Hi friends! I'm coming to you from my teeny-tiny kitchen "counter"/center-island/rolling storage thingy, where I've been parked in a cold-and-dark-induced coma scrolling madly through Pinterest for the past hour or so. Thought it was time for a bit of an update, since I've been absent a few days.
One of St. Paul's famous buildings…I thought the "1st" was appropriate. Plus, I can see it from my desk!
I started my new job (after nearly a month off--finally!) on Monday! So far, so good…it's crazy-different than my previous job in public accounting. My team is small, and I have a lot of responsibility and am fairly senior on it, which is weird. I sort of got thrown into my role with almost no formal training or HR…so different from spending nearly a month learning how to be an auditor when I started with the Big 4. With three whole days (wowwww) under my belt, though, I feel like I'm getting a little bit more comfortable. Fingers crossed it stays that way! Another perk: I get in early (around 7:30), and accordingly leave at FOUR PM EVERY DAY. How's THAT for work-life balance?!?! I love it.
We're in the middle of a miserable cold snap here in the frozen tundra I've called home for nearly 25 years…it's been in the negatives for a week straight now, and I'm already ready for winter to be done. Too bad it's only December…and not even technically reeeeally mid-December. If it snows until May like it did last year, we're in for like…four and a half more months of this. The walks to and from my new office from the parking ramp about eight minutes away have been enough to leave me with dry, chapped skin…and the air is so frigid and dry that I've woken up the past couple mornings with nosebleeds! Glamorous side effects of Minnesota winter weather, right? Let's just say I've been bundling like a crazy person--my fur scarf, Uggs, and cozy cashmere hat are my new favorite things. We're also cranking the heat HARD every morning and evening--now that there's nobody home during the day, we can justify having it warmer, for a shorter amount of time. Nice.
Get me here. Stat.
Given that the weather outside IS frightful--so frightful, in fact, that I don't want to do anything at all but snuggle in my fleecy socks--Jon and I are starting to plan a warm-weather trip! He's become BFFs with Expedia, and I've been asking everyone I know for Caribbean or Mexican recommendations. So far, our favorite option is Puerto Rico, but we'll see what ultimately pans out. With a tentatively planned departure in late February, I may or may not already be counting down…the deal is only sweetened by the fact that I won't be in busy season working 65+ hours a week!! That's definitely a great excuse for a Caribbean getaway. Plus, it'll be the first time Jon and I take a plane trip together…is it super dorky that I'm really excited about the prospect of that?
That's about all I've got for anyone news-wise right now. Hope things are cozy and cheerful for anyone with the attention span to make it through this oh-so-random brain dump! As always, happy holidays and, til next time, stay warm!