Conference Update!

So the conference was pretty fun. The first class I signed up for: Advanced Magazine Feature Writing was a little bit of a let-down. The first half was pure history and the second half was a bit more of a Q & A that offered some technical advice but not a lot. I assumed it would sort of be like a workshop, with the lecturer telling us his methods and ways of doing things. Anyways free lunch was offered and my second class Journalism 2.0. was actually a lot better. It only ran for 1.5 hours as opposed to the 3 hours in the morning, and the guy was a very good speaker. All in all I enjoyed my day off work, picked up a free magazine subscription, a few more magazines, some gum and candy and 3 cans of diet pepsi LOL.

Afterwards the BF came over and we made my favorite dish: chicken parm. We started to watch the movie Heat (the one with De Niro and Pacino) but he got side-tracked with my brother's science project. It was kinda cute, my brother, my dad and BF all in the garage arguing about what they think will work best.

So he's gone to Kingston again until Friday. I am just killing time for work because I decided to grab a later train but now it's time to go!

In Need of Self Control

So... I've been eating out all week and the Boyfriend comes over. As per usual on a weekend afternoon, we take a nap and wake up hungry. I go downstairs and see that my parents have prepared two of my favorite home-made meals. Do I stay home and eat the healthy but delicious fish and mushroom dishes? Nope, instead we jet over to Wendy's and pick up burgers and fries. Another $5 down the drain and thousands of calories. Wasn't I supposed to be spending less and eating healthier?

One part of me thinks "Who cares, you weigh 125lbs, look 10lbs lighter, and never gain any weight no matter what you eat." On the other hand, my plan WAS to get toned this summer, lose 5lbs or so and also just get healthier in general! I've neglected vegetables all my life (some would call it an obsession) and I'm not getting any younger.

On the financial side of things, sometimes I wonder why I am so anal with my money and obsessed with money! I'm making $500 a week, I have no bills to pay besides the cell phone and have no debt. The other part of me knows that it's better to be smart about my money now than worry about it in the future.

The BF just went to go play basketball with some teens from his church. In the meantime I have been reading lots of new blogs. I love reading, even more than I like writing. Perhaps I should trade in Corporate Communications for Senior Editor. Proofreaders probably don't make any money huh.

Ack.. Spendaholic on the Loose..

So... I've gone out to eat every single day since Tuesday, and twice on Thursday! Not cool. At least yesterday the Boyfriend paid but still.. not exactly the best thing for my wallet or my health!

Tuesday - Had dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant with friends from college
Wednesday - coffee with Mountain Biker, and made plans to go on a triple date weekend to Michigan for Canada's Day
Thursday - went out for wings to watch the NBA Eastern Conference Finals with some friends

Nothing spectacular has been going on.. signed up for two classes total at the conference so I'll be there for the whole day on Monday June 2. Also, decided to purchase two tickets to Rock the Bells, an annual hip-hop festival for BF. I've never really gotten him anything out of the blue, especially nothing very expensive so I decided to get it for him! My first surprise for him! I'm glad he liked it! Unfortunately tickets together came up to $180. Hopefully I'll have money leftover from this month but if not I'll just take some out of next month's budget. I know.. I'm bad.

Also, I'm going to Rogers Cup with Bunny. If we get 20 people to buy tickets then we get to go to the semi finals for free! So far I think we have sold 4 tickets total... -.- lol! I think the Boyfriend may be interested but I want to make a girls day out of it so he would have to bring his own friends!

Today is my first in-car driving lesson! We'll see how it goes I guess.. I really don't want to drive around with a "Student Driver" sign ontop of the car, especially in my neighbourhood. This is why I booked my exam so early in the morning! LOL Ok, toodles!

My First Conference!

On Friday, my boss emailed my department and told us that our company has been offered free admission to a conference being held in Toronto in June. It's called MAGS University and is an annual Magazine and Internet Publishing Conference. Unfortunately we're only being sponsored for the Monday of the conference and the most interesting seminar I want to attend is on Tuesday. My boss did mention in her email that if we were interested we could request to attend other classes, although I'm not sure if that applies to me seeing as I am just a summer student. Also, even though there are a ton of interesting seminars, our department is only allowed to attend the ones that are bookmarked as "Internet" sessions. I guess the "Journalism 2.0 - A Digital Survival Guide for Editors" thats offered Monday afternoon does sound pretty appealing, but what I really want to go to is "Webify Your Content: Writing and Editing Effectively for the Web" which is the class on Tuesday.

