Its a Love-Hate Relationship

No, I'm not talking about exercise, food, boyfriends or cars.

I'm talking about my clothes. I feel like I get in these moods where I either hate eveything in my closet and feel like I have nothing to wear or I feel like I have tons of options. However......lately this relationship has been taken to a whole new level.

Let me explain. As I mentioned before, I went and used some birthday money at Banana Republic last week and found some great options for work and outside of work. I immediately went home and started making outfits with my new pieces, well sort of.

I then logged onto Forever 21 a few days later and ordered just enough to get free shipping on my order. This purchase was all about more casual pieces and accessories. I love being casual and Im actually pretty lucky I can wear casual items to work. My rule generally is no low-cut shirts and nothing too tight. Most of my clothing fits this bill.

So my love affair with my closet lasted a few days. I wore a pretty new Banana top to a club on Saturday night (and proceeded to spill an inordinate amount of alcohol all over it, causing my poor little dry cleaning lady to look at me in disgust) and was feeling very confident going into Sunday morning when we were going to have friends over to watch the football games. Low and behold, I was running super late and guests began to arrive. I know I dont have to impress any of these people because they are all my friends, but I like to create cute outfits and always try to keep it different.

I'm tearing through my closet like a mad woman and realize the top that I wanted to wear was dirty. Great, why does that always happen? Plan B. A bright orange top with skinny jeans. Ok, I guess this will do. It was not even one of my newly purchased items, but I didnt care at that point. Just get me out of this closet.

So fast forward to today. We had clients coming into the office today, so everyone needed to dress in business attire (basically no jeans). I was excited because I was finally going to get to wear my new Banana black skirt, which I wanted to buy in every color. I tried it on at the store with the pretty little top I so gracefully dirtied up with alcohol last Saturday. Sigh. Its at the dry cleaner. So Plan B? Nothing fit well. I was having one of those moments where I forgot how to even mix and match anything. Flowy top? No, I'll look huge. Longer sweater? Well then you couldn't see the beauty that is this new skirt! White shirt? I hate the look of black and white all over. Ugh. Ended up settling on newly dry cleaned and oh so old Banana red silk top. Honestly, I never wear it because I feel like a grandma in it, but hey I was running late at this point.

In this fast decision situations, I just ended up going back to oldies, and not so goodies.

Long story short......I hate my closet. Then I buy things. Then I love my closet for about a day. Then I realize I cant make some of what I bought look good in a pulled together sort of way. So how do I solve this? Buy more clothes of course. Forever 21 is my go to at this point. Always.

So now I'm in the "I need to do laundry or I'll hate my closet again" kind of stage. That also means going to face the oh so pissed off dry cleaning lady again! Eek!

The Millionaire To-Do List

Ahhhhh to be a millionaire! Dont you just wish that was a reality?

Well, maybe it can be......

The gals over at Lean with Green posted goals to make sure they have $1M in the bank by the time they retire. I thought these were really good goals to strive toward, so I thought it would be fun to analyze "how I measure up." I rated myself 1-10 in each of these areas, with 10 being the best.

1) Open a Roth IRA this year and max out on contributions annually (that's 5K a year)
How I measure up: I just checked my Roth account and I'm very close to this goal. I currently contribute just enough to receive my full employer match each quarter. My score
is 8.

2) Establish an emergency fund (around 12K) and put it in a high-yield savings account or a no-penalty CD.
How I measure up: I'm getting there. I developed a savings plan this year to get me a safe cushion before Jake and I have to move. My score is 5.

3) Remain credit card debt-free
How I measure up: This is my weakness right now. My credit card balance is much higher than I'd like it to be. My interest rate is super high too. My next goal is to get my savings up to a high enough amount to pay off my credit card balance and still have my cushion mentioned in number 2 above. My score is 0.

4) Up my 403b contributions to 10% of my take home pay
How I measure up: Honestly, I just had to Google this to see what it was. The 403(b) is a tax deferred retirement plan available to employees of educational institutions and certain non profit organizations as determined by section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. I obviously do not qualify for this. My score is n/a.

5) Put any additional income (raises, bonuses, lottery winnings - ha!) into savings/retirement
How I measure up: I am also weak in this area. Most of my bonus this last year went to paying off my student loan and the rest went into my savings. While I'm glad I dont have that loan payment anymore, I wish I could have saved more. My raise this year is going straight into savings! My score is 5.

