Happy Wednesday! Or Wednesday night, actually. I should probably start planning when these will go up, but there is something extremely calming about writing a blog post right before I go to bed. It allows me to get out all of my thoughts, and really process the day. Then again this post is going about about an hour later than normal because I got kind of carried away coloring in my adult coloring book. Which is still not rated r.

Today was one of the best days I have had in a long time. And I'm sure that I could say that about the past two or three days, but all day today I was genuinely happy. I was also told I was being too loud and too sassy at work today, but that's why I work where I work. Because I can be myself. Speaking of work, I think that that was one of the major reasons I was so incredibly happy. I arrived a few minutes late, not that anyone said anything, because I had to go to Ralph's this morning to get ingredients for a wine milkshake. Yes, you heard me correctly. Wine. Milkshake. We also went out and got burgers in Chinatown for lunch at the "In-n-out twin" (which it is very twin-like, but more expensive... Definitely the Annie rather than the Hallie in the Parent Trap combo, butler and all.)

Today at work I finally felt accepted. My goal kind of for the year I guess, and I am definitely saying goal in the loosest of terms, is to fully accept myself. Now that encompasses all of me so my appearance, my health, my mentality, my emotions, everything. But to finally feel accepted at work is a whole other accomplishment I could have never been more happy to receive. Especially since I was not looking for it.

For those who don't really know much about me, hi, I'm Kathryn. I graduated from USF in May 2015 with a bachelor's degree in Politics and Public Relations. I was undeclared the first two years, thought I found my calling in Politics, and then realized how fun PR could be, and how it would allow me to interact with more people my speed. Politics is great and all, but it has become such a negative atmosphere and so competitive rather than just trying to do the best for the world that I decided it just wasn't doing it for me. Career wise at least. I have no regrets graduating from college with my degree. I learned so much about politics, and was able to learn different views and stances on huge political topics. That was probably my favorite part. Learning about how other people saw the world. Taking that, I then took my very little PR knowledge and tried to make sense of the two of them together. I decided I should go into campaigns. Yet, the more and more I looked into it, and felt a connection to political campaigns, the more and more I realized it wasn't really what I wanted to do. Or at least not right now. Thankfully I had several PR internships in college which allowed me to have an internship at my current job, which then turned into full time position (woot woot!).

And here I am today. Doing something I would have never in a million years considered, loving every second of it, learning things every day, and questioning why I had never thought about doing what I do, because for right now, it is pretty much my dream job. I was over the moon with excitement when they offered me full time, and today, after back to back meetings, and taking photos, and writing articles and blog posts, it all just makes sense.

Growing up, I wanted to be something different every year, but one thing stayed the same: I never wanted to wake up in the morning angry to go to work because I hated my job. No work is perfect, nothing is a "dream" job. Everything has flaws, just like everyone does. Maybe it doesn't pay as much as you need for that perfect apartment, or theres some people you just do not get along with, or you aren't challenged enough. I'm starting to learn though, that when you learn how to improve upon and work past the flaws to thoroughly enjoy the work you put out that you have achieved your dream job, or if you are still not satisfied, it probably isn't the best job for you and you should change that. ASAP. Yet, I feel that I have currently created true happiness with my job. I started my job not only for what the job was, but mainly for the experience. And the experience I have already gained hasn't only been new things to add to my resume, but are also things to add to my day to day life.

Work hard. Set yourself up for nothing but success. See yourself living your dream. I promise you, the things you really truly desire in life are probably things you don't even know exist.

Cheerio, Life Choices

Imagine you are at the super market. You are craving Honey Nut Cheerios, the brand we all know and love because their commercials claim to lower our cholesterol. But, all of a sudden when you are reaching for this box, you realize, there are other brands that make basically the same cereal. What makes them different? Should you go for the cheaper box? The more colorful box? The classic box? How do you solidify which cereal you really want, when you know you can't open each box to try them all? There is a point to this cereal story, I promise, but you need to read on to understand...

I recently was catching up on one of the most inspirational bloggers I follow, Allison, at Because I Said So. Not only does she have an incredible sense of fashion, but I can relate to basically all of her blog posts in one way or another. Plus her motivation and continuation to keep her blog up is just incredible. 

