Pit and Peak: week of 9.2.13

Ugh, I've hardly posted this week. I've just been so sick that I haven't even had the desire/energy to blog about anything - and blogging is always fun for me, that was a serious problem! Anyways, I am feeling a lotttt better now, so I should have some things to share this week :) But first, the pit and peak of this past week:

Pit: The pit of this week BY FAR was being sick and icky. I even took a day off work for it (a pretty big deal for me because I hate admitting that I am sick. It takes a lot to make me take a break!). I hate just having absolutely no energy and feeling terrible. THE WORST.

Peak: The peak of my week was...GETTING A NEW JOB! Okay, I've been keeping this on the DL, but I've been so unfulfilled at my current position. Idk, I am just so used to being mentally challenged all the time at college and my current job was just not mentally doing it for me. I interviewed while sick and managed to land the position, and I gave my 2 weeks' notice on Friday. Very excited to begin this new role in the advertising industry! I think this will be a muchhh better fit! Also close seconds to this peak: making up with my best friend and moving into my new apartment!

My furniture is supposed to come to my new place this Wednesday. Yes, I am taking a personal day off my current job so I can be there to move in the stuff and get building (hayy Ikea furniture!). Very excited to get everything officially settled.

<3, Charlotte

Pit and Peak: week of 7.29.13

What a perfect photo!

I saw this in a movie (of course now that I'm writing a post on it I'm completely drawing a blank as to what movie it was). Every night at dinner, the family would share the pit (low-point) and peak (high-point) of their day. I have decided to reflect and do this every Sunday night for the previous week. Yes, I know that weeks start on Sunday technically, but I feel like in the real world they start on Mondays because that's when the work week starts and everything is insane!

Pit: The pit of my week was definitely apartment hunting. It's not a specific event, it just has been weighing down on me and I'm starting to get concerned. My roommate is in Chicago right now for training and literally has been the least responsive person ever. It's frustrating me. Idk, tonight I started going on Craigslist and looking for rooms that way - it's a lot easier than brokers and I can meet with the people after work when I am available. We will see what happens...

Peak: The peak of my week I'd say was I think the check-in meeting I had with the HR department of my company. It went REALLYYY well and made me so much more excited about the company I work at! It's awesome to find a place where everyone is so nice and is genuinely looking out for you. :)

Okay, that's all for this post! I guess we will see if I keep doing this in the future!

On to the next week...

<3, Charlotte

The problem with the work day is...

One thing they don't warn you about when you enter the real world is how work makes you put all of your personal life needs on hold. Now, not such a big issue except for the fact that by the time you get out of work, the places you need to go are all closed.

That is what I'm going through right now.

I wanted to meet with a broker tonight to see apartments, but I was told that even 7pm is too late for us to get inside any buildings. Ugh, and it's not like I can just take an hour off of work on the fly or in advance because I have NO IDEA what will come up! (This is why I love being in advertising, but right now it is KILLING ME that this is the case)

So, I have scheduled meetings with brokers to look at apartments on Saturday AND Sunday. Meaning my planned Saturday afternoon at the Smorgasbord in Brooklyn that was supposed to happen with me and my friends no longer can be. :( At least not with me going along.

Real life's so hard!

<3, Charlotte

I've developed a SLIGHT work crush...

About a week before I began my job, I was looking on my company's website. There was an extremely informative article written by a guy that I really really liked. It made me SO incredibly excited to start my job, and I noticed that one of the accounts he works on was the account that I was going to be working on too! I thought it was so neat that I was going to be working with someone who was so knowledgeable about the advertising world and I couldn't wait to meet him.

It had been 3 weeks at my job and I still hadn't run into this advertising genius. I had kinda forgotten about him (other than the fact that I found this official copy of his article lying around the office and hung it up on my desk. What can I say - I'm an advertising nerd). On a Friday afternoon, we had a meeting, so I got there a few minutes early (an EXTREME RARITY for my company, where arriving 5 minutes late would be considered on-time). There were 3 people in the room, 2 of which I knew, and one cute guy that I had never seen before. We introduced ourselves - "Hi, I'm Charlotte!" I said, sticking my hand out for the traditional handshake. "Hi, I'm Scott!" he replied.

I couldn't believe it. It was the guy who had written the article!

