Business Set Up: Interviews & Founding Famers

Last time I came to visit D. and I tried to get in to eat at Founding Famers but it was a weekend at it was like a 3 hour wait or something obnoxious like that, so we went to find another place to eat but it was closed so finally we headed back to her apartment and had pizza or the like.  So we both knew that this trip we wanted me to experience the amazingness of Founding Famers, (see reviews and menu.)  So D. booked a reservation on Open Table, I did not want to miss this place although it may only be open for a New York minute.  Dearest readers, have you ever book marked or checked into a place so you can find it later only to discover that, it has already closed, you know a hot month or two after you were there last?  I have and it is so very sad.

We took the metro into DC, for those of you who don't know I LOVE riding the metro, most people don't feel the love from the DC metro system but I do!  It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy  and the

Metro train, orange line @ Foggy Bottom

fact that D's apartment is only a few city blocks away (great way to tone my calfs) only adds to my excitement, I (who lives in MN) even have the plastic DC commuter card, I carry it pretty much everywhere in my wallet.  I never know when I may need to whisk away to the city that has fashion, amazing food and is dripping in power (or people who think they are powerful and/or important but aren't.)  Like Big J. says, "if you are important you don't need to sit there and tell me that you're important," great life lesson readers.




Another life lesson readers is to not run around with your badge on while in DC-like this stranger does. It makes you look like an intern and it's not very safe security wise.  How likely is it that one would keep their job after loosing (or someone stealing) their badge that allows them access to their work while in DC in a city that almost every job comes with a badge? I have known staffers & magazine staff whom have gotten fired for this very reason, and with good cause.  I realize people think that their badge is a status symbol, and perhaps it is, but walking around with it out just isn't the greatest idea.

We arrive for our reservation, and the place looks like a ghost town, except for you know the well known actor in the corner upstairs, the member of the house that are having a powow, a few senate members, and one man I didn't actually need to run into.  Evidentially this is THE place to be at 9am. I order a ginger ale, now let me tell ya, this ginger ale is home made and it's $5 a glass its ahhhmazing.

So amazing that I thought about ordering a second, with no ice in a to go cup and spending way more money on my drink than on my food.  D. gets a dt. coke those of you that know her know this is her beverage of choice and she can often be found with it in her hand, the same could be said of me and Mt. Dew.  Our waiter is great, he takes our order for food and as we wait we scope out the place.  At this point I'm in a food heaven with the experience with my soda (D. likes it too), I'm

really not sure my food can top it... but then, it arrives. As you can see I ordered a waffle with strawberries and cream.  The waffle was crispy on the outside and soft on he inside, it was PERFECT.  D. and I wrapped up our eating adventure and I headed back to her apartment while she went to scope things out in the city.

So in this business adventure I need to do all of the normal business stuff: file the state docs, EIN, legal agreements, logo, website, etc.  However because this is for one of my dearest friends I of course am WAYYY more invested in her success, so two days ago we went to hold two interviews.

The first interview was with a zoo keeper, it was seriously on his resume.  I think they should have left him locked up with the baboons, this man had no class.  The interview didn't even start off well, I had emailed this man an address of a Starbucks to meet us at, he showed up at the wrong one, TWICE and it only got worse from there.  I mean absolutely very very bad.  Dear readers, I walked out of that interview impressed by how bad I felt about myself, this guy was amazing at backhanded compliments and inserting his foot into his mouth, all while this interviewee was hitting on my dear friend and staring at upper lady parts.  Hey buddy, our eyes are up here!  It took us a while on the ride home to discover what about him we didn't like, and when we pinpointed it the array of dislike spewed up like a fountain.  I think we both left that interview feeling like we needed a shower.

