Happy Hump Day.

Things have been slow at work lately. It kinda sucks...but I've been making do with busy work - calling places and email people for the section I'm working on. I've also been compiling a list of ALL the authors and the articles they've written. That's actually been kinda fun because I've been going through all the back issues and reading articles I've missed. I also created a spreadsheet to help with organization for all the different parts needed to get the magazine together. Stephanie really liked it, so it looks like I did good there! Abby, the other intern and I, are spending the next couple of days creating a contest for the magazine. This is what we were told: It should be travel related, get more people online and somehow try to boost subscription numbers. So, we're having fun with this little project! Wanna know what it's gonna be??? Why don't you just pick up the magazine in September, you'll see it there!

I had today off actually...almost everyone in the office was out of town today, so Abby and I didn't have to go in. Things should be picking up significantly starting tomorrow - or so I'm told. I can't believe I only have four weeks left here. It's truly amazing how fast time goes by. Since i had today off I kinda treated it like a weekend. I drove around, went to lots of bookstores, Ikea and the mall. Mia, the graphic designer from work is 26 and invited me to be apart of her book club. Heh, well she just started it with the book we're reading now - Reading Lolita in Tehran. I picked it up today for the awesome price of $4.50!!! Gotta love used book stores :) So far i'm about 30 pages in and it seems really good...

Speaking of bookstores - I could just get lost in them! I went to two used bookstores, Barnes and Noble and Borders today and I wish I could have bought books at each store. It's amazing how you can just get lost in a book. I'm a very fast reader, always have been and always will, but sometimes it really annoys me because I wish I could spend more time in a book. I can start a book and before I know it (sometimes in just one day) it's over. It's my way of escaping. Once I start a book I usually can't put it down, I'm just engrossed in the characters and situations as though they were my own!

What else did I do today? Oh! I got my gym membership to last until I leave. I was on a guest pass which expired today, so I called Larry - the guy at LA Fitness who signed me up and he 'took care of it.' Honestly, it's super shady - the 'deal' I got, not the gym. I gave him $40 cash (one month at LA Fitness should be $75) and he gave me some piece of paper that'll let me use the gym for the next month. It kinda reminded me of The Buckle, the store in the mall. You know how when you go in there the employees are like voulchers trying to get you to buy ridiculous amounts of clothes? Or, actually, maybe a car salesman would be a better example. Just shady...But, since I've been going every morning I know the guy who signs you in and I think he'll be cool about it. He's not out for any commission...

I just finished watching the first disc of Grey's Anatomy and now I need the second disc. The problem is that the Hollywood Video doesn't have it...and I don't know when Blockbuster will get it in. I love Grey's. Love it, love it, love it! Well, I told myself I'd get to bed early tonight...so I'm gonna try to stick to that.

It's raining cats and dogs!

I'm scared of thunderstorms. There. I said it.

I also just realized that the entire time I was living in England,there was never a thunderstorm. In fact there was never thunder or lightning, just constant rain. Such a difference. England = rain ALL THE TIME. New Mexico = no rain, fires and drought. Atlanta = warm and rain.

Right now I have some candles lit and music playing. It's pouring outside, but they sound like little drops - lots and lots of them! Then every once in awhile there's multiple flashes of light quickly followed by what sounds like a crack in the earth. I try to remember what I was told when I was little - that God is bowling up in heaven and thunder is when he gets a strike. Well...God must be having one hellova game because it's very loud down here on earth.

Today, before the storm came in, was good. I slept in, went to the gym and then attemped to 'lay out by the pool' but the heat and humidity only allowed me to stay outside for three songs by Jack Johnson. Seriously... that was not a smart decision on my part...I'll just have to live with the fact that my legs will be whiter than snow forever. The gym and the heat must have taken a toll on my body because when I got back to my room my head hit the pillow and I took a nap! ha, I couldn't help it..my eyes just closed.

