Jenny Cubed

Jeff Foxworthy says that if you give him a Redneck's t-shirt collection, he can tell you their favorite sports team, NASCAR driver, etc. I also noticed that you can tell a lot about someone by the bumper stickers on their car. But what about someone's cubical? I really think that this small space - where a person spends 8 plus hours a day - can really say a lot about that person. The decorations, or lack thereof, speaks volumes. So, in today's blog, I am going to let you get to know a little bit more about me through my cube. Let's go!

Right in front of me, on my monitor stand, is my collection of pirates. Starting on the left we have the Captain Hook I purchased when Peter Pan was released on DVD, my little captain that was on Scott's birthday cake two years ago, and two pirates I got as "desk decorations" at our "Treasure Island" themed Celebr8ion my first year at McMurry. And finally, my Pansy the Pirate pin, designed by one of my favorite fun artists - Queenie (pocketfullofposiez.com).

Below that we have my pink and purple bug sent to me by our Minute Taking Workshop leader, Rhonda Scharf as a Halloween gift (she sent it along with the workshop surveys). There is also a whistle (which our VP gave to us, and we decided to blow when stressed - because frankly, the sound is so pathetic, you can't help but laugh - thus eliminating the stress). 

The dreidel is a newer purchase, and came with a duplicate dreidel, which sits on my co-worker, April's, desk. During the day, when we need a little break, we spin the dreidels at our desks until we get matching sides. I know it's not the "proper" way to play dreidel, but it's fun nonetheless.

Let's move on to the wall above my computer:

This is a Harry Potter poster that commemorated the release of the sixth book (as I learned via the Series of Unfortunate Events this is the "penultimate" book - or the next to last). I got this when I went to the HP release party at my old store manager's new store in Gilbert. We got lightning fake tattoos on our foreheads, made wands, and had a great time waiting for the book to be released. 

ON the poster is a Captain Morgan label with my boss' (Jenn's) face on it that we made for April's desk for her birthday. I also have notes with the dial-in numbers for our audio conferences, our tax ID number, and the prices of a subscription package deal we had two years ago (so, that's useful).

Moving on...

This is a Schrute Buck. If you watch The Office, then you know what this is, and that it is worth 1/1000 of a cent. If you don't watch The Office you can experience the brilliance that is Dwight  here. And thanks to Liz Hitchens (the old April) for this. I miss you, Liz!

This is my "Ledge of Stuff." The Disney character figures I got on my honeymoon in Disney World. The Danish flag is from Lyndsay. She and Wes went on a trip to Denmark when I first started at McMurry (Wes went on a mission there and fell in love with it). I also got chocolate, but I ate that pretty fast, thus it's not in this picture (because that was three years ago). 

The car is a mystery, but the two "faces" on diamonds in front of it are prizes from a Cracker Jacks box (when we used to have Cracker Jacks at McMurry). If you refold them into squares, you can see Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson as kids. I know...pretty freakin' amazing.

I am ESC Certified - thanks to Lyndsay. I know you're jealous! ;) ESC is Extra Special Cool and this certificate is the result of our collective love for Strong Bad e-mails. Every day after lunch Lyndsay and I would gather 'round Jenn's computer and watch the latest installment. My favorite is "Pop-up Book" and Jenn's favorite was "Technology," and so our certifications have lines from those episodes.

Because it's McMurry, there is food around all the time. Most of the time, any food around me is my own fault. My current treat of choice? Cherry Cordial Hershey Kisses. Yum!

I LOVE toys - and thanks to Amy Wimmer, and Jason's store, Red Hot Robot, I own more than ever. Below are some of my favorites from my collection:

My co-worker and friend April bought me the magnet for Christmas. Those that know the story behind it know it's a perfect representation of the "Negligent Jenny" image that inspired the rap. :)

Below is my medal for finishing the P.F. Chang's Rock and Roll Half Marathon (13.2 miles) in less than 4 hours. I walked this with my good friend Sonia in January 2008. I will never do it again, but I am so happy that Sonia talked me into it. 

Urban flash cards. These have gone from Lyndsay (who bought them) to Kara (who is gone) to me. Me and the girls (Tara and April) rotate them out each week. It's totally improving our vocab.

Finally, if you thought Bryan was creative before from my Christmas blog, you haven't seen anything yet. My first Christmas gift was the Minnie Tennenbaum drawing below (on our first Halloween I dressed up as Margot Tennenbaum), and a Christmas gift from a few years ago - a Bryan' designed and printed Wonka Bar wrapper. He even remembered the flavor I would get if they actually existed - Fudgemallow Delight!

And that's it. The longest blog ever, and a tour of my very full desk. So, what did you learn about me? :)

Damn you Jessica Simpson!

