Life as an in-house designer

Pass the TUMS please!

Last Saturday Rob and I went to Collingswood, NJ, a cute little town about 20 minutes from our house. They were having some sort of Halloween type festival, with pumpkins and scarecrows and baked goods. Um, we never found it, but we went to main street to get some lunch. I wanted to go to this new place called The Pop Shop. It's like a 1940's soda fountain type place. So cute! Their menus are like little newspapers and there's a ton of stuff on there. All junk food, just how I like it!!

We started with some boneless buffalo wings, and they were scrumtrulescent! I had trouble deciding what to get, but I eventually settled on this masterpiece:



Oh yum! It was a foot long hot dog with grilled onions and cheese whiz!! Doesn't it clog your arteries just looking at it??? If it wasn't so cold on Saturday, I would have gotten an ice cream sundae. Rob got a milkshake and it was tasty. Oh man, now I'm hungry.

Here's a pic of Rob eating:



And here's one of me. My hair is so annoyingly long and flat. The hostess thought I was a weirdo for taking a picture of myself in the restaurant.



Look Devon! I'm wearing your colors!! ;-)

Okay, now I need to go find some food. I know it'll just be a disappointment though. Nothing can compare to that "heart attack waiting to happen" that I had on Saturday.

Ahh, I can type again!

I've had a disability recently that I like to call Krueger nail syndrome. My nails just kept growing and growing and being as lazy as I am, I didn't cut them. I mean, it's not like I just have to cut them. I have to cut, file and buff them! That's a lot of work. Well, daily tasks such as typing and buttoning buttons had become very tedious. So yesterday I finally did it. I cut them down. Inspired by my HOWgirls, Devon and Mary, here are pics of my nails.



Ahh, much more manageable. I did, however, get two compliments on my long-ass nails recently. A man at the Gap said they were "beautiful" which was weird. And a lady at an antique store said "with nails like that, you should be wearing rings!" Of course, she was trying to sell me rings, so I take that with a grain of salt. ;-)

Also, I had mentioned something a while ago about posting pics of some cards I made. They are all the same design, just different papers. I made 24 of these a few weeks ago. 6 of each card.



It's another gloomy, rainy day in Philly. I miss the sunlight. My office gets nice and toasty when the sun blasts through the windows. But not today. Oh well, at least with all this rain, it's detered me from going to get starbucks, which is saving me loads of cash!

Well, have a lovely day blog readers!

Zooman and the Busy Weekend

Howdy partners! Haven't posted in a little while, though I've been meaning to for the entire past week. I took photos of the new cards that I made last weekend and I wanted to post them, but I keep forgetting to import them. Things have been busy, as usual. I think I need to consider taking a mental health day this week, just to catch up on some home stuff.

Last Thursday night was the Weezer/Foo Fighters show. I heart Weezer. I heart Rivers. I had this whole idea that they wouldn't be that entertaining though because of what a friend told me once, but they put on an awesome show! Totally interactive. I usually only go to tiny cheap shows, so I almost forgot what it was like to be in a big with everyone singing along. That's such a great feeling! At one point, for the sweater song, the band invited an audience member up on stage to play acoustic guitar. He was great! That kid must have been so thrilled! Can you imagine how that must have felt?! I was really excited for him! Anyway, highly recommended! Foo Fighters on the other hand wasn't really my style. Dave Grohl just screams a lot, and I'm not into that. By that point in the night, my head hurt and I was sleepy. So we got home late only to wake up early the next morning.

And on Friday, it was another day of not going home after work. Our friends, Dave and Lori, were getting married. It was a beautiful wedding, which surprised us. They're hippies, so we pictured them having a hippie wedding, but it was totally traditional. With cheesy band music and everything. We told them that we expected them to have a pink floyd cover band or something. But it was a good time. We got to see some people Rob used to work with years ago, which was fun. Made me want to get married though!

Saturday we slept in a little since Friday was another late night. (Rob almost fell asleep at the wheel driving home.) But instead of taking it easy and relaxing at home, we decided to spend the day in Philly. Got there a little late, and after a few spurts of road rage, we were ready to walk around South Street. Most of the day was spent in this antique store looking at old photographs. We must have looked at bins for almost two hours. We bought 22 pictures. I'll have to scan a few in, they are great! We had an early dinner and got home in the early evening. I passed out on the sofa, not looking forward to my next day.

