THE List: 1-20

At World Market a few weeks ago, I bought the "1001 Places to See Before You Die." I was severely disappointed. I was hoping for a checklist of things that were a clearly defined 1001 items. It is not that at all...its basically a collection of the typical city guide books you get before going places that includes hotels, restaurants, and some sights but without any distinction as to what they're considering their 1001. So I'm making my own...I'm sure I won't get to 1001, but I'll eventually get to 100.

Rather than boring you with them all at once, I'm going to post 10-20 at a time over the next couple of weeks and then (hopefully) give periodic updates of the ones that I've finished. Some I made up myself, most I stole from the Internet. I will say that when I was creating my list (and I don't have 100 yet, so feel free to make suggestions!) I put on a couple that I have already done, but nothing completed before January 2007. So with no further ado, here is my first installment of THE List.

1. The necessary item: Visit all 50 states
2. Bet $100 on Black at a Roulette table in Vegas
3. Cross the International Date Line
4. Look for Nessie in Scotland
5. Kiss the Blarney Stone
6. Sleep in a "haunted" castle or hotel
7. Walk along the Great Wall of China
8. See a Broadway Show
9. Take a picture of me "holding up" the Leaning Tower of Pisa
10. Watch the Cubs play a game at Wrigley Field
11. Spend New Years in an exotic location
12. Visit 6 of the 7 continents (I have no desire to go to Antartica)
13. Watch a Sumo Wrestling match in Japan
14. Take a random vacation not knowing where I'm going until the last minute
15. Take a lesson at one of the Trapeze Schools
16. See the Pyramids
17. Skydive
18. Go to Graceland
19. See the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona
20. Drink Champagne in a limo (nope, I've never ridden in a limo before)

And for my first thing to be crossed off, here is my proof of my FIRST (I hope to have more) New Years in an exotic location...Piazza della Repubblika in Florence, Italy.

You Always Want What You Can't Have

I honestly couldn't tell you how long it's been since I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I've always liked them, but when you are never around children its just not something that comes up. But yet today when I was at the grocery store, I walked past the sad empty shelves that usually house the Jiffy, Peter Pan, and good ole' Walmart brand peanut butters that are gone from the big recall and all of a sudden, I couldn't think about anything but peanut butter and jelly. They still had the large sizes of Jiffy that weren't recalled as well as a couple of "all natural" brands, but it just reminded me too much of my brother's Firestone tire that detreaded back in the day but wasn't included in the recall because it was a 15" and not a 17" or something like that.

After walking around the store for a bit, I couldn't get it out of my head so I finally went over and bought some of the natural stuff. You'd think that someone who has just gotten over being seriously ill for a month would think twice before eating something that has been known to put people in the hospital....and you'd be right! When I got home, I chickened out and made a turkey sandwich instead. But I still have the risky peanut butter. Maybe some day soon when I'm feeling daring, I'll eat some of it. :)

Fun with Photos!

My dad bought me a fantastic new printer for Christmas - one that is made for printing photos and CDs and things like that. Because of several things, I didn't actually get it set up until this weekend. Since then I've had so much fun printing out photos that I've been wanting to print for a long time. They look fantastic!

One picture in particular is one that I took in Austria 2 years ago. I've always said that this picture looks like a postcard except for the power lines and red crane in the background.



So tonight I decided to see if I could take them out. Now I don't have photoshop. I can't create cool things from scratch like Stephen or put people's faces on other people's bodies like Megan, but I have been known to do some pretty great things with Microsoft Paint! :) I took out the crane and powerlines and I think I was right...it does look like a postcard! I know, I know...you can tell where stuff used to be if you look hard, but at first glance, I think this pretty impressive for an inferior graphics program.

Random Thought for the Day

WARNING: This post discusses bathroom habits. Should that make you uncomfortable, stop reading now. :)

Girls, have you noticed that whenever you go into a public restroom with multiple stalls and someone is in one stall, most people will skip the next stall and go into the third? Its like we create a "buffer stall" if at all possible.

Guys, do you do that too? Or are yall much less neurotic and go to whatever stall/urinal is closest?

Told you it was a random thought....