Job hunting is not easy, and is definitely a full time job in and of itself. Having two part-time jobs, by the time I come home, I am already so tired, I just want to watch Netflix and sleep. But alas, my internship ends December 31, and I told my other part time job that I would not be returning come January.
Here and there I receive an email from a company saying they found my resume on so and so website, and they give me the job description. Other days I am online for countless hours into night time and am constantly applying to jobs, any jobs that sounds remotely interesting. Allison was job hunting and interviewing for a completely different job, when her dream job position seemed to sort of just fall in her lap. This isn't luck, or chance. That is fate. It is knowing what you really want, working extremely hard, and everything falling into place.

Now-a-days, it isn't what you know, but rather it is all timing and who you know. It is a crazy world where there are jobs and there are job openings, but if you don't have the experience, they don't want you. Yet, in college, I was constantly told that if I keep getting all of these internships and work opportunities, I will be over qualified.
So what is the happy medium? Honestly, I wish I could tell you. I, myself, am torn. I have all of these expectations and standards I have set for myself, which most have changed from when I was younger, but the principles remain the same. I have high expectations for myself, and I will not settle for just any job. I want to love my career, and I want to wake up in the morning with a smile on my face, wanting to go to work, because when I find my right career path, I will be making a difference in one way or another. That is my goal. I want to be able to look back on my life and say "hey look, I did that" or " I was a part of the conversation that sparked this movement" or "I was involved in this."

Happiness doesn't have a price-tag, but today it does have a label. For years now I have wanted to be a campaign manager. Today, campaign managers not head only political campaigns,but can manage social media campaigns, marketing, advertising, email marketing, the list goes on.
So, in a super market full of honey nut cheerios, all a different brand name, but all the same basic cereal, which do you pick?

Hopefully I didn't just make you crave cereal, but rather consider all of the options we have in life. I'm currently at a point where I can decide which career path, or cereal box to choose, and I can't lie... it is terrifying. I know everything happens for a reason, and everything works out the way it is supposed to, but that doesn't make options seem less daunting.

How did you get to where you are now? What made you choose your current career path? Are you truly happy?
Any advice or comments would help me and this post-grad-funk!

Happy FriYAY, and I hope you have an incredible weekend!

Hip, Hip, HOORAY

Welcome to my welcome back party! Hosted by yours truly (me) with special guest, YOU! I feel like I should make a little introduction, but I honestly don't even know where I would start. 

My world has changed into this crazy thing where one minute I am wishing that I was five years older and could just fast forward through this weird awkward transition from post grad into real world, the next minute I am missing college and all my friends and the memories I had in those four years, and then I stop and remember I just need to be and live in the moment. So that is currently where I am. This crazy gray area between post grad and real world with a full time career. Both which are miles apart - college and career - and yet, I'm still here, doing me. 

People change, relationships end, others are brought back, time continues, life moves on. So put a smile on, be the best you that you can be, and go out there and live the life that YOU want to live, because only you can live your life.

Inter-Vibes

Yes, the title of this blog post is me trying to be creative. It is also me trying to combine interview with vibes so it makes sense. In my mind... Right?

Now I am starting to question myself. Cool.

Lets talk about interviews.

There are multiple types of interviews. 

There are formal interviews, normally one on one, with a person in a suit, asking you typical questions, such as what is the last book you read? Why did you major in _____? Why would you be a good fit for this position?

Then there are the middle of the road type. Either you meet in their relaxed office, a joint conference room, a coffee shop if they are super trendy. It starts with awkward conversation, you get some Q&A time about you, and then you leave feeling sort of "eh."

THEN, my dear sweet reader person, there are the inter-vibes. These are the picture perfect interviews. These are the interviews that happen in movies or 17 magazine with the article title "how to nail your interview 101" or some cute clever thing that has been over done. These are the interviews that don't feel like interviews.

Now, none of these are bad, and none are good, and there are so many more, these are just the top 3 I could categorize in my brain. Everyone has their preference, and there is a time, place, and job for each. I personally like 1 and 3. I find lunch meetings in general awkward, so I feel that a lunch interview or even coffee interview would be uncomfortable. Or extremely judgmental, like more so than a normal interview.

