Project 365: 59/365

I know that the *actual* fall leaves will be much more impressive than this... but I can see it starting every time I look out the kitchen window! 

Project 365: 58/365

This is why they don't allow food in the study rooms. Oops!

Finance exam tomorrow... kill me now!

Project 365: 57/365

Thought for the day: Laugh everyday - it's like inner jogging.

Another thought for the day: why do Dove Promises have the weirdest sayings inside their wrappers?

Project 365: 56.365

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have officially gone low-tech.

Don't be jealous of my super sweet Go phone.

Project 365: 55/365

I could alternately title this post, "The Saddest Photo I will EVER Post."

Or, "I am the Dumbest Person Alive." Take your pick.

So during the aforementioned Boat Cruise, I made the mistake of depositing my purse on the floor next to my chair. Apparently my purse has legs, because it walked out into the center of the walkway at some point. Or maybe it was kicked, who knows?

All I know is that when we were done eating I pulled my phone out of my purse to find that it had been kissed by a random stranger. And by "kissed" I mean shattered and by "random stranger" I mean 100 lb. elephant.

And did I mention that I was raised in a house where we don't believe in phone insurance? Gah!

So the upshot of it is that my Dad found a place that will replace the screen for $67. I just have to turn it over to them for about a week. So, in the meantime I'm getting a terrorist disposable phone so I can stay in communication with the outside world. And find Sandra in the Sacramento airport on Friday night. You know, the little things.

Hopefully in a short amount of time we will have an "after" picture that is much happier! And you can bet that this thing will live on the table during the dinner hour moving forward.

Project 365: 54/365

The MBA Boat Cruise was last night... and it was a really fun evening! I was looking forward to getting dressed up for a change and hitting the town somewhere other than Kenmore or Fenway.

The ladies at our dinner table. L to R: Melissa, Amy, Me, Stephanie, Joanna, Molly, Meg and Jenn.

 And what's a boat cruise without a good "I'm the King of the World!" shot? 

Joanna, Meg, me and Jenn.

Oh, and for the record...

Happy Birthday, Glenn!

Love, the best sister in the world!

Project 365: 53/365

Saw this in the window of Walgreens today... I think I need to have it! I must say, though, I really appreciate Walgreen's "As Seen on TV" section. I might just do all of my holiday shopping there this year... Bumpits and Snuggies for everyone!

In other news, I texted this very photo to my mother... who procured one the very same day for her temporary outdoor kitchen. I need to know how that worked, by the way...

Project 365: 52/365

Not going out tonight... staying at home with my secret lover... the take home accounting exam! And instead of cocktails I am chugging Delsym and Emergen-C. My life is soooo glamorous!

Project 365: 51/365

The giant Citgo sign in Kenmore square is finally back on. Whenever I'm having trouble orienting where I am geographically in the city, I look for this sign. It's been off since I got here, but last night I was glad to see that it is back on again!

Project 365: 50/365

Every time I go to Trader Joe's, I leave out the back door and take the short cut home. When I do, I pass this:

The sign simply says "Tracy Milillo 1981-2009." 

I've wondered about this memorial for a while now, and today I finally googled it. It's called the "ghost bicycle" and it marks the spot of a fatal bicycle accident that took place last year. The young woman was riding, then crashed her bike in the intersection. A motorist stopped after seeing her fall - wondering if he had hit her - but tests later found his vehicle never made contact with her. They simply don't know what caused her to crash. It was her last day in Boston; her parents were coming the next day to move her back to New York.

Such a sad story. The memorial is both beautiful and a little eerie. I think I'll steer clear of here come Halloween...

You can read more about the story here. 

A Real Update... for a Change

When I get around to posting today's photo, it will be number 50! I can't believe how fast these last 7 weeks have gone by!

School has pretty much settled into what I think is going to be its routine. It looks like this: wake up, eat, shower (etc.), re-read materials for class, pack a lunch, head to campus, eat said lunch, class, study time, more class, walk home, make dinner, study, sleep. 

And you wonder why a lot of my photo posts are back-dated!

