Last Day At 0725

L-R: Top-Sandra, Jair, Alice, Shamena Bottom-Laura, me, Htadra, Anna, Christina

Yesterday was hard for me. It's never easy leaving a place you've gotten so used to. People you've grown to adore. They gave me a mini send off on my half hour break. I was having my turkey ciabatta from Nordstrom when they brought out a giant "We will miss you! Good Luck! " chocolate chip cookie from Mrs. Field's and a card signed by my co-workers out of nowhere. I was in tears. Some of them started tearing up too. I'm going to miss my co-workers so bad!!! The last ten months was definitely an experience.

Today I am thankful for:
- the Gap 0725 crew, I love you guys!
- my new curls!

GAP # 0725

It's my last week at my home store. I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm so going to miss working there the last 10 months. It kept me sane when I seriously thought I was going to lose it when I was feeling all depressed/heartbroken mid last year. I can still vividly remember my first full week. It was the 4th of July weekend. I was just thrown into the madness of a retail store. Then summer. Then came the back to school season where we launched the new denim fits. Then holiday/retail hurricane season which was just nuts. Then the lull of after holiday came. Then spring. Now summer.

I can't even begin to share all the memories that I have working at a high volume retail store. Replenishing a massive denim wall. Folding each and every single pair. Making it all nice and neat just for one customer to mess it all up. Silly requests. Pleasant customers. Bitchy customers. Repeating fits, rises, washes, cuts over and over again like a broken record to customers who ask but then don't really listen when you answer. Customers who disappear like ghosts once you find the size they need. Needle in a hay stack customer checks over the phone. Customers hitting on you. Customers just being annoying. Yada yada yada.

What really gets me is the people I worked with. I'm going to miss alot of them so so bad. Waaaaah!!!! I hope I don't lose it on Saturday. I'll be working behind the scenes now and not the frontlines where all the action is I suppose. OMG, I'm going to miss working with them. I so, so will.

Today I am thankful for:
- my retail store work experience

Body Girl

They've been putting me in different sections in the store lately. Today, I was put by myself in Body for the first time. I had the whole body side to myself. Most of the time I'd be in women's denim because that's my thing. Co-workers would say "You? in Body?!? But you're denim girl! What are you doing here?!" Uhm yeah. It wasn't busy at all so it was fine. I felt lost for a bit amidst all the lingerie, swim, active and lounge wear. But I got the hang of ringing, keeping an eye on the floor, running stuff from the body side rooms by my lonesome and maintaining. It was cool. I actually enjoyed the quiet and checking out/scrutinizing the merchandise. I wouldn't mind being put there again. I ended up buying stuff too. Yummy stuff. Ha! I graduated as a Body Girl today. Ang babaw ko talaga!

Today I am thankful for:
- the chance to know more about Gap Body
- my Irish creme truffle

Oompa Loompas

I was on register today. JUST before they sent me on my 15 minute break, a group of ladies were next in line. It was me and CP who had to ring them up. She was mumbling under her breath to me how she hated ringing for those type of customers. More often than not, they'd ask for a discount just because she was Hispanic like them. They'd be totally rude, annoying and demanding. They would refuse to even try and speak in English. She said they'd be all ghetto on you. She nicknamed them oompa loompas. It was taking f-0-r-e-v-e-r to finish with their stuff because they were h-o-a-r-d-i-n-g the price kill merchandise and would keep going back and forth getting EVEN more stuff. If the price on the ticket is different from what is scanned, we'd have to price override it with which is lower. One of the sweaters they were hoarding scanned as $12.97 which was supposed to be $6.99. I didn't know this because the ticket didn't have the sale price sticker for $6.99 on it. Next thing I know, she's flipping out, pointed her finger at me and said "I NO LIKE YOU!". So... I just smiled back. It was annoying but I just didn't feel like giving her a piece of my mind at all. I'm so used to this crap. My co-worker wanted to jump over the counter and smack her. I went ahead with my business, did the price adjustment, explained that it was SOP for us to double check and went on my break. They were all giving me these nasty looks like I had a disease on my way out. I think they thought I was trying to rip them off. Duh. I just laughed. In the break area, CP was telling everybody about my moment with the oompa loompas. She said that I looked really calm but was ready to cut/smack them. At this point, I just laugh at the insanity.

Today I am thankful for:
- the oompa loompas for testing/strengthening my patience, BAH!
- my good friend JE and our conversation/kulitan last night/this early morning
- the Urban Outfitters early spring '06 catalog
- my shoti's new tires, he is just thrilled!

