Webfortis

I took the position!  After my phone interview last night I was really excited because it was to potentially work with the director of Race to Nowhere, a documentary about educational pressure on young children.  The phone interview was just a screening for the actual director, but it was a cause I believe in and the interviewer said that she REALLY liked me and would push my resume through.  The only thing was that the director was on vacation and difficult to get ahold of so it would about two weeks before I heard back for a second interview.  With Webfortis I knew that if I got the job that I would be starting on July 5th.   The pay would be better with the director, but there wouldn't be much room to move up since they were only a company of two other people.

After my second interview with Webfortis this morning, they offered me the position right on the spot.  I did a little task for them so that they could see if I was capable, and clearly I was since the hired me.  It is pretty hum drum stuff for now, but they told me that they would only expect me to be in this position for 8-12 months before I start moving up.  I'm hoping it will be sooner than that, but that's what they're expecting right now so that they don't have to hire another person right away.  The CEO of the company, who has written two books on Dynamics CRM, was excited to see my resume too and is already thinking of tasks for me to help him with.  That's a good sign.

I'm a little bummed though because I really wanted the job with the director, but it was too much of a risk and there wouldn't be as much room for growth.  I could see myself staying with her and getting coffee and bagels for her for a long time.  With Webfortis I can go into different departments or even branch out to other CRM companies.

As I was telling my dad about the interview he told me that my resume impressed the people who are hiring for tech writers at the lab.  Oh no!  Now what am I going to do?  We'll see if anything comes of it!  I will worry more about that when the time comes. For now, I have a bottle of bubbly chilling in the fridge and will relax until I start on Tuesday.  Juni is coming into town for one day so I will celebrate with her.

Addendum:
After weeding for a few hours it really started to sink in how lucky I got.  Luck be a lady tonight!

Interviews

With some steady perseverance and modifying my resume, I've secured myself a phone interview this afternoon and a second interview tomorrow morning with a company called Webfortis.  The last week and a half I've been dedicating two to three hours to job applications.  Beyond that point, my eyes blur and I run out of Craigslist and Monster ads.  My eyestrain and patience seems to be paying off though.  At this point I am really hoping I nail the second interview tomorrow (I had gotten a last minute call from them last week to come in).  I'm not sure how many other people they interviewed or how many people I'm still up against.  The position is for a receptionist/front desk person, but the interviewer said that people escalate quickly and if I show potential in marketing, which is the direction I'd like to go, that I would be able to start learning the ropes.  I sure hope so!  My dad suggested that I go back to school for my MBA, but if I can secure a lower end position and learn on the job it would be ideal.  I've spent way to much time as a student already and I'm willing to start at the bottom and work my way up.  I have the educational background I just need to get some more work experience under my belt.  This company also offers Sales, Development, and Customer Support departments fo me to branch out to if I would like.  I will be staying away from customer support.  I've had enough of that for a life time.

As for the phone interview, I'm a little apprehensive.  Like Webfortis, it was a posting on Craigslist.  Unlike Webfortis, they didn't put a company name on the listing nor did the woman who emailed me give any company information.  I'm glad that it is a phone interview.  I wouldn't want to be walking into a scam or worse.  The way I see it, the phone interview will get me loosened up for tomorrow's interview.

And as I was writing this post I got a call for an interview from Dzurenda and Associates Inc.  At first I got really excited and scheduled an interview, but after I looked further into their company and looked at reviews they sound like a scam.  Nick agreed.  So on with the job hunt!

My dad and some of his coworkers are putting my resume in for a technical writing position at the Lab.  I'm hoping I hear back from them, but from what my dad says, they work slowly.  So if Webfortis does ask me to join their team I will gladly accept and figure out the Lab application later if anything comes of it.

Travel pouch

After I got my new purse I needed a little pouch to hold all of my miscellaneous toiletries.  My old purse had a lot of little compartments for me to put my hand sanatizer, lotion, advil, allergy meds, ect in.  I was using a little Coach pouch that my Auntie Mary had given me for Christmas last year, but it was just too small.  I was able to put all of my stuff in there, but couldn't get anything out without everything else coming with it.  So on my last Target shopping excursion I picked up this little pouch in the travel section for $1.00.  Not bad!  It carries all of my things plus my Swiss Army knife and sewing kit.  I also like that it's a soft case so it conforms to the shape of my purse.  What a great find!

