When did I become old?

Sign #5: We are doing some research for American Eagle, whose target market is girls ages 15-25. Part of the study required the girls to test some new underwear fabric and they had to go online to rate the different undies that they tried. In order to increase the number ofrespondents who took the online questionnaire, we gave them a call to remind them about the study and to encourage them to go online.

The first number I called didn't ring. No, it played. That's right, I finally got to experience the new cell phone hype of having a song play to the dialer, instead of a ring tone. Avril Lavigne was the artist of choice. I almost hung up, totally confused, until I suddenly put it all together. Then I dialed another number. This time, a message came on, at least warning me to "enjoy the music while we connect your call." Then a band came on that I never even heard of.

Ah yes. The digital age, where not only do we have to wear our ipod headphones while walking from the car to the mall entrance, but we also get to hear music while we dial our friends' cell phones.

The Flexin' Tightends

Somehow, I got roped into playing in my work's Fantasy Football League. Well, it was probably my own fault. You know, being the new girl and not wanting to seem like I'm not "with it."

Except I'm not. At least, not when it comes to football.

So now I'm scrambling, reading up on FFL picks and analyzing the expert's picks. My co-workers have created spreadsheets and multiple regressions (I'm not even kidding) and I'm sort of thinking of just creating a really hot team. As in: picking all cute players. After all, my team name is "Flexin' Tightends."

I did attempt a spreadsheet, but I really don't know what it means. Heck, I'm not even sure I know what a Tight End is.

So if anyone has any good picks or strategies, please help!

My favorite birthday present? A new house.

It's official...Scott and I are finally homeowners! I felt like a celebrity this morning, with so many people wanting my signature.

And, to celebrate, I'm finally posting a a few pictures of the house. We're really excited and Scott is already talking about what kind of lawn mower he wants to buy from Lowe's. For my part, I've made friends with the folks at Pottery Barn. I really should get a part time job there to help pay for all our too-near-in-the-future purchases.

We're celebrating my birthday in the new house (get your mind out of the gutter). Since all our furniture to date has been either hand-me-downs or cheap buys (which have all done their part well), we need to get all new furniture. So we have a date with some newspaper, measuring tape and scissors, to cut out furniture shapes and arrange them in the room. Happy 28th to me! :)

That being said, if anyone feels so inclined to send money as a housewarming gift, you can use our current address. We also accept PayPal.

Cheers to new homes and lots of debt! It's the American way, right?

Where the corn is as high as an elephant's eye

Well, almost.

Our weekend took us on an adventure to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. More specifically, Waverly.

It started at 5:30am on Friday, where we were greeted at the RDU airport by a 40 minute security line, which is unheard of here. After spending 10 minutes in line, Scott realizes that he has forgotten his ID. (how does someone forget their ID, you ask? It was an honest mistake...he had to make photocopies of it for our mortgage). So he runs home to grab his passport, but by the time he gets back and we try to cut in the security line, we miss our flight.

And all flights to Cedar Rapids, Iowa are full until 10:00 pm. Go figure.

The airline guy is trying to help us get as close to Cedar Rapids as possible. And throughout this whole ordeal, I felt like I was on an episode of Jaywalking. First, he spells Iowa "IHOWA." Then he suggests Akron (Ohio), Detroit (Michigan) and Cheyenne (Wyoming) as plausible alternatives to Cedar Rapids. Hmmm....

So we settled on Chicago, rented a car and drive five hours to our final destination. After a little tiff with the car rental agency, which I won, along with a free upgrade to a Lexus SUV.

We did get to really see a part of America that we otherwise wouldn't have, had we flown.

The family reunion (the whole point for this trip) was awesome. My dad is one of six and his oldest sister had 12 kids, so I have tons of first cousins I haven't even met, not to mention tons of second and third cousins. We got to see a milking operation, a tractor pull and some great fireworks. The weather was awesome and everyone had such a great time. Lots of fresh air, drinking, and just hanging out. Oh, and lots of fresh corn...delicious!

Lies, all lies!

I'm traveling again for work this week, spending time in good ol' Rockville, MD. In my hotel bathroom hangs the following sign:

Dear Guest,
Hilton Family of Brands is committed to conserving our country's natural resources. Every day, tons of detergent and millions of gallons of water are used to wash towels which have only been used once. Here's how you can help:

• A towel on the rack means "I'll use it again"
• A towel on the floor means "Please exchange"

Doing my part to "conserve our country's natural resources," (what about the planet's resources??) I hung my towel on said rack. That day, I found a brand new towel (and bath mat and washcloth) in my bathroom.

So I went to the front desk that night, explained the situation and said that I wanted to reuse my towels. They made a note to housekeeping.

The next morning, I once again hung my towel on said rack. Once again, my towel (and bath mat and washcloth) were replaced with new ones.

I guess that's about all you can expect from the family that produced Paris Hilton.

Losing our independence

I was flipping through the channels the other day and came across the movie "You've Got Mail." You remember this one - the romantic comedy that reunited "Sleepless in Seattle" stars Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, who fall in love over the internet, only to find out they are bitter business rivals - he the owner of the big box book store chain and she the owner of the small, independent children's bookstore.

In the end, love - and big box - prevail. Whether this was an economic statement made by the writers, or just a statement of reality, I don't know. But it got me thinking of consumers, the discrepancy between what we say and what we do, the Wall Street Journal and Seven Jeans.

Rupert Murdoch has purchased The Wall Street Journal. The wires are all a-buzz about whether the paper will maintain its editorial independence or if Murdoch will use it as another one of his mouthpieces. It's really quite sad that a paper with this kind of credibility will potentially be tarnished by bias. (I don't blame Murdoch, per se...I blame the Bancrofts for getting it in this situation.)

And earlier this week, Seven Jeans (Seven for all Humanity) was purchased by VF Corp - the same company that makes Wrangler. Not quite the same cache. What will the new owner mean for the designer jean brand?

Everywhere we look, it seems like the independent companies are being gobbled up by bigger companies. And I wonder, what does this mean for quality- for the quality of our newspapers, the quality of our jeans, the quality of our bookstores? Economically, I know that this is not all bad...with consolidation we get economies of scale, which means quicker service and cheaper prices for consumers, not to mention a friendlier effect on our environment. It means more exhaustive distribution and potentially better management.

But what do we lose? Do we lose editorial independence (the right to think for ourselves)? Do we lose brand prestige and uniqueness? Do we lose customer service and comfort?

And maybe we, as consumers, as to blame for the loss of independence. What are our demands, and can small business keep up with them? Do we demand that the Dow Jones, despite being a small company, keep up economically with -er- the Jones's? Do we demand that our small bookstores carry the latest titles and be open at our fancy? Maybe our big box ideals are driving the smaller businesses into the ground. We say we want independence to prevail, but do we really?

We can only wait to see what happens with the Wall Street Journal and Seven Jeans. I hope that a new kind of hybrid could emerge - one in which both strengths are leveraged. Maybe these newly purchased companies will prove that.

After all, it all turned up roses for Tom and Meg.