We arrived back to the apartment with enough time for me to rest and for D. to get ready.  For this second interview I decided to change just a bit.  We held the interview/ meeting with a prospective photographer, whose talents are unbelievable.  (I had already told him that he may need to RASISE HIS PRICES.)  I had also sent this man an address and when I called him to tell him we had arrived he said he was almost there, I got a bit nervous.  Could this one be as bad as the first?  If so I was going to want a drink and chocolate.  I ordered my drink (a mimosa) and we waited until he arrived, which was only a few minutes.  Let's be clear, this man followed directions, walked in with confidence and to the right place- he was already doing better than 90% of people I've interacted with at this point.  This photographer was hilarious, like my abs hurt yesterday kind of funny, we got so off topic my grandmother would have blushed.  This man beyond having a similar knack for child rearing as I do, shaking his head to the mom who was trying to reason with a 4 year old and saying, "it takes very little time to pretend like you actually care," and "your kid will get friends at school, what he needs is a parent," to D. and I he has also written a book that one day I hope he will allow me to purchase. "mmmmnnn honey that book is all to full for a good Christian girl like yourself," which made D. and I look at each other and laugh, and it made me seriously want to go and find to read on my 14 hour plane journey.  In the end, this man offered to walk us across the street back to D.'s apartment and wrote a very nice email to say that he had a nice time, well we did too and I hope to someday be able to meet him for a meal again, this time, I'll record it for my own personal enjoyment.

One of two, not a bad success rate, too bad I thought I had weeded out all of the real crazies. I will be setting up more meetings for tomorrow, Dear Lord, please give me some humor and remind me to wear really modest clothing.

Over and out.

Michael Kors & SAKS

So on Friday, I went to the VA SOS site only to find out that the site was down for maintenance, who does that on a holiday weekend?  Dear SOS, that was serious a bad life choice and I wasn't impressed so after a slight freak out I suggested that we go shopping, I mean after all I was in the shopping MECA of DC.  

Tysons, for those of you have never been, is like the 5th AVE of DC; you have Tiffany, Gucci, MK, well.... you get my point.  For those of you who don't know me well, I love shopping and I have a love for many designer things.  Big J. would say that you might as well go to Nordstroms or TJ Maxx and get the designer leather handbag that will last for 10+ years if cared for and make the investment of $300 than to buy a new handbag every year or season at Walmart, Vanity, or Herbergers, "buy quality, not quantity."  I'm going to upset some people back home with that comment, don't get me wrong, Herbergers has some nice stuff, but in the last year their quality in most things has gone down drastically, and their less expensive stuff is no longer made of materials that will stand the test of time.  Just ask my friend who purchased a $125 purse from them on sale only to find the handles were splitting from the purse with little in it over a period of a few months, I thought she was going to cry when she called me.  Sooo, we went shopping.  I always have a list of stuff in my phone that I am looking for, not that I need but WANTS, because let's be honest, I'm a nanny for now, I don't need designer anything.

And at SAKS on 5th (because on a nanny salary I don't dare buy from the real SAKS) I found something I have been searching for a few years for, a real leather (I don't like pleather, I grew up in the country) and knit coat by Michael Kors.  Remember I said I was in the shopping MECA of DC. It was gorgeous, upon seeing it I was saddened to find out that they didn't have my size on the rack, as I was looking for D. I found a "damaged" one on another rack, it has water spots on it and I beelined it for the dressing room, I mean faster than you can say "Bob's your uncle."  The ladies in the dressing rooms put me in the large one with the triple mirror, she must have known I needed to see where this coat hit me in the back.  After a very slow loading of Living Social's $20 for $40 deal, I had referred some deals to friends and had a credit (yay!). Because for those of your who don't know me well I like nice things, but it is very rare that I pay retail price for much, I may have designer shirts and I have quite a few (5 or 6) RL button ups but honestly, most of them were purchased in the Minneapolis area while I had an appointment or a meeting at the Goodwill for less than $10, like my Katie Young dress for $8.99.  

