Just a thought...

...what if I've made such a fuss about this interview and I don't get the job? It's completely possible and would be completely embarrassing.

This is why I need to learn to keep things to myself.

The Day

After the sheer volume of posts I've bombarded the internet with about this interview, I'm sure some of you are wondering how it all went down. Hopefully you're up for a play-by- play. If not, hit up the bathroom, grab a snack and a Diet Coke because that's what you're going to get.

I got in to Seattle last night around 9:30 pm. Lindsay picked me up from the airport, we stopped by Kinkos to bind some copies of my presentation for the interview and arrived at the house where I was able to briefly explore my new home. I may have had a slight freak out moment, but it has passed (for now). Although, we do have train tracks practically in our front yard and someone is living in a bus, Into the Wild style, outside our front door. (Stand by for pictures.)

It was a little hard for me to relax enough to sleep what with the piles of boxes in my room, the nerves, the trains rattling my bed and Max coming in and out of the room every 10 minutes, but I finally drifted off somewhere around 1 am. At 4:30 I woke up and was glad to see that Max had decided to kick it with me for part of the night.

I woke up again at 6 am to two text messages wishing me luck (which were preceded by three the day/night prior and followed by two more before the interview). I have awesome friends and family! Linds and I were actually ready on time and she dropped me off downtown. I was nervous, but not as much as I thought I would be. Once I was sitting in the lobby I realized there was nothing more I could do to prepare and that I just had to get through the next 3.5 hours.

I did, in fact, get through the next 3.5 hours and I felt like the interviews went fairly well. Everyone was super nice and the answers to their questions came easily. Even the presentation was better than I had anticipated. They had great feedback for me and I was SO happy to get that out of the way. I met with Sr. Media Planners, Media Supervisors, a Media Planner and an Account Director along with a brief chat with HR. There was only one interview that I felt didn't go as well as I would have hoped. As overwhelming as the idea of interviewing for three hours was, it was great to get it all over with in one shot. They told me I should hear something on Monday.

I honestly feel like I did my best so whatever happens at least I know there is nothing I would have done differently.

Lindsay picked me up after the interview, we grabbed some lunch and came back to the apartment where I proceeded to enter some sort of coma for several hours. I watched TV and took a wonderful three hour nap. It felt so good to just sleep without anything weighing on my mind.

When I woke up we grabbed some dinner at a random Chinese restaurant that smelled like my grandparents basement times ten, had bad Diet Coke and food that Lindsay described as "radioactive" and "1980's looking". You figure it out. Oh, and one of the cups they brought for the tea that smelled like grass and dirt still had lipstick on it from the previous user. Needless to say it was classy. After the successful dining experience, we ran errands, picked up Lindsay's brother and headed home.

I knew I had to tackle unpacking. I figured I would have less of a freak out next Friday when I officially arrive if all of my belongings aren't boxed up. I spent a couple hours loading up bookshelves, dresser drawers and the closet and now I can actually see the floor. There's still more to do, but I made good progress.

I still can't believe I'll actually live here in a week. You'd think after seven months of saying it was going to happen I would be able to believe it, but that's not the case. It's going to be great and I'm excited for whatever happens here.

Thanks again for all of the well wishes and good vibes sent my way. We'll see how it all turns out!

The Universal Language: American Idol

Through this whole interview process my family has been great about checking in with me via comments on blogs, phone calls, texts, etc.  It's been great to have their support!  

I posted on my family blog the other night letting everyone know that my presentation had been sent to the agency and blah, blah, blah...This comment was in response to that post and I think it might be my favorite one of all.  It's from my Dad.

Randy says: listen up,dude,you're the bomb.
Paula says: you look fantastic.
Simon says: you have a real shot in going all the way in this competition.

How hilarious is that?  I loved it.

A Place Called Home

So, I'm here.  In Seattle.  The place I'm going to live for the next...who knows how long.  And, as is par for the course these days, I'm kind of freaking out.  

Never mind the interviews tomorrow or the presentation.  I'm freaking out because this place that I've never seen before has boxes of my stuff piled high.  My bed shakes from the trains passing by and my cat is not the same as he was a month ago.  This is the place I'm going to call home.

I guess I'd better get used to it.

No Turning Back

It's 10:58 on Wednesday night and I just sent off my completed case study to the agency I'm interviewing with on Friday.

Hopefully it's up to par. Now I just have to go over it repeatedly so I can actually present it intelligently. You'd think it would be easy since I came up with it, but I'm sure I could find some way to mess it up.

