Monday, June 30, 2008

The picture that started it all


Dear Blog,
(I'm having trouble loading the pic, patience please.)
That particular jpeg has decidedly changed my future for the time being. Before I get to that riveting story, let me give you all a littttttle more insight as to why Aaron and I are moving. Aaron and I have always felt like maybe we aren't southern living folks and that perhaps we should move to the West Coast. For some reason, Seattle has always stuck out to us. We have been there a handful of times and it's so beautiful and just has a vibe that we think we can get used to. So, when it became an option for Aaron to possibly transfer out there with his job we were like, DUH, we are so there. Oh, what say you? It rains there? Well, I guess it's a good thing I bought my phatty bo batty trench coat back in March. Heeeeeeeeeey! I knew that two hours of hmmmmiiing would definitely come in handy.

So, why has that jpeg changed my future the time being? Well, the Lord has blessed me with a mind that knows what it wants. About a month ago I was given the task to find an image of an article of clothing that we sell in our boutique at the studio and do a little write up about it for a local magazine. Well, we sell a lot of The Groove Pant by lululemon in our studio so I was perusing their website looking for a high res image. While I was on their website I took a look-see at their Job section to see if there was any potential there. Lo, and behold there on the glowing LCD monitor was the write up of my future job. Store Manager. So, lululemon is opening a new store in downtown Seattle and they are looking for a store manager. I spruced up my resume and wrote a kick ass cover letter that I had Mom, Dad and Ron proof read over and over and over and then I sent it off to internet-land. Now, I hate applying online because it's like...ummm who checks that stuff? Well, I think someone checks it because about a week later I got an email from an employee about doing a telephone interview. Wooohooo, I was so excited. After a grueling telephone interview and a long week of waiting, I found out they wanted to fly me out there for a face to face. So, in two days I flew to and from Seattle and had a two hour interview. Well, obvy, I knocked their socks off and I landed the job!! I am so excited and think this is going to be a great fit for me.

Now, the kicker. I have to be out there on July 8th. That's about 2 weeks earlier than I anticipated. It totally threw me for a loop. Being the Type A worry wart that I am I was FREAKING OUT about Aaron driving out there with all of our stuff by himself. I made it my mission to find him a replacement. I racked my brain trying to think of someone who had a schedule flexible enough to drive across the country for a week. Only one person came to mind. My mom. I ran this by Aaron and he was all, "Heck yeah! Moo and Ron's big adventure!" I asked my mom if they would miss her at Starbucks for a week and she thought they could manage and she has enlisted to ride with Ron for 5 days across the country. Now this, I wish I could see. Aaron, Mom and Bella riding in Penske rental truck.

This will be very well documented.

xoxo,
al

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

What a long strange trip it's been, and this is just the beginning.

Dear Blog,

Hello? Are you still there? Do I have any readers left? Man, it's been a crazy June. Let's see in the past month, I thought I might be pregnant and totally freaked out about how that is not in my plan right now. I mean, have you seen the pictures of me holding a baby?? I need more practice! After getting used to the fact that I could possibly be pregnant I then decided that I was gonna rock pregnancy like no other and be like Gwen Stefani up in the hizzzz-ouse and started to name my imaginary baby. Then my period came and I celebrated that I wasn't pregnant by getting kinda drunk. (Sorry Mom and Dad I know you don't like your little girl drinking so just erase that from your memory bank.) Anyway, back to June. So we have continued our whirl wind month by doing a lot of traveling. Aaron was in Seattle at the beginning of the month and has documented his eating his way through the city on his site, check it. Then we were off to New York to hang out with my parents and our bff's Spurgeon, Gilleon and Kate. Of course New York is always fun and it was way fun this time because my parents were there! Dad, Aaron and Spurge were great sports while Mom, Kate and myself managed to do a little shopping and visit some tourist attractions. After we got back from New York, Spurge and Gils decided they missed us way too much and came down and spent a couple days with us. We had a super FUN drink n' dive party in their honor. That's right, we pulled out the slip 'n slide from last year and invited over a dozen or so of our besties and had fun rollin' down the slide. I even did it!!! Somewhere out there I know there are pics but I'll have to track them down before adding them to the site.
As soon as we kicked those two out we were off to Cincinatti for a family wedding! Can you imagine Alison, Aaron and Bella in a Toyota Corolla from 10 hours???? It was not a pretty site. We had to rent a car because we sold mine, YES!!!!!!, and we ain't trying to ride up there in a Jeep. In my mind Jeeps are about as comfortable as a dang horse and buggy. I'm just sayin'. Cincinatti was grand. As soon as we got back from Cincy, I was jet setting off to Seattle for an overnight trip. Needless to say, I'm pretty tired and am glad to be home for a little while. My mom has asked me was I ever going to blog again and lately my brain has been so filled with details of real life that I haven't made room for creativity. I know I have let you down blog world. I'm scared to look at my statcounter because I don't want to see how few people are checking my blog.

