Back to practice...

No explanation necessary for this photo.

I feel like it's the first day of school. In about an hour, I'm going to leave to go to my first practice with this masters swim team I found! My friend Melissa and I are joining and I couldn't be more excited (I actually swam with her my freshman year of college when she was a senior - we're both getting back into it)! Got my suit, goggles, cap, and I'm ready to go. It actually is kinda freaking me out how into this I may become...I looked at some of the national top 10 times for my age group online and they are SOOO slow. I may actually have a chance of being good in this league!

First I need to actually get into shape though.

Oy, I hope I don't drown!!

<3, Charlotte

Cruisin' around Manhattan

I'm SoOoOoOo excited! Tomorrow night, my college is having an open bar cruise around Manhattan for young alumni. Did I mention it was open bar? Apparently, this event hasn't happened in a couple years because the last one got so rowdy - and I HOPE it's the same situation this year! (Totally worth the 2 year hiatus for that much craziness)

How magical!

Oh it's going to be so fancy and fun and I think that a  good amount of people from my graduating class will be there - it will be the first time I've seen them in weeks so I gotta loot HAWT! I tried on a few dresses tonight and I think I found the one I"m going to wear for the occasion.

Also, one of my roommates from senior year (and very good friends) is going to come over beforehand. It will be great to catch up and see her - she is deciding between different law schools right now so it will be nice to be updated on her life!

Ugh, tomorrow's workday is going to go by SUPER slow, but it will be worth it because tomorrow night is going to be a TON of fun. I'm also thinking about getting more involved with our alumni club in NYC, but I'm going to see how tomorrow night goes before I make a final decision on that.

Hope all your weeks are going swimmingly! Officially over the hump of humpday :)

<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

UPDATE: I move to NYC tomorrow!!

I have realized that my last 3 posts have been incredibly emo, and for that I am incredibly sorry!! I am a very happy person, but this is the biggest life change I have ever made, so I have needed to vent a little during the adjustment process.

But now that that is over and everything has been taken care of, I AM MOVING TO NEW YORK CITY TOMORROW! Omg omg omg omg omg! It feels absolutely amazing to say that in 24 hours I will reside in NYC. Aside from the fact that I will be taking my huge luggage, which I am hoping will be under 50 pounds, and dragging it around the city to my apartment, everything should be smooth sailing! (Sidenote: I may just take a cab from LaGuardia Airport to my apartment because even just talking about that sounds like a HUGE PAIN. Whateva, I'll worry about that when it happens!)

LITERALLY how I feel right now :)

I just wanted to thank you, my 42 followers, who have joined me already before I arrive at the Big Apple! I promise, the stories will get MUCH better from here on out! I plan on going on a lot of summer adventures and trying so many new things in this place of incredible opportunity. And I will do my best to inform you of different things that happen to me as an entry-level employee! (without jeopardizing the confidentiality agreement I have with my agency, of course)

OH EM GEE THIS IS SO EXCITING - New York, here I come! I hope you're ready for me...

Talk to you from NEW YORK CITY!

<3, Charlotte

UPDATE: Move-in Part 1 = Success!

Today, we officially moved all of my things into my summer apartment! I'm so happy that my parents approved of the place I picked out ALL BY MYSELF. Big girl moment over here!

We drove up to NYC  today, moved everything in, then drove back to DC to end the night. So, there you have it, it is my last night in DC. Right now. I'm feeling so many emotions right now it's unreal. Sadness mixed with excitement mixed with nerves - I'm just trying to take it all in and appreciate the opportunity I have been given (sidenote: the job starts in a week!).

Tomorrow, we are DRIVING back to Chicago from DC. KILL ME NOW. My dad claims it to be 10 hours but bullshit, it's 11 or 12. Ugh, it is going to be rough. Over the course of today and tomorrow, I will have been in the back seat of a car for 20 hours. Yikes, should definitely not have verbalized that!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="512"] Oh, the back seat of a car. Why do I have to spend so much time here?[/caption]

Welp, getting up at 5am tomorrow morning for the drive, so I'm turning in early (of course, not without watching a few episodes of Dexter first, streaming online now - I LOVE HAVING INTERNET AGAIN!).

Wish me luck!

<3, Charlotte