professional development/the developing professional

I'm going to do something I really have tried hard not to do here. I'm going to talk about work on the blog. 

Sure, I've made passing references to it, but I intentionally keep details vague and don't talk too much about it. Just a personal choice. Lately, though, I've been dealing with a lot as my promotion/transition has transpired, my boss has headed off to a foreign country for months to finalize his adoption, and I've gained a staff who is somehow both my responsibility and not my direct report. 

This has posed a challenge for me. I'm more than capable of balancing a fuller workload than I'm used to these days...after two years of public accounting, I can handle pretty much anything that gets piled on my plate in that regard. What I'm struggling with is working to establish credibility in a role I wouldn't usually have until several years further down the road. I've been positioned such that I'm much younger than people who I am expected to manage, in a company that doesn't always understand what us young'uns have to contribute to the picture. My staff, in particular, isn't loving the fact that she reports to "a baby," as she's charmingly termed it. 

I will be the first to acknowledge that I have a ton to learn. Your average twenty-five year old doesn't know it all, and I happily admit that. It grows difficult, though, when I have to balance credibility and authority with maintaining my usual likeability. I'm facing down some challenges with being taken seriously, and trying to learn to deliver constructive criticism and negative feedback to people who started at the company when I was still in high school. Add to that the fact that I'm the doormat-iest of doormats, and all things negative are anathema to me. 

I consider myself a patient, accommodating, easygoing person, and I've gotten great feedback on being knowledgeable, efficient and easy to work with. I hope to carry that all forward into my next step at my company, but I also need to be taken seriously. I'm going to have to face that, and gain the skills to confront the unpleasant aspects of advancing fast as a young person in a very old-school company. 

Here's to this developing professional finding her feet...looking forward to continuing the learning experience!

Lately I'm Loving

Things making me smile/on my mind/causing distraction these days: 

--Laura sent me the link to Emily McDowell's utterly lovely shop at work the other day. Productivity was instantly killed. Favorite? Her "About Me" page, where she states, "We think funny and pretty don't have to be mutually exclusive." I agree, Emily, I agree. I for sure want a print and a humorous reusable grocery bag...in addition to EVERYTHING ELSE. 

--Minneapolitans (and others) may remember this obituary, which went viral on social media back in November. Through other news articles, I found Aaron's wife Nora's blog, My Husband's Tumor, and fell down a rabbit hole of devastatingly honest, heartrendingly beautiful writing that I didn't tear myself away from until I'd read the entire site start to finish. If you need a reaffirmation of the resiliency and grace of the human spirit, check it out and stay forever. 

--It is with heavy heart that I have to report that two of my fave brunch locales have closed their doors: Boneyard has shuttered after only nine months in its Uptown Hennepin location, and Spill the Wine has also folded. I'm naturally devastated. Fortunately, there are a few openings that have raised my spirits: slotting right into Boneyard's vacancy is Salsa a la Salsa, which used to be a date night mainstay; The Third Bird right across Loring Park from me is garnering rave reviews, and I loved my visit to the big, new, gorgeous Surly Taproom!

--With my rampant Francophilia in full swing in advance of our trip to Paris in May, I'm spending way too much time dreaming of all things French. When Em pointed me to the Instagram account of the Chateau de Gudanes, "j'ai flippé le shit," colloquially (and incorrectly) speaking. An Australian couple purchased this decrepit Sleeping Beauty of a French château and commenced renovating it with as much historical accuracy as possible. I've loved following along on Insta as well as through their oh-so-charmante blog. 

--Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and my world has exploded into happy clouds of pink and hearts and glitter accordingly. This is my first single Valentine's Day in a long time, and I've already got my plans set in stone to make it the best in years...but how cute is this girly brunch by Lauren Conrad, or this pretty "friendship fete" by The Everygirl? It makes me want to unleash my inner Martha Stewart in a big way. 

Weekend Update

January ended and February began with subzero temperatures, a lot of wind, and a remarkably fun, relaxing weekend for me! 

