Salad days

It's been SOOO hot we've been eating a lot of salads lately. I love just pulling out whatever vegetables are in the fridge and throwing it all together in a big bowl.

I've been in love with this dressing lately. It's so flavorful and goes well with any vegetables. When I don't have dressing on hand, I make my own:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar..or white balsamic vinegar...or plain ole vinegar
freshly chopped basil (when I have some)
1 squeeze of mustard (dijon, regular, whatever you've got!)
minced garlic - the more the better
1 squeeze of honey, maple syrup or agave nectar
Mix it all together. I usually put all of the ingredients in these and shake it up. Yum.

dress: gift from Sarah

headband: Live Savvy

GOOD NEWS! and bad news...

GREAT NEWS!!  I was OFFERED THE JOB!! Yeah!! I'm overjoyed!!  It comes with a big fat but, however.  Apparently the MN government is talking about shutting down? Anyway, I can't actually start the job until after that's over. Hopefully it won't actually shutdown, we still have time left to come to a deal!!

The job is working at a drop-in center for homeless youth in the city. I am really excited about a professional change, and to get working again! Not to mention, HEALTH CARE! I feel slightly old getting excited about health care, but whatevs.   I'm gonna go celebrate....

Howl at the moon

Waiting to hear back from the job. Can't imagine starting the process over again. I'm the saddest girl in the world.

Photo by Andy Hardman.

A (much needed) Day at the Beach...er Rocks...

We packed some strawberries, white wine and sunscreen onto our bikes and biked down to the lake walk, locked up our bikes and sat on the rocks.

 

 

 Lake Superior is really cold, so we mostly dangled our toes in. It was so lovely.

scarf: Thrifted via Ragstock

sunglasses/swimsuit/towels: Target

earrings/necklace: Forever21

By the numbers

Number of jobs where I've applied: 22

Number of interviews I've done: 9 (not including my complete failure)

Number of jobs I've been offered: 2 

Number of jobs I've accepted: 1

Number of hours per week of work: 5

Number of dollars per hour at said job: 8

If I don't get offered this job for the 3 interviews...I may explode. Or implode.

The third (and hopefully last!) interview

Got called in for a THIRD interview. Yikes! I've never had so many interviews for a job. I guess this means they like me a little?  Here's what I wore to the interview:

Wedding fun

Andy's friends Megan & Avery got married on Saturday. It was beautiful. Really small and very classy. The wedding was at 11 AM, so they were serving mimosas, champagne and bloody marys. The ceremony and reception all took place at a restaurant in downtown Minneapolis: Cafe Lurcat. It was a beautiful space and everyone looked great!  Andy took some photos of the wedding, and also did the couple's engagement photos. Check out Andy's website to see the wedding pics, or the engagement pics. Keep your eyes open to peek at the bride's amazing red shoes. To die for.

A wedding, a radio show, and a tiny room

This weekend Andy and I packed up way too much stuff and headed down to St Paul for a wedding. The wedding is on Saturday, and we got in Friday and spent the night at the guestroom in the condos where Andy's parents live.

Andy in the room.

Cute towels and handmade washcloths Andy's momma laid out for us.

It has a bed, an alarm clock, an air conditioner, and a bathroom. We didn't need anything more. In the morning we got up early to listen to Andy's brother Jesse's radio story on NPR about their dad's battle with Parkinson's disease. It was so moving, we all cried at the end.

Move-In Celebration

Now that we moved in, it's time to celebrate!!  I can't tell you how amazing it feels to finally be in our own place. It didn't feel like the move was real until now.  I got some Moscata D'Asti from the wine shop, and some thai food from Thai Krathong and we improvised a little since nothing is set up yet. It was all we needed. 

Move-In Disaster

I am overjoyed to announce that we are FINALLY able to move into our own new place!!!  (Cue the confetti and balloon drop).  We slept on the floor the first night, but it was worth it to sleep in our very own place again!  I love my family for letting us stay with them, but nothing is better than our own space.  Even if it's a disaster zone.

Ahhhhhh!!!!  This corner is where our bed will live. Our bedroom is Andy's study space.

Our living area

Dining area and Andy's 6 foot photo (8 with the frame)

My brother Henry and his friend Zach, or Strudel-Cakes as I call him, were champs and helped us load up and unload the U-Haul. We had to feed them $20 worth of McDonald's and a pizza. Teenage boys are bottomless pits!!  Aren't they so cute resting after all that work?

