LOOK WHAT WE FOUND!!!!

Now, some of you may think, "Oh, it's just cheese, what's the big deal?" but to those of you that are reading this and are from Oregon, you know that this is A HUGE FREAKIN' DEAL. Especially considering where I live now (flat, ugly, soy-smelling Decatur, IL, in case you forgot).

For those of you that aren't from Oregon, let me fill you in:

Tillamook is a county in Oregon that is home to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. I remember getting a tour there as a kid and sampling their pumpkin ice cream while looking down through windows at the factory. I also got to sample some cheese curds (amazing), and peruse through the gift shop. It was a magical day. And their cheese and ice cream and all their dairy products are delightful.

Especially their cheese and ice cream.

Now, Nick and I live in Illinois, but we miss Oregon every. Single. Day. We always try to find things that remind us of home, for example, we go to Buffalo Wild Wings or Donnie's Pizza down the street just so we can get some Rogue Brewery beer (Dead Guy, please!). When I visited him in Texas, we bought Mirror Pond Ale and Black Butte Porter (both from Deschutes Brewery) from the liquor store down the street that just so happened to supply it.

We were at the grocery store last night getting stuff for Martha Stewart's mac and cheese (the best recipe for mac EVER), and as I was looking at the specialty cheeses, my eye caught this familiar little logo... but there was only one! My eyes lit up as I picked it up, turned around, and showed Nick, and his reaction was very similar. We love cheese, but we love Tillamook cheese the best :) I quickly scanned the rest of the section and found the stock. They had both sharp white cheddar and regular sharp cheddar - my favesies. So yeah, we may have bought one little block to add to our recipe and another for ourselves. I wanted to stock up on more, but at $4.29 for this little block, I knew we couldn't. Oh, but this cheese is worth every penny, especially considering we never thought we'd see it in Illinois, let alone Decatur of all places!

So, yes, Nick and I were once again reminded of how wonderful Oregon is, and we enjoyed about half of one of those blocks last night, and it was freakin' amazing. We woke up this morning to the smell of rain, since it had stormed during the night, and I smiled because even though I'm far away from home, Oregon is still right here with me :)

Francisco Costa for Macy's

So I recently heard about Calvin Klein's Francisco Costa designing a special dress line for Macy's, and had to check it out.

I love the clean lines and neutral color palette - very minimal but very sexy, not to mention, the pricetag is much nicer than runway! 

My favorites:

I think I need this gray dress. So perfect for anything! In fact, any of these pieces would be a classic piece to add to your closet.

View the entire collection HERE

Happy Friday to meeeee!

I mean, it's exactly 2 weeks until my birthday, so I deserve a gift (or 3....or 5?) to myself, right???

Today my closet has finally acquired these 3 beautiful pieces, which I have been waiting to buy with my 3 items for 50% off coupon from The Limited. Behold:

The beauitful hi-low hem dress, the über classy black and tan dress, and yes, a pink blazer. Because I needed it, that's why. I plan on wearing the hi-low hem dress to work (of course) but also out on my birthday :) The black and tan dress is so classic, so I know I will be wearing it forever.

I also decided to stop at Target because I "needed" some more sandals. And apparently I needed some wedges???

Gotta love Steve Madden knock-offs :)

I have a problem. 

(The first step is admitting it, right?)

I can't keep track of the days...

It's just been one of those weeks where every day feels like another day of the week, and I woke up and went to work this morning not at all realizing it was Thursday. For some reason, I've been a bit out of it. Thankfully I had a fabulous day off yesterday (Wednesday, right?) in which I was able to sleep in a bit, make pancakes for me and my man, get some gym time in, get laundry done (finally!), shop for and cook a delicious meal for myself, Nick, and our good friend Andrew, enjoy some wine, and top off the night by making chocolate chip cookies (which were/are phenomenal.... next time you make cookies, use the dark chocolate chips from Nestle).

A little taste of the Northwest - 14 Hands: Hot to Trot.

Dinner: Ziti with tomatoes, artichokes, basil, and olives, broccoli, and french bread.

Now I'm spending my Thursday night off after a long day at work trying to decide whether I want to watch Pirates of the Caribbean or The Proposal, full from a yummy, home-made pizza and kale (and a Blue Moon).... I'm tired enough I may just go to bed early, even though I don't have to work until 5 tomorrow night... oh, how I love life after college: you get to stay in and be lame and no one gives you crap for it.