On Friday, I ditched out of work ridiculously early, which turned out to be totally lucky because I had debit card fraud. Cue total panicked freakout when my card wouldn't work at the parking ramp pay machine...two hours, an irrational amount of stress, and a sweet and helpful banker at Wells Fargo later, all sorted out, and the jerk who tried to book a B&B in Liverpool on my dime should get a life. Thankfully, I had great plans with Claire to look forward to! 

My mom and I were planning to go to the Minnesota Orchestra's Shakespeare Winterfest together, but she had to go have a blast in Ohio for my little bro's fraternity moms' weekend. Claire was a champ and joined me for dinner, drinks and music despite being in the thick of a public accounting busy season! We started the evening with wine at my apartment, then headed to Masa for to-die-for tacos and the most delicious margarita I've had in a long time (and a mojito for Claire!). 

The performance was "Star-Crossed Lovers" themed, and featured Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev's versions of "Romeo and Juliet" bookending the Symphonic Dances from "West Side Story." I loved it--the Tchaikovsky is one of my all-time favorites with the iconic love theme and stirring strings, and the Prokofiev was a shocking surprise. It was Claire's first orchestra and it was so much fun to get to go with a girlfriend! We also ran into one of my other Notre Dame favorites, Pat, at intermission...it was so nice to catch up a bit!

Saturday started off with a quiet, productive morning, then I headed to the 'burbs to meet up with my Papa Bear! We tooled around home, ran some errands, and decided to go brewery hopping...one of my favorite new weekend activities! First stop: the giant, stunning new Surly Taproom near Dinkytown: 

Dad sampled Surly Hell and Surly Cynic, while I went a bit more out there with the Surly Cacao Bender, an espresso-hopped stout. 

After a lot of people-watching and marveling at the beautiful (jam-packed) facility, we went a bit more cozy and swung by Indeed. 

Here, I tried out the "Derailed Series Peloton Saison," which was mildly sour with a tart, almost spicy finish. Padre kept things a bit more basic with the Winter Ale on nitro...he shared a taste with me, and it was super reminiscent of the delicious, fresh-as-can-be Guinness at the Dublin factory. All tapped out (pun SO intended), we headed home for a great night of homemade bolognese, a few games of pool, and a viewing of "The Marathon Man." 

We woke up on Sunday with a hankering for brunch and a few inches of snow on the ground, so we kept things local and tried out the breakfast offerings at the Burnsville location of Lucky 13's Pub. Their Bloody Mary was fantastic...

...as was the "Breakfast Juicy Lucy Eggs Benedict." Um, yes. Picture, if you will, a cheese-stuffed sausage patty on an English muffin, topped with more cheese, a perfectly fried egg, and Hollandaise, and then add a side of cheesy hash browns. And that's breakfast. I would've popped had I tried to clean my plate.

Fully in a food coma, we returned home, marathoned "Property Brothers" and made fun of everyone on the show, watched a ton of Super Bowl pre game festivities, and played more pool. I headed back toward the Cities right after halftime, and caught the tail end from my apartment...what a great finish to a game that was way more interesting than last year's rout! 

Call me an old lady, but I had such a great time hanging out and relaxing. Keeping things low-key was the perfect way to end my least favorite month...especially because February is already shaping up to be full of amazing plans and festivities!

101 in 1001 #31: Go one month without shopping.

Anyone who really knows me (or has seen my closet) knows I'm a fairly certifiable shopaholic. My affinity for J.Crew has become a byword among friends, who love to tease me about it, and having a mom and sister (not to mention brother, who might be the worst of us) who share my addiction hardly helps matters. 

With a fairly hefty rent to pay, though, and two international trips plus plenty of domestic travel on the books for 2015, I need to start making smarter money decisions, and one of the easiest areas to pare back my frivolous spending would be reducing shopping. Plus, what better way to kick off 2015 than with a little extra money in my bank account and a detox from one of my favorite addictions? So here goes nothing, I decided: January would be my shopping-free month. As the month progressed, I decided to chronicle the ups and downs in a sort of serial blog diary to see how it went, what the challenges were, and ultimately whether I could stick to it: 

January 2: Back at work. Just realized how often I online-window-shop in my spare time at the office...I can't decide if I should cut that out to reduce temptation, or if I should just consider it an exercise of my iron willpower. Jury's still out. 

