An American Icon

“For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.”

 

Audrey Hepburn

 

I would like to go to these 2 places. If only I knew where they were....

Today's Inspiration

Oh sweet sunrise

I welcome the sun,

the clouds and rain,

the wind that sweeps the sky clean

and lets the sun shine again.

this is the most magnificent life has ever been.

here is heaven and earth

and the brilliant sky in between.

blessed is this life

and I'm gonna celebrate being alive.

blessed is this life

and I'm gonna celebrate being alive

I dwell in the darkness

I live in the light

I sleep in the afternoon

and become the noise in the night

I trespass in temptation

suffered in sacrifice

but I awake each day with a new sunrise

Blessed - Brett Dennen

For the first time, no first day!

As SMU classes begin today and wide-eyed freshman pour into classrooms eager to start their 4 years, I am reminded of the simplicity of college. When I started school, everyone always said to me "Oh, these are going to be the best 4 years of your life!" Now I know that statement is pretty bold because I'm sure I will have some great years to come, but looking back those days really were the best so far. I know I shouldn't complain because I have only just entered the workforce but I do miss stocking up on fresh pens and blank notebooks. I loved getting my syllabuses and filling out my planner with all my tests, project, and 'no class' days. I had a highlighter color for every class and color tabs to mark pages in my notebooks and textbooks. I'm a school supply nerd and I'll be the first to admit it. The closest I get to "school shopping" these days is a short trip down the hall to the supply closet to restock my black and blue pens.

In the spirit of starting a new school year, I have started a few 'new' things as well.

1. I have decided to start studying for the CAIA: Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst. This entails taking a pre-test to judge my preparedness for Level I. The program suggests taking this test under normal testing condition, ie allotting yourself 2 uninterrupted hours and no outside materials. If you score a 70% or higher, then you are considered ready for Level I. If you do not reach that mark, you can use the suggested textbooks to do some studying and then take another practice test. I've reviewed some of the materials and I think I have the knowledge to take a stab at the pre-test. Since it's pretty slow at work, I might even be able to do it while I'm at work. The next round of testing is March 2011 so I have plenty of time to brush up on the materials before I would take Level I. Then, assuming I pass, I would need to take Level II. After completing both tests and a year of professional work experience, I would hold the designation.

2. I am becoming a Sunday School teacher at HPUMC! I'm going to be working with 9th and 10th grade girls from the Highland Park area. I'm SO excited to get to know these girls - I have a funny feeling I'm going to learn more from them than they will from me! When I was younger, I really wanted to be a 2nd grade teacher, mainly because I idolized my own 2nd grade teacher. I now have a few friends who are doing Teach for America and I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit jealous of their current career paths. Don't get me wrong, I am fully aware that education is blessing and a curse but I think it would be fun! So instead, I am teaching sunday school so that I can get my weekly fill of high school gossip and hopefully have a small impact.


3. Lastly, I'm going to get a bike...soon. I have been thinking/saving for it for a little while now, but it has just been too dang hot to even think about outdoor activities. As fall approaches, I think I'm ready to get my exercise on and bike the Katy Trail a few times a week! Here is the bike I want...badly.

Trek 7.1 FX

Surplus of jobs + lacking a talented workforce = high unemployment (duh?)

Since work has been so slow these past few months, I've had lots of time to pour over the Wall Street Journal and I've stumbled upon some interesting articles. We all know that the state of the economy is rough and unemployment is at a striking 9.6%!!! INSANE! However, there is a SURPLUS of jobs. That's right, I said it - there are MORE jobs in the economy than are being filled. "Well that's stupid", you're thinking. Why won't all these unemployed people go out and get one of these available jobs? This WSJ article would argue it's because they are not skilled enough to meet the requirements or don't possess the right attributes. So now you're thinking, that's ridiculous because the United States has one of the most educated populations! And yet this NYT article states just the opposite! America - get it together!!! The WSJ article says that if all the vacant jobs were filled we would be at 6% unemployment! That is a HUGE difference and 6% unemployment is considered great!

