Funemployment, Day One Hundred Forty One: Who you callin' chicken??

funemployed chicken-lovers rejoice! the free food frenzy continues this week thanks to a poultry face off between KFC and El Pollo Loco (heretofore "EPL"). EPL has been trying to get a bigger foothold in the healthy fast food market and had planned on giving away two free pieces of their chicken tomorrow. and since KFC is launching their new grilled chicken (or as they called it "un-fried". gag.) at the same time, they're pre-empting EPL and giving away one piece today. oh, how the feathers will fly! (ba dum bum!)

their timing couldn't be better, too, since a)i eat chicken to point that my mother has actually voiced her concern ("you're going to turn into a chicken!" i'm somewhat certain this is impossible.) and b)these are brilliant case studies for my marketing classes. pretty genius real-life examples in action. will these stunts guarantee my return business? no. will i gladly take their free food anyway? hell, yes!

i may try to score some grilled KFC today but quite frankly i've heard it's pretty much in the same grease/oil family as their regular fried chicken. but i'm a huge EPL fan so tomorrow you know i'll be first in line. hmmm...i wonder just how many locations i can hit in one day...?

Funemployment, Day One Hundred Thirty Nine: The New Norm

it's amazing how widespread a phenomenon funemployment had become. not the blog, but the jobless existence itself. i was out last night, ran into some friends and in a group of five of us we realized only one person had a job. (and it SUCKS to be them cause guess who's buying the drinks?!)

it sucks for everyone who can't make a living, but in a way it's almost nice to have so many kindred spirits. no one even bats an eye when i mention my not-so-employed status. and most of the time now, they're in the same boat. so although i'd rather not have the economy swirling quickly down the toilet, at least it's comforting to know i'm not alone.

Funemployment, Day...pick a number!

phew! i spent the last three days cramming for class, reading, doing remedial powerpoint presentations, and all of today catching up on the fallout from that. so several laundry loads and a billion emails later, i'm taking a break! off to dinner and L.A.D.S.

i'll report back tomorrow!

I'm on my way to

I'm on my way to class and missing the rangers playoff game b/c of it. Who knew funemployment had so many competing priorities?

Not only is my tues

Not only is my tues night class a total waste of my funemployment but I spent all day doing homework and missed free scoop day @ ben & jerry's!

Funemployment, Day One Hundred Thirty One: Back to where it all began

admittedly i have mixed feelings about all things disney, since my experience there left me with a sour taste in my mouth worse than the goofy's sour balls they sell on main street. BUT when someone invited you to club 33, you drop everything and go!

i was lucky enough to start my morning with one such invitation and i couldn't be more excited about going to the unhappiest place on earth! club 33 is the uber-exclusive, members only club that walt himself created, complete with luxurious restaurant, alcohol service (the only place in the park you can drink), and microphones in the chandeliers so he could eavesdrop on his guests. seriously.

it costs something ridiculous like $25,000 to join, then a few grand each year to keep the membership. oh, and there's about a 14 year waiting list for the privilege of paying this. and to get in as a nonmember is virtually impossible unless you know a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy...so the chance to go comes around once in a lifetime.

well, twice for me. my parents took me for my 16th birthday (my dad knew a guy who knew a guy...) which was a fabulous surprise! but sadly i was too young to appreciate the exclusivity--and the alcohol. but i still have my personalized matchbook they used to give to the guests.

so fingers crossed all goes well tonight and i have more great stories, and maybe another matchbook!

Funemployment, Day One Hundred Thirty: Tax Day Redux

yesterday was a classic day of funemployment. got up early, went to the gym, had a leisurely coffee at a new place and read the NY Times (yes, the real paper paper!). then i got a tweet from ladecostified.com, a great site that posts about free/cheap events and deals around town. there were a ton of great tax day deals being offered but the best was a free lunch at ivan kane's cafe was in hollywood.

i immediately forwarded to my other funemployed friends and people who can get away with a last minute lunch. it didn't seem like anyone was going to make it so i went by myself and had a lovely chopped salad and mini mac n' cheese. sadly, i had to pass on the 2 for $5 martinis (seriously! it's their dangerous weekday lunch deal) since i still had homework and class that night.

but as i was almost licking my plate, dan and nick showed up. so i ordered a coffee and chilled with them while they asked the same questions everyone else in the joint was asking. "free? really? what's the catch?" well before they even ordered ian and adam walked in! they're two of my L.A.D.S. friends who i didn't even think to invite but came on their own. random but great!

then, katy showed up after her run with her friend in tow. and in true small world fashion, it turns out dan used to work with her friend. seriously, at one point we had half the cafe tables hogged and were pissing off the staff. it was awesome! so two hours and some free lunches later we headed back to reality but with another great funemployment story to show for it. and really, that's what it's all about...

