Dam Good City

Apologies for this post being SO delayed (and holding up the rest of the week!). Time gets away from me during the work week, but I hope the wait will be worth it :)
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Saturday, November 20th
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Saturday morning the five pf us are were up and at 'em bright and early… except it wasn’t so bright at 7AM in Amsterdam! We all managed to get ready with one bathroom (and despite it still being almost dark outside) and met down in the lobby for the delicious breakfast buffet around 8, making our way into the city by 8:45. We took about a ten minute Metro ride to Centraal Station, where we stepped out into the city for the first time! The train station itself is an absolutely beautiful brick building that looks more like a palace than a transportation hub. It wasn’t even a minutes walk before we saw our first Heineken sign (and would see hundreds more in the next 36 hours) affixed to a cafe.

 

Centraal Station

We hopped on the bus right outside the station, making our way to the Prinsengracht canal, just a short walk from the Anne Frank house. I had heard that the line could get extremely long (since the interior is so small) and can often be a two to three hour wait to get inside. We originally planned to buy reserved time slot tickets prior to leaving, but of course, before we actually all decided on a time, they were sold out. However, no worries: fortunately we got to the house early enough to only wait in line about 5-10 minutes (which was mostly due to a slow-as-molasses cashier) before heading inside. The original exterior and interior of the house have been reconstructed because of its deteriorating condition by mid-century, but have been restored as authentically as possible.

 In Front of the Anne Frank Huis

The bottom levels are now suited as a museum, with exhibitions and videos, but the annex behind the house, where Anne and her family actually hid, is empty of any furnishings, as requested by her father, Otto. The entire experience was extremely moving and the museum is very well done. One of the most upsetting parts was the original pencil markings on the walls (which were saved during the renovation) measuring Anne’s and her sister, Margot’s, height from when they moved into the annex until they were found by the nazis. It was such a great distance to imagine being trapped in just a few rooms for that long, having to be in constant fear and silence. More upsetting was that Anne died only one month before the concentration camp was liberated, and believing both her parents and sister had died. In actuality, her father was still alive, and friends who spoke out afterward believed Anne would have had the will to survive had she known her father was still alive. In the final room of the museum was the actual red and green plaid diary that contains Anne’s original diary entrees. It was a very overwhelming feeling seeing the diary that has become one of the world's most important documents; this single teenage girl’s diary has been translated into more than 60 languages and is the second most purchased book worldwide, after the Bible.
After our moving experience, we were in need of some spirit boosting, so we of course turned to food! I had read about The Pancake Bakery, a restaurant that serves only pancakes, and comes highly recommended by Rachael Ray on one of her Food Network shows. The restaurant was less than a block down from the Anne Frank House, but didn’t open until noon (I remember the chef saying to Rachael, “I don’t get why you eat these for breakfast!”). We spent the next hour walking around the Prinsengracht area, scoping out beautiful architecture, yummy cafes and pastry shops, and adorable house boats. We came across a small market set up in a square where we stumbled upon what we thought to be the best gingerbread in the world! It was fresh out of the oven and after a free sample, we all had to buy a (large) square. It was in-cred-i-ble (and was talked about for the rest of the weekend).

Around 11:45 we headed back to the Pancake Bakery, where we waited outside for a few minutes before being the first ones seated. Within 10 minutes, there was already a queue waiting for tables! Carolyn ordered a pancake with apples and cinnamon ice cream, while I opted for traditional Dutch poffertjes (puffy silver dollar pancakes) with poached pears, cinnamon ice cream, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and shaved roasted almonds on top. Gilding the lily much?

 After lunch, we made our way across the city via tram to the Heineken Brewery, where we had pre-purchased tickets. However, first, we took a beautiful canal boat tour, which conveniently departed directly across the brewery. The boat ride was a great way to see the city, navigating through both the old and new canals, and taking in the many different architecture styles. We also saw Europe's largest floating Chinese restaurant! (Could they be any more specific?)

The sun was shining and it wasn’t too cold, so we were all very grateful for the nice weather (it could have been miserable otherwise!). One of the things the driver pointed out that I probably wouldn’t have noticed otherwise, were the hooks hanging at the top of almost every house. The reason for these: the houses and stairs are so narrow inside the houses that it is nearly impossible to move furniture in and out, so the hooks are attached to a pulley system which allows the furniture to be hoisted to the appropriate floor when the windows are (easily) removed!

