I've Been a Little Busy. Working!

It's official. I have a job...a professional career kind of job! WHOOOOHOOOO! This girl is the new Assistant Director of a Child Development Center in Birmingham! 

As I write this, I am realizing that I have had this job for exactly two weeks today! Time flies, doesn't it? It has been a whirlwind of a few weeks. Before I explain what I do, I should probably mention how quickly it came about. (well....sort of.)

There was a night about three weeks ago, where I was just "over" job-searching every single night at home. It gets exhausting...quickly. I had arrived at exhausted. It was then that I found myself expressing my frustrations (and my hopes) to the Lord, once again. At this point, I had had a really great interview with the Director of the CDC and had been told I would be called for a follow up interview with the Board of the CDC. Well, it had been over a month and I hadn't heard anything. The praying continued...even as my hands typed and sent an email to the Director. It couldn't hurt, right?

I received an email response the next day explaining that the process had been taking a while due to summer vacations, etc., and that I should hear something soon. She wasn't kidding. 

Two days later the Director called me to schedule my second interview. Yay! I hung up the phone, and then it hit me that the interview was a day and a half later?!

Fast forward to interview day, and let's just say that I was happy to be occupied with a bedroom renovation (appearing on the blog soon) that kept me busy for most of the day. After all, the interview with the board wasn't until 5:30 that evening! Torture, I tell you. 

Prepping for the interview included throwing on my cutest leopard print dress, a black cardi, some cute red heels, and praying the whole way there. 

The interview lasted about 45 minutes and went extremely well! (I thought so, anyways.) It was comfortable and easy, in the sense that I wasn't really nervous and was able to communicate my thoughts clearly. Towards the end I was told to expect to hear back in about a week. They had a few applicants to consider and would make their decision as soon as possible. Shwew. That part was over. I went home to fill roomie in on what had happened and continued on the with my evening feeling a sense of peace and confidence about the whole experience. 

What happened next was completely the work of the Lord. I was told to expect a week, and no joke...the Director called me back in LESS THAN 24 HOURS to offer me the position?!?!?! What?! I couldn't believe it! Pretty sure I was in shock and even shaking in awe and excitement all at the same time! I think I even asked if she was serious, over the phone?! Obviously, I said yes, and what was even better is that she was just as excited as I was! Surreal. This was a Thursday, and I started the following Monday! 

Can I also say, that the Lord has a sense of humor as well...
Out of all places to work at, who gets a job at a center that has not one but three butterflies in their logo AND butterflies in various areas all over the building?!?! This girl. It is SO not funny. I hate them all. Word is though, that the logo will be changing...that cannot happen soon enough! Anything, besides those horrifying creatures! Back to what I was saying...

The past two weeks have been a controlled crazy and I have been busy learning and working each and every day. A position as an Assistant Director of a child development center had always been one of my goals, after Graduate School. (Much of this due to an awesome Assistant Director that I had at my very first CDC job in college. My hope is to implement many of the things I learned from her, into my job now. She and the Director were such great inspirations and role models!) So, I am now actually getting to live out this goal/dream, and it's great! 

I have A LOT to do, and EVEN MORE to learn, and all in a very short amount of time. As an Assistant Director, some of my responsibilities include, staff scheduling, office work, scheduling field trips, planning extra activities, answering phone calls, handling paperwork, giving out medications, subbing in classrooms when needed, payroll, creating the newsletter, and taking a lovely stroll down to the bank every day. (Being in the heart of the city has its perks...a lovely walk in the fresh air and easy access to food trucks being a few of them!) That really is only some of the list! Not only do I have the day to day duties to perform, but I also have a great staff to get to know and to support! The Director and I get along beautifully, and I am so glad that we share both the stresses and the laughable moments of the job together every day. 

I love waking up in the morning and being excited about being at my job! It's not just an "oh, it's new" kind of joy, but an honest "I'm doing exactly what I want to be doing" kind of joy. I love what I do! I also adore loving on some children each and every day! They're the greatest!

I only have a few pictures to share, and this one is of my desk area in my half of the office. Let it be known that this was task numero uno my first day. Get my desk and office organized, and CUTE of course! I can't work in a messy, cluttered space. (Haha, that organization is still happening and it's now the end of week two...it has just spread to different areas of the building.) I can't help it! Every room should by organized, right?!

Yes, it all matches/goes together! People were so surprised by this. 

I even updated the cuteness of my office key ring...a little bling never hurts! 

in the front entry way (excuse the tousled papers)

Hallway

A really cool view from my work place. Hello, Downtown!

I find that I wake up every day feeling just as honored, humbled, privileged, and thankful to have this job as I did the day before! It doesn't bring me closer to friends and family back home, as many had hoped, but it is clearly where the Lord wants me to be at this point in my life. That's really all that matters! 

In the coming weeks, I will try to make sure to pass on great stories. Until then, you can find me wiping noses, giving meds, depositing checks, reading a book to a child, filing, and stealing pink lemonade from the kitchen. Yes, all at the same time of course! Did you even have to wonder?

