The Madness Continues...

Today was actually going pretty well. I slept in. Because I could. And because after the past few days, I really needed to relax. I woke up around noon in a very good mood. I cleaned my bathroom since those duties fall on me now that the cleaning lady has gone back to Turkey. After I got dressed, I cooked breakfast: an omelette made with asiago cheese along with a bowl of Frosted Flakes. Rita and I had italian class with Susanna at 2:30. Susanna said immediately that she could tell something was wrong because we had lost our enthusiasm. She said "you are usually so positive and now, no more!" Lol. So our lesson today involved very little instruction and more communicating in Italian. We explained to her in Italian why our enthusiasm was "no more" (perche il grupo non funciona bene - b/c our team doesn't function well). Susanna had us do this interactive "game" where I would give Rita a scenario from this list that Susanna had provided. And Rita would have to say what questions she would ask, or how she would respond if she were in each scenario. Then she would give me a scenario, and I had to do the same. We went back and forth like this for most of the class. Susanna suggested that we talk to Simone about our group, but I don't really think its necessary. I think its less of an administration problem, and more of a (professional) maturity problem.
After class, we went to UPIM because Rita wanted to find a manicure set. Now, UPIM is supposed to be the low end department store, but somehow Rita ended up spending 20 something euros on four nail care products. Nail polish remover was 5 euros by itself. That's highway robbery. I bought another belt, and a clear mascara that looked interesting. After UPIM, we went to Coin near our apartment. They had the belt that I bought the last time I went to Coin (near Corso Buenos Aires), but it wasn't on sale. I'm glad I bought it when I did. I got a couple of gifts from Coin but that was about it. Rita bought a really cute hot pink belt with earrings to match. Very chic. After Coin we were headed back to the apartment, then I remembered I wanted to stop back at this store called Bottega Verde b/c I had passed by it the other day and it was closed. It's similar to a Bath & Body Works but not as many product lines, and it has a bigger emphasis on facial care (by the way, there are no BBW's here!). So we went and checked them out. They had a lot of products I wanted to try, but I gave myself a spending limit of 12 euros (basically, the amount of cash I had in my pocket). They had some odd colored lip glosses (very bright, for fairer skinned women). I came out with a few items, and was happy.
The rest of the day, I hung out in the apartment and did nothing. I took a nap for a while. Checked email. Cooked. Then, just as I got all cozy in my bed and prepared to watch American Gangster then call it a night, something told me to check my email one last time. Why did I do that? There is an email in my inbox from Ashley, sent around 11pm, with the subject "Etro Interview." I open it (why???), and the first line states: "To confirm, you have an interview (Rita, Keeva, and Shruti or Kathleen) at Etro tomorrow at 11 a.m. with Stefania." REALLY??? Who operates like that? (Ok, I know that's a rhetorical question, but I still don't get this team) And here's what I'm thinking: so, if I had kept to my original plan and watched my movie, and went to bed, I highly doubt I would wake up in the morning in time to make it to an interview. And Rita was in the same boat. So what then? One person (maybe) would have shown up with Stefania, and I'm sure everyone would have been pissed off with us for not showing up. I had half a mind to ignore the email and absorb myself in Denzel Washington and Idris Elba (yeah, I know he was only in the movie for about two minutes, but those were the best two minutes of the movie, as far as I'm concerned, lol!). I didn't even tell Rita what the email said (in case she wanted to take the option of ignoring the email) - I just told her to check her email. I responded to Ashley, and the first line of my email read: "What's with the last minute notice? I was about to watch a movie and go to bed!" Hey, it's the truth. I told her I would be there, but I have no access to a printer (and I'm not about to go to Bocconi in the morning to print either), so she needed to make sure someone brought copies of the interview questions for everyone. I asked her to confirm as well, since I don't think any of them are very reliable. I'm still waiting to hear back. So now, instead of spending what I thought was my last free Friday being a bum (we have a final presentation to our client next Friday, which we just found out about yesterday), I will be conducting our first interview with Etro. And of course, since I know very little about the brand apart from visiting their stores, I had to skip Denzel and spend time doing research on them. I checked our their website, and their wiki page - both of which are quite interesting. Here's what I found: they are still family owned, and paisley is their trademark. They were founded in 1968 by Gimmo Etro, but didn't really enter the fashion world until the 80s and 90s. Gimmo's children run the company - the daughter heads up womenwear, one of the sons heads up menswear and two other sons manage textiles and finance. They started out in fabrics, and have expanded into apparel, accessories, and home goods. They're known for their mens suits, which look conservative, but have bright patterns hidden in the design. They have lots of bright design patterns (many of which I like). Their headquarters is here in Milan but they have stores worldwide, including five in the states (Madison Ave in NYC, Miami, and Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills were the first three - there is also one in Vegas and one in Manhasset, NY). I'm still researching. At least the company is interesting. I'm hoping this interview goes well tomorrow. I have to go find something to wear. Ciao!