It's MY wedding

Dear friends and family,

Contrary to popular belief, I do not have to pick a wedding date and/or location that suits YOUR needs. 

I am truly sorry if you cannot make the trip to Las Vegas to be at my wedding. I invited you because I want to share our special day with you, but I understand that I am also asking a lot in terms of commitment.

That being said, you DO NOT need to write a note on your RSVP card explaining ONCE AGAIN that the date we have selected is such an inconvenience to you. Just check "yes" or "no."

However sending a nice note that says, "Wish we could be there," or something similar is acceptable (though not mandatory).

Thank you and have a wonderful day.

Gina

Thinking and Driving, Ep. 9

Heard on the radio: "Angelina trying to stop the publication of a book."

I got to work before they went into the story, but here's my thought...

If you just didn't do things that you knew were wrong... If you just acknowledged that the little voice in your head telling you not to do something might have a good point...

You wouldn't have a book written about you in the first place!

Thinking and Driving, Ep. 8

White Chocolate Caramel Cappucino (the kind you get from the BP on Madison by Rookwood) only smells good for about the first three minutes after you accidentally miss the cup holder and pour it all over the floor of your car. Glad I have all-weather floor mats. Not glad that I couldn't manage to get the driver's side mat out of the car in the BP parking lot.

Leaving...

Including today, I have only 8 days left at St. Elizabeth before I head off to the new job.

It's barely 10:00 and I'm really starting to feel a little sad about leaving. I am in the process of making a list of all the user names and passwords that I need to pass off to co-workers. The person to whom I am giving most of the information does not particularly care for social media but will be undertaking all the social media stuff while the search is on for a replacement for me. (By the way, if you are reading this and looking for a marketing job in healthcare and your skill set involves an aptitude for social media, let me know!)

Anyway, I was checking all the passwords by logging into each application. As I logged into the company facebook page, I noticed that we were at 99 fans (not bad for the fact that we have done just about no promotion!). At 100 fans, we get to choose our own web address.

As I was telling my bosses this info, they started to tell me about all the people throughout the organization that are really happy that we are putting so much effort into social media.

And now I feel bad. I feel like I'm going to let people down!

But then I remember that I am not moving on for the sake of moving on. I have taken a position with a company that provides a lot more promise for fulfilling my personal goals.

I guess I'm just glad that I won't be looking back in anger (like I did after leaving Houston). I may have voiced my fair share of complaints, but I am happy to see that I have left an impression and started something for St. E that is only going to positively grow over time.

...the rest of the story

A few days ago, I wrote about how I was happy to have not received an offer for a job because the job I would have taken was eliminated quickly.

Well, at the same time that I was interviewing for that job, I was interviewing with another company. On the day that I was supposed to have a second interview with this second company, I spent the morning with my family saying our final good byes to Granny Hoell.

I attempted to reschedule this interview because I wasn't emotionally stable enough for it. But, my final request was met with, "I'm sorry, we just cannot fit you in any other time." So I went to that interview, quite sullen from the depressing morning that I had just endured. And also quite full from lunch at Pappadeaux.

I attempted a jovial attitude, but neither my heart nor my mind was in it. I didn't get an offer. Though they wouldn't say anything more than, "We have made an offer to someone else," I always felt that it was my lack of a truly positive attitude that lost me the job. When I was initially contacted for the second interview, they made it clear that it was less about my skills and more about determining if I had the personality to mesh with the current staff. I have no doubt that I was personality-less that particular day.

Fast forward about 2 years (seriously, maybe 2 years and 2 weeks) and I see that this company has a job posting on an industry-related job board. Jerry and I have talked about what our short term career goals and ideas are. We had previoulsy decided that if either of us was to make a move, we would wait until after the wedding. But seeing this posting with this company made me nervous. At first, I thought, "I'm not in the position to make this move - this is a bad idea." Then those thoughts changed to, "I should try just one more time. I've got nothing to lose because I already have a job."

