Voila! The new hair!!

This is a pretty good gauge at what it used to look like...































And the new hair... Nothing too fabulous but a lot shorter and blonder. I am a little upset I did not keep some more of the length but I am still happy with the results!

I did it!!!

No that's not Daisy... That's all the hair I cut off!!!

Ummm yeah pictures of the actually cut you will have to wait for because.. Well I forgot to take pictures after the hair was done all fabulous. And well I can never get it to look like that again but I will try!!

The Red Hat Ladies...

So umm have you ever heard of them? The red hat society this is how they got started

While visiting a friend in Tucson several years ago, Sue Ellen impulsively bought a bright red fedora at a thrift shop, for no other reason than that it was cheap and, she thought, quite dashing. A year or two later she read the poem "Warning" by Jenny Joseph, which depicts an older woman in purple clothing with a red hat. Sue Ellen felt an immediate kinship with Ms. Joseph. She decided that her birthday gift to her dear friend, Linda Murphy, would be a vintage red hat and a copy of the poem. She has always enjoyed whimsical decorating ideas, so she thought the hat would look nice hanging on a hook next to the framed poem. Linda got so much enjoyment out of the hat and the poem that Sue Ellen gave the same gift to another friend, then another, then another.

One day it occurred to these friends that they were becoming a sort of "Red Hat Society" and that perhaps they should go out to tea... in full regalia. They decided they would find purple dresses which didn't go with their red hats to complete the poem's image.

The tea was a smashing success.

Soon, each of them thought of another woman or two she wanted to include, and they bought more red hats. Their group swelled to 18, and they began to encourage other interested people to start their own chapters (18 women don't fit well around a tea table). One of their members passed along the idea to a friend of hers in Florida, and their first "sibling" group was born.

Sue Ellen's fondest hope is that these societies will proliferate far and wide. We have now held three successful Red Hat Society conventions entire hotels filled with women of a certain age wearing red hats and purple outfits! Could world domination be far behind?

Well I JOINED!!! These ladies come in once in a while to my restaurant, and they are all so fun and full of life and they asked me to join!!

Well seeing how you have to be 50 and well obviously I am not, I am required to wear a pink hat and lavender clothing as opposed to the red hat and royal purple..

I had my first lunch on Wednesday and it was SOOO FUN!!

Ready to go!!



This was one of my ladies I had made a connection with at lunch. She is 8o years old next month so I am going to send her some flowers!! She used to be a professional figure skater...


The other pink hat you see is a friend from work...

A reflection of ones character...

So y'all know since the move I have been working full time in "the restaurant" until I can find another full time job.

Well the job hunt is not going so well. So I started my own business. And its taking up a bunch of my time BUT I AM SO EXCITED!!! I will share detail soon I promise!

So anyways I am a firm believer that you get what you put out. I mean I believe in Karma, and if you are a good person good things will come to you.

I have a pretty funny story to share.

Generally I try to be a good person. Help people when they need it. Volunteer. Work hard and ask for nothing in return.

Something happened tonight that made be question someones character. Generally I would say I am a good judge of character.

Anywhooo heres my story: We have side work at nigh to close down the restaurant. Its stuff like, stocking and breaking stuff down to be ready and clean for the morning shift.

Well I was busy cleaning and doing my side work while a co-worker was watching. I thought it strange but she just made conversation and I did my job.

Well turns out I was doing HER SIDE WORK!! AND SHE DID NOT SAY A WORD TO ME!!! It was funny because when I realized my error I went to her and said "You let me do all of your sidework while you watched and you did not say ANYTHING??"

She looked away and would not say anything. She could not look me in the face. No even a smile or a thank you or anything!.... So I went about and did the actual side work I was supposed to do (adding 15 minutes to my time at work)

And I laughed it off.. But it certainly makes me think different of this person...

Take time to relax swap

Finally I have found my cord for my camera to post pictures!!! Last week I received a beautiful swap surprise in the mail from Ms Magnolia!! Thank you Magnolia

I love surprises in the mail!

The loot!!

A beautiful picture Magnolias dad took... Its going to be framed and placed in my bathroom. I LOVE IT!

