mama made shoppe sale...

Hey y'all! Hope you are all having happy Mondays! Don't forget today is the LAST day to get 15% off ALL merchandise in the Mama Made Shoppe!

xoxo

wise words wednesday {24.}...

This weekend I decided I was going to get stuff together to decorate my new office at work (Okay...I have had it since January 3rd, but I have been busy and haven't had time to decorate. For shame!) I have a pretty spacious office...it has two desks in it, but no one uses the second desk. Basically it is a pretty blah space at the moment. I decided the best thing to start with is a picture collage. I mean what is better than pictures of those that we love to perk up a space? Nothing, in my humble opinion. So, I started to peruse my picture archives and I put together quite a lovely collage. As I looked at my finished product I examined it and felt so blessed. Why? Because of the crazy amount of love I have in my life. Here is just a little gander at the different kinds of love I am lucky enough to have...

{24.} Wise Words....

"All you need is love."-The Beatles

{1.} Grandpa and Step-Grandma.

{2.} Brother Jason and Niece Jordan

{3.} The whole H-Family clan

{4.} Future-Sister-In-Law-Bastina, Bff Ashton, and Bff Lauren

{5.} Dad

{6.} Bff-Sister-from-Another-Mister- Jil

{7.} Lifelong-Bff Fabi

{8.} Mama

{9.} Bug

{10.} Brother Jonathan and Bastina

You all made the office picture collage. Why? Just cause I love ya!

xoxo

this makes me laugh...

Sometimes Bug and I stay up way past our bedtime and make videos with my webcam. Then I share these videos with y'all. If you don't laugh at this...there is something wrong with you. The end.

xoxo

and the winner is...

Thank you all SO much for entering my giveaway! I am so glad that you all took the time to do so. This will not be the last of my giveaways. I think they are so much fun, and I hope to do a few more throughout the next few months.

Now to announce the winner....

Ashton Dene!!!!!

Congrats Ash!!!! You will have a package of awesomeness arriving in the mail sometime soon! Email me your address when you get a chance.

So, I realize that people are going to think this thing was rigged, but it was NOT. I used random.org to get the winner and this is what it came up with! Am I happy that my giveaway is going to a real life bestie?! Of course! But I would have liked to have been able to give something to every person who entered, so the best I can do is if you use the code 'alwaysalex' when you checkout of the 'Mama Made Shoppe' you will get 15% off ALL merchandise for the rest of the month!

Thanks again to all who participated! I hope you enjoy the 15% off code until the end of February! Hope you are all having a lovely Monday. I know I am. Thank the stars for having President's Day off from work!!

xoxo

a week in review {2.}...

It is Friday! Not only is it Friday, but it is the Friday BEFORE a three day weekend. This makes me very happy. That extra day off is basically just what the doctor ordered so that I don't lose my ever loving mind. So, it is time for 'A Week in Review'...

{Monday}: Monday was an okay day. I had some personal stuff going on that wasn't exactly the most fun to deal with, but choices were made and things are getting better. Which is good. Monday was also Valentine's Day...which I don't really celebrate whether in a relationship or not, but one of our van drivers gifted me with Dove chocolates which made my life. He is my new favorite and I told him he bought himself first call when I put together the after-hours crisis calender. Anywho, I hung with my new work clique. There are some amazing gals in that group, and I have loved getting to know them all. Then after work I had dinner with the loves of my life; my mom, big brother Jason, and Bug. It was a good day. On Monday I also blogged about my VERY first 'Always Alexandria' giveaway. I am super excited and y'all have until 2/19/11 at 8:00 pm to enter!!

{Tuesday}: This was the day from Meeting Hell, and yes that place does exist. When and where does it exist? In the 'G' County Mental Health building every third week of the month. This day was a giant suckfest...I was in meetings from 9 to 5. With barely a 30 minute lunch break. Thank heavens for the previously mentioned Van Driver Jeff for keeping me supplied with Starbucks mocha deliveries. I hatttte meeting days. They depress me and make my brain feel as if it is melting. Pretty sure I tuned out around 3:00. You best believe I bolted out of the office with the quickness as SOON as that clock said five o'clock! I then went over to have pizza and girl talk with Bff Jil. It had been over a month since I had seen her, and it was super nice to catch up with her. I missed that girl.

{Wednesday}: Oh Wednesday. You were sorta epic. After our forever and a day long weekly staff meeting in the O-town office, I headed back home to my W-town office. I didn't have much going on work wise, so I kicked it with Tania and Van Driver Jeff while we rocked out to 80's music and they spoke Jersey Shore to each other. Their favorite quote? "The cabs are here." It was too funny. We had a blast. Then the best part of the day...watching Tuesday nights 'Glee'!! Which was all kinds of amazeballs. It also gave me the fever...you know which fever I am talking about. Don't judge.

