Le petit Nicolas

Oh, Nicolas Sarkozy. Le petit Nicolas. It's just been one blunder after another. I almost feel sorry for him (but not too much, because I really like to dislike him - and he makes it SOOOO easy). I mean, the minute he takes office, he goes off on vacation in the US, thus inviting himself over to a BBQ with Bush, then he more than doubles his salary. Then he does really embarrassing stuff like insulting civilian passerby at a fair, checking out an Israeli model's cleavage, marries a former supermodel now wannabe pop star, gets drunk with Putin and then makes a speech (while intoxicated), pocketed a MontBlanc pen at an EU summit, visits the Pope while accompanied by the most vulgar comedian in France and spends the entire visit texting people, and goes around firing and hiring people who work in the media as a way of showing off his power. Not to mention he is obviously forever being snubbed by other heads of state, as has been happening recently with the whole Olympics.

Alas, Sarkozy has suddenly decided to attend the Opening Ceremoy of the Olympics in Beijing. It's so obvious that he doesn't want to miss out on hobnobbing with other important heads of state - and that he wants to be there to stick his head even further up Bush's ass. I mean, it so obviously went something like this:

Sarkozy: (like, a year ago or something)....and I MAYBE will attend the Olympics, but ONLY IF China and Tibet start talks with each other and they can come to an agreement! Free Tibet! But I might just boycott the Olympics!
China: Who is that little man trying to impose himself in our affairs? Is he someone important? Do we even care if he comes for the Olympics?
Tibet: Um, actually, we don't want complete and total freedom, we just want some more autonomy.
China: Whatever. Shut up.

(Late last month/early this month):
Sarkozy: Hey, so I'm thinking that like, MAYBE I'll come to China after all, seeing as China and Tibet have decided to start talking.
China: Who IS that little guy? And what is that junk spewing out of his mouth? I mean, these discussions with Tibet have been scheduled since like, 2 years ago...
Tibet:..........
Sarkozy: Though, I do think China does need to improve their human rights record....
China: Ugh, whatever, Sarko! You're not even invited! Don't even bother coming! WE DON'T WANT YOU HERE.

(Last week)
Bush: Yeah, so I'm gonna head over to Beijing for the Olympics...mostly as a spectator. Ya know, to support the American athletes and all. Me and the wife are gonna head over. It'll be fun.

(Day after Bush's announcement)
Sarkozy: Hey everyone, guess what? I'm totally going to go to the Olympics TOO!!! Isn't that awesome??? I'll be bringing along my trophy wife, Carla Bruni, former supermodel. She's coming out with an album this month, so everyone should buy it! Oh, and yes, Carla will be wearing flats again. I have condemned her to a life without heels. I'm so excited for the Olympics! I'm gonna tell the Chinese president next week at the G8 summit. I'll bet he will be SOOOO psyched that I'm coming! Awwwww yeah!
China: No, seriously, who IS he? Who invited him??? Didn't we tell him not to come?
Bush: Dang, I was counting on a mini-vacation, enjoying myself, watchin' some sports! That's like that time Sarkozy invited himself over to a BBQ at my country house last summer. I mean, I am like, the most hated US president ever, I just want to try to enjoy the last few months I have left. Can't a guy catch a break?!

Benefits

Today I received my benefits and orientation packet from the Large Corporation. It is scary and exciting at the same time - scary because there are lots and lots of papers and forms to fill out, and exciting because I get lots and lots of benefits and this is really a big step in my life.

I admit, I do not think I will ever be passionate about bras, but I am quite tempted by all the perks of this job. This will be the first time in my life that I will have normal working hours - no crazy pre-fashion show hours (i.e. 9am - 2 am) - they have explained that I will get to go home every day no later than 6:30 pm. (On the other hand, I start much earlier than I have before - 9:30 am!) I have a REALLY good health insurance package, plus I get a 401k, life insurance, travel accident insurance, dental, and something about dismemberment (though I think this falls into travel accidents or something). The people on the team seem to be really very nice people, and I have been told, "There are no divas here; no people running and crying!" I mean, I realize that this is par for most jobs, but not where I have always worked.