6) Continue to monitor my spending and my budgets
How I measure up: I am actually a big dork in this category. I keep track of my spending and my budget in an excel spreadsheet. It is color coded and everything! It really helps me find patterns in my spending and enables me to stick to my savings goals. My score is 10.

7) Continue to live within (or below) my means and not spend impulsively
How I measure up: Another weak area of mine. I feel like I am constantly spending money on trips, clothes, going out to dinner, etc. I try to be budget-wise, but I also want to have fun! It is a constant struggle for me. My score is 5.

8) Talk with my husband at least once a month about our money so we're both on the same page
How I measure up: Considering the fact that I dont have a husband, I will modify this one. Jake and I do talk about money a lot and we have joint accounts. I feel like we keep each other in check as much as possible. Jake works at the bank, so its hard not to talk about money! My score is 8.

9) Start a "vacation fund" so I can have fun and not feel guilty about it - it can't be all work and no play!
How I measure up: Really well! Jake and I have had a vacation account for about 2 years now. We recently used our years savings to pay for our flights to Australia and for some of the hotels there. We put in the same amount each pay check and plan out what vacations we will spend the money on. Currently, we plan on using our funds in Aspen at the end of next month. My score is 10.

This gives me a 64%. Not too bad I guess. I hope to re-evaluate these goals in 6 mos. and 1 year and hopefully improve upon them.

Thank you for tuning into this episode of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire!"

Hodge Podge

Hey-o!

How are all 5 of my followers this Friday afternoon? (haha)

So.....like I said in my last post, my birthday weekend was absolutely fantastic. You can read all about our weekend in Blythe in Christi's blog, complete with pictures and video. Oooh la la! Thank you to Jake, and all my wonderful friends for making my birthday so great!

We had a nice relaxing MLK at home on Monday and then I went to dinner with some old friends at Geisha House. It was so great to see these girls and it always brings back fond memories of when we would hang out in high school. Now, Melissa is engaged and pregnant with her first baby! Wow, time really flies! Update: Melissa found out today she is having a baby girl! So exciting! I will have to find her cute stuff like this

I went to one of my happy places on Tuesday after work, Banana Republic. I had some coupons and giftcards from my birthday and Christmas to use. I got lots of cute stuff for work and non-work attire. Even an awesome dress on sale, that I plan to wear to my little birthday outing Jake arranged for my birthday present! These little shopping trips just make my day! If only I had like a million more dollars to spend, I would go everyday! haha
That night, Jake and I headed over to Taco Tous (or Tornado Tuesday as Mike would call it) for some yummy chili cheese dip, the brightest guacamole I've ever seen and a drunken political debate. Always a fun time with those characters!

The next night in this relaxing busy little week of mine, I went to dinner with another set of girlfriends at Fitness Pizza in Yorba Linda. Crystal drove us in their newly purchased car. It was good to get the gang together again, although we were missing our Brienne!

Thursday was an eventful and looooooong day. Jake had scheduled a last minute trip to San Francisco on Monday to interview for the MBA program at Emory. He was luckily able to get an appointment in the morning, which meant a very early airport drop off for me. I got him to John Wayne by 6:10 am and headed to work. It was so early that I had to come in and turn on all the lights in our company. Ugh! I was supposed to work until 3:30 and then swing back by the airport to pick Jake up, but these stupid storms we've been having delayed his flight an hour and a half. I was fading fast at this point, so Jake had his dad pick him up while I went home to nap. I woke up around 5:30 to eat a quick dinner and then head to Newport for a Board of Directors meeting for the Jaycees. Such.a.long.day.

This week has been very rainy and cold and I think they are saying its the biggest storm in 10 years. I've actually enjoyed the rain until today when I saw a car flipped over on the toll road and another one spun out! Not cool. I want the rain to go away now.

Tonight I'm going to a shooting range with a group of Jaycees. I've never shot a gun before, so this should get dangerous interesting.

