Tuesday, December 29, 2009

The One about Christmas 2009

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Merry Christmas (a few days late) and Happy New Year (a few days early!)

This year was my 2nd Christmas where I didn't see family OR go to Church, so it really didn't feel like Christmas to me at all. I worked at Epcot on Christmas morning, it was rather uneventful other than my manager bringing us donuts and orange juice. Christmas evening, I went to my co-worker's house for dinner with a few other co-workers who are in Florida without any family around. It was a fun time and it was nice to get a real, home-cooked meal on Christmas! Although, I have to say, even if I were with family on Christmas, if I were in Florida, it still wouldn't feel Christmasy because Christmas to me equals snow and cold, not palm trees and 60 degrees (unintentional rhyming but enjoyable nonetheless).


Last night though was SO COLD and I had to work until 11:30 (not late compared to my 5am shifts last year at the Emporium) but regardless, I'm the stupid Minnesotan wearing shorts outside thinking if I can handle blizzards I can handle a "cold" Florida night. But I was assigned to exit surveys, so essentially standing in 1 spot trying to get people to stop to do my survey. It was NOT easy. I know that other cast members doing the same surveys on a warmer day got about 200 completed. I, for once in my life, am lowering the curve with a measley 71 surveys. Thankfully, I had no quota, was just told to get as many as I could. It didn't help that it seemed everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Including  but not limited to, a frantic woman wanting me to help her find her lost son and a elderly woman who took a dive on the sidewalk in front of me. Ouch!

The cutest thing happened at work though too. I'm standing near town square in the Magic Kingdom, which is all decorated for Christmas with like a 100 foot Christmas tree and all, and this little boy comes running in and with his arms waving in the air proclaims "IT'S A WINTER WONDERLAND IN HERE!!!" I just start laughing and his parents just look at him like, awww, isn't our son the cutest!? And in a non-verbal nod, I communicated back that he was, indeed, the cutest.

A week from tomorrow I'll be on my way to Minnesota and I couldn't be more excited! I was a little bummed when my mom told me, on Christmas, that my sister was going to be taking my bed (the one I hand-picked in High School and labeled my dream bed) to her new house. I was like ummmm hold the phone, sleeping in my bed at home is a whole part of the coming home experience, right!? And I plead my case which resulted in my sister getting a new bed and me keeping my bed at home! Win-win for everyone! My mom also told me that for Christmas, her and my step-dad are taking the entire family to Las Vegas. Because nothing says FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY like Las Vegas!!!!!! lol My family is strange. I'm thinking my 13 nieces and nephews won't be along for this trip. Just a hunch.

Anyways, time to do something productive but before I go, in the spirit of cheesy holiday messages,  I just have to say, it warms my heart that you care enough to read this! I especially love when I get text messages of my spelling mistakes - ahem thanks Billie. =)

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

The one where I learned to like my job

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So I've officially been a Research Specialist at Walt Disney World for about 2 months. I finally was told I get to take off my "Earning my ears" tag from my name tag soooo I guess I'm official. I menionted before that I would be interviewing to go full-time in my current role and, as predicted, it was awkward. But it all worked out in the end because I got the job..yes... the one already had. Don't be confused. Interviews USUALLY are for getting a new job, this interview was to just change status from part-time to full-time. lol But yeah, they told me I got it like 2 days later. I feel everyday I am getting more okay with my job as well. And if you are curious about it, I'll try to explain.

At the beginning of the day, you're given a "strat" with the list of all the surveys you are assigned to complete that day.We have some surveys that can just seem like huge mountains to climb. Example 1: The Dreaded Diary. Completing the Diary requires finding someone who arrived in the Orlando area yesterday or today, is staying OFF Disney property, lives in the USA, has NO cast member with them AND THEN is willing to keep track of all of their spending for their entire vacation including what stores they even just visit and few other details. So yeah, when you have one of those on your strat, it can feel like a weight on your shoulders. Example 2: The fearful Food and Beverage. This entails finding 12-13 people who have had food and/or beverages that day who are willing to go sit at a computer and take a 5-10 minute survey about the food they had. There are a few other surveys that can seem like a daunting task, but regardless, I don't fear them as much as I once did. In fact, yesterday, after finishing all my work an hour and a half early, I did 2 extra show reviews of Tiana's Showboat Jubilee, 5 extra food and beverage surveys AND an extra diary, because others didn't get them done and I wanted to help out. I totally could have just sat in the break room and done nothing. As long as I finish my work, I'm golden. But to be at the point where it doesn't bother me to do extra work makes me finally feel like I'm comfortable with the job I'm in and that's a good feeling. No, this isn't my dream job, but it's nice not to hate my job either. It can be fun actually being able to talk to people (the nice ones) throughout the day and I feel lucky to have fun co-workers to keep it interesting. 

Anyhow, not much else is new, just working and enjoying living in Florida. My roommate from my College Program, Becca moved back down to Florida yesterday and I'm so excited to have her back! A big group of us went out to the Ale House tonight to kind of celebrate all being back together and it was fun. Not to make my Minnesota friends jealous or anything but today was 100% top-down on the convertible weather, it was soooooo amazing. The holidays are making me homesick but I'm consoled by the sun and the fact that I don't fear for my life driving in snow. I can't wait to go home in January though! (And Because I know Autumn reads these, I am already making plans with Emily to come up to Duluth, so rest assured we will probably want to crash at your place oook!?) Night all!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

The One with Snuggies

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In an effort to continue the exponential growth of the world phenomenon known as the Snuggie, Emily and I decided to test the claims in the oh-so-convincing Snuggie ad campaign. Can you REALLY change the channel of the TV while staying warm!? It seemed too good to be true, we had to test it for ourselves...


 
Unbelievable!! Talking on the phone AND using the computer at the same time while looking fashionable in the popular zebra print Snuggie.


 
 The most obvious use for a Snuggie: sleeping! Duh!
Yet they never seem to show you that on TV, what are they hiding?!




 Guitar Hero + Snuggie = Ultimate Christmas Gift Combo




Someone just told me the Snuggie will now be available in purple giraffe print!


Wow, doesn't she look warm while changing the TV station!? If she had a regular ol' blanket
her entire arm would have indeed fallen off due to frostbite.




Celebrities should wear them in public because they also happen to make a great way to hide from the paparazzi. Of course if they wear one in public no one will think you're famous anyhow, so really, why AREN'T the celebs wearing these on Rodeo Drive already?!? I think I just started a trend






This photo is so rock and roll I can see it being printed in Rolling Stone
with the headline "Move over Jimi Hendrix, Emily Hendricks has arrived!"




And, as those famous ads show, you really CAN watch sports in a snuggie! The question is no longer can you really do all those things in a snuggie, because we've proven, against all odds, that you can.
But the real question, the one burning on everyone's mind is....
when will it be socially acceptable to wear a snuggie everywhere!?

Sunday, December 6, 2009

The (Second) One where I moved - just not as far

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If you've been following along, you know that I moved to Orlando and into my friend Michelle's apartment as a temporary solution while I figured out a place to live. Well, it's December 6th (can you believe it!?) and I moved into a house in Kissimmee this week I'm not going to lie, I have extremely mixed emotions about it. It feels soooo far away (there are 2 tolls to and from work) and when people ask me where I live, I honestly have no idea how to describe it to anyone. "It's next to a Walgreens?" is my pathetic attempt. Well, just about every place is next to a Walgreens around here.