But now, currently.... post interview:

Newsday Tuesday

I would like to apologize in advance for my constant lack of pictures. I have an Instagram and Twitter and Snapchat and then I forget about pictures for blog, I'm learning, I'm getting back into the swing of things. Work with me?

Speaking of work, I totally forgot I had an interview tomorrow, but it's okay. I remembered and now I'm super excited! It is a paid internship but hey, it's paid, and an internship, and I am at the point where I can figure out what I want to do with my life, or at least what I don't want to do with my life. That makes sense, right? It does to me.

As you may or may not know, my morning job deals with kids. I am the only permanent teacher and it's exciting but also sort of stressful. Anyways, one of my kids almost left my class to go to the one down the street because she was the only girl. Luckily we got another girl this week, but regardless, she told her mom she did not want to leave my class because Miss Kathryn wouldn't be there. HOW CUTE IS THAT.

But then I apply for other jobs and feel guilty but I mean they are just interviews and I see interviews as opportunities and lessons to get better at interviewing. It also gives me an insight to if I ever want to go into HR, and different interviewing tactics. Also, I just looked up the guy interviewing me and he is very attractive so that's fun! We all know how I get around attractive men...

Wish me luck!

A Boy? A Blog? An Arrest?!

Hopefully that title is intriguing enough to want to read, but the thing is, it's all true. So get excited! This post is about to be very interesting and fill you in on pretty much everything that has gone on in the past month.

~

Now since the last one is probably the most surprising, we'll do that and get that one out of the way. If you remember from my posts on my internships, I had been interning for my public administration class. (You can see posts all about my internship here, here, here, oh and here!) I completed my hours needed for the class but still was continuing my internship for the rest of the semester. That is, until I went to the office one morning a few weeks ago and there was no one there. Being the intern, I was unable to take my badge home meaning some one would need to let me into the office. I called the office, no one answered. Like I was standing outside, hearing the phones ring, and nothing. Security guard looked at me like I was crazy and told me to call my boss. Like hello, do you not think I already tried that?! Then the really hot guy from the office next door asked me if I was okay and I just had to smile and nod because 1) I can't speak around really attractive men and 2) no I'm not okay I'm on the verge of a panic attack.
So what do I do?! I call my mom.

~

Of course my mom turns into detective mode and tells me she will call me back, so now what?  I am in the state building, pacing, freaking out, and I don't know what to do. So I text the boy. Now, I know you are supposed to be cute, and flirty, and be cool with guys that you are just starting to talk to but you know what? If they are planning on sticking around they might as well deal with me at basically my worst. Sorry, but that's the truth. *monkey covering mouth emoji*

Back to the story. So as my mom is being a detective, I am venting to this guy who probably thinks I am insane but is actually keeping me calm. Weird. Why is this weird? Because every other guy I've ever talked to usually drives me crazy and we would butt heads and I just wouldn't want to tell them anything because I didn't want them to feel like I was a burden. Does this make sense?

~

So my mom finally calls me back, and tells me to be calm, and not freak out. So of course, because I am a logical human being, I lose my cool and start freaking out! My boss was arrested. Okay well now what!?

Since I finished my hours, the internship for my class was ultimately finished. For 2 weeks I went through this internal debate about how I didn't want to quit my internship (like my professor told me to) because I didn't want to quit. I loved working there, I loved the people, I loved the experiences. This is when I went on my blog-hiatus. I didn't know what to blog about, I didn't know what to think, I didn't know what to do. I ultimately made my decision and no longer work at my internship, but have told them that I would be available until the end of the semester if they need me to come in one day just to do entry level things. I was finally happy with my decision, and I had 3 people to thank, my parents, my friends, and this boy. Why the boy? Because he stuck through it, which hasn't been the case in a long time.

~

I have hung out with him twice, once just a hang out, the second time a date. It was an amazing first date, to put it lightly (crossed kissing under fireworks off my bucket list). 

We were supposed to have a second date today, but I had to work. The only downside to all of this is that he doesn't live in the city. That and we both have busy lives, leaving like no time to actually hang out. 

