Springtime Scotties

Sundays are my favorite day to stay in pajamas all day, which is why Sunday is also the perfect day for baking. Yesterday was the first day of spring and although the NYC weather didn't get the memo (of course there were snow flurries), I decided to welcome the season by creating a new cookie recipe full of light springtime flavors. 

I wanted the flavors to feel perfect for a beautiful spring day, so I kept palette light, sweet and citrusy. Not to mention, I've been a little under the weather for a week, so I was a little inspired by comforting tea flavors like lemon, honey and cinnamon. I finally settled on a lemon poppy seed sugar cookie and with a cinnamon honey glaze. 

The Professional Posse: Shay Myrick

There was never a doubt in my mind that Shay Myrick would make an absolutely amazing first profile of my Professional Posse series. Not only is she brilliant, gorgeous, and total #stylegoals, but she is also my go to gal when I need a little career perspective. My sister actually introduced us when Shay decided to make the move from Pittsburgh to NYC. They had previously interned together, and Alexandra correctly assumed we'd hit it off (obviously because we're both hilarious).

I'm so grateful Shay agreed to participate in this project, even allowing me a glimpse into the beautiful new Conde Nast offices at 1 World Trade Center for our photo shoot. I'm incredibly excited to share our interview with you. It's insightful and witty, and I hope you enjoy it. Although honestly, I was probably a little overbearing during the whole process -- below is a screenshot of a real convo in our working doc.

 I really did laugh out loud. 

Name: Shaquela Myrick

Age: 25

Field/Industry: Advertising /  Publishing

Title: Advertising Coordinator

Company: Conde Nast - Architectural Digest

Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA

Current City: New York, NY

Alma Mater: Point Park University

The Job:

Describe your role at Architectural Digest.

I am the coordinator to the Associate Publisher and Advertising Director at the magazine. Many of my duties involve supporting the managers across all departments with anything they may need. This includes making sure they're prepared for weekly management meetings, as well as pulling information quickly for random corporate requests or responding to the needs of advertisers. This role manages expenses, travel and the day-to-day scheduling of the AP and Ad director, but I’ve also had the opportunity to go beyond administrative tasks to do things such as prospect and run a list of accounts to be sold into the magazine.

What was the application and interview process like?

The application process at Conde started out pretty non-traditional. I was applying to everything and trying new ways to get in front of hiring managers, and started using Twitter. One late night after working a double shift in a hotel restaurant in Pittsburgh I saw a tweet from the Conde Nast Careers Twitter handle asking very broadly, “Does anyone want to work at Conde Nast?” I rolled my eyes and thought to myself “Duh,” while tweeting at the handle from my own account “yes, of course!” with a raised hand emoji. Fast forward to two weeks later, I had interviewed three times in the city, once with human resources, once with my current bosses, and once with the Executive Assistant to the Publisher. I accepted the position as advertising assistant, starting as soon as possible. Honestly looking back at this, it was a magical moment because, at the time, I never would have imagined securing a job here.

About how many jobs did you apply to when you graduated?

A ton sums it up! I wasn’t afraid to shop my resume around in order to in theory, find the “perfect” first job after graduation. So, I applied for any job across industries like fashion, entertainment and beauty until finally landing in magazine publishing.

Introducing the Professional Posse

Welcome to the introduction of a new series on Whale & Wishbone! It's called the Professional Posse, and I'm so excited to finally share it with you because it's been in the works for quite a while. Every month, I'll be spotlighting a new kick-ass working millennial woman, showcasing her career, education, city and style. 
Why? you might ask --  Well first, women in the workplace (and women in general) are a force to be reckoned with. This is true now more than ever, with so many incredible women leaders in business, politics, entertainment, and everywhere in between. Women are seriously bringing their A game to work and they deserve to have their achievements recognized. 
Second, knowledge is power, and I want this series to serve as a source of inspiration and empowerment. Many of you reading are, like me, young women at the start your careers. I know I don't have to tell you what a tumultuous time that can be. It can be incredibly difficult to discover exactly what you want to do, where you want to work and who you want to be. I hope this series can help in some small way. It never hurts to learn what other awesome women are doing and exactly how they're doing it. 

There's a whole generation of millennial women trying to figure out the whole career thing, and lucky for you, some of the smartest, funniest, most stylish and hard working women I know agreed to give me (and you) a glimpse into their professional lives. 
So sit back, relax and let these women do all the work! It all kicks off tomorrow with my first ever profile post of the series, and I promise it's one you won't want to miss.  So, I'll see you tomorrow. You know where to find me. 

Oil is my New Essential

A few months ago, I was feeling pretty blah about my skin and hair. Both were dry, my hair was damaged, and my skin was beyond sensitive. I decided to make some changes. Among many, was the decision to introduce oil based products into both my hair and skincare routines. Believe me when I say, it's a total game changer and I'm excited to share a few of my faves! 

Around December, my skin was so sensitive that it would burn slightly every time I applied my normal makeup. -- really not good!  You may remember from this post that I have a skincare routine I swear by, and that's still true. My skin looked great, but this extreme sensitivity led me to believe that my routine was possibly too harsh for the season. I decided to change it up.