Saturday, February 24, 2007

LONDON...Put Your Hands Up For This City!







Sometimes when things are moving so fast, the old cliche goes, you forget to look around...well that is what I been guilty of the past few months...and now I can proudly saw that the cocoon has been broken...



The past 2 weeks...I dedicated to falling in love with the city that I call home...and as I figured, the city made it easy for me...so this entry will be dedicated to London...





Anyway...So I will start off with the wedding of one of my best friends...Jordan's wedding brought many old friends to London...and I decided that it was time to play tour guide and try to really show our guests what the city was about...







All of the usual places were on display, and luckily, the weather cooperated quite nicely...so...in no real order...Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, St. Paul's, Millennium Bridge, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Piccadilly Circus, Carnaby St., TOP SHOP, Covent Garden, BEN'S COOKIES, Trafalgar Sq., National Gallery, BAR ITALIA, Leicester Square, PAUL'S, Regent's Park, and of Course...the most important stop of all...LBS...Here is what LBS looks like for everyone who has asked...Also...Thanks to Bruce and Alex for introducing me to all of the places in Capitals...without them...my London fun would be very limited...







Anyway..it was great to finally see the city again...I fell in love all over again...and when everyone left...well...I decided that I was not done...SO...me and a group of friends went to Bourough Market...

Now a quick aside on how EUROPE differs from AMERICA...Europe has MARKETS!!! Yep...they are amazing and tons of people come and enjoy the best food, fruit, and drink stands that the city has to offer...This is how people get their groceries in Europe, and it is 100% amazing...On this day, I enjoyed the BEST brownie I have ever had...cheese from all over the world...Check out the BUFFALO Mozzarella...





Well...a weekend like this could only end one way...Thanks to my AMAZING BROTHER...I went to see the KILLERS!!! They rocked my socks off...in fact, probably the best concert that I have seen since Pearl Jam...They were amazing and I enjoyed every minute of it...check out the shots...



That's it for this week...but now that school has eased a little bit, I hope the next few entries will give everyone a little taste of what London has to offer...I will try my best to continue to go out and see the sights, and will send lots of pictures...:-)



Until next time...

Friday, February 16, 2007

Decisions, Decisions...Can't Someone Make Them For Me??

Hey everyone...So...First of let me apologize for the really long delay in between posts...I know everyone is sick of me saying how busy I have been, etc. etc. so I will spare you guys the boring details...

The good news is that my life has officially turned the corner!! The next 3 months should in theory now be filled with smooth sailing, lots of travel, and of course...GOLF..:-)

So...to compensate for my lack of posts, I will make this one a little longer than usual...now I know people hate reading long posts (MATT, Miss N) but...that is the best solution I could come up with...

OK...first...GOOD NEWS!!!! We can all celebrate...I got 2 JOB OFFERS!!!! Yep...with awesome firms...So I am on CLOUD 9...even as I write this...but of course...with joy comes more twists and turns in the road of life as they say...so...I have 3 final rounds with some pretty cool consulting firms next week. So, you may ask...why is this idiot subjecting himself to more interviews? Well...Here is the answer...I thought B-School would give me clarity and direction for my career choices...SHOCKINGLY it has not happened...and in fact I am more confused now than ever before...

So what to do? Finance...both roles are amazing sales rotations...lots of $$$ and great firms...but consulting seems like it would really suit me as well...and don't forget that Google and Yahoo! are still lurking as well...UGH...what to do????? Well...that is what I will try to attempt to figure out in the next week or two...if anyone has any great advice to give to me...I AM WAITING..:-)

Now...onto some fun stuff to share....the picture below is BEFORE the Bears broke my heart in the Super Bowl...I look nice for 3:00AM right? So you see...people in London DO watch football...



So...Since the departure of my brother...which has left a gaping hole in my social schedule and a dearly departed companion...I started to reflect on some of my new friends that I have made in the last 6 months...YEP...it has been 6 MONTHS since I arrived in LONDON!!! As I look back, I just can't believe how lucky I have been with LBS and everyone else I have met in London...Friends like Kevin, Joe, and Milan...these are friends I know I will have for life...I can't wait to continue to have amazing adventures with them and with everyone else from this semester...

In terms of Summer time fun...I think that my internship will be 95% in London...so everyone back in the states...START MAKING SUMMER TRAVEL PLANS...I think Wimbleton will be a hot ticket...as will some amazing concerts that London has planned at the new Wembley Stadium...so I am excited to enjoy London in all of its glory this summer...

I will end this post with thoughts on yet another wedding...One of my best friends is getting married on Sunday...So, as I have witnessed practically all of my friends get married in the past few years...I am excited for all of the advice they will give me on my wedding...when it ever happens..:-) So...CONGRATULATIONS to Jordan and Emilie...

Enjoy some pictures from the bachelor party last night...Talk to everyone soon...


Saturday, February 03, 2007

Stress? What stress...



Hey everyone...Not much to really report since my last post...that is probably because the week literally disapeared in front of my eyes...I blinked and Saturday appeared...

I know everyone is sick of hearing about this already, but I don't think I have ever been this busy in my entire life...I know certain days back in NYC were crazy and when Harbinger was rocking it got pretty busy as well...but I have never gone through what I am going through now...I truly feel that when this is all said and done in 4 weeks or so, that I will be able to handle anything...BRING ON THE START-UPS!

In terms of what's going on...well...the school is submerged in paranonia...every day conversations go like this.."So...did you hear back from company X? No? Yeah...I did....I got Dinged / Accepted" I have heard some CRAZY stories...and been parts of many myslef...so here is a funny TOP LIST of what has happened to me in the past few weeks during interviews:

1. Look at the table in front of you and sell me something on it for 15 minutes. The table consisted of: a bottle of still water, a bottle of sparkling water, a bowl of grapes, and a gum wrapper. I picked the sparkling water...

2. You have 9 tennis balls and 1 scale...you can use the scale twice...the scale is like a justice scale, so to plates on each side and they will balance if they are equal weights...1 of the tennis balls is heavier than the others...which one is it?

3. 3 guys are in line, 1 behind the other...they cannot turn around. A 4th guy puts a hat on each of them, but they cannot see which hat. The 4th guy picks from 5 hats...3 Green Hats, and 2 Red Hats...He then asks #3 - What color hat do you have on? I don't know he says...He then asks #2, What color hat do you have on, I don't know he says...He then asks #1 what color hat do you have on...He says I know...So which color hat is he wearing?

These have all been courtesy of investment banks...I am going through consulting firms now...so fun from them will be next week...

I have no offers yet...but a bunch of Final round interviews coming up...so everyone keep your fingers crossed and send me some good vibes..:-)

In general, London has been amazing...weather is great and the days are sunny...so moral is up and I am counting down the minutes until I land the perfect summer gig and bring out the golf clubs again...I think my handicap now will be around 100...but hey...thats the fun of bringing it back down again...

Lastly, I will end with some funny stories from my trip to NYC last weekend...I had a blast and would like to thank Max, Heidi, Dave, Matt, Joe, and of course Bruce for an amazing weekend...I think everyone knows how much I LOVE to eat...well I got in a Barney GreenGrass and a Yama meal...Can't beat that...Here is a funny picture of me and my friend Dave at a birthday party...Don't I look great in a sombrero?




I am still a little philosophical about where I will end up this summer and after school ends...but that will be for next week...just too tired to keep writing...

Last, but 100% not least...GO BEARS!!!!! I will be cheering with every ounce I have tomorrow at 4:00AM!!!!