Maple Leaf Link

I'll get into details later on I guess (I hope!). I'm procrastinating again. Then again, pictures do mean a thousand words. Tralala.

Anyway, I remember the horror of seeing the aftermath of the Tsunami a year ago today. I was at a friend's house in Greenhills for a birthday party and we were all glued to the television. Before the party that night, I had no idea of what was unfolding because we were staying at our condo unit in Manila and had no cable television. Nakikinood pa ako ng Sex and the City final season sa ibang bahay that time noh. I was desperate! =) We were shaken at the idea of that happening to the Philippines. If the earthquake happened North of the Indonesian Islands. We probably would have been hit as well. I can still vividly remember my dream. I get affected by disasters talaga. It's a stretch and it's inevitable but I do hope that the next time that something like this happens, we'd have the technology to predict it and the systems in place ready. I'm sending out a g-i-a-n-t prayer to that part of the world tonight before I sleep.

The whole store was turned upside down today. I was scheduled as a ringer too. The majority of my shift was spent doing returns and exchanges. I felt/feel like a robot in that box. Some customers can be really rude and insane. Sometimes I'm so tempted to tell them to just jump over the counter and just do my job for me. They KNOW ALL the store policies anywaaaaay (which I think is waaay TOO customer friendly). I had a return today for a zip up hoodie which reeked of cigarette smoke. It was sooo obvious that the item was used, then again, she did have her receipt and the tags were still on so I had to accept it. Konting hiya at delicadeza naman oh. Mga tao talaga! I'm glad I still have my patience. It is indeed a virtue and yes, customers are still always right even if they are not.

I'm surrounded by shoppers on a daily basis. Sometimes I envy them!!! I do! I'm heading off to Club Monaco and Armani Exchange this Wednesday to do some snooping around.

Where Is The Mini?

Me & Mini this s-n-o-w-y morning!

That's the top of the Mini right there.

Yep, snow was bad this morning. I was imagining that the Mini would be nowhere. My shoti had to bring me to work. My brother and sister-in-law took forever to get to their jobs when they're like 10 minutes away. My friend j.q.'s commute also got f*cked up. Everyone was talking about snow this, snow that. Man, I'm going to have to deal with this sooner or later. UGH. But it's sooo pretty out when the snow has just fallen... I couldn't help but gawk out my window.

Work was okay. They put me over at Men's. I was alone until the last hour of my shift and it was busy. It was tiring. My back hurts now. Hardly anything fazes me at work anymore. I'm so used to it. I can pretty much hold it down. The highlight of the day was that UBER cute guy I helped out. He was tall, had nice wavy brown hair, nice eyes and a good built. He spoke softly too. I was able to small talk with him for a little bit. I found out his name and that he just moved to New Jersey from Michigan. He's only been in the area for seven weeks and that he was shopping for Christmas presents for his family who he was spending Christmas with back in Michigan. Awww!!! He was to die for. j.q. thought so too!!! Once again, we notice the same guy! Har Har Har! Anyway, I hope to see him more often in the store. He's eye candy! That Banana Republic is-he-gay-or-not guy also stopped by the store today. Oh my gulay!!! I don't work my magic as well over at Men's but then one of the perks is the cute guy every now and then. You get to oggle at and small talk. Tee Hee!

J stopped by the store today so I got to talk with him. Apparently he got fired because he didn't show up for work the whole of last week. He got very sick and wasn't able to notify any of the managers. They thought that he abandoned his work. Even if he explained the situation to the management it was done. It's too bad. He's one of the people I really enjoy talking with at work. I'll miss seeing him around. We said we'll keep in touch though. So I guess we can still hang out once in awhile.

I almost had an episode this morning. I don't know what got into me. I was able to keep it together though with the help of one of my longest girl friends ES. Sometimes it really helps to let it out. Just let it out. It'll get better, I sooo know it will.

Saturday

I was actually looking forward to work. Hanging out with j.q. the night before did me good. I was in the mood. It was your ordinary busy Saturday. People milling around. People asking for help. People NOT wanting help. People messing up the store. etc... etc...

There was this one lady that I was trying my best to help with sizes. I was helping multiple customers but I still checked up on her whenever I could. Turns out, she took it bad. She looked at me weirdly and left. R saw the whole thing happen and wondered increduously at what just transpired. The lady came back with DB with a complaint. She was talking in Spanish so I couldn't understand much of what she was saying so DB would translate. Turns out she felt violated and harrassed by me. She felt that I was watching her too closely and I supposedly wasn't doing that to the rest of the customers. I just listened in but did not by all means apologize. I mean, WTF!?! is that?? I know I didn't do anything wrong. I just told her that I meant nothing but to help her as much as I could. She was going on and on about how I would tell DB otherwise blah blah blah... I don't get it. You just can't win with looney people. UGH!

