SUMIFs make me hot!

Ok first of all I want to say how freakin awesome it is that I am updating this on my blackberry while waiting for the MARTA!!!

Work this week has been nuts. Just as I suspected, we had quite a few stores impacted by hurricane Ike...some of which may not be reopening for quite some time. What does that mean to us?? It means rerouting merchandise, cancelling orders, revising sales plans, etc. A lot of extra work, but I enjoy the challenges and the day sure does go by quicker when you have a lot to do!

What I didn't enjoy was moving back from temporary space into our newly remodeled permanent floor and have a ton of my shit, and my bosses shit, either missing or halfway across the floor in someone elses cube. Or the fact that after 2 days my phone line still is not working!! Makes it hard to call vendors to reroute merchandise when you have no phone!!

What is really cool is that I took an advanced excel formulas class this week at work and have since become obsessed with SUMIFs and VLOOKUPs. I've been able to create some really cool summary sheets that will help my buyer analyze sales in some different ways. It's always good when you can make your boss's job easier! It's so lame, but I got incredibly excited when I finished one of said summary sheets today.

Not too much else going on around here...did anyone else see the season premiere of SNL??? Tina fey as sarah palin was hilarious!!!

Ok almost to my stop...that's all for now!

Finally settling into a routine...

So it's been a long while since I've not only had time, but felt like sitting in front of the computer long enough to update this thing! After sitting in front of a computer for over 8 hours each day, I rarely feel like doing more of that when I get home!

Things are finally starting to settle down and feel more normal here in Atlanta. Work is going great! My boss and I are learning (sometimes painfully) how to best work with each other, and I've already began to learn a lot from her. In addition to my daily responsibilities, I was asked by my DMM (my boss's boss, who is over all of the accessories buyers) to be assistant buyer representative for accessories during the United Way Campaign. We've done a lot of cool thing so far, and the official fundraising week is coming up next week. Last week I worked with the other ABs in my area to collect samples and monetary donations from our vendors to create compelling gift baskets to be raffled off. Overall, we collected over $10,000 in merchandise and cash donations!!! Not too shabby :)

Work is getting easier each day, as well. When I first got in to my new position it was a little hectic trying to figure out where everything was, what was done before me, etc....so I did a lot of problem solving on a daily basis that really ate up a lot of my time. But now that I've been there for about a month, most of the things I'm dealing with relate to things I've been doing and organizing, so I know exactly where to find the answers, I know the merchandise a little better, etc. I am really loving working in handbags. (PS ladies---deep purple/eggplant handbags are the thing to have this fall!) My fellow ABs have been so helpful in making the transition easy for me, and I'm starting to feel completely comfortable around them. In fact, today I went over to Christina's house to watch the Redskins game with her!!! Yes, I found a fellow Skins fan, who happens to have Sunday Ticket :)

I've fallen into a routine outside of work, too. I've found that actually being home has made it so much easier to keep my room, kitchen, living space nice and neat. Every Saturday morning I run errands and clean, then I just relax on Sundays. I've been staying in on the weekends for the most part...I've actually been making some progress on my Credit Cards and I want to keep it that way! I've already paid off 2 cards, and with the progress I've been making, I should be able to have the balances down enough to just about finish paying the rest of with my tax refund next year!! I'm still incredibly broke, but the good thing is that it's because I've been paying my bills, not because I don't have enough money too! Plus, I have had plenty of practice being broke, so I'm a pro at bargain grocery shopping now :) It feels good to be finally begin to get my life in order!

I recently signed up to be an online tutor for a little of extra money, which I thought would be good for the holidays. My roommate, Kelly, has a friend who does the hiring for brainfuse.com, so Kelly and I both signed up. I can set my own hours, and get $10 an hour while tutoring, and $7 an hour while waiting for a student to sign on. Not to shabby, since I can do it while sitting in my pajamas!! I'm in the process of completing training, so hopefully I'll be able to start after this week.

Mom and Dad came to visit last month, and it was great to show them my apartment, and where I go for fun and stuff. And they are coming back for Thanksgiving, with Jackie and Vi!! We'll more than likely be going to the Macy's Lenox Square Tree Lighting, too, which I am really excited about! Brian is coming to visit in less than two weeks, then also for Halloween. I can't wait to introduce him to all my friends here in ATL and show him off :)

Speaking of visiting, April and George may be coming down for new years, which I think would be a blast. I need to know if anyone else may be interested....so email me asap and tell me your thoughts! We can go watch the Peach Drop in Downtown ATL!!

Also...Sample Sale Oct 1....any requests??

Ok, time to go relax, Monday morning will be here soon!

