Here's a little song about Arlington, Virginia, where we will probably be moving next month. Umm... I think we'll fit in just fine!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Woohoo!
I felt the hard pinch of our recession for the last 6 months. I survived thanks to my amazing fiance, unemployment benefits (I now understand why we pay into that), and my fab part time job at Borders that helped my stretch my unemployment benefits so I was able to continue to pay the majority of my bills and what I contribute to our cost of living (which really means groceries and Target) without going into greater debt and still getting to enjoy life. Finally, I can breathe again and work toward improving my credit score at a faster pace!
A few weeks ago I interviewed for a position at Pew Charitable Trusts and fortunately was not offered the position! I learned about the position through my new friend Colleen who is actually my "Aunt" Sheila's niece. Sheila was our neighbor when we were stationed in England when I was in preschool and kindergarten. Colleen and I went to Temple at the same time but never crossed paths even though Sheila kept encouraging us to meet. Our paths were clearly destined to cross because Colleen lives here in DC as well. Finally, Sheila was in town for work and Colleen and I finally met one night when we joined her for dinner and totally hit it off! Colleen was fortunate to get her position at Pew through a staffing agency and referred me to her position when she received a promotion. Even though I didn't get her position, the recruiting specialist I met, Rakelle, really liked me and was determined to find a position that would be a good fit for me. She found one! Today, I interviewed to be an administrative assistant for the Pew Environment Group, specifically assisting the Global Sharks campaign, the Global Tuna campaign, and the Take Back the Whales campaign. My interview was at 12 and they interviewed the other candidate at 1. At 1:35, I received a voicemail from Rakelle to call back immediately because she had good news. Apparently, I knocked their socks off! Finally!! I knew it felt good through the whole interview! I looked great in my Banana Republic suit, magenta ruffled shirt and sexy lacy heels, with my hair in a sleek, head-banded ponytail, my skin looked clear, and despite my nagging cough, I was able to speak in a calm, clear voice! Finally, someone recognized my skills!! I have skills people!! So, pending my reference calls all go smoothly, and I am positive they will, I will get an official offer next week. I'm so pumped! Pew is an internationally respected organization and I get to help save the whales, sharks, and over-fished tuna!! This is right up my alley!! I start March 6th!!
A few weeks ago I interviewed for a position at Pew Charitable Trusts and fortunately was not offered the position! I learned about the position through my new friend Colleen who is actually my "Aunt" Sheila's niece. Sheila was our neighbor when we were stationed in England when I was in preschool and kindergarten. Colleen and I went to Temple at the same time but never crossed paths even though Sheila kept encouraging us to meet. Our paths were clearly destined to cross because Colleen lives here in DC as well. Finally, Sheila was in town for work and Colleen and I finally met one night when we joined her for dinner and totally hit it off! Colleen was fortunate to get her position at Pew through a staffing agency and referred me to her position when she received a promotion. Even though I didn't get her position, the recruiting specialist I met, Rakelle, really liked me and was determined to find a position that would be a good fit for me. She found one! Today, I interviewed to be an administrative assistant for the Pew Environment Group, specifically assisting the Global Sharks campaign, the Global Tuna campaign, and the Take Back the Whales campaign. My interview was at 12 and they interviewed the other candidate at 1. At 1:35, I received a voicemail from Rakelle to call back immediately because she had good news. Apparently, I knocked their socks off! Finally!! I knew it felt good through the whole interview! I looked great in my Banana Republic suit, magenta ruffled shirt and sexy lacy heels, with my hair in a sleek, head-banded ponytail, my skin looked clear, and despite my nagging cough, I was able to speak in a calm, clear voice! Finally, someone recognized my skills!! I have skills people!! So, pending my reference calls all go smoothly, and I am positive they will, I will get an official offer next week. I'm so pumped! Pew is an internationally respected organization and I get to help save the whales, sharks, and over-fished tuna!! This is right up my alley!! I start March 6th!!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Cali trip
Aside from being sick from half the trip, the rest of our Cali trip was awesome! We checked out a few venues, but no luck yet. We have a backup plan but Ryan wants me to check out a few more options, so I will probably be back in Cali within a few weeks. Ryan was able to spend his birthday with family and friends just like he wanted, well, pretty close. It was raining at the beach most of the time, so he couldn't be there all day every day, but we were able to have Sharkeez outside one day for lunch and he was able to go down for drinks one night. We spent a lot of time just enjoying the company of our family and friends who we miss sooo much! This trip really made us feel homesick and anxious to get back to Cali. Fortunately, we'll be spending a lot of time out there this year with the wedding, my bridal shower and bachelorette, and his bachelor party!!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Finally Back in DC