After our leisurely ride, we were ready to tackle the Heineken Brewery. I had heard great things about it from friends’ previous trips, so I was excited to experience it. The first floor provided a background on the founders and company, with the usual museum-like exhibits and historical objects in glass cases (we of course just meandered through this part). At the end of the floor was a woman giving a short explanation about the brewing process, before entering the actual (non-working) brewery, which showed all the steps in making the famous brew.

After exiting that area, we were (surprisingly) greeted by horses! I’m not really sure why they are still there (they used to use them to draw wagons to deliver Heineken to parts of the Netherlands), but I guess they have to compete with the Bud Clydesdales somehow! The five of us then waited in line for about 10 minutes for the “Brew U ride.” Knowing us Disney fanatics, Carolyn and I were very excited for our first ride of the semester. But, as always, high Disney-expectations led to disappointment. The “ride” was basically just a standing platform that shook a little, in addition to bubbles and a few water spritzes for effect (although I did have Ashley grabbing my hand at one point!). It was a very cute idea, but could definitely be Disney-fied. I'll get an imagineer on it stat. The ride let out to two huge Heineken star-shaped bars, where a (very cute) bartender gave each of us a small glass of beer and taught us how to drink it “correctly.” Apparently, you’re supposed to swoosh it around in your mouth; if you just swallow it straight away, it will taste bitter. Carolyn and I were hopeful that we had been drinking it the wrong way… but to no avail, beer still tastes gross. From there, we made our way to the interactive part of the experience where you can take pictures and make videos with all things Heineken. We all took a few pictures to e-mail to friends and family (appropriately with the Tower Bridge!), before making a "music video" to a Dutch song, which when shown to others, may appear as though we had enjoyed the "experience" a little too much ;) But in reality, we had yet to make it to the actual bar!

That was our next and final stop, where we were entitled to two pints of Heineken (included in our admission) but we ended up passing on the offer, and headed back out to the city.
At this point it was about 4:30 and the sun was beginning to set. We made our way to Leideseplein, one of the main night-life squares in Amsterdam, full of bars, clubs, etc., encountering a huge protest along the way. Also in Leidseplein this time of year was the Winter Plaza, a cute little market area with Christmas treats and an ice skating rink!

We spent about twenty minutes (and multiple apple beignets later), before heading to meet Allie’s boyfriend and his friends for dinner. We didn’t think about how being a group of nine in Amsterdam on a Saturday night would be such an issue, but we finally managed to find a little Italian restaurant on one of the main streets. The meal took a while, and by the time we were done it was almost nine o’clock: time for Amsterdam at night!
We first headed to a coffeeshop (where Carolyn and I nearly suffocated) before heading to the Red Light District. Let me preface by saying the whole thing intrigues me. Of course, always thinking about business, I asked questions like “Do they work independently or are they managed by a company?” “How much do they have to pay for their space?” “Is it per night or per month?” “Who owns the actual buildings?” "How are they chosen?" etc. I think everyone thought I was a little crazy, but I'm still dying to know all the answers! The actual walk through was almost like a movie – very bizarre. About half of them were talking on their cell phones, and I of course joked, they’re probably saying, “Mom I can’t talk right now! I’ll call you back later!” We did see many a windows shut and negotiations taking place, but the whole experience was just very bizarre: it was almost like looking at life-size (scantily clad) Barbie doll boxes. I was very glad we were with a group of guys, because otherwise, we would not have had the guts to walk through by ourselves. Can you say awkward?

After we’d had enough of the red-light experience, we walked back to Dam square where we spent about an hour at a bar nearby (which played great American music) before calling it a night. We were able to catch the tram and Metro back to our hotel before they closed, and definitely none of us had issues falling asleep!
Although we really only have a day and a half in Amsterdam, we accomplished a ton in our first (real) fifteen hours. How the city transforms from day to night is incredible, and almost seems like two different worlds. My expectations were definitely not disappointed; can’t wait for day two!
      Cheers,
      LC

Off to the Netherlands!

