Guide to Letting Go

I'm sad about my time at WeSell ending, but not bitter or hurt. I understand the reasoning and am still hopeful for a position there in the future. I'm very thankful for the opportunity, the friends I made and all of the skills and knowledge I acquired there.

That being said, after I left my internship for the last time yesterday, I headed to Hill Country where I was surrounded with comforting, supportive friends. I decided to let myself be sad last night but really my night was pretty great.

Here is how I let go last night:

What Next?

Well, my internship is not turning into a job. Pretty disappointing but due only to money, not to me or my skills.

Guess this means it's time for a new adventure :) Where or what that will be is still to be determined, in the meantime I'll be picking up a lot of hours at HC and am open to suggestions.

I'm very sad to be leaving behind such a great group of people but, as always, excited for the new possibilities that are opened up and the new adventures to be had.

Source: amazon.com via Ashley on Pinterest

Snow, Cafeteria, and Singles Awareness Day

Hello all!

It was a snowy weekend here in NYC, we got about a foot up in my area of the Bronx. I'm not a fan of snow or cold weather in general. But I do feel that if it's going to be freezing cold it should at least have the decency to snow as well. And snow is pretty. I'm always in favor of a good photo op and walking to the subway Friday night after work provided just that. It's a nice walk anyway, right by the Flatiron Building and through Madison Square Park, and with snow coating everything and more coming down it was lovely.

Monday, I went out for supper with a friend from HC for a birthday celebration! My birthday was at the end of January and she wanted to take me out so we went to Cafeteria in Chelsea. I hadn't been before and it was de-lish! 

Cheesy Macaroni and Cheese Spring Rolls, Spicy Pork Meatball Sliders, and White Chocolate Raspberry Bread Pudding to finish it off! A-mazing!

Last night I made banana muffins to take into WeSell today. We had a huge discussion last week about muffins versus cupcakes and what was the definition of a "plain muffin." It was very inspiring. In the sense that it made me want to make some delicious banana muffins which I must say wowed the office and brought everyone together like only food can do :)

Tomorrow is the day of truth. I'm supposed to finally have my evaluation and find out where this internship is leading. I've been there almost 4 1/2 months and am a little anxious about it all but will be happy to have a definite answer, whether good or bad. Wish me luck!

Oh, and since it's after midnight Happy Valentine's Day! Or Singles Awareness Day as I secretly like to refer to it as ;)

XO Ash

Things I'm Thankful For

Sometimes it's easy to just look at the negatives (like that I'm going to be working about 60 hours a week for the rest of the month or that my space heater is trying to kill me or that I lost 2 $30 MetroCards over the weekend...) and it's times like these where I just have to enjoy the little things that make me happy. So I thought I'd make a quick list of some New York-specific things that have happened in the last couple days that have made me happy.

1. The super/man (hehe he's not Superman, he's a man who's the super of a building I walk by on my way to the subway) who's usually sitting outside his building and says hello and tells me I work too much and that I need to take some time to have fun because life is too short to work all the time!
2. Getting a computer right away at the library THEN getting my tickets printed no problem AND finding books I actually want to read! (Going to the library has always caused me problems here...)
3. Being asked by another graphic designer if I'd just redesigned the header on a website at my internship because it looked really cool! (Check it out if you like and if the background is just black, refresh it)
4. All week the D train has arrived at my 34th street station right as I was getting there and I was able to get on it right away!
5. My new phone. My first smart phone (I'm finally in the 21st century!) which I probably would not have felt the need to get if I weren't living in New York.
6. That I live in a house with some cool people who go into action when they hear the carbon monoxide detector going off in my apartment instead of a) not knowing what it was or b) ignoring it and waiting for me to get home and deal with it.
7. The awesome people I work with at Hill Country who notice that I haven't been around much and tell me they've really missed me.
8. Having entertainment during my commute on the subway - usually awesome breakdancers. Tonight a troop of 4 brothers, the oldest about my age and the youngest probably 8? They were done after performing for the car I was in, then they just turned on their music and were flipping and jumping off the doors and twisting around the poles just for fun and it was so fun to watch. Those guys are so talented! Much respect for breakdancers.

Those are just a few things off the top of my head, but those are the things I need to remember. Being thankful for the little things isn't something that should be reserved for Thanksgiving, it should happen everyday.

Day 2 and Cafe R

Today was my second day at my new internship and it went really well! Maybe even better than yesterday because I was past the first day and already knew what I was supposed to be doing.

It's amazing the differences between the two places already. Everything from the atmosphere, to the work, to the style and setup, the office itself, the size of the operation, the hours and people... I'm thankful for my time at Resource, I had a good experience there and definitely learned a lot, but I'm happy to be in a new environment.

Now, because I love food and am completely in love with the food opportunities open to me in New York, I have to talk about my lunch today. At Resource I packed my lunch pretty much every day to save money, and I'll probably do that a lot at WeSell as well. But this morning time got away from me and there was no time to pack. So, come lunch time (which was actually more like early suppertime), I explored a little and found that there's this awesome deli/cafe, Cafe R, right across the street from my building!

I was always impressed by Bridge Fresh, the deli we frequented in DUMBO, but this, this was ridiculous. Literally any food you could imagine or want was at this place. The sign for a sushi special attracted me and at first all I saw was sushi and Chinese food, which you could order at counters and have made right in front of you. Then I noticed how big the place was and how many more counters and signs there were. Then I noticed the buffet of food ($6.65 per pound) in the middle. Then I saw the little grocery area. Then the packaged foods under the counters (like Easy Mac and Chef Boyardee). Then I realized there was a whole other side lined with counters. And these counters where you could order food were in addition to the coolers and cases in the middle where you could grab ready-made sandwiches and sushi and fruit salads and cookies and wraps and... well you get the idea.