Sunday we were booked. Rob's coworker, Chet, who is a super-Christian, invited us to his church. It was bring a friend to church day. Rob and I aren't really church people, but Rob likes this guy a lot, so he agreed. He even said we'd go to bible study an hour before church. Church was....interesting. I won't get into all that on the forum. I believe in God and all, but it was a little, um, cult-like. But everyone we met was soooo nice. Kinda like robots. Christian robots. After church we went to Chet's house where his wife prepared a delicious meal of lasagna and meatballs. Yummy.

After lunch, we went to Camden to see a play at the Walt Whitman Arts Center. It was called Zooman and the Sign and was starring one of Rob's students from last year. Rob was such a proud teacher. This kid came to Rob's school from prison and Rob said he wouldn't talk to anyone. But the school forced every kid to participate in an arts and music program and this kid chose acting. The teacher of the program, Ozzie, saw so much potential in Pennington, that he gave him the lead role in this play. It was moving. The play was about a gang member that accidentally shoots a 12 year old girl. It deals with the family coping with the death and the fact that the neighbors are too afraid to admit they saw anything. Really, really powerful. And Pennington did such a great job! Now he can't wait to do more plays! Yay!

Last night I was pooped, so I didn't do much. I really want to get back into sketching so I tried to draw a bit in bed last night. I didn't get very far. But here's a sneak peak:



It's just a girl from a magazine. I want to see if I can get in on a figure drawing class in the winter. I'll never improve if I don't practice, and I'm so terrible at keeping up with that stuff. I've done a few sketches recently that have made me nearly dry heave they are so bad!! :-p

Anyway, i have tons of work to do, like always, so I'd better get started. Talk to you folks soon!!!! Thanks for reading!!!!

WARNING: Long-ass post below!

Hi folks! Things have been really busy in Mel-world lately. I’m enjoying my time now sitting around and typing a blog entry from bed.

Let me brief you, dear diary style.

Friday

Friday started at 5:15am. Rob and I have been waking up early to avoid traffic. It’s pretty nice, but my commute has been longer due to the fact that we’re carpooling to save gas money. So I have to drop Rob off in Camden and pick him up after work. And since Rob talks more than anyone I know, he usually talks to coworkers for another half an hour, so I’m still getting home at 6:30pm. Anyway.

This Friday was going to be a long one because we were going to the Aqualung concert at the TLA at 9pm. Instead of going home, which would be pointless, we just decided to hang out in the city all night. So from 5-7 we wandered around South Street where I pointed out everything that happened when I was there with Amy and Maria. *tear* I miss them. Then we parked our butts on a bar stool to watch the red sox game from 7-10. We even skipped the opening bands so we could catch the whole game. Then we got to the Aqualung show. EVERYONE GO OUT AND BUY HIS ALBUM! I think I love him. Here’s his picture:



What could be better than a skinny, romantic, British guy with glasses??? Well, he didn’t wear the glasses during the show. If he did, I probably would have rushed the stage. His words melt my heart! So, if you can tell, I thought the show was incredible. Plus he was hilarious, which is always a bonus.

After the show we got some pizza. Rob bought a slice of pizza for a homeless guy and then we felt like crap afterwards as the man thanked us and ran off to enjoy the food. How sad. Then we got home around 1am, had to shower and got to bed at almost 2am. What a long day!

Saturday

Thought I could sleep in but noooooo. Woke up at 7am to go to a diner with Rob and Phuong, Rob’s new coworker that has become his Siamese twin. (In fact, he’s on the phone with her right now.) Basically, she’s new here and he adopted her as his kid sister. So we went to breakfast with her on Saturday and went to the Collingswood book fair. I’m not much of a reader, as ignorant as that makes me sound, so I broke off from the two of them and stopped at some shops and wandered around the farmers market. The weather was ideal. I was comfortable in long sleeves, no jacket, and a scarf. I love that. I got some apple cinnamon pound cake and flowers for my mom. After a few hours at the fair, we went to my parents house. I got to spend some nice quality time with my family. And I was able to get to bed by 10pm, which was great!

