Smiles Per Hour

Sometimes, I can't believe that I actually get paid to work for Disney. It sounds so ridiculous, but I can't help but feel like I'm living in an alternate reality where my 10-year-old self is calling the shots. There's a giant poster of Tiana in my cubicle; my phone screen background is a shot of the Disney princesses; my cubicle name tag is Sally from Nightmare (I mentioned that before, but it hasn't stopped being exciting); and I have Mike Wasowski's giant eyeball staring at my from my Monsters, Inc. coffee cup.

Here are a few commonplace occurrences in a work day:

--Hearing the phrase "smiles per hour" in reference to what we're trying to achieve. This only happened once, but I loved it.
--Playing games. I've played board games, tested iPad games for kids, put together pipe cleaner monsters, and more. Plus, we're going to "visit Hasbro" on Monday to check out all the new toys. Surreal.
--Eating. I've been briefed on taste-testing, and so far I've "had to" taste-test brownies, spiced edamame, cashew granola bars, and watermelon-feta-mint salad, and the tasks keep coming.
--Brats 'n' Beer Fest. Again, this was a one-time thing, but it's still cool that we took two hours out of an afternoon to eat sausages and drink beer. Not too bad.

Front of my office building, which was once a U.S. Post Office

Not everything is magic and fairies and eating and games -- there is actual work to be done: writing, editing, fact-checking, database searching, answering queries, opening packages, etc. etc. But the fact that there are fairies involved makes the more menial work more than tolerable.

This city is so unexpectedly cool, too. The first words that come to mind are hip, trendy, New England-y, and organic. All of those could have negative connotations, but I mean them in the best possible sense. It's a small enough city that much of it is within walking distance, and -- small-ish though it may be -- it's packed with some pretty good restaurants, fun cafés, bars, shops, and so on.

One block over from the office: a small, indie movie theatre

On a completely unrelated note, here is a letter that Zooey Deschanel (whom I unashamedly try to mimic at every turn ... I admit it) wrote to Vogue magazine when she was 17 and a wee little feminist:

 

On that note, I should go get ready for Friday Night Dinner. Christian doesn't know this, but I'm implementing a weekly night-on-the-town. We do a lot of cooking at home -- which is awesome -- but sometimes he needs a break from the dishes. ;) No, really, he's a dish-washing fiend. Tonight is Moroccan, and I mean the food, not the spawn of Mariah Carey.

Cheers!