After I woke up I decided to see a movie. In order to see as much of the city as possible I decided against going to the same movie theater, so I went to the one at Atlantic Station. So far that's my favorite out of all that I've been to. After the movie I walked around, had a great dinner and listened to a live band outside. Again, the atmosphere was top notch. Not wanting to rack up my parking fee I came home and watched A Bugs Life, and that pretty much leads you to where I am right now.

Perhaps I'll let the rain put me to sleep tonight.

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Hello, hello!

I slept in today instead of going to the gym and I definitely feel different. I usually have this energy from the endorphines and adrenaline used while working out...and now I just feel blah. I'll go swimming this afternoon after work. I think I might also go to the pool at my apartment tomorrow since it's Saturday and I don't have anything to do. I noticed last night the my legs might actually be whiter than snow - and I'm being completely serious.

Speaking of last night, I went to Screen on the Green and had a great time. The whole crowd (the 5,000 plus) was between the ages of about 20 to 40 years old! How cool is that? Not only that, but everyone brought wine and food and blankets, it was just a really nice way to spend a Thursday night. When I got there I had to park about a mile away and then walk to the park. I figured that at 8pm this wouldn't be so bad, but it turns out that at eight the temperature was still well into the 90s and the humidity was sweltering. I got to the park, found my friend from work and just sat there with a fan in one hand and a bottle of water in the other waiting to cool off. I finally did cool off about 15 minutes later and everything was fine.

Breakfast at Tiffany's was good, I had never seen it before so I was glad they were showing it. There were few "Harry Hepburn's" in the crowd...get it? Along with that I should also mention that this week is "Pride Week" here in Atlanta... yes, there is a pretty big gay and lesbian population here. I also found out that there are more gay men than straight men here. Great. Super. That would just make my chances of finding someone here that much harder.

Well..enough wasting time. Time to work.

An update

Sorry for my absence...The only excuse I have is that I've been tired and didn't feel like writing. Still having a good time, just tired typing the same thing every day. BUT, as my mom pointed out to me - this could give me credit so I don't have to take a class next semester...So when it's put that way, I'll fill you in on what I've done at work the past several days.

**We're still getting ready for the next issue to come out, so there is a lot of fact checking, editing and proofing going on. I've had my hand at doing all that at some point in the past days as well as a little bit of graphic design. A little bit. I've been looking for pictures from tourism sites for some of the countries that we're highliting in the issue.

There is also an 8-page advertisement spread that we get to design and put together. It sounds pretty cool - spa's of Eastern Europe - but it's more frustrating and complicated than that... The company who the contract is with (some group out of Germany) doesn't say what they want in the ad..Which makes things difficult to actually make.

Today I think I'm going to work on writing up some PR information to send out to other publications. Travelgirl is trying to branch out and advertise more, so I'm helping with that.

Other than the things listed above I've been working on a section called "Advance Notice." Basically I have to find things going on in the future, get all the details and then write something up. It's a little bit trickier than I thought it would be because it has to be A)travel related and/or B)women related. That presents a problem. Turns out there's not much going on around the months of December-February that have to deal with women! Fear not though, I think I have found my four events...You'll just have to wait for the Sept./Oct. issue to come out to see them!

....And that, my friend's, is some of what I've been up to. I've also been working out in the mornings and I think I can feel it start to take a toll on me - I'm SO sleepy (combine my morning workout with the fact that I forgot to get coffee today and you'll see why I'm so sleepy!).

Tonight I'm going to Screen on the Green at Piedmont Park with Mia from work. I'm looking forward to that...Then I'm looking forward to sleeping!

OH, one more thing - I got invited to go to a wedding in Las Vegas. Not a cheesy wedding in Las Vegas, but a wedding where it says "Black Tie" on the invitation. A wedding where they are flying out a photographer and videographer. A wedding that costs more than my four years at NMSU - no joke! I thought about going and even though I could get there for less than $200, I've decided to skip it. If I was getting some sort of income this summer then I would go, but this is unpaid and I've been very frugal and savvy with my money so far so I might as well keep it up. I'm sure I'll get to witness a fancy/very nice wedding another time!!

