C

Date Outfit

nobody@vox.com(Crystal) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:24:05 -0700

Nick and I went out for dinner (wow! #1) and had a marathon 3 hour date (wow! #2) with the best conversation, food and drink.
Personally, I think it had to do with the fact that I had a good outfit on ;) as I've been having a HELL of a few days.

Call me whatever you will, but putting on a good pair of heels, jeans, earrings and couple that with my new Burberry clutch, and I was a new woman from the depressed and stressed out girl I was for the past 2 days.

Hope you all had a wonderful and meaningful Friday night.

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What Our Sunday Looks Like...

nobody@vox.com(Crystal) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 20:35:46 -0700

We went out to lunch, and while we were sitting at Sauce at the Scottsdale Waterfront, we got to talking about how much the house needs an update. We're both so busy, so decorating has always been something that never really was a priority. We were inspired, and set out to a bunch of stores to dress up the dining room. I don't have before pictures, (I would never take pictures of it, it was ugly!!) but I feel much better about posting them now.
Oh, and of course, we had to stop into Sprinkles. SO WORTH THE TRIP. Those cupcakes were divine! Now, all we need is a Pinkberry, and it'll be like living in an LA clone!

Hope you all had a beautiful day!

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Planning

nobody@vox.com(Crystal) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 15:40:30 -0700

I officially started planning for our October trip to Orlando. What does that entail for me? Putting together a packet (yes, a packet) of the following information:
- Overview map of Disneyworld
- Maps & attractions of each individual park (including highlighting everything I want to see at each one - hello Canada Pavillion at Epcot!)
- A google map route from the resort to the Magic Kingdom (the furthest drive)
- Tickets & pass information
- Pricing on car rental for the week
- Airline information (pricing, available flights, etc)
- Printout of all closets convenience and grocery stores in relation to the resort

I'm a little Type A ; Nick and I had a meeting about the trip this morning, filled with red pen & highlighting.

You would swear I'm going to a foreign land, and not a theme park. Ah well, you guys know me. Disney is life! The suite is booked at the resort (we're staying off-park, which is a bummer, until I think about the fact that it's an apartment and not a tiny room), and we're booking tickets asap.

The next four months will prove to be busy ones.. amongst all of the preparation for Phoenix Fashion Week (see asterisk at the bottom of this) which is Oct 1-4 this year, I have family coming in for a week in july/august, LIANE&VEGAS at the end of August and now this trip.
It's amazing to think that the year is already half over, and that the rest of it is going to fly.

I don't have much other news to report, other than I am currently undergoing a facial peel - it's day 3, and it's really not that big a deal... and yes, I should have before/after pictures. Hopefully I'll get some kickass results. The only downside is to avoid direct sunlight, and with Phoenix summer in full swing, that's nearly impossible.. so I've been cooped up in the house all weekend with my tv, my computer and my pitcher of lemonade. I was able to go out today, so I went to the mall for lunch with Nick & saw the Hulk. Great movie. Wonderful movie. Ed Norton was amazing. You really FEEL for his character. If you're on the fence about seeing it, I would go. It's really brilliant.

In other news, an XL tank from Old Navy is too big on me.
!!!!!

* Outside the Cube has officially signed with Phoenix Fashion Week to be the sole marketing & design consulting firm for the next two years! If you're in the Phoenix area, start looking out for us. We're so proud to be a part of this event.. our love for marketing and creativity is a perfect match for their project. More information about PFW will follow. Also, keep an eye out at OTC's official website for a bit of a facelift and a Works page.

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A week in the life of... *(Results Not Typical)

nobody@vox.com(Crystal) — Fri, 02 May 2008 08:29:14 -0700

Monday:
8am-12: work in office
12-1: lunch
1-2: personal trainer
2-6: work in office

Tuesday:
7am - 1 hour workout
8am - design newsletter
930am - website/email marketing consult with hip little hair salon
1200-130 - brainstorm in-house email marketing
130-230 - lunch
230 - 5pm - email campaign design for awesome bartending company
5pm-6pm - meeting/follow up with lovely financial advisor
6-645 - dinner
645-11pm - in house marketing campaign design

Wednesday:
8am - website design for client
930 - drive to north end of town
10am - website/directmail/email consult
12 - LUNCH
1 - 3: Brainstorming for client
330-6pm - Feel overwhelemed and as if sleep hasn't happened in years. Remedies this by manicure & massage. Ahh, much better.

Thursday:
630-945 - Meeting with local Chamber of Commerce
10-11 - Personal trainer
1115-1230 - Consult with prospect
1230-130 - Lunch
130-430 - Consult with client who has NINE LOCATIONS (WOOHOO!)
430-6pm - Visit with Kade
6-8 - Wrap up emails, designs, cook dinner
8-10 - Pretend the world doesnt exist and watch GREYs & LOST. Turn off phone. Bless.

Friday:
730am - Conference Call
830 - wrap up blog
830-9 - shower/dress
9-12 - work with client at client location
1230 - HAIR!
130 - Lunch meeting
230 - work on laptop at some coffee shop in Scottsdale with wifi.
345 - FACIAL!
5pm - Home & possible date night. AMEN!