I'll Meet You in Seattle!: Part 2

Welcome back! I'm excited to share with you the rest of my super quick and super fun Seattle adventure!

After roomie and I left the original Starbucks, we continued walking down Pike Street searching for some gluten-free goodies ( a "monster" cookie the size of your face) for her and taking in the rest of the marketplace. We even stopped to sample some jams and other sweet sauces at a quaint little shop. The salted caramel sauce was one of those "I could stick my face in this jar" kind of delicious moments. It's true. 

Soon after, we stumbled upon this lovely place. Crepe de France. Yes and Okay! We wandered in, evaluated/battled between our sweet and savory choices for a long time for a bit, and then decided to come back when we would be hungry enough to eat one. After sampling food all afternoon at the market, we were kind of stuffed! I was at least, and these crepes were rather large!

We finally decided on just a savory crepe to tide us over. Our hunt for a cupcake place was next on the agenda. We ended up ordering the Crepe De Dande A Lail (Gluten Free) which contained turkey, green onion, spinach, and mozzarellla. Overall the flavors were good, but the crepe itself was a bit on the crispy/dry side for me. I'm still glad we tried one, though!

Also around this time, a local suggested that we visit the "gum wall". What? I wasn't fully sure what it was about, but was definitely up for hunting it down. Thanks to roomie, she spotted the way and this is what we found...

A huge wall walls COVERED in gum?! Gross upon first approach, but kind of pretty when I stood back to look at all the colors. 

After doing some research, I have learned that the Market Theater Gum Wall is a local landmark and tourist attraction located in Post Alley. Apparently, the tradition began around 1993 when patrons of the theater began sticking gum to the walls. Theater workers supposedly engaged in a few attempts to scrape off the sticky stuff, but eventually gave up. Thus, the gum wall has lived on. 

Quite the "sticky" situation, but why not? We grabbed a few pieces of gum, chewed them up, and then perused the wall for the perfect landing spot. Let's just say that we contributed, and then quickly pulled out the hand sanitizer! Obviously. It was weird and fun, nonetheless. 

We ventured on from here to fine a cupcake shop that I had spotted on our tourist map.  It's one of my favorite things to do in any city that I visit! I will gladly hunt down cupcakes!! Here in downtown Seattle, The Yellow Leaf Cupcake Co. was our target. After a brief stop asking for directions, we managed to find it! 

Don't they look pretty?!

Cupcakes always make this girl happy!!!

I chose to give the Belgian Chocolate and the Pancakes & Bacon a try! 

As a cupcake lover and connoisseur I take cupcake sampling pretty seriously. Overall, I would give this place a "9" for appearance and about a "5" for taste. The cake was okay, but the frosting was pretty lacking (as in not much flavor and a kind of odd softened butter-like consistency). 

Next stop, the SkyView Observatory at Columbia Center. Did I mention that this building was on the complete opposite side of downtown? Ha, we didn't care though. We ventured on quickly, because according to our information it closed soon and we had like 20 minutes to get there?! Luckily we made it and then found out once we got there that we didn't have to rush at all. At least the speed walking was good cardio, right?

Stopped to hug a giant cherry red popsicle on the way!

We made it to the tower and this is the view that welcomed us as we stepped onto the 73rd floor. Hello, Seattle!

The view from 932 ft. above!

We ended up choosing to do Columbia Center instead of the Space Needle for two reasons: 1) It was less expensive, and 2) we would still be able to see the Space Needle. It was worth it. The nearly 360 degree view of Seattle from above was breathtakingly beautiful!

As our day began to wind down, we found ourselves having a little extra time. Roomie and I ventured back the way we came from and did some shopping and people watching. You never know what you'll see on a street corner or in the middle of the sidewalk!

Like a life-sized chess match...

A beautiful waterfall...

Or a street band complete with cello, guitar, drums, oboe and a violin!

So there it is, my one day journey through downtown Seattle with roomie! We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to explore! I had a blast exploring the city with Bri! The extra looonnnnggg day of travel the day after was completely worth it, after having enjoyed an awesome and spontaneous trip! 

My take-aways from Seattle:

1) The weather is amazing! (Those people that complain about "rain"...that's just silliness.)

2) Again, there is a Starbucks on every corner. Enough said. 

3) Touring the city via bicycle would be crazy fun!

4) I would gladly go back! Any time! 

I may not be a flight attendant, but I at least got to feel somewhat like one even if only for a day! Until next time and next adventure!

I'll Meet You in Seattle!: Part 1

My roomie is a flight attendant. She often has lay-overs in various cities around the country/world. Well, last week she had a 24 hour lay-over in Seattle! After several requests to meet her in Seattle, I gave in. I did. I tried to resist, but I just couldn't any longer! Why, not?! Seattle is just beautiful and so incredibly fun! I have been once before, but it was about 14 years ago. Needless to say, I was super excited to go back and share some of my favorite places (Pike Place Market) with roomie! So, 12 hours before I needed to get up to catch a 5 a.m. flight, we made plans and booked my flight. Talk about short notice! 

