Soapbox

Pardon me while I stand on my soapbox for a moment. 

People, if you are in anyway ordering something from someone, please do not make that person feel subhuman by ignoring them by never looking up from your phone. 

I have had countless interactions with people that may as well not count as interactions. On a daily basis, I have customers come up and start to order their drink and then pull out their phone mid-transaction. Why do people do that? You cannot just look at me and say, “I’ll have a coffee.” I have numerous questions I have to ask because of your vagueness; “What size? Do you need room for cream? Are you a member? Do you want anything else with that?” Is your text so important?

I can never just assume anything because if I do, it’s usually wrong. If you order a mocha and wander off to some other section and don’t specify that you do not want whipped cream on there, it’s going to get whipped cream by default. I’ve had various customers pick up their drink and stare at it and ask “is there whipped cream on here? I didn’t want whip” or “I needed room for cream” for their coffee, or “I wanted this kids temp,” and, my favorite, “I wanted this decaf.” 

Are you effing with me? 

Is it so hard to just give me a minute of your time to just make sure that I’m going to give you what you want? I want to give you what you want so you’ll leave. You want your specific drink because you’re paying for it, I understand that but I can’t help you if you won’t help me to understand what you want. 

In addition to making my job more difficult, it disappoints me. 

I see so many parents out with their children running errands or just coming in for lunch and it makes me so sad when I see the children ignored in favor of a phone. 

I’ve had parents come up to order while on their phones and they ignore their child during the whole transaction. I’ve had children run off and cause a mess because the parent wasn’t paying attention because they were busy talking or texting. My favorite is when kids tell their parent to pay attention to what I am asking. 

I understand, some of you are busy. Others, I can tell you’re talking to your BFF on the phone for a half hour while your kid sits and waits for you to finish. I doubt these parents even know what they’re doing. Or maybe they do. Regardless, your child is only a child for so long.

I will thank these people for something, they’ve made me realize how wonderful my parents have been my whole life. They’ve never made me feel second to something as trite as a phone call. If we went out to lunch or dinner, there was a ‘no phones at the table’ rule. I’d never questioned or really thought about it, I just did. Now, as I’m older and not home to see my family as much as I’d like, I really cherish those moments when it was just my mom and I out shopping or being out with my dad at a restaurant he wanted me to try. My childhood did not have the technology that today’s generation has and for that I am very grateful because I would hate to end up like some the people I serve almost daily. 

Faith in humanity...

London Calling...

So I've posted about it on Facebook but I'm going to post it here too:

I'm going to London.

As in London, England.

As in the United Kingdom.

Oh my God.

Well, I'm not going alone. A.J. and I will be having this adventure as a dynamic duo since there's NO way I'd be brave enough to go on my own. 

Let me give you some background information; I've wanted to go to England since before I can remember. I know it's really big cliche to claim to feel like you belong elsewhere when you've never been there but something about England has always had this glowing appeal to me. In my mind, even though I know it is absolutely preposterous, everything would be okay. How could I ever be bored in a city with so much of everything? So much history, a ton of entertainment, and an incomparable amount of food. I just feel like I'd be very happy there.
 I
So I'm going for a few weeks.

Mind you, a few of those days will be spent in one of the other greats- Ireland.

I mean, it's just a hop, skip, and a jump, right? If you're going to spend the money, better make it a good trip.

I've heard stories about how there's no greener country and the country girl in me is going to bask in just getting out of the cities and seeing some hills and the sea. I'm going to lay in a field and make a grass angel and just breathe. I'm really excited to explore around Dublin and just immerse myself in the culture for the days that we're there. We're also heading up to Belfast to see some of where Game of Thrones was filmed and...drum roll...the Titanic museum.

We already have an potential itinerary that includes many of the main hotspots in both countries including a trip to Harry Potter Studio in Watford. I'm giddy to buy some souvenirs from there (especially the Fizzing Wizzbees).

I'M JUST SO EXCITED. No exaggeration, it's keeping me up at night.

The tickets to and from have been purchased so it's a for real thing that will be happening for 17 days in October. 