I Hate Apartment Living!!

I have been living in apartments for the last 4 years. I know that it requires a certain amount of maintenance, but I am seriously being driven insane. At my apartment in Abilene they always seemed to wait until I was ready to take a nap before they invariably started leafblowing or mowing or something extremely loud and annoying. I was so excited when I moved out of there thinking that I wouldn't have to deal with this phenomenon anymore....until recently.

I am really starting to believe that the maintenance workers from University Park Apartments all decided to move to Fort Worth and started working at River Park Place. For the past month, it seems like I am never in my apartment without somebody outside my window with some sort of motorized something that is so loud I can't do anything! Right now at 5:45pm, I'm sitting on my couch with my television up almost as loud as it will go and I can't hear what is going on because of a stupid leafblower! Add to that the incessant sound of planes from Lockheed Martin down the road and the BNSF train that rolls through and blasts its horn as loud as possible several times a day and I'm in corporate Fort Worth noise pollution hell! If I have to deal with noise, can't I at least be in a fun location? I can't wait until May when I'm out of here...downtown living is definitely the place for me.

I Watch Too Much Scrubs

Today, I spent the first half of my day in the emergency room because of some side effects from the medicines they have me on - mainly insanely high doses of Prednisone (don't focus on the ER part...this is supposed to be a fun post!)

I think the people probably thought that I was insane because everything that we did, I was trying not to laugh because I kept picturing scenes from Scrubs in my head! The absolute worst was when a doctor was wheeling me down a hall to get a chest x-ray...I could seriously see the end of the "Everything Comes Down to Poo" song being performed in the hallway. It really made me realize how good the directors are at getting the perfect camera angles on that show and how great the set designers are!

I've put the video of the song below if you haven't seen it...its around 1:51 (or :25 if its counting backwards) when it hits that perfect angle that had me laughing even though there weren't really people in front of me. What do you think, is Scrubs really that great...or is it just the fact that one of the side effects tends to be hallucinations? I think its the power that is Scrubs! :)

Pneumonia!!

So I've been out of commission for 2 weeks now and the diagnosis on Monday was pneumonia. And of course, having asthma just makes everything worse. But I got to the doctor just in time - he said 2 more days and I would have been in the hospital. But I got on steroids and antibiotics, crossed my fingers that there would be no random drug tests for anything (ha!) and prayed that it would work. I'm not well yet, but finally on the way up!

In other news, the next cycle of America's Next Top Model started this week and made me VERY happy! I love that show!

I'll write more later, but now I get to go study for a midterm and a final in two classes, neither of which I have attended for two weeks! Wish me luck!

Still not better....

Well, I'm still sick. Its not fun. Went to the doctor today and he put me on a bunch of medicines. I'm going to work tomorrow no matter how I feel - hopefully it won't be too tough to make it through the day. I hate being sick!!

Yesterday's Grocery List

In case you couldn't tell, I've got the....well I'm not sure exactly what I've got. I don't think its bad enough to be the flu, but I can't breathe, my throat is swollen, and I've had fever since Tuesday. The things I've learned since I've been sick:

1. There is nothing worth watching on television between Noon and 7 pm. After the first day, I depleted my full stock of Tivo reserves, including 2 episodes a night since the beginning of the month of Scrubs that I hadn't seen yet and have spent the rest of the time drowning in the wasteland of daytime programming crap.

2. Watching Grey's Anatomy, Survivor, Lost, etc. in real time is tough! Due to Lesson 1, I've had to actually watch primetime shows live. It is nervewracking to have to sit through commercials after the cliffhangers they give! What did we do before DVR?

3. Internet games can only go so far before being boring. I am now the #2 arcade champion at drakeshangout.com with the highest score on 11 games.

4. CNN does not update their content enough. Sure, they do a really good job. But when internet games have been exhausted and no one is updating their blogs 3 or 4 times a day (which is what it would take to entertain me), I go through all of the current CNN content pretty quickly. And MSN. And AOL. And Fox News.

5. I need to start collecting more books for a rainy day. I thought I had several on my shelf that I haven't read yet, but I guess I cleared all of them off in all of my traveling last semester.

