My Crazy Week in Review

Do you ever look at where you are in life at this moment, and wonder how on earth you got there? For instance, I am currently in Danbury, CT for the first time sleeping on my dear friend's boyfriend's couch. Exactly a week ago I was waiting tables in Raleigh. And somewhere in between there I moved out of my Raleigh apartment, drove up to New York, interviewed with a great company right up my alley, and have no clue what life will throw at me next. Talk about spontaneous, right? Well let me recap everything in hopes to map out where I'm headed next.

Thursday, May 14th: I receive notice from the company that they're interested in interviewing me. They suggest Friday (the very next day) or Monday. Given that I am still in Raleigh, I agree to a Monday interview. So that left me frantically packing my whole apartment up, selling stuff on craigslist, donating everything else to Goodwill, and continuing to work my shifts at the restaurant until my departure date of Sunday morning.

Friday, May 15th: I have not received confirmation back from the company for an interview time all day. Still, I pack, sell, donate and work as planned. They're just busy, I think, they'll get to me soon.

Saturday, May 16th: Still packing, selling, donating and working a double. Biting my nails all the while because I still have received no confirmation time--and I'm scheduled to leave tomorrow. Thoughts race through my mind about if I don't hear back, should I still go up there and gamble it all? Though they left me on the edge of my seat, I fortunately heard word back around 7p. *Sigh of Relief*

Sunday, May 17th: Finally done packing, I turn in my apartment keys for good, bring the last of my things to the storage unit, and take off. The drive is really mundane. I'm drowsy the whole way because I've been running on four hours of sleep for the past three nights preparing for both moving out and the interview. At some point during my drive, I'm certain I fall asleep with my eyes still open only to regain consciousness when I hear myself sleep talking when I was initially singing a song in an attempt to keep me awake. Strange, but definite wake up call to pull over and grab some coffee. I stay on the phone most of the drive with loved ones to keep me company. Twelve hours, a tank and a half of gas, an hour of getting lost in the city, and surprisingly only two annoyed honked horns at my NC vehicle later, I arrive in Brooklyn with my friend.

Immediately after I get out of my car, we go out for dinner and drinks. We hit up this place on Bedford Ave called Sea. Right when we walk in house music is blasting, and everyone is dressed so trendy. Definitely a "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore" moment. As we sit at the bar waiting for our table, we grab a lychee martini (recommend this!) and a pomegranate mojito (very strong). I have to say something I must get used to is the price of drinks in the city. At the restaurant/bar I work at in Raleigh, martinis and mojitos are $5. The ones we ordered were $10. Very good and strong, nevertheless. She and I catch up, talk about her life in the city, and my interview tomorrow morning. We get our table, order some lettuce rolls and Brooklyn Lagers to start. That was my first time trying it, and I must say it has to be one of my favorite Lagers. I am a heavy beer drinker too, so I was thoroughly impressed. :) So we order shrimp pad thai and curry, both I recommend, and got our checks. Another thing I must get used to is the whole bring-out-only-one-check-and-divide-it-amongst-yourself thing. Quite frankly, as a server myself, I just think it's plain lazy to not split checks. But apparently, being a naive noob that I am, this is the norm up here so it's just easiest to bring cash when going out. Lesson learned.

Afterward, she walked me through the subway route I would take to my interview tomorrow. Pretty simple route with only one transfer, luckily. We got out at the 42nd St/Times Square stop. I must say, it doesn't matter how many times I've seen Times Square at night, it still takes my breath away. As we exited the subway and walked up the stairs, I plastered on a perma-grin at the first sight of the bright city lights and tall skyscrapers. I'm really here.

We return back to her apartment in Brooklyn, and for the first time get a glimpse of a NY apartment. I must say, I was thoroughly impressed with the space she had. TONS of room, great location, and pretty safe. Though I was completely opposed to Brooklyn initially (thank my preconceived notions to Sex and the City), I'm totally loving Brooklyn now. Shortly after we arrive, we hit the sheets. I've got a big day ahead of me.

Monday, May 18th: Today is the day! Though my interview isn't scheduled until 11am, I start my day off early to mentally prepare. I get into the city around 9a, and head to a FedEx Kinkos to print out my resume. While I'm pulling up my resume from my e-mail, I notice an e-mail from the person I've been corresponding with regarding my interview. My interview that was supposed to happen in two hours got pushed back to Friday. Nooo! Completely changed my plans. I was upset at first, but took it as a test. How bad do I want this? So I did some readjusting, had people pick up more shifts for me at the restaurant in Raleigh (I hadn't told them I was leaving yet--I didn't want to burn any bridges if this job in the city fell through), and told them Friday was no problem at all. Since I was so upset, stressed, and sleep deprived for the past four nights, I decided to head back to the apartment and take a nap. The city and I would catch up later when I am in a better mood.

I woke from my nap refreshed and less stressed. Shortly after my phone starts ringing with an unknown number trying to reach me. I answer and am elated to find out there was some schedule shifting done at the company and they could meet with me earlier--tomorrow at noon. YAY! *Another sigh of relief*

I head back to the city to meet my friend for 10 cent wings in East Village. I meet some of her colleagues during dinner and am intrigued at the conversation they have about this thing called foursquare. Definitely something I want to get involved with once I am here permanently.

Tuesday, May 19th: Today is the big day! I woke up, checked my e-mail just in case there was another schedule shift. Nope, all systems go. This time was for real! Got ready early again, and made it to the city about an hour and a half before my interview. I sat in a nearby Starbucks and absorbed everything I knew about the company and industry, reread parts of my book What Color is Your Parachute? (for any job hunters/career changers/finding yourself people out there, this book is for you!!!) As I sipped on my caramel macchiatto with soy milk and nibbled at my banana nut loaf, I felt a strange calmness and excitement about the interview. Before then, I was nervous, frightened, self-conscious, not confident. But now, I was quite the contrary. I was ready to kick ass! Perhaps it was just because there were so many schedule changes, I just wanted to get it over with.

I arrived at my interview ten minutes early, met with the two gentlemen that would interview with and potentially work for. The interview lasted only thirty minutes long, but it was a great interview. I really felt good leaving the interview and couldn't have asked for a better way for it have gone. I answered their questions honestly and articulately and they kept reiterating "how much they liked me". They told me I would hear back by the end of the day or tomorrow. I'm keeping my fingers crossed still.

After the interview, I walked up to Grand Central to meet my other friend coming from CT. Since my Brooklyn friend had a lot going on in her schedule for the rest of the week, I decided to get out of her hair. My other very good friend who recently graduated the MAC program at Boston College welcomed me to stay with her and her boyfriend for a little bit until I hear back about the interview. So we met in the city, grabbed lunch, and sat in Bryant Park to catch up. We then walked through Chelsea up to Murray Hill to pass time before we drove back to CT. We wanted to avoid rush hour traffic, so we dipped into an NC bar to grab some drinks. I must say, though they had country music and water out of mason jars, it just didn't work. I guess I'm just so tuned into what is "redneck" and southern enough to be considered part of below the mason-dixon line. Nevertheless, it was a close replicate and close enough--asking for a duplicate is like asking NC to make NY pizza, it just doesn't work but it's good enough.

We left after just one drink, drove to CT and went out for trivia night with her boyfriend. After taking last place in trivia night (lol), we headed home and crashed.

Wednesday, May 20th: And here I am. Still haven't heard back from the company, but still have a really good feeling about it. I will continue to keep you posted on this journey. :)

I think I've discovered what I want to rename this blog if I get the job. Obviously if I get the job, I will no longer be "NYC Bound". I think Naive NYC Noob is most appropriate. hahaha...partially because I love the alliteration.