March Madness: Part 1

"You can plan a pretty picnic, but you can't predict the weather." - Outkast

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about all these changes that were going to happen and how I was hoping to handle them. Well, the changes happened, but not the way I thought they would. This is long, so I bolded parts that would give you a good summary of the post :)

Mom changed her mind and ended up NOT moving in. This is started the domino effect of changes on a different path than I anticipated. When I thought she was moving in, I planned on having an extra $1200+ per month. When she told me her reasons for staying in Corona, I couldn't be mad, but this meant I would to give up the trip to Thailand for April and Victor's wedding. It sucked having to tell April I couldn't go, but there was no way I could pay for the airfare and March's rent in the same week. Not to mention, I had just turned in my credit application to buy Mad Max (that's what I named my car) from Mercedes-Benz so a big withdrawal from my account wouldn't help my situation. April was unbelievably understanding about me changing my mind. Her graciousness made me feel like more of an ass for not going, but she assured me that there would be more trips we could venture on together later down the line.

The following week, I found out my credit application was declined. I wasn't really surprised given my credit history and the current economic climate, but time was running out and the dealership gave me until March 19th to try and get this car. I told my dad what was happening and he agreed to co-sign with me, so we submitted a new application with both of our names on it. My dad had to hustle, but Mercedes eventually agreed to finance us. Unfortunately, my dad didn't like the deal they were offering and started to shop around. He told me to prepare for the worst case scenario, which in my head meant using the bus to get around indefinitely.

As my dad shopped around for the best deal on a car, Albert referred me to his tax guy, Raul. I was a little hesitant about going to Raul since I knew it would cost money for him to do my taxes. I did my own taxes last year and ended up paying, so it didn't make sense for me to pay someone to tell me I owed money to the government. Albert convinced me to go because maybe Raul could figure out a way for me to pay less or maybe nothing at all. After meeting with Raul, he said I would actually be getting a tax refund this year...which is INSANE! I'm used to owing money, so it was a pleasant surprise for me to get some money back. It's not a lot, but I figured it would be enough to cover the first payment on Max + new tires - I was still hoping I could buy that car. On a personal note, I don't know why I'm so freakin' stubborn. I'm lucky I have a patient boyfriend. Anyways, the refund was the first piece of good news I got in the past couple weeks so it was nice to breathe easy, even for just one afternoon.

The following week (which was last week) was a mad, mad scramble to figure things out with my car. My dad had found some deals, but I would have to turn Max in, which I didn't really want to do since I would have to pay the excess mileage penalty. Regardless, I went with him to the other dealerships to try and negotiate a reasonable down payment with a reasonable monthly payment, AND get the same dealership to buy my leased car as trade-in. I begged for a Prius, of course. But my dad refused to help me buy a "death trap" (his words, not mine). 

I test drove a Honda Insight. All the reviews of it are pretty accurate, it's a poor man's Prius and the engine IS as loud as the critics describe. But I would have taken it anyway. I was looking forward to finally having a hybrid and not having to buy premium fuel. BOTH of my parents didn't like the idea of me driving a non-luxury vehicle. I didn't mind as much, although I would have been more enthusiastic about it if it were the Prius. That ended up not mattering - after test driving the Insight and hearing Honda's offer (which was crap because the Insight would have cost MORE than the Mercedes), I was set on taking the less whack deal to buy Mad Max. 

I told my dad that we should just settle on buying Max, but he didn't feel like settling. Plus, I think the people at Mercedes-Benz pissed him off when they didn't want to finance us initially. He had proposed going to BMW because he worked with them before and like their service. He had already spoke with someone there and was almost sure we could get a good deal on a 1 series. I was really hesitant about the whole thing because 1) I thought the 1 series was pretty weird looking when I saw pics online, 2) did it make sense for me to get a new car? much less a new luxury car? I followed my dad to BMW and test drove the 128i. When I first set eyes on it, I couldn't believe it was the same car I saw online. I still have some qualms about how the back end looks, but it isn't anything I couldn't get over. So issue #1 was resolved. Issue #2 was a trickier.

