Saturday, March 29, 2008

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!

1 comment:

Lindsay Jane said...

It was SOOO good to have you town for a few days. Sorry it was a bit of a rough trip! Max misses you as do I. Can't wait to start the Seattle adventure with you.