Friday, October 28, 2011

The Real Deal

So if you keep up with my blog or me, you know I have been working two jobs for the past month and half. While it has been overwhelming and stressful at times, I have loved it. Well my job situation is changing, yet again. I have recently been offered a full-time position at a media agency in the city!

My boss at the Met has been very supportive and has allowed me to end my temp job here early. She understood that I should not pass up a career opportunity and could not guarantee me a job here at the end of December. This was so amazing because it was a HUGE factor in whether I was going to take the job or not. You have no idea how badly I stressed over talking to her about it and leaving the Met early (I wasn't able to sleep and was physically making myself sick over it). After all it is very scary to leave a job you love, even if it is temporary, for one that you only think you will like.

So now about my new job. I will be the new assistant media planner for two luxury goods accounts. My first day will be Monday, November 14th.  I am going to continue to work at the Met and Tory until then. The company wanted me to start sooner, but I pushed it back a bit. I wanted to wait to start until after my trip to Waco and my mom came in town. That way I don't have to use up any of my vacation days. Also, I sincerely enjoy working at the Met so it will be nice to have an extra week or two with the girls in my office.

Everyone I have met at the company so far has been amazing. They are very open about me moving up within the company, saying this is a starter position and most people are promoted within a year or so. They also said after I had been at the company a while, they were willing to work with me if I wanted to move to different departments or work on different accounts. They are allowing me to do as much or as little as I want. I feel like this job will be an amazing experience and I will truly learn a lot from it. I know I will be able to grow here and it will help my career for the future.

The main downsides (besides having to leave the Met) are the pay and location. The salary is much less than I was looking for, but hopefully I will prove myself and will move up quickly. I'm going to have to start out this salary eventually, so I figure it's better to get it over with than continue to postpone the inevitable. I'm just nervous with winter and Christmas coming up (I literally don't own "real" winter clothes and I'm obsessed with buying people multiple Christmas gifts). I finally decided the sooner I took the pay cut though, the sooner I can get to higher positions for it to be increased. God always provides me with everything I need anyways. This will also help teach me how to better budget my money (my dad will love that haha). 

The other downside is that it is about 45 minutes from my apartment. I will definitely no longer be able to walk to work, which will probably turn out for the best with winter quickly approaching. I also figure that I don't plan on living in my current apartment/neighborhood forever, so it shouldn't be a deciding factor. Who knows, this time next year I could be living on the west side. Also, since it is so far, I won't be able to work at Tory Burch at night during the week. This was kinda sad since I am taking a pay cut; I wanted to be able to have more money coming in from somewhere else.

After stressing out about these and many other things for over a week, I decided this was an excellent opportunity I couldn't pass up. I believe it will lead me to great places and they are offering me many opportunities that most other companies would not in the same position. Plus it's going to be nice to be able to tell people I have a real job. I feel like I'm finally growing up lol. I'm sad I only have a few weeks left at the Met, but I can't wait to start my new job and career!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Laughter Heals the Soul

Often times after graduating college, you lose touch with many of your friends. Work, distance, new friends, dislike of talking on the phone by some, and just life in general somehow always seem to get in the way of making time to catch up. This has been especially true for me since I moved and work all the time.

The past few weeks though I have caught up with several of my friends from school and have loved it. Catching up with the boys is probably the best. Even though most guys don't enjoy talking on the phone, I think we have had some of the best conversations. I have laughed harder during some of those 20 minute phone calls than I have in months. I literally can't keep myself from smiling and feeling happy during and after our chats.

I have Grant to remind me how stupid boys can be and always responds to my texts at 2:00am when I want to tell him about a dumb guy. He always makes me laugh and reminds me that these boys aren't worth it. Then there is Mark who I can banter with back and forth and always call him out. I'm sure our conversations sound harsh to outsiders, but we are laughing the entire time. I have Blaine to call me out on everything and then ask me the real questions about life. Kevin and I have been friends since we were three and it's always nice to know I have that go-to person who understands me and will listen. There are plenty of others, but I'm sure you probably don't care (in fact, I'm sure someone will call me and make fun of this blog in general, but I don't care).