Funemployment, Day One Hundred Twenty Nine: Blog Draft = FAIL

so while my chronically overachieving classmates were giving their technically advanced presentations about how insanely accomplished they are i distracted myself from my gross inferiority by drafting tonight's blog post. it was witty, insightful and poignant. and it is now sitting in my notebook in the women's restroom of dodd hall.

emily = FAIL.

with any luck i'll get it all back tomorrow after i go scrounge around campus dumpsters all day. (this whole school thing gets exponentially worse every single week) so until then, please enjoy yet another someecard as i'm way too braindead to come up with something original.

So another great thing about

So another great thing about funemployment is having time to take UCLA classes. Seriously, were the guys this hot when I was in college?!

Funemployment, Day One Hundred Twenty Seven: Rising from the Dead

oh man, there is absolutely no time i appreciate funemployment more than monday mornings. or sometimes monday afternoons, depending on how my weekend went. for the most part, i still stick to my "up at the ass crack of dawn and drag my lifeless butt to the gym" routine so i can still get a full day of pointless resume-sending, networking, and homework in.

but lemme tell ya, those few monday mornings when i just can't face the bleak, miserable unemployed world, it's the best comfort in the world to be able to pull the covers up over my head and not deal with reality for a few more hours. and as someone who rarely sleeps past 8am, it's wonderfully decadent to wake up every hour, see the clock tick past 9:30, 10:30, noon, and not need to worry about it.

no doubt tomorrow i'll be back at christine's 6am boot camp class. but for today i'm gonna enjoy my late-sleeping, gym-skipping, bbq-eating day. yay funemployment!

Funemployment, Day One Hundred Twenty Four: Very Good Friday

okay, one thing i DO miss about working are the half days/slow days. facebook and twitter were all atweet today with how slow a day it was or how it wasn't a day at all! granted all my days are slow days but still, there was something extra delectable about a half day when you're used to working your butt off.

ah well, in honor of good friday:

Well it's 5pm, time for

Well it's 5pm, time for my rush hour commute home! I hope that block walk from peet's to my place isn't too crowded tonight...:)

So this whole school thing

So this whole school thing is really cutting into my blog time. I thought this was supposed to be FUNemployment!

Funemployment, Day One Hundred Twenty One: Sunday Funday!

i think one of the best perks of funemployment is sunday funday. sure, you can occasionally pull it off even if you have to be at work on monday but if you have to actually function, fugheddaboutit. worse yet at disney monday mornings are a back-to-back meeting marathon so i had to spend the whole weekend just resting up for it. (and by "resting" i mean "partying")

but now i spend my weekends resting up for sunday funday. luckily i have a partner in funday crime who also doesn't have to work on mondays so it's become a routine to spend sunday afternoons (then evenings, then late night...) basking in the sun with some 2-for-1s and some good friends. great way to wind down the weekend and ease back into the work week (whatever that is).

hmmm...but now that i think about it what's stopping me from starting wednesday funday? or monday funday? hell, at this point it really wouldn't make much difference if i just abandoned the days of the week altogether and generically called each day "funday". "hey guys, let's do lunch next funday!" "no, i'm busy funday. but how about funday instead?"

i'll let you know how this little social experiment goes...

Funemployment, Day One Hundred Nineteen: Happy Funemployed Birthday to Me!

today i turn another year older and probably not much wiser. but i do know that every birthday should be a day off work (or in my case, a national holiday). true, when you're in the office, you get cupcakes, maybe some flowers and if you're at disney the complete vandalization of your office/cubicle which is kind of the best part. last year the brilliant and tech-savvy mae lee and her fiance mocked up a tmz.com webpage and inserted me into all the stories. best. gift. ever.

however, when you're not at work you can have a birthday decadent enough to make it a really happy one. today i went to spin class (although probably would have slept in if i'd gone out last night), had breakfast with a great friend at the griddle which you can only get into during work hours, and had a mani/pedi...with extra massage. awwwww, yeah! now that's decadence!

now i do have to get some serious stuff done but after that it's off to kroq's April Foolishness comedy benefit show. i'll be celebrating my birthday with good friends and a lot of drinks and laughing. a very happy birthday indeed!

Funemployment, Day One Hundred Eighteen: Things I Don't Miss, part...something

i heard some staticky sound on the radio today and it reminded me of another thing i don't miss about working: the grating static sound of a blackberry sitting too close to a speakerphone.

seriously, nails on a chalkboard. i get chills just thinking about it. thankfully i never had a work blackberry to participate--christopher and i were masters of dodging the leash. clearly now i love and nurture my crackberry (a little too much) but if it was in any way associated with work, i'd loathe it like a full day of task force meetings.

so with that i'm off to set my blackberry down anywhere i damn well please and it will make only pleasing sounds, never knowing the torture of a conference call.