I'm also absolutely frantic about having enough money for this excursion across the world. I still don't have a full time job or heath insurance or my own place to live so...that's hella stressful and probably one of the reason I'm really struggling to sleep at night.

(If you can't tell, I'm running on like no sleep. I just nap very frequently)

Everything will work out, right? Right.

Now I just need to get on getting a passport...

I smell goooooooooood

Hello everybody!

I'm currently sat in AJ's apartment watching her play Skyrim. It's very relaxing and I am very happy. Between prepping for Thanksgiving and having an early morning (early for me, it wasn't that early) on Black Friday, I've been very tired. So I slept like a rock and have caught up on my sleep enough that I was ready and willing to brave the mall today and get some deals while I could.

First stop was Bath and Body Works. Now, in my last post I posted about some of the candles I bought. Let me say, the Hot Apple Toddy and Frosted Cranberry are exquisite. They smell amazing. I will say that I don't think the Hot Apple Toddy is strong enough to really blast a whole room with the smell but in my small room and condo it smells the place right up. The Fresh Balsam is really strong. It made my whole room smell like trees in about two minutes. So, because I love them so much, I bought another Hot Apple Toddy today. I also bought one called Fresh Fallen Snow. I'm curious how strong it will smell lit because it's not too overwhelming when it's cold.

I also delved into the buy 3 get 3 deal that was going on. I bought some of the holiday scents because I love the holidays and I like to smell nice. I purchased the Candy Apple, Twisted Peppermint, Sugar Plum, and 1000 Wishes (which is a new scent, not so much a holiday one). I'm looking forward to using them and seeing if they actually moisturize as well as they claim that they will.

As I've mentioned before, I am the queen of the itchy Minnesota Winter skin. The bathbombs from Lush have worked extremely well for the days when I have time to take a bath and kind of pamper myself. For those days that I don't have the time to lay in a bath for an hour, I need to find a way to moisturize enough that I don't scratch my skin off. Lately, I've been exfoliating my legs (since they bear the brunt of the itching craze) and using baby oil. It's been working well but sometimes I don't fancy smelling like a baby so I'm hoping these shower gels and lotions will help.

The shower gel So White that I bought works okay as a moisturizing shower gel but the apple scent is gone before I get out of the shower. Sad.

In addition to the numerous good smelling things, I bought a warm fuzzy blanket, a heated blanket, and flannel sheets with little scottie dogs on them. I love them so much. I love fuzzy warm things.

I also bought a new wool peacoat from Macy's and almost barfed when I paid for it but it's beautiful and should last for a long time (it better for what I paid for it).

Let it be known, I have bought one Christmas present. I'm awful.

Haulin'!

Hello everybody!

I know it's been about 84 years since I've written a blog post. I've been sitting around considering what I really want to be writing about.  In the past, it's been me mostly ranting and raving about the events happening in my life and, to me at least, it seemed very boring to read. It also made me feel like I was coming across as a very self involved person which, if you know me, is not the case. Right? Right. 

So. Here's what I'm going to do. 

I'm going to make this into a tester blog of sorts for the time being. I've been very into pampering products and playing with makeup and just being comfortable and at ease lately. I'll be posting little blurbs and pictures (we know how I feel about pictures) about some products, items, or food that I'm really loving and probably some that I don't love too much. Hopefully it'll help some people or give ideas about findings some stuff while out and about!

Right. So, first batch of products that I am really enjoying this fall:

I was at the Mall of America the other day for FOUR hours. Four hours. I even have the proof in the form of a blister. While there, I made a stop in Lush. For those who have never been to Lush, it's a handmade cosmetics shop that is all natural and against animal testing. Walking into a Lush shop is like being smacked in the face with ten zillion scents and it can be very overwhelming and headache inducing. Luckily for me, I knew what I was in there for: bath bombs. I have terribly dry skin in the Fall and Winter so I'm going to be taking more bubble baths for the moisturizers. Also, why not? Working retail has put such a strain on my feet and lower back and just sitting in hot, pretty water sounds like bliss. 