It was a much needed move though, since I couldn't cramp Michelle's space any longer. I'm enjoying having my own room once again, but I do miss girl talk with Michelle every night! The house I live in now is most definitely a shade of pink! Go figure, I live in a pink house! There are palm trees in the front and a pool in the back so I can't complain! (although it's WAY too cold to swim!) I live with Emily Hendricks (for those of you who don't know, I grew up with her back home and we were practically neighbors) and her boyfriend Will- they both work at Magic Kingdom so hey, maybe we can all car pool someday! How cute, right!? haha

Work has been getting a lot better..or maybe I'm getting a lot better at my work!? lol I am not sure which is which but after a while, rude people just bug you less and when people say no to doing a survey, you just don't care anymore because it happens all the time and the next person will probably say yes.

If you're back in Minnesota, I'm hoping to be able to come home in January, so put that in the back of your mind and I'll keep you posted on dates. I won't be home for Christmas sadly, but I'll be off work, with nothing to do, so feel free to call =)

This week I'm hoping to finally get to see Mark & James play on Friday then maybe hit up a concert with Boys Like Girls, The Ting Tings, Ke$ha, Cobra Starship,  and Hey Monday. It's just been waaaaaaay too long since I've been to a concert!

Bonus Features:
1. I had to get new sheets for my new bed and I totally nerded out because I am not kidding you, I found sheets "inspired by" Cinderella but are PINK, even though Cindy is all about the blue ya know, so the fact that they're pink is like a miracle. Basically, they are the prettiest sheets ever and am fairly certain the fairy godmother herself wove them just for me.

2. On tuesday I'm interviewing for the job I already have, weird, right? I'm technically only part time and apparently you have to be interviewed to get statused as full time. How do you interview for a job you already have? I'm confused.

3. Yesterday at work, I was recruiting people to participate in a Food & Beverage survey and I stopped this lovely couple from the United Kingdom and the most hilarious thing happened. I asked them if they would be willing to take 5 minutes to go sit and complete this survey and they said in their cute accents "Well that's alright." So I was like, "ok, well have a great night!" and moved on to find someone else. A minute later, the guy I work with comes over and is like, the people you were just talking to are sitting inside waiting to do the survey. I was like umm, what people!? WELL turns out, that while Americans say "That's alright" as a means of saying no, English people say "That's alright!" like they'd say "Jolly good!" except apparently no one says "jolly good" anymore, so I'm told. So the cute couple saw themselves over to do the survey and probably thought I was the most weird girl ever but they were so awesome and the whole exchange made my night (in addition to my awesome co-worker who pretty much prevented me from going into a major meltdown lol) Anyways, that was waaaaay too long of a bonus feature, but there ya go! Have a good one folks!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

The One with Kris Allen and Christmas!

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Today Emily and I went to the Magic Kingdom to see this awesome guy sing Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree. It was a fun experience. He didn't talk much, just sang the song 3 times, waved to the crowd and went on his way but it was cool! I just love seeing how things like the Walt Disney World Christmas Parade are put together, even if it means seeing Nick Cannon repeat the same lines 3 times over!
 
Despite the huge camera behind us, my camera was the only camera that caught footage of us two ladies throughout the day. We just didn't stand in the right spots to be in the crowd shots but that's Aokay with me! So no need to try to find us in the crowd on Christmas day, fairly certain we'll be no where in site despite the fact that we were up pretty close!  
 
Nick Cannon was looking festive in a red velvet suit, too bad it was like 70 degrees and he was right in the sun! He was a pro though! He'd squint when the cameras were off but when the cameras were on, he somehow managed to appear as though the sun wasn't bothering him at all! You could tell he really was a nice, funny guy too. He'd mess up his lines here and there but just kept smiling and kept rolling.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

The One where I turned 24!

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I still cannot believe I'm 24. 23 was young 20s. 24 is mid 20s. Oh Lord. Anyways, you may or may not know that I traditionally like to make a big deal about my birthday. Growing up, I always had big parties. In college, it was a little less intense but I still tried to get as many friends together as possible for dinner or something.

This year was a little different. All I wanted to do this year was go see my favorite duo (Mark & James) play some tunes and have some dinner with my girls.  That was the one and only plan. I had no other plans for the day other than relax, get dolled up, see Mark & James. Well about 3pm, I found out Mark & James were sick and not playing that night. My reaction: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Insert really sad face. I haven't really heard them play since May and I had been looking forward to my bday/seeing them for weeks. Not cool.

But I couldn't just sit home on my birthday, that's not how I roll. So I asked Michelle if she wanted to go to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. Being the awesome friend that she is, she said yes. The others couldn't go for various reasons, but it's all good, Michelle and I know how to have fun together!

Having never been to the Christmas Party, I was very excited to go! I wasn't planning on going due to my ode to making financially smart choices but that all goes out the window on my birthday. For those of you that don't know, the Christmas Party is a a separate ticket event that even cast members can't go to for free. There is a different parade, different fireworks, characters in different outfits (which sounds least exciting but is actually my favorite part), different shows, free cocoa and cookies and it snows tiny soap bubbles on mainstreet USA. The crowds are also lighter at the Christmas party, making lines much much shorter on just about everything.

My one and only goal was to meet Prince Charming, a feat pretty much impossible to accomplish in the parks on a normal day. So imagine my delight when we get into the Princess tent (home of Belle, Cinderella, and Aurora normally) and see not only Prince Charming, but Prince Philip (Sleeping Beauty's beau) there too!! Oh my word, I was like a kid on Christmas morning. I nerd out over meeting rare characters general, the fact that they happen to be Princes in this instance simply added to the fun.  Also, fun fact, all of the Princes (Erik, Aladdin, Charming 1 and 2) are in the 3 o clock parade but Prince Philip is not-so I think I was doubly excited to meet him since I'd barely even ever seen him before!


So anyways, the best line of the night had to of come from Prince Philip. Michelle and I were clearly too excited to be there and the photographer was trying to take our picture but we kept talking, I apologized for being unable to focus and without skipping a beat, Prince Philip goes "Well it's a good thing your camera can focus at least!" Hi-lar-ious! The whole line laughed it was spot on! Prince Charming had like no personality whatsoever but I think he was probably just weirded out over the 2 overly excited adults (with no children in their group) fawning over him, so I can't really blame him.

One of my favorite moments of the night was when we went to go get some cocoa and cookies at a Restaurant called Columbia Harbor House in Liberty Square. I was walking in and the greeter said hi and turned inside and walked quickly over to her fellow cast members. I just figured she's probably a CP who thought of something funny to tell her friends, right?! Sooo wrong! Soon, every cast member in the place starts clapping. I'm confused but then they start singing happy birthday. You would think I would realize they were singing to me but since I'm used to being a cast member, and not on the receiving end of the magic these days, it took me a second to realize they were singing to ME! It totally made my night, it's the little things in life, right?

The only other bummer of the night was that my flip flop broke. So incredibly sad since they were like my trusty park-going flip flops but Michelle literally gave me the shoes off her feet so I could walk to buy some new ones. All in all though, it was a memorable and festive birthday. I'd be lying if I still didn't wish I had gotten to see Mark & James instead, but that just wasn't in the stars for the night and that's cool with me. =)

P.S. The best present I could ever ask for is my friends and family taking time to wish me a happy birthday. Being away from home is hard a lot of times and having friends scattered around the country makes me miss everyone so much. But I felt so loved with all the calls, texts, messages etc. I have the best friends and family a girl could ask for.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The One with random thoughts

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  • I'm the type of person who likes to get stuff done. I'm thinking that my personality isn't going to jive well in a large company where change, no matter how big or small, has to be approved by the many levels of the hierarchy. Just a thought. Not one I'm going to act on anytime soon, but a thought nonetheless.


  • Taylor Swift deserved Entertainer of the Year, but was it just me or did it look like she was trying to cry cuz she thought she should cry not because she actually wanted to cry? The shocked look IS getting a little old, but I do love that she is humble.  