I'm official!

So I'm officially an assistant buyer!!!!

Last week was crazy! We had so much to do, and then it all built up to Thursday, Graduation day!! We had our presentations, then....graduation and CAKE!! Afterward it was back to work, and I just stayed in the same area I've been working in. Then on Wednesday I finally got the call from HR to come down and talk about my placement.

And.....I am staying in accessories, but moving over to handbags!! I am now officially the assistant buyer for better open sell handbags. My buyer--Laura--is awesome and I know we are going to get along so well. I'm especially excited to stay in accessories. I love all the people there and the other assistants are great.

I had my first official day today and it went well.....I didn't mess up and mark the whole department down or anything haha. Next week I have my first vendor meeting--Jessica Simpson handbags--and the crazy thing is the sales rep is based out of Richmond! I talked to her a bit today, she was so excited to hear that I graduated from VCU, and I was happy to hear of someone who had heard of VCU! Anyways, they are coming on Wednesday, so that should be fun, though I will be missing the vendor dinner because my parents are coming to town!!! (Which is also exciting!)

Ok, time to go watch more olympics!!

PS-----I'm going to be in Richmond for Labor Day!!! :)

Only 3 weeks left of training!

I LOVE MY JOB!!!

No...really. I really really do! I work crazy hours at the beginning of each week (but that means I get to go home early on Fridays)

I get to play with samples and make pretty advertisements!

I get to go to vendor lunches and have $19 crabcakes for free which were the most delicious crabcakes I've ever had. EVER! Then I get to goto vendor meetings and work the Fall and Spring lines.

True, it's not all glamorous. I spend countless hours in front of the computer logging shipments, tracking daily sales, keying purchase orders, uploading price changes, etc etc. But at the end of the day (even 11 hour days like today)....I still really love it. I am challenged, but not in a bad way. In that way that makes you feel exhausted yet FULFILLED at the same time. It's great, I'm so lucky!!

Let's see, what else has been going on at work. It's getting close to the end of training, in fact I have less than 3 weeks left! I should actually be hearing sometime this week if I'm getting placed early or not. If not, I'm not that concerned. I love where I'm training and the more practice I get, the better. But if I get pulled then I'm ready to go!

Last week I got some face time with my DMM (divisional merchandise manager, my buyer's boss). Every Monday morning we have a meeting with her for about 15 minutes to review the best sellers from the previous week Last Monday was my first time "presenting" to her...she asked a few questions, but the good thing was that I was prepared with all the answers. I felt like a rock star after the meeting, and she told me I did a great job, as did my buyer and my coach.

And to confirm my total rockstardom, I got an email from HR this morning telling me that I was chosen to have a store management intern shadow me for 3 hours on Thursday. The good news is that HR thinks highly enough of me to choose me (I was 1 of 5 out of 26 trainees). The bad news is I have to squeeze this in to my already tight tight schedule at work. This week I have so much to do, it's unreal. I have all my assistant buyer duties, on top of all of my training, plus some corporate meetings (legal compliance training, etc). The good news behind all this is that I will probably be out of hours really early on Friday, so I can leave early and head to Richmond! I am excited to see Brian and all my friends!!! :)

Ok, off to bed, I'm beat. More soon, I promise!

Long Update...again

So I've learned so much since my last post!!! A lot of the same things that I posted about before, but just more in depth. In fact, starting this week, I am doing a lot of the responsibilities by myself!

Last week I got to help with all kinds of things, and I got to sit in on a holiday ad meeting, and a vendor meeting to help pick out Spring 09 fashion socks :)

Today I had my midpoint review, and it went REALLY well! My trainer, and my buyer, both said I'm doing really really well and they had been very impressed with me! They talk to HR tomorrow about me, and they think I will be placed into my department in the next couple of weeks. Actually, they asked me if I felt ready to be placed, and if I felt ready, they felt I was, too. But I don't want to rush anything....if I get into my office too soon, and my buyer has high expectations, that could be bad for me in the long run. Also this is the first week that I feel like I half know what I'm doing, and I still have a zillion questions!! So ultimately we decided that I would stay another 2 weeks or so, and my trainer would give me EVERYTHING she does on a daily basis. So basically I will be doing the Assistant Buyer job, but just have her for backup when I need it, which will be good!! She said she was going to try to find out tomorrow where they are thinking of placing me, and they aren't going to let me get in with anyone they don't like!!

On a personal note, Brian and I went to Hilton Head last weekend for 4th of July!!! It was awesome and so great to spend so much time with him :)

Ok, time for bed, this girl's gotta be up early now!