All my goodies...



This swap was so fun!! I can not wait for another!

New hair!!!

So in starting a new business. I have decided to change my hair...
I do not think I want to change the length however I LOVE these bangs....


And this croppy long layers in the front?


What do you think?

The new digs??

I have been wanting a new blog look for awhile.

And well this is an adjustment. I wish I knew how to make a pretty blog. **sigh** I miss my pretty blog that was "rudely" removed as the person who designed it for me removed their site.

I want a shoe themed blog... Any ideas?

Travel, travel, travel!!

I am so excited!!

So coming up I have a few things on the agenda.

April 4-5 Going to Missori to meet a friends family.

April 14-19 I will be in Vegas for a training conference for my new business. And I just found out my brother in law will be there the same time too, so I will get to see some family.

July 9- 12 I will be back in Canada in Thunder Bay to surprise my grandma for her 80th birthday with my brother and my dad!

July 24- 27 NEW YORK CITY!! My of my dear friends is getting married and we are having her bacholorette in NYC!!

August 27 - 29 The hubby and I will be in Canada in Halifax, Nova Scotia for my friends wedding and we will be stopping in my home town to visit at the same time but dates are not confirmed yet.

So EXCITED !!

Dear Petsmart

I just wanted to say thank you so much for the service we received at your location.

We have just relocated to Kansas and were in need of a groomer. Our previous vet was very good with our little Daisy she has been very badly abused and we rescued her about 2 years ago.

When we arrived at the salon they were pretty busy. Alyssa was happy to help. She went above and beyond the call of duty. I explained to her that Daisy was badly abused and was afraid of people and other dogs. She listened to my concerns and said it would not be a problem to cut her nails and clean her ears. I told her that the minute I gave her over she was going to pee and this did not phase her! She took Daisy right from me and held her close even though she knew she was getting peed on.
She took Daisy and strapped her into the table and when Daisy cowered and peed Alyssa swept her right up into her arms and sat with Daisy in her lap. She sat on the bench and cut and filed her nails, while the whole time talking to her and kissing her head to make her feel better.

I can not even tell you how good this made me feel. Alyssa went above and beyond what would have been expected of a groomer. She held Daisy close and was able to cut and file her nails and clean her ears.

I can not say thank you enough.

Alyssa is a great asset to your team, she displayed exemplary customer service to me and my dog.

Your forever loyal customer
Random Musings

*** I sent this to Petsmart's Online customer service comments***

Ohh hand bags!!

I saw this and thought it was cute.. I tend to pride myself on my selection of purses. I tend to get lots of comments/compliments on them so I thought this was a cool meme.


1) Post a picture of whatever bag you are carrying as of late. No, you cannot go up to your closet and pull out that cute little purse you used back before you had kids. I want to know what you carried today (or the last time you left the house).

2) I want to know how much it cost:) And this is not to judge, because I’m honestly telling you I was ready to put down some cash; I just got lucky. This is for entertainment purposes only. So spill it. And if there is a story to go along with how you obtained it, I’d love to hear it.

3) Whats in it?

4) Tag some chicks. And link back to this post so people know why the heck you’re showing everyone your diaper bag/non-diaper bag.

1. So here it is...


2. It was $21 on clearance and Macys. To be honest I bough the IDENTICAL pink one first using a coupon and "special buy" event and it was $2 with all the discounts. As I was leaving with my glorious buy I saw this one. And well seeing how I saved so much money on the first one.. and one of the sales applied to the identical bag...

3. Not much in it. Water bottle, wallet, kleenex, 3 lip glosses, hand sanitizer, notes for things needed at the store. 6 pens (in my defense I do work in a restaurant)


4) Tag some chicks. huumm whos purse do I want to see?

Dixie - Because she is BACK!! Finally..

Girlville - Because she is so crafty.. I bet its handmade!

Magnolia - Because she lives where it is warm and I bet its as cute as a button

Swampgirl - Because its probably vintage?



And because I am getting lazy...anyone else who wants to do it!! Its a fun one.... Please let me know if you do so I can come peak in your purse!

