Blew me off with a heartfelt letter, well I can do better than that.

 

WOW, it's been awhile but life has been anything but boring! I am coming to you for the first time LIVE from my new laptop! I've had it for a month and it was about time to get a new one. My old one has been with me since I started college in 2011 and it was on its last leg. I also wrote another article interviewing a Broadway actor whose concert I'm seeing tonight. I can't wait!

A few weeks ago, I went on my first family vacation during a pandemic to Florida. It was actually fun and so nice to get away! Traveling during a pandemic is interesting. It wasn't as bad as I expected but at least I kind of forgot there was a pandemic when I got there which could be good or bad? I'm glad my sister was able to have one of the best birthdays ever after last year's was in quarantine. She deserved it. We did a lot of fun things (safely, of course!), ate at a few great restaurants, shopped, went to the beach, and even took a boat tour. I was sad to leave but at least now that we're vaccinated we could pull off more mini-vacations if cruises continue to be canceled.

As for the job search, some interesting things have happened. The first thing happened before the trip. I was spending the day with my family taking a beach walk and going out to lunch and had a huge fight with my parents about my career path. It's a long story, but it made me extremely upset. I went home to unwind and wasn't even going to apply to any jobs, but I applied to one that my mom sent me to be a Digital Writer at US Weekly. There must be some kind of spirit out there because literally an HOUR later, they contacted me and said they would send me an edit test the following week. I did the test which took up about four hours of my day, from 11-3. It was HARD, but I'm glad I was able to show them what I could do. A few weeks later on a fucking SATURDAY, the editor flat out rejected me. Okay, fine. I don't want to have a career that involves cheap articles about celebrity gossip. That's not my brand. Have fun working on a Saturday while I continue to collect unemployment! #yourloss

Another thing happened last week. In March, I got a free magazine called Encore Monthly which is a new theater magazine that focuses on audiences and what they're interested in. I LOVED the magazine and while reading it, I was thinking about how I am just as capable as these writers to have an article featured. I found the Editor-in-Chief's email online and sent him this whole heartfelt email about how I loved the magazine and would love a chance to write for it. He responded three weeks later saying that he did accept freelance work and wanted to look at my portfolio. He did not see anything that aligned with the types of articles in the magazine, but asked me to send him a pitch anyway. I replied with an idea, but he has since not responded. I'm hoping he's just busy and will respond at some point? But I am not going to give up.

On the flip side, my sister got a job. I'm happy for her! People probably think I'm jealous but I'm really not. She has been through a lot this year and has lost a lot of things, and I am hoping this will help her rebuild her life in the best way she can. I am sad she won't be around as much because she has been my buddy since I was fired from my job, but this will be good for her. I'm honestly not in a rush to get a job anyway. I still get unemployment and want to enjoy my life, especially since summer is coming. I know that I will eventually have to get a job at some point, but I have a lot of growing to do. I've been listening to a lot of podcasts and doing some self-reflecting about what kind of job I want and what will make me happy. If it works out with the magazine, maybe I can freelance for while still doing BroadwayWorld until something comes from it, but I am not going to jump to conclusions. I'm going to continue to figure it out.