Mid-handshake I just paused, looked him in the eye and exclaimed "Oh my goodness, you wrote that article!" I was completely awestruck. His picture both online and in the article that was hanging on my desk looked NOTHING like how he looked in person. He was soooo cute! Oh my, I was enamored.

He laughed (yay, he thought I was funny!) and replied "Yes, yes I am!" Looking around the room, clearly not expecting to be recognized for something that I assume he had written because my agency needed an article for its website. "What a good Friday!" he joked. A guy that is incredibly good-looking AND funny, that's something I could get on board with!

People started filtering in and the meeting began. The entire time, Scott was very professional, but he would sneak little jokes into the conversation. OH, and he is Australian, so he has the BEST accent ever! I was completely smitten. I went back to my desk in disbelief - how could this young, cute guy be so knowledgeable? He was perfect.

Since I had seen him in person, I found out where his desk was. I used to sit far from my team, so when I would go over to converse with them, I passed him every time. COULD ANYTHING BE BETTER IN THIS SITUATION?! Answer: no.

A week later, we all switched desks so that our team could be re-structured and everyone would be in the same area. I was happy to be by my team, but noticed that Scott's desk had moved too! I was a little sad until I creepily found his new desk - we sit kind of almost facing each other. These screens block our faces from actually looking, but it is still amazing.

If you don't think that I am totally weird by this post, congrats! Because I slightly weird myself out in this situation. Obviously nothing will ever happen with us, but it sill brightens up my day when we walk by each other and say "what's up?!"

Oh, I am such a smitten kitten (Phoebe Buffay reference, anyone?!).

<3, Charlotte

No credit is apparently bad credit

Last week, I tried to apply for a credit card. Yesterday morning, I got not one but TWO letters from the bank saying that they couldn't give me a card because of a "lack of credit history".

HAPPY MONDAY TO ME!

One of the beautiful things about America is that you're innocent until proven guilty. CREDIT CARD COMPANIES NEED TO GET WITH THE PROGRAM! I have even been an authorized co-user on my parents card for like 3 years now, so this makes no sense to me. I should have some credit, right?!

At least this lady HAS a card to cut up!

Anyways, it was a bad start to an overall rough day. Work has a HUGE learning curve, but today it was a lotttt better, so I'm hoping the worst is over!

I am going to try to apply to another card that is a little less prestigious than the one I attempted to get to build some credit, then hopefully in 6 months after I use this card and the company that rejected me will see that I am a stable human being who is able to pay off her credit card bills every month!

<3, Charlotte

PS: sorry, this post may be all over the place. My head is so foggy after today at work and I am DEFINITELY not thinking clearly!

The best work happy hour there ever was

Apparently the company I work for has a happy hour every Friday. And by "happy hour", I mean all drinks are free. As many as you want. All free.

Yesterday's happy hour was obviously my first, and it was at a German beer house in Midtown West. IT WAS AWESOME. One of the other new hire girls I got lunch with the other day, let's call her Kristy, went with me (both of our departments weren't going, but we didn't want to turn down FREE DRINKS). We ended up having suchh a good time! We got to meet a lot of people we had never seen before, and we both got a free liter of beer on top of it.

This is the size of the beer we got. WOWZA

Some of my coworkers all decided to order shots, so that was crazy, when all of a sudden this guy walks up next to me to watch these questionable life choices that were being made. I started to make small talk with him - after all, I was here to meet more coworkers, and he seemed nice. I asked him what department he was working in at the agency and he looked at me and said "oh, no, I don't work here. I actually work at a bank but this looked a lot more fun than the table I was sitting at, so I decided to check it out."

We ended up talking for awhile. He would leave and go back to his work thing and then come back to hang out a little. We surprisingly hit it off really well! When I was leaving, he took down my number and texted me later that night on his way home (bummer, he lives at home in New Jersey, so he didn't stay the night in the city). Not sure what will result from it, but I'm curious to see! (Kristy even noticed how well we got along and talked with me about it later that night)

If this is how a typical work happy hour is, then I cannot WAIT to go to more!

<3, Charlotte

First work week in review

Work is AWESOME! It was kinda a slow day yesterday, so I used the time to complete these tutorial courses that we have to do within the first month of employment. I'm really liking learning everything and am excited for another "slow" day in my department so I can reach out and help other departments and really get my face and name out there!

Also, I've made friends with some girls who are my age and had their first days with me (yes, they saw my whole skirt-debacle). We got lunch yesterday. It is so great to have "work friends"!

