My First Offer!

Yay! I have at least one place I could work for next year! I just got a phone call about an hour ago from a man at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and he said that they would be mailing me an offer later this week. I am so excited! This whole interview process has been crazy and is far from over, but I am so relieved to have one good offer under my belt. I was really impressed with the recruiting event PwC held last week and will seriously consider the offer. My perspective and thoughts have changed so much during this process! For a while I not thinking seriously about any of the Big 4 firms because they almost seem too big, but now I am thinking that it might be a good place to start. I am nervous about working such long hours, particularly during busy season, but hopefully all the time management skills I learned at GT will come in handy and I will still manage to have a life outside of work.

If only I knew where Paul was going to be next year! He is still shooting to go to school in California, but he has to get in first, which might not be easy even though I think he has a great chance. He mentioned at dinner on Friday night that even if he was to go to GT, he would look for opportunities to take a year off so he would not get burnt out. I totally understand not wanting to go to GT for 7 years straight, but if he decides to go out of the country for a year, I'm not sure how I will react. We've been dating for two years and I hope he will factor me into his decision, I will be really hurt if he doesn't. I know that we are still young and should be selfish to some extent, but I also believe that we should consider each other in our decisions now if we really want to make this work long-term, and that we shouldn't throw away what we've spent over two years developing. Paul, not that you are reading this, but please think of me too!! It was hard last week to find much time for each other and I got a little frustrated on Friday night and said kind of heatedly something that has been on my mind lately, that I sometimes feel like I am just fighting for crumbs of his time. I've got to keep in mind that I have been busy too, but it's been so hard with his schedule, I really feel like he tries to do too much. He probably wouldn't agree because he gets a "high" from doing so many things, and I get that sometimes too, but I wonder what would happen if he were to cut back and focus on a few things, wow, how effective he could be! (and maybe have more time for me as well :)

For now, I am going to go on about my life, which has been busy at the moment with work, interviews, and the Brand Atlanta Campaign (side job). Kamber is out of town this week, but I won't have much time to be alone in the apartment with the Falcons game tonight, Mock Rock at GT tomorrow night, Frazier and Deeter dinner Wed, and a E&Y recruiting event on Thurs/Fri. Then it's GT Homecoming! Paul is going to pass his crown of being Mr. GT :( What a fun year for him. Go Jackets!

Whew!!

Whew!! This last week has been CRAZY! I don't think I have been in my condo for more than an hour other than to sleep. Last week was very busy at work and most of my time was spent out of the office visiting places such as Paradise Gardens, Odyssey Counseling Center, Ronald McDonald House, Atlanta Ballet, etc. I loved it! But on top of that, I was/am busy juggling the job search and all the fun interviews/socials/info sessions that go along with it. Tuesday evening was spent at Grant Thornton, Wednesday evening at Ernst & Young, and then I had an interview on Thursday with E&Y. They are very impressive and the recruiteer and I had a lot in common, but I am pretty sure the big 4 are not what I am looking for in a company. Yes I would be working for a great name, with good pay and benefits, but would I have a life?? I'm beginning to think not. I know I will be working hard wherever I go, particularly during the busy season of January-April, but I think I would do better in a smaller office, one of closer to a 100 people not 1000, a place that is able to focus on balance a little bit better. My first choice right now is Grant Thornton. I had lunch with my friend Stephanie that works there on Friday and she answered a lot of my questions. I seem to be looking for exactly the same things in a company that she was this time a year ago and she is very happy at Grant Thornton so far. My interview is this Wednesday morning!! Meanwhile, I will continue to be wined and dined by at least 2 of the big 4 that I know of so far, why not??!!

Eleanor and Teresa threw a going-away party for Cristina on Wednesday night that I went to right after my social at E&Y. I can't believe she leaves in a few days! I am so proud of her though. She went out to Orange County all by herself, rented a car, found an apartment and a roommate! I know she was sad to say goodbye to everyone on Wed night, but I think the move will be good and exciting for her, particularly since things with her and Jon have fallen apart. She needs a change. I will miss her lots and can't wait to visit.

Thursday evening was fun, other than the fact that I sat in traffic with my parents forever trying to get from my condo to Tech Square for dinner. We had a football game and the traffic was incredible. Paul was waiting for us at the Globe when we arrived, thank goodness they held our reservation! It was a rather expensive meal of wine and things such as grouper and duck, but I know my dad enjoys treating us, particularly Paul. He is so good with my parents! I never have to worry about him meeting any of my family or friends, talking to people and making other people feel comfortable comes so natural to him. The game was not spectacular as the weather was gross and Tech did not play well. Paul and I only stayed until half time as we had some clean up to do. . . We finished off the night by finally making it to Moondogs for Griff's 21st bday. I never thought I would go to Moondogs after I graduated, but Paul has gone some this semester and I think this was like my third time in recent memory. Needless to say, Friday morning at work was rough!! All day was rough actually as I had not gotten much sleep all week, but I don't regret it.

Moving Forward

I'm just winding down after a good weekend here in Atlanta. Paul and I finally got to go on a date on Friday!! Once I got over the fact that he was over 3o minutes late and didn't call because he didn't have his phone, I had a great time :) We had a quick dinner and great conversation on Ponce and then headed to Fernbank for Martinis at IMAX. It was so much fun!! We both got a martini and spent some time people watching and chatting outside. As we were waiting for our movie to start, we were thoroughly entertained by one of the ushers and the search for Charlie, someone's date who was late because he was getting a martini. Later that evening we went back to my place for a bit and chatted with Teresa and Kamber- Teresa proceeded to make numerous hints about how Paul should stay here next year, was actually quite humorous and I don't think he minded too much. I agreed to camp out with Paul at DX last night at his request, but it was nice because the house was basically empty- most of the guys were had already left on the DX retreat and Paul had offered to stay behind to take me out because his plans changed for this coming Friday. The date came at a good time and was much needed after our conversation last Friday, so I was one happy girl.

Saturday's entertainment came in the evening when I helped Brittany Copeland celebrate her 21st. We started off the evening at Noche with her roommates and a couple of other girls, but since I was the only one 21 other than Megan McLees, I was in charge of taking her out. We ended up getting together with Jeff and Tim and their friend Matt, and we all got in a taxi after some pregaming and headed back to the Highlands. It was a good evening where Brittany and I only paid for one drink at Limerick. The boys got to feeling pretty good and things got a bit out of hand as we tried to go home. Brittany and I ended up in a taxi with Matt. The great thing was that Tim high-fived Matt as he was walking by the taxi and threw a $20 bill in the taxi! I took it from Matt and used it to pay for our taxi :) When we got back to our place, we had a lot of trouble getting passed-out Matt out of the taxi, but he eventually got out but would not come in. Evidently, he ended up settling behing the dumpster until Jeff found him several minutes later. Glad Brittany and I ended up safe and sound inside my condo!