Mind The Gap

Sorry about the short hiatus. Every time I thought about writing an entry, I would have a small panic attack thinking about everything else I could be doing instead. I was just too overwhelmed with everything that had been going on and thus decided I just couldn't be bothered to update during selling season. To be honest though, a lot has happened - so get ready for quite the lengthy post. In order for everything to make sense though, we are going to have to back track a bit on the timeline.

June 2016: Began my internship in London

July 2016: Was asked to stay on full time as a Wholesale Assistant.

August 2016: Decided to apply for a short term work visa, as I could get it within six weeks and it would buy me six months to research and apply for a long term visa.

September 2016: Received my short term visa and moved back to London.

October 2016: Started making a short PowerPoint about long term visas for my boss that included: cost for both the Sponsorship and the minimum salary I would need to be paid, how long it would last, as well as basic rules, regulations, and requirements one has to meet in order to obtain the visa.

December 2016: Everything went to hell.

In December, my boss asked me to leave her with all the visa information before I went home and she would look it over during the break. As I mentioned in the timeline, I started putting all this information together for her in October, so when I went back on the government website in December to fact check everything, I was met with some disturbing news. The cost for me to get a visa had gone up and not by just a few hundred pounds... the price was now £15,000+ than it had been in October. My heart sank as I placed the information on her desk, knowing that there was a slim chance I would be able to stay at the company now.

After the holidays, I returned home to an oddly calm showroom. Selling season was just two weeks away, yet we hadn't received any samples, look books, prices, or information from any of the brands. It was the calm before the storm. I decided it was best to speak with my boss before the start of selling season, as I knew things were about to get incredibly busy. It was then that my nightmare of having to leave the Agency and London were confirmed. I was incredibly sad, but understood that the cost to keep me was just an enormous amount and unfortunately couldn't be done. The month of January is a blur, and before I knew it February had arrived and I was turning 25.

Selling continued through February and we even managed to attend a couple of trade shows with a few of our brands. As I said previously, selling season is manic in the showroom, so my days consisted of: waking up, traveling to work, working, traveling home from work, eating dinner, applying for jobs and falling asleep by 9:00pm - I was exhausted. Luckily, my mommy came to visit at the end of February and broke my daily ritual. I had to work while she was here, but I was able to spend the evenings and the weekend with her. It was so nice having her here for 10 days (and not just because she paid for everything). :)

It is now March, my visa expires soon and I have given my two weeks. As I sat in the showroom today answering emails, organizing samples, and chatting with my boss, it finally hit me that I only have three days left at Somewhere. I don't know if it was exhaustion from the mouse adventure I had had earlier this morning (will go into that on the next post), stress from the amount of work I am needing to get done before my last day, or simply because I am incredibly sad to leave... but without any warning, I began to cry. My time at Somewhere has been amazing - I have learned so much, made life long friendships, and have made so many memories in the last 10 months. Words really can't describe how thankful I am to have been given this opportunity. Unfortunately, we all have to move on at some point so this time next week I will be back with my little Harper Doodle and from there we will be of onto our next adventure.