Happy Birthday, Miss Yentz!!!

In an outfit entirely supplied by her closet.... she even cut my hair before this picture was taken, haha. 

Lookin' good, as per usual.

Close-up!

The infamous night of debauchery and tapas.

After my senior recital last November.

I met this lovely lady when I was a student at Roosevelt. We didn't hang out a whole lot until the end of first semester, and once we spent more time together, we wondered why we never had and quickly realized we were meant to be.

Since then I left to go to Millikin, but we have managed to stay very close and to see each other every once in awhile, either during my visits to Chicago (that I need in order to stay sane), or her visit to Decatur, or through Skype dates off and on.

This girl is super talented (she's seriously good at everything.. not kidding), fiercely beautiful, whip-smart, kind-hearted, and ultra, ultra classy. Essentially, she is my brunette counterpart and the only one of my friends that I can share both clothing and shoes with. It's fate, I tell you! I'm so happy I met her now almost 4 years ago (WHAT?!)... who would've thought we'd become such great friends and that she'd be in my wedding one day? I sure didn't see that coming, but I'm glad things turned out that way :)

So, Jordy, I hope you have the happiest of birthdays, and I wish I could celebrate with you today! I love you so much! :)

It's Monday again already??

Well friends, a lot has happened since my last post on Thursday (still excited about that hahaha)...

For starters, Nick broke himself.

Well, he didn't actually break himself, but he was playing ultimate frisbee on Wednesday and when he jumped up to catch the disc he landed very very wrong on his right foot. He could wiggle his toes without excruciating pain, so we figured it wasn't broken, but boy was it swollen! He's iced it regularly and done some soaking back and forth between a bucket of ice and one with hot water and epsom salt, so since then the swelling has gone down, but now the bruising is what's bad. His foot has a rainbow of colors on it, and even between his toes is bruised! He's sore, but he's doing better, and of course I'm trying to nurse him back to health as best I can even though I have to leave him while I'm at work all day :( I feel terrible because my house is two stories, so after I get him cereal for breakfast and leave for work (like this morning), I come home to a very hungry boy because he doesn't want to deal with hobbling (or in most cases, crawling) down the stairs to get more food, and I don't blame him! Hopefully he'll be back on his feet soon!

Besides that whole unfortunate event, the past few days have been pretty good. I worked, made tips on Saturday (which are already gone due to late-night Jimmy John's after said serving shift and groceries... why must we eat so much?), sang for Jazz Sunday service at church, and had fun on my first floor set at The Limited. This weekend also brought an unexpected reunion. Friday night I received a call from our good friend, Brian Parrish, and his wife, Ashley. Brian is one of Nick's SAE brothers, and I first met him and Ashley during my visits to Millikin the year I was living in Chicago. Brian has been a great friend to Nick, and Ashley and I hit it off right away, and we always have fun when we're together! Anywho, they were going to be in Springfield from Friday to Saturday and wanted us to meet them for lunch on Saturday. We drove up with our other good friend, Andrew (Brian and Ashley are his "Bigs"), and stumbled upon a great all-you-can-eat sushi place for only $12.95!!! We were a little skeptical at first, but it turned out to be AMAZING. The sushi was so good and the pieces were all a pretty good size! We realized halfway through our meal that the $12.95 also included the Chinese buffet, and even though we were about to burst from the sushi, we of course hit up the buffet as well. It was "All-you-can-eat" after all...

Our meal was fantastic, but as all get-togethers with those two, it seemed to fly by way too fast. Brian and Ashley are two wonderful people who make you so happy just being around them. And when we all get together, there is lots of laughter. Not just any kind of laughter, but full, loud, and heartfelt laughter. It just makes you feel good. We said our goodbyes not knowing when we'd all get together, but knowing that it would always be like that whenever we did! The good thing is that I wasn't expecting to see them at all this weekend, but I did, and that's the best. Dontcha love it when life does that to you?

Now it's Monday, and after a rousing game of chess with Andrew (their new obsession.. it's kind of cute), Nick is read for some ice cream. Ta-ta for now!

Congratulations Michelle and Joe!!!

I woke up this morning still kind of hyperventilating from excitement.....

