Tag Archives: work

May23

Bits and pieces.

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Bits and pieces.

**Just some bits and pieces flitting through my brain that don’t quite make a post in of itself, but together, make a lil potpourri of thoughts that I don’t want to lose!**

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Can someone first explain to me, how is it *only* Wednesday? Whenever I travel, it feels like a time warp, backwards and forwards! Starts off with a bang and then mid-week, starts to wane, like whoa. I know I will catch my second wind for the tail end of my trip, but man, does traveling mess with me. Routine, baby, it’s where it’s at ;-)

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I am supremely amazed at how differently I’ve handled eating during this trip. While I have had several trips across three time zones since I started the barre n9ne challenge last year, which has made me more mindful and aware of eating when hungry, not out of habit or mindlessly, but this trip has just felt the most different of them all. For starters, I was *really* worried I’d be ridiculously hungry during Monday’s flight since it left at 8 am, and arrived at 2:30 pm (in my brain, but 11:30 PT) where I would have to endure what should be breakfast and lunch, yet only be barely lunchtime on the West Coast when I arrived.

For the first time, I forced myself to retrain my eating into West Coast times from the minute I stepped off the plane. And surprisingly? It worked! I wasn’t heinously hungry the entire flight, either. I scored some steel cut oats at the hotel (last minute score! Arm pump!) and just needed a banana to sustain me until I landed and could grab a bite once I got my car, maneuvered my way out of LA and go to my office, around 12:30 PT. That has seriously been my golden ticket this week. I haven’t woken up famished (hungry, but not wilting!), and I’ve generally been hungry at the ‘right’ times on the West Coast. Score.

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I ran outside – alone – for the first time EVER since  I started this job 18 months ago. (well, that’s not entirely true. I did run on the beach AT my hotel when I first started…but that doesn’t feel quite the same, since there were people everywhere. If that makes sense). I knew I wanted to finally run outside, when it would be light enough to do so safely (many of my trips up until this point have been during winter months where it was just too dark to do it previously). And so I would not get lost, I came up with a genius plan (if I do say so myself!). I ran FROM my hotel TO my office. Since I know the route by heart and it’s about 2.4 miles one way, making for a solid just about 5 mile route.

What most surprised me, beyond loving being outdoors and running IN Cali and ON flat, flat, FLAT roads was how PRETTY everything smelled. I smelled flowers everywhere. I heard birds chirping. I even heard the electrical wires above me buzzing. It was quiet, even on usually-busy main roads (it was 5:30 am, I guess I can see why). I LOVED it.

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We had our long-awaited event this week for work. (the reason I am out here this week) And it was SO cool to see an event come off without a hitch, one that my boss and I have been working on for months. It was fun to interact with those that arrived, from the students from a local college (that were part of the competition for this particular event), to my company’s executives, to the media that came, and to my co-workers, too. I finally felt comfortable chatting on the fly with people and not feeling like I stuck out like a sore thumb. Perhaps it goes back to feeling confident in who I am, for the first time pretty much ever, huh?

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This whole shifting focus, thing? Yeah, it’s REALLY working for me. I have not dreaded this trip much at all (besides the always hard goodbyes to M), I have looked forward to it. I have embraced the challenges, I have done new things (running alone, as I mentioned, for starters!), and I have just enjoyed the time and the opportunity. It has gone a long way, and I couldn’t be more glad, or more relieved at that.

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So far, it’s been a GREAT week. And I guess the bits and pieces flitting through my head culminates into more than I thought it would, huh? ;-)  

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PS – THANK YOU to everyone for all of your feedback, compliments, and support on my post yesterday. It meant so much to see such positive feedback and enthusiasm. I was nervous to post before and after pictures for a number of reasons, but am so glad the message I wanted to get through as part of that came shining through, rather than it being uber focused on numbers and such. THANK YOU!

I wish there was smellavision (er, blogavision?!) – those flowers smelled GOOD!

May15

“Shift your focus”

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“Shift your focus”

Shift your focus.

Sage words from my friend Steph as I was sharing with her and my sis my thoughts on this very blog post, as I start to slide into a bit of ‘dread mode’ heading into traveling (again) next week to California. As I’ve said many times before, these trips always take a lot out of me, from the cross-country travel, to the adjustment (or lack thereof!) to the 3-hour time difference, which not only messes with my sleep pattern but most importantly (lol) my eating patterns (since I feel hungry allthedamntime, hungry when I wake up, hungry when I get to work, hungry all afternoon, given my meals are at such different times there vs. here. The time difference just sucks, plain and simple, for eating!). And don’t even get me started on how much it messes with my beloved routine. ;-)

But I am going to try something new this time. I am going to shift my focus. Focus on where I am, not where I am not.

