New job has begun!

Today was the first day of work at my new office, and I really think i'm going to love it there! I'm officially a bank employee--dream come true, haha! The building is nice, the people are nice, and its literally walking distance from North Hills in Raleigh so I can go to Panera or Target or shoe shopping on my lunch break yay! Tomorrow my two bosses are taking me out to lunch--should be fun.

Today was mostly boring, orientation-type stuff, but I got to shadow a few people in the department to start learning what they do. I think it'll be really interesting. Tomorrow i'm going to take a couple of pictures and my coffee mug to make my new work home a little more cozy.

Blogging is officially off limits at the office, so my posts will probably become less frequent. But, judging from the fact that I didn't go online at all today, i'll probably actually be motivated to turn my computer on at home, so hopefully i'll update then!

lovely friday

My week of vacation is officially over today--boo. Its amazing how much faster the days go by when I'm not doing much of anything and not sitting in an office. Although, I am pretty excited about starting my new job on Monday! I will definitely miss the getting up whenever I want and going wherever I want. Sigh.

I've got a couple of errands to run today--opening a new bank account at my new bank(!), and tonight i'm going out in downtown Raleigh for margaritas with my other Brittany. I'll probably spend the night downtown with her too--yay! I haven't been "out" in a looong time, so i'm looking forward to it. I baked some really delicious banana bread this morning, curtesy of Paula Deen, and she didn't let me down. It was fabulous. Hopefully i'll also get to vote early this weekend yay!

I had a major shopping trip on Monday, which included buying this dress from Forever 21. Its very unlike me to buy anything thats not a solid--or bascially anything exciting at all while shopping alone, haha. But I think I made a good choice. Mine is green instead of pink, with smaller flowers and little black and gold striping around the side.

Currently: watching The Golden Girls and eating breakfast. I love days off.

Yesterday I went to the fair for the second time with my mom and grandpa. We had a pretty good time looking at all the exhibits again, and, of course, eating. I had a footlong hotdog, a ham biscuit and a HUGE cup (more like a tub) of cookie dough ice cream. Yumm. Of course, this means that since my fair visits are officialy over, my post cruise & post fair diet begins. Nothing drastic, I just need to lose a little bit and shape up before the holidays. We'll see how it goes.

Its finally cooling off here--the high today is 59! I love fall. Today I have no plans--maybe some de-cluttering of my room. I desperately need to continue cleaning out my closet. I've also got plenty of paperwork to fill out for my new job! I found out that I only get 1 day off for Christmas and Thanksgiving, which isn't great. Its very strange, because I get off Veteran's Day and President's Day, but not Christmas Eve. Oh well. I'll have earned some vacation days by then, so maybe i'll be able to take off anyway.

Pretty fall in NC picture just for fun:

Pics from vacation

Here's a few very belated pictures from my cruise at the beginning of the month--enjoy!



New York City from the cruise ship!


Me on the "titanic", haha.


Our cruise ship in St. John, Canada.


Chocolate midnight buffet!


A piece of the Berlin wall at the JFK museum in Boston!

I heart time off from work.

Since I got my new job last week (yay!), I have this entire week to do anything I want/absolutely nothing, and its amazing. The fair was great on Friday--in almost 6 hours there, I managed to ride 5 rides, collect zillions of free pens, pencils, stickers, and ate a turkey leg, fudge elephant ear, pork loin sandwich and some hish puppies. Delicious. I'm probably going back tomorrow to take my grandpa--fair overload!

Nothing too exciting this weekend--mostly stayed around the house, and then went to the parade of homes with Erin. We toured so many amazing houses--we didn't bother with anything under $1M, haha. So, whenever we make our fortunes, we'll know exactly what kind of enormous house we want to buy.

Yesterday I had to get drug tested and finger printed for my new job--pretty intense! Thank goodness i'm not a criminal. Went out to lunch with my mom, then did some marathon shopping at the mall. I'm so proud of myself--not only did I use 4 coupons that I had gotten in the mail, but I got a good chunk of Christmas shopping done because the sales we so great! I just hope I don't forget about all of this stuff under my bed in 2 months.

