Cheers To That

Well, guys, I'm already on week three of my new life.  Box is great-the people are super friendly and talented, and my new colleagues frequently come up to me and say, "Oh my gosh, you're the new SF receptionist?  We're been searching for you for months.  So happy to have you join the team!"  And as I'm replying, "Well, here I am!," I can't help but think how serendipitously I came to Box and how neat it is that we both feel so lucky to have found each other.

I spent the first week at HQ in Los Altos, learning the ropes, meeting the peeps, and getting a feel for Box's wacky culture.  I even took a fast-paced trip down this puppy:

I started at Box just in time, because, since the San Francisco Giants are one of Box's oldest and biggest clients, we as a company go to one Giants game every season.  It happened to be at the end of my first week, so great timing.  We got cute Box/Giants swag hats as well as free beer and tickets!  Shout out to this girl, Angelica, who got me the hook up with Box in the first place!

Starting week two, I was already getting set up in San Francisco, and first things first we had a major event: Mayor Lee came to visit!  He spoke to his interest in supporting Bay Area start-ups, technology, and education.  It was fun to hear him tell how he got convinced to run for mayor by Senator Barbara Boxer, as well as his plans for the city, especially his wanting to make it a more appealing place to raise young families, and to hopefully get the Warriors moved to the pier!  Below is Mayor Lee, left, along with Aaron Levie, our CEO.

Getting off at Montgomery Station in the Financial District of SF and heading to my high rise office with a view feels like a dream.  So lucky to be living it!

Also that week we celebrated Brittany's 26th birthday with shrimp and grits at NOLA, embarrassingly low scores at Mission Bowling Club, and finally wine tasting and your casual helicopter ride in Sonoma.  So much fun packed into a few days!

It was one crazy week, with many highs but also many lows.  The lows varied from personal and close friends to national-I was glued to the news screens watching the coverage of the Boston bombings, and couldn't believe that in the same week there was a Presidential poisoning scam and a deadly explosion in Texas.

Then early that Saturday morning, I awoke to the sound of a car accident on the street outside.  Somehow I knew it had to be my car, but wasn't sure until I heard Jodi creeping down the hall calling my name.  A cab hit my side mirror and tire, leading to a week's headache between insurance and autobody companies.  Overall, I guess it went about as well as it could, and the taxi company took responsibility for the accident, so I really lucked out.

One of the best things that came out of the week was our new acquaintance, Jose, and his myriad of catch phrases.  We met Jose (big guy on the right) at one of our winery stops, and boy does he have a lot of stories to drunkenly share with the world.  To him, everything is organic, especially whisky, and he only tells self-proclaimed "true stories."  He is also very partial, or perhaps addicted, to the practice of clinking glasses, and exercises this social activity on average every 3.2 seconds, if not more, initiated by an emphatic "Cheers to that!"  This phrase can come after anything, for example: "I think Cher got some work done...Cheers to that!" or "I just cancelled my subscription to the NY Times...Cheers to that!" or even "Sometimes I get a growth on my toe...Cheers to that!"  You can also consider inserting it into the middle of your own or your friends' proclamations to double or triple your cheers-ing potential.

Next up...James and Caroline's wedding...Cheers to that!