Anywho, I never posted up my 2010 goals. I think its really important to have goals or else you will never be better than you already are. So here they are:

1. Drink more water
2. Increase my mile time by 30 seconds (currently at 9:40)
3. Get better at snowboarding
4. Save more money
5. Travel out of the country at least once (hopefully Thailand this summer)
6. Spend more time with family
7. Be more organized
8. Eat healthy
9. Attend at least 3 concerts (just bought my Coachella tickets today!)
10. Stay positive

The last one is really important to me. I think I am generally a positive person, but sometimes I get in a mood where I feel like nothing goes right and I want to curse the world. Lately, I have been noticing this in myself as it is happening and have started to do a little self talk. Kind of weird, I know. But honestly, I've found it helps tremendously. I just remind myself that I am lucky for all that I have, and think about things I can do to make the crummy situation better. No one wants to be around unhappy or self loathing people, at least not me. So this year is all about positivity, spontaneity and downright fun!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

The Big 2-5

So I'm 25 today.

Thinking about this day even a month ago kind of freaked me out. I feel like 25 is a milestone, which it is, but a weird one. I dont really get any more special privileges after this point (I can now legally rent a car), so Im thinking what's next? Kind of strange.

Enter my birthday week. I'm not stressing like I thought I would be. My birthday plans came very gradually and easily. Dinner with my dad Wednesday went well even though we had to wait to eat at Javier's for over 40 minutes, it was worth it. We talked a lot about what I talked about in my last post. My future. My dad is a good listener and I enjoy our time together. He thinks things through before he gives advice and is always on my side.

Thursday I went to dinner with with my mom, brother and Jake at PF Changs. No big deal. Thought it would be like any normal dinner. BUT, I had such a great time. Great conversation and great food. It was probably the best birthday dinner I've had since my parents got divorced. My mom was very happy and funny. I haven't seen her like that in awhile. It was just an all around special night and I'm glad I spent my time with family. No better feeling.

This morning, I woke up at 5:45 am sharp! Not sure if I was still on a high from the night before, but I woke up excited and really thankful. Do you ever have that feeling? Just thankful. It was such a nice feeling. I thought about family and friends and my job and my future and being 25. It was surreal. As I was taking the trash out at 6:15, I looked up and the sky was just a beautiful color that I've never seen anywhere except maybe a postcard. I couldnt help but think that someone, somewhere made that for my birthday! I know that sounds weird, but that's what I thought about it. Seriously, it almost made me cry. And really, how was I so chipper this early in the morning? Still perplexes me.

On the way to work, I busted out the iPhone (my favorite morning ritual) and the songs that came on during Shuffle were the most positive songs I have. "Alright" by Darius Rucker was probably my favorite and emulated my mood perfectly. The song talks about how his life isnt glamorous, but he has everything he needs in simple necessities and love. How amazing is that? Then of course OAR comes on and with "About an Hour Ago" which was really funny because its about friends on a road trip who run out of gas. Oddly enough, my friends and I are doing just that tonight after work (hopefully not the running out of gas part). We are headed to beautiful Blythe, where I am so lucky to be able to be going on my special day. Nothing more relaxing than sitting by the riv, sipping a cold one, hanging with friends and just enjoying being alive!

Its been an incredibly special 25 years and I cant wait to see what comes next!

Many Changes......

As the new year has officially begun, I cant help but think of this year as a year of huge changes in my life. Its scary, stressful, exciting, inspiring, and sudden all at the same time. When I started my current job nearly two and a half years ago, I knew this time would come. I would have to look for a new job after 3 years and move on to the next phase in my life.

I am in such a different place in my life since taking this job. I was fresh out of college, living with my parents, and had no clue what the "real world" was all about. I am now no longer a student (although I enjoy learning something new everyday!), living out on my own with Jake and paying rent; and I guess somewhat successfully navigating my life. I have accomplished what I think I came to PAAMCO to accomplish: learning from my peers, networking and furthering my responsibilities on the job. I earned my CPA license along the way which is a huge plus!

So what now?

Its an odd time in my life, really. I feel like I am at a crossroads. The decisions I make in the next few months will probably effect me for the rest of my life. I need to first off figure out my next location, which is easier said than done. I am pretty much at the mercy of admissions committees all over the US for schools I haven't even applied to. Jake is doing a great job getting all of his grad school apps in, but the wait is just killing me. So....location is my first step. The choices are narrowed down to Berkeley, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Washington DC and New York!

My decisions come into play in what my next job will entail. I really want to have a job that I enjoy and will allow me to further my business knowledge. I have my CPA and while it would be great to use it, I'm not sure I would enjoy actually using it. My other dilemma is that if we move across the country, I will know no one. So my job will have to allow me to meet new people or at least entertain me enough for my lack of friendships. Does that make sense?

