Ok, I guess I was a little too ambitious. I really thought I would get another post in before 2008 ended. Here that post is, a few days late.
My reflection on 2008 started shortly after I arrived back on the East Coast nearly three weeks ago. This is an excerpt from an email I wrote to my boss:
“I’m sitting on a bus to meet my girlfriends in the Upper East Side, reflecting on the past 6 months of my life, have I made the right decisions, what would my life be like if I had chosen to do things differently–And I’ve remembered where I was a year ago, where I was 6 months ago, and the fact I was thisclose to leaving Infuse Creative, packing up, and moving to Brooklyn after graduation. Where would I be now, with the economy in the tubes, a recent grad with an art degree struggling to find a job in cold, hard NYC. Sure, I would be near my closest friends and family, but there’s only so far that can get you.”
2008 started out as wonderfully as it could get. I was in a relationship I enjoyed, I had a month off from school until my last semester started. I spent that last semester eating, breathing, and sleeping my design portfolio. In true Melissa fashion, I refused to pick out my favorite works, photograph them, and slip prints into a black case. I poured everything into it. I created a portfolio book inspired by recipe books since my other passion is food. It was my baby.
Again, true to myself, I had dreams of working in a studio specializing in food packaging. I had (still have) several picked out throughout the Bay Area, NYC, and London. Studios that were comprised of five people with decades of experience. Unlike my usual self, I didn’t even attempt to get a job with them. The closest I got was talking to the CEO of an English company that designs all of Fresh and Easy’s packaging. I let it go.
Something within me made me decide to stay with Infuse Creative and work towards becoming an Account Manager. Some forces I know and will not admit, others I’m not to sure of. Four months after graduation I still had not been able to take any steps towards becoming an Account Manager, rather, I had been handed the opportunity to start a design department and act as creative director.
My last semester was great, I spent as much time with my friends as I could, the morning of graduation was as sentimental as it could be.
My summer, not so great, I really cannot think of many memorable moments other than coming home to visit friends, going to Long Beach Island with some of my favorite people, and suffering heartache.
It was a difficult year, it was a good year. A year of accomplishment. Success. Hard work. Dedication. Passion.
My plans for 2009? Success. Success and happiness. That’s all I want.
This past weekend I experienced something I haven’t felt in quite a long time: boredom. I think it slipped Mike and I’s minds that it was Memorial Day Weekend and that we should make some sort of plans: a weekend getaway, organize a party or barbeque, something. Everyone I wanted to spend time with was out of town, so it ended up being just Mike and I lounging around. Highlights included narrowing down what color sofa bed to buy (puke green), seeing I Am the Avalanche, eating a delicious bean salad that Mike made, and making my favorite peanut butter pie. I spent a lot of time not knowing what to do with myself and all of the free time.
I began packing as well. I am so excited to move into my new apartment in Los Angeles this weekend! My mom bought me a KitchenAid Mixer in pistachio green and I’ve been dying to open it…but I’m saving it for the new place.
We went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on Thursday and…well…I don’t like action movies much. The beginning was nice and Shia Lebouf was very entertaining, but I don’t like drawn out action scenes. I get it, you are dueling with the antagonist while in a moving car, please don’t draw the scene out for four minutes. I respect the movie and genre, but it just doesn’t hold my attention!