Rather than look at the 7-day forecast (which we all know will change, anyway!) and seeing 82 degrees on the day I fly out and already wishing I wasn’t going to miss such beautiful weather, I’ll look at the 7-day forecast for Costa Mesa and realize that hey, it’s warm there *too*. Score.

Rather than be missing the rundates and the barre dates and the barre n9ne classes I won’t be teaching (or taking), I’ll focus on the classes I am taking in California, adjusting to the style of classes I may take, and experimenting with my very first outdoor run near my hotel (it’s always been uber dark in the morning when I’ve traveled there the last handful of times, but no more!), and a long-awaited dinner date with this awesome chick.

Rather than stressing about each and every meal and disliking that I am eating out more than I’d like, I’ll embrace the new places I plan to try, and request a mini-fridge in my hotel room and stock up on a few things at Trader Joe’s. And I’ll make every effort to make the best damn mock oatmeal bowl of goodness that I possibly can. Perhaps the best ‘mock’ bowl ever (next to homemade!).  Shifting my focus on adjusting to my environment, rather than wishing I was elsewhere.

Rather than missing M like whoa…well, I guess this one just won’t change, because let’s face it, I know I will miss him like whoa, but the goodbyes are the worst part and the welcome back hug and kiss are by far the best part, right up there with getting into bed, snuggling close, placing my face into the crook of his neck, where it fits just ever so perfectly, and falling to sleep smiling, happy to be home, but also happy to have focused on the here and now, not the there and future. 

 

May11

Friday Random Travelin’ Facts

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Friday Random Travelin’ Facts

It’s Friiiiidaayyyyyy!!!! <—-who’s excited, raise your hand?!

Anytime I travel, Friday is just that much sweeter, I have to say. As much I as try my best to embrace work travel, as I said yesterday, it is just so damn tiring, no matter what. So I figured I’d share some fun random travelin’ facts for today, some funny, some learnings and such ;-)

I never feel settled until I unpack, start a load of laundry, clean up a little (this depends on if M ‘tidies up’ for me before my arrival heehee), no matter what time I get home. Last night, I scored an earlier flight so I was home around 9 and did all of the aforementioned in 20 minutes. I don’t eff around, yo ;-)

I always go into OATT planning my workouts, my meals and of course, my outfits. And I always bring too many outfits (but usually almost always use a backup outfit I packed, for the record!) and enough snacks to feed an army (but you never know when you might be caught without a meal and have to rely on snacks, right?!).

I’m a nervous nellie traveler. And not in the fear of flying way. My worst fear is missing a flight or being late to board without a coffee, water, or meal (depending on how long the flight is, if I buy a meal or rely on aforementioned snacks!). I also fear layovers in ‘red flag’ snow/delay zones in the winter like Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver and avoid them (and layovers) at all costs. Sometimes it is inevitable, but my second worst fear is sleeping in the airport ;-)

I love exploring new barre studios, gyms, and running routes when I travel. I’m always excited when the hotel offers a running route or map and I always scope out the hotel gym the night before. If there are two treadmills in the whole gym, you better be damned I’m getting one ;-) If I can find a barre studio to try out, I will, and have found a few cool ones in areas that I travel to frequently. Double score, right? (though my heart belongs to barre n9ne, of course).

I hate my routine being out of whack, so I try to mimic my week as much as I can (at least when I travel to California to the office). I plan my workouts (aforementioned barre studios!), I try and determine my meals for the week, bring lots of snacks and try to mirror my beloved oatmeal if I can. It just makes me feel more ‘at home’ than winging it. It’s again, the way I roll ;-)

As much as I dread the goodbyes, that’s almost always the worst part. There’s never a trip where I don’t learn something about myself, experience something new, or in the case of this week, meet friends!

Okay, so nothing overly weird, but as I am a year and a half into a job that requires a fair bit of travel, I’ve been thinking of my traveling evolution and how much preparedness comes into play for me to have a solid trip that doesn’t make me feel lacking in any way. And allows for a fair bit of exploring and meeting new people. With another work trip (California, this time) 10 days away, I’m rounding out a busy 6 weeks of traveling on-and-off, and am going to try and embrace it as much as I can. Because I know it all goes back to unseating comfort zones and growing.

But I hope you’ll ‘scuse me as I gallivant off towards enjoying the weekend which includes M’s graduation tomorrow. I couldn’t be more proud and cannot wait to see him walk across that stage. Cheers friends!

