Maybe Tomorrow

Posted on December 21, 2010 by Smelly Danielly

Today was not a good day for me.

I was consumed with this overwhelming feeling that I was the only one with this unbelievably large pile of work and stress on my desk. Everyone else in the office has gone on their Christmas Holidays or completed their ‘Christmas rush’ tasks, and here I am, with 20 styles that need their trims ordered and 10 styles waiting to have their final costings done.

My job consists of juggling lots of plates at one time. For the most part I am pretty good and it and enjoy the variety it provides me, but every so often, all the plates become too much and I feel like I’m going to collapse under the weight of it all.

It also doesn’t help when the contractors email you info at the last minute and tell you they need your half of the work done the next day. I’m really sorry, but I don’t just sit here on my butt waiting for you to give me work.

My days are meticulously planned out.

Things keep getting pushed back, and I hate having things pushed back. I just want to finish them and shelve them and not have them carry over each day.

Thus is the life I guess.

Everything I attempted to finish today was halted by road blocks, which then made it seem like I got nothing done all day. It was so frustrating. Missing button prices, fabric that wasn’t logged in, retails I couldn’t find. Nothing seemed to work out.

While I take pride in the insane amount of stuff I can get done in one day, I think I also need to realize that there are going to be times when I can’t make everyone happy, and I can’t, physically, get it all done in one day. Today was one of those days. Actually, this week is going to be one of those weeks.

I need to order trims. I need to put the contractors on hold.

My brain never stops working.

Just Put Me On The Plane

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Smelly Danielly

The closer it gets to Italy time, the more anxiety I feel.

I have been failing miserably in the last little while when it comes to work place anxiety. I can not tell you how many nights I have spent sleepless, mind racing, unable to think about anything else.

There is a lot of stuff I want to get done before I head out for a month. A lot of the stuff I have already finished up, but there are still things that lag behind, that I have not been able to attack quite yet, mostly because I am waiting on other people.

I know I put a lot of pressure on myself because I am always in a state of wanting to please everyone and never wanting to get in trouble. I swear I spend most of my days as a 5 year old kid looking for praise and hiding from punishment. I don’t really know why I’m like that.

I cripple under the fear of getting in trouble, even for the smallest thing.

I know I build things up in my head. I know I over dramatize almost every situation I’m in. I know everything turns out alright in the end, I just need to keep telling myself that.

Claudia warned be that the last month before going away on a big vacation like this is death. The pressure mounts for you to get the most amount of work humanly possible done so that it will be smooth sailing for everyone else in the office. I knew it was coming, and so far, I’ve handled it great. I want to get things done, I want to make it easy for everyone, but there is part of me that feels no matter how much I prepare, there will still be things that come up that I ‘should have done’. It’s hard to explain. I know there are people on my side, but I also know there are people ‘against me’. It’s those people that I am letting get to me.

This trip has been a struggle since the moment I started planning it.

I can’t control everything. I can’t be your security blanket forever.

There is going to be a meeting this week to make sure everything is set in place for when I leave. I am striving to make their minds explode with just how much I have done in preparation. Then, just maybe, everyone will be on my side.

LA – The Work

Posted on July 2, 2010 by Smelly Danielly

This time I actually want to post all my LA pictures (unlike the last time I went and life exploded and I got so behind). I figured it would be easiest if I did a couple themed posts just to get everything out there.

This one is all about the work.

Once we got to LA we hopped on the Budget Bus to go pick up our car. I get the lucky job of driving Ms. Claudia all over the State.

First stop Grocery shop where we always buy way more food then we can eat. We always worry we will be stuck at home starving but in reality, we never spend any time at home.

The first night was interesting. The guy who lives in the apartment above us decided that he needed to fix his rood at 6:30 in the morning. I know. There were men and ladders right outside my window and they were talking and moving around a giant piece of metal which was making the weirdest noises. This prompted me to have the weirdest dreams. We were so NOT impressed.

This was the truck that then sat outside my bedroom window idling from 7am to 8am. My number ONE biggest pet peeves is cars that idol. I can’t tell you how many summer nights I’ve spent tried to fall asleep with my window open, only to have some dumb ass car park right outside my window and run for ever. It’s like the seek me out. TURN OFF YOUR EFFING CAR. AHAHSHAHHHHHHHHHH.

First stop is the California Mart.

I’m ready to go.

A sign that we are in the right place.

The Cal Mart is “home to the offices of many of Los Angeles’ aspiring clothing designers, sellers, and buyers”. Exactly.

We go to the Cal Mart to look at Purses and Jewellery mainly.

Here we are in the Fashion District.

LA, LA

A sneaky shot of Claudia at one of our Jewellery suppliers. We bought a LOT from them. Some really amazing stuff I can’t wait to get in. These guys are in a building down the street from the Cal Mart.

While we wait, we wonder around the Cal Mart to see what else is new. This guy was obviously busy watching the World Cup.

