Kindle FIYAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I've been having a hard time coming up with a Christmas list for myself. You know, the list your mom always asks for right around Thanksgiving? Yeah, that one. I don't know why this year was harder than others have been. I guess because I've bought myself so many of the things I wanted, and the things I want now are a bit more intangible - airplane tickets, trips, things like that. And Lord knows I HATE asking for money. So, I came up with a list but realized that several of the things on it were pretty 'big ticket' items, including a Kindle Fire. I called my mom to basically ask her if that was something they wanted to get me or if I should just get it myself, and without missing a beat my mom told me to buy it for myself.

So, I did.



And then I added a Kindle Fire case to my Christmas list, because the one I am using now is only barely cutting it.



I want one like this. I bet I could make it myself if I tried. I bet my mom could make it for me, too. We'll see what happens come Christmas morning!

What is on your Christmas list this year? Mine also includes a tripod, a Dutch oven, sparkly shoes, skinny jeans, and a Wii remote charger. I think that list pretty much sums up everything you could ever possibly need to know about me, too.

PS - I'm still trying to figure out the best way to use my precious Kindle, but you can expect a post in the near future about exactly how to upload/download books, music & photos to your Kindle. I don't know if I'm the only one that found this really difficult, but maybe

Organizing your Outlook Inbox

Hello blogging fail, my name is Katie. It's nice to see you. Why haven't I posted lately? Probably because I spend all my time doing 1 of 5 things and therefore would blog about 1 of 5 things.

1. Playing tennis (undefeated and division champs in women's doubles!)
2. Laying on my couch watching countless episodes of Happy Endings, Gossip Girl, Grey's, Hart of Dixie or the latest Jodi Picoult book-turned-movie (great Saturday viewing right there)
3. Talking about how awesome my life is and how great my friends are (been there, done that)
4. Complaining about how no one will date me/I'm impossible to date (been there, done that also)
5. Working (7:30am in the office 6 Fridays in a row!)

Clearly I've already touched on all of those things. So instead, I'll launch into a post about my psychotic organizing tendencies, this time surrounding how to organize my email. Since I started my job in November 2010, I wasn't really sure how to organize for 2011, so I just made a 2011 folder and threw everything in that. Actually, I just made a 2010 folder and threw everything there. You have no idea how much it pains me now, in November 2011, to still be working out of a 2010 folder, but such is life.

Eventually as I got more comfortable with my job, my role, and the 'types' of emails I was going to be receiving and sending, I established a pretty good filing system. Our inboxes have a max limit on the internal server, so I have to continuously move them out of my inbox and into their separate folder.

Is this boring yet? Too bad. Now I'm working on how I'm going to do a better job organizing in 2012 (and how I can ensure that I don't receive an email in mid-November 2012 telling me my folder is now full and I need to break it up. UGH, the horror!)

So, I've decided that instead of dividing first by year and then by topic, I'm going to divide by topic and then by year. My job consists of 3 separate pieces, we'll call them A, B, and C, so I'm going to make 3 .pst folders for each topic, plus one called "Company Info" and one called "Katie" for personal stuff. All personal emails (for now) will get dropped into the Katie folder with no sub-folders. All company-related emails that don't actually pertain to my job but are still important will get dropped into the Company folder with no sub-folders.

I plan to make a 2012 sub-folder for A, B, and C. Then, depending on topic, I'll have sub-folders. It will look something like this:

So there you have it. Yes I greyed out all information that could be tied back to my actual job and company. Yes maybe I'm paranoid. SO WHAT.

So basically, this will (hopefully) minimize the need for folders every year. Although I'm not really sure it makes that big of a difference, I guess I'll try it this way for 2012 and see how it goes. 2013 will be the real test year, because I'll have to decide which way I like better. Maybe I'll keep 2 inboxes in 2013 so I can do it both ways. Told ya I was crazy. Wanna know what also throws a wrench in all of this?

iPhones with work email, that's what. So now my inbox is divided into the same A, B, and C and when those folders get too full then I move them to their respective places so that I can reference them while on my iPhone. I repeat: my life is hard.

Was this even mildly interesting? I taught my mom how to use her Google Reader last night, so maybe that will be my next "I'm Anal and Spend Way Too Much Time Organizing Shit" post.

