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!

16 years ago...

...this was me on my 10th birthday.

they say it's my birthday!

happy birthday to me and jon stewart! but i imagine that he is not also 26 years old today...

let me do you a favor.

i am going to save you time AND money. how's THAT for a tuesday morning?!

(ok - if you're AT ALL planning on seeing unstoppable... maybe you should stop reading. vague spoiler alerts ahead. but the whole point of this post is don't waste your time seeing it so, i don't know. you're all adults (presumably) so - you decide.)

so, last night i went to see unstoppable. seemed to be right up my alley - action, explodey scenes and denzel washington. it was perfect. yet, it seems my movie snobbery may have slipped up a bit here. if felt like the director wanted me to understand a lot more about trains than i do (i don't know, maybe boys know about trains?) and no part of the movie made sense. rosario dawson was a)bad and b)not believable. denzel was just really no good. what happened here guys?? why did you think we would believe a movie where the best plan to stop a speeding train is to hope you can get it to flip over? and at the same time, you send in a marine to fly over the train suspended from a helicopter for seemingly no reason??

anyhow - just watch the snl sketch below from last weekend's show. it's EXACTLY the movie, and much more hilarious. and i think snl's new guy (jay pharoah) is PHENOMENAL and so spot on as denzel. enjoy the video, and enjoy having 2 hours of your life back in advance. your welcome.