Retail Rants

Yes two blogs in one day! They aren't related so they get separate posts. I now give you a new segment on this little corner I have carved out on the internet: RETAIL RANTS. I have been in the mall world for nearly 12 years and whew lawd has it been a time. I have more stories about humans and their disgusting ways than you will ever fathom and all true, even if they sound far-fetched...trust me I wish some were! So for the introduction to this ongoing series I will prepare you and my brethren in sales for the holiday season.

It is almost Halloween and I could not be more excited. However in the retail world this means that the ramp-up to the holiday spending season has begun. Pumpkins share space on shelves with reindeer and pilgrims. Everything is overwhelming, everything is super colorful (but like only in various shades of red, gold, silver, black & green), everything is somehow covered in glitter, it's a lot. I feel bad for Thanksgiving honestly, it's a big friends & family holiday on it's own but it's completely overshadowed by both Halloween and Christmas in the stores. Christmas is already in full force and it is only October 19th....settle down Santa. Like when you think about it Easter has it the best: After Easter has passed the next major decorating holiday is the Fourth of July, which is two to three months away, you don't get gifts and your main concern is where you are going to light off all your fireworks. The long lull of summer gives way afterwards and everyone just chills out until October 1st when, in seasonally appropriate climates, Autumn has arrived and literally I'm pretty sure everyone loses their damn minds. I already know that I will actually be off on Thanksgiving because A) I work for a nice company and B) This is how flipping early we need to start preparing for Black Friday. Now, like yesterday, I'm 85% sure our schedule is mocked up somewhere in the office because this is how important retail has made shopping and the holidays. I love the holidays, don't get me wrong, I really love how cozy the nights are around the bonfire with my friends and how everyone's families get together and come to town, it's wonderful. Working during this time is a shenanigan show of complete unpredictability.  The people I have met/helped over the years have run the gamut from sweet as pie to the actual devil spawn. You never know exactly what you will get, I had my very first customer one Black Friday afternoon yell at me for the pricing that was out of my control. She was SO mad about the fact that we had advertised certain pricing for the early birds and then didn't carry that over to the people strolling in at 3pm....Ma'am I didn't choose this. I've also had an amazing customer that I helped find all their Office Christmas party gifts (he was the CEO) in one swoop.

My main rant for today is a focus of pure human decency. I understand that the holiday season is stressful, I understand that so many people are pressed for time, I understand that money is tight in most cases. I GET IT, I'M WITH YOU. So in turn....very simply....Please don't treat sales people like shit. Honestly. We all have families and friends that we want to be with, that we are also shopping for when we are able and when we are on the clock we are there to help you 100%. I have zero control over any of my companies signs/promotions/pricing/item allotments. I do not make any decisions about what they put out into the world. I just work there. I can help you in only the perimeters of which are set forth by a team of people who work very far from where you and I stand. Please try and remember this when you cop an attitude with a cashier because the price that rang up was the price on the item and not whatever you assumed it might be. Ask us a million questions, that is what I am there for! I can provide so much information, I can get you any size, I can offer opinions on what to wear to the event and if this matches these shoes you have. I love doing that! I will personal shop for you all day. At the end of the day we are all humans just trying to get through this weird and wild world, the easiest thing to do is Just Be Kind.

The rants will continue through this crazy 2K16 holiday jam we are about to dive into...so stay tuned for all the storytimes!

Keep on, Keepin' on,

M.

Day One of a New 2 Week Challenge!

Hi friends! So today begins a lifestyle change I have set up for myself. I am always super lazy in the morning and when I have an early work day it is always super hard for me to get out of bed and I usually end up leaving myself about ten minutes to get ready so I'm not late. Today is actually a day off and I finally got out of bed about 20 minutes ago. Last night I felt great and went to sleep around 11, knowing I had set my alarm for 6:30AM. When said alarm went off this morning I hit snooze until 7AM when I finally got up and fed my sweet skunk who was circling the bed waiting for her breakfast. I then thought, oh I'll just lie down and go through my social media....because I mean I AM awake at least. But last night my plan after waking up was to be going for a nice morning walk to the park and getting exercise.....oops. After she finished breakfast my sweet skunk did what she does best and came to bed to snuggle up next to me, I can not resist! So I fell back asleep for an hour and finally here I am blogging and drinking my pumpkin spiced coffee (it's close to fall, y'all) so I guess I'll take that part as a win.

