He's Such a Swine

If there is one thing my company loves, it's memos. I seriously feel like we get at least 3 a week. Recently, it's been about wearing jeans to work, how to use the Internet appropriately, or the 5K that the office is running together next month. 

This week though, it was about the Swine Flu. 

I'm sure most of you know what I'm talking about - it's been all anyone is talking about these days - the Swine Flu outbreak that began in Mexico and has recently overtaken oh, how do I put this...ah yes, the WORLD. 

Anyway, today we got an email from our company telling us that to "take the necessary precautions to help prevent you from becoming sick" and that if we did feel ill to stay home. 

Now, I'm glad my company is being proactive about this, but really company?! Really?! I think this is just common sense. If you don't feel well, don't come hacking up a lung to work and spread the disease around to 5 more people. To me, this is a no-brainer. If you get sick, stay home otherwise half the company will be out the next week with your flu-like symptoms. 

The memo also came with ways to prevent from contracting the Swine Flu. Among those included washing your hands frequently, staying away from those infected, and avoiding touching your nose or mouth. To which I can only say wow, thanks for the valuable information.

Be Careful What You Wish For

Since I was an intern, I wanted to work on events. I loved the fast-paced environment and running on adrenaline. As and intern and when I was a sales assistant, I assisted with numerous events. I ran around, did as people asked and solved small problems where I could. I was always assisting someone. I was never working on my event.

Very soon, I have my first event. I'm freaking out (which is causing me to break out, awesome). This isn't just a "hey, let's have a cocktail party for about 40 people" event. It's a "hey, let's fly a bunch a people to a place and do this and then that and oh, we just found out we need go here when we scheduled this" event.

Don't get me wrong, I'm excited. But I'm stressed. I said to WG2 this weekend, "Um, why did I want this job?" I've realized that what I love about events, is the actual event. I love event day, even if I'm stressed. And there is nothing like the high I have after an event is finished and gone well.

Pre-event, well, it's a lot different when you're the one planning. I'm learning the ropes of the pre-event and learning to love it. There is much more that goes into than I realized, I've dropped the ball on a few things and, I think, disappointed Mom Boss a bit (another story for another day). Because it's my first event, I wanted everything leading up to it to go smoothly.

With the event only days away, I can only just get everything together, pull it all off on event day and use what I've learn with this event for the next one. Oh, and hope that the post-event feeling is event better because it was my event and it went well.

Things I Could Do Without

Today was one of those days where one second it was 8AM and then next time I looked at the clock it was 11:30AM. Where did my day go?!

Because my brain is mush and my Internet is shotty, I am compiling a list of things that I hate/loathe about working.

1. Commuting. Nuff said. 

2. People who talk on their cell phones the wholeeeeeeeeeee way to work. I mean, really people?! Really?!

3. Nosy co-workers

4. People who hover over your desk. I like my personal space thankyouverymuch.

5. Contracts that need to be signed before I leave for the day and bosses who suddenly go missing (and by missing I mean in meetings for hours and hours) and can't sign said contracts so you have to stay late and then you can't go return your stupid cable box.

6. Blisters from new shoes

7. Lean Cuisine lunches

8. Coming back to work after a long weekend (WG1 visited me this weekend so I took Friday off!!!), and returning to 50 unread emails. No fun. 

9. Co-workers who talk so loudly on the phone that you can't hear yourself think

10. Someone drinking all the water in the water cooler and then not replacing it 

Ok, whew. That was nice to get off my chest. To be honest, today wasn't horrific, but it was really busy. 

And seriously, commuters need to stop talking on their cell phones all the way to and from work. Obnoxious.

Happy Administrative Professionals' Day!

Did you know that the Wednesday of the last full week of April is Administrative Professionals' Day?

Yea, me either.

That was until this morning when my boss presented me with a HUGE (we're talking massive) bouquet of flowers! He thanked me for all the work I'm doing and I blushed because any time someone compliments me I turn into a teenager meeting their teen idol.

