Thursday, July 15, 2010

25 Randoms about E.

An old friend did a "Random 25 Things about my Hubby" post and I just have to copy because I think it's so cute!

25 Random things about E:

1. E is the oldest son. he has a younger brother. these 2 are pretty much best friends for life. they own a business together. they work together everyday. they talk on the phone everyday. they play golf together. eat together. laugh together. and cry together. they make me want a sister.

2. E is a University of Texas graduate. Hook 'em!

3. E lived in 6 states prior to the age of 15. Texas has been his home since 1996.

4. E's parents live in Texas 6 months out of the year and Maine the other 6 months.

5. E was arrested when he was in high school for stealing a glass coffee pot from Foley's and running from the rent-a-cop. Ha.

6. E's top row of teeth are fake. He lost a battle with a bike and concrete when he was 13.

7. I have NEVER seen E throw up from too much alcohol.

8. E's favorite drink is Crown on the rocks or Scotch on the rocks.

9. E is Italian. The older he gets the more Italian he looks.

10. E is an unbelievably fast swimmer!

11. E naturally has HUGE calves and biker thighs.

12. E begins his sleep with 3 pillows. by the morning, his arm is his pillow.

13. E hates sheets. we sleep with a quilt and a flat sheet.

14. E hasn't done his own laundry in 10 years. his wife does it all for him. every sunday.

15. E is an overly organized mess. he has nothing on his computer desktop. he has nothing sitting in his car. his desk HAS to be cleaned off at the end of each day. he walks around with a clip board with lists. he literally scratches off to-dos from this clip board list.

16. E will always have a Jeep Wrangler. regardless if we decide to have children one day, there will be a Jeep parked in our garage.

17. E makes my coffee 7 days a week. i am literally incapable of making my coffee. it never taste as good as when i make it.

18. E is a shoe freak. i am pretty sure he could buy a new pair of shoes every week.

19. E loves Lacoste. he would get rid of everything in his closet and just have J Crew jeans and Lacoste shirts.

20. E loves Mexican food. he could live and breathe salsa and chips. italian food is almost his favorite.

21. E is the one that taught me how to cook. the first italian dish i made him was burnt and absolutely disgusting. poor italian kid married a pure Texan.

22. E has never met an enemy. he rarely has something negative to say about someone or something. there is one person he literally has said he dislikes in the 10 years i have known him. he finds positive in most situations and people.

23. E is a total white boy, but loves thug-life-ghetto rap music. Wu Tang is one of his favs.

24. E didn't have a cell phone the first 6 years we were together. crazy. yes.

25. E has the largest collection of under garments i have ever seen. literally, probably at least 50 items in his drawer. crazy. again. yes.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

8 things. Why not?

8 Things I'm Looking Forward to...
1. Weekends by the pool.
2. Changes.
3. Getting off work.
4. Getting to see my parents!
5. Sunshine.
6. Seeing my BFF.
7. Corporate move.
8. Being honest and telling someone how I really feel about them.

8 Things I did Yesterday...
1. Cried.
2. Got really frustrated.
3. Entered 18 pages of emails for the Rita's birthday club.
4. Developed a PA map.
5. Talked to my Mom.
6. Sat in traffic.
7. Craigslist search.
8. Spent time with the hubby.


8 Shows I Enjoy...I don't really watch tv, this may be hard!
1. House Hunters.
2. Deadliest Catch. (Saddest show right now)
3. Dateline, 20\20.
4. Golden Girls.
5. The Office.
6. House.
7. Tour de France
8. FIFA World Cup Soccer

Good life.

Life is good.

We have been acclimating ourselves to the new schedule: E really not being home. Me working Monday through Friday. Store being open until 11 on Fridays and Saturdays.

