We all know I haven't been as good of writing lately as I believe my last post was back in April. However it is with reason. I've been in this eternal debate with myself of late as to weather this blog is the best use of space. thought and time (for both you and I), or if maybe I should instead begin to blog about something work-related as to begin to develop myself to be a thought leader (no I wouldn't expect you to read that one).
So I want to ask you...do you like these updates? Are they worth reading to you? Should I start writing regularly in this blog again to tell the tales of my adventures? Would you be interested in content other than the stories of my most recent adventures? (I do have some good adventures)
Reply to this email or comment on the post and let me know!
I'm not one to be found in a single place for too long. In the years since I finished college, I've lived in San Diego, Italy, Minneapolis, Florida, and San Francisco. I'm a startup junkie and an adventure enthusiast. I hope you find some joy in my stories. -StephUsry
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Settling In
I've now been in San Francisco right about 6/7 months (time flies!). I'm into my very own apartment, which I've finally managed to furnish with actual real-person furniture (okay a few things are still from Ikea). And as exciting as it is to see each piece of the new home fall into place, I get hints every once in a while of this feeling. This feeling that I'm TERRIFIED of being so settled in! We have a couch, a NICE one, that I had to move in a big truck. We have an actual bed frame (as opposed to the glorious days of a mattress on the floor). I even ended up with a fondu maker, which was included in a recent kitchen ware acquisition (and no it still hasn't emerged from its box).
These are things that, next time I move (and we all know I'm going to move again). I might actually have to get a moving truck to transfer them, instead of stuffing things into the trunk of a mid-sized sedan and selling the rest...okay I may actually just sell everything again the next time, we'll have to see.
Okay, I have to admit I'm having a little bit of fun with it all...trying to find things that work and match and not just picking up whatever I find that is easiest to transport via a Craigslist add. While it's fun to be getting nicer stuff, always in the back of my mind these acquisitions remind me that I am getting settled here. That I can't easily pack up my life into a few bags and fly across the country for the next adventure.
But the exciting thing is that I have so much to explore here in San Francisco. While I've done well to explore many parts of this city, I haven't even made it over to the Marina area or the neighborhoods along the ocean. I haven't been to SF's own Little Italy, nor have I really gone and visited China Town. And then there are ALL the places around San Francisco that are so very close. Marin, wine country, Berkeley, Oakland, Montery...the list goes on and on!
To say the least, I have a lot to explore in this beautiful new city and I've only gotten started. While it still scares me to be somewhat settled, I think I've finally found a place that I won't mind settling in for a while. (Though a call from London today is making me realize that that's probably going to be my next stop ;)
Sunday, March 4, 2012
It's REAL Good!
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| It's so hilly here! |
Work is continually evolving as my role is figured out then redefined and my responsibilities are adapted as the company grows and changes (we added 8 employees in the last 2 weeks!) This continual evolution is something that I think is so fantastic and so unique to startups. And I realize that all of the opportunities that I had were very much startups in that we started from scratch and I got to be part of building and figuring things out from scratch at every point. I've been able to work on a number of cool projects, and every day is truly something different. And I must say, it's pretty cool to work at a place that everyone can use and that all users love!
Another part of getting more settled in this city has been my 3rd (and hopefully last for a while) move! To update: I first moved to San Francsico and subletted a bedroom from my friend Joeva. I then moved in with Jeff and his fantastic daughter Dolores (who is now an honorary little sister to go along with my other two) in Noe Valley, the yoga-mom, friendly bums at Whole Foods quiet neighborhood just up the hill from the Misson district.
And with a house hunt more painful and challenging than any I've yet experienced (the San Francisco apartment market is FIERCELY COMPETITIVE), I am now going home to a beautiful alcove studio apartment located right by the SF Giants stadium in the SOMA area of San Francisco. It's a 10 minute bike ride to work, or a 25 minute walk and after week 1 I am 100% happy with the new digs. I've so far acquired a bed, a frame, and a bookshelf, and while it's small me and the roomie definitely have more work to do!