Weekly Recap

So it's late on Thursday again, here I go with my big long weekly recap! I've learned a TON this week, it was kind of overwhelming the first few days but today it was starting to all make some more sense.

Here is what I have learned:

Reports- I was at work at 7:15 Monday Morning and learned all about our reports that we run to analyze sales (we run them every monday). Then I got to attend the best sellers meeting with our DMM! Later that day I took a few classes on how to use their business analyzing tools and some cool programs to run really fancy detailed reports. But more importantly I learned how to read them and what everything meant!

Price changes and promos- I looked at this a little bit but will learn the bulk of it next week.

Shipping and Logistics- We learned about this today. I got to see how we track shipments of merchandise, what to do when part of it doesn't book, and learned about the whole process that the DC goes through to get the merchandise out the door to the stores. Sounds boring but was actually pretty interesting!

PO Entry and Maintenence: We learned how to create, enter, transmit, maintain, update, cancel, and any other thing you can think of to purchase orders (POs). A good portion of my job revolves around these, so it was very important!

Those are the main things I learned, not too bad for only 4 days!!!

Tomorrow is a big day...my first paycheck, and I'm flying home to VA to see my boyfriend. AND my friend is getting MARRIED!!!!!! :)

Time for bed..I have an early flight. More updates next week!

Week one at my new job!

Ok so it's been quite a while since I've updated...mostly because I've been so exhausted from work when I get home....but in a good way!!!

Ok so I will just recap each day here.

Monday was my first day and I wasn't nervous at all...just really excited!! It was a pretty standard "first day"....we did paperwork, orientation, ice breakers, building tours....etc. The most exciting part of our day was learning where we will be training!! I got put in women's hosiery (which includes pantyhose, socks, slippers, tights, and beach flip flops). I'm really excited because I not only get to learn about a women's business (which I know nothing about),but also I get to learn about a basics business (instead of a more fashion driven business).

Tuesday was a little better. We did "retailology 101" in the morning, which was kind of like an introduction to macys and the retail world. It was cool though because it was in a game format...so we split up into teams and played back and forth quiz questions. Then did a role playing like game. It was kind of like "pick your ending" stories, except with retail scenerios and a dice. Example: if you roll a 1 2 or 3, your predicitions for tailored leather jackets in black was right on, if you roll a 4 5 or 6, you had bad luck because Halle Balle showed up to the people choice awards in a lime green unstructured jacket and that is what evryone wants, not your black jackets!! It was good because it showed how unpredictable and uncontrollable the retail world is, and how much a little miscalculation can effect your bottom line.

After lunch we learned how to map our drives, use lotus notes, the mainframe system, etc. Then we got to watch an hour long interactive sexual harassment DVD (yayyyy) haha!

Wednesday was even better...! We started out with a game about Macy's and the principles of our corporation, then learned about the four target customers of Macy's. THEN we got to walk to the Perimeter Center store across the street and walk the floor with some other assistant buyers. The AB I was with used to live in Richmond!! After lunch in the food court, we went back and had a course on financial analysis and we got to see some of the screens we will be using to run reports.

Today was by far the best day! In the morning we took an "intermediate excel" class and I learned quite a few tricks. Then we got to have a question and answer session with some other ABs about the job and what our buyer will expect from us. THEN we got lunch (provided by the company...fajitas, yum!) and got to meet our coaches and the buying office we will be working in!!! My coach is Megan Wilson, and she is so great! She really knows her stuff and I can tell I will be learning a lot by working with her. My buyer and planner are really nice too, even my DMM (who is above the buyer) was so welcoming and not intimidating at all. We went and walked the floor for our division, and went over her expectations of me and vice versa. I also got to sit in on the last part of a style out which was really interesting! This is a great time for us to be starting because we are getting ready to do all the holiday assortments and ads so we will see the craziest part of they year in the next few months!!! After work we had our first happy hour as a group...and I got $2.50 Margaritas. YUM!

Another fun thing I did this week was went bowling with my cousin Steven! We joined a bowling league so every Wednesday night we will be bowling! I bowled a 142 (yay!!!), a 90 (Boo) and like a 114. Hopefully next week I will be a little more consistent, haha!

Ok its time for friends then bed, tomorrow is my last day of the week!! I can't wait until Monday, we get to spend a whole half day in our buying office, yay!

Everyone have a great weekend!!!! :)

Today's the day!

I start my new job today!!!! Stay tuned for details...

Where did this week go to????

I've been up to a lot and also a lot of nothing this week.

Wednesday after posting I worked allllllll day unpacking, and I got the whole place completely finished!




