New Girl

This week I started my new job. My first three days were filled with Orientation sessions, a medical exam, and tons of meetings and introductions.

It felt a bit like grade school - a lot of hand raising, guest speakers (a la career day), corny jokes, and snack breaks.

It was exciting to hear about the organization, meet new coworkers, and become acquainted with my work space.

It's always scary to walk into a situation where you're the new girl. Is this new group going to be nice? Will they be the types of people I can hang out with after work? Are they a bunch of mean girls?

So far, my new office mates seem nice. Many of them have gone out of their way to help me feel comfortable - bringing me snacks, offering help with everything from my phone line to my printing needs. It's nice to know that I have some support as I begin this next phase of my career. I'm very excited to be a part of the office. A nervous, enthusiastic, happy kind of excited. It feels a bit like transferring high schools...

But hey, it all worked out for Gabriela in High School Musical. If only it were appropriate to break into song in the hallways of my new office...

On the other hand, I think I'll keep my vocal expressions to myself.

Location Location Location

About 3 years ago, I went out with the cutest architect. He spoke like a surfer and had great hair. We went on a few awesome dates.

On our last date we had dinner in Chelsea at a really awesome restaurant. After we left the restaurant, he asked if I'd be up for getting a drink and I agreed. He chose a nearby watering hole. It had a good crowd for a week night. We ordered our drinks and took seats at the bar. When the clock struck 10, the entire place turned into a gay dance club complete with half naked professional dancers, disco balls that dropped from the ceiling, and loud house music. I starting laughing. He was extremely embarrassed and looked uncomfortable. I admit, it was a bit awkward but nothing too outrageous. He downed his drink and I followed suit. We walked to the subway together and parted ways. I never heard from him again.

But it got me thinking - is the location of the date really that important? Isn't the company your with the most important part of the date? If this surfer architect can't handle a silly gay bar mishap, what other insecurities could be lurking underneath the surface? If he was worth my time, he would have brushed it off and had a nice laugh.

Dating is not all walks on the beach and picnics in the park. But when things go south, the only thing to do is laugh it off.

Bittersweet Symphony

Today is my last day working at The Juilliard School. After four years, tons of crazy phone calls, and lots of laughs, it's all over.

Earlier this week, my coworkers threw me a beautiful send off shindig.

Here I am at my party -

Saying goodbye to coworkers and work study students -

As a gag gift, my boss gave me a gift bag full of boxes of pens. It's a running joke that everyone in my office steals my pens!.....

My real gift was a beautiful fancy pen.

The next day...

My lovely coworkers surprised me with a huge gift. A beautiful red leather professional bag.

This last picture is of the Juilliard Admissions Team who have become my work family. On the far right is my replacement, DJ, who I know will be a fabulous addition to the team.

I'm so excited to begin my new job as Development Associate at Weill Cornell Medical College. And I know I will keep in touch with all of my wonderful coworkers because they're also my friends. I'm blessed to have had such a great experience at Juilliard. My first job out of college was really fantastic. I'm a lucky girl.

Below I have pasted a really lovely blog entry from the Juilliard Admissions Blog written by my coworker Monia:

Today we say goodbye to our much admired Admissions Associate, Toni Rosenbaum, who leaves Juilliard to embark on her next great career adventure. Toni has been the face of Juilliard for literally thousands of applicants (and their parents!) for the past four years and, as happy as we all are for her success, we are also sad for our loss. I wrote a little something for her goodbye party, which I share with you all here.

***
Toni,

Lee* asked us if we’d like to say a few words here today, and I did. But then I had to determine how I’d arrange words that could adequately address what your four years with us have meant to me. And then it hit me – I’ll write a poem! Here’s my first attempt:

Roses are red,
Now I am blue,
We’re losing Toni,
And that really stinks.

You like? No, I didn’t either – too sappy.

Then I pondered what style of poetry would lend itself to a little less sap and realized that a limerick would do the trick! Here’s my second attempt:

Our Toni is pretty terrific
With problems abstract or specific.
She’s charming, she’s sweet,
Wears great shoes on her feet,
And her patience with folks is prolific.

…meh. It’s O.K., but still not quite right.

THEN I remembered that a couple of years ago I challenged my colleagues in Admissions to come up with application related haikus for our blog. I thought maybe the haiku format would work, so here’s that effort:

Just four years ago
You entered our lives, and now
You leave them better.

And with that, I was back to sappy.

So I decided to give up on poetry and simply say – we’ve been so lucky to have you, Toni. Thank you, for everything. And good luck.

Take a Hint

Every now and then a guy from my past just doesn't get the hint.

Recently I received a text from a guy, Mike, who I had apparently met online some time ago. After a quick text exchange, I still had no memory of Mike. He asked me if I would be interested in meeting him for a drink. I didn't respond. Take a hint, Mike! We "met" a year and a half ago through an internet dating service, exchanged a handful of texts, and never went out on an actual date. It's just not going to happen.

So I've been throwing around some questions in my head:

How long is too long of a hiatus from communication before it's too late? Or is it never too late?
Is it our duty as good people to tell someone we're just not interested or should we let the communication fade away into nothingness and assume it's a mutual thing?
When do things stop being polite and start getting creepy?

Surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly), this isn't some new phenomenon. (Exhibit A, Exhibit B, Exhibit C). But each time this happens, I always feel that same mix of emotions - embarrassed (for this clueless dude and for me having to reject him more than once) and disappointed (because now I'll have to be very frank with my feelings which can come across as cold, mean, unfeeling, or bitchy).

I don't want to be a jerk who dismisses the feelings of a well-meaning guy. Dating isn't easy. There is no single girl GPS that tells us which path to take to get to the desired destination. I try to be kind but firm, thoughtful but clear.

I definitely don't have the chutzpah to pull off something like that...but maybe that's not such a bad thing!

Risky Investment

We met at the MOMA for a performance of traditional Balinese music played on beautiful traditional Balinese instruments. Then we headed to a reception for a cocktail and took a walk exploring the exhibits at the museum. He was open and warm and attentive. After a night of great conversation, we headed to Shake Shack for a quick bite to eat.

He's cute, witty, and very athletic. The only problem with this guy is that he couldn't answer one very important question: "What do you do for a living?" His answer: "It's complicated..."

That's never a good sign.

Apparently, he's starting up a new Web site which sounds fairly lucrative but the more he talked about it the more holes I saw in his business and strategic plans. He is certainly nowhere near ready to launch. He has been unemployed for over a year now. While he did express his excitement about this new venture, he also let me know that he had seriously depleted his savings to fund this project.

It could be a huge success.

Or it could be a complete flop.

Although the prospect of dating a good-looking athlete seemed promising, I'll have to pass. I just can't invest more time on this risky investor. First, because he's 34 and he doesn't have his act together. Second, because I am looking for someone who is stable financially and well established career-wise. And third, because this tells me that we have very different styles about managing our money. I would rather save up for a sure thing than risk it all for a fortune.

It would never work out in the long run.

In the (edited) words of Kanye West - I ain't saying I'm a gold digger, but I ain't messing with a broke athletic equipment web site business owner.