My New Job!

I got a new job! I have officially completed two weeks as an Executive Associate at an executive search firm in Birmingham called Wheless Partners. I am working with two senior partners in the firm serving as their associate for marketing and client relations. Basically, I help them gain clients and serve clients we are performing executive searches for. It's providential how it all came about, and it happened so fast, which is why I'm just now getting around to writing about it. Our friend Chris' dad Kevin works for the firm, and I had given him my resume several months ago for a search they were working on for a client. I never heard back from him regarding that search, but luckily they still had my resume on file. I was at work one day, and Kevin messaged me on Facebook and asked me to call him. The next thing I know I had an interview with the president of the company, I flew to New York for a great trip with my mom, flew back for a second interview, and I had a new job! I know this opportunity is a blessing from God. Though I wasn't actively looking for a new job, the move could not have come at a better time. It's been very exciting but very challenging, and though it's been nerve wracking getting into the swings of things, I know I need the challenge to be happy and to grow. I had the privilege of assisting with my first search in Omaha, Nebraska this week. We flew in on Thursday, and we conducted a series of interviews for the executive director of a major foundation in the city. I met some wonderful people, and I learned so much in one day. I am such a curious person, so the trip was awesome! I also got to meet the COO of Gallup who was assisting with the foundation search, and we got to visit the Gallup campus before we flew back home. It was an awesome trip! Today, I have been trying to catch up on my personal life. Traveling makes me so tired. Though I was exhausted, I decided to go shopping today to buy some clothes for fall. It was a bad idea! I hate shopping, which is so crazy because I used to love it. But seriously, shopping puts me in such a bad mood these days. I can't explain it, but I think its because you know you want something specific that you have in your head, but you can never find it when you need it. Somehow I always end up buying the same looking stuff. It's classic so that's good, but I am pretty sure that everything in my closet is black, gray, cream or navy. I set out to buy color, but it never happens. Michael is on his way back from Georgia tonight. I can't wait to see him and spend tomorrow together. We have been so busy, and I miss him so much! I am hoping for a lazy Sunday. I hope you all have a great weekend!

Last Day in NYC

Mom and I spent our last full day in NYC with my cousin Kelsea. We took the subway to Lexington Avenue where they were having a street market. After the market, we walked to Bloomingdales, where Kelsea works. It is such a nice department store! After Bloomingdales' we spent some time in Central Park, which is absolutely gorgeous. I wish we could have spent an entire day there. From Central Park, we took the Subway back to Rockefeller Center to go to the Top of The Rock observatory deck. Wow! What an amazing view! Since it was our last night, we took the subway to Kelsea's apartment in the lower east side. I have lived in tiny spaces, but her apartment is truly miniature. She definitely pays for the location! We ate Mexican at a restaurant in her neighborhood then mom and I took a cab back to our hotel to pack. I was sad to make it to the last day of our trip, but a part of me was a little happy about getting home because I was sooo tired! We had one last lunch with Julia, her mom, and Kelsea before we headed to the airport. We ate at the pizza and pasta restaurant inside Eataly, which is one of the neatest places I've been to. There are several Italian restaurants and markets inside one large complex. You pick where you want to eat if you want pasta, pizza, meat, vegetarian, or seafood. This was the best meal I had all week! This was an amazing trip, and I cannot wait to go back!

Heading Uptown

On day three in NYC, mom and I headed uptown. We started our day at the Flatiron Building then walked east to Irving Place, a beautiful street in Grammercy. We took the subway uptown to Grand Central Station, which is amazingly beautiful! I cannot believe they were going to tear down this piece of history! After Grand Central, we walked west on 42nd to the New York Library and checked out the famous Reading Room before heading to the library's back yard, Bryant Park, for lunch. Mom got a hot dog from one of the thousands of carts, and I got a lamb gyro while we took a break at the park. After lunch, we walked to 5th Avenue from 42nd to 57th and took in all the amazing designer stores 5th Avenue is famous for! We visited Michael Khors, Trump Tower, Louis Vuitton, FAO Schwartz, and Nike. The funniest thing was the lines to get in Abercrombie and Hollister. I guess the foreign tourists love these stores because they were busier than any others. After we made it to 57th, we took the subway back to the hotel to change for the Jersey Boys on Broadway. We met my cousin Kelsea for Thai food before the show. I was very excited to see Jersey Boys, but I was not expecting the show to be as wonderful as it was. It is the best musical I've seen. My mom loved it so much as well! Julia, her mom and sister also saw the show, and we met up afterwards and headed to Serendipity for their famous frozen hot chocolate. I think we made it home by 1 a.m.!

