Journal Day 1

In my last blog I did a 30 day challenge as a way to warm up into the blog writing community. I figure it was a good way to just get the juices flowing and everything just out there in the open. One of the blogs I follow, Sometimes Sweet has been doing a daily journal entry prompt. so I figured I may as well follow in her footsteps, and here we go. 

Everyone has a time in their life they view as a crossroad. Sometimes you can see it as it's happening, and you're able to choose one way or another. Other times you may not realize you're there until you look back, and see what a turning point it really was. This week, write about a time you view as a marker in your life; a distinct place where things changed, for better or worse. 

      There have been quite a few times in my life where I thought that the world was ending. When my parents moved our family to Arizona, even though we didn't know anyone here. When I lost my purse in the 8th grade, when I told a boy I liked him, and he told me he was gay. Lots of earth shattering moments in my mere 21 years on this earth, some more serious than others, but I think the most influential choice happened about a year ago. 
     I had just found out that my boyfriend of 8 months had been cheating on me. I was devastated, crushed and thoroughly downhearted. He was my first real love, the first guy I ever let my snarky guard down for, and that was how he repaid me. From where I stood there was only one choice: get out of Prescott. The question was where do I go? For the past three or so years I had had my heart set on Flagstaff. Being in the cool mountain air, with snow, and grass, and a bunch of dirty hippies seemed like a near Nirvana to me. But something in the back of my mind was holding me back. 
    Flash to an old friend coming into town. He lived down here, in Tucson, and could not stop talking about how awesome it was. "Everyone in Tucson is super chill and there's so much to do!" Sales pitch after sales pitch, and I'm an easy target, so I was sold, hook line and sinker. There was also the added bonus of my big brother being down here so at least I would have some support right off the bat.
     Another jump in time. August 2013, me sitting alone in my apartment, bawling my eyes out. I had made a huge mistake. What was I thinking moving out on my own. Prescott was so comfortable, and all my friends are there. I miss my parents, and my pets. I miss how small and safe everything was there. I was miserable, and depressed. I couldn't pull myself together. I would drive the four hours back to Prescott and just cry on my moms lap, and then have to come back down the next day for work. It was just about the darkest time in my life, and no matter what I did, I couldn't shake it. People at work were nice enough, but there was no real connections. All I did was wake up, go to work, come home and sit alone, day in and day out. Most who know me can attest to the fact that I am a very social person, so spending so much time alone was wreaking havoc on my psyche. I was just about ready to throw in the towel, when something switched. I'm not sure if people at work were just warming up to me, or if my constant bombardment of forced conversation had broken them down, but I was actually making friends. I was going out on weekends, I had shopping plans, and coffee dates. Soon enough I would forget that it had been a week since I called my mom crying. It's been months since I was driven home by pure melancholy.  I don't know how or when it happened, but I fell in love with my new live. I was an independent young adult. A girl on the town, striking out on my own, and boy am I glad I got out of that rinky-dink town. There's no looking back for me, only looking forward. 

The Big 80

I honestly don't know how this happened. I guess it's just one of those things that gets out of your control and you don't even realize. In any case like this though, the first step is admitting that you have a problem. Last night when I go home from work there was the fated sticky note on my door. UPS had been here and put a package on my patio. Oh joys of joys! The day I've been patiently waiting 5-7 business days for. I fling open my side door and retrieve the white box, nearly peeing myself with anticipation, and the 20 minute drive home with the 52 ounces of water I dank in my last hour of work....I grab my scissors and cut open the tape. There they are, in a bag, in a box, in the box...my 80th pair of shoes. Oops.

Now, compared to some 80 is hardly a number to brag about. I follow a few people on Instagram, where 80 is no large feat (there could be a pun in that), but to me, 80 seems a bit excessive. Not that I regret my choices and accumulation of shoes, I just don't know how it happened, or where to put them all...

   Not shown is my bucket of sandals, and the boots lined up along the top of my closet...There are shoes all over my room! Two-Three pairs in each of those cubbies, shoes on top of shoes, something has to be done! (No, I don't plan on giving any away, so don't even suggest that.)