Gaining Momentum

Well - they liked me enough at my interview to ask me back for a second interview!  I like second interviews much better because I know the people a little and usually I feel more comfortable. This second interview, however, is totally different from any other interview I've ever done! This job is working at a drop-in center with homeless youth, so the second interview is me coming into the center and hanging out for an hour - interacting with the youth while staff observes. Sounds like this introvert's version of hell. BUT, I viewed it as a learning experience, spent a lot of time alone prior, and put on my best extroverted face.

 I bought a new journal and brought it along with me as I thought it would be a good conversation starter. It wasn't. These perfectly yellow flats, however, were.

flowery shirt: Forever 21

purple tank: Primp

skinny jeans: NY & Co.

yellow shoes: Fun Sisters

ruby slippers journal: B&N

Le Baron Ranch: Petite Syrah

My first wine review! I am excited to try new wines now that I'm working at the wine shop. I love red wine, but don't know that I've ever had a petite syrah.  I'm excited to learn all about language used when describing wine, but for now you will have to love and support my process ;)
This was a 2008 from Sonoma County. The price for the bottle was $17.99.
Ratings A - F, A = best; F = worst
Smell the wine: A - dark fruit smell
Taste the wine: B - a hint of cherry and chocolate flavors
Did you enjoy it: B
Would I buy this again? Yes
Comments: Delicious - smooth, tangy after bite.

I really enjoyed this wine. I paired it with a light salad for dinner and the salad opened up the flavors of the wine nicely.

Losing momentum

I have another interview. Are you tired of interview posts? Probably not as much as I'm tired of interviewing!  This is for a real/full-time/health insurance/kind of in my field/day job, however! So I'm excited about that.  Otherwise, I'm losing momentum with the job search world.

Remember in my interview tips post I mentioned that I bring a lot of stuff to the interview (resumes, questions, pens, references, etc)? Well, this folder is what I carry all those papers in, so that I appear to be organized.

I adore this dress. I got it from a great thrift shop in NE Minneapolis. I went shopping with one of my favorite people under 10 years old - my BFF's daughter Lily. She loves accompanying my shopping and picking out potentials for me. This dress is something she picked out (she DOES want to be a fashion designer when she grows up...although she also acts much older than me already so she's not  very far off) and I tried it on and fell in love. To see pictures of a zoo trip Andy, his 5 year old nephew and I made with Lily and her family, click here. Lily is the oldest of the three adorable kiddos (not to mention Andy's adorable nephew who is also pictured)

dress: Thrifted via Rewind Minneapolis
sweater: Cabi via my mom's closet :)
purse: Nine West via my momma's closet again
shoe: TJ Maxx
folder: Target

Lending a hand

Since moving away from St Paul I've realized something: one of my communities was the advocate community. I never really thought about fellow advocates as a community, but people who work at rape crisis centers are unique. And we get each other. Now that I'm up in Northern Minnesota I've decided that I want to be a part of that community again, so I've decided to volunteer for the local sexual assault program: Program to Aid Victims of Sexual Assault or PAVSA for short.

I've mentioned previously that I feel like I'm living in survival mode, and how important it is to have a support network - people who understand who you are or how you feel. I have been working as a crisis counselor with people who have experienced sexual violence for six years now and I feel honored to be able to provide support to people during their times of crisis/survival. I can't wait to jump back into crisis counseling and meet some new friends!  And lend a hand along the way.

I GOT THE JOB!!!

Raise your glasses folks because I got my first job in Duluth!! It's VERY part time, so don't pour the expensive champagne...every Saturday evening at the wine shop. The shop has a great vibe and I get some wicked discounts on wine/beer/liquor in general. 

What I'd like to start doing now that I'm working at a wine shop is to track different wines and blog about what I learn. I have always wanted to keep a wine journal but never got around to doing it. Better late than never I suppose!  I'm off to drink some pinot noir with Andy and celebrate!!

Why not?

So this just sort of happened. I asked Andy to pick up an application for me at a local restaurant, and next door to the restaurant is a little wine shop. Andy said to himself: Jennie likes wine, so why not? And picked up a wine shop resume. Fast forward and I'm getting ready for an interview at the wine shop!

Well, the manager actually called it a "conversation" and not an interview, so I'm pretty relaxed about it. I chose this outfit because it's a little dressy (no pun intended) but not very formal.

sweater: Express

maxi dress: Forever 21

strappy wedges: Nine West outlet

green dot pin: Green Dot store

earrings: Jewelry Deli

For those of you who know me well, you will see that I wasn't in a very good mood when taking these photos and it's written all over my face....