11.15.2009

Florida...

So, here's the deal...
Depending on an interview coming up this week we may in fact move to what our friend Adam refers to as the wang of the United States:
Eric has been in talks with a company out of Boca Raton for a position as a Hydrogeologist for quite some time now. They had mentioned wanting to fly him down for a second interview and said they would call to schedule the details. Well!, Monday he gets off the phone and looks at me and says, "So do you want to go to Florida next week!?" Immediately the synapses in my brain fire to pictures of sandy beaches and warm breezes only to then fall upon this question that I posed to Eric, "Why do they want ME to come?" So, I called my mom, who by occupation speaks the language of "hiring practices within the big kid career realm" and asked her opinion. After doing so, I realized this company's willingness to fly me across the country has everything to do with wooing us to the high cost of living (80% higher than Provo) that is Boca Raton (hello, $700 quarterly HOA fee) as well as making sure I'm not going to cause any sort of domestic disturbance for one of their potential employees by being a psycho wife that calls her husband at work eighty-four thousand times a day. How will they determine this? Well, they are taking us out to dinner which apparently is my opportunity to convince them I am a non-crazy sort of female... First impressions may help me in this cause so here is where the two people that follow this blog should submit their two cents.

I don't know what to wear.

Eric is no help. Sometimes I'll ask him which high heel to wear with an outfit to church on Sunday and he gives me a lamentable stink face that says, "Why do you even wear those torture devices at all? Also, tall girls are intimidating." I've gone through my closet... this is what I've come up with. Please take your pick and let me know your preference. I no longer live with five girls, with five other closets, and fashion advice in order to make a confident selection.

Things to keep in mind:

1) The difference in weather...
2) Being that it IS Florida, are people more laid back, due to their annual intake of sun resulting in heightened Vitamin D production, such that a business casual dinner is more informal in terms of dress?
3) These people are scientists... not power attorneys, which I'm assuming may mean they prefer practicality over show.
4) I have no idea what restaurant we are going to.
5) Eric will be wearing a tie.
6) We are getting off the plane, stopping at the hotel and then going straight out to dinner.
7) Obviously, I'm overthinking the whole thing.

We fly out on this Thursday the 19th, so take your pick and two cent away!

9 comments:

Unknown said...

I vote for 5 or 7 :)

And Florida is great! Enjoy your weekend (I'm sure they'll love you!)

Hannah said...

I vote for #7 or #8... yes, definitely #8 :)

Good luck! Enjoy some sun!

kp said...

I was initially and quickly drawn to 4, but also like 2. I think boys have it so easy when it comes to dressing. Picking an outfit that comes with a statement is so hard!

Unknown said...

Mom says it is always better to be overdressed than underdressed for these kinds of events so I would recommend any of 3-7. Good luck and have some fun while you are there!

Julie said...

Fitz--awesome post. I feel your pain. Two points to ponder is making the final decision:
1-what can you wear on the plane that is comfortable enough for the travel and will still look nice for dinner -or/and-
2-what will pack well so that after x hours in a suitcase, it will still look nice enough to wear that night. Don't plan on any time to iron or steam during your quick stop by the hotel. You'll be to busy washing your face/fixing your hair/adding more deoderant for the FL humidity to have to deal with that too.

Also, you don't want to feel rushed. That's the worst way to go into an introduction/social meeting, especially b/c my guess is that Eric will be cool as a cucumber wondering what is taking you so long and why, while you're running around the hotel room freaking out about this and that. Oh wait, is that just how it works for me and Stas?

But back to you--My vote is for either 4, 5, or 7. Although I do really love the white pants, I'm not sure if they are dressy enough. It would depend on the fabric, and I would definitely go with a dressier top. I agree with what others have said about erroring on the dressier side, especially with all of the unknown factors (where you'll be eating, what the interviewers/welcoming party will be wearing--like just a shirt and tie or also a sport coat for suit jacket-who knew guys had so many ooptions?) and since there is such a high cost of living it is probably a little bit more elavated area for "dress to impress" if you catch my drift--probably more than other parts of the state. Anyway, I could babble on endlessly, but I will wrap this up by just saying that your last email was hilarious, and we totally need to catch-up chit-chat style!

Emily said...

My first pick is #8. Then #7. Then #3.

#7 looks comfortable, yet perfect for this sort of thing. And #3 looks very Florida (without being a bathing suit).

Good luck, guys.

Katy said...

Oh Sarah,

You are so funny. Really, this post made my day!

I say #4, because, well, a girl can't go wrong in a skirt.

Once I had a situation like this and decided to go with pants- then showed up at the dinner and EVERY other female in the room was in a skirt. I made Micah get my food because I wanted to keep my legs hidden safely under the table.

But the wonderful thing about skirts is, they are casual enough these days you can be the only girl wearing one in a room full of pants and nobody thinks anything of it.

And when we have to fly and run somewhere, I always touch up my makeup on the plane (you'll probably sit on the runway for 10 minutes anyway, right?) so all you have to do when you land is swap out clothes and you're good to go! :)

Good luck to both of you!

Bri {collected} said...

Well, if you really want to fit in, you'll need a revealing spaghetti strapped dress with 5 inch clear heels, tan skin, and long nails and you should probably raise your voice to very high volumes when speaking. And I'm allowed to say this because I lived there.

I agree to err on the side of dressy. So I say 4. Plus it has a great dressy/casual vibe AND hello, you might as well wear a skirt sans tights whilst you can! Have fun!

Johanna said...

Dear Queen,
3, 4, or 7. I like 3 cause of the scarf and the face. I like 7 cause it is fall...you dont want to look spring. We warm weather people do wear colors that match with the season even though the seasons rarely find us. Oh and I like 5 cause it is sideways booty shoot. Those are always good.

So with this trip thing does that mean we can't talk anytime soon? You went on my list today of de-stressors (a med school mandated list that we had to make)...cause talking to you has done that to me...since we were oh 14.

Love to you and Mr Parks.
Jojo