"If a June night could talk, it would probably boast it invented romance." -Bern Williams

Summertime is...

Corn on the cob

Floating in the lake / Sitting by the pool

Strawberries & blueberries

BBQs

Vacations

Iced tea

and most of all....BIRTHDAYS.

I don't know about you and your family/friends, but summer is called "the season of going broke" in our family because of the sheer number of birthdays. It starts in June and doesn't end until September, and until the last few years we used to have a party pretty much every weekend. It's a little exhausting.

But my birthday in particular, is very significant. July 23rd, is home to birthdays for two different great uncles, a step-grandmother, M's new niece and myself. I welcome M's niece w/open arms because this is a pretty special day to be born. :-)

This year the day was pretty packed. I made the executive decision to work that Friday and we had a BBQ at the office. In addition one of my coworkers made me angel food cake with berries & whipped cream because she knew how much I enjoy it. I was able to cut out a little early and head to the hospital with M to see the new addition to his family. She's beautiful and healthy and absolutely perfect.

Of course we needed to cut our visit a little short because we had plans to go to dinner that night at John Howie Steakhouse. If you live in the Seattle-area you've probably heard of the new mall area called the Bravern, it's home to such famous stores as Hermes, Anthropologie, Jimmy Choo as well as many other high end stores. But what's special about chef John Howie is that he already has an awesome restaurant called Seastar Restaurant & Raw Bar. I have been to the steakhouse once for happy hour and their happy hour food is tops.

We decided to check out their full menu this time and they definitely did not disappoint. But the best part? M totally surprised me! We had planned to go (just the two of us) and when we checked in they told us some of our party were waiting in the bar. Turns out he invited a bunch of our friends! He can never keep secrets from me so I was so thrilled.

The following weekend was my grandfather's & brother's birthdays, so we celebrated with brunch on Sunday for my grandfather and dinner the next night at this tiny Mexican joint that my little brother loves. Thankfully this weekend will be a little quieter, we have a pass until the next one. Instead we're headed to a Mariner's game on Saturday and out to Seafair on Sunday. Please wish us luck that it doesn't rain like it's supposed to this weekend, Seafair is much more fun when it's not raining.

So tell me...what are your big plans this weekend? And most importantly, what signals to you that it's summer?

Administrative Professionals' Day

I started my trek into the working world by working at my grandfather's truck rental business at the age of 14. I didn't want to babysit and at 14 there's only a few options you have to make money, the family business being the top of the heap. So I sat in the office putting together rental contracts (and screwing off, let's be honest) with one of my cousins during the summer for 2 years. This was the best job and the worst all rolled into one, but I learned many lessons there. Like these:

• When you work, you may end up with the worst boss EVER. I love my grandfather, but he is horrible to work for. And the fact he paid me 85% of minimum wage because that's all he was required to still irks me to this day.

• You will have to work with some seriously strange people - and put up with all their quirks. One of his employees was schizophrenic, one was nice w/a cute butt and all couldn't aim when using the bathroom.

Throw in a couple other things like learning how to make a decent cup of drip coffee & how to deal with problematic customers and it started me on my way for real jobs. I later left this business to work as a receptionist in a hair salon (what a fun job despite not paying well at all) and a few other interesting places.

Now what I've learned is there are some people who have never heard of Administrative Professionals Day. There are some people who have only heard of this day as Secretary's Day (did you see The Office last week?). There are some people who may have heard of this day but don't think it's a real holiday or that there's no need to celebrate. This is not a story of those that don't, this is a story of those that do.

Up until now I have not had a single company celebrate this holiday. I've worked in various positions that somehow fall under the umbrella of admin professionals and quite frankly I've always written it off as yet another day where people undervalue the position. You get to that point where if you don't expect anything, you will not be disappointed when nothing happens.

Then something does...and you're pretty much blown away.

I came into work on Wednesday to see the most beautiful flowers on my desk and a card that simply said "Thanks for all of your help." The woman who started a few weeks earlier had put them there and my eyes almost welled up in tears. Then later a meeting request came through stating "We are toasting Cass w/a wine and cheese party. Attendance mandatory." This meeting request came through as post dated for the previous Monday because most the people in my office have a little problem with Outlook. ;-) And during this meeting there was a card signed by everyone and a $100 gift card to Nordstrom.

Maybe blown away was an understatement. To know I'm valued where I am now finally makes everything click. I stayed at my last job for far too long and w/o getting laid off I know I'd probably still be there, still miserable.

If you've seen Up In the Air w/George Clooney this is his key phrase:

"Anybody who ever built an empire, or changed the world, sat where you are now. And it's *because* they sat there that they were able to do it."

Cheesy? Yes. Probably going to get you punched in the face if you say it to someone you let go? Yes. But something about that sat with me when I was watching it. Because for some people it really is true. I was lost when I first got laid off, but a few months later I found a company that I like, that does great work and values me as an employee. How many people can say that?

Good news!

In my last post I mentioned how I did something to my tailbone/had a cyst. Thankfully after taking enough antibiotics my butt has stopped hurting and it's ok to sit down. Yes, this means I no longer have to use the donut cushion. :-)

What's even better though??? I GOT A JOB!! In the same day I managed to score and interview with a company I sent an emailed app the previous week AND get a job through one of the staffing agencies I went through. I'll be making a little bit more than before and have all kinds of random duties, but I'm excited about the whole experience. I managed to get a job on Monday and start on Tuesday and the rest of this week has been me trying to get back into the swing of things.

Although I'd love to talk all about the job there's all kinds of confidentiality required in this company, I hope you understand. I will say that the people are pretty great, the woman training me as a lot of confidence in my abilities and the position is not too far away from home. Actually it's about a mile from my last job so I can still do lunch with some of my favorite people.

But here we are back in the working world. I can also say that this office job (complete with cubicles - but there's a window!!) has me walking around the office WAY more than the last one. I can't wear any of my cute heels without being in extreme pain so I need to find some adorable flats ASAP. If you have suggestions of cute shoes (that are halfway comfy) or a great website to recommend please do.

**Shoes by Adidas via Zappos. I may want them badly.