Back at the Buxx

Yesterday was my first day at my new Starbucks in Phoenix. It’s at the corner 7^th Ave and Missouri, and is only a few blocks away from where I am going to live. So that’s nice. I had been in there a couple times before to get my schedule, but only a couple of the people I met those times were there, so I got to meet new people. I can’t tell you how nervous I was. Not only was it a brand new store with brand new people, but I haven’t worked at all in 2 and a half weeks, and it’s definitely a job you get rusty at. So there was that.

My first shift was a short one, which I was thankful for. Easier to get back in the swing of things. I got there about 15 minutes early and talked to the ASM (assistant store manager, Shelby) for a little while. She told me I was going to be up front which was both relieving and nerve racking at the same time. I think in my 10+ months at Morrissey I worked up front less than 5 times. It was like, in theory I knew everything that had to be done, but I had never actually done it in practice. Their way of doing the coffee cadence is weird. They only use one brewer the whole morning, and the bold coffee is all the way on the other side of the store. I was extremely confused at first, but I finally got it.  And I was just completely lost at doing the pastry case.  Because not only did I RARELY even have to touch the pastry case at Morrissey, but they do that differently here, too.  Anyway, I was thankful to not have to be on bar on my first day. They have different espresso machines here, so someone is going to have to show me how to use them. There was me not even knowing how to work the machines, and like I said, super rusty. So even though I was not that familiar with running the front, I am thankful for the ease back into the routine.

The people are really nice so far. I wish I weren’t so shy when I first meet people, but I know I’ll get over it soon. I’m looking forward to that. Hopefully I can get along with these new partners even a fraction of how I fit in with my Morrissey family. In the meantime I’m trying to force myself to mix in with people faster, talking to customers more and things like that. Sean, my manager, took about 45 minutes to sit and talk with me and get to know me, and that was really nice.

Overall, I think I did a pretty good job. Being at a store in a big city is intimidating coming from the slowest store in a city about a fifth of the size of this one (I don’t know if that’s accurate, but you get the point). I think my biggest problem was that I felt this unrealistic pressure to be knowledgeable and on top of the routine, which is an almost impossible expectation to have on myself. I know I didn’t feel like that when I first started; I guess I just wanted to be impressive. They do things a lot differently, and it’s just going to take some getting used to. I know that I learned quickly at Morrissey, so I hope this doesn’t take too much longer. Breaking habits is harder than creating them, though. I am just really excited to be back at work. It felt so weird not working for as long as I have; especially after 70 hour work weeks this summer. Staying positive, and being open to new things is what I’m focusing on.

I sure do miss everyone at Morrissey though…. A lot.

The Help

Well the first movie I saw on my own in my new life in Arizona was The Help. I loved it.  I haven’t read the book, but my mom did, and her reaction to it is what made me interested in this movie. The previews made it seem really cheeky, which I’m normally not in to, but the cheeky-ness really made this movie fun. It had a really good mix of comedic relief along with the heavy core of the story line. It wasn’t cheesy that much really, but it was very smart comedy. I think that civil rights movies are so interesting. Those southerners sure were CRAZY. The Help really was held up by really remarkable performances. All of the housewives were great. They weren’t just one dimensional, and Bryce Dallas Howard was fantastic as Hilly. Her superiority complex and openly racist performance really was brave. And she did a great job of being a stuck-up b*tch. What I was really happily surprised by was Emma Stone. I never really expected her to be in this type of movie. I love her, but I never really thought she could carry a movie with a serious message. You couldn't even recognize her scratchy voice, and she sounded very natural with a southern accent. Everyone did a great job in this movie; the cast was very well-selected. Viola Davis was very charming, and her and Octavia Spencer make you feel like you're their friend. They're completely relatable, and I truly felt for them.  This really was a great movie. I had a great time watching it, and kind of want to go see it again.  

There's Disaster Afoot!

        And even "disaster" is sort of an understatement. Where to begin? I guess I'll just go in order of how I found these things out.
      
