friday funnies

Something that I think is funny now-a-days is seeing my girlfriends post super passive-aggressive comments on social media - I literally laugh for a minute, and then get kind of sad. Sure, I've been there... we were all in our 20's at one point, amiright? However, I believe that was a phase I grew out of. Kind of wish everyone around me would, too. When I was the ripe age of 25 I was dating a super attractive, super talented man. I had definitely won the partner-looks-lottery, as the guy I was dating was that attractive. I had not quite come to the reality of knowing that what I was posting online was kinda there permanently, also my words were there for everyone to read. Said super-attractive guy and I would disagree on things, I would get upset, post some stupid passive aggressive cluster of words online, and not think twice. Well, not until his sister-in-law would then read, misinterpret, and then find it necessary to explain to said super-attractive-guy what she thought I said. Does that make sense? Ok, good. Moral of that story is, if you don't want to be misinterpreted - or look like a complete asshole - you should probably refrain from posting passive aggressive comments on social media. Its just that simple.

Sure it happens from time-to-time- you just have to let the internet know you're having a bad day, or you just really want the internet to know that you do not agree with so-and-so's marriage, or that you cannot believe what "someone who will remain nameless" said to you the other night. It happens, I get it. But maybe the internet shouldn't get it.. maybe that should have been a phone call to your bestie, or a text to the person who will relentlessly listen to you complain about every aspect of life (also known as your pabf- passive aggressive best friend). Whoever the human is you are telling about the issues - they are much better at receiving these messages versus the internet. Just a thought :)

Happy Friday!

-S

time and people

Howdy. The freakin' weeken' is in our midst, and what do you have to show for it? Hopefully something enjoyable, relaxing, and/or adventurous. I've been doing a lot of reflecting today, as I have been having a difficult time with that lately. Reflection is such a necessary part of my routine for multiple reasons: it allows me to process everything on my mind, I start to recognize patterns in my behavior, and ultimately I can identify opportunities in my every day decision making and life. Two things that have been on my mind a lot are time and people. A little over a year ago I accepted a job working in a well known retailer's corporate office. Having no real corporate office experience, I quickly picked up on a lot of new behaviors and personal opportunities. The successful people are quick and nimble, extremely organized, manage their time well and respect others time as if it were their own. They say "good morning!" before they ask favors first thing. They remember important things about you, things that make you happy. Most importantly, they listen to what others have to say and when presented with a situation in which they can aid, they find creative solutions and seek what is best for not themselves - but what is best for the business.

I think a lot of lessons learned at work or in any professional setting can be applied directly to other aspects of your life. I've always valued working directly with amazing leaders, driven peers, and the most inspirational people around. My personal friendships do not fall very far from that tree. I would like to think that my friends are the cream-of-the-creative-crop. I have a lot of extremely talented and extraordinary people in my life, and for that I am grateful. I am always learning something new from someone I love, and that is what life is all about to me.

If you think about your time as a pie chart, you can quickly see the majority of your time being taken up. Sleep, work, eat, repeat, am I right? But I think what we are doing with the tiny chunks of time between the major blocks is what is most important. Who you choose to spend your time with, who you choose to talk to on a daily basis, who you choose to spend the rest of your life with.. these people are important. Obviously. So, who are you choosing to listen to? Whose advise are you taking? Who have you been texting all day? Sometimes I like to take some time and step back and really think about who is exactly getting the most intimate details of my life, and why them? Am I giving away my time to the right people? Most of the time the answer is "no shit, I am giving my time to the right people" - but it is always a good thing to evaluate from time to time.

Anyway, I am working a super top-secret project right now that I cannot wait to update everyone on! All I can say is, I think I will be always be a hopeless romantic. And I am perfectly fine with that. Now listen to this song and enjoy your evening <3

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrcnZHCr04E[/embed]

Happy Saturday, y'all!

-S

The Birthday Party Project

Working at JCPenney is rewarding in different ways. One of those ways is that they let us give back to the community by various projects. This month we partnered with the Birthday Party Project and went to celebrate some awesome kid's birthdays one afternoon. We were gathered into two rows of equally excited adults, facing one another with our arms outstretched forward and above our heads. The lady by the door says "here they come!" and we start cheering and chanting "Happy Birthday!!" as the kids run through the tunnel of bodies and arms.. it was such a rush.

One thing I genuinely love about the company I work for is their passion for volunteerism and giving back to the community. A few weeks ago at one of our weekly divisional meetings, Paige Chenault came and spoke to us about The Birthday Party Project. If you have not heard about this organization, I strongly urge you to click the link above and learn more. They work with more than 10 agencies in the Dallas/Ft Worth area to provide birthday parties for the children staying in the shelters during that time. They go to each shelter once a month, twelve months a year. They have been celebrating community birthdays since January of 2012, recognizing over 500 birthdays- and counting- to date. My co-workers and I got play with and love on a lot of kiddos yesterday. We ran around on the playground, painted mini-canvas's, made sand-art necklaces, creatively designed pillow cases, ate cupcakes & had the best of times.

The most memorable moment for me yesterday was when we were walking toward the car, after the party was over and one of my co-workers says, "we should help that lady cross the street." We all three ran over to this woman who was not only carrying a pretty good size box of gifts- but she also had two little ones in tow. We greeted her and told her we would help her cross the street, I grabbed the box and my two co-workers got on either side of the woman and her children as we crossed the street together. She gave us a very warm, heartfelt thank you as her daughter came over and grabbed on to my leg and squeezed. She looked up and said, "thank you for my birthday." I could feel the water in my eyes get heavy as she hugged my two co-workers. Her brother was right behind her with the hugs and the thank-yous. The kindest, most appreciative children you would have ever met. Completely made my day.

I can honestly say that my heart is very full right now, and I am very grateful for the family and life that I have. There is nothing more rewarding in life than to know that you've made someone else's day brighter.

Until next time.

-S

Serving Your Community: Help-Portrait: Denton

This was taken from a blog I managed before I stumbled upon this site :)[vimeo 84651817 w=500 h=281]

Video by: Ryan Polly

Hi, friends! I recently had the opportunity to work with an amazing group of people in my area to make our first annual Help-Portrait:Denton event come to life. Help-Portrait is a nation wide event that takes place annually on December 6th. Unfortunately December 6th took place during the infamous DFW Icemageddon 2013, but that did not stop us! We decided to post-pone our event to a safer time for everyone to be out and it took place a little less than two weeks ago, on January 11th.

The Help-Portrait mission is simple – photographers from around the world grab their cameras, find people in need and take their pictures. Once the prints are ready, they are delivered for free.

This event is important and special to me on many levels and for many reasons. Help-Portrait is an event that allows people who have never met to come together and help serve the communities that they love and hold close to their hearts.

My role in the event was to help coordinate and organize donations, necessary paperwork, and to help secure a location for rescheduled event. Although I am not a photographer (or really all that creative, to be honest) I do have an administratively organized mind and as I was told during the event – that is necessary for someone to have. Denton is a great little town with some of the nicest people around, and that made it fairly easy to round up some things we needed to make this event successful (hair/make up donations, photo paper and ink, food for our guests, etc). I worked with a team of outstanding individuals who truly brought the vision that our event organizer, Shaina Sheaff, had two years ago come to life.

If you are interested in helping your community with the Help-Portrait event, visit the national website here and chose the “Start Here” button at the top. You can find out if there is already an organized event in your area. And if there is not, you can definitely start one!