The Office+

I survived my first week in the office. It is very different than my Chicago office where I feel so at home I might accidentally show up in my pajamas and slippers some day. The most notable difference is that the marketing team is pretty isolated on the executive floor, so there isn't a lot of interaction with the other departments. The other adjustment is the open floor plan - sometimes it is pretty hard to concentrate. This week was also a bit awkward as I make the transition to a new role. However, everyone on the marketing team is lovely and I really look forward to working with them. We are also gearing up for a major project and right now is the calm before the hurricane.

March will be crazy month with long, long hours. But did that deter from booking a trip to Edinburgh the first weekend in March and a trip to Amsterdam the second? Of course not. I look at 60 hour work weeks and laugh.

But life isn't all work - I did meet up with a couple of friends of friends this week who were willing to meet up with a complete stranger and suffer through at least one pint with me. Luckily, it was at least two per person. Tuesday night I met up with Brad Chuck - a friend of my friend Jacqui's. Yes, he's British but has two American first names. It was also my first British pub. It was a beautiful experience only enhanced by the older gentleman falling asleep at the table next to us.

In protecting the innocent, I won't normally use last name's, especially for Neil's friend that I met up with on Wednesday. Let's just say his name is Richard so he goes by the obvious nickname of Budgie. Budgie and I started with a few pints in a pub near the Holburn tube stop. I think it is appropriate at this point to mention that although England has oppressed the Irish for many years, I am quite glad they at least have the decency to have Guinness in every pub. After a few pints in nameless pub (which I 'm sure from here on out many of them will be) we wandered the streets to find a restaurant. We stumbled on a spectacular Italian restaurant and I ate so much I made myself ill. I swear it wasn't the company Budgie! I hope to stumble across the place again, although I don't recomend sitting near the display of olive oil in case the host (who looked exactly like Jeremy Anderson from Bacon's) accidently spills a whole bottle over you (did you get that dry cleaned yet Budgie?).

I did manage to get a few other things accomplished this week outside of work and drinking. I opened a UK bank account (not easy), grocery shopped (not easy for a very American consumer who just buys everything by the brand I grew up with) and joined a gym (easy). Being the picky eater I am, I find that I am living on bread, pasta and cheese. That, coupled with the fact that even though Guinness is the low calorie beer, I expect to consume a little here and there which means I better spend some time on the treadmill (also to make up for the damage I'm planning to do to my liver).

So it is Friday night and here I am writing my blog. I plan on doing some more sightseeing tomorrow - probably the west of London including Chelsea and Kensington and then take the train to Cambridge on Sunday. The reason there are no pictures yet is that I although I over packed, I seemed to have forgotten my camera connection cord. Looks like I will also be scouting out electronics stores tomorrow.

I think that is plenty of me going on and on. Feel free to post comments and/or drop me a line anytime!

-Michelle