Big plans

I have now been unemployed for four weeks. In that time, I have not had much of a social life and I've been living on bread and peanut butter. I think I'm on the verge of landing a good job with a salary. I will continue to believe so until they officially turn me down. So with the idea of a guaranteed paycheck twice a month, I've been making a list of all the things I NEED to buy:

*Car repairs...boring but necessary (especially since my ex was my free mechanic...we don't speak anymore...bad for my checking account)
*Grown up work clothes...I plan to go on one or two large sprees with my first big girl paychecks. Mostly at cheaper places like Old Navy, Target, Gap, Kohl's with a few nicer pieces from Banana Republic and maybe J. Crew thrown in. Then I will invest in one or two nicer, higher quality pieces every month. But for now I need lots of new stuff. (Completely and utterly justifiable, as I have been a nanny/college student since moving to Austin. No need for more than jeans and hoodies most days)
*Books! I have a shopping cart on Amazon full of thrillers, mysteries, cookbooks, nonfiction and more waiting to be purchased.
*Decent cookware and knives. I'm not talking Calphalon and Le Creuset here, but I've been using the same $40 pots and pans set my mom bought for me when I moved into my first apartment. It gets (most of) the job done, but I'm a foodie that loves to cook. I need some better shiz.
*Home decor. Trying to move out of the "I'm a young adult with a full time class schedule and I don't need to decorate my apartment" look. I live in a great 87 year old duplex with hardwood floors and cute details. I need to accent that. Rugs, curtains, bedframe, artwork, etc.

Now that I look at my list, I still don't think I will have money for a social life or food.

A call for help...

To my three followers:

Thanks for following my pitiful little blog. I appreciate it. And now I need to ask all three of you for a favor:

***If you know of ANYONE in Austin hiring (preferably for an Administrative Assistant), would you please please please let me know? I have been unemployed for a month now and times are getting super desperate. I am broke. I must talk to my landlord tomorrow and ask for a two week grace period on my rent.***

Thanks again girls!

Jessica

Lame serious post

Just thought I'd warn you up front.

I have been overweight my entire life. I was born 9 lbs. and never looked back. Part of it is genetics, and part of it comes from being fed fast food as a child by my father. My mother, the uber hippie that didn't allow us to eat sugary snacks and raised us to like fruits and vegetables, tried her hardest to undo the damage he did to us, but it really was never enough. Bad habits outweigh the good habits.

So here I sit at 24 years old, miserably overweight and feeling like I'm unable to do anything about it. I have a gym membership and I'll go regularly for a week or two, and then just lose the motivation. I'll get on a kick where I'm eating extremely healthy for a week or two, but then my friends will want to go out to dinner and I'll revert right back to my old habits.

My mother told me about this doctor that has a program that can change the way you look and feel in about one month, by eliminating food allergens from your diet and then slowly reintroducing them. In that one month I would have to give up gluten, sugar, alcohol, caffeine, dairy, eggs, and a few other things. That means no bread, no cheese, no desserts, no wine, no Halloween candy, etc. Tough, of course, but it could change my life to figure out what foods I'm reacting to that are causing me to gain weight. And still, I'm dragging my heels because it would be a challenge and I wouldn't get to eat my favorite foods and go to bars with friends. For one stupid month.

Am I being completely crazy? Or am I just scared to fail again, so I don't even want to take the first step?

I want it!

Today I went on Job Interview #3 of the week and it is true what they say: Third time is in fact the charm. #1 was a complete and utter waste of time. #2 was definitely not the job I thought I had been applying for. I thought it was an administrative job for an engineering firm, right? Yes and no. It was 60% administrative work for the engineering firm, 40% personal assistant work for the head of the firm, including picking up her children from school and doing her grocery shopping. Um, no thanks. First off, be a good mother and spend some time with your children instead of another two hours at the office. Second, I didn't spend years in school and thousands of dollars on my degree so I can be your lackey and pick up your dry cleaning.

But today's interview went great. Administrative work for a small, independent financial firm. I like independent. After working for a huge worldwide corporation, I'm definitely a fan of the little guys. The office is only 15 minutes from my house, and looks out over the 360 bridge and the rolling hills. Much better than being downtown and looking out the window at another building. It is salary, rather than hourly, and has room for growth within the company. Or, if I get sick of the financial industry, it provides me with excellent experience.

