Happy 6 Months To Me

Today marks 6 months since I first stepped into the offices at Bramley Grange, and I've been on one hell of a ride {a good ride}. My probation period is officially up, and I'm now a fully-fledged member of the digital marketing team, go me! *dances around the room* I still have mountains to climb when it comes to learning, but since starting there I have learnt some fascinating things about me, the industry and working life in general.

1. Don't ask me to make your hot drink if you want it within 2 minutes. {I wouldn't ask me to make coffees either unless you like it really strong or really milky}
2. Tape measures can provide endless hours of entertainment, but can end up annoying colleagues if over-played. 
3. Everyone has normally lost the plot by Friday afternoon.
4. I have limited self-control when it comes to any kind of office treat- I knew this anyway but work has just re affirmed that I can not resist a doughnut or two, or three.  
5. Organisation is the pinnacle to a stress-free day/week/life.
6. Clients don't always want to be on your team, strangely sometimes they'd rather be the opposition. 
7. Re-brands are stressful, especially when it comes to business cards.
8. A recent office shuffle round means I've got one of the best seats in the house- a radiator behind me and a window next to me #ballin.
9. It cab be super hard trying to explain to someone that what I (we) do isn't just try to get them to the top of Google. 
10. Just like school, I hate photo days.
11. The best part about filling a notebook is a trip to Home Sense to source a new one. 
12. Messy draws = messy mind
13. Sometimes clients just don't get it, and you have to be okay with that. 
14. Sleep is for the weak, the digital world doesn't stop.
15. When it comes to networking I either become mute or become the most boring person in the world- I'm working on it.

Diary of a Working Girl: A day outta the office

Tuesday 5th April was just one of those days. I had a day away from my desk to a day at another desk learning about email marketing with the other Beth of the office, otherwise known as B1- I'm B2 (Think Bananas in Pyjamas). Our main takeaway from the day was that we shouldn't be left to go out just the two of us, but it all makes great entertainment, and I couldn't not share our events from the day. 

6:05am- Alarm goes off. Snooze it for 10 minutes and end up getting up 10 minutes after that. Brush through tangles in my hair and jump in the shower. 

6:45am- Attempt one at putting in my contact lenses. Utter fail. Try again. Poke myself in my eye numerous times. Left eye is in, just the right to go. Poke myself in the eye some more. Drop it on a towel, finally it's in. 

7:48am- My lift pulls up. Jump in the car. Panic that I've forgotten my phone. It's okay, it's in my bag. The morning commute begins. Arrive at work approximately 8:21am. 

8:40am- Pick up Beth (B1) from the office along with the pool car. Start our journey to Leeds. Head to Tesco to fill up the car. Didn't check what side fuel cap was. Didn't check whether it's petrol or diesel. B1 makes an educated guess. B1 was right.

9:05am- Arrive at the multi-storey car park. Drive up to Level 5 before finding a space. Reverse into spot but neither of us can get out. Drive up to Level 7. Same happens again. Keep driving. Reach Level 13. Lots of free spaces. Successfully park the car. 

9:15am- Pay £6 at the pay and display machine. Position it on the dashboard when the wind pushes it down. Ticket is now half-stuck down between the dashboard and windscreen. Both attempt to stay calm. 

9:19am- Ticket is still stuck, this time we can only see the corner. We have 11 minutes till our course starts. Panic levels are rising. 

9:23am- Businessman pulls up next to us. Comes over to see what we're in a flap about. Heads back to his car to find something to help. Ends up sticking his gum to a paper door hanger in an attempt to retrieve the £6 ticket. 

9:25am- It fails. The ticket is gone. Thank the man and accept the fact we've got to pay for another. 

9:27am- Head back to the machine, buy another ticket and put it in the car. This time we place it on the other side of the dashboard and shut the door quickly. It worked, phew. Now we have 3 minutes to find the location of our course. Have to get to floor 5, we're on 13. We choose the stairs. B1 drops her phone. Nearly falls through the gap right to the bottom of the stairwell. It doesn't. Not even a scratch. Maybe our luck is changing. 

