There's a Reason for Everything!

Not that it bothered me or anything, but I always wondered why men and women had separate restrooms. I understand that it may be more comfortable for both genders, as it is for me. But what prompted institutions, restaurants, schools and all the other places with separate restrooms to segregate?

From what I've read online and my general working knowledge being a woman, I'm assuming it is because our society holds steady on the idea that nudity, sex, doing the 'duty', or whatever are personal affairs, and should be handled as personably as possible. Same goes for the idea that boys and girls shouldn't share beds, or there is no such thing as boy/girl slumber parties. Honestly, I have never been to one or known any person to have a slumber party for their child with boys and girls sleeping over. That was a sideline comment...Conglomerating women together in restrooms allows for less discomfort. At one point I was always afraid to open sanitary napkins or tampons while other women were in the same restroom as me, afraid that they'd hear me and know what I was up to. Now, I have no issues with that. I understand that everyone coming into that restroom has either 'been there, done that' or will soon 'be there and do that'. As the same for men!

Imagine walking into a public restroom and seeing a man standing at a urinal with a woman squatting on the toilet right next to him. Or what about those times when you're on a date and you need to go powder your nose? Wouldn't it be awkward for your date to walk in the restroom while you're getting pretty?

But recently I've come to appreciate separate restrooms even more. At my job there is a staff lounge, outside of our office right down the hall. In that lounge are two single restrooms, no gender designation. After drinking an 18oz cup of sweet tea, I immediately needed a potty break. Well, as I'm walking into one of the singles, the director of our office (male) is walking out. Surprisingly, the other restroom was occupied. So I was forced to use the bathroom that our director had just exited. I immediately wanted to barf after seeing the way that he left the restroom for the next person. Soapy sink knobs, toilet seat raised with drops of urine all over the toilet! I guess he thought that by him smiling and speaking before leaving that I'd forgive him. And I did... it wasn't until he repeated the action two days later, when my best friend walked into the same bathroom that he just left out of. She too noticed the same exact thing that I did, making him a habitual toilet-seat-leaver-upper-pee-stained-toilet-wetter!

And he's married... now this may not be the case for all men, but he is one nasty guy for that. His wife has to be crazy to accept that.

Women-Friendly Factoids

First things first, HAPPY 2010!

Second thing, if you don't read The Economist, YOU SHOULD!

Third thing, interesting article for you non-Economist readers (female-oriented)... titled Female Power. The article was all of 3 pages long, with 2 pictures and 3 graphs. Therefore, I'm going to sum up this article for all of my female readers who need a little empowerment! Female Power covered everything from women working in the 50s to women working who are actively pursuing childbirth. It hit me with some interesting and eye-opening statistics, as well as much needed knowledge about the world that I'm walking into as a working woman. Here are some of the tidbits and stats that I picked up:

• ... women now make up almost half of American workers (49.9% in October).
• ... women earn almost 60% of university degrees in America and Europe.
• ... in Italy and Japan employment rates for men are more than 20 percentage points higher than those for women.
• ... women earn substantially less than men on average and are severely under-represented at the top of organizations.
• ... today, women make up the majority of professional workers in many countries (51% in the United States).
• ... the feminisation of the workforce has been driven by the relentless rise of the service sector (where women can compete as wel as men) and the equally relentless decline of manufacturing (where they could not).
• ... improved technology reduced the amount of time needed for the traditional female work of cleaning and cooking.
• ... most interesting factoid: The most important innovation has been the contraceptive pill, which has not only allowed women to get married later but also increased their incentives to invest time and effort in acquiring skills.
• ... the expansion of higher education has also boosted job prospects for women, improving their value on the job market and shifting their role models from stay-at-home mothers to successful professional women.
• ... in 1963, 62% of college-educated women in the United States were in the labour force, compared with 46% of those with a high school diploma. Today 80% of American women with a college education are in the labour force compared with 67% of those with a high school diploman and 47% of those without one.
• ... only 2% of the bosses of Fortune 500 companies and five of those in the FTSE 100 stockmarket index are women.
• ... women make up less than 13% of board members in America. In American and Britain the typical full-time female worker earns only about 80% as much as the typical male.
• ... in the European Union women have filled 6 million of the 8 million new jobs created since 2000.
• ... in America, the female unemployment rate is 8.6%, compared to 11.2% for men.
• ... the Bureau of Labour Statistics calculates that women make up more than two-thirds of employees in ten of the 15 job categories likely to grow fastest in the next few years. By 2011 there will be 2.6 million more owmen than men studying in American universities.
• ... Goldman Sachs calculates that increasing women's participation in the labour market to male levels will boost GSP by 21% in Italy, 19% in Spain, 16% in Japan, 9% in America, France and Germany, and 8% in Britain.