So this will be a whole new interesting experience. Maybe I will love it, maybe I will hate it, but I am loving the feeling of freedom. I don't have to worry about staying here because there won't be any other positions open anywhere. And I don't have to worry about being pigeon-holed, as I would in France - people in New York actually LIKE it when you work in other areas.

Anyway, I'm hoping that maybe I can eventually volunteer at the ASPCA in the evenings - like maybe I can learn to walk dogs or something. We'll see how it goes.

I probably won't post very much this month, as I will be starting work next week. I probably also won't be writing very much about work - I'm already worried that I've written too much information, as I don't know what the company policy is on blogging (and believe me, I will NOT be asking - no one needs to know the real identity of Parisian New Yorker!)

Oh, and in another note, the in-laws can finally breathe a sigh of relief, in particular MIL, who was very stressed about the whole health insurance issue (the H can be covered under my plan as a beneficiary). Not to mention I had always claimed that it is much easier to find a job in the US, and within a week of my moving back to NY in March, they kept asking every other day, "So, where's your job? How come you haven't found your job yet? Huh? I thought it was so easy to find a job in the US?!" (the H is also guilty of doing this). Well, it may have taken a bit longer, but at least I had tons of interviews and people actually RESPONDED, plus I ended up with more different options (believe you me, I would never, ever have been offered an interview in anything other than womenswear in Paris).

My first (real) job

Yay!

I've decided to go for the bra job - I found out this morning that I didn't get the childrenwear position. So there you go - everything works out for a reason.

I have to deal with the paperwork but I think I will start as soon as it is all done - probably right after the 4th of July holiday.

Yay!

Job Update

This afternoon I received my very first (real) job offer!

It is all very exciting.

I am still waiting to hear back however from the Large Corporation. I had to do a project for them and this morning I went and showed it to them. Not really sure how it all will turn out, but I know that I do have the profile they are looking for (the problem is that it is not womenswear, but childrenswear). Then when I got home after the project review, I received the offer from the Other Large Corporation - this one will be designing bras (again, not really my passion, but it would be a definite plus for my resume).

It has been a real adventure - I sought out the advice of (French) person here in NY who is a friend of a friend and also works in fashion. See, I was quite worried about either of these two positions as they were the most serious offers at the time, but I was quite obsessed with not becoming pigeon-holed into a specialty area (since my passion is actually high end womenswear). The Frenchie pointed out that yes, this would be a gigantic problem in France, and if we were in France, he would tell me to reject both offers (then again, this wouldn't be a problem as I would never even receive these offers in France!). Frenchie also said that in NY it is not really a problem to switch areas as it shows you are adaptable and blah blah. So now we'll wait and see if the Large Corporation from this afternoon will make an offer as well. I have to admit that for the time being I am leaning towards the bra designer job because a lot of womenswear is lingerie-inspired, and also because the people at this particular Corporation seem to be really, really nice. This is quite rare in fashion, especially the more high end designer you get, the bigger the chances are of working in a very negative atmosphere.

Anyway, this is really all very exciting. I have to have a background check and drug test should I accept the bra offer, and I have received my contract and a whole pamphlet about the benefits the Corporation offers (401k, health and dental!!). However, as I didn't understand anything about the insurance mumbo-jumbo, I will be discussing it with Mom, who will explain the finer details about things like PPOs, HMOs and whatnot. (I don't even know what an HMO is!) So exciting!

When It Rains...

I read this article in the New York Times, which was quite interesting, about Barack Obama and what his nomination means for France's black population.

I also read the article to the H, who was not impressed. "Bah!" he said, "You Americans hype up everything - it is SO not a big deal in France, and no one cares. Just like in France it is not a big deal about those riots, but here in America you all think it's some major news story!". Well, I don't know, but I do think that the H, being white, and being a "français de souche" would definitely not be able to see things from the point of view of a black person.

