putingCRV2005

MY 31 THINGS!

Ok.  Ok.  I was tagged maybe a month ago!??  I appreciate that I was tagged and wanted to make my own list right away.  But I did not have the luxury of time so here it is now.  I hope that I will not bore you though because mine is such a long list.  (Do not say I did not warn you).  Oh!  Thanks to Lindsay and Andrea for hooking me up to this coolest “Net Survey” evurr.  I added a few items though because this was a “My 25 Things” to start with.  Now it is “My 31 Things”!  which is how old I am.  =)  Go on, read mine, and make your own list too.  I did not tag you if there was not any reason…

 

 

1. I am married twice…to the same guy that is!  Hubby and I got “secretly” married on August 30, 2001 and had our church wedding (on December 3, 2004) two days before I settle here in the US for good to be with him and start our family.  That secret marriage of ours delayed my immigration here in the US from the Philippines.  Because my hubby filed a fiancé visa for me and the US Embassy in the Philippines found out about our 2001 wedding.  Who was to blame then!?  Well so much for secret marriages in the Philippines.  There is no such thing, okay.  The public offices really do file your secret marriage contracts!  Heeheehee.

 

1. I am lactose intolerant and a clean freak.  That is two things in one number huh.  So yes, just the milk on my cereals or a few scoops of ice cream would make me run to the bathroom.  Likewise, I think that my being a clean freak, I think I got it from my Mom and her sisters. 

 

1. One of the many reasons why I love my job is because I can dress up or down depending on my mood.  And I love dressing up!  And you know how they say “Dress for the job you want, not the job you have…”  Well, that does not apply to me because I can totally pull on an outfit I want any time I go to work.  I just have to make sure I am presentable and my clothes are Gap-like.  I once went to work with wool gray legwarmers on top of a 3-inch high stiletto pump!  And boy!  Did I loove that outfit so-oh much.

 

1. I am a September born so blue sapphire is my birthstone which happened to be my favorite other than pearls.  I fancy those gemstones and wear them on a regular basis.

 

1. I used to work as a Senior Business Analyst in a Health Maintenance Organization back in the Philippines.  I would say that that was the highlight of my career.  Do not get me wrong because I do love my job at the Gap which is a Customer Experience Lead.  But life in the corporate was a totally different story.  Me and my former officemates/friends had the same wavelength.  We work hard, met deadlines, had lunches and cig breaks altogether, went out almost regularly on Friday nights, etc.  I wish to go back but I do not know how and when and not in the very near future.  I love falling into the Gap, anyways.  =)

 

1. I am adept in time management.  I guess that was why I am appreciate my job before and the one I have right now because I get to multi-task a lot.  When I enrolled in Graduate School, I had a fulltime job as well.  In college, I was a working student as well.  I guess I find it challenging when I am juggling/doing two or three things at the same time. 

 

 

1. I am a sucker for chick flicks and/or romantic comedies and its cheesy lines.  I used to have a notebook where I write down lines from movies I like.  Now I record them somewhere in one of my and hubby’s four cell phones in the house.  The Holiday, Dan In Real Life, Shopgirl, Matchpoint (it is intense! Not a chick flick though), Rumor Has It, The Last Kiss, Spanglish, Wicker Park, Along Came Polly, Serendipity, Riding in Cars With Boys are a few of my most, most favorite movies of all time.  Hubby also buys me DVDs/Blurays of films that we both like.

 

 

1. I used to smoke cigarette.  My addiction to nicotine heightened when I worked in PhilamCare back in the Philippines (that was the Health Maintenance Organization I mentioned earlier).  I remember when I was applying for my first job in there as a Department Secretary, my former boss – Edward’s first question was, “do you smoke or drink!?”  He was just joking but then I think he really meant it because when I land on that job, our department which was Marketing and Sales did go out on a regular basis.  What made me quit smoking?  I got preggo.  =)  And since then, I try very hard to not go back to smoking because I care a lot about my daughter and my future pregnancy.

 

1. You would have not even probably thought how I am addicted to classic films as well. I gave 5 Stars to My Girl, Little Women, The Truth About Cats & Dogs, Life Is Beautiful (LA VITA E BELLA), Love Story, Love Affair, Somewhere In Time, Ice Castles, Far & Away.

 

1. Vampire stories fascinate me.  I have always been curious about vampires and have wondered if they really do exist because I think that this lifetime is too short for me to be able to do all the things I want to do and/or learn.  Bram Stocker’s Dracula (Love Never Dies), Interview with the Vampire, Queen of the Damned, 30 Days of Night, and of course, Twilight are my personal choices for vampire flicks. 

