Office Inspiration

These last few weeks have been crazy. CRAZY. I pulled on another client so I've been pretty consumed by that, along with - you know - moving, kids, that whole thing. When we started our house hunt in San Diego, there were a couple of necessities we had in mind including hard wood/tile, a backyard, a garage and most importantly, an office space for me.

I will likely have to share space with the guest bed, but I'm okay with that, as long as I can have room for a desk, book shelf and some files. Right now I'm completely disorganized with files on the dining room table, under my side of the bed and strewn across the coffee table. NOT HOW I LIKE TO WORK. Needless to say, I can't wait to move next weekend.

Of course you know this means I'm on the hunt for some adorable office furniture (and couches, bunk beds and an area rug...eek!). Here is some of the spaces that are inspiring me right now --

Pinterest links here but can't find the photo. If you know the proper photo cred, please email me!

I absolutely adore that colorful rug, the bright flowers on the desk and small shelves in the back. My idea is to put a small shelf with some of my favorite prints along with some of the print designs I have done.

Pinterest links here but can't find the photo. If you know the proper photo cred, please email me!

I can't get enough of all the inspiration around this computer. As a designer/creator, it's easy to fall into ruts and I love the idea of surrounding myself with beautiful things.

Unfortunately, there's no direct link to this image. Pinterest links here.

I love the idea of bringing a little elegance with the chair cover to this modest little space. The desk is exactly what I'm looking for - I want to find something thrifted. Also love the mixes of white!

And finally, a few items I'm lusting over...

Office inspiration by jessica-ayala on Polyvore

Classic Stockholm Office Storage Boxes / Nearly Natural Gerber Daisy Liquid Illusion / Threshold Industrial Task Lamp Brushed Silver

Do you have an office? What's on your must-have list to keep you organized?

Weekenders

One of the few good things about living in the Imperial Valley is that because there is nothing to do around town, we generally high-tail it out of here as fast as possible come Friday afternoon. This weekend was extra special because we were celebrating Adrian's 31st birthday!

We woke up, packed out clothes and loaded everybody into the car in the morning and made the trek to Camarillo, Adrian's hometown, and dropped off the kids with his parents. I had coordinated with his friends to have dinner at one of this favorite old haunts in downtown Ventura, where he got up to his old shenanigans...it was quite interesting!

On Saturday, we recovered - yes, recovered - and then headed to our close friends' wedding shower where we let the boys run rampant. They had a bounce house for the kids and we literally had to drag Gabriel hands-first out of the thing in order to get him to leave.

On Sunday, we sadly said our goodbyes and then met up with our friend Sarah at the Los Angeles Fire station to meet her new boyfriend.

We got to have lunch with the firemen, went on a great tour of the station and then got to climb into the fire truck. Cameron said that he had to go talk to the Captain for a minute and when he came back, he told us that he was going to give us a ride in the truck around the block!



Gabriel was seriously thrilled. When he put the siren on, Gabriel looked at me and asked, "Mom, where's the firetruck at? Is it behind us?" It was too cute! He told us afterwards that he wants to be a fireman now.

We capped off the weekend by putting a security deposit down on a house - moving in May 1st! - and celebrated with Cold Stone. It was a great way to end the weekend.

What were you up to this weekend?

Why we aren't planning for another baby...yet

There's a funny thing that happens when your youngest turns one. All of a sudden, everyone starts asking
THE QUESTION.

Are we? Aren't we?

Why? Why not? When? How?

Anytime I'm sick, someone always throws out the pregnant question, namely, my mother. Which is ironic because this is the woman who has always told me that two is a good number (she has four, go figure). She also happens to be the person who, upon hearing I was pregnant with my first, said, "Wow, I didn't think you would ever even want kids." Thaaaanks.

Neither Adrian nor I are sure certain that we see more babies in our future. He is one of seven children. Yes, you read that correctly. He's Mexican so that should kind of explain it. Before we had Jonas, sure we thought we wanted 3...4...but now? I'm lucky to get through a day without my head spinning in circles a la the Exorcist.

Don't get me wrong, whenever I see a little snuggly newborn my uterus starts to cramp up and I hear it taunting me. It's hard to resist the newborn smells and sleepy snuggles and all the good stuff that comes with bitty babies.