St Pattys Day Fashion... And how did 100,000 people get the day off??

A little doggie fashion as well!

This poor guy was so scared at the parade from all the shouting and clapping his owner was holding him..... He was shaking.. I went over and gave him a few pets and whispered everything was going to be ok.



In my defense I was able to take the day off because I had a dr appointment with a friend. Well she had the appointment and I was moral support (LONG STORY) she was having an ultrasound to find out if she is having a boy or girl! ITS A BOY!

And the news said there were 100,000 people downtown for the festivities.


And me and a friend were the only sober ones. No joke. At 11am me, her and about a hand full of other pregnant women were sober and quaking at the crowds... The VERY drunk crowds.. Our group included.



There was some interesting fashion as well...


Check out the shoes!



It was a beautiful 80 degrees outside and the parade was fun. I am not sure I would like to do it again sober. But it was a great place to watch people and just to be out enjoying the weather....

Its amazing how people come into your life...

So for the last 3 years I have randomly posted my wedding dress on Craigslist. I was posting it in the hopes that someone would see it and love it as much as I did, and it would be worn again.

Now do not get me wrong. I LOVED my dress. It was everything I was looking for and it took me forever to find it. I toyed with the idea of selling it for a while.

After the first 2 years of random postings and about 5 failed attempts of "meetings" and "fittings" I started to think of other ways to give my dress a second life.

I have been so blessed in my own life, and marriage that I hoped it would bring someone else as many blessings.

We are not having children, so passing it down to a daughter is not going to happen. I asked my sister YEARS ago if she would want to wear it and she wants a BIG dress. A big poofy dress and my dress was certainly not.

One of the blogs I read is Jimmy Choos and Tennis Shoes talked about a program called The Glass Slipper Project its a non profit based out of Chicago that takes donated formal dresses and sets up under privileged girls for prom with dresses, shoes, accessories, hair and makeup. Its a pretty amazing organization check it out*

So I was talking to one of the girls I work with at the restaurant about donating my dress (Lets call her L). L to me is a really good person. Have you ever met someone that you just get a really good vibe from. That seems like a really genuine soul? She is that kind of person to me.

I told her I did not want to send it to Goodwill or The Salvation Army because it would get trashed. If I was giving it away I REALLY wanted it to go to a great home. I mentioned to her I was thinking of shipping it to The Glass Slipper Project.

Well me and L have been talking about her up coming wedding, she was engaged just this past weekend!!! I am SOOO excited for her!

She is 23 and she is getting married to her soul mate. They are really a great couple. They have been together 6 years, they both have bachelors degrees and they start grad school in August. They are also waiting till they are married to have sex!!! (which is almost unheard of these days) They are looking to get married before they start school again and they are both ready, they are also attempting to do a wedding on a budget. Which is funny because 5 years ago I was in the same boat!

Well the day after talking about donating my dress L came to me and asked "Are you really thinking of giving away your wedding dress?"

Right away I almost cried. Serious. I was so flattered that such a good person would even entertain wearing my dress and we made a date for her to look at it.

That night. We left straight from work and she asked me before I left if I would be offended if she did not like it. We laughed and I told her it would take a lot more than that. If she liked it she like it and if not. It was no big deal.

My beautiful dress on my wedding day...






And now it will be L's dress on her wedding day.... I feel so blessed to be able to give away my dress... She has been looking for dresses and has not found anything that compares to mine!!


We both cried a little and talked about how when you least expect it, life throws you little blessings? I am SOO excited for her!!

Its amazing how people come into your life.... And what effect they have with you?




* on a side note I also noted that there is not "yet" and organization in Kansas and my wheels are turning and I am looking into what it would take to start a non profit offering the same services here in my state! : )....***

Upcoming posts....

1. Its been 5 years since I broke my neck. How far I have come.

2. My wedding dress is going to be worn again!! And I could not be more excited!

3. I have started a new business. And its fabulous!! And I am looking forward to what the future holds.

4. Me versus getting my ass back into shape. Oh yeah.


Its been a busy week, with lots of stuff going on... I am going to hopefully post my wedding dress story tomorrow!! Its a FABULOUS story.. You will have to weigh in on it for me.