 

1. I dig all kinds of music.  Well except country that is.  My favorite cousin even regarderd me as a Music Junkie.  And my hubby even said I was a white-wannabe because I always pull up rock songs from Snow Patrol, The Decemberists, Spoon, Tokyo Police Club, The Doves, to Bloc Party.  I did not mind him saying that because I just love listening to them.  I also prefer lite jazz depending on my mood and Malo’s Suavecito is one romantic song I know (and sometimes jive to).  And lastly, trance/electronica/techno is my most favorite genre.  Listening to them songs bring to a different kind of highness.  My sister in-law said I was her influence that is why she listen to that genre now as well. 

 

1. Ask my hubby who is the biggest weeper he knows, he will definitely tell you it is me.  I cry on weddings, baptisms, even on a baby powder TV commercial, on a certain line of a Christmas song, or even on upon seeing another person crying…name it and I will most definitely shed a tear or maybe even sob on it or with it. 

 

1. I mumble a lot.  My Mom thinks I have gotten it from my Dad who is a mumbler himself.  Sometimes I wonder why I even took up Mass Communication in my undergraduate school because in the university where I went to, that degree also catered to Broadcasting which I miraculously did not fail.  I love public speaking and studying voice and diction but I am just old and rusty now and just always end up most of the time, just mumbling.

 

1. I once went to attend a summer Street Jazz class which I enjoyed going to.  I savored each moment in class and most especially, the recital itself.  I guess I love having an audience and the fact that I can dance which totally go well together.

 

1. Math is my waterloo.  That was one reason why I had communication as my major in both undergrad and graduate schools.  Long solutions to any mathematical problems?  They will totally and undoubtedly loose me…

 

1. I enjoy learning and going to school.  Well, I would be hypocrite if I say that while I was still in high school and college, I did not so look forward to graduating just to get over with the school days.  I actually did wish they were over but once they were done, I reminisced of those days a lot and missed school bigtime.  So I found myself enrolling again and then earned my units in graduate school then again missed school but then ended up enrolling in a dance class and then a couple yoga classes after that.

 

1. I have this weird habit of smelling my wrists because I think they smell really good.  So do not be surprised if you catch me stopping on something that I am doing just to smell my wrists.  My hubby thinks it is so funny that it almost annoy him a little too because he thinks it is an out of the ordinary thing to do.  =)

 

1. Three to four cups of black coffee with sugar, a shower, and music in the shower room are my “pick me up” every single day. 

 

1. While I was still living in the Philippines with my parents, it always rained on my birthday.  It really is a rainy season come September in there but it does not rain every day just because that was the season for it.  Unlike here in Seattle, it could rain for up to two straight weeks.  Not in the Philippines, there is always, always an interval after days of raining.  And yes, it just so happen it rains on my birthday itself.  My Mom thinks I am lucky for that because she considers rain as blessings from high heavens.

 

1. I adore my investment in jeans, coats, purses, and shoes.  I have like 25 pairs of jeans but only wear 15 of them on a regular basis.  The ones I do not wear often  have acrylics (read my lips:  wool/acrylic are uncomfortable on my skin) but I still wear them sometimes because you know how beauty hurts sometimes.  For my coats though, there is one that top my list which I wish I have gotten another one.  It is this Gap long black car wool coat with hood (which made it more perfect) from fours years ago (which is 2004).  Purses…I am crazy about this white huge hobo bag I got from The Limited.  It is quite dirty now so yea, I wish I have gotten another one of the same kind too.  It was multi-handled and the size is not too big neither too small but I used it every day when it was still in good shape.  OMG! Shoes, I could not pick a favorite.  I have almost all kinds but the ones I often pull on are either kitten heeled pumps, converse sneakers, or knee high boots.

 

1. I came here in the US a few years ago, right?!  So I guess I still am a fresh of the boat?  Which is why I pretty much get excited when it snows.  I just think it is beautiful and “magical”. I am delighted on fresh snowflakes falling down on me and on everything and the fact as well, that it is just white everywhere

 

1. I easily get too warm or too cold.  It is a weird for me because I lived in a tropical country for 27 years and should be used to hot weather but no, I still do not like it when I feel warm.  People I work with at the Gap probably have noticed how the temperature in our store changes once I come in.  If it is cold, I will turn the heat up a couple degrees higher or if it is hot, I will change the temperature to chilly.

 

1. I stare at fireworks with a feeling of awe!  I even make wish on them.  Where did I get that idea?  There was this Korean soap where the female lead cast wishes upon fireworks and I sort of did the same thing after I watched the program.  Well, fireworks are really pleasing.  Have you seen the ones they do in Disneyland???