Ok, hope you've enjoyed this.

There's a crazy energy in Atlanta - and I like it!

This has been another good weekend in the ATL. I've filled the past two days with driving and walking around and not spending that much time at home! I've found a new coffee shop (ChocoLate Coffee) where the people are nice, the music is good, the coffee is better than Starbucks and the furniture is comfy; all necessary components for a good cafe!

Yesterday I drove about 20 minutes northeast of Atlanta to The Mall of Georgia. Wow. This place was huge, but while it was lacking an Urban Outfitters and Forever 21 (which can be found in other malls here), it did have two Victoria Secret's and two Bath and Body Works...yeah...I http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifdon't know why you need two in a mall..one's enough. Seeing as how I drove all the way out there I wanted to make my time worthwhile so I bought a ticket to watch Cars. I was VERY impressed with the movie! Who knew you could get so caught up in a story entirely about...Cars! It was great, go see it.

Today I decided to check out a church I've heard about called North Point Community Church. This was another 20 minutes outside of Atlanta in a town called Alpharetta. If you've ever been to Hoffmantown Church in Albuquerque then imagine a church that's about two or three times BIGGER than that. Yeah, it was crazy but really, really good. I didn't meet anyone new - didn't really try to actually because going to a new church is intimidating on its own. I might go to their College group thing on Tuesday.

Again, since I was already out there I decided to hang out and see the town. It's cute and has a very homely vibe. I didn't see any white-picket fences, but they should have been surrounding every house I saw. ...I went to another mall. I know, it seems that's all I do, but I enjoy watching people (I'm turning into my dad! - happy Father's Day by the way!!!)

I'll shorten this entry up. Fast forward a few hours and I'm driving around town with two separate directions in my hand on how to get to Piedmont Park, Atlanta's "Central Park." Well, both of my directions were wrong (surprise, surprise), but I ended up finding it. As soon as i got out of my car I felt this crazy energy surround me; I felt alive. I started walking around and I saw all sorts of walks of life having a nice Sunday evening in this gigantic park. There were blacks, whites, children, grandparents, gays, lesbians, dogs of all sizes and lightening bugs - all outside enjoying the perfect weather at dusk.

There was a lake that was so clear it reflected the huge trees and bridge surrounding it. Next to the lake were big 'porch swings' - I claimed on and read part of my book then decided to walk around some more. That's when I saw little flickering lights out of nowhere in front of me - lightening bugs! I called my grandma and told her they had them here and the proceeded to give me a story about lightening bugs when she was a little girl :)

...I made it back home and once again decided how much I love this city and how alive and happy it makes me. Maybe it's because for the moment this is MY city. I don't know anyone who's been here before and for the most part I'm finding things out on my own, driving around and getting lost, but seeing neighborhoods on the way that blow my mind. I feel very grown up in this city and when I drive by restaurants, bars or cafes around town I imagine myself there with my friends. I do the same with the homes/apartments I see. They're all great big Victorian style homes with huge trees and green grass surrounding them. Even the small houses look big!

Sorry this was so long...but it was a busy weekend - I even left part out! Time for bed, I've got work in the morning :)

Single: Sushi, Wine and John Cusack

Today was an awesome day! I woke up and went to the gym which put me in a good mood for the rest of the day. Work was great, as usual. Actually, the more I thought about it today the more I decided that this "work" doesn't feel like work. I enjoy it so much and it's cool to see things I've learned put into practice. There are a few little projects I'm working on. One involves finding events (women related, preferibly) going on around the world to put in the "Advance Notice" section, and the other is finding products, books, travel tips, etc. for the "Travelgirl Alley" section. ....I might MIGHT actually get to write a few of those for the next issue - I don't know for sure, so I don't wanna get my hopes up yet. !!OH!! I've read several of the artcles for the next issue (we're working on the September/October issue now) and the articles are all so good!!! Plus, the covergirl migtht be someone really cool too. If it's who I think it is then I'm going to see if there's any possible way I can go to the interview...it would be awesome. Anyway, I just did more copy editing and looking things up online that could go in the mag and opened some mail.