We started early when it comes to baby-making and most of our friends are just now beginning to consider starting a family. We are at the tail-end of this whirlwind called infancy, sidling timidly into toddlerhood, and are looking forward to some SLEEP.

I also really enjoy not needing as many diapers. Being able to run to the store and not having to carry in an enormous, 75,000lb baby carrier. Also, not breastfeeding anymore (loved it, glad it's over). Having the flexibility to drop the boys off at my mom's and not needing to stress for five days prior about how much milk I pumped.

Oh, the perks. The perks.

In all reality, we are at the point where we are seriously contemplating selling all of our baby items - you know, the millions of toys, chairs, diaper pails - the works. I work up the courage to collect it all and start evaluating them for pricing but there's one thing that stops me. I glance lovingly, sadly, at the piles of newborn/infant clothes in Jonas' closet and can't bear to part with them. Both of my babies have worn them and ahhh...wouldn't it be so sweet so have another sweet-smelling precious newborn?

And then Jonas poops on the floor and I think, "Nope, I'm good."

For those with kids, are you still planning for more or have you completed your family? Those without, how many feels right to you?

The value of a good employee

I am about to go off on a tangent. Consider yourself warned.

With the impending move (Yes! We are moving! Post to come on that), I have been doing a bit of job searching so that I can get back into the saddle and start working on my career. I'm not sure if my situation is the norm, but I have had pretty decent luck in terms of receiving calls back.

As I have been going through the interview process, it has been very apparent to me that companies are starting to lose sight of compensating an employee based on their value and skills versus having "the lowest bidder wins" mentality. For this reason, I have turned down three job opportunities so far.

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I am fortunate enough to be able to bargain quite a bit when it comes in terms of my salary because I don't have to return to work, at least just yet. Bargaining has allowed me to see the true colors of a company and I have seen firsthand how a company could try to take advantage of the unemployed so they don't have to compensate them fairly.

Example One
Several months ago, the week before we found out we would be moving, I was one of 40 people who interviewed for a position out here in the Valley. It seemed like fate really - I hadn't even applied for the position but the employer had received my resume for someone else and wanted to have me come in. I was elated after reading the job description; I would basically be running an entire marketing department and spearheading the re-branding of the company. They would not readily offer up a salary but said that it would be competitive so I trudged on through the interview process, completing a competency exam, 1-hour design of a flyer test and a presentation in front of several employees.

I was offered the job the next day.

Adrian and I had determined what I would ask for - what I would accept - in terms of a salary and I was shocked when that number came in SIGNIFICANTLY lower. When we found out we were moving, that solidified the deal. Had they offered me what I wanted, I would have considered commuting to take the position. However, they were very aware that they had 39 other interviewees that were ready and waiting to snag this job up. Unfortunate.

Example Two
A few weeks ago I applied for another job, this time in the nonprofit sector, working at an organization that did refugee resettlement. Now before you start saying NONPROFITS NOTORIOUSLY DON'T PAY WELL, remember, this is my background. I have only worked in nonprofit organizations (aside from retails stuff, anyway) so I am well aware of how they pay. Anyway, the job didn't have a salary posted so I went blindly into the interview. When they said they would be offering $12/hour in the interview, I mentally checked out and and picked at my fingernails until it was over. They called me back SIX TIMES. I thought for sure they would take the hint after two no-call-backs.

I called back and explained that I could not accept that salary and they said I should come meet with their CEO, because they would offer me what I wanted.

So, I did. Got a really strange/weird/off feeling from the CEO. They called me the next morning and offered me a full time position. When I asked what the salary was, IT WAS BACK TO $12/HOUR. I replied that I could not accept that salary and based on my education/skill set, I deserved much more. Her response? Well considering IIII don't make that much, that's not going to happen. Plus they had fifty other applicants passionate enough to take the job. Okay, thanks for wasting my time, B. Byezzz.

Example Three
This one happened today and I promise this is it. I received a phone call from a company who started off by complimenting my resume and commenting on the fact that I went to Pepperdine. PEPPERDINE, PEOPLE. I'm not elitist about it, but shit. It's a good school and I have thousands of dollars of loans to pay off. Keep that in mind.

He liked me, asked me to complete a small task - looking at their website and giving my critiques. Okay, cool. Done and done. I am good at this stuff. I looked at the ad after I clicked send on my critique and what do I see? A SALARY OF $10/HOUR. What the what? I made $10/hour babysitting in high school.

