Nosey Parker Say What?

Mom and I went shopping yesterday at some darling new stores in Edmond and when I was making my purchase at one of them, I happened to pick up the Oklahoma version of the Nosey Parker guidebook. The owner of the boutique we were in asked if I had heard of it and since I had not, she went on to explain the book to me. Our conversation went something like this...

saleslady: Oh that's the new Nosey Parker Book...have you heard about it?

me: No. What is it?

saleslady: You buy the book and then register the card that's in it online. Then, you show the card to any of the merchants in the book and they give you a discount.

me: How much is the book?

saleslady: $12. So, it's really easy to make your money back.

me: How much is the discount in your store?

saleslady: 15%

me: (I flip through the book and realize there are two merchants in it that I plan on buying gifts from anyway, so I figure I might as well get the discount) OK. I guess I'll get this too.

So, once I got home I immediately registered my new card.

Flash forward to today. Mom and I go shopping again and our first stop is On a Whim because she is in need of a gift for a friend and they are in the book. So, we figure, why not shop there and get the discount. Well, we search and search and finally come up with the perfect gift for said friend and when it is time to pay, I flash my brand new Nosey Parker card, and this is the response I get...

saleslady: We don't take that. We told whoever made that book that we didn't want to be in it and somehow we ended up in there anyway. So we aren't going to honor that (She turns around and walks off).

Ok, so I am not a customer service expert or anything, but I am pretty sure that wasn't the right (best) way to handle that situation... It was a tone thing. It was an attitude thing. And I found it quite sad because my family has done a lot of shopping in On A Whim throughout the years; J and I were even registered there for our wedding. But, I am pretty sure that everything they carry in that store can be found elsewhere, like maybe on mackenzie-childs.com. Oh and those MC dog dishes I have on my Christmas list, well I guess they will have to be ordered off the web. Just be nice to me when you tell me that you won't honor my coupon.

Next stop, Blue 7. The employees at the store had no idea what a Nosey Parker card was, but they got on the phone with the owner and decided to give me 15% off. Easy Peasy.

Last stop, Jamie's in Casady Square. I pick up a couple of items that I have on my shopping list (remember the original reason I bought the card), and when the saleslady asks if she can set them at the counter I say, "Do you all accept the NP card?" Our conversation then goes as follows...

saleslady: What do you mean accept it?

me: accept it...for the discount. I have my card right here.

saleslady: Oh there's no discount. We don't do discounts here unless it is Premier card week.

me: But the girl I bought the card from said there's a discount for all of the merchants in the book.

saleslady: You bought the book?

me: Yep. It was $12.

saleslady: But we have them here and we are just giving them away to our customers. Free

me: Wow. OK. Well. Hmmm.

And then no discount.

Moral of the story: What the *&%$ is a Nosey Parker card and why did I spend $12 on it??? Can somebody please enlighten me?

Because I am the Older Sister

I met a fellow blogger yesterday at one of my trunk shows and her enthusiasm about blogging was contagious. She is an up-and-coming PW with her own domain name, hundreds of followers and even more daily hits. That's serious blogging.

Anyway, she said she posts every day and I asked her how she comes up with things to write every single day. She said, "Oh, I just tell stories," and I thought to myself, "But I don't have any stories." And, at the time, I couldn't think of a single one.

Until this morning.

So, just to give you a little background on what I'm about to tell you...I am the older sister of two younger brothers. We have always been a close family, and I have always been slightly protective. And bossy.

Bossy to the point of picking out (err rather trying to pick out) my brothers' girlfriends. It's a wonder they were able to pick out the amazing women they are currently with on their own, without any help from moi.

Anyway, there was Bethany, Brooke, Shawna, Alex, and another girl whose name I don't remember. I actually tried to force these women on my poor brothers! But, my absolute favorite was Miss Amy O and for years, I would beg the youngest of the three of us to go out with her. "But Matt," I would say, "She's so cute and so sweet. Yall would be such a great couple." His response, "T, she's crazy, psycho, and trust me, you don't want me hanging out with her." But, I think she did actually go to Johnnies one night with the fam.

A few years later when I was still begging him to find Miss Amy O and start some sort of relationship with her, I think he said she was in jail. Or pregnant. Or pregnant and in jail. Not sure.

But today, I can finally say I trust my younger brothers' abilities to make decisions for themselves. Not only do they have two wonderful women in their lives, but I opened the Oklahoman this morning to find this in the newspaper...

Please watch. Sorry but you'll have to sit through the ad.

Miss Amy O was arrested in OKC this week for hiding a stolen baby (her own) in the backseat of her car under other possibly stolen merchandise. She and the male she was with were apparently in my parent's neighborhood and about to attempt some burglaries. Wow. Thankfully, the baby has been returned to her father. And Miss Amy is behind bars. Again.

