Countdown to NYC

 

a mouth-gasm waiting to happen

Earlier this week, I learned that I’ll be needed in New York a whole lot sooner than expected (July 13 to be exact) and so my days have become a blur of preparations for the move.

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon shopping the boutiques on and around Division in Wicker Park. I made successful acquisitions at Habit, Mulberry & Me and Le Dress, which means I also put quite a dent in my new work wardrobe budget.

But the highlight of my day was definitely the mid-afternoon break for lunch at Birchwood Kitchen, where I enjoyed a baguette shmeared with goat cheese, piled high with wafer thin slices of crisp pickled beets and dressed with a sweet walnut pesto and arugula.

 

 

One of many abandoned warehouses I pass on my walk from the Ashland stop on the Green line to the office on Carroll at Damen

Spent last night sorting through twenty-one binders full of old course notes and cases, papers and exams, setting aside what will be recycled (I’m looking at you, Macro final, you too, Managing the Workplace midterm) and filing away the bits I want to save in labeled binders. It’s almost obscene, the physical space that these tomes occupy.

More walking around planned this afternoon – headed to Home Depot for boxes and packing tape, then to FedEx Office to print, sign and fax back my moving quote. The photo on the left was taken on my bi-weekly walk through the industrial district in which the start up I’ve been working with is located. This is one of many abandoned building I pass along the way.

Getting lost to get found

 

Mural on a West Loop side street

I’ve spent the last week or so blissfully unoccupied (or mostly so) – wandering the city on foot, visiting new neighborhoods and enjoying the sights in between. Chicago in the summer is an entirely different universe, blazing hot but breezy and bright. And, despite the herds of tourists that crowd the streets of my neighborhood morning and night, I am enjoying it immensely. The mural to the right was taken on a side street just outside the annual “Taste of Randolph,” the final destination for my 6 mile stroll through Chicago’s Little Italy and Greektown.

 

I’ve also started working a couple of days a week with a local startup. They are launching a new beverage in the Lakeview Whole Foods this week, so it is officially “crunch time” as we strive to pull everything together to get ready for the launch. I’m helping out with the marketing, which for now means developing a communications plan and a production schedule for the printed materials they’ll use for in-store sampling, and then managing the production. It’s been a while since I’ve been this hands-on and tactical, but I’m enjoying it. Nice to know that your efforts have a real impact.

Negative messages about Starbucks adorn the napkins at my local Caribou Coffee.

Speaking of marketing, I’ve have coffee on the brain this week, so this napkin at my local Caribou Coffee caught my attention. Direct attack on Starbucks, but will it backfire? Time-constrained consumers may only take away the negative message and come to think of “burnt and bitter” when they think of Caribou Coffee.

Life Begins…

Graduation. The end cap to my MBA. It hardly seems real. I have bid adieu to the kind friends and family who were here to celebrate the occasion and am filling my week as near to full as possible with last lunches, dinners and drinks with friends who will soon be departing for distant places. I am restless. I am irritable. I am not quite myself without the relentless pace of a thousand to-do’s looming large in the background of my conscience. I am reading again. For fun. Walking places because it’s another way to fill the time.

Time to pack away my school books and course notes, sort through the detritus of my academic career and save the bits that matter. Time to wrap up loose ends that have been left hanging. That overdue doctor’s appointment. My unfiled state tax returns. The mending pile. The seat cushions lacking screws. Used books to sell online. Letters to write. And over all of this hangs an impenetrable fug, a mood as gray and lackluster as the day outside. A general feeling of uselessness. And uncertainty.

This too shall pass I am sure. After all, tomorrow is another day…

Hot Times Living in the City

So I’m finally here. Finals behind me. Goodbyes said for the summer, bags packed, transported across state lines, and unpacked again into this charming walk up apartment in Brooklyn. I spent Sunday exploring my new neighborhood on foot, walked over to Park Slope and perused the boutiques. I grabbed coffee from the gourmet grocer, got caught in the rain and had to stop a while in a lovely French bakery (where I enjoyed a delicious almond pastry), ate Cuban-inspired cuisine in a hipster outpost. I even bought myself a pretty new frock to abet the nagging feeling of being improperly equipped for the fabulousness of the city scene. It hangs in my closet now like a promise of the fun to be had here in New York. A symbol for my anticipation of the good times to come.

This morning I woke early to catch the subway to Grand Central, where I boarded a north-bound train to CT for our first official day of training at Diageo. Eight hours of presentations on marketing, finance, and the Diageo Way, which is refreshingly fun and consumer-oriented, with a healthy emphasis on corporate social responsibility. 

