tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56078418705480330052024-03-13T13:15:36.417-07:00Sunnyside Up!A collection of musings from the golden stateLaurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.comBlogger173125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607841870548033005.post-13611254809796192632011-12-30T13:30:00.000-08:002011-12-30T13:30:00.247-08:00Best of 2011<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I thought I'd bring back the traditional of the Best of posts this year. I managed to accidentally skip last year, but here's the one from </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://livesunnysideup.blogspot.com/2010/01/sunnyside-ups-best-of-2009.html">2009</a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">2011 has really been a truly crazy year. I feel like I've turned life upside down and things are just starting to finally settle in a good place. The upside of this is that there are a lot of great things that have happened during this crazy year for me to reflect upon. Here's an assortment in no particular order. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">1. Travel: Italy & Australia - I doubled the number of times that I've been out of the country in my whole life this year and added a new continent.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">2. Graduating from Haas - How did the 2 years of b-school fly by already? I'm glad to be done, but do find myself missing the community, growing opportunities, and fun of Haas.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">3. Starting my post-Haas career at eBay - So far so good on my re-entry into the real world. It has been a bit of an adjustment, but I'm getting to hang of it again.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">4. Moving out of Berkeley - I have looked forward to moving out of Berkeley pretty much ever since I moved there. I loved my classmates, but am so glad to be done with all of the Berzerkeley crazies.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">5. Surviving another Nike Half Marathon - ChuThis and I survived another Nike Half. Not our best race, but we made it and had a good time in the process. It's apparently becoming an annual tradition.<br />6. Winning the most team steps in a day prize in the office turkey challenge - this was both a great way to help me meet new people in the office as well as get off the couch and back into running shape. Hopefully, I can keep this up with my 2012 fitness goals.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">7. Seeing the successes and life changes of my classmates and friends (weddings, babies, successful startups) - 8 weddings, at least as many babies, friends with newspaper articles, NPR interviews, successful startups (go <a href="https://www.modifywatches.com/">Modify</a>!), and so many others. It was great to share in all of your successes this year.</span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">8. Making some really good life decisions for me - while never a fun thing to do, I'm really proud of how I have taken charge of my life this year and really worked to shape its direction instead of just riding with the tides. I'm on a much better course now and can't wait to see where I end up next. </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">9. Keeping in touch with old friends (no matter the distance) and making new ones - as we move and grow in life, it's really great to keep connecting with friends from the past in addition to meeting new people as you go.<br />10. More painting & creative pursuits- see my previous <a href="http://livesunnysideup.blogspot.com/2011/12/painting-is-finally-complete.html">post</a>...<br /><br />All in all, it was definitely a very challenging year, but I have come out on the other side a better and stronger person. Here's to the new challenges and adventures that 2012 brings!<br /><br /></span>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607841870548033005.post-64393793280889103432011-12-20T10:43:00.000-08:002011-12-23T18:07:19.985-08:00The Painting is finally complete!<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;" >Ok, so in all reality, I finished this painting back in May/June, but clearly I've fallen off of the blogging bandwagon. I have to say that as I painted, I really liked certain parts of this painting, but really wasn't pleased with others. While I still like some areas better than others, overall I really like the whole effect of the painting. Part of the reason that sunsets are so fascinating for me to paint is because they are so vibrant in the sky and different each day. I generally paint from a badly taken iPhone photo of the actual sunset along with the impression that it left me with as I saw it.<br /><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Upuwrie67MUKg3999XgrcqqgmAvD1zPsRnqqAbKeZF0fD_TUiXE7VGsU-bgjqRukYlqg1QDXQsu3qXtihVeISl1G5Bk5SeVVnr8_GZ7u2jJd0t3dkmoPpZEZ8ELpwnoPmq6Yf9ANq8o/s1600/painting.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Upuwrie67MUKg3999XgrcqqgmAvD1zPsRnqqAbKeZF0fD_TUiXE7VGsU-bgjqRukYlqg1QDXQsu3qXtihVeISl1G5Bk5SeVVnr8_GZ7u2jJd0t3dkmoPpZEZ8ELpwnoPmq6Yf9ANq8o/s320/painting.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689510584455229986" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;" ><br />I really like the reddish yellow fiery portion of the sunset at the bottom of the painting as I felt that I got the vibrancy of the colors right as well as was able to add some texture while playing with the consistency of the yellow paint. The clouds towards the top of the painting were really nice as well, but I still love painting with a mixture of colors and black and playing with the streaks that can be created as a result. </span> <span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This is perhaps only the second time that I've ever actually signed a painting that I've done. This time I'm actually pleased with it. The colors blended well with the work as I don't want my initials to stand out too much. I also wanted the style of signature to blend with the painting, so the streaks that make up the signature are similar to those that I use in the sunset.