We got Annie

When I was a little girl, my favorite movie was the musical Annie. I could watch the movie everyday and not tire of it...just ask my parents, my brother, and my Aunt Pat. They all hate this movie with a passion and it is entirely my fault. As an adult, I still have an affection for the movie but it's mostly due to my love of national treasures Ann Reinking, Bernadette Peters, and Carol Burnett, and adopted national treasure, Tim Curry. The movie is worth it simply to watch these four performers have so much fun.

My family has teased me about my love of Annie forever. This is probably a better things to be teased about than say most of the clothes I wore between 1987 and 1995 or my love of New Kids on the Block. I hated the teasing over the years, but it led me to the discovery of the cat we all know and love as Pumpkin.

I moved to Hawaii after graduating from college. My dad was stationed at Ft. Shafter and I had zero idea of what to do with my life, so I took my parents up on the offer to live at home while I figured it out. I enrolled in a graduate program at the University of Hawaii Manoa (not a great idea) and found a job working at Diamondhead Theatre. The only downside was that I had to leave my cat, Molly, behind in New Orleans. Mainland pets have to be quarantined for several weeks and it's expensive. Molly was adopted by a friend of mine and lived a wonderful life in New Orleans. My parents knew I was disappointed about leaving Molly behind so they decided to "get me" a cat for Christmas (they paid the adoption fees at the SPCA). We decided to go to the shelter while my brother was visiting for the holidays so the whole family could be involved in finding the cat.

Right before we went to the find my cat, my dad saw an ad in the paper featuring an orange cat named Annie. He joked that he had found "my cat" and we had a nice laugh over. I don't remember if I called to see if she was still there or not; I don't think I did. I feel like we decided to see if she was still there when we got there. Cats are particular about people so I didn't want to get my heart set on her and then she didn't like me. In my heart, though, I really wanted that particular cat. I wanted to be her human.

The experience of going to an animal shelter is overwhelming. There are so many animals that need love and a good home. Unfortunately, many of them don't find that home and it's sad to think about what happens to them. The areas for cats are often the most full parts of shelters; people abandon cats with a frequency that has always alarmed me. At the SPCA we went to, the older cats were in the first room and were mostly allowed to roam and laze about as cats do. Since I was interested in adopting a younger cat, our SPCA lady walked us quickly through the open room to a smaller side room where younger cats were kept. I walked in behind the SPCA lady and moved forward so everyone else could come in. My dad stopped by the first set of cages while I started looking around. Not even a minute into the room I heard him say, "I think I found your cat." In the cage right next to him was Annie. She had stuck her little paw through the cage and tapped my dad on the shoulder as if to say "Hey buddy, I'm over here!" I walked over, she meowed, the lady let her out, she jumped into my arms, and the rest is history. This also explains why my father is her second favorite person. We renamed her Pumpkin, after a series of votes (where the popular vote actually mattered), and she came home on January 3, 2002. She spent her first few days soaking up the sun on the lanai and terrorizing geckos. Eventually, she would "patrol" the lanai to keep us safe from the wild pigs that roamed Ft. Shafter. She was always looking out for our safety...or something.

Pumpkin lived a great life. She got to live in Hawaii and California, two states many people covet as homes. She caught mice in my apartment in New Orleans to show me what a killer she was. She enjoyed torturing bugs who dared to come into our home. She made the sassiest faces, perfecting the side-eye shade like a freaking boss. She made me laugh, annoyed me, and comforted me when I needed it. I, in turn, fulfilled my role as her devoted human (with hundreds of photos to prove it). What I didn't realize was how much joy she brought other people, many of whom never met her. They only experienced her through social media posts and stories on the Island. It's amazing to me to see how much joy she brought people and how many commented on her "personality" and how they looked forward to following her adventures. She have ignored most of them in person, but what can I say? Cats are jerks. Tiny, fluffy, adorable jerks.

As I sat at the vet on Saturday waiting to hear what was wrong with her, another cat owner sat down next to me to wait for his cat. We started chatting as a very sinister looking dog came in to been seen by one of the vets. The man's cat's name is Charlie so I'll refer to him as "Charlie's dad." The ER vet who took care of Pumpkin was also taking care of Charlie. Charlie got into a fight with something and had a nasty scratch on his face that looked like it was infected. Charlie's dad asked me how long I'd been waiting. I told him what was going on with Pumpkin and that I had been there for about three hours at this point. He asked me a bunch of questions about her, our life, and asked for some fun stories about her. I shared all of this as one proud cat parent to another. When I was finished he said to me, "We only need two things in life: beauty and inspiration. Cats provide both. Whatever you decide to do today will be the right thing for Pumpkin. You might not think so now and you can be sad but she was both of those things to you. Remember that." He proceeded to tell me that he may have broken the law by letting his cat out (and then it got in a fight) and recommended I adopt two cats when I adopt my next pet (which he knows I will do) since cats should have friends. Obviously.