An e-card is necessary for this happy hour occasion!

Something incredibly cool is that we have a "work happy hour" tonight. It starts at 5:30 and I think is sponsored by a company we work with. It's at a bar a few blocks away from the office! I just need to stick with 1 beer an hour - my tolerance is SUPER low and I do NOT want to make a fool of myself in front of some pretty important people!

So yea, first work was fabulous. And living in NYC knocks my socks off with how exciting it is. Everyone is always going. I could not have made the better choice!

<3, Charlotte

The first day of anyone's career is always a great time to have awardrobe malfunction! (said no one ever)

It was all going too well. I woke up at 7am, got ready, put on my high-waisted pencil skirt and pink blouse and left my apartment right on time. I walked to work, despite the fact that it was kind of drizzling out, but it wasn't enough to be a bother. A few of my friends had texted me good luck, and my parents were telling me they wanted updates when the day was over. I was on top of the world!

And that's when it happened.

See, I probably should have mentioned earlier that the pencil skirt I wore had a zipper that spanned the entire height of the material. The 2 zippers were facing opposite ways and you zipped one up to the top and the bottom zipper could go as low as you wanted, depending on how high you wanted the back slit to be. I had it down all the way, leaving a little room at the bottom because it got SUPER narrow, I didn't want it all the way closed because it was hard to walk with it like that.

This is what the zipper looked like.
Imagine that bad boy splitting completely open.
On your first day of work.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="232"] This is what the zipper looked like. Imagine that bad boy splitting completely open. On your first day of work.[/caption]

I was walking up the LAST curb to the block of my office when I felt the pressure of the skirt suddenly relieve itself mid-lift. All of a sudden, I felt the bottom of my skirt start  to SPLIT OPEN. That's right, a side of the zipper-lining at the bottom had popped off, ripping the zipper off one side. I didn't know what to do. With every stride, the back of my dress would open more and more and I had to be at new hire orientation in 10 minutes. I was starting to panic.

I ran into a souvenir shop 3 doors down from my office and asked if they had any safety pins. If I could just hold the skirt together with those until lunch, I could run home to change. The guys hardly spoke english and didn't understand what I was saying (also contributing to this miscommunication could have been my frantic state of mind), so I went to a corner of the store and totally took off the skirt. I was completely exposed for all the world to see! If I could get the broken zipper back on to the dress my problem would be solved.

After attempting for probably 2 minutes (though it only felt like 10 seconds), I realized that the zipper was never going to work again. I had to find some way to cover myself though - FAST. AND there were no stores open at this hour in the morning for me to buy something else!! I ended up using this wide belt I was wearing to hold the top of the skirt together against my waist, and then I tied my blazer coat around my waist under the belt so the torso part could cover my butt (think like a cape but lower). I would be border-line mooning people wearing this option but I honestly had no other choice. THANK GOODNESS advertising is business casual!

I walked into the office and immediately asked the receptionist if she thought the skirt was bad. She could tell I was super stressed and went into the bathroom with me to try to fix it. It actually wasn't a DISASTER, but I couldn't wear this for the entire day! AND at this point, orientation was beginning (I checked in to the building at 9:01, the lateness was KILLING ME inside).

I went into orientation and luckily, I wasn't the last one there. I have a friend in advertising that went to a different college, and she told me to look out for her friend who was also starting at my company today, and luckily she was sitting next to my assigned seat! We talked for a little and I told her what happened, she said  the skirt didn't look too bad and I started to calm down about the whole situation.

Turns out, everyone thought my debacle was HILARIOUS. I apologized to the first few people I met and they were all like "this is a great story already!" No one commented that my skirt was inappropriate at all - they were more concerned with if I was okay! So yea, I work for pretty much the coolest company ever. 2 of the girls in my department even went shopping with me during lunch to pick out a new skirt (we ended up just going to Kmart because the store they wanted to take me to ended up being closed). And I found something that I would DEFINITELY wear again!

So that was my first day as a working professional. Sure it had a TERRIBLE start, but I'm glad everything happened the way it did. PLUS, I handled a very bizarre, stressful, traumatic situation pretty well, if I do say so myself!

I'M SO EXHAUSTED NOW AND WANT TO GO TO BED. Here's to a smoother tomorrow!