{Thursday}: Thursday was a meh kind of day. It is storming like crazy in my little corner of California. It is yucky depressing weather. It even snowed a little. THAT is unheard of! The good part about Thursday was that I was able to attend my weekly supervision with Supervisor Supervisor. Basically every week the clinicians, case managers, and supervisors have a meeting just to check in, get advice and blah, blah, blah. Then right after that I have my one on one supervision. It is really amazing because it is basically an hour long therapy session, where our supervisors help us with work issues, personal issues, and any other issues that need to be processed. I really needed it this week, and it felt good to get stuff off my chest. Psbtw, I absolutely adore Supervisor Supervisor. She is too legit to quit, my friends.

{Friday}: I have zero clue what is happening (being that I am cheating and writing this on Thursday night!) Yep...I am sneaky like that.

This weekend will be full of big plans though. I am heading to Sacramento with work friend Tania to help her get stuff for her wedding. Makeup, shoes, and all that fun stuff. Sunday is Tan's birthday and we are getting a girls group together to assemble her wedding invitations, then we are having a lovely lunch to celebrate her day of birth. Monday will be catching up on rest and laundry....why yes, I am super exciting.

What are YOU all planning for the weekend? Please share in the comments section. Also, don't forget to enter my giveaway right here.

xoxo

wise words wednesday {23.}...

I have a lot of goals and plans for my life; I mean, doesn't everybody? We all have this picture in our heads of what we hope our lives will look like eventually. I have a vision of what my future will look like, and perfect is not in it. I hope to have a fabulous life, where I accomplish my goals and plans, but perfection doesn't exist. If I am to be 100% honest, I am glad that perfect isn't reality. Why? Because life wouldn't be as interesting and exciting as it is. While I have all these dreams, the one thing I know I will never waiver on is being happy. I don't care what I am doing, where I am doing it, or how much I am being paid to do it, if I am not happy, it isn't worth it. In my opinion anyways. Which brings me to one of my all time favorite quotes...

{23.} Wise Words...

Be happy. That is all.

xoxo

Psbtw...don't forget to enter my giveaway!! It ends on 2/19/11 at 8 pm (west coast time)!!

must have monday and giveaway {10.}...

It is Monday again, my friends. This means back to the office for another five day work week. It also means it is time for me to lust after some items that I need in my life. Or in this case, time for me to do a little shameless self promotion for my Mama's Etsy shoppe! Which just so happens to have some new items in it...made by yours truly! So, here is a little looksie into the new items..

Since I did indulge in some shameless self promotion, I figured I would make it up to you all with my very first giveaway! I am SO excited and I really cannot believe I have never done one before. So here is the deal, I want to surprise the winner with a custom made creation...and some other little surprise goodies! So, in order to enter this giveaway I want you to leave a comment with your favorite colors/color combo, and how you would describe your personal style, that way the hair accessory can be a surprise, but also something that you will LOVE. For additional entries you can tweet about this giveaway, then comment again with the link! You can also blog about this giveaway, then comment with the link to your post! That gives you all a total of three entries! The winner will be announced next 'Must Have Monday'. You have until 8 pm (west coast time) next Saturday (2/19/11) to enter!

May the odds be ever in your favor! Oh...Happy Valentine's Day m'dears!

xoxo

wise words wednesday {22.}...

Okay so I realize these words aren't 'wise' but they are basically how I felt all day at work today. Plus, they made me laugh. Enjoy my friends...

{22.} Wise Words...

xoxo

must have monday {9.}...

I sat down to write a 'Must Have Monday' post and I drew a blank. Well, not a total blank...more of a 'focused on only one thing in the universe' blank. About a month ago my mom and I went shopping in Sacramento. We wandered into a Coach store...and I fell in love. Pure, sweet, undeniable love. With one thing. Last Thursday Mama and I ventured to San Francisco...I bolted into Coach to visit the item that I want SO freaking bad. I was sweating by the time I left the store, because I was about thisclose to just saying "eff it" and buying this bag. What bag? Oh, let me share with you all what I am swooning over...

{1.} 'Poppy Patent With Flower Highlight'-Coach

I cannot explain WHY I love this bag so much. I just do. It is not my typical style (or even close to it) but I dream about this purse. It would so be hanging on my arm if it wasn't $448.00. Le sigh. I may still buy it...I am debating at the moment. I will keep you all updated!

xoxo

urban hilarity {3.}...

Do y'all remember that time when I was slightly obsessed with spending time learning new words over at Urban Dictionary, and then I blogged about them? No? Well, that would be because it has been forever and a day since I actually did it. For a refresher class click here and then here and you will be all caught up. Now it is time for another installment of, 'Awesome words/phrases that I learned on Urban Dictionary that I will now start to use in real life.'

{1.} Soap Grafting: The act of attaching an almost completely used piece of soap to a new, unused piece because it is too small to be conveniently used but you also don't want to waste it.

My commentary: Oh em gee! This made me laugh so hard. You would think in the year 2011 most people would have made the switch to shower gel right? I mean do that many of y'all still use bar soap? All I know is my mother still uses it, and she refuses to use shower gel. Why? No clue. But I cannot tell you how many times I have climbed into the shower to see that my mother had previously morphed the very laaaast little chip of a soap bar onto a fresh one. She is crazy...or eco-friendly. I am going with crazy. Love you mama!

