2/27/10

1. Eye exam being over with quite quickly and with no 'oh no your eyes have gotten even worse' messages! Also, no pupil dilation, hooray!
2. Quite the selection being available at MaximEyes Optical, I was choosing between 5 different cat-eye-ish frames. Ended up with a bolder, funkier style than I've had before, Dan approved of it and I'm quite looking forward to receiving them in 2 weeks.
3. Giving the apartment a thorough cleaning with Dan. I even vacuumed underneath the bed. So many dust bunnies...
4. Dan running out to the grocery store for a third time when I found out we'd forgotten to get cream.
5. Perfect timing on making chicken pot pie and banana bread for dinner with SD and his girlfriend.
6. Good time hanging out with SD and gf, we had fun playing a game called 'Guillotine.' Good hanging out game, not too hard to learn and just slightly brain-intensive.

2/26/10

1. Finding time to finish up my quality reviews in the morning (I had forgotten I was supposed to do 2).
2. Being mollified after the quality team meeting by the coordinator holding out AJ and mine's review as a great example of a thorough mid-quarter review.
3. Being able to farm out the deluge of tickets I got in the afternoon to the newbies.
4. It not taking as long as I thought to re-do that report the managers' requested.
5. Spending the evening cutting out the fabric pieces for a Built By Wendy top.
6. Being amused by RC coming over after having had a few drinks.

2/25/10

1. Getting a really detailed email back from AL with her thoughts on potential photographers and reconsidering another APW sponsor in addition to LeahAndMark.com
2. Excellent, excellent lunch at work today--Judith Jones was visiting to promote her book so they had various dishes from her recipes. Beef bourguignon and then a giant hunk of lamb with cous cous and raisins.
3. Airing out with MG that my feelings had been hurt by how I found out that she and AM had decided not to move after all, and this airing out not being nearly as awkward as I thought it would be. It was quite nice, actually, she acknowledged it wasn't the best way and apologized and we just moved on to talking about wedding planning stuff instead.
4. DF not minding that I was grumpy about the managers' request to redo a long impact report for an account manager and actually taking quite a bit of time to brainstorm how to make it easier.
5. The start of my dressmaking class at Make Studio! Diana is really, really nice and encouraging--she was just always sincere in her comments on everyone's progress.
6. Watching Kim Yu-Na not only not buckle under the intense pressure she feels, but totally blasting away from all the other competition. Who wins by 20+ points?!?? I cried when I saw her crying at the end, from joy and relief I'm sure. And then again at the medal ceremony, I was so moved.

2/24/10

1. Found time to finish polishing up the content for my internal AF training before noon.
2. A decent number of people showing interest in said training, including *gulp* my manager.
3. Getting a response from Mark (of LeahandMark.com) that was quite personalized and sweet.
4. Attending the first weekly sync meeting for Google Owned and Operated in my new side role of helping out with YouTube's tickets occasionally. It was mind-blowing, the number of stuff they have to juggle all the time.
5. Rather hilarious team meeting wherein clients being soothed by members of our team with non-American English accents were discussed.
6. Quick dinner with PH and ES and interesting talk of books.

2/23/10

1. Taking time for lunch after the All-Hands, which always get scheduled for 12pm-1pm.
2. The introduction of LeahandMark.com as A Practical Wedding sponsor. Love the vintage/cinematic thing they've got going on, and a fantastic deal if you book them by April.
3. Spent some time in the massage chair as I perused LeahandMark.com
4. Grabbed a box of the BBQ eel & avocado sushi for dinner.
5. JS teacher not dwelling on reviewing last week's material too much and moving on to more new stuff.
6. Received a rather hilarious voicemail from MG about the CEO stopping by their happy hour.

2/22/10

1. It was quite bright out at 7, waking up wasn't too painful.
2. Getting to work after running finance-related errands even before breakfast had started!
3. Fairly light day, considering the double phone-shift I had to pull.
4. Deciding to take on a side project at work to try to convert it into involvement in shaping product direction.
5. Not feeling rushed and finding a light floral pattern fabric at Paron Fabric for my dressmaking class.
6. Quiet evening at home, rotating between Olympics and Forrest Gump.

2/21/10

1. Waking up rather refreshed, considering the night was spent on an air mattress. EN's apartment gets great light, huge ceilings and these gorgeous windows facing east.
2. EN's Episcopalian church being both fancy and liberal. Their program had all sort of explanatory notes, including "Everyone is welcome to take communion."
3. Catching the train out of Philly in plenty of time and having a good snooze most of the way.
4. Getting to La Superior in Williamsburg a little earlier than expected.
5. Fish and shrimp tacos for the first time!
6. Getting home to Dan before 9.

