right on target

i've been to target 4 times in the past 3 days and somehow i've managed to make it out of those trips with only a few things (the fancy deluxe version of the juno dvd, the brand spankin' new lady antebellum cd and a birthday present). 

and this took every. single. ounce. of self control i had. so as i was leaving from my 4th target trip of the day, i (being proud of myself for not buying impulsively) wondered what it is about target that makes me want to throw my money away! i already knew that other people suffer from this same condition but some people take it way more seriously than others. haha!

whitney, justin and i had this conversation on our first trip to target on tuesday. (it took 3 different targets to find the lady antebellum cd because the rest were sold out. i went to one today and they were fully stocked. go figure.) i have a theory or two about why it's so easy to buy stuff at target that i've decided to share...

• i've always been very interested in color and the impact it has on people. i did a project on it in college and learned that red and yellow make people hungry. that's why all fast food restaurant signs (except for taco bell) are red and yellow (think about it. they are!). so going along with this theory, i think that red makes people spend more. i'm pretty sure it raises your blood pressure too and maybe that makes you want to buy something? (yeah, these are not very scientific theories. ha. i used to know more actual facts about how color affects people.)
• i also think that pesky little target has something to do with it! it's programmed in our minds that you're supposed to aim for the target right? so you walk in and see all these little targets and you're brain starts to go "do it! go for it!" and when speculating on whether or not to buy your 6th pair of converse sneakers...your brain is already telling you to do it. stupid little targets everywhere.
• target has really nice presentation. their design is really clean and trendy and the fact that i shop there makes me feel clean and trendy...well trendy at least. not that target is dirty...sheesh. but for some reason the same cd or movie looks blah and boring at any other store but looks so nice and shiny at target. i think it's all in the presentation.
• whitney doesn't necessarily disagree with any of these theories. but as usual she thinks i way overthink it. she just thinks target has cuter stuff and that's why we spend all of our money there.

so regardless of why, target still takes most of my money. except for this week. i prevailed! you think it's a problem when your fool-proof plan to save money is just to not go to target? ah well. and in case you missed it...check out the blog dedicated to people like you and me...slaves to target unite!

my first week...

so i've been asked several several times this week how my week is going at my new job so i'm finally posting about it! for those of you who might not know, i started as marketing coordinator at big machine records (home to taylor swift, trisha yearwood, jack ingram, danielle peck, sunny sweeney and fisher stevenson) and the valory music company (home to jewel, jimmy wayne and justin moore) on monday. 

my first week was awesome! there is a whole...WHOLE...lot to take in but i am doing the best i can to jump in, ask questions and take it one step at a time. as marketing coordinator i will pretty much be assisting the web manager, justin, and the vp of sales & marketing, kelly. so i will be doing anything from ad design, myspace and online stuff, working up reports, etc. to help get those things off of their desks so they can focus on other things.

everyone at big machine and valory work really really hard but they also have fun perks! thursday night jojamie (a really good friend who works at valory) had to work a jewel show at the stage in nashville so whitney and i got to go. it was my first show as a big machine/valory employee so that was neat! justin also went to record the show and some behind-the-scene stuff so i got to see how he did that too. here we are before the show.

jewel did an A-MAZING show! it was just acoustic and for about 100 people and that is the perfect setting for her. we had a great time. then on friday, jewel came by the office and i got to meet her! it was really cool. she was as nice as can be and really really funny. here is the behind-the-scenes video that justin shot. you can see jewel's personality and quick wit in it for sure. :)  oh and that "el patron" guy (jon) worked with whitney and jo at broken bow. 

so it was a great first week and it's going to get more and more busy i'm sure and i am really looking forward to learning more about this business! :)

new addition to our house

last saturday my very dear friend justin and his parents helped us move my grandmother's (nannee) piano to our house! it was my job to get it from my parents house to us and it only took 11 months. ha. don't act so surprised. :) once we played "musical furniture" in the dining room for a while, we finally got the piano in the perfect spot! doesn't it look nice?

having the piano in the house brings back lots of memories. my brother will and i took lessons on this when we were little and almost always played a little christmas carol recital for the family on christmas eve. neither of us were that great from what i remember (our teacher quit teaching because he got a b in college. sheesh!) but i do remember my favorite christmas song to play was "jolly old saint nicholas." haha.

once we got the piano in place i played what i know (which is like 5 notes) of "lean on me" and resisted the temptation to play that song everybody knows on the piano ("heart & soul") cus whitney hates it when people play that song and think they know how to play. haha. i kind of agree with her on that one. then whit sat down and rocket promptly jumped up with us and played a little tune. he loved it! paisley was scared to put her paws on the keys. silly paisley. she must be more of a percussion kind of girl...maybe we should get a drum set and find out!

"D-U-triple N"

i dont think it's quite hit me yet but today was my LAST DAY at the dnj. it's been a pretty decent ride there. it was my first job out of college and i was there almost 3 years. it was definitely a bittersweet day because i was leaving people i've spent the majority of my days with for the past couple of years. but at the same time, the excitement of my new job pretty much outweighs any sadness. and like i said, i don't think it's quite hit me yet that i will take a left onto old hickory instead of a right on monday morning!

i learned a ton at the dnj and the friendships i made there will be hard to forget. looking ahead, i can't wait to see what comes next! anyway...whitney fusses at me for not blogging enough :) so just wanted to post real quick!

oh...and just in case you were wondering, the title of this blog comes from natalie on big brother 9. :)