“I could get used to this”

Shouldn't there be a cornfield here?

Hello, hello.

Wow, it’s been a while. I created this site thinking I would chronicle my adventures and at some point became too busy to type out what I was living. Let’s start with a quick recap of the summer.

I moved in the first week of June. Man, that feels like a lifetime ago now. My very loving dad drove 17 hrs with me, all the way to the heart of Texas. The temperature transition alone was shocking. I went from mild, spring weather to 100 degree temps. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the very first night I got to town. My move had been this big idea I had been carrying around for four years, and there I stood in some guy’s empty blue room that I had rented for the summer, with my little cardboard boxes strewn around me, the amount of stuff I could fit in my little Grande Prix. My dad & I chatted up my two roommates, Kris and Mark, and then in an exhausted, confused haze after our long journey, stumbled out to find food. We didn’t go far. We got to the end of my street, a block away, and found cute, great little restaurants. Hyde Park Bar & Grill, let it be known that you were my first.

We got back to the house and found that the guys had planned a party for that night, not realizing I’d be getting to town. It’s here, in hindsight, that I feel I cheated the system. I was introduced to 20 some people my very first night in town. Some of which would become friends. That party remains in my memory as a blur: the many handshakes, the endless names, the multitude of advice given to the new girl. I smiled and nodded and tried to somehow understand that I was here. I was in Austin. I went to bed that night, overwhelmed and asking the only question anyone can ask when they move completely out of their comfort zone,

What the hell have I gotten myself into?

San Antonio Riverwalk Boat Tour

From that point on, I was in exploration mode. Thank God that my dad came with me for that first week. He’s the perfect partner in crime—up for anything and always brings a sense of mischief. We went one by one, and checked out every “To-Do” I had created while compulsively Googling ATX from Illinois. We saw the bats, shopped SoCo, ate Amy’s, went to Hamilton Pool, met my friend Lois at Lake LBJ, drove to Lake Travis, dined at the Oasis, checked out Zilker Park & the botanical gardens, tasted BBQ, you name it, we tried it. I even hit up a job fair that first week. He gave me a friend for my first week, and left me more confident that I could handle my new territory. I was sad to see him go. Step 1: Settle was done. It was on to the job hunt.

Dear Reader, I have a favor to ask. Please pray for a new grad.

Oh, the life of a new grad. Especially now. We paraded out our collegiate comfort to the tune of Pomp & Circumstance only to sashay into the real world to the chorus of, “This is a horrible economy… no one is finding jobs…”  I won’t put you through the agony of what it was like to be without a job and to have a pressing deadline to find one.

Could get used to this

The abbreviated version is this: there were sleepless nights, panic attacks, a depression where only

library-rented DVDs of Desperate Housewives seemed to fill the void. I was determined though, and went to any job fair I could, networked any possibility open, and met people left and right, handing out my business cards and praying that they knew someone hiring. I will say, to the people who helped a hapless new kid in town, your kindness meant the world. And I absolutely, positively promise to pay it forward.

All of the countless resumes, portfolios, coffee dates, and cover letters led to one blessed day of dancing around my room and shouting into the phone, “Mom, Dad, I GOT A JOB!!!!!”
I’m now a literary publicist at Phenix & Phenix, who I will, of course, talk about in more detail later.

The summer was an absolute whirlwind. New job, new friends, new city, new drama, new fun. I have so many stories to tell. I promise, I’ll start sharing them.

Signing off from the first blog post,
Kelly

Batty for ATX

Skyline from South Congress