I love seeing the smile on E's face when customers walk through the door of Rita's. It brings me joy knowing that he is loving every single minute of owning a business. He is putting his whole entire being into it and I know it will be a success because of this. The store has been open a month, wow. It's doing really well and continues to grow! We receive many comments from people that visit: "Goodness, y'all must have been open for a while. This place is the talk of the town." "I have been waiting for 10 years for a Rita's to open in Austin." Comments and Remarks like this make my heart flutter. The employees are wonderful after we canned 3 of them. E and B are beginning to release some duties to the kids, so they don't have to be there all the time and are able to focus on marketing. Marketing and branding the name in the area is tricky, fun and time consuming, but so far, so good. Apartments around the area will have approximately 3000 students move in August. THE University of Texas will have a rush of students return for the Fall semester. These 2 things will be HUGE for the store, so Cheers to school starting even if the traffic is horendous!

I am having serious employee disgruntled-ness! (I don't think that's a word, but oh well.) I have worked for this company for 5 years and it seems like I am the new kid on the block because of how I am treated. I am sick and tired of it. Chhhh-chhh-aaa-aaa-nnn-ggg-eee-sss, hopefully real soon.

My Dad has been dealing with hip pain for about a year and my Mom finally forced him to visit an Orthopedic Surgeon. Typical man, he put it off and put it off and put it off. Finally, he had a full hip replacement yesterday! The surgery went really well. It's crazy...they do the surgery within a bubble in the OR because of the risk of infection due to cutting of bones and such. He will be up and at 'em this morning per the Doc. If you live in the Katy area, you each are very lucky to have such new and nice hospitals so close. My Mom stated it resembled a hotel. They call meal service Room Service, comical. (BTW, if you ever need an Orthopedic Surgeon, I know an AMAZING ONE!)

4th of July was fun! We went to a friend's Lake Austin dock. Good food, fun games, freezing cold water, beer and frozen drinks made the day!

Rita's is basically our life. Lame life, but exciting life at the same time.

Cheers to Summer and fun-filled weekends!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Tears of Stress. Or. Tears of Joy.

So, I typed up a whole post. I was going to cut and paste...said function isn't working. I am too emotionally drained right now to retype the whole thing.

This being said...I am on an emotional rollercoaster with this new journey and other events going on in my life. It's tough. I will get through it.

To let you know, we opened Rita's this weekend...we believe it was A HUGE SUCCESS! Cheers!
Below, are some pictures of the opening and the store...it's super bright and cheery. I love walking in there and hearing our staff say..."Welcome to Rita's!"

The first two pictures are before pics of the front and the back of house. Pretty crazy how different it looks, right?











Wednesday, May 26, 2010

3 times.

I am having a not-so-good day thus far, so I thought I would dive into the blogger world for a bit. After reading my blogs, I came across 3 times...nothing like getting your mind off work and personal stuff to blog.
3 names I go by:
1. Julez
2. Julie
3. Baby
3 jobs I have had:
1. Lifeguard
2. Billing Coordinator
3. Facility Manager
3 places I have lived:
1. Katy
2. San Marcos
3. Austin
3 drinks I love:
1. Water
2. Cherry Coke (Preferably from Sonic)
3. Corona Light
3 shows I love:
1. House
2. House Hunters
3. The Office
3 places I have visited:
1. Italy
2. Turks and Caicos
3. All the US Virgin Islands
3 places I would like to visit:
1. Morocco
2. Switzerland
3. New Zealand
3 people that text me regularly:
1. Eric
2. Leah
3. Mom
3 of my favorite old shows:
1. Seinfeld
2. Golden Girls
3. Full House
3 favorite dishes:
1. Carbonara
2. Tacos al Carbon or Chicken Fajita tacos
3. Spagetti and meatballs
3 makeup products I can't live without:
1. Moisturizer
2. Lipgloss
3. Loreal Voluminous mascara in jet black
3 things I am looking forward to:
1. A long weekend
2. Getting a tan even if I have to sit in the backyard naked (ha!)
3. Rita's opening

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Dressed Corona Light, please.

