At exactly 8:30 this morning, I was awoken by the sound of my cell phone ringing. I thought, "Who the heck is calling me so early? I'm going to just let it go to voicemail as I'm not fully awake to answer the phone properly." Curious, I decided to check the voicemail and it turned out to be who other than the nice HR lady from said company that I interviewed at the day prior.

"Oh my god. I wonder if I didn't fill out the job application correctly or perhaps even worse, it's really bad news." I thought.

At the end of the initial interview, nice HR lady had asked if it was ok if she gave me a call on Monday to see if they'd like to interview me further, but I really didn't expect to hear back the very next morning.

I thought, "Why am I getting a call so soon?"

So I downed a cup of water to get rid of my froggy & groggy 'just woken up' voice. I called nice HR lady back while trembling nervously, prepared to hear some bad news.

Voicemail. Crap. I left a voicemail saying I received her message and to go ahead and call me back.

A few minutes later the phone rang.

It was, of course, nice HR lady. Pleasanties were exchanged and then she told me that they really liked my portfolio and are interested in hiring me for freelance, which would eventually lead to a permanent position. (They want to make sure things work out ok before fully taking me in....pretty standard in my field.) My rate was negotiated and I am happy with the result. I now have a 2nd interview lined up for next Tuesday so that way their current designer gets an opportunity to also meet me.

Woohoo! I survived the 1st interview/portfolio review. Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! I am just so relieved and so happy I'm getting this opportunity. I never imagined I'd get the chance to work for this particular company...ever. This is amazing. Friends are already telling me how diffulcult it must be to even get an interview with them so it's like, "Wow! Is this for real?"

I have to say that I had left the interview feeling ok...not sure if they liked me or not. It was hard to tell. All I could say was that HR lady was really nice and positive about everything. She's cool. The interview was the shortest I've ever had...only 15 minutes or so. It was like, fast food interview...in and out. Next. I also got a glimpse of the girl who came in after me. She was dressed all professionally in a dark pantsuit, I think. I didn't pay too much attention as I was filling out my job application. I remember thinking, "Yikes. Did I underdress?" But now that I think of it, I dressed the way I did so that they could get a feel for who I am and not someone that would only wear a suit-like outfit for meetings. Of course, I made sure I looked nice, chic, in the know for fashion, totally me. The outfit consisted of 1) a DKNY slightly above the knee length felt-like skirt in cream color, fitted A-line, 2) a cute, pink Urban Outfitters top with ruffled caps and sewed on flowers, 3) a scarf that I made which I will start to sell online in the near future. It matches the outfit perfectly. 4)Pink Aldo handbag 5) pink Unisa heels with cork wedges.

I figure if you're going to stand out, you gotta dress comfortable and the outfit must represent who you are, especially if you are a creative. I didn't want to be just another regular looking individual in a dark suit.

I am proud of myself. Now let's see if I can get past this next stage and get my foot deeper into the door. Either way, I am just happy I've cracked it open a bit.

Now, this little lady is going shopping as a little treat for herself on a job well-done. Congrats are welcome even if everything isn't completely official yet!