I'm finally able to answer one question definitively though - what classes are you taking? Since we're in the first year core curriculum, we don't get to pick or schedule our own classes, so I've never been able to give a good answer to that question. I'm taking classes in Organizational Business, Marketing Management, Finance, Accounting, and Statistics. These are the courses that take up the bulk of my week. I'm also enrolled in a Career Management course, Executive Skills, and my Career Community. 

One of the most frustrating things about the scheduling here is that it's not predictable. Ask me where I'll be on  a Monday at 1 p.m., and I can only tell you SMG room 322. It might be Marketing, it might be Stats. It might be a 90 minute class, it might be a 3 hour class. Sometimes we think we have Marketing, but our Stats professor shows up. It can be a little hard to keep straight, so I just have to take it one week at a time in terms of scheduling. Thankfully, the Graduate Programs Office sent each cohort a Google calendar with our schedule, so it's not impossible to keep track of.

We had our first big project due last week, which we completed with our teams. It was a case analysis on Meg Whitman at eBay, followed by an analysis of one of the international countries where eBay operates. It was a ton of work, and the first substantial assignment we'd completed with our teams. We had a marathon four-hour class on Friday for all of the presentations, and then headed to the pub after to blow off some steam. It was really great how many people came up and complimented our team, and me personally as well. I was really flattered! Public Speaking isn't something I'm bad at (thank you Mormon church), but it's not exactly something I'd do for fun!

We're gearing up now for our Integrated Project, which is the biggest part of our grade in pretty much all of our classes. The gist is - we have to pick a consumer product brand, evaluate it, and make a proposal to revitalize that brand and decide whether or not our "company" should purchase it. Once that really kicks off, I fully expect my life to end as I know it!

I've also been fighting my homebody tendencies since coming to Boston, trying to be social and make friends. It's so hard when my bed is so comfy and my TV so large! Just kidding. It's definitely a different scene here than in LA - a lot more casual (I have only worn heels out once!) and not so clubby. I'm trying to work the Groupon/Living Social deals to be able to stretch my student budget over all of the things I want to do. 

It's funny, after Labor Day, it's like a switch was flipped. It's now Fall - cool and crisp, yet still sunny and clear out. This is definitely new... and nice... but it's hard to not go out and buy lots of boots and cozy sweaters. I can't wait until I have an income again! 

Anyway, more later. If there are any specific questions you have, send them my way via e-mail or in the comments, and I'll do a big question answering post this weekend. 

Project 365: 49/365

On the menu tonight: comfort food. Tomato soup, grilled cheese made with Irish cheddar, and orange Crystal Light. Probably on the menu for tomorrow night as well!

Project 365: 48/365

I "allegedly" got a hair cut today. Yeah, I can't tell the difference either.

Project 365: 47/365

Fruit flies, prepare to meet your maker!

We've had an unfortunate fruit fly infestation in our kitchen. Apparently it's pretty common in this part of the country. The solution? Fill a cup with a bit of vinegar, and then spread a bit of honey on some saran wrap. Put the wrap over the cup (honey side down) and secure with a rubber band. Poke holes in the saran wrap, and viola! A fruit fly death trap.

My life is super boring, eh!? And you wonder why I don't do a "real" post.

Project 365: 46/365

These are not just my purple, plaid rain boots. Tonight, they were my purple, plaid dancing shoes. I couldn't take my heels any more...

I got some dirty looks in them, but who cares?

Project 365: 45/365

Every month there is a new ad campaign in the Kenmore T Station (where I get off of the train for school).

And this month's ads taunt me.

I should mention that this is also a stop where people get off for Fenway, thus the beisbol theme. There's also a Chipotes conveniently located near the park. Other slogans include "Almost as good as beating New York," and "Equally good from both sides of the plate."

Ohh, Chipotle. I don't care if your tortillas have enough calories for a whole day... I love you!

Project 365: 44/365

This is what I'd rather be doing instead of my Accounting homework...

I don't know why it's sideways. And I'm too tired to care.

Project 365: 43/365

Guess which one came in my care package from Mom & Dad...

Project 365: 42/365

I was struggling with what to post today, so I thought I'd show you all what I've been looking at lately. Here's another shot of my team. We're Cohort D, team #3... so it was super easy to pick the group name. The 3-D glasses are on order...