Changing your routine is tough, I have tried a few times to get back into my morning person groove and it only lasts a few days, if I can even get it started properly. Tomorrow I work a full day beginning at 10AM so if  when I get up at 645ish I will for sure have the time to walk and blog......Here's my kick now to myself to go for it and also not beat myself up if I maybe snuggle in til 730....

Keep on, Keepin' on!

M.

Sneak Peek!!

Today I give you a rough draft of sorts. I've been writing a novel and a children's book  for a while now and I'm ready to put a part out there and receive some feedback! 

So without further ado, enjoy an excerpt from my currently untitled Great American Novel:

    So allow me to introduce myself: name's Zelda, more specifically Zelda Rubylyn Ziggler. I am 100% a native Floridian and proud of it. You will come across folks in your life who do not always consider Florida as a real part of the South. Well that is a wrong assumption.

     Look: Florida is full of transplants, we are a transient state by nature due to all the tourists who came on vacation and decided to reclaim the Sunshine State as their home. We have wild creatures living among new apartments and golf courses. We have become a state to reinvent yourself in. We have become the butt of jokes with every weird and crazy news story. Florida is it's own bird, through and through. As you can see I have a very grand old South name despite my 5'4" waif frame. My momma was a Georgia debutante and my daddy is a born and bred Florida boy still in charge of our family business, which was of course citrus. 

     The Ziggler's citrus plantations have been a boom crop for centuries now. Started in the rich untapped soils of St. Petersburg, then moved into Central Florida and now branched out towards the Everglades. That's how I ended up living here in Hialeah near "oh-so glamorous" Miami. I'm not trying to get ahead of myself quite yet, but y'all need a bit of background before diving headfirst into this.

That's it for today! Let me know what you think and if you'd like to read more!

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

PS: Copyright 2016 Meghan R. Rose. All intellectual property belongs to me. All likeness to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental. 

Stream Of Consciousness

I'm sitting here typing and listening to podcasts and thinking about my future life. Age is utterly just a number and in the generation that I am in, we have always been told to be anything. Do anything. Barbie held every job from a baker to a scientist to a teacher to an Olympic gymnast AND ice skater and up to president and then she was even an astronaut. When I look at all the paths friends of mine have taken I wonder is that what you wanted to do? Did you take the job to be successful and secure your adulthood? Did you take the job that was your passion whether or not it would offer a good path? Why did you change your path? I wonder if because we were given SO many options if that's not exactly the reasons that so many 20-30 somethings are not as driven. We have a laissez-faire attitude about life OR we are over confidently passionate about politics or money or issues. We post inspirational quotes and still drink ourselves stupid because our lives aren't the glossy 8X10 we post on Facebook. We think that because some of our heroes from our childhoods didn't start their careers til late 30s or 40s or even 50s that we still have time. I am guilty of this. I am in the same boat thinking that I'll do it tomorrow. And then next week seems better. And then I end up staying on the same path, same dreams put on the back burner when honestly if I just went and did what I want to do, plus still keep my responsibilities and work hard that I'd be living my dream. I feel that maybe in the back of my head that I will go for something and that it will fail and that's why I stay safe in my bubble. Then I put out a little feeler and I get glowing positive response and I feel so happy and so proud and I think to myself, Meghan honestly just get yourself on this path and DO IT. Take your cue from Nike and JUST DO IT. Do the small things, wake up and write in this blog. Wake up and go for a run. Come home from work and actually cook dinner and then take 15 minutes for yourself and learn a language. Write in a notebook and start your novel, start your book series. Decorate your office so you WANT to be in there. Listen to your man, listen to your friends, listen to strangers that have stumbled upon this very blog and liked it. Stop worrying so much about the negative and letting it hold you back.

If you take anything from this, know that this space is something that I put into the world and I definitely pour my heart into and show glimpses of my flaws along with fun things like smoothies and antler head-dresses.

Today I wrote and listened to the rain. Tomorrow is a new day, and I'll have a new journal and I'll put some new stories into the universe.

