Five Current Obsessions

1.  Cheap Mid-Week Flights from Augusta to Rochester on Delta.
I haven't been home to NY since early June and I miss it!  I am headed home next week all thanks to cheap mid-week flights on Delta airlines.  I am flying right out of Augusta, connecting in Atlanta, and then off to Rochester!  Without $190 round trip flight, I don't think I'd be taking this last minute trip!  Sometimes the airlines can be wallet friendly, who knew?

2.  Custom Brewcrafter's Autumn Festival of Ales
I love Custom Brewcrafter's beer from where I grew up, Honeoye Falls, NY!  It's such a fun place!  Every fall they host a festival right in town honoring all of the local breweries in Rochester, inviting them to come and serve their beer.  There is food, music, and most obviously, BEER!  I will be home while the festival is going on, and I cannot wait to be outside in the crisp air, drinking with longtime friends!  I cannot wait to try the Oktoberfest Lager!

CB's Autumn Festival of Ales
October 8, 2011

3.  Marc by Marc Jacobs Petal to the Metal Natasha shoulder bag
This bag has been on my radar since last winter.  I am obsessed with it, but it is a little bit too rich for my blood while I am currently unemployed.  I absolutely LOVE this new color, Russet.  It's so perfect for fall!  I just love all Marc Jacobs bags because the leather is so soft, it's just like butter.  I think the sparrows are just a cute touch that shows a little bit of an edgier side, similar to a sparrow tattoo.  This is definitely on my wish list for someone who really loves me and wants to give me an awesome gift!

Petal to the Metal Natasha
Marc by Marc Jacobs
$428

4.  Fall Weather
One thing I miss about living in Upstate New York is the changing of the seasons.  Fall is one of the most wonderful times of the year in New England, and I have to say, it's probably because of the changing colors of the leaves and the cooler weather!  I love being wrapped up in a sweater, trendy scarf, some jeans, and boots!

5.  The Luxury of Reading
For the past 3 years I was forced to read everything under the sun in law school.  Thousands of pages of textbooks and cases, along with many current cases at the District Attorney's office.  Even this past summer I didn't get to choose what I wanted to read, as I was busy studying even more law for the bar exam.  Finally though, I can read the books that I want to read, without anyone telling me otherwise!  For graduation, my sister and her husband were kind enough to buy me a Nook from Barnes and Noble.  I am obsessed!  I can download books in seconds, and it's so easy to read.  I don't miss the paperback at all!  As my Nook cover states:  "Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity." - G.K. Chesterton

Another Day, No Dollars

My job search is never ending.  I just want to be gainfully employed as soon as I find out about my Bar Exam results.  But, as the days are counting down (officially 32 days), I am getting very anxious.  I've been doing my best to acclimate myself to the Augusta community, but with this terrible economy, it is proving hard to find someone who is willing to take a chance on you!

As a law graduate, you'd think it'd be a little bit easier to find employment, but it's actually quite the opposite.  Many times when I send my resume off to places that are looking for employees, I don't receive a call back.  I'm guessing that it could be because I am over qualified for any office work jobs, and under qualified for attorney positions.  It's quite the catch 22.  How am I ever going to gain experience if no one is willing to give me the chance?  I've worked in the criminal law field for the past 2 years while in law school, but now I am discovering that I need to expand my legal expertise.  State jobs are hard to come by, and even if you do, it is not the place where you'll become a millionaire.  More and more everyday as I sit at home looking for positions to apply to, I think about hanging a shingle and seeing what I can do for myself.

Although my job search has not been going it's best, I have discovered that networking is key.  I've met with various attorneys here in town, who will likely lead me to another name that I should investigate.  Every time that someone is willing to meet with me, I try to make it worthwhile for him.  If he doesn't have a job for me, okay, do you know someone who may, or if you have any projects coming up, let me know, I'll be your free legal help!  I've learned that when you meet an attorney and he tells you to email him, do it asap!  Don't wait or he may forget who you are!  I've also made a simple business card that I can give to these attorneys, showing them that I do want to work, so much so, that I am willing to put myself out there, even if no one ends up calling me.

Volunteering at the Augusta Bar Association's Golf Tournament was a valuable experience for me.  I got to meet plenty of attorneys in town and have some face time with those that I probably would never come across.  Although it wasn't the best of weather, I put on my smile and made it work.

