FRIDAY!

Definitely the best day of the week. Today i'm leaving the day job around lunch time, then i've got to get my car serviced and run a few other errands. Might take a trip to the mall somewhere in there too:) I love the fact that this is a 3 day weekend. I'm most likely going to the mountains for my usual trip to the "world's largest labor day weekend flea market". Thank God for the South. This place is actually where I get my supply of really good fake designer bags (or stolen...not so sure, but I do know you can't tell them from the real thing!). I'm sure i'll pick up some more there tomorrow even though that's basically the last thing in the world I should be buying. At least i'm not paying full price, as usual, though!

Happy Weekend!

Insanity

Some people just have too much time on their hands. I love being up to date on the latest crazy art world news, and I just read this article on Radar. I've heard of the artist before--not for his overwhelming talent, but rather for his self portrait sculpture made from his own frozen blood. Weirdo. So this solid gold Kate Moss doesn't really come as a surprise, but it sounds like something for MOMA or the Tate Modern--definitely not the British Museum (a place that houses actual antiquities and valuable things). Ok, I guess that much gold is valuable, but still! People are ridiculous!

check out the hook

The first song I heard on the radio this morning in the car was "Ice Ice Baby", so I knew it was going to be a good day! Also, some of my coworkers were dancing in their offices earlier, so obviously something is going right. Happy Thursday, I guess!

Yesterday I got my new J Crew catalog in the mail, and I must admit that I want every single thing. There's just something about J Crew that I have always loved, and probably always will love. It probably has something to do with the fact that preppiness was bred into me from day one. Here are a few of the things that are definitely necessary for me to get:)

Le Tired

3 interviews--check!

I think all 3 interviews went really well. Everyone seemed to like me and be enthusiastic about the jobs. I really would love to get one of them in particular, but i'm definitely not getting my hopes up quite yet:) I'm so tired now that they are all done. There's just something about being "on" all the time that's exhausting. So tonight i'm going to kick back and watch tv and do nothing else. I may even go to bed around 9:30! Haha. I'm such an old person.

The weather here is scary today. Lots of tornado warnings and pouring rain all day. Apparently the remnants of the hurricane that was in Florida last weekend has finally made it up here. Boo hiss. I hate rainy weather at work--even more, I hate rainy weather when I have to drive to Chapel Hill like this morning! But, I survived:) And hopefully it'll stop raining before Saturday so I can go to the mountains this weekend!

Lots to do

Its very funny how things can change so quickly. Last week at this time I hadn't been on an interview in weeks...people haven't exactly been knocking down my door to hire me this summer. But, alas, I finally had one last Thursday and I think it started a trend! I had another interview this morning, one more this afternoon and then another one tomorrow morning. Maybe desperation creates abundance after all! All of these seem promising, espcially one in particular, but i'm not going to form any opinions until I actually go for the interviews and meet face to face with these people. Its just nice to know i'm not a total loser after all haha!

Added bonus: I'm getting out of the office and will probably get to go home early today because I won't come back to the office after my interview this afternoon, and its closer to my house, so it would just be pointless driving to come back here for an hour. Yay! Fingers crossed for me please!

And, as promised, here are a couple pictures from this weekend at the lovely beach (and one of my cute kitty too, because I can't resist):

My cute cat Annie.

The wedding cake. Delicious white chocolate dipped

strawberries (and bride and groom strawberries at the top)!

Pretty ceremony overlooking the water.

Below: My beautiful friends..elementary school reunion!

the times, they are a changin'

This weekend was beautiful. Perfect beach weather...breezy and sunny warm, but not hot enough to give me heat stroke. I stayed in a hotel that was almost at the end of the island--pretty remote and quiet, not many people staying there for the weekend which was great. There was also a boat marina and really amazing seafood restaurant right there too. All in all, excellent location. I spent most of my time walking the beach, looking for shells and reading magazines. Saturday was my friend's wedding in Southport, a really cute little waterway town, a lot like Wilmington, but more quaint. The wedding was outdoors, overlooking the Sound and it was gorgeous. Pretty white and peach colored flowers, lots of leaves and a nice sea breeze from the water. This pretty much makes up for the fact that i'm sunburned on half my face/neck/shoulders. Haha. Its not so bad today, but really itchy! Small price to pay I guess. The reception was nice too...yummy food, music and I got to catch up with a couple of good friends from high school who informed me they're both back in Raleigh working day jobs just like me hooray! Maybe i'll have even more grown-up type people to see.

