movin' on OUT

i found an apartment and i move in on june 2. that's a week from today. YIKES!

i absolutely love this place. it's less than 5 miles from Fossil, 

it's gated, and has 2 beautiful pools, lovely landscaping (very pet-friendly), a workout facility, basketball courts, 2 duck ponds/lakes that have walking/jogging trails around them, and it's in a GREAT part of Richardson. 

i got a GREAT price on a 1-1 that's 720 square feet. perfect amount of space for boston and me. since i work til 5 every day and will be in austin for april's wedding (YAY!) the first weekend i have the place, i'm just going to hire movers to move all my furniture and big boxes over on the 5th or so, and just drop stuff by on my way home from work until i have time to set everything up. 

bethany and lauren said they'd come over the first weekend i'm home and help me get settled, and dani is coming the weekend after that to stay with me and help decorate! she's got the best creative eye i know and is going to help me make my apt FABULOUS. i'm so pumped!

as excited as i am about all this, i'm also kind of scared. 

the only things i've really been looking forward to are 1. getting a great job. and 2. getting my own apartment. 

what next?

these are the things i've been working for the past 4 years. my life has been ever-changing with classes, semesters, jobs, moving every year - and now i've found the things i've been craving but at the same time...it's terrifying. what will i do when i get everything settled in my new place and realize that things are not going to change anytime soon? freaky. all i know is working hard for the next big thing. what happens when you get what you've been working for?

sure, i'll work hard at my job to be the best i can be and to get promotions...hopefully there will be a marriage somewhere in the next 5 years or so...some babies after that...

but that freaks me out too! HELLO? i am a frickin adult. i still feel like a kid. maybe that's why i'm scared of all this. i'm still afraid of the stupid dark. i'm going to sleep with my light on every night and then have an outrageous electric bill and then go broke. 

these are the things that go through my head. 

thus, why i feel like someone who is pretending to be grown up. 

sorry for the rant. the more i wrote about my apartment the freakier i started to feel. ok bye.

love/miss/namaste.

fast & totally happy (not furious).

this past week has been a whirlwind. ever since i found out i got the job at fossil, it's been go-go-go. austin to arlington to florida to arlington to austin and back again. it's been pretty crazy, but super fun.

brady and i on our sunset BOOZE CRUISE. we went with my parents. i had a pina colada that was yum and there was a guy playing cover songs on the guitar while the boat took us to the best view of the sunset. 

 

my mom made us do a kissing picture. notice how awkward we look. however, this is the best picture with the sun setting in the background. lovely.

me with the fam on graduation day!

can i just tell you that all the fashion majors felt so out of place at the college of natural sciences commencement...

"you'll all be the health care professionals, the scientists, the nobel prize winners...blah blah blah nerdy talk blah."

brady had the brilliant idea of going to the oasis on lake travis after graduation. we had a great time! beautiful view, no wait, and a lovely lunch with friends and family.

the moment you've all been waiting for...

MY FIRST DAY AT FOSSIL. 

it freaking rocked.

i love my job.

Laura Dudney

Product Coordinator 

Fossil and Relic Men's Eyewear

Boomshakalacka.

 here are a couple of pics of my cubie! i love it! 

it will be more decorated soon...i have a bit of work to do.

i met my team and we all went to lunch, everyone is so sweet. they all made me feel so welcome. i'm literally excited about going there every day. 

once i get in a rhythm i'll be able to describe what it is that i do better...

until then, don't you just love my cubie?!

i sure do.

ok i gotta go to bed, i'm a workin' girl now.

love/miss.

new news

my parents and i flew in to Tampa, FL on thursday and stayed with my mema before heading out to our final vacation destination on friday. i am now on the lovely island of Captiva, near Fort Meyers, Florida. my parents rented a 2-bedroom condo and we are walking distance to golf, tennis, a lovely pool, and the ocean. brady gets in tonight to join the fun, which will be very nice. my parents decided to give me my graduation gift before we left (they said i might want to use it...). 

and it's a canon rebel digital professional camera...and it's amazing. i have 3 different lenses (2 of them are from my mom's old pro camera) and i've been LOVING it. it also comes with 10 free lessons on how to use it! watch out, ya'll. i might just become a pro photog. here are some pics i took recently:

here is a shed that's in my mema's backyard. when i was a kid, i used to play in the yard and my papaw would working in that shed and using his power tools - i thought he was such a badass. and he totally was.

we all know and love her.

here's a picture my mom took of me playing tennis this morning. i 

am not so good, but i got better after awhile. (i had to practice before brady got there)

i took this from the balcony of our condo. we have a view of the golf course and my dad played today while my mom and i hung out. he called us when he got to our balcony and we watched him play this hole.

and here is my mother reading a magazine (unaware that i was about to capture her) and probably not happy about this picture. i just thought it was funny.

so get ready for a more fun-filled photo friendly laura blog. 

i miss you all severely. love/namaste.

so so so so ready.

so, as you all know because of my mass-texting and out-of-control broadcasting, i will start working at Fossil in less than 2 weeks (Monday, May 19 - to be exact). I'll go in to the new hire orientation, set up my direct deposit, learn all about the benefits, and get my cubicle. i can't tell you how excited i am. i'm still a little nervous though - like it's the first day at a new school or something. good thing i have awesome friends in my life to make me less nervous. 