I got the job!!

I just found out that I got the job in Raleigh that i've really been hoping for--YAY! So excited, to say the least. Today is my lucky day! Hooray!

Last Day

This will be the last blog from my office! Very strange since I bascially only blog from here when i'm sitting at the computer endlessly. And i'm not sure if i'll be as able to write at my new job (whichever job that may be...), so i'll keep you updated on that.

Today is definitely bittersweet. My co-workers surprised me with breakfast this morning--Panera bagels and cream cheese anf fresh fruit, and a balloon for my chair! They are so great and I really will miss them a lot. But, if I end up staying in Raleigh, it'll be easy for me to keep in touch. And thank goodness for email.

Otherwise, today is finally one of my favorite days of the year--State Fair day! Yipee! I'll be leaving here in a couple of hours, dropping off my suit at the cleaners, then i'm off to begin my afternoon-long feast. So excited. I just hope the rain/weird cold weather will hold off until later tonight when i'm exhausted and in bed by 10pm on a Friday. This weekend i'm finally going to make it to the Parade of Homes with Erin, so we can go to giant gorgeous houses and pretend like we live there, then go to tiny condos that we may actually be able to afford one day. And I have Monday and Tuesday off before I start my new job in Cary on Tuesday! I might be going to Winston with Sara sometime before next Wednesday, too. I'm looking forward to going since I haven't been there since May, so we'll see what happens:)

Almost the end

Today is my last full day at work! I am pretty thrilled about this right now:) Its funny--I always complain about boredom and the lack of steady work to keep me busy, but then when they do ask me to do things (particularly things that require me to leave my desk), I feel bitter and put out, haha. I'm just strange.

Went to lunch at a really cute outdoor garden center/giftshop/outdoor cafe today. I had chicken salad with pineapple and almonds in it, which was absolutely delicious. I desperately want to nap because i'm so full--hopefully i'll recover in the 1.5 hours before I leave work.

I'm also still waiting around for the phone call about the job that I really want in Raleigh. Supposedly they'll call me today or tomorrow. If I get an offer before next week when I start my less desirable job, then I can quit before I start, haha! But alas, whats meant to be will be. Tomorrow is the state fair yipeee! Also, today's is Kristin's 24th B-day! Yay!

Stuff White People Like

I found this blog a few weeks ago, and it is actually very funny and true. I looked through the entire list of "stuff that white people like", and probably identified with more than 80% haha. I especially enjoyed the David Sedaris entry (number twenty-something)...I have even seen him read his books in person. Typical white person I guess?

How to avoid drunk emailing, or not?

This is hysterical. A couple of weeks ago, I heard about Mail Goggles--something Google came up with to keep people from totally embarassing themselves. It activates between 10pm and 4am on weekends, and is designed to keep people from drunk emailing by making them answer 5 math questions before the mail is sent. Sort of genius, but I definitely have doubts about it. This girl's "test" for Time magazine is pretty hilarious--i'd love to try it too, but it could be dangerous!

very good days

Yesterday I found out that I get to go to Atlanta week after next for an in person interview after 2 rounds of phone interviews! Yay! I never expected to make it even to the second round, so I'm pretty thrilled that they called and I made it to the final round of interviews. The prospect of moving to Atlanta and doing all of the travel that the job would require scares me a little bit, but it would be an amazing opportunity. Other good things: my current food coma after the pot luck lunch at my office, Britney Spears is going on tour again next year!, my interview this afternoon and, of course, the fair is on Friday (i'm obsessed).