  • This time of year I usually get to thinking about what sort of trouble I can stir up. Why you ask? Because when the calendar flips my age one number higher, as it will next week, I can blame my recklessness on my young age. To this day, I have never actually stirred up trouble though. I just think about it. No actual ideas come to mind though because let's be honest, I'm a good girl who freaks out and thinks the police are after her because she went the wrong way down a one way into an apartment complex.


  • I'm getting old! In ten years, I'm gonna be that girl (woman!? lol) at concerts that everyone thinks is someone's mom who is trying to be cool. I can't wait! Seriously. 


  • I need to study the world map so when I ask someone where they are from for a survey (which is often!), I don't have to ask what continent that is on. LOL. But seriously, if someone told you they were from Ireland Island, Bermuda would you not be a little confused? Is that Ireland? Is that Bermuda?! What is going on? I get schooled in geography on a regular basis and it has to stop.


  • Anyways, I told you this was going to be random. This is what happens when I can't sleep, I don't want to journal and I can't talk to Michelle cuz she's already sleeping! Night folks.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

The one about my first week! -Warning all about Disney!

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I just finished my first official post-training week as a research specialist at the world's most famous theme park, and wow, do I have some stories for you all! If you're a little fuzzy as to what I do all day, I'll break it down for you. Yesterday, I asked 130 people for their zip code and if I could scan their park ticket. 10% of those people asked me why and looked very concerned-they are the same people who probably wear aluminum foil on their heads to make sure the government isn't reading their thoughts.

After I get zip codes, I collect emails in various ways so people can do a survey at home. 10% of the people ask me if I'm going to sell their email. In this instance, I don't blame them for asking actually but Disney doesn't spam so we're all good.

Then I survey people about every little last detail about their vacation and/or their experience at the Magic Kingdom.

The rest of my time is spent building up courage to approach more people so I can meet my survey quota and not get fired. I have to read the surveys verbatim so I wouldn't be surprised if someday a kid kicks me in the shin thinking I'm an animatronic robot like he saw on the Pirates ride or the Carousel of Progress, or pretty much any other Disney attraction because I do in fact sound robotic from time to time.

Anyways, I just have to say, Americans by and large are probably the most rude guests of all. Every time I talk to a guest from another country, they are so polite and say please and thank you. They reject me less when I ask them to take a survey and if they do they are all "Sorry, I'm in a terrible hurry, or I would" meanwhile Americans go "No!" and give you the "you're a waste of space" look (no lie, they do, it's like the look you give your shoe when you step on a piece of gum). I will give the American population the benefit of the doubt because they make up the majority of people I talk to so chances are greater I'll run into a rude one from time to time. And there are so many more nice ones than rude ones I suppose!

For example, I talked to the sweetest girl the other day whose dream it is to work at Disney World. She's old enough to and even moved here to do so, but is too scared to apply because she's heard some people say it ruins the magic or is not as fun as one would think. We had a great talk about it and I told her that I had the same fear and that if anything, it's just more magical, and it'll only be fun if you have the right attitude. I personally love seeing Cinderella get pop in the cafeteria and Prince Charming checking his email in the learning center, I think it's a cool/weird job perk (yes, I am a nerd, I know). I didn't tell her those example specifically because that wouldn't be keeping the magic for her but she'll see it when she's a cast member, which I'm sure she will be one day.

I had the cutest moment with a little boy riding the train the other day too. Where I do most of my work is the courtyard from the gates into the Magic Kingdom to the train station. When it's pulling into the station, the train overlooks the courtyard and a little boy, about 6, was waving at people in the courtyard but no one was waving back because no one was looking up there! But I saw him so I waved and smiled back and he got the biggest smile on his face and his wave became 10 times more enthusiastic. It honestly could have been a Disney commercial the moment was so precious.

Yesterday, a guest approached me asking for any tips I had because it was his first time to Disney World.   I started by telling him to get a first visit pin at Guest Relations then asked him if there was anything specific he wanted tips on. He then tells me he has a Walt Disney World app on his iPhone. He showed me the app and honestly, fast forward 10 years, everyone has a phone w/apps and Disney World requires 10,000 less cast members because people don't need as much help anymore, that's how good that app was! It knew everything, including wait times on rides, which I can't fathom how it knew! Think of a question you would want to know about the Magic Kingdom- it knows the answer! He even had a Magic Kingdom GPS app that told us exactly where we were standing, so I didn't even need to tell him where Guest Relations was, because he already knew by looking at the MK GPS!

Everyday I run into people that love telling me their Disney stories. I just have to hold onto positive and forget about the rude people who yell at me for my surveys being too long (yeah, that happened!) while in the meantime, never forgetting that this job is only temporary and something else will come along in time!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

The One about my Other Blog

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Just a quick little FYI - I started a 2nd blog about all things music. Instead of explaining it here, I'll let you read my intro blog there...

 CLICK HERE TO GO TO MY OTHER BLOG

What can I say? I guess I like to write.

And not much else is new from my last post. I got a hair cut that no one will notice. I got a cute new pair of shoes. I'm wearing them tomorrow to the concert, get excited, there will be pictures!!! Talk about a CLIFF HANGER, wow, how do you guys handle the intensity of my blog!??!!? =)

 NIGHT ALL!! Unless you're not reading this at night...then I hope you have a good morning/afternoon/day/evening/dusk/twilight/whatever

Sunday, November 1, 2009

The One with the Fairies

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I've been in Orlando for a little over a week and I just have to say, I am absolutely LOVING it. I feel like I have a life again! My car is fixed (for now, there may be an A/C issue that I am trying not to think about) and my eye is almost back to the 80% it was at before (I can't say it's back to 100% since it wasn't 100% or I wouldn't have been wearing contacts and wouldn't have gotten an eye infection in the first place, make sense? lol)

My job is interesting to say the least. I survey people ALL DAY LONG.....I haven't done it yet, but I will next week. So far I've only completed training. It might get a little old, but I didn't go to college to be a surveyor so I know it's only a temporary job. Whether I stay in the role for 3 months or 3 years, we'll just have to wait and see. Everyone at my new job seems so nice, I'm excited to get to know them!

Today, I went to the Magic Kingdom with my friend Garrett, who I used to work with at the Emporium. We had a blast meeting Princess Tiana and Naveen from The Princess and The Frog. They were fun characters to meet (I'll add pics later!) They did this really cool show on the Riverboat in Frontierland/Liberty Square. Very fun. We also got to meet the new boy fairy/keeper of the pixie dust, Terence!! He's in the Tinker Bell movie (voiced by Jesse McCartney, just an FYI) and for a fairy, he was pretty masculine if you ask me. It was cute, lol. In case you care, there are 6 fairies you can meet at the Magic Kingdom but only 3 are out at a time. I had met Tinker Bell (who is always there), Rosetta, Iredessa and Silevermist but never Fawn or Terence (because he is BRAND NEW) and you never know who you're gonna get to meet so needless to say I was pretty excited to arrive in Pixie Hollow (via pixie dust obviously) and see Fawn, Tink and Terence =) They were a riot too! Tink noticed Garrett has a tattoo of Peter Pan on his leg and FREAKED OUT saying Peter was trapped on his leg and she didn't want to be trapped there too because she was once trapped in a lantern and she really hated it haha. I have to appreciate a clever quick-witted character when I see one!