To give a little background on my job (because I realize it can be confusing - what does she do??? I can hear you asking...she does events, and emails and now she's an admin assistant - whatttttt?). I am technically the assistant to one of our EVP's, so I handle his calendar mostly, print stuff, file stuff. But I would say that takes up about 10% of my day. The rest of my time at work, I work on special projects which include our two large events a year and most recently an e-mail strategy project.

Right now my flowers are sitting on my desk emitting a heavenly scent and some of the flowers haven't even bloomed - so I'm thinking these suckers are going to last a lot longer than a week!

Man, I love my boss.

! This Message is of the Highest Importance !

There is a sales assistant in an outside office that I have never met. I’ve spoken to her only once or twice on the phone and she seems nice enough. But she commits one of my top office crimes. She flags every single email as “Highest Importance” with a bright red exclamation point.

To be fair, she has sent me some important information that I requested for an upcoming event. It was, however, similar information that I requested from other sales assistants and no one else changed the priority of their emails.

The bright red exclamation point on most to all of a person’s emails is one of my biggest pet peeves because I just don’t understand the logic behind it. If every email you send has a bright red exclamation point, every email is of equal importance.

I received nearly 10 emails from her today and all of them, in her opinion, where of highest importance. In my opinion, maybe two were of high importance and even that’s a stretch.

Technologically Un-savvy

I repel technology. I have broken numerous digital cameras. I believe I have dropped more than one cell phone in water. My computers die on me all. the. time. It all comes down to technology hating me (because obviously this is the conclusion I've come to and not that I'm clumsy or something).

Just like my personal technology, the technology I work with also hates my guts. The printer loathes me - seriously, it jams almost every time I use it and never when Bill, my tech guy, uses it. Unfair, unfair, unfair. Anyway, my Internet is frequently testy (as in I get signed off of Gchat too often daily).

During my second month at my new job, my Internet just stopped working. My e-mails got stuff in my "drafts" folder, my Gmail couldn't connect to the server, and my Internet magically turned off.

So of course I landed on my theory of technology hates me. So I traipsed over to the Tech dungeon and told them of my technology woes (and I probably told them all about how my cell phones just slipped into sink and how my computer from 1999 up and died on me the other day).

My fave tech guy Bill followed me back to my desk and I sat down all flummoxed as to why oh why the Internet wasn't working since our server wasn't down.

Bill took one look at my computer, rolled his eyes and poked his head under my desk.

"WG2," he said in a tone that sounded eerily like my dad's when he is mad at me. "Do you swing or kick your legs under your desk?"

Turns out I had kicked some wires free underneath my desk. And now whenever I ask Bill to do anything tech-related, he makes me check all the wires near or around my desk/computer/printer to make sure I haven't repelled aka kicked the technology out of the wall.

Meeting Notes

Meeting Notes is a weekly feature. Here we will dish on tidbits, news, and important things we think you Working Girls should know. So scroll down to hear what we think you should glean from this work week.

• Bag It! Finding the perfect work bag is tough. You want something cute and a little trendy but easy to organzied and condusive to your busy life. And then you need something good for traveling or that'll fit your laptop for a meeting. CareerBags.com is here is save us from the frustration of bag shopping. Created for women by women, CareerBags have something for every type of Working Girl. Seriously, you can browse by career.

• Working Girl Whitney Makes Moves Our favorite reality TV Working Girl has left DVF and gone back to work for Kelly Cutrone at People's Revolution. I must say, I'm very excited about this move. DVF was boring (reason #32 why I stopped watching The City). Kelly Cutrone is hard core and very New York and that's what you need in a reality show titled The City.

Sorry for the short Meeting Notes this week. It was just too beautiful in Manhattan for me to concentrate and blog!