Thank you to everyone who has reached out about Pumpkin. Your kinds words mean a lot to me. I'm so glad she provided so much entertainment, sass, and cuteness over the years. Please enjoy some more photos of Pumpkin but before you do, take a listen to my favorite song from the movie version of Annie. This is definitely a song about Pumpkin.

In Which I Let a Stranger Select My Clothes

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to hear Margaret Wheeler, the Chief People & Culture Officer at Stitch Fix, give a talk about building a company culture. It was during an employee engagement conference; in the same conference similarly titled leaders from Hulu, Tesla, and Columbia Sportswear shared various insights into engaging employees in different ways and what makes their organization unique. Wheeler was my favorite presenter of the entire conference. She was fun to listen to and talking about an interesting challenge Stitch Fix has in that most of their employee base is made up of remote stylists. Engagement of in-office employees is a challenge; remote employees bring an entire level of complexity to the engagement conversation. Her session was about the use of pulse surveys in assessing company culture, which are quick, frequent surveys of employees to test the "health" of an organization (Get it? Health. Pulse. Ha.). Their organization deployed this type of survey and had a lot of success learning about their employees and what they needed. Questions ranged from very organization specific questions to more social/fun questions designed to paint a picture of the employee group as a whole.

One of the questions Wheeler* shared was this one: What is Stitch Fix doing for you to help you reach your goals?" The question stuck with me long after the conference. I wrote a blog for my then organization about the topic and would return to this question often over the last few years, particularly when I was struggling with something at work. The question wasn't necessarily about professional goals, although you could answer it that way. Wheeler went on to share that employees shared goals about travel, learning new skills, connecting with people from all over, and being bold enough to try something new. When I originally heard her talk, I was really focusing my writing and my work blog focused on how I felt my old company was helping me expand my writing skills and giving me opportunities to do more writing. I saw in Wheeler's question a reality for myself and my colleagues shared my opinion too. That certainly changed over time but I still keep coming back to this question over and over again. When I was in the middle of my recent job search, this question was part of my process for evaluating organizations. I was able to dismiss organizations if I felt like the role wouldn't be advantageous to me or my career. Obvious right? Not so much when you're in the job search hustle. 

As much as I enjoyed Wheeler and her thoughts about creating a strong organizational culture, I didn't run out and join Stitch Fix. Despite the fact that she is a super-fashionable woman and was wearing a gorgeous white dress, I didn't sign up. At the time, Stitch Fix was still limited in sizes so I wasn't sure that they would actually be able to find anything for me. I was doing alright on my own in the fashion department anyway; I didn't need a stranger to help me. I may not have ever received lessons in how to dress like a woman, but I was making fashion work for me. Which is the point. I love avant-garde fashion as much as the next person, but I'm never going to wear it. I want my clothes to make me feel good. As Ariell Johnson so bluntly put it, "Like all my clothes, when I put them on, I was not thinking of you." I feel like it's taken me for-freaking-ever to really embrace this philosophy, but embraced it I have.

The thing is, I really don't enjoy shopping. I like shopping when other people are looking for something. I will be your shoe sherpa forever but when it comes to shopping for myself, I don't enjoy it anymore. I can trace this change, because I used to enjoy shopping, to the rise of skinny jeans. Now, I have come to enjoy skinny jeans (more on this shortly) but their initial rise in popularity made it so hard for more fuller figured ladies (like myself) to find pants and jeans that looked good. Eventually, clothing designers got their shit together and figured out that skinny jeans are actually flattering for all body types and made versions that look good even if you have hips or larger calves. I own skinny jeans/pants in several colors and black and gray. I still love my boot cut jeans but I have given friends in skinny jeans.

Since I don't really enjoy shopping BUT I want to be fashionable in my own way, I decided that the time has come for me to join Stitch Fix. In the last few years, they've expanded their women's size range and added a fix for men. They're running a new line of commercials right now were incredibly convincing about how awesome I would feel getting my first "fix" (that's what they call each box) and how I would love everything in the box. So I signed up. When I say signed up, I don't mean a simple "enter my email and create a password" process. No, in addition to those steps, I also had to create a style profile for myself. This includes questions about fit, what I like and dislike in clothes and accessories, and a long list of sizing questions. I was also able to leave a note for my personal stylist about what I'm looking for in clothing.