Saturday:
630pm - Networking/Pre-party
830 - Fashion Show at Axis/Radius to support new awesome client
930-?? : PARTAY! :D

LA VIE EST BELLE, YO!

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Life, in a list.

nobody@vox.com(Crystal) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:22:06 -0700

This weekend I...
1. Drank a ton of cosmopolitans
2. Went bar hopping (Hello, haven't done that in YEARS)
3. Was told "Honey, do you know where you are?" by a bartender after ordering a cosmo in an Irish pub.
4. Got hit on by white boys (!!!)
5. Watched all 3 Back to the Futures
6. May or may NOT have sang the Enchanted theme song out loud
7. Played Bennie and the Jets in an Irish Pub and danced&sang like a chubby Katherine Heigl
8. Wore something relatively conservative out partying! (wtf!me!)
9. Had an amazing time with some amazing girls.
10. Was totally the Charlotte.

Today I...
1. Was on the radio in Montreal
2. Listened to the Habs kick ass and wrap up the series
3. Had a Manicure
4. Really, really missed living in Montreal
5. Received a gift from Favourite Client from Italy
6. Wore a dress
7. Met with my personal trainer
8. Felt really, really good about my design skills.
9. Designed some new business cards for Franci and I
10. Loved life, OTC, friends et al.

Fin.

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La vie, en photos

nobody@vox.com(Crystal) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 22:34:04 -0700

Life for the past month or so, in photos. Roughly 50 new pictures, ranging from the Ren Fest last month, to a seminar, to a night at Salty's, a trip to El Paso, and of course, some of me and my new lovely VERSA <3 Oh, and can't forget little Harley pup!

Enjoy!

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The New Addition

nobody@vox.com(Crystal) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 18:28:55 -0700

.. most of you know the story by now.. the reason I've been absent from the blogosphere is that my Jeep had taken a turn for the worse, and I was scrambling to get to meetings, appointments, and trading back and forth with our ford F150 and Nick's Grand Prix. Finally, after a week of doing that, I decided enough was enough, and stumbled upon this gorgeous lil creature:

ceesversa.jpg

A brand new, 08 Nissan Versa, in Onyx Blue. LOVE.

..more to come later, including seminar photos & all about our trip to visit Jared in El Paso.

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Try to see the humour in it...

nobody@vox.com(Crystal) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 22:32:02 -0700

So.. my day didn't go according to plan, but I suppose it going the way it did prevented me from a huge dramatic escapade later this week. First off, I woke up, had a nice quick breakfast and got to work... emails, phone calls, the usual. As I'm getting ready to go to Favorite Client's office, I get a phone call from Old Colleague saying his ex's father is ill, and Oh, I forgot about appointment and can you please watch the kids?
A wrench in my day, but yes, fine, sure. A friend in need, etc etc, right?
So I spend three aggravating and homicide inducing (due to the environment, not the children) in the Chuck E Cheese. Why is there not a warning about places like that? Where the music is so loud you can't hear yourself think and the parents who come up to you and are like "Your kid hurt my kids feelings!" and the way the place turns the most amazing kids into screaming, greedy, crazed maniacs who will lie, cheat and steal to gain the 10,0000 tickets needed to redeem for an eraser that one could easily find at the dollar store, FOR A DOLLAR, and certainly in a pack of 10!
I was unprepared. But I digress.
On the way to return Lovely Children (who really are lovely, I swear) I hear Insanely Loud Screech coming from my beloved Blue Machine (aww, Jeepie<3) I drive cautiously and scared out of my mind to the appointment so he can pick them up. Turn off the Jeep, unbuckle Lovely Children and take a look at the Blue Machine as we're saying goodbye, and yep, there it was.
A puddle. Oh yes! A PUDDLE, coming from my Jeep, pouring onto the ground.
Old Colleague looks down and then at me and says "Yeah, you're not going ANYWHERE."
Oh, great.
So now, my beloved Jeep in stranded in Scottsdale at a clients, while Nick takes me home and I stress the entire way and a good bit into the night as well. I know what the car being stranded in Scottsdale means. NO CAR = NO BUSINESS and then, of course NO BUSINESS = NO MONEY.
Breathe calmly, breathe calmly.
So now, it's 1030 at night, and 2 conference calls later, I'm sketching out site ideas for a foundation as part of a volunteer thing. It will really help get my company name out there. More on that later.

Until then, wish that my car sitch gets resolved by the weekend, or things will REALLY get rough.

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Life, in the morning...

nobody@vox.com(Crystal) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 09:46:47 -0700

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Things I Love

nobody@vox.com(Crystal) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 20:38:48 -0700

1. Spending the evening talking work with amazing women in amazing fields. My dear friend Erica invited me to a "Women in Design" networking group tonight and I met women from all different aspect of business, and the common thread was design and a desire to move forward. How refreshing!

2. My business cards. They were a great conversation starter. Remind me to post a picture of them, they are such a cute way to break the ice!

3. Going to a new restaurant. There are so many here in the Valley, it's lovely!

4. Chai. It's freezing out, and nothing warms you up like a steaming cup of Starbuck's Chai tea.

5. Busy days. I can't believe it's 20 to 9 already. I have been up/out since 8am and I didn't even feel the time go by!

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