Workplace tour!

So as most of you know already, I landed a dream career in graphic design at an amazing company earlier this month. I searched all summer long - found an opening here before I left for New York Fashion Week - and on my first day in the big city, I received a call from them asking if I'd like to set up a phone interview. I set up my phone interview on my last day in NYC and as I sat in the little cafe of the hotel drinking one of those really yummy sparkling lemonades and eating an almond croissant talking with one of the designers - little did I know my whole life would change when I got home. Working here so far is life changing. The culture, the people, the work - every bit of it is so inspiring. Everyone there inspires me to be a better person, a better designer. I cannot wait to see myself grow as a designer and to see the company grow even more. And I get to stay in west Michigan. I am insanely lucky. Well anyway, sap aside.. let's take a mini tour, aye?! I snapped some photos with my retrocam, so the quality isn't perfect, but you get the idea. First up, we have my amazing new monitor, wireless keyboard and magic mouse!

I get a cute personal locker next to my desk and office area with area for books and picture frames. I had to order this cute print from Vol25's etsy shop. Life is like riding a bicycle, in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving. So true. Below, I have a photo of me and my best friend, Jen, and of course Brett and I looking out at Lake Michigan.

I brought in a lamp from IKEA (I wish you could see the color better, it's so cute) and I also invested in some nature-inspired items from ModCloth for my desk. I haven't gotten my business cards in yet - but I wanted this cute birdie business card holder - and I fell in love with this birch clock! ModCloth has some insanely cute items for home and apartment. I have a huge wishlist right now.

I have my giant headphones for listening to some music while I work! It's so fun - I always wanted a job where I could listen to music while I worked. I always used to love listening to music through those giant headphones in college classes.

This is my view of downtown from my seat at my desk! I love it. We have amazing natural sunlight throughout the whole building and it's so fun to see the sun rise and set through these windows while I'm at work. If it's snowing or raining, I love having such a large view to the world. Plus, there are some fun happenings in downtown that everyone breaks for to watch - like elephants walking down the streets to the circus or movies being filmed downtown. So awesome.

Here's a cute little front area and one of the large hallways. We have streetlamps on the "streets" and the overall design is that the left-hand side of the street is all community property - the cafe, conference rooms, storage, the community room. The right hand side of the street is where all of the "private" properties are (everyone's desk and work stations!) Isn't that amazing?

Another print, No one would ever have crossed the ocean if he could have gotten off the ship in a storm. Most of you know - but I'll say it again, and again. If you truly are passionate about something - you can accomplish anything. In high school, I just did not enjoy school - I wasn't truly passionate about anything in my life. I'm so different now. I found what I loved (finally), I went to the college of my dreams, worked my #!@ off, graduated with the studio excellence award and landed this amazing career - all because I took a chance on my dreams. And it wasn't easy. I had to work really hard to get into my first choice art college, I was terrible at drawing in college and would walk home crying as a freshman thinking I'd never graduate one day!, I've pulled so many overnighters, have spent so much money on classes and art supplies and new computers and software.. but I never gave up. I never said, "Ah, screw it." And here I am - 24 years old - totally on the top of my world. I know.. so sappy.. but dream big, girls (and boys!)