That got me though. I mean I've had far worse customers but the since I've been feeling blah about work lately. She got me. She made me feel like crap when she kept coming back. I had to take a moment with DB because I started welling up. It amazes me how you try your best to be nice and people bite your head off. DB gave me a hug and told me to not let it get to me. I've been doing that but this f*cking lady got me. It does get sooo tiring being understanding of stupidity that's all. I got frustrated. I owe DB one.

Anyway, after about 30 minutes. My Himalayan customers from before came into the store after months of not seeing them! They were shopping for their daughter who was in Boston studying. I helped them out again and that made me feel better. That family is sooo nice. They gave me a hug immediately and asked how I was. So I shared the meanie experience I had earlier. The mom hugged me again and told me that I didn't deserve to be treated that way. We ended up discussing Buddhism because of this. She was explaining to me about how ignorance could have played a big role in what transpired earlier. At the end of our conversation ( and shopping!). I felt better. I'm going to read up on Buddism more. She inspired me. She gave off this serene aura. I want that. Could it be from that? Hmmm... Anyway, I went on my break feeling better and when I got back, I was met with a praise. I guess you can call it quits. The second situation evened out the first situation. What goes around comes around.

After work, I had dinner at the food court and was supposed to watch a movie but then I got a call from my mom asking me to go home at once. She's been freaking out and been on my case lately. So as not to aggravate the situation, I had to cut the night short and just head home. This made me feel ugh again. I ended up going to my older brother's for awhile though to see my sister-in-law's sister who's staying with them for a bit. I just vented. It was good to let it out. I felt better once again. But NO... the night wasn't over. At 3 f*cking a.m., mother barged into my younger brother's room where I was sleeping for the night since we had visitors and went berserk. She was being really loud. When I said one sentence, she seethed and told me to shut up since the visitors would hear us. Oh God, I want to bang my head. I mean, who started the whole being loud thing in the first place. I was happily chatting with people on YM and she comes in at dawn fuming about my dinners after work. Le sigh, Le sigh. Sometimes you JUST CAN'T win with people and in this case, it had to be my own mother.

One thought though, I might just be being emotional. After all, I've been pms-ing. UGH!

Is He Or Isn't He?

I have a crush! There's this guy who comes into the store every so often. He's Asian, tall, well-built, good hair (which j.q. wants to change!), well-dressed, carries himself well. To cut it short, I find him gorgeous. I've helped him once or twice when they put me over at Men's and he told me that he worked at our sister company. I've seen him once or twice too while shopping there. j.q. and I are stalking some stuff at the store so we decided to check up on them tonight after work. Turns out, j.q. knew his name when I pointed him out. Judging from his name, he seems to be Pinoy!

Anyway, while we were hovering around the clothes and in between my non-stop gushing. He went up to us and asked if we needed help. What made it funny was that j.q. and I both froze for a second before saying that we were okay and were just looking around. We both got a gay vibe from him and it struck us at the same time. We were laughing soo much afterwards. I couldn't help but feel let down!!! I was sqeezing j.q.'s arm the whole time. Oh man, is he or isn't he? We're both not sure! I'm pretty sure he's gay though. He gave off that. Oh well, I still can look at him can I??? I look forward to seeing him again soon. Can't wait for j.q.'s blog entry too.

I've been feeling iffy-effy and impatient about work lately. I don't know if it's because it's been d-e-a-d or something else. I have a feeling it's something else. He and D make it alot easier. I might also be just being weird. Tonight was fun, I had a good time at dinner, that gay-crush thing and window shopping with j.q. I needed tonight.

J's Fan Club

It became dead in the store past 6 p.m. last night. I guess people opted to stay in because of the non-stop raining. Well anyway, while I was maintaining the front tables for the nth time, I overheard three young girls whispering. Two of them kept nudging the other to go talk to 'him'. When I looked over my shoulder to see who 'him' was. It was J. It was obvious that this girl had a crush on him. I couldn't help but laugh and think how cute it all was. Awww... So J chatted with them for a bit and I observed from a good distance. The girl was goo-goo eyed while batting her eyelashes at him. Awww... Before leaving I saw her give J one last lingering look. Hehe! I sidled up beside J and told him what I overheard but he knows about the crush part anyway. When J got to work tonight I made fun of him and told him that his personal fan club came by 'again'. Hmmm... I bet I'll be seeing those girls again one of these days.