9:35am- Arrive a little late. Joke with the receptionist about our names both being Beth and the type of morning we'd had. Proceed to settle down at our desks after apologising for our lateness several times. Have to tell everyone who we are and what we do, sighs silently. Once finished the course can begin. 

10:30am- Tea break. So far, so good. Time to check work emails, nothing exciting. Head downstairs with B1 to get a cuppa. End up opting for a hot chocolate. What a good decision. Crack open the Galaxy Golden Eggs I brought along and reluctantly offer them round to the rest of the group. 

10:40am- Tea break over, back to learning. Make my own email campaign for Beth's BnB- what a cracking place to stay. 

11:00am- We start to code an email. Mind blown. What does half of this even mean. It's just mashed up letters and symbols. B1 nails it. I copy. Turns out we took a short-cut, so we kinda, technically cheated.

11:40am- Still coding. Something about a table. Not too sure. Starting to understand it slightly, maybe. Mumble about how I could never be a developer. Start rewarding me and B1 with Galaxy Eggs every time we do something right. 

12:30pm- We stop for lunch. Hallelujah. My brain is fried and all I can think about is this buffet lunch. Get to the buffet lunch, not living up to my expectations. Sandwiches- 5/10, crisps- 7/10, caramel shortbread- 10/10. It's the pudding that's raising its rating. Better have an orange to even it out. Head back upstairs with B1, too quiet downstairs. Check Facebook, nothing interesting going down. Repeat on other social networks. 

1:30pm- It all starts again. Get your concentration game on Beth. Constantly repeat how I don't know how our developers do this all day long. 

2:50pm- Nailed it. Now I can start making it look pretty with pastel colours and nice alignments. Oh. That didn't go to plan. Why has that moved? What are you doing over there?

3:30pm- "That was the last coding part to the day." Yes! *Air grab* Move onto email strategy. Now, this is more like it. 

4:45pm- Call it a day. I am shattered. My brain hurts. Time to go catch a train home. 

4:52pm- Say goodbye to B1 and start heading off in the opposite direction. After 30 seconds realise I infact needed to be going the same way. Turn round and get back on track. Get some funny looks for using my iPhone as a sat-nav. Find the train station and see there's a train in 4 minutes.

5:17pm- Jump on the train. Managed to score a seat. 23 minutes till York. 

5:40pm- Arrive in York. Jay's there with Dudley. Manage to squeeze through rush hour traffic and get home super quickly. Change into PJs and slump on the sofa for the rest of the evening until bedtime, feeling content that tomorrow is Wednesday, the week is flying by. 

If you want an optimum day to go on a course, Tuesdays are a pretty good pick. 

Diary of a Working Girl: Bus Thoughts

This week was the beginning of a new era, I never have to get the bus to work again!* Conveniently, our lovely, new developer lives just down the road from me which means I've bagsied myself the front seat in his four-wheel machine every morning and evening. In my time of getting the bus there have been many things that have crossed my mind, so rather than keep these to myself I thought I'd document for them all to read!