The whole experience of the wedding was very surreal. Jessica looked gorgeous. Beautiful dress, great hair. Even the bridesmaids dresses were pretty! It just seemed like we were all playing dress up. Sitting there with my friends, I could've sworn we were still 17 years old and in high school, just gossiping and catching up on life after the summer. But here we were, 22 years old (almost..hehe) and one of us was married. Totally unreal. We have jobs and bills and more to think about than what color to paint our nails. Not sure how this happened.

And of course, being at a wedding inevitably brings up the fact that I am single while lots, if not most, of my friends are getting married or in serious relationships--or at the very least, they know what they're doing with their lives and have some kind of plan. I wish I could say the same of myself (except for the married part), but here I am still without a permanent job, boyfriend or place of my own. I know it'll happen soon enough and i'm ok with that, but sometimes the waiting really sucks. Its just that seeing something as real as a good friend getting married really throws my own life back in my face. More re-analysis, more thinking about my situation--both of which i'm pretty tired of after this long drawn out, emotional summer. I'm finally feeling pretty good, and all I want to do is have a good time and create a little bit of a life. The fact that everyone is moving back to Wake right now probably isn't helping matters. Being a grown up is hard!

So with that, the goals for the week are:
1. Talk to friends on the phone:)
2. Make a fun plan for the fall.
3. Start reading my new book.
4. Interview tomorrow morning at 9 am.
5. Stop thinking, start doing.

TGIT

Happy Thursday! Luckily today is the last day of the work week for me. This afternoon i'm going straight home from work to throw on a tshirt and shorts, watch Gilmore Girls and get some lovely sleep that I didn't get enough of last night. Sounds exciting to me!

This morning I had my interview that I wrote about yesterday. I think it went well, but i'm not sure i'm quite what they are looking for (or that they are quite what i'm looking for), but you never know! Hopefully they'll make a decision by late tomorrow. We shall see. Otherwise today is pretty boring. Last night I saw the House Bunny and thought it was hysterical. I probably appreciated it even more than most because I definitely related to the dorky, unfortunate sorority (Kristin, you will laugh out loud at how similiar it is to what we've always talked about at Wake--go see the matinee). In a lot of ways, its very typical ditzy-blond-gets-a-life kind of movie, but I actually really enjoyed myself and had a good time watching it. It helps that I didn't have to pay:)

I'm off to the beach for the next 3 days! Happy wedding to Jessica & Josh. Hopefully i'll post some pictures once I get back. And hopefully i'll get reeeeally tan. Hah.

Food Coma

I'm practically asleep at my desk at work after a "country cookin" lunch buffet. The fried chicken was pretty fabulous, but of course I ate waaay too much and now I just want to nap. Just another couple hours....

Today: Library & dinner/movie night with Erin. Hopefully tomorrow i'll get a chance to write a lovely review of the House Bunny. I hope its entertaining and not too stupid..we'll see.

Tomorrow (faux friday): Interview at 9am, work for the rest of the day and then packing for the beach YAY.

Quote of the Day

Good News

Late yesterday afternoon I found out I got another job interview for this Thursday. This made me really happy because the job interviews have been few and far between this summer. The market is terrible and its really really hard for new grads to find jobs right now--myself definitely included. Not sure if the interview on Thursday will be a good fit or if they'll actually want to hire me, but its always worth a try. It would also be a lot of money, so thats a big plus while i'm trying to save up for my future condo (don't worry K, its a two-bedroom). Wish me luck!

Updated goals-
I got my free movie pass yesterday, dropped off my library books, and made a beach reservation, so for the rest of the week I still have:
1. Bank today
2. Make plans for movie night tomorrow
3. Prepare for the interview
4. Pack for the weekend YAY

Another Monday

Its crazy how fast the weekends fly by, when the weeks can lag forever sometimes. This weekend was nothing spectacular. I had a quiet Friday night in (caught up on my What Not To Wear watching haha). Saturday was spent mostly tanning, reading magazines and slowly cleaning out some of the drawers in my bedroom. This mostly consisted of me getting rid of shorts and t-shirts I've had since I was approx. 12. Obviously, my current overhaul phase is much needed. Saturday night I went out with my former roomie and another friend from Wake who lives in Cary. We went out for dinner at North Hills then saw the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. The movie was definitely not as spectacular as the first. I liked it a lot up until the ending, which they totally blew. I'm still glad I went to see it, and the three of us had a good time, so all was not lost!

