As most of you know, I'm living with my cousin, Dee Dee, at her apartment in Midtown Manhattan. The building is very nice and many of the rooms overlook all of Central Park and uptown Manhattan. She has two beautiful sons, John and Jordan, that also live here when they are not with their father. If it already wasn't crazy enough, the pets are here too: Farrah, her gorgeous 8 month old golden retriever
"puppy" who is already huge and out of control, and Hootie and Ringo, the really old Persian cats who are on too many meds. In addition to that, Dee Dee's office is in her home, so her coworkers come in and out throughout the week... as does the dog walker, the groomer, the maid, random friends and family who are visiting, etc etc. Although it's a little like a circus, it's still a great place. I have my own room (formerly John John's room) that overlooks the Hudson River, New Jersey, and downtown Manhattan (I can even see a little bit of the lights of Times Square). I'm trying to get settled in but everything still isn't unpacked (3 weeks later....). But that's partly due to the fact that Dee Dee had a friend living with her before I moved in and all of her things are still not out of the room. However, I'm trying to make it my own so that I feel a little more at home. My own 600-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets, White Bear (my childhood stuffed bear), pictures of friends and family I actually had printed from my digital camera, and some of my favorite music are helping with that! But the huge wall decals of Chewbacca and R2-D2 and the other Star Wars figurines that are still in the room aren't quite my style. Not sure what I'm going to do about those yet. It's still an amazing place to live and I'm so blessed to have family here that's so willing to help me out while I get myself established. At some point, I may move out on my own so that I can have a space to call my own (even if it's a few steps/leaps down from this place). It just depends on how long I decide to stay in New York and how much money I can save!
Leaving Tennessee was a little bittersweet. Obviously, I miss it desperately (despite the fact that I thought I wanted to get out of Knoxville so badly!). But the idea of experiencing a totally new place and meeting so many new people is exciting and I knew that I needed to leave the place where I grew up. I really felt like I was supposed to be in NYC at this point in my life. I know that God has a purpose for me here. I'm not quite sure what that is yet, but I'm sure I'll find out. And selfishly, I came here because I probably won't ever have a chance like this for the rest of my life, so I had to take advantage of it. And I've heard that you never truly appreciate where you came from until you leave. (I'm already realizing all the many reasons I love TN and the South!) My wonderful TN roommate, Samantha, and our friend, Shaina, graciously offered to DRIVE me up to New York so that I would not have to worry about storing my life in a couple of suitcases and flying here. After an 8-hour roadtrip, we spent one night in Maryland with her brother. Then we finished the trip the next afternoon. I officially arrived in NYC on February 2nd.When I first got to New York, I didn't have much time to get settled before I started looking for a job. I had 3 interviews the week I arrived. After that, I didn't slow the job search down. I posted my resume on Monster.com (a job searching/recruiting website which was surprisingly helpful!) A few people contacted me because they found my resume on Monster.comand I lined up more interviews because of it. In a couple of instances, I went back for second interviews. I was offered a job at one place but wasn't sure that I wanted to take it. Plus, I had already committed to going to another interview and wanted to follow through. But, a week later, I accepted the position because I had a really good feeling about the company and the people I interviewed with. So, I officially have a job! I am the Administrative Assistant for EuroRSCG Life LM&P, which is a pharmaceutical ad agency, specifically on the brands Selzentry, Genotropin, and Xalatan. This ad agency is under the larger EuroRSCG Life umbrella, which is part of the EuroRSCG network. (I know, it sounds confusing... just companies within companies). EuroRSCG is a European company that was based in Paris until a couple of years ago when the headquarters was moved to NYC. My office is located on Madison Avenue, the street in New York City that is famous for Advertising. I'll be working with some great people and will have the opportunity to move up pretty quickly. In the meantime, I'll be doing lots of random things that Admins do and learning how the company works.... and going to lots of company-paid lunches and dinners!! This first week of work has been pretty good... mostly orientations, lunches with my teams, and getting a lot of work thrown at me. And I'm trying to get in the routine of going to bed earlier and waking up earlier (which has never been one of my strong suits). Here is an email that one of my bosses sent out to all of the Account Services people (and probably a lot more people) to welcome me to the team and the company:
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Howdy Y'all!
Its my pleasure to announce the newest addition to the account services (dysfunctional) family: Katherine Vermillion. Katherine comes to us straight from college via a stint at the Clinique counter at Dillards in Knoxville, Tennessee where she undoubtedly gave the Dolly Parton makeover 3 times a day. She is a recent graduate from University of Tennessee with a degree in Advertising. She has traded in the rolling hills of Tennessee for a life in the big city and don't let her southern accent fool you....one look and you'll see she's more comfortable at a debutant ball than slinging beers at the Boars Nest with Daisy Duke.
Katherine will support the Genotropin, Xalatan and Selzentry teams and we couldn't be happier to have her. In addition to offering up your prayers for her, please stop by and welcome her-- she sits where Logan Cooper used to (outside Marcy's office).
On a final note: she may have graduated from the alma mater of Peyton Manning but Heather Breslow and I have made it quite clear that she's in ELI country now!!!!
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Thank you all for your love and support. I miss you all and hope to see you soon. I appreciate your thoughts and prayers as I've made this transition. I've certainly felt the presence of God here and been reminded many times that He is taking care of me.
xx
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