Friday, November 19th
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Work on Friday was slow.  And by slow, I mean dead slow.  Other than a few tiny projects that took me a matter of minutes to complete, my day was spent attempting to figure out what to get everyone for Christmas and making the rounds on all my favorite sites (I finally figured out how to access the American Anthropologie site, I was so excited!  I'm pathetic, I know).  In the afternoon we had a taste testing of preserves and savory biscuits, which is always fun and a good excuse to eat!  The preserves were delicious, biscuits not so much (if you're wondering, a smoked biscuit tastes as bad as it sounds).  When my coworker told me I could leave at 4:30, I jumped at the opportunity, politely of course, and ran back to Courtfield.  I met Ashley there, and after a little rest we made our way to Gloucester Road to catch the tube to Heathrow.  This weekend, we're going to Amsterdam; our last official weekend trip of the semester!  Lauren took a half day at work today and caught an earlier flight, with Maggie being on the next one out, so Ashley, Allie and I were the only three on the 8:15.  After a long tube ride to Terminal 4, Ashley and I whisked through security and found a cute place for dinner.  Allie met us just as we had ordered, so we all enjoyed sandwiches together.  After a quick pit stop at W.H.Smith for magazines and chocolate, we made our way to our gate where we were called to board only minutes later.
The flight was very nice - only 45 minutes!  When we arrived in Amsterdam, I was greeted with texts from  Lauren giving us detailed directions of how to get the train into the center of the city; apparently she spent quite a bit of time trying to figure it out.  After purchasing our tickets and a little train confusion, we finally hopped on one that brought us to RAI station, only a 5 minute's walk from the hotel.  Exhausted, we arrived in the room to find Lauren and Maggie already in bed enjoying the BBC Telethon for Children's Care.  All five of us managed to fit comfortably into a double bed and pull out couch, and before long we were all sound asleep.  Saturday would be an early day - we want to make the most of our weekend in Holland!!
   xo Carolyn

Single Digits

Thursday, November 18th
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Thursday was a hectic day with so much to do, but so little time. Work was, well… work. More EQPB managing was shoved my way, in addition to regression tests, NY conference calls, and averaging trade tests all before lunch.
A few weeks ago when we were going to see Jersey Boys, I had asked my boss for recommendations of good Asian restaurants in Leicester square. She asked if I like dim sum, but I told her I had never had it. Wrong answer apparently, because she insisted we would take a “team field trip” to Leicester Square one day for my first dim sum experience! After sending out an Outlook event invitation (everything here is so organized… I love it!), today was the day. We headed out about 11:30 with our other colleague and a friend of hers from downstairs, and returned around 1:30: what filled that span of time was a lot, a lot of dumplings. I can’t say I was the biggest fan (being a vegetarian made things difficult and some of the textures were just not my thing); however, the social aspect of the lunch was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed spending time with them (especially out of the office!).
The afternoon was rather stressful, with a repeat of last week’s software-deletion-disaster (the developers confirmed that they fixed the bug… I went in and made the changes all over again… three hours later it was all gone again) leaving me quite frustrated. My boss seemed pretty peeved with the software developers as well, and sent a relatively aggressive e-mail. I do have to say one of the major benefits of working with people in New York is you never have to worry about running into them in the elevator!
Once again, I got work assigned to me at quarter to six, officially making me the last person from our team in the office every day this week. Luckily, I finished by 6:15 and was able to get back to Courtfield as quickly as I could. After completing today, we only have nine more days of our internship left.... single digits!
After dinner with Ashley, Carolyn’s and my plan of action for the night was to finish our architecture papers, get information and reservations organized, and of course PACK! Tomorrow night, Carolyn, Maggie, Ashley, Allie, and I are all heading to Amsterdam for the weekend. It’s the one place I’ve been anxious to visit since I knew I was coming to London, so I’m very, very excited! Just have to make it one more day…
     Cheers,
     LC

It's Really Only Wednesday?