I am a marketing professional. I have three clients currently. I don't need this part time job, I just want to get out of the house and have a little adult interaction, for goodness sake. So, I emailed him back, saying I didn't want to waste his time with an interview if I couldn't accept the salary.

He responded back to me that he was able to pay up to $15/hour but wanted to use the extra $5 to give "incentives" to keep an employee motivated while doing menial tasks.

Here's the deal. If you hire someone, you expect that they will fulfill all aspects of the job, menial, repetitive, exciting, whatever. A good employee - valuable employee - will work at their full capacity if they feel like they are being compensated appropriately.

I know a lot of people believe it is the economy that causes these low-ball offers, but I think we are passed that, at least mostly. It appears to me that at this point, many employers are trying to capitalize on the desperation of job seekers by offering salaries so low that you could consider them unlivable.

Why not save a buck and blame the economy?

It is sad. It makes me so grateful for my husband who has encouraged me to wait and demand my worth. To not settle. To be patient and wait for the good things to come.

Have you had any experience with this? What's the craziest/most ridiculous salary you have seen?

On not giving up

I'm having a hard time transferring scrambled thoughts into words on a computer screen and I think the reason is because I'm trying to write about things I think you guys want to read versus what I'm actually thinking about on a regular basis.

I have pending posts on wanting more kids, silly things that have happened and some other random stuff, but I don't feel like writing about it so they basically suck. So today I'm just going to talk about what I want to, obnoxious or not. I don't want to get sick of blogging (like I have been) and end up giving it up because I'm not writing for ME.

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So here is the real me, at least for today.

Seriously, how much happier do I look today?

The picture on the left was taken 3.5 years ago. I was fat, depressed, and spent the entire morning crying because I had NOTHING to wear to my son's baptism. I settled for this outfit and seriously. Awful. I think I had a gym membership at the time but went all of 10 times? The picture on the left - Easter on Sunday. Happy, fit(ter), feeling great.

It is going to sound silly, maybe a little ridiculous and overly dramatic, but Crossfit has dramatically changed my outlook on a lot of things - mainly, myself. I've always given up at the gym; I'm that girl who gets a membership, goes three times a week for two, maybe three weeks and then all of a sudden...I vanish.

Does that sound familiar? I've paid so much money in gym memberships, it's plain ridiculous. That time I mentioned earlier, I got a gym membership at LA Fitness and used it 10 times, stopped going and continued paying for over a year. I have never felt strong, never felt like I was moving towards a goal, except maybe weight loss, but it never went very far.

When I started Crossfit, I didn't have high expectations, only a hope and a prayer that I could stay long enough to lose a few pounds. I was instantly hooked. I'm competitive by nature and the sport fuels me every time I step into the box.

Previously, if I went to the gym and felt unmotivated, it would affect my ability to get back to the gym for a workout. I felt bad about myself, powerless, weak. I gave up at the slightest challenge. Now, I get frustrated and pissed and motivated to get back in the gym to be better. To do better.

Last night I competed in the last week of the Crossfit Open - now, I'm in no way competing at the competitive level. At our box, each of the three levels (Level III being the highest) has an in-house competition. Up until this week, I was in sixth place out of 20 or 25 women - something I felt pretty good about. But last night...damn it. I could NOT do a chest-to-bar to save my life, even the mod (which was allowed at our level), I would come extremely close but just. couldn't. get. it.

Because of this, I was only given 15 reps out of the total 60+ that I completed. The frustrating part about it is that I saw other women at my level being awarded reps that were illegal (here comes the competitiveness...I'm a sore loser) so I know I'll be dropping down in rank. The old me might not have tried after realizing she couldn't do a C2B. She might have given up. She probably would not have made it a goal to be able to do a C2B.

The new me sets goals.

...works on double unders and toes-to-bar (and now chest-to-bar) after every WOD.

...has a fire lit under her ass to get better.

...wants to get stronger, not skinnier, although leaning out is an enjoyable byproduct.

...enjoys the soreness that comes after a good workout.

...can do a handstand and six consecutive real push-ups.

I love this gift that I've been given and how it has been transforming me not only physically, but mentally as well.

How do you stay motivated? What lights your fire?