Happy Cinco De Mayo! What are we celebrating anyways? My lineage\heritage has 0% Hispanic blood...it's quite comical that I am excited to eat Mexican food as well as drink an ICE COLD CORONA LIGHT, DRESSED. Aw. I need an excuse to partake in such caloriefilledohmygoodnessineedtogotothegymstat fun.
Ranting. My company is about 90% men, 10% women. The men are nerds and really cannot even speak whilst looking at someone in the eyes. The women cannot stand one another and cause days of drama. It's pathetic. It's total jealousy. It's rather annoying. An employee nicely told me that her boss told her too many people stand at her desk and chat during the day. I was included in the mess, however, I am the Facility Manager and have to escort people from the front desk. I kind of don't have a choice. Also, I like to take a few strolls during the day and stop to chat with people I actually like...is that a problem, Boss lady?!? I think communication on a friendly matter is just as important as communication on a business matter. People can be friends and talk about their weekends, their hobbies and their laughs. It's normal, I think. Perhaps, it's not? I think the whole thing goes back to the beginning...JEALOUSY. Jealous over the fact that 2 individuals, whom are female actually CAN get along just fine. Get real, Boss Lady. You don't run this roost and you will definitely not run mine!
Ranting #2. We are members at 24 Hour Fitness in the ATX. I usta love the gym and usta to love swimming, sitting in the sauna, riding the bikes and watching others. NOW, I absolutely hate it. The gym is DISGUSTING. The people are DISGUSTING. The place gives me the total creeps. Most equipment seems to be broken everyday to include the sauna. It's quite frustrating. E came home yesterday morning and asked, "ohmygoodness, did you see the pool this morning?" "No, honey I didn't." "Good thing cuz it was white." Sick. I got up this morning at 520am...drove to the gym...to swim and lo-and-behold the water was extremely cloudy. I didn't have my other clothes to workout, so I jumped in the pool to do my 50 minute workout. I became clausterphobic...yea...clausterphobic from the murkiness and not being able to see 2 inches in front of my eyes. Yack. I continued to swim thinking to myself...well, if I croak or have an arm fall off, at least someone will see this nastiness. E came home after me and said his throat hurt from the pool, ha. Terrible, I tell ya. He also mentioned how gross the sauna smelt and how mold spores were growing rapidly on the floor and the cedar. We are done. He took pictures and posted them on 24 Hour's facebook page. He is going to send an email to the GM and the higher ups...totally going to smear the gym. I totally agree with him because it really could affect someone's health! Sidenote, I think we are going to join Lifetime Fitness. It's a little more expensive, but we go 4-5 times a week...I feel it's worth it. Anyone a member there?
All in All, it's going to be ok cuz I get to eat Mexican food and drink a Corona Light tonight.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Ok, Ok. Let's play catch up!

It's been busy in the Jensen household!
We celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary on April 2nd! It was a fabulous night with great food and better wine. We try to buy eachother gifts that are the "True Anniversary Gifts," so this year the options were wood, daisies and turquoise. E bought me the most beautiful bouquet of white Callalillies and pink Daisies. I bought him some clothing with blue and turquoise. We talked about old times (9 years worth) and the new times ahead...I am blessed beyond belief to call E my husband.
A dear friend of E's married the love of his life at the Hyatt Lost Pines. This wedding was
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I mean, they had a fire works display over the pool which was better than the 4th of July fireworks Austin shows at Zilker Park. Since we are unable to take our annual 2 week Carribbean trip this year, we decided to make a minivacay out of the wedding weekend. We ate, drank, swam, golfed, took walks, talked, danced, spa'd and RELAXED! It was a remarkable weekend spent with great company. (And yea, the Hyatt has a legit slide!)


We have received a building permit for Rita's!!! After 4 months, the construction has begun and is moving right along. We are looking to have the Grand Opening on May 29th!!! We cannot be more excited to REALLY start the journey of business ownership.