I bought this shower gel on kind of an impulse since I've been very happy with my Sensual Amber shower gel from Bath and Body Works but this wasn't priced too bad and it smells SO good. It has a very light apple smell and lathers up very nice. It made my skin very soft and the razor itches I usually get after shaving didn't happen when I used this. A really cool part of Lush is because every product is handmade, the gels have stickers on them telling the buyer who made that particular batch and when. Because it's homemade and fresh, it does have a "best by" date. We'll see if I actually use it all by the date.

Precious

Onto the reason I walked into the shop! Bath bombs! As I said, I'm really looking forward to using these and trying some others! I purchased So White (the bath bomb version of the shower gel above) which has a fresh apple smell. It's just a giant white ball but apparently it has a pink interior that turns the water pink! How

Cute little glitter angel!

exciting! I also bought the glittery Snow Angel that has a marzipan scent to it. The only thing that would change about this particular product is the glitter. It gets everywhere. My last purchase at Lush was the adorable little Butterbear. Look at him! He is precious with his little smiling face and pudgy belly! He smells like a warm vanilla night. I'm going to love using him.

Stop bleaching my stuff!

Moving on from my little Lush trip, I've been perusing around Ulta for some new makeup because *gasp* I've started wearing lipstick. I also have a weird problem in the colder months because my face dries out and then becomes excessively oily. Due to this, my face becomes ridden with spots and I hate it. I've started to use a Queen Helene Mud Pack Masque and it is BRILLIANT. It smells really good and is really good for pore shrinkage and absorbing the excess oils. I love it. Spot treatment has been the longest work in progress. I've done everything from ProActive to rubbing alcohol to steaming my face to open pores. What I've started to is mix a  Salicylic Acid cleanser (I used the Neutrogena Redness Soothing) and then putting Clean & Clear spot treatment on. It's been working really well for the most part. The only real big downside is that the spot treatment dries out your skin so it leaves you with a big dry patch that makeup clumps on. Added to that, the benzoyl peroxcide acts like a bleach to any fabric. Many of my towels have big bleach spots on them.

As for my makeup, I didn't take any pictures of anything aside from just a general picture of my mass of makeup. I'm really favoring the Rimmel concealer, foundation, and matte pressed powder. All of it goes on really easy and the powder keeps the layers in place. Brush-wise, I LOVE the RealTechniques brushes. They're so great. I'm also using some Sonia Kashuk brushes that are great for eye shadows and eyeliner. I have a really hard time finding a blush that I really like. Right now I'm just using some NYX mixture of colors. I'd like something with a little more of a dewy look to it but I'm so pale it's hard for me to not look like I've been to clown school. 

I've been having a lot of fun with my eyes lately. I always fill in my eyebrows because I think it makes every part of the face look more defined. I haven't been using any particular shadows, whatever I'm feeling that day is what I use. I have been feeling a little more autumnal so I've been using more golds, browns, and orange tines lately. I use Rimmel eyeliner and mascara. I love my Retro eyes mascara. Rimmel's Kate Moss line has been my go to lipstick lately because it's matte. I also ADORE my Mac lipsticks. They smell nice and are moisturizing and are just great and very much worth the money. 

Just call this Christmas.

Last but not least, my candles. I've never bought my own candles before but I always have wanted my own. So today I went into Ridgedale and popped into Bath and Body Works. They moved the store downstairs and have added a side store called White Barn. Apparently the company that makes B&BW candles just decided that they want their own substore to Bath and Body Works. I highly recommend going there. It smells amazing and there are candles everywhere. I like the more musky smells usually but this time I went with some kind of foody smelling candles. I'm really not a fan of food smells like 'cupcake' or 'maple waffles'. The first one I went with was Spiced Apple Toddy. The description on the bottom reads, " warming blend of apple brandy and spiced plum, infused with mulled cider and tart cranberry." I'd say that description is pretty accurate. The apple smell really comes through (can you tell I like the smell of apples in the Fall?). The next one I had to get because I opened it and I've never smelt something that was the description of Christmas but Fresh Balsm fit the bill. If the description of "outdoor beauty inside with the invigorating scent of crisp eucalyptus, fir needles & cedarwood musk" isn't enough to make you go and give this one a sniff, I don't know what is. My last choice was one called Frosted Cranberry. I'm not normally one for sweet scents but I cannot stop smelling this candle. It's a mix of "white cranberry, juicy peach and raspberry". It's glorious. I want to bathe in it.

