Hmm

Just realized I can blog from my iPad. Perhaps I will update for the first time in ... Um... Awhile. But not right now. Right now i need some dinner. And a glass of wine.

Be back soon.

All the best... Mel :)

quick update.

so here's the latest...

my store manager (boss) is no longer with the company. so i was trying to run the store for weeks. i've never been good at doing two people's job in 40 hours/week.

found our my paternal grandfather passed away... almost two weeks after it happened. my dad didn't tell me or invite me to the funeral which was in grand prairie. he still hasn't talked/called/emailed/texted. found out thru the gossip mill that he did, however, bring his fiancee... so i lost a grandfather AND a dad. excellent.

my transmission went out in my car on the drive home from work @ 12:30am last friday night. i coasted into an aparement complex a block from my house. i got to push it into a spot all by myself. after getting it towed, renting a car, etc.,etc.,etc... it'll be $3500 to fix. also excellent.

i transferred to the southlake store to cut back on my commute. my drive went from an hour each way to 20 minutes. i'm still trying to learn names/faces, but i'm excited to be there.

grandma had a health scare tuesday - chest pain, an ambulance ride and a night in the las colinas medical center later, she's back home. but the 24 hours of stress/worry added at least a couple of grey hairs (to add to the hundreds that are already there under the cover of hair dye...)

hoping june turns out to be a decent month. we shall see..............

new york

I just got back from my amazing, fantastic, incredible and fabbbbbulous trip to NYC with Mom. Having never been to the Big Apple, I really wanted to make sure I saw just about everything... and I think we did for the most part. So here are the highlights!

We stayed at the Salisbury Hotel on W 57th. It was within easy walking distance to Central Park, Times Square and all the big Broadway Shows. It was great to stay right in Midtown.

Saint Patrick's Cathedral - it was really beautiful

The architecture was incredible.

Rockefeller Center was so fun. Lots of people from all over the world. We ate at the Rock Center Cafe just next to the ice rink. Soooo tasty and great view of falling skaters.

From the top of the rock, looking downtown toward the financial district

Hellllllo new Facebook profile picture... LOL

We walked by Mercedes Benz Fashion Week as tons of models, editors and fashion industry peeps were arriving for a show. E! was there, and it was a rush being there to see it all.

Times Square - crowded, but really beautiful with all the billboards and lights.

We saw three shows - Wicked (AMAZING!), Mamma Mia (fun + really hot guys), Chicago (great dancing and Michelle Williams from Destiny's Child as "Roxy Hart"). Here's Mom outside Wicked.

Awwww, I really DO love NY. :)

We only got to one museum - American Natural History Museum. It was a good one!
We had lunch Thursday at the Loeb Boat House in Central Park. Another tasty meal with a great (albeit frozen) view.

Friday we went to the World Trade Center site. You couldn't see much behind the fences, but it was still a seriously intense experience.

There was a mini-museum set up next to a fire station across the street from Ground Zero. I didn't expect it to be as emotional as it was.

The fire station opened the doors at one point while we were standing there. Mom went and thanked the fireman who was outside. Very cool.

Of course while in the Financial District, we had to take a quick look at Wall Street and the NYSE.


John's Pizzaria in the Village was the best pizza I've ever had. After we ate I found a shelf of photos of celebrities who have eaten there... including JOHNNY DEPP, Jack Black, and Susan Sarandon. They must all like good pizza, too.

