And now we've realigned the edges.

Hola! I remembered I have a couple of FormSpring questions to attend to!

You mentioned your parents had a love story similar to the Colin Firth (Jamie)/Lucia Moniz (Aurelia) storyline from Love Actually. Do Tell!

OH DEAR. Okay, I wrote it out once, about four years ago, but only spent about ten minutes on it. I was about to copy/paste it here but wow, it's embarassing writing. I plan on one day really carving out the story, but I have no time to do so at the moment. I will give you the gist!

My dad, James, was in the US Army stationed in Panama in 1981, when he met my mother, Maria (a local Panamanian), one night at the Officer's Club. They danced and tried to communicate - but my dad didn't know Spanish and my mother didn't know English. However, three days later, he proposed to her. Four months later, they were married in Panama! Oh, and they were both engaged to other people when they met...

They've been together coming on 28 years now (and learned each other's languages!) and they are still as happy as can be - anybody who has met them can attest to that!

Here they are dancing the night away last August at the rehearsal dinner (photo by Jiscilla!) --

I really enjoy reading your blog, for no other reason than you just seem like such a sweetheart and an interesting person. but I actually do have a real question, what do you do for a living?

Thank you! I tend to keep my job on the down low here, but that was the first question I got! Read my response HERE! The only thing that has changed is that my team moved from the Footwear & Accessories floor.

I'm including this here, as I continue to make myself accountable for my gym-frequenting through this blog - Ang asked me if I made it to the gym this morning --

YES! I'm still waking up at 5:45 every morning before work, and I have since Thursday the 14th. I'm feeling grand! Thanks for the all the music suggestions, too! Um, why didn't I think of Garbage before?! And Thrice?! Liz has posted her own stellar work-out playlist, and I was surprised to see that Alexa reads while she's on the elliptical! VERY INTERESTING! I may try this - though we all know I do plenty of reading on my commute! Expect another playlist this Friday, and I'm heeding all your comments, for sure. Thank you for the input!

And finally, I'd just like to mention (as I did via my Twitter) that my wonderful wedding photographer - you all remember Channing Johnson?! - is hosting a contest on his blog regarding the best wedding photos of 2009 and Jesse and I are up for this photo of me walking down the stairs past all my family photos --

All of his photos are lovely, and I couldn't be happier with the photos Channing took of our wedding day! Check him out if you happen to be in the market for a truly superb wedding photographer. And, if you get a chance, vote! Thank you so very much!

Question 01

(Two people asked this!)

Where do you work, and what do you do? Are you using your college degree?

Jessica, what exactly is your job?

I work at a major fashion label on Madison Avenue. However, my job only gets creative with numbers, not design. I'm a "business analyst" which basically means the same as "transponster" when you mention it, so I often use one or the other to describe what I do. I work on the Basic Stock Replenishment team (aka THE NERDS) and make sure that those year-round (non-seasonal/fashion) wallets, belts, keyfobs, and men's dress shirts get from the factory to our distribution centers (then someone else takes care of getting it from the DC to the customer, i.e., Macy's, Dillards, etc.). There are only four other people in my department (Menswear, Childrenswear, Lauren, etc.), so we're pretty tight-knit and it almost feels like our corner is separate and independent from the "corporation." However, we also work on the footwear floor with the showroom and all the shoe designers so I see a lot of things I covet and also a lot of people who are uber-judgey and if our floors weren't carpeted, they would be referred to as "clackers." I'm the girl that shows up in a mostly non-RL wardrobe without a $10,000 handbag, so I don't get much acknowledgement from people outside of my team. Not my problem.

I went to Boston University for Journalism, so, no, I'm not exactly using my college degree. I moved to New York interviewing at magazines, but I didn't get the jobs and the jobs wouldn't have been enough for me to survive here. I began freelancing, but that wasn't enough, either. I'm pretty happy with my job and all it's benefits, though! I kind of started this blog to have a place to write often...so I wouldn't get rusty. It's usually casual writing, of course. I do believe writing is essential, however, to any corporate job and I think it shows in my yearly reviews when "communication skills" is my highest-rated asset and my boss compliments my e-mails and I've become the proofreader of our team. In the future, I may put my degree to more focused use, but I find it has helped me a lot already.

(More answers on my next break of time...ask me anything!)