Wednesday morning after a 4 a.m. wake-up call, and two flights I landed just in time to greet roomie as the flight she was working arrived at SEA-TAC airport! Shortly after, thanks to the very nice members of her crew, I was able to hitch a ride with them to the hotel. Little did I know, that the hotel was right in downtown Seattle and literally only about 2-3 blocks away from everything! 

The pictures will give a visual to all the crazy and fun adventures we had that day! Here goes...

Breakfast on the plane...a lovely fruit and cheese plate! Yum!!

View of Mt. Ranier from my seat... Beautiful!

The hotel.

photo courtesy of http://www.ihg.com/crowneplaza/hotels/us/en/seattle/seadt/hoteldetail/photos-tours

Roomie brought us snacks!

View of Mars Hill Church from the hotel room. 

And now for the sights we saw as we walked in and around downtown for almost an entire day! Fun things ahead!

First stop, the first ever Starbucks!! (As a side note, how could I not like downtown Seattle for the lone reason that there is literally a Starbucks on almost every single corner. For real! Amazing!)

Come to find out...this was not the Original! Buh. Never fear though, we found it. It'll make an appearance soon!

My favorite place in Seattle: Pike Place Market! Food, spices, entertainment, people-watching, beautiful views of the bay...you can do it all here!

They have THE BEST fresh flowers, fruit and seafood! (if you're a seafood person...I'm not! More to come on that in a minute.)

The fruit samples we tried we're dripping as we ate them, they were so juicy! Mmm mm! So good!

So the fish thing...well, I don't eat it. Ever. Can't stand the smell, the texture, the taste. I just all around prefer not to consume seafood of any kind. EXCEPT, for smoked salmon in Seattle. I told roomie before I arrived that "Seattle may be the one place you will ever see me eat seafood. If I do it, it will be at the market and it will be salmon." Well, y'all....I did it.

How I felt right before consumption (yes, I was actually a bit terrified/nervous/hesitant!)

How I felt right after the first bite of smoked salmon on a stick! It was delicious! (And no, it doesn't change my mind about eating seafood again. This was the first time in years, and it will probably not happen again any time soon. Oh, and excuse the crazy hair!)

Now back to the Market...

We ran into a really cool dude (and his pup) playing some awesome soul, funk, not really sure what genre, music on his harmonica and banjo! He really was great!

Ever seen or heard of the famous "fish-throwing" that takes place at Pike Place? This is where that happens. 

Next stop, Market Spice. It was established as a small spice and tea shop way back in 1911.They have a huge selection! I made sure to grab some of the Steak Seasoning that I remembered from my trip years ago.You can't beat it. The spices here are incredible!

And last but not least for today, the main event...

THE ORIGINAL STARBUCKS!!! It's worth shouting, because that is precisely how excited I was!! Right in the heart of the Pike Place district, stood this beauty!

Maybe this will help you picture just how I felt...

The line was fairly long, but the employees had it down to a science. Trust me, it was worth the wait! 

Roomie and I got our usual drinks (a classic mocha for me, and a passion tea lemonade w/ peach for Bri!) Additionally, we both purchased mugs to document this moment and place in our lives, and took a snapshot for the memory books!

As slightly dramatic as it may seem to some of you, as I previously said on an Instagram photo of this place, "My heart is happy, and my life a little more complete!" I really do LOVE Starbucks, and I really, really can't explain how fun it was! 

Tired yet? We're not even through, but I'll give you a break. Come back tomorrow for more photos (as requested) and the rest of our Seattle adventures!

Favorite Finds: July Edition

Here's a look at what I've been loving, this month...

1: Living Proof Full Shampoo & Conditioner (here)

I had been looking for some new haircare products to try out and Living Proof (co-owned by Jennifer Anniston) was one of my top options. Being as it is a bit pricey, I decided to "test' it out by purchasing the smaller trial size bottles. I have straight, normal texture hair and thought that a little volume would do a sister some good! Turns out, I love it! My hair feels super clean and really light both right out of the shower and once it's dry. I definitely would recommend giving it a try, if you're in the market!

2: Montagne Jeunesse Green Tea Peel Off Face Masque (here)

This green tea mask is one of my favorite face masks, and it's one that I use probably about 2-3 times a month! 

3: Hubert's Lemonade in Limeade (here)

I found this product during my last trip to Whole Foods, and became instantly obsessed after one sip! Perfectly sweet and tart, and really refreshing! (Thank goodness, I don't live super close to either a Fresh Market or Whole Foods store, otherwise I would have a refrigerator full of these!)

4: FEED for Target Scented Jar Candle in Linen (here)

1) It's a FEED project, and it's Target. 2) The smell is clean and lovely. 3) The product packaging is stunning! Love the jar! 

5: Candie's Retro Pyramid Stud Square Sunglasses (here)

Who doesn't need another cute pair of sunnies for summer? I loved the slightly off-white creamy color and small stud detailing on these! (I may have a slight obsession huge love for sunglasses, and these were automatically added to the collection!)