Sunday

Got up early to prepare for our trip to the Across the Narrows music festival in Coney Island. Got to Coney Island at around noon and walked around for a little. What a great place for photography! Rob and I need to go back because it was so interesting, but we didn’t have time to explore. So we’ll have to make a trip soon.

The festival was so much fun! It was in a minor league baseball stadium and for the first half, barely anyone was there. We walked around and listened to some music. Whirlwind Heat was first. I had seen them before. They are okay, a little hard for me, and the lead singer is a freak. Then came Gang Gang Dance. I didn’t like them at all. Super weird. Then was Dragonette. Never heard of them but they were really cool. Loved the girl’s voice. If I were in a band, I’d want to be in one like theirs. The band members wore matching white suits with yellow ruffle shirts underneath. ;-) Then came the The Raveonettes. I knew about them and liked their music. I was pleased.

Up next was the The Polyphonic Spree. Rob and I were really looking forward to them. We saw them on tv and they looked like they put on a good show and we were right! They are so positive and happy and listening to them makes me feel joyous or something! Rob and I danced around like children, doing pirouettes and stuff! It was wonderful!

After that was Belle and Sebastian, my favorite band of all time. They were a little discombobulated since they flew from Scotland specifically for the concert, I think. Love their music, that’s all I can say. And after that was Beck! Beck rocked the hizouse! He played some great ones from Guero, a few from Sea Change, and some classics, like “Loser”, “Devil’s Haircut,” and my fav, “Where It’s At.” Great closing to a great festival!

Then we left, drove 45 minutes to my parents house, then an hour and 15 back to my house. We got home around midnight and had to be prepared to wake up the next morning at 5:15am.

Long weekend.

If you’re still reading, congratulations! You win a prize! I think I stopped reading a few paragraphs ago and I’m the one writing it!

Hope you’re enjoying your week. I’m looking forward to my weekend. If I had a normal job, I might have a three day weekend, but there are no such things as holidays in the pharmaceutical world. Thanks for reading!!!

My girls like to party all the time!

Well, my girlies (Amy and Maria) left me yesterday. Boohoo. Back to regular life. This was such a great vacation and I didn’t even really have to go anywhere! I have so much to write about, but not a lot of time, so I figured I’d just post some pictures.

We went out in NYC on Saturday night and it was like getting ready for prom! On Friday, the girls peer pressured me into getting this gorgeous top from Bebe, and well, I had to get some pants too while I was at it. I mean, I didn't have NYC nightlife appropriate clothing! :-) Oh yeah, and I had to go to MAC to get some matching eye makeup too. Anyway, we spent hours primping and even sported the fake eyelashes. I was a little freaked out because of my whole eye-thing, but I conquered my fear to look fabulous! I couldn't see that well all night, but it was worth it! So here are some prom pics of us:



Check out the lushes lashes:


After a brief stint at what turned out to be a gay bar, we found our way to the Aer Lounge. I don't know what new yorkers put in their drinks, but one appletini at the Aer Lounge and we were good for the night! Thank goodness since they were $12 a piece. Here's a pic of us at the club, check out Amy's shirt-dress. I can't even count how many comments she got on her outfit that night! ;-)



I had a little accident that night. While climbing up on something (don't ask), I stepped on a cushion-y bench, that I didn't realize was so soft and I took a little tumble. Silly me. Here's a picture of my knee the next morning:



And here are two more pics from one night when we went out in Philly. We started at Pod, then went to the Continental, and ended up in Mint. I'll tell ya all about it at a later date:






So that's a brief peek at Amy and Maria's East Coast Tour 2005. It didn't end up being a poor girl's tour like we had originally planned, but oh well. Who can afford to be poor on a vacation like this?! I'll be sure to give you all the filthy details later. :-)

7 Things You Don't Know About Me

So, I thought Maria's post on her blog was a really great idea, so I came up with my own "strange" melissa facts. Funny though, mine seem way more embarrassing than hers do. Why am I admitting this stuff????

