Monday, April 30, 2012

Weekend Recap: It's Natural!

Did you ever hear that joke about why the lady had green hair? In reply to the question, she smoothed her hair back, rubbing her hand up her nose and says "It's natural!"
 
I had such a wonderful weekend, friends! I wish that everyone's weekends could be as fulfilling as mine was this past weekend. There's just something about being outside all weekend long that makes me feel really happy. I think it's a combination of being under the sun and being among nature that just really does it for me. And I realize that nature doesn't tickle everyone's happy bone, but I just feel like a completely different person when I'm outside. I'll have to try to figure out how to explain it one of these days. I think it's my church :) 

Horses along the BWI trail.
Anyway, I kicked my weekend off with a ride around the BWI trail. I've been doing this ride for over a month now, but it's amazing to me to see how everything changes throughout the year. This weekend the fields are covered in buttercups. The horses seemed to love the flowers! Side note: Has anyone besides my sister and I done the buttercup test to see if you like butter? This makes zero sense, but I remember sitting outside during recess holding buttercup petals under my friends' chins to see if they like butter. I did this to my friend Teresa the other day and I think I invaded her personal space ;) Maybe it's an East Coast thing? She's from Cali, so it's possible Sacramento doesn't have buttercups to do the spot test? Kids are so literal ;)

Those buttercups sure must taste good!
After my ride, I met up with two friends to see Mary Poppins at the Hippodrome. Unfortunately, the tickets were sold out by the time we got there, but it was so fun to be spontaneous! We knew that a sell out was possible and decided while we were all together, we'd just have a few drinks at Alewife instead! I've said this before: I am not a spontaneous person. So whenever I'm anywhere CLOSE to being considered spontaneous, I feel so daring! Living life on the edge, folks! 

Mt. Washington monument on my way home.
Saturday, I had plans to meet up with a 20s and 30s hiking group from meetup.com. If you haven't heard of this and are new to an area or are looking for new friends, I highly recommend it. You can find lots of different groups for any number of things. Looking for a dog walking group that meets after work? Meetup will have one in your area! Looking for a springer spaniel dog walking group that meets after work? Meetup might have one in your area! And if they don't, you can start one for $15/year...or something like that. It's such a great concept. How did people make friends before the computer?! I don't have a shot of the hike we did on Saturday, but we went to Cromwell Valley Park near Towson. I have to admit that I'm really quite ashamed at how little I know of where I live. I never would have known about this place had it not been for meetup. And I'm hoping this group will help me to pick up a few more places to get my nature on! (If you're wondering why I chose the 20s and 30s group, I've found that when you don't specify the age you're looking for you experience a sort of cougar-ish dating scene...and that is NOT what I'm going for!)
Baltimore Bike Club in Galesville.
S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT! I helped watch a friend's toddler. Evelyn is adorable, so it was really just a few hours of play time before her normal babysitter could come down. I headed to my parents' afterward for some dinner and birthday planning. And then work up Sunday morning to go on my first road trip with Patty! 18 miles of bike riding in Galesville, Maryland, was just what the doctor ordered :) More horses, rolling hills, fields of buttercups, farm after farm after farm. I'm in luerve! This is how I'm going to spend my lazy Sundays from now on. I'm thinking there's a whole new meaning to the Sunday drive...

Hope your weekends were equally as fun, whatever that means for you! Now back to our regular weekday trudge.

Love,
Stephanie Marie

Friday, April 27, 2012

Outfitted for the Navy

I wore this on Wednesday for an all-day training session. I figured it was a good mix of being professionally dressed and showing some personality. I love me some nautical! 

Full shot of what I'd wear if I was in the Navy!
I felt very fashionable in it, so that always helps with my attitude at work ;) Oh, and I did my hair the night before since I knew I'd be seeing all of my bosses. It's funny how there are different stages of getting ready for work depending on who I'm going to see that day. Just coworkers? Lazy hair and makeup, maybe heels if you're lucky. My direct boss only? Lazy hair and full makeup, heels and a more professional outfit. All the bosses in one room? Completely done hair and makeup, heels, and a straight up "suit." Is that weird? I guess cause we don't have casual Fridays, I make an internal hierarchy of outfits that still all fit into the confines of what I'm to wear to work.
Closeup of the separates.
And this is what I ate for dinner last night. I was trying to recreate the Santa Fe Quesadilla I tasted at Sound Stage when waiting for my friend E.J. to perform her standup. (I love seeing local standup, ps.) Mine isn't quite as delicious, but I think I made some healthy changes (i.e., yogurt instead of sour cream, colby jack instead of cheddar, and I added kale). I also marinated the chicken in my sweet Thai chili sauce. It suggests it right on the bottle, but that never crossed my mind! Crazy! Highly recommend it.
Quesadilla. That's a mighty fine dilla if I ever saw one!
So there you have it. These are the final snapshots of my week. I'm hoping to take some photos over the weekend, but that won't be my primary mission. The mission is: Make new friends! I'm planning on attending a few new-to-me groups: a hiking meetup and a biking group. I'm REALLY nervous about meeting all these new people, and I'm sure I'll be exhausted by the time I finish each activity (not from the working out but from talking to strangers!), but I think it'll be worth it in the long run. I've been talking about wanting to join a few activity groups but have been to NERVOUS to do so until now. Well, I'm still NERVOUS (this is my nervous voice!), but I need to just rip the band aid off already. I'm such a wuss when it comes to meeting new people, but it's about damn time! 

