refreshing life and living refreshed

Getting-By-Gig: Fredericks of Hollywood Grand Opening

In a nutshell… Lingerie looks better (and may sell better) on the mannequins than humans. I’m beginning to think mute visuals sell better than conservatively dressed girls handing out flyers.

What did I do? “Hi, come into Fredericks of Hollywood for happy hour and receive complimentary bootie shorts and cocktails from 5-8 tonight!” One women shot a demeaning stare at the mannequin, preceded by a guy eying the mannequin for his dreams later that night. G-L-A-M-O-R-OUS. Yes, just like Ferggie.

End result? $100 for 3 ½ hrs of handing out flyers. (Again, glamorous.)  However, I scored a pack of high-end shampoos and conditions from a grand opening at Pure Essentials which was…purely erotic.

Getting-By-Gig: Fifty Cent Power Promotion at Macy’s

In a nutshell…“Because every man who feels good…should smell good” Thank you Fifty, (phonetically pronounced fid-dee by Fifty himself) for the insight. Note to weaning fans: he was definitely digging Asian girls – three numbers in 2 hrs.

What did I do? Title: Bag Girl. I carried adoring fan’s items stored in Macy’s bags while they met Mr. Fifty.

End result? Paid $100… And I’m pretty sure Fiddee looked at me. No number, but there was a definite gaze. However, I met some really cool people from Macy’s and went out to a cute wine bar afterward.

Getting-By-Gig: Wicked Week at Macy’s

In a nutshell… Street Marketing 101: Don’t take yourself (or others) too seriously or you’ll never end your day feeling happy.

What did I do? Recruit as many people as I possibly could to come into Macy’s for the Macy and Wicked Halloween Weekend Celebration. How? Here a few of the many callouts I used to attract Union Square pedestrians:

“Hi! Would you like to have a free *Wicked* makeover at Macy’s today?”

“Want to look *Wicked* cool? Check out Macy’s FREE Halloween Face Painting today 10-12!

Afterward I helped the Macy’s girls hand out Wicked goodie bags (Note: majority of Macy’s Public Relations team is female, not sure if this is due to supply or demand.).

End result? Paid $100 for four hours, but only had to work for three. Plus I received three autographed Wicked Playbills to give to friends. Wicked cool, right?

Getting-By-Gig: TJ Maxxinista Fashion Show

In a nutshell… Tiring and Humbling. Quote from the event director “Girls, I know it’s been a long day. But it’s going to be over in just an hour. Now, I want all the pretty girls to come with me. Brand Ambassadors, I’ll be back in a second for you…”  

What did I do? Title: Brand Ambassador. As another Craigslist hookup, I was pretty pumped with my Craigslist luck. The day before the event I was paid into to attend a four hour TJ Maxx meeting that only lasted one hour. So I spent the remaining three hours shopping (10% discount for working). The following morning (after a 30 minute “lost in SF” moment), I arrived at Pier 39’s entrance, filled with a Catwalk, “red carpet” photo booth, and four clothes racks displaying Fashionista TJ Maxxinista prices clothes vs identical department store prices. As Brand Ambassador I convinced passersby to walk the catwalk with models or to walk the red carpet and get their picture taken in the photo booth.

End result? By then end of the day I was tired, hungry and annoyed by not being an incredibly skinny good looking person. But I was also $140 richer.

Getting-By-Gig: Medithrive, a Medical Marijuana company.  

In a nutshell… The phrase “try it once and never do it again” comes to mind.

What did I do? It wasn’t one of my finer moments, but at $12 per hour, handing flyers outside on a sunny day, this job wasn’t that bad.

End result? $60 richer. However, after my family found out about my promotion of illegal substances, a few rumors floated throughout my household. Four days following the event, I received this email from my mother: “There was a piece on the news about the CA Medical Marijuana issue - did you sell it at an event this weekend??? Love, Mom” Oh family…

Job Hunters Seeking Prey

Alright, so you’ve made the move and are in your new turf. Great! Now, the next step to ensure that you won’t be knocked out of bounds (and run home penniless) you must make the bucks. Finding a job in a new city, OK any city, whether you’ve been there five days or five years, can be difficult, and tedious, and tiring, and stressful, and many more negative descriptions. However, one adjective that job seeking is not is impossible.

There are a few avenues to explore; all with their own pros and cons. Below is a short overview of becoming employed in an unemployable market. Moving to San Francisco when the state had an unemployment rate of 12% was daunting, but I managed to make ends meet - just like you will. 

While you’re in limbo trying to find a job, I suggest checking out gigs for odd (and small) jobs until something bigger breaks through. From my experience, that is how I primarily made ends work until I found a job I wanted.

In this section of the blog, I’ve included two components of the job seeking process:

1) “Getting-By-Gigs”, snapshots of gigs worked around the city (it’s hard to believe what people will pay you for).

2) “Job-Call-Strats”, different job seeking strategies to use to connect with employers, especially if you’re starting from scratch.

When you and your banker don’t speak the same language, visual aids always save the day. 

It all started as a quick (so I thought) trip to the bank on California Street to deposit a check. Fast forward 35 minutes later, I walked out of Wellsfargo with a Credit Fraud 101 crash course, two new accounts, and a favorite banker named Deng.

Expected? Of course not.

Maybe this has happened to you before, maybe not. For me, it was the first time I walked into a bank and received this much information. But I’m thankful I did, especially as a recent transplant.

If you relocate anywhere or travel frequently, check out Deng’s (banker) reasoning why you should get an additional checking account.