I am dying to hear from them because they want someone to start on November 2nd. I'm ready to start now!!!

I'm a hippie

I recycle, I eat organic, and most importantly, I wear flip flops just about every day of the year. Flat, comfortable, easy to put on and take off shoes. Emphasis on comfort.

Don't get me wrong: four inch heels are fun to look at. Christian Louboutins are drop dead gorgeous and if I had a spare $1,000 laying around at any given moment, I would give some serious thought to dropping it on a pair of his red-soled beauties.

But for the love of all things holy, high heels make make effing feet effing hurt.

I had a job interview today (for a job I don't especially want, but unemployment makes you do things you don't want to do) and I needed to look Uber Professional. That meant skirt, ironed shirt, and a ridiculously cute but professional pair of burgandy round-toe pumps. And yeah, my poor little feet are killing me. Plus, I look like a moron trying to walk around in them.

So here is my new goal: wear a pair of killer heels once a week to learn how to walk in them and acclimate myself to the ungodly pain. Then when I can do that, wear heels three times per week. That will give me four good days of flip flop comfort to recover.

Definitely my favorite time of year

I LOVE fall/autumn. A lot. There is always so much going on and so much to look forward to.

This past weekend, N. and I boycotted ACL and skipped town for Oktoberfest in Fredericksburg. We decided to do things on the cheap and camped out in a tent rather than pay for a hotel room. We ate yummy German food and drank yummy German alcoholic beverages (beer for him, wine for me). We went on our very first wine tasting at Grape Creek Vineyards. All in all, it was a fantastic weekend.

Still to come in October are several Flatcar Rattler shows, including a show at Austin's German Heritage Society's Oktoberfest. Not to mention Halloween, of course. Flatcar will be playing at Riley's on the Backbone out past San Marcos on the way to Wimberley. I will be there in all of my Greek goddess glory.

Then after that, there will be Thanksgiving!!! There are only 50 days until the Greatest of All Holidays and I really can't wait. Thanksgiving is my favorite because a) I'm a serious foodie that loves to cook and loves to eat, and b) I don't have to buy presents for everyone. Plus, there will be football. How could it not be the best day of the year?

Currently, it appears that Amanda will be making the turkey, Nora the green bean casserole, and I'll be doing everything else. My menu so far has:
*Paula Deen's Southern Cornbread Dressing
*Sweet potato casserole
*Mashed potatoes
*Macaroni & Cheese (the good homemade kind baked in the oven and topped with breadcrumbs)
*Corn pudding (a family tradition at every holiday. I will share the recipe)
*Spinach Gratin
*Homemade yeast roles
*Buttermilk pecan pie
*Magic cookie bars

I'm sure a few more desserts will make their way onto the menu, not to mention any other scrumptious recipes I find along the way.

I am now starving...

Check

Yesterday I headed over to Lucy in Disguise to browse Halloween costumes. Last year I was at a rehearsal dinner in Nebraska on Halloween, and costumes were minimal. This year I plan to do it up right.

The plan for Halloween (so far) is the Flatcar Rattlers show. Plus maybe another party if I can find one to crash. So with this agenda in mind, my costume needed to be:

a) cool, because there will be dancing and drinking and general debauchery

b) something that doesn't require a mask or face paint, because that shiz grosses me out

c) sexy*, because my ex will be there and I have to knock his socks off and make him kick himself for being an ass

With these guidelines, I narrowed it down to a Cleopatra/goddess type costume. What's sexier than a powerful woman in a white dress with heavy eyeliner and lots of jewelry? Lucy delivered the goods. Not on Cleopatra (was kind of disappointed I wouldn't get to wear some crazy cool headdress) but with the goddess costumes. Technically the one I found was named "Queen of Atlantis" but I'm just going to stick with "Goddess". It can be found here. I plan to accessorize with lots of gold jewelry, gold makeup, body shimmer, etc. It should be good.

*"Sexy" being a relative term...I'm not so much into the Sexy Firefighter Wearing a Mini Skirt type of costumes. Sexy in a more refined type of way.