I guess thats the end of my whining. Hopefully I'll finally start to feel good tomorrow...or at least will get rid of my fever so I can get back to life.

Couple of Random Posts

So I was just going to post about the Davey O'Brien dinner that I went to on Monday, but found a picture on my camera that I had to post first:


Kroger - you officially got grocery stores "Off Notice." I found these 2 days after I posted my open letter. And of course, my mom came through with another box on Valentine's Day as well. :)

Now for the real post:

This Monday, I was lucky enough to score a seat at the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award Dinner. This year's winner was Troy Smith from Ohio State. The dinner was absolutely fantastic! Gourmet food at the Fort Worth Club combined with a few celebrities always equals a good time... I met Troy Aikman, saw Eric Crouch, and actually hung out with Jim McMahon, Gino Torretta, and a couple other former winners after the dinner was over! And of course, met Troy Smith.

I didn't get any pictures at the actual dinner because it wasn't exactly an event suited to taking candid pictures without looking completely stupid, but here are a couple I got later in the evening.

Me and Jim McMahon

My friend Erin from TCU, Gino Torretta, Me, another winner I can't remember the name of (anyone recognize him?), and some guy they call "Doc"


Overall, it was a really fun night! I won't be doing consulting work for the O'Brien Foundation next year, but maybe I can find a way to get a ticket again! :)

Open Poll

So I recently got a new Blackjack....Samsung's version of the Blackberry. I just discovered that rather than having to buy premade ringtones like you do for other phones, I can cut clips of music on my computer and then import them as an mp3 to be my ringtone! So now comes the difficult decision that I need your help on - what should my ringtone be? Keep in mind, it has to be something that I wouldn't be too mortified of if it went off during a meeting at work. TV themesongs are always fun, but I'm open to other songs too. Help me choose my ringtone!

An Open Letter to Grocery Stores

Dear Grocery Stores,

Starting in January, it begins. The red and green of Christmas goes away, the silver of New Years fades, and the red, pink, and white takes over your aisles.

You force me to remember that THE holiday is coming up - the one where if you're single you're supposed to either be 1) really bitter about it, 2) overly dramatic about how great it is to be single or 3) like me, are considered weird if you're neither - Valentine's Day (or as the second breed calls it, "Single Awareness Day." Gag me.)

I have always taken this in stride because I've had faith in the unspoken agreement that we made many years ago: I'll put up with your ridiculous giant mylar balloons and overabundance of wilting roses without complaining as long as you provide me with an endless supply of the highlight of my culinary year: Chocolate Covered Cherries. I've been looking for weeks at several different stores and not one delicious juicy, fruity chocolate ball can be found!

Don't try to pretend that you've fulfilled your end of the bargain by just throwing around some "samplers" and calling it Valentine's Day candy. Nobody is fooled. Just because the crappy filling in the center is pink doesn't make it equal to the ultimate Holiday candy - the Chocolate Covered Cherry. You have clearly fallen down on your job, and I am NOT a happy camper!

You've been put on notice, grocery stores. We've got a little more than one week left before February 14th. I'll keep on being content with this season as long as you hold up your end of the bargain. Don't let me down this year!

Best regards,
Emily

The REAL Reason Trey Isn't Married

Sorry I haven't blogged in awhile - my blogger account wouldn't let me log in and it took a while for them to figure out what was wrong. Short post - got a Super Bowl party to get to...but I figured out the true reason that Trey isn't married. Here is a glimpse into his future:

When in Rome....

Okay, I know I've been home for 2 weeks now, so its time to stop procrastinating and post some pictures! Here are a few shots from my adventures in Rome.

Let's start with some ruins....these are two pictures of the ruins of the Forum. Broken pieces of marble columns everywhere!

I'm pretty sure they probably didn't appreciate us climbing on the ruins, but since when do MBA's care what anyone else thinks? :)

Cool Roman architecture and a perfectly blue sky can make ANYONE feel like an artist!

The Circus Maximus....thats where they used to have Chariot races!
We didn't have any chariots, so Shelly and I decided that skipping would have to do for our race!
Ben and I decided that this statue needed his foot tickled....
The Trevi Fountain. Yes I threw in the coins to make a wish, to ensure my return to Rome someday, and to give me a safe journey home and no I won't tell you what my wish was!