I thought it was sweet. It reminded me of how I actually miss having crushes and stuff. It's been awhile. I sorta stopped noticing guys that way since I got into a serious relationship. *blush*blush*blush* This incident made me a bit nostalgic. I miss feeling my heart flutter. Oh young love, sweet love. Bwahaha!!! Mwahaha!!!

Since it was dead, J, K & moi kept floating to each other's section to chat. We all get off at 5 p.m. this Saturday so we've decided to go get dinner after. I'm looking forward to that.

Speaking of crushes. I remember j.q. telling me how utterly icky and weird he felt when this group of young girls talked to him, gave him a pair of jeans and giggled one day. He's gay by the way so I can understand why he felt well icky. Haha! I thought it was sweet just the same. Recently, he helped me undress a female dummy to get a pair of cords that it was wearing for a customer. He just uttered out of nowhere that "this will probably be the only time that I will ever touch a woman this way." Did that crack me up or what!!!??? Oh I love j.q. Hehe! *mwah* He felt sick today. I hope he feels better tomorrow.

We've had great markdowns/price kills. I've gone nuts with camis and L/S tops. Prices are so good that it's just like being in the Greenhills tiangge! I wonder what new stuff we'll get in this or early next week. It's only the start of Fall but we're getting in Winter/Holiday stuff already. I'm still mastering the art of tasteful and practical layering. It's cold out but then it gets warm in the store. It's the opposite of summer where it's cold in the store and scorching out. And oh, I'm in dire need of drawer/closet space. I miss my old New Manila room. I had more than enough space. My bags had their own closet too. Now they have to share. Since I now have to deal with seasonal outfitting, I should have twice the closet space right? Oh man, where the hell am I going to find that??? Think Ms. Engineer. Think! =)

Fat Bastard

Okay, this is the second bad experience I've had so far. I was up on the ladder trying to control the denim wall situation when this fat bastard f*cking hit my arm hard and demanded "GET ME THIS SIZE!!!" He hardly spoke English but I can understand Spanish numbers so I tried to get the sizes he wanted. But he was sooo f*cking impatient and hit me again. I got SO surprised! He caught me off guard that bastard. Good thing A (who spoke Spanish) showed up so I passed that bastard to him. I was fuming. Talk about not having common courtesy and manners at all. UGH! Walang modo! Leche! P*tang Ina! Did I just curse!?! I'm not the cursing type but I swear sarap murahin ng baboy na yun. I swear people can really be dumb.

I can't wait for tomorrow. It's my first Saturday off in weeks. I'll still be at the mall but this time for leisure.

Today

Okay, here we go with the noteworthy, sometimes irritating & just plain weird characters I've encountered that I can remember:

• in-a-hurry-no-need-for-a-fitting-room lady - It was your ordinary frantic Saturday. D & I were assigned at women's denim. An Eastern European (I'm assuming from her looks) lady grabbed (!) my arm and asked for her denim size. Okay, so I did the locator thing and walkie'd it back not knowing she already asked D to help her ( she apparently grabbed D's arm too) . Anyway, when the jeans came, she grabbed them from me and dropped her pants right there and tried on the pair. Yep, right there in plain sight on the sales floor. Imagine my horror! I immediately told her that we had TONS of fitting rooms in the back of the store but she just shrugged me off. Uhm, okay, whatever you want. I ended up shuffling around trying to cover her like I was playing patintero which was silly. Why oh why did I even feel embarassed for her!?! They probably don't have fitting rooms in their country's retail stores or something. HA! She was back in the store again a few days ago. I helped and made sure to shuffle her toward the rooms. Bah!

• that small talking DOM (dirty old man) - This was just Eew... He (a guy in his very late 30s probably w/ jet black hair, I'm thinking Italian) started like any other customer. He was asking for the 1969 belts. We didn't have any left so I ended up having to take off the one on the manequin. Okay... so blah blah blah, belt this, belt that. After awhile, he was telling me about his job (actor daw!), where he lived, what clothes he had THEN he suddenly asked out of nowhere for my number. UGH. Tantanan niyo ako ha!!! Ayaw ko na sa Men's! Buti kung bata, bata at may itsura noh! Ano ba!?! Biased eh!