May10

Fun-lanta!

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Fun-lanta!

Though it’s only been a few days since I left for Atlanta, no matter what, traveling always takes such a toll on me. Routine is outta whack, food options limited and different, lack of water at the ready (This is a huge one for me! I always have water practically surgically attached to my hand!) and I am a homebody at heart, so naturally, I just *love* being home.

So when I arrived in Atlanta and got smacked in the face with a huge wave of homesickness, while  I was surprised (given brevity of trip and fun to be had), I tried to take it in stride and just get ‘er done.

Preamble aside…now that I’m en route home from Atlanta and the Digital Summit, I have a chance to recap the best part about the trip…and while the conference itself was great (actually a little better than the one in Chicago, which I was surprised at!)…the best part about the last three days? 

The girls that put ‘fun’ in Atlanta (Fun-lanta! Sorta punny, no? LOL) – Lee and Tina!!

I seriously loved meeting these girls and spending a glorious time at dinner catching up as if we’ve been friends for years. And given we’ve been connecting on our blogs for the last few years, that’s not too far off from the truth! Tina wrote up an awesome post on our evening, you can read it here, but I was just struck by how real, normal, fun, and so ‘like me’ in so many ways. It’s yet another reason why I love this community of friends I’ve met through my blog, these are some of the people that ‘get’ me most and it feels like such an opportunity to meet them for real and just talk. (And to spend almost two days with Lee, given she was at the conference with me, so we could even ‘talk shop’ hehe!)

So, I figured I would just include a few pics from our evening, which ended with a (not pictured here, but Tina snapped some!) de-lish frozen yogurt! And since I was foiled with pinkberry last weekend, I just about dove into my bowl of deliciousness!) Ladies, you’re awesome,  and really made this trip so much better than it ever would be otherwise :-)

Me and Tina!

Lee and me!

Group pic!

May1

On a job vs. a career.

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On a job vs. a career.

A year ago, I was neck-deep in one of the biggest challenges of my job. I was covering for my boss, the director of corporate communications for the company (global, employs 900) as we were doing a major launch event and webcast (what I termed as ‘big ass launch’ – totally a technical term, look it up!) and this day a year ago, said launch happened. Without a hitch and with one of the best compliments on a job well done that I have ever received (see link above to read all about it!).

Yet, as I lamented about it with my boss today, remarking how we are in the midst of yet another big ass launch (plus another big event we are planning for two weeks after that – gluttons for punishment, I tell ya!), but ‘at least there are two of us’ this time, I told her that the difference this year is that I am not crying every day leading into the launch. I am not stressed to the max. I am not scared. I am focused and ready. And able.

And part of the difference, besides now being in this job for about a year and a half vs. 6 months (and flying solo last year without my boss around!) and feeling more confident, is that I have my ‘net’ back. I have my sounding board and the ability to bounce ideas around, get advice etc., and ultimately, some of the decisions that I struggled most with last year, are decisions I no longer have to make on my own. They fall back into ‘her camp’ and let me focus on my job, the social media, the US-based PR activities etc. Not as much of the ‘over my head’ office politic-y things that were part of my interim role last year. The parts of the job that I hated disliked most are no longer part of my job.

Which leads me to the real point of this post (sorry for the meandering!).

The difference between a job and a career. 

You see, I love my job. I love what I do. I love that I can learn ‘on the job’ and I love that I can try new things and see what sticks. But, almost as importantly, I love that the ‘buck doesn’t stop at me. It stops at my boss. The level of responsibility I have in my job is exactly the right dose I want to have a good work/life balance. To leave work at work and shut down mentally for the night (given I work remotely, I can see how easy it is to just work all night, into their PT timezone, and just be on 24/7). To draw the line.

M asked me the other day ‘if you were offered your boss’s job and a boatload of money, would you take it?’

Honestly, no, I wouldn’t. Not in a heartbeat. My job is what I love to do. I am always learning. And it allows me to do something I like personally anyway – social media – in a business setting. You can’t get much closer to doing what you love, than that. And to get paid well *and* work remotely (most of the time, except when I travel!)? What more is there to ask for, right now? I don’t *need* or *want* the extra responsibility. I am still growing. I am still learning. I am still developing my skills. There is no sense of stagnation. 

To some, that may sound like I am not driven. But I am. Absolutely. But I am also a huge believer in work/life balance and doing something you are passionate about (hello teaching barre n9ne!).  And right now? Having a job vs. (expanding) my career is where it’s at for me. It’s what I choose. Because at the end of the day, balance and happiness account for more than a title and a bigger paycheck.