San Francisco Pride

You can't get much more San Franciscan than SF Pride Week.  It is a time to celebrate differences, free of judgement.  I love living in San Francisco because of people's general acceptance of others and its open-mindedness.    I'm learning a lot from this city but I think that lesson is the most valuable. 

"Gay pride was not born out of a need to celebrate being gay, but instead our right to exist without prosecution.  So maybe instead of wondering why there isn't a Straight Pride month or movement, straight people should be thankful they don't need one." _anonymous

I spent pride bonding with the roommates and our puppy and enjoying the sunny day at Dolores Park.  

"Roommate bonding"

"sink or swim"

Oh so Smitten

First weekend of summer and San Francisco fulfilled its stigma with a cold, rainy and foggy Sunday.  But even though it didn't feel like summer I still had the urge for ice cream.  There is this ice cream place in Hayes Valley that was built using an old shipping container.  I've been wanting to try it because its typically packed every weekend and because it wasn't really ice cream weather the line wasn't too bad so we stopped in. 

They make each scoop individually, using super cold liquid nitrogen....I know, real fancy.  They claim to make the smoothest ice cream in the world because the ice cream never has a chance to make the ice crystals that start to occur when its ice cream frozen.  Anyway, it was definitely fun to watch my personalized scoop being made but San Francisco has so many great ice cream places I'm not sure I can give this one the title of "My favorite," but I will agree with "smoothest."

That foggy gas...yah that's liguid nitrogen. 

Oh, so smooth. 

San Francisco, You Stole My Heart

I'm falling completely in love with the city and we all know how those first few months of love go... My life has been a whirlwind of first experiences and I've barely had time to myself, yet along to blog.  But I think it's so important to share and document all these wonderful memories I'm making so I'll be making much more of an effort.

Last weekend was the North Beach Fair and I was invited to a party with lovely people and many jello shots.  At one point we all went to the roof and standing there, overlooking the city I felt a feeling of belonging to this city sweep over me.  Oh San Francisco, I am yours and you are mine.

To a 3:30am Friday Night Kinda Night

Beautiful weekend.  Beautiful weather, wonderful company, and great memories.

My Friday night was wonderful.  Went to lunch with a new sweet friend at work...I love the beginnings of a new friend--those first few times of hanging out with someone that you're really clicking with.  I love listening to people attempt to explain the basics of their life, their background, their family, their friends.  I love getting candid answers about someone's life.  Not to mention we tried a sandwich shop close to work that had just opened and it turned out to be amazing.  Good food.  Good company.
And then we all went to happy hour, followed by more drinks, followed by an art showing at our coworkers gallery, followed by a bar, followed by beers on the roof.  It was great to get back into those nights that never end building bonds with new friends.

Only in San Francisco

I have so many things to blog about but this last Saturday was just too nice and too weird to go any longer without a post.  I met up with a friend from college this Saturday afternoon, and the weather was just too nice not to be outside.  My roommate recommended we check out a place called "Albany Bulb."  He described it as "really cool," and an "old landmine that homeless people made into art" and more vague  descriptions not really leaving me with much to go on.  So we decided to check it out.

We parked in front of a little pretty beach, with a nice view of the city.

After sitting by the beach for awhile we went searching for this "trash into art."

Man made out of scrap metal. "Welcome"

Dr. Zeus character hanging out

Man on a dragon.

Paint was still wet in here.

Rubik's cube?

I should also mention, that in between this art were peoples homes, made out of tents and trash, and there seemed to be an odd community out here the bulb.  A radio played Shania Twain outside one tent, and in another a disheveled old man played horse shoes by himself.  Such an odd but cool place making me think to myself an expression becoming much more common to me: "Only in San Francisco"

I got a job!!!

So as maybe you know, I've been looking for a job in San Francisco for the past 5 months and I finally got an offer.  I started last Wednesday, and I wanted to make extra sure I had the job before I blogged about it and jinxed it!

Soo where and what am I doing?!?

I work for Wix.com, a website that helps average people make beautiful and personalized websites for free! I am customer support in their San Francisco office and so far my job is awesome!
The office has:
-a big kitchen with free food
-free tea and Keurig coffee
-a huge outside patio with lights and bike parking in the middle of the city
-they give us free burritos on Friday
-you can bring your dog to work
-we (Wix) host weekly-monthly community events at the office
-a kegerator
-AND super nice people

I am very, very happy!

This is Monty, my desk buddy!

How to be Unemployed

I've been unemployed for a little over a month now and I would like to give out some tips to those joining this elite club.

1.  Embrace it.  This can be hard.  If you're like me, you'll start out full force looking for your next job.  But unfortunately, it is a competitive job market right now, and that next job might not be as easy as you think.  Think of this time as the free time you always wanted to do the things you never really have time for...spend more time with loved ones, go on little weekend trips, read books, maybe learn a new skill.  Also, a lot of employers want to know what you've been doing in your time off so think of it as a good chance to show them what a self-starter and active learner you are.

2.  Get out of the house.  Keep active and allow yourself to use the time with activities other than job search.  It will make you feel good to be out and about like the rest of the world.  I just moved, so I spend a lot of time trying to get to know my new neighborhood.

3. Apply Sparingly.  I don't know how recruiters do it but somehow they can see through an unsure application and cover letter.  For all the jobs I said "what the heck, I'll just apply and see what happens." I never get a response.  For the jobs that I am actually interested in and excited about, I have a way better response rate.  Try to really read the job description and make sure you actually like the job and fulfill the basic requirements.  In today's job markets, hiring managers have the luxury of hiring people with all of the necessary experience, so its my recommendation to not waste your time on a job that you clearly do not fulfill basic requirements.  Instead, spend that time on writing unique and colorful cover letters.

4. Recognize the highs.  When you actually earn yourself a one-on-one interview be proud and excited about it, even if it turns out not to be a job offer.  Just because you didn't get the offer doesn't mean you weren't a great candidate.  You probably beat out 10's maybe 100's of applicants just to earn yourself that in-person.  As an inexperienced college grad, its pretty rare I get to the interview stage at all....so just remember there are tons of people out there you beat out.  And getting really close with one company could mean a job offer at the next.

5.  Work Part-time or temp.  This might not be for everyone but I think it could be a really great thing for some.  Working partially removes the fiscal pressure of finding that next job.  With a little less pressure, interviews might not feel as scary and therefore you will come off more natural and confident through out the process.  Also, maybe the part-time or temp work could add an experience that might interest a potential employer. AND a lot of temporary work has been known to lead into full time offers.

GOOD LUCK!!!!

My Happy Place

Hello blogging world,

I am currently at a Starbucks in Emeryville (a 5 minute drive from my house in Berkeley) and I am in my happy place.  Moving somewhere brand new, with no job and not too many friends can be hard.  A lot of times I can't shake the feeling that I'm out on my own...alone.  And when I get those feelings...like I did today, I have to admit that Starbucks is my happy place.  It is my home away from home.  When I was backpacking Europe this past summer, and I started to feel a little frustrated with being in the New and Unfamiliar all the time...Starbucks was there to make me feel for a brief moment, I was home.  Every Starbucks, whether it be in Spain or Mexico or Emeryville is all set up the same with the same menu, the same comfy seating, the same free Wifi! (pronounced WeeFee in Spain).  And I think that THAT, more than the coffee, is what is behind the Starbucks craze.  That it can be a home away from home.

Anyway else have an odd appreciation for the 'bucks?