I am no longer allergic to brown!!

No rash or nothing!!

Feast your eyes on these little cuties. They were from DSW and they are Hush puppies (the most comfortable shoes ever) and they were only $12.

I had to have them. And I LOVE them. They are fabulous.



And they are ballet flats. Did I ever tell you how I loath ballet flats?? Umm yeah a few times...

I have grown.

My first pair of BROWN shoes. And first pair of ballet flats. Serious. In 31 years. This means trouble!!

Off to the Doctor and retirement....

The shoe doctor that is... These pretties still have a few hot nights left in them. However the first night I ever went out with my friend Kelli, its a funny story really (something about getting rug burns and doing the splits) the strap busted off of the top. Sal has named these ones "The hot shoes" They are about 6 years old and I bought Sal a pair too cause she loved mine. Her's have since been retired she loved them so much!


And then funny enough another night out with Kelli in Denver the heal thingmagig busted off the bottom of these ones. And well they are hot. And need to be fixed.

See the little missing thing? I walked around on the screw thing all night, I hope they can be fixed!!


And these ones are off to retirement... With a little piece of my heart.... I have had these ones FOREVER.. And it shows...





I held on to these ones in the hopes that they could be replaced, it hurt my heart to throw them in the trash...

But I found a suitable replacement....

Almost famous???

So I received this comment on my blog:

Blogger Pink Sneakers said...

Hi

I read one of your posts from a while ago that said you are a clothes and shoe hoarder! :)

I work for a production company and we are doing a show on people with tons and tons of stuff, like clothes and shoes, and I was wondering if you would be interested in talking to me about possibly being a part of the show? My email is "...", please email me asap if you might be interested!

Thanks!

2:49 PM

So I did a little research and PINK SNEAKERS

It is a HUGE production company the do True Life for MTV, Hogan knows best, Cribs.

I think its kind of funny. I have seen shows about hoarders and I would like to think I am not one of them. I mean LOTS of people have lots of shoes? No?

The happiest place on earth..

Well one of the many for me...

I just experienced Stein Mart. Oh how I LOVE thee....

WHY DID ANYONE NOT TELL ME OF THIS FABULOUS STORE!!!

They have everything, shoes, house stuff, knick knacks, purses (lots of purses) its sort of like a "fancy" Tj Max or Ross store....

I think I may be a little in love

Are these not the CUTEST things? They are planters. High heal SUPER cute planters. Seeing how I do not garden, I tried to rack my brain for other usefull ways to use such a darling little shoes? Any ideas? I could not think of anything "for me" however for other people... What a cute gift!

And I HAVE to have this. I mean really? I laughed out loud when I saw this. I think its a great little sign. I even asked the hubby if he would mind it I bought it and put it above the closet...



He laughed at me and teased me a little...I really do love that man... And Stein Mart!

Home alone...

I dropped the hubby off at the airport this morning to send him on his way to Vegas... yeah not for fun (well I am sure there will be a little fun) he is there for work.

So its me and Miss Daisy for the week. We have a very fun week planned.

Do lots of shopping.. Did I tell you how much Daisy LOVES the car? Every chance we get we take her with us. Just the mention of the word car sends her into spastic barking and running in circles. Its so cute to see, I think I will get that on video.

Attempt to finish unpacking **gasp** I know its been 3 weeks it should be done by now. But we are leaving a few things packed up so that we will not have to repack them again. I really just want to get the spare room set up with the bed and stuff as opposed to it being against the wall right now.

Work.

Clean house and finish laundry. Not in that order because the house cleaning will have to be done the day the hubby comes home...lol Because if he knew I lived like this!!

Spend time with fabulous new friends!! I just got home from the hospital for one of the girls I work with IS HAVING A BABY!!! So in a few hours there will be a PICTURE post of new squishy baby pictures!!

Oh Bikram yoga how I love you!!

So way back in the day I used to do Bikram 5 days a week. The classes were literally across the street from my house so I really had no choice and it was easy to stick to.

