#dontworry #behappy

Hi friends,

Because it is Friday, and because I have had a few glasses of wine, I am posting about a few things that make me happy. 

This is my #100happydays for the day. 

• A new tube of mascara
• Driving with the windows down
• Bottomless mimosas 
• Booking a flight to see friends or family
• Lettuce when you are hungover
• Learning the real lyrics to a song and realizing you were always singing it wrong
• Napping on a Sunday (see post HERE)
• Looking at old pictures on the Facebook
• Nachos
• The smell of Florida when you first step outside the airport
• Coca-cola in a can
• Watching "Love Actually" in bed on a Saturday morning 
• Binge online shopping 
• Emails from my dad with an oddly professional tone 
• How you feel when a workout is over (not because you worked out, simply because its OVER)
• Pizza Rolls in the microwave 
• #hashtags 
• Getting a big meeting at work with a new client 
• Wine in the afternoon
• Anything Orange and Blue 
• Videos and pictures of my nieces and nephew
• Changing my monthly calendar 
• Unlimited Salad Bars 
• All amazingly embarassing videos of me prior to 2012: the skydive video, my ATL video, SPT internship video, and of course Cancun. 
• A hot toddy when you're sick - sweat it out! 
• All things SYTYCD – obvi. 

Weekends should never be spent in moderation. Go have a good one :) 

Start spreadin' the News...I'm leavin' today.

Today is my last day at News America Marketing. It is the end of an era.

First and Last Sales Summit.

I have worked at News America since September 11, 2006. I remember driving into the office on my first day and listening to 9/11 memorial coverage and crying….no surprise, I was also running late. I am sure I made quite the first impression. 

Most people think that my time at News was spent as a slave to Dollar General and Walgreens. And while that was certainly true on some days, there were times that the hardest part of my day was deciding between which two pairs of boots to buy (odds are I bought both) or choosing where to go to lunch (so many options in the pedway). But regardless, it balanced itself to be all-in-all a pretty good gig.

MCo - My bestie and fave NAMer of all time.

But the thing about News that I thankful for is the friends I have met while I was here. Some of my very best friends I have met through News and I will thank Uncle Rup for that every day. Actually, I should probably thank Melissa Cohen, without whom I would NEVER have gotten this (or maybe any) job after college. “I’m so good at interviewing” was one of my fave lines in college. Guess what? I was not.   

I am totes obsessed with these girls.

I realized today that I have spent more time with in my NAM chapter than with any other chapter in my life. More time than college, more than high school. And I learned a lot here…Maybe more than college, more than high school…nevermind, that’s a ridiculous statement.

But really, News has been a great first chapter in my life and I am walking away with few bad things to say and plenty of great memories. Cheers to the next chapter! 

This is when I made Alaina drive 10 hours to Memphis with me.
Have you ever heard of a little account called Pictsweet?

Another sales summit - these girls were some of my favorites in Atlanta

NAMers love festivals - Nadine and Nick and me!

We started and ended our time at NAM within weeks of each other. 

Sarah - not a long time NAMer, but always made us laugh! 

Christmas Party in NYC - back when Rup spoiled us. 

Another Christmas party - only one of these girls still works at NAM. Woa.

This is a terrible picture, but I had to put it in. Trade Rally-ers.

Concert at Lakewood, likely about an hour before blacking out.

These guys....I have no words. 

One of my favorite people ever.
This girl has as much love for others as she has holes in her clothes. 

NAMers at festivals - per the us.

My going away party to Chicago. Who would I miss?? That girl!

If I have to walk 60 miles, I am glad I got to do it with this gem.

Oh, just another Chicago team event that ended in blacking out.

Ride the Rail....nothing else to say.

One of my fave ACs ever.
She even came to one of my parties, which is more than I can say for any other NAMers.

Look at these girls!! After my sake-bomb going away party.
I went out with a bomb.

I'm a schizophrenic, and so am I.

