ballet boogie.

this one delights me every time.

who let the dogs out?

This post is dedicated to C, who greeted me this morning with: "Are you going to blog about something today so I can read it?" You’re welcome, lady!

 As you may have guessed it, this one is about dogs. First off – our dog, Mimi. Do you see this picture? That’s Mimi. Now I ask you – does this look like a vicious dog? If you answered yes, you’re wrong. The correct answer is obviously no. All this dog does is sleep approximately 20 hours a day. She is almost a cat. (Seriously – she loves drinking milk from a bowl.) She enjoys napping in the sun and on heating pads. The only remotely dog-like thing she does is chase squirrels and she is good at playing fetch with a tennis ball. I only know two people in this world who don’t like Mimi and one is a child and the other is an idiot.

Said idiot brings me to the nub and thrust of our story. Last week, a certain Human who shall remain nameless (cough – dad – cough) took Mimi on a walk, as per usual. For those who don’t know, Mimi’s worst enemy is the mailman (yes, this is a dog cliché). Whenever the mail comes, she FREAKS OUT for at least a half hour. I think she feels like the mail is an intruder and she has to protect us. Clearly, the mailman is enemy #1, since he delivers this intrusion. So whenever she sees the Mailman during a walk, she barks and barks and barks like a crazy person (dog). On this walk, the Human was unfortunately not paying attention and this time, Mimi was able to get close enough to the Mailman to “bite” him. I say “bite” because, hello – this dog weighs like 1 pound and her mouth is the size of a dime (do I need to refer you back to the picture above ?).

Anyhow, the Mailman alerted a member of the Highland Park Police Department, and a police officer showed up at our door about five minutes later. My mom was able to get him to go away by saying my dad was unavailable at the moment, and the police officer said my dad had to call him back later to discuss the incident. At the end of the day, we had to get Mimi tested for rabies and she is not allowed to be walked off our property for 10 days. We will be fined if Animal Control does not hear back from our vet regarding the results of the rabies test. Also, the ticket we were issued indicates that Mimi is an “attacking and biting dog”. She is now an outlaw from justice. (Maybe that will be her Halloween costume…? Miniature striped jumpsuit and small handcuffs?) (Oh no - after further research, of course this actually exists. What is wrong with people?)

Hilariously, when I texted my mom today to ask how Mimi was doing, she wrote “Have taken her on secret walks. Don’t tell the Mailman! No Xmas prezzies for him. He’ll be sorry!!” My family is the best. 

Secondly, I’d like to alert you that it’s that time of year again – when crazy dog people dress up their dogs in unfortunate-yet-sometimes-hilarious-and-adorable Halloween costumes. I saw this gallery today of dogs in the annual Tompkins Square Park Dog Parade. I think my favorite is the Pan Am Stewardess dog. What’s yours?

Happy Doglloween (and keep your doggies away from our Mailman)! 

bloody sunday.

What did you do today? I spent part of my afternoon bloodstaining my nails. Considering it is about a week until Halloween and I have yet to secure a pink and white spandex suit, à la Nicki Minaj, I think this will have to suffice as my costume. And I'm really no good at planning costumes anyhow.

This nail art was surprisingly easy, and is from my new favorite fashion blog, refinery29. Follow their instructions here. I would recommend a straw on the smaller side (maybe more like a coffee stir) and perhaps a darker shade than I used - my nails look a bit more like someone dropped strawberry jam on me. I still thought it was really fun to do, and would also look cool with a different color on top for non-Halloween time. I'm thinking of trying purple.

Here are my bloody/strawberry jam nails. Let me know how yours turn out!

that's the sign of a fat girl.

had to share this one:

i will also note that i never thought dilbert was funny when i read the comics as a kid. now it's the only one i find funny (read: hilarious). i actually have dilbert emailed to me every day - a fantastic way to start off your cube day.

"We have a lot of angry customers out there. This puts us at threat level midnight." --Michael Scott

When do you complain about customer service? It's a question I've wrestled with a lot recently, to varying results. As a consultant, I attempt to give my clients the highest level of service and attention. Not only because that's what I would want as a client, but also because I know I am "representing my firm" (how many of us have heard that speech from a school or camp?).

Recently I had a great customer service experience. Unlike New York, make-your-own-salad places are few and far between in Chicago. I have found one place - Freshii - that I now frequent often. A few weeks ago, I unfortunately noticed a piece of bacon in my salad. I was able to avoid it, but was still pretty grossed out and thought I may have to abandon my new-found salad place. That afternoon, I decided to send in a complaint on their webform, just to see what would happen. One day later, I received an email from the President of the company, genuinely apologizing for the mistake. Granted, they are a pretty small company, and I realize not all restaurants would provide the same response, but I truly appreciated the overwhelmingly nice note. In addition to an apology, he gave me two free meals - for me and a friend - anything on their menu. I wrote him back thanking him, particularly for the fantastic customer service. I'm happy that I can continue to enjoy my salads, but I also really appreciate and admire their customer service.

After work yesterday I ran a few cool shopping errands (eyeliner, socks, underwear...really

exciting stuff). The last errand was Victoria Secret. Since I started shopping at VS a few years ago, I have been pleasantly surprised at their fantastic customer service in stores. They are quick to ask if they can help, point you in the right direction or explain a new line. They gladly measure and remeasure you, and will personally walk you around the store to find items in your size. That's what I call above and beyond, and it's one of the main reasons I continue to return.

