Thursday, August 26, 2010

i can't tell you what it really is, i can only tell you what it feels like

I'm finally done with the presentation that I thought was going to be the death of me; I still have some wrap-up to do tomorrow to get it + supplementary material sent out to the management team, but it's finally over, and the big boss is not asking for any more revisions. Yay. It went really well; we had a technical disaster at the beginning that I won't go into because it's boring, but after we recovered from that, it was quite good. So, that made me happy -- and I was even happier because I got like nine hours of sleep last night, which I desperately needed even though I didn't sleep that well. I'm going to try to get nine again tonight so that I can go into the weekend with a clear head, ready to write (and hopefully do some more unpacking).

After the presentation was over, I didn't do much the rest of the day; I took a call from an executive coach, then went to main campus to get my allergy shots. John's starting at my company in a week and a half, but he was in the mood for free lunch (who isn't?), so we went to one of the cafes near main campus, where I had a strange mix of sushi, pizza, and chicken while we caught up. It was gorgeously sunny (of course -- it's not the rainy season) and a perfect temperature (about fifteen degrees cooler than yesterday), so we took our time with lunch, then ate dessert (fruit and yogurt) in an even brighter patch of sun. It was quite nice to take a break from work, from powerpoint, and from my building, although since I'm switching buildings tomorrow for the first time in three years, perhaps it's too bad I ran away from my office on my second-to-last day in it.

John and I eventually parted company, and I went back to my side of campus for a meeting. Then, two of my coworkers and I sneaked over to the new building to check it out -- how they're going to get it ready for Monday morning, I don't know, but I'm sure they will, if only because the big boss's boss (who is an extremely big boss -- he reports to the CEO) is moving in as well, and he seems like he would cut someone if the building isn't done. But, what is done is very nice, and there are advantages to sharing a building with the big big boss (namely, better quality lounge furniture), even if his presence + the fact that I'm going to be sitting in a cube instead of my own office will likely change my internet habits slightly.

At the end of the day, I skipped out and went to Palo Alto to get my first haircut in about ten months. And, I'm pleased/nervous to report that I have bangs again for the first time since I grew out my awful childhood bangs during high school. They're substantially more stylish than my early bangs, though, long enough that they are already grazing my eyes. Luckily, my stylist does free bang trims between cuts, although I'm guessing I'll have to get a cut more than once every ten months if I want to avail myself of that service, but she told me that I could come in next week when they're lying flatter and get them trimmed, since she left them long while they settle down). I have a feeling I'll want to blowdry my hair more often to keep the bangs from looking too ridiculous, but I'm also lucky that my hair air dries pretty well without looking awful, so hopefully I won't have to change my morning routine (which involves scrambling around like a madwoman and being five minutes late) too much.

After impetuously chopping the front of my hair off (but keeping most of the rest of it -- I didn't change the length too substantially, but the bangs are probably going to last a few months or a year before I graduate to a shorter style), I went to Coupa Cafe, where I had half a sandwich and two chais while working on Madeleine and Ferguson's story. I made progress -- not as much as I would have liked, but enough to be satisfied. Then, I ran to the mall to exchange a pair of sunglasses that I had bought in Orlando (they were polarized, which I'd been wanting for awhile, but they rubbed the backs of my ears strangely, so I swapped them for something else). I also bought a flat iron at Sephora; I haven't ever used a flat iron, and I haven't used a curling iron in years, but I have a feeling that a flat iron will come in quite handily if I ever need to tame the bangs. After the mall, I came home, watched last night's episode of "Top Chef", and now am going to go to bed.

Apologies for discussing beauty stuff ad nauseum; there are a lot of things I'm not vain about, but I'm almost embarrassingly in love with my hair, and I'm trying to take full advantage of it before it turns pure white like my grandmother's. So, deal with it. Goodnight!

Daily word count: 1348 (67.4% of goal)
Productive time: 1.75hr
RescueTime productivity rating: 0.89 (global average: 0.34)

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