It's Time to Grow Up

The new me starts on Monday. I could not be more excited. Finally, I will only have to do one job. But I could also not be more annoyed. The new me will be the Marketing Assistant. She will work on projects for Mom Boss, Dad Boss, Promo Girl, me and the rest of our department. We will manage the new me on her projects. So, she should probably take us seriously.

Normally, it's easy to take Promo Girl, myself and other cubicle pod-mate seriously. Sure, we may chat a little bit, make fun of one another and maybe get a little inappropriate. Just a little. But we're hard workers.

That was until the two of them discovered Twilight. Promo girl rented the movie over the weekend (before reading the book, which, for the record, I did not condone) and she is now in love with Edward Cullen. Our other co-worker is half way through the series, has seen the movie and is equally obsessed.

Back in November, when I finished the series, I begged them both to read it. I told them they'd love it. They thought I was a crazy, vampire obsessed teeny-bopper. Now, the two of them are printing out photos of Robert Pattinson, decorating their cubes and saying "oh hello Edward," every time they sit at their desks.

I've been partaking in the Edward love fest and I even have one picture in my cube. I spend a little time censoring NewMoonMovie.org for Promo Girl so that she's doesn't find anything out before she reads the book. I've explained the obsession to Working Girl Two and she put it best. She said that they were in the pre-teen obsessed phase and that we, having finished the series and passed that phase, are in the cool teenager phase.

The three us decided yesterday that when the new me starts, the Twilight talk must stop. I'm not knocking any Twilight fans. I'll be the first to admit I love Edward Cullen but how is a new girl supposed to take us seriously when we're saying things like "I wish I were a vampire with sparkling skin."

Whoa Nelly

For the past two months, I've been in a work slump. One of my friends told me it was spring fever, and I agree. The weather has been drab (seriously, I am so psyched it is gonna be over 50 this weekend in Chi) and my projects were at a low hum.

I've been bored and my brain had turned to mush. That was until this week rolled around.

Today, I had three meetings. And the most I usually have in one day is a big fat zero. I have about four projects on my plate right now and I usually have around one or two.

The one project I'm really proud of is an e-mail marketing campaign my boss had me put together. E-mail marketing was something I told my boss I was interested in learning more about - the process, the copy, the creative. It all intrigues me. I also like learning the analytics of it - how many people opened the e-mail, how many clicks did each link get - that stuff really gets me going. So my boss told me to put together an e-mail strategy for a current promotion we are running.

I went about my business and put together this fab PowerPoint and presented it to him last week under the assumption that he just wanted to see how I would do when presented with a real project. In other words, I thought I was putting together a fake presentation - something that was important but would never see the light of day.

Turns out I was wrong- oh so very wrong. My boss liked my ideas and told me to put together a timeline and get the ideas flowing. Since then I've been pulled into numerous strategy meetings, survey meetings, and my ideas are being circulated into a few of our merchant and member e-mails. Can we say 'whoaaaa'?

I have to say even though the task of putting this all together is really daunting, I'm really excited to be able to call this project a brainchild of mine. And I can't wait to see it through all the way to the end.

And it's an added perk to be excited to go to work in the morning.

Working Girl Does Some Spring Cleaning

Hi Working Girls!

We hope all of you readers had a wonderful weekend/Easter/Passover! 

As most of you have probably noticed by now, Working Girl has gotten a little makeover. A while back, WG1 and I decided to try and take WG to a new level. What that actually means is for us to know and you to find out (soon!). The first step though was a new design - something a little more sleek, a little more professional, and a little less pink (which was hard for me to let go because it's my all-time fave color).

A big thank you to Jess from Delicious Design who did our redesign - this is the second time we have used Jess and we cannot say more good things about her. If you're looking for a designer who won't charge you an arm and a leg for a design, we suggest you shoot her an e-mail. She is fab!   

Let us know what you think! We love it! 

(And don't forget to look out for new things to come from WG!)

