Vacation has arrived!!

Alas, its finally my last day at the office before I leave for a week's vacation! I'm leaving around noon today, going to get my haircut, home to pack, then out with my friends for belated bday celebration tonight! Lots of excitement--if only the Breakfast Club show hadn't been canceled because of the crazy weather we've been having. Oh well. Tomorrow morning my parents and I are leaving for a cruise to New England. The ship leaves from NYC (sadly not enough time to go up early and see Kristin..boo) on Sunday, and then we'll cruise to 2 cities in Canada on the coast, then back down to Martha's Vineyard and Boston before docking back in NY next Saturday. I'm SO excited to have a week off from work. I've secretly been hoping all summer that I wouldn't find a job before now so I wouldn't have to worry about someone taking my vacation away--thank goodness that didn't happen. So i'm going to enjoy it as much as possible, because I probably won't have another solid week off for a long while.

So I hope you have a fabulous week without me, while the blog takes a few days off too! Bon Voyage!

good times, for the most part

My birthday had a great finish yesterday. I got to leave my desk about an hour early to go to a retirement party, where I ate way too many party finger foods, but it was really yummy:) Then I picked up Mom and we went to Crabtree to pick out something for my bday before dinner. I was trying to decide between some adorable Coach tennis shoes and new rainbows--turns out they didn't have my size in the Coach, and they DON'T MAKE my favorite kinds of rainbows anymore!! Grr. The guy told me you can definitely still find them online, so my goal for today is to peruse the internet until I find them--and then i'll hoard as many pairs as possible! Hopefully i'll be successfull. Then we met my dad for dinner at McCormick and Schmick's--so delicious & really pretty interior/nice atmosphere. I had Alaskan salmon stuffed with a mixture of crab, shrimp and brie. I'm pretty much drooling right now just thinking about it. Afterwards my dad gave me a bunch of Wake Forest stuff (coffee mug, mouse pad, etc) for my "new office", whenever I finally get one. And I got lots of calls from my fabulous friends which I didn't have time to return, but hopefully will today:) Excellent day overall--and I can't wait for Friday to celebrate out with friends in Raleigh. I just wish everyone could make it, even though we're all spread out!

I just got back from an interview this morning with a bank in Cary, and I'm thoroughly disappointed. I actually had pretty high hopes for this one, and then I get there and they say "oh you'll be sitting out at the front desk answering 1000 calls per day". Great. NOT. I don't mean to be a snob or anything like that, but I didn't bust my butt for the past 4 years at a top 20 b-school to asnwer phones all day, thank you very much. Whatever...its just very frustrating. I'm sick of interviewing and ready to get a job--but i'm definitely not going to settle for just anything. I also got a message from the Richmond bank I interviewed with last week. I'm almost afraid to return the call, because if they offer me a job, thats going to throw me & my plans for a loop, but i'll give her a call this afternoon to see what she has to say. If I get an offer, i'm definitely not taking it on the spot--I have too many other irons in the fire right now that would be preferable for me. Sigh. The process is never ending.

But, I am determined today will be a good/non-stressful day! I've got a doctor's appt this afternoon, so i'm leaving work early, then i'm having dinner out with Sara. Tomorrow is a half day at the office, then going home, hopefully getting a haircut, packing for vacation(!) and going out with the girls tomorrow night as a belated bday celebration! All of these things are fabulous. Life is good.

Turbolash Review

As I mentioned earlier, I won a new Turbolash mascara from the fashion blog at the Raleigh N&O. The fashion writer is giving away something from her stash of beauty and fashion freebies all week, so obviously I had to jump on the opportunity! Today I actually won again, and the prize is a Bobbi Brown makeup brush set. I'm pretty excited because those are expensive to buy! Anyway, on Monday I won the Estee Lauder mascara and tried it this morning after I received it in the mail. I kind of like it, but its really odd. The mascara wand actually vibrates as you apply. This is supposed to give a more even coat, with less clumps. I have to admit, my mascara looks great and clump-free today, but i'm not sure if its because of the vibration, or just the fact that its a brand new tube. Whatever...at least I didn't pay for it! Overall, I like it, but it felt very odd to have my eyelashes vibrating. We'll see if I actually get used to this. But I am really excited for my new Bobbi Brown brushes!