Not so good things: said goodbye to Julie yesterday for the next two years. It wasn't as emotional as I expected--mostly because I wouldn't let myself get ridiculous, but its still sad and exciting at the same time. I'm very proud of her. Also, the fact that I have to spend the next hour or so at work studying finance and the economy for my interview this afternoon. Boo. And, i've heard at least 4 Obama radio commercials today already. I will be so thrilled when this election is finally over. I think i'm going to vote early this weekend!
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Because the blog looks boring, here are pictures of a few places other than Raleigh where I'd like to be right now:

On Economics

I bought my fair tickets last night, so now I am eagerly anticipating Friday at approximately noon! I plan on eating all of the following: a turkey leg, fudge elephant ear, footlong hot dog and fried pickles. And if someone offers me a bite of deep fried candy bar, I definitely wouldn't turn that down either. Today: post office to mail the bday box, since Columbus closed the PO yesterday, and saying goodbye to my bff for two years:(
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One of my best friends is a 7th grade math and social studies teacher, and she asked me to answer a bunch of questions about the economy for her curious students. Here are my replies, to share my love of economics with the leaders of tomorrow! Hahaha. (Notice the interspersed exclamation points).


What is the economy?
The economy is made up of all the things that we buy and sell within our country and throughout the world (different markets). Every country has its own economy—made up of its own money and industries. The economy is made up of money—from taxes, people’s savings and the money that companies make by doing business. The general economy also includes factors like inflation (rise in prices of things you buy everyday), the stock market and unemployment rates, as well as many other things!

What is North Carolina’s economy based on?
Our economy is made up of many different parts. We have a lot of agriculture in our state, and many people make a living by farming and selling the food that they grow. The majority of our economy is made up of people who work in “private industry”—that can be anything from banks and other big companies, to grocery stores and gas stations. All of these businesses are “for profit”, and that is how the majority of people in NC earn their money, and contribute to the economy. Also, our current unemployment rate is 6.9%. That means that 6.9% of people in the state who are looking for a job cannot find one. That number is a little higher than usual because of all the problems you have been hearing about in the United States’ economy.

What is the stock market, how do you buy a stock and what is an average price for stock?
The stock market is made up of all different stocks of companies in the United States (every country has its own stock market). When a company wants to raise money to expand its business, it will offer stock in the company for sale. People like us can buy shares (individual pieces of stock) in the company to help them raise their money, and in turn, we get to own a little piece of that company and are called a “shareholder”. You can buy a share from someone called a stock broker—it is their job to help people buy and sell stocks, and sometimes manage people’s “portfolios”, a combination of all the different stock they own. The value of the shares changes all the time depending on how many people are buying and selling their shares. If a lot of people want to buy the shares at one time, then the price will go up because there aren’t enough shares to go around, and people are willing to pay more for them. The opposite is true if lots of people want to sell at one time, then the value goes down. There is no average price for stock—it all depends on the company. For example, a share of Google right now costs $371, while a company like Wal-Mart costs $54. A company called Berkshire Hathaway has shares that cost $120,000 each!


What happens when the economy goes down too much, what happens when the economy is good, and what will the economy look like in the future?
When the economy is bad, like it has in the past few months, a lot of things go on in our country. Often, more people will be unemployed and prices will be inflated, so people generally don’t have as much money to spend on unnecessary things like clothes and going out to eat. That also makes the stock market go down because people do not have as much money to spend in their communities, and the companies in the stock market do not make as much profit and not as many people want to buy shares of stock. When the economy is good, the opposite is true! There is less unemployment, people have more money to spend on the fun things (like shopping and going out to eat), and companies make profit because all those people are spending that extra money in their communities. There is really no way to know for sure what the economy will be like in the future, but it does have patterns of recessions (the bad times—we are in one now) and expansions. Recessions usually last about a year, and then the markets will slowly start to recover. This means that more jobs will be created and companies will start making profit again. Sometimes the government will cut taxes to try to stimulate the economy.

Will we go into another “Great Depression”?
There is no certain answer, but I think that we probably will not. Even though the economy is bad right now and we are in a recession, we have a lot of laws and government regulation in place to help prevent another Great Depression. For example, banks are insured by the government so that your money is guaranteed up to $100,000 in any one bank—that wasn’t true in the Great Depression of the 1930s!

