Have you ever been in a funk? One where you cannot seem to shake off your 'funkiness' no matter what you do?

Yeah, well that is me right now. 

The reason for my funk basically all boils down to the simple fact that I am currently unemployed after having quit my job. This is starting week 2 of my unemployment actually. While it is admittedly kind of enjoyable to sleep in, go out to lunch daily with my boyfriend and stay up until 4am- I cannot help but feel as if there is something missing. Oh, right- employment. 

I am trying to keep positive, but it is hard. Especially since Monday I will be meeting up with a small group of my former co-workers and I feel as if I have nothing to show for the fact that I pretty spontaneously up and quit my job. I had an Office Space-esque departure (minus the beating the shit out of the office equipment). 

I figured that I should at least try and do something productive with my life. I started redoing those crazy Insanity workouts and have finally submitted my application for my Master's program which for some reason I had been putting off for months now. But, writing has always been cathartic for me. And this should be no different. 

I hope to stick with it. I see no reason why I shouldn't- I quite literally have nothing else to do all day. True, I have been making lunch plans left and right. And I have been finding myself carving out an hour each day to catch Jerry Springer (I swear- I never used to watch this show and now I am somewhat addicted. Shameful, I know). 

So here is to being positive, hoping for a promising future, curbing my Springer addiction and renewing my blogger efforts. 

And here is to another night staying up til 4am. 

So around 2.5 months have passed since my last post. Oops. 

I have actually missed blogging a lot. Mostly because I love to write and have a sounding board somewhere out there on the interwebs where I can write what I am thinking and feeling and reflect on it. 

Like this little nugget of information: I quit my job on Friday.

The same one I was so excited about the last time I had updated my blog. 

I feel good about the decision though. After I officially had quit and submitted my notice, I felt a huge sense of relief. I also had broken out in hives on my chest and sweat through my entire shirt, but I still felt relief.

I have never had to quit a job and it was a really awkward experience for me, but I am so glad I did. I have been miserable in this job and in turn have been making life miserable for everyone else in my life. I was sick of people yelling at me, annoyed at the lack of internal support and frustrated with the overall mission and ethic of the company I was working for. I explained to my boss that I wanted to work somewhere I felt passionate and inspired. 

Volunteering and teaching civics classes on Saturdays has really showed me what I am lacking in my life. I want to feel inspired every day of the week. I want to change lives and feel good about myself. I simply cannot do that at my current job.

It was not the best timing to quit my job either. I just signed a lease for a brand spankin' new apartment where Pedro and I will officially be moving in together and even though I do have a cushion of money saved up, the pressure is definitely on to find something fast. And I know now to not just take the first job offered- I need something that will excite and challenge me.

Here's to new beginnings?

So I have been pretty MIA from this blog lately. Mainly because I have been attempting to adjust to working 9 hour days, managing a social life, trying to keep the boyfriend happy and balancing my working out. 

And yeah, it hasn't been easy. I think this is the week, though, will be the week that I master it all. I started the Insanity exercise program today, have started sorting my finances and even have made time to paint my nails an obnoxious bright red.

Balance. And time management. Skills I still need to master.

I am heading to bed due to exhaustion but stay tuned for more faithful posting. G'night. 

So while this week I didn't make any money off my couponing, I did get everything I bought for free. So that was fun. It also resulted in me dramatically coming back home, marching to my living room, turning off the TV and making my family watch as I unveiled all my newly purchased swag for my stockpile. The past two weeks I have really gotten a hold of the whole couponing thing and as a result, every Sunday I ride a my 'coupon high' and basically bother everyone with bragging about my most recent conquests. 

So this week was a pretty small haul. I ended up getting 2 Softsoap body washes retailed at $4.49 each (the shea butter creme smells amazing!), the RevitaLens contact solution at $8.99, CVS brand band-aids at $3.79 and the Revlon nail polish at $4.79.

Here's how it broke down: 

My first transaction was the Softsoap. CVS had them on sale at 2 for $7 and then you receive $5 ExtraBucks. I had $7 ExtraBucks from last week, which got them for me for free.

I then used the $5 ExtraBucks and a $2 Extrabucks from last week and combined with $3 off a $10 healthcare purchase CVS coupon stacked with a $2 off the Revitalens to bring the Revitalens and CVS band-aids to about 80 cents and received $3 ExtraBucks. 

I then used those $3 ExtraBucks to buy the Revlon nail polish, which brought the price down to $1.79 and from that transaction I got $3 more ExtraBucks for next week.

So all in all, I spent about $2.40 for everything but received $3 ExtraBucks making a slight profit of about 60 cents. Not bad!

Happy Sunday everyone!

So it is 7pm on a Friday which means that I have officially finished my first week of work. Whew.

It was an eventful week starting my first 'real' adult job. All week I have pretty much been shadowing my boss, watching her send e-mails and answer phone calls. It was a sort of passive-training where I pretty much just watch her do stuff while I took notes and made little drawings of stick brides.

Wednesday is when my week got sticky. I got into a fender-bender on my lunch break which lead to me crying my mother, hysterically crying and worrying that I had suffered brain damage as a result of the trauma. I'm a big baby at times.