Cube Storage

For a while I've had a set of four cubes along my wall between my bookshelf and desk.  In the space on either side of the cubes I would stuff random objects to get them out of the way.  In general, this just made my room looked more cramped and cluttered.  Since I've had a recent massive accumulation of makeup, I need to figure out a way to store it.  My solution was to get another cube.  After measuring it out, I found that I can fit three cubes horizontally in the space allotted and if I stack them then I can have six cubes.  This really makes it wall-to-wall furniture, but at least I have more storage space.  I quickly purchased two more cubes and cube-drawer inserts.  In the bottom row of cubes I keep old text books and cook books, which are too heavy for the cube-drawer inserts.  To cover them up I bought an inexpensive piece of fabric to drape over the cubes like a bedskirt.  Using a 50% off coupon from Joann's I got the fabric for a whopping $2.50.  What is really nice is that my duvet cover and bedskirt match my cubes, black on top and white on the bottom.  After taking these pictures I realized that my goal of decorating my room with a black and white theme has come to fruition!

At first I had gotten cube-drawers that were to small for my cubes.  I put
black binders on the sides so that there wasn't any wasted space, but then
decided to return the cube-drawers to get them of the proper size.

Completed look

View as you first walk into my room.

My black and white dog to match my room.

New Jewelery

Nick's parents are back for their annual summer visit.  They brought me back the coolest necklaces and my much requested saffron.  They must really like me!  It's a good thing too because I don't plan on going anywhere.

Nick told me that this pendant says something along the lines of, May God
be with you.

I absolutely love this pendant.  I've always admired Nick's Sister's pendant
like this.  The Fong's had this made for me of my Arabic name.  How cool is
that?!

This camel and pitcher also came with the name pendant, but I haven't
worn them yet because I really like my name.

Pixar

One of Nick's good friend's works at Pixar and will frequently get him prescreening tickets to movies.  This time I was actually able to go with him.   We went to see Cars 2, which comes out tomorrow.  At first I wasn't that excited to see Pixar because I had spent a good part of the day applying for jobs and was a little bit grumpy, but as soon as we got there I started getting excited and had Nick take pictures of me with all of their models.  If I could have, I would have video taped the whole thing.  We also got to see all of their Oscars in the front display case.  They were kind of dusty!

Our friend showed us around the campus and their new building.  It's beautiful!  I was very excited.  By the time we actually saw the movie I had that giddy feeling like when you board the pods after waiting for hours in the Space Mountain line.  The movie itself was very good, but I could have waited until Friday to see it.  I was just so stoked to be at Pixar!  Unfortunately my application to be an inventory specialist, which I know sounds boring but it's Pixar, was rejected.  Oh well, one can hope!

This is in front of the atrium.  That guy in the background was throwing
Hammers with a frisbee.

They were made of legos!

I'm thinking of having our friend getting me a second
glass so that I have a pair. 

I got this Toy Story 3 sticker along with the wine glass.

In case you want to see the other stickers on my Klean Kanteen.

Nails over the weeks

As I'm sure you all know, I like to post pictures of my nail polish.  Since I've been so busy I haven't had a chance to post any.  Here is a catchup of what has been slapped on me the last few weeks.  Boy!  There are five weeks worth here.  It sure has been a long time!  Of all of these, Essie's Nice is Nice was my favorite.

Sally Hansen's Complete Manicure: Trouble Maker

Essie: French Affair Flash

Essie: French Affair No Flash

I ended up returning this color without writing down the name and can't seem to find it online anywhere.   I was looking for a nice coral color, but this one was just not flattering.

Sally Hansen's Complete Manicure Flash

Sally Hansen's Complete Manicure No Flash

Essie: Nice is Nice Flash

Essie: Nice is Nice No Flash

Sally Hansen's Diamond Strength: 02 Fairy Tale Ivory

Guess Watch

I decided that since I will be interviewing for jobs that I needed a watch that didn't make me look like a high schooler.  I believe that I've been heavily influenced by Nick with the large sized style watches, but still can't bring myself to spend a lot.  It's is a tool that will be dinged and scratched up because I'm clumsy.  So I decided on getting a reasonably priced Guess watch.  It was between this one and a Michael Kors style that was incredibly similar.  I was not willing to pay $115.00 more for something that looked almost exactly the same.  Originally, I wanted a gold colored watch because of a makeup girl that I watch has a pretty gold one, but then decided on the stainless steel.  Silver just looks better on me than gold.  I realized that she has a warm skin tone, which looks good with gold, but I have a cool skin tone that looks better with silver.  I am quite pleased with my new purchase.  I like big-faced watches on women and this is definitely big!  I had a couple of links taken out today so that it fits better.  As much as I like the fashionable loose watch look, I just find it annoying when my watch moves around.  But I love it!