So as I sit here today, another day with no paycheck, I am optimistic.  I know that I am doing as much as I possibly can for now.  Hopefully once I get my results back from the State of Georgia and praying that it's a passing grade, I can make all these connections believe that they should take a chance on me.

Wear Pink and Eat Cake Wednesday!

Every Wednesday I am going to try to make it a goal to wear pink and eat cake!  Lauren used to do this while working in King and Spalding in Atlanta and got the whole firm involved.  Although I don't have much pink in my wardrobe, I will think of her often as I try to put together my outfits for Wednesdays.  She loved pink and it can be one of the many ways to remember her!  Today I opted for a mauve colored tank with little chicks on it!

Lauren and I at the
Cherry Blossom Festival in Macon!

Autumn is Here!

Fall starts this Friday, September 23rd!  I am so excited, I love this time of the year.  I can't wait to bring out the Halloween decorations, determine what my costume may be, buy candy for my first ever trick-or-treaters, go to hayrides, get lost in a corn maze, carve pumpkins, and lastly, prepare myself for bar exam results (which will be posted on October 28).  I also am headed home to NY for a little less than a week to see my family!  It's been since June since I've stepped foot on Northern soil, and I miss it!

I hope that Augusta has a lot of Halloween festivities to offer.  I know nothing can really compare to the Macon "Thriller" dance or to Rochester's Haunted Hayrides, but a girl can hope, can't she?  I've actually heard rumors that Le Chat Noir holds a really cool Zombie Bootcamp.  I think I will definitely be begging a few friends to go try this out before Halloween hits.

There's also the Augusta Westobou Festival going on for the last week in September and first week of October.  There are a bunch of cool, free events going on, and I plan on attending some!  Hopefully a few are dog friendly!  I'll have to research that one, because Buster and Timber deserve an outing or two at times.

Where will you be when Zombie Apocalypse hits?

Coming Out of Bev Cart Retirement

I'm super excited to announce that next week I will come out of retirement!  I'll be the beverage cart girl for the Augusta Bar's golf tournament.  It's been a while since I've done this job, roughly 3 years, but I did work at my local country club in Mendon, NY as a bev cart/pro shop girl extraordinaire for my whole college career.  It was such a fun job, schmoozing with the members and being outside and enjoying the weather!  The best part of this gig is that I'll get to meet many attorneys in the Augusta legal community.  Not to mention, that I get to pick out a new, inexpensive outfit, which will make me look like a million bucks for first impressions!

I picked out these new shorts.  They are a little bit longer in length, but still good for the hot weather and still appropriate for the golf course.  I think that I'll pair it would a cute tank.  It should be a fun tournament and I am super excited to meet many new people!

Trimmed Trouser Shorts
Gap, $24

Georgia Home Opener

Well another weekend has gone, and this week brings much excitement.  We decided to spend a fall Saturday in Athens to root on the Georgia Dawgs in their home-opener against South Carolina.  Unfortunately, they lost in the last quarter, but it was such an exciting game!  42-45 was the final score and it probably was one of the best games they'll play this year!  We spent much of the day attending tailgates before the game started at 4:30.  It was perfect weather for football!

The AUG crew & Riley at the tailgate!

We had great seats (also free!), thanks so some awesome friends!  In the end zone, 22 rows up!  We had a perfect view of everything!  Touchdown Dawgs!  My throat hurt after the game from cheering so much!  I need to break the streak of only going to losing games!  I'm fairly certain if I go to another losing game, not one of my friends will want to take me to Athens ever again!

Touchdown!

This week I've been busy making connections in the Augusta Legal Community!  It's been fun to meet so many wonderful people who are willing to help not only a new resident, but a new attorney.  It's making feel like, yes, I can do this!  Even if I only knew a handful of friends when I moved here!  As I make more and more connections, I really an excited to see where those opportunities take me!  Hopefully I'll be employed within the next few months, and if not, hopefully I'll be volunteering as a law clerk somewhere!  Who wants to hire me?  I'm available immediately!

I also have many prayers being sent to Macon today, as FBI, MPD, and other law enforcement are searching the landfill for Lauren. May we receive some peace soon.