MICHELLE AND JOE ARE ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

*moment for composure*

Ok, I'm better now.

But seriously, none of us saw this coming at ALL. She texted me last night telling me to come to SAE last night because she had something to tell me, but then decided she was coming back to our house, so I thought well it has to be something good, but I was not exactly expecting this! I had to go get some sour cream (which is a whole other story in itself.... but basically Nick and I found it was moldy after we had made everything for tacos and after I had already been to the store once after a long day at work. So. Annoying), and as I was walking up the to the house, so were Joe and Michelle. I was bitching about my sour cream adventures, and walked straight into the kitchen with them following. Finally, Michelle says, "So guess what?" and I turn around and she's holding up HER LEFT HAND with a beautiful 3-stone Princess cut ring (Joe did a good job, my friends). I screamed. Like, literally, the loudest, most high-pitched thing you can imagine. That was me. And then I attacked Michelle (and also Joe - not sure how he felt about that hahaha) with hugs and seriously had to keep myself from sobbing like a baby. And of course the rest of the roomies heard me scream and had some sort of an idea of what happened, so they came running down and it was just all happiness and joy and she told us the story and it's just perfect.

Michelle and Joe have been in it for the long haul, and I am so so SO happy that they are finally engaged! I mean, we all knew it was only a matter of time, they are moving in together this summer after all, but we did not expect it now, but I'm so glad it happened now!

So I am sending out yet another congratulations to Michelle and Joe - you guys have been so committed to each other for so long and I am so excited and happy for you that you are taking this next step! You truly love each other and that is a wonderful and (so it seems) rare thing these days.

Let the planning begin!!! :)

The adorable couple.

Summer Essentials.

Some well-fitting shorts for day or night.

Great wedges.

Statement jewelry - a bold ring.... 

.... and a pretty necklace.

I did a little shopping in Champaign today. My reason for going was because I had some clothes to take to Plato's Closet, for which I only got about $13 for and still had to take some back with me, but I also thought I'd check out Forever 21 for some cheap denim shorts and accessories (of course).

My theory after today is that everyone is making shorts smaller and tighter, and that is no good for me. I have a small waist, but I also have hips, and my thighs are not stick straight (I did play soccer for most of my life, after all). My goal was to get some denim cut-offs and maybe another white or black pair because my current pairs of shorts are too big, but I failed miserably. Nothing fit right! I tried F21, AE, Gap, literally everywhere! But no dice. Apparently they know how to make shorts that hit you right at your widest parts or just ones that make your butt look flat. All I wanted was a casual pair of denim cut-offs! What I did find were a few basics at F21 (camis, v-neck tee) to replace my worn out ones at home, and I found a ring similar to the one in the picture, except it was pink instead of black. So cute!

The necklace is from Francesca's, which is full of more cute jewelry and clothing. This specific necklace was only $28! It definitely looks like it's worth more! I love the gold mixed with the mint color - I'll be wearing it a lot with simple tees and tanks this summer!

I drove home a little discouraged, but decided to give the shorts one final try at good 'ole Target back in Decatur. The denim shorts were also micro there, but instead, I found these tailored Mossimo shorts and bought them in black and a dark denim (they also come in khaki, white, purple, and a burgundy color). They were actually the right length and the tailoring makes them fit great! I guess I'll have to give up on relaxed denim cut-offs for now, but I love that I can dress these ones up or down. And I really don't wear relaxed denim shorts that much anyway, so I guess everything worked out for the best! Especially since those little baby wedges were on sale at Target for $8.98. Seriously, I'm not even joking about that. SUCH A STEAL. I can't wait to wear them with my cute shorts and basically everything else this summer :) Now I'm all stocked up on what I need for the summer, and am officially DONE shopping.... at least that's what I tell myself ;)

What are your summer essentials?

Music Monday

So Music Monday has been gone for a bit, but now it's back! For now....

I had the pleasure of singing a duet from the Bach Cantata, "Wer da glaübet und getauft wird", at church yesterday morning. I started learning it on Wednesday, and it was early in the morning, so it definitely could have been better, but it actually went fairly well, all things considered! It was really fun because our director brought in strings from U of I and we had a couple of Millikin professors singing the other solos and adding some sound to the choral parts, and the entire cantata sounded awesome. Give it a listen if you can sometime, but here's the duet that I sang with a fellow U-Choir member, Katie:

I sang the soprano part, and in no way is my voice light and floaty like this (wouldn't that be nice), but my voice does like early music! This is super pretty, and I would love to sing it again sometime and really work it some more!