After two links were removed.

Bahhh!

It's been so busy with work here that I just don't have time to blog.  Sorry everyone!  Come June 20th I'll be gainfully unemployed so you'll get lots of blog posts then!

Work update

I finally did it.  I gave my two weeks notice.  I was feeling pretty good about it at first, but now I'm just feeling guilty.  With D__ leaving last month and now me this month, this is a huge blow for the company.  I had an interview with a staffing agency last week and they seem really promising.  It was the first time that someone has told me that I actually have experience AND a good educational background.  I'm so used to hearing that I have too much education and not enough experience.  The company has provided me with three years of jack-of-all-trades experience.  I can do admin, marketing, accounts payable and receivable, customer support, phone line tech support, and management.  I'd say that it has been a great experience for me, but now it's time for me to grow.  If Nick and I really want to get serious and start our lives together we need to find good jobs first.  We are both really hoping that this staffing agency will at least get me started in a new direction.  For now I'm willing to start at the bottom, but I hope to climb the ladder quickly.  I am very, very grateful for all that the company has afforded me, but now is my time to move up in the world.  Well, technically I'd be moving down the ladder, but hopefully it will be for a bigger company where I can climb more.  I've exceeded the capacity of the company thus far.  It has been a pleasure working with all of my work buddies, but as The Jefferson's theme says "I'm movin' on up, movin' on up!"

I came to the conclusion a couple of nights ago that if I stay at here that the agency won't be able to find me a good job because I would need to give two weeks notice before I can leave.  Who wants to wait two weeks for someone to quit their old job when there are dozens of other candidates ready to hire?  So I may as well do it now while my face and resume are fresh in their minds.  It's a huge risk, but I have my family to fall back on if I can't find work soon and the staffing agency's temp department is also on the lookout for temp-to-hire positions for me.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

CVS Sale

I caught a blog posting early last week that CVS was having another cosmetics sale.  Work has been very stressful so I decided to do some retail therapy.  I "saved" $45.19 according to my receipt and only spent $33.06.  I figure that actually saving money is relative considering that I didn't actually need anything that I purchased.  I bought a couple things that were full priced, but the rest was on sale.  The two items at the bottom of the picture, Revlon eyelash glue and Milani eye pencil, were full price.  I've been searching and searching for this eyelash glue, but nowhere seems to ever have it in stock.  There were only two left so I thought I should get one.  I don't really wear false lashes often, maybe once or twice a year, but this glue is supposed to make putting them on much easier.  Instead of being a squeeze tube like most glues, it has a little wand applicator for better control.  The Milani eye pencil was a purchase that I wanted to try out because I had heard that it is similar to the Urban Decay 24/7 liner.  The Milani pencil was $8.00.  The Urban Decay $18.00.  It's kind of a no-brainer.  I am, however, going to exchange the black pencil for a brown.  I automatically grabbed the black pencil, but have been wearing more brown liner.  Once I test it out I'll let you all know what I think.

I couldn't believe it.  The Essie: A French Affair nail polish line was 50% off.
I bought these for $4.25 each and the Sally Hansen for only $2.12!
All are regularly $8.50 each.
From left: Yellow Kitty, French Affair, Nice is Nice
I already own Essie's Sand Tropez and love it.  The only other color in this
line that I saw at CVS is called Coat Azure, which was too similar to the
 Essie: One Day Without Blues for me to buy.  (I didn't care for the
 color and gave to Linda.)  There are other colors in the line,
one in particular that I want called Topless and Barefoot,
but I can't find it anywhere.  I might order it online. 

I got this for whopping $.99 when it is usually $4.99.  It is a blush, but I
treat it as a bronzer. 

I'm not really a lipstick person, but since they were on
sale I figured I'd try them out. I also wanted to try the Rimel
lipstick because one of my makeup gals loves this line and
said it was moisturizing like a balm.  As a chapstick addict
 I beg to differ, but at least the color is pretty.
Top: Rimel Moisture Renew #680 Precious Brown
Bottom: Maybelline Color Sensational #345 Warm and Cozy

Top: Maybelline Warm and Cozy $3.69 reg. $8.79
Bottom: Rimel Precious Brown $2.12 reg. $8.49

I've been using this as an all over face finishing powder
and love it.  It gives me a nice glow and for $3.69 when
it is originally $14.79, I like it even more!