Sunday was uneventful except for a lovely trip to Cracker Barrel (YUM) for my grandpa's birthday and a long talk with Kristin, which was totally necessary:) I'm really proud of you and I know you did the right thing!

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This week:

1. Today on my lunch hour i'm going downtown to pick up free passes to the advance screening of House Bunny for Wednesday night & to drop off my dress for the wedding this weekend to be dry cleaned.
2. Library this afternoon to drop off some books that are due.
3. Bank tomorrow...my condo fund is growing!
4. Movie night on Wednesday with Erin!
5. Pack for beach this weekend--no work on Friday!

TGIF

Almost done with work for today yippeee!

Weekend goals include:
1. Further cleaning out of the closet. It seems like I have millions of old clothes and t-shirts that need to be evicted from my closet and drawers. Gotta make room for the new stuff!
2. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 and dinner with former roomie and maybe even one or two other Wake Phi Mizzies in the area!
3. Tons of tanning/magazine reading to catch up on. (My life is hard:))

Spies!

Just read this on CNN.com and thought it was great. Real life spies--and one of them was Julia Child (as in, bon appetit!). WTF...love it.

This and That

Another unexciting week in my life is almost over. I always get really excited when Thursday rolls around, because its my last full day at the office of the week. And today is even better than ususal because I'm going out for Mexican food for lunch with my co-workers. I love getting out of the office in the middle of the day.

Yesterday was dark and cool and rainy allll day long...perhaps my favorite kind of weather. Yes, I know i'm weird. It was really cozy and nice--although I would definitely have preferred watching tv all day on my couch rather than sitting at my desk all day. But alas, almost weekend!

I didn't end up going to the show on Tuesday night downtown. I kind of wish I had, but I know yesterday would've been miserable if I had stayed out really late. Getting old BITES. Haha. Hopefully tomorrow night i'll get to have a girls movie and dinner night out with a couple Wake ladies who live in the area. I'm also still on a quest to find a new trivia place in Raleigh. I'm having Foothills withdrawal!

Picture Perfect

This week will probably be slow on the updates, seeing as how my one regular reader is on vacation:) This past weekend was great. Friday I got to hang out with Lydia and Warren, which was fantastic because I so rarely get to see Wake friends in Raleigh. Friday night was my good friend Emily's 23rd birthday, so Sara and I went to a cookout at her pool and then left the festivities early to go have Goodberry's ice cream (yummm). Saturday I went to downtown Raleigh to help other Brittany move into her dorm at Peace. It was deserted because she had an early move in day. I'm pretty glad there weren't many students around, because that would've made me more depressed about the fact that I don't get to go back to school or move in this summer. But I actually didn't feel depressed at all! Her new room is really nice and is in the old main building at Peace. She's got a great view of downtown from the 3rd floor and she's just a walk away from Krispy Kreme (amazing). I'm actually really happy that she's moved in because now I have an excuse to visit and sleepover with her whenever we go out to the really good bars down on Glenwood South! Other than that, the weekend was uneventful and pretty relaxing.

This week's weather is BEAUTIFUL! Yesterday and today are about 80 degrees (the high tomorrow is 77!!) and sunny and gorgeous. I walked outside yesterday afternoon at my office, and immediately wanted to just sit down on a blanket in the grass and fall asleep. Note: not a good idea when I still have to be at work for 2 more hours! But its fantastic and I'm going to enjoy it while I can, because it'll probably be back to hot-as-hell before I know it.

Tonight some of my good friends from high school are playing with their band at the Brewery downtown and I can't decide if I want to go or not. I'd love to see the band and the guys, but shows at the Brewery at notoriously really late and I hate smelling like smoke for 2 days after I hang out there. Maybe I'm just getting too old for this...how sad!

