Christmas, in 100 Words or Less

I really failed at taking lots of pictures this Christmas. I blame the fact that I was working close to 40 hours a week at Anthro, spending lots of time with Brian, sleeping once and a while, and of course enjoying time with friends that were in town and family. Here's just a few pictures to sum up most of this past month. 

I only have two pictures of Christmas gifts up here--the squirrel candle from Kirby and my blue coat from Anthropologie that my mom got me! I really need to take some pictures so I can brag on how good B did on Christmas presents too :) But another post for another day...All in all, it was a wonderful, busy, and not very relaxing Christmas. Just how I like it!

Still Kickin'

Hello world. I am still alive and kicking. This past week was the last full week of "holiday season in retail" so I am back to 20 hours a week as opposed to 38+ hours a week. Loved the holiday pay checks, but I am looking forward to some free time to get caught back up with the rest of the world. So look forward to a Christmas recap and other fun adventures with friends coming back on the blog! I hope everyone had a great Christmas and stays safe for New Year's Eve!

Trendy and (one day) Professional

The other day I wore one of my favorite dresses from Anthro. It's a classic little black dress in a not so classic cut, which is what I love about it. It's the perfect nice wedding dress. Case and point:

But for work, I need a few layers for warmth (it is always freezing in the store!!) and just a little bit of outfitting to spruce it up. So this was the outcome of my attempts of layering.

I felt like this was totally blog post worthy because our personal stylist at the store even complimented my outfitting so that put some extra pep in my step after that! 

Dress: Cutout Collar Dress; Anthropologie

This is so my "go to" belt from Anthro...and I loved that it was brown enough to toe the line with brown and black, but not an obvious clashing. 

Sweater: Merona Ruffle Cardigan; Target. Belt: Anthropologie

 So I had to lean over and take a selfy of my legs for this one...so 1) I have lumpy knees 2) not the most flattering angle, but you do what you gotta do for the sake of a blog post, right? 

Tights: Sheer Polka Dot Tights; Antrhopologie. Boots: Wedge Boot with Buckles; Cathy Jean 

 Earrings: Pave Posts; Anthropologie

Tah-dah!! One of these days when I have for real job as a counselor, I totally plan on wearing this outfit to the office sometime. Trendy and (one of these days) professional. 

Before the Wedding

To avoid rambling, never-ending posts, I'm breaking up Mary's wedding into two parts: The day of and the wedding itself! So first things first, the "before". More recipe posts are on their way, but all of these recipes were put to the test at the "getting ready" brunch. I had to work 8-12 on Saturday morning (womp, womp) but thankfully, Bonnie and my mom came to the rescue and pulled through! The night before I had made extensive "to do" and "to pack" lists for the team and even labeled each container in the fridge. Type A much?

Anyways, my mom heated up, repacked, and sent all of the "pretty" things that were more serving appropriate. She and my dad helped pack up Bonster's car and she was off the meet up with the bridal party at the hair salon. The salon was super awesome and basically let us take over. Bonnie did an awesome job of fancying up the set up!

The food was a hit and the muffins and cookies were about the only things edible that were left!! I guess there's only so much room for sweet stuff, but don't worry, the Mardis clan took care of the leftovers we had. The was best by far was getting to spend time with friends, especially the bride. She was practical, level headed Mary (as expected) and was beyond grateful for the goodies we provided! I could not have pulled this off without lots Bonnie and my mom and the stress of dealing with work and packing up the stuff knowing I couldn't help set up was all worth it when we got to enjoy company together. 

Alexa joined us for the last little bit before we had to pack up. The bridal party left for Mary's house as a quick pit stop before heading over to the church while Bonnie, Alexa, and I made our way to the hotel so we could check in and get ready for the big night. It was so nice to get ready with girl friends again (sigh, I miss the college years of having that luxury even for getting ready for class. Silly, I know.) We made it to the church in plenty of time to see the groom, our groomsmen friends and just hang out for a little bit. Guests started arriving and Bonnie and Alexa stepped up to pass out the programs while I ran around doing little errands for the bride/bridesmaids/family. Next up, the ceremony!