Wednesday, November 17th
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Today was a pretty quiet day in the office.  I spent the morning posting (not mailing) things to various stores, mostly more Christmas promotional material.  For lunch, I enjoyed some soup at Whole Foods while reading their Thanksgiving brochure.  You can order a full meal from the store and have it delivered to your home; if we weren't having guests it sounded amazing!  When I returned after my break, my main project was ordering product for an event in which the Birmingham store is participating.  I had my first experience in working in the CTO, which is the company's main database.  Extremely old school and difficult to navigate, but I figured it out!  I was also put in charge of putting together the next edition of the "Evelyn Standard," which is the company's quarterly newsletter.  I've had to email everyone in the office and stores asking if they would like anything to be included, and have been trying to think of some fun ideas of put in as articles.  By 4 pm it was pitch black outside, and when 5:30 arrived I was making my way back to Courtfield. 
After a relaxing dinner with Lauren and Maggie, we skeptically returned to our room to crank out our papers.  I have my final Internship Tutorial right after work tomorrow night, so I'm trying to get it finished!  We'll see....
    xo Carolyn

Go Figure.... Skate!

Tuesday, November 16th
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Tuesday morning meant back to work, this morning in the FRIGID cold. I think winter has finally arrived in London. Carolyn’s and my first e-mail exchange of the day (we correspond/complain via our corporate e-mail addresses… so posh) was even about how shockingly cold our commutes were. If it gets any colder, I might need to buy a new jacket… ;)
My boss didn’t get in until about noon time (she and her fiancée closed on an apartment), but I was welcomed by an e-mail from her with a list of about six things to do before she arrived at the office. It goes without saying, but my morning was pretty busy, testing flows and following up on e-mails for issues from the previous week.
During my lunch break, I headed to Moorgate to mail Brock and Collin’s birthday cards (I can’t believe it’s their first birthday already!) before heading to EAT, a sandwich take-away café that I’d been wanting to try. I headed back to the office with a grilled cranberry and brie baguette (so good) where I was delegated to deal with the EQPB team (we have a love hate relationship with them). We communicate with them in New York via Communicator (like corporate IM) or on conference calls, and they love to haunt us constantly. The issue is, we have access to levels of the trading platforms that they don’t (but should have) so our team ends up doing much of their verification and matching of trades. Not fun.
Carolyn, Allie, Ashley, and I, along with a few other flat mates, had made plans to meet up and go ice skating at the Natural History Museum Tuesday night. The session went from 7:45 to 8:45, but we were all planning on meeting up at 6:30 to buy the tickets and then get dinner in South Ken. Cue 5:45, when my boss decides to give me more work to do that needed to be done by the end of the day, while she had to leave for an appointment. 6:30 arrived and I was still at the office (the last one there from my project team none the less). I managed to finish about 6:40, sprint to and from the Tube, change from work to skating clothes, and meet everyone at the rink at 7:45 on the dot. I missed out on Thai Square and crepes (probably a good thing for my waistline), but was happy I didn’t miss out on any skating!
After everyone got their skates on (FYI European size = American size – 2), we headed out onto the ice. About four of us knew how to skate, a couple hadn’t been in about 10 years (no names), and one had never been on ice before. Ever. As one can imagine, this made for quite the entertaining start, but I have to give Carolyn and everyone else credit where credit is due: not one person from our group fell the entire hour! We did spend a couple of minutes in the kiddie rink though… ;)

  Kiddie Rink Anyone?

The atmosphere was so incredible, with Christmas lights strung around all the trees, the gorgeous museum behind us, a carousel, and a modern café/bar to warm up after. And I can’t forget the Christmas music playing in the background (including quite a few Walter favorites!).

After an hour of skating, everyone was pretty tired and ankles were starting to ache, so we headed up to the bar to hang out for a bit before heading back to Courtfield around 9:30. After a quick late dinner (I hadn’t eaten so you can imagine how famished I was), Carolyn and I worked on our Architecture papers for a little while before calling it a night.

We had such a great time skating (check it off the list!) that we’re already planning out next trip to the Somerset House rink… maybe next time I’ll teach Carolyn how to spin ;)
     Cheers,
     LC

Tate & Tennis

Monday, November 15th
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After waking up to a chilly Monday morning, Lauren and I had to make sure to bundle up, as our Architecture class this week was bringing us out into the cold!  Our class outing began at Westminster tube stop, and from there we began our South Bank Walk.  Crossing over Westminster Bridge, we strolled by County Hall, the Aquarium, and of course the London Eye.  Our professor told us that the husband and wife team who designed the wheel still receive a royalty whenever someone buys a ticket - can you believe that?!  Needless to say, they are raking in the dough.  Our next stop was Royal Festival Hall.  This bank side building was built in 1951 as a part of the Festival of Britain, and continues to be one of the city's premiere centers for the arts.  We got to spend a little while in the building, allowing us to thaw out.  Lauren and I spent most of the time chatting with our professor, who we decided is the cutest person in the world.  She was telling us about her daughters, Florence and Sydney (named after the cities in which her husband, a prominent Fosters architect, won design contests) and each of their interests.  She sounds like such a cool mom ( although not compared to our beloved moms, of course)!