There are many different faces to the Carrie you all know and (usually) love.

This is Ahoy Carrie. 

There is Comedian Carrie, who laughs at her own jokes before she gets them out (and repeats them louder if no one laughs the first time).

There is Freakishly Positive Carrie, who believes everything happens for a reason and tries to help you see the silver lining in any situation (admittedly, she can be pretty annoying). 

There is Justify Carrie, who thinks you should do things that make you happy and can justify any bad decision from skipping a work out, drinking on a weekday or buying those new jeans you can’t afford (her law of division is genius).

There is Family Carrie, who is best friends with her sisters no matter how mean they are to her (she has a mental block on the years 1993-1997 and a strange hatred for Michael Bolton).

There is Social ADD Carrie, who typically starts a conversation at a party and leaves before the thought is complete to move onto another party-goer (she is clearly an offspring of Bob Keller).

This is Gator Fan Carrie. 

There is OCD Carrie, who only really comes out if something on her shelves is not in perfect order (Carreen somehow stayed friends with her throughout many redecorating disasters).

There is People Pleasing Carrie, who tries to do little things to help her friends and family just to try and make everyone happy (she likes when people are happy – what is wrong with that?).

There is Party-Hosting Carrie, who is really just Social ADD, OCD and People Pleasing Carrie combined (she often gives up and just turns into Drunk Carrie).

There is Drunk Carrie, who loves Chorizo Nachos and Cheetos, takes too many Red Stagg and Rumpy shots, falls asleep at the bar and begs for more meatball subs (her eyes apparently roll from time to time).

There is Hungry Carrie, who quite frankly is just a bitch.

There is Lazy Carrie, who hates washing her hair on Sundays, loves napping, and is really good at ordering in food (see her prior nap post).

Which leads us to I am really good at *fill in the blank* Carrie. This has ranged from kickball, interviewing, funneling beer, doing the Cupid Shuffle, and dating.  If you know her, you know she is actually not good at any of these things (Stay tuned for future posts for proof on some of these claims).  

Who is your favorite "Carrie?" Which ones have I missed? 

Wait...obviously I have missed Narcissistic Carrie, who writes an entire blog about herself and asks people to post. But seriously, please post. 

You know what makes me stop whining? Wine.

This week there have been a few tough moments: I have been sick, one of my BFs is going through a tough breakup, my power went out this morning while I was getting ready, my friend had her wallet stolen and Super Storm Sandy bitch-slapped the east coast. So today I would like to focus on the top 10 good things happening this week. In no particular order...  

1. I changed my Modern Family calendar from October to November.
2. My friend, Michelle, is scheduled to have her baby ANY DAY NOW.
3. My sister, Kim, opened her first account at work.
4. My friend in NYC, Kate, survived Sandy without losing power, hope, or her mind.
5. I get to spend the weekend in Tinley Park cuddling by a fire with my beau, an Autumn ale, and my new Michael Kors sweater.
6. Halloween is over which means no more pictures of people carving pumpkins on Facebook.
7. I ran 2.5 miles yesterday.
8. I got my keypad to the Rogue fixed so I get to experience the joy of key-less entry again.  
9. Bob Keller is on vacation for the next week, which means I may be able to avoid a phone call on Tuesday asking me if I have voted for Romney yet.
10. I did not do ANY online shopping this week – miracle.

See? What a great week. I already have a good feeling about November! 

Marathon Pants

Yesterday I bought 2 pairs of pants, 7 shirts and 5 pairs of socks.

Before you judge, I should tell you that I got all of the above for $280, which means with “Carrie’s Law of Averages” that I basically paid $20 for each item. $20 for a pair of Paige designer jeans? I would say that’s a steal.

I admit that I have been on a little bit of a shopping binge these past few weeks. But with the weather getting colder, it just makes me want a fresh wardrobe to walk into fall and say, “What up falling leaves? Like my new boots?” This happens every season. Foreshadow: similar post to come in the Spring about my new wedges.

