Work is killing my Chicago time

I’m in Chicago right now – for a very quick work-related trip.  I happen to love Chicago (I must admit I’ve never gone during the epic Chicagoan winters though) – and was quite excited to get a chance to  enjoy the city.  Unfortunately, in my 2+ days/nights here – I have already exhausted my free time!  I did at least make the most of it by seeing my friend Kate and her boyfriend Greg.  Kate moved to Chicago while we were still in Korea – so it was awesome to see a friend and enjoy a great Indian dinner (oh and a yummy dessert at a nearby place).

I had visions of doing a little lot of eating and some shopping – but my day has been more about work work work.  The one thing about being in an earlier time zone – you not only work the hours of the time zone you are currently in, but the hours of the “home” office.  

Fortunately, in my previous trips to Chicago – I’ve had the chance to eat at many of the Chicago fave places and shop the Magnificent Mile.  If I’m lucky…I’ll get a chance to bring some Garrett’s Popcorn home.  That stuff is the legal equivalent of crack!  SOOOO awesome!

What a difference a couple weeks makes

Yes, I’m here….just barely.  I have been big time neglecting my blog and I’m sorry!  I honestly haven’t had the time! 

Compared to the ‘Lisa’ of a couple weeks ago, the current ‘Lisa’ has been flipped on her head and kicked around a little bit.  Needless to say, I’m one busy, exhausted puppy.

But it’s good…weird, right?  For one, I’m really enjoying my new job at T-Mobile.  About…hmm…70% of it is totally new stuff to me – so it’s been a major workout for my brain, but it’s been nice to feel that sense of busy-ness again (and chaos at times too).  Although I’m just starting my 3rd week there – there’s no time to dilly dally.  I’m owning projects left and right and meeting with new people daily.  The wireless industry is fast-paced, and this company slows down for nobody.

A definite cool perk of the job is our new cell phones and plan.  The employee plan is dirt cheap and Micah and I are now proud owners of these bad boys:

The T-Mobile myTouch 4G phone.  It’s a kickass smartphone (possibly too smart as I’m still figuring out how to best utilize it).

In addition to general work stuff, well…yeah…18 days to go til the white wedding bells ding and dong.  Hard to believe. 

So Micah and I are whittling down our list of “to-do’s” and just hoping to have a wonderful time with our friends and family. 

Part of the wedding planning timeline has included some definite fun stuff too.  Two Saturday’s ago – Micah and I had our joint but individual bachelor/bachelorette parties.  It was SO much fun!!!!!

I won’t go into all the details – but just know that there was massive editing of photos I had to do before I could post them on Facebook! A measure of true success and fun if I say so myself. Haha!

 

And just last Sunday I had a bridal shower with my WaMu ladies.  Nearly all of my co-workers from my WaMu days were able to join and we had a great time.  And the added bonus, my sister flew down from Alaska to join in on the fun.  I won’t be seeing her again until after there’s a new baby in town!

So there you go – a small update on my end.  After the wedding, I’ll  have more time…right? 

Off to Hawaii we go…

…and then it’s straight to TMo!

This is my last week of relative “freedom” before I re-enter the full-time working world again (as opposed to the quite flexible and nice working-from-home schedule I’ve been doing).

On Wednesday we head to Honolulu for one day.  Then Thursday, it’s off to the Big Island.  Saturday it’s wedding time for our friend (Micah’s a groomsman).  Sunday is the Seahawks vs the Bears (early morning for us)!!!  And we head back to Honolulu in the afternoon.  Monday we fly back to Seattle and arrive late at night.  And finally, Tuesday morning – day 1 at TMobile!  It’s quite the whirlwind. 

During our very little time in Honolulu, we’ll be doing wedding-related tasks, including meeting with vendors and my wedding hair and makeup trial! 

I’m excited to start my new job, but it’s bittersweet too.  I’m back to early mornings, driving in terrible Seattle traffic, and well…working full-time.  That’s in addition to continuing my independent consulting (I promised my clients I’d stay on to completion for a long-term project), and wedding stuff.  I’m wondering how I’m going to balance it all. 