After work I had to go shopping...but first I decided to window shop a little bit at the very very very nice mall thely have here. Lenox Square Mall reminds me of a mall that would be in the O.C. Everybody in the mall could have been somebody famous - no joke. When I pulled up to park I was wedged in between a BMW and a Mercedes. Across from me were two limos...

All of the African-American guys I saw could have been a rapper or some famous basketball player; I've never seen so much "Bling" in real life! I also haven't seen so much leg in real life...Let me explain. I saw some of the tallest, skinniest African-American women that i've ever seen outside of fashion magazines. These girls were wearing stilettos and shorts that barely covered their frame, but they did all this very tastefully. It was just weird to see legs on a woman that probably came up to my chest!

The white people there also dressed the movie star part; I kept looking at everyone's face just hoping I'd recognize someone! heh, it was pretty crazy!!

After my adventure at the mall I went real grocery shopping and actually had a good time talking to random people at the store. One lady helped me pick out Sushi and the another wanted to know all about New Mexico! Hopefully I'll bring some of the friendliness they have out here back home with me.

Hang with me a few minutes longer...

So I did the shopping and came home and decided to call it a night. I felt kinda like Bridget Jones for what I did next. Heh, I got my sushi and miniature bottle of Pinot Grigio and popped in the "Say Anything" DVD I bought a few weeks ago. Perfect! Good food, good wine and a damn good movie - can't go wrong with John Cusack!

And THAT, my friends, was my day. I don't know what I'm doing this weekend, but I'm already looking forward to it!

Reposting the past.

I wrote this a week and a half before Nana died...

Sunday May 28 - I might be coming home for a few days pretty soon. I don't remember if I mentioned this already (I think I did, so sorry for the repeat), but my grandma has been in the hospital for the past week and they're sending her home tomorrow. Basically, from what I understand, there's nothing left for them to do. She's not eating - hasn't for the past week - the doctors have put a feeding tube in her twice and both times she's pulled it out. My mom told me that the doctors say they'll maker her as comfortable as they can at home, but she should only be expected to live for a few more days.

I have never been as close with her as I wanted to be; she's 91 and has almost 30 grandkids/great grandkids. But tonight while I was driving around on the freeway I broke into tears. I was on the phone with my mom and she was telling me that all of her children were in her room praying the rosery and that my girl cousins were crying. My mom has been awesome at keeping me up to date, but when she told me that I had to pull over. Ever had the feeling where there's this gigantic lump in your throat and the second you blink it's as though a river spouts from your eyes? That was me on I-85 tonight.

I wasn't there last year for my dad and it down right broke my heart. I actually had this ache in my chest whenever I thought about it. I understand there's not much more I can do from home...but I would at least be there. 90f my family (my ENTIRE family) lives within 30 miles of my grandma. I realize I picked this life of travel, and that it is my passion, but it's just so hard! "Life isn't easy," this I know, but maybe living away from Albuquerque isn't all that glamourous if it means I have to miss the things that are actually most important to me, like family.

Right now we're just waiting a couple days to see what happens. I was looking at airline tickets and...well...let's just say I could fly to London from Albuquerque with money to spare for the price it'll take to fly home for a few days. I decided last that I didn't want to go home and see her the way she is right now because the last memory I have of her was a perfect one; she told me good luck, that she loved me and then blessed me. I didn't want to taint that image, but right now I feel like I should be there with my family. Driving alone on 85 and crying isn't exactly the way I should deal with this.