I find these things interested because it is a huge shift in the economy, not only in America, but across the globe. It is now 'ok' for women to be the breadwinners in the family, and men are accepting that as they realize that women are just as capable to maintain as they are. I'm not a feminist or anything, but reading and learning about the wonderful strides of women around the world makes my day. I'm definitely proud to be a growing statistic, a WOMAN! More power to us :-)

**These statements have been taken directly from The Economist, January 2nd-8th, 2010 edition.

Tips and Tricks for Women: Winter-Proof Your Car

If you live in an area similar to mine (Michigan... Midwest) or maybe even the East coast, some of these tricks from Woman's World may come in handy. I'll be trying some of these myself, because there is nothing worse than your locks freezing causing you to be late for work.

**Keep your headlights clear with car wax

• The wax contains special water repellents that will prevent the messy gunk from accumulating on your lights. This technique lasts for weeks.

**Ice-proof your windows with vinegar

• Mix 3 parts vinegar with 1 part water and spritz on your car windows at night. Vinegar contains acetic acid which raises the melting point of water- preventing water from freezing on your windshield.

**Prevent car doors from freezing shut with cooking spray

• Spritz cooking spray on the rubber seals around car doors and rub it in with a paper towel. Oils in cooking spray prevent water from melting into the rubber.

**Fog-proof your windshield with shaving cream

• Shaving cream creates a protective film on the glass that prevents fogging. Spray some on the inside of your windshield and wipe it off with paper towels. The cream has many of the same ingredients found in commercial defoggers.

**Get unstuck from the snow with your floor mat

• Stick the rubber side of one of your floor mats under the spinning tire. It provides the grip you need to get going.

**De-ice your lock in seconds with hand sanitizer

• Put the hand sanitizer gel on both the key and lock. It contains alcohol, the main ingredient in most commercial de-icers. The sanitizer must be at least 60% alcohol, otherwise it's ineffective.

**Squeak-proof your wipers with rubbing alcohol

• Wipe them with a cloth saturated with rubbing alcohol or ammonia. This can cut the buildup of grease and grime, the main culprit that prevents wipers from working.

GAB Rant: Nastiness is Not Your Friend!

GAB Rant is where I'll rant and rave about minor and/or major occurrences that I experience around the office- or near the office, on a day-to-day basis! Enjoy :-)

Ladies- I can't speak for men because I don't share public restrooms with them. But ladies, if you're taking care of business in the ladies room, please don't rush out of the bathroom in embarrassment without adding a drop of soap or water to your hands. What's there to be embarrassed about? Everyone has bowel movements (excuse me, not my most endearing topic), and if you don't then something is wrong in that case.

It's absolutely disgusting for you to rush out of the bathroom, in fear that I'll see you and know that you were the one who cleared out the entire bathroom. However, I'd like it much more if you'd just excuse yourself, and do the proper thing. WASH YOUR HANDS! Wiping them off with paper towel does not equate to them being clean! I feel like I shouldn't even have to rant about this!

P.S. I saw your shoes ;-)

Love,
GAB!

What Chasing a Guy/Girl can do to your Long-Term Goals!

HAHAHA!

I thought I'd never touch a topic like this. However, it seems to be a problem in my opinion.

Honestly, as a teen, having a boy/girlfriend isn't necessary at all. It tends to be a fad... "Everyone is doing it"... True enough, but what are they really gaining from the individual they're with?

I once told myself that I would no longer date guys who don't have a strong sense of self, LONG-TERM goals, an education, a platform and a clear view of the life ahead of him. Is that asking too much? Not at all. It's worked out pretty well for me too!

What we tend to do as humans is focus on the short-term; what will look/feel good now? But your ultimate happiness is key! Focusing on the now could put a damper on your future. It could cause you to make decisions that could change your life, FOR THE WORSE!

For example... It's senior year and you've just met this cute guy. He has a car, a job at the local bookstore, and he's pretty much content there. You fall head over heels for this guy, to only find out that in August you'll be leaving for an Ivy-league school, and he'll be promoted to cashier at the bookstore. OH NO! What are you going to do 500 miles away from the guy that you think you're going to spend the rest of your life with??? Your solution... "I'll go to a local college and build my life around someone who clearly doesn't have any plans for his life!!!"