I sat at the dealership forever. My dad had to leave for work after 2 hours, so I was there trying to negotiate this by myself. I was hungry, I was tired, and I wanted to go home because it was mine and Albert's 3-year anniversary. After 6 hours and several calls to/from my dad for updates on the negotiations it sounded like I was actually going to get this car. Unfortunately, since he wasn't there to finalize everything, I had to go back in there in the morning to settle everything. That night I did the calculations to see if this deal made any sense. In the end, buying the new car actually cost less than buying Mad Max - issue #2 resolved. 

Last Thursday, I met my dad at BMW and we signed the papers to buy the 128i. By that afternoon, we were at Mercedes signing the lease-return papers for Mad Max. I actually cried a little when they drove Max away and my dad was there to give me tissues telling me I'll actually be able to keep the new car this time and can make new memories with it. I still miss Max, but I know I drove him pretty hard. I hope his next owner is able to take better care of him than I did. As for the new car, I still can't believe it's mine. I'm actually afraid to drive it around because I want to take better care of it than I did with Max.

I know I should be driving a hoopty or something that's more within my credit score's realm. The only reason this car even became an option for me was because of my dad. He pulled off some crazy magic trick to get me a BMW with my lame ass credit score and I'm forever thankful. And, coincidentally, the only reason I have enough money to pay my share of the down payment AND the first month's payment is because of Albert and his tax guy. I really should just listen to him from the beginning...I end up doing what he says anyway, so it would save us both a lot of hassle. 

It's just crazy how that all worked out. March has been one crazy month and I haven't even told you the rest of it yet either. Since this post is already pretty long, stay tuned for Part 2.

On The Hunt

It's probably the worst time to look for a new job, but that's what I'm doing. It's not that I'm unhappy at my current job. Actually, I like what I do and my boss is really cool - two things that I didn't find at previous jobs. But, I've been feeling less and less motivated as the days go on. When it comes down to it,  I DO want more of a challenge and something more focused on the environment. While my current job helps companies create a "greener" image for themselves, I still feel my primary purpose is sales (I do try to educate people on how they can lighten their carbon footprint every chance I get). I know every company out there is about money and making more of it efficiently, but I think there is a job out there that will give me a little more satisfaction, not only in my day-to-day duties but my overall job objective as well. And, yes, I'm looking for AT LEAST a $10K increase in annual salary...AT LEAST (seeing my W-2 for last year was just sad). Let's face it, we're all looking to make the most amount of money in the least amount of time and effort, employer and employee alike.

With that said, I'm also REALLY tired of job hopping. Before this, the longest I held a job was for almost 2 years. I wasn't fired ((knock on wood)), I just got bored with what I did every day and/or annoyed with management each time. Now, I fully expect I won't always be happy with management and a future coworker is going to annoy the crap out of me (there's always one), but what will get me through it is my love for the work. If you're thinking, "NO ONE loves their job or what they do forever", then I would say look at our parents' generation. I know my mom stayed with one hospital for 20 years....my dad has been with the same employer since I was born...and most of my aunts and uncles can say they've stayed in the same profession or workplace (they climbed up the ladder of course) for at least 10 years. And, I like to believe they stayed with a job or company that long because they actually LOVED what they did/do. So, I want the same thing.

Because I'm satisfied with my job now, I am being really picky about my next job because I want it to be my "Roots Settling Job." This will be the job that I can see myself doing for the next 10 years (which is basically when I plan to settle down and maybe start a family, yanno, lay some roots...hence, the roots reference). Employers get to say what they're looking for from me, so I think I should say what I'm looking for in an employer (just so I can remind myself of it during the job hunting process):

Minimum Qualifications:

1) Must be a public or government agency (e.g. City of Los Angeles, Orange County Transit Authority, Metropolitan Water Department)

2) Core duties MUST be related to the environment or environmental science (e.g. testing air quality, ensuring compliance of environmental regulations, promoting company-wide participation in eco-friendly behavior, etc)

3) 30-50% travel required (i.e. part of the time in the office doing paperwork/reports, part of the time out in the field interacting with the public and saving the world)

Desirable Qualifications:

- Within 5-15 miles of my residence or public transit friendly

- Alternative schedule (9/80 or 4/10)

- Relaxed dress code

- My own office (I've had this before and it's SO hard to go from that to just a cube :\)

- Paid Holiday Shutdown (I've had this at every job so far...so, I'm a bit spoiled on this one)

- Access to company vehicle for field work

- Cafeteria

Yeah, I'm basically looking for the near-perfect job. Is it out there? I hope so. Wish me luck friends, I'll keep you updated :)

Cashing In on NOT playing hookie

All throughout my schooling (kindergarten to high school), I was pretty good when it came to attendance. I actually looked forward to going to school and never wanted to stay home- even when I was sick. I liked learning new things and was pretty boy crazy from the get-go, so that was the main driver in getting me out of bed. If it weren't for my parents making me stay home when I was sick or because they wanted to go to Vegas early, I probably would have had perfect attendance.