Last night I had two unfortunate experiences. First, I asked a sales associate for help finding an item. I had the name of the product (it's not like I tried to just describe it to her) and she pointed me to a completely different product and basically ran away. After finding the item I wanted about 10 minutes later following another search on my own, I was ready to check out. This is where the real fun began. Not only were the line(s) completely disorganized (one of my major pet peeves), there was a group of tourist (Denmark?) who had a very complicated order of sizes, items and which way they wanted this convoluted mess organized and wrapped. The woman directly in front of me must have been paying with pennies because she spent at least 15 minutes checking out for what looked like one bra. By the time I actually got up to pay, I received no apology, no comment whatsoever, despite the 15 minutes I had just spent glaring and rolling my eyes at the sales associates. It was at this point that I debated saying something to the floor manager. When there are additional associates available, I expect someone to see that I am trying to buy three small items, and lead me to another register to pay and get the heck out of there. But that didn't happen. In the end, I decided to not say anything because those tourists seemed really obnoxious and demanding and I felt bad for the girls who had to deal with that cluster. But as I walked away, I couldn't help feeling mad for having my time wasted and upset that their usual level of customer service had taken such a hit.

What would you guys have done? Complain? Or just walk away? Would you have purchased the items? And does anyone ever actually send back soup?

im so excited!

...and I just can't hide it! Rebloga is BACK, kids! Join me (whether it's again, or for the very first time) as I share my exciting experiences living in Chicago (including nail polish recommendations, restaurant reviews, travel experiences, technology wants and clothing desires) and working as a consultant.

I tweet a lot, so be sure to follow me @becca_lynnn to keep up with all hijinx and adventures. Don't forget to send comments (I LOVE comments), and check the little awesome/lame boxes under each post, so I can keep the awesome posts coming, and the lame posts to a minimum. Also, I've added a new sidebar that lists my favorite places on the internet. When you have gotten your fill of Rebloga, here are some other sites to help you run out the clock at work. See you on the interwebs!

still life.

thanks to A for passing this along!

magic.

this video makes me wish that i was a lot more organized. makes me wish that i could ever have bookshelves that look as beautiful as this. maybe one day. for now, i can just watch this:

huey (minus lewis and the news)

1. i love lamps

2. i don't love chameleons BUT

3. how could you not love this color copying/changing chameleon lamp?!

i am told that through the magic of two white LEDs, Huey lights the surface he is on, and then uses an optical sensor to determine the correct color. just sounds like magic to me. however it works, i'm pretty sure i need this as a nightlight.

ps: to witness the awesomeness of this color changing lamp yourself, i highly recommend that you watch the video in the link above.

'ella.

dear gizmodo: thank you for introducing me to these goggle umbrellas. not only are they adorable, they come in some of my favorite colors! who doesn't want to be ensconced in the waterproof protection of an umbrella while also being able to spy on the world around you? i sure as heck do. add this to the birthday list please! also, i can't believe gizmodo failed to point out the periscope top on the umbrella. i assume it doesn't actually work, but is still a great feature.

i need this beet right now.

so, i am new to the land of iPhones. but in general, i am pretty obsessed with keeping my stuff, especially electronic stuff, safe and happy. even the screen on my slr camera has a little protector. so, i've always been really impressed with these fantastic sushi iPhone covers:

it protects my stuff, but also looks awesome. this designer on etsy has other amazing cases like the above - my personal favorite is the one that looks like a cassette tape. but then gizmodo showed me another source of cell phone cover amazement today:

that's right. dress your little blackberry or iPhone up in a cute, jean overall situation! hopefully this post comes just in time to help someone out with their last-minute holiday shopping.

urkel grue.

do any of you guys/gals use google voice? way back when, i jumped at the chance to get a google voice number, but now that the dust has cleared i realize there is no way in heck i am telling everyone in my life about a new cell number. i actively work against that idea! even in new york, i kept my 847 number, the same cell phone number since my first pink nokia cell phone in high school. so, ugh.

through a lot of research (and emailing the nice folks at lifehacker), i figured out that i could still use the google voicemail service. after a few quick setting changes, all voicemails are now sent directly to google voice, and i get an email with the transcript and audio of the message. i dont know about you guys, but i hate listening to voicemails. i dont know why, but there is something about it that just feels arduous and arcane (almost as bad as when i have to use a fax machine). they always get lost in my phone, there is no way to file or save them or mark as unread. i'll get a voicemail about something i need to deal with later, but then just forget about it because it sits lurking in my "saved messages". with google voicemail, i can see the email notification right away, read the transcript and/or listen to the audio, and then either save it neatly within my gmail folders, keep as new or whatever. just like email.

the hilarious part is that the transcription isn't perfect. you can pretty much get the gist of a message, but i wouldn't rely on the transcription alone at this point. last night, i called myself to leave a voicemail just to test out the transcription. the voicemail i left was my shopping list. when i spoke very clearly (as you would when reading a list), it captured everything perfectly. but when i stumbled, trying to remember what other items i needed, the transcription got all crazy. the last bit goes: "was St. That'sit, titles". Not sure what google was trying to capture there...

the moral of the story is, i would definitely recommend it to anyone who would like to be able to organize their voicemails... at least, what few voicemails you still receive these days. please feel free to email me if you'd like me to walk you through the steps!

new blog features!

hello faithful and new readers of rebloga! i wanted to let you know about a new feature that i will be trying out. at the end of each post, you will now see a line asking you for your thoughts. you have the option of clicking "awesome" or "lame", much like facebook's "like" option.

try it out, and let me know if something seems to not be working!

thanks kids. xo

my kind of town.

some wintry millennium park pictures...


also, i found the UGLIEST bridal party ever! (at least i think it's a bridal party. does anyone wear purple and teal to their own wedding?) what bride makes their entire bridal party stand outside in 20 degree weather to take pictures?

i flip my latkes in the air sometimes.

just in case you haven't been on facebook in the past two days, check out the craze that is sweeping the Jewish nation. you're welcome.


Chag Sameach, everyone!