• impatient-messing-everything-up couple - I noticed them going through the piles of boot cut cords so I asked what size they needed. They didn't need help daw! Okay fine! But I still insisted since they were messing up the tables big time. They kept moving from one table to the next. Mess here, mess there! ARGH. They couldn't decide whether they needed a 2R or 4R so I told them to compare the person they were buying the cords for to me. I'm a tiny person so I'm a zero. THEN, they change their minds. They asked for zeros now. When it took me awhile to find a couple of pairs BECAUSE of the mess they made, they bugged me impatiently. Don't these people get that it just doesn't work that way??? A size doesn't miraculously appear out of nowhere snap snap you know. I'd appreciate a little patience.

• booze lady - Now, I remember helping her once before. I sent her off to the fitting rooms with a couple of pairs. T then goes out looking for more sizes and told me that there was this seemingly drunken lady in rooms. She'd come out of the room with the jeans on and shake her booty in front of the mirror. It seemed that she reeked of liquor too. I was due to check rooms and haha! It was that lady I helped and she was indeed shaking her booty. When I went past her, I did smell liquor. She must have been tipsy or something. She must have spent close to two hours in the store. She spent a great deal of time talking. Hmm... I guess she had problems or something. I hope that in the time that she was in the store she was able to release some of the stress. sort of. haha =)

• rude trio - The LP agent asked me to monitor three persons who were acting weird. They were suspiciously floating around the store. Two guys and a girl. I offered assistance like we always do to let them know we see them and the girl snapped back and said " We DO NOT need assistance!" B*atch!!! Ang sarap sigawan na magnanakaw ka!!! Leche!

• tape measure woman - I was assigned in rooms yesterday. I had this one nag of a lady ask me to measure the hips of a pair of pants for her. Her idea of where the hips were was just waay off. She was being a prick about it and kept entering the space where we maintain clothes which was off limits. I had to tell her to just step out. I was alone for abit there so I had to leave her and attend to the others. When I went back, she was freaking in the off limits area again and this time, the stuff she said she was going to buy were on the cart with her bag. So I asked her politely to please take her stuff and we could deal with the hip-measure issue outside even if I was starting to lose patience with her. I wanted to snap "Woman, do me a favor and get out of there!!!" She wouldn't budge. Then I had to open doors again so I had to leave her. It was a good thing that A came back so she dealt with it. Why oh why do these people think that they are the ONLY people we have to attend to?!?

Okay, that's six stories!

About that job interview 'practice' this morning. The company turned out to be a PR/events promotions firm for mostly non-profit organizations (fundraisers & charities). THAT got me interested. They wanted to fill in an entry level management position in marketing I think. The interview was casual enough. It was like the person that interviewed me and I were just chatting. It went smoothly. I didn't think I'd hear from them right away but I got a call back this afternoon. I'm set to go with them to an event (I think) tomorrow as part of their screening process. I wonder how this will turn out. At this point, I really don't know what to think but I am curious. I'll find out more stuff tomorrow.

And oh, I also got more peaches and pears from the grocery. Soya milk too!

So... THAT'S A Peach

I had a REAL peach today. Yup! An actual peach. I never had a fresh one before. The peaches I grew up knowing come with syrup and cans courtesy of Del Monte or Dole. Alam niyo ano ibig sabihin ko. I loved it! It's quite yummy. The texture reminded me of mangoes. I love how they smell too. YUM! I'll be having more from now on.

j.q. and I went around the mall for awhile today after clocking out. I made him buy this gorgeous of an oxford shirt at Banana Republic. It's his first!!! It really looked good on him and best of all, it was on sale! It reminded me of Paul Smith stuff my cousin would wear back home. It was a deep chocolate brown with a purple foldover cuff. I wish they made that style cuffs for women oxford shirts. As for me, I really need those leather boots. I'm gonna!!!! I also brought him to Club Monaco, one of my absolute favorite stores! Aaah... I love how the style is snobbish in a subtle way.

I'm off tomorrow and I'll be going to this job interview. I'm not really sure what the job is though. I'm just really going for practice. I need to go to the grocery too. I need decent food. I've been eating nothing but unhealthy crap these days. Work has thrown my eating habits waaay off. UGH.

I should really write about those customers...

Buzz Off

It was snail-paced slow in the store today and I was over at Men's. I almost grew roots there. It was so dead. Anyway, I had two irritating experiences with customers today.

Irritating Customer # 1 a.k.a. Loser 1 :

L1: Do you have neck ties?
C: I'm sorry but we don't carry neck ties at the Gap but you can try Banana.
L1: What the hell is wrong with the Gap?!? Nothing's here anymore. Banana would be too big for my kid. Gap Kids is too small, don't you get it?? (In a really snapping-at-me sort of way)
C: Buzz off creep! I'm sorry that your kid's not kid-like in terms of sizing. It's not my problem if he's a huge kid you know. You don't have to be rude and snap at me *ONLY IN MY HEAD OF COURSE*

Irritating Customer # 2 a.k.a. Loser 2 :
(This was actually a group of rowdy young Filipinos!)