2/20/10

1. Chez Alice catering coordinator being really business-like and not patronizing about the being on a budget thing.
2. My grandma coming to watch my sister's team play against Princeton.
3. My parents not being in too grouchy a mood after the match was over.
4. Meeting CP's boyfriend M?, he was really sweet and funny and smiley. Thumbs up.
5. Pretending at being hipsters and teaching DC how to recognize hipster behavior.
6. Watching Eddie Izzard with EN and DC.

2/19/10

1. Was able to listen to most of the training for the DSM release while still on phone shift.
2. Finally, finally got to successfully record my AF webinar.
3. Talked to another caterer, who was quite nice and not condescending about the not serving a full meal thing.
4. Grabbed and knocked out a few tickets related to AF, trying to develop deeper knowledge on it.
5. Finally put in work with RT on the team website migration.
6. Cut out pattern pieces for sewing a Built By Wendy top, to be made with thrifted green fabric I dug out from the stash.

2/18/10

1. Good 1:1 with my manager again, positive feedback for mid-quarter check-in.
2. Got around to making some personal calls during lunch, scheduled haircut, eye exam, and spoke to another caterer.
3. Chatted with SA for a bit about a possible project/role addition, but also got to talk more generally about how she feels about her team and plans for grad school.
4. Dropped off APCs to get the waistband taken in in the back, have been needing to do this for awhile but only got to it today.
5. Finding two (!) thrift stores right near work, on 17th. Picked up a pair of black Aerosole booties for $8.
6. Wandering around Union Square down to 8th St., randomly running into a work colleague taking a break from his night class, discovering the lomography store, and finally succeeding in picking up the book I need for a dressmaking class I signed up for.

2/17/10

1. Finished reading One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding. I highly recommend it, I think it's interesting even if you aren't getting married soon.
2. Really good call with a client today, closed out two tickets from just the call! Finger crossed that they stay calm.
3. Girly chat with AJ throughout the day, discussing the difficulties of finding high quality clothing that fits well.
4. Easy-going afternoon overall, got a good amount of work done.
5. Getting the errand of getting eyebrows threaded done.
6. Hanging out at on my couch, watching the Olympics.

2/16/10

1. The utterly no nonsense commentary by the female commentator for NBC (I think it's Sandra Bezic). Every time any of the others try to do your usual feeble, bland, spin this into something positive kind of mediocre commentating, she inserts her dose of reality.
2. Watching the Chinese figure skating coach Yao Bin finally smile after his star pair, Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo secure the gold (technically this was on 2/15, but whatevs), and another Chinese pair win silver. This is why I love the Olympics, people--watching athletes have their dreams come true. When Yao Bin competed himself, the audience laughed at their skating, it was so off because they only had photos to study from.
3. Getting my open queue down to 10 tickets. 10! The last time it was at this level must have been weeks and weeks ago. Fingers crossed things don't go nuts tomorrow.
4. Finishing up an easy tic-tac-toe board for my JS class homework right after class.
5. The non-nauseating feature on Patrick Chan: Mary Carillo - I don't have to tell you that there's never been a male Canadian figure skater who's won gold, right? Patrick - *laughs* Mary - I don't, right? Patrick - I think about it every day. The kid is cute, yo.
6. Finding New Look 6723 as a potential good contender for a wedding dress pattern, at least to start off of. Full skirt, sweetheart neckline, no sleeves - check.

2/15/10

1. Getting my taxes done.
2. Finished catching up with wedding blog link backlog for posting.
3. Finishing various other little household-y tasks that have been lying around (for example, attacking remaining laundry from last weekend with a lint roller).
4. Lounging around watching the Olympics.
5. Dan cleaning the bathroom.
6. Dan's butter chicken meal aging well as a leftover.

2/14/10

1. Bringing back all sorts of goodies from my parents': leftovers from dinner, random spices, their smaller red rice cooker.
2. Getting lunch at Mitsuwa and wandering around the adjacent Japanese book and ceramics stores with my mom.
3. Coming back to a cleaned apartment and Godiva chocolates, courtesy of Dan, for Valentine's Day.
4. Dan making butter chicken for dinner with very little help from me.
5. Watching the Chinese figure skating pair Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo knock it out even as the very first pair to go.
6. Finishing up the homework for the Javascript class with a good attempt at the extra credit.