<br /><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX1xp05PUxejsLtX2niFzrbD2xJp19BIOO1v9MEc3H4Fw9ek-U5jIdQ-XSCX7FZGFJgmF9gffRjuwIH_li0CgHI0tZuXGJTMSYiE4mXVAbZk4gSr-t0C3J8uxumcy_lEZhZtP2gktMjgE/s1600/painting2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX1xp05PUxejsLtX2niFzrbD2xJp19BIOO1v9MEc3H4Fw9ek-U5jIdQ-XSCX7FZGFJgmF9gffRjuwIH_li0CgHI0tZuXGJTMSYiE4mXVAbZk4gSr-t0C3J8uxumcy_lEZhZtP2gktMjgE/s320/painting2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5689510436623110562" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><br />All in all, I'm definitely pleased with this work and hope that my friend and her new husband are too.</span><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"></span>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607841870548033005.post-29620019893277023872011-04-07T10:40:00.000-07:002011-04-07T13:37:03.399-07:00Painting Progress<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ-K12GgEXTbiw9aENerIdNIn2rNv-ERQp28rISUawWc6GrTLs745235Gy5vkl6D3pvyZTFVsVmqf5lnuIj9OmT2_l8OCsceoOfUq2_G-7QIB9KIwhll4XXzr_CqGHZw0Qxwp58cpseYE/s1600/IMG_0269.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 298px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ-K12GgEXTbiw9aENerIdNIn2rNv-ERQp28rISUawWc6GrTLs745235Gy5vkl6D3pvyZTFVsVmqf5lnuIj9OmT2_l8OCsceoOfUq2_G-7QIB9KIwhll4XXzr_CqGHZw0Qxwp58cpseYE/s320/IMG_0269.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592898592134461314" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I started this painting as a wedding present to a friend of mine quite a while ago. Almost a year to be precise. Now that the weather has been nicer recently, I'm finding more time to work on finishing it. I turned the painting upside down to make the blending process a bit easier so the red you see should be the bottom of the painting.<br /><br />Honestly, I really have no technique that I use to do this blending. I mess around with adding water to paint to make it lighter and easier to mix with other paint on the canvas. This might be the right way to do this, but I really have no idea. It worked for my needs.<br /><br />I finished this painting session with the light blue on the very bottom before the white. Next time I sit down, hopefully this weekend, I will be blending this light blue region with the darker blue region that will be the very top of this painting in the end. Finally, I will add a few gray clouds to create some depth in this seemingly flat picture.<br /><br />My favorite parts of this painting, so far, are the yellow streaks through the red at the top of the photo as well as the brilliant green/yellow spot in the middle left of the painting. The blue colors that I have left at the very bottom of the photo to paint are some of my favorite colors. Hopefully, they will add some depth and bring this sunset to life a bit more.<br /><br />I need at least one more sitting to finish this painting, so you'll see at least one more update about this before the finished product.<br /></span>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607841870548033005.post-18589363050010426832011-04-05T18:05:00.001-07:002011-04-07T10:45:02.099-07:00So, it's been a while....<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">A while is definitely an understatement. SO many things have happened since I last posted. I'll try to keep this really brief, but still give you some insight into what has happened since July when I posted last.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">A good friend of mine and I fall into terrible consulting speak used for corporate status reports when we quickly update each other on life, but it's a great way to share quickly so please forgive me as I borrow this method here.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: trebuchet ms;">School:</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> Green</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I'm definitely on track to graduate in a little over a month (I can't believe it!!) and looking forward to enjoying the last bit of my time here.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: trebuchet ms;">Internship:</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> Green</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">My summer at </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://groups.yahoo.com/">Yahoo Groups</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> ended really well. Unfortunately, I can never share the awesomeness of my projects with all of you since our project got canceled after I returned to school and none of my features launched, but it was a great learning experience.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: trebuchet ms;">Full-time Job Search:</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> Yellow-y Green</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">This will definitely be green in the next few weeks as I finish finally figuring out where I'll be after graduation, but it's been quite the ride. The job market is definitely better, but employers seem to be looking for a bit more experience than most career switchers have when they graduate. At least, we're all getting interviews.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: trebuchet ms;">Life:</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> Green</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Especially as the job search slows down, I've started having a lot more time for life lately and I have to say that I like the new balance. I'm starting to work out more again, probably even going to be running more and perhaps signing up for another race. I will also have to share my recent progress with the </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://livesunnysideup.blogspot.com/2010/07/painting-adventure_13.html">painting</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> I started way back last summer. Finally, I have time to hang out with friends and classmates and enjoy what little time we have left before we all return to the real world. It has lead to some great adventures.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: trebuchet ms;">Baking:</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> Green</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Since this did start out as a baking blog, I feel that I have to give a separate update in this category. I must say that I have been baking/cooking a lot more in the last few months with dinner parties and the like. Mostly, I've been making ice creams and gelatos in my new ice cream maker. Luckily, the banana bread I threw together today (too many overripe bananas...oops) turned out ok despite the fact that I added an additional banana over what the recipe called for. This spares you from a post with photos of horribly disfigured breads and lamenting over my poor choice.