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

PS Thanks friends <3 :)

MAY Be I Ought To Make A Schedule Hahahaha

So with my cracked tooth fiasco I ended up needing it pulled out....which was seriously the worst thing to ever happen to me at that moment. I am no fan of dentists in the first place but this was too much. The unfortunate misstep I took in lowering our dental insurance cause me to have this tooth pulled without laughing gas/sedative. Just shots of Novocaine and a yank!! *cue all my cries forever* Moral of the story, actually read your health insurance packets when you get them so that when you to have an unexpected need for it.

Flash forward to the weekend and our friend's(and neighbors) awesome wedding! So much friendship, so much love, such a wonderful time. My man and I made lifelong friends from an epic week of partying and hanging out. We now have more homes in different countries to visit, which is amazing! Travelling is definitely something that has been on the backburner for far too long.

Another flash forward into this, the end of May and it took me all month to finish writing this blog post. So pretty much this title that was originally a pun is now really what I'm going to be doing as soon as I publish this. Woooo organization!!! I've had a full Kale-Bleuberry-Cherry smoothie, I AM READY hahahaha

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

Choose You Own Adventure

I've been both busy and not busy. Not busy, but busy playing tablet games. Busy having a wonderful time distracting myself from both my blog and the 60 day write club to write and illustrate a picture book for my 2 year old neighbor. But also busy with work. Flipside-busy having great chats with my neighbors and bonfires. I've come to the thinking that maybe there's two forms of busy on the life spectrum. You can choose how busy to be, and with what, I will always want to choose a good busy (so bonfires and drinks and building an empire of books)

Life in general is about choices, some are hard and some are easy but as far as it being a personal matter-it's always the right choice in the end. Hear me out: even when you make a so called wrong choice, you learn/recover from it, so thus it teaches you something, so it can't be that wrong. Obviously there are other situations where a choice is very clearly wrong and I would like to think that anyone reading this would never have to make a life or death choice.

Stay busy in the way you'd like, and make good for you kind of choices.

Keep on, keepin' on,
M.

It's 2016!

So without meaning to I took the entire month of December off from this blog. Sometimes life gets in the way of things whether good or bad and you put things on the back burner without a thought. I work in retail as well so it gets pretty hectic with hours and late nights and then there's all the get togethers after and all the christmas shopping you do for your families. Basically it's alot, but now its January and it is time to begin anew and get going on making 2016 a great one.

First: So much more home organization and making our spare room into an actual office for actual work. Both with my man's business and my own writing dreams.

Second: Writing dreams are going into FULL swing this year. My dear friend Candace has been a journalist for all our years of schooling and has multiple side projects. One of them, Life Between Weekends, proposed a challenge for this year, well for the next 2 months: Write the novel you've always wanted to-and do it in 2 months! Not like write it, edit it and publish it, but get those words and thoughts down on paper, so to speak. I love the idea and to have a small team to hold each other accountable seems like a really good fit for me. So here's to me writing the next great American novel!

Third: Have more adventures. Go more places. Really travel and have a reason to pin places on the map. Live my best life.

I'm turning 30 in 6 days. Why not go for it all this year?? Make 30 the best year and banish the old stereotypes!

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

In Celebration of Friendship

In my life I have and have had good friends, great friends, best friends, acquaintances, bad friends, ghost friends and toxic friends. All these people made a mark on my life in some way, at some point and shaped me to the woman you know/read about on this blog.

I have found that in troubled times and wonderful times you never expect all the outpouring of love and support you will recieve.

And because it has been a difficult couple months and now because we are on the upswing of our lives, I just want to say thanks.

Thanks to our friends who we love and love us back. I'm happy we are in each other's lives.

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

Good Morning World!!

Aww yes! Day one of get up early and I was out of bed at 545AM making my coffee. I set my alarm for 5 on the dot and while my mind felt awake enough, my body said noooo, just 15 more minutesssss....3 times hahaha

But here I sit coffee in hand, typing the earliest blog, so far. Here's to an even earlier one tomorrow!

We'll see how I feel around noon though. I'll be having a coffee date with myself for sure!

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

Life Changes!

