CategoryUncategorized

HBS: The Return of the Blog

Sooooo…. Business school has basically taken over my life. Which is amazing and overwhelming at the same time! As many of you know, my journey to the East Coast to attend HBS started in August with leaving a job I liked with AbbVie. But sometimes a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do!

Here I am almost two months later and what a two months it has been! Between cases, social activities, and attempting to get back in shape now that I live next to a gorgeous and large gym, it’s been a whirlwind! I leave you with the most interesting tidbits I have learned so far:

  • Section J is awesome
  • Just say no. Sometimes you have to say no to many activities. And guess what? It’s ok!
  • Team 77 is amazing at circuit boards (see below)
  • If I were to climb Mount Everest in a non-simulated form, I would likely die
  • Cold calls are actually the best thing that can happen to your grade in a class
  • On the grade note – those don’t really matter that much here (or in real life)
  • Sometimes all you need to de-stress is an entire day of watching college football and getting ahead on reading!
  • Class can actually be fun

 

This is the Winter that Never Ends

So it seems that this year Mother Nature hates me.

In the spirit of looking on the bright side here are the best things to come from this terrible year of winter continuing to wreak havoc on Chicago:

  • Vocabulary expansion to include ‘Polar Vortex’
  • Discovery of my dog’s paws’ temperature limit (-5°)
  • Multiple Netflix marathons
  • Re-discovery of the show 19 Kids and Counting
  • Extra cuddle sessions with Bennie (and Andy if Bennie was willing to share)
  • A decorative birdhouse courtesy of my shopping trip I titled Help I’ve Been Working From Home For Multiple Days In A Row And I’m Losing My Mind
  • 10 hours outside enjoying the balmy 70° high on Easter Sunday
  • Significant progress toward my 1001 books list
  • Appreciation for those who have survived living in Canada

Fitness: Fitbit Style

My parents got me a Fitbit for my birthday!

Fitbit Flex

 

Now that I’ve used it for about two weeks I’m starting to realize just how bad sitting in an office all day can be for my health. I usually get up and walk as often as possible, try to talk to people instead of email them when possible, and try to go on a decently long walk with Bennie every day. And guess what? That puts me nowhere near the recommended 10,000 steps per day.

Thanks to the Fitbit reminding me of things I probably already knew, I’ve started going on longer walks with Bennie, drinking more water, and eating better. Thankfully spring is almost here, and spending more time outside walking or running is much needed after this long winter. So overall I am extremely happy with the Fitbit!

The one thing I’m still not convinced the Fitbit tracks even remotely accurately is my sleep. Particularly curious is the fact that when I wake up in the morning I usually have between 10 and 60 steps under my belt for the day, despite “0 times awake”. I’m sure it thinks restless times are also steps, but it’s still a little strange.

While the Fitbit in some ways is just a glorified pedometer, the integration with the app (which in turn is easily integrated with running and calorie tracking apps I already use) is extremely slick, and worth the money. Now I just need to get my hands on the new violet colored wristband!

Violet!

Hi loyal readers,

After a few months of being too busy to blog, I’m back! What did I do during that time you ask? Primarily I ran. A lot. And started a new position at work. And read. And enjoyed the great outdoors because… summer!

But I’m back now! Chicago Marathon finisher and all!

photo 1

 

Link of the Day: Onesies The Musical

Onesies!!!

Adult Onesies!!!!

The musical!!!

Link of the Day: Nerdy Language Tidbits

Warning: This link is only for my fellow nerds!

Nerdy Words!

RIP Bachelor Pad

ABC has cancelled Bachelor Pad.

I would say this was the worst decision in the history of ABC, but there’s worse news: Splash hasn’t been cancelled yet. Seriously ABC, Splash can live on but Bachelor Pad can’t? Obviously no one at ABC took my opinion into consideration! I have no desire to see Z-list celebrities dive into a pool. I’d rather see Z-list celebrities live together in a mansion and fight for money or love – which is the show they essentially just cancelled.