I liked this part of the process. It feels personal and it's fun. I got to really focus on what I love about fashion and clothes. I talked a lot about whimsical patterns and loving stripes and how I really love bold colors but also wear a lot of black. I want to look professional but also like me so a little humor and fun injected into things. I'd been cautioned by friends and some of my new co-workers to be very specific and provide feedback on my fixes or else I'd be disappointed. If you're going to pay for something, you should be honest about what you want. So I was very thorough with this stage. I even created a Pinterest board for my stylist to look at (no idea if she does this). Never ever did I think I would create a Pinterest board for anything. I'm never going to have a wedding in a reclaimed barn so why would Pinterest be in my life?

And then I waited. I selected the quarterly fix option so I had to wait a few weeks between signing up and receiving my first fix. While I was waiting, my newest acquisitions from Modcloth arrived in the mail. Leave it to Modcloth to finally allow me to realize my dream of finding work appropriate dinosaur patterned clothing.

It's such a great shirt...subtle dinosaurs. One of my co-workers didn't realize the pattern was dinosaurs until she sat next to me in a meeting. I also love this picture and I never love pictures of me. I'm not saying it's solely the dinosaur shirt but I it deserves a little bit of the credit.

Finally, my fix arrived. Of course, Pumpkin claimed the box as hers (see above photo) so I had to wait until she got distracted by air to actually open it. It did, in fact, feel a like Christmas. I was excited and a little nervous about what I would find once I opened the box. Would this stranger hit the mark or be so off base that I'd end up disappointed? Would I love everything in the box so much that I'd spend money I really shouldn't on buying all the things?  I was cautiously optimistic that this fix was going to be fabulous.

And fabulous it was. First, let's discuss the lovely packaging that is a Stitch Fix box. Talk about a perfectly integrated brand. Everything goes together to invite me into the fashion club I now belong to. 

I "met' my stylist, Jami. According to the clothing guide included, she was "digging" a classic vibe for my first fix. She selected pieces that would be work appropriate and fun to wear more casually (exactly what I asked for). There were stripes and bold colors and a cute dress (lacking pockets but rocking sleeves). Jami seemed to get me.

Each fix includes five items that vary depending on my profile selections. Since I selected clothing and accessories, this fix included four clothing options and a necklace. The necklace was not my style but still nice. I put it aside and focused on the clothes. I wanted to keep all four items before I tried anything on. I liked everything. I didn't think I would but I did. I was hoping it would all fit...that would be the true test of whether Jami and I would continue on this fashion journey together or if I would run far, far away from future fixes.

I started with the one item that I truly hoped would fit me: a navy and striped three-quarter length sleeve top. I love stripes and think navy is one of the most underrated clothing colors in the world. It's also super soft and could be casual with jeans or a little dressier with a cute skirt and heels. I love this shirt. I decided the second I put it on that I would be keeping it. I should also note that none of the brands were familiar to me; that's another thing I like about Stitch Fix. I'm getting access to brands I wouldn't normally find or even know about.

Next up...the dress. I wanted to like this dress. Also in navy, it was a good length (just at the knee) and the addition of sleeves made me happy. However, it had an odd front panel that made me think of a nun's habit and it was a little big in the top. I don't have a full length mirror or a selfie stick so the picture isn't great but you get the idea. My feedback on this was "style is good, fit is off, panel is weird."

While they weren't styled together in the guide that came with my fix, I decided to try the last two items on together. Like the first shirt, I immediately liked both items and was hopeful they would fit.

Yes, that's a pair of fuchsia skinny jeans and a black lace top. I'm currently obsessed with these pants. I thought I loved my purple Elle skinny jeans but they have nothing on these. They fit perfectly. Pants never fit me perfectly. They're the right length and hit correctly at the waist. Turns out, this particular style is a Stitch Fix exclusive. I want to wear these pants every day. Did I mention they have real pockets? They do. It's so great. The top was nice but again, fit was an issue. It was a little big in the bust area so the drape was off.

Please excuse my cluttered sink.

All in all, my first fix was awesome. I kept two pieces and sent the rest back. After trying it all on and packaging up the rejects (although they were very nice rejects), I logged onto my account any provided Jami with feedback on each item. I hope she enjoys my enthusiasm for the fuchsia pants as much as I enjoy wearing them. In theory, Jami will use my feedback, her stylist knowledge, and seasonal trends to curate my next box. Since shipping my items back, I received a few emails from the company encouraging me to share my latest obsession (I would if I had a good photo of me in those pants) and how to transition summer items into fall. Now all that's left to do is obsessively add items to my Pinterest board while I await my November fix.