While it is always good to catch up with old friends, I have needed it even more this past couple of weeks. I have been overly stressed and missing all my friends beyond words. It's hard living in a huge city with no one to talk to or who truly understands you most of the time. My friends have helped me forget everything and just love life. They have literally helped me be happy again and feel joy down in my soul (I know it sounds cheesy, but it's true).

The amazing thing is they made me feel so much better without having to do anything or even knowing it. With these types of friendships it doesn't always have to be a deep intense heart to heart talk to mean something. Just being able to talk, laugh, and sarcastically banter with them was enough.

Each time after talking with them, I have truly felt refreshed about life. They have reminded me why true friendships should never be taken for granted. I can't wait to see all of them next week and be able to enjoy a whole weekend of fun.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Good Times with Old Friends

This past weekend I hung out with some of my friends from Baylor. They were in town for four days on their Accounting Graduate trip. I was so excited to see them - I could barely contain my excitement. They arrived late Saturday night and met up with me and some of my other friends at a bar out in the East Village. I was so excited to be able to see them, but I was even more excited to hang out with them in New York.
I have always been the type of girl who gets along better/prefers to hang out with guys. (Blame it on me growing up with two brothers and always hanging out with their friends.) It's not near as easy to make guy friends in New York, though. Actually it's almost impossible. The kind of guy you meet out at a bar ins't the kind of guy who is interested in just being friends, and I work with all girls and they have boyfriends. So needless to say, I am constantly hanging out with girls.

Hanging out with the boys here was like a breath of fresh air. We always have so much fun together and it's always completely stress free, which is my favorite part. I can act as stupid as I want, vent, rant, get crazy and they are always there for me. They have seen me on some of my craziest nights and, for some reason, still hang out with me. We have had some amazing times together at Baylor together, gone on awesome trips, and occasionally take care of each other after a night of craziness.

Not only did I get to hang out with some of my guy friends, I also got to see two of my favorite girl friends! I was able to see my very first friend at Baylor, Kathryn. I love her to the moon and back and know no matter what, I know we will be friends forever. I also saw my friend Alex and hopefully convinced her to move to New York after she graduates! We are so much alike in many ways it's kinda crazy, but it works. Having her here with me would be absolutely amazing.

I have to admit though, I was nervous about showing them a good time. I felt like I should know the city like the back of my hand and be able to show them the best time of their life. The reality is my social/party life has been semi-lame lately.

Recently I have only been going out about one night a week. My tolerance is so low and I get tired easily since I go to bed ridiculously early now. I still don't know the city that well and there are millions of awesome bars I don't know about. There are also bars I know are amazing, but the drinks are so expensive we don't ever go there.

When it comes down to it though, I know they didn't really care all that much. The guys are so chill I knew they will have fun wherever they went, and the girls were happy as long as we got to hang out. This is what makes me love and miss them all so much. It's not often you find such amazing friends. I can't wait to be reunited with them and everyone else in a few week at Homecoming!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Book Signing

Some of the perks of working two jobs are finally paying off. This past Wednesday the Tory Burch Madison Avenue store hosted a VIP Book Signing with Lucy Liu for her new art book, Seventy-Two!

When I arrived at 5:30pm there were already people everywhere preparing for the event. I walked downstairs to the basement to change and I was surrounded by some of the most attractive men I have ever seen. Come to find out the catering service we use hires male models as their servers. That night I saw more attractive men , than I have the entire time I have been living in the city. It was like heaven and surprisingly they were all very nice too.

All of Lucy and Tory's closest friends were invited. Everyone there was an important person in some way or another. One person everyone was excited to see at the party was Patricia Fields, the stylist from Sex and the City. I was more amazed by Lucy Liu. She was just as pretty in person as she is in the movies. She was so nice and friendly to everyone. I loved being able to stand by her and Tory as they were taking pictures together.