This week I also got to go see my favorite band from Florida, Mark & James. I first heard them when they opened for Jon McLaughlin and I've loved them ever since. They were playing an acoustic set at a restaurant in town so we went to check it out. We arrived to catch the tail end of a song, then they took a break. Not long after, a band started playing REALLY LOUD next door, making it impossible to hear Mark & James acoustically. Picture a really sad looking Allie right about here. James comes over (he knew we were there to see them, cuz let's be real, I didn't travel across town for the food that's for sure) and did like the nicest thing ever and offered to play a song of my choice in a quieter part of the place on the other side of the building. Without boring you all with all the details (like I did with the fairies, ha, sorry!), we'll just say it was one of the best times ever, being serenaded with one of my fave songs. =) I've never wanted a band to succeed more than them. If you haven't checked them out yet, what are you waiting for?! www.myspace.com/markandjames

Anyways, I have the next couple of days off, so I'm gonna relax, run some errands and figure out a way to convince myself not to be afraid of approaching people for a survey. Wednesday night is the White Tie Affair concert that I'm BEYOND excited for! I saw them open for Lady Gaga earlier this year, and now they're headlining and we have a meet-n-greet afterwards so that should be interesting!! I wonder if Sean-P will remember meeting me in line for Goofy and Pluto at Animal Kingdom haha. We'll see.


Bonus Features:
1) On my last day of training, I was walking through Tomorrowland and a bird pooped right on my head. It was SO disgusting. Apparently, it's a sign of good luck to come, but somehow I doubt it.
2) I'm SO glad the Vikings beat the Packers today! I scowled at every single person I saw wearing Packer gear today at the Magic Kingdom haha I'm kidding but I certainly didn't high-five them!
3) I'm currently listening to James Morrison
4) Ever since playing Rock Band w/ Charlie in Georgia, I really want to own it and play like ALL THE TIME. Thanks a lot Charlie! lol

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

The one where I became a Research Specialist

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Today was my first day of training at my new job and if you read the title, I finally figured out my new job title! I am a "Research Specialist"! I was nervous about the job, and still am a little bit, but my trainers both clearly loved their job so it put me at ease. The core of my job will be approaching people and asking them if they want to take a quick survey about something they had experienced in the parks. Sometimes it's about something specific. Sometimes it's about their trip in general. I was worried, thinking it'd be hard to get people to do the survey, but according to my trainers, a lot of people like giving their opinion on Disney World!  So that was helpful. My main other concern was the fact that my job requires me to stand outside all day. And, well, I won't know how that one works out until I get a really hot day and see if I can handle it. Most importantly, it just felt SO good to be working! Not only is it a distraction from stressing over things (my car, my eye, my overall lack of funds, ya know) but it's just fun to be back at Disney! 


Since my job is technically only part-time,  I will only FOR SURE be working Thursday, Friday and Saturday in my Research Specialist role. I can then pick up hours in the same role or at my old job at the Emporium to get full time hours. I'm also looking at getting a second, non-Disney job to work around this one. We'll see! I'm not going to worry about that too much until I get into the swing of this job. 


I also found out that my "home park" (the main park I'll be working at) is the Magic Kingdom!! I'm so very excited about this because I have experience with MK and will be sharing a break room with my friends at Main Street West! =) 


My new "costume" is considerably more normal than the high-waist skirt, poofy-shoulder shirt and tie combo I wore at the emporium. Now I get to wear some very fashion-forward khaki shorts with PLEATS that are soooooo incredibly awesome looking that it's a wonder women all over the world aren't requesting to buy them. The khaki pant option is even better, what with their tapered ankle and all, but sadly I think I'm gonna forgo that option and play the "I'm from Minnesota and I can handle the coldest weather Florida has, while in shorts!" card all year round! As far as my shirt goes, it's just a white button down! And I get to wear tennis shoes! Woooo! Anyways, my costume ages me about 30 years (hello mom pants!) so I imagine I'll remain single for a long long time, or at the very least, I imagine I'll randomly get desires to own a mini-van or tell a kid to use their "inside voice". ;)


All joking aside, things are going pretty well! I'm loving rooming with Michelle again. I'm not going to want to move out, it's so much fun living with her. But I have to move out soon-ish, so eventually I'll be getting new roommates and a new apartment! 


My eye is getting better. It's not red or painful at all but my vision is STILL blurry. Hopefully it gets better soon. The doc said 2 weeks, it hasn't even been 1, I'm just impatient when it comes to my eye sight. Can you blame me? I happen to like seeing. 


Now I just need to get in the habit of going to bed at normal hours and I'll be all set! With that said, I'm gonna attempt to fall asleep NOW! Night all! 

Saturday, October 24, 2009

The one where I moved...again...

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Greetings from Orlando! Some of you may be confused, thinking such thoughts as "I thought she was in Nashville..." if you're in that boat, I'd suggest you read my last post =)

Last Wednesday, I packed up my belongings and headed south. I was already scared about making the drive alone, but the night before I left, my vision was really blurry. I didn't think much of it and hoped it'd be better by morning. It wasn't. If anything, it was worse. Not wanting any excuse to stop me from going, I figured if I could see the lines on the road and the cars in front of me, I'd be fine. Halfway to my stopping point for the night, I stopped because my eye was burning and tearing up like I was bawling my eyes out. I tried to put some drops in it and that just made it worse. I stopped at my friend Charlie's place south of Atlanta. We had a fun time, played some Beatles Rock Band which was WAY fun, and got to catch up. It was hard though, to really enjoy the time with an eye that hurt so bad. Knowing I couldn't drive another 7 hours when I didn't even like opening my eyes, I went to the eye doctor.

Apparently, I have a very serious eye infection that's been brewing for a month or so, somehow caused by my contacts. The doctor put some numbing drops in my eyes that at least made the pain go away but said there is scarring on my cornea causing the blurriness. The blurry vision is supposed to go away in about 2 weeks. The drops I have are already making my eye look a lot better (no redness and no pain) but the scarring will be the last thing to heal apparently. The doctor was very nice and very patient and answered all my questions, so for that I am grateful. And if I'm going to need any medical attention at all, without health insurance right now, I guess the least expensive medical attention is probably eye care so let's hope that this is my only health problem until my health insurance at my NEW JOB kicks in!!

Speaking of which, I officially have a job now!! It is not my 1st, 2nd or even 3rd choice in jobs at Disney World but that's okay, I'm just happy to be employed again and the people I interviewed with and have talked to since seem so nice, I'm excited to meet them! I forget my official title, something including the words Marketing and Research (like I said, kinda sorta related to my major), but basically my job is to survey guests at Disney about the various topics Disney would like guest feedback on, like their feelings on a certain attraction, restaurant, store etc. It is technically only part-time but I will be working full-time hours between my new job and picking up shifts at the emporium (the store I worked at previously at the Magic Kingdom). I also have the option of looking for a job outside of Disney and only working the Marketing Research job 3 days of the week, so we'll see what happens!

My friend Michelle, who I lived with the first half of my College Program, is letting me stay a her place until I figure out my living situation. Hopefully I'll find some roommates to live with in the near future, but for now it's fun living with her and it's great to know I have some time to figure it all out.

My car is once again in the shop, not surprising with my luck lately, but I'm hoping it's less serious this time. Right after I left the doctor's office where I was told I have a serious eye problem, I was in at a stop light and my car just TURNED OFF. I resisted the urge to panic and tried restarting it, it restarted just fine. Perhaps against my better judgement, I decided to just press my luck and wait to get it checked out in Orlando (if I made it there!!) because at this point, neither the car nor its operator were functioning properly. Scared it was a battery issue, I turned EVERYTHING off in the car. No A/C, no lights, no RADIO. Needless to say I was just a ball of nerves barreling down the freeway hoping to make it to Orlando safely, which I did, praise the Lord! I took my car to get looked at and apparently there is a "Massive Oil Leak". I asked the woman if said leak could cause a car to just turn off and she said yes, so hopefully that's the ONLY problem.

My first night in Orlando, I went out to Ohana's at the Polynesian to celebrate my friend Sheena's birthday. We (and by we I mostly mean my friends since I'm partially blind) saw the fireworks at Magic Kingdom from our table at the restaurant so that was pretty sweet! They even play the fireworks music in the restaurant, so that was fun!