I fly out tomorrow straight from work and then interview all morning on Friday. I appreciate all of the support of my friends and family. So many people have called to check in, let me bounce ideas off of them or actually proofed the presentation. It means a lot to me that you all care.

If you are the praying kind, hook a girl up with some prayers. I sure need them!

Quote of the Week

Brought to you by Rob & Big.

Scene: Drama (Rob's cousin and "assistant") is pedalling on what appears to be a BMX bike while Rob explains to Big that all of the electronics in the room are being powered by Drama's legs.

Rob: "This is what you do."
Drama: "Generate power?! I don't know any assistants that generate power."

I may be spending hours working on this proposal, but I always make time for Rob & Big. I mean, I have my priorities.

Sometimes I Wonder

I just walked past two co-workers acting out Rock Band in the hallway.

I Got Nothin'

I'm so shocked that no one had personalized license plate ideas. Ok, not really.

Or is it that everyone is angry with me for saying they are stupid because you all have them? Hmmm....

IH8PL8S

I desperately want something to blog about that isn't related to TV, PerezHilton.com, my proposal for the job interview on Friday, moving, what I ate today or not having the internet at my house. Did I miss anything?

The only thing I can come up with is a short rant on personalized license plates.

In a nutshell: They're never a good idea. Ever.

Remember how Ryan the Temp said sex tapes were never a good idea? Well, neither are personalized license plates. You will always end up looking like an idiot. You might think it's oh so clever. It's really not. Not clever. Not funny. Just stupid.

It seems like Utah has more personalized plates than anywhere else I've ever been. Is it just me? The most recent spotting was on my way home from work. I was behind "DUDE 01". Seriously? That was the best you could come up with? Oh, and it was a mini van.

What would your personalized plates say?

Under the Gun

I have a big job interview this Friday. I'm flying to Seattle and meeting with five different people over the course of three hours.  Part of the interview is presenting a proposal they've asked me to put together.  I'm pretty much freaking out about it.

It's going to be a long week.

New Look

I've been thinking about changing up my blog template for a while now, but have never had the energy to deal with it.  I was able to muster up the energy today...what do you think?  It seems to be taking a long time to load, but maybe that's just my computer since I'm stealing someone else's internet right now.

Can't you just make it stop?

This afternoon Annie and I hit up Circuit City for a new car stereo. Mine has been "special" since I purchased my car, but for the last nine months I've had trouble with CD's skipping, stopping, or randomly jumping to the middle of another song. With my upcoming 14 hour drive to Seattle, I thought for my sanity (and Jill's since she'll be driving with me) I would make the upgrade.

After checking out all of our options I was 95% sure which one I wanted to go with. It was nearly impossible to find an employee to help us, but Annie was able to drag someone over. Turns out this 17-year-old kid knew as much about the product as we did so he called someone else over. The other guy didn't know either so he suggested hooking up an iPod and testing it out. I pulled mine out of my purse and hooked it up. One of the songs on my playlist of current favorites started playing, but as the incompetent employee started pushing buttons at random the song changed and "Journey to the Past" from the Anastasia soundtrack was playing SO LOUD.

I was holding the iPod so I impulsively tried to change the song, but the deck was in control. Annie and I started laughing and my face turned bright red and I finally said, "Can't you just make it stop?!" Nope. He sure couldn't.

Finally he got the song to change....to an Aaron Neville song from "Now That's What I Call Christmas". Not better.

I couldn't take it anymore so I finally just unplugged it. So embarrassing.

I don't blame myself for having crappy music on my iPod. I blame the dumb employee that didn't know how to work the product he was selling.

Not Even Worth Reading

I feel like I haven't had any blog-worthy moments in a long time. What's wrong with me?

I think I'm coming down with something and I'm afraid that something might be strep throat. I have one seriously gigantic tonsil to begin with, so partnering that with any type of sickness where my throat is involved is no good.

I like Jon & Kate Plus 8 and I don't care what anyone says about it.

I hate job interviews.

I miss the internet at home.

I can't get up on time in the morning. But I do enjoy chatting with Gavin before I leave. He's just so cute!

I'm excited for American Idol tonight and hope little David (as I like to call him) does better.

I'll stop now.

I'm a Quitter

I quit my job today. It really happened. In three weeks Seattle will be my new home.