L2: Can you get this size and this size etc... blah blah...
C: Okay, hold on a sec, I'll be right back!
L2: Can we get your phone number?
C: Not really! Besides I'm working right now.
L2: Come on, we came all the way from Newark!
C: Then you should at least buy something para sulit yung biyahe ninyo.
L2: Blah Blah, your number, take you out to dinner, Blah Blah (in THAT icky sort of way)
C: God damn buy something! *ONLY IN MY HEAD AGAIN OF COURSE*
L2: your number, take you out on a date, BLAH BLAH BLAH!
C: Tell you what, let me just give you my email address because I don't give out my number. (I walked to the register, got a calling card and wrote down a FAKE email address)
L2: Uy! Salamat ah! We'll email you! (in THAT icky sort of way again)
C: HA! Buzz off creeps! Such, such ugly cheapskates! Being a fellow Filipino doesn't give you guys any sicko feelings of the right to verbally hound/harass me like that. Drat, I should have called our security and had them thrown out. Our incredible hulk should have been there. *ONLY IN MY HEAD AGAIN, AGAIN OF COURSE*

Then again, customers are ALWAYS right so... I should just let this one go...

I'm Beat

Uhuh! After a lunatic retail holiday, I'm beat. I rushed drove and flopped into my bed the minute I got home. I slept 10 hours!!! But then, it still wasn't enough... I could hardly get up this morning. My feet cramped up. I wore FREAKING flats naman the day before. It was JUST NUTS in the store. Thank goodness they didn't put me in Men's. I don't mind it but I just enjoy being at Women's better. It's Snap! Snap! easy for me to remember styles and such. Anyway, I only worked five hours today. I wasn't myself. I wasn't functioning normally. I felt blech... I hope I'm better tomorrow.

Yesterday, I sat for awhile in the break area and had a chat with two of my co-workers before rush driving home. We were talking about money matters (sort of). I was telling J1 that where I'm from, it's part of the culture for the parents to send their kids to school all the way and that most if not majority get their first jobs after college unlike here in the US. No matter what ginagapang ng magulang yung pera for tuition. J2 (who's also a Filipino that's only been here two years) also seconded this motion hehe! I was thinking to myself that if you really compare these two worlds, we are such BRATS in the Philippines (to some level). In the US, kids/teenagers learn about the value of working, debts, loans, responsibilities, financial planning etc... etc... early on. If we needed money, Mommy, Pahingi ng baon... Gosh, back home, we have all these hired help to do things for us. As I've said before, I never once felt compelled to drive since I always had the luxury of a driver. But now, I have to drive to get around. I'm slowly getting used to it. I'm very lucky. We're all lucky. I don't have bills to pay (yet!). Whatever I make from this part time work thing I have is all mine. I want to give part of it to my parents, but then they wouldn't accept it. Akin na daw yun! Everything is provided for. Even my quirky car! I never had to commute in my entire life. J1 has to take the bus home, which he tells me is sort of an ordeal because it takes him awhile. Man, I feel guilty for spending a bit too much on shoes last Sunday! Tsk! Tsk! Do I really, really need that nifty watch I want??????? And those corduroy trousers on promotion??? (rationalizing!!!)

I'm watching the news now and Richard Quest is on. He's one of my favorite-st newscasters on CNN. I don't know what it is about his garalgal voice I like. When he delivers his pieces, I just really end up listening unlike some where I space out. The report was about the current aid role reversal that's happening since Katrina tore through the Gulf Coast. It's interesting how other nations are now offering to help the US huh? Even arch nemesis Fidel Castro is offering a thousand doctors! Will the US accept all the aid that's pouring in? This is one unexpected role reversal.

There's a new Loss Prevention agent at the store. He's like the incredible hulk. He's probably at least 6'5" tall and maybe 6x as wide as me!!! I'm petite as hell so you get the picture. Anyway, I got to chat with him today. He's not as scary as he looks. He's actually quite friendly. Don't judge a book by it's cover ika nga.

I miss my good friends like mad!!! Again, I praise the high heavens for all this technology.

I was re-reading some of my recent blog posts. It's kind of weird of me to list down all those denim fits. Mwehehe! I've had too much denim in my hands! WTF!?!

