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| NYC skyline |
mid-July 2013 - Sony Pictures Imageworks let most of us (probably 90% of the workforce in the Culver City office) know that we would very likely be let go at the end of Cloudy 2. For several of us there were mentions of trying to bring us back on as soon as possible, but with the slate of movies lined up at the time (read: almost none) they weren't sure when that would be. Bummer. As a result, I began plans to go on an extended vacation. I've always talked about that trip to Italy, and it seemed like it might finally happen!
late-July 2013 - SIGGRAPH 2013 in Anaheim happened! If you know me, you know that I volunteer with the conference and look forward to it all year. 2013 did not disappoint in most respects, I had a fantastic time as usual :) The only disappointment, which is not the fault of SIGGRAPH and a mere reflection of the industry, was the Job Fair, which was downright dismal. I had created an updated version of my reel and resume to shop around, but there was literally almost no one to give it to. That extended vacation was looking more and more likely, yay!
last week of July 2013 - Back at SPI for my last week, I received a surprise email from Blue Sky Studios saying they had found my work online and wanted to talk to me about a Fur TD position. I was very flattered of course, since BS is a great company and does lovely work, but the studio is in Greenwich, CT and I had no intention of moving. I let it sit for a day or two while I thought about it.
early August 2013 - I thought and thought about it, and given my current work situation it seemed illogical to say no to a potential opportunity, so I emailed BS back saying I would like to talk to them. At that point I still had no intention of moving, I just thought I would hear them out and see what they had to say. Also, SPI ended up extending me one week at a time through all of August to work on hair grooms for films they were trying to get going.
August 29, 2013 - We did a phone interview that went really well. I remember thinking that I liked them, and I felt like they liked me, and I thought that each party could tell the other knew what they were talking about, which is a good sign. They wanted to fly me out to NY/CT for an in-person interview, and I couldn't say no. Part of that was because I'd never been to NYC before and I had a couple friends there I could visit, but I could also tell that there was probably a very hard decision quickly approaching. As much as I was flattered (and relieved) at the opportunity, I love SoCal and my people there and REALLY didn't want to leave.
August 30, 2013 - My last day working in the building at SPI :( Technically I was employed with them through September 3, 2013 (so my benefits would extend another month), but Friday, August 30 is when all the heart-breaking happened :(
September 9, 2013 - I interviewed in-person at Blue Sky Studios. As suspected, the people were great, the studio was lovely, the job seemed tailor-made for me, they have great benefits, they seemed pleased with me and my answers to all of their questions, etc. Damn it. I stayed an extra day in the city with hanging out with my friend Holly from undergrad, who I hadn't seen much since we both finished at MTSU, and Callie from SIGGRAPH. A good time was had by all :)
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| Holly and Callie showing the newbie Times Square |
From here on the dates get a little hazy, as everything was happening super fast.
later that week - BS called with an offer that was ALMOST exactly what I wanted. Because I was being a doody-head and didn't want to move, I counter-offered asking for more money. They came back and agreed! Damn it. So then the hard decision-making process started. I had the weekend to think about it, and as much as it tore me apart to leave my sunny California home, I took the gig.
a week or so after that - My mom was kind enough to take a trip up there with me to go house/apartment hunting. Turns out, things there are just as expensive as in SoCal (great!). We spent a full day and a half looking at different rentals with a couple different realtors, and ended up taking the first place we saw, haha.
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| There was a house with a tire swing. It almost won on that point alone. |
late September 2013 - I spent a couple of weeks packing up my house in CA, sorting out lease and new hire paperwork, finding movers, walking Kizzi at all of our favorite spots, trying to fit in everything local that I had wanted to do but hadn't gotten to in seven years, and in general trying to spend every waking moment with my friends. It should be noted here that my friends were AWESOME and so helpful in this process. I couldn't have done it without them.
October 6, 2013 - I left California :( Kizzi and I packed our stuff for about two weeks, my computers, my cello, some camping equipment for the first couple of days in the new house, and whatever other odds and ends were left and would fit into the car and drove 3 days home to Tennessee. I had asked for about six weeks between accepting the job and starting to give me plenty of time to pack, move, unpack, and go home to see the family in between.
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| Me and Kizzi on the road to TN |
October 19, 2013 - Momma, Kizzi, and I drove my car (still packed to the brim) up to see Grandma Jackie in Illinois on our way to my new home in New York (BS is just across the CT line, makes for interesting taxes). We spent the day with her then got a couple of hours driving before stopping for the night.
October 20, 2013 - We arrived at my new place! Late at night mind you. Yay camping gear in an empty house!
October 21, 2013 - Cable and internet installed, I decided I'm such a TV nerd that I couldn't wait any longer for my stuff to get there and needed to go buy a TV. I was missing all of my shows! At that point we didn't know yet when my stuff would arrive. It was Monday and could have arrived anytime through the next weekend. Also, this day there was a lot of cleaning, figuring out where things would go, getting used to the new area, and ALMOST DESTROYING THE BASEMENT WITH THE WASHING MACHINE. That was fun.
October 22, 2013 - Momma flew out for the day to go do a work thing (she came back later that night). Also, my stuff arrived! Ok, so now I have two TVs, no big. One in my bedroom, woo hoo!
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| Hello stuff! I've missed you! |
the rest of that week - My mom was kind enough to stay with me for most (or maybe all?) of that week, helping me clean, unpack, organize, shop for new stuff for the house, and just generally help get Kizzi and me settled in :) We also took a day and went to do touristy things in NYC, since she had never been before! I can't remember now if she left that Saturday or Sunday, it's all kind of a blur. Regardless, her help was MUCH appreciated.
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| Momma's first NYC subway ride |
October 28, 2013 - My first day at Blue Sky. It was a warm welcome during a week of Halloween festivities. I've had some trouble learning the way they do things here (very different from Sony) but in general it's a great company, they treat us very well, my Sup and co-workers are very kind and understanding, we're working on great projects, and I should be happy here. I'm still learning how to not be close to all my SoCal friends, and the winter was a tough test of my willpower, but we have all survived and the outlook here is bright!
So that's it as far as timeline goes. I've now been here right at 7 months and am fairly well settled in. I have a few friends, Holly, the friend who lives in NYC, and Gerarda, the lady that lives in the upstairs of my house, who have made it much more liveable for me here :) Perhaps I'll talk more about my winter woes in a future post, but probably not because mostly I just want to forget them.
I'm happy to announce the return of my Kitchen Misadventures series! One of the best things about moving here is that I have a big backyard, so I started a big (for me) garden! Things are already growing like weeds and I plan to document the progress there in future posts. My friend Oba and I also agreed to split a CSA share for June-December, so we can all look forward to more games of Name that Vegetable! Yee and Katya will have to play online :)
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| A preview of the garden, starting small. |
Also, I will be starting a new series, I Spy. The above mentioned backyard happens to border reserved land for the drinking water reservoirs of White Plains and NYC. The actual reservoirs are a couple of miles back, meaning that really my backyard borders forest. I was worried at first about what kind of little beasties we might see back there, and so far nothing dangerous has made an appearance, but there have been some surprises. Stay tuned for that!
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