I've been contemplating a big move for 1 1/2 years, but it was 7 months ago that I really made the decision. For the past 7 months I've been waiting for it to be the right time and that time is apparently now.

For the most part everyone has been extremely kind and supportive, which I appreciate. (Only one person was less than friendly, but apparently that's her nature.) I've met a lot of fantastic people at this company in the last three years and that's the worst part about leaving. I don't have a job to go to, but I'm taking a step into the dark and have faith that I'm doing the right thing and that things will work out.

Wish me luck!

Hodgepodge

My life is exceptionally boring at the moment, but I've still managed to come up with several happenings to send out to my internet friends. Plus, it gives me an excuse to make a list.

• I had an amazing Wii tennis comeback last night. I was down 0-40 and came back to win the game (and maybe even the match?). I was pretty impressed with myself.
  
• I love when a song I've forgotten about comes up on shuffle. Today's song was "Gone to the Movies" by Semisonic. I know what you're thinking, but it really is good.
  
• I left myself two messages on my work phone last night of things I wanted to remember when I got in today. On the first message I ended with "Ok, bye"...on a message to myself.
• I had a dream last night that my company paid our bonuses in iPod Shuffles as if they were currency. I only got two. If you know how much Shuffles cost then you know why I was not happy.
• I've been trying to only drink soda at lunch since this realization and I think the lack of caffeine is getting to me. I yawn all morning, every morning.
• This article reaffirmed that I probably have poor time management skills (see #5). I don't think it's about doing what's easy or fun, but think it stems from my love of crossing things off of lists. If I do all of the fast things first I can cross several things off my list instead of working on ONE thing for days. I'm resolved to break this habit.
• I have a love/hate relationship with daylight savings. I love that it's lighter longer. I hate that it's so dark when I wake up.
• I just listened to Hakuna Matata on my iPod and didn't think anything of it until after the song was over.
• I love American Idol more than ever before.
• I still love Rob & Big. Since I've posted a lot of quotes of the day/week lately, I'll combine my R&B quote of the week with this post
• R: "I only attract the DG. It's a gift and a curse. I'm DGL."
• B: " DGL?"
• R: "Dirty Girls for Life."
  

That Didn't Happen.

The sun has set on the possible second 2008 Adventure. I'm sad.

I could have been doing this in a month with this person that I haven't seen in over a year. But, alas, I came to the realization that I'm an adult and need to make financially responsible decisions.

Being responsible is not fun.

Quote of the Day

Brought to you by my co-worker.

"I like your moose."

That Happened.

Have you missed me?  Life since my last blog went something like this...

+I saw Ingrid Michaelson and Joshua Radin in concert.  Fan-freaking-tastic!  Like most of the people I was with, I had a strong desire to be Ali Moss (Ingrid's guitar player and back-up singer).

+I've been to Chili's roughly 4 times in the last 9 days.  I think they put something in that chips & salsa!

+I have a new cubicle at work.  Matthew's comment sums it up.

+I saw The Human Body at the IMAX.  I really didn't need to see zits being popped close up AND on the big screen.  Yikes.

+I started re-watching season one of Arrested Development.  It's still funny.

+I saw Step Up 2: The Streets on Friday night.  It was not anywhere near as bad as I had anticipated.

+I can't stop listening to Sia.  Her CD has been playing non-stop on my iPod and in my car since her show a couple weeks ago.  Well, "non-stop" minus the period of time after Step Up 2 when I had to listen to Timbaland.

+I now live with this kid.

He's adorable and I think he's finally stopped looking at me like I'm not supposed to be there when he sees me in the house.

+Yesterday Jill and I had an adventure in Provo.  There may have been some singing in the car and we may have laughed A LOT.

+There is possibly a second 2008 Adventure on the horizon.  It's definitely irresponsible, but is likely a "once in a lifetime" opportunity.  I'll keep you posted.

+Brothers and sisters-in-law that let you hang out in their house so you can get your internet-fix are awesome.

Quote of the Day

MC: I think I will be checking into a mental institution on Saturday.

Who knew a new desk would push us over the edge?

Few and Far Between

It's official. I no longer have a permanent residence. Which means I no longer have internet access. Which means my blog will be neglected.

I know you're all torn up about it. I am too.

Favorite Conversation of the Day

JS: Matthew, do you want some Sprite?
MC: No, thanks. I haven't had soda in a few months.
Me: Really? Because I haven't had water in a few days. I actually can't remember the last time.

Huh. I might want to work on that.