back to school, to prove to dad I am no fool. Lots of things about going to work feel similar to when we went to school as kids. Now, I pack my gym bag, lay out my outfit, put together nutritous snacks and go to bed pretty early. 

I started my new job yesterday and so far so good. I am getting a little time to become acquainted with the ways of the office and some intros into basic best practices around here to run a project smoothly and successfully. They are super buttoned up which is really great.

A few office treats are that if I want, Total can come to work with me and hang out- they also play music overhead that can be adjusted per section per floor. It is such a small thing but a little background music is kind of nice. Maybe I will learn about a new secret cool artist before the rest of the world.

When I was on job sabbatical I still always looked forward to the weekend- weird but it totally makes sense. Sam is off on the weekend and around to hang out with and so is everyone else for that matter. So here’s to working hard and playing hard. Cheers!

I was able to see a lot of good coming out of my departure from Ogilvy for a long time. New opportunities, time to plan our wedding and getting tipsy on weeknights to name a few. But recently I was slightly pessimistic about the process and it was becoming a bit of a chore. I was losing sight of the bright side. I am of course grateful for my offer and to everyone who has so graciously given their recommendations, connections and support to me during my search. I am happy that the firm that hired me seems to have taken a fancy with me and I am equally as thrilled to be part of their operation.

Something I missed identifying as invaluable during this process are the connections I made. I met the CCO at DraftFCB, the Director of Client Services at Tribal DDB, the Director of Digital at BBDO, a couple of exceptional recruiters and some key HR folks. These connections are priceless and something that definitely should not be overlooked. Some great Ogilvy peeps were responsible for some of these connections and I look forward to paying it back and forward.

It is true! A job offer has been extended my way and I am proud to say it is a good one. Getting a job was more of a pride thing than anything- darn you economy I am gonna do this with or without 10% unemployment in the country. Yay! Mission accomplished.

I am excited to meet a bunch of new people and grow my network. I will have to strategize my outfit for my first day of work, but a lot of clothes have been gathering dust for some time so many of them will feel like new. As I have mentioned before, my dad always said live close to where you work, well this fine employer is less than 2 miles from our house. The office is small at 70 employees but trendy and nice and located practically next door to our gym. Here is a link to Designkitchen’s website.

I got Julia Child’s cookbook for Christmas along with Julie and Julia, such an adorable movie and really good motivation to get you to cook if you don’t already. One of the first chapters has soups and Potato Leek  immediately popped out at me. Sam concurs that this would be tasty but we ended up using a recipe by Emeril for our execution. Find it here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/potato-leek-soup-recipe/index.html. I also recommend Googling how to clean leeks because they are very dirty vegetables.

I am the sous chef in the house. Sam can cook, grill, cut and create with the best of them. My knife skills are appalling and scary so I assume the gathering, question asking and cleaning roll of the process. However I am able to combine pre-made ingredients, a la Sandra Lee. Meal making is all in the planning and we are getting better at it. I plan to take an introductory knife skills course so I can keep my fingers for most of my life and contribute some more to the cooking process.

Sam thinks the title and tagline of my new blog makes it sound like I am being a subservient  1950s wife to him. In my eyes, I just want to do a good job at my half of the whole. It isn’t everyday you pick up a new title in your life and I want to do them justice! I have held lots of titles for quite a while, daughter, sister, cousin, friend, girlfriend, employee (until recently), but now I have gained, wife, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, Total’s mom- there is lots to live up to.

Since you know me, you know I am not really the subservient type so don’t worry!

A couple of years ago I decided that annual doctor appointments would be at the beginning of every year. I had a mini-scare after a routine doctor appointment that I scheduled right before Thanksgiving and if anything were to have come from it- a real damper would have been put on the holidays. So when I can help it, January it is!

Total and me are this week, Teeth for Sam and I in a couple weeks and Sam’s physical generally falls right around the end of Q1. I will see if I can get this moved up a smidge for continuity sake but all in all we are pretty on top of these necessary check ups.

I am pretty sure Wife duties require me to ensure that everyone in the family has scheduled, attended and receives results from these visits. Hopefully we can make it through the vet visit without having Total eat a cat.

Two months ago we got married. Such a wonderful day. After that we went on an amazing honeymoon and then jumped right into the Christmas season. So many festivities, food and fun; I just love that time of year. Now it is January, the weather is frigid and frightful and I am still on a job sabbatical. I would say life isn’t quite as glamorous as it was just a short time ago. We spent all of 2009 planning for the last 2 months of 2009 so now what?! Time to get rolling on 2010.

Cross your fingers that a job is right around the corner for me- I never thought I would say this but I would like to work again soon. If it only reminds me that I don’t like getting up in the morning- so be it. It takes every bit of me to withhold my true feelings during interviewing like “I AM SUCH A GOOD WORKER AND A DELIGHT TO BE AROUND; TRUST ME I WILL DO A GOOD JOB! HIRE ME RIGHT NOW!” Unfortunately, 15 million people have lost their jobs and I hear about someone new that I know every couple of weeks.

Anyway, I decided I want to continue the blog to share the ins-and-outs of learning to be a good wife. 2010 has lots of good potential- the master to do list is in progress.

This marks the official end of Bridal Blog. Happy New Year and New Decade to all!

Here’s to a healthy and happy 2010. Jump for your love every chance you get.

Love, The Newlyweds

These do not include the guest book photos; those are still to come! Please excuse the LARGE amount of photos of Sam and I:) Easiest way to peruse is by clicking on the category and then choosing 48 or 96 per page and scroll down.

Enjoy!

http://www.pictage.com/775566

Not much to report. The government-run office seemed like it was humming along pretty well. I was in and out under 45 mins and that includes a trip to the ATM. They don’t take Visa, but they take Amex, Discover & Mastercard. Huh? Uncle Sam must be pissed at Visa for something.

I realized you need the Driver’s License to do almost everything else to change your name but that this is a slippery slope and I need to be committed to changing all my personal documents fairly quickly. Watch out Social Security Office, Passport People and the Bank- here I come.