Thursday I rewarded myself by doing NOTHING. I went to the pool for a little bit and hung out around the apartment. That night I went to my little cousin, Nicole's, dance recital out in Canton! We went to Chili's afterwards and it was so yummy!

Friday was my errands running day. I started my morning out by getting up early and did a test run of the MARTA (how I am going to get to work). I left my building at 8:15, got on the train by 8:25, and was at the office by 8:45. Perfect!

After my MARTA run I went to Target, Publix, and Walmart to pick up some food and other stuff, and of course stuff for my Assistant Buyer Dinner that was Friday night!

Everyone started arriving at around 6PM and we had such a great time! We had lots of yummy food and it was great to get to know some of the people I will be working with. In fact, one of the girls is coming over this afternoon and me, her, and my roommate are going to go see the Sex and the City Movie! Below are some pictures of just some of the buyers I will be working with!


Yesterday I spent all day in Canton for my other cousin's dance recital and then dinner. Today is my last day before I join the "real world" so I plan on relaxing! :) I'll definitely post more tomorrow after my first day!!

Atlanta!!!!!!!

Good Morning!!

So I am here in Atlanta and I love it so far!

Friday we went and picked up the Uhaul and loaded it up. I finished all of my move out cleaning and we finally went to bed around 2 AM!!! Saturday was a great day, I drove up to MD to visit my family, it was my niece's first birthday! I can't believe she is ONE already! She is so smart and big, I miss seeing her already!!

Saturday evening I drove back to Richmond, picked up Brian, and packed up the last few things, then hit the road about 11:30 PM. The ride was great, we didn't hit any traffic or bad weather, in fact there wasn't really anyone except us on the road! The only thing that happened was the cat, he kinda sorta freaked out!!!! I kept him out of his carrier, I had a harness/leash I put on him and set him in the seat in between us. He cried for about 2 hours (we just turned up the radio), then he fell asleep and slept the rest of the way!! When we got here he was terrified....he found this little tiny space in my bathroom between the wall and the cabinet and hid in there for 3 hours!!! He is fine now though, he loves being the only kitty in the house!!!!

So we got here arounjd 8:45 AM on Sunday. I finally got to meet my roomie and I love her already :) She had made me a little "Welcome to Atlanta" gift basket with some candles and body wash, a picture frame, and gift cards to Publix, Target, and Ikea!! It was so nice :) She had some guy friends here to help unload, and we got everything done in under two hours. After we dropped off the Uhaul we went to Chipotle for lunch, then grocery shopping at Walmart (which is right down the road...yay!!)

The only thing I don't like about ATL is that I don't know where anything is! I get nervous to venture out to find something because there is so much construction, I'm afraid I'm going to take a wrong turn and get lost. But I haven't yet!

Sunday night we went to my Aunt Tina and Uncle David's house for dinner. It was so yummy, I love cooking out, it's one of my favorite parts of summer! The girls are getting so big, too. I saw them 2 years ago last so you can imagine how much they've grown. After dinner all of the moving finally caught up to me, I definitely fell asleep on the couch! So we skipped out and headed home for some much needed sleep.

Monday we were finally well rested and took advantage of the day to put stuff together! Brian was awesome, he put together my dresser and desk, helped me re-arrange the living room and unpack a ton! We also hung some mirrors and stuff. We took a break to take a trip to Ikea. It was both of our's first time in an Ikea, I could have spent all day in there! (And a lot of money!). But we managed to find exactly what I was looking for...a basic coffee table, and it was only $29.99! (I had a gift card for $30!) We also got an end table to match for $13! They were the final touches to our living room and I love the way the space turned out!! (More pictures here)


We cooked dinner on Monday night and watched a movie and tried to relax on our last night together for awhile. Then yesterday morning we got up early, had breakfast, and took Brian to the airport. It was so hard to say goodbye, but, I get to see him again soon! I busied myself for the rest of yesterday by unpacking, I have most of the boxes unpacked, though I need a home for everything now!!!

THEN last night my cousins (on my mom's side) came over! Steven is 19 and Rachel is getting ready to turn 18, and I haven't seen them in about 10 years!!! We just hung out and played cards and caught up. Starting next Wednesday myself, Steven, and my Uncle are doing a bowling league! I'm so excited to have a weekly thing to look forward to and I'll get shoes at the end of it! :)

Today is more unpacking, I think I'm going to go check out our fitness center this morning and maybe reward myself with some pool time later!!!

I hope everyone is doing well! I miss you all and I can't wait for you to come visit!!!! :)

So the past few days have been pretty good!