1. Monday morning and my bus is late, what a good start.
2. "Can I have a weekly to...." Oh god, where is it I'm going again? I don't know. I cant remember. "Thorner!" Phew. 
3. There is someone in my seat. Do they not realise that I sit there every day so I don't have a mini panic attack where I think I've missed my stop. 
4. Where is my stop? When do I press the button? Oh gosh, I have no idea. 
5. Where's my phone? Did I put it my bag? Yes, okay, stop panicking Beth. 
6. Walk down the stairs, on a moving bus, in a skirt? Challenge accepted. 
7. OMG, WHERE'S MY PHONE?!?! Right where it was 2 minutes ago Beth. 
8. Wifi, y u no work?
9. It's rush hour and you're taking up 6 seats between 2 of you. You don't need 2 seats for all your Primark bags, how greedy can you be. 
10. Who looks friendly enough for me to sit next to them?
11. Bus conversations are the best to earwig. Listening to music? Nope, I'm listening to your conversation. 
12. 8:14- We're meant to be at this stop. We're not. We're 3 minutes behind schedule. 
13. It smells of wee. Am I sitting on a wet seat? OMG, DID SOMEONE WEE ON THIS SEAT? No, its dry, chillout Beth. 
14. My bus ticket is on my phone. I don't like this. I need a physical piece of card. Sod the planet. (I actually love the planet and make a conscious effort to save it)
15. Why aren't these school kids wearing coats. Do they not realise its like -537393 degrees outside. 
16. Everyone needs to stop breathing. It's fogging up my window. 
17. Note to self: Don't finish your book in your morning journey. You won't have anything to do in the evening commute. 
18. People watching is great. 
19. My bus is coming- *waves dramatically like a mad women until it indicates that its stopping*
20. I should have got my ticket out before waving the bus down. Why did sensible Beth not kick in. 
21. When I get home, I'm getting in my PJs and doing nothing else. 

There is only one thing I'm missing about my daily bus journey, and that's the ability to start and finish a book in three days, I have to be sociable now. But I'm extremely grateful for my new ride, it means I get an extra half-an-hour in bed and get home before it's dark. Until the next diary entry amigos. 

*There may be a few times I have to get the bus to work. 

Happy 1 month workversary

Today marks two different events, my Mumma's birthday and the celebration of my first month at work, I started on a satisfying date. It's been a whirlwind of a month, but I honestly can't remember now what it was like to be unemployed as it feels like I've been there forever. So what better way to celebrate my 1 month workversary, then to share a few things I've learnt about what it's like to have a real-life agency job. 

• Making the office brews is a stressful activity
• Coming up with a new agency name will divide the team
• Always plan your outfit the night before. If that fails, then use the time in the shower to plan. If that fails, then just hope your clothes don't clash. 
• No matter how much you enjoy work, hearing your alarm go off at 6 o'clock in the morning is never fun
• Don't take change to work. It will result in buying out all the chocolate in the tuck shop box
• Lunch time trips to Tesco are a regular occurrence
• Lunch = lunch & dinner = tea #Southernerprobs
• Clients are more often than not on the opposite sides of the spectrum. You can have all the bants or talk to them like your grandmother
• Employees love freebies. We got doughnuts delivered to the office last week and it was like a pack of hyenas pouncing on their prey
• If you take in cakes you get bonus employee points
• Not all clients are exciting- I am now an expert in guttering 
• You'll always have a never-ending to-do list on the go
• Your job still carries on after 5:30pm
• Going to bed at 9pm is part of my evening routine

That's just a snapshot! As cliche as it sounds I am learning something new every day and with that comes a new challenge to keep me on my toes!

A whole new wardrobe

H&M- Dancer Blouse | New Look- White Boots | H&M- Black Trousers | H&M- Knitted Cardigan | H&M- Navy Trousers | New Look- Grey Turtleneck | Zara- Leather Skirt |  New Look- Stripe Shirt

Having no money for the past few months has had me dreaming of the day I could head out and purchase my clothes wishlist, and it has finally come. A new job means buying a whole new wardrobe to suit the said job, something that makes my inner shopaholic jump for joy. And with this new job comes a salary that makes me feel a little less guilty for splashing the cash. 

My usual daytime attire consists of either jeans and a hoody or pj's and a dressing gown so I needed to step up my game a little- not sure what my employees would say if I turned up in my Winnie the Pooh number. Luckily, I have found some great additions for my new working wardrobe, H&M and New Look have been pretty helpful, with some bargains mixed in there too- I haven't included my in-store Zara finds. 

If there is anything else out there you think my wardrobe needs then let me know!