Other than that, I've just been focused on getting settled and running errands so I'm ready to start work on Tuesday! It's been a whirlwind of ups and downs lately, and I'm hoping soon it will all start to be a little more routine with a lot less eye/car problems (or any other problems for that matter). I have two more days of seeing friends and getting stuff done then it's time to get to work, and after being unemployed for two months, I couldn't be more excited!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The One about my change of heart

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This is going to be a quick one that may or may not lack the wit/charm I like to think my other posts have =) After a little over a month in Nashville with no promising jobs on the horizon, my finances and confidence in my abilities have been at an all time low. Nashville wasn't all I hoped it would be and I was lacking the iron-will necessary to persevere in a bad economy- not to mention the fact that I was trying to break into an industry where who you know is everything. On top of that, my recent trip to Disney World reminded me of how much I love it there. When I came back from Disney World in May  I was depressed for about 2 weeks and tried to convince myself that it wasn't as great as I thought and to just move on. But after going back in September, and feeling happy again like I hadn't felt in months, I felt like Disney was where I was supposed to be- where I would be happy. I tried fighting it and continued to search for jobs in Nashville but nothing was working. Most of the jobs I applied for didn't even have the courtesy to send me a rejection email. I understand that getting a job in 1 month isn't always easy, but I was faced with the reality that if I didn't take a job to just get by (like retail or something), I would continue to to be unemployed for a long time. I didn't want to take just any job in Nashville...I couldn't....not while feeling like I wanted to be at Disney anyways.

So on a whim while job hunting, I looked at jobs available at Disney World. I applied for a few I really wanted and a few I thought I could handle. It's not official, but I did end up getting offered a job at Disney World! My first job with no set end-date and is kinda sorta related to my major. (I'll tell you abut the job more later because I am technically not supposed to know I got it yet and I'm probably breaking all sorts of Disney rules by telling you I got a job, and you know me, I play be the rules =)

Basically, it's been 3 weeks of anguish....wondering and debating if Nashville or Orlando was where I was should be (Minnesota wasn't really an option to me since I am anti-winter). I am in no way giving up my dreams of working in the music industry. I will still be looking at opportunities in Orlando and also opportunities to combine my love for music and my love for Disney into one - perhaps by helping plan some Disney Special events that they bring in big artists for...who knows!

If I've learned anything it's that I can't predict or even plan my own future. God is 100% in control and I just have to follow the path He lights for me. I prayed over and over again not to be offered this Disney job if it was going to be something I didn't like or couldn't handle and got offered it anyways, so I like to think it means I CAN handle it and I will like it (but being a optimist tried and true, I always make the best of what I've got and I know I'll make it work, even if it's not my dream job).

I'm so glad I came to Nashville, I feel like I can continue on my journey and have no regrets. I got to know my friends Jon and Shanelle a lot better, and for that I am grateful. Tami, Shanelle's mom and the woman I lived with, made living here enjoyable/ really hard to say goodbye to...she also happened to turn me into a person who likes cats (in addition to dogs) and I will miss Jon, Shanelle, Tami and the 3 cats quite a bit.Who knows, maybe I'll end up back here one day when the timing/economy is better and people are actually hiring, but for now I'm off to start a career with Disney!

So now you know! It's been hard keeping everything to myself but I had to until I figured it out for myself because my mind was changing every day. But I am feeling good about the choice and I leave for Orlando tomorrow!!! I am very scared to drive the 12 hour trip by myself in a car that broke down not too long ago, so please say a prayer for safe travels okay!? I'd really appreciate that. I'm driving 6 hours tomorrow and 6 hours on Thursday so feel free to call me and keep me company while I'm on the road! Anyways, I gotta get to bed. Have to get up early to finish packing.

PS I had a fortune cookie the other day that said "You will be surrounded by friends in your time of need" and it couldn't be more true. Through everything, car troubles, computer troubles, bank troubles, job troubles, at the end of the day I still always feel very rich and happy due to the great people in my life.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

The one where I'm annoyingly vague and have no real news

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Recently I celebrated my one-month anniversary of moving to Nashville! Can you believe it? I can't. I see you all got my memo about not sending cards or gifts lol so thanks for following my wishes ;)  A month has flown by thus proving that time doesn't just fly when you're having fun... it also flies when you watch too much TV and rarely leave the house, ha. The job search here hasn't been all that I had hoped for. I get that we're in a recession so maybe I had my hopes too high but I also didn't want to go around making the recession an excuse for me not to try. I will tell you this though...today I had a job interview and I think it went pretty well! I will know by the end of the week if I got it or not so.... I'm going to make you all wait to find out what the job was for/where it is located, sound fair? =)

Now onto the REAL news....

Today I woke up to find that keys 7, 8 and 9 on my phone hardly light up, which is so incredibly random and really bears no effect on anything at all other than the fact that my phone is not going to be as helpful when I use it as a flashlight. I may, also, not be able to call you in the event that all of the following things occur simultaneously:
1.) It's night time
2.) Your number isn't programmed into my phone already or I have to scroll to your name in my phone book with a PQRSTUVWXYZ (the letters on the respectively dim keys)
and
3.) I have gloves on making it difficult if not impossible to differentiate the keys from one another

All of this can be fixed however by calling me if you want to talk to me since the "Answer" key works great and I am free AAAAALLLLLL THE TIIIIMMMMEEE! If I don't answer, it's more than likely because my phone was on silent because it was beeping so much I had to make it stop (Twitter is to blame so feel free to send more real texts), or because I'm watching a really good episode of Golden Girls (and am too lazy to press pause since everything I watch these days is TIVOd.)

In my oodles of spare time that I wish I filled making myself a better person, I have found that reading Craigslist personals, temporarily, makes me feel better lol. The personals are usually exactly who you want to stay away from while the "Missed Connections" listings can sometimes be heart warming. If you don't know what those are, it's where someone goes onto Craigslist and writes about someone they like or just met but have no way of getting a hold so they reach out via CL hoping they read it. Most are really boring, but some are so sweet and some are just hilarious. Today I came across this one, posted on Orlando's CL:


"To the Girl from the Northern Midwest"
I think you are from either Minnesota, or Wisconsin. Either place...
I'm infatuated with your accent,
i cant help but long for the sight of your rosy cheeks, pale colored skin, and general cheeriness, when you ask me for a pop. (whatever the hell that means)
I blush, and shy away like flower the skunk from bambi when we make eye contact. I have such a bad crush on you. I wish you would be as aggressive with flirting, as you are with that painfully midwestern work ethic. Maybe next time you pause for a break, we can make out in the broom closet.

Sincerely,
your secret admirer.


It's probably only funny to me since I'm a girl from Minnesota, but it's by far the most unique one I've ever seen. Anyways, I should probably attempt to get some sleep! If you read this whole thing, awesome! I'm hoping you don't hate me for filling your brain with such useless facts about my life. Feel free to return the "favor" by telling me any one of the following useless facts about yourself in which I cannot gaurantee I will consciously remember but will no doubt take up a cell in my brain for all of eternity:
1) What day your garbage gets picked up
2) The names of all your previous pets
3) What you did for your 4th grade science experiment
4) If you have "hitch hikers thumb" or not
5) Random facts of your own choosing are acceptable as long as they are posted in the comment section or texted to me directly. The more random, the better.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

The one near the end of my solitary confinement

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Did you know it's cliche in the blog-o-sphere to apologize to your "readers" for not blogging in a while. Well it is, apparently. Luckily for me, I don't have "readers" I just have friends and family that read this so to them, I am sorry! In all honestly, the best way I can explain my absence is that there is a BIG change on the horizon for me that I don't feel comfortable telling everyone about until I can tell the people that need to know first. The change pretty much consumes my thoughts, leaving not much else to write about unfortunately. (It's nothing shocking or dramatic so forgive me if it sounds that way!)