Anyhow, I went to church today with the Boyfriend and the message was actually very inspiring. In fact it is related to something that has been on my mind for awhile. It spoke about how you must use the people around you to lift you up and to be weary of who you choose to surround yourself with because more often than not, your friends bring you down. I bailed on Princess and Roommate for tonight. Just don't feel like clubbing OR being around Roommate. I feel bad because I hate letting Princess down but I did tell her I am up for dinner or just hanging out anytime this week. I have a feeling she won't call me though, just because it seems lately we don't do anything together except go clubbing.

The Boyfriend is out with his mom eating dinner right now. Afterwards he's coming back over to my place and we're going to play pingpong and rearrange my room. I know my room could look so nice, especially with its cathedral ceilings and big windows. Unfortunately its usually just a cluttered mess due to my laziness. At least the closet is organized! One step at a time right?

More Updates..

Monday: Actually got to sleep before 10pm on Sunday, which meant I meant to work feeling very refreshed and awake. I've been catching the 7:05 train, which means I have to wake up at 6am in order to be out the door by 6:50am. I aim to get to sleep anytime between 9:45pm - 10:15pm which usually gives me around 7.5 -8 hours of sleep. I am someone who definitely needs at least 8 hours of sleep every night! I packed a salad for lunch, but unfortunately that just wasn't enough today so I bought a chocolate bar from the vending machine as well. The Boyfriend picked me up from the train station and we went to eat Spring Rolls. He also picked up a bunch of pictures that we developed so now I have pictures to put up in my office as well as at home!

TTC: $18
Chocolate Bar: $1.25

Total: $19.25

Tuesday: Boyfriend left for Kingston this morning until Friday night, again! Apparently he has to go next week as well. I know it's selfish of me to not want him to go, especially when I spend the majority of the day at work but it would be nice to have someone to be waiting for me after work, even if its just one or two days out of the week. Oh well, at least he is keeping busy I suppose, even though I wish he would get a job, even a part-time one. He cooked me some chicken before he left so I packed fajitas today for lunch! Much better than just a salad! Also got my cell phone bill today... $96!!! Holy crap! I changed my number and adjusted my price plan right away. Now, it's not long distance for me to call anymore (my number used to be in the area code of my college town) and I pay an extra $4 a month but I get 125 text messages instead of the 35 that was included in my previous plan. I'm taking the extra $46 from my Going Out budget. All I need to do now is apply for a PC bank account, and cancel my TD bank account. All very exciting.

Total: $0

Wednesday: Parents ate all the chicken Boyfriend made me, so I had nothing to pack for lunch today! Took the shuttle to McDonalds instead. Anyways, had dinner with my friends from college today including Model. The more I think about it, the more I want to go back to school in the fall. It is my last year, I should be able to spend it with all my friends. I'm starting to understand what everyone is talking about, undergraduate life only comes around once and its time I start appreciating it more. Just this past week and a half has really opened my eyes on what "real life" is all about and I'm not sure if I'm ready for it. Or maybe it's just my job. It's pretty boring. Not something I mind doing, but it's monotonous and I get the hint that what I'm doing right now is what I will be doing for the rest of the year. I guess I'll give it another week or so to figure out for myself what I want. I miss BF, wish he was here!

McDonalds: $5.63
Dinner: $18

Total: $23.63

My First Week on the Job!

So far so good! It's been a crazy week though. For some reason, everyone wanted to hang out! Where were all my friends last week when I had no work and NOTHING to do?! Anyhow I have been keeping track of all my spending and am ready to provide a recap of my first week on the job =D

Monday: For some unknown reason, woke up at 3am. That's right.. THREE O'CLOCK. Could not go back to sleep and ended up going to work in one of those dizzy hazes, where your brain is half asleep but your body is wide awake. Got introduced to all my coworkers, all of which seem pretty nice. There are only 3 girls in my department, and now me. I was hoping for more girls, simply to find someone I could laugh with, eat lunch with, and gossip with. You know, the usual girl stuff! What did I expect though, I AM working in the IT department. All the guys are nice though and most of them are fairly young. I would say the majority of people in my office are in their mid20s - late20s. Then again, I could be wrong, I've never been too accurate when it comes to guessing ages. Model called me as I was leaving work and told me she was going to come down to see me again. I was excited to see her, but honestly I just wanted to go home and sleep. Anyhow, we had dinner, and then coffee at Tim Hortons, before I finally told her I was about to pass out. I was glad she came to see me though.