<3, Charlotte

Late night ramblings

HAHA - google image result for "stressed out person", this is great

I'm still up. I will be leaving for my job in approximately 6 hours and 15 minutes, and I can't sleep. As I sit here at my laptop eating a Lean Cuisine I just made (sesame chicken, a good choice if I do say so myself!) I can't help but think of everything that could go wrong in the morning. I keep having this reoccurring thought that I am going to wake up at 10am (an hour AFTER I'm supposed to have arrived at the office) and my day is only going to go downhill from there. I also didn't fill out the insurance form indicating if I wanted it or not because I do have 31 days after tomorrow to accept/decline it, but the employee website said that it was due as of yesterday. I even got an email about it! But it's been written twice that I have 31 days on two different forms. My goodness people, CONSISTENCY, PLEASE!

Oh, and I also need to remember to bring my passport. It's by my bag, but I just remembered like 30 minutes ago and now I am paranoid that I will forget that. AND, on top of it all, I think tomorrow morning it will rain. I have not tested out the subway commute to the office. I would have to take a cab! Ahhh life is hard ALL THE TIME.

While a big part of me is definitely nervous to begin my first big girl job (as you just saw), another part of me is REALLY EXCITED. I am beginning my professional career! I basically floated through college not caring about anything. Hey, I went to a very good school, and in advertising grades don't matter. Literally everything I learned was a waste. Well, except for the 2 advertising classes I was lucky enough to take - those were AMAZING! This is the first thing I've cared about in literally years, and I'm NOT going to let myself screw it up!

I have orientation from 9-11am, and then I will meet my team. As one of the people from my interesting Tinder experience told me, they wouldn't have hired me if they didn't think that I could do it. I just have to keep remembering that any time I get stressed. ALSO, someone from my company recently wrote an article giving advice to young professionals in the advertising field, so I have read through that once or twice. Or maybe four times. (News alert: he is actually on the account that I am on! Though OBVI in a veryyy senior position. I'm still hoping to be able to have some interaction with him though!)

Okay, I do feel a lot better now that my thoughts have been written down. Time to go to sleep. Goodnight, world!

<3, Charlotte

Eurotrip Shmurotrip

So a lot of my friends are going on trips around Europe right now, or around Asia, and I am conflicted as to how I feel about not going on one. Of course, this could all just be because one of my friends is updating his photostream AS WE SPEAK, and I am seeing pictures of everyone frolicking around Paris having an amazing time. AND I keep seeing their Vines on my feed. While I am stuck doing my vehicle emissions test and packing up my room in Chicago, they are backpacking to places I can only dream of seeing one day!

I had the opportunity to go, but I chose not to because I wanted to start my career ASAP. Thinking back on that decision, it sounds absolutely psychotic! Why would anyone choose to skip a trip to Europe to begin the rest of their life, something they will be stuck with forever?

Because I've been dreaming about this life since I was 15.

I honestly cannot wait for Saturday! This industry, this company, New York City, I WANT IT! I can go to Europe at any time, but this opportunity that I have been given does not come around often. I am so ready and excited for the rest of my life to begin!

T-3 days...or is it 2?

Ugh, I never know how to do countdowns.

<3, Charlotte

Green is not an attractive color on anyone

We all have it. That one friend that always believes that, no matter what, they are correct. That they have this amazing set of core values and can do no wrong. They also have your back no matter what happens – if there is any altercation between you and anyone, they are 100% there for you, and are willing to get into fights with people they don’t even know if it is your defense. Even if you are fundamentally wrong, they will find a way to make it so you are right. This person is also somehow always slightly better than you at everything. It is almost as though it is a natural order for them to consistently come in first. But what happens when you finally come out on top? How supportive are they then? Are they able to be truly happy for you when you have accomplished something great?

I am encountering this very problem.

One of my “best friend’s”, Chloe (whose name has obviously been changed for this, but in this post and all future ones that is what I will call her), is that very person I just described. She has had my back in many situations, though sometimes more drama has been caused than what was necessary. I always liked that she would be there for me – being from a more aggressive city, and being proud of it, it was nice to have someone that strong by my side. I am more of a kill-them-with-kindness kind of person, so sometimes it was nice to have that aggression in my defense.

