It’s definitely a change in my daily routine. The trusty ol’ Saturn Ion has been given away to be sold and I now travel solely by foot, subway, and occasional taxi. My legs were sore and my feet were blistered the first couple of weeks that I was here, but I toughened up soon enough. I no longer take notice when I overhear conversations in a different language and I don’t get squirmy when my precious personal space is invaded on crowded subways. I haven’t completely transitioned though, the word “pop” escapes my lips occasionally when I mean to say “soda”, and I still walk around admiring the beauty and tallness of the buildings nearly every day here — a well-known sign of a tourist!

Helping this transition for me is a new job that I am so lucky to have. Just today I found myself staying later than needed not because of pressures of a looming deadline but because I was just genuinely really enjoying what I was working on at the moment. Buddy Media is such an inspiring place to work. It’s a company that works hard and plays hard, and I’ve loved every moment of my employment there. In college, I used to joke about finding a job that allowed me to play with things like Photoshop and Facebook on a day-to-day basis. The fantasy has become real! And with it, an awesome staff to work with (not to mention, free cheesy snacks!) My responsibilities there have mostly focused on updating and creating Facebook pages, as well as playing a role in the redesign and front-end maintenance of our corporate website.

I’m now settled in a cozy and adorable apartment in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. I’m surrounded by amazing restaurants and interesting bars, which is very dangerous for my bank account. In Cleveland, I took enjoyment in staying home a lot and reading books and watching TV; I’ve found that I’m much more socially active here. It’s aided by the fact that I have my boyfriend and a handful of college friends that have also moved here, as well as new friends I’ve made at work. I’m thinking that after the thrill of it all sets in a bit, I’ll become reacquainted with my more hermity self. Eventually, I’ll find my balance!

All in all, New York Jillian is a very happy Jillian!

Last week I accepted a position as Front End Producer with Buddy Media, a wonderful company that I am really excited to work for. Primarily, they offer social media services to their clients (some of which are impressively big, like Anheuser Busch and Southwest Airlines) and I believe I will be helping them chop up designs into clean, semantic code. Buddy Media was very cool with my current situation with being in Cleveland and planning to move in August, and were happy to conduct phone and video interviews with me. I had a great feeling about things right off the bat as everyone I came in contact with from the company seemed really friendly and passionate about what they do. Who wouldn’t want to work at a place like that?

Through the interview process, and my highly developed Facebook-stalking skills, I discovered some perks to the company that I am really excited about. They are located in a great area, near Columbus Circle (just outside of the southwest corner of Central Park). Through a couple Facebook albums, I spied iMacs and exposed brick in their work space, which I adore! I was told that the company is primarily 20-somethings and 30-somethings, so I’m thinking my 25-year-old self will fit in pretty well. I was also told that the dress code is casual every day of the week–looks like my favorite pair of jeans is about to get a lot more use!

What excites me the most is the culture change that I’m bound to experience from my current job to this new one. The company that I am leaving has been a valuable stepping stone in my career, and I’ve really enjoyed the projects and people that I’ve worked with the past two years there. However, most would agree that the metalforming / manufacturing industry may not be the best breeding ground for the latest trends and technology in website production. It’s been fun and challenging to help bring a more modern online presence to the company, but I am ready to work in an industry that fully embraces what I do, and one that will no doubt challenge and teach me in new ways.

The big move happens on August 8, and my first day at Buddy Media is August 16. Exciting times are drawing near!

Since this is my portfolio site, I really wanted it to reflect my tastes. Currently I am loving subtle textures and muted colors in website designs, with a splash of color here and there – so I tried to implement those features accordingly. The overflow criss-cross along the border of the foreground was an effect I accidentally created in Photoshop, and really liked the result.

Cleveland Crave uses a fun graphic of the Cleveland skyline in its header, surely recognizable by any of the city’s inhabitants and fans. With it, I chose to use bold, happy colors, alongside alcohol-beverage icons, to suggest a laid-back and fun website. Cleveland Crave is essentially a blog at heart, so I found that WordPress was a perfect platform to use. Without my assistance, Amy is easily able to add new reviews to the post feed, as well as calendar events in the sidebar. We’ve actively used Twitter and Facebook to direct traffic to our content.