Go Train One Way Ticket: $6.10
TTC 10 Tokens: $22.80
Coffee at Work: $1.00
Chips from Vending Machine: $1.15
Go Train Student Monthly Pass: $149
Dinner: $15
Coffee: $2.63

Total: $197.68

Tuesday: Got a lot more sleep, woke up feeling better than I had the day before. Learned a lot of new software and got a better idea of what I would be doing at the job. My official title is Junior Web Content Editor. Sort of a mouthful if you ask me, but that seems to be the trend at my workplace. Found out some good things, for example my boss does not care what time you come in as long as its between 8am-10am and you work for 8 hours. Also on Fridays, everyone goes out for lunch for around 2 hours or so, it's very relaxed. The last thing is that in July and August, Friday's work hours are 9am-1pm, which is very nice! I went out with the Web Developers in my department, the company took us out to a nice restaurant in order to thank them for all their hard work on a project that had recently been completed. I got invited along simply because I was new. The president of the company actually joined us and I got to speak with him for a litte bit since he went to my university. After work Princess and Peanut Butter came over to my house and Peanut Butter dyed Princess's hair. It was also the last time we would get to see PB before she left for her vacation to the Philippines this weekend.

Coffee: $1.00

Total: $1.00

Wednesday: Still learning new programs, and getting acquainted with everything I have to do. My job involves a lot of editing and to be honest that is fine with me. Work flies by, it is so much different than my last job because here I actually have a lot to do which helps make the time go by. I am just kind of anxious to learn how to do everything because although the girl who is training me is very nice, the way she explains the procedures is so unnecessarily execessive ("look on the top toolbar and find the Print button which is the one with a gray Printer icon.") that I just end up tuning her out after the first 5 or 10 minutes. Of course this does not help me achieve my goal of learning everything as quickly as possible, but what can you do. I've started to buy coffee from work every morning. It honestly tastes like shit, but seeing as though I have to get up everyday at 6am, it helps. I've been trying to mix packets and find a good combination. So far it seems Hot Chocolate and Hazelnut is the best. That is of course when two sugar packets are mixed in as well. The Boyfriend came over after work and we watched Ocean's 12 at my house. I fell asleep halfway through the movie at around 8pm and so we just went up to my room and hung out until he left around 10pm.

Coffee: $1.00
Take Out Dinner: $10

Total $11.00

Thursday: The same old, learning new programs and how to update certain web pages. Found out that another one of my coworkers started off as a co-op student and got offered a full-time job upon completion of his co-op term. Makes me hopeful for perhaps a future with this company, but it's too soon for me to even know if i want to stay with the company. I'm just saying, it's nice to know that it might be an option? The commute actually has not been so bad. In the morning I take the train at 7:05am and usually get to work by around 8:30am. In the evening, I catch the bus at 4:50pm and get home by around 5:55pm because I catch the express train which only takes 20min to get to my stop as opposed to the regular 40min on the morning train. Turtle and I met up and had dinner. I enjoy talking with Turtle because I feel like I can really open up to her about a lot of things. She always has such an amazing outlook on life and I feel that I learn so much on how to be a better person everytime I hang out with her. This time, she was telling me how she has been trying to understand herself more. Understand why she gets mad, why she reacts to situations in certain ways, and more. To me it's very inspirational, and I honestly admire her and aspire to look at life the way she does.

Coffee: $1.00
Lunch: $7.32
Dinner: $22.00

Total: $30.32

Friday: Casual Fridays! Everyone gets to wear running shoes and jeans. Went out to eat with my coworkers today. For some odd reason, my deskmate does not enjoy hanging out with the rest of the department. Him, the girl who is training me, and another guy usually go off and do their own thing. Since I have been talking mostly to them this past week, I decided to go out with the other group just to get to know them better. It went pretty well, it was all guys but they were all nice and actually very funny. I had to spend $5.50 today on the TTC because I ran out of tokens (Gave 2 to my mom on Tuesday because she was going downtown and did not want to drive) and did not have enough cash on me to buy another 10pack. The Boyfriend cooked me my favorite meal (chicken parm) which was delicious as always! Then we went to watch The Forbidden Kingdom. I was NOT aware that it was actually a spoof of Kung-Fu movies. It was ... all right. As good as a spoof could be, but if I was aware that it was a spoof I would not have watched it in theatres!

