What's Your Morning Like?

With big changes come new routines. Take my new job, for example. Before I started working this summer, I stayed up late, slept in 'til whenever, and generally lacked any sort of pattern when it came to sleep -- although in math randomness is considered a pattern. Anyway. This new job let the real morning person in me come out. So my day gets started a little something like:

4:15: Alarm (in the form of "Suddenly I See" by KT Tunstall...makes me feel very Devil Wears Prada) goes off, somewhere between now and 4:30 sit up in bed. Take a minute to adjust.

4:30 - 4:50: Do some yoga. I always feel happier when I start my morning like this.

4:50 - 5:05: Breakfast. Usually a whole grain cereal. Sometimes eggs. 

5:05 - 5:20: Shower. 

5:20 - 5:45: Makeup. Yes, it takes me this long. I used to be a makeup artist. I'm all about patience and perfection. 

5:45 - 6:00: Iron clothes or otherwise get them ready and pick out accessories while I let my hair air dry a bit.

6:00 - 6:15: Dry hair/do some sort of hairstyle. I've been working lately on putting a little more effort into my hair, as I usually just leave it down and blah. This really helps complete a look.

6:15 - 6:25: Make my lunch. Usually this consists of some kind of leftovers. Today I just put some lasagna in tupperware. 

6:25 - 6:50: Take care of any last minute things, or just sit and watch some news. 

6:50: Off to work. I have the luxury of a semi-flexible schedule. As long as I do full time hours, I can come in as early as 7:30. For a morning person, this is a God-send. I get there at 7:30, leave at 4:30 or sometimes later, and then get to leave really early on Friday afternoons. I think this Friday I'll be out of there a little before two!

I'm sure for many this kind of schedule sounds horrifying, but I really like it. It's quiet in the morning, I get to take my time and I never feel rushed -- a feeling that I loathe. 

I'm curious, though...what are your morning schedules like? 

Image from http://www.palomatankless.com/experience/kids_shower.html.

Good News, Everyone!

My interview went really well; I was hired on the spot! The best part? I'm still making the same (amazing) base pay + commission because this job involves sales (though hopefully I'll be focusing more on marketing). A little about the company: it's an NPO that broadcasts foreign language programming, including news, cultural stuff, and stuff for kids. They have eight channels, as well as a website that provides subscription services to people wanting to learn a foreign language. Pretty neat, huh? And right up my alley. Who knew you could find multiculturalism in Iowa? (Yes, it's out of state, but only about a thirty minute drive). Oh, and I get my own office! Haha! I am so incredibly blessed with this. I was pretty demoralized about the whole job situation and I am so lucky to have this opportunity right out of college!

And now the (kinda) bad part...now that I have this job I'm mentally spending some money already. James and I had always planned to get an apartment in September, and now that's looking extremely plausible. With an apartment comes essentials for that apartment, and we figured out that we need about $2000 for everything we need right away. However, this estimate includes a couch (that we've already picked out), but we can use a hand-me-down one for awhile. What we do need, though, is new sheets, pots/pans, cleaning stuff...the list goes on and on. We actually had a pretty fun "date" awhile back where we walked around Target and wrote down all the stuff we need and how much it costs. Am I the only person in the world who would think that's a good time? I had a blast.

Thoughts on the couch? Courtesy of Nebraska Furniture Mart. 

Jobs and Julie/Julia

A little over a week ago, I had two interviews at a company and they ultimately decided they would like to go in another direction. Well, there went six hours of my life (driving back and forth + interviews). I was pretty crushed. However, today I got a call from the same company, saying that they would like to have me back in to talk about a different position. James seems to think this means they've already decided to hire me. With this economy and all of my experiences with jobs/interviews so far, I'm a bit (MUCH!) more skeptical. Feel free to send good thoughts/encouragement my way. 

Now, onto Julie/Julia. My lovely mother has always been a fan of Julia Child, so she was thrilled that there is going to be a movie semi-based on her life. I'm thrilled that Meryl Streep was chosen to play her. Luckily, my mother also subscribes to Bon Appétit, and this month's issue has recipes taken directly from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, so soon we're going to make Pissaladière Niçoise, Poulet Sauté aux Herbes de Provence, and Reine de Saba, then go see the flick. When I told James about this, it went something like:

Jillian: Blah blah blah, Julia Child...cooking.

James: Can I come?

Jillian (surprised): You want to see Julie/Julia?

James: No, I want to eat.

Typical. 

Image taken from movies.gearlive.com.

I'm Alive + Closet Conundrum

Hello fellow bloggers. I am indeed very much alive. I've been keeping up on most of your blogs, but moving back to the States, catching up with everyone, looking for (and finding!) a job, apartment hunting, and various social obligations have sucked basically all the "me" time out of my schedule. The "me" time that I absolutely adore and need. I think I'm getting a hang of things now, so I can get back to a little blogging!

Now. Back to the apartment hunt. And the closet problems that this causes (closet like, literal closet...not the metaphorical one that people hide in or step out of).

A little background: 

• I have clothes, shoes, and bags fetishes. All hereditary. (Thanks, mom). 
• Ever since I was about eight and my sister and I moved out of our shared room to separate rooms in the house, I've had my own closet, and it's been good. 
• Come September...ish, I'll be moving in with le boyfriend. Apparently, this means "sharing" a closet. Say what? 

So you're all caught up. Moving on.

James and I went and looked at three different apartments today (I swear we've seen about twenty since we started the search). Mostly we look at one bedrooms, but there are some two bedroom ones that are in our price range. When discussing one of the aforementioned two bedroom places, I said, "Well this is good, I can have the walk-in [closet] and you can use the one in the spare room." A mini, pseudo-funny, underlying-ly heated convo ensued. Apparently, he's not a morning person, which means that he can't walk the extra ten feet to the spare room in the morning to go get his clothes. I may have overreacted just a tad. We sat in the car in silence for a few minutes while we both (I presume) contemplated why. He doesn't have that much stuff (do any men, besides Europeans?), so it's not like his would cramp mine. But but...a closet is a sacred space! 

I suppose this feeling is also hereditary. My mom uses the ginormous walk-in in the master bedroom. My dad's closet is in the basement. Really. 

Guess I should learn to compromise. Suggestions? 

Also, for you girls (or guys) living with your S.O.s: TV in the bedroom...yea nor nay? (I vote nay...never had one, don't want one).

*Image source unknown -- saved it awhile ago, can't find it anymore! (Isn't it dreeeamy?)

Lucky to have been where I have been, lucky to be coming home again.

Those who know me know how much I absolutely loathe packing. I do it so often (making international trips 5+ times a year) that I should be good at it, but I'm not. The first year that I lived in Paris, I dreaded going back to the States for the summer for this very reason. It's embarrassing to say now, but I actually called my mother and begged her to make the 5000 mile journey to help me pack up my belongings. The crazy part? She actually did. 

And she's here again, but not so eager to help me pack. I've spent the better part of the afternoon sifting through the objects I've acquired over the last few years of my life, dividing them into piles of "Take," "Toss," or "Take if I Have Room." This is especially hard for all of my books, because if I had the choice I would take every single one of them with me. Thankfully, my mother flew first class over here so she's allowed two 70-pound bags and a third 40-pound one. 

The comments that a couple of you left on my last post echo the sentiments of nearly everyone I meet. "You're moving back?" they ask, confounded. Yes, I am. Truth be told I'm quite excited to do so. Paris is, of course, an amazing city, and I love living here. But I wish to pursue higher education back in my home country, and I have to say it will be nice to live somewhere other than a big city for awhile. 

Nevertheless, you'll probably see a whiney comment or two here around August lamenting the fact that I won't be returning anytime soon. I'm just going to make the best of my last few days. 

Bisous!