But every girl knows from watching too many Lifetime movies that with every binge comes a purge, and this week I decided to purge. I am a little bit of a hoarder when it comes to clothes, so I had to start gradually.

I started the purge first with what I like to call “The Camis and Jammies.” The camis were easy. No real attachment to those little guys. But the jammies were a different story. Can I just say that getting rid of t-shirts is more difficult than you would think…Remember that time I played kickball? Rode the rail? Ran a marathon (ok, a 5K)? There is a t-shirt for that. Taco Mac Passport Club – no way am I parting with that one. So I resulted in purging a few t-shirts I got for free from random events like concerts and Cubs games. Success. Moving to another segment of comfies – jammie pants. This is where I got a little emotional. I have officially purged my all-time favorite pair of jammie pants that I have had for 8 years. 

M-Co, I know these are your favorite. 
NOTE: These pants are not black, as they appear.  

This is the actual color of the pants. 
Annie - I KNOW you remember these.

These pants….sigh…have seen it all. Since Dance Marathon 2005, they have been through my college graduation, Sunday Fundays, vacations, breakups, sleepovers and probably some grocery shopping trips. They have lived in 7 different houses in 4 different cities. They lost their drawstring in year 3 after a dryer mishap, but were quickly brought back to life with a handy black ribbon and a safety pin. I know they look black in the picture, but most of my friends can vouch that they have somewhat of an unknown green color to them now.

After parting with those puppies, the rest was pretty easy. Some work tops, old suits, dresses I never wear, impulse purchases of most anything under $15. My sister, Kim, is moving to Chicago this month and will be starting a new corporate job, so I actually feel really good about being able to pass these things down to her. Everything is still in great condition, but over the years my shoes have gotten higher, which means my pants and skirts have gotten shorter, and so I think my 5’2” sis may have better use for my flood pants.

This 5' x 5' x 2' pile isn't even all of it.

The time has come. The Dance Marathon pants have officially been thrown in the garbage. But I better not hear anybody call them trash. 

Haaaaaave you met Will?

You know those ice breaker games that you pretend to hate, but you secretly stay up at night thinking about what your perfect answers would be? You know – questions like: If you could have any job in the world, what would it be? What are 5 things you can’t live without? If you were stranded on a desert island…you get the point. One question that sometimes comes up is “If you could have one super power, what would it be?” While I have recently decided to broaden my knowledge of super powers, I can say that my answer to this one is always pretty generic. My super power would be Flying, so I could visit my friends in other cities, see the world, blah blah blah. But today, I was thinking about it, and I change my answer.

If I could have one super power, I would like some Will Power. Now, I know that all you physically-fit and budget-conscience readers out there are thinking that this is not an actual “power” and that I didn’t understand the question. Will Power is something you are born with! Not so, or at least not this girl. Let’s look at some recent examples:

• When I woke up this morning, I decided that for breakfast I was going to have egg whites with tomatoes. I actually had a sugary coffee drink and an egg wrap with cheese and some sort of "artichoke spread." For those of you that don't know, "spread" is code for "creamy calories." So my wrap had "artichoke creamy calories" spread all over it. 
• I decided last week I was giving up caffeine. Please see above for recent coffee intake.
• For lunch I scheduled a salad sans dressing – Instead, I just finished a mayo-filled chicken salad sandwich and a delicious oatmeal and chocolate chip cookie.
• I hit snooze on my alarm from 5:20am until 7:20am and missed working out this morning. I also did that yesterday, the day before, last week, last month, and 98% of last year.
• I purchased 2 new pairs of shoes about 10 minutes after posting the facebook status, “Must. Stop. Buying. Shoes.” Those were 2 of 7 pairs of shoes I bought last week.

You get the point. I just was not born with any Will Power. So I guess until someone finds a way to package that up and sell it online with free shipping/free returns, I will just continue on my internal struggle with ol’ WP. And maybe, one day, I will Just. Say. No.