five on friday

<ONE>

This has been quite the week. I won't rehash the drama of it all,

but this pretty much summarizes the week and how I feel:

I'm fairly certain all I have scheduled this weekend is a

birthday party for Finn's friend. Other than that...blanket fort. Coloring.

<TWO>

You know those super fast food videos people post on Facebook now?

I love those. I watch every single one, even if it is a meat dish (which

I don't eat and would never make).  We tried our first one this week. By

"we", I mean "Pat". It was chicken spaghetti, and it was completely

amazing. And it was just as easy as the super fast video made it

seem, it just wasn't as super fast. Click HERE for a link to the

recipe. The only thing we changed is the cream of mushroom soup.

Mushrooms are disgusting. So we used cream of chicken.

<THREE>

This is the first season of The Bachelor where I don't have a favorite.

That's a good thing though. I like all the girls that remain, very much.

I feel bad for Ben with putting up with JoJo's brothers. I don't think

he brainwashed anyone. I loved Lauren's family and thought it was

hilarious the conversation he had with her littler brothers. I think

Caila is very sweet, and felt her family was the most genuine. I'm

super impressed Ben didn't keep one of the "villains" around until the

very end. Although there's not that desperation in watching the

final episode to hope and pray he chooses the nice girl...I feel like

I can watch with less anxiety. Yes, The Bachelor finale always gives

me some sort of anxiety.

<FOUR>

I'm becoming more and more convinced I have some sort of outdoor allergy.

After a run, I relentlessly sneeze and cough. I've also had a few times where

my face began to swell. I have no history of allergies, so this is so bizarre.

It is 5:02 pm and I finished my run at 3:55 pm. I'm still sneezing and my eyes

haven't stopped watering.

<FIVE>

Next weekend is the big Spring Mini Session weekend. I'm in need of something

old like this:

Or really just anything old I can use for the farmer's market stage.

I'd ideally like a very old truck, but that may be too complex.

Anyone? Anyone? I'm willing to trade for free pictures.

Have a great weekend!

leaving loft

As most people know, teachers don't typically only teach. There are a million other things they do in a day at school for children - counsel, nurse, encourage, etc. But before and/or after school, many teachers work other jobs to make ends meet, to pay for their kids who are in college, or even to pay for the supplies they need to teach that aren't in the school's budget to provide.

As a teacher I worked at a golf course for years to supplement my income. After leaving the golf course I started doing photography on the side. I still do photography even as an administrator in order to be sure to provide a comfortable life for my boys.

One local teacher I have known for a few years began working at Ann Taylor Loft this year. She has two in college, and needed something to a) pay tuition bills and b) keep her mind off the fact that she's essentially become an empty-nester. I intially was so envious of her second job. Loft? I mean, I've shopped there for YEARS both for work and casual outfits. I have a Loft card that almost always carried a balance because as soon as I would pay it off I'd charge it up (never really more than $300 though).

This teacher was always coming to work in Loft's cutest new outfits. Obviously she was getting an amazing employee discount. I could go on about all the great ways the company provided for their employees so they could dress the part at work. This teacher worked a few days a week and on weekends and thoroughly enjoyed what she referred to as "mindless" work - meaning you pretty much folded and put back clothes, and rang people up. And some minor cleaning at close. I enjoyed bringing Kellan in to the store (Birkdale location) to visit with this teacher while I shopped. I think I probably shopped there more when she was working just to have someone to say "hi" to when I was there.

Several months ago, the teacher came to me asking for advice. The day before at Loft-Birkdale, the staff was told by the main/head manager that they had not met quota for credit card enrollment for the year. You know, they ask if you want to open a credit card at checkout? I understand how important opening credit cards are to companies like this as a majority of their sales come from credit charges. I get it. It annoys the snot out of me to be repeatedly asked, BUT. I get it.

The manager decided to solve the problem by creating a poster with each employee's name on it for all to see. And for every shift you neglect to get someone to sign up for a credit card, you have to put a BIG RED X beside your name. For everyone to see. Public shaming.

These are adults that work at this store.

We don't even publicly shame children in schools when they make mistakes!

Can you tell I was outraged? Loft Birkdale is one of my favorite places to shop. I was so disappointed that they would attempt to resolve this "problem" in this public way. In my experience, it is never successful to demand improvement from a human being by embarrassing them. If it's a certain individual, pull them to the side and share strategies for ways they can improve. Or, provide positive reinforcement: whoever gets the MOST credit card applications each month gets a gift card to a local restaurant, or a free cami, or a few hours paid leave.

The more I thought about this, the more it infuriated me. Here I am, spending a good amount of money supporting this company who allows managers to treat employees like three year olds. After a few weeks, one evening the teacher was asked to place a red X by her name. To shorten the story, that night she ended up leaving Loft. Good for her.

Although I am sure she is over it by now, I'm not. I went back and forth with the home office. All I wanted to know was, is this a practice only at Birkdale or is it common place in every Loft store. After several days of correspondence, all I got is the repeated "While we can not share any internal company guidelines with respect to the management and implementation of the rewards program with our associates please know your concerns regarding what you've heard from your local store will be shared with the proper field partners for review."

All I wanted to hear was that it was isolated. Then I would've just stopped shopping at Birkdale's Loft. I would've shopped at Northlake's Loft. But I couldn't get them to say so. Pretty much what I inferred was Lady, we're not telling you our dirty secrets. Get over it. We don't care about you as a customer enough to really answer your question.

So. I paid off my Loft card (had a balance of $34.51) and cancelled it.
Literally have not set foot in a Loft or Ann Taylor for MONTHS.
I feel ridiculous saying it felt like a bad break up. I miss Loft.
But I refuse to support a company that is ok with public shaming.

So now I'm at GAP.

And I've always been at Stitch Fix.

And most recently I've developed an addiction to LuLaRoe.

Said teacher has just begun her business with LuLaRoe with another teacher. If you're interested in learning more about it, let me know and I'll add you to their FaceBook group.

Loft,

It's been real.

I've moved on.

I hope you learned something from our break-up.

I hope you make some changes.

Farewell,