I won't lie to you though, I do play favorites., even though I try to be an equal opportunity wearer of all my babies. However from left to right I present the pair that most often adorn my outfits:

1. My go-to going out shoes. Kimchi Blue from Urban Outfitters. I originally bought these for the premiere of the latest Great Gatsby movie because my best friend and I dressed up in 1920's garb to go see it. They've been through much more though, my 21st birthday, this past New Years Eve, so basically a lot of stumbling. 
2. Most commonly worn to work shoes by Free People. I bought these on a whim (and tax refunds) as a second choice because the shoes I originally wanted were discontinued, however I'm much happier with these ones! 
3. "If I decide to wear flares," shoes by Lucky Brand. For some reason flares (circa 1970 classic pants) are always cut super long in the leg, forcing you to really commit to the 70's look by slapping on some platforms. Not that I'm complaining, I love it! #FarrahFawcett4Eva
4. Most commonly worn to school/ Super Target shoes, Chucks, because Chucks... 

So there you have it. I'm addicted to shoes, and obviously working in a clothing store isn't going to help diffuse this addiction, but you know what, I'm pretty ok with that.  

My Job

I've had a total of three jobs since I was 18 and my parents forced me to join the working force, seeing as I was still living at home and they were growing weary of footing all my bills. Finding a job in Prescott, AZ was easier said then done. I applied everywhere: Victoria's Secret, Fry's, Panda Express, many, MANY more. Cutting to the chase I was hired to work at Pier 1 Imports, and after working there for 9 months, I was promoted to a manager. I couldn't have asked for a better first job. I loved all my co-workers, I loved getting my discount on home-goods, I loved it all. However just before my two year anniversary, I started to get THE ITCH. I was bored. Same thing over and over again, dull days, busy weekends, and wealthy housewives out spending their husbands money. So what did I decide to do? Why go work at Starbucks! People never complain at a coffee shop, right? Right?? Wrong. Now being a barista was fun, I'm not going to lie and say I hated it. There were many perks, the best of course being free coffee. Starbucks was also a very generous company, I was making good money, tips were nice for the extra pocket ~shopping~ change, but the cons far outweighed the pros. I never knew that people could be so picky about coffee. My experience before barista life was just ordering straight off the menu.  No fancy substitutions, unless you count soy as fancy, but I mean nothing compared to the Venti 12 pump Chai, Soy, No water, Extra Foam Chai Tea Latte, that evidently only I could make correctly, while to be honest, I barely paid attention to what I was doing half (ok more like 3/4's) of the time... Needless to say when the opportunity arose for me to ditch my green apron, I was more than happy to take it. Which bring us too...

BUFFALO EXCHANGE:

My current, and by far most interesting job. 

Pros to My Latest Job:

1. I can wear whatever I want.

2. See number 1 

3. I love my co-workers

4. It's inspired me to pursue a job as a professional buyer

5. CLOTHES 

Before I moved to Tucson I had maybe been to Buffalo Exchange 4 times, and I had only found out about the company about 1.5 years ago. I mean, I remember in high school my best friend Chelsea would always talk about it, but I was never really sure what Buffalo actually was.  When I moved down here to The Dirty-T I saw that the local Buffalo was hiring, which is cool seeing as it's actually the first Buffalo EVER, I applied not thinking much was to come from it. After the second interview, I knew the cat was in the bag. I've always been better at retail than food industry. There more interaction with people, and as anyone who knows me would attest to, I am a people person. So that's my job. I'm a buyer at Buffalo. There's a lot more to this job than I ever expected, a lot of outside research, but hey any excuse to go shopping and I'm in. 

It's All in the Deets

     Having worked at Pier 1 Imports for two years certainly opened up my eyes to the wonderful world of interior design. From that came forth my strong belief that you need to make a house a home, and the easiest way to do that is to surround yourself with pretty things.
I was determined not to have a shabby first apartment with a beer stained futon when I move out of my parents house last fall, and thus the collecting began. My style is a mix between antiques and Anthropoligie I'd say. Not to toot my own horn, but I think I've done a pretty bang up job.

   I enjoy mixing classical design, with a little bit of funk. I'm also a very large fan of gold. I've tried my best to incorporate in the subtle ways, seeing as it one of the more gaudy colors. Also a fan of the precious (see cupcake print and gnome pot hanger above). While this is obviously not the entirety of my pad, they are some of my favorite details. In conclusion, have a nice place, cause you spend the most time there, so it might as well be cute!

Hello.

Hello out there in the big wide world. My name is Addie and I'm a blogger. I had a blog for a while when I was 17-19 but I wanted to start fresh now that I'm 21 and out on my own. I plan to post music, recipes, outfits, movie reviews, and ramblings of all sorts! I happy to back in the blogging community, lets see if I can keep up this time!