I'm looking to come home this Wednesday and stay as long as needed, so I guess I'd need an open ticket or maybe just one ways...

keep my Nana in your prayers :)

Quick update

Just a short update. Today I started copy editing more stories. I called Italy and Australia to check facts and we worked on getting the next issues line up ready. There is a new intern coming a few days a week - her name is Abby and she seems nice so far. Tomorrow I'm working with Stephanie on some advertising ideas. OH and we got copies of the July/August issue in the office today! There were only about 10...but I got to see what I worked on for the first time in a real magazine form!! I didn't read the articles because...well...I read them plenty of times already. I did see my name in the magazine - SO COOL!!!! Ok, i'm going to bed now. :)

Seven days later...

Seven days and three books later (two of which I read today) I am back in Atlanta after an emotional trip back home.

Last Wednesday, June 7, my Mama and Papa told me that I should get on the next flight out and go home because Nana wasn't doing well - this was something we had been expecting and were just waiting for the right time for me to fly home. I had to change planes in Dallas and as soon as I got off the plane - around 3:10 Dallas time - I called Mama to let her know I landed safely and that I was on the way to get an earlier flight home. From the second she answered the phone and said "hi" I knew. I could hear it in her voice; it was the same tone she had last year when she called to tell me about Papa and Snuggles. She didn't even have to tell me to look outside for a cloud - I already knew. Nana took her last breath around 3:05...even if I took an earlier flight I wouldn't have made it.

I made the somber journey home; not really knowing how to react to what was going on. The next few days were spent crying and making plans. I wrote the obituary and my cousin and I wrote the Eulogy. I forgot how exhausting crying can be. I would be fine and then I'd see my dad get choked up and then I'd cry. I'd cry because my cousins would cry, or my aunts and uncles or even family/friends I didn't know. I cried when I saw there was standing room only in the church during the funeral service. I'd cry becuase I'd see my Nana laying in the most beautiful coffin and it would bring back memories of when my Poppy died. I cried when I saw the Californians hug my family or when friends of my Mom and Dad's showed up.

It will be weird to go to Nana's House and not have Nana there. Chris and I decided that we will always call the house "Nana's House" - it can't be anything else.

Where will you go today?

Today wasn't as interesting as the previous days - the time still flew by, but I had to find things to do. I did a lot of filing and going through more mail. I did however see some pretty sweet things in the mail! Take the wine festival going on at Disney World in September or a free trip to Alaska, California and Colorado... yeah I know.

I found out a little about the advertising. For example, newspapers run based completely on advertisement sales; the number of ads sold determine the paper's length. With a magazine though, or at least travelgirl, does need ads to generate more money for production, etc., but it isn't dependent on them. So, say they decide on a 120-page magazine and the week before they go to print two advertisers pull out. In the newspaper business you'd have to find two more advertisers or pull some stories. Here, from what I understand, they pull PSAs (Public Service Advertisements)to fill the wholes. Today we found a Breast Cancer ad and a "Team in Training Lymphoma" ad. See, now I found that interesting, maybe you did too!

Perhaps you can help me out with this? One of my 'side projects' is to come up with some travelgirl advertisement slogans. Have you heard of this one - "Where will you go today?" Now, it sounds VERY familiar..but does it sound familiar because some other company has it...or because it's catchy enough that a company should have it? You tell me. Seriously. Tell me.

Today I also helped the creative director with her wedding plans! She's getting married in July and is getting kinda stressed. I forgot to mention that she's getting married in Las Vegas! AND...is looking for a photographer who probably won't be from Vegas so she'll have to fly him in.

I pretty much decided that when I 'grow up' and find some rich guy to marry (ha ha ha) - or when I'm making good money (HA HA HA) I will hire THIS GUY as my photographer. The dress i will "buy" is featured in his photographs...but I won't say which one it is in case my future husband is reading this.

....right...now back to reality...

The Break Up - Warning - if you're going to see the movie, don't read this post

The Break Up. - I'm going to ruin the movie for you, so if you don't plan on ever seeing it then read on...otherwise. Stop reading this.