A Day in the Life...

My day's are crazy. And no two days ever seem to be the same. But the days that I have work and school look a little like this; sometimes in a completely different order or starting earlier, but here's the gist more or less to give you an idea. (Sorry for the blurry pictures, they were all from my phone and a little "action" shot-esque)

8:30 AM Alarm goes off

8:40 AM Work out

today it happened to be a little walk/run

other days it's stationary bike (which includes reading for school while doing so)

 

9:45 AM Cool off/Breakfast/Catch up on emails, Twitter, Blogs, etc.

Every day, it's Multi Grain Cheerios, I never get tired of them!

10:00 AM Shower

10:20 AM Get ready

Usually I try to pick out my outfits for work the night before so I don't have a wardrobe meltdown

 

11:00 AM Pack my snack, lunch, and more snacks for the rest of the day

11:20 AM Leave for work

Snack on the way to Perimeter

12:00 PM-4:00 PM

Anthropologie

4:00 PM Off to class!

4:15 PM Snack/Dinner while driving to class

5:30 PM Class

8:00 PM Drop off Taylor Ann

8:10 PM Head back to Marietta

Catch up on phone calls or time to myself while on the road

9:20 PM Unpack the mess that has become my car

9:30 PM Snack/Catch up with mom/Catch up on Twitter, Blogs, emails, etc.

OR I write a blog post for the next day or two 

10:00 PM Read for school/Do whatever school work I have to do for the next day

11:30-12:00 PM (depending on what I'm doing) Get ready for bed

12:00 PM Read for fun (Right now, it's On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson)

12:30 PM Lights out! Phew.

Long story short, I live in my car! It's not that crazy every day, but the 2-3 days a week I have both class and school, that's about it. 

Weekends Aren't Always the Weekends Anymore

So this past weekend did not feel like a weekend at all. The only thing that felt "weekend-esque" about it was that my mom, dad, and Lee were all at home when they're normally at work.

After a crazy, busy first week back in classes, I was ready for a few days off from classes and some time to catch up on school work and maybe some sleep. I had work on Friday afternoon and went to Boston Market with my parents and Charlotte while Katie and Lee got to go on a date. The rest of the night was spent reading for classes while my parents watched some CSI, Criminal Minds type show in the background.

I woke up bright and early for Boot Camp with Mary on Saturday. It was at 7 AM to make it feel extra boot campy and man--was it a challenge! I'm so glad I got to go, and I even won a water bottle and sweat towel for holding a wall sit the longest--Go me! That was Saturday morning and now it's Tuesday afternoon, I am still sore. Obviously I got a great work out in/am a little bit out of shape when it comes to strength. I came home with enough time to squeeze in a nap, do some reading for school, and head off to work for a 6 hour shift.

Sunday wasn't much more exciting although I did get some solid family time in since I didn't have work. I went to church at my parents' church, lunch at the classy establishment of Wendy's and headed to visit with Kirby. Kirby and Felicity had both been sick so I think she was excited for a break from being house bound.

This week, although I have school and work mixed in--Annie is in town for these next few weeks so I'm getting to spend some great time with her. I'm learning to balance school, work, health, and social--it's a testament to good time management skills. For example, I am blogging, updating my calendar for the week and watching the Bachelor Pad. How's that for multi-tasking?? haha

A Balancing Act

This time last year and this year could not be more different in comparison.

Last year in August, I was: moving out of my apartment into Bob and Lisa's mountain home, cleaning out my office at First Pres, frantically searching/applying to jobs, and contemplating teaching Signal's guard and working at Ribbons and Bows, Oh My (for a second time around). 

This year in August, I am: in the process of redoing my room at my parent's house, working at Anthropologie, and starting my 3rd semester of grad school at West Georgia. 

Yep, pretty different I'd say. Although I miss what my life held for me in Chattanooga and friends that are up there, I could not be more content with where I am now. I love working at Anthro. Living at home has its perks and downsides. I love my graduate program and know that it's preparing me for exactly what I want to do with my life. I know I'm where I'm supposed to be. 