Yup, all Sunflower Seeds

From the Hall, we walked towards the National Theater, a pretty modern building that is both loved and hated by Londoners for its unusual and stark architecture.  After stealing a peak at the its café, where stars like Jude Law are regulars, we continued outside and along the Thames.  At one point, we were able to go down to river level as the low tide created a sort of beach on its edges.  It was a really cool perspective, although a bit smelly!  Reaching Blackfriars Bridge, we made our way to our final destination: the Tate Modern.  Built about ten years ago, this world renowned museum has housed some of the most innovative and well known contemporary and modern art.  It is pretty much an Art History major's dream; unfortunately, not quite Lauren's and mine cup of tea (pun intended).  We're just not modern art people.  The one exhibit we did see was part of the museum's Unilever Series, in which an artist is able to use the grand Turbine Hall as their workspace.  The "work" we saw was by a famous Chinese artist by the name of Ai Weiwei.  He chose to have millions (the guess is 10) of porcelain sunflower seeds hand crafted and placed neatly on the entire floor of the hall.  Why sunflower seeds you ask?  Apparently it's supposed to represent independence in country that is dominated by political powers.  We didn't really get the whole idea, but it was really amazing to see.  Each of the seeds has been hand crafted and hand painted; Lauren and I were so tempted to try and take one, but with security guards watching us like hawks we decided to skip it.
Parting from our class at 1:30, we both decided it was definitely time for lunch.  Since we were so close to the City, Lauren showed me her favorite food market she frequents for lunch, which apparently had "the best falafel ever."  I can now attest to that statement...amazing.

After a yummy lunch, we made our way back to Courtfield.  While Lauren decided to be studious and stay home to work on her essays, I joined Ashley and Maggie on the tube for an afternoon trip to Wimbledon.  I have been wanting to go here since we arrived in August, so I figured it was now or never!  Although it's far from Grand Slam season, you are still able to walk the Club grounds and visit the Wimbledon Museum.  A half an hour tube ride and we had arrived on the outskirts of London.  A 15 minute walk brought us to the gates of the All England Lawn and Tennis Club; needless to say I was very excited!  By the time we got there it was 3:30, so we opted to see Centre Court first before it got too dark.  There is a viewing booth from which you can see the whole of the stadium.  When we reached the platform, I could't believe I was actually there!  The Court is actually a lot smaller than I envisioned it to be (maybe I'm used to the huge Arthur Ashe stadium), but nevertheless it was quite a sight to behold.  After taking the necessary round of pictures, we headed back over to the main visitor's center for a look around the museum.  It turned out to be a really fun and interesting exhibit, with a lot of interactive points and amazing artifacts.  Some of my favorites were the John McEnroe interactive tour (where he talks about his favorite matches...it looks like he's really there), the outfits (of course), and the trophies!!  Ashley and I agreed that it was definitely one of the best things we've toured here so far.  Turning in our audio guides, we made a quick sweep of the gift shop before heading back to the tube as the Sun went down.  I was sooo happy that I had finally gotten to see Wimbledon, and it was as beautiful and amazing as I expected; now all I want to do is pick up a racquet!
After arriving back home, the rest of the night was spent enjoying dinner and essay writing.  Not the most glamorous of nights, but it was somewhat relaxing!  Week six of placements starts tomorrow - after this week of work we'll be down to single digits!  Needless to say we're ready for a break from this whole internship thing...we'll try enjoy it while it lasts though!
       xo Carolyn

Wait... We're STILL Taking Classes Here!?

Sunday, November 14^th

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Sunday was, as always, a very lazy day. Carolyn and I both slept in until eleven, our latest ever here (and I think a personal record for me)!  Carolyn was productive and went and dropped off her laundry (I desperately need to do that), while I began (attempted) to crank out my Internship Tutorial essay due the next day.  The assignment was to write an essay, and create a PowerPoint, outlining a project you had been personally responsible for at your internship, forming it in a way that could be presented to future employers.  I opted to write about being assigned to create and compile the IRFE November 2010 release document for our department and all the steps involved in getting up to that point. I have to say, writing everything down and having to stretch it out to 2000 words does make it seem a lot more impressive than it really is!