First of all one thing that frustrates me is when movies put out trailers depicting a movie to be one way when in reality the movie has absolutely nothing to do with the way the trailer makes it seem. Did that make sense? I'm sure I could have said that easier. Anyway - The Break Up seemed like it had good things going for it: Vince Vaughn - funny; Jennifer Anniston - funny and pretty; a break up - can be made funny. So if we're all in agreement, the previews made this movie look funny, right?

WRONG.

It was like sitting there through all the uncomfortable parts of a break up. Who likes to do that? Nobody. Who wants to see Vince Vauhn yell, scream and get angry? Nobody. What about Jennifer Anniston crying? Nope. None of these thing are funny. In fact, the only funny parts of the movie were in the previews - go figure.

To top it all off the ending was just...not an ending at all. It left me, the viewer, empty and depressed. Sure, not all movies have to have fairytale endings, but isn't that actually why we go see movies; why we want to be entertained - to escape from our mundane lives and see someone other people live the dream? We don't want realistic because we have to live that everyday.

The Break Up, combined with the pouring rain right after the movie, and a very depressing mix made by a friend put me in a bitter mood. To remedy that I'm going to order some pizza and watch a happy movie.

Happy June 3

To start today's blog I thought I'd show you something I came across today (see left). This took me back and made me think about 'turning points' and if I've had mine yet. I think I'm actually in the middle of that turning point right now. Maybe that book has it right. My 21st year was great and fun...but not all that significant in terms of what will effect the rest of my life. This year, however, I feel myself getting closer to a 'grown up' job. I will gradute before I turn 23 and I can scratch another thing off my "things to do before I die list."

I'm not scared of graduating anymore. For a few months awhile back I couldn't sleep at night because I was scared I'd be working at Dion's for the rest of my life. Now, I know that even if I don't end up at a magazine right after college it's not completely out of the picture. Recently I've also been thinking about the possibility of going back to school to get my masters in more of the design aspect of journalism - just a tiny thought.

Whew. Anyway...today was fun. I went to this thing called something like "Johnson Highland's Summerfest." This mile-long fest was an arts and crafts festival meets young adults looking to have a good time. The arts and crafts weren't things your grandma would want (well...most grandma's at least. For example, I got my mom a hummingbird feeder made out of a beer bottle. There were beer, margarita, daquari stands ever so often complete with sampling of Mike-Hard-Lemonade! There was also a big stage set up in a park right next to the street; I stayed to hear two acts - both good...but never caught either name. One of the coolest things about this was that it was all held on a residental street. I'm not sure how they got ALL the home-owners to agree to it, but it I was impressed.

The ONLY downfall was the humidity. In fact - that's the only downfall I see to this city. I don't know if I would adapt to it either. GRR. Weather makes me angry. But on the plus side - This Book ranked Atlanta as the 7th best city to live in. That is neat.

What else did I do today? Um. Took a really long nap. The heat kinda really got to me. Oh, before I took the nap I got lost. Really lost. Lol. I had to actually get the map out from the backseat to figure out where the hell I was. Turns out I made it all the way to the south of Atlanta...the complete opposite direction of where I needed to be. After I finally figured it out...I took my nap. Then I bought a TV - yea! And uh.. that's about it. Good day if you ask me! Who knows what's in store tomorrow.

OH... today is my Nanny's 98th birthday. She's my Great-Grandma on my Mom's side! How cool is that...98. Wow. I also read in a book today that the average life expectancy is 76-years-old; way to go Nanny!

Time for bed.

Paris and the rain

When I moved out here Chris told me Atlanta was a city where new music continually comes out of and that I needed to pay attention to the radio for the latest hits. Tonight I heard the premier of a song that was ONLY played in this particular Atlanta station. This song was unbelievable - I was literally in awe and didn't know what to do with myself when I heard it.