I cannot believe that I am starting my 3rd semester of six in grad school though! This semester should be interesting. I was pretty spoiled with an easier work load this past summer and had days that were strictly for school or solely work/off days. This semester won't have quite the same balance...My schedule at work changes week to week, but on average I work around 20 hours a week in 4-6 hour shifts. School on the other hand, goes back to night classes that meet once a week for 3 hours (as opposed to a summer schedule that met twice a week and during the day). This semester though, I have 3 classes on campus so I'm bound to have at least 1-3 days a week that I will have both school and work. I know I shouldn't complain, but honestly I've never really had to balance a schedule with working part time while being a full time student before. Also, it takes about an hour total to drive to and from work and 2 hours total to drive to and from campus. So with 4 hour shifts at work, 3 hours of class, and 3 hours of travel time (probably more like 3 1/2)...that doesn't allow for much else in my day when I want to work out, do school work, oh and eat food once and a while. 

With all of that said, I'm a little anxious for these first few weeks so I can establish some sense of a schedule or routine that I can know to expect. Wish me luck! 

A Day in the Life...

A day in the life of an Anthro sales associate.

Okay, I always thought my job is kinda like most other retail jobs for the most part...turns out that it's not. We as a staff are very attentive to our customers, and that's above par in most other mall clothing stores.

Each hour, we are assigned to different "zones" in the store. Some days it can a trade off between only 2 zones, or it can be a different zone each hour I'm there. Here's a general idea of what goes on in each zone.


Run/Sale: Put up clothes from the fitting room back on the floor, organize the crazy sale room, tidy up folding/hanging clothes around the store, check sizes in the back for customers.


Cash Register: This one's pretty self explanatory; ring up customers, handle returns, re-enter returned clothes to the system/ready to go back on the floor...but something that still stresses me out is when the phone rings. Something about not knowing what they're going to ask of me gets me all riled up! But this is also probably my favorite place in the store to be -- there's always something to do and it's right in the middle of the goings on!


Front Area: Greet customers as they enter (I try to change it up...but there are only so many ways to say "Welcome to Anthropologie!" "How you are doing today?), say goodbye as they leave ("Thank you!" "Have a great afternoon!") check bags if the alarm goes off, usually because we forgot to take off the hard tag, point customers in the direction of what they want/who they need to talk to about something...one lady told me I was a glorified Wal-Mart greeter. Thanks?

Fitting Room: Take clothes from customers as they come in, ask their name, compliment about their clothing choices, hang up clothes in the fitting room for them, offer to get different sizes or accessories to go with their outfits. The thing is to be honest! Don't you hate it when you leave a store and felt pressured to buy something? Ugh. I know I definitely want them to feel satisfied with their purchase, because hey, if they're going to pay a pretty penny for our pretty clothes, they'd better darn well love them!

Home: On occasional Saturdays, I'll get assigned to the home area of the store...most of the time is spent reorganizing the knobs on the rotating stands. Talk about tedious! But, I love sorting things so it's almost therapeutic sometimes.

Welp, there you have it ladies and gentlemen, a day in the life. Some days are crazy busy, other are crazy sloooow! Yesterday for example flew by because I was at the cash register for 3 of the 4 hours I was there and was flying solo for 2 of those 3 hours. I barely had time to look down at my watch to realize it was almost time for me to go home! But then there are some other days that I walk in circles, braiding and re-braiding my hair in the fitting room. Either way, I get moolah.

Thinking about it...

So I definitely got a boost of confidence in my ability to dress myself for work from all of the blog views and comments! Thanks y'all :) 

But with that said, I do think my "Pretending to be Trendy" posts might pop up every couple of weeks! And, this is a big maybe, but I'm thinking about doing a vlog or two so I can show how easy it really is to do my hair when I wear it up!! Seriously guys, I don't think you understand that my motivating factor in wearing my hair up is so I don't have to spend 30 minutes blowing drying my hair and another 20+ minutes of straightening. (I have a ton of hair. It's really thick and getting longer by the day!) But I do like doing a little something different because a plain, ole ponytail can just be boring sometimes--not that I don't throw one up every once and a while.