I had a long talk with D. about spending so much money on a coat, before a big trip I decided to purchase it- as after all, it was perfect, that is minus the water marks on the front, which I can take to cobbler in Willmar and have him remove for probably less than $30 and Macy's is still selling it right now for full retail value, no coupons accepted.  So I took my birthday money, (thanks Gram, mom & dad, and Uncle Dean) (because why not take birthday money and special earnings and buy an investment piece?) and some of my coupon savings cash (because I actually save 1/2 of my savings from coupons) and purchased this lovely coat.  And now that I have it I have been literally wearing it at night with my yoga pants when my body starts to get cold because I have been up for all too many hours working straight, but this coat, it puts a smile on my face and it's WARM.


Over and Out.

T minus no days.

As I get off of my nannying job thankful to the parents who let me go early even after the girl who was to cover canceled on me I went to cash a check, now folks this check was written out to a business. To those of you who don't know, I hate, hate, hate accepting checks for services rendered. I have had large checks bounce on me. I have had checks drawn on closed accounts. And I have dealt with identity theft on checks, it's not enjoyable when your bank calls to tell you that the check you just deposited will not actually be credited to your account. So instead I use Square.
I prefer Square. It's amazing, I have had no problems. I finally get home after opening yet another bank account and talking with a client and mentor to find out that it is 6.45pm and I have NO POWER, a semi hit the pole that brings power to my sleepy town and took out our supply. No power, that means no lights in my laundry room, no a/c (it has been in the 90's all week and feeling like it was in the 100's), and I can't scan my documents for backups or to leave copies anywhere. So what did I do? I call my best friend and freak out that I have no power, then I get to work assembling all of my stuff for the next 31 days and all of the stuff I need to hold & host business meeting which is totally different than the stuff needed to backpack across Europe. There in lies a problem, how much stuff is in my bag that I don't need to take overseas? Answer: about 15-20lbs, but this nanny is prepared with a ever standing UPS account.
So I pack, (I promise I'll post photos), power comes on (yay!!!) I clean, shower, and I fold laundry, I go to bed, power goes out at 23.30. So we leave to go stay at Dan & Sheila's. I need to be up at 05.30 and that isn't going to happen if I am all sweaty gross all night.

I'm thankful to have been able to sleep in the A/c. I'm thankful to have remembered everything. I most thankful I woke up to my alarm.

Two days and counting... and I'm sick

So as many of you know I am about to really go on an adventure.  I am headed to Washington DC to set up a business for my best friend and after 10 days I will be headed to London, Paris, and all over Italy.  I will be gone exactly a month.  I am SOOOO excited that was until I came home last night and figured out I was running a fever.  OHHH NOOO.


So I called my mom, as my said best friend was out to a movie with another friend of ours, and I say "hi mom" mom goes "you sound awful" (well thanks mom!) then I proceed to tell her all about how I feel, what my symptoms are, etc. She tells me to go to take medicine and go to bed.  I woke up feeling WORSE than when I went to sleep, so I text her, as I now have a 101.8 F temp.  I end up calling my nurse hotline and they tell me I can see a doctor ONLINE.  REALLY?  Because that's great as I feel weak and pukey and don't want to drive 35 minutes to see my on call doctor, my doctor is on vacation. So I log on the site to see the doctor and I'm told that I have a sinus infection and an ear infection. Uffda.

What a sweet service!

Dear Lord, I'm supposed to be flying in two days, please help me feel better.  :)  I went to the pharmacy to get my meds (wow are they huge!) and now I'm about to sleep, and then... pack and hope to feel better to be able to see my Chrio in the afternoon because he has a true health gift from God.  I am hoping that my fever has broken so I can work my last day, see my kids and say goodbye, and get paid.  I will show my packing lists when I finalize them... along with how I packed.

