Monday, February 25, 2008

New Job

So, I started my new job last week. I am the PR and Development Manager. Whatever that means. It is, officially, the coolest job I've ever had. I'm quite pleased they've taken me in. The work they do is inspiring and they do good ALL OVER THE WORLD. Love it. And the work I do is actually fun for me. Not to mention, my commute is 10 minutes and I haven't had to get gasoline for my car in over 4 days, which is probably the first time that's happened in almost two years. Ahhh, how fabulous.

The funniest/oddest part of my job is that it involves quite a bit of PR. You might have guessed that by the title, I suppose. It surprises me, even so. I'm not sure why they structured it this way or entrusted me with this responsibility. I think we both saw my resume. Yet somehow, here I am. Of course, I'm always up for something new and exciting. I look at it as a fun adventure for me. And it's a fabulous outlet for creativity. However, from my organization's perspective, hiring someone so green to PR as I am and just handing it all over like they have... it seems a bit... what's the word... brash? risky? imprudent?

One caveat to this point of view: I have a habit of underestimating myself and thinking less of my experience level than perhaps I should. For example, when I got into the college I had wanted to and which had a reputation for being competitive and selective, my first thought was "I guess they're not so selective after all." Okay, so I still think that.

Anyhow, I started working on the annual report for the organization and slicing and dicing stories that are coming to me. As my work in progress is taking shape, I find myself thinking, "Huh, perhaps they're not as naive as I thought. That's not half bad-- and a *?&! of a lot better than last years, for sure. Why didn't I start doing this earlier?" Who would have thunk it..

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Last Weeks and Weekends

I got back from LA on Sunday night. It was a very fun trip. Jefe was already there for a law conference, so I went out to meet up, talk business and play. Apparently, most lawyers go there for the sex and the open bar. So having two single mormons there is questionable. But I promise, we just went to events and had a good time and did some business planning. No sex, drugs or rock & rolling for us. But we did find a college bar that had foosball and air hockey. Good times. Good times.

Fun highlight: after the Saturday night event they had at the swanky "it" club called The Sky Bar, where we hob-nobbed near the real "it" people who normally go there to feel more important and hip than everybody else on the planet, we went back to the Beverly Hilton and somehow managed to walk up the stairs that landed us (unknowingly, I swear) right within the red carpet area just after the Pre-Grammy celebration had finished. And there they were: Pink, Nelli, Blake Lewis, a bunch of directors I don't know, and some hip and beautiful female R&B/Rap star who had a body guard the size of Godzilla. Just so you know, Pink is a lot more petite in person than you'd think. I think all her music videos make her look kind of big and manly-ish. It's not true. She is officially "little". And for some reason she really likes her jeans, because she has the Seven For All Mankind brand tattooed on the back of her neck. Go figure.

There was no snow there. I really liked that. And I got a pedicure for the 2nd time in my life. I also got to go inside Barney's, Saks, and all the cool Rodeo Drive stores, like Ferragamo, Versace, Valentino, Prada.. I could go on, but I'll spare you. And I'll elaborate more about all the "businessy kind of stuff" on my other website where I'm allowed to rant about fashion and other business-related stuff.

So, now I'm back at work, and it is my last week. I am so glad it is my last week. However, I'm most glad that it is only expected to snow 1-3 inches this week, so the commute won't be terrible. We already have a new "me", so I've been pretty busy training her and have hardly had a moment to think about my new job. And when I'm not at work, I'm hell-bent on trying to get all my research and work done for the business.

The worst of it is I haven't even had a moment to work out, which I very much need to do. I gained three pounds in three days on my trip to LA. In actuality, I think I may have gained three pounds in three hours, when I ate two Godiva chocolate bars and a small bag of beef jerky while waiting at the airport. Yum. Okay, so my jeans felt tight way before that, but I'm gonna guess they didn't help.

Here's to hoping that after this week, I'll have some downtime.

Monday, February 4, 2008

Just as I suspected

This is a fun quiz I found on eclaire's website. I am so democratic. The quiz was pretty insightful. I don't know that it's exactly accurate for me. However, that's mainly because the quiz asked me about several issues which I really haven't done a lot of research on or given a lot of thought to, so I'm not really sure where I stand on them. I should be more vigilant in politics, so I don't have to guess on my opinions. If you want to check it out, go to http://www.gotoquiz.com/candidates/2008-quiz.html.


93% John Edwards
93% Barack Obama
92% Hillary Clinton
91% Bill Richardson
88% Chris Dodd
81% Joe Biden
78% Mike Gravel
74% Dennis Kucinich
49% Rudy Giuliani
41% John McCain
34% Tom Tancredo
30% Mitt Romney
30% Mike Huckabee
20% Fred Thompson
18% Ron Paul

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

Finally!

I swear, I've been on the job search for an eternity. At least it felt like eternity. It's probably been 4 or 5 months. I can't remember when I started. And it's been a long haul. There have been interviews. There have been 2nd interviews. But never the job offer. At least, not from the job I wanted. And then..... it happened! Hurray! Yippee! I can hardly believe it! I can hardly wait! But I have to, for two weeks. If I can survive the commute in the every-other-day-mob-by-snowstorm we've gotten lately, then I will finally be there.

I just got hired by this fabulous nonprofit that ships donated medical supplies all over the world. Yeah! I can finally start helping to save a village in Africa. You've no idea how long I've had that on my to-do list. And they are training me to be their development director. I'm SOOOO excited about that. And the commute is 5 minutes from my house in Salt Lake. How fabulous is that?! I'm already daydreaming about how much extra time I'm gonna have to go to the gym. And I won't really have to work at Chloe Lane. So I can do LOTS of stuff. Like go to church on Sundays. I might even be able to pick up my guitar on occasion. And hang out with people on the weekends. And go to Will's "rock band" parties. Ok, I may or may not do that.

Anywho, I also don't need to get a new car so soon. Thanks for all the feedback, you guys. Really, you're great. But I'm happy to say, though a new car would have been fun, I don't have to get one just yet. I can wait till I can better afford it. And until I can afford the hybrid or diesel version. Double bonus.