Holiday Luncheon

So you all know that Matt is a District Manager for Farmers Insurance here in Denver and yesterday was our first annual District Holiday Luncheon! I am not gonna lie... it was emotional.....this was our first to host and truly a ending/recognition of a year of change coming to an end for us. This year we moved, Matt found an office space, decorated it, took over the District and making it to the end of the year and our first Holiday party was really special. 

 We were lucky to get our party sponsored so the space was given to us for free and we then had it catered in with some delish Italian!!! I spent all day Tuesday getting all the decor ready for the big day! And of course I did Farmers colors!!! It's a Farmers Insurance Christmas!

 Here I am with some of the agents that work out of our office, we had a great turn out! (ps blog readers...I am gonna recycle this outfit for Christmas eve so act shocked when you see it again)

 We played Dirty Santa and it was really fun, I am glad I added that into the invitation!

 Matt gave out awards that we had designed earlier this month! The agents didn't know about that so it was a nice surprise!

 Seeing Matt be so professional and talking to everyone in the room is weird for me.... it makes me wanna giggle! Not sure why but it does!!!

Overall the day turned out so well and I was so happy for Matt! Cheers to the coming year!

Welcome to District 20....

I am going to give you a tour of something Matt and I are really proud of, the reason we moved to Denver........Matt to take over Farmers Insurance District 20! In fact the only thing he took over was the District itself......the location, office, design and staff Matt (and I) have started from scratch!!!

The office is located in Lakewood in the new trendy area called Belmar! (about 14 miles from where we live now) This area is filled with shopping, living, offices, Whole Foods, places to eat..... you name it! Our office is located on the 4th floor of a bank building!

Welcome............

This space when Matt found it was bare bones....all white, old carpet and brown cabinets and what he/we were able to do in 3 months is pretty cool!!!

 We picked out paint, flooring, counter tops, all furniture for each room, decor, office supplies.............

 And I got to design the front lobby and piece it together......... You will be shocked to know that most of the furniture in this room came from Target, rug included. The vintage prints we were able to purchase from Farmers.

 The blue is actually "Farmers Blue" the paint color they recommend online for their offices. It worked out great huh? Matt and I wanted this to be a contemporary office that would wow people! We want people to love the place they work.... because this is an extension of us.

This is really a piece of Matt's personality.....I filled this lamp with used golfballs.....and the silver vase next to it is filled with Golf Tee's! I will say he has pillaged some balls since for "office golf"! (shame shame)

 These 2 tables come together for a unique coffee table........ I like how it is a little "rustic" mixed into this contemporary office and the grey really fits in with all the brushed silver we have used!

I am proud of this......we are District 20 so I found these two at Home Goods as a modern take on our district number lettering! We stuck with Farmers colors by bringing in the Red!

Here is Matt doing his thing in the corner office......not bad views huh???

 His office is always a little messy but that is Matt......and he also has a flat screen TV mounted on a wall!

 Look at this view....... This is from Matt's office........

We have a really large room in the back that is our "Bull Pen"....when an agent is first starting and training you aren't usually able to run out and purchase/lease space so we offer 6+ office spaces! We already have 2 agents working in here! Matt and I picked out all this at Ikea!

 Here is our break room......it's nice to have the dishwasher, microwave and all that!!

Here is the conference/training room that Matt holds all District meetings........the TV is actually used as a computer screen for power point presentations!

 And Matt painted the entire training room with white board paint and trimmed it out to look professional! We love this aspect.....so much room to work!

 Back behind that wall is the copier, supplies, file cabinets....the usual you name it. And we were able to get granite on the counters in the supply room too!

 Here is my little slice of life........ Yup, you heard me.....I started Monday morning as Matt's Executive Assistant! I am getting use to a new routine and learning the ropes too!
We also have 4 personal offices housing 2 full time recruiters and 1 will have an Agency Business Consultant in it that we just hired today!!! I have been slowly decorating their offices also!

 Hope you all liked the tour!!! What do we do????
Recruit and hire new agents, train new agents, provide continued Ed for older agents, run promotions, ensure the district hits it's goals and I could go on and on!!!!!!

Working it Wednesday!

Happy Hump day to you and happy last day of the work week for some! On instagram I follow several "Fashion Bloggers" who has completely inspired me when it comes to what I wear daily. I may not be rocking designer duds but I see my closet differently thanks to these lovely ladies!

Silver and Plum HERE

Citrus Refreshing Fashion HERE

The Sweetest Thing HERE

And I could go on but lets dive in.................Hope this post doesn't bore you too much but I am proud of how I pair discounted things I find with maybe one high-end piece from JCrew.

I am not going to post individual links to everything because that would take forever but instead I will highlight a few pieces.

Anthropology Scarf HERE I LOVE it so much!

 J Crew rainy day ballet flats HERE! These aren't the most comfy but perfect for trekking in and out of the rain at work!

 This shirt is from Anthropology and my turquoise is from Charming Charlie here in Columbus! You can check out the amazing deals HERE!

 Below is a mixture of JCrew, Charming Charlie and Stella and Dot! I have 2 amazing S&D Ladies you can check them both out....
Becky HERE
Kaylyn HERE

 This bad boy is from Forever 21! Isn't it wonderful when you actually find something you like AND it fits??? Peter Pan collars are still in right??

 All of these pieces are JCrew and well Coach watch! This is the "Tippi" sweater at J Crew and I love them! You can see all the colors HERE

 So we all know I love Kohls and this cute shirt below I actually got for $4!!! Can you believe that?? I have a surprise for you all...someone thru Kohls contacted me and until July 11 all my followers can take an extra 10% off by using the code BLOGGER10!!!