A group of friends from UCSD organized a big hike at Stinson beach a few weeks ago, so I've been able to get out and around oustide of the city as well (a nice break from the hustle). We did a 7ish mile hike up to the top of Mount Tam. The hike up gave some gorgeous views as well as some majestic and quite stints where we were surrounded by trees. And at the top we had some amazing views of the ocean and San Francisco. It was a great escape and a fun thing to do with friends!On the involvement front, I've re-engaged myself in the UCSD Alumni association, and I'm hosting a speaker series featuring successful alumni in the Bay Area, to speak about their successes and give advice to the young and the career-changing or change interested. I'm doing yoga (though never enough) and I've decided I definitely need to get back into the Latin Dance scene (I took a class in San Diego and my dancing shoes are really missing being used!) I'm also looking at volunteer opportunities with The Hub SF, a startup incubator and coworking space where socially entrepreneurial startups get stuff done as they get their companies off the ground.
Life is good, health is great, and work is busy. What more could a girl ask for :)
Thursday, January 5, 2012
In 5 Years Time
Today celebrates my 24th birthday. But it's also the 5th anniversary of an event of as nearly great importance in my life. Today marks the 5th year since the car wreck I endured that would very likely have taken my life.
So today I want to once again thank all of you, my family, friends, doctors, and supporters, who have shared in the recovery and the 5 years of life since.
In some ways I still am recovering, coming more to terms with the way I chose to interact with the world following the wreck and the short but challenging 3 month hospital stay.
So thanks to the many surgeons that fixed what seemed unrepairably broken. My mom who trusted the doctors to do their work even with the minuscule chances they gave me to make it. To the friends that sat by my bedside even when I wielded the "snot sucker". And all the friends who helped me stay positive through the worst of my "why'd this happen to me" lows.
Every day, but especially today, I am thankful to those who helped me get back to being me after the first 19 years of my life were seemingly torn apart.
As you know, the last five years have been a lot of rebuilding, but also a lot of living. I was able to finish my degree at UCSD "on time" even after missing a quarter. I spent a summer living in london, I was able to help build some amazing programs at UCSD that still benefit the students they were meant to help, I traveled across Europe and
worked a vindemmia in Italy, survived a winter in Minnesota, the summer in Florida, and now I'm planted in San Francisco, working at a startup and I have a fantastic community of friends around the world that truly make my life special.
So once again, thank you to all of you who have been a part of the journey. It's just going to keep getting better from here!
So today I want to once again thank all of you, my family, friends, doctors, and supporters, who have shared in the recovery and the 5 years of life since.
In some ways I still am recovering, coming more to terms with the way I chose to interact with the world following the wreck and the short but challenging 3 month hospital stay.
So thanks to the many surgeons that fixed what seemed unrepairably broken. My mom who trusted the doctors to do their work even with the minuscule chances they gave me to make it. To the friends that sat by my bedside even when I wielded the "snot sucker". And all the friends who helped me stay positive through the worst of my "why'd this happen to me" lows.
Every day, but especially today, I am thankful to those who helped me get back to being me after the first 19 years of my life were seemingly torn apart.
As you know, the last five years have been a lot of rebuilding, but also a lot of living. I was able to finish my degree at UCSD "on time" even after missing a quarter. I spent a summer living in london, I was able to help build some amazing programs at UCSD that still benefit the students they were meant to help, I traveled across Europe and
worked a vindemmia in Italy, survived a winter in Minnesota, the summer in Florida, and now I'm planted in San Francisco, working at a startup and I have a fantastic community of friends around the world that truly make my life special.
So once again, thank you to all of you who have been a part of the journey. It's just going to keep getting better from here!
For more about the car wreck, check out my post from last year here
http://lifesincesungod.blogspot.com/2011/01/car-wreck-07-4-year-anniversary.html
Monday, November 21, 2011
I LOVE SF
Yep, the news is in the headlines. I am completely head over heals in love with this city.
I always new that would be the case (and I was told that I was meant to live in San Francisco by many people before I moved here). Be it my love of yoga, my obsession with local goods, or my inability to throw out what should be composted, the culture of this city is like an embodiment of me.
So, I guess I should tell you the reasons I'm so in love (along with filling you in on my life here so far).
I arrived into the city to the welcome of my good college friend Joeva, who, just so happened was looking to sublet out her room for the month. For both of us the situation was perfect, I arrived into the city with a 'legit' place to stay while I got settled and started work, and she got to spend some time at home with her family rent-free. The apartment is a beautiful old victorian right off of the Golden Gate Park, with a muni stop nearby (the strange SF rail/bus/subway) that would take me to the office in 15 minutes. The roommates are an awesome mixture of "young professionals" (aka recent college grads with jobs) and we enjoyed weekly 'family dinners' and a few great morning walks to the muni. And yes, I still go over there for family dinners even though I'm no longer a roommate....technically.