 It was fun to see the store transformed into a cocktail party with hot, rich people walking around everywhere. I loved being able to stand back and just watch people and see how they all interacted. Even though I would have much rather been a guest at the party, I really enjoyed it. I can't wait to see what other types of events we will have over the holidays! 

Here's a link if you want more information about the book or to see some pictures from the event: http://justjared.buzznet.com/2011/10/13/lucy-liu-book-launch-tory-burch/

Thursday, October 13, 2011

My First Day Off

Since I started working both jobs, I have been working seven days a week, every week. I have not had a single day off since then and if it wasn't for Columbus Day, I would have had one until November. Luckily for me the museum was closed on Columbus Day though.

As soon as I found out I had the day off, I told myself I was going to be selfish and do whatever I wanted to do. It was going to be a complete "me day." I began making a list of everything I wanted to do and places I wanted to go.

I immediately knew I wanted to go shopping since I haven't been able to since I moved here. My list became so long that I knew there was no way I would ever be able to do all of it in one day. I also realized that in order to get even half of it done, I was not going to be able sleep in like I had planned.

Sunday night I prioritized my list of places to shop and things I would like to do. I set my alarm for 8:30am and went to sleep early so I would be full of energy for my exciting day off.

Normally I don't really venture too far out with my wardrobe. Many times I will think things look way too out there for me or that it's cute, but I couldn't pull it off. Since moving to New York my perspective has changed. I am more open to trying on new things and not so worried about what I look like when I go out. Because let's be honest, I always know there will be someone else in this city who is dressed weirder/worse than I am. So I was determined to try on all sorts of things and go with whatever I liked.

I woke up, got ready and immediately walked up to 80th to check out a new store on Madison Avenue, Joe Fresh. It is from Canada and just opened last week. I went in and instantly began to find items I loved. I had a sales associate going through the entire store and pulling all sorts of clothes for me to try on. It was absolutely amazing. I felt like I had my own personal shopper. I found several things I liked there and bought items I typically wouldn't buy. For example, I bought some leggings with a leather stripe going down the side. I ended up with two new outfits and continued on my way.

I walked down Madison Avenue going in different stores I thought looked interesting. After a while, I wandered over to Lexington where the stores were more affordable and I got a few staples items like socks and face wash along the way.

When I reached 59th street, I wandered into Bloomingdale's wanting to buy new jeggings. As I walked around I decided to splurge on some new lipstick and perfume. About ten minutes after my two purchases, I had immediate buyer's remorse. I freaked out about how much I spent on those two items, when really I could have bought clothes instead. I went back downstairs and returned both of the items. I felt bad because both women were highly annoyed when I returned the items. While normally I would feel too bad to do this, I didn't care because I knew I would never see them again. (I think part of this has come from me living in New York.)

I wandered down to 42nd and the Grand Central Station area and continued to shop. I bought some new brown boots and more clothes. As I was on my way to J Crew to actually buy clothes I could wear to work (part of the original shopping plan), I realized I didn't need to spend any more money and that it was already 6:00pm and I was supposed to pull something out of the freezer for Erica two hours ago.

Too exhausted to walk the hour and a half back to my apartment, I hopped on the subway extremely happy with my purchases. While there was a lot I kept myself from buying and much more I still didn't even get to look at, I had a wonderful day. There are already a few things I plan on going back to buy this weekend and other stores I want to check out.

My two jobs are finally paying off and being able to see the rewards makes it that much easier to go to work each day. Since I can't really wear my new clothes to either job, I have to find time/energy to go out on the weekends with my friends so I have somewhere to wear them to!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Tears

If you look up "tear" in the dictionary, the first definition that appears is: "a drop of the saline, watery fluid continually secreted by the lacrimal glands between the surface of the eye and the eyelid, serving to moisten and lubricate these parts and keep them clear of foreign particles."