How will other countries be affected by our economy?
Our economy is definitely a global one! The United States has the biggest economy in the world, and lots of other countries look to us for signs of how good or bad the world’s economy is doing. They even lend us money when we need it by buying our “treasury bonds”. Many companies who do business in the US also operate in countries around the world. The US also lends money to other countries very often, so when we do not have as much money to lend, it hurts other countries too.

What is the bailout plan, will it put the government into debt and will taxes go up?
The bailout plan is a $700 billion plan to rescue many of the banks in the US that are in financial trouble. The current financial “crisis” began mostly because of something called sub-prime mortgages. This means that banks were lending money to people to buy houses that they could not afford—these people did not have enough money to pay back their loans in the long run, and many of them could not even make the first payment. Many banks had lent out most of their money to people who could not pay them back, and then ran out of money all together. The bailout plan will help to refund those loans to the banks, so that they can start to function normally again (lending money and collecting interest from people who can actually afford to pay them back). Yes, the bailout plan will put the government into more debt and yes, taxes will go up because the government is funded by tax payers. This doesn’t mean that taxes will go up a lot right now and we will pay it all back very fast! Most likely taxes will increase in very small amounts and the $700B will be paid back over time.

Why are there so many foreclosures?
Like I mentioned above, many of the people in the sub-prime mortgage crisis attempted to buy homes that they could not afford, and then could not repay their home loans. When a person does not pay their mortgage (for a certain period of time—usually a few months to a year), the bank steps in a takes the house because the bank is the real owner and the person who took out the loan is repaying the bank. A foreclosure happens when the bank takes over the home and tries to sell it to someone else (usually at a discounted price) so they can make the money back on the original loan.

Does the economy influence healthcare?
Yes, the economy does influence healthcare. Unfortunately when the economy is bad, more people go without healthcare insurance because they cannot afford it. Also, the cost of many supplies or medicines may go up as well, because of inflation.

Why has the cost of groceries gone up over time?
There are lots of reasons for this. The first is that, with inflation, the cost of living has gone up over time, so the farmers that grow produce have to sell their goods at a higher price to be able to earn a living. Second, the cost of gas has gone up a lot recently, so it costs more to transport groceries from farms and companies who make other products, to your grocery store. And, again, inflation in general has caused prices of lots of different things to rise, and the same is true for groceries.

I think I definitely have a future as a children's author about economic issues! Not.

Only in NC

I just found this Sweet 16 bracket (NCAA tournament style) of the 16 best state fair foods. I love North Carolina!

Also, the Dow has finally cracked 9000 again. Hooray!

Fair countdown begins!

Today is my last Monday at my current job. As much as I complain about boredom or being ready to move on, I am really going to miss this office. I love the people I work with and do enjoy the work. But, its definitely time for a change--and i'm excited that this is my last week! Should go by quickly.
This weekend was nice. Friday I spent the night with Sara. We went out for dinner, came back and ate loads of funfetti cake while we watched the Sex and the City movie. Pretty fabulous evening. Saturday I went into a cleaning frenzy after I got back home. I went to dinner with the whole fam for my cousin's birthday on Saturday night--I had an amazing crab burger. So good. But unfortunately I got an awful headache on the way home and couldn't get rid of it all night. So, I missed Acree's birthday party, which I was really looking forward to:( Oh, well. We'll just have to plan another night to go out and have fun since I missed out this time. Yesterday I did absolutely nothing. I didn't leave the house all day--just watched tv and read my new book. I love relaxing days like that.
Of course, today it was back to work, but there's lots to look forward to this week. Last week at the office. Seeing Julie one last time before she leaves. Pot luck lunch at work on Wednesday with lots of yummy homemade food (i'm making my world famous chocolate chip pound cake). And most importantly--the STATE FAIR on Friday!! I don't care how greasy/dusty/crowded the fair might be, I look forward to it every year and I know it'll be just as amazing as it always is. So excited.