1. I was a flute section leader in high school marching band. Yeah, geeky. I wanted to be a drum major, but then I wouldn’t get to play, and playing my flute was the only reason I was in band. Well, that and the cool uniform. I actually thought I’d go to Julliard one day! Haha!
2. Along the geeky lines, when I was a high school freshman, I was on my school’s bowling league. I was the worst one on the team so I quit the next year.
3. My middle name is Kim, not Kimberly, just Kim.
4. The only pets I’ve ever had were goldfish. But I had this one, his name was Spot and he lived for over 2 years. I used to put my finger at the top of the water and he’d nibble it. I cried my eyes out when he died.
5. I collected post cards when I was growing up. I think I have over 1200. My grandfather still sends me all the ones he ever gets in the mail. ☺
6. The first time Rob tried to kiss me I told him no. Even though I knew I wanted to be with him, I hadn’t broken up with my current boyfriend yet, and I didn’t want to be a cheater.
7. (This one is super-embarrassing.) Sometimes, when I’m in my car singing, I imagine myself on American Idol. :-p I think about what songs I would pick and everything! That is so bad, but I can’t imagine anything better than being a singer!

Well, that's my list. I hope you all still like me. ☺ You don't have to respect me, I just hope you still like me.

Jeope is so cool!!! So are the other HOWies!

Yeah, he is. He's so cool that I had to title my blog post after him. ;-)

Visit his blog here. He's so talented, it makes me want to puke. And I mean that in a good way!

________

Speaking of cool, I just have to say thank you to my HOWies for making this birthday superb! I got more birthday wishes than I have in the past five years! They make me feel loved. And it's so great to have them as my dear friends. I am blessed. A few special HOWie shout outs. Nobody get angry at me for leaving them out! That means you jeff_bob!!! ;-) Okay fine, shout out to jeff_bob, even though his emails are not as lengthy as they used to be!

Special shout out to Ash, who really got me thinking deeply this past week. She made me realize that i need to look inside myself more often instead of trying to fix my life superficially. She is such an inspiration and I love knowing that she's there to lend her wisdom. Thank you, Ash.

Thank you to Maria and Amy for making the trip across the country! Sheesh, my friends won't even drive 45 minutes to see my house and you girls are coming from Phoenix! You are beautiful ladies and are like sisters to me. We are going to have a blast! Also, thanks to Maria for listening to me complain more than anyone in this world! She is the most understanding person to vent to! :-)

Thanks dev, for joining me in the quest for the rock. I hope it happens to us both at the same time. Who else can I send wedding invitation pics to that'll understand me like you do?? :-) Sometimes I think we're the same person! Except your a little kookier!

Even though he's not technically a HOWie anymore, thanks to Keith for trying his best to keep me sane in this corporate world. And I swear we'll do lunch soon! Sorry I've been so busy lately, but I'm not avoiding you! :-)

And of course there are so many others that make my every days special. Patti, for running this whole HOWieZine project and for calming me down when I was freaking out about my lost package. Even though I had to do extra work, it's all worth it in the end to be a part of something so great! Lisa, for caring about what you do so much, which in turn makes me want to care more about it too. Lew, for finding my secret blog and posting his support! :-) Bob and Rick for being crazy characters that crack me up in an instant! You all get the picture!

Anyway, I feel like I'm giving an acceptance speech or something. I just have lots of love for my HOWies and I want them to know it! **HUGS!!**

Go Sox, uh, I guess!

¡Hola amigos! What is going on? Just thought I'd post a few pics for ya. You know, for the three people that actually look at this blog. But whatever.

First, here are two pics from our trip to Fenway in July. Rob has become increasingly obsessed with baseball. He listens to every Red Sox game on XM radio and will watch it whenever it's on tv. We've gone to about 10 games this summer. It's getting crazy. But I'm trying to be a supportive girlfriend. Notice my lovely Red Sox jersey. Notice the smile on my face as I sit through batting practice.





So things have been a little rocky this month of August. I had one awesome piece of luck. My company was sold, which meant that we got paid out our stock options. Turns out that 30% of my company made over 100K off of this deal. I, however, was not as lucky. But I got a few K, which is a nice little bonus. Unfortunately, all of that is now spent because our heating/cooling unit is now garbage. How much will that cost? Approx $3500. Sucks butt. I was planning on getting myself an iBook and everything! Oh well, I guess that's me being greedy, since I already have a G5 and I just bought a cinema display. I just can't help it. I love electronics. But home improvements are more important. Actually, I don't really have a choice....heat is kinda essential.