Better late than never for an overhaul of sorts. October was a VERY trying month which trickled into November. Now that the bad times are over and the upswing has begun, we have decided to clense out the clutter/fog/mess of our lives and get ourselves healthy and happy and ready to take on the next years with a new found vigor. To start on our journey we have set our alarms to become early birds. What a crazy idea we have. We are super night owls and I know that being a morning person will take some getting used to but I really look forward to not rushing in the morning and getting the most from my day.

This little blog will be getting some action with my early rising! I'll have coffee and writing time which will definitely get my mind going for the day ahead.

Maybe now I'll be able to go get groceries leisurely  if I need before work. Maybe I can start my exercise routine. Maybe I can pack my lunches!

I CAN.

I am really quite excited to start getting up with the sun, giving it a little hello to the day and become more productive and living to the fullest.

See you at sunrise!

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

November Thoughts

It has been a pretty tough month over here. As much as from the outside it may seem nice and sunshiny, it's been quite a struggle. We planned way too much for two people for Halloween and the party, went way over our heads and subsequently ended up too stressed and too tired to even enjoy ourselves. On top of blowing money on a party, my man had serious truck problems that threw a sizable wrench in his life. So here we are miserable and still having to try and put on a good face. It's really hard. When your body and mind separate and won't go back together it is the absolute worst thing in the world.

Cut to Halloween, which was actually pretty fun and we ended up going downtown with our friends.

The next day was a meltdown of uncertainty and fear. When you need a huge piece of your business is disabled and things are seeming to fall apart it becomes very damaging to your psyche and thus your body. Your brain can make you more ill than any virus or bacteria, it's insane.

Cut to the next day and things began the upswing of all upswings.

This year has been the hardest of all my years. It's had the lowest of lows and highest of highs and to be perfectly honest it's really worn me out. A lot of change has come about, mostly for good, but still it's been exhausting. I am for once very much looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas this year and also 2016. It's time for a new year clense in this little family unit I have and make our lives richer than before.

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

Great and Wonderful Days!

So I submitted a piece to the website, HelloGiggles. THEY ACCEPTED IT!!! YAYAYAYAY!!! I was pushed towards what I want to do, did it and things are happening!!! Really going full force now and signing up for writing courses locally to expand my mind and tweak my skills. I am becoming happier every day and I think that it's really paying off karmacally(SP??).

In other news I am piecing together items to form my voodoo witch queen head-dress extravaganza. I am not sure why I have such a dramatic flare when inevitablly I know that I will hate and eventually remove this piece by my drunkeness at around 2am. But if I come out this year with some cool photos in our backyard swamp, I suppose it will be worth it. Beauty (swamp fashion!) is pain.

Using this little guy as the centerpiece starting on my forehead:

These friends as some sort of decoration on the costume. Currently they are playing Sia and swinging from our chandelier.

This is my wig. Not using those flowers, but wanted to give her a ~look~ (Feeling those Lana Del Rey VIBES)

All in all I am excited with life. I shall more than likely update on the head-dress construction. Look out for it soon!

Keep on, keepin on,

M.

Night Blogs

I feel that when I don't keep up with this blog, I'm doing a disservice to my soul. Like I want to be a writer. I want to put out the next great American novel. I have no clue what it will be about and I'm pretty sure I won't know until that idea hits me a 3AM on an idle Tuesday.

I will be 30 in less than 6 months and right now, today, as I type this, that is the 2nd most terrifying thought in my brain. The 1st one is for another night.

How do you know when it all starts falling into place? Do you ever know? Or do you just tell yourself that lie of complacency that you've been taught. This is halfway where I thought I'd be 5 years ago. I'd like to be fullway where I thought I'd be a year ago, but I'm just better sometimes at coasting through than actually making hard, uncomfortable choices and leaping off that cliff.

Here's to August being the month I really write full force and change my life!

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

Sunday Morning

Hello and welcome to February everyone :)

Update from the last blog: My NOLA report will be live on www.lifebetweenweekends.com Feb 9th! YAY! I am very excited and very grateful and very happy.

In other news, I've kicked around the idea for a few years to start a little business and see if anything happens. So thus I give you Renate Rose Jewelry! I have a shop coming soon to Etsy and of course will keep this blog up to date on all details and pages to see and whatnot.

Ok, shameless self promos over.