Adding to that, I'm only in the city until May before I go home for 3 months (summer), but don't worry, he knows this. I've also brought up the "so" question and we're both pretty much on the same page about whatever this is. He also knows I have a blog. Which made blogging right after our date kind of difficult. (I blame myself for having my blog in my Instagram description. Oh well)

~

So that's that for the boy. I think. It's just weird because people always say that it will happen when you least expect it, and that is exactly what happened. So we're just having fun, seeing where this leads. 

Wow, that was cheesy. SORRY! Anyways, back to the blog part of this post. I have regained my love for Tumblr over the past month, again leading to me neglecting this blog, and have also started Her Campus at my school, taking over the time I would normally dedicate here. But now that I have more free time (and lack of internship) and am finally back to my normal, not freaking out about interns and arrests and everything else! And for that I have you to thank, for reading this whole post, and for sticking with me through my rough patch of the semester(:

As Told By Kathryn

If you would have talked to me four years ago, I would have told you I would be going to school on the East Coast, I would be probably a sociology major with a pre-law emphasis, and that I was stressing over the SAT.
Two Christmases ago I got a camera that would begin my 6 month YouTube career.
A year and a half ago I was debating blog names for my personal/beauty blog.
One year and a month (or so) ago I found out that I was going to go to Spain for a month.
One year ago today I started this blog.
And today I am here.

Being an only child has shaped a lot of the decisions I have made over time. I stayed in California because of my parents, and can't imagine going to school anywhere else. San Francisco used to just be my Aunt's favorite city and where we would go for weekend getaways. Now it is my second home.

I changed my major from undeclared, to sociology, to politics, and have added my PR minor. I went from pre-law to just focusing on politics. I went from wanting to be a corporate lawyer to wanting to do something in politics with an emphasis on PR.

I graduated 8th grade valedictorian and went into high school not knowing anyone. I met my best friends, found my "clique" and got a vague idea of what I wanted to do. I went to college knowing one person, my best friend, and can now say that some of my best friends live in the city but wanted something completely different out of life.

Branding myself comes from my past. It comes from being an only child, from leaving home for college, from dreaming of the east coast. 

I believe in fairytales, and the fact that everything happens for a reason, you just have to believe... I'm a girl searching and waiting to be captivated. But in the meantime, I will live my life, and there will be bumps, holes, and new directions, but this is my life...for now: I'm a student addicted to caffeine, fascinated by makeup, with a minor shopping problem. Sherman Oaks native currently living in San Francisco. 

Intern Adventures part 3?

I am no longer the newbie. I know. Breaking news. This is a big deal.
Yesterday I walked into work (5 minutes early I might add) to be bombarded with "THANK GOODNESS YOU ARE HERE" comments. As nice as those were, I couldn't help but notice the chaos that was going on. There were boxes and bags full of paper everywhere. The time had come. It was office cleaning and reorganizing day. I was given the important task of being in charge of reorganizing and putting things where I felt necessary. This was a big deal. That's like almost ad much commitment as it was to have my voice on the voicemail at work. Well, I took on the challenge, and while I was organizing brochures and pamphlets galore in the back office, I suddenly heard "Kathryn, Kathryn? Oh there's someone I need you to meet!" Much to my surprise and disappointment it wasn't the cute guy from down the hall who I forced to talk to me. It was a new intern! She's French, super cool, and works there every Monday. There are also two other interns who work on Friday, but I don't work Friday's so I will never meet them. What a shame.

Anyways, I kind of got to train her/tell her all the tricks and tips that I wish someone would have told me my first day.

I told her where everything was.
I let her use my badge so she didn't have to ring the bell or knock every time.
I told her she didn't have to answer the phone her first day, because it took me 2 weeks to finally answer the phone.
I told her I liked her outfit.
I told her that our office was really a great environment to work in.
I told her what a typical day consists of.
I told her the other people's names.
I made her feel welcomed and comfortable on her first day.

And you know what? At the end of the day, and when she left, I felt great. She left and said that she can't wait until next Monday, and she is so excited to work there. As much as I wish I had someone say these things to me on my first day/week, I'm glad I had to figure it out for myself so that I could help someone else.

