Weather like today make me happy. It won't be long before the cold sets in. Better cherish this while I can!

-- Via the Jesus phone

I'm in such a good mood. And it's all because of nice people.

My first client who came in today, just so happens to be one of my favorites. She is absolutely LOADED, but you'd never be able to tell because she is one of the kindest, and genuinely nicest people I've ever worked with. A couple months ago, she was bucked off her horse when she was horse-back riding, and she broke her sternum, a few ribs, wrist, and punctured her lungs. You'd think with an accident like that, she'd be in no shape to be out of bed, much less shopping for that matter. But a mere two weeks later, she was in Juicy, in a full on neck/back brace looking to do a little retail therapy. Since then, I've helped her numerous of times and we would always end up chatting for almost an hour. Today, she came in, and told me that she was really disappointed because she thought she'd be able to get out of her brace this week, but her doctor told her she has to be in it for one more month. I helped her pick out some clothes, and we started talking per usual. Before she left, she said, "Tammy, I hope you never leave Juicy."

:) :) :) :) :)

Times like this remind me of why I'm in retail in the first place.

Later in the day, I helped a customer over the phone. She lives in Maryland, but she wanted to send her daughter a gift for her birthday in New York. She was freaking out because her daughter's birthday was tomorrow, and she wasn't able to find anything last minute. I reassured her that we'd be able to pick something out. After about 10 minutes of suggesting ideas to her, we decided on this beautiful teal velour tracksuit. I promised her that I would ship it next-day air, and her daughter would get it on her birthday. She was like, "Tammy, I love you! You rock! Thank you so much, you've totally made my day." She told me that she would be calling me from now on to do send sales for her.

I love making people happy. I also love it when people show appreciation and gratitude. Yes, I know that servicing people is my job, but it's always nice when my work does not go unnoticed. If you're nice to me, I will be damn sure that you get the best customer service possible, and I will do pretty much whatever it takes to get you want you want. All you have to do is be nice!

Not to mention, nice people make my day too.

I'm laying on Jason as I'm typing this while he's playing his Diablo 2, and kitty is laying on me while purring loudly into my ear. We're one big pile of happy. :)

I'm a little curious to know who, from Pine Lake, Georgia, visits this site on a frequent basis... which can be read by invite only. Can you identfy yourself please?

-- Via the Jesus phone

I want!

I wonder if we'd be able to play co-op up to 4 players... that would be neat. And by "we", I really mean, "Jason".

There are so many movies that I want to see... and not enough time and/or moneys to see them all :(

G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra - Because I want more pew pew!!!

Funny People - Because I'll see anything directed by Judd Apatow.

Julie and Julia - Because it looks cute and has NOM NOMs.

District 9 - Because it's directed by Peter Jackson and I want to see something more like Dead Alive again. [Update: Just watched it with Jason. It was really good. But unfortunately, nothing like Dead Alive. Still worth the 10 bucks though. A+]

Inglorious Basterds - Because Brad Pitt + Quentin Tarantino = WIN. [Update: Watched this Sunday night. It should be re-named "Everyone Dies", because... everyone... dies. I had high hopes for this movie as it got positive reviews, and everyone raved about it on their FB statuses. Jason and I thought it was... Okay. We wanted to see less talky, MORE FIGHTY. I'm all about revenge movies, and this just didn't hit the spot quite like Taken, or Last House on the Left. B]

(500) Days of Summer - Because it's a sweet love story that everyone's talking about. And because it's bound to be better than The Ugly Truth.

Zombieland - Because well... uhmm... Have you SEEN the trailer? How could you not want to see this?

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - Because it's Heath Ledger's last film. And it actually looks kind of good.

Where the Wild Things Are - Because if you don't want to see this movie, you are a heartless bastard.

Taking Woodstock - Because I love Demetri Martin.

9 - Because I have no fucking clue what this movie is about and I'm curious!

The September Issue - Because I work in the fashion industry. And because I really liked The Devil Wears Prada. And because I'm a girl.

Jennifer's Body - Because it's written by Diablo Cody (same writer for Juno), and it's got Megan Fox in it. (And now, just to spite Jason because he thinks this movie looks stupid.)