THAT IS THE WRONG ANSWER AND THE WRONG ATTITUDE TO HAVE. DO YOU SEE HOW CHASING THAT GUY HAS SENT YOU ON A DETOUR? LOW AND BEHOLD YOU DON'T GO TO SCHOOL AT ALL AND YOU GUYS BREAK UP. NOW WHAT?

This is truly something to think about considering the Fall semester is approaching and a lot of you guys will face that BIG question: "What will chasing him/her do to my goals?"

My advice is to stay true to yourself and evaluate who you are. Take time out and think about the person you want to be. Think about the person you are with, or wish that you were with, and evaluate them as well. If your goals in life don't match the least bit, RECONSIDER your options and focus on YOU!

Ponytails are For the Office

Yea, I said it! Ponytails on women are not just sexy for the gym. They are sexy every day of the year, in pretty much any style you can choose.

I prefer myself with a ponytail. My hair is long (almost mid-back), thick and currently jet black. Humidity does NUMBERS on my hair, my curls usually fall, and I'd rather wear my hair bone-straight than curly ANYDAY!

But rumor has it that ponytails should stay at the gym! I found that highly disappointing considering I rarely visit the gym, yet I rock a ponytail pretty much everyday. I don't know what it is, but ponytails definitely do something different to my appearance.

For one, they don't hide your earrings. I'd die without a pair of earrings on (well, maybe not die, but I'd sure go back home for them!). On a boring, I-forgot-to-do-the-laundry day, some women need a nice pair of earrings to spruce up their lacking wardrobe. But who wants to hide those bedazzling earrings under a ton of hair? I KNOW I DON'T!

Ponytails also accentuate the eyes. Depending on how tight you wear/like your ponytails, they could pull the skin on your face a bit causing your eyes to appear more beautifully. It also makes you looks very exotic (not in a sexual way). When I wear a ponytail, my boyfriend compliments my eyes. DON'T FORGET THE MASCARA THOUGH!

You can wear many different styles of ponytails to fit your mood, attitude or even your getup!

Here are some of my recommendations for the office pony:

If you are wearing a suit, are having a conference with your colleagues or meeting with a potential client, I suggest a low ponytail. One that touches the back of your neck- like this one:



For a day when the office is more laidback, say... free dress day! Or with a nice flowy skirt and 3/4 length sleeved blouse- a mid to high ponytail like this one (with or without the bang, however, WOW the office with a tossled bang):



Obviously for an office party, you'd want to look as beautiful as Brittany Snow, so try this one:



HERE IS A GYM PONYTAIL, AND YES THERE IS A DIFFERENCE! A GYM PONY IS LOOSE AND CAREFREE. AN OFFICE PONY SHOULD BE SLEEK AND POLISHED!

"He Said I Was Different"

Ok, so we've heard it all before. Whether you're male or female. However, I'm writing this post specifically for my young female readers, because... well I'm female myself!

Today, I will talk about why girls may hear this, some variations of "you're different", how to avoid feeling bad about being different, and the result of being different.

I'm going to group all of my teen readers together (13-18 y/o), so when I speak of 'you', it's not direct, it's across the board.

Scenario: Jane has known John since middle school, and she's always had a little crush on him. When they entered high school together, Jane knew that things were destined to be perfect. John would be her homecoming date, her prom date, high school sweetheart, partner in marriage... blah, blah, blah! Yes, a lot of girls think this far into the future when considering the next potential. Don't be sucked into the hype!

Anywho, Jane never worked up enough courage during freshman year to actually tell John how she felt. Sophomore year rolls around, John has made the JV basketball team and Jane has been secretly obsessing over this guy, for what 4 years now? You'd think that she'd say something by now, to avoid him being swept away for the captain of the cheer squad.

So, mellow Jane (very pretty and smart, might I add) builds up the courage to tell John how she feels. It's Wednesday evening after dance practice, and John is standing outside the gym with his fellow team members. And then the words just fall out, soooo unexpectedly...

"John, I, I, I... I like you,"

"You what??? But why?"

"Well, it's been a while and I just thought that now was the best time to tell you. Can we discuss this over ice cream Friday after school?"

"Sure Jane, I don't see why not. See you then"

Jane runs home, overly enthused to tell her mother, who by the way has known about this crush for some time. Her mothers only words were, "be careful Jane"...

So Friday rolls around, and Jane is waiting for John at the local ice cream parlor, and sure enough he comes strolling around the corner.

"Ok... lip gloss check!"