TTC: $5.50
Coffee: $1.00
Lunch: $12
Lotto: $2.00

Total: $20.50

Saturday: Well today I am honestly not leaving my house! Been awake since 8:45am (which is now considered sleeping in for someone who has to get up at 6am every morning!) and just been lounging around. I have a feeling as time goes by I am going to start appreciating weekends more and more. Princess originally wanted to go clubbing tonight but she said she doesn't feel like it anymore which is MORE than fine by me! I'm hoping no one calls me today because I just want to stay in and watch movies with the BF. Unfortunately I have a feeling Princess still wants to hang out tonight after she gets off work and Mountain Biker called me a few days ago and asked if I wanted to have dinner tonight with her and Bunny. I guess we'll just see, Bunny said that she might be busy tonight so that might not even happen. I skipped driving school today as well because honestly, I need a day to myself. I plan to just catch up on my TV shows, watch movies online and just nap around today! Oh yeah, I have definitely not been sticking to that fitness plan I set up for myself, but at least I brought salad to work for lunch! The Caesar kit from Doles is actually delicious! I plan to visit the grocery store today to pick up some more packets! They're kinda pricey ($2.47 for a packages which gives me 2 lunches) but they're convenient and healthy at least! I also have to get my mom a Mother's Day present, but the BF and I are going to Costco today to develop pictures so I'll just look for something there. Anyways I'm going to go microwave the leftover chicken parm from tomorrow.

My Last Week of Freedom

So I begin working full-time in exactly a week which means the end of my life as I know it! Last year I worked as a cashier for a grocery store in the summer and got around 15-20 hours a week. That meant a lot of free time for me to spend with my boyfriend and girlfriends. This year I am most likely going to be spending at least 3 hours a day commuting on top of the 9-5 grind Monday-Friday, so I doubt I will do doing anything fun during the week. But still I am really excited, not about the commute but about working in a field I love and not having the do menial grunt work anymore! My mom is buying a new car so shes handing down the old Corolla to me. I start driving school this Saturday and am finally getting my G2 license! I know, it took me long enough! I've been listening to my friends complain for too long now!

Princess asked me what I was doing tonite and of course I told her I didn't have any plans. She then told me that we should go over to Roommate's place and help her pack for her upcoming Vancouver trip. Not really sure how I am going to get out of this one since I already told her I wasn't doing anything but I really don't want to hang out with Roommate especially considering all the hell I went through this year with my housemates (minus Mountain Biker). It's gotten to a point that I just don't like her as a person and really don't want to be around her at all. Model keeps telling me that I should just give it time and soon enough we will all forget about it. To be honest I could care less, I just don't want to be around any of them anymore.

EDIT: What I neglected to mention is that while I was in Chicago, I found out I did not get the position on Bay Street. The HR person told me that although my interview was good, they need someone with a little more experience. After that I emailed the publishing company and told them I would like to accept their offer. They offered me a 12 month contract with the understanding that I may only stay for 4. Also I am going to be getting paid $14/hour! This is very exciting for me considering my part-time job during the school year only paid $10/hour.

After the Madness

Well, its Saturday morning and I am finally free! I had my final exam yesterday at 9am and my last two interviews on Wednesday and Thursday.

On Wednesday it wasn't so much of an interview as an orientation. I had an appointment to meet with my boss at the publishing company that is offering me a summer internship in Online Marketing and Web Development. My boss walked me around the office, showed me the department I would be working in and introduced me to her boss. Then she gave me a more detailed breakdown of exactly what I would be doing. The kicker is that she wants me to stay for 16 months, not just 4. I really do have to think about this. When I had a mini farewell lunch with my best friend at school, we'll call her Model (because she is one, sort of?), she freaked out! Model and I spend literally every single day together, having lunch, studying at a cafe, or just hanging out at someone's house. When I thought she was transferring next year to a university closer to her home I freaked out as well. It's hard to imagine going to school without her just because we've become inseparable.

