A Love Affair With Zappos

What other website could I go to a few days before a wedding and get a dress online and in time?  Ummm Zappos!  Yes, they aren't just about shoes, people.

I have been a devoted Zappos customer for years.  I'm not the only one that shares such a love for them (I'm thinking of you, Laura!).  A few months ago I ordered some new Asics running shoes from Zappos...only to have them become damaged...as in the interior of the shoes started to get some large holes (hard to explain).  I called Zappos to see what they could do.  Umm no problem, they said.  They proceeded to ship me another pair overnight, told me I have a few weeks to send back my old pair (free), and upgraded my account to VIP meaning everything is one day shipping.  I think Zappos used to have universal one day shipping but now "regular" accounts have to wait a few days?  Who knows?  They're still a ton faster than places like Macy's and Ann Taylor.  I'm a VIP!  Yes, lame. 

The quest for the perfect "guest at a wedding" dress began weeks ago for me....yes, this is kind of the usual process.  I tend to research things a little too much...translated to I'm a really picky shopper and not all dresses fit me well (thanks hips, legs, and butt) so I scour websites until my eyes go bleary.  My devoted research backfired a few times...just when I had looked at every dress on a website and shopped the price elsewhere, when I would go to order, I was informed it was sold out.  This happened at least three times.  Mark laughed.  The websites I looked at were: Nordstrom, Macy's, Overstock, SmartBargains, Bloomingdale's, Zappos...I think there were a few others. 

Yes I could just wear some of the cocktail/evening dresses I have worn before to events but what fun is that?  Plus this is a wedding in July so I needed a short and colorful dress...plus I think the wedding is going to be pretty formal. 

I was excited to have finally found a dress I liked online (because let's face it, it's nearly impossible to find evening dresses in stores).  This dress from Ralph Lauren looked so pretty...but with two weeks and $16.95 in shipping before it finally reached me, I said no.

I ordered this gorgeous dress (Calvin Klein) from Nordstrom only to have it fit tight across by ribcage - what the?!?  That's odd.  It also came up too high and close to my armpits...not ideal for this hot summer heat.

I came close to admitting defeat (especially after going to the mall today)...and thought I would just wear this dress I wore to another friend's wedding a few years ago (it's from Ann Taylor).  Yes that is me looking like a dancing fool.  This dress is my backup plan.

I am now about to order this dress (Tahari)...I love the color and unique tulip-type bottom.  Let's face it, this is probably as trendy as I will get.  I'm still trying to figure out why I always seem to get silk and satin-type dresses?!?! 

Let's hope it fits...if not, no worries thanks to Zappos.  I think I'll get this on Tuesday when I get home from work - such convenience.

Holy Crap It's Hot Out!

Our plan was to go to a local vineyard to listen to a jazz band tonight...ummm not so sure after looking at this:

Right Now

Forecast:

Partly Cloudy

Temperature:

96°F

Feels Like: 108°

Details:

Dangerous heat index. Outdoor exposure should be limited.

Past 24-hr:

Precip: 0 in Snow: 0 in

Wind:

From SSW at 7mph

Links:

 

Do you see that..."outdoor exposure should be limited"...I feel like a vampire that has to avoid the sun. 

Pilates/Yoga DVD Review #3 - Trudie Styler's Core Strength Pilates

Okay, let me just say that I LOVE this DVD workout by Trudie Styler (Sting's husband) and James D'Silva!  I did not care for their Yoga DVD as much, but this one...this one is really good. 

Source: Amazon

Granted, the reason I like it so much is because it combines Pilates and Yoga.  It's approximately an hour in duration and a perfect mix of easy, intermediate, and difficult moves.  Though, as an Amazon review pointed out, there aren't really any modifications for some of the moves...so you'll have to do the modifications on your own if needed.  Trudie and Styler are very flexible!

The stretching feels really good throughout the series while the leg, hips, and butt moves towards the end really test your strength.  But throughout the entire workout, everything is very smooth and not choppy.  There weren't nearly as many core and ab moves as you will find in other Pilates DVDs which is probably one of the only negatives.

Overall I give this DVD an 8/10...I may even buy it instead of requesting it from my library so often! 

Tucker Goes to the Beach!

...kind of!  My parents have a condo on the bay in Ocean City, Maryland - we're fortunate enough to go there whenever we want.  Since we rescued Tucker in September, this was his first trip to the "beach" that we know of...who knows if his previous owners have taken him to OCM.  Technically we never went to the literal "beach", but when you say you're "going to the beach/ocean" it just generally means you're going to Ocean City, MD.  Plus, I'm pretty sure dogs aren't allowed on the actual beach in the summer.  One day he'll get to experience some sand!  Surprisingly, Tucker behaved well in the car during the 3.5 hour drive.  Thank goodness...aside from some drool, all went well!

Isn't he cute?!?!  Doesn't seeing that water just put you in a relaxing state of mind?

A New Page...

I started my new job with the government last Tuesday.  I have survived a week!  Yay for no breakdowns too (like I had at my last job that I was only at for a few months - we'll call it "TL").

When I first accepted the position at TL they sent me a little notepad in my welcome package.  There were maybe 100 pages in said notepad...just the other day I used the last one as I wrote a grocery list.  It's ironic - it's like that part of my life is completely forgotten.  But I'm okay with that because I was only there a few months.  I met some nice people, but it wasn't the best fit.  A lot of people thought I was crazy to leave that job - I was making great money, reporting to a very senior person of a world-renowned organization, and had a brand new office that was huge (and overlooking the harbor) in a brand new building.