I had already set-up camp in the basement, since when I try and work from my bed I always just end up on YouTube (of course that happened downstairs too), and Carolyn came and joined me for a few hours as well. Around 6, Maggie, Carolyn, and I were all starving so we decided to order Chinese take-out, being too lazy to cook or to go out to a restaurant. We found a new place on Earls Court, within 4 or 5 minutes walking distance of our flat, that was actually really good! Too bad we found it so late in the game (or actually good thing because we would have been getting it way too often)!

Carolyn and I spent the rest of our night writing our internship papers and getting started on our other essay for our Architecture class, as well. Time is going to be our worst enemy this week with two major papers to write, four full days of work, and a Friday departure for Amsterdam!  Wish us luck.

                Cheers,

                LC

Shop til you Drop

Saturday, November 13th
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Saturday started off with a much needed sleeping in.  After slowly waking up and getting ready, Lauren, Maggie and I departed Courtfield for our day out on the town.  We started our morning off at Portobello Market.  While I had not been yet (and had been dying to go), both Lauren and Maggie had already experienced it, so I was very grateful that they tagged along with me!  We were caught up in the crowds the minute we got off the tube at Notting Hill Gate; we followed the flow of foot traffic along vintage stores and cafes before reaching our final destination, Portobello Road.  The street, which runs nearly the entire length of Notting Hill south to north, is lined with booths selling everything from funky jewelry to antique lace and old school cameras.  We meandered all the way down the street, stopping at a few stands to admire silver rings and vintage books.  As we continued down, the stands slowly morphed from clothing and silver to fresh vegetables and breads.  There was any type of street food you could imagine, and as you may have guessed we were in absolute heaven!  By the time we reached the end of the road we were all starving, and as luck would have it we spotted a small corner shop called "Falafel King."  Bingo.  We all enjoyed delicious falafel and hummus pitas along with freshly squeezed lemonade that was the perfect accompaniment.  Happy and full, we decided to head to the nearest tube station and make our way to our next stop.
One New Change is the City of London's newest mall, only steps away from St. Paul's and, even more convenient, JP Morgan!  So when Lauren came back from one of her daily commutes and told us about this new locale, we knew we had to check it out.  We got off at Mansion House and made our way along Lauren's usual path to work (which is actually really cute! a lot of small pubs and restaurants we want to try) until we reached our destination.  This open air mall boasts some of our favorite stores, including H&M, Topshop and Banana Republic.  We browsed for a few hours stopping in all of our must sees, and may or even made a few purchases (shocking, I know)!  Without a doubt, the highlight was walking through the main center, looking up and seeing St. Paul's Cathedral perfectly framed by the walls of the building - it was such a beautiful sight!  After satiating our shopping craving, we realized how cold we were and headed back to Courtfield to relax for the afternoon.
When dinnertime rolled around, we decided we would make it a night out.  We settled on Damario's, a small Italian restaurant on Gloucester Road.  Apart from its amazing reviews, this spot also holds the title of being Princess Diana's favorite Italian restaurant.  She would bring William and Harry here all the time for dinner (since it's just a short walk from Kensington Palace...no big deal).  We ate downstairs in what is a cozy bar / disco (?).  Confusing combination, I know, but it was a cool atmosphere!  Lauren and I had amazing pizzas (might rival Pizza Express), while Maggie chose a baked pasta dish.  After dinner was finished, we strolled on over to Snog for an après-meal froyo - a great way to end a meal!
That night we met up with Allie and some other girls from Wake in Covent Garden, and from there we went out on the town.  Overall, a very fun London day!
      xo Carolyn

Work: Week 5... Check!

Friday, November 12th 
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Friday was yet another long day at the office. I spent my morning checking trade flows, listening in on some conference calls, and running regression tests. After Hummus Bros for lunch (never fails to disappoint), my major task for the afternoon was to edit and make additions to the BCP, or Business Crisis Plan. Essentially, it is a 60-page document that my boss is in charge of making for our department in case of an internal or external crisis, covering everything from a bomb threat to a computer crash. Once the update is complete and signed-off on, it will be sent to every employee and secured on their hard drive, so they have easy accessibility to it in case of an event. It’s all very important, but what does this have to do with investment banking!?... I digress.