You know how you always see the Trevi Fountain in movies with just a couple of people milling around leaving plenty of room for the main characters to have their private romantic moment? Yeah right! This was the crowd at about 4:30 pm on a random Wednesday afternoon!

In front of the Vatican. Of course, the only picture I took with me in it there has my eyes closed! Inside the Vatican is absolutely beautiful, but most of my pictures were taken vertically because the ceilings are so tall, so I can't post them here! It was really cool to see.

View from the steps of St. Peter's Basilica
The ceiling of St. Peter's Basilica. I would have taken a picture of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, but then I'd still be in Rome stuck in jail cause its illegal. Didn't stop other people in our group from taking pictures of it though! Ha!
The main thing I learned in Rome was that everything that has even the SLIGHTEST bit of interesting Roman history (as in from the era of the Caesars) was taken over by the Catholics and either destroyed to make the Vatican or turned into a Catholic church. Case in point - the Panthenon. I was so excited to see the temple of the Roman gods, but when I got inside, found out its been turned into some Catholic altar! Booooo!
The Colosseum. Nuff said.
Cool Roman architecture and a perfectly blue sky can make ANYONE feel like an artist!
Inside the Colosseum. It apparently used to be REALLY pretty inside with all sorts of marble structures, but then the Popes took all the the marble and destroyed everything to build the Vatican. :)

You can see the tunnels where the gladiators used to be before they would come out for the "bloody bloody horrible games" (thats what our tour guide kept saying over and over!)
On Palatine Hill - the hill were Romulus founded Rome and where Domitian's palace was. It was the biggest palace ever built by a Roman emperor and now bits and pieces of it are left.
Domitian had his own arena INSIDE his palace! He would have chariot races there and every now and then would divert the aquaduct, flood the arena, and hold mock naval battles with real ships! Kinda makes Patty and Wade's theater room seem a bit unimpressive, huh?
And of course, what trip to Italy would be complete with some gelato? Any country where eating ice cream in January is considered normal is alright with me!
Well, that's all for now! I have several pictures that I need to get from other peoples' cameras, so there may be another Rome post or two. Hope you enjoyed some pictures....I know I enjoyed taking them!!

Absolut Emily Tate

So I promise I'm going to post pictures of Rome, but I took about 300 pictures on my trip and only 70 were from Florence. So I have a LOT to go through and frankly, just haven't had the motivation to do anything productive over the past couple of days.

But in the interest of not keeping the exact same thing on my blog....in my full on recluse mode that I've been in today (Ice storm in North Texas for those of you not here...), I got extremely bored and googled myself. To my surprise, I found out that I am a drink! No kidding! There is a drink called Absolut Emily Tate. Wonder who decided on that name....and now I kinda want to try it! It doesn't sound great though. Couldn't my drink at least have involved cranberry juice and be pink? This is from the Absolut website:

Buongiorno!!

Buona Sera! Hello from Italy! I am sitting in the lobby of my hotel in Florence and have an hour before I go to the train station to leave for Rome, so I thought I'd take a bit of time and post a few pictures. :)


This is the Piazza de la Repubblica (I think thats how it is spelled...) - The Republic Square. The carousel in the corner is really pretty and the architecture around the square is beautiful.This is a statue of a boar (I'm guessing you could've figured that one out on your own). It is a fountain and people put a coin in its mouth, let it fall out with the water, and then pet the nose for good luck. Me and my friend Ed in front of the Ponte Vecchio - the bridge in the background that goes over the river. There are a ton of gold shops and other little shops on the bridge and it has a great view once you're in the center.Buon Anno (Happy New Year)! New Years Eve riding the carousel just before midnight. New Years in Florence was like nothing I have ever experienced. Starting around lunchtime, people were lighting firecrackers in the streets...soooooo loud! It got more and more loud as the night went on. Then at midnight, the square went CRAZY!! People were lining the streets surrounding it and when midnight hit, everyone started spraying champagne all over everyone and there were so many fireworks lit that the piazza looked like it was on fire! A few little old men were brave enough (or maybe just drunk enough) to go into the center of the square and dance around while fireworks were going off all around them and people were throwing their champagne bottles in the center to make more noise I guess. This is a really bad picture from New Years, but this is a guy from Houston that I had to go all the way to Florence to meet! We've been hanging out a lot this week and on the second or third day, I found out that he's actually kinda famous...he's a NASCAR and Indy car driver named Larry Foyt. He's been out of racing for about a year because he broke his back in the Indy 500, so he's managing a team out of Houston and is hoping to get back into driving soon. Looks like I may have to become a NASCAR fan now.... ;)

