Thankful for my health. Love, Blessed in Denver

I was truly touched when I read this story in the link below. Crate and Barrel is doing an "ultimate wedding giveaway" this year for an engaged couple. I went to this site and read some other stories, but just feel like these two people who I don't even know should win. Plus they went to KSU.... so figured i would help them out and post it here :)

http://www.ultimateweddingcontest.com/entries/32785

Takes two seconds to vote :) Does this make me a weirdo?!

I take it back... I don't want to go back to school

So, as mentioned in a previous post, in order to possibly be in a new, better role with my company - I am supposed to put together a 90 Day plan.

I have thought about going to law school recently or even thought about just going to get a masters or something. I can tell you one thing for sure. I forgot how much I dislike doing projects. This 90 Day Plan feels just like a school project I was assigned with little guidance. Remember being in these situations in college? The ones where you had no idea what the teacher really wanted from you?

Well yes ladies and gentleman. I have done just as much as I can think to do on this and it doesn't seem as detailed or formal as I imagined it prior to starting this plan. So we will see... I have until Sunday night to "turn it in".

Peanut Butter! ~A guest blogging appearance from Adam

Hello Emily's friends and followers! I would like to let you all in on my latest creation, Feed the Need peanut butter. I won't go into the "Feed the Need" part right now, but I will show you the final product. Anyone who knows me knows that I am addicted to peanut butter. As in, go through a jar in a day and never get sick of it type addicted. Well, this weekend when Emily and I were in Golden, I bought a 100+ year old grain mill at an antique store.

I bought this because I had read somewhere that you can make peanut butter in one of these guys. So, for $14 my Feed the Need mission began. Today, I went to the grocery store and bought bulk peanuts and some locally made honey. Step 1 - into the grain mill.


Step 2 - fold in the honey and sea salt. Step 3 - put in food processor with a little oil. Pulse, and voila...


I am arguably the biggest peanut butter fan in the lower 48, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that this is some of the best peanut butter on the planet. I will soon be bottling and labeling this. If you are nice to me, I will mail you some. The Feed the Need mission has begun... Love, Emily's Lesser Half

Tyson's New Trick!!!

We just taught Tyson how to grow human arms and eat with his hands!

When you get time...

Check this video out. http://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_oliver.html it is about a 20 minute video on teaching children about food.

Adam and I have become passionate about food in the past year. Not just eating it (haha) but learning about it. How to read ingredients on the label, understanding why organic is better than conventional, understanding where your meat is coming from, what artificial flavors and sweeteners are made of and why they are not good for your body, etc., etc., etc.

One of my first posts was over Food Inc. the movie. Click here to read my post and click here to get to the Food inc. website where you can watch the trailer and learn fun facts. Which if you haven't seen, I encourage everyone to rent it. It is actually entertaining and extremely informational. It gives you facts about the food industry that I never knew and at the very least gives a different perspective than what the media and government tell us. It just expands your knowledge base and keeps you informed on one of the most important aspects of our everyday life. food.

Almost the weekend!

House Tour

I posted a while back with pictures from our house at Christmas. Click here to read. I finally remembered this weekend to snap a picture of our bedroom (Adam, Tyson and I's) while it was clean, so here it is to complete the house tour (and a current picture of our fur-child).

Changes on the horizon

Okay, so I have stirred up some curiousity about my hypocritical facebook status today. Well, here it is:
I might be getting a promotion. I was waiting on a call from one of the VP's all today to discuss. I wasn't sure if he was going to tell me right then and there if I was getting it or not... so I was nervous all day and just trying to keep busy. Plus I thought he was going to call in the morning, but we didn't speak until like 4pm so I had ALLLLL day to think about it.
We talked and it went well, and basically now I have to put together a 90 day plan for what I would do in this next roll, send it into him, and then talk again. I should know within the next two weeks most likely so I will keep you all posted. Basically I would be moved into an outside sales role, covering Massachusetts. I would be traveling every week most likely into the Boston area and it would be a very high pressure, but a chance to make a lot, a lot of money. I am not one to chase after money, but it would be a situation where I would work my butt off for the next year and re-evaluate my life. I am nervous/excited/anxious about this possibility- but I really have nothing holding me back right now and I LOVE fish and chips. And where is a better place to eat them than in Boston? Plus I would have amazing travel benefits.... so we will see. My company would be taking leap of faith on me, especially since I am about 15-20 years younger than the other reps and the only girl workin in a man's world (in my industry at least). But there's just something in me that loves to be the underdog and come out on top :)

We will see. I honestly won't be very upset if i don't get it, but would like to be given the chance! Toodles!

Ty-Ty and his Blankie

Yes, Tyson has a blanket. Let me clarify, I have a blanket (which was actually a wedding gift and it embroidered with our name and date on it) which is MY favorite. It is fleece on one side and furry on the other. It matches our living room perfectly and I love it. Well, Tyson has decided that he loves it more.