Best Day of the Year!

Happy birthday to me today! I'm finally the big 22, but I don't really feel terribly old (yet)! I've been having a great time so far. Yesterday when I got home I had a couple more cards waiting for me, a lovely package from my beautiful facebook wife Emily full of candy lotions and a dvd, and the weird vibrating mascara that I won from the N&O on Monday. My mom made a homemade red velvet cake for me--which i'll get to eat tonight!--and I chatted with Kristin:) Lovely evening. Today my mom sang the birthday song to me, and one of my co-workers gave me a singing electric birthday candle that also plays the birthday song. Pretty special. I'm actually having a great time at the office today, and there's a retirement party here this afternoon with lots of yummy finger foods! After work, i'm picking up my mom and we're going shopping before our dinner reservation at McCormick & Schmicks. Then i'll probably go home, maybe watch my new dvd and go to sleep. Pretty perfect day overall.

Oh, life.

The theme of my life lately has been 1. get a good job interview (yay!), 2. interview goes well--hopefully i'll get this one (yay!), 3. immediately get a call from another potentially better employer to schedule another interview 4. hope to God that the first people don't call for a while so I have time to work my options with the new potential job, 5. repeat, often.

And as usual, the past 2 days are no different. Last week I had a phone interview for a job i'd love to have in Raleigh. I'm giving the lady until tomorrow, then i'm going to call her back and harrass her to give me an in-person interview so that she cannot resist my charms and has to hire me immediately. But, of course, yesterday afternoon I get another call i'd really been waiting for about a job in Atlanta. The location wouldn't be my first choice, but I really do like Atlanta, plus I'd get to do a lot of traveling (in Miami, yes please). So, if this actually worked out, I'd be a fool not to accept. It has dream job potential. If this wasn't enough, today I get yet another call for a job with my bank here in Raleigh for an interview on Thursday. Sigh. Not that this is surprising at all--at this point I basically expect the unexpected. Its kind of like a mixture of dread and excitement every time I check my voicemail. Hah. But I must say, I definitely prefer too many calls to none at all.

So, this week has already had a great start. The work days have been flying by, I won a really weird vibrating mascara online from a fashion blog yesterday (more on that once I get it in the mail...), I got some fabulous b-day cards in the mail yesterday, I have dinner plans for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, RED VELVET CAKE tonight!, i'm leaving on my family vacation New England cruise in 4 days, and the week still has LOTS of potential.

Stunning

Definitely my favorite dress of the Emmy's. So awesome that Christina Applegate can come back from breast cancer looking so beautiful. Good for her!

Happy Fall!

Its finally the most wonderful time of the year--birthday week yay! I love celebrating my birthday (cake, presents, friends...whats not to like?), so this should be a fabulous week for me:)

Weekend: pretty boring and yet busy at the same time. Didn't end up going to casino night (THANK GOD), but instead stayed in and caught up on my What Not to Wear watching. Saturday, took my car to have it vacuumed, washed and waxed and now it looks stunning! Also, in the process of cleaning all my crap out from under the seats, I managed to find my Cravin' Melon cd that I thought was lost. Saturday night I went out with the former roomie to a sports bar/restaurant in Raleigh to have dinner and watch the Wake game. The food was yummy, and we both got accidentally drunk at 8 pm from ONE drink each. Granted, mine was something called the "mega-rita" (read: the largest margarita i've ever seen), and it was really delicious. But its still depressing that one drink can do me in now. Haha...the college days are obviously long gone. Anyway, Wake won and we had a really good time. Sunday: finally bought a new dvd player which I still need to set up, my grandparents came over to give me my bday present (lots of cool kitchin accessories & lush towels for when I finally move out, and cash--the best kind of gift), and then went to see my other grandpa and have dinner with him. Overall, pretty nice weekend, except I managed to get covered in mosquito bites. Ick.