I'm rambling on and on in this blog post. My mind's sort of everywhere right now. I should just concentrate watching Havana Nights. Tata!

Denim Jungle & A Sushi Named Spice Girl

I've been assigned at women's denim for close to a month now. The fits/styles have now been imprinted in my brain! Here's the rundown on how where they sit on the waist, how they hug your thigh/leg, and pant leg cuts:

Original Fit:

• Flares - just below, slightly loose, flare
• Boot Cut - just below, slightly loose, boot cut
• Long & Lean - low rise, slim, flare
• Low Rise Boot Cut - low rise, slightly loose, boot cut
• Ultra Low Rise - ultra low rise, slim, flare

New! Curvy Fit:

• Low Rise - low rise, slightly loose, flare & boot cut
• Ultra Low Rise - ultra low rise, slim, boot cut

New! Straight Fit:

• Ultra Low Rise - ultra low rise, slim, boot cut

Today, I had a break from women's and got assigned over at men's. Life is SO much simpler there, but then, male shoppers are only either nonchalant or too picky. The nonchalant ones don't want help, pick a style, size and often times don't even try them on anymore. The real picky ones are are worse than women, it's so hard for them to make up their minds. hahaha!!! Anyway, I'll most likely have more denim stories in future blog posts. Here are the men's:
Straight Fit: just below, straight leg
Loose Straight Fit: just below, slightly loose straight leg
Boot Fit: low rise, slim, boot cut
Loose Boot Fit: low rise, slightly loose boot cut
Hmmm... Did I get those right?! I'll take a look again tomorrow and re-edit this just in case. I hope they send me back to women's it's just sooo much easier to relate. Haha! But then, seeing cute ones every so often is a perk.
They're giving me more hours these days. I'll also be working Labor Day. It's bound to be CRAZEEEEEEYYY!!! It's cool because we get paid more for overtime & holiday. I'm scheduled to work a full shift but they're giving us the option to ask for more. Hmm... I can maybe extend an hour or two. I hope I don't pass out on all the denim though. =)
Anyway, Katrina was here last night for my birthday. I wasn't in one of my best moods even if it was my day but then the weather was good. It was nice and cool out. We had Japanese food. I had the Spice Girl Sushi. Yeah, it was named Spice Girl. It had string bean tempura, spicy shrimp tobiko top, with spicy tuna & scallions. The string bean tempura gave it a yummy crunch. I wonder how that resto came up with those sushi names. They had Amy, Jennifer, Manhattan, Caterpillar etc... Sushis. I don't know ingredient it had which called for Spice Girl as it's name. Har dee har har!
I used my $10 gift certificate from Origins on a refining pressed powder. I got it while I was on break. I'm quite chummy with the Origins girl because I come by a lot. I'm pretty hiyang with the brand so I hope this powder's as good as she made it sound. She actually gave me a mini-makeover in 15 minutes flat. There's a make-up event next week, she invited me to sign up. I'm tempted. It should be interesting to buy kikay beauty stuff naman.
My sis-in-law and I will probably drop by the City tomorrow night. It's NYC's sales tax-free event. We just have to experience it. Haha! Minsan lang noh! Doing away with the City's whopping 8.25% or so tax is pretty good. I think they're also dropping the tax to 4% permanently. That's pretty cool! We will definitely head off to UO! I get off at 7pm so off we go after that...
Man, I only got a powder for my birthday? It's unreal. I'm definitely buying more stuff. HA!

Hugged By Himalayans

I worked a very hectic and crazy full shift yesterday. I swear I've never held sooo much women's denim in my life. It's been where I've been assigned to the past two to three weeks. Give me another week and I'd probably be able to memorize each and every denim wash there is in the collection. I pretty much have the fits & styles down pat.

Anyway, I was helping this customer who turned out to be a Filipina find a size in the 1969 gauchos. As I was waiting for the walkie stock check to come through, she was semi-complaining to me about the prices of the 1969s as compared to the other jeans available in the store. I explained to her that the premium denims were partially hand made, of higher quality material, the brand's semi-answer to the over priced designer/status denims blah blah blah... Then, she tells me that "Wow! that means I'm high end. Because I buy the 1969s EVEN if they're expensive!!!" Tsk! Tsk! Believe me, she was dead serious telling me this. It was in this stuck up and high and mighty way. We didn't have her size but she still bought them in the size which obviously was too small for her. I told my co-worker who was a Filipino himself about it and he said "Boy, does she have a wrong impression of how it is in America!" He pretty much explained it and I agree with him.