So that's it! Lots of stuff but hopefully this wasn't too boring. Obviously these are just my reactions to these things and what works for me may not work for others. Hopefully this will give some of you some options to look for in the stores!

Song of the Moment: Don't- Ed Sheeran

Tanbark!

Well it's been a minute hasn't it?

I've been busy! That adult life just kinda crept up on me and hasn't let go.

I went to Springfield to watch some of Midwest Charity.

I've worked.

And last week I was just getting home from Tanbark! My first show of the year! So let's do a recap on that show:

I put a lot of pressure on myself for that show. I wanted to get qualified to head to Nationals in St. Louis this year in September. So we went into our first class and I psyched myself out. I pushed too hard during the extended trot and we broke. My bad. It was only a few strides but the other horses in that class made no mistakes- it was a great class. I also let Buzz anticipate the canter and get ahead of me and I didn't give him a clear cue and we took the wrong lead. Again, totally my fault. I can admit when I blow a class. Buzz had flawless manners during his halts and backs which, out of everything, was what I was the most worried about. So no ribbon out of 7 in that class, and we didn't deserve a ribbon.

Friday morning was like a total flip. Everything was perfect (aside from me almost keeling over from the heat). Our halts, backs, extensions, and transitions were perfect. I could have been better about sitting up and completing the picture but oh man. You know when you have one of those rides you just feel good about while you're doing it? That was this class. Everything just felt easy. We came in 2nd out of 6 with a 1st place vote! I was ecstatic!

Only downside of that class was that when I turned to go into the line-up Buzz seemed to take a misstep and felt weird leaving the ring. I kinda thought he had just taken a misstep and would walk it off. Well the next day heading into the class he felt okay but I would ask for an extension at the trot and he felt all kinds of off and had no go forward. It was also very humid in the ring and his asthma kicked in so the heaving coughs started up (since he can't have his inhalers at shows). Yet again, his manners were perfect, there was nothing I could do to improve the ride we had.

I realized how hard he was willing to try for me in that class. He was pushing so hard and trying so hard to do what I was asking but he just couldn't do it. There was no bit chewing or ear pinning or any funny business happening. I could ask no more from him. He made me so proud with how hard he tried. In the end, we got 7th out of 7. I was more bummed that he wasn't at 100% than I was with the ribbon. Turns out he strained a muscle somehow. He's been on stall rest and is all healed up again but typical that something would happen at a show.

I did achieve my goal even through all the chaos. We qualified for St. Louis Nationals. I've been saving up since the beginning of the year to make it back there. If I have my way, we'll be going

So happy with that ride!

Self, sit up!

S&B Reserve Champions!!!

Out for a cool down walk!

Extended trot!

Thanks Kris and Jen for the pictures of Buzz and I!

#Graduate

I don't know if y'all have heard, but I GRADUATED!!!

I am officially an alumni of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities with a Bachelor of Arts in English. 

Words can't explain how WONDERFUL it feels to write that down and be able to say it to any person that asks. It's such a relief to have completed all of the requirements that had to be fulfilled in order to graduate. I know I've probably complained about these requirements to some of you before but the two years of a language is the reason I took an extra year. Otra lenguas y yo somos no bueno. 

Let's just talk about why I'm so excited about this and my 3.1 GPA; 

So there's the requirements (aka our Lib eds). That's a whole lotta schooling. 

And then my requirements for my English degree (please, please ignore that C+, it's embarrassing). 

Now please don't think I'm gloating around thinking I'm better than everyone because there are so many people who are far smarter than I. That said, there was a point in my 4th year that I did not think finishing would work out financially and that was scary. Getting out of studying Latin was a brilliant choice but not one I made because of my own reasons. Passing by a hair and then totally flubbing second semester put that language to an end for me and thus added my 5th year of college. 