Short post, but just wanted to let y'all know what I was thinking!! Hope everyone has a great weekend! I will be spending mine at work :)

Pretending to be Trendy

I've had several people request a "what I wear to work" blog post because well, Antrho is a pretty trendy place to work and trendy hasn't always been an every day thing for me. I'm thinking this might be semi-regular thing just because I try not to repeat any outfits because I'm me and that's how I roll...And I totally had fun doing this post!

A few things: I work 3-5 days a week, usually in 4 hour shifts, just as an fyi. We do not have to only wear Anthropologie brand clothing, but definitely have to dress to the "aesthetic" of the store. It's even in our employee manual to dress fashionably and up to date with trends. With that said, it is really hard to be in the store as often as I am, thinking of my awesome employee discount, and not buy clothes every now and then! We had super great employee deals the first 2 months I was there and wanted to stock up on my Anthro brands, but now that the newness has worn off, I'm trying to take a step back with spending and actually save my paychecks! Easier said than done...

So here is a week in the life of an Anthro sales associate's wardrobe. I'll  point out what's from the store and what's not among other details that make the outfit like jewelry and hair (which whenever I don't wear it down, it's usually to avoid blowdrying and straightening...and I end up getting lots of compliments!)

Saturday

Top: Anthropologie;  Undershirt: GapBody Jeans: Anthropologie; Pilcro Rolled Stet 

Necklace: Old Navy (Side note: I have loved their jewelry lately!!)

Shoes: Gap--like $5 on sale 2 summers ago, best purchase of that summer

Sunday

Top: Target  Skirt: Anthropologie; Maeve Carrizo Mini

Belt: Stein Mart 

Shoes: Gap, another invaluable purchase

Earrings, which I always get compliments for: Boutique in Chattanooga, Young Munster

Hair: Topsy Turvy style side pony--probably got the most compliments on my hair that day rather than my outfit!


Thursday

 

Top:Anthropologie; Tulip Lace Shell Pants: Anthropologie; AG Polka Dot Ankle Stevie

Earrings: Anthropologie; Encircled Posts

Sock bun, this is the epitome of me pretending to be trendy thanks to Pinterest

Saturday 

 

Tops: Both from Gap Body Jeans: Anthropologie; Pilcro Stet Slim Straight

 

Belt: Versona

 

Earrings: Same Anthro encircled posts as above, in coral

Bracelet: My newest (and only July purchase) from Antrhopologie; Brushed Chain Bracelet Watch (that I wear every single day): Fossil 

Shoes: Steve Madden, on super clearance from Macy's like 4 years ago...I wear these WAY too often. 


Sunday

 

 

Jacket: Anthropologie; I can't find the link, but we still have it in the store :( but I LOVE this jacket!!! Shirt; Gap, from yearrrrrs ago Skirt: Anthropologie; Sunblaze Lace Skirt

 

 

Necklace: Francesca's

Hair: Topsy Turvy, half up/half down style

Shoes: Steven Madden, clearance at Stein Mart


Tuesday
I was going to wear this outfit the earlier Tuesday when I was on call, but didn't have to go in so I decided to post it as apart of my "week" regardless

Dress: Anthropologie; Cap Sleeve Column Dress Shoes: Steven Madden flats I talked about above

Necklace: Livi Rae, that's right...a store where I buy my bras

Hair: Side pony/french braid...aka, I didn't want to blow dry/straighten my hair...again. 

Granted, I feel like I have worn a ton of Antro items this week and that might not be a regular occurrence, simply by coincidence. This is definitely the norm style for me to wear to work on a day to day basis though. Just one down side to being "stylish" at work: my feet hurt. Non-supportive shoes = no bueno. I'm getting old. 

PS-Sorry for the somber faced selfies...I felt a little cheesy smiling into my hallway mirror all by my lonesome.