Are you ready for this? I don't think you are. Are you sitting down? The brand new, never before heard song was done by none other than PARIS HILTON. Yes. I said it. Paris Hilton. Let me say it again just in case you didn't quite catch me the first time. Paris Hilton has decided she wants to be a singer. Her 'song' called "Stars are Blind" sounded more like a whinning Gwen Steffani mixed with Mariah Carrey's newer sound. To be honest, I couldn't stop listening to it, but I think that's because it reminded me of a trainwreck; I just can't believe I was hearing Paris Hilton 'singing' a song on national radio.

I listened to Paris in the rain while driving home from work tonight. It was actually weird to be driving in rain that stayed consistant throughout my entire journey home. Usually in Albuquerque one street will be dry while a road just next to it would have pouring rain. Even though it rained ALL THE TIME in Bournemouth I never drove in the rain. I was at work all day again. It was a little boring during the day - nothing for me to do - but it picked up again late afternoon. GET THIS: My name is going to be in the magazine! Yup, it's in the place called the "masthead" where all the other names are. Granted mine is towards the very end of the list, I'm still ridiculously happy/excited!!!!

And with that - I'm going to sleep.

waiting for work.

So I mentioned Matthew McConaughey in the last blog and I thought I should follow that up with the fact that he's been shooting a new movie in Atlanta for the past month. Not only that, but apparently he'll be here for another month and the movie is being filmed about 10 miles from where I'm living. How sweet is that. I think this would go down in the best summer ever...if I got to see (and take a picture of) Matthew McConaughey *sigh*!

Yesterday, I forgot to mention last night because I was tired, was also cool because I got to call some people back who'd left messages for the editor. One of them was a girl giving a pitch for a story. The woman sold it to me as though I were the editor - it was so weird/cool to be on the receiving end of something like that. After I listened to what she had to say, and took down notes, I repeated it to Stephanie and she wanted to know my opinion on the story! How cool is that?

haha...I realize everything I'm saying is "cool" right now, but I just can't think of any other thing to say about it!!

I guess today we absolutely make sure that everything we have for the mag. is ready to go and get printed. We send it away tonight (or after we finish today) and then the publisher place prints out a BIG copy of it and sends it back. We have until Tuesday to go over any final changes that needs to be done on the BIG copy and then that gets sent back to the publisher Tuesday night. Then...the magazine gets printed. They hit the shelves July 4, but if you're a subscriber you get them a week before...I don't know when we get them here. I'm assuming we get them earlier than that. YEA!!!

I don't know what I'm doing this weekend. Maybe I'll go see a movie tonight. Tomorrow night a girl I work with said her friend is having a party...so we need to exchange numbers. I'm also going to give Nicole a ring and see if she's doing anything. Other than that...I'll just wonder around town.

good day's work.

Oh boy, today was fun!!! Today it was crunch time - time to get all the little ity-bity details just right. I've put in two 12-hour days and I've loved it! I've pretty much been doing the same things each day, calling numbers and checking websites making sure everything is as up-to-date as possible. On the awesome plus side though, I've been writing more captions!! I think all but two stories have my captions on them... and the editor said she really liked them!

People have asked me if where I work is anything like "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." Unfortunitely there are no Matthew McConaughey's running around and the office isn't anywhere near the size of the one in the movie...but I wasn't expecting that. Today the magazine was literally put together by four people: myself, the asst. graphic designer, the graphic designer and the editor-in-chief. None of the writers are present...in fact I don't know if they even come into the office - I know most don't live in Atlanta. I lie, Janice, who wrote the article on Pushkar, India is from Atlanta and came in yesterday. OH and there's one proofreader who looks at the final draft of the entire magazine before it goes to press. She was here yesterday and today. I was surprised there was only one person, but I was told it's to keep the style consistant.

I've only been here a week, so I've only been apart of getting the very tail-end of this issue out, but it's just been so much fun! We all laugh and get along really really well. The office is full of mostly women - oh, I think I forgot to mention that right next to travelgirl magazine is SRI Travel, a travel agency. Anyway, tonight we stayed late and the four of us were putting the thing together and just having a really good time.

....There's more I could say, but I'm tired now.