Today the office is reeeally hot, which makes me want to nap. But i've got yummy leftovers for lunch & the morning is passing pretty quickly. And, today is the first day of fall--the best season of the year in my opinion!

PS-Kristin, I got your message and will call you back today:)

at last

Finally Friday, which is always exciting. Tonight is doubly exciting because its casino night for my dad's school. Apparently this means there will be lots of fun times happening, teachers chatting, and fake money galore. Apparently, this also means that I will be spending this lovely friday night out with the parents. Oh the joys of being <16 all over again! Tomorrow i'm going to finally get my car cleaned/waxed/the whole nine. Very necessary. And hopefully i'll be going out for a little pre-birthday celebration with the Phi Mizzys in Raleigh. Should be a good time. Otherwise, fingers crossed for the job I had a phone interview for yesterday!

5 days til my birthday & 8 days until vacation yesss.

Pretty True to Life

Read this about the transition from college to the "real world".

yummy

I'm currently eating a rice krispie treat at my desk and i'm reeeally enjoying it:) I don't think i've had one of these since 9th grade. Nothing much new to report on. Last night I went home, helped make dinner, watched many episodes of Jon & Kate Plus 8 (I don't really like to admit this), and then went to bed. I mostly enjoy low key nights during the week, because I have to get up so early to come to work. Today has been passing by quickly which is always nice. Tomorrow i'll be at the office for a whole day (boo) because I was out on Monday, but I think my co-workers are taking me out for an early b-day lunch! Should be exciting..I just have to figure out where I want to go. This afternoon i've got a phone interview for a bank job here in Raleigh (obviously a first choice, if I don't have to move, so fingers crossed!). Hopefully it'll go well and something will happen soon!

Currently drooling over this: Christie's fall jewelry auction (The New York Sale). So gorgeous!

happy day

I woke up this morning feeling great for no apparent reason--always a good way to start the day! It also probably helps that I went to bed last night around 9:15, so I got some pretty fabulous sleep:) I also got to finally catch up with a couple good friends on the phone last night which was fun. I suck at returning phone calls on time and finally got a few minutes to chat, so hopefully i'm all caught up on my correspondance haha. AND, my birthday is exactly one week from today! Over all, lots of good things going on.

Last night I got a message from someone at a bank here in Raleigh, for a job I applied for randomly online a few weeks ago. Again, every time I really get going on something, it seems like something else (bigger/better?) pops up for me to think about. Crazy life. We'll see if anything actually happens with this one!

le tired

Sorry I've been MIA on the blog for the past few days. Here's a recap.

Friday: After leaving work at lunch time, I had an appt at Clinique to have my makeup done because I was buying new foundation, etc. I love having other people do my makeup..it always looks much better than when I try! I shopped around a little at the mall & went to Old Navy, which had NONE of the cute things I saw online in the store. So disappointing, but probably a good thing because I shouldn't be spending money on clothes I don't need. I waited in line to get gas for $3.59/gal, and luckily I was able to fill up before everywhere started ridiculously jacking up prices above $4. The rest of the day consisted of being lazy, eating dinner and going to the The Women with Sara. Really good movie, lots of famous ladies in it. I recommend it, but its definitely a girls only kind of film:)

Saturday: Got up, went to my grandpa's house to start cleaning out some of the junk now that he has moved to the assisted living place. Its going to be quite an ordeal getting that place emptied out! Went back home to get ready for a bridal shower. The shower was really fun--in a gorgeous house in North Raleigh, lots of ladies sitting around chatting and eating pretty finger foods. Kim got some really great stuff for the new house too! That night I finally went over to Sara's for our long-planned sleepover. We went out to dinner and spent the night watching the Coco Chanel lifetime movie and wishing that we had a Chanel wardrobe.