We went to California for Ryan's 30th birthday and to so some wedding planning and ended up staying a little longer than anticipated. We flew to Cali the day before DC was hit with the storm of the century! Literally! The last time this area saw 30 inches of snow was in the 1920s and, before then, the 1700s! So, yeah, it's pretty rare. Pretty much everything was shut down from noon last Friday until Thursday, which is why we were snowed out! We were supposed to fly back Wednesday but the airports were closed pretty much everywhere in the northeast, so we rescheduled for yesterday and got home safely. It was nice for both of us to spend a few more days in Cali but for different reasons. Ryan got to hang out with his friends and family and I got to lay in bed attempting to recover from a horrible sinus infection. I was in bed all day Monday, made it out for a few hours to have dinner with Christine, but that took all the energy I had left and I was stuck in bed til Thursday afternoon. I managed to make it out of bed to go to dinner on Thursday and to fly home Friday, but now I feel worse than I have in days! I promise I will be at the doctor's on Monday!
Friday, February 5, 2010
Engagement Dinner
We arrived in California at noon yesterday and, despite only getting about 4 hours of sleep at home and an hour or less on the place, we were full of energy and ready to go! We picked up our rental car and headed straight to Huntington Beach where we dined on lobster burritos and chicken flautas at Sharkeez. After spending the last two months in 30 degree weather and feet of snow, it was so delightful to eat lunch outside in sunshine with the ocean breeze drifting around us! Filling Ryan with one of his favorite meals was my secret ploy to get him to be enthusiastic about checking out three potential wedding venues, one in Huntington Beach and two in Newport Beach. We now have it narrowed down to two places and hope to make a decision by the end of our trip to we can put down a deposit! Then everything will be official!
Last night, after flying nearly six hours and checking out our venues, we had a lovely engagement dinner with our families. We just love the Melting Pot! Ryan and I dined there once before, on our fourth anniversary and thought it was so delicious and so much fun, so we were thrilled when his mom suggested we have a little engagement celebration there. It was so nice to be able to look around the table and think, "this is our family, we're going to be a family soon"! It's the perfect place to have a great meal that gets everyone involved and allows for good conversation. Everyone's getting really excited about the wedding! We can't wait!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Stinks
Thank goodness we're going to California tomorrow! I need a dose of happiness! I was referred to a job for a really great company where I would have had amazing benefits, was called on the Friday I submitted my resume, did a first interview Tuesday, and a second interview Wednesday, and was ultimately one of three candidates who received a second interview. Once again, they went with someone else. They really liked me, but it seems I am overqualified.
I don't fit anywhere! I need to add a paragraph to my cover letter that says something like, "my varied experience may or may not qualify me for this job, in fact, when you consider my education, you might think me either under-qualified or over-qualified. If you believe I am a capable candidate, in my interview you will find me pleasant, professional, and knowledgeable, and you may invite me back for a second interview. At this point, however, I suggest you save your time, because even though I am in your top two or three candidates, I will not be your first choice for one of the following reasons: too much education, not enough education, irrelevant education, not enough experience, too much experience, not the right type of experience, desiring too much pay, or too large of a gap in employment, among others. I apologize for wasting your time. Please feel free to disregard my application. Thank you."
I don't fit anywhere! I need to add a paragraph to my cover letter that says something like, "my varied experience may or may not qualify me for this job, in fact, when you consider my education, you might think me either under-qualified or over-qualified. If you believe I am a capable candidate, in my interview you will find me pleasant, professional, and knowledgeable, and you may invite me back for a second interview. At this point, however, I suggest you save your time, because even though I am in your top two or three candidates, I will not be your first choice for one of the following reasons: too much education, not enough education, irrelevant education, not enough experience, too much experience, not the right type of experience, desiring too much pay, or too large of a gap in employment, among others. I apologize for wasting your time. Please feel free to disregard my application. Thank you."
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