The Invention of Lying - Because Ricky Gervais is hilarious, and the movie looks pretty funny too.

Daybreakers - Because there's no way in hell I'm going to go see Twilight: New Moon. EVER.

Sherlock Holmes - Because Robert Downey Jr. is a BAMF.

Alice in Wonderland - Because I love Tim Burton and I want to see just how fucked up he can make a story that's already kind of fucked up to begin with.

Movie hopping session soon?

Ugh. I live all the way in Brentwood and I still make it to work with a few minutes to spare. Why can't my opener show me the same courtesy? I mean, it's almost 8:15 already!


-- Via the Jesus phone

Some asshole was tailgating me while I was driving to work this morning. So I slowed down and started pacing the car in the lane to my right so he was unable to pass whatsoever. I could see the frustration build in his face in my rear view mirror as he was flailing his arms and probably screaming obscenities at me. I may be a bitch, but it felt really good. Maybe don't tailgate me next time.

-- Via the Jesus phone

I'm a little curious to know how we manage to have an extra 20 gift box tops with no bottoms here at the store. Where's that pesky bottom-box-eating gnome?


-- Via the Jesus phone

I got the BlogPress app for my iPhone today and I'm testing it out. Hope this is worth the $2.99!

And this is just page 2 of 3 of all my apps!

-- via the Jesus phone

Knowing I have a day off soon is sometimes the only thing I have to look forward to when it comes to work.

I met Jason's grandfather at his family's July 4th party. He looked old. Probably older than he really was. He couldn't talk because he has no larynx due to throat cancer. His mobility was greatly restricted because over the years, doctors had to take veins out of his legs to be used when he had triple-bypass surgery. Twice. Regardless, he seemed to be in great spirits, trying to engage in all conversation and activities to the best of his ability. He was really sweet, and was even able to make us laugh despite not being able to speak. I liked him.

Last night, Jason and I had dinner at his parents house. His mom broke the news to us that his father will probably not be with us much longer. Just in this last month and a half, his health failed considerably. He was put on bed rest, and was given blood-pressure medicine to keep him alive. And as a very unfortunate side-effect, the medicine did not allow adequate blood-flow to his legs, and he ended up getting gangrene in them (which, by the way, you should NEVER Google Image). Now he's hooked up to a morphine drip, and is pretty much non-responsive. Jason's mom and uncle made the difficult decision to take him off the medicine, and the doctors say he will probably live only a few days to a week.

Getting old scares me. I don't think I would have the strength to live when my body doesn't want me to and just craps out on me. And I hope I don't ever have to make that horrible decision of whether or not to take someone I love off life support. Sigh.

I hate how the $12.99 cheapo shorts I get from Forever 21 have lasted me over a year - through numerous washes and wears... And yet, THREE buttons on my $138 Juicy shorts fall off after I wear them once. Ugh! That is NOT a small price to pay for designer clothes.

Testing, testing, 123!

Today, Jason and I video chatted. While sitting right next to each other.

See that black blob behind Jason? Yeah. That's me.

We're so much fun - don't you want to hang out with us?

This post is about my foot in Jason's face.

Back at the beginning of summer, Jason and I had plans on buying a house once his apartment's lease was up in September. Unfortunately, all that was put on hiatus when no teaching jobs became available in Metro over the last few months. It's been slightly stressful and discouraging.

Okay... very stressful and discouraging.

I try not to show it, and instead, remain as positive and optimistic as possible, but I had to come to terms with what may be a very possible reality. I think we could have gotten by on my crappy retail salary plus whatever shitty job he would get, but we'd definitely be running on a tight budget and probably be eating one too many ramen packets (which, is freaking delicious, mind you). But with the kind of lifestyle Jason and I have grown accustomed to... all the eating out, and the going out, and whatever outs there are, it was going to be a hard transition into the "staying-ins". Plus, Jason loves new video games and gadgets, and I like clothes and girly shit - all that would have to stop as well.

Bye-bye, house. Bye-bye, video games, Bye-bye pretty clothes.

Needless to say... discouraging.