Pumpkin is a fan of the fuchsia pants too.

*Video is from a different conference on a similar topic. She's awesome.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Sharknados

I'm not entirely sure what I just watched. It might have been an Indiana Jones homage. It might have been a classic sci-fi creature. It's possible it's a weird rom-com. Or maybe a long-form advertisement for extreme sports. It's very possible it's a religious movie that also involves time travel. A lot of things happened in the space of this movie and we've been set up for more. But I still have no idea what I just finished watching. I was treated to a nice little interview featuring the creator and director of the Sharknado films, Anthony C. Ferrante, last Friday and on top of proving he is the nicest human being in the film industry, he basically confirmed that we will be watching Sharknado movies for the rest of our lives.

I'm torn on this. On one hand, I love the Sharknado movies. They're ridiculous, campy, completely unbelievable, and a wonderful testament to the power of social media to drive fandoms. The cast and crew seem dedicated to making these movies and from what Ferrante says in the interview, they commit to the most ridiculous ideas because they're enjoying being part of this franchise. Many of them, most notably Ian Ziering and Tara Reid, have salvaged their careers with these films. On the other hand, I don't actually believe we need any more of these movies. Five was way too many despite the fact that there are some delightful things in the fifth one (we'll get to these shortly). I'll continue to grapple with my love/hate/love/hate relationship with these movies and provide the service I always promise you: I watch these movies so you don't have to BUT you can feel like you did.

Let's dive into Sharknado 5: Global Swarming (pun intended).