To put a damper on this great mood, I was on the bus with my headphones in so that i didn't have to talk to anyone, and some guy starts sign language-ing at me, asking me for a pen. SIR, I wear headphones on the bus so no one talks to me. That is the whole concept here.
I also confronted Mr. Snapchat on standing me up -- he apologized.
I failed at friend-zoning a guy -- what a concept.
I reached out to an old friend, only to realize that maybe time has drifted us apart -- typical.
I was awoken the next morning by jack hammers and proceeded to yell at them -- they were afraid of me.

All that being said, I am on Season two of the West Wing, am very behind on the Bachelor, and am going to get get some frozen yogurt/custard thing.

I just wanted to give you all a virtual hug. You rock my socks off.

I thought I was Cady, I am actually Andy

Actually, why would I need a name tag, I have a badge. Anyways, I really thought we were getting to the point in my internship where I would have needed to wear my name tag/badge dinglehopper so that people would remember my name. FALSE. They know my name! Well, let's just say the majority know my name, and I have a theory for the other one.... Work with me here, I am no long Cady Heron, I am now Andy. It is too perfect. I can't believe I didn't figure this out earlier.

I got to work, 3 minutes early, get at me, and the mysterious man who is never at his desk so I take his, was there. What? Why. So I went to the back office which is like down the hall and kind of a cave, so it was nice, and then there was a knock knock knock on the door.
"Kathryn?" Yes! Yes! That is me! I am Kathryn! That is my name! Yes?
"We need you back in the office to do some entry level things" Oh.. okay.

So we go back to the office and I am PUMPED that someone knows my name. Mind you, she is nw. And great. Okay, focus. So then I head "Kathryn, I need your help! And no, it isn't cleaning out my office!" YOU KNOW MY NAME TOO?! Okay, sounds good just let me know what to do!
I shouldn't have said that. Nope. I regret it. I then received about 500 business cards and was told to put them into the computer. I didn't know how they wanted it formatted, but don't worry! I figured it out...

Okay, maybe it wasn't 500 but it was a lot. There was then the ultimate "who needs the intern more" debate, "the intern" meaning me. Here is my theory. He knows that he doesn't know my name, but doesn't care enough to figure it out. But at least he figured out that my name isn't Kathy, Kathleen, Krystal, Christine, whatever else he thought my name was. I would much rather "The Intern" instead of a name that isn't mine. I say this now, check back in next week to see how annoyed I get with that aha.

I answered the phone a few times, okay a lot of times. I almost pulled a straight up Andy, but figured out how to adjust the volume on the phone to actually hear what they were saying.

So after looking at a few hundred business cards, I have some questions. And please, if you have a business card with one of these items, feel free to explain yourself. I am just confused.

• Who still uses Yahoo?! Except for my mom.. Hi mom.
• WHY do you have so many phone numbers? Like seriously, what is the point.
• Why would you but you home number on your business card... That's private information and I wouldn't want people to call me during dinner. Sorry bout it
• Do people still use fax?
• Okay seriously, who is coming up with some of these titles? General Manager for the People who Enjoy Creating and Emailing. You think I'm kidding. I am, but the point is still there
• Your business card is not a cheat sheet and doesn't need to be packed with 7 point font information. Give me your name, company, title, email and a phone number. I don't need your whole resume on there. That's all.

I got kicked out of about 4 computers throughout the whole day because everyone decided to come into the office. It was Wednesday people. What? Oh well. So anyways, I ended up working in my boss's office, meaning I worked at her computer. And people came into her office, but were confused when it was me sitting there. LOL OOPS. Look at me moving up in the intern world *smirking emoji*

But yes, it was a successful day, and my boss and I bonded over food, and it was great. Also it's raining. So that's fun.

Kathryn, The Intern (take two)

I have officially been at my internship for one week, and by one week, I mean I work there twice a week and today was my third day. Same thing, right? So hopefully you read my first day experience post. If you didn't, click this... I will wait for you. Trust me, it's funny, I compare myself to Cady Heron.
Since it is my third day, I expected my boss to finally get my name right? Understandable right? No. MY NAME IS NOT KATHLEEN. Yes, yes, it is Monday, and he's probably recovering from the Super Bowl, but still. So close. Let's do a little math equation here:
Kathleen, minus the leen, plus the ryn, equals Kathryn.
I don't like math, but that seemed simple enough, right?

