MSP Updates

Ok so my delinquency continues. My bad. But that's just a good sign that things are going well on my end b/c I'm too busy to write, right? Lots has been happening. Well, first of all, Obama is our new president - WOW!!! I admit, I refused to believe he would win - even with the gap indicating his lead during the days before the election - until I saw it myself. So yes, I got up at the crack of dawn (and I don't do that for too many people - so Obama, you owe me one) and waited on a voter line for 2 hours just to cast my vote. Then, I missed my faithful weekly jazz dance class to go home and watch the election unfold. And on top of that, I watched that television until well into midnight just to make sure I saw it with my very own eyes (ok, I admit I was switching back and forth b/w the election and catching up on "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" - that show is a mess....but very entertaining, lol). When Obama won, I got on the phone and treated it like New Years (you know when you call your family and friends the second the new year comes in - yes Obama day is an official holiday). When I got tired (or rather when I realized I needed to get up in a few hours), I finally went to bed.
On the work front, last week was my first official week in department having completed my training. I had a busy three days before heading out to Philly Thursday morning to recruit at Wharton. With my luck, my 10am flight got cancelled due to weather (in Philly, I think, not here) and the new flight they booked us on wasn't leaving until 1:15 so Liz (my former Wharton classmate and now co-worker) and I found a salon in the airport. I got a manicure and Liz got a massage. Not a bad way to pass a few hours (and yes it took a few hours). My return to Philly was nice but in that "glad to see you but I won't be all that sad to leave" kind of way. I never really did love Philly but it was nice to be back for a minute. The hotel I stayed at is my newfound gem. It's called the "Independent Hotel" and its on 13th and Locust. It was the only hotel I could find a few weeks back that was not sold out (I still don't know what was going on in Philly that every hotel downtown was sold out). I wasn't sure what to expect but it turned out to be really nice. It's a boutique hotel. The room was well laid out, and had everything you would expect from a luxury hotel but at a price of $159 a night (dirt cheap for downtown Philly). My favorite was free wireless, although I also liked the plush robe, DVD player, and fridge. In addition they had a business center with free printing (unlike the Radisson), passes to the gym next door, and free continental breakfast. Unfortunately I was only in town for one night. We had our recruiting dinner Friday night then I left first thing in the morning Friday to hop on the MegaBus to NYC. I spent the weekend at home with my family and since my sister had a half day Friday, I took her to the wax museum in Times Square. Neither of us had been there before and we had a ball. I spent Saturday morning doing what I do best - shopping :-) I headed to Macys and bought some tops and dresses. Saturday night, I was responsible for getting my good friend Danielle to her surprise party in Brooklyn to celebrate her finally completing her PhD. Who knew surprising someone could be so much work! And me surprising somebody in Brooklyn is absurd - I don't even like to go to Brooklyn (it's that Bronx-Brooklyn rivalry, lol). We managed to surprise her though. It was at this latin restaurant called Bogota, which I also highly recommend. The food was amazing. The coconut rice.....mmmmmmm....if I wasn't so anti-BK I might actually go back :-) Sunday was spent in church and with my family as usual, then I flew back to Minneapolis Sunday night.
When I got back, I had a very mean welcome....it was about 10 degrees. And it had snowed over the weekend. Come to think of it, it has snowed twice since I've been back and I've only been back three days. Really??? I'm not ready y'all.
In other news, I've been managing to get out a bit. I went to a happy hour last night which was sponsored by the Young Professionals of the Twin Cities (YPOTC). It was one of the best happy hours I've been to yet (and I've been to a lot!). There was a wide range of people there from many of the Fortune 500 companies here. I got there pretty late b/c my Sr. Buyer didn't give me something I needed for a project I was working on until 4:30 and I had to get it done that night. So I showed up about an hour before the event was supposed to be over. But then two seconds after I arrived and found my friends, this guy walks up to me as if he knows me. Turns out, he recognized me from a Wharton recruiting event I participated in a few months back at General Mills. Crazy. Turns out he works at Medtronic. So we chatted about Wharton, then two of his friends from Medtronic came over and I started talking to them. One of them was a young lady who they described as a "socialite" so I told her I would email her to get on her list so I can know what events are going on here in the city. She ended up inviting me to a ladies night this Friday that some of her friends are having. I'm going to try to go. Afterwards, my friends and I stayed at the location (it was at this restaurant called B.A.N.K. - it's a former bank that was turned into a restaurant and it's kinda hot - you can see the vault which they've turned into a wine cellar). The food was really good but the service was ridiculously slow. As we got ready to walk home, we realized it was snowing...yet again! It wasn't really sticking and it wasn't all that cold, but it was snowing nonetheless. And of course the skyway closes at 10, and it was about 10:05 when we left. Great.
This week is my first full week in position and it's busy. I'm just waiting to get placed and in the meantime I have projects that I work on and a category of business that I manage. On Friday, I have a store walkthrough and I have to present for one of our brands so it will be pretty exciting (hopefully - tomorrow afternoon will be focused on making sure I'm prepared, I have a big strategy meeting all morning). Otherwise, things are good. I have plans every night for the rest of this week. Tomorrow I'm going to a get-together with some Wharton friends, Friday I'm going to try to make it to the ladies night (there is another ladies night that the new Buyers are doing too so I'm not sure if I'll be able to do both), and Saturday, I was invited to a ladies night event at the home of a girl I met at work through my HR recruiter. So it will be busy. But that's a good thing :-) Later y'all!