If you ask me, this doesn't properly communicate the meaning of a tear. A tear can express many things. It can portray joy, heartache, pain, sadness, laughter, stress and much more. Often times tears come when we least expect them. This was the case for me the other night.

While, I will never think crying all the time is OK, I do think there are certain times in a person's life that letting a few good drops of saline form and fall out of your eyes is OK. Maybe it's your body's way to make you feel normal and remind you that you have emotions. That life can be tough and you will get through it.

The oddest part about crying for me is that it happens so rarely, that when I do allow tears to form in my eyes, I don't even know why it's happening. I will try and think if something specifically has happened to cause it and more often than not, I can't come up with anything.

The other night I hung up the phone after talking to my parents and silently cried in my bed so my roommate wouldn't hear. I couldn't figure out what it was, but at the same time I couldn't help myself. I hated not being able to control it or make myself stop each tear rolling down my cheek.

The worst part for me was not being able to pin point why it was happening. I prefer to be very rational and in control of my emotions and crying for no particular reason does not allow me to do this.

I laid there and thought about what it might be. Several different things ran through my mind of what might be the source of those dreadful tears. I thought maybe it was because I have to work two jobs and then I realized it wasn't that because I was the one who continually choose to do it. I thought maybe it was because I am unhappy with the weight I have gained and then I realized I was on a diet and being healthy. I told myself maybe it was that I was so exhausted and overwhelmed, but when I stopped to think about it, in all reality I wasn't and knew my life could be worse. 

So what caused me to cry? I'm still not sure why it happened, but in a small way I felt slightly relieved afterwards. Maybe it was everything over the past few months piling up and finally having to come out. Maybe I needed to release some stress and that was the only way my body knew how to react.

I do think having a moment where you allow your emotions, life and stress come to the surface and release it can be healthy. Maybe being able to express your emotions without having to explain them, is OK every once in a while. I don't plan on making this a habit, but maybe a few more emotional releases will help me better deal with everything in my life. 

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Being Healthy

Starting this past week, Erica and I have committed to being healthier. I even went out and bought a new pair of running shoes (I must admit it was slightly painful buying tennis shoes over a new pair of boots) and went to the grocery store for healthy snacks/food. We decided doing it together would make it easier to stick to and we could hold each other accountable.

Starting on Sunday we woke up around 7:30am and went for a run in Central Park. When we got home, Erica made my breakfast and packed my lunch for me while I got ready for work. Erica and I decided to start getting up at 5:45am during the week to do an abs workout and go for a run. If you know me, this is a big deal because I hate running. I find it painful and as soon as I start, all I can think about is how much longer until I'm done. Also, waking up when it's still dark outside doesn't make it any easier. Hopefully the more I do it, the easier it will get. Or at least that's what people tell me.

Erica and I found this book with lots of healthy recipes and a menu planned out, so we are following it too. We are cooking all of our meals. The book is pushing us out of our comfort zone with some foods, but I think it's a good thing. It's funny how whatever one of us loves, the other one seems to hate it just as much. The book offers a great variety, so I don't think we will get sick of it anytime soon. The only downfall is no alcohol for a month. I don't really go out much anymore since I work seven days a week, so it shouldn't be too bad.

I'm normally tired pretty early, but now I really feel like an old person. I try to be asleep before 10:00pm now. (Sad I know.) So far (and it's only been three days) I'm happy I'm doing it though. I feel healthier, I have more energy throughout the day, and it helps me get an early start on the day. I think it's going to be the hardest on the weekends when I work both jobs and I'm on my feet all day. Once I get used to the schedule I should be ok. Plus, Erica making me get out of bed helps too.

(Grant- Before you text me and complain, I'm sorry this post isn't more entertaining/interesting. I'm too tired from work to go do anything exciting lately. I'll try and work on it this weekend though.)