        Moving is freaking expensive. Not only is there a lot of buying that has to be done if it's your first big move like it is for me, but finding someone to take your things cross-country is not cheap! U-haul was about $2000 to rent the truck for three days, and on top of that, the mover has to load it, unload it, drive it, and pay for gas (12mpg)! Then we thought maybe a POD, but that was $5000. To save money, my mom settled on a moving company called Colonial Van Lines. This ended up being a BIG mistake. First, they were supposed to pick my stuff up between 3pm and 5pm on Wednesday, and be delivered to my home in Phoenix between Monday and Wednesday (the 8th-10th). But, Wednesday at 5pm rolls on by, then six....they end up showing up at 7pm. That's not even the best part, at least they got my stuff. On Friday morning the movers called and said they would tell us when the truck left Chicago and then they could give me an estimated delivery date. DAYS pass, and still no call. Finally, on Wednesday (Doomsday), my mom called them, and they gave us an estimated delivery date.... wait for it... the 17th-19th! That's AFTER school starts, AFTER I start work, and everything I own is on that truck. I even need to buy new work clothes.  (If you have a few minutes, read the reviews for this company). So, that's that awfulness of this move, but that's definitely not the worst part.

       The worst part came to our attention on Wednesday, about a half hour before I had to take my mom to the airport. I took Carl out to go to the bathroom, and while I was on my way back in, a man called me over to talk to him. I knew that something was wrong as soon as he talked to me. Basically, he told me that I wasn't allowed to have Carl there. There is a 25 lb weight limit, obviously Carl is way more than 25 lbs. I just told him that I've seen other big dogs, and he replied with "those dogs are 'grandfathered' in." So I just told him I was babysitting Carl until Labor Day. This was absolutely devastating, as I'm sure you can imagine. And it was made all the more worse because my mom was leaving within two hours. While I cried, my mom started making phone calls to see what we could do. We did know about this rule a while ago, but our realtor told us that HOAs don't enforce those rules if you own, and then we saw a German Shepard there, so that just reinforced that idea. This was a huge mistake. But who else are you supposed to trust other than your realtor? It's their job to know these types of things. When he showed us the house, he knew very well how big Carl is and that he was coming with me. That is the most frustrating part of this: that we were so mislead by a realtor. And what really sucks is that I don't feel welcome or comfortable over there anymore, so I haven't spent any time there. I hate that this happened, because I really love it there, and we put so much work and money into it. It's a really huge hit. It kind of feels like this whole move has been f*cked since jump street. But I'm determined to stay positive. Since that first day, I've been doing a lot better. It feels like way longer ago than it was.

The not redone bathroom

Living room/Dining room area

         Basically, our only solution is to find another place to live. Today I went to look at one place. It was supposed to be two, but the second place didn't have a key to it, so I have to wait until they get a key. This place was so nice! It's like completely redone on the inside, with all tile floors. The only room in the house that wasn't redone was the master bathroom, which is kind of strange to me, but oh well. It's a lot smaller than my place now, and it's all on one level, but it's a lot newer on the inside than my place now. I'm going to look at a couple more places before I make any decisions, but I really do like this place. Here are a few pictures:

Awesome redone bathroom

The kitchen!

Here it goes...

        Last Friday, I left my hometown of Bloomington to start over again in Arizona. We started at 6am, stopped at my Starbucks for some coffee and for me to say my last goodbyes to everybody, then we were really on our way. The night before, I saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes at midnight, so I was running on about two hours of sleep, BUT I could NOT fall asleep, as much as I tried. So that was rough. My mom and I had a good time on the drive though. Carl did pretty well, too. It took him about an hour to finally settle down for real, and he seemed pretty comfortable.....  Thennn we were in the car for 16 hours. In the first day we went all the way to Amarillo, Texas. I felt so bad for Carl. He basically looked like those dogs that are on the Sarah McLachlan commercials; like we have been neglecting him his whole life. I can't blame him though, it was blisteringly hot, he probably was bored out of his mind, and he just had no idea what was going on. Before this, he had only been in the car for a half hour at a time. I was definitely worried about him.

          I drove for 5 hours (which I know is not fair, but it was so hard driving that long!), and I think I had the worst part of the drive. I had to drive from somewhere between Ft. Leonardwood and Joplin, MO to Oklahoma City. OK City was so stressful. The signs for the highways were so misleading, plus it was rush hour. No fun. Anyways, we finally made it to Amarillo that night, and at the hotel Carl was finally starting to act normal (a huge relief, by the way). The next day, we started early again, and FINALLY made it to Arizona around 5pm, after about 12 hours of driving. The drive was looong, and frankly, not very interesting landscape-wise. I had pictures, but unfortunately deleted the majority of them on accident.