Anyway, another piece of good news. I have two quotes in the new issue of HOW (on newstands Aug 30th). Although I was slightly disappointed that they didn't include a pic of all of our HOWieZine pages like I had originally thought they were going to do. I mean, I told my whole family and even strangers ;-) that my work was going to be in HOW. But my name is in there and that kinda rocks! Anyway, my HOWieZine pages for issue #4 went MIA thanks to the good ole USPS. That was really heartbreaking. I spent so much time putting 60 pages together by hand. And this time I didn't just print and cut, I did much more handiwork. But I'm doing them all over again, which totally sucks, but at least I'll still get to participate.

Anyway, there were a few other sucky instances, like some work situations. Minor stuff, but all disappointing. So Rob wanted to cheer me up. He left this little surprise for my when I came home from work one day. Those are the beanies. There's beanie Melissa and beanie Rob. They look like us, sort of. They are kind of like pets because they have particular voices and Rob makes them dance and fight and say obscene things to me. But sometimes they are nice to me. Like here. Apparently I like farts. Rob is weird. But this made me laugh really hard. He challenged me to a game of Chutes and Ladders but I totally kicked his butt. Hahahaha!







Anyway, I'm off to bed for the evening. I get to go get my new drivers license before work and I need to find like 18 forms of ID before I go. Thanks for reading folks!

Um, my name is Melissa. Remember me??

Okay, okay, I’ve been a slacker. I know it. I suck. Feel free to hurl large stones at me. Would you believe me if I promised to be better??? No, okay, whatever. If you’re sooo interested in my life, keep reading because I get the feeling this is going to be a long one.

First of all, update on the card front. No purchases recently. I’m completely okay with that because I haven’t sat down to make cards in quite a while. So my inventory is getting a little on the light side. But once I’m able to build it up a bit, I’ll start marketing myself more frequently. I don’t think I’m ready yet to be an entrepreneur, but I see it in my future! ☺

Okay, now, an update on work. This new building is incredible. Really. And I have all this great privacy! Originally I was supposed to share an office with one of my coworkers, but they realized they had plenty, so this double office is all mine! Brand new Herman Miller furniture! Ergonomic Aeron chair! And I brought in my Bose SoundDock so I can listen to music all day! Here’s a pic of what it looks like:





And a pic of my view:



The view is great. I mean, it’s cool enough to have some natural light in here, but to have a view of Love Park? That’s just insane! This office definitely makes me feel more important. I feel like a pretty successful 24 year old!

The only bad thing about being here was the commute. It was taking me just about an hour and a half each way. But starting last week, I got a parking pass and attempted driving here. So much better! Just under an hour actually, so I’m ecstatic! Sure, that’s still pretty far, but compared to an hour and a half, it’s great. I’m still a little nervous driving in the city, but each day I do it I become more comfortable.

Things have been busy lately. In June I went to the HOW conference in Chicago and had the best time! I got to meet some of the coolest people ever and was able to form strong bonds with wonderful people that I know will be in my life for a long time. It was more valuable than I could have imagined! Here are a few photos from that trip:









The end of June and July were weeks filled with baseball. I think we went to about 4 Phillies games, 1 Orioles game, and 2 Red Sox games. I am baseballed out! Got some of my worst sunburn ever. Rob had better appreciate what a dedicated girlfriend I am! I even bought a Red Sox jersey to show my support!

Our trip to Boston was so much fun! I love that city! When I’m there, I never want to leave! We got to take it easy this time since it was our 5th time there. We didn’t have to rush to see things because we’ve already seen most of it. So we did some shopping, ate some great food, watched baseball, and strolled around the city. It was great to get some quality time together without worrying about chores or work. I got really depressed and cranky when we left, but I’m in a better mood now because Rob and I have vowed to enjoy our free time to the fullest! We’ve become such machines lately, and we need to break our daily habits, always following the same schedule. I think we’ll actually stick to it this time!

The upcoming month or two are going to be pretty busy as well. My parents are moving next month. Thankfully they’ll be about 45 min closer to me. I’m not sure if they want me to visit to help them pack or if they would prefer it if I stayed out of their way until the move is complete. August 13th is Rob’s dad’s wedding. It’ll be a fun little BBQ/picnic in their backyard out in Amish country. I’m sure it’ll be a blast! Then on the 27th is Rob’s brother’s wedding. Not really sure how that one’s going to turn out. Then the 29th is my birthday, yippee! I’d better be getting a Cold Stone ice cream cake from Rob! Then, mid September, my girls Maria and Amy are making their way out from AZ to visit! Woohoo! That is going to be the best time ever! Then I plan on sleeping the entire month of October. ;-) Here's a pic of my girlies:



See, I told you this was going to be long!

One more thing, yesterday I made my first bag ever! Didn’t even bother to use a pattern! I walked into the craft store and spotted the pink embroidered fabric and I just needed to do something with it. So I found a matching corduroy and went to town! I was afraid it was going to loop like a heaping pile of garbage but it actually looks like a bag! And it’s functional! I can’t wait to try it again! I had such a great time!









Okay, I’m finished catching you all up on my life. I’m sure I left some stuff out, but you get the idea. I’ll try to not be such a loser and get my butt writing a little bit more. And maybe I’ll actually say something profound eventually!

To Dream the Slightly Possible Dream

Well, it's been over two months since my last post, so let me bring you up to date. I have decided to follow my dream, however far fetched it might be, and try my hand at the card business! I've been making an inventory recently, though very slowly. It's so tough to get home from work and sit down to do more work. Luckily, making cards doesn't really feel like work. Once I get started, I have a great time. The hardest part is decided to spend my night in front of my sewing machine instead of in front of the tv.

Last week I posted a few cards on craftster.org to get some feedback from other crafty people out there. I got a pretty good response. And I was contacted by two consignment places who wanted to sell my stuff! Woohoo! So this week I have to fill out the contract and send a small batch of my cards to each.

But before I did that, I wanted to finish my site. Not my portfolio site, it'll be years before I ever get around to that! But I wanted to finish my store, so that people could have a place to go if they were interested in any of my products. Well, about 30 minutes ago, I finished. The store is located at:
http://www.melissahead.com/store.html

I am so excited about this venture! Even if I only sell one card, I'd be happy! Doing this whole thing started out as a creative outlet. But the fact that I actually did something with it (whether it's successful or not) is so exhilarating!! And I'm not doing this whole thing to make money, or replace my current job, or become the next Hallmark. I just think it would be so cool to know that someone bought my card and is going to give it to someone.

I think I might spend the rest of my day making a small stack of Father's Day cards to put up on my site. I figure, I have to make one for my dad anyway. Might as well mass produce! :-)

Well, hope all you people in blog-land are having a wonderful holiday weekend (if you're in the US.) I'll try to not let over 2 months pass before my next post! Later gators!

My Creations

Here's what I could get done before my piece of crap Sewing Genie jammed up.
















Let me know what you think!

Sew cool!!!!

Hiya folks.

Well, I took a sick day off of work today. *cough cough* Okay, so I'm not really sick. But the bosses are on vacation and I figured it's better to take a sick day on a slow day than a busy one. So I'm home. Oh yeah, I also got a flat tire yesterday, so I'm stranded at home. I was kind of hoping I'd get to go shopping, but this way I'll force myself to do some crafts.

So I had an epiphany last night about my whole card-making shebang. I really wanted to do something different. Not that I wasn't happy with the more traditional cards I was making, but I really wanted to do something cool. So this morning I was on a mission. I pulled out the ole Sewing Genie from storage and went to town.

Here's my first creation:



I think I like the direction that this is going in. I'm going to try to bust out a whole bunch today to get the hang of it. It's been a while since I sewed anything! I'll post some more photos as I create more cards.

I've also been on a mission to work on my website. I completed a good amount last night and hope I can get some done today as well. I guess I'll see how deep I get into my card-making,

Well, I'm wasting precious craft time, so back to the sewing machine. Um, maybe I should shower first. Geez, I was so excited I didn't even change out of my pajamas! Anyway, talk to you guys later!

Pat, I'd like to solve the puzzle!

Alright, you can scold me. It’s been a really long time. It’s just been so busy at work lately that blogging hasn’t been as easy. I’ve been trying to be a better employee and actually do a good job on my work. But I think I’m just getting more work instead.

Haven’t been up to much in my social life, other than board games. Rob and I are undefeated Cranium and Taboo champions and we are hoping to soon take over Scattegories. Our Taboo championship is being challenged this Friday when Jenna and Kevin come over. They have a pretty good connection, so to be honest, I’m a little nervous. But Rob is the ultimate clue giver, so I hope I have nothing to worry about.