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">All in all, things are going well. The last semester and a half have been very busy, but it's all slowing down a bit to allow me to do all of the things that I've always wanted to do. I look forward to enjoying every moment that I have left in my MBA.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I promise that I won't be nearly as MIA as I have been. You can thank one of the members of the </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.google.com/analytics/">Google Analytics</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> team for re-inspiring my blogging through sharing a lot of the great features that are available in </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.google.com/analytics/">Google Analytics</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> during my Designing Web-Based Products and Services class this morning. If you haven't installed it on your blog yet, I highly recommend it. Who knew that my most commonly searched for term would be "champagne buttercream."</span>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607841870548033005.post-69023371857647062222010-07-16T09:04:00.000-07:002010-07-16T09:07:27.086-07:00Happy Friday and Good MBA Humor<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I was sent this great blog post by </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://paloaltoforawhile.blogspot.com/">Palo Alto For A While</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> that I thought some of you fellow MBA types might find amusing. I'll share the suggested business school essay topic for Haas:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: trebuchet ms;">UC Berkeley Haas</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">: What makes a hippie like you think you can succeed in business? Use the words 'sustainable' and 'green' at least twice in your response.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Check out the rest of them </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://paloaltoforawhile.blogspot.com/2009/05/real-admissions-essays.html">here</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Happy Friday!</span>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607841870548033005.post-58940252470801656882010-07-13T21:19:00.000-07:002010-07-14T13:34:19.541-07:00A Painting Adventure...<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">So, it's been a VERY long time since I've blogged. I apologize for my radio silence. It's been a busy part of the semester. I finished school, had finals, started training for my half marathon in October, and started my internship. The commute has left me with little time for much else. However, I have started painting again.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">I have a friend who recently got married and she requested that I paint something for her for her wedding present. I got into acrylic painting a few years ago in an attempt to put some nice art on the walls of my post-college apartment. I generally only paint abstract art because I am not great at drawing. This time, I branched into the slightly more realistic realm by trying to re-create an awesome sunset that I saw one night over the Puget Sound. Check out the cool clouds and sky hidden in the darkness.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinbxLCiFOy4B_Lsh3u-i4Z77ZqBIN-xPzFy38xm1inD2Hi21w2fZEGEP_XIJWuC14p7Ae6ALfkDX9shU8LsDm3-KjYbJJrj2dljYRtYoSjlWii37mCRveWv1jX51irJVmgdmxSnIx-0KA/s320/IMG_0140.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493621628071064738" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" border="0" /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">For those of you out there who have never painted before, I thought I'd include photos as I make progress on the painting. Of course I thought of that brilliant (insert sarcasm here) idea after I started painting, so you're going to have to start by imagining a white canvas.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">The dark bluish-black-gray at the top of the sunset was the easiest for me so I started there by mixing some almost royal blue paint with some black paint. One of my favorite things to do is not quite mix two paint colors together to give depth and artistic touch to the painting. You'll see some brighter streaks of blue along with some almost black streaks.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5KSO0FSom0ewsQ7BJevHO3VC4SQ2cSh8FeUysA6Il4JsOM-OLfDRtHddx1UuhePWXcZopHktKcOiy3hBAHKaET74o63NQcT1sCZv7NW01cM1I0kNBvbHufOureYU55Wo2vJNX7b9JlDo/s320/IMG_0162.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493621148386485474" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" border="0" /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">After starting with the top, I moved on to the bottom red portion of the sunset. I happen to already have a tube of the perfect fiery red color from my first ever painting endeavor so that's an easy one for me to add. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuho0RKu9DRVSiviFCGi_xkcRzaaPKQlaaNNelZAIMGykujblBU5adKvoZU0VIWoO9A0RKMs-QglukY_gO9NwdHpcOTMmpzflOfmaCVtFbpVZVzS4KbHr2L0AUT4t92O5fwOVxMuRblkk/s320/IMG_0163.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493621968230121570" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" border="0" /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br />If you look really closely at the white portion of the canvas, you'll see that I've sketched a bit to help remind myself which colors need to go in which portions of the canvas. Of course all of this will change as I paint, but I thought I'd leave myself with a bit of direction. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">At the moment, this is all of the progress I've made on the painting thus far, but I will continue to blog as I add colors and work more on it. For those of you readers who have been there for me when this started as a food blog and then became a business school blog and now continue to read as this becomes a bit of a painting blog, I appreciate your continued support and I hope you enjoy the temporary diversion from my other topics. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">P.S. Perhaps blogging about my half marathon training will be coming soon as well.