To do this week:
1. Mail K's birthday box (boo Columbus Day and the closed post office).
2. Grocery store for cake supplies.
3. Bake cake for Wednesday.
4. Mall to buy advance fair tickets.
5. Yet another interview on Wednesday (yay!).

Damn, it doesn't feel so great to be a banker...

The Dow closed around 8500 yesterday. For those of you who aren't as obsessive about finance as myself, this is NOT GOOD. Actually, its REALLY REALLY BAD. It really pains me that something I love some much, finance (pronounced fih-nance), has gone from the top of the world to crumbling right in front of me in the matter of 6 months. I know that things weren't looking great a year ago when I was sitting in International Finance with my very most favorite professor as we watched the dollar plummet day after day, but who knew it would get this bad? My fellow finance-lovers and I would sit around talking about the markets and how we'd be making tons of money in the not so distant future, and being general assholes as was to be expected. But then it became harder for us to get jobs as the year went on. Some who actually had job offers on Wall St. had those offers taken away from them before they even got the chance to move to New York. I graduated without an offer, but didn't think much about landing one by the end of summer. September came and went, and here I am still without a job that 2 years ago I could've eaily gotten. Sigh. Lehman Brothers failed, AIG failed, Fannie and Freddie failed, and then even Wachovia...no one saw this coming. I definitely picked the worst time in history to graduate with a degree in finance--a field that in 2004, the beginning of my time as Wake, everyone thought was the smartest pick I could've made. I'd have a job before I graduated and would never be unemployed! If only that were still true. In the end, I wouldn't change anything. I love my field--it never ceases to amaze me and fascinate me in new ways, and the market will turn around again eventually. Its just sad to see something I enjoy so much and something seemingly unbreakable be reduced to nothing.

Here's Radar's wrapup of all the major paper's financial headlines today. Priceless.

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Finally Friday--my second to last one at my office! Today i'll leave around lunch time as usual, go to the bookstore, finish reading Chasing Harry Winston, buy a couple gifts for Julie and K then most likely go home and laze around until my sleepover with Sara tonight. Pretty great Friday. This weekend I have 2 birthday events to attend, and its the Parade of Homes time--when I get to go and tour around all the gorgeous new $1M+ homes in the area and pretend like I could live there:) Maybe this year i'll actually take in a few condos too--something slightly more realistic but much less exciting.

Deacs won last night! Go Wake!

Politics

I don't hide my political views at all, but I've been so tired of the election coverage lately that I never want to talk about it, and I certainly don't want to write about it here. I'm sick and tired of one-sided media and many of the absolutely ridiculous things they broadcast on a daily basis. But I am certainly still interested and I read as much news (unbiased--hah!) as I can. I really like this that I read on Kristin's blog today. It is well put and eye-opening. No matter your views, please read this on her blog.

Also, I think Sarah Palin is fantastic and I don't apologize for that! There, I said it!

reunited, and it feels so good.

I finally made a hotel reservation and ordered my homecoming football tickets this morning! I'm really looking forward to going back to Wake for the weekend and seeing a few friends and the football game. In a way, i'm also dreading it a little because I haven't been back to Winston since graduation. I know its going to feel strange when I finally do go back--everyone else's lives (who are younger) have been going on just like normal there, and I really don't belong anymore. Alas..getting older is a pain. But it should be fun and i'm excited that its less than a month away. Plus, I have another reunion planned for the weekend before Thanksgiving with even more friends there. Still need hotel for that weekend...one step at a time! Lots to look forward to.