 

1. I only have one sibling…mykidbro.  I always want to make him happy and I pamper him with things he likes.  Although most of the stuff he taught me, I did not excel very well.  Like driving a stick, playing an acoustic/bass guitar, and his passion for cooking.  I sure can cook now but I doubt that I am as good as he is.  I also miss our jamming sessions.  You see, he would take me with him and drive around our taxi cab (which franchise was actually named after the two of us by our Mom – Khris-Niel) and sing to songs we are listening to or talk about cars as well.  (He is mainly the reason why I am fascinated with and talk about cars to friends).  Or he would play his acoustic guitar in our veranda and we would sing together.  He is a rockstar especially when he plays The Beatles’ songs.  And right now, we are halfway across the world apart from each other, he would still play and sing songs for me with his guitar, film it, and post it on www.youtube.com.  Which every time he does, I just find myself crying, by the way because of the fact that I miss him and our parents to death.

 

1.  I appreciate the fact that I was born and raised in the city.  I was a street-smart back in Manila.  I just do not know now because Seattle is a somewhat displacement for me.  And oh yes, back to where I lived for 27 years, I call it Manila, My Manila.  Claire Danes may have called it ghastly when she visited back then but heck, I love where I come from and I am very proud of it!  The noise, the traffic jam, the crowded streets…every single thing about Manila, My Manila is what I love about it and I am just longing to experience Manila again.  I’m A Thrilla in Manila!!!

 

1. Here is a list of some random things I like:  scarves, argyle socks, stars, cherries, cakes, cotton candies, Raisin Bran/Quacker Life, white cars, jalapenos and popcorn, burnt toasts, fries with mustard, well-done steaks, really warm water (that hubby could not stand it) for my shower, et.al.  I also read and love to write if I have time. 

 

1. Sometimes people think I am funny/cute because of the stuff that I do not know how to do or deal with.  Funny/cute may even be good words or they were just trying to be nice but I will settle for it.  Come on people, I was not raise here so I still am trying to figure out how you do things here or what those slang words meant.  Heehee.  Wait until I am able to google them all, ok.  =)  God bless whoever came up with Google.  LOL.

 

1. My most prized possession is my 30GB video iPOD.  It has 5K songs in it, has songs that are hard to find, has songs that remind me of the good ol’ days (the 80s and 90s), songs that you would not think I have, and playlists I made with blood and tears of my own.  =)  I will not trade it for any newer iPOD.  Hubby even gave me a 3G iPHONE as his Christmas present last year but I had him bring it back because I know that it will just be impossible to transfer all the songs and playlists that I have in my current iPOD.  Plus, I think I am not that young anymore for all those gadgets let alone try to learn how to play with them.

 

1. I as most of you know, have a daughter and I call her Babycakes.  I adore and love her to pieces.  I also like the fact that she is a smart little kid.  She knows colors, the alphabet, opposites, animals, shapes, etc and have started playing videogames (in Wii, DS, PS3, online computer kids games, etc) at a very young age of 2.5.  I likewise, find it cute that she looks like her Dad and the fact that she got her Dad’s personality of being a happy person in general.  One more thing I could not get enough of is that every time she show us her face of astonishment when we give her surprises even little ones.  It melts my heart to see her react like that and every one in the family just always end up getting her stuff regularly.  I know it is not a good practice but we just could not help it. 

 

1. I am married to the most wonderful man in the whole wide world.  That would even be an understatement for him.  He is super kind (hands down), patient, a good provider for me and our daughter, responsible, funny, and (cough, cough) good looking.  Sometimes I stare at him with adoration when he sleeps and start crying trying to figure out how did I ever deserve such a perfect guy for me.  I am not a perfect person and I hurt people ‘s feelings especially my parents many times before but I am still endowed with a man like him. 

 

1. Hubby and I met each other in the internet!  This is my most favorite story about me that I tell to people because when I told them where we met, there first impression would be that I am a mail-to-order bride.  Hahaha.  But no, there was this Filipino band we both like and which webpage we visited regularly back then.  On the said page, I would post messages to the band vocalist who I had a huge crush on and hubby now, friend then thought my messages were funny and/or annoying befriended me.  I was still in the Philippines then and he was already here in Seattle.  From then on, we exchanged emails, became friends then an item, then he visited me in the Philippines in March and stayed there for six months.  Before he left, he proposed on August 19, 2001, got married on August 30, then he flew back here on Sep 3.  It was a long distance relationship for us for three years but he would visit me there every year for two weeks.  The last time he visited me there was in August 2004.  We went to this white beach (Boracay) where I conceived.  We then got married in church in December 3, 2004 and I migrate in here two days after.  Oh wait, did I just told you some of those in item #1 of this list?  Well yes,  that is our love story…