The First Minneapolis Adventure + Basketball

So, after some persuasion I convinced a loved one to do a little traveling with me, only after being bribed with basketball ticket to the Timberwolves.  So I booked our hotel, reserved the tickets and started scouring reviews for mouth watering food.  Then I prayed.  I prayed that our unpredictable weather would not get into the way of this trip. Where I live we have had several (I mean more than four) major snow falls since March 1st.  Ewww, at least this sleepy community looks as good in the snow as it does with green grass and colorful foliage.

There was no snow on the ground for our trip to Minneapolis, I love these "winning moments."  We cranked up the radio and drove to Dave and Buster's.  I LOVE, LOVE. LOVE Dave & Buster's.  If given the chance I'm just a huge kid. For those of you who don't know about Dave & Buster's it's an arcade that geared toward adults.  It uses hotel style magnetic cards that hold a balance for you to spend in the arcade.  They also serve food, soda, and adult drinks, in my opinion the food and drinks are over priced, I say eat elsewhere & go to play.  There are several locations across the US, check their site to find one near you. So we played at the arcade for a few hours then headed to the hotel.

We stayed at LeBourget Hotel in Bloomington.  I am on a budget and try to get the best deals possible,  therefore I use Priceline to book all of my travel needs.  In this case I used their Express Blind hotel and booked our amazing suite for $64.44, including parking and taxes. This hotel boasts of a new renovation, a pool, a bar & restaurant and The Effile Tower decor (which in my opinion is tacky at best but it's cute.)  No internet and no breakfast, but the bed was comfortable, we had a Keurig and we didn't really want to eat in that hotel anyways.

We went to American Burger bar and ate.  Yumm. Whenever I can I use a combination of YELP.com and Restaurant.com to save money on really good food, when I was taking clients out for dinner I would call ahead and give the location a heads up and give the certificate to the hostest/ server before my clients arrived.  Once at the restaurant I ordered the American Burger, which has American cheese, bacon, and of course a patty.  They offer mini fries, my favorite is to eat them with Garlic Mayo.

We headed back to the hotel to grab the (free) shuttle to the lightrail for the game.  Timberwolves vs the Phoenix Suns, the Timberwolves won!  Whoop Whoop!  

The night had gotten late so we headed back to the hotel to sleep, until brunch. 

In Focus

Today is kinda a big day for me.  After working 19 out of 20 hours in a 24 hour period I am free. I love the children I work with but I am looking forward to my next two days off.  (Yippie!)  Let's face it my house could use a good scrub down and when I get home at 11pm or 2 am I'm not really in a cleaning mood.

Today, I am sending my day shopping with my grandmother.  My sister graduates from college next week and she wants a new outfit, as I'm headed to the cities to purchase a new 4/3rds DSLR camera I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to catch up with my gram and save many $100's of dollars on my camera.

See isn't it a beauty?  It looks just like one of the 35mm cameras
hopefully those pickpockets and scammers will think so and leave
me and it alone while I'm in Europe.
This is the Olympus E-PM2

I'm so excited!  I'm also buying two lenses from a different source.  Yes, it may be expensive to drive to the cities to buy something that I could order online (there's not a store within 75 miles that sells this exact camera) but it would cost me much, much more.

I got the camera and lenses & ordered my adapters.  I'm pretty excited.  Today is an off day. I'll be cleaning and doing more research on my camera and my trip.

Europe!

I am so excited.  I am hoping to get a new nannying job and to backpack through Europe in September.  Without the job there is no way I will be able to afford the trip.

I am planning on going to the following places:
London

Paris

The Alps

Wine Country in Italy

Rome
Vatican City
Naples
Venice

and Germany to see my dear friend and the WWII memorials.

It looks to be an expensive trip but over a period of 3 weeks it should be an amazing experience.  My best friend is going to do her best to get off of work and join me.

I am working on getting accommodations in line and figure out how to best get from each location to the next.  If anyone has suggestions please contact me via post.

Photos curtsey of Swagbucks, you can visit them here.  Join and earn Free stuff. Like Amazon Gift Cards, yes REAL AMAZON gift cards, or paypal or Sephora... Kinda sweet.