In other news, things have been quite hectic. I had an interview yesterday, one this afternoon, and three more interviews this week. It's quite odd, as I pointed out to the H, that these interviews and callbacks all seem to come in waves. When I first got back and started looking for jobs, I had several interviews all at the same time, in the period of about two weeks. Then suddenly, it seemed as though everything came to a complete stand still, as I received zero responses, then it started pouring interviews. It quieted down again in the past several weeks, and now everyone is calling me again at the same time. I'm quite hopeful this time around, as two of the interviews are actually second interviews, plus one is from someone who received my resume via a third person and contacted me about a position opening up. I'm crossing my fingers to hear back from a couple of other places which would be more appealing to me, although they are not Large Corporations, but small high end womenswear companies, and the position would be for womenswear design. On the other hand, the second interviews are with Very Large Corporations which I feel would be much more interesting in terms of salary and benefits, but they are not in womenswear.

Ah well. We shall see. I have resolved not to stress out about it, and will just let it all Flow. Anyway, must do project for second interview number 2.

**Update: Just got back from 2nd interview number 2 with Very Large Corporation and must do special project for them, which means a 3rd interview...

Possibilities

Argh! I know I really should not, but I have been incredibly stressed out about this whole job thing. I keep asking "WHY??? WHY???" even though I learned for a fact the other night while out with other friends from design school that many companies are actually having a hiring freeze right now.

Anyway, I was all browsing around for some sort of a part-time job, as our funds are slowly dwindling (and thus making me even more stressed out) and saw a posting for a dogwalker. See, the thing is, I really do love animals (I grew up with cats) and I've always thought it would be something fun to do. I had actually been wanting to volunteer at the ASPCA (preferably doing something like dogwalking) so I've been thinking about this part time dogwalking thing. It's a large agency that provides dogwalking and pet-sitting services, and they only take people on part-time. The only problem is that I've never actually had a dog before - although as the H pointed out, it's not like it's very hard to do. The H thought it might be a good idea for me, as it would occupy some of my time, I'd make a few bucks doing it, and I can finally stop harassing him about adopting a dog:
Me: Please please please PLEASE let's adopt a dog!!!!
H: NO! Dogs belong in the country, not the city. It's inhumane to keep a dog in a Manhattan apartment.
Me: No it's not. Millions of people here have dogs. There are even DOG RUNS in the park! It'll be FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
H: Whatever. I do not want a dog. I do not want to walk around the streets of Manhattan picking up poop.
Me: But millions of people do it everyday here! And it looks like so much fun to take dogs to the dog run!
H: But you want a big dog, and our apartment is too small.
Me: You know, my old next door neighbor had a German Shepherd. And the couple behind our apartment has a medium sized dog. It looks like an Akita to me. Akitas are very cute dogs.
H: Dogs are a big responsibility. I don't see you getting up early in the morning to take the dog out for a walk.
Me: But I can! I love dogs!
H: But you've never had one before.
Me: And now, maybe I can, if we adopt one from the ASPCA!
H: Ugh. No dogs. I don't want a dog. And no bringing your cat over from your mom's house. I don't like cats - they are really scary.

Anyway, the problem is that the dogwalking agency wants people to be available during the days for a minimum of 5 months - which seems like a really long time to me, because what if I land a job in the next 5 months (which I hopefully will)? To complicate matters further, I heard back from an HR person from A Very Very Large Corporation with whom I met several weeks ago. She really wants to place me in the Large Corporation, as she thinks I "get" their aesthetic and she loves my work and I am just a very great all-around person. (Well, she didn't actually say that, but you know what I mean). A new position has opened up in the Large Corporation, but it would not be in womenswear, and would I be interested?, she asked. Well, it was all very confusing because it seemed to me like it was the same position she had in mind when we first met. I told her sure, I'd be interested, but wasn't that the same one she mentioned last time, and then she was all confused herself, then insisted it was a new position that had just opened up. (I highly doubt this, because it sounded exactly like the one she mentioned when we met). In any case, I said it was fine, and also (ah, how clever of me!) asked if they hired any freelancers. She was all, "Ooooh, yes, I shall forward your resume to my colleague who handles all the freelancers," so maybe something will turn up in that area. Although I must say, I am starting to get quite worried about this HR person - she is really such a nice person, and has such a great and warm personality, but I think maybe she is confused what with all the myriad of positions that may or may not be available within the Large Corporation.