Basically this place was overwhelming, but in a very good way. After glancing at the menus for sushi, Chinese, soup, Teriyaki, and Korean I decided on some orange chicken with lo mein. It was prepared right in front of me and delicious! Plus I could only eat about half and had leftovers-yay!

They had seating at both ends of the place, so I stayed there to eat and gawked at all the food options. Pizza, a bakery, "American grill", Mediterranean, hot sandwiches, cold sandwiches (both having pitas, paninis, and wraps), Mexican, Philly Steak, breakfast bar, pasta bar, beverage bar, salad bar, smoothie bar... I, of course, looked them up online later and, although they don't have a website (guess they need a good web designer's help ;), I did find their Facebook page which even shows their specials for every week! 

Maybe no one else finds this interesting and I'm sorry if that's the case but I am a lover of food--places like this amaze me and are just another fantastic thing about New York :)

If I don't post for a few days it's because I'm crazy busy working at HC. Pulling a double tomorrow and Saturday plus working normally Friday and Sunday. Gotta make the money to buy these new clothes I want so bad! Haha, or at least to buy lunch for myself every once and awhile ;)

Internship #2

So remember that exciting thing I promised to "talk more about later" last weekend? I'm finally going to talk about it.

Two Fridays ago, I had an interview for an internship at WeSell.com, a large advertising and event hosting site located in Manhattan. I felt like the interview had gone really well, but didn't really want to share too much until I had heard something back from them, preferably something positive.

I had been told I would hear from them after about a week and when I didn't hear from them right on Friday (or Saturday... or Sunday) I got a little disheartened. I mean, I felt very good after that interview! But that's life I guess... Who actually gets the first thing they interview for?

Friends advised me to follow up so I planned to call them back today. Well, last night, right in the middle of writing my Mug Monday post, I got a phone call and what do you know, it was David over at WeSell inviting me back and wondering if I could start today! I was ecstatic! I literally jumped up and down and screamed a little, which isn't something I do, like ever.

After fretting over the definition of "Business Casual" I figured out an outfit (I've been longing for new clothes and eager to do some shopping in NYC and now I actually have an excuse to get some new, professional clothes!) and headed off for my first day today! It was awesome. I actually have my own desk, complete with dual monitors! Everyone seems pretty friendly and it's such a professional setting, while being young and fun. Best of all, just the little taste of graphic design work I got to do today made me excited and remember how much I love graphic design. Oh, and did I mention it's a paid internship? A rarity, I assure you.

I'm ready for a new venture and so excited to be doing graphic design work! This is such an answer to prayer and I just wonder what else is in store for me...

Last Day at Resource, First Day Off

Well, this was my last week at Resource. And really I couldn't have asked for a better one!

Monday, I took lunch by myself and walked around DUMBO, taking pictures and checking out the shops. I've done a little exploring around the area but usually with another intern so it was nice to look around leisurely and go into some of the stores where I had only window-shopped before. I really like that area of Brooklyn, of course it's the only area of Brooklyn that I've been to... But it's artsy and picturesque with cobblestone streets and cute shops. It's right by the water and more urban, so I'm told, than the rest of Brooklyn. I'll definitely be returning in the future :)

For my final project, I was creating a directory of businesses to go on the Resource website, entering a lot of information mostly and making sure everything was working and linking properly. I finished that up yesterday morning and then went through a bunch of files that I had, making sure my boss had the most updated versions of some other projects that I had worked on pieces of.

At lunchtime yesterday, four of us went out together. I broke down and got a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich at Bridge Fresh, which was the best I've had here in New York and actually a really great deal. We ate under the Brooklyn Bridge and had some great convo and lots of laughter. It made me a little sad to be leaving the other interns and also kindof wishing that that lunch could be my last, just because I enjoyed it so much.

Then, around 5, I got my wish! We all got an email saying that the office would be closed today and everyone was just to work remotely (from home). Since I had finished up what I was doing and my superior was on a photo shoot today and yesterday, I was done! We all left the office at the same time and I said goodbye to the interns as the walk over and subway allowed. By the time we were actually on the train it was just Janet and I, and with the promise of visiting and getting coffee soon, we  also parted as I transferred trains at W 4th Street.

Thus ended my time at Resource. Although there were ups and downs, I can honestly say it was an awesome experience! I learned a lot, had some great experiences, met a lot of cool people, and even made some friends through the whole thing. There was no grand exit, there never is, but I still had a pretty perfect last day. Had the office been open today, Janet and I both admitted we had planned to bring in cookies and maybe there would have been a little more recognition of the fact that someone was leaving. But I think that the way it worked out was for the best. Especially because it gave me a day off today. Which there is no way I would complain about!

Today was my first day off in 3 1/2 weeks!! It was a much-needed day to sleep in and get some stuff done around my apartment. I made banana bread-muffins, did laundry, tried some new mug recipes (get excited for next Monday!!) and did quite a bit of cleaning. All in a leisurely fashion of course with plenty of Pinterest distractions, of course :)

It's strange to think that it's over-- the very reason that I moved to New York. Now more than ever I wonder, what's next?! Only time will tell... but hopefully by the end of this week I'll know better :)