I know Jason and I are blessed in so many ways, but sometimes it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I worked my ass off at Juicy over the last year, and when a promotion/raise was due... I saw neither. When I thought I had another job in the bag, that also fell through. Same goes for Jason - my poor boy hardly ever gets what he deserves. He doesn't get to see his son enough, he can't find a job that's even remotely worthy of his intelligence, and he has kind of a dick of a father that likes to remind him of everything he's done wrong. It's just one thing after another.

So I'm not really sure if God was just feeling extra generous recently, because just in the last week, I was promoted in my store, plus I got that raise I so desperately needed, and Jason got re-hired by Metro. Maybe things are looking up, after all.

One thing I've really missed about working at J. Crew, besides always fucking around with Jasen (the gay one, not the fiancee one), was really expanding my talents as a visual merchandiser. Not to toot my own horn or anything, because I'm really not that creative or artistic. I am, however, meticulous. You show me a picture of how you want things done, and I'll be damn sure to do whatever it takes to make it look exactly like that picture.

I've worked ridiculous hours at J. Crew to make that store look amazing (try 28 hours... STRAIGHT), and poured my blood, sweat, and tears into that store. It was always very physically demanding - sometimes it required me to be on my tip-toes on the very top step of a 16 foot ladder, staple-gunning a freaking parachute to the ceiling, or working overnight to hand-paint goddamn raindrops on the glass windows with no AC. No matter the challenge, or the conditions, Jasen and I always managed to pull through, and in the wise words of Tim Gunn,"Make it work."

I remember every time I would be doing the windows, it's 4 in the morning and I had clocked in 12 hours prior, I always thought, "Fuck, this is SO not worth $10.00 an hour." But then the next day, we would get numerous people who stop in front of the store just to check out the visual display, and even have people come in just to say how wonderful they look. That's when I reminded myself, "Oh, so *THIS* is why I love my job." It was incredibly rewarding.

Sometimes I wish I could go back and just do visuals full time. As much as I enjoy working at Juicy, it's just not quite the same. While Juicy looks pretty incredible on the inside, with the graffiti splattered across the walls, and the artwork that is so thoughtfully defaced, none of that ever changes. We had artists come in during store opening to do all that. The only thing that changes visually are the placement of the clothes (not even the fixtures), and what goes on the mannequins. Every now and then, Juicy will come out with something fairly creative, like the giant red bows 2 Christmases ago, or the huge gold chains wrapped around the forms, but it doesn't get my creative juices flowing quite like J. Crew did.

Today, I went into the store at 7am to install our "Back-to-School" windows. In the two years I've been with Juicy, I think this was the most elaborate one I've seen. I had to write on a chalkboard, Bart Simpson style, "I'M TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL" over and over again, and I had to scatter chalk all over the ground. It took about 5 hours to finish, which is far less than the average 12 hours I used to spend, but it definitely felt like the old days.

[Pictures from J.Crew]

April 2007

Things to notice:

1. Those umbrella are hanging from the ceiling using fishing line, and barely pinned to the forms.

2. Those dresses are "flowing in the wind", also using fishing line.

3. The corbels on the wall were hung up by ourselves.

4. The rain drops were painted on using stencils. Which was a total pain-in-the-ass because the stencil didn't fit that window perfectly. So we had to paint, let it dry, paint a 2nd coat, line up the rain drops perfectly again. Rinse. Repeat. This process took us ALL NIGHT.

5. Look how cute the rain drops are bouncing off the umbrellas.

December 2006

Things to notice:

1. Those pajama pants are clipped on to Christmas lights, that are hanging from the ceiling.

2. Um... those bust forms don't come with arms. We made the arms, and hands ourselves.

3. Notice how cute those three are playing tug-o-war with Henry, the dog.

4. That snow on the ground was a bitch to clean up.

5. The snow on the windows were hand painted on by yours truly.

6. The snowflakes on the wall were made using yarn and a lot of thumbtacks.

Now see the difference between those and the Juicy ones? (These pics are kind of crap since they were taken with my iPhone.)

August 2009

Cute, but not the same, right?

I think my calling is to do visuals full-time again, as selling is not exactly my strong suit. Maybe one day...