 This tee is from JCrew and it is so comfy but still so cute! I love it and it's on sale HERE!

 The outfit in these two photos came on a day where I hated everything and was running around like a crazy person only to randomly put on my new fav outfit! This top I have in 3 colors from Loft and everything else I already owned....and for quite some time! #popofpink

 Lastly this outfit was a hit at work and on instagram.......the 2 tops are both from Anthropology (last year) and all my jewelry is from Stella and Dot of course (I should sell this)! I loved this outfit and I will be recycling it for the 4th I am sure!

I hope you guys thought this was fun.....follow me during the week on instagram HERE!

Work...

I know a few of you have been asking about my new job and this is one of those topics I have to be careful about.....with this being a public blog and all....but I will do my best to give you the "jest"

I work for a company that has been around for 100 + years...they manufacture, ship and install professional kitchens. We do almost every fast food, chain, fine dining, grocery store that you could think of.  This company has 5 "sister" companies that are all under the same "umbrella". I am in the transportation department.

 Getting to pick out work outfits every morning for the most part is very fun! I am a "tad" over dressed for my company but whatever works for me.....ya know? What am I kidding.... I pick out my outfits on Sunday like a kid getting ready for school. That cuts down on my "get ready" time immensely.

 My department handles ALL the freight, quotes, invoices, checks....anything that has to do with getting our kitchens to their locations. You would be amazed at how much is shipped out....this stack is just ONE days freight invoices that I "code".

 This building has been around since 1960 and that was the last time it was renovated too! HA! I actually don't even have a desk....yet....still. But behind that half-wall will be my very own cubicle! For now I share a desk with my boss. Yup, sure do! He is actually gone for 2 weeks for the military so I have taken over his desk and duties while he is away.
This new "work life" will take a bit getting use to....I am not allowed to email or use the internet at all. So the only emailing I can do during the day is on my phone. And yes, my boss told me it was ok....he told me they all hate the restrictions.

 The company is in a factory/manufacturing part of Columbus that is in the real ghetto (hey, said my boss too) ....but our parking lot has a gate and we have key-fobs to get in the building. My boss told me never to get gas or do anything on this part of town during lunch. This is the parking lot view and at lunch most days I am dying to see the daylight. (No windows inside) This is about 14 miles from my house and somedays I can make it in 25minutes .....others 50 minutes.

Over all things are going well....I am getting a routine down and getting to know the HUGE factory with my company. I think change is hard even when it is good. Ya know?

Changes a coming......

You know how in Twilight Breaking Dawn Bella wants to tell Charlie she is a vampire but she just can't tell him everything? So she tells him that they will have to be on a need to know basis and he will have to trust her. Well, let's apply that thought to this post........we all know I am definitely a TMI person (too much information) but sometimes you just can't divulge all the nitty gritty especially on a personal blog.
Matt has been with Farmers Insurance for 10 years, he was an agent before becoming a Reserve District Manager which lead to him taking the leap to become a District Manager. That was the sole reason we moved. We didn't pick a state and then get a job in Ohio, Matt was offered the job as a District Manager in Columbus, Ohio so we packed up and arrived! Matt has built his office from the ground up, finding the space, hiring a contractor, buying stuff to fill an entire office, hiring staff and building relationships with the agents in his District. A lot of time, blood, sweat and tears went into this past year.
Fast Forward to about 6 weeks ago when Farmers announced they are restructuring and Ohio was going to be the first state to roll out the new plan.  Here is how that effects us........They are going to combine all current districts into super districts meaning reducing districts by less than half. And that also means that less than half of the current District Managers would continue on with the new plan. Matt believes in Farmers and we both realize that at times companies have to change to continue to grow. And right about now is when I will skip forward to our current news and you will have to trust that everything that happened in between that is a need to know. That will stay between Matt, myself and our family.
This weekend we spent...I say "we" because I did help but Matt did the brunt of it all....we moved out of Matt's district office. We sold as much of the office as could, moved the rest to our garage and our trying to organize everything the best that we can. We have known about this for a few weeks and we had faith in this move, faith that this was just a little detour on the plan God has laid out for us.
NOW.....what next?
Well, I am very happy to say that Matt has been offered and accepted a new Position with Farmers as an Agency Business Consultant Specialist. His territory will be Michigan, Indiana, Virginia, Tennessee and Alabama. This position is going to be a great fit for Matt, he is smart, put together and will be a representative for this company. Here is the very very brief "Cliffs Note" version of his new position. Matt will be working with all the District Managers in those states as well as the business consultants they hire to grow their agencies. Matt will make sure the consultants and DM's meet their goals, build their businesses and he will be their consultant/liaison with Farmers Corporate. He will office out of our home so he spent most of yesterday putting together a functional office here at home in our empty bedroom upstairs! This also means he will be traveling 10+ days a month, which will take some getting use to for us both. Also he leaves this Sunday for LA where he will be training for 2 weeks, then he will have field training for another 5 days give or take. Matt will be missing my Brothers wedding but his career at this point has to come first and we will both miss out on spending time together this Holiday season! Luckily my parents didn't like the idea of me being alone so the week after I get back from Oklahoma for my Brothers wedding my Mom will be coming to stay a week with me!

I hope this all made sense to everyone. Yes, this is bittersweet.....and Yes, change is hard wether it is negative or positive. We have been thru so much these past few years and living in limbo again the past few months has been hard. Matt and I are both excited to have a new plan laid out before us and I know we both look forward to building our life together and focusing on the future.