So I applied. It was a Monday.

Then, the next morning I received an email saying that 1st round interviews were concluding that same week... could I come in either that Wednesday or Thursday. I went at lunch time on Wednesday. The interviewer said that they weren't extending offers for 2nd interviews until the next week, but he would definitely be calling me for a second interview.

Friday was New Year's Day - the start of 2010, a year that (no matter what my job situation) had a lot of promise anyway. I had low expectations for this second round of interviewing and found myself saying that I would just be happy to not feel miserable after leaving the second interview.

An email appeared late Monday night asking me to interview Thursday afternoon. I already had a work meeting scheduled - shoot! So a few rounds of emails and we were set on another lunch time meeting for that Thursday (also the day of the Cincinnati "blizzard"). Never have I had such a positive interview. I felt confident - my laugh was genuine. I listened as the interviewer described the position and the company for the umpteenth time. This is where I need to be. The interviewer said, "I don't work in HR, so I don't know if I should be saying this, but I'm really excited by the idea of hiring you." Great - it's mine to lose. Then he followed up with a concern over my longevity since I have a history of short-term company experiences. I did my best to assure him that his was the job that I really wanted to make my career. He said he would make a decision the following day.

Friday came and went. The weekend seemed agonizing. By mid-Monday, I sent Jerry a message: "Don't think I got it. Oh well."

Monday evening, as I drove home from work, my Blackberry lit up. I got the offer.

So 2 weeks from today, I will join Stimulus Worldwide as an Account Executive.

And that's the rest of the story.

super weight loss

Technically, I lost 2 pounds between yesterday and today. I would like to thank my dilligence in recording my intake through thedailyplate.com

Or perhaps the fact that I really wasn't that hungry and passed out about 10 minutes after finishing my carrot cake (a little gift from the future husband, in addition to him cooking dinner last night). No late night calories here. I was asleep before Jeopardy!

Thinking and Driving, Ep.7

Heard on the radio that the word of the year for 2009 is "tweet" and the word of the decade is "google."

I bet that if we went to trivia tonight, either "tweet" or "google" would be an answer.

I don't want to go to trivia tonight.

Happier New Year

I have been having a relatively good start to the new year... I kept finding really good parking spots all day yesterday as I was running errands. I lost a few pounds already this year (ok, so maybe it was the few pounds I put on by eating all the holiday garbage that people brought in over the past few weeks). The Wii Fit told me that I have a Wii Fit age of 24. I had a REALLY great meeting on Wednesday of last week (ok fine, that was technically last year, but has 2010 ramifications) that could potentially have an impact on my career. I feel more positive in general.

Oh and I'm getting married this year.

But aside from all that, I had a slight revelation today - regarding something that I thought was bad at the time.

Two years ago in December, my grandmother died. At that time I was still looking for a "real job" while working at Fedex Kinko's. I had scheduled a few interviews for one day, only to have to try to cancel them later when Granny's funeral was scheduled for the same day. I attempted to contact the first interviewer multiple times (and even had a friend try to to help me) to no avail. So I sent her an email explaining that I couldn't make it because of a death in the family, but would love to reschedule. It was a good 2 or 3 weeks later when they contacted me to reschedule. I went in for what felt like a complete pity interview (they had already hired one person), and of course did not get the job.

The company was one that a classmate of mine had started with after our 2007 graduation. I recently reconnected with this classmate through LinkedIn only to learn that he had lost his position (economy) and had bounced around to a few other jobs before becoming a full-time job seeker as of October. So I guess I have my Granny to thank for "screwing things up" and helping me to not get that job, because I am pretty sure, I would be gainfully unemployed had I received an offer (assuming a last in-first out theory).

And the second interview, well I couldn't reschedule that one at all. And it was in the afternoon, well after we left the morning funeral, so I went. But that's a story for another time.

Happy New Year

I'm excited for 2010... partially because I get to say that I'm getting married this year!

In 97 days to be more specific.