My Disappearing Act

I think I owe an explanation for my disappearing act, because like I said on our first post back on Monday WG1 had a much better explanation of why she has been MIA.

I've definitely been in a working funk lately. When my last boss left our company, I was in total and complete limbo. They had no intention of hiring a new Executive VP (even though that would make sense) so no one needed a new assistant. Everyone was pretty much scrambling to find a place for me to fit in. They knew that I wanted to keep doing the events, but what else would occupy my time? Before I had been doing various projects that popped up but that was all based on my workload from my old boss. My new boss suggested I become a Project Manager and work with consumer marketing. This included figuring out email schedules, working with new clients, and such.

So for almost two months they had me "shadow" someone who had been managing projects at our company for almost 4 years. And in the middle of those two months, he quit to go back to school. Which left me with his workload, zero understanding of what I was doing, and a mountain of stress. Not to mention I was uber confused. I knew that I still really loved events and they weren't taking those away from me, but now I was doing someone else's full-time job. And I didn't even like it! I wanted to say something to my boss, but the feeling that the only reason I still had a job was because I was filling in with what needed to be helped with, made me think twice about that.

In a nutshell, I wasn't a happy camper. I thought about getting an new job - even applied to a few. Of course, I heard nothing back because the economy is shot so I kept going about my business in a job I didn't love with a mountain of work.

Just last week, my new boss sat me down and proposed that I go back to working with merchant marketing - a job I had kinda been doing before in my old position. She suggested I work on their projects which would include working with the sales team. I would still be doing events but I would get to work on collateral for the sales team and all their supplemental marketing requests. All things I did at my old job. Things that made me feel more comfortable. Things that so far have made me a teensy bit happier.

I won't really transition into my new position until Monday, and really other than doing new things not much else has changed. I didn't get a raise and my title didn't actually change. Don't worry - all things that I will talk about with my new boss in the next coming weeks. I'm settling in for the moment, not just into my new job but also into a new desk (which is ten times larger than my old one and I'm no longer lodged next to all the creatives who I am convinced hate my guts).

Things are getting better and most importantly I'm back from the black blogging abyss.

Meeting Notes

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

• According to The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Changes Everything, 40% of families mothers are the major breadwinners. Some other fun facts - 32 women have served as governors, 38 have served as senators, and 4 out of 8 Ivy League presidents are now women. Despite these stats, NY Times contributor Joanne Lipman argues that women's gains in the working world have stalled.
• Do career women make bad wives? According to a 2006 article in Forbes Magazine, research suggests that yes they. The author, Michael Noer, pointed out research that suggested that "career women" aka women who work more than 35 hours a week are "more likely to divorce, less likely to have children, and, if they do have kids, are more likely to be unhappy about it". A new article by Suzanne Venker revisits this research in an article here.
• The face of home economics in high schools is changing to become more career focused. The subject which used to prep future housewives has started to veer towards prepping all students with "contemporary world skills". At a high school outside Houston, students can take teach training classes or architectural design. At a school in Wisconsin, students take advanced food science class while a school in Florida has a fashion design option. [Associated Press]
• Is the recession harder on women or men? Some argue men since men have lost more jobs than women, but some experts say women are getting the brunt of it since working women are delaying have children or planning for smaller families because of financial burdens created by the recession. A study conducted by Citi revealed that 53% of working women indiciated that they work longer hours now to make ends meet and while women may make up 45% of the workforce, they only collect 38% of the wages paid. [Reuters]

First Day Back & We Have a Contest

So a break from blogging that was only supposed to last a long weekend turned into a 3 week hiatus. While WG1 has a pretty damn good excuse (not only did she just move into a new apt., she also had a huge event at work to do and crunch time was October), I on the other hand have less of an excuse and more of a case of laziness.

Today, as a welcome back to the blogging world after our almost month long absence, we'd like to announce a contest (in hopes to get you back in our good graces).

Who's giving the goods: In honor of their energy/coffee sent-from-the-gods drink Doubleshot® Energy+Coffee, Starbucks is hosting a contest across the blog-o-sphere to promote their drink that keeps you energized AND has dose of vitamins, protein, and minerals. Which means I basically want this in an IV at my office desk.

What you're playing for: Five (5) lucky bloggers will win the following

• Stealth Switch - the "world's first desktop cloaking device" that uses patent pending technology to instantly and completely hid applications with a press of a foot-switch. The applications are not just minimized, they are made invisible.
• $5 Starbucks® card
• SDEC coupons
• SDEC-branded white board

Not only that - but the blog with the most "valid" comments will win a special prize pack at the end of the contest (which includes a set of noise-canceling headphones which let me tell you, I need desperately!). So not only will you win the prizes above, but you'll also be helping me win sweet peace and silence at work. Can I just say I don't appreciate the fact that my next door cubemate likes to play techno at full blast every Friday in anticipation of the weekend.

Here's the nitty gritty: All you have to do is post a comment (aka answer) to the following question: "Sip on Starbucks Doubleshot® Enegery+Coffee to upgrade your energy levels without raising eyebrows around the office. What's your best real-life story of how some idiot in the office raised eyebrows and stirred up the gossip mill?"

The 5 answers that we think are the best will win the prize packs mentioned above. To get you thinking let me just say that the most idiotic thing I ever saw at work was when a co-worker got canned for watching porn at work - yea, no joke.

The contest ends on November 9th so get commenting Working Girls!

The fine print:
This promotion is solely sponsored by Working Girl and has not been endorsed or approved by North American Coffee Partnership. By entering, you agree to look solely to Working Girl Two for any claims in connection therewith, and not the North American Coffee Partnership. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Subject to Contest guidelines. Open to U.S. residents only. Contest ends November 9th, 2009. Void where prohibited. Starbucks Doubleshot^® Energy+Coffee sent me samples and a prize pack and here's what I think. All the opinions expressed here are mine.

Yes, We're Alive!

Eek. So, you might have noticed that WG1 and I have been absent for a while (and by a while I mean almost 1 week and a half, but who's counting?!?). So we wanted to let you all know that we're alive.

Also...

...We are still recovering from our trip to Las Vegas last weekend where we partied like ballers, spent money like crazy people, and saw Britney Spears in concert (which was amazing and highly entertaining!).

...We're both super swamped at work with events, events, and more events. They take over lives. Seriously.

...Not only that but we're both busy in our after-work lives too! WG1 was apartment hunting and moving in with her boyfriend and WG2 has been helping plan an event for a board she is on and yes, just maybe she's been job searching (but don't tell!).

So we're sorry that we've been MIA. But we promise we'll be back in full force this Monday. And if you need a little Working Girl fix, you can always follow us on Twitter!