Duvet...Hooray!

Today we spend the entire afternoon at the laundry mat getting all of our laundry done. We had to wash our old comforter, a bunch of sheets, new brown sheets, and lots of blankets and clothes, so we went to the laundry mat to get it all done at once.
When we got back we broke out the down comforter (that Joe got me like 10 years ago!) that I have been waiting to use when we found a nice duvet cover. Well I finally found one I liked (the one Joe got me for my b-day). I am so excited, it looks really good! We have a had the same comforter for 10 years, so it's nice to see a new one on there! Even though the new duvet cover is little bigger than the actual down comforter, I think it will work OK. We also put our new tan/brown sheets on and they look great! I'm excited to get in the new comfy and cool new bed.
The picture on the left is the duvet cover. I got plain brown sheets to go with instead of the pattern so ours will have less of that pattern than what is shown in the picture, but I really like it. It's from Crate and Barrel. LOVE. I want to re-do the whole room. I want to paint, but I will probably hold off in case we move. Now I just need a new rug, new art, lamps and accessories to finish the room! Ha-ha. I wish. Eventually we'll get it all together!

Frustration Nation

After my interview the other night at the project management company, I got in the car and felt SO depressed and sad. I am SO sick of interviewing!! I am completely and utterly frustrated. I hate the roller coaster that I am on right now... up and down, up and down, having interviews, getting rejected, over and over. It really takes a toll on a person, no matter how much I try to stay in the positive, it's really just hard to handle emotionally. It's hard not to get down on myself, which I tend to do.

Yesterday, I just felt so out of it, so mentally beat down from all of this. Not because I got rejected from the last job, but just because the whole job search process is such a drag. I feel like the constant interviewing takes more out of me than the rejections. So, last night I went out with a couple of friends for a some drinks at happy hour. I literally dragged myself there, I really wasn't in a good mood, but I went anyway, and it was good to talk with them and get their perspective on things. So, I felt a little better after that, but still confused and upset.

I am not trying to have a pity party here, I just feel like I have the right to be sad. I cannot believe it will be 2 years this February that I was laid off. It's sickening to me. I NEVER thought it would be this long. I feel like a failure. I want my life to begin again. I want to move on and be done with this phase, but I feel like I have no control. Everything is out of my control and I hate that. I mean, I am glad that I have my part-time work at Harrington, it just isn't the same as having a full-time job like I had before working at a firm. It's also not that I think having a job will complete me and make me happy, it will just allow me to move on to the next stage of my life, like moving to a nicer/better place and eventually having a baby. Right now I just feel like I am swimming up stream....I'm getting nowhere.

While I'm glad I have been getting all of these interviews recently, I am bummed that none of them are truly design related or with A+D firms. Interviewing at the project management company just made freak out, I was so uncomfortable pretending that I would like that job when I knew I really wouldn't. When they told me, "If you want to do design or have a future in design, this is not the place for you," and I pretended that was OK, it just made me so upset.

Recently, there have been some supposed openings at a few design firms, but they just don't move quickly. I hear about them, I send my resume, I follow up, and nothing happens. I feel like the firms just aren't hiring. There has been some movement, but not much.

I know I should just take any job (if I ever get an offer) just to get back to work again and then keep looking for the "right" job, but I fear that working outside of the industry, or in another side of the industry will make it even harder to get back into a firm, where I think I want to be. I feel like the longer I am out of it the harder it will be to get back in. It's so scary and frustrating.

I really have a hard time getting excited about jobs that I think are not what I want to do. I guess I need to convince myself that if I get a job, even if it's not the ideal one, I will feel better and I will be able to move on to the next phase in my life.

Rejection #156...or so.

"A rejection is nothing more than a necessary step in the pursuit of success."

I must be pursuing great success, because I've had my fair share of rejections so far. I got an email from the job where I had 2 interviews. They decided to go with someone else. Oh well... I would have probably hated it anyway and they probably found someone with more experience. Just another notch on my long belt of rejections.

On to the next one...

Another Interview, Weekend, and Janet!!

I have another interview this Wednesday with a different company. I just found out about it today from a former classmate of mine. They called right away for an interview after I sent my resume. I'm not really sure what it is exactly, but I will find out more when I talk to her tonight. It's a project management company  of some sort located downtown, they are looking for a project assistant. It's good to see that there is some activity as far as jobs go, seems like I have heard about a lot of potential openings lately, but not really within the architecture and design firms themselves. At least its something...

We had a nice weekend. We went over to our friends Megan and Scudder's new condo out in the suburbs to watch the big Bears/Packers game on Sunday. Too bad the Bears lost. :-(  

They recently bought  a new place and it was nice to see it. The condo was really nice and we had a nice time over there. I took a big crock pot full of yummy nacho cheese dip (Cathy's famous recipe) and they had lots of other game day food. We also played that Just Dance game on the wii. Only a couple songs, but man, I was addicted! I want that game! I got the highest score on the two songs we played. Go me!

In other news (I cannot believe I forgot to post this earlier)....I am going to see JANET JACKSON in concert on March 8th! WOOO! I am so excited! She is going on tour, it's called her Up Close and Personal Tour. The tour will be smaller venues and she will sing all of her hits. I am so pumped! She is playing at the Chicago Theatre, which will be really cool. Its smaller and I have never seen a show there, so it should be so fun! I am going with my friends Kameko and Megan. I CANNOT wait. I have always been a fan of Janet and I will probably get emotional seeing her live, since I never have. Her music has always inspired me and a lot of it reminds me of being a kid.  I never got to see Michael, so I couldn't pass up the chance to see Janet, another one of my favorite singers/performers, live and in concert. I am SO excited!!!

http://www.janetjackson.com/index 

If it seems too good to be true...

Sooo, I had my second interview this week and it went kind of....how do you say...BAD. At least that's what I thought. 

Compared to the nice woman who interviewed me the first time, this woman was horrible. Turns out she is the COO of the company...which I didn't know until about half way through the interview when she decided to tell me who she was. Yeah, it kind of went like this..."Do you know who I am?" and then she proceeded to apologize for not introducing herself at the beginning. Whatever. I had already formed my opinion of her, and lets just say, it was not a nice one. The entire time she grilled me with super vague questions and made me feel really stupid. I was so uncomfortable and I'm pretty sure my chest/neck were beat red. Yep, it was that bad. Probably one of the most awkward interviews I have ever been on and I am pretty sure I am getting close to receiving my professional interviewer badge.

Well, it got a little bit better as the interview went on, but as she asked questions and told me about the job, I began to feel worried about whether or not I am qualified for the position in the first place and if I really would want to do it. The way she talked about it, it sounded hellish. We'll see. She seemed pleased at the end of our interview, but that could have been her just trying to be pleasant. I really don't know. I left doubting I would be receiving an offer for this one, but you never know. However, I did hear from my friend yesterday (the one who originally told me about the position) and she said it was down to 3 people and I am one of them. Yikes. Lets just say, I'll be surprised if I get an offer and I will have to think about it long and hard if I do get one. The moral of this story is the old saying, "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is." This is usually my mantra, but I slipped and actually (accidentally) let myself get a teeny bit excited about this. I shouldn't have. I have officially, for the 100th time, learned not to get my hopes up about a job until I have an offer in my hand.

On a good note, that same day I heard about 3 other jobs from industry contacts, 2 actually at design firms, so I promptly sent my resume to all of them. Seems like things are picking up a tiny bit, but still, I am not holding my breath.