</span></i></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></span></div><div><br /></div>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607841870548033005.post-63032683898574010252010-04-29T14:17:00.000-07:002010-04-29T17:02:22.340-07:00Ah!!! Enjoying Second Semester!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">All along, I have heard so many people talk about how relaxing and fun second semester of b-school is. Until last week, this was definitely not my experience!! Part of that I did to myself by taking two experiential learning classes that required a lot of time outside of class, but part of it just happened. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">I was in full-blown internship search mode from January through April when I finally got my first offer. Let's just say that this took about 5-20 hours of my week every week. From driving to interviews to writing tons of cover letters, it was a very time consuming process. I became extremely worried when I finished the on-campus recruiting season without having had any second round interviews. In reality, it was a great thing that I didn't get a job during this period as most of the really interesting jobs with technology companies were posted after Spring Break. I'm definitely glad that I waited. I got a great offer working with Yahoo! as a product manager which is exactly the role that I wanted. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">I've definitely been reminded lately that we all need a break. Haas participated in Challenge4Charity weekend at Stanford with 8 other MBA programs a couple of weeks ago. Spending two days outside in the gorgeous CA sun, running around, and playing games with classmates while not talking at all about work was definitely what I needed. I'm making a point to do this more often and take one day a weekend off from doing a ton of work. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">This week has just been blissful! Meetings have calmed down. I've had time to catch up on some of my favorite tv shows that I've been very behind on and go out and socialize with my classmates before everyone heads off to their internships this summer. I even had time to bake not one but two! chocolate decadences! Fabulous!!! I can only hope the last several weeks of school are as good as this one has been!!!</span></div>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607841870548033005.post-11184627440270871922010-04-11T14:16:00.000-07:002010-04-11T14:25:12.457-07:00ClearAdmit Best of Blogging 2009-2010 Nominee!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">I was very excited to learn earlier this week that Sunnyside Up has been once again nominated by </span><a href="http://blog.clearadmit.com/2010/04/best-of-blogging-nominees-2009-2010/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">ClearAdmit for a Best of Blogging award</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">! </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">While I know that I haven't been as good at posting regularly this year, I appreciate all of you who continue to visit my site and leave comments. I will work on catching up on some of the posts that I've thought of but haven't had time to write during the summer when at least the homework slows down. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Thanks again for this great honor, ClearAdmit! </span></div>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607841870548033005.post-12458742747570068802010-03-15T22:14:00.000-07:002010-03-15T22:37:55.195-07:00Fitting In<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">So you'd think after 3/4 of a year of business school, I would have felt like I fit in with the rest of my classmates before now. Honestly, aside from a little bit towards the end of Fall semester, I continued to feel like I was straddling two worlds and not really fitting into either one very well. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Spending some time with my classmates and other time on the other side of the Bay has made it difficult to feel like I really have a good idea of what is going on in Berkeley or SF. I think I say no to about twice as many events as I actually attend. I was really feeling frustrated that I'd spend a weekend in Berkeley and end up sitting at home because I didn't know what was going on or constantly trying to cram in as many SF events as possible into one trip to the city. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">This week, however, I managed to spend a lot more time in Berkeley and also decided to go out and hang out with people even when that wasn't the best of ideas for me getting what I needed to done. I now feel like I have a group of people that keep me clued in on what's going on around Berkeley. Also, we've started going out only once a week, but the whole class goes so it's a blast. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">I don't know I'm really any more connected with my classmates, or if I just feel that way because I spent so much time studying with them for my finals last week, but it's definitely nice to not feel like I'm constantly straddling two worlds, even if it is just temporary.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607841870548033005.post-30979106877482498812010-02-21T18:08:00.000-08:002010-02-21T18:14:49.122-08:00Remember To Do Things For You!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">It is very easy to get wrapped up in life. Class, homework, social events, group projects, papers, research easily dominate our life. We continue to focus on the things that we need to get done everyday to meet deadlines and quickly forget about the things that we need to do to take care of ourselves and ensure that we are motivated enough to continue doing all of the things that are due every day. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">While this is definitely something that I think we will continue dealing with throughout life, business school makes it quickly apparently that you really do have to do something for yourself otherwise you will burn out. I was definitely approaching burnout last week. I had been sick for at least a week, behind in most of my classes, constantly forgetting to do the things that I needed to for school and definitely not motivated to do any of it. Despite not having the time, I made myself go and work out and decided to prioritize seeing a ballet that I had been wanting to see for years and just hadn't found time for.