Truth be told, I haven't been up to anything all that interesting anyways! Due to not working 99.9% of September and October (I did work 2 days at the emporium) I don't do much of anything because I have to save money! Oh sure there is stuff to do that doesn't cost money, but even gas costs money, so my activities have been limited and I feel oh so responsible about it!

It's really strange but I find myself watching a lot of sports lately! Today I even watched the Kansas City/Dallas game (I cheer for anyone to beat Tony Romo!) KC should have gone for the 2 point conversion if you ask me, you can't come from behind then expect to win in OT against Dallas, sorry, bad call!

I've always found baseball to be kind of boring (SO sorry Ali!) but lately I can't tear myself away from it. I'll start like "oh, I'll just have it on in the background" then before I know it I'm front and center on the couch and booing the umps/A-Rod like it's my job.

I can't decide whether the cats are keeping me sane or making me insane. If it weren't for them, I'd feel REALLY alone and probably convince myself someone was going to break into the house every night. On the other hand, when they bust down your door (no joke!) at 3am and hop on you while you're sleeping, you do think for a split second you are being attacked! It will be a mystery to me for the rest of my life how a 19 year old cat managed to open a closed door. 

Aside from sports and playing with the cats, I'm learning how to play Donkey Kong on the Wii... I spent an entire afternoon making the COOLEST calendar ever complete with photos of people on their birthday dates...I talk to Emily Hendricks on the phone for like an hour a day which is fun and that's about it! If you think about it, between the sports and the Wii, my days are spent in ways very similar to that of a 14 year old boy stuck at home on summer break (minus the calendar making... I'm guessing).

More of an update will be coming soon-ish! I've very excited that Tami and Shanelle will be back on Wednesday- it's been too quiet without them! Now it's time for the Twins game, so I'm outta here like a Joe Mauer homerun baseball. =)

Monday, October 5, 2009

The one where I'm all alone

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First of all, can I just say that I can't believe it's October! Seriously! I've moved into a different month since my big move to Nashville and I have to say, that's pretty insane! My computer SEEMS to be working fine for now and I'm praying it stays that way. After 3 days of working on it myself, I finally went "Aha!" and posted my computer's symptoms on a Microsoft Message board for some amazingly nerdy guy to help me get to the root of the problem. Low and behold, I followed his instructions and my computer functions once again. It was something to do with having too many anti-virus software programs installed since APPARENTLY you're only supposed to have 1 or they mess each other up. I had 3. =) I guess there is such a thing as too much of a good thing! I think those mac commercials about PCs being so virus prone really got to my brain but jokes on them (haha not really) a virus wasn't the problem, virus software was! Oh my word PCs, you've outdone yourself this time. 

Anyhow, not a lot is new with me and nothing is new with me in the job search. I look and apply and they look and deny. ha. It's a pretty fun game...NOT! On top of that, Tami and Shanelle are out of the country until October 13th so that leaves me with Chase, Jasmine and Patch (Tami's 3 cats) to talk to...and TRUST me, I do talk to them! The cats keep me very entertained that's for sure. Chase is my buddy. He's not even a year old and is very playful. Patch is a staggering 19 years old! I look into his eyes and swear I see wisdom only a 19 year old cat could have (like where the best places to nap and eat are). He sleeps 90% of the day and is often the victim of Chase's attacks. It's playful to Chase but scary for Patch so I usually play referee and break it up. Jasmine can be described in one word: psychotic. She'll nuzzle you and make you think she wants to be pet but get within an inch of her and she'll hiss at you and try to bite you. Crazy crazy cat I tell you. Luckily she sleeps all the time and only attempts to bite me about 10 times a day. For the record, I'm still not a cat person but I've been alone in this house for 5 days (and counting) and the cats are probably the only thing keeping me from going certifiably insane. 


This weekend was a weekend that made me really wish I was back home in Minnesota. The twins played their last regular season game EVER in the metrodome, Hanson played at 1st Ave and it's my mom's Birthday on Tuesday. I hear it's getting cold there and actually wouldn't mind a nice cool day in jeans and a sweatshirt to go for a walk and see the fall colors! Alas, I cannot but I am excited for the fact that the Viking vs Packer game is on Monday Night Football so I can actually watch it (unlike the Twins game today that wasn't broadcast here)! Tomorrow I'm actually going to leave the house - yay! - to go to Jon and Shanelle's apartment to watch the big game. As long as Jon cheers for the Vikes, it'll be a fun time =) 


If this blog were a movie, these two weeks would have to be summarized by a movie montage.I imagine it'd look something like this... Allie playing with the cats. Allie sleeping. Allie attempting to start the lawn mower and failing. Allie watching TV. Allie staring at the ceiling after doing 10 sit ups. Allie looking for jobs. Allie laughing at her own jokes while sitting at her computer. 


I don't know about you guys but I'd pay 10 bucks to see that. Heck, I'd even spring for popcorn..if I had a coupon, cuz who am I kidding, I am unemployed.

Off to go watch an episode of Criminal Minds I dvr'd and hopefully not get nightmares! 





Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The one about Positive Thoughts

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So lately it seems everything I touch turns to crap. My car and computer are a testament to that. The car is fixed (praise the Lord!) and hopefully my computer will be fixed too. I just have NO idea what is even wrong with it! Yesterday I called my mom and just bawled my eyes out because nothing is going anywhere. I can't even say nothing is going according to plan because it implies things are at least going in some direction, but they're not lol. But sometimes all you need is a good cry to be like, okay, got that out of my system, now I can focus on what I need to do. 

When everything in your life seems to be in disarray, the small glimmers of something good are actually like huge beacons of awesomeness. One of my favorite actors is Matthew Gray Gubler from Criminal Minds. Matthew is so awesome that this week he gave away T-shirts he designed himself to fans who wrote in what good deed they would do to improve the world. I was just amazed that someone (who isn't a boy scout or girl scout leader) would spend their time and money for the sole purpose of encouraging people to do good deeds- and I told him as much on his myspace page. I don't normally go around writing on celebrities myspace pages but he's different and I wholeheartedly believe that if you think a positive thought about someone, even if you don't know them, that you should tell them, because it can make someone's day (and they may really need that). Anyways, to get the whole story, I guess I have to show you what I wrote, so here is the comment I left him:

      
You're so awesome it's intimidating. If I ever saw you like randomly in real life I'm fairly certain I'd be too awe struck to do anything. Like who gives away free stuff to encourage people to do good deeds? Only really really awesome people, that's who. I like to think there are a lot of good hearted people like you in the world but we just don't know it because most of them aren't famous, ha, no offense if you have famous friends who are as equally awesome as yourself... I'm guessing if you're friends with them they are pretty rad. Anyways, I would say you give celebrities a good name but I feel like calling you a celebrity is like a down-grade because you're much more than that, you're a great person and I wish you ALL the happiness in the world and if you ever leave Criminal Minds, please give me fair warning so I can mentally prepare, especially if you die on the show ever I'll be in mourning cuz Dr. Spencer Reid kicks butt!

You can think I'm a nerd if you want, I am a nerd! I wasn't expecting a reply whatsoever, I honestly wasn't even sure if he'd read it because people are constantly leaving comments. So when I woke up this morning and saw in my email that I had a new comment to approve from MATTHEW GRAY GUBLER, I just about died, of happiness of course. 

Here is what he wrote (it's pretty much already framed on my wall, hahaha I AM kidding!):

thank you for the nicest compliment i have ever received.
you are too kind.
Happy end of September!