The highlight of my day at company headquarters was our culminating event at the bar on the 7th floor (and not for obvious reasons). We received a lesson on mastering the perfect pour (Tom Cruise, eat your heart out) and learned how to mix a sublime margarita (hint: no mix, just fresh limes and agave nectar).

The other MBA interns are bright, sociable and fun – a really excellent group of people. I’m excited to be sharing my summer with them.

Tomorrow, we’re in the Manhattan office for a day-long seminar on the Diageo Way of Building Brands, my first indoctrination to the process and the culture that has made the company so successful.

It still seems a bit unreal. To be posting this from a seat near a window facing the street in my cozy little Brooklyn home. But here I am. More to share I am sure as the week progresses. Until then…

Stop and Smell the Flowers

I recently sent my cousin a description of some flowers growing along the walk to school. And now she wants a photo. One thing I’ve noticed is that the foliage changes pretty quickly. If you don’t stop and look around every once in a while, you just might miss something.

…like the tulips, which have finally peaked and are just beginning to shed their petals. I will miss their color. But am ready to give up the uncertainty of Spring for the finality of summer’s heat.

I’m also posting a photo of yesterday’s breakfast… the last bite of it at least. A ginger infused creme caramel. It was delicious. One of my favorite things about dinner parties is the leftovers.

Signs of Spring

Snapped this pic on the walk to school last week. The leaves? They are coming back in shrubberies all over the city. Gladness. The trees? Still bare, but budding with fuzzy fronds of deep fuschia, a miracle sight against the blue skies of April. In the week since this photo was taken, temps have risen to no-jacket-and-I’m-fine levels, and the buds have burst into tiny, glistening, full-formed leaves. Beautiful spring. I think she is here to stay. I’ve even been sleeping with the window open at night, the better to here the sounds of the buzzing city.

More on school, life, et al later. For now just wanted to share a bit of the scenery with you.

April Snowstorms Bring May ___ ?

Snow planned for Chicago tonight and tomorrow. Major disappointment. And unbelievable for being so late in the season. April? Really? I’m surprised at you… If April showers bring May flowers, I wonder what April snowstorms will bring.

Also wanted to share this pic of Wednesday night’s dinner when (for once) dinner was something more than a sandwich I’d picked up on the way home or leftovers eaten standing over the sink. The end result was lovely – pinto bean burritos in whole wheat tortillas, balsamic cured red onions and vine ripe tomato (all with a liberal sprinkling of “hippie dust”). But it started out looking more like this.

I couldn’t resist the photo opp. The refried beans nearly slithered out of the can. Yum!

Tonight housewarming party for classmate and then birthday bash at some upscale club. Seeing as I was at TAP this morning at 8 a.m., a nap may be in order. Or snuggle time with my coursepacks. Or maybe zone out with a movie (Inconvenient Truth, which I still haven’t seen probably because I’m afraid to know how my life choices are ruining the environment) and my mending pile. The party never stops…

A (Not So) Short List

Because it’s been so long since I’ve written, I feel a certain sense of inertia must be overcome to successfully post a new topic. As such I’ve decided to sum up the month-plus I’ve missed by giving you a (not so) short list of the highlights. (I’ll save the stories for another time.)

1. Winter is over.
I have officially survived my second quarter here, with a little more to show for it than the last. I have a job for the summer at a reputable firm in New York. Not sure what my assignment will be as yet, but I know I’ll be working on one of their “Global Priority” brands. I asked for a project related to innovation, but the criteria being used to determine assignments could be as reductive as matching each intern to their favorite brand (when asked in my interview, my response was Tanqueray… nothing like a little cold gin and cucumber). The quarter also ended well for me academically, with a more than solid showing for my transcript.

2. It is Spring.
Tender buds are near bursting on tree limbs, a panoply of green has erupted from the soil and the birds have resumed their song. Though the conditions today (stygian skies and blustery breezes) and yesterday (same with spitting rain) have been slightly less balmy than I’ve grown to expect from April, they still present a welcome respite from snow and slush, boots and mittens, ski caps and sweaters. I wore my first short sleeves in months to school today. The city itself is also reborn. This weekend its citizens, long weary of their involuntary hibernation, flooded the streets and parks in search of sun and fun. Sidewalk cafes have reopened and the few who brave the still chill air to enjoy them do so with beatific smiles.

3. I’m a writer.
I am rediscovering my love of writing and taking it into the public sphere. Since the end of the Autumn term, I’ve been writing for ChiBus and have enjoyed the opportunity to publish under that masthead. I’m writing a regular feature on marketing and have also had the opportunity to cover some of our front-page worthy events (like an interview with Pepsico CEO Emeritus Steve Reinemund). Of all the things I’m doing with my student activities time, I find this to be the most rewarding as it allows me to flex my expressive muscles on a bi-weekly basis.

