Things On My Mind

Is anyone else having trouble sleeping lately? I feel like there are not enough hours in the day sometimes to think the many things my mind wants to think. Its been spilling over into time I'm supposed to be sleeping and its making me crazy!

I've always been a night owl so its really not that big of a surprise that my mind would still be awake past the time I want it to be. Unfortunately Carlos likes to sleep as soon as his head hits the pillow and is able to do so quite well, unlike myself. He's not too keen on my desire to keep talking to him, unraveling my mind as best I can with the hopes that the more I talk, the less I'll store in the ol' noggin and eventually run out of things to think about - thus allowing for sleepy time.

I've come to the conclusion that I used to be a good multi-tasker and now I'm just good at thinking about far too many things simultaneously without the key benefit of actually completing tasks. Instead, my tasks are strewn about in my brain, some started, some completed and most are in limbo land, hoping desperately that I write them down before I just plain forget.

Is it that I'm a wife now? Is it that I technically have two jobs? Am I just not the organized person I think I am?

I go back once again to the perfectionism = procrastination issue. If it can't be done perfectly right this moment, I just won't do it. If I can't do it right now though, guess what I'm probably going to do? Instead of just biting the bullet and making the decision to charge through despite my procrastination issues, many times I'll start looking for system that will make my life more organized. When I was an administrative assistant this was my favorite item. It was cute (key organizational element), gave me three colors of post-its (love to categorize!) and I wanted to fill it up and use it constantly - and it worked!

My work life is more scattered now, between the office, home and being out and about. I'm not stuck to a desk so... my system can't be either.

Sooooo....what am I going to do about it? Well, thanks to facebook, my eyes were opened to my new favorite organizational system! And I haven't even gotten it yet! Erika (of Illegitimis Non Carborundum) and Kaysie (of Chasers of Kaysers) both shared how awesome this planner was. Erika did a write up on her recent purchase here if you want to take a peek at her personalized planner and all that it has to offer. I checked it out, got mine ordered and I'm pretty excited to see it show up on my porch!

You can look into getting your own here!

Here's a little video they have on the website that gives you a peek into its über planner genius.

Dream Working, Mondays and Acting Like a Child

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. What a surprise...Monday - why do you have to be so mean all the time?

This morning I didn't wake up on time to get ready for work because I was already at work in my dreams. Has anyone experienced this before?

Although I can't remember the details of what exactly I was doing, I know that facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Blogger, etc etc etc were involved and I was hard at work multi-tasking, strategizing and networking like a champ. At least, those were the words and feelings leftover in my brain when Carlos startled me awake with the knowledge that not only was I not at work already (to my dismay - I was getting so much done!), I only had just about 20 minutes to get ready before we had to get out the door to ACTUALLY be at work.

Dreams are crazy. I mean, some really are crazy and then others are so crazily realistic that they're hard to jump out of. I felt very productive and accomplished this morning in dreamland, only to get startled awake, be alert for a second and then go back to feeling very very tired. Then I get to work and the reality hits that I haven't been hard at work for hours and that my work day is just starting. And I haven't been the most awesome, alert, multi-tasking, networking genius of my dreams.

Maybe I should try the other side of the bed tomorrow. Carlos seems to have no problem getting up in the morning. In reality, it wouldn't matter if I slept on the right, left, at the foot of the bed or on the floor, or on a stinkin' cloud - any day that starts before 8am is a tough one for me. Nighttime is no biggie, I can do nighttime really well. Once I'm asleep, unless light is streaming brightly through my bedroom curtains - don't talk to me. It'll be bad and I will act like a child.

My My My...How Time Flies

Two whole months - almost.

That's the amount of time that I've taken to get back to my blog.

Not that I was all that dedicated to daily entries before or anything, but still.  Thank you Patty - Miss "Brem Bloggy Blog" (Follow her blog by the way - its awesome) for reminding me today that this is something that I enjoy doing!! I ran into Patty today at the park and she was nice enough to ignore the fact that I looked a mess.  I was (and still am) in my "I'm just taking Chloe for a walk right on the other side of my fence so I don't have to look nice because I'm within a short distance to my house if I see someone I know and need to run back to my house before they see me look a mess" attire/hairstyle/make-up-less-ness.  Yes, I know, that was the worst run-on sentence you have ever read in your life - and it was.  But you know exactly what I mean.

So where have I been? Well, between now and my last entry I've been tackling this thing called life and all that includes and asks of me.  In reality, its not like I'm a stressed out mess, its just the normal kind of busy, the great kind of busy!

Its like this...when I was a single girl, with no prospects in sight and not much of a social life, I wrote in my diary a lot.  When I was a single girl, with no prospects in sight, but I had friends and a social life, I wrote every once in a while.  When I started dating Carlos, I checked in once a month, maybe if that. When I got engaged, it turned into a prayer journal that I only wrote in for that purpose - there wasn't time in the midst of wedding planning to write about my feelings beyond my current circumstances and what I needed God to lead me in regarding those circumstances.  When I got married....well...let me see when the last time I wrote in it was.

.......

March 24, 2010  - Well that answers that question.  I didn't even write in it the 4 months before my wedding day July 11, 2010.  I was busy, but in a very fun way.  I didn't even have a job in those 4 months, just a puppy and wedding planning and apparently that was enough to occupy my time.

