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01 September 2009

Winning the lottery, no whammies!

By: Jessica B.
Tagged: family, Fashion, gym, Random, shopping, travel, work

Sometimes I love to daydream that I quit my job to run off to Europe and live a luxurious, adventurous life, but I always realize that this dream is contingent on one thing: that I win the lottery.

Problem with that part is that I’m not really a regular “lottery player” or gambler. I have no idea how to play slots (shocking but true) and don’t buy weekly lottery tickets.

But I will walk to a gas station and buy a lottery ticket when there is a huge jackpot because, why not? Sure, my odds of being struck by lightening are better than winning, but it’s fun. The Mega Millions jackpot was $330 million or something so Friday night I went to a gas station and bought three tickets.

And while I didn’t win (and have been at work all week), I always let myself daydream a little bit about what would happen if I did win. It was a hot topic one day at lunch too.

So here is what I would do with $330 million (or whatever I get after taxes):

  • Buy my parents house and give them a lump sum of money to cover property taxes for the next 20 years
  • Let my dad retire and say “f*ck it” to his job
  • Buy myself a SWEET condo (lots of room to walk around naked)
  • Work freelance and go back to school for my MBA
  • Donate a lot of my clothes and replace them with beautiful things from JCrew, Anthropologie and Nordstrom
  • Two words: Chanel quilted
  • Donate money to local charities
  • Volunteer more
  • Stalk Oprah.com to get tickets to a taping (since I won’t have to work)
  • Get a car, or two (and a parking spot)
  • Send my parents to Europe (and get some nice non-addictive, Michael Jackson sleeping pills for dad to help him not go crazy on that flight)
  • Travel (hi five-star hotels around the world) and take my closest friends on a nice trip
  • Buy a real pony (not that I don’t love my birthday ones, but you know, get a real, live one to love forever)
  • Get a dog (and pay someone to train him, kidding?)
  • Have fresh cut flowers in my house weekly (I LOVE fresh flowers)
  • Go to LA and stalk John Kraskinski (kidding?)
  • Get a personal trainer and get my fat a** back in shape
  • Hire a cleaning lady (I’ll be honest, I’m lazy and hate scrubbing floors)

As you can see, some are more realistic than others. And it seems I’ve put more thought into this than I imagined :)

What would you do if you won the lottery? Feel free to shoot for the stars (and get creative too!)

Edit: I also meant to add about getting a condo that I’ll have room for Alexa to come live in my “room of awesome” :) FORGIVE ME Alexa!

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27 August 2009

Surprise!

By: Jessica B.
Tagged: family, Fashion, Friends

Yeah I don’t like them. Well I shouldn’t say that, I’m always…skeptical around them because in my past experience, they haven’t lead to good things.

Like, “surprise! you’re failing sociology” or “surprise your ex boyfriend is gay.” Not good things.

Much like I don’t care for conversations that start with “I have to tell you something” or “come into my office and close the the door.” NO THANK YOU.

I think the reason I don’t care for surprises is a whole lack-of-control thing and by not knowing what’s going on or coming up, I can’t prepare or prevent it, if necessary.

But, as part of my new 30-something attitude of “relax!” and not taking things so seriously, I’m learning to embrace surprises and not fret as much if they’re not good ones.

For example, this week I got TWO surprises, both of which were awesome and actually, I’m glad I didn’t know about them ahead of time.

Wednesday’s surprise was a sweet birthday care from Renee, which just said “Happy Birthday” but was such a wonderful surprise when I opened up my mailbox. And I’ll say she has good karma because a bill wasn’t in mail that day either!

And on Tuesday, a package arrived for me at work, which I was not expecting at all. I thought our mail room was confused when they delivered it but nope, there was a box, with my name on it, from Anthropologie.

And my first thought was, “sh*t did I get drunk and go online shopping again?”

Don’t judge, it happens!

But fortunately that wasn’t the case because it was a belated birthday gift from my dad, who remembered a necklace at Anthropologie that I was SALIVATING OVER a few months ago. Apparently me touching it wistfully at the store resonated with him because he went, ordered it, had it gift wrapped and shipped out to me, all without spilling the beans.

He’s a clever guy and he totally made my day. One hundred times over.

My surprises!!

So my little moral from these situations is: surprises are good and bad but don’t close yourself off to them because the happiness you feel for a good surprise, is pretty awesome :)

What about you, do you like surprises?

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09 August 2009

The joys of vacation

By: Jessica B.
Tagged: family, travel, Wisconsin

That’s right, last week I was on vacation, spending time with my parents in northern Wisconsin, where McDonald’s and Starbucks don’t exist and Wifi access makes you very popular.

In fact, when I started writing this post last week, I was sitting on a park bench in front of a local library where Wifi is free. Yes, it’s quite a scene.

So while I loaded up on fresh air and watched my hair disintegrate thanks to humidity (stupid curls!) I wanted to share some of my favorite things about being on vacation, outside of the no working thing.

  • Sleeping late (which is still 8 a.m. for me. So sad)
  • Not counting calories (yes, I will have another beer, piece of pie and/or cup of gelato)
  • Looking at the stars
  • Watching the sun set (beer in hand is optional)
  • Visiting boutique shops (no JCrew or Banana Republic within 50 miles)
  • Forgoing make up and fashion (I didn’t wear make up for a week and I LOVED it)
  • Seeing local, exotic animals (including raccoons, deer and wild turkies. Not your average city animal life)
  • Laying at the beach and/or pool (assuming a beached whale position on a chaise lounge chair)
  • Reading on the porch (I read three books while I was gone and I show no signs of stopping!)