He literally is obsessed with it. For instance, it carries it around with him everywhere. When I settle into my office in the morning, Tyson goes to get the blanket from the living room (where he left it the night before). He drags it into the office so it is there to lay on all day and suck on (I will get to this in a minute). When my work day is complete and I move into the living room, guess who follows- dragging the blanket along with him. At first I would get annoyed when he would lay all over it, but now it is impossible to separate him from it and I have given up.

The funniest part about this, is Tyson doesn't just lay on this blanket. Every time he takes a mouth-full of it and just sits there, sucking on it. He doesn't chew it or anything, he just likes it in his mouth. Adam and I have asked around why he might do this and the only theory we have heard is that since he didn't have a mother he nursed on (since he was abandoned), he was weened too early and just has this sort of weird oral thing. But I am telling you, it is ONLY with this blanket! Several times, he has been fast asleep- with a mouthful of blanket all cozied up. Although my favorite blanket is no longer really mine, I still wash it weekly and try to put it away so he can't get to it. I mean, it is a really nice blanket. But the second I pull it out. Tyson claims it once again.

Take a trip down memory lane

I am supposed to be working, but am procrastinating on building a spreadsheet and so decided to look at all my old photo albums on facebook. All I can say is WOW. We had a good time in college. I was laughing out loud at so many of the pictures and remembering stories. Here are a few of my favs that I found:

This is a night in KC. This is how it started... the next pic is how is ended

Yes, this is the always classy, Vanessa Gower Calcara, who at the time was Pi Phi President. Sorry, Vaness... had to post this.

Best Halloween costumes ever!

My 21st!

Not sure what night this is... we all look pretty awesome, though.

One of the best vacations! Cruise jr. year.

"I'm in love with a stipper..."
No words

Oh Brittany.

P Party!

Acapulco

Chicago trip- September of Senior year.

Best Derby Days Dance ever created and performed. (not that I am biased)

Moral of the story- I miss college and we keep talking about a yearly Pi Phi vacation. I think 2011 is THE year to make this happen. I will be the planner. Start saving!

Mental Block?

So, with the house-hunt on a temporary freeze Adam has let me know that I am too frustrating to house-hunt with, in fact, he doesn't want to be my realtor. I think his direct quote was.... "You will not be happy until we find a mansion in Wash Park".

Not true at all... I just haven't felt anything special towards any houses recently. So what if I am picky? This is our future and the biggest financial investment of our lives so far. There have been several that I have thought to myself "this is cute, I am sure I could be happy here, but I don't know" Is this how any of you felt?

I finally admitted today that I think I just have a mental block against houses right now. Do you ever know when it is the "right" one? Do you get a feeling... or do you just look for the house that meets the most of your must-have list?

The Ambiguous Post

Trying to kill time while I am manning the booth at this show. I have been checking facebook, email, and such. I have a point to make.
I HATE the ambiguous facebook status updates. For instance: (these are all actual status updates)

I can't believe that just happened!!!
Nothing is better than this....
I don't even know what to say
Is...
OMG! OMG! OMG!
Can't tell you what I just experienced
You are NOT going to believe this!

You get the point. I can't stand when people do this. Take advice from John Mayor and "Say what you need to say". But don't post something that makes no sense to anybody else. I find myself making up stories about what they are talking about and it drives me nuts.

With this all being said, I have a confession to make. On January 24th- I posted this status update:
Emily Otto Griffin Is so unbelievably annoyed.
I am a hypocrite and I knew this fact as soon as I posted it. I bet I left my wonderful world of facebook friends wondering... what is Emily Griffin so annoyed about? Here is my commitment to you. I will not post another ambiguous post as long as I am a member of facebook.

Holy Akward Life

I am currently in Santa Barbara for work. I found out about this trip on Thursday afternoon- they asked me to fly out the next morning and I could come back on Saturday or Sunday. Me being the loyal employee I am (and secretly wanting all the airline miles I can get- hello? There are like 80 weddings this year) I agree to take one for the team and spend yet another weekend out of town.

We know nothing about this show, pretty much it was a last minute thing for us because we hired some new lobbyist for the LA area and they thought we should be here. So, I booked my tickets, got my schedule and was off to Cali.

I have never worked a show alone and I am not the most outgoing person when it comes to meeting new people. Knowing this, I am consistently working on my confidence in these types of situations because I am in sales and need to get over my shyness. SO: I show up at my hotel. They say- Oh Ms. Griffin... you have a huge box here for you. (I knew marketing was going to send some stuff for me so I relieved it got there in time). They pull out my box. It is not a box... it is a freaking HUGE tub of crap- that weighs a lot. I am secretly DYING inside, because I am alone, therefore have to drag this thing to the show and figure out how to set up the display all by myself. Meanwhile, it is pouring rain in Santa Barbara and I have the ugliest rental car ever. Please see below:

I get to the location, drag my elephant of a "box" into the location. sweating, breathing hard, trying not to bring attention to myself in this really nice hotel. Find the room and look at my booth.... there is NO room to set up. I am against a wall. So- I am praying that marketing at least put a table cloth with our logo in this shipment. Nope they didn't. So, I end up have no fun decor, like the others, but make the best of it.