Thank goodness I managed to get through my phone interview yesterday without losing my voice or coughing up a lung. And my voice is semi-back to normal today so I can finally talk on the phone again! I think the interview went well--the next step would be for them to fly me to Atlanta for a face to face--exciting! I need to go by Border's today or tomorrow to pick up a couple of things. I want to get Julie a going away present, but i'm not sure what to buy. I figure a book is good and not too big so she can carry it overseas with her. I also want to buy Clinton Kelly's (from What Not To Wear) new book Freakin Fabulous. He's going to be at a cocktail benefit in Raleigh in a couple weeks, and I'm on the verge of buying tickets just to meet him. I adore him on the show and think that we could be best friends haha. But thinking of what to wear to the party is very intimidating!

edit: GO DEACS tonight!! Beat Clemson!

La Di Da

I had a delicious dinner of mall food court chinese food with the bff last night, then walked around the mall and tried on teeny bopper "prom dresses", if you consider something that barely covers the butt a prom dress, and took crazy pics of ourselves in the dressing room. Thats the kind of stuff i'll probably miss the most:) Luckily I told her that I have to see her at least once more before she leaves next week, so last night wasn't the last night, yet.

Other good news is that i'm finally feeling more normal, although i've got a really scratchy deep voice thing going on today--should be lovely for my very important phone interview. Oh life! I know that today is going to be a good day, because one of my co-workers brought in a box of Krispy Kremes, and its physically impossible for me to say no to one of those. Also, i'm desperately trying to finish my current book Chasing Harry Winston, by the chick who wrote the Devil Wears Prada--its overdue at the library so I might just be doing a little reading at the office today, which is okay by me.

Things that make me happy today:
1. Green Tea to go honey and lemon flavor
2. Krispy Kreme donuts
3. My newly framed watercolor of the Krispy Kreme in downtown Raleigh (noticing a theme..)
4. Phone interviews with important people
5. The fact that now that i'm in the "real world", I can read crappy beach reads like Chasing Harry Winston all the time!
6. Sleepover this weekend

Things that make me unhappy:
1. The Dow closed at 9447 yesterday. Honestly, I could never have picked a worse time to try and get a job in finance. Haha.
2. My scratchy gross voice for my phone interview.
3. BFF moving away.

Links Galore

A few funny things to check out today:

Kate Moss golden statue/"art"
Good luck selling that sucker for anywhere near the $18M asking price.

"How to become a Playboy Bunny or one of Hef's girlfriends"
Maybe if the whole banking thing doesn't work out...

A little something from Paris fashion week
I particularly enjoyed the tall pink mohawk on the end.

good tuesday

Yesterday my interview went reeeally well. At least, I think it did. Let's hope so! Its the first job i've interviewed for in a while that I really want. Badly. So fingers crossed everyone! Today I finally talked with someone from the bank I interviewed with in Richmond, and she offered me the job, which I turned down. Its really a shame because I think I could've gotten used to moving up there, and I actually enjoyed the bank atmosphere and all the people I met. The salary just wasn't really enough to justify the move to live alone in a new city--very expensive. Alas...another right choice, I think. Let's just hope someone else comes through for me this week!

Life is good. My bff is back in town for a mere two weeks before leaving for overseas for the next two years. I already had to say goodbye to her for 3 months for her training, but this is obviously going to be even worse. We're not best friends in the sense that we spend every moment together--we never have been. But she has been there for me since middle school, whenever I wanted to pick up the phone or sing random Broadway songs, whatever. I'm used to going periods of time without seeing her, but just the fact that I know I can't for the next two years is rough. Not looking forward to the permanent goodbye, but hopefully we'll be having dinner tonight which I'm excited about. Otherwise, i'm trying to be positive and happy about all the crazy job stuff thats going on in my life. I'm really looking forward to getting something--almost anything--at this point just to have some stability and something to look forward to. This weekend i'm having another lovely sleepover with SCD and then a belated family birthday celebration on Saturday night and yet another birthday party to attend. Hopefully i'll be germ-free by then.

the blog is back!

I'm finally back from my fabulous vacation, so I thought i'd update all of my very eager and numerous (hah) readers about my life for the past 10 or so days!