Bright & Cheery.

[Cardigan, shorts, necklace, cuff: The Limited // Tank: H&M // Wedges: Steve Madden]

Normally I post my unfortunates and fortunates of the week, but I honestly can't think of anything that unfortunate that happened this week! It's been a pretty top-notch week, really. Good things about this week:

- Finally getting to Starbucks happy hour

- Booking my flight home for this summer! Though I guess if there was anything unfortunate it would be the price of the ticket... Yikes :/

- Getting a promotion at The Limited! I am officially training to become one of the two new Sales Leads, aka part of management! Woohoo!

- Pretty much every day has been beautiful

- Signing the lease on our apartment!

- Dinner out with my man

and finally, this week, Tuesday to be exact, marked exactly 1 month til my birthday! So excited... I freakin' love birthdays.

Have a Happy Friday!

We signed our lease!

It's official, folks, Nick and I have an apartment starting June 8th (Happy birthday to meeeee!) and ending May 31, 2013!! Yippeeeee!

It was so nice to go in with Nick and feel like we were signing up for our lives together, because even though we get married next year, we're living together for this year! Let me tell you, we are both so excited and ready for our own place, and this little one-bedroom is so perfect for us. Most might think that having to move on your birthday would suck, but to me, it's a great birthday present! We don't have much furniture besides our bed, so it's really just going to be moving that in, moving our boxes in (mostly filled with clothing), and then unpacking and reorganizing, which, HELLO, is right up my alley. I seriously cannot wait to get my hands on organizing that walk-in closet!! Also, since it's my birthday, and there are a few things we'll need to buy for our place, I'm planning Nick taking me shopping for my present - shopping for kitchen stuff, that is! :)

It was such a beautiful day, and we were so excited about our new apartment, that we thought, "What better way to celebrate than with Starbucks happy hour??" Clearly, it was needed. I mean, it's been going on since Friday and I haven't been once. This needed to change. We both got the new mocha cookie crumple frappucino, mine light, his regular (I stole some of his whipped cream), and they were fantastic. Then it was off to Red Lobster for a celebration dinner (gotta love those cheesey biscuits0! It was really quite the perfect afternoon :)

[deliciousness]

[Nick, about to devour his "Ultimate Feast" of shrimp, lobster, and crab. He was in heaven]

[This is definitely part of my lunch today - SO MUCH FOOD)

Oh! And in other news, I officially booked my flight home in July for some wedding planning this summer! So excited to be home! I also recently found out that my sis and bro-in-law will be home a few days at that time, and the Nordstrom sale will be going on around the same time I'm home..... I think I subconsciously knew that when I planned my days.... or maybe I'm just lucky my friends' weddings were around that time. Either way, I'm shopping when I'm home.

Florals, Stripes, and Sun.

 

[Shirt: The Limited // Skirt & Necklace: Forever 21 // Sandals & Sunnies: Target]

So I'm looking at this picture and realizing that my hair is actually kind of long! Well, compared to what it was. I'm also just now remembering that I had a dream last night that my hair was already almost completely grown out. Wouldn't that be nice if that were true? My hair takes forever. Ugh.

Well today is Tuesday, and after 3 full days off, I'm not so sure I'm ready to go back to work, especially after a rainy Monday spent lounging around and making it to season 4 of Lost. Yup, we're obsessed. It's getting really trippy now, too, and ILOVEITSOMUCH. Gah! I feel like I know these people, like I'm lost with them. I know, it seems like Lost is all I care about as of late, which is kinda true, but I do have an interview today for some new opportunities that I have been anticipating for awhile and I'm pumped about that! So..... wish me luck everything goes well today! :)

The Perfect Weekend with the Perfect Sunday.

Honestly, this weekend couldn't have been any better if it tried. After a whole week of muggy, dreary, stormy weather, Saturday and Sunday were hot and sunny.