example: a 3-way call from yesterday:

me: i'm kind of nervous, i mean, what if my coworkers don't like me?

whit & ivy: that's crazy, who could not like you? everyone likes you.

me: i don't know, some people don't like me.

whit & ivy: only stupid whores. 

so there you have it. i'll be ok as long as stupid whores don't work for fossil, and as far as i know, they don't hire them. 

i also have a confession. i did something bad yesterday while shopping at the mall. 

i was shopping all around looking for a BM dress for april's nuptials and went into several stores: Nordy, Express, Macy's, the Dill, Wet Seal (and other silly stores like the seal), the Gap, etc. i liked some of what i saw, and despised a lot of it, too. Until...

i stepped into the Fossil store. 

i'm not gonna lie, i really don't think to shop in Fossil stores. sure, i have fossil watches and a few tops and a skirt - but that's not usually where i go to "shop". let me just say...wow.

Fossil is SO me. i loved and adored absolutely everything in the store. everything. and the clothes fit me perfectly. the accessories were to die for, the patterns were so mod, the styles were totally vintage - i suppose that's why Fossil describes themselves as "Modern Vintage". but seriously y'all. i had no idea how perfect Fossil was until i was let loose in the apparel (most of the time you just see the accessory stores or fossil brand accessories at dept stores).

long story short, i end up talking to the sales assoc about how i just got a job at corporate blah blah...and then i thought, "i can't talk to this girl about how i got a job with fossil, try on all these clothes, and then walk out. i simply MUST buy some things." well i did. and a mere week and a half before my discount kicks in. i'm such a dumb frick but i could NOT resist. i had been looking for a pair of perfectly fitting high waisted flare jeans to wear with heels. and the top was ADORABLE. and the scarf i could wear with ANYTHING. 

i am so bad. 

love/miss/nam.

i'm in.

i first got an email that broke my heart. fossil told me that they were "looking into other options at the moment" and i was furious. and then i thought, i guess it was just not in God's plan for me to get this job now.

so i went on about my days in austin just hanging out, wallowing in a bit of self-pity, and THEN I GOT THE CALL.

I got the job.

at Fossil.

as a Product Coordinator.

I start May 19.

God is so good to me.

one phone call.

i was told that i would receive a phone call about the job no later than monday (with a touch-base phone call on friday). well guess what? it's tuesday NIGHT. i have never been so frustrated. one phone call. i'm stranded. i don't want to apply of any other jobs (a reception job at the law firm my mom works at) because i might get this position with fossil. BUT i don't want to start preparing for working at fossil because i might get the shaft. i should know by now. i just need one phone call. 

i could go into further detail about common courtesy, the fact that i sent an email today and still heard no response, or the fact that i'm uber furious. but i won't bore you with those details.

so here i sit. completely stranded. 

well not completely, i'm going to visit austin tomorrow and staying as long as i possibly can. 

tonight was the last lonestar meeting at rudy's. i couldn't go - i'm not gonna lie, i kind of wanted to. i sent a final "senior thoughts from laura d" email out to the listserv and got the sweetest response from jenn jehli. i think that girl is great, she's always been one of the most genuine and caring people i've known in lonestars (besides MAH GIRLS). i feel comfortable knowing that there are girls like that in lonestars. gah, i loved college. special times. i hate that it makes me all sappy and emo. lonestars may have all sorts of girlie drama and stupid new rules and out-of-control parties, but it sure gave me some perfect friends. FOR LIFE. 

ok, enough of the sappiness. i need some champagne.

love/miss.

hanging in there.

that's exactly what i'm doing. 

it's all i can do, really, since the final interview yesterday was less than ideal. the ceo of fossil basically told me that he's not sure if i have enough experience with fossil since i haven't been through their 6-12 month training program (called the brand representative program). there are no brand reps available right now (they're still a-cookin in the program) and they needed someone for these positions now...they opened it up to us regulars. i'm lucky to even be considered - and i've known that all along! and they still chose me as the top candidate. yet, the one person who can veto my job offer is the one person who doesn't know if i'm qualified. wow. i'm not quite sure WHY all the other people i've interviewed with CHOSE me, or sent me to the office of the CEO if i am not qualified. seriously though, why would they make me go through all this just to come to the end and shut me down? i don't know, but it's making me a little upset, needless to say. 

whatever. 

my prayer is that IF this job would have been too difficult for me OR if i wouldn't have been happy in that position...for him to just take the opportunity away.

however, if i am capable of doing this job and will be able to enjoy it, then God will provide.

simple as that.

on to something more interesting:

i LOVE to make lists. i have a whole book dedicated to the lists i make and carry it around with me. i have them in word documents on my computer and notepads in my iphone. i just can't get enough of lists.

well...i discovered this website called listography. you can create an entire account and just MAKE LISTS. it's amazing. there is also a book you can buy called Listography that is equally amazing. i highly recommend opening an account. it's kind of like a blog...except for your LISTS. my profile is linked in the top right corner of my blog. you should check it out.

also, you should check out brady's myspace page because he wrote 2 new songs recently that are wonderful. he's such a talented musician. that's the fan in me talking, not the girlfriend :)

i'll let you girls know as soon as i find out something. thanks for your encouragement and prayers.

love/miss/namaste.