And that, my friends, makes my day and proves that it IS a good idea to tell all people, even random people you don't know, your positive thoughts about them haha. With that said, if I haven't complimented you lately, I'll work on it because each and every one of you have qualities in you that are admirable and amazing and extremely worth praise and I'd never want any of you to think otherwise or even doubt it for a second. On that note, I have to do some brainstorming for story ideas for a music video that I'm not officially working on and won't even be paid for if I do, but hey, it's a start. Wish me luck!

Saturday, September 26, 2009

The one with my trip back to Disney

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With my lack of a job and my car at the shop, the timing couldn't have been more perfect for a quick trip back to Disney World to have some fun and pick up a few shifts at the Emporium so I can keep my status as a seasonal cast member! Jon and Shanelle had been planning this trip for a while and were very gracious to invite me along for the fun.

Saturday morning, I had my job interview (for real this time!) and it really couldn't have gone much better. I haven't heard anything back yet, but I'm hoping! After my interview, Shanelle and I ran some errands then we got on the road to Orlando! We stopped the first night in Atlanta to see Shanelle's college-friend Nancy and drop off Jon and Shanelle's cat, Moses, who nancy would be watching for the week. 

Sunday, we arrived in Orlando and the first thing we did was meet up with Michelle (Shanelle and I's roommate from the first half of my College Program) then we headed off to the Magic Kingdom! All I can say is that it was SO NICE to be back. Somehow the Magic Kingdom feels like home away from home, afterall, I did spend at least 40 hours a week there for several months. We didn't stay too long because we were tired from the 10 hour drive that day, but it was definitely fun. 

Monday I got my snazzy new red seasonal ID with my actual picture on it and not just a picture of Mickey's Face where mine should be (the CP id). Most of my emporium friends didn't know I was coming back so it was fun to see the surprised looks on everyone's faces when they saw me back at work! My co-workers at the Emporium are some of the nicest and most fun people EVER and it was so nice to see them! 

Tuesday night was Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom which is the BEST party of all the parties. A very nice manager may or may not have let me go outside to see the Halloween Fireworks too and it may or may not have made my night! ;)  

It was fun to see some of the new College Programmers at the Emporium. I didn't get to know many of them but they were all very nice and most thought I was a new CP and tried to be welcoming haha. That's why I love Disney- everyone is so nice! 

Wednesday was reserved just for fun- Jon, Shanelle and I all had the day off and we were determined to hit all four disney parks in one day. We started off by taking a chance on seeing if we could get into "Chef Mickey's" at the Contemporary. That restaurant is harder to get into than ANY  fancy-shmancy LA club I'm sure. While I was in Florida on my CP, I tried for months to get a reservation with no luck and Shanelle had been trying for 3 months to get a reservation for this trip with no luck so we just decided to show up there around 7:30am and see if we could get seated and to our surprise- it worked! 

"Chef Mickey's" is so cool because not only is it at the Contemporary (the resort the monorail drives through) but because you get to meet the "Fab 5" all while eating the most amazing breakfast ever. (For you non-disney folk, the fab 5 is Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Donald.) It was quite possibly the best breakfast ever and definitely gave us the sugar rush we needed to get started with energy on our 4-park quest! 

It was fun to see things that had changed in the parks since I was last there. Most of them were little changes (like the new Pixar Light that comes out and does a little dance at Hollywood Studios) but some were big changes (like the Hall of Presidents that now features Obama). I took A TON of pictures of Toon Town and Fantasy Land because eventually Toon Town is going away and being transformed into something entirely different. (I'm most excited for Beast's Castle which will have a dining experience, think along the lines of the song "Be Our Guest") 

A trip to Disney is exactly what the doctor ordered. While not having a job can seem like a relaxing vacation to some, it's actually more stressful for me than any stress a job ever brought. One of my favorite things to do is read books and I can't enjoy reading right now because I'm always thinking I should be looking for jobs. So it was kind of nice, especially with the fiasco that is my car, to just escape for a few days. But now it's back to "work" finding work! On the up-side, my car is FIXED and she drives so smooth, let's just pray for no more car problems! 

Bonus Features:
1) On the drive down and back, the 3 of us played the license plate game and I think we ended up finding all but 7 states' plates! It was fun but stupid North and South Dakota just refused to show themselves! 
2) We learned that lack of sleep mixed with lots of sugar and rides makes Shanelle and I very loopy lol
3) Stitch (from Lilo and Stitch) cannot be trusted not to randomly feed grown men their eggs at breakfast hahahahaha 
4) If you feed your kids gummy bears for breakfast and they insist on using their fork and knife as toys, Mickey will in fact take your silverware away! lol

Thursday, September 17, 2009

The one where my car died

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The day was starting out GREAT. I was really excited for my first interview. I found the perfect 2nd job opportunity (actually in the music biz this time) on Craigslist and sent off my application right away. The box I sent myself with a bunch of pictures, books and DVDs arrived in the mail. My Disney name tag came in the mail as well so I don't have to use the generic "Chris from Orlando" name tag next week when I'm at the Emporium. All in all, it was starting out smooth.

I have 2 sets of directions to my interview location PLUS my GPS. It's raining and I notice that my wipers moving at a snail's pace. I start to worry because if the rain picks up and my wipers don't, I won't be able to see. Turns out, that was the least of my worries. My dashboard starts flashing. Every single light on my dash lights up. The clock and radio go out. I get my mom on the phone and the car starts jerking, somewhat similar to what happens when you run out of gas but a little more intense. I pull into the first driveway I see and am freaking out because it seems as though my car just had a seizure. I'm stalled in some random driveway then the car just turns itself off. So NOT what I needed on the way to my first job interview. I call the woman I am interviewing with and she could not have been more understanding and asks me to call her later to reschedule. Whew!

I'm not on my parents' AAA so I sign up for it and am told it'll be no longer a two hour wait. At this point I thought maybe the battery just died??? I am no car savant. Over 3 hours later, AAA shows up. The battery is not the problem. They called me a tow truck, said it would be another 2.5 hours and waved goodbye. I had already told the people whose driveway I am in the situation, so I go to tell them it'll be a bit longer. I honestly couldn't have broken down in a nicer woman's driveway. Her daughter was about 8 and thanked me for coming to say hi. haha. Shanelle (my hero) takes me to Sears. They think it's the alternator and said to bring it over. About 6pm (5 hours since breaking down), the tow truck shows up...we get it to Sears...turns out it's not the alternator and they can't fix it...of course it couldn't be that easy!

The guy at Sears was literally holding this big round piece that should have been in my car but had just "fallen out". Not good. At the end of the day, my car is safe and secure at Sears waiting to be towed to a new place tomorrow. It sounds like it's going to need some major work to get that round piece back to it's home.

On the upside, I have to be grateful that I was able to get the car off the road and out of danger. It could have been a lot worse since I was on a very windy road,in the rain no less. The wait would have been a lot worse too, but I actually really enjoyed the time being able to talk to Shanelle- she's a great friend. And I was able to reschedule my interview! Now let's just pray the repairs aren't too costly.

Nothing says "Welcome to Nashville" quite like this! I always try to find the upside in all situations but if the only good thing that comes of this is an interesting plot-twist when my blog gets made into a movie...well, then I think I would prefer if the blog never made it to the big screen! lol

(I seriously hope you got my sarcasm there, otherwise I just sound like a jerk who thinks their blog is movie worthy haha).

Thank you to everyone who sent me text messages, offered to help, did help or called to check on me throughout the day. It really made me worry a lot less. I was on the verge of tears but held it together only because I had Shanelle there to help and the kind messages of my friends across the country (seriously). Love you all =)

Unrelated Bonus Feature:
1) I am so glad they finally made the designers on Project Runway use a non-fabric material to make their outfits with! Cloth gets boring so far this season, they had NOTHING interesting like they had in previous seasons.
2) The One Tree Hill premier was WAY disappointing- except for the fact that the guy from "Lipstick Jungle" (Nathan's agent) is on there now!