The Cal Mart Foyer

I feel like being a Golden Brown hippie this Fall. Hopefully this purse gets purchased, I am obsessed!

These guys are one of the best purse vendors we buy from. This is where I got my infamous Teal over the shoulder bag that everyone loves.

Whats this you ask? I don’t know what its called, but its a sign that these Fabric Vendors are Jewish.

Remember that scene in S&TC when Charlotte becomes Jewish and and hangs this on the door of her apartment and her nosy neighbour asks what shes doing? Same thing!

**UPDATE – Pat says its a Mezuzah

San Pedro Mart. Same thing as the Cal Mart but less classier haha. Anyone can go here and buy things for their stores, you just have to buy packages of 12 in assorted sizes.

We mostly buy burn out Ts.

I tired to convince Claudia to purchase some of these.

An example of some of the printed Burn Outs we buy.

This one has rhinestones on it. Super cute!

Yet another amazing purse, from yet another amazing purse vendor. We’ve got great purse connections.

Something for the holidays perhaps?

Another big part of our trip to LA is checking out things we don’t have in Canada. So, it’s shopping time.

It’s easy to get inspired by clothing. Colours, textures, patterns, designs.

Whenever we see something we like, we take a picture of the detail or buy it as a reference.

No, it’s not STEALING. And if it is, it’s on Claudia’s conscious hahah.

The big parts of this LA trip were the Jewellery and Purse buying, checking out the new Burn Out Ts, checking out some new Fabric vendors (which are always, for some reason, a bust) and seeing whats new and cool in all the LA shops.

Over all, I think it was a great success!

Oh Snap

Posted on June 16, 2010 by Smelly Danielly

Happy thoughts…happy thoughts.

I’m going to LA next week for work again. I was 100% positive that we were going from Wednesday to Sunday.

I was suppose to book the car rental yesterday, and I did, from Wednesday to Sunday.

At the end of the day Claudia and I started talking about LA and I realized that we weren’t leaving Wednesday, but instead, TUESDAY.

I wrote Wed – Sun to the office calendar, and even though we looked at it 100 times, no one ever corrected it.

I didn’t book the flights, our boss did. Yes I got the email confirmation, but I already “knew” the dates so I just looked at the time we were leaving.

I am not prepared for this.

It’s only one day earlier, but I am so not prepared!

With Elises Stagette this weekend, Fathers Day, my Brothers Graduation, and everything else going on in life, I think my head is going to kind of explode.

Not to mention I just realized we were sent the wrong lining for this jacket that is half way finished.

I think I’m going to puke.

There is a Tree in your Hair

Posted on November 19, 2009 by Smelly Danielly

So this was what I was tucked away doing all day yesterday. As Chad says ‘You’re not a Manager, so why were you there?’. Well my friends, I am a design assistant, and since this meeting had to do with design, I was there. It was also great way to kill an afternoon. Plus, I had to help with a lot of the set up of everything. I have a feeling that every time the design part of me is needed the production side gets jealous because it doesn’t get the attention it wants. Well, that’s just what happens when I have my hands in everything.

Managers meetings always seem to be frantic and rush and behind in time, but once we get our part going, I always find it very informative, even though I should technically already know all the info. It always helps to be fed something in a different manner, because then you learn different things. I love watching Claudia put together outfits.

Yesterdays meeting reminded me of the first one I ever attended, which had to be held on a Sunday when the heat was broken in the office. I don’t know if I ever blogged about it. We were stuck all day because out part kept getting postponed. The heat wasn’t working and we were all wearing 17 layers. It was raining so hard outside and it was so cold I was loosing my mind. I think I actually cried because I was so cold and so frustrated. Wasting a Sunday stuck at work, not actually working, but instead just waiting. Then I went back to Chads apartment where he surprised me by building our first fire. Only problem was that he didn’t open the flout all the way so the entire apartment filled with smoke. So we had to open all the windows and grab all the fans to try and clear out the apartment of smoke. I froze yet again. That was a horrible, horrible day. Well, most of it was.

Last night I tried a new recipe called ‘French Onion Pork Chop Skillet’. I get those free Kraft Food Magazines and I love all the ideas in them. The recipe looked pretty good and really easy so I was inspired to give it a shot. It’s basically like mixing French Onion Soup and Pork Chops together. Well, it turned out, and it was good, but Chad didn’t like it much. That man doesn’t like anything much. He is so simple in his tastes that it is rare that I find something new that he loves. I, of course, was then insulted that he didn’t like the meal, because I take everything way to personally, because I am a girl, and even though it was the recipe and not execution of it that he didn’t really like, I still felt like it was my fault. Yes, I am that crazy when it comes to food, or just in general. Tonight I will make him is favorite omelet and then all will be restored.

I spent the rest of the evening wrapped in a bunch of cozy blankets watching the Hills. Oh yes, guilty pleasure, it took me a million years, but I am finally hooked on the Hills.