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;">It's amazing how these two small things really changed the shape of my entire week. No, technically I didn't have time for either of these activities. The mental and physical break that both made for me was crucial for me being so productive this weekend. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;">This just goes to show that when you're tired, worn out, and overwhelmed, you need to take time for YOU!</span></div>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607841870548033005.post-80915742886687326522010-02-15T09:24:00.000-08:002010-02-15T09:29:05.641-08:00Haas Tech Club Blog Post<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">It has been a busy couple of weeks and I haven't had much time for blogging. I thought I'd share a post that I wrote for the Haas Tech Club blog about our trip to the most recent </span><a href="http://www.chicmeetsgeek.com"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">ChicMeetsGeek</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"> event. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Check it out </span><a href="http://haastechclub.blogspot.com/2010/02/chic-meets-haas-tech-club-by-lauren.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">here</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">. Happy Reading!</span></div>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607841870548033005.post-74495890404181384282010-02-06T14:45:00.000-08:002010-02-06T16:13:16.712-08:00Champagne Cupcakes with Champagne Buttercream Frosting<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIjvZbEoE9AMi2n2Kwf9qBT1QIqzSMyhTebgPJgr6Yo6a44F98_NoItQIpaAZp-slhI03gLB1jnP7-B5-NTqW2DqXLGrTTZgYxc3zHIHQDgWAd8SEpSDDXFrFWXxLoi0VONTE_Auz9fWE/s1600-h/DSCN0599.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIjvZbEoE9AMi2n2Kwf9qBT1QIqzSMyhTebgPJgr6Yo6a44F98_NoItQIpaAZp-slhI03gLB1jnP7-B5-NTqW2DqXLGrTTZgYxc3zHIHQDgWAd8SEpSDDXFrFWXxLoi0VONTE_Auz9fWE/s320/DSCN0599.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434483791180858546" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Girls applying to business school generally know that they're signing themselves up for a highly male dominated environment. However, the true impact of that statement is not something that will quite hit until you're well into your first semester and realize that you keep having conversations about South Park and video games. Sometimes all you need is just a few hours spent enjoying wine and the company of the other girls in your class to unwind and not have to attempt to understand the male dominated conversations that permeate campus.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Hence, girls night. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">I offered to host the most recent girls night as it gives me an excuse to try out a new baking recipe every now and again since I also really miss having leftover cookies, cupcakes, etc in my freezer to pull out when the craving strikes. The girls unanimously wanted cupcakes and almost everyone voted for these champagne cupcakes as well.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">While they weren't the easiest cupcake to make due to the whipped egg whites in the batter, they still were relatively quick. (For those of you who try this recipe on your own, note that the batter is going to seem very sticky (almost like a bread dough) until you try to add the egg whites and then it will seem very clumpy and not well mixed. Not to worry, you're on the right track.)</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">The frosting has a great buttercream flavor with just a hint of champagne at the very end of the bite. I recommend making it at least the night before as the flavor does change a bit. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">All in all, one very tasty experience and great for any party. If you'd like to make your own Champagne Cupcakes, check out the recipe </span><a href="http://gimmesomeoven.com/champagne-cupcakes-with-sweet-champagne-buttercream-frosting/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">here</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">.</span></div>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607841870548033005.post-17162781653519761592010-01-25T21:30:00.000-08:002010-01-25T22:44:26.368-08:00Second Week Into Second Semester<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I have to say that everyone has lied that second semester is easier than first semester. Yes, I'm rested after 5 weeks off. Yes, I'm more into the whole swing of school with homework and classes. Yes, I feel like I know my way around Haas and enjoy my classmates. However, the sheer magnitude of commitments seems to have doubled from first semester.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Ok, it's possible that this is my fault after securing two elected positions in clubs, taking one class that centers around an outside consulting project and another that requires a business plan. But I think all of this would be manageable if I wasn't trying to also continue my career soul searching plan. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">We get notifications multiple times a day about great jobs, internships and other side projects that we can work on if we feel that we have the time. All of them sound interesting and I'm back to my original challenge when I came to b-school: learning to say "no" swiftly and decisively. After all of these great opportunities are shared with me, I find myself thinking about potential careers that I had ruled out by the end of last semester and attracted to careers I didn't even know existed. I do feel like I have some focus, but yet, the sheer quantity of possibilities once again becomes a bit overwhelming.<br /><br />I can't help but think of how difficult this semester will be if I hadn't already made progress learning to say "no" and just buckle down and get work done last semester. </span>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607841870548033005.post-36176745475357659102010-01-10T22:11:00.000-08:002010-01-10T22:44:44.844-08:00It's Cover Letter Season!<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Luckily, we're not quite back into the full swing of the semester yet, but January is still bringing quite a lot of work for me being on break and all. We have already started applying for summer internships. Yup, that's right. We're applying for jobs that start in about 4.5 months already. Besides that, I'm not sure how broad to go in my internship search since I'm not sure how easy or difficult this whole process is going to be.