Hopefully something exciting will happen soon, like I'll wreck my Vespa again or something and that will drive my membership back up!!

That's all for tonight ho's and bro's.
xoxo,
Al

Thursday, June 12, 2008

I got friends in looooooow places


Dear Blog,
I can't believe I just used a phrase from a country song in my blog title, I abhor country music--it's terrible, but I couldn't think of another phrase about friends. I've been thinking a lot about friends lately. What it means to be a friend, having a lot of friends, having a BEST friend, having no friends. I think I have a lot of quality friends and then some not so quality friends that I keep around because they are just fun to be around and then I get my feelings hurt when they act selfishly. I think the reason I've been thinking so much about my friends is because in about a month Aaron and I are taking a big adventure. Much like Oprah and Gayle's big adventure, we are heading cross country. Unlike Oprah and Gayle's big adventure we're not just taking a trip we're moving to God's country (heehee) Seattle, WA.

Let the shock sink in. Yep, ole' Ronny boy and I are moving to Seeeeeeeee-attle. We've always thought that the West was a place we would like to live and if you'll remember Seattle is where Aaron professed his undying love for me, shouted from the top of Mount Ranier that he wanted marry me and yeah, basically that's where we got engaged. Plus, there is tons of coffee there. That is a huge reason in and of itself. Screw the folks who recount the negatives of coffee. Coffee is a gift from God. A little ground up bean with some hot water never tasted soooooooo good.

Anyway, one of my main worries is that I won't find friends out there like I have here. And that my friends here are going to forget about me and find another funny, fabulous, fashionista to be their friend. Humph. I'm already getting jealous of my old friends friendship with this new awesome yet made up friend. I'm totally going to be so mean when I come back to visit and I meet this new friend. I hate her already.

After having re-read this post, I'm surprised I have any friends at all.

xoxo,
Alison

Thursday, June 5, 2008

My dowry

Dear Blog,

My dad often asks me, in the presence of Aaron, what did I bring to our marriage? I don't cook, I clean alright, I'm like take 'em or leave 'em on the subject of kids and I have no discernible talents other than dressing myself up all nice and pretty like. I tell him that I offered MYSELF to this marriage and, DUH!, that is more than enough. Hey, Aaron knew what he got when he was marrying me so don't feel sorry for him.

I have a feeling that at some point in our marriage I'm gonna pop out some lil' Alison and Aaron's. I already know who the favorite parent is gonna be and uh...it's not me.

So my bff 4 life just had a baby! That's right, Faris just had herself a little chillin'. She had a cute little baby girl named Eliza Faris Connor. She shore is tiny and cute. Yesterday I was in quite the baby loving mood and I kept trying to hold little Eliza and she wasn't happy with her Auntie Mate and together we look like this;



I'm looking all like, what the heck am I doing with this baby? And Eliza is just throwing up everywhere. Together we are not an army of one. But give the baby to Aaron and look what happens;



Together, they are an army of one. Aaron is like, "Man! I love me some babies! I'm good at everything! Everyone loves me! I'm Aaron!" and Eliza is all "ganalsfgu;abna sfd gooooooooooooooooooooahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh"

Sigh. Eliza really is a cute little nugget of baby munchkin love and we had so much fun getting to know her!!
Lucky for you readers, we took some video of potential #1 Dad and his practice child. I apologize in advance for my laughing in the background.




xoxo,
#56930762 Momma
(alison)