Lost Sale for T-Mobile

Phone caseAs you know, Jesse and I both got our new phones this weekend. And we both needed to get cases for them right away to keep them safe and in good condition. The problem came when I didn’t like any of the case choices at the Apple store. Sure, they would have served the purpose, but I wanted a cute one.  They didn’t have cute ones.  They only had plain black or clear cases.

So, when we left we headed over to Best Buy to check out their case choices.  They had a lot more selection, but still no cute ones.  I ended up picking the best one I could find even though it was plain black.  But then the Best Buy guy suggested we might want to check the kiosks at the mall because they often have more choices.

That sounded like a good idea, so we headed to the mall really quick since it is right across the street.  Now, usually the kiosk people are dying to “help” you.  They often call out to you as you are just walking through the mall.  They try to stop you and convince you to buy one of their phones.  “Hey you!  What kind of phone do you have?”  Well, we experienced quite the opposite from this T-Mobile girl.

Since I was just looking for a case that my phone could slide into we were checking out all the phone brands to find one I liked.  When we stopped at the T-Mobile kiosk, the girl seemed helpful enough at first.  She asked if she could help and what we were looking for.  Then she found out I wanted to put my iPhone in the case.  She rudely said, “These aren’t made for the iPhone, they are made for our phones.”  I understand that, but I think it will fit.  Nope… she quickly pushed us away telling us their cases wouldn’t work for me.  The thing is I had in my hand a case that looked like it would have worked for my phone just fine.  Nothing like talking your customers out of buying anything from you!

By the way, I ended up with an Eddie Bauer case from Best Buy.  And guess what??  It is made for “smart phones” in general, and is working out well.

Meet Jesse!

Most of you already know my husband, but I thought that in honor of our anniversary month you should all meet him officially.  We were married on October 21, 2006 which will make this our four year anniversary!  There will be more about wedding memories later, but for now here is a little bit about Jesse:Jesse and Me

What do you do for a living?
I am trying to stop being a jack of all trades and focus, but for now, I’m an entrepreneur with a Web design/small business consulting/graphic design company that you happen to also be an owner of. My day consists of reading and responding to about 100 e-mails per day, staying on Twitter to follow the latest design/site/social media trends, and working some magic on the Interwebs for clients. It may not seem like I’m “working” much during the day, but it takes a lot of work to get “work,” keep it, and the processes going to completion to get paid.

How did you and I meet,  how long have we been together, and when did you first know that you wanted to get married?
I think we first met either at youth group or at a youth event that I was chaperoning, but you know my memory isn’t good enough to remember exactly which. 😉 I DO remember the first time I saw you, though. Definitely cute, but it took about 2 hours for me to find out that you were 16 and I was 21 at the time. We started dating during the Summer of 2002, after you graduated high school and dated for almost 4 years before I popped the question and we got married 4 months after that.

I knew I wanted to marry someone with your qualities before I asked you out and saw dating as a way to be sure we should get married. I knew within the first week of dating that you were the one, as long as YOU would have me with all of my flaws.

What is the best part about being married and living together so far?
Too hard to choose that one thing, so here’s what is best as a package: not coming home to an empty apartment and fixing a meal to eat alone OR having to go out and spend money to eat elsewhere with other people. Having someone on my team to make it our team, who has the same life goals and who has your back and to cover your back.

What is the hardest thing about living with me?
Your indecisiveness. How was that for decisive? I’m rarely going to dilly-dally with a decision, but you like to hem and haw about things, discuss them 12 times for 10-30 minutes each. It drives me crazy, but it also saves us from making bad decisions… most of the time. As much as it drives me crazy, I really shouldn’t want to change it, so I won’t.

What thing(s) do you want to share that you think people should know about me?
You are more social than I am, but being around me for so long and having such extroverted jobs has made you quieter and work wears you out and makes you want to just relax at night, but you really do like to go out and do things. I like to go out and do things with you, too, but we’ve fallen into a pattern of staying home because we’re wiped out. I want people to know that you are up to doing things more as long as you have the energy.

What are your top three favorite blogs to read?

The first two are no-brainers: http://www.problogger.net and http://www.chrisbrogan.com because they are the biggest names in the area I want to move into as I progress with our company and my skills. Other than those, I don’t really frequent blogs aside from the ones that get linked in my Twitter stream because I don’t have time set aside in my day to go looking at blogs like I used to when I had my corporate job (lunch… and any other time I wasn’t freaking out over a deadline). I see a LOT (read: a ton) of blogs in a week, but I don’t see each blog every day and would go crazy if I subscribed to them in my inbox or in an RSS reader, so I let Twitter be my filter for what is good and what is mediocre or crap.Messe Jesse

New Treasures

Yesterday we were up early to go to the Westchase community garage sales. They have them twice a year, and since it’s such a nice neighborhood they often have some pretty nice junk to get rid of.  Westchase is also a large neighborhood and so many people participate so you’re almost sure to find something you just have to have. I had said that I wanted to find two things: a coat rack and a sewing machine.  Would you believe I was able to find both things?!  Plus it was a beautiful Florida day.  It’s the perfect time of year when it’s not quite so hot and there was a bit of a breeze… perfect day to be outside.Beautiful day
Even though it wasn’t as busy as it sometimes is, it wasn’t long before we hit some traffic jams. It’s amazing the messes people can get themselves into when no one is directing them which way to go.Traffic
Jesse shoppingI think Jesse secretly likes doing garage sales with me now. He used to complain when I wanted him to come. But he often finds some stuff that he wants to, so it’s easier to get him to agree now. This time he only ended up getting some poker chips that will come in handy on game nights.

Coat hangerThis is the coat hanger we got. The base is a little bigger than it looked when we bought it. It sticks out into the doorway more than I thought it would, but it will work great for hanging my purse and sweaters on when I come home. Here are the other fabulous things we found.Our lootA cute purse, a new movie, and…. a sewing machine! Not that I want to become a seamstress, but I would like to learn how to do minor alterations. Especially since almost everything I buy is too long on me. The lady wanted $30 for the sewing machine. Jesse explained that I don’t know how to sew yet so we didn’t think we should spend that much. He first offered $10 and they ended up agreeing on $12! I have no idea if this is a good machine or not, but I figure it will be good enough to learn on. I’m so excited to practice.Sewing machine
And while we were out shopping, dinner was cooking itself in the crockpot. This was a simple and tasty recipe I found on a caveman diet website.

Apple Glazed Pork Roast (crockpot)

3-4 lb. pork loin roast (well trimmed)
salt and pepper
4-6 apples, cored and quartered (peeled, optional)
1/4 cup apple juice
3 Tbsp. raw honey
1 tsp. ginger

Rub roast with salt and pepper. Brown under broiler to remove excess fat, drain well. Place apple quarters in bottom of crockpot. Place roast on top of apples. Combine rest of ingredients, spoon over roast. Cook on low for 10-12 hours.
Apple Glazed Pork Roast

Right now, I LOVE crockpot meals! So much that we are having another one tonight. My brother, Andrew, is coming over and we are cooking one of our new favorite recipes. A couple weeks ago one of the Flash Me Friday-ers posted Roast Sticky Chicken as her favorite recipes. We tried it and it was super yummy, so we are making it again tonight. Check out her blog and try out this recipe for sure!  The house smells so good, I can’t wait for dinner time.  Plus we will have lots of leftovers.Chicken