Thursday, August 4, 2011

When It Rains, It Pours

Whew, it's been a while. I knew the month of July was going to be crazy, but I wasn't expecting it to be this crazy. I thought I'd surely get in a blog post or two along the way, but before I knew it, July was over and August was here, shepherding in a whole new month of  fun and commitments . . . and not a post in sight.

It seemed like every weekend in July contained something, and when Mike and I would sit down to discuss what we had going on during the week, we'd realize every night was filled with something: kickball, softball, birthdays, happy hours, etc. Sure, these were all fun things, but those fun things add up to wanting a weekend  to catch up . . . but that certainly wasn't in our cards with weddings, showers, and barbecues. We knew going into the month that there wouldn't be much downtime, we just didn't realize that I also would be throwing a major wrench into our routine.

Remember two months ago when I announced Mike found a new job? You know, that post where I tricked you all into thinking I was pregnant? Yeah, well, the job fairy has struck us again. . . . I'm now a senior production editor at Penguin.

Let me just say that I was not looking for a new job; I was happy and comfortable at Harper—with my job and my friends. But sometimes when you're the most comfortable in life, you're thrown a curveball to see if you can hit it. I saw a job posting for my now-current postition at Penguin and debated whether I wanted to apply. It was a step up from my role at Harper, and I'd be working more consistently on hardcover books (I worked on a few at Harper, but they were always design related). But my commute would be twice as long. I would be the last-in, and in a wavering industry you worry on being the first-out. And Mike and I wouldn't be able to meet up for lunches now that our offices were so close.

I weighed the pros and cons and then started updating my résumé . . . it couldn't hurt to apply, right?

I applied the Thursday before July 4th weekend. I had a call from HR on Friday with an interview set up for the following Wednesday. OK, I had the long weekend to think about it.

Mike and I spent that weekend hanging around the city, enjoying what would be our (first and) last free weekend of the month by trying some new restaurants, visiting the Harry Potter exhibit, and seeing Super 8.

I interviewed with HR on Wednesday and was called on Thursday to set up an interview with my would-be hiring manager for the next morning. Everything was moving quicker than I expected.

Friday I met with the hiring manager, and I got a good vibe. I knew over the weekend I'd have to really consider my options should Penguin extend an offer—it didn't feel like I'd have a lot of time to think about it if everything was moving this fast. And there really wasn't a lot of time that weekend, either: Friday night was Kunal and Smiksha's Sangeet in Jersey. Saturday was my cousins Ali and Zoey's graduation party in Westchester, and Sunday was Kunal and Smiksha's all-day wedding ceremony and reception back in Jersey.

Me and Mike at Kunal and Smiksha's Wedding

 Then came Monday. And an offer. An offer which I obviously decided to take. Tuesday was the dreadfull tell-the-boss day. Wednesday was fairly rough as I started figuring out what I needed to tie up before I left in two weeks. Thank goodness Ginna swung by the office around 7:30 to pick me up or I would have been there even later. Then Thursday I was off to Mississippi for Hilary and Nick's wedding.

My sister, me, Josephine, and Ginna at Hilary's wedding
(Unfortunately, my photos with Hilary are still on my camera.)

I had a fantastic time in Mississippi. I get to see Hilary so rarely that I cherish every moment with her. Since I got there on Thursday, I was able to spend some extra time with just her, Nick, and her family, which was really nice. Josephine and Hai arrived from Houston late Thursday night/early Friday morning, and though I was exhausted, Joey and I stayed up till 3:30 a.m. catching up (I would learn later that this is nothing compared to Hai's normal hours). Friday was Hilary's bachelorette party. On Saturday, Nicole, Bobby, and Mike arrived, and we had the rehearsal and BBQ. And then on Sunday we had the wedding! Monday was a traveling day I would rather soon forget, so we'll just skip right over that. . . .

Back in the city, on Tuesday we saw Harry Potter and the Deatly Hallows Part 2, Wednesday was Ginna's birthday, my sister was in town so we saw How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying on Thursday, on Friday my parents took the family out to dinner to celebrate my upcoming birthday, Saturday was a barbecue in Tarrytown (and then another Harry Potter viewing in 3D Imax with Dad), and Sunday was my cousin Jennifer's baby shower.

Tired yet?

On Monday I had a going-away happy hour; Tuesday was softball; Wednesday was my final day at Harper and then Mike took me out for an early birthday dinner at Benihana's; Thursday was my birthday—but I ended up going back to Harper because there was a surprise bridal shower for Amanda, followed by drinks and 16 Handles to celebrate my birthday; and on Friday, Mike and I went to the Yankees game (I am no longer allowed at Yankee home games when the Orioles are in town, I am 0-3, and it's usually the only game the Yanks lose in the series). We were supposed to be heading to Cape Cod for the weekend with Andrea and Brad, but with my new job starting on Monday, it was too stressful to figure out the timing of getting there and back. So Saturday we (finally) relaxed before heading to Jim and Ethan's barbecue, and then on Sunday we went to the outlets so I could get some new clothes for the new job.

Which leads me to this week!

Monday was my first day at Penguin and so far it is going well. It's comforting to realize that not much changes from house to house—at least in regards to working on the actual books. There are definitely some style differences, and there are going to be system differnces, both of which I'm trying to pick up as quickly as possible. But essentially, what I loved doing at Harper, I'll be doing here. My boss and department members seem great, and I look forward to meeting more people around the floor, because I really don't know how to function at a 9-5 job without having friends nearby. Every now and then you just need the coffee break, you know?

Time will tell whether this was the right decision, though I think it was a good move. I got out right as the Rupert Murdoch stuff started and as the publisher of the Harper imprints I worked on resigned. Surely there are going to be some changes there that I'll be missing. I'm no longer at the same job where people knew me as a fresh-faced kid right out of college and it's nice that people at Penguin will know me only by one name here (as opposed to Harper where I was still working under maiden and married last names). I already miss my old work friends, but they assure me that my leaving means we'll see each other more outside of work because we can't be lazy and just say, "See you tomorrow."

There's also a little bit of irony involved in my job switch. For years I wanted to be a marine biologist, even going to Sea World camp two years in a row during high school. (Laugh all you want at my nerdiness, it was awesome.) There are still days that I wonder "what if" and miss the idea of working with animals. But organic chemistry was the death of that dream, and eventually I found my way back to English—as most of my family expected I would. Now I find myself working at a company called Penguin (an animal I got to work and swim with at camp), and my new subway stop has marine mammal murals:






This weekend Mike and I will be in Denver for Jay and Holly's wedding, flying back on a red-eye Sunday night/Monday morning (something I booked long before I ever thought I'd be starting my second week of work at a new job). Then Thursday I leave for Dallas for Natalie and Landon's wedding. And after that things should slow down a bit as summer winds down . . .

. . . that is, if I can get out of jury duty at the end of the month. ;)

When it rains it pours, right?!

1 comment:

  1. Hey Erica! I cannot believe that I didn't find your blog earlier. Congrats on your new job and Tell Mike congrats on his. I've added your blog to my Google reader so I'm officially blog stalking you now =)

    Not sure if you are into following other peoples blogs, but here is ours (it's mostly pictures of the kids). http://blessedhess.wordpress.com/

    We need to catch up sometime!
    Katie (otness)

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