At least my name is Kathryn and not Maximus Decimus Meridius...


and at least I don't threaten to kill you after I introduce myself...


Like, is it just me or do they have it easy with Kathryn? And it isn't like I have a twin, or a doppleganger, or even a difficult name, right? Maybe it is just me. Ugh.

I would also like to give myself a round of applause for not only answering the phone for the first time, but also for answering it about twenty more times. Thank you, thank you, I will be in the office Mondays and Wednesdays.

I shredded some papers, did some research, answered some phones, got some coffee. Yep, that last part. The intern got coffee. No, I didn't go on a coffee run. Remember when I said that whenever people went to get coffee they asked everyone else if they wanted coffee? Well today I was told that I deserve coffee and that they were going to get it for me. Gooo intern Kathryn! I also went on a mission in the building and didn't get lost.
I had a pretty successful Monday, if I do say so myself. Welp, tonight I have class until 10:10 so wish me luck... Just like every Tuesday.

Today, I Felt Like Cady Heron

Mr. Duvall: We have a new student, her name is Cady. Cady Heron. Where are you, Cady?

Cady: That's me. It's pronounced like Katie.

Mr. Duvall: My apologies. I have a nephew named Anfernee, and I know how mad he gets when I call him Anthony. Almost as mad as I get when I think about the fact that my sister named him Anfernee.

Today, this was me. I was this. We were one. Today was my first day at my new internship, and I was beyond nervous, which is weird, because normally I'm just excited. Anyways, so my morning started off with me running to catch the bus, and the bus driver laughing at me. So that was fun. After going through security, which I have to get used to, and they thought my iPad was suspicious, I got to work 1 minute early. Yay me! I got in and the computer took like an hour to start up. Okay, maybe 25 minutes. Then I started reading this super fun, actually hilarious intern 101 book that was written by an intern a few years ago. But since it was written a few years ago, there were names of people who didn't work there any more which confused me. Enter introduction of me by my boss #1: "This is, what's your name again?"
Here's a picture of my outfit! I need more business casual stuff meaning I need to figure out what in my closet can be turned into business casual meaning I probably have to wear skirts or dresses meaning I have to shave my legs. The pain.

People came into our office and asked us if we wanted anything from Brenda's and by "we" I mean my boss, because I'm the intern, and no one wants to get me beignets. I wanted to say yes. But I didn't. And my boss said no, because he had a carrot. Who chooses carrots over beignets?! 

After reading the novel of interns 101, I read the newspaper for news clippings. Enter introduction of me by my boss #2: "This is Kathy" Close, we're getting there! After clipping the news, I had a task. A task from the capitol building. To count color books. Yep, yes. Intern hard at work over here. I should apply for benefits because I got a paper cut, like who said counting coloring books was easy? Not me. There were over 300. That isn't even the best part. I got lost. I was walking from the back office to our office and I walked into the wrong office. Mind you this was after circling the floor like 3 times. I WALKED INTO THE WRONG OFFICE. The lady looked shocked and she asked if she could help me, I responded with "no" and walked out. Then I found my office. It was horrifying. I wanted to cry. I pulled through, and ate lunch at my desk. Better than Cady in the bathroom right? I also befriended the other intern, who I think is like a part time paid intern, but I have no idea because I told her my entire life and she didn't tell me anything. What else is new? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. This friendship only came after she wouldn't talk to me for like an hour because she thought I had been an intern there for months. False. She's new too, though! She started last week. The only thing she told me about herself. Enter introduction of me by my boss #3: "This is Kathleen." SO CLOSE. Spoiler, he got my name right by the end of the day. You go, Glen Coco, you go. One of my bosses then announced she was going to get coffee, did we want anything. Again, I felt out of place and just sat in my corner desk as the new intern. It was great. Then I got a tour of the mail room, there's two. What is the purpose of having two mail rooms?! At the end of the day I got my badge which gave me access to our office, but more importantly, the bathrooms. 

Hi Gabi....

So that was my first day! Not a complete failure, right?