Well, there's the Reader's Digest version of my trip to Florence. In about 2 hours I'll be in Rome! I get home on the 8th, so I'll post more then. Ciao!

Merry Christmalicious!!!

The Eternal Conundrum...

Its 3:15pm and I'm sitting in my office. I've tied up all of the loose ends that I needed to before I leave for two weeks , but I still have a meeting at 4:30pm that I have to stick around for. What do I do for the next hour and fifteen minutes? :(

Update: I decided to take this time to switch my blog to New Blogger. And with a new blog should come a new background, so I changed that too. This took all of 15 minutes. Only one hour to go. sigh....

At this time next week....

At this time next week, I will be here: :)























Arrivederci!

The top 10 things that elves do at night

While I was sitting in a parking lot, waiting for my Knight in a Giant Truck to come change my tire, I saw a piece of paper blowing across the pavement. I thought it was probably something that had fallen out of my car while I was looking for my spare tire, so I picked it up. It wasn't anything of mine, but it definitely made my day a little bit better...it was the paper of an elementary school student titled "The top 10 things that elves do at night." So with no further ado, here it is!

The top 10 things that elves do at night

1. Make toys for the childeren

2. Drink hot chocolate with candy canes in it

3. Tell a story with Santa Claus to the elves

4. Go sledding and make a igloo

5. Go to the ice casel

6. Go check if the raindeer are low on magic

7. Suck on their candy canes

8. Watch Santa fly away in the sky

9. Make candy cane cookees with Mrs. Claus

10. Fall to sleep. Just kiding but just remember, elves never sleep.

I love the smell of rubber in the morning....

This morning I had to be at work at 7:30, so I get up extra early so I won't have to battle traffic on my way. As I get off the freeway and go through my first light, my car starts shaking a little bit. As I go through my next light, it all of a sudden feels like I hit a giant log or something and then just goes nuts. I smell burning rubber and see white smoke everywhere, so I pull over and find this:
Needless to say, I was not at work at 7:30. Apparently no one in North Richland Hills knows how to change a tire (including me!) so I had to wait and hour for a guy my dad knew to come and help me and got to work at 9am. Oh yeah, and I wore white pants to work today. Perfect for digging around greasy tire-changing stuff. What a great start to a day...

Question of the Day

Should I be offended or flattered when I get friend requests from guys on myspace who only have hot female "friends"?

On one hand, they are disgusting. I mean seriously, what girl with an ounce of self-respect would ever want to be associated with a jerk whose only "friends" are girls with their boobs hanging out in every picture? (Don't worry - I always reject the request...and I don't have my boobs hanging out in any pictures!)

But on the other hand...are they saying they think I'm hot? :) Everyone needs a little self-esteem boost every now and then...

Name That Tune!

No cheating!!!

"Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
Breathes a life of gathering gloom;
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying,
Sealed in the stone cold tomb."

I'll even give you a hint....Merry Christmas and stone cold tombs and stuff!

Things That Make Me Smile - Holiday Edition

Just so that everyone doesn't think that I am immune to the Christmas spirit after my last post...I thought I'd list a few things about the Holidays that make me smile. :)

1. Sappy Hallmark Christmas movies

2. When its cold outside (possibly even snowing...contrary to #5 from yesterday) but I'm inside and warm with a fire in the fireplace and #1 on television.

3. Christmas trees!! And Christmas lights!! And anything shiny that involves Christmas!!

4 & 5. The following video includes two of my very favorites: SNL Christmas songs and The Muppet Christmas Carol! Best. Sketch. Ever.