Napa with friends

On Saturday Nick and I went to Napa with a bunch of friends.  We first ate at Gott's Roadside and then went to a few wineries.  It was a pretty cool experience when we went to Trefethen winery.  Because it was Memorial Day weekend, Napa was pretty crowded.  This winery, though off the beaten path, was no exception.  We had a group of eight people so it was a little difficult just to walk in and ask for a table.  At Trefethen, we were milling around the waiting area sipping our complimentary glass (for waiting) when the manager decided that she liked us.  She took us into the VIP room for a private tasting.  We sat at a huge dining room table in cushy chairs and were surrounded by hundreds of barrels of wine.  She had said that they reserve the room for all of the Reserve Tasting reservations and their Twilight Tasting that they hold on Friday evenings which is $100 a seat.  The building looked like an old barn that they had transformed into a wine cellar.  She later even took us up to the top floor and opened the big loft door to show us the view.  The manager was great and gave us an extra wine to taste; one that was part of their reserve collection and $100 a bottle.  Admittedly, I thought the wine was awesome, but if I didn't know it was a $100 bottle I would have just thought it was like all of their other wines.  We lucked out and got our tastings for only $10!  Usually the Reserve Tasting is $25 for five wines.  Their regular $10 tasting is for four wines.  Including our complimentary tasting for waiting in the lobby, we had seven different tastings.   Needless to say, we enjoyed ourselves.  I really like their wine and will definitely go back to get more whenever I get a fabulous new job (fingers crossed).  I liked it enough to spend $250 for six bottles and I currently do not have a fabulous new job, so that's telling you something.  I then purchased another two bottles for $85 at my favorite tasting room.  It was an expensive day, but a lot of fun.  It's just a good thing that we don't go up there often.

Because of all the traffic, by the time we got to Gotts, which was the beginning of our day, we were starving.  Nick and I managed to finish all of this food and we weren't even stuffed to the point of being uncomfortable.  We may need to think about shrinking our stomachs.  

Chili fries and fried calamari

Swiss burger

Blue cheese burger

BBQ Time!

Finally a little peace and quiet to blog!  Well a little bit anyway.  This will be a quick one because I have a few more post to do and a ton of work on my plate.  Work, oh man, that is a whole different story and one that I won't get into this week for lack of time.

What a great weekend Nick and I had.  On Saturday we piled into our Pilot with a group of friends and headed to Napa for some wine tasting.  I will try to post pics of that in my next posting.  On Sunday though, we decided to have an impromptu get together with the Ryan's for Memorial Day weekend.  I bought a Pismo for Nick to learn to butcher.  If you're a fan of Good Eats on Food Network you may have seen Alton Brown giving an in depth tutorial on how to trim and cut one of these tenderloins.  Nick has been wanting to do this since we saw an old rerun of the show.  Since we have my parents' anniversary dinner coming up we decided that we needed to practice.  In common form, Nick did all the meat handeling while I prepared everything else.  It is unbelievable how much time it takes to trim these things when you're first starting.  He learned that for the next round we will have to cut the filets a little thicker.

Glad all this fat was thrown away and not in our bodies!

In the mean time while Nick was butchering his cow, I prepared ears of corn with melted butter, garlic powder, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce.  I simply melted the butter, stirred in the ingredients, then I brushed it all over the corn and wrapped it tightly in foil.  After that, I assembled my spinach caprese salad.  For some reason I like to make this salad when we have company.  I think it's because it is different than your plain old iceberg with tomatoes and mushrooms.  We grilled up some marinated portobello mushrooms to put on top for an extra kick.  I also made my friend Abby's hot fudge sauce and homemade whipped cream for dessert sundaes and did some chocolate covered strawberries appetizers to have with the excellent pinot noir I bought over the weekend.  For the strawberries I used a double boiler and melted half a stick of butter with about a cup and a half of milk chocolate.  I was winging it, but they turned out pretty well.  It would have been better if they had time to sit in the fridge over night though.  They were still warm when the Ryan's arrived.  The house smelled so much of chocolate because I had two pots a-brewin'.  

I did these!  My grilling skills are getting much better!

For some reason this didn't rotate properly, but just
imagine this salad right side up.

Unsurprisingly, we ate everything.