I've always related with Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City. So I had to get a photo on her doorstep. :)

We also checked out the Magnolia Bakery, had dinner at Delmonico's (best steak dinner EVER), walked through frozen Central Park, hiked through SoHo, saw the NBC studios, checked out a bunch of Navy boys (fleet week?! woot!) and did some serious window shopping on 5th Avenue. I'll have to go back - didn't see the Brooklin Bridge, Ellis Island/Statue of Libery, the Subway or any of the late-night nightlife. Oh and the cab rides were a rush - scariest and most fun ride ever.

mini catch up

so i'm a really bad blogger. chop it up to the holidays and working too much. so here are a few photos...

i'm killin' time before bed

Current Playlist:
oh the randomness i'm currently listening to is rather ridiculous. it includes (but isn't limited to): cat stevens, beyonce, frank sinatra, adele, owl city, idina menzel, miley cyrus, melody gardot, bangles, beatles, pussycat dolls, britney spears, jill scott, counting crows, billy joel, barry manilow, dave matthews, paramore, michael jackson, john mayer, death cab for cutie, diana ross, dixie chicks, eagles, elton john, duran duran, taylor swift, james taylor, josh groban, kelly clarkson, kate nash, robin thicke, billy idol, lily allen, kenny chesney, lady gaga, monkees, mary j. blige, kenny chesney, mika, sarah mclachlan, tina turner, p!nk, pearl jam, rihanna, sheryl crow, tears for fears, u2, tlc, and the soundtracks to chicago, wicked, rent, and glee..................

Current Guilty Pleasure: watching "sex and the city" every day before going to bed

Current Color: pink - so much so that i keep a pink scarf tied to my bag, that way i've always got something pink going on... because really, i wear black all the time.

Current Drink: water, milk, dr. pepper, skyy & 7

Current Food: craving a chicken ceasar salad and tomato soup... mmmmm

Current Favorite Show: glee! and flashforward

Current Wishlist: new bedroom set, trip back to europe, 2nd bedroom furniture, roll-top desk (okay a lot of my wishes are furniture...)

Current Needs: a glass of wine at the end of every work day. (and that need, for the most part, is in fact met... almost daily.)

Current Triumphs: getting the ASM spot @ the hulen store (it's the shiny penny!)

Current Bane Of My Existence: awful, unappreciative people

Current Celebrity Crush: leonardo dicaprio. then, now and forever. :)

Current Indulgence: my dvr. worth every penny.

Current Blessing: there are many - my health, my family, my friends, my job, my home, my puppy, the weather, my car, my opportunities, pretty much everything in my life is good (prettttty much)

Current Slang: idk, really

Current Outfit: jeans, black polo pretty much every day... every. single. day.

Current Excitement: starbucks on the drive home, new iTunes downloads, great tv shows on the dvr, being awake at an hour when things are actually open and therefore feeling like a real person, waking up to texts from people i love...

Current Mood: loverrrrly

Current Link: www.fmylife.com always entertaining... and mildly uplifting, surprisingly enough

jack and skippy

so i was housesitting for mom for a week and got some great photos of the dogs playing. it was entertaining for me at 3am! enjoy :)

nearly september?! whhhat?

where do i start. how about the cliff's notes version? mmmkay here goes.

i went to san francisco for work. i got to meet the president of old navy and our vice president of operations. i also went ahead and picked out my future office.

i moved into my townhouse. it's flawless and i love it. jack moved in with me. he's the best.





i've been working or driving to/from work in denton for no less than 60 hours a week. but hey, the vp came to visit the store (same one from SFO trip) and it went well. i think the exact words were "yeah! way to go melissa!" that dulls the pain a bit. (that's ann my store manager, jeff the vp, nolan the regional director and your's truly; please don't judge that denim wall - it was 5pm and we were totally busy)



my remodel coordinator duties have taken over my days, er, nights. now 6pm is like 6am to me. i leave for work at 8pm and get home around 7am. thank goodness i've got a bestie who works nights too and is willing to go to "the hidden door" to have a cocktail with me while the sun comes up.

i'm still having fun - i've gotten to see some of my old school denton peeps since i'm working up there; LOVE that i got to meet little jacob john!
and amber got married! the ceremony was in an art studio in deep ellum - kinda sketch neighborhood but LOVED the building.



it doesn't look like much when i cut it down, but lemme tell you - it's been insane.