Goodbye Dell, Hello Acer

When I was in college, I had a friend who would always call me to go to lunch on Fridays because she knew that I would likely be hungover, and therefore would try to spend money in order to make myself feel better. It never worked for me, but she always got a free lunch out of it. Good thing I liked her company so much.

Honestly, I don't know when I started associating spending money with feeling better, but some things never change. After a surprisingly crappy kick-off to one of my favorite long weekends of the year, I decided it was time to kick my shopping into high gear.

First stop, new computer. I've been toying with the idea of buying a new computer for a while, and what better time to do it than when I was trying to buy my own happiness? I typically avoid shopping at Wal-Mart, but since there (to my knowledge) aren't any local computer retailers, I felt okay with my Wal-Mart computer purchase. Plus, the price really couldn't be beat.

The only poor review I found was that the computer wasn't so durable, but considering the furthest I move my computer is between my couch and bed, I figured it was a safe bet. I also did not purchase the extended warranty for the same reason.

I've got a few other pending purchases up my sleeve. Now if only I hadn't spent Friday moping, I could have maximized my weekend and taken a short trip to the outlet malls for the ultimate in shopping. I have plenty of open weeknight in my future though. Who knows what will happen?

What's on your "Cheer Me Up" shopping list ?

Hot Tip of the Day

I just spent way too long thinking about this, but I thought I'd share my fabulous theory with all of you - it's the kind of person I am. Far be it for me to theorize about something without sharing.

So, everyone always complains about the excessive spam mail they get from various companies. Amazon, Zazzle, Old Nav, New York & Company, Groupon... those are just a few of the ones that flood my inbox on a daily basis. Obnoxious, right? And you are constantly tempted to unsubscribe, aren't you?

Here's an idea: instead of unsubscribing, create a rule in Gmail for those emails! Picture instructions below:

Step 1: Open the email. Under More Actions, select Filter Messages Like These.

Step 2: Choose how you want to identify the emails - I usually opt for the From field. Go on to the Next Step.

Step 3: Select Skip the Inbox, Mark as Read, and Apply the Label:. Select your label - mine was called Daily Deals, but I have now changed it to Deals/Ads.

Then Create Filter!

Why is this awesome? Because every now & then websites send you handy coupons or information about deals. For example, today I wanted to place an order from Zazzle.com, and I searched through old emails and found out that they had a 50% off deal with an exclusive code. But, I never even saw the email, I was never tempted by their little schemes, and I still benefitted from being a subscriber! Win-win if you ask me!

So next time you're planning some online shopping, do a quick search of your inbox and see what emails you've gotten (and not even known about!) that might save you some money!

Happy Online Shopping and even Happier Clean Inboxes!

The Nerd in Us All

I got all A's in Math & Science in high school (except Analysis... damn you, Analysis). Then I went to Georgia Tech. I've beaten Donkey Kong & Super Mario Brothers on Super Nintendo. And now I'm going to buy a Wii. Because I'm a giant dork.

I consider myself pretty technologically advanced. I like technology and I get it. I've been wanting one of these Wii's for a while, and even got one a few years ago, but I never had sole custody of that one. Oh well. So now I'll get my own! I mean, if my mom can rock out the Wii, then surely I should have one. And obviously I need Guitar Hero. With 2 guitars. Duh.

The biggest dilemma I am having now is my television. Right now, our tv suits me just fine. It is on the small-ish side, but I can see it, I can watch movies on it, and it fits in our living room just right. But now that this little Wii is in the picture, I'm just going to HAVE to upgrade. That's where you come in. I need a TV. A flatscreen one. That's less than $1000 (wishful thinking?). That's not going to fall off my wall. It will probably need to be >50" because I have a lot of wall space to cover.

SO HELP! What kind should I get? Where should I get it? What size should I get in order to stay within a reasonable price range? Should I really have 3D capabilities? I don't forsee myself taking advantage of that, but I mean... do I need it?! Panasonic vs. LG? (I have a strange attachment to LG. My favorite cell phone I ever had was an LG. Don't ask.) Sony vs. Apex?

HELP HELP HELP. I'm lost.