WOOHOO!!!

What a whirlwind of a couple of weeks. Since I moved to town, I've been putting in applications to everything I might be qualified for at every job site I could find online. I've gone to messenger services, hospitals, and every Starbucks on the North side of Chicago. And I got absolutely nothing. Not even a call-back.
Until about 2 weeks ago. I got a call from this lady at an apartment finding service I had applied at. I went in for an interview, and we really seemed to hit it off. She offered me basically any job in the place, and said she'd find something for me within a week. Well, a week later I get an email from her that says my schedule conflicts with the open positions, but something might come up in a couple of months. Great, more months of nothing to look forward to. So, in desperation I went downtown to another Starbucks job fair, and to register at a temp agency. I went in a highrise office building for the first time, which was kinda fun. The guy at the agency seemed to think I would have to wait a while to hear anything, and those job fairs are so hit and miss. They see hundreds of people in one day, there's no telling which 5 will get jobs. So I wasn't too optimistic, but at least was taking an active approach.
Lo and Behold, I get a call back from the agency that same day, looking for an interview. Apparently they front desk guy gave such a stunning review of the 10 words I said to him that the recruiter was really excited to meet me. I took this online test of if I could use Microsoft Office programs, got together some business attire, and headed back downtown. And the interview went great. Though I have a terrible resume (teaching dance and dancing a lot and delivering a couple papers doesn't exactly look awesome for an office environment), she seemed to think I was so nice and engaging that everyone looking for a temp would love me. So, that was great!
Then, that same day, I get a call from Starbucks. No way. I got a second interview. Went in, got the job. Yup. I NOW WORK AT STARBUCKS!!! I'm going to open like 4 days a week. I can keep my job at the dance store, and can keep my regular class schedule at the studio. And in 90 days I get benefits. And it turns out I work at the #2 store in the district, right in the loop, in the same building where my college roommate Kathleen works. AWESOME!! After months of handing in applications, I finally have the job I've been looking for since May.
The kicker: today, I get a call from the apartment finding service. They are offering me an office job. Probably 40 hours a week with great pay. Doing something boring like filing credit reports in a cubicle. With no flexibility for rehearsals, performances, or the off chance that I get bumped up to rehearse with the 1st company (totally not happening yet, by the way). So, as great as it might have been to get this job 2 weeks ago, now I think I'm actually going to turn it down. Starbucks seems like so much fun, fits right into my schedule. And if I have days off I can hopefully get some temp work in.
All I can say is: Thank Jesus. Seriously. I gave it up, and he gave me all that I needed and more. And just in time to still catch Mommy in the country to tell her the good news. Though adding long hours of making coffee will be hard on my sleep schedule, it'll be so good to have something to do, more poeple to talk to, somethign to learn. Just another push for me to become a morning person. Probably still not goign to happen.

2 Things

1) I took my first hip-hop class ever last night. And I didn't mess around, I jumped right in to the "Advanced" level. It was really fun, I actually didn't make a complete fool of myself, and my friend (who is very very good at hip-hop) complimented me once even :) Not sure if I'll do it again any time soon (I am very sore today), but it was great anyways.

2) Apparently my apartment building has a garbage chute. There was some notice up in the hallway today about not cleaning out pots directly into the garbage chute, which was the first I had ever heard of it. I've been lugging my garbage down and out myself. I'd very much enjoy using a garbage chute. Now I've just got to find it....

New Year, New Stuff

I bought something great today. I know, I know, you all want to hear about my exciting holiday adventures, my extravagant Christmas gifts, and the romantic dates I went on with Mike around. But my holidays weren't very adventurous, my gifts were great but not necessarily worth fireworks, and Mike and I mostly just played Super Smash Brothers a lot. It was great to see everyone, spend some time at home, and have some time off of dancing. But it was also not being alone for 3 weeks straight. So, on to bigger and better things.
I got a book today called "Help! My apartment has a kitchen!" Sounds lame, but I am finding that I really am pretty hopeless in the kitchen. This book has easy recipies, great lists of basic food staples to always keep around (I never know what I should buy if I happen to want to cook something). I also laughed harder at it than I have at a book in a long time. The intros to each recipe are hilarious. I was actually laughing out loud on the El. Embarrasing, but it was just so funny. Hopefully my attempts at cooking these recipes won't be as funny as the bok they came from.

The new year doesn't mean a whole lot of "new" for me. Mostly, I just need to get into a good routine of going to all of my classes, and finding a good job. So I'm just gearing up for some long, long days ahead. And no fore-see-able break until after May. Guess that's what being an adult is like: not getting to have a vacation every 6 weeks like at school. Life will have to be exciting in it's regularity. I'll just have to spice things up with some great food I'll cook with this new book :)