2/13/10

1. Not having to resort to parking in a really far-off lot at the mall due to spotting an open spot just as I called AL to tell her I was still circling around.
2. First comment on the wedding blog from a complete internet stranger (not in response to a question or comment I left first)! And a really nice comment, too.
3. Hanging out with AL, mall-ing it up.
4. Getting thick leggings with zippers at the ankles on sale from Ann Taylor Loft.
5. Fabulous Chinese New Year eve dinner with the fam, fish, shrimp, duck, the works. 恭喜发财!
6. Spending quality time with my mom watching the Olympics.

2/12/10

1. Dan being around to make me tea and help me deal with attacks of acute stomach pain throughout the night (I think it was food poisoning, shouldn't have made dinner with those tomatoes that were many weeks old...).
2. Taking the morning off from work to sleep in a bit and recover, then cleaning up the apartment a bit and packing up stuff to go to my parents' for Chinese New Year.
3. First massage at this office being an hour long.
4. Fairly easy-going afternoon, PH being a bit silly and cracking me up with his stuffed penguin antics during MG's meeting.
5. RC running even later than I was to the makeup Devils hockey game.
6. The new guy, Ilya Kovalchuk, scoring his first goal with the Devils at the game.

2/11/10

1. Getting time in the morning to really write down every single word for my webinar script.
2. The newbies doing quite well in their last sim call session and AJ being rather hilarious as various "difficult callers."
3. Chilling at TGIAF.
4. Banging out two solutions in 10 minutes to tickets that came in while at TGIAF.
5. Picking up a few different recommended wedding-related books: Offbeat Bride, The DIY Wedding, and One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding.
6. A work-free evening.

2/10/10

1. Getting a seat on the morning commute in for the first time ever.
2. AL sending me a link for another really cute mini-pie idea.
3. MG sending me a link to an interesting piece at Slate on various women giving their opinions on wedding traditions that should be abolished.
4. JP being able to quickly pull out time from her day to help us troubleshoot and do a post-mortem on the webinar audio fail.
5. My manager stopping by to check that everything was ok and being sympathetic.
6. Getting distracted from my work woes while at dinner with other colleagues, puzzling over another brainteaser set by AP.

2/9/10

1. A call I missed while stepping away quickly from my desk to get cereal didn't leave a voicemail. Who calls at 9:05am?!
2. SS spending a whole 'nother hour with me reviewing various DSM questions. It's surprising how much more I can get done when I have someone who knows stuff to help.
3. Pretty interesting All-Hands on product strategy and then our billing system. These meetings are much better about staying relevant to those attending than AW meetings were, I think.
4. Getting some newbies to take some of my many incoming tickets off my hands today.
5. Grabbing two containers of BBQ eel sushi and one of California rolls for dinner.
6. Catching up on blogging :)

2/8/10

1. Scrambled eggs for breakfast. They have egg whites most days but I just love the yolk and the yellow, what can I say.
2. Delicious seafood lunch today, some breaded fish on top of something that was like Israeli cous cous but was not, with wilted spinach and cherry tomatoes.
3. Not feeling as awkward as I thought I would in giving feedback this time around to the newbies for their 2nd sim call session. I did skip over the bit of asking their peers for their feedback because people are always a bit reluctant about that, I think, and they do still chime in afterwards with additional comments or questions.
4. AQ sitting down and helping me churn through my giant backlog of cases.
5. The Lion Brand yarn store actually being really nice and chic in their display. I bought a small ball of super soft camel-colored baby alpaca yarn, to make some wristwarmers.
6. My Cuban sandwich at The Coffee Shop. So good!

2/7/10

1. Dan succeeding in acquiring matzo meal at Morton's (neither Shop Rite nor A&P had it on Saturday, weird).
2. Relatively successful Target run, didn't get the leggings I wanted but did get fishnet trouser socks in various neutral colors, snow leopard print fleece gloves on sale (I've really missed my purple wool J.Crew glove/mittens since I lost them several weeks ago), and a cheap and cute cream-colored purse that's 10 ounces lighter than the gray bag I got from Nordstrom's awhile back. The weight was getting to me, I think I will return it.
3. Spent 40 minutes on the elliptical at the gym, passing by quickly thanks to The Parent Trap (1998).
4. Matzo ball soup coming together pretty quickly.
5. Lime chips (that we brought) to Ro's Super Bowl party.
6. The Super Bowl party not ending up being all the different from if we'd watched it at home--Dan still next to me on the couch, still patiently answering all my various questions about what's going on.