Sunday: We caught up on plenty of girl chatting/venting/complaining, which is necessary sometimes. We also managed to learn how to use my dad's power drill to put up Sara's new curtains in her guest room. This was obviously a thrill! I went home later in the afternoon and went to my grandparent's house for dinner that night--yummy as usual.

Monday: Didn't go into the office because I had an interview in Virginia for the job I phone-interviewed for last week. Drove up in the morning with my parents, went downtown to try and find an apartment guide, had lunch, rode by a couple of (crappy) apartments, then had an interview at the bank's corporate headquarters. Everyone was really nice--a woman prayed with me in the elevator on the way to my interview hah!--and I think it went well. Then she sent me to a branch location for another interview that lasted almost 2 hours. Obscene. To me, this was complete overkill, especially for a job that isn't going to pay me that much in the first place! But I made it through finally, and was completely exhausted at the end of the day. We started home, went to Cracker Barrel on the way, and finally got back around 10 last night. Long day, but hopefully worthwhile in the end.

Needless to say today i'm exhausted and am planning on going to bed at 9 pm! I've got a few errands to run after work, but if its pouring rain like it is right now, i'll probably (thankfully) go straight home. At least Tuesday is almost over yay!

RIP, TRL

This is tragic. I miss the good old days of TRL circa 1998-2002, when I watched religiously every day at 3:30 pm. I guess TRL has been going downhill since then--I sadly haven't seen it since high school. Long live the days of the BSB, NSync, Britney and, of course, Carson Daly! The Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus definitely don't even compare.

Honestly?

Lauren Conrad, fiction author? Seriously people...the world has obviously run out of talent if she has scored a 3-book deal. How did this happen?

Blah

Nothing new to speak of.

I've spent the morning prematurely researching apartments in Richmond. Mostly looking at pretty pictures of the ones I can't afford, and unfortunately writing down the info for the crappy ones that I can afford. I hate not having any money. Living at home and having no expenses is fantastic. 100% of my paycheck is expendable income! Bright side: moving out=adventure, independance, a little excitment in my life. Down side: no money, making new friends, no more shopping whenever I want. Sigh.

To do:
1. Make an appt to have makeup done tomorrow. I need new foundation, so i'm going to the mall to have them find my perfect shade for me because I suck at picking out makeup.
2. Email the bank I interviewed with in Chapel Hill/start harrassing them to give me a job.
3. Bed Bath & Beyond to get a bridal shower gift for this weekend.

Also, i'm definitely thinking about 9/11 today...very hard not to. Its a gray soggy day, and I think that's pretty appropriate.

washout

Just got back from lunch with a co-worker and now i'm sitting at my desk soaking wet from the thigh down becasue its POURING rain haha. Lovely. We went to a really cute little sandwich shop with pretty paintings on the wall and linen tablecloths. So pretty! And it was in an old area of downtown Raleigh which I love--maybe one day i'll actually have enough money to buy a house somewhere down there.

I had my phone interview yesterday with a bank in Richmond. It went really well, and i'm going up there on Monday for an in-person interview and a visit to one of their branches. The job actually seems like something I'd really enjoy, and it would be an awesome way to get my foot in the door in banking--which has been my goal all along. The only problem is that it would be base salary plus commission, and the base salary is reeeeally low. So i'm not even sure that I could actually afford the move. I don't really know anyone in the area, so living by myself would be expensive. And, in general, Richmond is more expensive than Raleigh anyway. Sigh. Nothing is ever perfect. I'm just going to go up on Monday and get a feel for it. If its actually fiscally possible, then maybe i'll go for it and finally be legitamitly employed! Its definitely exciting no matter what the outcome.

Birthday Countdown Begins

Nothing much to update on today. I've got an exciting phone interview in about an hour. Hopefully it'll go well and they'll want to see my beautiful self in person haha! I have a good feeling about this one. Otherwise, I've got to run a few errands tonight after work. Maybe the bank and Target. I'm going to save anything else for my Friday afternoon. I just hope its not rainy and disgusting this afternoon...I hate driving home in gross weather.