So, I bought a pair of Jessica Simpson black patent-leather pumps that were so cute...so cute I am not even going to post a picture. Why? Because they would have fit better if I didn't have a pinky toe, so I decided, against my own girly judgement, to take them back.

Luckily for Jessica Simpson, the guy at Nordstrom found three really cute pairs of shoes to replace the one pair I took back:

Vanity in Red (which I got to take with me):

Vanity in Purple (which I had to order and have shipped to me):

And the "Classic Pump" (again - had to order):

So - they are all adorable, and the red and purple ones have cool multi-colored heels. I am excited to wear the red ones when I venture to Vegas this week for my dad's wedding (more to come on that).

How can I wear shoes like this in Vegas?? Let me tell you about my new best friend - FootPetals (www.footpetals.com):

These little beauties go in your shoes and are SO comfortable, so I have big plans to buy many more uncomfortable shoes. Above are the Killer Kushionz, and I also bought the Heavenly Heels which go on the back of your shoe to help fight of blisters. Look out Nordstrom - here I come! (And damn you Jessica Simpson - I am probably going to give you more money!)

My Name is Jenny, and I am addicted to The Dark Knight

It isn't very often that I can watch a movie several times in a row and be thirsty for more, and when I find a movie like that, it's frankly very exciting. Over the past three days, I have watched The Dark Knight on our new Blu-Ray player (I finally gave in and got one) FIVE times. And right now, all I want to do is watch it again. I think I need to find a support group for this.

The more I watch it, the more I appreciate the brilliance of Heath Ledger's performance, and the more I hope that he does win every supporting actor award there is to win. He is not only amazing, but he had to follow Jack Nicholson's Joker, and to not only fill those shoes, but run a record time marathon in them, is a huge feat.

The think I like most about this film is the conversations you can have about it. There are a lot of interesting concepts in the movie about crime, the citizen that stands against criminals (and thus breaks some laws in the process), an villain with no motivation, and all sorts of social "experiments." I think the biggest question I have is if Batman can really be considered a superhero if he has no super powers. I guess the same could be asked of Iron Man. These questions are to be argued by those much more well-read in the genre of comics than I.

Anyway, I will end this by saying that I highly recommend this film, and I am probably going to watch it again.......now.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It's 11:25 p.m. on Christmas Day, and I am sitting on my couch, eating peanut butter blossoms, drinking a Diet Coke, watching Love Actually, and savoring a perfect Christmas.

Yesterday evening, Bryan and I headed to his parents house for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner and present exchange with his family. This year was especially satisfying because Bryan's sister Jessica is back in town - and having her back makes me realize how the holidays were not the same without her. 

Bryan's mom, Anne, did a WONDERFUL job decorating the house. When we walked in we were greeted with the warm glow of white Christmas lights in the entryway, the sweet smoky smell of candles, and visions of red cheery Santas mixed within the green of the Christmas tree. We had chicken enchiladas and a salad for dinner, and chocolate chip ice cream and peanut butter cookies for dessert. I had a 20-minute conversation with Bryan's brother, Erik, about The Real Housewives of Orange County, and we heard tales surrounding the four times Erik has had to call 911 in his life (which were truly entertaining and resulted in a lot of warm laughter in the dining room).

Bryan and I got gift certificates, candles, and spices, and Penny got more toys than she knows what to do with. Even Erik got Penny a gift - three bags of treats. She is one happy girl.

We ended the night there with Iron Man, and the beginning of the Christmas Story marathon on TBS. Around midnight we headed to my dad's so that we could spend Christmas morning with his family.

When we arrived we were again greeted with the glow of Christmas lights, and not a creature was stirring...except Aarika, who was up wrapping gifts. After a "long winter's nap," we awoke to waffles and bacon, and Zack chomping at the bit to open gifts. We now have a Blu-Ray player and I have a new camera. We also all got puzzle ornaments, and had a contest to see who could put them together the fastest. Again - lots of laughs were involved.

Finally, after breakfast and chatting, we headed home, welcomed my mom, and baked cookies all day. After a dinner of ham, sweet potatoes, and some veggies, we watched The Dark Knight (our first Blu-Ray disc), and exchanged our gifts.

Bryan drew a picture of me in the "waking life" style that he has one other art in - it is amazing. I am the luckiest girl in the world!

Happy Christmas everyone!

So........

Ok, I had grand intentions of starting up this blog and writing film reviews to not only share my thoughts on film, and films that I like, but to also challenge myself to study and learn more about film as an art. I have failed miserably. What this blog is going to become is a stream of what is going on in my life, as well as film reviews thrown in. Maybe this will finally be the one project that I keep up with. :)