I spent about five hours manually typing updated information into the online editing software, saving my progress often. About five minutes after I completed it, I went back to double-check some numbers, when I saw my five-hours of work completely scrambled and reformatted. Nothing was in the correct tables, everything have been shuffled around, and nothing made sense. I almost cried. I managed to calmly tell my boss the situation, who very casually said to me, “Oh, it must be a bug. E-mail the developers and tell them what you’ve encountered.” This was not what I needed on a rainy, Friday afternoon.  No quick resolve; they would have to “look into it.” I worked on our November Project Team release for the rest of the day before heading out for the weekend. 

Although it was pitch dark and drizzling, I couldn’t wait to get back to Courtfield. Maggie, Carolyn, and I had dinner at our flat before heading out to the Imperial College Union: the student bar at Imperial College. It is very conveniently located, just a few blocks away in South Kensington (no tube needed!), and the drinks are known to be heap. The atmosphere was a little bit different then we expected, but it turned out to be a fun night. We even met a kid who goes to Carnegie Mellon and grew up with one of Carolyn’s good friends from Wake… such a small world! He said he couldn’t really tell if we had American accents when we first walked by, but heard a lot of “likes” and “oh my gods,” so he knew we must have been from the states. Such a compliment? 

The night proved to be a fun outing to end our hectic weeks, yet at the same time, we were able to simply walk home when we all hit the point of exhaustion. We need to rest up… tomorrow we have some shopping planned!

          Cheers,

          LC.

It's Raining, It's Pouring

Thursday, November 11th
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We woke up to another rainy morning, making our commutes to work that much more enjoyable.  Not only was it cold and rainy, but the wind was howling; my umbrella turned inside out four times on my walk to work!  Guess this is real London!
Both my boss and the girl I work with were out of the office today, so I thought it would pretty quiet.  After replying to a few emails, I settled into AOL and was trying to think of ways to keep myself busy for the next eight hours.  I didn't have to do this for long, though, as the Visual Merchandising department needed someone to go pick up product at the Brompton Road store.  I eagerly volunteered my services, and ten minutes later I was on the tube to Knightsbridge.  The store is only a few stores down from Harrods, so I got a peek at their high anticipated Christmas windows!  This year's theme is Peter Pan, and the displays are absolutely gorgeous.  Although I'm not sure if Peter and Wendy would be wearing the designer frocks the mannequins were sporting, it was quite a sight to see.  After stopping into the store and gathering what I needed, I was right back to Kensington.  Well almost - across the street walking back to the tube I spotted a Starbucks.  Since I had seen the red Christmas cups last week, I have been looking forward to a Gingerbread Latte, so I thought why not!  Warm drink in hand (sooo yummy and perfect for the weather!) I made my way back to Kelso with bags in hand.  After making the delivery to the very appreciative VM managers, I was back to making myself busy.  But again, I did not have to for that long; the PR assistant who sits next to me asked if I could clean out the product closet.  This closet, only steps away from my desk, holds multiples of every product offered by Crabtree & Evelyn - pretty much a spa lover's dream.  This ended up taking up the rest of my morning and afternoon, but I love these kinds of organizing things so it helped the time go by very quickly.  As I cleared and stacked and boxed, my co-workers and I were confusedly staring out the window the whole day; one minute it would be monsooning outside, and then next the Sun would be out!  So strange.  I managed to run out for lunch in between downpours, but came right back to spend the rest of the day continuing my closet work.  After what seemed like many, many hours, I had about ten boxes neatly stacked and ready to go to the outlet stores!  When everything was set, I left around 5, already sleepy from the fact that it was pitch black outside.
On the way home I made my usual quick stop at Waitrose before coming back to Courtfield for the night.  I chatted with friends and skyped with Molly as Lauren walked in the room, tired from yet another busy day at JPMorgan.  We mustered our energy and had a relaxing dinner with Allie before returning to our room and relaxing with our laptops.
Last day of work tomorrow before the weekend!!  I'm going to Covent Garden to do some market research for a new product line launching next year, so that should be a nice change from the office - wish me luck!
   xo Carolyn