In the previous city we lived in there were no studios within about 40 miles of where we lived, so I stopped going and have not been in about 4 years.

I found a studio about 15 miles from me.

And they are AMAZING!! So to help kick off my weight loss I am going to start back and commit to 3 days a week!!

And this is not just any yoga. There is no standing on your head or anything like that. The room you do the yoga in is heated to a very humid and WARM 105 degrees. It is the MOST AMAZING workout EVER!!. You can read more about Bikram here or find a studio near you!

Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class is a twenty-six asana series designed to scientifically warm and stretch muscles, ligaments and tendons, in the order in which they should be stretched.

Bikram Yoga's twenty-six posture exercises systematically move fresh, oxygenated blood to one hundred percent of your body, to each organ and fiber, restoring all systems to healthy working order, just as Nature intended. Proper weight, muscle tone, vibrant good health, and a sense of well-being will automatically follow.

Ummm yeah I think I am in love!!!

Job hunting bites the BIG ONE!!

So now that we moved, although I am working at the PT job I need to secure a full time job.

The first week we were here I went to a cattle call.. Well I mean "group interview" and it was made very apparent to me that LOTS of people are looking for work.

I was WAY over qualified. As was most of the people in the room. But I went anyways. And this is going to be an uphill battle.

The hubby has pointed out that its going to be very hard, with the economy being the way it is. And with so many people out of work and looking......

This should be fun. I started a new "ticker" starting today for all the jobs I am applying for.

What is really frustrating about this job search is I am finding LOTS of jobs that look fantastic and I apply only to get hits back from temp agencies. Temp agencies that I have NO INTEREST in going through. I would like to get a full time job on my own. I do not want to "temp".

I have gone to some of the sites and there are "temp to hire" jobs but I still am not interested in investing the time in a job I may be doing for only a week. People look down on temps. Like they can not get real jobs.

So until I HAVE to I will go this alone. I will keep y'all posted at this riveting search...

Gaining weight is not cool......

When you are supposed to be actively losing it!!

So I gained back one or two of the pounds I was supposed to be working on loosing. I blame the stress of the move and eating fast food for almost a week on it. Which is pretty good considering.

I lost 25 pounds last year with weight watchers and I have kept it off, but I can not seem to push past this hump.

Yes I need to start working out.

Yes I need to start watching what I eat. But when you work in a restaurant its REALLY hard to be picky about what you are eating. I mean I could eat salads every day but that is so boring when you have a plethora of yummy stuff to eat and all you have to do is imagine it.

***sigh***

I am taking suggestions to get moving again.... Anyone have anything that worked fabulous for them? Anything?

***side note. I gained 90 pounds when I broke my neck. I have lost 55 of that and have 40 to go to be at my weight before the accident....***

And the winner is.....

"M" Over at Shopper Girl!! (So destined to be my new BFF) I mean with the title shopper girl its almost meant to be!!

So "M" please email me at crazyrandommusings at yahoo dot ca and I will get your care package off in the mail!!

Yeah free stuff!!

The interesting hotel we stayed in...eewww!!

**** If you want to enter the Give Away go to this post****

We started out later in the day for our trip to Kansas. The loaders came to load our stuff @ 9am and were finally done by noon. Turns out the guy who was supposed to help them move us called at 5am and said he would not be able to make it so they were down one guy.

The hubby was able to help with the big stuff (helps having a strapping man for a husband) which made things go a little faster.



The carpet cleaners came @ 1pm and then we were off to drop off keys and hit the road.

After 10 hours of driving and being up all day we were both tired and decided to get a hotel. Due to being on a budget I thought "Oh look there is an Econo Lodge" Perfect.

We pull in a check that they do accept dogs. Its an extra $10 a night so we agree and check in, get what we need from the cars and into the room.

You know how you are SO tired anything is better than one more minute with your eyes open? We went straight to bed on the ply board that was supplied by the hotel (the bed was SO BAD). We awoke to the 5am sun in our eyes due to this.



I guess when you check in @ 1am you get a room with 1 curtain



The window came complete with its own dead flies too..

