the holiday season

Well, the past few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind.  The holiday season began, and with that comes all sorts of gift-buying madness and a generally more amped-up atmosphere everywhere you go.  Right around the same time, my work life suddenly became existent again in a big way.  I had been hunting and applying for jobs for the past couple of months with no real results.  Then, over the course of a week, I went from having no job to having three job offers.  

First, I got offered a part-time, seasonal sales position with Crate and Barrel in Beverly Hills.  A few days later, I got offered another part-time, seasonal sales position with a cosmetics company called "Lush", which happens to be right down the street from Crate and Barrel.  I figured since they were both part-time positions, that I could probably handle both and accepted. Then, a day or two later I got offered a full-time, permanent position with a fitness shoe store in Brentwood-when it rains, it pours.

In the end, I decided that I was really not feeling the atmospheres of the shoe store and the cosmetics store, and took a risk by declining both and deciding to see what happens with Crate and Barrel.  I am now in my second week of working with Crate and Barrel, and even though the job was supposed to be part-time, I am scheduled to work 40-hour weeks through the holiday.  Even though losing all that time to myself and freedom to do what I want has definitely been an adjustment, I am surprised by how much I am really enjoying working at Crate and Barrel.  I have  the most awesome co-workers and bosses and the day goes by pretty quickly.  One of the hardest changes is that I am definitely having a hard time fitting in gym time.  For the past six to nine months I have been able to spend 8-10 hours a week in the gym and take time to prepare fresh, healthy meals.  I can still cook for myself and stay with the healthy diet as long as I plan it out each week, but the gym time is definitely getting scaled back, at least until I adjust to the work schedule.

Because the position at Crate and Barrel is seasonal, there is no guarantee that they will keep me on past January or February.  Most of their employees were hired on as seasonal staff and were offered permanent positions after the season ended, but with the current state of the economy, they can't promise me that there will be a position available.

Regardless, I am enjoying it for now, and gaining some good experience as well as a new reference for the resume.  In the meantime, I just need to make it through the holiday season and then we'll see what happens after that.