Anyone else putting yourself out there this weekend? I'd like to commiserate about awkward statements, sweaty pits, and clumsiness come Monday ;)

Come Monday, it'll be alright. Come Monday, I'll be holding you tight. Da Da Da DA!

Happy Friday!

Love,
Stephanie Marie

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Outfitted: Working the High Waist

When my sister visited me in Baltimore last week, she asked me about my lack of outfit posts. I honestly didn't think anyone cared either way, so I stopped posting them. Apparently she misses them, and since I do whatever my older sister says (rolled jeans and all), I thought I'd send one out today! 
To work today, I wore a gray paper bag skirt, black bejeweled henley, and black cropped cardi with my black platform heels and turquoise earrings. Do you guys know what a henley is? Apparently that's not a common term, but it seems common out east. What I’m most proud about this outfit is that the only things I’m wearing that I paid for are the earrings, my bra, and my shoes! Holler! The shirt was a Christmas gift, I got the cardi at a clothing swap, and my mom and I made the skirt from one of my mom’s old ones.
What do you guys think? I like a high waist every now and then. It sure makes pigging out easier ;) Also, I'm noticing that using the reverse screen on my iPhone makes the photos grainier. What happened to the options button on the iPhone camera? Anyone? Anyone?

Hope you're enjoying this grainy, rainy Thursday!

Love,
Stephanie Marie

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Keyed Into Customer Service

 

Where has customer service gone these days? I'm quite shocked at the level of service I've been getting recently in an economy that's hurting as much as ours is. You would think that people would be knocking each other down to one-up their competitors, to treat each customer like the king or queen of the world, to appreciate any business that is coming their way. But my recent experiences have shown me quite a different story. Even in today's world, some businesses seem to think that quality customer service isn't necessary. Either I'm crazy for expecting good customer service or they're crazy for expecting that we don't care.

When it comes to customer service, I am a very easy person to please. At least I think so, maybe you can tell me if I'm wrong. I really only expect two main things from a business: good manners and honesty. And I feel like if you can't hit those two things, then it is my right as the customer to take my money elsewhere.

I bring this up because last week my car was keyed. My nine-month-old baby, the first car I've ever bought with my own money, the thing that allows me to have an active and fun life, was vandalized. Ugh. I know it's just a car, and I'm very happy that whoever decided to harm my car didn't decide to harm me. But come on. I would never in my life consider destroying someone else's property because of a grudge or for fun or whatever. We're all just trying to survive in this economy and the fact that someone felt like it was acceptable for them to key my car just pisses!me!off! And why this had to happen with my new car versus any of my previous cars (the 1987 Pontiac Sunbird that used to overheat, the 1991 Mitsubishi Galant that had to be driven with both feet so it didn't idle out, or the 2002 Volkswagen Jetta that had so many problems I just had to put her to rest) is beyond me. Why did the universe chose NOW for this to happen?

Well, clearly I have to deal with it whether I want to or not. It happened, get on board, Stephanie. I decided I wanted to take Zelda (she hasn't been named officially, but I'm trying out a few options here) to a auto body shop to get fixed properly rather than try to do some at-home spray job. She's so new and I'd to have to see a botched paint job for the next five (I'm guessing) or so years. However, after visiting two shops so far, I have already encountered terrible customer service and an outrageous estimate. Both shops were recommended to me by friends. I really only like to go to auto body shops, dentists, and doctors based off of recommendations. You never know what you're going to get if not!

The first place in downtown Baltimore seemed fine until I stood at the counter waiting for the receptionist to get off her blue tooth. She talked about everything under the sun--what she needed from the grocery store, who was coming into work high--but did she talk to me? Of course not. So I stood there looking at her like an idiot while she completely ignored me until finally (probably five minutes later), I gave up. I would rather not give my money to a company who's people think it's OK to ignore their customers. I'd rather not encourage that type of behavior. And instead of telling her never mind, in typical Stephanie passive aggressive fashion, I just turned around, ripped up my information form, and walked back out the front door. Never mind, lady. Clearly you don't need my money! I'm sure your bosses would be happy to know that you're behavior is loosing customers. Ugh.

The second place was much more professional. They were very prompt in receiving me, sending someone over to walk out to my car, and printing out an estimate. However, said estimate was just shy of $1000. $971 to fix a scratch? Good lord. The car isn't worth enough for me to justify spending a cool grand on cosmetic surgery. I would have loved to have given them my business, and that still may happen depending on what I encounter with my next adventure, but for now, I'm saying no to those guys.

So the saga of fixing the damage that was done to my car, not that was the result of an accident or error, but that was done to my car. I just can't even wrap my brain around that mentality. As I said before, it could be a lot worse, but I just don't see the silver lining quite yet. And in the meantime, I sit here contemplating whether or not I was right to storm out of the auto body shop yesterday without getting a quote. When I retold the story to my coworker, she seemed shocked that I would leave because of "one thing." But to me, that one thing--good manners--is really important.

Was I too rash with my decision to leave? Is anyone else reminded of "Doc Hollywood" when they see that picture? Here's hoping they don't hand me a box of "extra" parts when I do find a place to take Zelda!

Love,
Stephanie Marie

Photo courtesy of pinterest.