Happy Holidays!! Only 16 Amazon.com shopping days left to have your online orders in time for Christmas!! :)

Pet Peeves - Holiday Edition

1. People who get in their cars in a crowded parking lot and then take their dear sweet time before backing up, even though they can CLEARLY see that people are waiting for their spot

2. When there is a tiny patch of ice on the shoulders of the road, not even in the lanes, and people slam on their brakes before going over the bridge, blocking traffic and making my commute 1 1/2 hours

3. Having a stupid winter cold for 3 weeks that I just can't shake

4. Paper cuts from "Holiday Cards" (not Christmas Cards!)

5. The fact that whenever it snows in Texas, everyone has to pretend they're excited about it and go out and play in it. Its just cold and wet people! (I think I probably mentioned that in a post sometime last year too....but I really hate it!)

My Guilty Pleasure

I am such a sap, but I totally love this show. Every season it comes on, I tell myself its stupid and say I'm not going to watch it, but then I somehow always get sucked in. Tonight was the finale, and although he didn't pick the girl I really wanted him to, it was really a great season. This show and sappy Hallmark Christmas movies are the two things that make me wish I wasn't single. Then I watch Dr. Phil and feel better. Just kidding! (about the Dr. Phil thing.)

P.S.
They showed the next bachelor and WOW. Usually I don't think the guys on the Bachelor are all that good looking (except Firestone. He was cute.), but this guy is HOT. Makes me wish I was skinny so I could apply! Just kidding again! Or am I....

Customer Service is Key

Yesterday I was sick and stuck sitting at home watching all of the awful TV that goes on on Saturday afternoons. I found a show called "Airline" that is a series of mini-documentaries about issues at airports with Southwest Airlines. I watched three episodes and it cracked me up the whole time because each incident showed one of two things: either an idiot passenger or Southwest Airlines being idiots.

One incident in particular involved a flight that from Ft. Lauderdale that was landing in Buffalo with passengers connecting to Cleveland. The flight from Ft. Lauderdale was delayed and the passengers missed their connecting flight. Not the worst thing to happen, but Southwest REFUSED to do ANYTHING to accomodate the passengers to get them home. It was Sunday and the next flight that had seats available was Tuesday. They wouldn't put them on another airline, get them a rental car to drive home, or even pay for a hotel! They wanted these people to sit in the airport for 2 days, and when the people got upset, they called security on them!! It was ridiculous!

The thing that killed me about this situation is that reaccomodation is a HUGE opportunity for airlines to gain customer loyalty. You can gain a customer for life simply by showing that you are making every effort to help them out. But yet, these workers chose to actually say the words "Its not our problem" and when the customers offered suggestions of very reasonable things that would make them okay (hotel room, rental car, refunds so they could rent a car themselves), the airline refused. And the airline industry wonders why the public thinks they have poor customer service....

There were some good incidents on the show too. A lady's bag fell off a cart and was drug 100 ft, shredding nearly everything inside of it on her way home from a trip. That customer service agent called another agent in Vegas where she came from and replaced all of the souveniers that the customer had, plus some extras. Good job Southwest. I guarantee that that lady will always fly Southwest when she can. Just a little bit of customer service will go a long way.

Apparently I'm Suicidal....

It's 1:45pm on the day after Thanksgiving. I'm bored. So I am going to venture out and battle crowds at the Best Buy down the street. If no one hears from me in the next couple of days....send out the search party. Wish me luck!

Mini-Clicked

Ryan hasn't posted his weekly clicks yet, and I'm getting impatient. So here is my mini-version for the day:

• I'd like to introduce you to the dumbest. person. ever.
• Tired of hearing about the "destroyed" or "fictitious" Ancient Wonders of the World? Now you can name your own wonders!
• I'm glad they got this guy off the road!

In other news - I officially accepted a full-time offer today! In the spirit of a "this is what I clicked" post, I'll give you a quick rundown of my interview experience this semester.