Now that I'm an adult, it seems I've become quite the opposite. I'll use any opportunity to call in sick or ask for a personal day. And, vacation days...well, I can never seem to have enough of those! Name any excuse in the book and I can almost guarantee you that I've used it. I actually keep track of the excuses I've used so I know when/if I can use it again. For some excuses, I even have (fake) paperwork to back it up.

Anyways, there's nothing much to this post really. I just thought it was ironic that I was so good in  attendance and, now, I'm pretty much over it. And, yes, you guessed it...I'm ditching work tomorrow, but I swear I have a good reason :)

Red Velvet Cake Balls = Black Diamond Course

Warning: This is a long post. I apologize for not having actual pictures because it would have made this one a lot funnier. I'm looking for a new camera so these posts are a little more personal. 

You know the person in your office who gives Valentine cards and bakes treats for everyone - that's me in my office. This year, I was inspired by Jill's Facebook pictures of her cake balls. I decided to get fancy too and tried my hand and Paula Deen's Red Velvet Cake Balls. I took a look at the recipe and figured it would be a piece of cake (no pun intended). HOLY CRAP...was I wrong!

First step is to make the cake, then crumble it, mix in the frosting and let it set in the fridge. This ended up taking a total of 2.5 hours to do plus the time to set the mixture. The recipe says you can let it set for 3 hours or overnight, I  chose overnight. Mixing the frosting and cake together took FOREVER. I only had a spoon to mix everything, so that could be why. The recipe says to use a hand mixer...what the eff is a hand mixer if not a freakin' spoon in your hand? Regardless, I'm pretty sure my right bicep is now slightly bigger than my left bicep.

After the cake mixture has set, you're supposed to use a melon ball scoop to form the balls. Yeah, a melon ball scoop does nothing. The recipe should say, "Now use your hands and start rolling balls out of the mixture (similar to making meatballs). DO NOT use a melon ball scoop because it does shit." Paula Deen says you're going to come out with 36 balls - I came out with 68. I blame the melon ball scoop for throwing me off. After you've formed the balls, you have to let them harden for an hour in the freezer. I placed my 68 balls in the freezer and went to the gym for a run - I felt fat from smelling everything and I had to do a taste test every now and then to make sure it was good :)

Once the hour in the freezer is up, the next step is coating them in white chocolate. I thought this would be the easiest step...NOPE.COM. I took 18 balls as my first batch and started getting ready to coat. I melted the chocolate in the microwave (that's what its bag said to do since I didn't have the fancy double boiler it recommended). I took the first one, swirled it in the chocolate so that it was fully coated, took it out, and laid it on the wax paper to cool. It was cute. The second and third one came out nicely too. When I started the fourth one, I noticed the ball was falling apart and left RED crumbs in the WHITE chocolate. It was also getting hard to swirl the ball with a toothpick. The chocolate started hardening and the balls were softening. The fifth ball tore apart in the chocolate. I stood there looking at my broken ball in the chocolate and decided to improvise a double boiler to keep the chocolate soft.

There I was with a bowl of white chocolate sitting in a pot of boiling water That's basically a double boiler, right? Nope. The chocolate started cooking and I basically made a white chocolate ball with red crumbs. FAIL. I started over with a new bowl of white chocolate, but by that time the cake balls were too soft to swirl. Balls 6 though 8 were a mess. I looked at my white chocolate that was still liquid-y, then at the 10 remaining uncoated cake balls. I knew I had to come up with something fast before the chocolate hardened again, then I thought of the chocolate factories that have a conveyor belt of truffles run under a fountain of chocolate and come out beautiful on the other end. I figured pouring the chocolate over the ball would have the same effect. It didn't.