New Twitter Handle!

I decided I should have a twitter just for shameless promotion of my blog! Follow me at @college2cube if you want an update via twitter whenever I post anything new (or for the easiest way to reach me)!

Eurozone: An outsider’s view from Germany

If you read any news this week you know of two big stories – Prince Harry in Vegas and the ongoing “Eurozone Crisis.” Well here’s my outsider in Germany take on the latter:

Nothing is different in Germany. No one is talking about it. You walk by a Burberry or a Tiffany’s and they’re packed. Zara is a madhouse. I had to share a table at Starbucks the other day – a Starbucks that is just down the street from another Starbucks with two local coffee shops and a bakery in between, all packed. Restaurants are still packed. The farmer’s market was sold out of my beloved strawberries before 9am this past weekend (early by Germany farmer’s market strawberry sell-out averages, I assure you). Half of the population seems to drive Smart Cars, the other half fairly newly purchased German-made cars (BMW, VW, Mercedes). I drive by VW, Mercedes, Porsche, Smart Car, Peugeot, and BMW dealerships on the way home and they’re packed at 5:30 pm with parking spilling out onto the street. It appears Germans are spending as much or more than ever, at least from my outsider American perspective. But then again most Germans don’t own homes nearly the size Americans do, so my assumption based on my observations is they spend a much higher percentage of their incomes on cars, restaurants, and clothing/accessories than the average American.

This is a far cry from the endless abandoned shops and the empty restaurants I saw in Barcelona, sure. That’s why Germany’s the economic leader in the Eurozone right now and Spain is struggling. But if you listened to the news you’d believe Germany’s economy is depleting trying to save the Euro and everyone is scared to spend money. While this may be true of investors and banks, I assure you this is not true on a daily spending level here in Germany – or at least not with many Germans.

I have to laugh when I see news coverage on my only two English-speaking channels (CNN and BBC) about the German economy shrinking and Germans holding on to their money. I’ve asked many people at work their opinion on the Greece and Spain and Euro situation and they mostly say things like “oh yeah i heard about that” or “it’ll all work out one way or the other” or return the conversation to what they’re doing that weekend. They are going about their daily lives the exact same as they did a year ago and the year before that. Working hard and spending their money as they see fit – many on vacations to struggling Spain.

This is just my limited view of Germany – what I’ve seen the 6 months I’ve been here compared to my time in America and my one weekend in Spain. Not an expert opinion by any means, but I felt compelled to explain to anyone that reads my blog that if they’re banking on the Euro tanking and BMWs suddenly getting cheaper they might want to remember the Germans work very hard. They’re not going anywhere anytime soon besides to work and back via the Autobahn no matter the currency, the value of the currency, or the political/economic situation going on throughout the world. Unless of course it’s off to a 2 or 3 week vacation to Mallorca. Or perhaps the South of France.

Olympics > Bachelor Pad

I really do enjoy watching Bachelor Pad, probably more than I am willing to admit. But this year I’m postponing my Bachelor Pad watching until after the Olympics.

Anyone who knows me well knows that I LOVE the Olympics. I love watching sports like fencing or archery or weightlifting on TV once every four years, and seeing just how much it means to those athletes to compete. Sure, everyone wants the gold medal, but those aren’t always the stories that draw me to the Olympics. I love the stories of those who have dealt with extreme diversity and managed to qualify.

Hearing stories of athletes who had to train through the Arab Spring, losing funding and training wherever they could with whatever tools were available, and still qualifying – that’s the cool part about the Olympics. Seeing female athletes compete for countries where they aren’t allowed to drive, and in the process showing far more bravery than I could even dream to possess – that’s why I watch the Olympics. Watching the heartbreak, the elation, the tears, the awe at seeing the size of the crowd, the television coverage of judo – and hearing the backstories behind it all – that’s what the Olympics are all about.

I’ll catch up on Bachelor Pad 3 later – for now I’m too busy watching rowing, cycling, diving, gymnastics, and more!