They chit chat for what seems like forever, and Jane is reassured that this is the perfect match. They continue to go on these random after-school excursions for about 3 weeks, only to come to a screeching halt when John announces over the phone that he can't date her anymore... get this! Because she's different...
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Ok, so of course I have to give my synopsis of this story (yes, it's made up. I didn't mean to stereotype anyone, just written to create suspense and a storyline to follow)... Anywho, back to my synopsis... I know there are some ladies and/or men who have heard this line far too many times and can relate to Jane. And like most, they probably took it the wrong way or out of context.

Let me be the one to say, there is absolutely, positively, nothing wrong with being different! We all want to be different sometimes, whether we want to stand out on our college application, or if we really want that job we've just interviewed for. WE ALL WANT TO BE DIFFERENT.

However, in Jane's case... being different=being an outcast=BAD!

So, what should Jane do? First, I suggest that Jane talks to her mother. I'm sure her mother can alleviate some of the stress behind those words. But most importantly she's going to have to learn to cope on her own. So... I recommend that Jane evaluates herself, list the things that make her different from other girls and explain to herself why these are 'good' things.. Chances are her list looks like this:

1. I'm on the dance team (result: you're in the new dance production at school)
   
2. Involved in student government (result: you're in line to become the new Student Body President)
   
3. I consider myself very conservative and classy (result: hey, the results are endless)
4. I'm a straight A student (result: you've made the dean's list)
   
5. I have green eyes and strawberry blonde hair (result: you're not a blonde, or a brunette... but who really cares?)
   
6. I'm very tall and lean (result: you may one day become a model, or maybe even a basketball star)
   
7. etc, etc, etc.

DO YOU GET MY DRIFT? The things that make you different aren't always bad things. As a matter of fact, they're almost always good things just portrayed as bad things.

Variations of the line "you are different":

• "It's just something about you"
• "You're not my type"
• "I've never had a girlfriend like you before"

I hope I've alleviated some unnecessary stress in your life...

If you have any other stories like this, or have had to deal with someone labeling you as "different", feel free to drop a comment.

The Remainder of Today

Ok- so I get to the other location today, to be greeted by 10 new faces. ALL WOMEN! Who wouda thunk??? All executive directors and assistant directors of residential properties, all with designer purses and fancy-schmancy talk tucked up their sleeves. Don't get me wrong, they were all wonderful women to talk with today, ranging from the age of 23-65! I was definitely impressed. Some had been with the company for more than 20 years! Can you say longevity???

Anyway, to the point. So we sit in on a call/live tutorial of a software program that we all will be using to updates sites and whatnot. All very interesting stuff, I must admit! However, it became a bit daunting to sit through once the wireless internet started to act up. I'd say about 70 minutes were wasted trying to connect and reconnect to the internet, which kept closing out our session. It was definitely a nightmare! On top of that, we had to go through about 170 Powerpoint slides to conclude the two tutorial classes that we passed today. WOWWWW! It's a good thing that I got a great nights rest last night.

So.... the juice comes in here. While leaving the office after 5 hours of training, heading back to my regular work site, my supervisor asked me if I wanted to stay another semester with their company?! The company is very impressed with my work ethic, and would eventually like to hire me in I'm assuming. I mean, why else would they ask me to stay longer?

I told him that I'm highly interested because I do enjoy going to work, learning new things and interacting with new people. It's all in the preparation of becoming a better woman! So, why would I pass it up?

Here's why... I received an email once returning to work extending an offer for an interview with a local community college in their accounting department. Full-time work, full-time pay, if you know what I mean! I realized that there may be other internship offers throughout the summer, and that I can't jump on the first one to arise. I have to wait, and weigh my options. This is a first!

I'll see what happens... But basically, I had a wonderful day! Stick around for more of my adventures...

Are These Not Killer?

Ok, so I've been to Twelve Oaks mall in Novi, MI quite a few times, and I am absolutely in love with these shoes.

You'll learn that I am a very versatile person, but at the same time I like a shoe that's very diverse. Just like these. I mean, seriously, what can't you wear with these delicious sandals? Even with a not-so-neat pedicure, you could get away with these shoes.

Now though, I must be a little bit more cautious about the things that I buy. Therefore, I stray away from things that aren't really suitable for work, which of course is business attire. Not so much casual. I mean, the men wear slacks, button-up shirts with ties. The women have a little bit more freedom in the professionalism department. So I could definitely do these for the office. Simply to dress up a top and short pants, or with a fitted white button up top with a flowy brown skirt.

The opportunities are endless... Could I take these to a corporate office, with 30 floors of employees? Probably not, but for what I'm doing now, these definitely work.

What do you think???

PS- you can get these from shi By Journeys.