Back from the Big Apple

My mom and I have been back from the Big Apple for a week now, and after such a fun and jam packed trip, I needed a full week to recover.  I love to plan vacations, and I never leave home without an itinerary.  Let's face it, I don't want to be stuck in a new place running around in circles.  I wanted to share our itinerary so that we can remember all we did and help anyone reading this who wants to use our itinerary for a future trip. Here is all we did on day one and two. I can't say I've always wanted to go to NYC; it has never been on the top of my list, but I'm so glad we went.  I will definitely go back!  I really want to go for Christmas though I know it will be super expensive and full of people.  Our first reason for going was to see my dear friend Julia who was visiting from Melbourne, Australia.  We also got to spend a lot of time with my cousin Kelsea who just moved to the city. 

We arrived in NYC around noon and hired a car to take us to our hotel on 28th street.  Our cab driver was nice at first, but by the end of the car ride he was quite pushy about converting my mom and I from Christians to Muslims.  He offered me a Koran, but I politely declined.  I was very happy to get out of the car and check into our hotel room!  After checking in, mom and I walked up 7th avenue, grabbed lunch, walked through Macy's on 34th street (would definitely like to spend more time there on our next trip), then walked up to 42nd to see Times Square.  Times Square was ok to see once...it's one of those places that it's nice to say you visited, but I don't need to go back.  It was dirty and full of tourists. After Times Square, we took the M42 bus to Pier 83 and hopped on a 3 hour Circle Line Cruise that took us around the whole island of Manhattan.  This was a great experience and the perfect way to see the Manhattan skyline and the statue of liberty.  I recommend everyone do this once.  After the cruise, we took a bus and train to meet Julia and her mom and sister at Cafeteria.  This was a great restaurant, and everyone's food looked delicious.  I was so happy to see Julia again!  .

On day two, we got up early. This was our most ambitious day! We took a train to Grenwich Village then walked to Washington Square Park. Don't miss Washington Square Park, it is beautiful!!! We walked through part of NYU's campus then shopped a little in Soho. My mom and I loved Soho. They had beautiful couture shops with such a fun and funky vibe. From Soho, we walked to Little Italy and had lunch at one of their little cafes. After lunch, we walked to Chinatown in search for a few knock offs. We had a rather interesting experience that was scary at first! I guess I pictured street vendors selling fake purses and jewelry, but since it's a no no, they have to be a bit sneaky. A man walked up to us and said "Louis Vuitton" and I said yes. All of a sudden he took off and we followed him for blocks. He turned the corner, whispered into a womans ear, and we started following her. My heart started to pound and I told mom that no fake Louis was worth going into some back alley!!! The lady took us to a van that she would not open unless we picked a purse from a pamphlet she gave me. While standing there a guy with a satchel full of glasses and a different woman with a purse full of fake Tiffany jewelry appeared out of thin air. It was crazy!!! I scored a pair of sunglasses and got the heck out of there. We headed downtown to the financial district and to Wall Street. I loved downtown! After the financial district, we walked to the lower east side along the East River and it's redeveloped seaport district. It was at this point that we bought a new pair of shoes because our feet were screaming. We found an Aerosoles shop and bought new sandals with some padded soles. This was our best purchase all week! We then took the ferry to Brooklyn to eat New York style pizza at a famous pizzeria called Grimaldi's. They prepare their pizza in a coal fired oven, and it was amazing! I can't wait to take Michael back to Grimaldi's. After pizza, we walked back to Manhattan on the Brooklyn Bridge. This may have been my favorite experience! The Brooklyn Bridge is amazing! Here are pics from day two.