thank you sandy

dear sandy,

thank you for threatening philadelphia as this allowed for classes to be cancelled for two days, including my midterm.

from,
rachel

halloween

so friday was the halloween party.  mbas sure know how to be creative when it comes to costumes.  our costumes were pretty pathetic relative to our peers, but i thought it was unique.  we were the game lite brite - ya know, the one with the black paper that you put the plastic colored pegs into that light up.  anyhow, here is a picture in the dark (unfortunately there are lights behind us too) so you can see it.

quarter 2

so it if officially q2!  i am 1/8 of the way through my wharton experience - i can't believe it! time goes by so so so fast.

the beginning of q2 also marks the beginning of recruiting.  joy!  employer information sessions started today and continue through the spring.

winter break update

so now i will be spending winter break on a student led trek to peru, including cities such as lima, cusco, machu picchu and the amazon!

prior to peru, i will be traveling to another south american country - not sure which one yet!

winter break plans!

so i am officially spending my winter break in uae (dubai), nepal and india.  i will be starting out in dubai for a couple days, taking in sites such as the man-made palm tree island, the largest shopping mall in the world and the sand dunes.


next, i will be heading to nepal.  i will spend some time in kathmandu, followed by time in the countryside/mountains (details tbd).

last, i am off to india where i will be going on a student led cultural trek.  translation for non-wharton students: students leading other students through their home country exposing them to the sites and culture; basically an insiders look at the country.


the trek starts on december 27th and will continue to january 6th and we will be going to mumbai, goa, jaipur, agra (taj mahal) and delhi.

biggest worry - the food. i don't do spicy and i don't really do indian food.  however, the trek leaders did promise that only one person got sick last year on the last day of the trip. my fingers are crossed.

before i die i want to...

so i found this public art installation a couple blocks from my apartment in center city.  basically it is one huge chalk board that has pre-printed lines that say before i die i want to  _________. anyone walking by can write in the blank space.  i have walked by a couple times and noticed that people continue to add to this installation.  i captured photos of my two favorites.



this public art reminded me of my time in nyc when i would see de la vega street art everywhere with the saying "become your dream."

study time

so you probably don't think i study by the nature of this blog, but i do sometimes. i tried to keep out the less exciting parts of school from this forum, because honestly, who wants to hear about studying?  also, grade non-disclosure is a great thing.  well, it will be a great thing after q1 when everyone stops worrying about grades even though they claim they don't care.

so the purpose of this post was to let you know that midterm/final exams are upon us, so i might not have very exciting posts for the next week or so.  i cant believe q1 is already over.  i am 1/8 of the way through my wharton career. i cannot believe it!

farm to table

tonight i went to my first student hosted dinner through the food club.  the food was delicious and sourced from the local farmers market (for the most part).  we enjoyed beef braised in red wine, roasted fingerling potatoes with rosemary and brussel sprouts.  as many of you know, i am not a meat person, but this was amazing.  for dessert our host made salted caramel chocolate mousse with homemade whip cream.

not only was the meal delicious, but it was great meeting new people in a relaxed setting.  everyone is so friendly and is genuinely interested in making new friends!

quote of the day

quote of the day goes to my economics professor...

"if you don't pay AMT, you haven't succeeded in life."

he does admit that AMT is a terrible measure since it hasn't been adjusted for inflation since it was created in the 60s and thus more people are falling into AMT that shouldn't be.  however, according to him, this further proves you are a failure if you don't hit the AMT.

medicine

apologies for the lack of posts. i have been kinda boring as i try and recover from my cold (i even skipped the 80s party last week - and i had a neon outfit including leg warmers and LOVE 80s music).

antibiotics round two here we go!

i blame my sickness on the attendance policy at school.  since your grade gets docked if you miss a class and you need a doctors note to have an excused absence, everyone comes to class sick.  germs spread like we are in kindergarten again and poof you end up with ear infections like you are 5. yay team.

care bear stare

so i found this fabulous backpack at the gap outlet yesterday.  perfect for all 80s theme parties and 80s ski weekend!

things i love

today i love having only one more day of classes this week, getting packages in the mail (especially when i forgot i ordered it), mochi balls, trader joes, z-packs, theme parties and trying new things.

crazy week

so the last week has been crazy to say the least.  i have been in six states (well five states and dc) in the past seven days.

last saturday started with walnut walk, a wharton tradition.  i am only going to post one "pc" picture, but think of it as a pub crawl while wearing a costume.  costume attire: business on top, party on the bottom.  this could be interpreted in many ways. i went with silver leggings.  business school is a great way to increase your costume wardrobe.  cant wait to reuse these in some crazy fashion in the future.

later in the night, i went up to nyc (passing through new jersey) for a friends birthday.  it was nice to reconnect with an old friend from college then followed by the birthday party celebration where i could see a bunch of people from my last job.  somehow i missed getting a picture with the birthday girl, but here is a pic from the night. (state count: 3)

on sunday, i took my cousin, bear, to see spiderman the musical.  i have to say it is pretty awesome.  definitely more glitzy than any other play i had seen, but totally cool.  also the kids in the audience seemed to really enjoy it.

sunday night was back to philly prepping for classes for the week.   the quote of the week goes to my obnoxious economics professor (note: he has enough obnoxious comments to start a whole blog).  "for you berkeley grads, i included a female, male and gender neutral name in the example for you."  he has also been known to remind us that the class is all about him, not us.  other than that, classes were uneventful this week.

boxing continued to be a mainstay this week - hitting up two sessions.  boxing is quite the workout!  everyone is dripping in sweat each session.  imagine an hour cardio circuit with no breaks or water, while getting told to constantly push harder.

friday was the women in business conference.  some interesting speakers, but if i have to hear about mentors and sponsors in one more q&a session, i might kill myself.

saturday, i went down to dc for my college friend/sorority sister, jen's wedding.  before the wedding, i got to hang out with my roommate from college, lauren, who had been living in macedonia for the last two years.  prior to the wedding i went out to maryland to see her house and three kids (and she has one on the way) - they are adorable!  we then went to the wedding at georgetown;s church, where the bride's parents had also been married.  this was followed by a reception at a hotel just across the river in virginia (state count: 5 + dc).  once again, failure on my part regarding pictures. i did manage to get one with lauren, but not with the bride.  however, at the wedding, we did do the kappa tradition of "oh, pat" so that should be an interesting video in the future.

sunday, i had brunch with two of my friends from my study abroad program who live in dc.  it was so nice catching up with megan and sara and had definitely been way too long.  we went to kafe leopold - even though it was german, we pretended it was belgian, after king leopold. (note: failure on the picture front, again)

sunday afternoon i returned to philly to crank out some work for the week.

in other exciting news...

1. sailing club - i got into the sailing trip, so in early november i will be heading to annapolis for a two day sailing course/expedition
2. wine club - i was selected to be one of the first years on the board - area of coverage: social.

other:  while in nyc, i did manage to walk by my FAVORITE food truck.  i was smart enough to avoid consuming a delicious belgian waffle though!