Anyways back to the interviews. On Thursday I had an interview for a Corporate Communications Assistant position with this company on Bay Street. Let me tell you I felt so professional. The office is located off the underground concourse and my interview was at 9am, so I was walking alongside all the business people on their BlackBerry's on their way to work. When I got into the building I needed to get a security card that I had to swipe everytime I walked through a set of doors. During the interview itself, they only asked me a few questions before the Director began to explain in great detail what the position was actually about. Let me tell you, it sounds great! I want this position so badly and I know it would be such a great opportunity. I have to send them some samples of my writing so I guess I have to scrounge up some stuff and send it off on Monday. My prospects look good, because they told me they are only interviewing three people for the position and one is only available to interview on May 2nd (the position is scheduled to start on May 5th). So obviously, that wouldn't give them much time to deliberate at all. I will send them my writing and hope for the best.

After my interview on Thursday, since I was already downtown, I met up with my friend Turtle. Turtle went to my high school and was one of my closest girlfriends. She moved away to North York so we lost touch for the first two years of university but recently we have reconnected very strongly. In the past year I feel I have gone through emotional growth and also matured a lot. I feel this has a lot to do with the boyfriend but that is a different story. Turtle and I shopped at Eartons Centre and she treated me to lunch. We had some great talks and I was really happy I got to see her since I rarely do, especially when we are both in school.

Today I plan to just lounge around and slowly unpack. I moved everything from my room at school back home, with the exception of the desk, drawers and bed that is staying there this summer and the chair and TV that is coming home next weekend. Might see the boyfriend for a bit but he is coming over at night to sleep over anyways because we are leaving for Chicago bright and early on Sunday morning! I'm so excited!!

EDIT: When I went shopping I bought an $8 white dress shirt with 3/4 sleeves and $6 black shorts for lounging around. That's 4 purchases in 4 days, and I never buy anything from H&M because it usually doesn't fit. Loving this!

The First Interview of the Week

Had my first interview (of 5) this week. Well, I don't know if it counts because it was with a staffing agency. I left feeling pretty good about my administrative skills, the lady said she hadn't seen scores like mine in awhile =D (not to brag or anything). It was funny, because originally the BF was just going to go to the restaurant next door and wait for me, but since they had me complete so much testing he got bored and came in and filled out an application as well! Unfortunately, even though he indicated he wanted to do administrative or general labour, they only gave him general labour related testing... so I guess we know where he is going to get placed. The staffing agency actually offered me a position right away with Panasonic as an administrative assistant. Since I already have that other job lined up, I didnt want to take it, luckily for me it was a permanent position and since I am going back to school in the fall, I had "no choice" but to decline.

The first Corporate Communications interview which was supposed to happen on Wednesday got cancelled. As in, the whole position got cancelled. Oh well, I still have the job offer as well as another interview on Thursday, so we'll see how everything pans out.

My Academic and Professional Life

I am a Communications major who is concurrently pursuing a Certificate in Technical and Professional Writing. Up until recently I was a Psych major as well, but when I discovered the TPW Certificate program I had to weigh my options since there was no way I could complete that as well as a double major in four years. On the one hand, I only have one more year in the double major to go. On the other hand, Psych has absolutely no relation to what I want to pursue in terms of my career goals, and the Certificate would not only look good on a resume and provide additional credentials, the courses I will take are definitely beneficial. I can't count the number of times I have sat through Psych exams and written essays and wanted to shoot myself in the face. It's so boring and I could care less about it since I know I will never need it. For the first time in a long time, I'm actually looking forward to school next year and am motivated to do well. We'll see what really happens next year I guess haha.

In my Professional life, I have been working part-time as a Communications Assistant for the past 6 months. Since I have to move back to my hometown/Toronto for the summer I had to quit that job but they said they definitely want me back for next year! I already have a job offer for a position in Online Marketing and Web Development, but I also have 2 other interviews this week for internships in Corporate Communications, which is what I really want to get into. I guess we'll see how they go and find out from there. All 3 positions are downtown, so I am most likely moving there for the summer. I'll offer to pay my own rent (for the first time, ever!) which I am not excited about, but I am excited to live on my own (no roommates like during school!) and also to get away from my hometown (not because of family, but other stuff that will be discussed later).

Anyways, thats all for now. More to come!