Monday, May 21

Follow your dreams

Investment Banking:
True Stories of Hope And (Mostly) Despair


Follow Your Dreams

It's Monday morning, but I'm feeling good.

On top of that, today is a senior manager's fifteenth anniversary at the bank!  Free cake for all!

We're standing around eating cake, congratulating the senior manager on her fifteenth anniversary at the bank. She waves her hand in the air, getting our attention.

"Thank you, Bob and team, for the bottle of wine," she says.  "Actually, most of you don't know this, but it's been fifteen years and ten months since I joined the bank. After ten months, I quit to travel and follow my dreams... of course, inevitably, I came crawling back!"

Everyone chuckles and takes another bite of cake.

I die inside.

Linking with love: photo of tall building

Sunday, May 20

My top ten



Yesterday my business strategies professor asked us to list the ten "most important things" in our lives, without overthinking. I came up with my first three immediately.

1. friends - building community
2. family - building community
3. being outside, sunshine

Then I had to think for a few seconds.

4. serving God/people - helping
5. self sufficiency - $

Five through eleven slowly came to mind.

6.  travel/adventure
7.  being useful, accomplishing something significant
8.  music, writing, creativity
9.  good food
10. telling stories
11. reading

Can good food be that important?  I think it can.


Linking with love: beautiful photos from a well traveled woman

Friday, May 18

The post I meant to post last week....

Let's talk about gay rights.


Just kidding!

Longer post coming soon.

HAPPY FRIDAY!
mb

Linking with love: rainbow


Tuesday, May 8

A new series...

Investment Banking:
True Stories of Hope And (Mostly) Despair



Never Get Up


It's 7am. In that half awake dream state, I hear Winston Churchill say,

        Never ever, ever, ever, ever ever give up. 

Warm and fuzzy in my bed, I'm relieved to hear those encouraging words because yesterday I cried a lot and worried that somehow, against all odds, I was going to be trapped in finance forever.

Over and over again I hear,



       Never ever, ever, ever, ever ever give up. 


       Never give up.  Never ever give up.

I smile sleepily. I won't ever give up. My fuzzy thoughts float from Winston's advice to last night's Homeland finale to the morning light and the cool breeze quietly slipping through the window. I roll over and snuggle deep into the covers.


      Never ever, ever, ever, ever ever get up. 


Some time later, it dawns on me that Winston's words have changed. Over and over again I'd begun hearing,


      Never get up.
  
      Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever get up. 
      
      Never. Get. Up.
      
      I am never getting up.



I'm awake now. I think about calling in sick. But eventually I get up. 


I go to the bank.



Linking with love: photo of a bank

Saturday, April 28

Going home to Tuscany

It's been raining, all day, for the past sixteen days. I'm not exaggerating. In fact, it might be more like nineteen or twenty days. It's not pleasant. I'm at home in my pjs for the second weekend in a row. Last Saturday night, my mom asked what I was doing. I told her Dave and I were waiting for our sweet potatoes to finish baking and then we were having dinner. She said, "you sound like old people." Thanks, Mom. I'd like to blame the rain.

Last month I visited the folks in Italy, twice!  Here are some photos. Look at that beautiful sunshine.







Tuscany really is gorgeous and the food does not disappoint. I visited Rome and Venice back in high school, and I remember eating lots of pizza and pasta. But this time, my favorite dish was simple fish and vegetables slow cooked in generous amounts of olive oil. And ravioli in walnut cream sauce. And the creme brulee. Mmmmmm. And the coffee, too. Italian espresso isn't as caffeinated as the American and British stuff, so I could have a coffee after every meal if I wanted. 









Dave came along on Easter weekend. We strolled around Florence, shopping for shoes, eating gelato, taking naps on benches at the base of the duomo (that was just me). We explored bits around Pisa and walked around Lucca's walls. On Easter, we took the train to Cinque Terra, which is a string of five quaint, colorful villages along Italy's coast. It's touristy but totally worth a visit. I want to go back and hike through all five; it takes four or five hours.  All day, a thunderstorm hung overhead, creating awesome clouds and lightening. 

Looking forward to visiting again when Melissa hops over the ocean.

Stay warm and dry,
mb

Tuesday, April 24

Anybody wanna lend me a fancy hat?

I've been meaning to ask...

Does anyone have any fancy "old fashioned" hats?

Because in June, I'm going to the Royal Ascot horse races. We've actually gotten passes to the Royal Enclosure where all the upperclass and royal folk go. (Don't get me started. Another post.) And I need a hat. I could buy one in London, but that's (a) expensive and (b) not as fun as borrowing a hat from family or friends!   

Some Google images of Royal Ascot hats:

 Good color.


Yikes.



Big. But elegant.

I'm just looking for a hat. It doesn't have to be a parrot or anything. Though, it does have to be "big enough." That's right, there are specific, minimum hat measurements for women entering the Enclosure...  

If you think you might have something, get in touch!  My sister is flying to Europe in a couple of weeks and could personally escort any available hats across the Atlantic.

Happy hat hunting?
mb

Linking with love: hat, hat, hat

Sunday, April 15

This weekend...

Having a pint at my fave pub, The Island Queen,
after getting caught in a very cold rainstorm

... I went to see One Man, Two Guvnors with the Masoms.  It's opening soon on Broadway, if you're in New York and want a laugh-out-loud play. It's so British and the physical comedy is really well done. My sides hurt from laughing. I spent a fortune on groceries and discovered my two new favorite foods: cashew butter and kiwifruit. I also made tuna salad with homemade mayonaise! We went dancing and out to brunch at a fancy London place on Piccadilly. Now I'm going to meet some friends at Look Mum No Hands, a bicycle and coffee shop!  Hip and happening.

It's been a busy month so far. I've been going to Italy and applying for jobs and buying into fad diets and basking in as much sun as I can get my hands on. Photos and more posts to follow soon!

Love,
mb