Wednesday, September 16, 2009

The one where I got my first job interview

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Yesterday was one of those days where it would be an overstatement to say I was mildly productive. I never left the house much less my pajamas. I think I needed one of those days to just soak in the reality of my new "home". My day consisted of being attacked by a cat named Chase who likes to attack my feet as I walk. I've never lived with cats before but Chase is too adorable not to love. He looks exactly like Salem on Sabrina the Teenage Witch - minus the talking, obviously!

Today though, I actually ventured out to Franklin, TN. Home of Jon and Shanelle (my friends I met while working at Disney World) AND Miley Cyrus (another close personal friend you've probably never heard of, pah!). Shanelle took me to Walgreens so I could be a greeting card for a friend's upcoming birthday and we stumbled upon the greatest cards EVER! You know how cards are usually categorized with things like "Girl's Birthday", "Thank you", "Encouragement", "Wedding" etc. Well today we found an entirely new card category called "Troubled Relationship". Shanelle and I enjoyed reading the extremely "poetic" cards to each other aloud. I mean, who wouldn't be won over with a card that says "This sucks. I hate being apart." We read about 4 cards and the lady looking at cards next to us says something along the lines of "Maybe their relationship wouldn't be troubled if they could actually talk to each other instead of using a card to do it" IT WAS SO PERFECT!!!

When I got home, I decided I should probably look at and/or apply for a few jobs (that IS the whole reason I moved here. That, and my hatred for winter) so I applied for an assistant position to a woman who owns a clothing and gift line and to my shock - I heard back right away! I interview tomorrow! It's a long commute (to Franklin) and only part-time and who knows what will come of it, if anything. But I haven't even been here a week and I have an interview and I have to believe that is a good sign!

The most exciting news of the week has to be the fact that I am going to Disney World on Sunday!! Jon and Shanelle invited me to join them on their trip so I am over the moon about going back. This past week or two has been such an emotional roller coaster- what with the excitement of my new adventure and sadness over saying goodbye- I could really really use some pure fun at Disney World to re-energize me. I'm going to work at least 1 shift while I'm there and most definitely have some fun. I have a shift on the night of a Halloween Party-which were ALWAYS my favorite. (Although half of the fun last year was watching my friend Murphy put together ridiculous outfits and sing and dance around the store since it was so slow during the parties-so I'll miss that but it'll still be fun!)

Anyhow, the "Wizards of Waverly Place Movie" is on and I'm a sucker for Disney Channel Orginal Movies but wish me luck on my interview tomorrow - let's just hope I don't get lost! I'm excited to check out downtown Franklin tomorrow, so hopefully I'll have some fun pics or stories to share! Night! -Allie


Tuesday, September 15, 2009

The one with my new place

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Since I pictured where I would be living to be in the middle of the country with chickens and horses running around (all of my ideas of Nashville pretty much came from watching the Hannah Montana movie), I thought it'd be a good idea to show you guys where I live now (which is, indeed, chicken and horse free)!

This is my bedroom! It's not complete yet, still working on decorating a little bit but there it is! I love the pink and brown walls and am very grateful to Shanelle and Tami for welcoming me in!

This is probably my favorite part of my new room- the closets! There is so much space I don't even have enough stuff to fill it! When I get a job though and actually have money and need work clothes, I imagine that won't be a problem anymore!
Right across the hall from my room is the most adorably decorated bathroom.

This is the upstairs living area/party area, where I'm likely to be spending most of my time until I get a job...it also happens to be where I am writing this from! If you're looking closely and are curious, I am, in fact, watching Millionaire.
Eventually, I'll post a pic of the outside of the house, but seeing how I am in my pajamas still and I actually have neighbors now, I'll have to take the pic some other time!

Monday, September 14, 2009

The one with the road trip

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As you can imagine, moving across many states is no easy feat. Packing for a semi-permanent move in a convertible is next to impossible.... So I thought! If there was a Nobel prize for the Science of packing the most stuff into a convertible, I'm fairly certain I would win.

I split my stuff into piles of stuff I couldn't live without and stuff I didn't want to live without. The rest of my things I just assumed there would be absolutely no room for. Well I got all of my "Can't live without" stuff in the car so I started piling in all of the "Don't want to live without" items.

At this point it was about 9:45am on Friday morning. We were supposed to leave 45 minutes ago but with a few small open spots left in the convertible (even after packing every item I thought I had room for), I ran to my room like a contestant on "Supermarket Sweep" (which is probably my favorite game show of all time) and grabbed anything and everything I thought would fit into the last few tiny spaces. My quick thinking and out-of-this-world packing ability scored me room for my Tinkerbell pillow (From Disney World's best store, the Emporium!!), 3 pictures in frames, a teddy bear (I swear I'm not 6), a photo memory board and a really cute pair of boots. After I was convinced I couldn't cram in one more thing into the car, it was time to go!

The weather was amazing for the majority of the trip. We never put the top up on the car the entire drive! We stopped the first night in Bloomington, Illinois. The most interesting part of Bloomington had to be the hotel front desk clerk who felt like telling us that he's going to visit his relatives next week who, despite where they live, are NOT hillbillies. The fact that he felt the need to tell us they aren't hillbillies most surely means they are.


The next day we got up bright and early to make the final 6 hour drive into Nashville. We got a little lost through the windy roads of Tennessee (the GPS sending us to a road that didn't exist sure didn't help anything!) but we had arrived!!!



This was my first view of downtown Nashville:

It is clearly not as big as Minneapolis in terms of sky scrapers and big buildings but the town of Nashville is actually pretty huge! I live on the west side of Nashville in an area called Bellevue. I'm definitely not used to being able to drive for 30 minutes and still technically being in the same town! You can get through Center City (my hometown) in about 30 seconds!

Saturday night, my mom and I went to a potluck w/ Shanelle (my friend here), Tami (her mom and also the person I'm living with) and Shanelle's boyfriend, Jon. It was a pretty fancy potluck if you ask me! MN potlucks most certainly involve beans, a hot dish or 10, maybe some sandwiches w/lunch meat or something. This potluck had lamb, grilled veggies and not a hot dish in sight! When I wasn't eating much, I was forced to reveal that my diet is pretty comparable to that of a 10-year-old's (think PB&J, chicken nuggets, pizza etc) haha.

After the potluck, my mom and I went to downtown Nashville. Broadway is the street that is LINED with bars-all of which have live music.
We started at the "World Famous" Wild Horse Saloon. It was a pretty sweet place w/three stories and a huge dance floor complete w/ a TON of people line dancing. Despite my mom's efforts, I definitely did not line dance. Maybe some other time!


We went to a few other places, I was too tired from the drive that day to remember most of their names but I thought "The Stage On Broadway" was a pretty punny name and it was a pretty cool place too. My mom seemed to enjoy telling strangers that I was new in town and didn't have a job or any friends... because who wouldn't want to be friends with me when you put it like that, right!? lol

Anyways, the reality of the big move had finally start to sink in and I found myself wondering how mad my mom would be if I asked to just turn around and drive back. I know that being scared is a normal reaction and I know I'll stick it out and see what happens, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't overwhelmed with all these new and unfamiliar surroundings.
This is an entirely new ballgame than when I moved to Florida. I had none of these feelings of being scared because not only did I know it was temporary but I had been there before (and who get's scared at Disney World?! No one! And they kept us so busy there was no time to be home sick!) On the trip down here I realized that in 2009, I will have lived in 3 different states! Pretty crazy and pretty sure that will never happen again!