4. My classes this quarter rock!
Nearly done fulfilling my breadth requirements, I’ve elected this quarter to immerse myself in my chosen field with not one, but two marketing courses. The first, Consumer Behavior, examines the socio-psychological forces driving consumer purchase patterns. The second, Data-Driven Marketing, is a quantitative approach (linear regression analysis) to understanding the correlation between market conditions, pricing decisions and sales data. (Drool.) This? Is what I came to Chicago for. My third class is Negotiations, which is by far the most challenging. But I need it. And expect to take a lot from the experience.

5. I am enjoying my fair city.
Maybe it’s the weather or maybe it’s my schedule this quarter, but I feel like I have had more opportunities to get out and explore Chicago since we got back from Spring Break. Last night, I joined the French MBA Club at La Sardine for a French feast tres authentique. Tomorrow night I am attending an open table event at Tango Sur hosted by the newly formed GSB Epicurean Club. And I’m dancing again. I discovered a free ballet class sponsored by a U of C student organization, which I’ll try to attend every Friday, and last weekend I experienced my first (of what I hope will be many) salsa lessons with a local instructor. And as if that weren’t enough, this Sunday I’m getting my culture fix at Webster’s Wine Bar with a 2nd Story event. Bliss.

So that’s it. For now. But life these days is rife with adventure, so expect more soon!

I may also start posting my published items from ChiBus. You can call it shameless self-promotion, but this ain’t no publicity stunt. I’m just trying to keep it real (and in real-time) for the folks tuning in from afar.

Lata!

Surprises

Just a quick post to share how grad school continues to surprise and amaze. Last week was a tough one. Tuesday came down with fever and chills accompanied by a wicked cough and congestion, which I am only just now starting to kick. Finished the week with disappointing performances in (count ‘em) three back-to-back co-chair interviews and one first-round phone interview with a company in Miami. And when I say disappointing, what I really mean is awful. Wretched, incoherent performances characterized by fuzzy-brained responses that sounded absolutely nothing like the ones I’d rehearsed beforehand. Disappointed in myself, I closed the week on a note of total dejection. And had a really good bawl at the expense of The Savages Friday night.

Imagine my surprise then, as this morning I have received not dings – but invitations! Two co-chair roles and second rounds with the Miami firm. Surprising, but I’ll take it…

P.S. The Masquerade Ball on Saturday was marvy. Here are photos of myself and Prince Charming taken from the limo we hired off the street post-ball on the way to some wretched (yet strangely popular) after hours club. 

  

Wind Chill Minus 20

Yesterday was my first morning volunteering with TAP, where I helped 4 low income tax payers file their 2007 returns so they could reap the benefits of their Earned Income Tax Credits. My ride to the facility didn’t come through, so I took the #4 south through questionable neighborhoods to Cottage Grove and Oakwood, braving icy sidewalks and rapidly falling temperatures. Still, the experience was a good one. And it felt strangely noble, filling out forms there in the church basement, like a regular Robin Hood taking from the rich to give to the poor. My economist friends might argue that the earned income credits are a net sum gain for the poor in the long run – as, by decreasing tax revenues, they reduce the government’s ability to pay for other much-needed programs – but the short-term gains for the families I worked with are substantial. A $4,000 refund is pretty damn significant when you’re only making $15,000 a year.

Had every intention of going out last night (to a birthday party slash dance party hosted by some of my Latin-American and European classmates), but ended up staying in and getting some much-needed sleep, which is good, as I will need all of my focus and energy to make it through the mountain of reading and mid-term exam prep I have slated for today.

My study group partner from the other Saint Petersburg was here for a couple of hours this morning to work on our assignment for Competitive Strategy, which is an analysis of the Microsoft take-over bid for Yahoo. Our task? To evaluate whether the combined assets post-merger would outvalue the sum of the assets of the two firms if they remain independent. Our initial analysis suggests that Microsoft is relying on some funny math [warning: certain portions of the video linked in the preceding text may be unsuitable for sensitive viewers (or the workplace)] in its valuation of Yahoo, for which it has offered to pay a 65% premium. Need to call my classmate who worked on this deal when he was in the corporate strategy group at Microsoft to see if I can gain any additional insights into the firm’s rationale in making such an offer. 

About to venture out into the world to buy cat food and various other sundries, which brings me to the subject of this post. Current temp is 1 degree Fahrenheit, but wind chill is minus twenty. Brrr! Luckily, it’s a short walk to the Jewel and I have a hungry kitty and pages upon pages of reading to compel me home again. Time to bundle up and get to it!