Anyway, I guess I'll put the dogwalking idea on hold for now, although I'd be willing to bet thousands of dollars that once I say OK and commit to 5 months of 11am - 4 pm availability, something will come up on the job front within 2 weeks...

Job Hunting

Aaaaarrrrgggghhhh!

The job hunting is not going well. Or maybe it is, but I just think it is not, only because I'm impatient for a job. I've been looking since mid-March and we are already in June now and I'm starting to get worried - I didn't think the job search would take so long.

That said, I have had plenty of interviews. The thing is, there are days when I get several calls, almost in a wave, of people requesting to meet with me, and then there are those stretches of days when nothing happens at all. This week (and last week) have been these kinds of long days.

I was getting worried, if only because I keep getting called for interviews, but nothing comes of it. Part of me thinks that people are just very curious about me and they just want to see what I look like, because:
1) the very first thing people ask when they meet me is "Do you have working papers?" or "Are you authorized to work in the US?" or "Do you need to be sponsored for a visa?". (This is when I explain, "No, I'm a US citizen and the other person either sighs with relief or looks at me all weird). This also furthers my suspicion that no reads the cover letter part of your email, since I have explained everything in my cover letter.
2) Then I always inevitably get the question about what it was like working with Super Cool Creative Director Who Came To The Company After I Left. I am thus obliged to answer, "Um, no, I was at the company before the Superstar Celebrity Creative Director arrived." (To which people always give a disappointed "oh..!")
3) People then ask me, "Wow, so, how was it, working at these haute couture houses?", then, "How did you get to work there?", then "Is is hard to work in France/Italy?", and finally, "Do people in Europe sponsor for a work visa?"

And then to top it all off, people end up telling me stuff like, "Wow, your portfolios are great, but your profile is too upscale/luxury/haute couture." Which is really, really annoying because I mean, they've SEEN my resume, and sometimes they have SEEN some jpegs of my work, and they MUST OBVIOUSLY KNOW what my profile is! I mean, I make it a point to always include rough sketches that go with the aesthetic of the company I am interviewing at, but it's like, all anyone really remembers is my professional portfolio (of published work) and nothing else. Grrrrrr! So frustrating!!!!! (Not to mention that I'm looking for ASSISTANT positions, so we all know that it's not like I'm ACTUALLY going to sit down and DESIGN the entire collection - everyone knows that I will be spending all my time doing boring stuff like updating line sheets and probably a bunch of flat sketches and sending stuff out via FedEx.)

Finally, a little anecdote: I interviewed at Super Cool/Trendy/Famous Fashion House here in NY, whose style is very minimalist, very deconstruction...you get the idea. So before I went in, I did a bunch of rough sketches that went with the whole minimalist, deconstruction idea. But the weird thing was, when I went in to interview with the two Creative Directors, they were behaving really oddly. They were like, "Come in, have a seat!" so I sat down and they sat down across from me, and it was like....complete silence....for 1 minute....before I said, "Well, let me show you my portfolios!" As they thumbed through my portfolios, there was....complete silence....which was very odd because most people ask me questions of some sort whilst thumbing through the pages. Except this time, it was literally.....complete...silence. I started to worry, so I figured I should maybe talk a little bit, so I kept saying stuff like, "Blah blah, this was my inspiration...blah blah...and here you can see I modernized it, while keeping the general silhouette....blah blah...and I used a lot of brocades and velvets, but softened it with some silk chiffon and lace....and I was really intrigued by the shape of the sleeves, so I did a few details like this on the cuffs...and then with the knits, you can see I went with a fine cashmere, because with this stitch it shows up better, but then with this other group, I went with a chunky knit but added some tulle with it...." and I was greeted with...complete and total SILENCE. Of course, after a good 10 minutes of chatter with no response whatsoever, I started to get nervous and thought, "Well, maybe they don't appreciate the chatter?" so I shut up. After that, one of the directors says, "Well, we've just started looking, so we'll be in touch," which was said in manner of "Thanks, but no thanks". I mean, WTF was that? They obviously made up their minds before I even showed up, and I almost would have preferred that they cancel the meeting instead of making me trek all the way out to almost 12th Avenue in heels and my giant bag of portfolios (and spending like, $12 on the cab out there).