At least in the last couple of weeks, Micah and I have kicked it into high gear and have completed a number of wedding projects!  5 weeks to go!

Cool things of 2010 – No. 11 & 12

#11. I get to work from home, for myself

As soon as I got back to Seattle, I had a great opportunity to do some independent market research consulting.  It’s something I hadn’t considered doing before, but it has worked out great.  No morning commute, no morning shower even…and working in my PJs.  And it’s given me a ton of flexibility to schedule in all sorts of other stuff – mainly wedding planning. 

But…it’s also unsteady income.  Luckily, all my benefits come with Micah’s job at Nordstrom. 

But that brings me to #12.  I got a full-time corporate job!

It was a whirlwind couple of weeks in December.  I had a couple of job opportunities and had to choose which way to go.  It wasn’t easy as both offers were great.  But, I ultimately chose…TMobile!  I start Jan. 18th!

I’ll still be doing market research but mainly focusing on ad and brand research (which is new for me…but new=growth).  I’m very excited and a little sad too…welcome back to morning commute, morning showers, and no more working in my PJs (although their dress code is fairly lax).

Non-stop please

As per my usual way of doing things, I have become one busy woman – most of it, of course, being my own fault of my own doing. 

Although I don’t have a corporate job at the current time, I am working…lots of working.

• Job #1: My main “job” right now is working as an independent market research consultant.  All my work right now is for a small brand firm on the East Coast, but it’s been a good chance for me to dive back into market research…but in the comfort of my own home (and comfy sweat pants).  It’s a new thing for me, but so far it’s working out great and is currently picking up…a lot.  And I manage to be quite productive working from home.  I start promptly at 8:15am and work until 4:30pm or later everyday.  I only watch TV during my lunch – minimizing distractions are key for me.
• Job #2: I also was hired by my friend to basically be her Organizer Extraordinaire (not an official title).  She is a super busy person, with a super chaotic schedule, and a super big house in need of some super-sized organization.  I had a little downtime between projects (which is now completely gone), so I’ve been spending many many hours going through her (and her husband’s stuff) and figuring out what to do with it: keep, donate, or trash – as well as, convince owner to donate or trash or  my personal favorite…just donate or trash without their knowing.  JUST KIDDING!  Well, sort of.  Hey…they’ve got A LOT of stuff…and junk!  We’ve made a lot of progress and I’m slowly starting to pull my time off that to dedicate to Job #1 (above) and Job #3 (below).
• Job #3:  Unfortunately, this job doesn’t pay anything…and really it costs money…a lot of money to even have this job.  But a wedding doesn’t plan itself.  Let’s see here…yep, just about 3 months until our wedding.  Hmm.  We have a ton to do.  Oh, and that’s right – this is the start of the busiest time of year with Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, etc.  I’ve probably been slacking the most at this job (could be related to the point I made at the beginning) :-), but that will change soon!  Many many many things are underway, being ordered, printed, decided, painted, fitted, crafted, and paid for. 

So, my days are non-stop.  There’s hardly time for blogging…let alone reading all the blogs I subscribe to.  But as they say, “I’d rather be busy than bored.”  Ok, I really don’t know who “they” are – but…you get the point.  Off to work people! 🙂

Q: How do you get 20% off at Nordstrom?

A: Have your fiance’ work there!  A BIG YAY for Micah!!!  This morning, Micah formally accepted an offer to return to his position working for Nordstrom on the BioEducation team. 

Don’t worry, he made sure he’ll have the time off needed for our wedding (as well as a wedding in January in Hawaii that he is a groomsman in).

So as soon as we return from our Vegas trip (literally, the next day) Micah will be EMPLOYED!!!  Paycheck, medical, and…Nordstrom discount.  🙂 Which we’ve already discussed will be used much much much more sparingly than previous times.

I’m so proud of him!  And slightly disturbed that he wanted to get back to work so quickly.  🙂