The sushi I'd grabbed on my way out to the doctor's not getting smushed and being just as tasty when I finally got back.
5. PH remembering to stop by to check on whether I could go to meditation.
6. Watching mindless TV with Dan.

1/10/10

1. Dan saving $20 on groceries from all the sales (Tropicana OJ for $2.50/half gallon!) at A&P.
2. Our new side table fitting into the corner just right.
3. Finally getting to catch up with CP, with some hilarious revelations about another college friend.
4. Wiling away the afternoon re-reading choice parts of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.
5. Finishing up the back piece of the teal sweater I'm lengthening with just enough to yarn to spare.
6. Serenity being shown on the SyFy channel while I was at the gym.

1/9/10

1. Not being my fault that we got out later than Dan wanted (he left stuff behind).
2. Finding a Provident Bank on the same side of the road in Howell.
3. The mood at SP's father's wake being almost exuberant, hanging out with friends from high school, including another one I haven't seen in years (LB).
4. Finally getting to see the Howell House, also known as the Howell-bama frat house. It makes me happy to know that a place like that exists, as much as parts of it horrify me.
5. A shot of Jack Daniels not being quite as painful as previously advertised.
6. SP celebrating his father by telling hilarious stories.

1/8/10

1. Getting to know one of the new members to our team, he used to be on ConOps so he knows all sorts of apps tricks.
2. BB sending me a link to some orange canvas sneakers on sale because she thought I'd like them. (orange! of course I liked them)
3. Meditation with PH. There is a group of people who do it every day at 2 for about 15 minutes.
4. My sister and Dan getting in some bonding time as they waited for me at Newark Penn.
5. A fight breaking out at the Devils game in the first 5 minutes!
6. Packages for us when we got home: a red Keep Calm poster from Barter Books and a housewarming gift from AL, which included a spoon rest that's shaped like a pillow--a pillow!--for your cooking implements. Love it.

1/7/10

1. Waking up rather refreshed today.
2. Dentist indeed being pretty great, really close to the office, no flossing lecture, lots of explaining, not pushy at all about advice.
3. Feeling like I was finally starting to get a handle on my open ticket queue; it exploded in the last two days.
4. Making it to the salon for eyebrow threading right before they closed.
5. Pretty much confirmed that I'll be going out to CA in March for a presentation!!
6. First time I fried up the frozen chive calzones (?) mostly successfully.

1/6/10

1. Satisfying finish to The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. F you, Teleborian!
2. Really helpful lunch with MF again to talk about presenting self well to the new manager and getting the direction and help I need to advance my career (I suspect part of the issue is that I feel kind of silly saying things like 'my career'--wtf am I, right?)
3. Quick, efficient follow up visit to the doctor to draw blood for some more tests (my TSH levels were a bit high?).
4. Making the plunge into raw denim with a style that's got a mid-rise and slim leg opening.
5. Hitting it off with an excellent hair stylist. I have found my NY person, though if the timing is right and I visit Boston, I'd definitely go see Freddy again too.
6. Dan making me dinner with the noodles cooked just right.

1/5/10

1. Managed to summon up sufficient willpower to get out of bed not too long after Dan to go to the gym.
2. 30 minutes on a bike passing by pretty quickly thanks to starting The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.
3. Spending about an hour doing work in the massage chair.
4. SP's character and honesty.
5. Getting to know SN over dinner a bit more. She is also impressive in her reaction to adversity.
6. Getting up the courage to ask MG for career advice.

1/4/10

1. Got in on time for my first 9am phone shift here.
2. Feeling pretty fabulous and put-together in my new jeans that are a perfect length with some short boots I haven't worn often in awhile, an Ann Taylor outlet sweater from Black Friday, and my trusty grey J.Crew boyfriend cardigan.
3. MG brought in her spare, never-used salad spinner and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest for me.
4. Excellent lunch, some mac&cheese, salad with lox, and shrimp with red curry and rice.
5. Dan heated up dinner for me. Cute.
6. Got my order from Zappos with two pairs of tomato red shoes. Why have I never owned red shoes until now? One pair will have to go back but I haven't decided which yet.

1/3/10

1. Defying Dan's pleadings to help him eat more of the disliked cinnamon Puffins cereal and breaking open our last box of Honey Bunches of Oats instead (he has definitely eaten the majority of our stash thus far).
2. Dan finding a purple (!) master lock for me in the school supplies section of Shop-Rite for 50% what the gym sells them for.
3. Finding the mixer I wanted from BBB right in the store, no need to order it online.
4. Feeling released by unraveling a bunch of knitting projects that weren't going anywhere.
5. Dan still liking the meat & bean sauce that I last made for him over 3 (maybe 4?) years ago. It's a big favorite of EN too, and it's not hard to make. Not sure why I haven't made it more often.
6. Successfully unraveling the bottom of a sweater made a few years ago to lengthen.

1/2/10

1. Walking over to the bank in Hoboken on the boardwalk, with its fantastic view of Manhattan.
2. Got a book on knitting patterns for curvier girls out of the library.
3. The pear cider and apple doughnut I got at Greenmarket.
4. First workout at the gym of 30 minutes on the elliptical helped along substantially by the TV. I'm going to start with aiming for three 30-minute sessions a week.
5. Handyman came to fix our gross shower drain situation.
6. Date night with Dan, we saw Up in the Air (excellent casting, costumes, and acting--Anna Kendrick is fantastic, just as she's been as Jessica in the Twilight movies, which I say sincerely and not at all sarcastically) and then had dinner around the corner at South City Grill.

1/1/10

1. Found an inexpensive replacement bag for daily use at Nordstrom. It's grey, very roomy but slouchy so doesn't look overwhelming enormous, and its straps can change from over-the-shoulder to cross-body. It is a little bit heavy due to the hardware, but if that becomes too much Nordstrom would probably be cool about returning it because they're awesome like that.
2. Taking family pictures around the tree and in the formal living room.
3. Gran and mom both approved of the apartment space and setup!!
4. Really good dim sum in Chinatown (I think at Jing Fong).
5. Fun with Gran, mom, and sis, poking into shops to buy hats (my mom and I got matching crocheted pageboy caps...a cute hat that can fold up and fit in a coat pocket!), taking in the sights at Rockefeller Center.
6. A manager at Louis Martin Jewelers taking my ring to clean it until ridiculously sparkly again. I did not in fact just get used to The Sparkly, it just got dulled from soap and other such substances. Now it is back to giving off distracting light while I type. Also, just to remember, I really quite liked the vintage watches they sold here.