My point is that we need to invest in education so that we can supply our workforce with skilled people. The 6-year-old I babysit for could be an administrative assistant and yet we can't find people between the ages of 20-50 to fill those positions. Seems like a very strange predicament to me...

More bedroom decorating ideas

The problem with a 2200 sq. foot townhouse is that there are LOTS of white walls. The bedroom white walls are starting to bother me so I've been trying to think of ways to spruce them up without buying really expensive, specific artwork that you can't change out.

First of all, I don't have a bed frame or headboard so I really need to do something above my bed. I'm thinking of getting a picture ledge from Ikea and then getting lots of frames from West Elm and Crate and Barrel (they have some really cute one that come with mats). Then I want to print lots of pictures of friends, Copenhagen and all kinds of things to make it colorful. The best thing is that I can change out the pictures all the time and I don't have to commit to nailing frames to the wall! When this project is completed (maybe this weekend) I'll post a pic!

I was recently watching Color Splash on HGTV and I would just die if David Bromstad wanted to come and paint something for our terribly white walls. He makes the coolest, custom art for all the houses he does and I would love for him to paint something orange for me to hang over my bed! It could totally act as a headboard and add lots of color to my room!

Bedding Bewilderment

Apparently, finding the proper bedding that's both cute and interesting...and all matches is very difficult. I finally have a real "big girl" bed and I want it to be really cute with tons of pillows and textures. Finding all of these things has been very hard. I've made some progress though and I think my bed is almost complete!

I found my duvet first at Crate and Barrel.

Then I got some orange (of course) throw pillows from Crate and Barrel as well. I'm thinking about ordering these shams from West Elm to match the throw blanket I got from West Elm.

I settled for white sheets from Target and a beige bedskirt from Ikea. As soon as I get all the pieces together I'll be sure to take a picture and post it!

Bookshelf Bliss

Along the lines of bedroom decorating comes the daunting task of finding an adorable bookshelf to house my growing collection of hardcovers and paperbacks. While I love the newest electronic gadgets as much as the next person, I am resisting the urge to get myself a Nook (Kindle, eReader...ect). I just can't give up my wonderful, worn in, bent pages and all...paperbacks. I love having shelves of books on display around my room/house. I like looking back at all the books I've already read and then I have to shelf dedicated to the books I still have to read. I guess it has to do with a sense of accomplishment. That being said, I've had a very hard time finding the proper bookshelf to house my treasures! In the end I settled for a white Ikea BILLY bookcase for $35 with the intention of "sprucing" it up with fabric or paper or knickknacks. Shout out to Kelly for sending me this awesome website with a whole page of adorable bookcases - all the inspiration I could ever need! So here's to hoping I can liven up my bookcase and of course, post a pic!

 Someday I will have a huge library with a floor to ceiling bookshelves and a ladder that slides along the walls.

And the sunglasses make a cameo!

Here's a few pictures of the infamous orange sunglasses...

Me and Alex at the FIJI Olympics - rocking the shades!

Waiting for the Needtobreathe Concert to start at the House of Blues, Dallas

TX v. OU with Whitney - orange for UT!

Re-Introduction...

Those of you who know me well, know that I own a pair of orange (fake) Ray Bans. While I coveted the ones pictured above for a long time, I finally caved a bought a pair on the streets of New York for $10. (In order to make this blog more official, I'm still hoping to get my hands on a real pair some day!! - Hint: My birthday is in February and Christmas is even sooner!)

The point is, my orange sunglasses don't define me but identify me. And in the spirit of identifying with things - that is just the direction I want to take this blog. I have no intention of being inspirational, educational, or ground breaking. This is simply a chronicle of a twenty-something - forging my way through the corporate world, creating a new post-college life, and hopefully doing it with some great friends by my side.