On my one hour break, I walked around the mall and went into j.crew. You see, a couple of weeks back, I was helping these two customers over at Men's find whatever they needed. They asked about how I liked working there, if I liked the style, were my co-workers friendly etc... etc... blah blah blah... Before he left, he shook my hand and introduced himself as one of the new managers assigned next door and asked me to see him for a possible job. I wasn't sure if they were just playing around. Little did I know I was already going through a job interview that day because I saw him at the store!!! I didn't approach him anymore though although I'm curious... hmm....

I also helped this lady buy her first pair of jeans in awhile. She doesn't own any pair at all!!!! Her husband nudged me and said that he could attest to that. She says that she just never felt comfortable in them and could never find a good fitting pair! That was interesting.

On the last hour of my shift, I was approached by an Asian mom and her three kids. She asked me for jeans (but of course!) for her daughter who was going off to college at Smith in Massachusetts this fall. She asked me what I would think would be best for tops so I brought her a few which I thought would be good for school. That started it, she never let me go! She told me not to leave them. I spent that last hour going around the store like their personal shopper! Her daughters absolutely hate shopping but since she was going off to college, she better get some so the mom was making them shop! While we were deciding on what they should get, she was asking me about me so I asked them about them too. Turned out they're from the Himalayas! She said that the reason I got along so well with them was because they were from the mountains and I was from the islands (!?!) hahahhaa!!!! Anyway, after they bought a ton of stuff. They all hugged me which really surprised me. They were really grateful for making things soo easy for them when they hated shopping. (Goodness! how can I ever hate shopping!?! hahahaha!?! ) They also tugged me towards our manager and told her how helpful and nice I was. hahahahaha!!! Hindi lang nila alam, natuwa lang ako mamili ng damit for them!!!

6/7 Denim Day

It was TOO hectic at work today although I'm not complaining. I was in and out of the stock room a gazillion times because I didn't have a walkie on. There was this one family which I really enjoyed helping. The daughter was handicapped and they were looking for jeans to use for the start of school this Fall. The dad told me to give her whatever she wanted. I gave them my full attention and made sure they got everything they needed and gave out suggestions. They were very friendly and pleasant people too. They must have thought my ideas were good enough. They ended up buying 6 - 7 pairs of jeans!!!

The Mini's here! It's super CUTE and quirky! I can't believe I'm going to be driving a Mini!!! Inspite of being a zombie the past week, I still smile whenever I see it parked on our driveway. I'm not sure if I can drive it alone soon though, I tend to space out with all the thoughts in my head that it scares me that I might get into an accident. Mahirap na! I'll post a pic of it one of these days.

Don't Panic!

I've only been gone 4 days from work and the store looks completely different. A lot of new stuff are now on display. It's amazing how they do that on a single day. I know that stock people keep things running through the night but I like to imagine that pixies & elves do the magic of transforming the store. hehe =) They're slowly bringing out the Fall line and it's only mid-summer. Aaah... the genius of retail marketing! As I did my usual walk through around the store (which I really like doing) familiarizing myself where everything is put, I couldn't help but feel my breathing quicken. You see, that's how I am when I see interesting new clothes and accessories. Na-e-excite! Nag-pa-panic! My head spins with all these ideas on what I should buy next for myself or whoever. I start thinking of what would; let's say, my best bud or bf like, what would look good on my family, what would go with what etc... etc... I can wear this with my 1969 denims, this will go with my yellow wicker clutch, ooooh, this is perfect for my metallic sling backs, I need more cold weather stuff... etc... etc... Basta! It's a constant buzz of imaginary outfits in my head. If I let my purchasing control go, wala na, mahirap na! Luckily, as the hours progress, I start making sensible choices that are wallet friendly by several series of eliminations. Since I left Manila, I've vowed to calm down with shopping. You see, when we were packing 'our house', I ended up getting rid of SOO many stuff which I hardly used. Boy did I feel guilty! I was mentally calculating (sort of) how much the discarded/giveaway stuff were and ARGH! Uminit ulo ko! My bag closet alone would have bought me a MAC + more. Don't get me wrong, I still adore and enjoy the thrill of shopping but I found that it's more uhm... well.... fulfilling if you end up maximizing ALL of them. Even if I'm surrounded by yummy merchandise day in and day out, I can curb the urge. ...or so I thought!?? That employee benefit card should be shoved somewhere. Tinatawag ako! It gets really tempting!!! Hay... Prioritize! Prioritize!!!

By the way, I finished reading HP6 last Thursday night. Talk about a major cliff hanger!!! Here we go with the irritatingly loooong wait!?!