<br /><br />I hardly feel like I've had enough time to "explore" different career options and am finding myself heading towards an internship that I thought might be interesting prior to starting business school. Is this really the right career for me? Should I try something else? Unfortunately, it feels like I don't really have time to answer these questions as application deadlines are looming. I guess at this point, the best I can do is go with what I think I want. Hopefully, I don't end up kicking myself for not taking more time to figure out what I'd like to do in the future.<br /><br />At any rate, I get to spend the last week of break making sure that I work on cover letters in addition to all of the other fun and relaxing things I have up my sleeve for the week. <br /></span>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607841870548033005.post-34059377274792419782010-01-01T16:12:00.000-08:002010-01-01T17:14:21.145-08:00Sunnyside Up's Best of 2009<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">In hopes of this becoming a tradition, I wanted to share with you my best of 2009 in the same fashion as my </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://livesunnysideup.blogspot.com/2009/01/sunnyside-ups-best-of-2008.html">Best of 2008 post</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">. Lots of big things happened this year and I can only hope that 2010 brings even more great and new adventures for life. (Note: These are in no particular order, nor are they all of the great things that happened this past year.)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">1. Starting my MBA at Haas.</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">2. The end of the b-school application rollercoaster.</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">3. Catching up with good friends in the PNW not once, but twice this year.</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">4. Going to Alaska and experiencing almost 24 hours of light, even though we saw no moose.</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">5. Feeding a Musk Ox.</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">6. One of my best friend's getting engaged.</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">7. My good friend from college's awesome wedding and amazing macadamia nut crusted halibut.</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">8. Giving in and joining the iPhone craze.</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">9. Crazy wine bus trips to Napa and hilarious Haas costume parties.</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">10. Fitting back into my skinny jeans thanks to Dailey Method and walking everywhere.</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">11. New friends.</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">12. Becoming a full time student and not having conference calls 24/7.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">It is very interesting to look back on 2009 and see that I have been able to get to new and better places based on all of the work that I started many years ago. I guess it's always nice to know that you're not wasting your time with all of these grand ideas. My best of lists are reminding me as well that I'm getting to be more and more of an adult as friends get married, engaged, and people start buying houses and settling into their future lives. I know that it's a very lofty goal for 2010, but it would be nice if I had a bit of a better idea of what I want in the future.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">As I look back on 2009, it almost feels like two years with just one date because my pre-Haas life seems so different than my Haas life. As I regress to being a crazy social, studious grad student, everyone else continues around me while I'm off on this separate adventure. I definitely need to be sure that I'm using this time wisely, otherwise it will be just one costly adventure.</span>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607841870548033005.post-14498705237701554932009-12-23T15:17:00.000-08:002009-12-23T15:19:53.615-08:00Happy Holidays from Live Sunnyside Up!<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I really can't believe that tomorrow's Christmas Eve! I'm not done with my shopping yet and I feel like I barely had a breather after finals ended a little over a week ago!! I'm trying to do my best to enjoy my time off and not stress about grabbing last minute gifts because I know January's going to bring a load of internship applications. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I hope all of you out there are able to take some time off and relax this holiday season. I have a feeling that 2010 is going to be a very busy year for all of us and we need to rest up so we can take on whatever it may bring.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Happy Holidays!</span>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607841870548033005.post-83881386491538219072009-12-18T13:09:00.000-08:002009-12-18T18:44:46.715-08:00Fall Semester is Done!<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I truly can't believe that fall semester is done and we now have 5 weeks off to recoop, work on our internship applications, and travel the world. I'm not sure I'm actually going to get to that last one, but there will definitely be some domestic traveling. At any rate, the semester ended with a bang! </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Despite the stress caused by our finance final, we definitely got in a good bit of hanging out and insanity as well. Immediately following our finance final, over half of my cohort and I headed off on a wine bus to Napa for a relaxing afternoon of wine tasting and hanging out before we all move on to new cohorts for Spring Semester. It was a great afternoon of relaxing and getting to catch up with all of my classmates. The wine bus dropped us off at the last cohort competition of the semester, called Walk Off that involved each cohort pulling together skits that were scored on hilarity and ridiculousness, among other things. Let's just say that after a day of drinking already, my cohort didn't win, but we did at least make it through our skit. Blue came through and surprised everyone and blasted everyone away with their great performance. Go Blue!