But the fact of the matter is, I love to write.  So, with that said, I will be doing a whole lot more of it coming up soon.  Not only will I be keeping up with this blog (I will try) but I will be writing for the companies' blogs (MasterWerks and Daydream) once those websites are up and running. So get ready blog world, I'm coming back!

Midnight in Paris

First off, I'm going to try to completely ignore the fact that I haven't done a blog update on here since May. If I think about it too much I will attempt to write a short blog entry explaining all of the reasons I haven't written (which will not be short no matter how much I try), when in short I can just say "I've been busy".

With that said, for our first anniversary, Carlos and I went to go see "Midnight in Paris". If you haven't seen it, you should. We loved it. I think it perfectly suited Carlos and my taste for nostalgia, France, old music and good movies.

Ever since I watched Midnight in Paris I've wanted to:

A. Go to France

B. Read - Amongst the people I did know of, it made me realize how many famous authors and artists I DON'T know.

C. Redecorate my home - in two ways: french provincial/shabby chic and with nostalgic pieces. I like old things so much better than new things.

D. Learn French - I wanted to take French in high school, but Spanish was more practical. So I'm super glad that I have taken 4 years of Spanish and don't remember much.

Hope everyone has a good weekend! Its been a long couple weeks at the office, and despite the fact that I've completely ignored my home, grocery shopping, etc., I fully intend on vegging out as much as possible. That is when I'm not looking for antiques, french provincial/shabby chic pieces and other bits of nostalgia on craigslist to inspire me for another month when such things might actually be a part of the budget!

Au revoir!

Call Me Susie.

Little Susie Homemaker...that's me. Sort of. haha I feel that way on days like these when I don't go into the office. I suddenly get very into the thought of baking and/or cooking all day long. I fit some cleaning in there too, and most of the time feel very accomplished by the time my man comes home.

The funny thing is, ever since I got married, I've pretty much been at the office M-F, away from the house. There had been this longing within that had taken root to make my house a home, and I couldn't because by the time I got home, I was tired and didn't have the energy to play Sarah the homemaker. Granted, I made sure we had good food to eat, we've cleaned the house on the weekend, and when there's laundry to put away, it eventually gets put away....but this being home during the week has made a huge difference.

I really enjoy being home. I really like having a job description that includes meal planning, folding laundry and vacuuming. Can't say I'm a big fan of dusting, but I do enjoy the smell of the orange pledge in the air and the fact that we don't have a TON of places for dust to settle. I'm an old-fashioned girl who belongs in the 50's I think.

This morning I got some chicken going in the crockpot and then proceeded to make some chocolate chip cookies so that Carlos would be pleasantly surprised upon his arrival. I did the dishes, vacuumed and dusted of the living room, put laundry away, made the bed, straightened up, and started putting my extra room together now that I have my last piece of furniture necessary for the room - shelves. I haven't completely figured out what I'm doing with that room yet - all I know is that until I figure out what colors I'm painting the shelves, desk and bookcase, things will just have to be put away on the shelves - as is.

Must go now! Its 6:15, my man just got home and I MUST get dinner on the table. =)

Social Networking Craziness

I have spent the day here at the MasterWerks office figuring out, or at least attempting to figure out, how this whole social networking thing goes. What I've learned.....? It's complicated stuff. It all can tie together and work as this amazing machine of communication iiiiiiffff you can figure it out and do it right.

Now, as I've already mentioned in this entry, I have yet to enter the smart phone, iphone, app world. I had a choice last month when I purchased our new phones to get the data plan or not, and I chose not to. Internet at the office and at home on the laptop is enough. Needless to say, as far as social networking goes, I do facebook and thats it. This blog is merely a creative extension of that activity in that I've managed to click a share button a few times.

I say all this to say, I volunteered to be in charge of social networking with the company and a world of communication opportunities are at my fingertips now that I never put effort into exploring before now. I've managed today to make the company blog (please follow us! I'm the only follower so far, so I'm basically following my own updates, haha), set up our Twitter acct and managed to link it to the facebook page so it will update both simultaneously, AND put links on facebook and the blog to our Vimeo and You Tube channels.

SO - If you'd like to be connected with everything MasterWerks, essentially, I'll point you towards our blog because that is the hub for all communication. I'm pretty proud of myself for connecting the dots today. I did a lot of google "how do I?" searches. Ha!

tickle me pink

I remember thinking after I finished my blog design the last time "I'm not going to change this for a long time. I'm perfectly happy with what I have for once." As of today, I needed to change something. If anything I could revamp the color theme without much hassle and be happy with the product. This thought is a lesser version of the "I don't have to buy new furniture right now, but if I rearrange the furniture I have, it will make me happy for a while" concept. Small commitment without too much energy.

I considered changing the header, but once again, too much energy and I actually like that element still. =) Thank you Photoshop for your abilities to assist me in achieving my color changing goals. I tried several different color combos and essentially settled on the one you see above. Now, why did I go with this one? Could it be that possibly I've returned to the same colors for almost my entire life whenever I'm painting, coloring, or Photoshopping? Ever since I received my first Big Box of crayons (with the sharpener built into the box - whoop whoop!) I have gravitated to these specific crayons. Don't ask me why...I can't help myself.

I'm happy with my blog for now...I mean, why wouldn't I be when there are so many different versions of Sea Green, Robin's Egg Blue and Tickle Me Pink in it. =)