Speaking of games, I have decided that one day I will be on Wheel of Fortune. During the whole Kevin Jennings era, Rob and I got back into watching Jeopardy, and since it’s followed by Wheel, we just kinda fell into that. I always thought Wheel was the worst game, but regardless of that, I freaking rock at it! I can guess most puzzles with less than 20% of the letters up there. I think I freak Rob out. He’s always yelling at me, “You have to go on this show!!!” I’d feel like a tool, but nowadays people win over 20K on that show....at least! I think it’s because I am an only child, and growing up I just did a lot of word puzzles and things. You should see how fast I can do a word search!

Along with being on Wheel of Fortune, I decided that my other lifelong dream is to be a greeting card designer. Not like Hallmark or anything, but like those adorable notecards you find at the Papery or Blue Tulip or other fine stationery stores. I can totally do that. So I’ve been spending my extra time, and extra money, putting together blank notecards. I should take some photos and post them. I have a big shipment coming in from Chatterbox today. If you all haven’t been there, check out http://www.chatterboxinc.com/

Alright, I got in a good amount of blog-time. Back to work for me. Later gators!!

Can you feel the snow tonight?

Okay, so the past week or so, I've been MIA. I have actually had to work at work....dang those employers for cutting into my forum and blog time! Let me give you a quick update of what has been going on.

First of all, last monday was Jenna's first day as "Marketing Associate" so I've had my hands full trying to show her the ropes. It's so awesome having her there though. I didn't have to do a single business card order all week!!! Plus she's been so fun! Okay, so I might be getting a little less work done because we've been chatting, but now there are two of us, so it evens out!

Anyway, our quarterly meeting is this coming Friday, and since last November's meeting sucked, I've been determined to do a hilarious 10-13 min video for this meeting. You see, last year no one would help me with my video ideas, so the whole presentation was a crappy slide show of people's stupid pets. Sure, cute, but definitely not funny. This time, I borrowed my mom's karaoke machine and had coworkers perform, American Idol style. We filmed last week and it was freakin hilarious! This meeting is going to be the best yet! I'm taking 20-30 second clips of everyone and following them with select American Idol quips from Simon. I'll have to post it when I finish. I chose "wannabe" by the Spice Girls, and I think I would definitely be chosen to go to Hollywood. I rocked the hizouse.

Friday night Rob and I went out with Jenna and her boyfriend Kevin. We had a blast. It's so nice to finally have some friends that are similar to us. Nowadays, they are harder and harder to find. But they are a ton of fun, and Rob was in his usual form, chewing everyone's ear off. Good thing he's hilarious or I'd be so irritated! :-) So now we have "couple" friends do to adult things with, like go to dinner and concerts and day trips with. Thank goodness because I was really getting sick of Rob! Just kidding!

So, Saturday was supposed to be Lion King day. I say supposed to be because we got a stupid blizzard here and were unable to make it to New York City!! I was so bummed. And Rob was bummed because those tickets cost him like $180. So we stayed home and cleaned the house.....fun, fun, fun. But luckily, it turns out we can get a rain check since the weather was so bad. Maybe I can get a show in April or May, when the threat of a blizzard isn't so great.

Today I took the tree down. It was sad. Now the corner of my living room is so empty. I need to get some shelves or something. And now I'm finally ready to start working on my new website, melissahead.com. Rob's occupied watching football and we're pretty much trapped in the house today anyway. I hope I can get something accomplished.

I'm probably not going to be as avid of a forum poster or blogger or even emailer for a while because I have to be a good example at work now. And besides, I've been a crappy employee for the past few months, good thing no one there knows, but I'd like to be a little better.

Good news and bad news.

My boss rocks. She's just so cool, and I admit I am really, really lucky to have her as my boss! I was telling her about the new mac stuff that came out, mini-mac and ipod shuffle, etc. My company is very anti-mac, and I am the only one out of like 400 people that has one, and they refuse to support it. Fine, I don't need support, it's a mac! :-)

Anyway, last month she was throwing the idea to her boss of using the iPod as a giveaway at our conferences, but they were just too expensive. So she thought the iPod shuffle would be a neat idea. I, jokingly, said the marketing department should get them to "test it out" and see how 'user-friendly" it is. So she told me to get one for myself! Yay! Now, I already have an awesome iPod, but who can pass up a new toy??? Plus I lost my flash drive, so this will be a great replacement!!!!