On Saturday I got to spend some time with my lovely Delta sisters at Pansy Brunch, which marks the end of Senior Week and when the current seniors finally go on alumni status. It was great to put on a pretty dress and be there for the seniors, as well as to get some time with my Little and G-baby, and to see a few graduated faces, like my wonderful G-ma, Meredith! :)

Saturday also marked a great Millikin tradition, so a few more alumni came down for that... all I can say about it is that it was a great way to enjoy the sunshine, catch up with old friends, relax, and have a blast! :) ;)

Yesterday was literally the perfect Sunday. After getting 11 hours of sleep, Nick and I sang at church, then went out to breakfast together and shared blueberry pancakes and a Greek skillet. I had been saying for awhile that Nick needed some new shorts (he was wearing jeans outside on Saturday - seriously???) because all of his either don't fit or have stains on them (nice), so we headed to the mall for a little shopping trip. We found him two pairs of shorts, and since he lost a bit of weight we got him 2 new polos and 2 new basic tees for a steal at Kohl's! Let me tell you, it is so different shopping with a boy, hahhaa. I had to force him to try stuff on!

After some shopping it was naptime, so we laid in bed for probably3 hours, then went to Andrew's house for eggplant parmesan. The 2 boys went to see the new movie "Avengers" while I went home and talked to my parents on the phone for a bit, then I picked up Andrew's girlfriend, Chelsie, and met them for ice cream! Unfortunately DQ had JUST closed because I really wanted the new confetti cake blizzard, but Steak & Shake did just the trick. After sharing a huge cookie dough milkshake, guacamole steakburger, and fries and chatting and laughing for over an hour, we went our separate ways. And of course Nick and I went straight back to watching Lost :)

I'm still smiling over my weekend, and thankfully I still have today off to do the things I should've done over the past 2 days, like wash my work clothes for the week!

 

A few pictures:

The Best Damn Family ever at Pansy Brunch. From L to R: Claire, Kendall, Danica, Meredith, Me, Lauren, Lilly.

My spawn: Little Laurena and G-baby, Lilly.

My roomies at the end of their Senior Week! (minus Stacey)

Alumni friends.

Haven't seen this lady since last Fall! Not ok!

Me and my man.

Fortunate things.

Just a few fortunate things from my morning/early afternoon off yesterday:

 

Realizing that Starbucks Frappuccino happy hour starts TODAY and goes til May 13th. And can we say yum for that new flavor?? I"m getting one soon and I will love all of the fat points I get with it.

 

 Happiness in a cup: Iced, nonfat, caramel macchiato.

 New Jessica Simpson shoes from the Von Maur sale room, marked down further to $49 yesterday (Yes, I know when they do markdowns)

A delicious dinner I actually had time to make for myself because I got off work early: Rotini with sautéed tomatoes, pesto, and goat cheese. Delish.

Happy Friday!

We have an apartment!

FINALLY. After all of this stress of not knowing where we'll be living and then finding the perfect place and not knowing whether there would be any openings, it's official.....

Nick and I will be living in an adorable, updated and redone, quaint little one-bedroom apartment at Twin Oaks apartment complex! Yay!!! I first stopped by Twin Oaks about a month ago and told them I was interested in living there, but there weren't any openings yet. Luckily, I was able to see a one-bedroom that hadn't been moved into yet, and the washer/dryer, dishwasher, and walk-in closet sold me immediately. The complex is also not at all where I expected it to be, and is tucked away from the busy streets and in a really nice area. Bonus: apparently it's very quiet, too, which is a plus considering I still live on a street that is mainly occupied by college students.

So anyway, I was shown the apartmen and told to call back around the first of May, which is exactly what I did this past Monday, April 30th, and lo and behold, she had a notice for move-out for one of the updated one-bedroom apartments! Yippee!!! I immediately set up an appointment to go take a look, and that's what I did yesterday after work.