Labor Day Weekend, Nascar Fail

Belts make awesome beer holders

Labor Day!  4 days to do whatever we want and we took advantage of it!  We started the weekend by heading to Macon on Friday to retrieve some of our things from our places!  We had dinner at the new Margaritas at Mercer Village with Ed.  It's such a cool little area they've got over there near campus, it was nice to see how much they've done!  Garon made sure to get a drink, as it was the closest to "drinking on campus" lawfully as he could get.  We then went to the KA house for some bid-day festivities and finished off the night by heading home to Augusta.  It was a long day, but fun to be back in Macon for a short time.  Now we just need some tenants for both of our places and we'll be happy!

Monkey Wrench

Saturday we spent the day getting ready for the first UGA game by doing chores around the house and getting groceries.  Sadly, the Dawgs lost, but we had delicious homemade chicken wings, tots, and spinach dip for dinner.  Fall has definitely arrived because football is finally here!  This coming weekend we are headed to the home opener in Athens, Dawgs v. Gamecocks!  So excited!

On Sunday we headed to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the NASCAR race.  My first ever!  I was so excited to see what it was all about, tailgating, people watching, rednecking, watching the cars, I was pumped!  We got there around 3pm and the race wasn't supposed to start until 7:30, so we had plenty of time to tailgate and walk around to all of the vendors.  It started to rain around 5:30, so sadly we were stuck under the tent.  We decided to grill hots and hamburgers, but geniuses that we are, we forget condiments, so we ate everything wish chips as our condiment.  As it rained though, we worried the entire time if the race was going to be cancelled.  We missed the flyover because we were still trying to avoid the rain, but eventually headed into the gates.

Atlanta Motor Speedway

Finally the rain stopped, so we headed to our seats, turn 3, with our coolers and the attitude that the race was going to happen.  We sat there for over an hour, waiting for the trucks to dry the tracks.  It was about 15 minutes from start time, and hey, what do you know, the tropical storm decided to piss rain on us even more, this time in a downpour.  The officials finally cancelled the race, for Tuesday, which we were unable to make, and we decided to head home.  It was a NASCAR fail, but I hope to go back another time because I wanted to enjoy everything about it.  We still had a pretty great time though, and it was fun spending the day doing something different!

Monday we recovered and went over to a friend's house to try dove for dinner.  I cannot complain, I'd definitely try it again!  Overall, it was a fun Labor Day weekend!  Looking forward to the next!

Light Afternoon Project

Anthropologie Sunflower
Medallion  Knob
$8

Yesterday I decided to be productive creatively, rather than searching for jobs all day (because that is clearly getting me places!).  I took on a do-it-yourself project and re-painted my end table in my living room.  I chose to do the end table first because I was not sure how much I'd like this color that Valspar calls "French Blue."  Turns out, it's not too bad, but I don't think I'll do my coffee table in the color as originally planned.  Maybe I'll just do accents on the inexpensive TV stand I bought from Lowe's a few years ago too.  Now I am just waiting for a cute knob from Antropologie to arrive in the mail and the table should be complete.

New End Table!       

Why am I Blogging?

Will Sue for Food

My summer was packed full of excitement, tragedy, new beginnings, and uncertainty.  I find that this will be the description of my life for the coming months, if not years, as I embark on this journey called "being a grown up."  I am a Mercer University Law Class of 2011 graduate who is anxiously awaiting bar exam results, new resident of Augusta, fiercely loyal friend, criminal law enthusiast, dog loving, 26 year old.

I am trying to grow roots in my new town, but I am finding that it is more difficult than I expected it to be.  No one ever expects fast friends when moving to a new area, but I had hoped by this time I'd already have a job to occupy my time; giving me some new faces to get to know.  But it's been much different.  I am spending most of my time alone as I search for a job, and I love when my man gets home from work in the evening.  It's when I actually enjoy to explore the city.  I don't do that so much during the day because I have no idea when to go!    

Sunflowers always brighten any day!

In all seriousness, I am blogging mostly because I have nothing better to do, and I don't want to pay for a therapist.  Grieving has been tough, but writing is helping me get through it.  When I feel down, I'll write a post, more than likely about something happy and exciting that recently happened in my life; it's a great way to turn a sad feeling into something good.  I'm really hoping that through writing, my struggles, my sad days, triumphs, and travels will remind me that no matter how I may be feeling, I've still got it pretty good.