YAY

So excited about today & this weekend for the following reasons:

1. I'm having lunch with Lydia who I haven't seen since graduation time. I love it when Wake people are in Raleigh!
2. Half day at the day job. Enough said.
3. Birthday extravaganza this afternoon/tonight for my friend Emily. There will be a pool party and grilled pizzas and then out to a fun martini bar in town! I just hope I don't get burnt to a crisp.
4. I have no real plans for the weekend, except maybe a movie date with the former roomie to see Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, which will hopefully be pretty good.
5. I am going to finally attempt to make my first red velevet cake from scratch. Paula Deen's recipe includes such ingredients as 7 EGGS and a POUND OF CONFECTIONER'S SUGAR. Holy Hell.
6. Only two weeks until my beach getaway weekend to go a friend's wedding. (aka only 4 days of work that week yippeee).

Happy weekend!

Short and Sweet

There's nothing much to update on this week. I guess that's probably a good thing--nothing to eventful, good or bad. This weekend should be fun. Tomorrow night I'm going to a pool party/cookout for one of my friend's 23rd birthday. She and I have been good friends since 3rd grade--I can't believe we're getting so old! It should be a good time to get out of the house and see people my own age yay! Haha...who knows, maybe i'll even meet someone new. Other than that, i'm going to try to force myself to do some GMAT prep tomorrow. I've just recently picked up a study book, and I want to take a practice test tomorrow afternoon without any preparation, just to see where I stand now. I have no desire to go to MBA school in the near future, but after maybe 3 years of work, I definitely want to go to grad school. Lots of work and stress, but i'm sure it'll be worth it in the end. Its just gross to think about studying for anything since I graduated. Oh well, i'm sure it'll all come back to me eventually!

Damn It Feels Good To Be A Banker

OK, I realize that I never post twice in one day, but this is very important and fabulous, so I had to share. I just read this book review on a blog called Radar, which is mostly about politics and scandals and other wonderful things like that. The book is called Damn It Feels Good To Be A Banker (hence the title), and the excerpt honestly reads like something I could've (should've)written myself. Being a recent Finance major, I absolutely identify with everything this guy is saying, and its all hilariously true. Can't wait until I can get my hands on the book in its entirety! Although I am a little pissed that this guy stole the idea from my brain...but alas, i'll just have to live with that. Read it. Its hysterical.

Dog Days of Summer

Its a lovely 98 degree day here in Raleigh. Bright, sunny, and blistering hot--basically great, just so long as I only look out the window, and never actually step outside.
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There's a training session going on today in my office. It has nothing to do with my department, they are simply using the conference room that is right next to my desk. These trainings usually don't bother me. In fact, I enjoy seeing new faces and making small talk with new people in the building, but these people (the group was here all day yesterday and today) are HIGHLY ANNOYING. Its hilarious, because everyone usually keeps their office doors open and we talk freely to each other all day. But since yesterday, all our doors are shut and we're giving these people the evil eye every chance we get. They are rude, loud and terribly out of place in my usually quiet office. Thank God they'll be gone tomorrow, because I have a feeling my good natured Southern charm is about to take a vacation, and the result will be pretty unpleasant when I start telling these people off. Haha. Just had to vent for a second!

Last night I had a great girl's night in with 2 of my best friends. We had a Barefoot Contessa pasta dish (YUM), veggies and my Paula Deen chocolate chip pound cake that has never let me down. I love nights when we just sit around and eat and talk about nothing in particular. Thank God for old friends.

Otherwise, today feels strangely like Wednesday--which is never a good sign when its only Tuesday. Hopefully the week won't drag on too much!

Rabbit Rabbit

Happy August! When I used to watch Nick Jr in the mornings with my cousin when I was little, "Face" (the weird colored cartoon that would tell kids random stuff everyday) would say that on the first day of the month, the first thing you should say in the morning is "Rabbit Rabbit" for good luck all month long. Not sure why I remember this (not sure why I remember A LOT of things), but I still try to do it when I think about it:)

This weekend should be pretty relaxing and uneventful. Its tax free back to school weekend, so i'll probably do a little shopping for more clothes and shoes I don't need! Otherwise, I'm not sure what i'll be up to. Happy weekend to everyone!