he's just not that into you

this past saturday, i had the pleasure of spending time with a new friend, jennifer. we met through nicole. jennifer worked at gensler for a year before leaving last april. ironically, april is when i officially signed my papers to work for gensler. small world, eh?

jennifer is one of the most straightforward, honest women i know. she's 37 years old and has sort of the same build as i do. she has short, curly blonde hair. thinking about it, i feel like jennifer and i could pseudo pass for sisters.

we arranged to meet at sammy's woodfired pizza for an early lunch and then we planned to head to see he's just not that into you. i invited nicole since she's a neutral friend between jennifer and myself. also, nicole has been extremely lonely since being laid off from gensler. she needed people time. jennifer invited her co-worker, lauren, because she thought we would get along.

in the end, there were 6 of us. nicole invited her roommate, rhea. lauren invited her roommate...whose name i can't remember. sadly, lauren and her roommate didn't arrive on time to the movie, so i said "hi" and "bye" to them and we parted ways after the movie.

the movie was fantastic.

the movie was nearly two and a half hours long, but not a minute too long. the cast is phenomenal. jennifer aniston. ben afflek. scarlet johannsen. i'm probably butchering the spelling of their names, but you get the gist. i highly recommend that you see the movie. the style is quite unique and i got several good, whole-hearted laughs out of it.

let me know if you go... i'd like to hear your thoughts.

i know this is kind of silly, but i've been growing my hair out. i had an asymmetrical bob that was cut very short right before i started my job. immediately after i chopped it off, i decided to grow it out because my girlfriend, angela, asked me to be in her wedding. and, dustyn made a comment during church one day about me not having long hair since our wedding. (there is a reason this was said during church; i can tell you the story if you'd like.)

this past friday, i went in for a trim, and i am proud to say that my hair is all the same length now! the back had still been shorter than the front, but we finally cut it all the same length and i'm so excited to let it grow out! i am no longer cutting the straight bangs in the front either. i'm letting them grow into a nice side bang.

oddly enough, after i got my trim on friday, everyone at work was wondering what i changed. when she cut my bangs, she parted them to the opposite side than i usually part them and i loved it. amazing what a simple change can do for you. it seems kind of selfish or petty to even be commenting on such a thing in my blog but it makes me happy. usually, i would have chopped my hair off by now.

this weekend, we are going to pennsylvania to visit brian and kristin. i can't tell you how excited i am to see these guys. i've only been to pennsylvania once and it was 6 or so years ago... maybe more. i've lost track of the years. this weekend also happens to be valentine's day so kristin has made plans for us to go to the melting pot, to which i've never been. i have never had fondu before so this will be an experience for dustyn and i.

work has gone well this week. i've had minimal interaction with claudia, which always makes for a more pleasant work week. instead, i've been working closely with ane (pronounced ah-nee) and jeff. ane is a senior designer, specializing in hospitality work. she has worked several places and has a lot to teach. above all else, the one thing that i admire about her ability to work with me, a younger, less experienced designer, is that she listens. she provides time for me to talk and share my ideas. she's open to change and doesn't get her feelings hurt if i tell her something doesn't work. she's very receptive and i feel like she wants to share her knowledge with me, but doesn't put off this 'mightier than thou' attitude like claudia does. i'm hoping they'll continue to staff me with her. ;)

ok... i have to cut this short. dustyn is picking me up and i have to dash. love you guys! miss you tons.

HAPPY EARLY VALENTINE'S DAY!