 

YOU KNOW YOU WORK(ED) AT THE GAP WHEN…
Note: Be sure to read until the end and check on the six items I have added…

1) after your third shift, you already thought of quitting.
2) you know that a “One Minute Meeting” doesn’t really last for one minute.
3) the only 2 things preventing you from quitting are a) your friends and b) the 50% discount.
4) you’ve mastered the art of plastering the fakest (yet surprisingly seemingly genuine) smile to your clients
5) “Hi!” becomes the most over-used word in YOUR ENTIRE LIFE.
6) you can recall rejoicing and jumping up and down with glee upon hearing that the company has decided to supersede the old ibm cashes.
7) you can recall kind of missing the old ibm cashes whenever the seemingly amazing terminal is being retarded you don’t see the point of having to change your cash password every 3 months
9) you first hated 7-4 shifts and thought that it was an ungodly hour to be working at, but later, have come to love it and wondered how you could have possibly hated it/lived without it in the first place
10) having a 7-hour shaft sucks. that and a 3 hour and 45 mins shaft as well.
(Jullyane Del Rosario/Ivana Khadoury)
11) all of your co-workers are on facebook (Claudia Carvajal)
12) you know that “rep” is not “rap” mispelled
13) you get the sudden urge to insert/tuck tags in their respective shirts when you enter another store.
(Wesley Derequito)
14) you find yourself singing to the songs on the cd/soundtrack despite your deep DEEP hatred for the latter
15) after hearing one song, you start to sing/hum the next track before it even starts to play
16) you want to smack people when they go in and out of the store, because it ruins your conversion
17) you hate being the one to place things during shipment/opening of the boxes, because placing = vomiting… literally.
18) you’ve lost your badge/nametag at least twice
19) you’ve managed to prick/hurt yourself with the old blue square badges (THEY’RE POINTY AND DANGEROUS I TELL YOU)
20) you know that the application of the new return policy of sending clients mail certificates will never work/happen.
21) you’ve seen people return things that are older than your 5-year-old cousin
22) you’ve seen the biggest boxes that only had a pair of socks in them during shipment
23) down to this day, you still have no idea how to insert the roll in the markdown gun.
24) you realize how blind clients are when they’re having the hardest time using the terminal (cuz they use their fingers).
all the while the PEN is right there, at their disposal and literally an inch away from the terminal
25) you realize how blind AND stupid clients are when they have the pen in their hands and YET, STILL use their fingers on the terminal
26) you’ve developed a “gaydar” due to the fact that 75% of the guys you work with are gay (and the 25% who are straight are metrosexual and/or most likely taken)
27) you develop OCD due to perfect/board folding
28) you get angsty when you’re looking for a manager to do your bagcheck during your very short 15/30
29) you’ve quit at least once.
30) …and yet, still came back for another go.
31) you don’t really care about today’s goal (unless the store doesn’t make it and they start cutting YOUR hours, only then will you start caring)
32) deny it as much as you’d like, you secretly love working at the gap.
33) you get retarded/cheap clients who ask you to find a 1.97 hat in the country and want it to be shipped to their house (in which the shipping costs twice the amount of the price of the hat — nice going, moron!).
(Vanisha Gokhool)
34) EATON CENTER EXCLUSIVE: the only reason you like the switch of floors is because you get to see/direct/talk to the guys looking for the mens floor (Vanisha Gokhool)
35) you list the songs off the soundtrack on a blank receipt and once you get home, you download them (Francesca Benedetti)
36) FOR GAP KIDS EMPLOYEES: you know two words for “fat”: plus and husky.
(Erika Tucker)
37) the magnets on the nametags are wayyyy too strong (you’ve managed to pinch your fingers with it more than once)
38) “YOU BE YOU” really means “you be you but with gap clothes”.
TYRANTS!
39) the lockers are way too small
40) note to the company: YOU CAN’T FIT 4 PEOPLE IN ONE LOCKER. YOU JUST CAN’T.
41) the titles “co-workers” and “good friends” are interchangeable
42) apparently, $4.99 costs too much for anything.
(Francesca Benedetti)
43) you’ll know your social security number for years to come.
(Jessie Dorélien)
44) FOR STOCK PPL: When you have 5 minutes left ’til your shift’s over and then someone asks you for a check and you answer “we don’t have any/sorry, i don’t have your check” without actually looking for it. (Webster S.
)
45) you start dreaming about postvoids.
(Christina Little)
46) your new favorite sentence becomes “sur articles sélectionées/on select items only” (Francesca Benedetti)