2/6/10

1. Getting laundry done, I was a bit overdue for this.
2. Finding the pear cider and apple cider doughnut folks at the Union Square Greenmarket after I missed them the first time I walked through.
3. WEDDING POW-WOW WITH MAMA G! She makes me excited about the fun parts and less worried about the not-fun parts (which basically amounts to 1) money and 2) meeting what Dan thinks his family's expectations are without losing what I want).
4. The pizzas at Franny's in AJ's hood, Brooklyn. Mmm, fragrant amazing olive oil. It is indeed cute in Park Slope and I could see living out there if it weren't for Dan working in Newark. Close to downtown Hoboken would be similar, just smaller in scope I suspect.
5. Chocolate fondue and flourless chocolate cake at The Chocolate Room, again Mama G's treat.
6. Generally good girly time fulfillment, our last main subject was on clothes and starting to be able to do 'investment pieces.' AJ and MG complimented my accessories collection, which I hadn't really thought of as all that much but glad people notice it!

2/5/10

1. FRIDAY. I thought you would never come! This definitely made me happy enough to warrant its own line item here.
2. Efficient appointment at the dermatologist's. It was in such a nice building on the Upper East Side, too, with a doorman and fancy furnishings. There was a plastic surgeon next door. Moneyed tenants, I suppose.
3. Stopped into an H&M before taking the subway back, just to indulge quickly in some window shopping.
4. Good 1:1 with my manager, was able to squeeze in everything I wanted to give him updates about.
5. Fun times being a sim caller (pretend client) to the newbies. I made up a list of various different female names.
6. Watching The Hunt for Red October with Dan.

2/4/10

1. Water to the building restored!
2. Joined at the working lunch with AJ by a whole bunch of EMEA folks. We pretty much never interact with them at all, but they seem like a fun bunch in person.
3. Getting no questions after the franticness of dealing with PH's technical issues for his webinar, on which I was serving as a panelist.
4. The account manager being sympathetic after a call with a client ended very weirdly.
5. Team happy hour at a local bar, where I met RF (he was huge for us in AW, did all this reporting every week).
6. Enjoying myself hugely at Aziz Ansari's show at Comix with MG, BK, AQ, SN, and AJ. Personally, I liked his race-related material best.

2/3/10

1. Spent some time in the massage chair.
2. Had fun coming up with various simulation call scenarios with AJ for the newbies. Evidently I'm on the Quality team now!
3. Really quick team meeting.
4. Grabbing a quick dinner with some of the people in town for bootcamp.
5. Working in an office with showers (we lost water to the building for the second time in less than a week).
6. Getting more done on the AF webinar deck, and more quickly, than I thought I would.

2/2/10

1. Very leisurely breakfast, with phone shift only starting at 10.
2. Client being really happy to have had SS on a call with them, and SS not really showing any frustration at answering questions about forecasting. This call relieved my work-related stress a lot.
3. Going to Chelsea market cafe for shrimp tempura + udon lunch with PD. Got to chat with him about his particular role, he doesn't seem to love it but finds it stimulating and challenging enough.
4. A box of BBQ eel sushi left to grab for dinner, along with 2 boxes of California rolls.
5. Javascript class at a good pace where it's ok if I zone out, I can come back in and catch up without too much difficulty.
6. Getting home before 10, the prof stopped demonstrating right around 9, with the rest of the time set aside for lab, but I just wanted to go home. And I did.

2/1/10

1. Potato pancakes, scrambled eggs, steel cut oats with golden raisins, and mango-banana smoothie for breakfast (they've been doing weird green smoothies lately).
2. Getting to my desk perfectly on time to start the 9am shift.
3. SS in town and spending a whole hour explaining AF to me. She's a god to us, an oracle in the mountains, and also? Cool, with a pink stripe in her hair. Awesome.
4. My buddy taking some tickets off my hands and dealing with them competently.
5. Getting Mama G's approval for Mountain Lakes House as a venue. This is it!
6. Dan admitting that not all of his steering towards Englewood was about price and the coordinator for that place, he had a secret plan to take piano lessons and learn to play and sing Ben Folds' The Luckiest for me at the wedding. A plan he came up with a couple years ago, even. Aww :)

1/31/10

1. Starting to read The Bourne Identity, after all the commercials about the movie playing on USA. I forgot I had just read the second one (while we were WWOOFing in England, if you'll recall).
2. Relatively efficient grocery trip, good to know that it's only starting late afternoon on Sundays that it gets totally crazy at Shop-Rite.
3. Thoroughly cleaning the bathroom and kitchen, with the discovering of a small brush head attachment to our crappy vacuum.
4. Finally making a notepad for the fridge with a strip of magnetic tape, a plain pad of paper, and a pen tied to a string.
5. Going to the gym and watching the episode of That 70s Show where Eric and Donna get engaged. Very sweet.
6. Dan saying he really did like the taste of the lamb chops I made for dinner, despite how fatty the cuts were.