One hilarious thing to share: I got my last Wake Forest yearbook in the mail yesterday, and magically opened up to the Phi Mu page. Not only is there a picture of just my head--not doing anything fun, or with other people, just me--but there is a full page blow up of Erin, my former roomie, and one other girl in our sorority. Hahaha. It was so amazing that I had to call Erin to inform her of it--she'll hopefully get her yearbook today and can enjoy her giant photo herself.

Birthday countdown: 15 days! Wooo! I'm thinking of going to the new Raleigh McCormick and Schmick's for my b-day dinner. I've heard really great things.

shopaholic

Another Monday at the office. This past weekend was uneventful. Mostly just hung around my house, ate too much food, did more purging of my closet and read plenty of magazines. Luckily the tropical storm wasn't bad, and it just did a lot of raining..not too windy or scary. Yesterday I spent most of the afternoon with Sara watching Sex and the City dvds and complaining about men. Its always fun to have those days:)

This week shouldn't be too bad. Tomorrow I have my last scheduled interview--for now. It sounds really interesting and will hopefully go well! Bad thing about phone interviews: no facial expressions/body language to gauge how things are going. Good thing about phone interviews: no suit wearing required! Otherwise, I think i'm going out for lunch with a co-worker tomorrow. I've also already set aside Friday afternoon for some serious shopping. I've got to get another bridal shower gift for this weekend. Everyone needs to stop getting married! Also, I was browsing the Old Navy & Gap websites this morning, and there is some great stuff! I usually hate Old Navy, but I'm definitely going to go try some stuff on this week. It looks great online, but who knows once I get up close in the store.

From ON's new fall stuff:

Another list

Things I will most likely do this weekend:

1. Read Cosmo and/or my current book, I Was Told There'd Be Cake
2. Get rained on by mean Tropical Storm Hanna
3. Have a few phone convo catch-ups
4. Eat yummy food
5. Continue the excavation of my junk from my room/house
6. Go to a free concert tonight (if its not pouring)
7. Watch bad ABC Family channel movies
8. Try to get some exercize
9. Buy a new dvd player
10. Sleep!

hurricane a'coming

Went to the grocery store last night, and loved the fact that the store had stocked up on bread, milk, and they had even moved cases of bottled water to the front of the store. Gotta love hurricane season in the South. Hopefully it won't actually be horrible, but I guess it is supposed to rain for the next few days. Blah. This morning I turned down that job offer I had mentioned earlier. After too much thinking about it, my gut feeling kept saying no. Even my parents agreed that I made the right decision in declining, so I definitely feel good about it. Yesterday afternoon I had a great interview with the place I'd LOVE to work. A few minutes after that, I got a call from a family friend who's the president of a bank in VA. He told me that his bank has an opening that i'd be great for, so now i've got another phone interview there next week. So, me being the fate-believer that I am, I took all that as I sign that there's definitely bigger and better things on the horizon. And now i'm a baller who turns other people down, instead of vice versa:)

Today i'm not feeling so hot. I'm sticking it out here at the day job as long as I can, but i'm not sure i'm going to stay all day. I might just need a sleeping/tylenol/hot chocolate afternoon, or if it gets worse I might drag myself to my favorite urgent care that brought me back to life after mono. We shall see.

Overall, i'm feeling pretty great about life. Lots of new possibilities, which could include moving out on my own to a new place, and maybe reuniting with some friends who I would absolutely love to see. And my birthday is in 20 days, and i've been thinking about what kind of spectacular celebration I want. Can't wait!

Side note: I definitely heard Darius Rucker's (aka Hootie) new country cong on the radio this morning...tear.

NO!!

I just read on wikipedia that Hootie & the Blowfish announced last week that they are no longer making new albums or touring so that Darius Rucker, the lead singer, can give his country music career a try! This is devastating news! My favorite band since 5th grade and my first concert ever. At least Matthew and I got to see them 2 years ago on their last major tour. Sigh...oh the memories.