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

For the past year, there has been a solid group of assistants at work. There have been four working girls (including myself) and two working boys who have held our office together. The boys are great but the four of us girls have developed a great friendship. One that goes beyond the day to day work conversation.

We've eaten lunch together almost every work day for the past 52-weeks, had dozens of happy hours and celebrated special occasions together. These working girls are the only ones who truly know how bad a bad day is for me or how I feel about certain co-workers and why.

Mom Boss and Promo Girl have both told me that there's nothing like the bond that you have with the people that were assistants with you. Being an assistant is a roller coaster of an experience and many people, in different industries, do it. But they were right, the only people who will really understand the experience are the people at your company who did it with you.

Friday marks the day the first one of our little group of four is leaving. Not only is she leaving the company, she's leaving Manhattan. We begged and bribed our working girl to stay but her home state is calling her back.

A new girl started training today and she's sweet, but she's not the same. She's the first of the next generation. Soon there will be two new assistants; one replacing her and one replacing me.

I've moved to a different position, one working girl is leaving and it's only a matter of time before the other two move on to bigger and better things. I'm used to a lot of change in my life but I don't know if I'm ready for this. We've had a fun and comfortable friendship for the past year and it's all about to change.

A Hairy Dilemma

About every six months I get bored with my hair, which has led me to just randomly go to a hairdresser and tell them to take drastic measures and cut off all my hair. Last winter, I had this little gem of a hairstyle:

And then around this time last year, I cut my hair into this trendy bob (thanks for the inspiration Posh & Katie).

Now my hair is growing out and I'm starting to get lazy. I have no more bangs to speak of, lots of split ends, and most days I put my hair in a bun at the nape of my neck and twist my somewhat existent bangs into this curly q on the side of my head (and sometimes a Lauren Conrad braid works). 

But I'm getting bored again people. And I need some ideas.

I want something obviously that screams "I am a working professional" but can also be hot for the weekend. I also have to mention that I'm trying to grow my hair out to do Locks of Love. 

I have narrowed my options down to the following and I need your help in determing which hairstyle will get to grace my head for the next few months. And is obviously OK'ed for work situations. 

Option 1: Not overdone bangs, subtle layers. 

Option 2: back to a more blunt fringe with no layers

Option 3: something simpler, no bangs, just great long layers

So you tell me Working Girls - which is the best option?

The F Word

I am by no means a delicate flower. But I must give off that vibe in the workplace because my boss sure seems to think I am delicate. 

I surmised this fact the other day while in a meeting with my boss, the CEO, and some other VIP's. A conversation was being had about an annoying client - someone who apparently really grated the nerves of the higher-ups - and someone in the room used some crass language to describe said annoying client. To which my boss responded that that kind of language should not be used in front of a lady. (Just in case you were confused, lady means moi). 

My boss has proven time and time again that he doesn't encourage the use of curse words while in my presence, nor does he like it when other people use them around me. He has once or twice reminded people that I'm in the room if they use the "f word" or "d word". 

What fascinates me is that he isn't the only one - our CEO also is careful with his language when around me or other young women in the office. 

I know this fact should be a pleasant one, but half of me can't help but be a little annoyed by the fact that just because I'm a lady that men can't curse around me. But then there is this other part of me that thinks it's pretty quaint and adorable that they don't want to pollute my delicate flower brain with obscenities. 

And then there's this whole other part of my brain that thinks I'm being pretty narcissistic. I mean, maybe they just want to keep the office clear of curse words in general. 

Which leads me to ask, what do you guys think about cursing in the office? An office to do or no way in hell? 

Meeting Notes

Meeting Notes is a weekly feature. Here we will dish on tidbits, news, and important things we think you Working Girls should know. So scroll down to hear what we think you should glean from this work week.

• A new study recently revealed that women in the American work force are changing their attitudes. According to the study, young women with children are just as ambitious in the workplace than women without children. 3,500 workers were surveyed and the results revealed that 69% of mothers under age 29 say they want to move up the career ladder, while 66% of women without children have the same ambition.