After realizing I will be pretty lonely, bored, and broke my first week in Atlanta, I went out on a limb and decided to do something about it. I emailed everyone in my training class and offered to host a potluck supper at my place (since I'm sure everyone else will be broke) so we can get to know each other. The response was overwhelming and so far everyone except one person is coming!!!! It should be a lot of fun!

I did some more packing and cleaning out last night and posted a TON of stuff up on Craigslist to sell. If I sell it all I will make like $500 bucks, so keep your fingers crossed!

This weekend I am going to Ocean City for April's Bachelorette Party! I'm so excited to spend a whole weekend with my girls at the beach!!!!!!!

More updates later, now it's time for packing!

Graduation!

Yesterday I graduated from college!


It's been such a lonnnng time coming, and it is still so surreal that it is all done and over with. I went to the big ceremony at the coliseum, then to lunch, then to the departmental ceremony. THEN I had a cookout and party at my place, it was such a great time!

Thank you everyone who came out yesterday, but thank you even more to EVERYONE who has supported me over the past five years. I've had a lot of ups and downs, but in the end I made it though, and now I am officially a VCU Alumn. 14 days til ATL!

I'm really moving to Atlanta? Really?

Ok so now that school is ending and I'm actually getting ready to move it's getting time to start updating this thing more regularly.

First off--we didn't get that other place. It's a long story but let's just say the guy was an asshole and it fell through.

But the GOOD thing is that we found an even better place. In the same area (Midtown), ACROSS from the marta line, 2 bed 2 bath on the 22nd (top!) floor!! We LOVE it and I'm so glad we found a great place.

I started packing tonight. Not just a couple of things, like REALLY packing. I have seven big boxes done. All of my shelves are empty, my walls are bare, and in its place are these gigantic, stark boxes.

I found my yearbooks from highschool while I was packing. I was looking through the notes that people wrote to me promising to stay in touch, how we were such good friends, etc. It makes me sad to think that I was at one point so close to these people, but now we rarely talk. I know that's life.....but it just made me start thinking about what the next year will bring. How many of the people that I am so close to now will I still be close to? Who will keep their promises?

So here I am, sitting in Emily's room because she is out of town, Sam has people over partying, Lynn is out with her friends, and I feel so lonely. To the point it aches deep inside. I don't know if I have enough gas to get to Brian's house or not but I'm going to try, because the next time I feel this lonely he will be three states away.

So this is how I am going to feel every day for the next three years...awesome. I hope this job is worth it.

Roomies!

So after months of searching I finally posted an ad on Craigslist looking for a roommate, and believe it or not, I found a normal one!!! (Haha)

Everyone , meet Kelly, my new roommate!


She is the same age as me, love animals, and has been in ATL for the past year, so she is able to do all the legwork of the apartment hunting. IN FACT, we may have already found a place, you can see pics here.

The place is in downtown ATL, within walking distance to everything we could possibly need. The MARTA (it's like ATL's metro/subway) is literally across the street from the building, which means I could take it to work every day and save a boatload on gas and frustration from driving in the traffic!! Right around the corner is a library, park, various restaurants and shops, a few pubs, etc etc. It's in our price range and right now is at the top of our list for a place to live, so keep your fingers crossed!!!!

Finding a roomie and almost finding a place has made me so incredibly excited about moving to Atlanta!! This time in 2 months I will be a Georgia Peach!

OH, and only 44 days until graduation!!!!

Growing Up

This past weekend was my best friend from high school, Courtney's wedding. We've known each other for 9 years, hard to believe how quickly time goes and how much we've changed since our braceface bandcamp days.

The ceremony was beautiful, the reception was very elegant and nice, and Courtney was breathtaking. The whole weekend went by so quickly it's hard to believe we had been talking about it for almost two years and then in a matter of hours it was all done!

Some Pics:



I am so happy for Courtney but at the same time I couldn't help but feel a little sad, and I didn't figure out why until we were driving home this morning. For the past year we have been talking about all these weddings and my graduation and move, it seemed so far away, and now....my best friend from high school is a married woman. It kind of put into motion the series of changes that are about to take place....two more close friends are going to be married women and then I graduate and move away from everyone I love and start my real world job. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited, but at the same time it's very overwhelming to know that everything in my life is about to change drastically. Bittersweet.

When I got home today Sammie was cooking lunch and me and the girls sat around and had margaritas while we discussed our weekend...it was such a nice time and I am really going to miss moments like that!

Out with the old, in with the new....here comes the bride and all the changes that come with her.

The Beginning

I decided that since I'm moving far away and starting a very important chapter in my life, I needed to find a way to keep everyone in the loop about my new job and other adventures in Atlanta.

More later on plans for the move....

50 days til Graduation!!!


Jess