I never cared much about grades. In advertising, no one really cares about that bullshit. I don’t care if I understand accounting or finance or everything in my music class. I just wanted to graduate with over a 3.0. Trust me, this was incredibly WEIRD at the college I attended, where everyone hyperventilated over an A-. Chloe was one of those types of people. While I was more than content to get back my B’s, she would go in and cry to professors over her A- paper in an effort to get that A. So, in terms of grades, she was leaps and bounds better than me. But I never minded.

[caption id="attachment_66" align="alignright" width="235"] Friends forever?[/caption]

We took an advertising class together – a class I had my eye on since my admittance to my college. The day before the class began, Chloe was debating if she even wanted to take it, but I convinced her it was a good idea and that it would be a lot of fun. When the first day of class arrived, we needed to elect a student president to lead us during the entire course. I undoubtedly ran for that position. I mean, this class was one of the main reasons I chose this school, leading it would be an amazing experience for me. Chloe also decided to run for president, clearly for the leadership role it would allow her to write on her resume. Not only did she get the presidency, I was not elected to ANY board position to lead, and there were 5 of them. Talk about a soul-crushing experience. While it was difficult for me to deal with at first, I sucked it up and did the class. I was supportive of Chloe and her leadership and never let that wane out.

Chloe also got a job before me. I was so happy for her (mainly for 2 reasons, 1- any time anyone in the advertising/PR industry got a job at that point, it gave me hope; and 2- I knew we weren’t competing for any of the same positions that I was applying to). She got a healthcare PR gig. Not the most exciting thing in the world, but healthcare is a great base for all future endeavors because of all the regulations that come with that industry. Anyways, we had a great time celebrating, and I was excited (I knew that I had some big opportunities arriving in the future and I was excited to celebrate my employment in the same way).

When I found out that I made it past the preliminary interview for the job I am starting in a week and a half, I was ECSTATIC. This company is beyond huge, and the account I was interviewing for was so exciting. I felt like I needed someone to pinch me to wake me up. When I shared the news with Chloe at lunch one day, she was un-amused. She hardly asked any questions, and the one-sided conversation about the position was over in less than 2 minutes. It was one of the most disappointing things I had ever experienced in my life. I was so genuinely excited for her when she got her job. Buying drinks, telling everyone around me, tweeting a huge congrats message, didn’t I deserve the same excitement?

[caption id="attachment_70" align="alignleft" width="211"] Will things ever be the same again?[/caption]

I stopped talking to Chloe about the second-round interviews I had for the position. She would ask me via text how everything was going in attempts to be supportive, and I would reply, but no response would come through on her end. And when I got the job, all I got was a text, “Congrats”.

Who knew silence could speak so loud? We didn’t go through the same celebration for my employment. No fun girls night with our close group, no celebratory tweets, no big announcements to those around us when we all went out that weekend. Now that I had something better than her, it was as though this giant green monster had overtaken Chloe, and it appeared as though there was no sign of it leaving.

The giant elephant is still in the room. Chloe and I are still close, but now there is something there that I cannot just put out of my mind. As long as she comes out on top, Chloe is 100000% supportive of me like a true friend. However, when I am given an amazing opportunity, when my hard work finally pays off, when I get something that is so much better than what she has, she shuts everything down. Is that a true friend? A friend worth having?

I’m not sure what the answer is. But jealously is an ugly thing. Letting it show could be the greatest fault a person can have. I honestly don’t know what is going to happen to us when we move to New York.

<3, Charlotte

Offer Official!

Today, I am happy to announce that I received my official offer from a big advertising media agency! I am so so soooo relieved. The account I will be working on is great, and I really like all of the team members I have met during my interviews.

My celebration was cut short when I realized that I still need to find a place to live. This summer, I plan on subletting for a few months. I want to live in NYC for a little before deciding where I want to permanently reside (well reside for 1 year, at least). I also have some friends who I want to live with, and their jobs aren't starting until September. Well, one of their jobs isn't starting until September, the other needs to figure out what she is doing, but I will put enough pressure on her so she will figure it out by then.

So, I have officially started the Craigslist room search escapade. It sounds extremely sketchy (I did watch that movie The Craigslist Killer when it was on TV - oh my goodness how terrifying!) but I have a friend who did it and loves the roommates she found on it! Plus, with advertising's salary being so low, I figure I should give it a shot.

Hopefully, I will officially be in NYC during Memorial Day weekend! Until then, I must apartment-search my eyes out until I find a place that's just right.

Catch ya on the flip-side,

-Charlotte