          Anyways, so I'm here in Arizona. Saturday, naturally, we were exhausted from the drive, and we just spent the night in. Carl got here and felt right at home; he was so happy, which made me happy. Sunday, we did a bunch of shopping. I got my new TV and some stuff from Target. I have to admit, shopping that day was a little overwhelming and quite rushed. So, I'm glad that on Monday, after taking Barbara to the airport (she'll be in Michigan/New York until Labor Day), we did even MORE shopping. Ikea was first, where we got these super cool bookcases and fantastic lamps. I love those lamps. Then to Target, again, and later we went to Office Max for school supplies, and PetSmart for a few things for Carl. Tuesday was building day. We took Carl to the house with us, and spent the entire day building and putting things together. My uncle and I worked on the entertainment center for FOUR hours! Ridiculous. Here's some pictures of things put together and in there (almost) rightful place. 

 <--This is my dining room area; the lamps on the sides are my awesome IKEA Rutbo lamps.
--> And these are my bookcases from IKEA also.

<-- My kitchen with some of my stuff in it.

 --> My living room (thats the entertainment center I slaved away over for 4 hours) Below is a closer look so you can really appreciate it. haha

That's basically what's been done so far! Sent my mom home yesterday, went to a movie, and then today I've just been hanging out all day. There is a LOT more to tell, but I'll save that for other posts!

Lauren

I'm baaack!

      So, over the summer, I definitely lost motivation to write about the movies I have seen. And, I haven't been watching that many movies anyway due to my two full-time jobs. I am determined, however, to keep up with this blog starting... two sentences ago. So I am going to keep people updated about my new experiences in Arizona as well as talk about some movies that I've seen.
    
    

The Name of this Movie is Salo....

OR 120 Days of Sodom. The title alone would deter normal people from watching it. Not me. I found it on a list of the most disturbing films ever made, and I was immediately intrigued by the plot. For some reason, the movies on that list really made me want to watch them. To see if they truly are disturbing. I have been disappointed by some of the films on that list, but NOT this one. This was really one of the most horrifying, disgusting, weird, and (fittingly) disturbing movies I've ever seen. It was definitely hard to watch, and I will admit that I couldn't watch the last ten minutes. It is about this group of Nazis who kidnap 18 teenagers and basically torture them (for, I guess, 120 days). The things that happen after that are extremely bizarre. I feel uncomfortable even describing what goes on. It was hard to understand exactly what was going on. Not only was it in Italian, but the characters were so far out of the realm of anything I have ever seen before. It was hard to believe it. They were are disturbing. There is really no other word for it.

It's Been a While...

I have not been able to eloquently articulate how I have felt about the movies I've seen in the past three weeks, so I just haven't been writing. I have been watching (mostly) really good movies lately, however. Since I last wrote, I've seen (for the first time):

• Outrage- A documentary showing the hypocrisy of closeted gay politicians. Extremely interesting, and I suggest that you watch it. They spotlighted specific politicians, which I liked, and they showed their voting records when it comes to gay rights. The numbers were disgusting. Gay people voting against gay marriage, or equal tax benefits, is absolutely insane. I also liked it because it had a very positive message encouraging people to come out. Be proud!! You can do much more good if you are yourself!
• Natural Born Killers- I've been interested in this movie for a long time. I'm not exactly sure why I never got around to watching it, but I'm glad I did. I really enjoyed it. It was so weird, dark, and also extremely funny. The editing of this movie was probably the most interesting part. It was like no other movie I've ever seen. Also, the writing and the acting were amazing as well. I recommend this one too, but not to the faint of heart. 
• Antichrist- I found this movie on a list of most disturbing films, and it definitely deserves place on that list. Parts of it were hard to watch, but it's one of those movies that I couldn't stop thinking about after I watched it. There are so many layers to it. Watch it so that we can talk about it together!
• Bridesmaids- So good and so funny. It was way more than just a stupid comedy or chick-flick, and that's why I think it was so good. I want to watch it again when I'm in a better mood than I was, but still, not even a bad mood could make this movie not funny. So many memorable moments. I love Judd Apatow movies!
• 25th Hour- This is another movie I got from that list of most disturbing movies, and I have to say, I was disappointed. Maybe it takes a lot for me to get disturbed, but mostly this movie was just boring. I love Edward Norton, too, so this was really sad. The highlight was one monologue that he did. I don't know how it could be perceived as disturbing. I don't get it.
• The Last King of Scotland- I enjoyed this movie a lot. Too bad I missed about 40 minutes altogether due to DVD skipping. (Damn you, Netflix). From what I saw though, it was very good. I was riveted, and Forest Whitaker was brilliant. The craziness of his character was both laughable and disturbing. I want to get it again so that I can watch the entire thing.