AND THEN when the hubby got into the shower and I was laughing because it sounded like there were fire hoses in there hosing him down. I asked how the pressure was and we giggled for a bit because, well it was like getting hosed off with a fire hose...



I guess no one can complain about the water pressure...

A bloggy Giveaway!!

So you all know I love me some shoes!! Well MONTHS ago I found this fabulous calendar and I bought out the store. There were only 2 left. So I figured I would buy both and then figure out who to send it to for Christmas.

Well turns out it was never sent to anyone... And its laying around. And its February 15, and well the year is almost over... Soooo without further adieu...

I am giving away this FABULOUS calendar... Oh and a little something extra in a care package that will have to be a surprise..... Who does not LOVE surprises??


Much to the husbands torture, I have hung mine in the kitchen. Naturally because the bedroom is already overflowing with shoes and I constant reminder of how much I love shoes!
All you need to do is leave a comment and I will draw a winner on Tuesday Feb 17 @ 7pm central time....

And if you like I added a new gadget to "Follow me Please" ***points to the side bar*** and I would LOVE to have followers.. Cause I am needy like that!!

And EVERY comment gets an entry!! So start commenting. You could tell me about your favorite pair of shoes? What color? Funny shoe stories? Do you have bedroom shoes?**snicker** or just say "Me again"

FREE STUFF!!! YEAH!!

I am so blessed... I have 2 Valentines!!

I love this picture its so cute!!



And Daisy dizzle...


This is my favorite picture of them... She really loves her daddy..


HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

We have arrived safely in Kansas!!

Sweet internet there you are.... Its amazing how I took the internet for granted. Like I have NEVER gone a day without it, so needless to say the last 5 days without have been CRAZY!!

I am working on our trip recap which went off without a hitch. Other than the hotel from hell that warrants its very own post.

We are here. We have found a beautiful place to live for the next 12 months, hopefully we will find a house sooner than that but they have VERY strict lease agreements here and to break it would cost us over $3000. So umm yeah we have waited 5 years another year will not kill us.

I am starting work tomorrow. My part time job is a HUGE chain and I was able to transfer out here so I have something to start with. I am actively pursuing a full time job but the market right now is really tough. Will so many lay offs all over the place, I have not even heard from 1 job as of yet. I have applied for well over 20 already. I have had about 6 hits back from employment agencies and with my experience I WILL NOT use one again. I had a really bad experience 3 times now so I figure I am better off on my own.

The hubby is trying to keep my spirits up and explain the job market is very different out here than it was in the small town we lived in.

But I will keep my chin up. What is meant to be will be. I am blessed with already having a job that is going to give me all the hours I want, but I would really like to get something back in an office... I have LOTS of shoes to buy!!

Without internet~!

And its killing me.. Serious it will not be installed till Thursday so I am coming to you from our beautiful HUGE library that is only a little bit away from the house.

So here are some quick bullet points!

* There is a DSW (only the most FABULOUS shoe store) less than 1 mile away from us. Umm yeah this could be trouble.

* There are about 10 Targets not just Target but SUPER Targets within 10 miles of us. I LOVE IT!

* Our new place is fabulous, there were a few things that needed to get fixed but they were quick about it and we are "almost" unpacked. Each day it feels more like home.

* Finding a job is a little hard with no internet. So umm yeah. That will be put on hold till Thursday.

* Taxes are filed.

* Hubby is sick. Like a dog. Is it me or do all men turn into big babies when they are sick?

* Daisy is doing well. She stopped barfing so it looks like she just had an upset belly.

See you all soon!!

No flying monkeys so far...

We have arrived in Kansas. It was a long drive (10 hours) with a hotel stay that will be a WHOLE post worth of pictures.. Umm yeah it was that nice.

Just wanted to let you all know we have blown in and I should be back up and posting and getting caught up shortly.

Daisy is doing ok. The puppy Prozac worked for the movers and stuff but we stopped giving it too her because she really seemed ok with things.

Till she started barfing this morning. So fingers crossed its just a fluke. She shes to be back to herself right now so I pray it was just an upset stomach.