Friday night before I left I had a great birthday dinner with friends from Wake and from Raleigh. We had a nice time even though the band was cancelled, and its always good to see friends--we need to start doing it more often. Saturday morning we got up early and hit the road for New Jersey (eww). We made a couple of stops along the way and finally got to the hotel about 45 mins from NYC around early evening. The next morning, we got up and drove into the city. It didn't take very long, and I actually managed to get my family to Central Park and Times Square without using the GPS! I didn't know I had that much directional knowledge in me (and I know Kristin will be proud)! We finally parked at the pier, got on the ship and immedaitely began eating (the overall theme of the week). Sunday night and Monday were at sea, so we mostly just continued eating, went to the casino a little, played trivia and shopped on board the ship. Luckily we managed to completely avoid the hurricane. The radar looked like it was going to hit us really hard (first hurricane in the Maine/Canada region in 17 years...what are the odds?), but I guess there wasn't enough warm water to sustain it, and we really didn't have any bad weather at all thank goodness!

Tuesday we docked in Halifax, Nova Scotia and walked around the town for the morning. We went to the Titanic museum there and saw lots of cool things from the ship and other shipwrecks. Halifax was a much bigger city than I expected. Lots of big downtown buildings and pretty waterfront condos. We did a little shopping and then went back to the ship, of course, to eat. Wednesday we went to St. John, New Brunswick in Canada. This was a more typical coastal Canada town. Lots of ship building and pretty gingerbread style houses in different colors. We took a tour bus around town and to the Bay of Fundy--a place where two waters (the north Atlantic and something else) meet, and the water actually changes directions right there. That was pretty interesting, and the town was really pretty. Almost enough to want to live there, if there wasn't 10 ft of snow in the winter:)

Thursday we got back to the US and went into Boston for the day. I sadly didn't get a chance to meet up with Em because of having to go through customs on the ship that morning, but she did give me excellent T directions to the JFK museum. We spent most of the morning at the beautiful museum by the harbor. Then we went back into the city and toured around the Freedom Trail and other places in downtown Boston. Friday morning we got to Martha's Vineyard a little late. The water isn't deep enough there for the ship to dock right by the shore, so we had to take smaller tender boats to land. This was probably the most eventful part of the trip--the water was so choppy that the waves actually went all the way over the top of the little enclosed boat! Thank goodness I didn't get seasick! We finally made it to shore, and took a bus tour of the island. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but Martha's Vineyard was not exactly what I had pictured. It actually reminded me a lot of Beaufort near the good old Emerald Isle, NC. It was nice, and I enjoyed walking around the little shops by the harbor to see the beautiful sailboats, but I guess its the type of place you have to grow up around to really appreciate it enough to pay millions for real estate there. It definitely seemed more like a status thing (obviously) than the fact that the island was just so spectacular. But it was nice and I enjoyed the day there. I enjoyed it even more once we finally got back to the ship on a bigger ferry boat (the wind was up to 50 knots so that small boats were'nt even allowed out by the afternoon eek!). Saturday we docked back in NYC and finally made it back home to NC by 7ish that night.

Overall the week was fantastic. I really enjoyed getting away for a little while, not hearing about the election and turning my cell phone off for a few days. I would have liked a couple more days of sleep, but alas:) I'm unfortunately a little sick right now--my sinuses started going crazy by the end of the trip, but hopefully i'll be back to normal soon. I've got an interview in person for the job I reeeeally want this afternoon(!), so let's hope I don't sneeze all over the person--and wish me luck!

Other news on the job front: I ended up accepting an offer from the crappy job I wrote about a few weeks ago. It really pained me to do it, but I bascially thinking of it as another temporary job, and will definitely keep looking in the meantime. Hopefully something will happen--fingers crossed--before I have to start there in a couple weeks, and I can quit before I even start haha! I just felt like I couldn't turn it down with the way the financial market it right now. I've got the interview today, and then another really great 2nd round phone interview for a job in Atlanta on Wednesday. I could use all the luck I can get! Whew, long post...hopefully i'll get a few pictures up soon!