I lived there for the month of October and was able to do some house hunting from there (what a fortunate event, the housing market here is tough and I'd never have found a place from afar). I sent out a ton of emails looking for a more permanent place to live and managed to catch the attention of my current roommate, Jeff. After a successful 'interview' we had an agreement and I moved in at the beginning of November.
And with this living situation, what a lucky girl I am! I live in Noe Valley, an adorable neighborhood in SF that boasts 24th street, a cute area of shops, restaurants, libraries, and really everything you could look for in a neighborhood. I knew I was meant to be here when I found the "bulk liquids" shop, in which you bring your own containers to fill up with whatever household liquid supply you may need (shampoo, laundry soap, etc) and pay by the ounce! It's funny to say, but when I found this store, I knew Noe Valley was perfect for me :) I even love my ride to work!!
So now I'm living here with 2 roommates, Jeff, a 'grown-up' who copy-writes for a living and sings/plays guitar every evening that he's not working on his autobiography (which I'm excited to read!). And the most charming roommate of the house, Dolores, Jeff's 8 year old daughter who is a sweetheart and a great reminder of how much I miss my little sisters at home.
So for now, living situation=superb.
And what about work! Well, if you call work awesome and ping-pong and snack filled, with gongs and random winery tour adventures awesome, than I guess that's what my work is! HotelTonight has really offered me an awesome opportunity to be part of an early-stage startup (a year old in December!) and to have a really rewarding role within it.
What do we do you ask? Well, HotelTonight is a mobile only last-minute hotel booking application for the iPhone and Android. We are a service that allows you to book hotel rooms, tonight (only). And because it's last minute we are able to get you a really good deal. Some special things about it-we only show 3 Hotels per night, per city, they're all 3 star or above, and they're either basic, charming, or luxe style hotels. So take a "staycation" or go out on New Years Eve and don't worry about driving home, instead you can pull out your phone and in 3 clicks book a hotel for the night!
What do I do? I work on the Partner Development side of things, which is basically reaching out to prospective partner hotels and getting them to come on board with us. I specifically am doing lots of prospecting for new cities-so for example, we're interested in opening in Vancouver. I'm learning all I can about the hotels there and the layout of the city (where people will be at night and want to get a hotel instead of drive home), and trying to find the best ones in the city for us to partner with. Lots of research and discovery--the only negative is that it is really making my travel bug start to itch!
From the sheer number of exclamation points, you can probably guess that I'm pretty happy about my living situation and work. And life in general is great too! I have an amazing network of friends from college and life (and I found out this weekend someone from high school in Wyoming!) that live here and they're doing great job introducing me to the best parts of the city, I've just this week found 2 amazing yoga studios that I can guarantee I will be spending lots of time at, I have finally gotten back into a good running routine, and overall I'm loving staying busy and exploring the city (I LOVE walking around and popping in and out of whatever places look interesting).
In conclusion, I'm completely in love with living here. It works wonderfully with my lifestyle, I have an amazing community of friends, and my work excites, inspires, and challenges me.
Life Is Good!
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| View of the City on my daily commute |
So, I guess I should tell you the reasons I'm so in love (along with filling you in on my life here so far).
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| UCSD+Housemate dinner party! |
I lived there for the month of October and was able to do some house hunting from there (what a fortunate event, the housing market here is tough and I'd never have found a place from afar). I sent out a ton of emails looking for a more permanent place to live and managed to catch the attention of my current roommate, Jeff. After a successful 'interview' we had an agreement and I moved in at the beginning of November.
 |
| Roomate Dolores and I doing acro-yoga |
So now I'm living here with 2 roommates, Jeff, a 'grown-up' who copy-writes for a living and sings/plays guitar every evening that he's not working on his autobiography (which I'm excited to read!). And the most charming roommate of the house, Dolores, Jeff's 8 year old daughter who is a sweetheart and a great reminder of how much I miss my little sisters at home.