• I had interviews here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. (McKinsey, Dell, American Express, Kelloggs, FedEx, GM, MGM Mirage, American Airlines)
• Got rejected by 2 companies officially (McKinsey and FedEx)
• Pretty sure that one was a rejection by never hearing from them again... (American Express)
• Think I'm about to get a rejection from this one (American Airlines)
• Am still getting calls from two companies (Kellogg's and Dell)
• And after all of that, decided that I really like where I am and accepted my full-time offer with Sabre! Ha! (I love the gnome...)

So thats all I have for today! Tune in tomorrow or Saturday for tales of an unusual camping trip!

P.S. - If you don't actually want to click on all those job links, I put cheats in white font so you can just highlight it. :)

"It's only 2 years..."

Brandon Kennedy wrote a post about success and for some reason wanted to know what I thought about success and what makes people "successful". I started a comment, and realized it was turning into a blog. So now it is! :)

Disclaimer: I am only talking about professional success in this blog...I know that personal success can be measured in so many different ways.

First of all, if I knew what success was, I probably wouldn't be on "interviews, interviews, interviews" as Brandon mentioned! But as I think back on things, I basically find I've been viewing my life in 2 year chunks....After college I said "Maybe I should just go to grad school. Its only 2 years, and then I can do what I really want." Then I decided I want to work in strategy and discovered to get into strategy, they want me to be in consulting for 2 years. So I apply with consulting firms thinking "Its a hard lifestyle, but I can do anything for 2 years..." Then I decide that I really want to be a consultant, and now I find that consulting firms want MBAs with 2 years of work experience. So if my last consulting interview comes up short, I'll stay where I am (which I would be very happy with by the way....Sabre is a GREAT company) and then try the consulting thing again in another 2 years. After all....it's only 2 years. I can do anything for 2 years...

In a lot of ways, this scares me. Although I'm not planning on doing something for 2 years that I absolutely despise, I can see how it could be easy to fall into a trap, always just looking for something a little bit better and never being content where I am. But I really do believe there will be a point where I will get into a job that I don't feel is a step trying to get somewhere else. I'm not saying that I'm going to stay in that job forever - I get bored too easily and would want a new challenge - but at that point my next move would just be to do something that I think is interesting and not simply a means to an end.

So I guess to sum up Brandon's question - I will consider myself successful when I reach a 2 year chunk where I can't see an "and then" afterwards....when my next 2 years is simply for another challenge, and not another step to get where I'm trying to go, that is when I'll be successful.

Gotta go for now....have to finish studying for another interview tomorrow morning! :)

Meet Me In St. Louis....

For the past month, I don't think I've spent one weekend at home.....Atlanta, Houston, Austin, and this weekend on Emily's National Tour....St. Louis! I went for the National Association of Women MBAs conference (the one that was in Boston last year). To make a long weekend's story short, went to some speakers/panels, saw the arch, feared for my life driving down the most dangerous street in the most dangerous city in the USA, and flew first class on the way home. :) Here are some pictures from the weekend.....thanks to Vineeta for actually carrying a camera!

The Mandatory Arch Picture:

The Mandatory "Us in Front of the Arch" Picture:

What happens when you tell people walking in suits to turn around? You get a picture that looks like a cheesey ad for the new Law & Order coming on.
Waiting for a session to start:
Eating at a really fancy Italian restaurant. We wouldn't have gotten in the restaurant except that a lady at the airport recommended it and told us to drop her name with the hostess because she's a VIP there. They made an exception and seated us as a favor to her.....but only after a 1-1/2 hour wait and if we sat in a back room away from the other guests! We felt special and insulted all at the same time....

And that was my weekend! If I ever get pictures from the Houston trip (Ashley, it was less than 24 hours! I flew in at 10 am Thursday morning, had meals and ceremonies all day long, and flew out Friday at 6 am! Don't hate me for not calling!!) I'll post those too.

A Dream Has Died!!

Its official....I will never get to do this:

I'm sure this will make Ryan's "Things I Could Blog About, But Won't" list sometime soon, but I can't believe that Bob Barker is retiring! I mean, I can believe he's retiring, but I'm so sad! Unless we do it soon, Lindsey and I will never get to make our random LA trip to go on The Price is Right. :(