Cocktail hour starts. I don't know anybody, but am trying to be outgoing and act really cool so someone will want to hang out with me. Our lobbyist FINALLY gets there and comes up to me. (I can tell my the settle shock in his eyes that I am not what he expected). He has only met with our CEO and Greg and then here I am - probably about 20 years younger than expected, blond, etc. etc. He ends up being really nice and introducing me to a few people there. Then I end up going to dinner with them afterwards. After several cocktails, I am finally feeling more confident and actually enjoying myself. I have to stand up in a room of 30 Mayors and government officials (at dinner) and tell what I do and why I am here- that goes surprisingly well. Thank God for wine.

I arrive back at the show this morning, we are in a new room at the hotel and I decide to set up the freaking display that I was overnighted and spent my sweat and muscles dragging in . It takes about 30 minutes, but it is up and i am very proud of my work. Please see photo. Not perfect, but sufficient. AND I am now pretty much BFF with the Mayor of Manhattan Beach (ok, not really) but I sat by him at dinner and I got hello's and "how was the rest of your night" by several of the people I was at dinner with. So.... long story short, I am now the most popular vendor here. I can almost see the jealousy in my competition's eyes. Ha!

The only mountain to climb for the rest of my trip is to figure out what I am supposed to do with this display when the show ends. Nobody gave me shipping instructions to send it back and our Marketing Manager who handles this stuff, refuses to answer emails/calls on the weekends. So pretty much... here comes another round of awkwardness when I have to dismantle the display, pack it and drag it out to the car and try to get it IN the car. God help me.

And the Saga Continues

Yesterday we did the home inspection on the gingerbread house. Surprisingly, for a 100 yr old house, there was not a lot wrong with the place. While we were there, the neighbor came over to get the mail for the resident of our house who is out of town.

We open the door and the cutest, old man is standing there. He tells us all about the neighborhood, how he has lived there 13 years, etc. Just when I am thinking about how cute he is and maybe we should reconsider this house he goes on to tell us that there was a shooting across the street from us a few months ago. Um, excuse me? Yes, a shooting, gang related.

Ok, ok- so it is official, we are no longer under contract with the cute gingerbread house and it is back on the market if there are any takers!

Traveling Alone

I am sure that everyone has traveled alone at some time or another. With my job, I would say I travel about two-three times a month and here are a few things that I have learned while on the road:

1) Always wear layers on a plane. They are either FREEZING or HOT.
2) Don't feel like a loser when you eat alone in a restaurant. I do this all the time. I usually find a spot at the bar and feel awkward until I look around and notice I am not the only one eating alone.
3) Priceline is the shiznet when it comes to booking hotels- I will teach you the trick of the trade if you need me to
4) Never rent a Toyota Pruis. They are the most confusing Hybrid Cars to drive and will make you feel like an idiot when you first get in them. Seriously.... if they ask "is a Toyota Prius ok with you" Respectfully ask for something else.
5) In my experience (and I have not tried all of the rental car companies out) Hertz is the best. They are the only ones that don't try to up sell you the whole time you are at the counter. Avis is the worst.... several stories about them.
6) I just learned yesterday that Frontier Airlines does not do standby. So when I got to the airport 6 hours prior to my flight, they made me pay $100 to get on an earlier flight. Thank God I have a cool boss so I can expense this. Well worth it. But note-to-self about Frontier
7) Always travel with some cash. It sucks to be stuck without tip money.
8) NEVER, EVER drink the tap water in Florida. It is yellow and smells like swamp water.
9) I can show you how to change clothes in an airport bathroom without touching hardly anything. From business suit to jeans or vice-versa
10) Georgians are the nicest people ever. I was in Atlanta this week and was pleasantly pleased with everyone I came in contact with. Must be that Southern hospitality
11) Airports are the best people watching experiences ever. People get so flustered when going through security, it just cracks me up.
12) Last but not least. If you are paying for a cab with a credit card, make sure to let them know this before you get in the car. I was in Boston and seriously pissed a cab driver off when we got to my hotel and I told him I was paying with a card. Lesson learned, always inform them of this before because I guess it is a pain the butt for some of them...

Starting Over.

Here it is in a Nutshell:

We are under contract with the Gingerbread house. The fully renovated house I blogged about that we put an offer in on- we did not get. There were three offers in that night and one came in over the asking price.. so blah to that.

Then we started having major doubts about the Gingerbread house. It is so cute and very charming, with several antique features that we love. But now after seeing so many fully renovated houses on the market, we think we would be making a dumb decision if we stuck with the gingerbread house and then put 20K into it over the next year or two. So, the inspection is at noon today. We already let the inspector know we do not want this house - so I am hoping there will be some big issue with the house and we can walk away with a clean slate.

We looked at houses last night and found a few more possibilities, but I also decided last night that we are not in a hurry to buy. We pay month to month and therefore can actually take the time to wait for the right one to come on the market. Instead of getting so wrapped up in this- we need to take a step back so we don't jump the gun again.

Happy Hump Day!

House Update

Craziness..... all I have to say for now.