Honestly, it's perfect, and the updates are soooo nice! Everything was very clean and doesn't have a funky smell (even with someone living in it), and trust me, Nick and I have looked at places that are "clean" and they still have a strange odor to them... yuck. I looked at the place briefly and headed back to the office and she said, "So, do you want it?" She knew I had a fiancé, so she said I had time to talk to him that night and call first thing in the morning if I wanted, but Nick already pretty much was set on it based on my impression of it, and it is absolutely perfect in location. It's literally right around the corner from the Walgreen's he got transferred to! If that wasn't fate, I found out that the notice was given the day I called. I thought about talking to Nick about it, but I knew if he were there he would just get it, too. So, I just decided to take it, because apparently there was another appointment for someone to look at it scheduled for later today, and it would defnitely go fast because it's the only notice that's been given in the entire complex! If the current resident stays until their last possible day, the earliest we would move in would be the weekend of June 8th (happy birthday to me!), and with my lease on my house ending the first of June, waiting around for another opening would make our move-in date too far away, not to mention something might not even open up! Thankfully, my current landlords are okay with me staying a little longer if need-be, so it works out. I'm hoping that the current resident moves out a bit earlier, though, because I am so anxious to have our first little home together and to start nesting! I never decorated much in my college "homes" because I just didn't feel like investing that much in them, but this little apartmnet is the perfect blank canvas to make our own :)

Here's the kitchen! Sorry, I only took one picture because the lady who lived there was still there, and she didn't mind if I took a few pictures, but I felt kind of awkward hahahaha.

It's small, but so cute! I love all the cabinets and the countertops, and I am so excited to have a dishwasher back in my life I can't even tell you!!! BAH!

So basically, our move-in date can't come soon enough, and I am a lot less stressed knowing we definitely have a place on hold for us. Everything really just fell in to place, and I am so happy and excited to get going on this next phase in our lives together! :)

Yesterday...

....all my troubles seemed so far away....

haha jk. I know, that was really clever, right? Or not.

So yesterday was one of those days where you end up so tired and hungry that you pass the point of hunger and become nauseous. I worked 9:30-4 at one job, and then 5:30 to close (9:30) at the other job (aka, 10 hours of work spread out over the entire day.... yuck). Between jobs, this little lady somehow forgot to eat something or at least take something with her to eat on the way to her next shift, which resulted in a really pissed off body at about 9:15. I honestly didn't even realize I hadn't eaten anything since my lunch at 1:30 til that moment. I struggled home, struggled up the stairs, only to have to lay down on my bed for a hot second before finally changing into those lovely articles of clothing called PJs. My body liked that. I knew that my sick stomach was due to the fact that I hadn't eaten anything for 7 1/2 hours (woops) but absolutely nothing sounded good. Nick was a sweetie and got me a huge glass of water and made me the butter toast I requested, and then was even more adorable when he was concerned and tried to force feed me a few bites of said butter toast because I took one bite (if you can even call it a bite... more like a nibble) and decided I couldn't eat it. I think in the end I ate about 5 bites and Nick ate the rest, haha, but I tried, I swear! I was even at the point where I was so content in my bed and felt so crappy that I didn't want to wash my face or brush my teeth, and this is a no-no for me. I always take my makeup off and brush my teeth, even when I'm stumbling around after coming home from a night out! I'm serious about that stuff!

After laying in bed pathetically for a bit longer and barely keeping my eyes open for an episode of Lost, I finally mustered up my strength and just got ready for bed, then proceeded to pass out by 11:30. Wonderful. I'm finally eating a real meal this morning, but I foresee my body being mad at me still for a little longer. I'll probably find that later in the day, nothing keeps me full because I didn't even eat enough for a bird last night :(

However, yesterday was not all bad. It was actually pretty great until I started feeling sick. I helped this adorable young lady at The Limited who was shopping with her mom and picking out work clothes. Her mom had her try on this adorable dress and it fit her like a glove! She was so cute and they were so fun to interact with. I definitely talked her into that dress, saying it was a classic (which it is!), and also by casually mentioning it was featured in one of the last issues of Vogue (which it was). She was super excited about finding a lovely dress and some things for work, and somehow we got onto the talk of weddings. She had just been married in February and I told her I was planning. She and her mom were so sweet and asked me all sorts of questions, like when it was, what my colors were, etc. I found out that she also had lots of pink and peonies and hydrangeas (I want pink rosess and peonies and green hydrangeas), and that she also used Alfred Sung bridesmaid gowns, which are what I want to use! A good tip from her: they run big! This will be a big help when my maids try on the dress I finally pick :) I told them about my colors, too, and they said that it would look beautiful (since mine are similar to hers). It got me so excited to get to go home this summer and do some planning, and it also made me happy to get to help such wonderful people at work! Plus, wedding talk makes me giddy in general :) Too much fun. Welp, that's all she wrote, because she needs to get ready for work!