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!!