smile.

Holy, moly, it's been awhile since I last wrote a post. And the last one doesn't really count, since I had YouTube do most of the work for me. =P I wish I could say that it's because I'm super duper busy, but that wouldn't entirely be true. I mean, I'm busy and tired as a working girl, but I really am making excuses if I don't even have time to post something on my blog.

Anyways. Let's actually tie the post into the title. So, why have I been smiling? Well, work's been really good. I had NOTHING to do yesterday and 2 of my bosses were out, but today's been a really productive day. I still don't feel like I'm making a difference in the lives of my bosses, but I think that's just my insecurities talking. I'm sloooowly making my cubicle my own, I have bombarded it with all this Powerpuff Girls stuff, cause they're my favorite ever. Are they not the cutest things ever?? Cartoon Network is releasing the first season on DVD later this year for their 10th Anniversary. Can't wait. Especially since they don't air the show anymore. Sadness.

I also got my very first paycheck yesterday, and if I didn't need the money to pay off my ridiculous Anthropologie bill (I made a killing there the other day) or the other superfluous stuff I tend to buy, I would have it framed. Maybe I'll just make a copy of it and frame it. It's not like it's a huge amount of money or anything, though it is a bigger number than I've ever gotten in one lump sum, but it's like my official entrance into the working world, my ticket into the Big Boys Club. Plus, (hopefully) one day I'll look back on it and be like "oh hahahaha I remember thoooose days, glad I'm making soooooooo much more now." Haha. A girl can dream.

Oh, and one more happy news. The Shin Family is finally getting cable. Like 15 years after everyone else. It's a big deal. My dad is still iffy about it though. It's like COME ON! He says he's "allowing" this because I'm paying for it and he can't stop me, and that I'll probably be the only one watching it and I won't even have time to watch it. Let's fast forward to week 2 when he's discovered the Nature channel and Animal Planet and ESPN and whatever else old men are into, and we'll be fighting for the remote. So, yeah. It'll be like 70 bucks a month for all the channels and DVR (Tivo's more expensive), and I think I can manage that, especially since I'm not paying anything else to live there. =P I need to call and make an appointment, but MTV here I come~! I'm just excited to watch the Hills in real time. Team Lauren!

current music: still Lily Allen. I want to go see her at the Irving in April, but tickets are $120. I don't think I want to pay that much. Boooo.

one week down

I've really been meaning to write this post like the night of my first day of work, but I've been so tired and sick that I just couldn't. I started sleeping this week at *gasp* 11:00. That may not seem late to some people, but that's early for me. I don't really believe in sleeping before midnight, for fear that I might miss out on something. What, I don't know, but magic happens. It doesn't matter anyway, cause even when I sleep at 11, I'm up half the night coughing. And because I have to wake up at 6:50 everyday, I think I have barely been getting 5 hours of sleep per night. But I'm not sleepy at work, mainly because I have adrenaline constantly running through my body from the realization that I actually have a job.

Anyways, there are a million reasons why I am so grateful for my job and the company and the people that I work with, none of which I am going to detail in this post. And even though I am only three days in, I think I'll be enjoying this for a long time. In fact, I have to. It's what I've always wanted. The other day after what seemed like a really long day of work, I was walking home from the bus stop when KT Tunstall's Suddenly I See came up on my ipod. That's when it finally hit me. I am living my dream. Don't get me wrong, I still don't know what I want to do with my life, and part of my dream isn't living at my parents' home in Palisades Park (which does have its perks, btw), but I'm doing what I imagined myself to be doing after college ended. It took 8 months to get to this point, but here I am, working at a really cool place, in the city no less, and I am enjoying what I'm doing and getting paid for it. Who knows if I'll be at Cartoon Network or at Turner for the rest of my career. That's not important. What's important is that it's a step in the direction I want to go, and there are a million roads I can take from here. Life is good, and God is great. I really feel His overwhelming love, and the way events have transpired in the past few weeks is proof of His grace. And it's up to me to express my gratitude for everything that is my life by working hard and being the best I can be, not only at my job but with everything. I'm up for the challenge. I think. No, I am! Yes, I am.

things are looking up.

My job search has hit a definite stagnant period, as I'm a) getting more desperate as the days and months go by, b) applying to jobs like crazy and not getting ANY responses in return, and because of a and b, c) January's almost over and I'm not any closer to reaching my resolution of landing a paying job. Thanks to two phone calls from my good friend Leslie, things are starting to look up. I don't want to go into details, because there is a huge chance that both these leads will be nothing more than me getting excited for 2 minutes and nothing good happening after that, but I feel like things will happen. If not this month then in the next. And before I jinx myself any further, this is where all job-related talk will stop.

So I will talk about what I know best, television. I love Thursdays. My favorite show, the Office, is on, and so is Grey's Anatomy, (which has been really good the past few episodes) and I like Ugly Betty (though I watch it online since it's on at the same time as the Office) and Men in Trees is a cute show (though Anne Heche still creeps me out to no end). Tonight we had 3 reruns of the Office, including Grief Counseling, one of my favorites of this season, and The Initiation, which featured the long waited very first interaction with Jim and Pam since he transferred to Stamford at the beginning of the season. I HEART this couple so much. And even though they've been apart most of the season due to Jim's transfer, then his subsequent transfer back with a new girlfriend named Karen, things are looking up for them as well. Yay JAM! I'll be talking about this couple a lot.

Apparently, Meg Cabot, the chick-lit author of such novels as the Princess Diaries, is a fan too. This is what she posted on her blog:
"And if you are not watching The Office, well, I just don’t know what to say. I guess if I were to say to you, “Jim said yes,” it would mean nothing to you.
If, however, you were watching The Office, and I were to say, “Jim said yes,” to you, you would inhale sharply and squeal, “I KNOW!” in a delighted manner. These words would take on a whole new meaning to you. Because this is seriously the hottest, most romantic show on TV, besides being the funniest, and if you aren’t watching it, well, I kind of feel sorry for you.
But don’t worry! It’s not too late to catch up! Start watching it now! Come on! It’s soooo funny!"

Couldn't have said it better myself. Ah, I love it. I kind of don't get people who don't find the show funny. It's one thing to have never really watched it, but it's a whole another to not find anything funny about it upon watching it. And one of my biggest pet peeves is people comparing the UK Office to the US one, but more annoyingly, dismissing the US one and not giving it a chance because of the brilliance of the original. They're different, each has its own merits, get over it.