I guess if younger brother wants to start something now with my pick for him, he can find her in the OK County jail.

BTW, he was right....the newspaper article listed multiple arrests for Miss Amy over the past 8 years. And judging from what Matt said, she was pregnant and in jail.

And in honor of Thanksgiving...some links

There is a girl about my age who lives in Oklahoma City. I don't know her, although I know several people who do. And she has been invited to several of my trunk shows, but I have still yet to meet her. I do think she has impeccable taste though and I have been blog-stalking her on a regular basis; her posts are inspiring. She is a designer and I wish she would make a stop off in Jenks to do some designing. Maybe I could pay her in jewelry.

P.S. I know this pic is from a magazine, but I found it on her blog and I love it.

I found this picture on Design Crush and think it's hilarious. I drew my brother's name for our Christmas exchange and if he doesn't get his list to me quickly, guess what he's getting!

Last and in honor of Thanksgiving, if you are in the mood for a laugh, check out Cakewrecks, the blog devoted to cakes gone terribly wrong. Be sure to read the captions; they are always hilarious!

Free Jewelry Anyone?

Well, I did it. I quit my day job. And now I've embarked on a whole new adventure. Actually, I quit my day job for reasons totally unrelated, but then this opportunity fell in my lap and I just couldn't resist. I love jewelry, and I love this jewelry. So, why not?

In under a month, I have gone from being a nurse to being a stylist for Stella and Dot! Actually, I will always be a nurse and will probably soon find an additional job in nursing, but for now this is it and I couldn't be more excited!

For anyone who is not familiar with Stella and Dot, it is a fabulous direct sales jewelry company. I know, the words "direct sales" are a little scary to me too, but here's how I see it...A friend invited me to a girl's night out at her friend's house last week. I didn't have anything going on and since I don't know many people in the area, I thought "why not." So, on a Thursday evening, we went to Erin's house where there was wine, food, and a great selection of really fun jewelry to purchase. It was fun. No pressure. Just girl-talk and jewelry!

After I fell in love with everything I saw at the party and had a blast, I figured that this would be a great way to earn a little money, meet some new people, go to more fun parties and get great jewelry! It's a win-win for me!

So, I'm sharing this with everyone in cyberland because I'm hoping you will check it out. Go to my website and look at all the fabulous products. You can buy directly from my site, or you can host your own girls' night out and earn tons of free and half-priced items. Free jewelry- it doesn't get any better than that! Just let me know what you think, and I can help you start planning your own party.

Or, if you love it like I do, you can join my team!

a few things

It is amazing the things you will discover about yourself by spending nine days at the lake. Almost alone. At the end of the summer. When the lake is eerily calm and empty and it has rained over six inches in a thirty-six hour period. Although nice, it leaves you wondering where everyone is. It is too quiet here. Oh yes, I almost forgot. Football season has begun. 

Anyway, this quiet, calm period of nothing-to-do except exactly what I want has forced me to realize a few things. These are not necessarily important things, yet they are things nonetheless and I am in a sharing mood.

So, a few things....

1. I am addicted to HGTV and even if I don't particularly care for a certain show, I can't turn the channel. I watch and watch until I have developed completely unrealistic ideas/ goals for my home. House project number one: elevate the house until it sits on a hill overlooking the city. Tear out the walls and replace with gigantic windows allowing all of the sunlight to come streaming in. Finish the project with a giant all-glass bathtub. See the problem here?

2. I want to be a runner. There is something so freeing about setting out on the open road with nothing but an ipod filled with your favorite tunes to keep you company. However, my body has other ideas for me, and exercise isn't one of them. It only takes about ten steps out of the front door before I have shin splints. They are painful. And they refuse to go away.

3. If you are a realtor and you want to sell a house, why bother posting it online without a single picture? Come on people. Oh and don't make a youtube video with your own personal shaky camcorder to take me on a tour of the house. It makes me carsick.

4. I want to do something creative with my life. I want to have my own booth at the market. I want to open a tiny scrapbooking store at the lake (or all things paper). I want to own the retail portion of Annie's future cupcake store. Today, I want to do anything but nursing.

5. Why oh why does Nate Berkus have to be gay? 

6. I can read an entire novel only to try to reread it several years later and not realize until 100 pages in that I have read it before. And then only vaguely remember the book. Did I read the whole book? Did I only read this chapter? I am so confused.

7. Speaking of books, I highly recommend Left for Dead and Into Thin Air. I am not a mountain climber, and I will never be a mountain climber (refer to #2), but I found these books thrilling to read.

Well, that's enough for tonight. But I hope everyone is having a great weekend and is safely celebrating our Sooner's tonight!