Like I've said before, these changes are actually really exciting. I have the opportunity to turn my life into a meaningful direction and support Jake in the process. We will be in a new city with new opportunities that we probably wouldnt have otherwise. Very cool!

I will miss my 2009 life. I feel like it was a year of play and a litttle work. 2010 will be my Year of Change. Yikes!

2009 Rewind

Ok, so I havent blogged for over a month. And its bad. I started this whole thing to document more of my life and I've let that same life get in the way of my goal. So here's a look back on a memorable 2009 and a promise to follow my goals in 2010.

January

Jake, Tuttle and I moved into our Anaheim Hills condo. We rang in the New Year at Crystal's cabin in Big Bear. The Trojans beat Penn State in the Rose Bowl. I celebrated my birthday at Rosine's (our fav) with a huge group of my closest friends. I joined a weekly hip hop class with a group of girls and it made me really miss my dancing days. A group of us took a limo to LA to watch OAR and Eric Hutchinson.


February

I ran my first half marathon with Christi after months of training and really earned my Super Bowl Sunday treat! Jake and I celebrated Valentine's Day in Solvang where we went wine tasting and spent a wonderful weekend together. We started planning our Australian adventure. I tried my first Bikram yoga class and really loved it.

March

We started to ditch our weekly hip hop to get drunk and watch movies. Attended one of Christi's Bridal Showers.

April

Best girls weekend ever in Vegas for Christi's bachelorette party where we saw a Britney Spears concert, gambled a lot, and got hammered at the pool all day. The very next weekend I was off to another bachelorette weekend in San Diego for Jen, various awkward situations ensued.


May

I was a bridesmaid in two weddings! Congrats to Graham and Christi and Jen and Ryan. Such a fun and rewarding time knowing I will forever be connected to these people and be able to look back on such fond memories. We spent Memorial Day Weekend in San Diego with a group of friends and had a blast going to a Padres game, dinner and out dancing. My grandpa received an honorary master's degree from Chapman. Jon and Kate Gosselin announce their divorce to the surprise of no one.

June

We celebrated Katelin's birthday at her family's beach house in Oceanside. Michael Jackson dies. I ran the Corona Del Mar 5k with my co-workers and improved my mile time.

July
I bought my very first Tyler Rose bikini and fell in love. First river trip of the season! Jake and I spent 4th of July in San Diego with Adam and Annemarie....so fun watching fireworks from the roof!

August

Kings of Leon in concert. Enough said. Ok, amazingness, expect for the part where I got thrown up on. The girls celebrated Maren, Brienne and Crystal's birthdays at Christi's first dinner party. Took my last CPA exam! My brother turned 21. Annual summer party at work in Huntington Beach. Went to the Pageant of the Masters with my dad in Laguna Beach. Another riv trip.

September

The USC contingent (Graham, Christi, Jake and myself) traveled to Columbus, Ohio to attend the USC vs. Ohio State game. Lets just say I will forever be a fan of whoever plays Ohio State in any game. The fans were terrible and I never want to back to Ohio. EVER. Street Fair 2009 came and went with the opening of Haven as one of the highlights. I began my shreadmill routine and never looked back. Jake became a rapper using the I am T-Pain app. Volunteered at the beer booth at the Taste of Newport. Went to the USC vs. San Jose State game at the Coliseum. Supported the Creations for a Cause team at the Susan G. Komen 5k.

October

A big group of us went to San Fran for a weekend of USC vs. Cal football, gay parades and fabulous sushi! We spent Halloween at Noah's house and then went out at the circle to Haven. Wore purple at the Alzheimer's 5k with Maren, Christi, Chanel and their moms.

November

Jake and I traveled 16 hours to Australia for an adventure Down Under. I will cherish the memories we made there forever! Thanksgiving was spent with family and friends. Learned to bake baklava in a cooking class.

December

First snowboarding trip on the season in Big Bear with Maren and Christi. Jake left to Big Sky, Montana for Christmas. I co-chaired an Adopt a Family Project for the Newport Beach Jaycees where we adopted 4 families! We celebrated Brady's birthday by wine tasting in Temecula. USC blew it in their last game against U of A and clinched a spot in the underwhelming Emerald Bowl. Jake and I celebrate our 6 year anniversary! Christmas dinner with co-workers at Mastro's. Spent New Year's Eve with a great group of friends, dinner at Geisha House and back to the Olsen's for the countdown and dance party!

2009 was an action packed year with many pool days, game nights and great memories! 2010 here we come!