I have to say, reading in general is my favorite part of vacation. I loved relaxing with a good book on our screened-in porch or when lounging at the beach or pool. I just picked up another book today and have another waiting in the wings for me to get started on. My brain is just a sponge when I’m on vacation, soaking up all the good books and stories I’ve been waiting to read.

What do you love most about being on vacation, or where is your favorite place to retreat to each summer? Northern Wisconsin is definitely ours. Also, how was everyone’s weekend?

Tomorrow I’m officially back in the office, which means this happy little vacation bubble I’m still living in goes away.

F*ck.

But, I will be back to regularly blogging and commenting again :)

Giveaway update: The winners of the Gap giveaway are up now on the review blog, along with my review of the Gap Perfect Boot jeans! Thank you everyone for your great entries!

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31 July 2009

My first car

By: Jessica B.
Tagged: family, Random, Wisconsin

When it comes to driving, I was always a late bloomer. I learned how to pump gas at 16, got my drivers license at 17, had my first speeding/bull-sh*t-ticket-that-the-cop-made-up-a-reason-for-to-pull-me-over at 18 and my first car at 21.

Oh yes, 21 is when I finally had my own car. That’s why I am SUCH a good co-pilot on long trips. I’m very attentive :)

But recently, I was digging through some old photos and I found a picture of my first car and with a smug Katie-Holmes-like-side-mouth-smile, I took a little trip down memory lane.

My first car wasn’t a LeSabre or Ford Taurus, it was a white Plymouth Laser (similar to the photo below). Sexy.

plymouth

It was a two-door piece of freedom given to me by my dad when I transferred to the University of Minnesota because, well, he wanted to make sure I could come home whenever I wanted. And after borrowing cars for so long, I could not WAIT to do whatever I wanted in it. It was like a gift from heaven, with automatic windows and transmission and A/C.

And what made that car even better was the word “Laser” written in cursive on the trunk. I thought this was so classy, until a friend pointed out that from far away it looked like it said “Loser,” thus naming my car, “the Loser car.” Trust me, those girls stopped calling it that when they needed a ride.

Other fond memories in this car include, dreading emissions testing, whining about gas prices (when they were under around $1.25/gallon) and getting stuck in the snow because the car rode so low to the ground. I kid you not, the seats were so low and reclined that I felt like I was in a DeLorean. I was just missing the flux capacitor.

And I’ll just breeze over the front seat making out stories where you try to figure out how to move over the passenger side when your short legs get caught in the space around the gas/brake pedal. Nothing says, “I want to second base” like getting stuck in the car and then laughing. Hot.

So those are my first-car memories. And while the Laser was replaced with a Honda Civic after an unfortunate engine issue, it will always hold a special place in my heart. But man, I did really love that Civic.

What was your first car? Any fond memories of it?

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05 July 2009

Weekend recap: The 4th of July, Wisconsin-style

By: Jessica B.
Tagged: family, Wisconsin
Hello and happy belated 4th of July!
I hope everyone had a nice, relaxing weekend. I took a few days off after my little vlog adventure to relax and chill in Wisconsin, where is it so quiet, it creeps me out sometimes.
I find that now, whenever I go home, I miss the Chicago urban hum. What? No drunk person stumbling around or horns honking at night? I should record the Chicago “hum” and bring it with me to soothe me to sleep. Or get a nice little mobile for above my bed. Sad.
Anyhow, outside of getting a much needed/deserved mani/pedi at home, the big activity of the weekend was my hometown parade, which I chronicled here last year and was dying to photograph again.
Wisconsin loves the 4th and it loves our country. I see this displayed in several ways at home, from interesting outfit combinations to pride in our parade.
In fact, our local parade is so big and popular that the city had to pass an ordinance a few years ago to keep people from putting out their parade materials too early, thus monopolizing the good places. Clever. And I can guarantee you that people woke up early and waited outside until it was officially 6 a.m. to start roping off space. We’re that hard core.
You don’t f*ck with America and you don’t f*ck with our parade spots. I even started stretching before the parade so I could be more limber to get candy instead of kids. Yes, that’s what I do, please don’t pretend you’re surprised.
So here are some highlights from our parade, from sh*t to camels to kazoo bands to enjoying the parade with bistro tables, wine and a feathered mullet. It’s better than what people used to do which is drink openly and ignore their children at the parade. Guess that was cracked down on too with the new ordinance. I cannot wait until next year!

Saw this on the hood of a car en route to the parade – yes, I’m immature

Celebrating the Civil War heroes

My favorite picture of the day. Bistro tables, feathered mullet and wine (forgive the grainy image, I had to zoom almost all the way to capture it)

Yay, a camel…in a southeastern Wisconsin parade…yay, a camel!

Kazoo band drummer. Yes, he’s pointing RIGHT AT ME *faints*

Parade outfit – Wisconsin loves America and keeping its legs warm on a cool July day

Cleaning up sh*t from a horse-drawn carriage. We’re givers
I was also home this weekend because tomorrow is my dad’s 61st birthday. I mentioned here last year that I risked increasing my chance of skin cancer to help him ring in #60 and this year, he’s keeping the celebration much more low key and unfortunately I can’t be with him on the big day.
I know he doesn’t read this blog (thank god, although I think he’s hunting for it), but I want to say in closing, happy birthday dad. I know I’m not always the easiest person to love, but you do, and I love you back a lot.
How was everyone else’s fourth of July? Is there anything you do every year or that your family/city is really hard-core about?
Note: Thank you everyone for the sweet comments about my vlog last week. I was so nervous in recording it and making it public. Your comments definitely made my day and made me smile. I’m so lucky to have you guys :) Oh and yes, big things are coming up! I can’t wait.
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