Fun fun fun!!

Okay, the bad news really isn't that bad. Rob and I have a nurse coming over tonight to take our blood and do tests and stuff. All part of the life insurance drama. At least she comes to our house. But I'm not allowed to eat or drink anything other than water after 3pm, and our appointment is for 7pm. I guess can handle that. It's been a while since I've gotten blood taken. Hopefully she's good. I remember my mom used to go all the time and sometimes she'd come home with her arm all bruised up. Oh man, I just rememberd that Jeopardy is on at 7pm! Dang it!

Find the Korean

What the heck?? I never thought that my name was all that difficult to spell but it seems like more people misspell my name than spell it correctly. I receive packages addressed to "Mellisa" or "Mellissa" or "Melisa" all the time! Today on my Starbucks cup it said, "Mellisa." I think that's the most popular misspelling. That's it, from now on I'm going to spell my name "Malyssa" because I might as well!

Anyway, that was just a mini-rant.

La dee da, I get my new G5 today!!! And all new software!!! Fun fun fun!!!! I'm such a computer geek. Seriously, this is the highlight of my month! Actually, the highlight of my month is Jenna, my new friend who, starting Monday will be my new coworker! She's the one getting my current G5, which is enabling me to get a super duper new one. She's totally cool, and I'm really exciting about having a friend at work! Rob and I went to brunch with her and her boyfriend, Kevin on Sunday. It was nice for us to talk to people that have similar interests to us, because around here, people like that are rare. And our current friends are pretty immature and selfish sometimes, so Rob and I stick to spending a lot of time with each other. But now I'll actually have a live person (no offense all you guys) to talk with besides Rob! :-)

Rob's family is going on a cruise in June to celebrate his grandmother's birthday and they asked us to come along. I really do love Rob's family, they are great, and I have no problems with going on vacation with them, but I only get a certain amount of vacation days, and if we go, we are pretty much not going to be able to take another trip anytime soon. That includes our annual Boston vacation. Plus, do we really have $1200 to spend on a vacation? I mean, we just bought a condo and are trying to save up. How am I going to get that big rock if we keep spending money??? Okay, that last part isn't really a concern of mine, but the rest of it is. Any thoughts???

Hmm, maybe I should say something interesting or funny in this post. Uh, okay, got it. When I was 13 I went to Disneyworld with my parents and our family friends, the Jones. The dad is Irish and the mom is Korean, just like my family, and they have two kids. Spencer, who is my age and Ryan, four years younger. Anyway, the two kids and I were waiting in line to get on Splash Mountain and standing behind us was an Asian woman. So we were whispering to each other, "Do you think she's Korean??" As a stupid kid, we decided to find out by saying a word in Korean to see if she looks. What word did we choose? "Butt", of course. So Spencer says "butt" and we giggle. She giggles too, aware of our plan. So that, my friends, is how you find a Korean person in a crowd. The End.

I really just wanted to ramble so that scary audioblog would get pushed down far enough to be ignored. Hope it worked! Later gators!

Oh my gosh, this is God awful!!

My first audio post!! How fun!!!

Gosh, I'm not only long-winded in my regular posts, I babble in my audio posts too!

Who is melissahead?

I am, duh.

Okay, there's an explanation on melissahead.com about where the name came from. In short, it's a derivative of "knucklehead" created by my uncle.

So let's get deep. Just who am I? Well, I'm a lifelong Jersey girl, but I've migrated closer and closer to Philly over the years. I'm married to the weirdest person I have ever met. He hides his toothbrush in hotel rooms because he fears the maid will take it and stick it up her butt or something.

I'm a graphic designer with a passion for crafting, as I'm sure you can tell from this blog. I doubt it will ever pay the bills, but it's a creative outlet that I so desperately need. I seem to only watch depressing movies involving death. I pretty much only read design magazines. And I'm obsessed with music. Favorite all time band? Belle and Sebastian. But I could go on and on about the music I love. Go ahead, ask. I dare you.

I love reading other people's blogs. It's like a peek at someone's diary, and I'm a total snoop. If I could pull off being a voyeur, I'd do it. So if you have a blog, let me know about it! But only if you're interesting.