{2.} Urban Farmer: A person who constantly plays 'Farmville' and acts like they know everything about a real farm--but all they do is live in the city, sit at a computer, and at a certain time, need to stop what they are doing to farm their imaginary crops.

My commentary: This is possibly one of the MOST annoying things Facebook has done to the world. I mean really? REALLY? Can someone please explain to me why those games are fun? I mean...when a coworker has to take a break at work to take care of their faux farm...it makes me want to punch a baby. Hard.

{3.} Sinlaws: The parents of your live in girl/boyfriend.

My commentary: Dude. I don't care who you are, but that is straight up hilarious. If you don't all start using that word immediately we will no longer be friends. Christina, I am talking to you! My mama is so your 'Sinlaw'. Looooove it with me folks!

{4.} Sea-Kittens: An attempt by PETA to convince the general public to call fish by a name too cute to eat.

My commentary: Ummmm. Is this for real? I mean I could probably Google this and fact check it, but I am being lazy. I think this is hilarious, no offense to those who keep their meal plates animal friendly (more power to you), but sea-kittens? Fish as sea-kittens? I don't know about you, but I could go for a lovely grilled piece of sea-kitten at the moment. Just sayin'...

{5.} Drunken Immunity: Complete disregard on the part of a friend, girl/boyfriend or ex-girl/boyfriend for any minor stupid thing you said or did while drunk (i.e. drunk texting, drunk calling, drunken Facebook status updates, drunken confessions, etc).

My commentary: Why on earth was this phrase not around during my college days? Oh well, I now pass it on for all of you to use and enjoy. When in doubt, just straight up plead drunken immunity. Holler.

I love Urban Dictionary. It basically makes me laugh my booty off. I hope to keep these posts up, because I have a list of over 50 words that I want to share with y'all. I mean these are super important lessons friends. Well, I am off to help my mom with her soap grafting project...

Which of these are YOUR favorites? Are you going to throw some of this epic language into your everyday conversations? Please share in the comments section! And yes I do realize I may be the only person who finds these words funny, but that is a-okay with me

xoxo

wise words wednesday {21.}...

Here is the deal. I blog about my job a lot. I mean a lot. I am sure you are all aware of this because you are kind enough to read my ramblings and rants. I feel as though many of my 'Wise Words Wednesday' posts are directly related to my job. I mean they mostly deal with my current state of mind, but I also really hope you all find them as cathartic and healing as I do. I try to choose words that can be relatable to everyone in every walk of life. So, I use these posts to vent. I want all of you to feel free to vent back in the comments section. Share what is going on with you, what is making you happy, what is frustrating you, anything and everything. With that, I go into another post about The Job.

{21.} Wise Words...

{via}

I have mentioned before that my supervisor at work is the head of our entire department. I have mentioned that she is pretty much a big deal, and that it is hard to have her as a supervisor because of the power she holds. Basically she intimidates me. She is a lovely woman, but I make quadruple the effort because I know she is watching me, haha! So since she is such a busy person and is not always available for me to go to with questions, ideas, or concerns, she has been deemed my 'task supervisor'...this basically means she gives me tasks and I get them done with the quickness! I also have a supervisor supervisor. She is someone who is around all the time and yes is busy, but she is someone I can go to if I am having an issue that I don't want to bother The Boss Lady with. I am so, so, so grateful for her. Every week we have a supervision meeting, where we talk, she gives advice, I ask her questions, and I can vent. Let's just say I would be crazier than I am now, if I didn't have her.

Back to the point. I have been feeling kind of lame at work lately. I work for the county, a small county at that, and things go slow. Work isn't slow. We are always super busy, but processes are slow. Getting things cleared, signed, sealed, delivered...it's sloooooow. So, getting this grant program up and running is going at snail speed. For those of you who know me, you know I only have one speed. I am like a freaking bullet train (so says my supervisor supervisor). I want things done yesterday. I like to work hard. I like to beat deadlines. I like to get ahead. I like to have control. I am very black and white. It is either this or that. I don't really have a gray area. It doesn't exist for me. When I went for my weekly supervision appointment last week I vented my frustrations to Supervisor Supervisor.

She sat back and looked at me. Then she started laughing at me. She called me a bullet train and tried to explain to me that the county is slow, and she understands that I want to go, go, go. She also said that while she understood me, she was giving me an assignment. Her exact words were, "Alex...things go slow here. You are over thinking things, and you don't have control over those things. I honestly see you doing big things in your life, not in this county because you will outgrow it, you are already ready for something bigger. I am going to make you grow now, and you will hate me for it. I am ordering you to live in the 'gray'. To be uncomfortable in the gray. I know it will drive you crazy, but it will be good for you." I looked at her like she was out of her mind. Me? Live in the gray? Learn to be comfortable there? Fuhthewah?!

I gave her a straight up crazy face...and then she told me she was going to smack me if I looked at her like that (this is why I love her). So, this week I am in the gray my friends. I am relinquishing control. I am slowing down. I am going to stop over thinking things. I am going to learn to wing it. Or...at least try to do all of the above. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? Right?!

Wish me luck friends.

xoxo