Out of my 18 balls, 3 came out decent. That's a 16% success rate, which would be an "F" if I was going to grade myself. However, if I had to grade the taste of the final product, I would give it an "A" with a happy face. With a sigh and in partial defeat, I went to go watch The Office and a surprisingly funny episode of 30 Rock (I don't usually watch 30 Rock because I don't think it's that great, but I was SO over doing anything because of the damn balls that I just left it on NBC and watched). Needless to say, I'm sitting at work now without valentines to give and no home-baked goodies for everyone to fawn over.

I have 50 balls in the freezer right now. Should I event attempt finishing them? How the hell do you keep melted chocolate liquid-y enough to swirl? Is it normal that my hands are still kinda red from rolling balls last night?

Below is a picture of Paula Deen's cake balls and a link to the recipe. Proceed at your own risk.

Paula's Cake Balls 

Happy freakin' Valentine's Day. 

A Change is Gonna Come

The past couple months have felt like a punishment that I've endured kicking, and screaming, and crying the whole way through. In many ways, it was a punishment for making bad decisions and being an irresponsible, carefree twenty-something. Of course, I'm referring to having to work 7 days a week, sacrificing time with family and friends, and not indulging in unnecessary expenses like I used to. Now, that I'm getting an idea of the changes that lie ahead of me in the next couple months, I'm thinking what I've been going through wasn't a punishment but more of an experience in being a grown up with actual responsibilities. Hopefully, I was paying attention because I'm going to have to apply what I learned to the upcoming situations:

- No weekly paycheck from Macy's. Yes, you read right. I'm not working at Macy's anymore. I've managed to get out of the financial hole I dug for myself and felt good enough to let go of the second job. I turned in my resignation letter yesterday. However, I'm just out of the hole. Now I have to fill it in and plant a tree that will bear yummy fruit and help lessen air pollution (hey, I'm just going with the analogy). Basically, I'm at zero right now (instead of negative) and now I have to build up. Thanks to April and her financial plan for me (she's so smart!), I have a strategy to pay down credit cards, take care of the bills (car, utilities, mortgage, etc), and start saving. I'm not going to be perfect at this, I know, but I'm going to be a helluva lot better than I was last year.

- The Mama Bear might be moving back in with me. My mom isn't the best planner. She likes to have a Plan A through Plan AB and then will let you know at the 11th hour what plan she's going with. I chalk it up to her being a Gemini and wanting to have a gazillion options to choose from. Well, one of those plans is to move back into the condo at Diamond Bar with me. As of yesterday, this has a 60/40 chance of happening (60 in favor of coming back). I actually welcome her coming back (although she already drove me crazy yesterday, and that was just lunch). I'm able to save even more money, I get a freshly cooked meal every night, and I'll have someone to talk to at night. I'm okay with her not coming back too because I know it will be hard on my brother because he will have to commute to his school in Corona. The logistics of that is going to be insane for everyone. What do I want to happen? Good question, I guess if I really had to say, I would want them to come back for a little bit and then move back out when my grandpa and his wife come back from the Philippines (that, of course, is one of my mom's many plans too). We'll see how it plays out.

- Officially buying my car next month. The lease on my car ends on March 9th. I want to buy it and have been doing research on how to do that and get a good deal for it. I'm very intimidated by anything having to do with loans, financing, etc. Part of the problem is I'm not educated enough to really know what I'm talking about in negotiations. Hopefully, I can figure out all the terms and what I need to do in time. I really do love my car (his name is Max, by the way), so I hope I can keep him at a great price! The car websites say to shop around for car loans. If I can figure that one out, I'm buying myself some jewelry for conquering that monster. I'm hoping I don't have to negotiate this by myself, but I don't know anyone else who's had to buy a car at the end of their lease, so for now it looks like I'm going at it alone.

Well, those are the three major "tests" that are coming up where I can prove to myself I don't make the same mistakes twice and that I've grown up a bit. I feel somewhat ready to face the challenges ahead, which is cool because I usually feel like a chicken with my head cut off. I tend to panic and worry, so this is an unfamiliar, yet refreshing change of pace. 

Hopefully, at the end of this, I can listen to "Miss Independent" (by Ne-yo) and fee like he's talking about me ;)