• WG1 recently spoke about her new obsession with Mint.com, a site dedicated to helping you track just exactly where all that money is going (my guess is the bar?). If you're looking for a different way to track your money as well as pay off your credit card and student loan debt, try Fabulously Broke in the City's budgeting sheets on for size. I am so jealous that she is debt free!
  
• Do you think today's thirty-somethings are more focused on their emotional fulfillment than their careers? Lorraine Candy, editor of UK Elle magazine, does. In a recent article, the editor talked about her most recent online survey where she asked women about to turn 30 what their priorities in life were. She was surprised to find that 70% prioritize relationships over promotions at work.
  
• This fact peaked my interest - women really do shop to cheer themselves up! A new study of 443 women (aged 18-50) showed that women spent more money within the 10 days leading up to their "visit from Aunt Flo".

Working Girl Wears: Help!

Now is that time of year in New York where one day it's 66 degrees and sunny and the next it's 38 degrees and raining. In addition to putting my sinuses through a roller coaster ride it's making getting dressed incredibly difficult.

If I have to wear tights one more time I might hurt someone but I'm too lazy to pull my summer clothes from out of closet and from under my bed. I need a little early spring wardrobe inspiration. I'm hoping you can help me.

Send me your favorite early spring outfit ideas. Pictures of you in them or something from Polyvore. Let me know if it's okay to post them next week.

Things You Probably Shouldn't Do at Work

For the past month I have been having problems with my cable provider. 

It all started right after I got back from Key West. I turned on my TV after a long hard vacation/work trip ready to watch Grey's and Private Practice to find my DVR had been erased - everything that I had pre-recorded and all the shows I still hadn't watched from the week before poof gone. Of course I was irate since I'm one of those people that love TV (as I have mentioned over and over). 

I called RCN, my cable provider, and they informed me that I had low signal and that I would probably need a new cable box. So the next week they sent out a technician who gave me a new cable box and then proceeded to tell me that he didn't know why but my signal was low (you think genius?) and that he would need to send a proper technician out to fix it the next day. Of course that guy never showed up.

So I called the next week, fuming, and told them my plight. They opened a work order and told me to wait for dispatch to give me a call to set up an appointment. Three days pass, nada. So I call back and this time they set up an appointment -- catch being that it is an all day appointment where someone needs to be home from 8-5PM to let in the technician.

Since I have a 8-5 job, my little sister who was home on her Spring Break from college, offered to sit in my apartment and wait for the cable guy. 5PM rolls around and I am about to get on my plane to NYC (to see WG1 for her bday of course), and my sister tells me no one has showed up and no one has called all day long. I call RCN in an irate state and start bitching and they drop the bomb on me that an all day appointment isn't 8-5...it's actually 8-8PM so there is nothing they can do until 8PM. So my sister waits till 8PM. Guess who still doesn't show up? Yea, so predictable.

Last week, during work, I call RCN and scream until I barely have a voice. I talk to managers and supervisors and no one will do anything but put in another work order and offer me a free month of HBO (which is useless when you don't have signal BTW). So I let them put in another work order and waited 8 days for someone to call me. Nothing. I have not heard one peep. 

Today, in my last ditch attempt, I called RCN again and I got the same song and dance about work orders and dispatch will call me. This time I cried BS and cancelled my subscription. So doing this in the workplace probably isn't the best idea, especially when you are so fuming angry that veins are popping out of your neck as berate the customer service reps who can barely mutter two sentences and offer up "condolences all all your frustrations". A co-worker kindly offered to transfer the call into an empty office so I could bitch in peace. 

After I finally cancelled and went back to my desk, a co-worker of mine who sits in the office behind me (aka my one of my only friends who also happens to be over 50) offered up this sage advice, "WG2," she said, "Cable providers are like boyfriends. You dump them and you move on." 

Nicely put co-worker, nicely put.