This has been a strange and frustrating 2015 so far. Yes New Orleans was amazing. Yes I am excited for new ventures and randomly wonderful opportunities. But despite all that it has already been a hell of a struggle in the back burner personal side of things. Outside everything seems pretty smooth and together but inside certain things are just ripping apart my good nature. I've always been good at squashing things and no letting the bad show, which at some points have made me feel like I have robot parts. Can't let those rust so you can't cry over every little thing.

When you're little you are told that you have the whole world in front of you and you can do anything. When you grow up that stops and suddenly you're painted into a corner and given all these roadblocks that prevent you from just going for it. I think it's time that those walls get steamrolled right down. Live your life at any age still believing that you can do anything. Don't them anyone make it hard. Don't let yourself make it hard. I've spent too long getting painted and now I've come to the conclusion that maybe it was always me holding the brush.

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

Writing This Blog With A Skunk In My Lap

Hello!

I have been back home from NOLA, but not yet back to work. Tomorrow I shall finally return to the retail world. I actually can't wait. Yes I love vacations and yes I love to have lazy days, but after so long you just itch to get back out there and work! In my dreams and goals, I very much envision myself working from home and all that freedom. Work for myself, make my own hours, not worry about other possibly rude people. It's definitely something that I would like to make a reality in the next few years.

In accordance with my being back from vacation, I am posting about my trip. However it will be a guest blog on another website, run by a dear friend and her husband. It is called Life Between Weekends ( www.lifebetweenweekends.com ) and I highly recommend you check it out. It's all about living everyday like Sunday, which for most is their best day. Why not make everyday your best day? I will be sure to update when the NOLA post goes up.

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

DAY ONE

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It's 2015. What will this year hold? Who knows! That's the best part, to live by adventure. In 12 days I'll be starting my 29th year on a fun vacation with my man and my best girlfriend to New Orleans. I can not be more excited to start my year of travel around the US in such an excellent city.

Last night was New Year's Eve and we spent it with our dear friends a bit further north in Florida than our home. We were surrounded by acres of land and woods, had a huge bonfire, too many drinks and shot fireworks off at midnight. It was a great way to see one year off and ring in the newest.

This day is for relaxing, so I'm ending here. First of my year goals has started and I don't plan on ending til 12/31/15 :)

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

GOALS

Good bye to 2014 HELLO 2015!!

New Year's resolutions are always in full swing for everyone round this time of year, and I am no different. I think this year, this is the year I accomplish things! But seriously though, 2015 I want to accomplish ALL the things.

Presented to you, the internet and so that I have a record of my musings, GOALS:

1. Freaking blog here EVERYDAY. Really make the commitment.

2. Get healthy. I know, I know so cliche, but what's so bad about putting the idea in to get healthy?! NOTHING.

3. Save my money. I'm the worst at saving and penny pinching and I need to grown up manage my finances.

4. Go on more trips! Get that work/life balance, well, balanced! And plus saving money will help fund the fantastic adventures my man and I could take.

5. Read more. Unplug(hahaha as I write this on a laptop) from the internet. Take more time doing real life things with real live people.

That's what I've got for now, pretty alright list. Here's to sticking to it!!

Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

Putting In Work

Ok here I go.

Going to blog everyday. Starting today. Right now.

Technically you might get 2 blogs today since I will probably write after I get back from the work that's paying my bills.

Yep. Doing this. Here's my internet diary.


Keep on, keepin' on,

M.

May Flowers :)

Ok! I have moved! We are reasonably settled. Still need to unpack a bit and get a few more pieces of furniture, but it looks like our home and I don't think I could love it any more than I do :)

The neighborhood is lovely and everyone is SO welcoming! I feel so safe and happy and I sit on my porch and people walk by with greetings and stories. It's like a movie. It's perfect.

I'll do a photo blog tomorrow with the morning light, y'all will love it.

Keep on, keepin' on

M.

HELLO!

Hello fair readers!

Many apologies for my lack of bloggin' :(

It has been rather stressful around here and I sort of forget that I could de-stress by writing. I make a pledge to you (and me!) though, I shall be keeping up on this little journal very very soon! My man and I have found a wonderful place to live and will be moving in May 1st if not sooner. It's a lovely old house in St. Pete full of 1920's charm :) I feel it will be quite an excellent change in all facets of our life.

So, watch this space!
Keep on, keepin' on!

M.