Gray, gloomy Saturday, and I’m digging it because I have a ton of things to do as follow-up to my quickie trip to New York.
New York was fantastic, if not all too short. I stayed two nights with [Charmingly Neurotic] who was so kind to let me sleep on her fold-out sofa and to hang out with me for a couple of nights with her and her sweet (if not sometimes rambunctious) Mini-dog. Took this photo of him. I think it kind of tells a great story:
[CN] and I had some fun together. She took me to a nearby (close to where she lives) Mexican place for dinner on Wednesday night, and there was a cutie sitting at the bar, solo. Long story short, [CN] got the waiter to pass him a note with her email address on it. He wrote back that night. Get this: he’s gorgeous, very single, and lives withing blocks of [CN]. Jackpot or what? And she doesn’t think that there are handsome and available men in NYC. Sometimes it pays to look right under your nose! Can’t wait to read her Rate-a-Date.
After dinner, [CN] took me to have another cool experience, the WAFFLE TRUCK!! Okay, there’s this thing going on in NYC and probably elsewhere. Roving food trucks with gourmet food and tasty desserts! This one happened to be parked just a few blocks from [CN]’s apartment on Wednesday night. We enjoyed our delicious waffles as we walked. Check it out: Wafels & Dinges.
The networking event was fairly painful, and I figured it might be. But when I decided to go early so that I’d put myself in a good position to talk to the people I really wanted to, I was shocked to find literally hundreds of people already in line (2 hours before the doors opened)!
Once inside the building, more lines!!
And more…
And once they finally let everyone inside, there were crazy long lines to talk to each company.
Except for one company, and I found it rather curious and I was strangely pleased. It was my OLD company!! Yes, they were represented there, and the ONLY company that didn’t have a loooonnnnngggg line of designers and fashion professionals beating down the doors to talk with them!
After I’d talked with 5 or 6 companies (took me over 3 hours to accomplish this), I finally went and talked to a woman that I knew from the old place. She was surprised to see me, and told me that she didn’t even know I was gone until about three weeks ago. That’s how big this company is. Remember, I’d left this place before and returned over three years later, and there were people I’d see in the hallway who didn’t even realize that I’d left and come back!
Anyway, she was asking me about the other companies I’d talked with, and she was quite surprised that nobody was standing in line to network or talk about opportunities. And quite frankly, I was surprised as well. This is an extremely stable company that pays VERY well and has excellent bennies. Yet obviously not hip in this particular scene.
Saw a couple of other peeps that I knew, and that was fun, but all in all, a very exhausting event.
I did get some GREAT leads though. And I have to follow up on them this weekend. I wanted to follow up yesterday, but some travel SNAFUs prevented that.
So yeah, got to LaGuardia airport with what I thought was plenty of time to sit down and work on some of my follow-up. I had a coffee and checked emails, and then decided to go to my gate to hang out and finish up. But the line to get to the gate was somehow like a million people long. Not sure what was up with that, but my plane was boarding by the time I finally made it to my gate.
Boarded and got to my seat and settled in only to have some guy tell me that I was sitting in his seat. And I was! WTF. I never do that! So I picked up alllllll my stuff and moved over across the aisle where I was supposed to be sitting in the first place.
Wouldn’t you know? Handsome Stranger Alert!! Struck up a convo with the guy sitting in the window seat. Very nice! We had a great talk until the guy in the middle seat came along. I almost told Middle Seat that I’d switch with him, but I didn’t want to appear too aggressive, and most of the time people don’t really like to chat with strangers on planes (unless they are ME…I love doing that!)
Regardless, Handsome Stranger had given me his card RIGHT before Middle Seat showed up, so I had his deets. I emailed him from my iPhone after the flight and during the taxi ride on my way home. Told him it was nice to meet a friendly new person who lives close (yes! He lives less than 5 miles from me!).
Got home and into my loft and said hello to the cat, and then…immediately realized that…
I’D LEFT MY LAPTOP ON THE PLANE UNDER MY SEAT! NOOOOOOO!
That started a mad dash and a flurry of phone calls and messages left and freaking out and some crying because everything, EVERYTHING is on my laptop. Everything I’d wanted to follow up on with the networking thing—–EVERYTHING!!!
I started to panic and even cry. I had visions of having to buy a new laptop! I mean, have you ever seen those stories about airport Lost and Founds? Something like fewer than 5% of property is ever recovered!! I thought, bye-bye sweet laptop. It was great while it lasted.
Finally, after about 15 phone calls, I got Tamara (my angel) on the phone. She asked me to hold while she made a few calls. About 5 minutes later she came back on the phone and asked, “Are you [Ginger]?”
Um, yes???
She said that my laptop was FOUND and that it would be at gate C21.
Cue the thankful sobbings and the continued mad dashings all the way through the airport gates, turn styles and up to the ticket counter where I had to get a special ticket to go back to the gate. I could see the gate, but I had to go through SECURITY again. UGGGGHHH!
Did the whole thing, waited in line (luckily short!), took off the shoes and the jacket and all the IDs and all of that. The whole time I was watching the agents at the gate.
By the time I finally got through security, I just grabbed my shoes and my jacket and walked sock-feet to the gate. And the woman had just left with my laptop in hand! She was taking it to the main lost and found!! The other guy was all, HURRY! RUN! GO CATCH HER!!
More mad dashings in sock-feet to try to catch up to this woman! I swear, she was sprinting down the hall or something.
Finally, FINALLY caught up to her. Showed her my ID and she handed over my sweet, precious laptop!!
****HUGE SIGH****
Then finally back home where I collapsed from sheer exhaustion fromthe panic. I didn’t do anything last night, even though I’d planned to attend a screening of Coco before Chanel. Bummed that I missed it, but so happy to have my laptop. I fell asleep on the couch and dreamed spastic dreams.
I was even going to skip the gym this morning, it was so nice to be home and to look out on the gloomy, chilly weather. But I sucked it up and made it to the gym with not a second to spare. I worked my bootie harder than I have in a long, long time. I can tell that exercise is what my body craves right now. So that’s what I plan to give it. I have a complete attitude adjustment after a good, sweaty workout–it’s really quite amazing.
So back to reality. I’ve got my follow-ups to do and I would like to get out of the loft for a while, though I have nothing lined up right now.
Off to continue my weekend.
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