47) when the christmas soundtrack only arrives in january. awesomeness. THAT or the christmas CD comes in october…and they still put it on through to new-year (Jullyane Del Rosario/Samantha Watson)
48) you’ve answered a cell phone call in the fits/stock room and got away with it (Benny Augello)
49) when you start shopping for clothes during your shift (Benny Augello)
50) when you answer all of your phone calls with the line: “merci d’avoir appelé Gap(Kids/Baby) (enter store name here)… (insert your name here) à l’appareil. Comment puisse-je vous aider?” / “thank you for calling Gap(Kids/Baby) (insert store name here)… (insert your name here) speaking.
How may I help you?” (Francesca Benedetti)
51) you purely ask customers what size they’re looking for so they do NOT eff up your pile (Ivana Khadoury)
52) when you’ve invited every one of your past or present coworkers to join this group because you know they’ll all appreciate it as much as you do (Michelle Maher)
53) A LADDER IS NOT A CHAIR, PEOPLE. AND LEARN TO READ. IT SAYS “EMPLOYEES ONLY” ON THEM.
54) When you leave the Gap, you get really sad at the idea you won’t see your co-workers regularly anymore. I miss EVERYONE!!! (Francesca Benedetti) — We miss you too. xo.
(9541 staff)
55) You stand around and talk to friends until you hear the clicking of keys. You also dread managers that don’t wear the keys because you never know they’re coming.
(Julie Krupa/Sean Casey)
56) you use the “I can” statements in completely ridiculous ways (Meagan Mooney)
57) you want to staple things to clients’ foreheads and tell them to go to Zellers when they complain about prices because for SOME reason they think that you can actually do something about it (Stephanie Roy/Jullyane Del Rosario)
58) you need to get your manager’s permission for taking 15 min break and by the time you find a manager to get his permission you break is over.
(Farzad YY)
59) when you still have your name tag on after your shift.
(Stephanie Magyar)
60) you have a love-hate relationship with stylists. You love them when they buy 572948574305 items. The “hate” part comes when they return all 572948574305 things a week later.
(Alena Maingot/Jullyane Del Rosario)
61) you’re like 10 employees waiting at 11:59 next to the punch clock! (Anais Blanc-Pham)
62) you’re out with your friends and point out who’s wearing gap on the street: “That shirt’s from the Gap…. and she totally got it for $6.
99″ (Stephanie Magyar/Jullyane Del Rosario)
63) …and it’s actually come to the point where your friends (and your significant other) probably know the entire collection (Stephanie Magyar)
64) When you’re a Kids/Baby only store and customers come in looking for the REAL/REGULAR Gap–Like hello kids & babies aren’t real or regular?? It’s called ADULT people-learn the word! (Kris Kliche)
65) when you make an exception more than once for every single costumer.
(Clarisse Hh)
66) When u expect rewards points from your manager because he/she told you that it will be given to you at the end of your shift but then you finish your day with nothing and instead get rewarded some other day when you least expect it.
(Clarisse Hh)
67) when the term “Flow” is easier to spell than to accomplish (Clarisse Hh)
68) when you find over 5 GAP badges lying around in your room, your car, and in your bag… even after having not worked there in years! (Josef Serfaty)
69) When you are switched from Kids/Baby GAP to GAP and you ask a customer “How old are you?”… instead of what size they need.
(Julie Sandberg Witbeck)
70) When you fold your denim/jeans/bottom pants (even your pajamas) and “tuck” the CROTCH in! (KPVillacorta).
71) When you have songs from the Gap CDs in your iPOD and even make a playlist entitled GAP…or this could only be true if you are a hardcore nerdy like myself.  =)   (KPVillacorta).
72) When you have clothes which size is hardest to find because it is a popular size or your size is only available online but a customer returned “your size” so you are definitely buying it. This is most true for Petite/Tall size wearing Gap employee.
(KPVillacorta)
73) When you one of the first ones to find the best deals because you are part of the Markdown Team.
(KPVillacorta)

74)  When you have mastered the art of “Shop Talk” because you can totally and confidently talk about anything to your customers under the sun.  (KPVillacorta)

75) When you see strange people outside your store and think that you might have seen him/her somewhere already but you actually only have seen them come in your store…like a deja vu!  (KPVillacorta)

76) When a song you like from the Gap CD comes up, you find yourself getting a “Hold” sticker, checking on the title on the music system, and then downloads it on your computer when you get home (Hello C.Chang!)  (KPVillacorta)