<br /><br />After all of the work hard, play hard of the end of the semester, I'm very glad to have spent the last several days just relaxing and hanging out. I do need to step up my productivity though as internship resume drops are coming up, but at this point, I'm just enjoying being done for a while and getting ready for the holidays at home with my family.<br /> </span>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607841870548033005.post-38946071293181457072009-11-24T21:38:00.000-08:002009-11-25T17:39:15.964-08:00Glazed Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt Cake<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpOgZJ5yA6YT0OT3psQ1mQtqa35tQD09fWgFcaBktqt-1NDQ5DX3oAzCLF7CWaMG4-UEVXIw1DWf8Exqbc0bdC4dmWVTUsDxPMEzj48M8gvXAwNN9VtbTImSNZaJUAOfQvAHMJyFGOtSQ/s1600/IMG_0065.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpOgZJ5yA6YT0OT3psQ1mQtqa35tQD09fWgFcaBktqt-1NDQ5DX3oAzCLF7CWaMG4-UEVXIw1DWf8Exqbc0bdC4dmWVTUsDxPMEzj48M8gvXAwNN9VtbTImSNZaJUAOfQvAHMJyFGOtSQ/s320/IMG_0065.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407911702459837970" border="0" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">My study group has been teasing me all semester that I haven't made any of my infamous desserts for them yet, so I decided to have everyone over for a post Fall A celebration. One of my classmates heard that I was baking and after reading my blog implored me to blog about this and make sure to share a photo. So, you can thank her for making sure that I took the time to blog about this one and remembered to take a picture of my creation.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">Upon moving to business school, I sent some of my most prized cooking and baking tools to my parent's house because I figured that I would spend too much time studying and doing other things to have time for cooking. Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong. Dinner parties are totally in! But, alas, many of these essential baking gadgets are still at my parent's house which is why this bundt cake was made in an angel food cake pan.<br /><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">If you're looking for a very easy recipe this holiday season, this one's for you. Total active time on this cake was about 30 mins. 30 MINS! Yes, you too can make beautiful baked goods to bring for your loved ones. You do have to make sure that you're home for the next hour or so, but you can be working away on other things. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">The cake part of this recipe is phenomenal. It was very moist and the chocolate and pumpkin flavors blended together beautifully. I have to say that I was rather disappointed with the buttermilk glaze on the cake. It's really sweet in contrast to the well balanced cake and really didn't add anything for me. If you're a cake person, but not a frosting person, I'd recommend leaving the buttermilk glaze off.<br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;">All in all, for 30 mins of work, this was a highly delicious cake! Happy Thanksgiving to all of you out there! I can't wait to hear about the tasty treats that you enjoy this week!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">If you'd like to make your own Glazed Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt Cake, please check out the recipe from Eating Well </span><a href="http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/glazed_chocolate_pumpkin_bundt_cake.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">here</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">.</span></div></div>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607841870548033005.post-22999603716971801472009-11-22T13:56:00.000-08:002009-11-29T11:48:14.029-08:00The Internship Search Has Begun<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDva8R5EV47M99_lOwMcEjnCnaBXaB10LOss9ZNa98EgD9iCpBLwA8FVt8kyEfS1k9IexpYnZu5bmpJbQ6ULSOEn-gc9vi6Ah0TjHSKztGz9rOQ_U-ktbr64xCVr0j7uz98VFT_lCarvc/s1600/DSCN0253.JPG"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDva8R5EV47M99_lOwMcEjnCnaBXaB10LOss9ZNa98EgD9iCpBLwA8FVt8kyEfS1k9IexpYnZu5bmpJbQ6ULSOEn-gc9vi6Ah0TjHSKztGz9rOQ_U-ktbr64xCVr0j7uz98VFT_lCarvc/s320/DSCN0253.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407063370528252610" border="0" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">It seems amazing to me that we've just been in school for about 3 months now and it feels that we're already into the full-fledged internship search. We've started trying to fit company visits, job fairs, and on campus presentations into our already busy schedules.<br /><br />My first visit was at Symantec a couple of weeks ago. Despite having worked at Symantec for a brief month during my previous life in management consulting, it was really great to get back on their campus and learn more about how their product management organization works. We also got a quick tour of their engineering labs which was very interesting for someone who's worked in tech for 4 years and never set foot in a data center.<br /><br />The following week, I headed into the downtown SF office of Adobe to learn about their product management team. The office is gorgeous and I could totally see myself fitting into the culture there. The company is great about fostering creativity but also making products that really satisfy the user's needs. This is something that I am passionate about as well. I wished that we had more time to talk to each of the alumni presenters to learn more about their experiences with Adobe, but it was a great afternoon learning more about Adobe.<br /><br />I'm sure in the next couple of weeks, I'll be at a bunch more presentations and trying to figure out what I really might like to do with my summer. At the moment, I'm thinking a product management internship with a tech company but we'll shall see where this crazy business school experience takes me.</span>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607841870548033005.post-70193297409305036212009-11-19T12:17:00.000-08:002009-11-29T11:48:31.212-08:00Grades<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">So I know that everyone tells you grad school isn't about grades. I mean just look at the grading distribution. At Haas, the lowest grade a professor ever has to give is a B-, with the majority of students getting B+s. While I intellectually knew that this was true, I can honestly say that after spending my entire prior educational career trying to get straight As, I have to say that it was difficult to let go of grades. I tested the waters by not doing assigned readings and waiting until the absolute last minute to complete assignments which are all things that I would have previously considered to be slacking.