January 3: After spending several hours doing laundry, I really don't think I need more clothes. The problem is I'm so loath to get rid of clothes I've loved, even if the love affair is dying a bit. I always think of JUST ONE OUTFIT that piece would be perfect for...then I never actually wear it and it's a moot point. 

January 5: During the "Bachelor" premiere, I ended up online-shopping Anthro (browsing only!) and got weirdly obsessed with pretty pajamas. Didn't buy...really wanted to. 

January 6: Online retailer C.Wonder is going out of business, and their entire online stock is 50% off. There's this adorable pair of smoking slippers that I would adore...but where would I really wear red velvet smoking slippers with a foot of snow on the ground in January? Resisted.

January 8: Trying to convince myself that shopping for my apartment doesn't count as shopping, but being honest with myself, it does. Because I really want to finish my gallery wall and there are a few prints on Etsy that I'm obsessing on...

January 9: I went in Anthropologie and didn't buy anything. Willpower growing. 

January 11: I spent most of the afternoon shopping with Claire and came dangerously close to breaking my month off for, in order: a great Express circle skirt, a yellow coat and a powder-blue coat at Macy's, a perfect ponte dress at Banana Republic, and a polka-dot blouse at Loft. STILL stuck to the no-shopping thing, but it was seriously not fun. 

January 13: DAMNIT. J.Crew Factory has a popback of the most gorgeous emerald green wool dress that I wanted and wanted for work, but it sold out in my size before I could order it...and it's on clearance for $48.99. Resist, resist, RESIST............

January 19: Honestly, the longer I've gone without shopping, the easier it's gotten. I do, however, have an obscenely long list of things I "need" to buy in February...mostly replacements for basics in my wardrobe that have gotten really tired. My white button-down is looking a little dingy, my favorite skinny jeans are faded and saggy, and I should really get rid of about ten pairs of underwear and replace them with something that doesn't say "VS PINK" in glitter on the ass. 

January 28: This is going to sound really weird, coming from me: I'm not even really wanting to shop once this month-long sabbatical ends. Sure, there are things I probably should buy, as mentioned above, but the desire to just go browse and touch things and be a consumer has waned for me in a big way. I'm liking the way that not spending money on clothes has freed up a little extra flex room in my budget...and it's forcing me to be more creative with the (obscene amount of) clothes I already have. 

February 1: I did it. No shopping, 30 days clean and still counting. It's funny reading back over the early days of this admittedly silly challenge I set myself...especially because by the end of the month, any desire I had to go shopping has drastically abated. Not going to lie, I still browse online for cute clothes on my lunch break, and I'm totally looking forward to buying a cute new sundress for my trip to Mexico, but all things considered, I'm going to consider this shopaholic reformed! 

To check out the rest of my 101 in 1001, click here!

Bookworm: January 2015

“Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another's skin, another's voice, another's soul.” -Joyce Carol Oates

To quote my beloved Olaf the Snowman in "Frozen," "Winter's a good time to stay in and cuddle..."...up with a book. I read The Notebook this month randomly because it seems like something every basic girl should have read...and oh my god, I hated it. Thank goodness for redeeming literature, including Pulitzer Prize-winning Blonde and the fascinating profile of Reagan and LBJ that Mike let me borrow, to get that bad taste out of my memory! As for re-reads...if you haven't read The Night Circus,  I can't recommend it highly enough. This is my fifth re-read in about 2 years...I just love it. 

Loved: 

Blonde, Joyce Carol Oates

Enjoyed: 

The Boston Girl, Anita Diamant

Landslide: LBJ and Reagan at the Dawn of a New America, Jonathan Darman (#2 of my five biographies for #76 in my 101 in 1001 list!)

I am Madame X, Gioia Diliberto

Tolerated: 

The Notebook, Nicholas Sparks

Godiva: A Novel, Nicole Galland

Re-reads:

The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern