It has been an interesting 2011 so far. At the end of 2010, my company was acquired by a much larger financial company. The majority of my colleagues were kept while a lot of the management was let go due to redundancies. After a few months it became apparent that most of my colleagues (myself included) were no longer happy with our new roles at the new company. I started looking at other opportunities just to see what else is out there. I was not expecting much to happen due to my minimal experience in my industry as well as my lack of coding/programming skills. To my surprise, the job market is a lot better than I expected. I received a bunch of replies.

As the company morale at the new company deteriorated drastically (many personnel changes/departures), I decided that I didn’t want to stay for the ride. I was used my LinkedIn skills and found a college classmate who had bunch of mutual contacts as me. Lucky for me, I was able to contact him even though were weren’t “friends”. It turns out I had just applied for a QA position with his company so I reached out to him just to verify if the position was even available. I believe that a lot of company career websites are not kept updated and after applying online, where exactly does my resume go? I didn’t expect this contact to reply any time soon, but within a week he did and invited me in for an interview the NEXT day with the Director of QA.

The interview went well and they had an offer letter ready for me in less than a week! It was pretty amazing just how quickly they moved. I start this new position on Monday (6/20) after having 19 days off. It’s the first time in my short career where I’ve had time in between jobs. It’s been really great. I went home to visit my parents and sister in Long Island. I reverted to my suburban life and visited my childhood mall. I even purchased a nice Coach bag as a celebratory gift to myself. I guess it could be a super early birthday gift!

I then visited my wonderful and supportive boyfriend in Tampa. We had a great time. He even took me to the batting cages so I could attempt to hit balls. He is my witness that I made contact with more than 50% of the balls. Too bad my super soft hands get blisters so easily. We dined at the Refinery after I read how they were nominated for the James Beard Award. They use local ingredients and therefore their menu changes on a weekly basis. We had a really good meal there. Jeff ordered the hanger steak as his entree and I got the pork ribs. So yummy! We shared a chocolate cupcake with bacon frosting. It was a lot better than I expected. I’m not a big fan of salty and sweet desserts so I was hesitant in ordering the dessert. However, our friendly waiter informed us that he tried it that morning (it was the first day of the new menu) and that it wasn’t too sweet and really good. I’m glad I took a chance!

When I returned from Tampa, I went straight to a NKOTBSB concert with my college friend. It was pretty fantastic. She is a huge BSB fan and I used to follow NKOTB when I was really little. I think the only reason I was a “fan” was because my older sister and cousin were huge fans. I just copied whatever they did. My first ever concert at the tender age of 8 was a NKOTB concert! I had the NKOTB sheets and outfits. It was pretty ridiculous! We even visited the members’ homes in Worcester, MA. I think my favorite NKOTB song was “Step By Step” and they performed it at the end of the set. Yay! For the rest of the week, I’ve been going to Bar Method (my latest gym obsession), FlyWheel (hit my highest total power!), doctor and dentist. I can’t believe it’s Friday already! I made pizza and cookies. Now I’m watching some trashy TV. What a great night!

Lastly, I am really excited for the last Harry Potter movie. Who wants to see it with me? My boyfriend is hoping someone is kind enough to see it with him so he doesn’t need to!