This shot is actually a part of an assignment - we had to upload it to our class site so that our professors can learn our names, and learn who is in what team. The snazzy name cards were distributed to us on the first day, and we have to put them in the little holder in front of our seat in each class. In the tiered classrooms, it all looks a little like what I'd think a Model UN class would look like... minus the flags.

Right now we're working on our first team project for our Organizational Business class. We have to do an evaluation of eBay's culture (based off of a case from when Meg Whitman was CEO), and then pick a foreign country where eBay operates and do an analysis of their culture and make recommendations for how they can expand their business under said culture. Our team chose Australia. It's been interesting so far... but I will be really happy once Friday has come and gone and the project is over!

Project 365: 41/365

Stats, like Finance, is not in English. And it is not more interesting when viewed through Hipstamatic, either.

Only four classes and we've gone through half the book. Wheeeee!

Project 365: 40/365

Despite what my mother might tell you, I do not go out to bars all the time. Just sometimes. After studying really hard and doing my finance homework... and helping classmates clean up their tagged photos on Facebook.

Shuddup...

Project 365: 39/365

We knew it was going to be a good Stats class when the professor emptied a bag of cookies on the table...

We were trying to figure out if the number of chocolate chips in a Chips Ahoy cookie followed a normal curve or not, so there was an actual academic component to this class. But he definitely knew his audience - starving grad students in a 1 p.m. Friday class!

Project 365: 38/365

Portrait of a dejected graduate student. Model: Jessica G. We're all going a little bonkers right now as the reality of what we've signed up for finally hits us...

In other news, it's kind of fun to have a locker again. Hoarders like Jess and I opted for the big lockers (a steal at $20 for the semester), which have the slight disadvantage of being on the bottom row. They also don't have vents on the front which make it impossible to pass notes between classes to your friends (yes, we all thought of this) or notes of the "Do you like me? Check Yes, No, or Maybe" variety. There's also been talk of hanging pictures of A.C. Slater in lockers... I'm not into that, but I always was more of a Zack Morris girl myself. I wonder if I can get a Zack Attack poster on eBay?

Project 365: 37/365

Thought you might all like to see where I've been spending my days lately.

This, my friends, is the Boston University School of Management - or as everyone here calls it, SMG.

Project 365: 36/365

The semester went from 0 to 60 overnight it seems. I'm trying to walk home in the evenings to get some exercise and fresh air, and to clear my head before attempting to study. Today I snapped this picture of the Green Line train I'd normally be on, somewhere near the Hawes St. stop.

Project 365: 35/365

After a wonderful day and night in Cape Cod, we headed back to Boston this morning. But our car decided to make a detour to Yarmouth to the home of the "Best Clam Chowder in Cape Cod." And it certainly didn't disappoint!

Me, Joanna and Jenn on the beach in Yarmouth. 

Project 365: 34/365

Cape trip!

The view from the deck in the amazing house we took over in Wellfleet, Mass. 

Project 365: 33/365

For the past couple of weeks, we've really only had our OB 713 class, and starting next week we start all the other ones: Finance, Accounting, Marketing, Stats, etc. I thought that I'd enjoy the variety in my assignments -- something different to read.

I'm not sure Finance is even in English!

At least I only need to get a 2.7 to not get kicked out... 

Project 365: 32/365

I wound up not feeling well today, and it was really really crappy out due to Hurricane Earl.

So I did this:

I really love Harrison Ford...

Project 365: 31/365

Have you ever wondered what a grown man karaoke-ing "My Heart Will Go On" looks like? Here you go.

The few locals that were in the bar were really sick of our group by the end of our set. In addition to the beautiful rendition of the Celine Dion classic pictured above, we were also treated to "If You Wanna Be My Lover," by the Spice Girls, "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen, and a Cat Stevens song I can't remember. Jim and I closed out the night with a soulful rendition of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing." And the fact that we are both tone deaf didn't stop us either!

Project 365: 30/365

Tonight we all came together at Audubon Circle to celebrate Shawn's birthday. 

L-to-R: John, Drew, Meg, Dane and Shawn.