Scenario 1: Online Purchases: For instance, that really good deal on Craigslist. Brand new bed, frame, and they’ll move it for only $50?! All you have to do is send payment first; of course it’s a buy!

Scenario 2: That dinner at the small Chinese café in our new ‘hood… One of your first meals in your city, the Mom/Pop restaurant was only a few blocks away. It looked like diamond in the rough.

Whenever you use your card, whether online or at a small restaurant, you run a risk of fraudulence.

Scenario 1 continued: Go figure… that price was too good to be true and you got screwed by the seller who took your money via Western Union, even though it sounded legit.

Scenario 2 continued: You just noticed today that the server changed your $10 tip to a $100 tip. And it turns out that the hole-in-the-wall Chinese café suddenly went out of business yesterday. (How convenient) Apparently diamonds don’t last forever…

Now what?

Before getting too worried, keep in mind that banks will replace the money stolen in most fraudulent cases. However, once your fraudulent claims climb past the $3k marker (notice Deng’s visual), banks take exceptionally longer to investigate your claim and replace the money.

So what does that mean for you?

Well, you could be without money for awhile, in some cases up to a year, before you see those pretty pennies again.

Prevent, without wasting a cent!

Open an additional checking account that should be used only for international and domestic travel and online purchases to avoid having your bank account completely cleaned out.

Why? 

Thieves will be unable to steal more money because there’s a freeze from the checking account pulling funds from other accounts (think of automatic overdraft protection where money is directly pulled from your savings). And if you keep the amount under $100, even if someone hacks into your account, the most that can be taken will be $100.

How does this help you? 

You’ll prevent losing your life savings and get your money back faster than you would if it the money was stolen from your savings account or personal checking account.

Why? 

Three reasons:

1)     Money placed in your checking account is actually owned by the bank, therefore the bank will want to get its money back ASAP

2)     Less money, less time: less money to investigate for foul play.

3)     Taking these preventative measures put you (and your money) in the banks favor. It’s like the God Father, “You, ah, help, ah, us and we will, ah, help, ah, you. You know?”

‘Frisco Free Living: BEACHSIDE CLEANUP

How did I find it? My flatmate an email from Surfrider about an upcoming beach clean up.

Requirements? None, just a few open hours on a Sunday and an interest to keep our planet clean!

What exactly did I do? Picked up glass, nails, and other debris along the beach.

Where? Ocean Beach

Bonus? FREE FOOD! Fresh veggies burgers, hamburgers, fresh veggies, chips, salsa; the lineup of free food was awesome! Besides being deeelish, the food factor was huge becasuse 1) currently living in a hostel which only serves bagels, 2) I have no food, 3) limited funds to buy (good/nutritious/tasty) food.

Additional Bonus: We entered Surfrider’s beachside cleanup raffle and won a Patagonia hat and long sleeve shirt, Carve Designs surf long sleeve, Roxy board shorts, and the grand prize (drum roll please!) 6 bottles of Barefoot wine and 4 BareFoot stemless wine glasses (our first set of glassware!)

Staying Fit: Crunch Fitness California Ride

Rain or shine, this spin class will kick your butt. Time intervals ranging from 30 seconds to six minutes and resistance intervals interchanging from downhill coasting to climbing uphill (imagine Lombard…) pump up the intensity in the class. Regular spinners, this class is among the best I’ve seen so far. Newbies, with the upbeat instructors, charged soundtracks, and minimal (if any) training, this class will likely make you a spin fanatic (spin + fan). If you’re a current cyclist or spinnatic (those addicted to spin), this is a class that you don’t want to miss.

Sharing Moving Insights: Lived, Learned, & Experienced

A few things learned a few weeks into the move:

1. Expect a rollercoaster of emotions. Just like home, you will have good and bad days. Hang in there and stay positive. Know that this will happen and is completely normal.
2. The problems you had at home don’t go away with the move. It’s like looking in the mirror, the problems you had back home will still be reflected with you in the mirror. The only thing that changes is your background. However, saying this, know that this is the perfect opportunity to make a change. Here’s your chance to focus on you.
3. With one change, comes more changes. And the new changes come much more easily. It’s like a new administration – new policies can be introduced, new programs to help the nation, you can create a new set of advisors (friends) or keep the old. It’s totally up to you. The decision is yours.
4. No one is telling you when, where, or how. You made the move. This step is one more reminder that the life you’re living is YOURS.  Do what makes you, well, you. And do what makes you happy. We are born into this world alone and leave this world alone. Take ownership of the precious moments you have in this lifetime.
5. Be patient. Those interview request emails that you so painstakingly crafted and the phone calls that no one picked up over a week ago may take awhile to be answered. Think of the process you went through to do it. You’re learning how to communicate, be it written, oral, or in-person, with different people. And who knows, whether or not that specific company calls you back, maybe a representative there knows someone else who knows someone else (you get the picture) who needs someone just like you.
6. This is all brings me to the most important point, believe in YOU. Have faith that things will work out. Why? Because they will, honestly. If at some point your faith dwindles, ask yourself why. Is it another bad day after a long line of consecutive bad days? Or is it because deep down you know that what you’re seeking isn’t really for you?
7. Go with the flow. If it works, it works. If it doesn’t, something will come through. If you can get a job before hand, that will help greatly. If you don’t, don’t fret. The more uncomfortable you are with yourself, the more uncomfortable others are with you. Again, trust and believe in you. Things will work out, just be patient.