Thursday I ended up going to the ER during my break to get treatment for a painful UTI that I have had since Monday and just ignored because I was so nervous about my first week of work and didn't want to ask for time off. Yeah, it is generally never ever a good idea to ignore a UTI. Like never. So that was fun to have to share with my new boss.

This morning I took off the morning to have an interview with a women's shelter in the area. I did lie to my boss about why I was taking the morning off (I told her I needed a follow-up for my ER visit the day before) and I feel super guilty about it. I hate lying. But I was so interested in this job. And I have been kind of stressed about having to maybe quit my job if I took this one. Basically, I stress a lot about things. Working on it.

But the interview went really well and I learned that the position is actually part-time. The center operates two shelters for victims of domestic violence and there are about a dozen 'relief workers' that take shifts operating 24 hours. We are just required to take a minimum of two shifts per month so it would be perfect for me: I can still keep my job working for a wedding company while simultaneously satisfying my non-profit, 'I need to help the world' urge.

I am also going to start taking classes at a university near my work to in Spanish, Middle Eastern cooking and belly dancing. 

I love how settled I am becoming and am loving getting into a routine after I have spent so many years traveling the world and being so restless. 

Never thought I would ever utter that sentence in my life. But, so what? I'm happy.

So as I previously mentioned, I recently discovered that I was poor. Ouch. So in an effort to save money, I have attempted to start couponing.

My first couple of trips were okay. I was getting disappointed though because while I was saving money, I wasn't necessarily getting them for free and I really wanted to get some free shit and experience the so far elusive "coupon high" that so many couponers describe after a particularly good haul. I craved it.

Well today I finally achieved it. I constantly am scouring the coupon blogs all day (now that I have a 'real' job which doesn't require me to sit in an empty store for 11 hours, I am sure this will change slightly) and last night I found a good deal for some toothpaste and eyeliner. Basically, life essentials.

I decided to drag Pedro this morning to try out the deal. Basically CVS has a deal running for this Colgate toothpaste, where the price is $4.99 and you get $4 ExtraBucks upon purchase (ExtraBucks are basically CVS money- it prints on your receipt and is only redeemable at CVS). There were coupons in the local paper from a week ago (and today's edition as well) for $1 off any Colgate toothpaste essentially making the toothpaste free ($4.99- $4.00 in ExtraBucks - $1 coupon= free). 

Additionally there was a deal for this Physician's Formula lash-enhancing eyeliner. It sells for $11.49 and there are $3 off coupon 'peelies' in the store. Use that and the eyeliner becomes $8.49. And for the purchase, you get $7 in ExtraBucks. Also, on each of the eyeliner's there is a "Try me free" rebate. You send your information in, along with the original receipt, and you get back your money. Which basically means that you are making money on this one. You make the $3 off that you got with your coupon in addition to the $7 ExtraBucks. And all for purchasing eyeliner and to send in a rebate. And even if you never send in any of this, my entire purchase today still completely cancels out. Not bad, huh?

So I went a little wild and made my mom go out and buy toothpaste. Then, during the Barcelona- Atletico Madrid match today (we won!) I clipped some more Target coupons and head over there to buy some cotton balls, toothbrushes, a cute dress and some face wash for about $15 all together. A good couponing adventure indeed.

Is anyone else out there couponing? Have any good tips or deals that they want to share? I'll show you mine, if you show me yours ;)

Currently I am enjoying a refreshing and chilled mojito at my favorite Mexican restaurant where the boyfriend works. And I like to think that I deserve it. Por que? You wonder. Well because today was my last day of work. Yippee!

I am excited to move on and explore new territory. Unfortunately- well not completely unfortunately- I have a little conundrum on my hands.

Today I received an email from the director of one of the largest and most prominent non profit organizations in Boston. I got his contact information via an old employer from high school that I recently visited with cupcakes and a plea for assistance.

This guy has been great. He spent a good hour on the phone with me, giving me advice about how to break into non profits and has generously forwarded my resume. I hadn't heard from him in awhile and to be honest, I was a little embarrassed to tell him about receiving my job offer (I need to work on not being embarrassed about this job just because it's not in the field that my parents paid a ridiculous amount of money for me to study in).

So he emailed me to tell me that there has been a job opening in the immigrant and refugee services branch of the organization. And of course I am stressed out because all I do is stress out about things even though I am trying to, as Pedro constantly reminds, "cry before the whip".

I am a work in progress.

My dad actually had a really good idea for how to handle the situation. Growing up I watched my parents deal with the pitfalls of owning their own business. I've noticed that while there are the traditional problems that are associated with businesses- such as maintaining clients, advertising the business and making a profit- the biggest headache that they had to deal with by far were their own employees. And because of that, and witnessing their countess headaches, I have always tried to be the best employee possible. Which is why the thought of starting a job and also interviewing for another at the same time makes me feel really... Dirty.

But my parents have been trying to reinforce that I need to think about myself and what is best for me. Which for some reason seems really daunting. And makes me feel guilty. And dirty. Where does all this guilt come from? Technically I'm only half Jewish so I feel like I should be experiencing significantly less guilt right now. What gives?

Anyone have similar experiences and want to offer me advice? A helpful motivational quote? Charming metaphor that will somehow explain away all my guilty feelings, perhaps with a witty anecdote? Any and all advice is welcome.

Happy Saturday! Looks like round two of mojitos for me!