Girls Meet World

Waking up Tuesday morning was different from our previous ones; instead of going to class or going somewhere on a day trip, instead we were heading to our first day of our first real jobs.  I feel like we have been building up to this day for so long, and we can't believe that it finally arrived!  To make sure we had plenty of time to get all prim and proper, we got up quite early, giving ourselves time to leisurely prepare.  After blow drying, makeup, wardrobe and everything in between, we were both ready for our first day in the real world.  Since Lauren has the longer commute (sorry), she left a bit before I had to leave, so we hugged and wished each other good luck.  Shortly after, I made the 15 minute walk to Kelso Place, the quiet Kensington Street where the Crabtree & Evelyn corporate offices are located.
When I first walked in, I was excited and anxious, not really knowing what to expect.  Within five minutes of my arrival, though, I was sent to the City to visit a store location where another new employee, Yvonne, was receiving training.  So it turns out I did actually have to take the tube on my first day of work!  When I reached the store, we began our two hour product training session, sampling pretty much everything they sell in the stores.  By the end, my nose was so filled with scents I couldn't tell Rosewater from Vanilla, and I'm pretty sure my hands are going to be moisturized for the next five years...
After we were finished, we were then instructed to visit a few other London stores to get a feel for the different locations.  By the end of the day, I had visited five Crabtree & Evelyn shops, all throughout the whole of London; it was exhausting, but at least I got to explore a lot!  It was so interesting to see how different each store was, and I enjoyed talking to each of the managers to get a sense of their feelings on the brand and company as a whole.  My last stop was the store in Covent Garden, which turned out to be my favorite as it was right in the center of the market.  I had never been in this area before but have been dying to go, and I am determined to return more often.  It is so eclectic, and has so many great shops and restaurants around.  By the time 6 pm rolled around, I walked down to Charing Cross Station to meet with Lauren, who had a great first day at JP Morgan.  We discussed what we had done during the day as we made our way to the Savoy Theater; we had decided last week that as reward for our first day of work, we would try to get student rush tickets to Legally Blonde, and we were thrilled when we ended up getting 8th row seats for a great price!  Excited for our show, we walked back over to Covent Garden and ate at the Courage Pub, a little underground pub that pretty much screams English.  We each enjoyed falafel burgers (we needed greasy food at that point in the day), before heading back to the theater for the show at 7:30.  Legally Blonde was one of our favorites in New York, so we had a really fun time bopping along to all the music (and the occasional singing along...very rare though of course).  By the time we got out around 11 pm, we were exhausted, our feet were killing us, and our beds were calling our names.  We both decided that we had great first days, and we are excited to see what tomorrow holds!
   xo Carolyn