Vote for Stacie (the Top 10 will be decided this Friday!!!): MY GRAMMY MOMENT.
I started working at my first (and last) temp job last year on January 28th. I was hoping I’d still be working there now, but – hey – things don’t always work out the way you planned (and I should know!). At least I had lunch with Stacie and Elsa today, although I forgot to mention this fact to them when I was with them!
We had a fun lunch today. I picked them up at the office and we went to a place called RED ROBIN in a nearby shopping center. They couldn’t believe I had never eaten at a RED ROBIN before. I told them I never even HEARD of a RED ROBIN before! I guess you could compare it to APPLEBEES or TGIF, or CHILIS, or RUBY TUESDAY, or any of a thousand other boilerplate restaurants with the same menu, décor and appealing, young, friendly wait staff.
Elsa and I had an APPLE HARVEST CHICKEN SALAD – “Fresh field greens tossed with juicy grilled chicken, diced apples, candied walnuts and Goat cheese. Topped with sliced apples and a dijon vinaigrette. It’s sophisticatedly fun. Better than the Farmer’s Market.”
Hers had chicken, mine didn’t. I’ll tell you one thing, they don’t cater to the vegetarian or pescetarian, because I don’t think they had one seafood dish and every single one of their salads had chicken in it, but I guess with a name like RED ROBIN Gourmet Burgers, I should have known. I had to order my salad without chicken, but at least I saved $2! I don’t know if it was better than the Farmer’s Market, but I did enjoy it!
Stacie got some kind of chicken wrap. After lunch we went to pick up Elsa’s driver’s license at a nearby 24 HOUR FITNESS. Someone had found it in the parking lot and she didn’t even know she lost it, so she was pretty lucky! And after that, we drove to STARBUCKS and Stacie treated us all. It was really fun and a nice outing.
After I dropped them back at work, I came back to the apartment and finally started working on Elsa’s decoupage project. She had given me more memorabilia and I thought I finally had enough to start working.
It was a really easy and fun project, because all I was doing was covering a board, which would then go into a frame with glass in front. So, there were no lids, no hinges, no ball feet to attach, and no complicated corners. I had photos, business cards, maps, and ticket stubs from their trip to Germany, Spain and Italy. I also added other little pictures I had cut from magazines and catalogs to help decorate.
I am pretty sure it’s done, but I always have to walk away and come back again to be sure. There’s usually one or two little things I need to add, but I’m letting it dry overnight and will give it the final once-over tomorrow. Then, all I need to do is varnish it and it’s done!
I spent a lot of time voting for Stacie today, too. I voted all morning (except when I was applying for a job online at a MARRIOTT HOTEL), until it was time to go pick up the girls, and I voted a lot when I got home, too. I voted after I was done decoupaging, and before, during, and after dinner and TV!
We were all talking at lunch about how this voting has become an obsession, but the truth is there’s only now to vote. If we don’t vote now, she won’t get into the Top 10, and then we won’t be able to continue voting to get her into the Top 3. I told Stacie that I’m SO hopeful that she will make it all the way, but if she doesn’t at least I know I’ve done all that I can. She is so appreciative of my love and support and this has really created a bond between us that definitely did not exist before.
Before this competition she was my superior at work and a friend, too, but this has taken it to the next level – maybe two or three levels. We always had fun at work and would enjoy having lunch together occasionally, or going to the coffee cart together. Doing something creative with someone, getting together with Stacie and Elsa to rehearse, to record the video, and now emailing and talking on FACEBOOK about it, has definitely brought us a lot closer.
I already have a great bond with Elsa, because we commuted together almost every day for 10 months, and then worked together in the same department, and socialized a lot outside the office, too, including with our husbands.
I have developed a strong bond with Rosemary, because we have been socializing and spending lots of quality time together and also sat near each other at work, so our hours at work were spent talking all day.
I now have a bond with Kristin, because having created that box for her and her fiancé brought us closer together, and she, Liz and Stacie were the only girls who I could actually see all day as we sat at our desks. Everyone else was either behind a cubicle wall or in an office, but Stacie’s office looked right at my cubicle and Kristin’s desk was right across from mine. Rosemary was within hearing distance, but I couldn't actually see her.
I didn’t think I’d have people to miss when I returned to New York, but I find now that I definitely will. It makes me sad, because I almost didn’t WANT to make friends here. I knew I wouldn’t be staying and tried to keep myself in a shell and make sure I didn’t put down any roots.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t help myself, because these girls are so sweet and beautiful, so friendly and supportive, and so much fun to be with.
Eric is always so happy when I tell him I’m going to be with Rosemary, or Elsa, or Stacie, because he knows how much I loved working with them, and he’s so glad that I have friends here to keep me company until I come home. He knows he is surrounded by family, and has many friends who are there for him if he reaches out, so he appreciates that I have a small support group here, too.
I watched AMERICAN IDOL tonight. They were in Salt Lake City and there was some great talent tonight, including the son of Alan Osmond – the oldest Osmond in the group. David Archuletta, the runner up from last season, is from Salt Lake City, so we know they grow great singers there!
Last night when I spoke to Kaja at length, she gave me the phone number of a long-time friend of hers who lives in San Diego. I don’t know why she never mentioned him before over the last few years, but I called him today and he called me back tonight. We talked for almost a half hour. He and his partner live in La Jolla and they both work in the medical profession. I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation and I think he did, too, because he said he’d be calling me soon to make plans to get together. He is just getting over the flu (so many people here are sick!), and he sounded terrible, but I could see we would have a lot to talk about, and have a lot in common.
Tomorrow I will finish Elsa’s project and varnish it, too. I am seeing Tifney for lunch on Friday and if it’s done I can bring it to Elsa at work and present it to her there. That would be fun!
Fridahy night I’m going furniture shopping with Rosemary. When we went to the movies on Sunday she took me to WORLD MARKET to check out a dining room set she had her eye on. I fell in love with it, so she was going to measure the room and we’re going back on Friday night to see if it’s going to work in her house. I’m so excited, because she’s lived in this house for almost a year and hasn’t really started decorating many rooms yet. Her living room is done and it’s great, but the dining room is completely empty. I told her I would help her months ago, and I’d like to know she’s on her way before I leave San Diego!