Also, today is my very very important phone interview for a very exciting job! Eek so exciting/scary!

Happy September!

I've been so preoccupied with my crazy life changes/new decisions, that I almost forgot its finally September, my favorite month of the year! Not only is it my birthday month (yay!), but its also the start of fall, cooler weather, and pretty fall clothes. I still get that sense of newness and anticipation from beginning a new school year--even though i'm definitely not in school anymore. But I still love this month and this time of year. There's something fresh and crisp about the start of this new season. And, I realize that fall doesn't officially arrive until a couple of days before my b-day, but I feel kind of like its coming early right now. If only the weather would actually start to cool...i'm definitely over the 90+ temps every day.

Obviously yesterday I received a job offer and wasn't really sure what I was going to do. I think i've made my choice, but i'm not going to write anything down to jinx anything. And i've also got some negotiating still going on in my brain, so who knows what the end result will really be. I'll definitely update whenever I finally decide for good!

Job Offer

Just got back to the office and i'm definitely feeling more conflicted than ever. Shouldn't a long anticipated job offer feel better than this? I really hate all this thinking and planning and weighing options. This shouldn't be so hard! So, i'm sure this will be a long afternoon of me pro/con-ing and probably not making much progress.

Nervous/Excited

In my world, where little happens & even the smallest thing is reason for celebration, a LOT has been going on in the past 4 days. I've gone from being an unemployable loser to someone with lots of potential that's about to be realized(?), and i've actually been having a really good time. Weekend recap:

Friday. I was at the office in the morning as usual. Right before I left around lunch time, I read the news that John McCain picked first term governor of Alaska Sarah Palin to be his first mate..running mate, whatever. At first I thought that this was crazy and unrealistic, but the more I think about it, the more I like it. Gov. Palin seems like a great woman who truly and deeply believes in things that are important to her, and I can definitely respect that. She is more conservative than I am on some things, but I still appreciate her ideals. And I really like the fact that she's a wild-woods ex-beauty queen Alaskan with 5 kids and good hair. I'd really like to see her in the White House.

Also on Friday, I went to get my oil changed which took forever. But while I was waiting I got two phone calls: one for a second interview this morning at 10, where I think I may be offered a job. The other was from my dream job place of work, and I have a phone interview with them tomorrow. Normally I think options are a great thing, but my current options are stressing me out. I thought the day I was offered a job (finally), I would jump for joy and immediately sign on the dotted line. And now I might be in that situation this morning (knock on wood), and i'm not completely thrilled because I know that there's a small possibility that something bigger and better is looming out there. Still not sure what i'm going to do if i'm actually presented the options that I think I will be, but i've definitely got that nervous excitment going on right now. More updates to come i'm sure.

Saturday. Drove up to the mountains in Virginia with my parents for the world's biggest labor day weekend flea market. It didn't disappoint, as usual. I got a great Coach knock-off and some other odds and ends. I just love looking around at all the crap for sale and people watching. Needless to say I was exhausted by the time we got home and passed out in my bed until Sunday morning. Sunday was nothing too special. Went to church for the first time in a long while, did some closet reorganization with my fall clothes, and went out to dinner with the fam.

Monday. Lots of cleaning and organizing. Chick-fil-a was giving out free chicken strips to anyone wearing their favorite football team logo, so of course I went all decked out in WF stuff. The strips were very tasty. Last night I went over to Sara's boyfriend's new house to have dinner with them which was lots of fun. They are one couple that I don't feel totally third wheel-like when its just the 3 of us hanging out--definitely a good thing. I ate waaay too much chips and dip, but we had a really good time and I got to try this new kind of fruity beer which I actually liked!

So, today is Tuesday and its back to the office as usual. I've got to leave in a few minutes and go out for my interview. I hope I can bring my shrewd negotiating skills to the table (if I need them). Wish me luck!