On the other hand, I still have tons of notepads with my name and info. from the job I was at for five years (we'll call it "KN").  I left KN to go to TL in February/March.  As corny as it sounds it makes sense that I still have all of those notepads because I was with that company for so long and it's been harder for me to let go.  Leaving the private sector in general has been hard, but leaving a company after five years...ouch!  I made such wonderful friendships, learned a ton, and had amazing responsibilities...but the good thing is that the friendships can be preserved.  

Do I miss the private sector?  Yes.  Am I happy with the government?  Yes.  Do I miss being downtown around all of the excitement of a city - being able to go to lunch anywhere, go shopping, go to happy hour, go to my awesome gym?  Yes.  Do I miss my commute?  Hell no.

My close friend/old boss that was at KN also left the private sector for the public sector - but he left a year ago.  He has been a wise source for advice during this transition.  He sincerely loves the government.  As he said, the government is not worse, it's not better...it's just different.  But as he points out, getting your life back via the government has to be one of the greatest things.  The stress levels and environments are key to this.  He has also pointed out that yes, the transition is very humbling.  Checking your ego is important even if you never had a huge ego to begin with.  It's easy to remember all of the good times (unlimited snacks and drinks, my own office, a brand new building that was envied by many, working with numbers and liking it) and not the bad times (the layoffs KN had, the "facetime", the "business comes first" mentality).

Stay tuned as I continue my journey with the government!

Tucker's Bedroom

The past few weeks we have noticed that Tucker doesn't sleep in our bedroom.  Mark and I thought this was odd considering what a velcro dog Tucker is (then again what golden isn't?!?!).  When we first rescued Tucker he used to sleep on our couch and bed all the time...no rules because Mark felt bad.  Eventually I broke Tucker of his couch privileges.

Then we worked on him being in bed...because realistically Mark and I aren't small and we only have a queen bed.  Oh and Tucker is 100+ pounds and long.  Trying to get him not to jump in bed with us was hard because he loves being with people.  When we were trying to break him of jumping on the bed he would run from Mark's side to my side all night.  He would get so upset.  Eventually he was okay.  Now Tucker only comes up on our bed if he's invited.  Even then it's only right before bed and when we wake up in the morning.  Okay, as corny as it sounds, Tuck now knows that it's a privilege to be in bed.  He will position himself in the best area so as to allow Mark and I room.  He sometimes gets excited and wants to show off so he'll roll on his back and kick his legs in the air.  What a sweet dog!


Getting back to the original point of this post...we had noticed Tucker wasn't in our room in any of his favorite spots.  Did I mention that Tucker avoids the ~$100 dog bed I bought from L.L.Bean?  It's an extra large and a kick-ass bed.  The cats love it.  Tucker...not so much.  He will lay his head on it some nights.  If he's really tired he will retreat to it but he never stays on it.

I digress...one night we wondered where Tucker was.  We got worried to be honest.  Mark eventually found him in our guest bedroom on the other side of our house, on the bed.  Ever since then Tucker seems to make his way to that room every night at some point.  Sometimes he sleeps on the floor but more than likely he makes himself comfortable on the bed.  No need to worry, we would not allow this with guests...and we wash the sheets!

When I told Mark that we needed to stop Tuck from going on that bed, he said, "Why?  I'm so happy he's doing it!"  I looked at him with a puzzled face.  Mark continued, "I love that he's doing it because he's becoming more independent and comfortable here."  Awww so sweet!

Restuarant Review: Pairings in Bel Air, MD

A few weeks ago, Mark and I went to Pairings to celebrate our anniversary.  Every year we usually go to La Scala in Little Italy (downtown), where we had our rehearsal dinner.  However, I'm not working downtown anymore, so we decided to stay local. 

The concept of Pairings is that they have an extensive wine selection that you can pair with your food.  The restaurant came highly recommended from a former co-worker of mine, so I thought we would have a great time.  I thought wrong. 

When we went to the restaurant on a Wednesday night, there were only two other parties in the entire restaurant.  The restaurant itself is small and set up in a way that does not correlate to its overpriced food. 

Since this restaurant had an extensive wine selection, you would have thought the server would make recommendations.  Nope.  She stood there with a sourpuss on her face as I asked about the different wine samplers.  I opted for a traditional Sauvignon Blanc and Mark had a glass of Pinot Noir. 

Mark and I both ordered cream of crab soup ($8/each).  The soup came with one, yes one, lump of crab.  They actually put it on your spoon and point it out.  Ummm odd.  Hello, we're in Maryland, it's crab season and you're giving us cream of crab that has one lump of crabmeat in it? 

I continued the crab trend by ordering the crab cake ($25).  Yes that's singular, one cake. In reality, it looked like it was the only thing I would like on the menu aside from the steak.  My crab cake came with some fennel slaw (no thanks) and sweet potato fries (okay).  What an overpriced meal.  The crab cake was small and burnt on the bottom.  The taste of the unburnt portions was okay...but really, $25 for that?!?!  I could get a bigger crab cake for that price in DC.  

Mark opted for a salad with seared tuna ($9.5 I think).  The tuna was decent according to Mark, but the rest of the salad was horrible.  It was saturated in soy sauce...yes soy sauce was apparently the dressing (not described as such on the menu). 

At this point we chose not to get dessert.  Our servers were ignoring us despite us being right there in their view.  They opted to spend more time cleaning up their bar and talking to the other two tables (I guess they were regulars).  It seemed like torture for the one server to refill my water glass. 

Having been a server at many restaurants and one country club, I can empathize with servers when they're in the weeds...I can't empathize when they just provide crappy service. 

Overall, what a horrible, overrated, and overpriced way to spend an anniversary.  We will never go back.  There are better places to go to and we wish we had, but you have to try new places.