1. There are an incredible amount of movie references in this one. I can only assume Ferrante was watching Stranger Things between movies and was like, "I'm going to do my homage to everything ever because I can! With sharks!" We've got, and these are just the ones I caught, Indiana Jones, a Godzilla reference, Back to the Future, James Bond references, an Infinity Stones/Marvel inspired plotline, the Brendan Fraser Mummy movies, and possibly a veiled Terminator reference although I may just be projecting that one.
2. Remember nothing good ever comes of repelling into cave or spelunking. Nothing.
3. Nova! She's actually back this time (seriously she was what was missing from the entire second and fourth movies). Nova belongs to the single greatest creation of the sharknado universe (yes, I just typed that sentence): the Sharknado Sisterhood. Seriously, why are we only now learning that they exist? More on the sisterhood shortly. "Please tell me you've started a band not a cult." Funniest thing Ian Ziering has ever said in his entire career.
4. I don't think they know how NATO or British people work. No one says "chap" that much.
5. Of course the sharknados are from the past and there are basically Infinity Stones at certain places around the world (Stonehenge, the pyramids) to keep it all in check. Of course this is why these things happen. It's not the Shepard family despite the fact that they are always in the middle of it. I know I said before that I don't blame them but now I'm not so sure.
6. Don't touch anything you find in a cave under Stonehenge, especially if it's surrounded by sharks. Haven't you ever watched a movie in your life?
7. "Don't aggravate the sharks." Say it in a delightful British accent for the full affect.
8. Took 15 full minutes for a "London Bridge is falling down" joke.
9. Normally the cameos make me laugh but we have to talk about Bret Michaels (which may also be the title of my first memoir for no apparent reason but that it's a great title). What is this even about? Why is he in London? Why is he randomly walking down the street? Why does he randomly have a guitar and starts playing once attached to the bus? Does he die? I missed it if he did. Why is Bret Michaels here? Vince Neil made sense in the one he was in; he was in Las Vegas which is basically the only place Vince Neil can feel like a normal human. There is literally no reason for Bret Michaels to be in London.
10. I still really dislike April and spent most of this movie cringing every time she speaks...which is often. Oh and she flies. Remember, she's a cyborg now.
11. So Gil, the youngest Shepard child, gets sucked into the sharknado, Fin rides a shark into Buckingham Palace so he can stop it from killing the Queen, and Charo is the Queen of England. All of this happened before the opening title sequence.  
12. Slow motion running = tragedy has occurred.
13. "We should have never gone into that cave." Understatement of the year.
14. Y'all, Nichelle Nicols is in this movie. Uhura is in this movie. But so is the Dance Moms woman, Chris Kattan, and Geraldo Rivera so maybe her appearance is negated by Geraldo. I don't know if there's some form of cameo math at work here. For everyone that's cool and amusing, there are six that are stupid.
15. And suddenly we're in Switzerland because now the sharknado is actually a transporter and people who are sucked into it just end up in another country. Maybe the sharknado isn't all that bad if you don't have to deal with the airlines anymore.
16. Meanwhile back in Kansas (literally), the other Shepard son is preparing a bunker of sorts with a weird old guy and foreshadowing his ultimate demise. The Shepard kids get the short end of every stick in these movies.
17. How does this movie even work? They're in Australia now and there are sharks in the water (where they belong) and April is injured even though they all jump in punching sharks in the face. I really thought she would die at this point and then Fin and Nova would end up together as the Goddess of Inappropriately Aged Co-Stars intended. 
18. Wait, is this movie actually about women running the world? Is Beyonce going to burst in and save the world by dropping a new album, having triplets, and having flawless hair all at the same time? The Sharknado Sisterhood is the part of this movie that I was expecting the least but love the most. It's like every 90s movie involving a woman in a cat suit met up with Wonder Woman and the Women's March and this is what we got. Olivia Newton-John is here making both Grease and Xanadu references and making April over in a way that would make Sandy proud but makes me rage-ful. She also says, "Don't get too physical."
19. Tony Hawk! My favorite cameo of this film because obviously skateboarding will save the world.
20. "The Paxton Initiative" - is that a reference to Bill Paxton? I really hope it is.
21. So now we're in Brazil and we've learned that the stone they took is one of several (See? Infinity Stones.) that allows a person to control the sharknados. And of  course a shady dude (played by Greg Louganis) steals it so we get a car chase through sharknados via Italy.
22. Which leads us to Downtown Julie Brown and Pope Fabio. Apparently, Downtown Julie Brown is an emissary of the Pope. Nothing makes sense anymore.
23. The sharks have gone nuclear and are heading to Japan because of course they are.
24. "Clear your mind of all thoughts." Shouldn't be hard with this movie.
25. They've created a Sharkzilla! I repeat, they've created a Sharkzilla!
26. There's the Xfinity plug I was waiting for. It took almost the entire movie for it to appear. Crazy.
27. Followed closely by our required "Today Show" appearance. Thank goodness for Kathie Lee, Hoda, and Al. I enjoy every instance of Al beating sharks to death with a baseball bat.
28. The Sisterhood arrives in Japan dressed for battle like they're going to either a stripper convention or a very dark bachelorette party. Nova jumps into the Sharkzilla/sharknado to save Gil (yes, we're still trying to save him although I've made no reference too him because too much is going on). And then Nova dies. Yes, of all the people to die, Nova dies. Fucking Shepard family ruins everything.
29. The only thing missing from this movie is Gilbert Gottfried. Oh wait, there he is, introducing us to "safarinados." If he had only screamed "Damned, dirty sharks" this movie would be complete for me. 
30. So they try to go back to Stonehenge to right the wrong of removing the stone but end up in Egypt at another temple to sharks (sure) located in a pyramid. Have we not learned anything, remaining members of the Shepard family? Don't touch anything. Don't go in the secret tomb you opened when you touched stuff. And don't turn on the ancient machine that you think might stop the sharknados. You'll just mess it up like you mess up everything else. 
31. And then...April dies. She sacrifices herself to save the world. Or something. Her somewhat grief-stricken husband picks up her cyborg head, ties it into a hobo pack, and starts his journey to find any survivors. 
32. Just when you thought we were at the end of these movies, Dolph Lundgren appears in a time machine/truck claiming to be future Gil Shepard. He's come back to save the world and bring everyone back from the dead (because all of the Shepards except Fin are dead). So they're going back in time because now we're in Back to the Future (they even used the same font). "Where we're going, you don't need a license." What I don't "understand" about this part is this: if he's gone back to the past and to the future to stop the sharknados, is Gil going to write himself out of history? Because if the first sharknado doesn't occur, his parents never get back together and he doesn't exist. Is that what the next movie is going to be about? 

There are about fifteen things I excluded from this list because as I was writing it I was thinking to myself, "this might be why I'm still single." I love suspending disbelief, particularly for campy, ridiculous sci-fi movies but at some point, the logical side of my life takes over and I'm back to where I was at the beginning of this post...I have literally no idea what I just watched.

Like all good things, it may be time for this one to come to an end.

Although, if Anthony C. Ferrante wants to make spinoff series of movies about the Sharknado Sisterhood, I'd be on board with that. I'd even send some suggestions to you about how to be better when it comes to creating strong female action heroes. I'm helpful that way.

Coming soon: I try StichFix and let some stranger on the internet select clothes for me. Let's see what she comes up with my first "fix." I'll also share my distrust of Pinterest and how to wear dinosaur themed clothes at work. We also need to tackle the glory that is GLOW (series and documentary) and tackle my fourth attempt at getting my meal planning act together. This time, it features chia seeds. All coming your way this August on the Island!!