I'm here, really.

Okay peeps, don't give up on me just yet. I'm still around, and I have some cool posts lined up. The reason I haven't gotten them posted yet is because I'm waiting until I have my pictures ready! I've been so swamped with work, my own business, and the fact that I won't have work that I haven't gone through my photos and cleaned them up. Once I do, you can look forward to a post about my veggie garden, one about my new haircut, and one about my recent trip to Chicago! Woo hoo!

Stay tuned.

- Cesia.

Mixed emotions.

Have you ever been in a situation, where you should be sad, angry, upset and/or depressed, and yet you can't help but feeling excited? Happy? Relieved? To make matters worse, you find yourself surrounded by people showing the appropriate emotions (sad/angry/upset/depressed) and have to stifle your own emotions and play false!

Well, today my company announced to its employees that they are shutting the doors. (Well, technically, they're going to still do some stuff, but that doesn't include my department.) That means, yes, I have officially lost my job. I still have a week or two to continue dragging myself into work and pretending I care, but after that, I'm a free bird. I mean, I'm jobless. Yes, I should be upset.

But I'm actually excited! I've been working on my side business for a couple of months now, and I can't help but think that this might be my chance to make a go of it! To work from home! To do all the things I've wanted to do, but haven't because I work full time!

Well, I guess in the next month or so, we'll see what happens. After all, my little baby business might not be able to fill the large hole in our budget. But, I have to try.

Here's to new beginnings and optimism, whether I find myself a new business owner or a new employee somewhere.

I know we'll land on our feet!

- Cesia.

P.S. If anyone knows of a job opening for a graphic designer/production person/web person/technical know-it-all/jack of all trades, let me know. I should probably see what's out there, just in case.

Rockin' Out

Who hasn't, at one time or another, wished they were in a band? I know I thought about it often growing up, imagining my friends as the band members, thinking of "cool" band names, designing (what I thought were) "cool" album covers.

It never happened.

But now, I have a chance to pretend, once again, and this time, all of the work is done for me.

The Rock Star Club
1) Go to Wikipedia and hit the random link on the left sidebar, under the navigation heading. The first article you get is the name of your band.
2) Go to the website The Quotations Page. The last four or five words of the very last quote on the page is the title of your album.
3) Go to Flicker's Randomizer feature. The third picture, no matter what it is, is your album cover.
4) Use Photoshop or another photo editing software to create your album cover.
5) Post your album cover on your blog, along with this text. Be sure to nominate at least 5 friends (by leaving comments on their blogs with a link to your post), and tag me, Cesia, by leaving a comment so that I can see what you've created.

Here is mine:


I was really bummed that I didn't get a cool name (like Lola's PARD6B), but here's some info about Mr. Goode:

"Erich Goode is an American sociologist. Goode specializes in the sociology of deviance. He has written a number of books on the field of deviance in general, as well as on specific deviant topics."

My quote was from Oprah:

"I finally realized that being grateful to my body was key to giving more love to myself.

I self-tagged myself when KnitPurlGurl did this, and now I'm going to tag 5 of my bloggy peeps!

Ashley
Erin
Jen
Jess
Lina

That was so much fun, I think I'm going to have to self-tag myself again next year. :)

- Cesia.

Grand Opening!

Hey everyone, I just had to let you all know that my design shop, Design by Cece, is having its Grand Opening! It starts today and lasts through March 25.

Design by Cece specializes in blog design for individuals. There are two types of blog "outfits," the Tailored template - which is completely custom - and the Altered template, which starts as a pre-designed template, but is then adjusted and customized to fit.

"Win a Free Blog Makeover!"During the Grand Opening, you have a chance to win a Free Blog Makeover! The giveaway is being hosted over at the Mommatudes blog, so head on over there to get all the juicy gossip. Also during the Grand Opening, we are giving away $25 of Accessories to each client who signs up for a new Tailored design. But you have to sign up between March 11 and March 25 to qualify!

- Cesia.

Looking ahead for 2009.

I don't usually do New Year's Resolutions. It doesn't seem like anyone ever achieves them. But I do think goals are necessary to being successful (not only in a career, but in life), and so I am going to commit myself in writing to some goals I have that I will be working on this year.

1. Be more "cool." Dear reader of my blog: you don't really know me. You may think you do, and you may think this bright cheery pink exterior reflects the real-life me ... but it doesn't. I can't even begin to say what kinds of clothes I wore in high school, it would be too graphic for you. I'm not thin, my hair isn't perfect, I generally don't wear makeup due to sheer laziness ... I'm not cool. And my clothes still aren't the best. Like right now? I'm wearing a t-shirt with a monkey on it. I feel like I'm 10. Anyways, so I'm going to be more cool this year. I'm going to buy only cool clothes. I'm going to do only cool things (like going to Denver instead of going to the library). You may catch a glimpse of my new cool self here on the blog as I detail all the cool things I'm doing and wearing.

2. Wash more. I'm not Suzie Homemaker. But my goal is to wash more dishes, wash more counters, wash more toilets, wash more laundry, etc. The theory is that not only will I be happier with a cleaner environment, but the Hubster will also be happier since he will have to wash less.

3. Be more active. Instead of sitting on my butt all day long at work, and then sitting on my butt all evening on the couch, I am going to be more active. That could be walking on a treadmill or walking to a hip restaurant. That could be taking a Pilates class or taking a guitar lesson. I'm pretty sure this is going to help me with Goal #1.

Do you have any goals for this year?

- Cesia.