So for now, living situation=superb.
 |
| Unveiling of the HT Gong |
What do we do you ask? Well, HotelTonight is a mobile only last-minute hotel booking application for the iPhone and Android. We are a service that allows you to book hotel rooms, tonight (only). And because it's last minute we are able to get you a really good deal. Some special things about it-we only show 3 Hotels per night, per city, they're all 3 star or above, and they're either basic, charming, or luxe style hotels. So take a "staycation" or go out on New Years Eve and don't worry about driving home, instead you can pull out your phone and in 3 clicks book a hotel for the night!
 |
| A view of the HotelTonight app on the iPhone |
From the sheer number of exclamation points, you can probably guess that I'm pretty happy about my living situation and work. And life in general is great too! I have an amazing network of friends from college and life (and I found out this weekend someone from high school in Wyoming!) that live here and they're doing great job introducing me to the best parts of the city, I've just this week found 2 amazing yoga studios that I can guarantee I will be spending lots of time at, I have finally gotten back into a good running routine, and overall I'm loving staying busy and exploring the city (I LOVE walking around and popping in and out of whatever places look interesting).
In conclusion, I'm completely in love with living here. It works wonderfully with my lifestyle, I have an amazing community of friends, and my work excites, inspires, and challenges me.
Life Is Good!
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Road Trip! Florida-->California
I know it's been about a month since the road trip that took me to visit many of you readers on my way to my new home of San Francisco. However I wanted to post a quick recap of the amazing trip that took me cross country for my new job in this beautiful city!
Some of you may know, I have a promise to myself to always leave room in my life for adventure. Part of that promise is that any time I switch jobs, I'll take some time off in between to travel or just do some sort of adventure. Ideally these will be bigger trips like visits back to Europe. but for this time, it instead was turning my move form Florida to San Francisco into a road trip littered with visits to friends and family across the country. And so the journey began.
I had a super stressful time leaving Gainesville, with merely a week to pack, sell my things, find a sub letter for my apartment, and make plans for the drive to and arrival in San Francisco. Thankfully all the pieces fell into place, I was able to sell everything that I didn't fit into my car, a friend just so happened to need a sub letter for her apartment in SF for a few weeks after my arrival, I got a sub letter, and one of my closest friends was able to make the time to meet me out east and drive cross country with me. With all the stress of trying to get the stars to align for my leaving, it was amazing how things just worked out.
I left Gainesville early on a Saturday morning (after visiting the local alligators) and drove about 9 hours to stay with my family near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. After a few awesome days playing with cousins, I took off for Dallas, Texas, where I stayed with some good friends from SkillsUSA. A day of adventuring there and then Kat, my copilot for the rest of the drive, arrived and we made our
way on the long 14 hour stretch from Dallas to Fort Collins, Colorado where we visited with my mom and took a quick jaunt up to Cheyenne to see my sisters and some dear friends and mentors.
After that, 6 hours took us to the "mountain house" where my grandparents live and we decided to take a few days to rest up and enjoy the mountain air. Here, we were greeted by snow (the first Kat had ever experienced) before we trekked across Utah and Nevada to stay in Reno with Tom.
After an evening of all-you-can-eat sushi, we made our way to Kat's parents home in Healdsburg where we loaded up on wine, apples, and applesauce.
It was there that I parted with Kat to make my final drive to San Francisco, where I was put up by Joeva in 'our' room before I started work the next day!
I was able to stay in Joeva's room through October and have had an amazing time getting used to the public transportation and life in San Francisco. I'm completely in love with being here and with my new job. So updates on life in the city will be coming to you soon!!
Thank You to everyone who hosted, visited, met up with, and drove with me on the amazing trip cross country!!
Some of you may know, I have a promise to myself to always leave room in my life for adventure. Part of that promise is that any time I switch jobs, I'll take some time off in between to travel or just do some sort of adventure. Ideally these will be bigger trips like visits back to Europe. but for this time, it instead was turning my move form Florida to San Francisco into a road trip littered with visits to friends and family across the country. And so the journey began.
I had a super stressful time leaving Gainesville, with merely a week to pack, sell my things, find a sub letter for my apartment, and make plans for the drive to and arrival in San Francisco. Thankfully all the pieces fell into place, I was able to sell everything that I didn't fit into my car, a friend just so happened to need a sub letter for her apartment in SF for a few weeks after my arrival, I got a sub letter, and one of my closest friends was able to make the time to meet me out east and drive cross country with me. With all the stress of trying to get the stars to align for my leaving, it was amazing how things just worked out.