With that said, I really truly have the best parents in all the world:

I AM GRADUATED DEBT FREE. 

I don't even have the words to say what a burden that is off my shoulders and how blessed I am to have the supportive family that I have. 

Now everyone is asking what I'm going to do. 

The Answer: get a full-time job with benefits somewhere, save up money, go to St. Louis, and then London next year. 

That's all I know of thus far. 

But if anyone knows of any places looking to hire let me know! I'm open to a lot of ideas!

So huzzah! 

Bring it on adult world, I have a piece of paper that says I know what I'm doing.

Top Ten Ways To Piss Off Your Barista

Let me start out by saying how much I enjoy my job. I may complain about it to some of you but I really do love it. I love my bosses, some customers are great to interact with, and, surprisingly, I enjoy making the drinks. The store is always so clean and the smell of books and coffee never gets old.

That being said, I have come to realize I do not understand some people. Yeah, people are always telling me "you learn so much in customer service" and "it's like a right of passage". While I understand that whole thing of serving the customer there are some things that make me want to pull my hair out.

So I present to you:  The Top Ten Don'ts of Ordering in a Coffee Establishment (in no particular order)

1. Don't get your panties in a twist because we don't have an almond milk substitute available. If I say we don't, we don't. You saying, "well the Starbucks in San Diego has it," won't make a bit of difference. If you want almond milk, move to California. Otherwise you're stuck with the soy or regular milk.

2. Don't harp on me about the prices. I have no control over that. All I do is ring you up and make your beverage/serve your food. If you don't want to pay the price, go home and make your own coffee.

3. Arguing over who is going to pay is a big no-no. It makes me uncomfortable to just stand there and wait for some form of a payment while trying to hold a smile. Someone just fork over the money and move along.

4. Please, for the love of all that is holy, do NOT mack on your significant other in front of the barista. Or anyone for that matter. It makes everyone involved (minus the person doing the groping) uncomfortable. Just ACK. It's gross, don't do it.

5. Do not, no matter how foul a mood you're in, toss, flip, or flick your method of payment. Hand it to me like I am not some sort of subhuman and I will be far more pleasant to you.

6. Don't be stupid. There is no such thing as a wet cappuccino, that's just a latte. Don't ask me to do a bunch of modifications to your drink after you've already paid. I'm not stupid, I know you're just being too cheap to pay for what you actually wanted.

6b. If you ordered a strawberry banana smoothie and a frappuccino of some kind, don't look at me and ask which is which. It's blatantly obvious and you are not a simpleton.

7. If you are the only person in the cafe and I call out your name, don't come up to me and ask if that's your drink. Yes, yes it is your drink

7b. Conversely, if I did not call out your name, that is NOT your drink so don't take it and just chill out for a second.

8. Don't be double checking on your drink while it's in the making. Especially if I'm not even to your drink yet. If you just ordered, there's a line and your drink does not take precedence. Please don't stand next to the counter going "is that decaf?" "Are you making that extra hot?" "I asked for no foam, did you get that?" "Make sure you add 5 Splendas." I GET IT. Oddly enough, did you see the person write all this down on the cup for me to read? I'VE GOT THIS, BACK OFF.

9. Don't ever just order a "regular size". What is that? I don't even know what that is? This is America so is a regular size a venti? Just pick a size.

9b. Don't get on my case about the size system. I don't need you looking at me and snidely saying "Oh sorry, I mean grande." Bite me.

10. Don't talk on your phone while ordering. Even worse- if you're on the phone getting orders from people elsewhere who have no idea what they want.

BONUS: Me: "Hi! How're you today?"
               Customer: "Grande non-fat no whip extra shot mocha."
               Me: "I'm good, thanks!"


Like I said, I love my job and the friends I've made there. Some of the people are just ridiculous (such as the girl who came in and ordered a white mocha with 5 packets of sugar but wanted non-fat milk and no whipped cream).

Let this be a warning- Be nice to your barista, they can give you decaf espresso.