Ugh. I know, I know, the economy is bad and I just need to be patient because something will come up soon, but it is just KILLING ME because I am SO IMPATIENT right now.

Lost in the Supermarket

I know, I know, I have been quite scarce lately, but then again, I've been really busy this month.

Anyway, things are slowly moving along and the H is very slowly starting to adjust.

However, there was a bit of a crisis when we went food shopping. As everyone knows, I am a huge fan of Whole Foods, and especially of their 365 Whole Foods brand, which is excellent, not expensive, and is manufactured in factories with excellent separation techniques (to avoid cross-contamination with common allergens such as milk, wheat/gluten, nuts, shellfish, etc.)

Things the H has learned (to his dismay) about the US supermarkets:

1. There is no such thing as Picard (that classic French frozen foods store). Thus, we do not buy our herbs frozen, but rather fresh or dried. "What do you mean, you don't have frozen herbs??? What do you mean, there is no Picard?? Are you saying that you live like barbarians?!" was the H's response.
2. We Americans do not consider yogurt to be like, an actual dessert. Thus yogurt is sold in single-use containers and not in a 6 or 12 pack like in France. Plus, each yogurt is like, 99 cents or something. "Why are the yogurts so expensive? How do people eat dessert?" was the H's angry reaction. ("Ummm, yogurt is like, a snack you eat at like, 4:30 pm, or maybe you eat it with your granola and fruit in the morning," I retorted).
3. There is no cheese course in America. Not only that, but the cheeses imported in from France are like, a zillion dollars. "Why is cheese so expensive? We can't afford to buy cheese at these prices every day!" cried the H. ("Uh, yeah, that's because we Americans are not cheese freaks like in France and we do not eat cheese after every single meal," I said).
4. With the exception of Trader Joe's, wine here is quite pricey. Not only that, but the Italian and Australian wine sections are quite large, perhaps even larger than the French sections. "Why is wine so expensive? We cannot afford to spend $10 on a bottle of wine a day!" complained the H. ("Ummm, we don't drink wine with EVERY SINGLE meal here in the U.S.", was my response).
5. "Why is it so NOISY?!" exclaims the H, every time an ambulance/police car/ firetruck passes by. "Must they put their sirens on SO LOUD?!"

On the other hand, the H has remarked on quite a few positive points:

1. At least in NY, when you send a resume out, people actually respond.
2. The portions are HUGE. This is very good when he wants to buy a bottle of wine - he is very much into the large bottles that cost $7.
3. Pizza can be purchased and consumed by the slice rather than an individual pie. This also means much less wait time and you can even eat your food to go.
4. The Duane Reade Dollar Rewards Club is actually a pretty good deal. (When you get 100 points, you get $5 off your next purchase).
5. Whole Foods is actually not much more expensive than a regular old supermarket, especially when you buy the 365 Whole Foods brand. Plus, their stuff is way better.
6. You don't get penalized into buying a bag if you forgot to bring a bag to the supermarket. In fact, at Whole Foods, if you bring your own bag, they take 10 cents off your bill for each of your own bags that you bring.
7. Customer service is really efficient in the US. What's even cooler is that it's free to call them up and lots of times, they are open 24/7, so you could call them up at 3 am if you wanted to. For free. Oh yeah, and when you go out to eat, waiters fill up your water glasses all the time, without being asked to.

Attention whores!

Yes! Attention whores, the whole lot of them!

Just CALL THE DAMN VOTE, Indiana! (Or, more specifically, Lake County, Indiana!) You're killing us!

It's like, 1 AM and they STILL haven't finished counting!

What, are they counting ballots by hand?!

Arrrrrgggghhh!

You know, I always thought people from Indiana were weird. Though this is solely based on that time I met this girl from Indiana who told me all about how she has to drive across a river (like, literally, because apparently there wasn't a bridge, which I still cannot imagine) to get to her house and that she had sex like, 5 times a day in the woods (because her house is in like, total wilderness, which I guess is why there is no bridge over the river in front of her house).