I left Gainesville early on a Saturday morning (after visiting the local alligators) and drove about 9 hours to stay with my family near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. After a few awesome days playing with cousins, I took off for Dallas, Texas, where I stayed with some good friends from SkillsUSA. A day of adventuring there and then Kat, my copilot for the rest of the drive, arrived and we made our
After that, 6 hours took us to the "mountain house" where my grandparents live and we decided to take a few days to rest up and enjoy the mountain air. Here, we were greeted by snow (the first Kat had ever experienced) before we trekked across Utah and Nevada to stay in Reno with Tom. After an evening of all-you-can-eat sushi, we made our way to Kat's parents home in Healdsburg where we loaded up on wine, apples, and applesauce.
I was able to stay in Joeva's room through October and have had an amazing time getting used to the public transportation and life in San Francisco. I'm completely in love with being here and with my new job. So updates on life in the city will be coming to you soon!!
Thank You to everyone who hosted, visited, met up with, and drove with me on the amazing trip cross country!!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
New Job, New Coast!
Yes, the news is in the title. I was offered a new job and now I've moved back to the west coast!!
A few quick bits before I go into detail
It's with a startup: HotelTonight
I'm working in Partner Development as a Sales Coordinator
It's in San Francisco
I spent last week driving across the country...
And now I am so incredibly happy!
So, a little background on where this all came from...
As time was progressing, I considered my opportunity with NCCER, and the reality came to me that while I am passionate about an educated craft workforce, I am not passionate enough about the construction industry to make it my career and my life.
An avid reader of start-up and technology news, one day I came across an article "Top Startups to watch out for of 2011" and among the companies listed I saw HotelTonight. Giddy, I looked into the company, downloaded the iPhone app and because I loved the philosophy and work the company was setting out to do (encourage spontaneous travel, awesome) I looked into job opportunities.
With an application letter like none I've written before and a resume that boasted the color green and varying gray font, I sent in my somewhat spontaneous and fun application with hope for an opportunity. And behold, a week later I had a phone interview with a Berkeley grad who finished her undergrad degree the same year I did. After a fun conversation, the invite to a San Francisco interview was secured!
The interview was 2 hours of fun, and a few weeks later I was offered a position. It turned out that while the original job I applied for wasn't the best fit, they had been thinking of another position that wasn't yet created, and after meeting me they decided that I would be an ideal candidate to be the first one to figure it out!
So, with an offer in San Francisco, I of course moved as soon as possible. My dream job after college was to be with a startup, developing and creating something new, in San Francisco. While I didn't make it right after graduation, Florida was a great stepping stone that got me to where I ultimately want to be.
Day one working and living in the city is now complete and I couldn't be happier!
A few quick bits before I go into detail
I'm working in Partner Development as a Sales Coordinator
It's in San Francisco
I spent last week driving across the country...
And now I am so incredibly happy!
So, a little background on where this all came from...
As time was progressing, I considered my opportunity with NCCER, and the reality came to me that while I am passionate about an educated craft workforce, I am not passionate enough about the construction industry to make it my career and my life.
An avid reader of start-up and technology news, one day I came across an article "Top Startups to watch out for of 2011" and among the companies listed I saw HotelTonight. Giddy, I looked into the company, downloaded the iPhone app and because I loved the philosophy and work the company was setting out to do (encourage spontaneous travel, awesome) I looked into job opportunities.
With an application letter like none I've written before and a resume that boasted the color green and varying gray font, I sent in my somewhat spontaneous and fun application with hope for an opportunity. And behold, a week later I had a phone interview with a Berkeley grad who finished her undergrad degree the same year I did. After a fun conversation, the invite to a San Francisco interview was secured!
The interview was 2 hours of fun, and a few weeks later I was offered a position. It turned out that while the original job I applied for wasn't the best fit, they had been thinking of another position that wasn't yet created, and after meeting me they decided that I would be an ideal candidate to be the first one to figure it out!
So, with an offer in San Francisco, I of course moved as soon as possible. My dream job after college was to be with a startup, developing and creating something new, in San Francisco. While I didn't make it right after graduation, Florida was a great stepping stone that got me to where I ultimately want to be.
Day one working and living in the city is now complete and I couldn't be happier!
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