<br /><br />Our last quarter ended almost a month ago and we have yet to hear how we did, so I have pretty much forgotten about grades as I've become heads down trying to make sure that this semester is successful. We started hearing about our grades from first quarter today and I have to say that seeing that my grades start to come in and not have my more laid back strategy blow up in my face. I will definitely have to remember this in the future as all of the end of first semester, thanksgiving, and holiday parties start! Relax and worry less about grades!</span>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607841870548033005.post-48984569678464087202009-11-15T13:05:00.000-08:002009-11-29T11:48:48.640-08:00Oh No! Not My Computer<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms';">On Friday, my worst fear was realized. I hopped on the bus and was surfing my phone when I felt a tap on my shoulder. A woman across the aisle was getting my attention to let me know that water was pouring out of my laptop bag. Oh no! I reached in to see what had happened. The lid to my waterbottle had opened and 12 oz of water was now floating around my bag with my laptop, notes, and portfolio for my company trek in a few hours.<br /><br />Let's just say that Friday was not one of my best days. I got off the bus as quickly as possible and stopped at a local cafe to get paper towels and dry off my laptop. Luckily after much anguish and stressing, two days later when I took my beloved Mac to the Genius Bar at the Apple Store, it just decided to magically work. I'm not sure why, but at this point, I'm very excited to have my laptop back and in working order given that we have more midterms next week and a whole host of papers to write.<br /><br />Please heed my advice and back up your laptop at least once a day!!! No one needs to deal with data loss!!! Let's just say from here on out, I'll be backing up my laptop every night as I fall asleep.</span>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607841870548033005.post-87716684494258007142009-10-20T17:27:00.000-07:002009-10-20T18:12:20.317-07:00Career Management Conference<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">One of the reasons I was drawn to Haas is the fact that they provide incredible support for those of us who aren't sure what we want to do when we get out of b-school. Of course, we had to come up with some sort of a plausible plan in our application, but that doesn't mean that we will be sticking to that plan at all. Haas Career Services really encourages us to explore and learn about other possible opportunities that we may not know about yet. All of this culminates in the 2 day Career Management Conference between our Fall A and Fall B quarters.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Despite the fact that it was really difficult to wake up early to get to school on what is supposed to be our break, I've learned a ton of great things that will be very helpful in my summer internship search which kicksoff in full swing on Wednesday night with Multi-Firm Night. The first day of the conference was filled with a lot of great tips for getting your resume and Linked In profile up to snuff. We also talked a lot about how to go about informational interviewing and make the most of career fairs and conferences that we will attend. The best thing of the entire day was a small group interview where you and two other people interview for a pretend job with a second year Career Coach and then all give each other feedback. It was really great to learn what other people thought that I needed to work on and get to see my peers interview. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The second day of the conference was much more tactical than the first with more alumni panels and industry recruiting discussions. The best session of the day was the tech industry interview discussion. An alum from HP discussed precisely what he looks for when he goes through resumes and gave us valuable insight into the perspective of a recruiter. While it was frightening to learn that if your last name is after N that you get significantly less time than those earlier in the alphabet. We were all shocked at how little time we have to make a lasting impression on a recruiter, but better to know it now than figure it out when you don't get an interview invite.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">All in all, it was a very worthwhile conference and it has reminded me exactly how much work I need to put in on my resume and cover letters in the next few weeks before recruiting open season starts full force.</span>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607841870548033005.post-2070091710144311682009-10-19T22:18:00.000-07:002009-10-19T22:37:57.779-07:00Surviving Finals and >Play Conference<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I literally just hit submit on my last final paper of Fall A!!! I'm so excited to be done with 1/8 of my entire b-school experience! Just insane. It has been a great quarter. I think I've done a good job of settling into school again and getting to know all of the great people in my class and cohort. Go Axe!<br /><br />Unfortunately, we didn't get too much of a break between finals and classes starting again, especially because the Digital Media and Entertainment Club's student-led conference >Play was this past Saturday. I was very impressed with our abilities to get some really great speakers. We opened the morning with a quick intro from Dean Rich Lyons and then heard from John Lilly, the CEO of Mozilla. He had some really great insights into how he sees the web-browser evolving and how that will transition into the mobile space. Then I headed off to a panel on creativity, which wasn't as captivating as I thought it was going to be. Next, I enjoyed a really interesting panel on the future of the mobile ecosystem. The panelists were a great mix of people who focused on applications and browsers. After a great lunch, I saw the founder of Guitar Hero and the President of EA Sports to discuss the future of video game distribution. They believe that distribution for video games will eventually become digital, but believe that this will take a while for people to become open to the lack of a physical game DVD. Finally, we closed out the day with playing in the expo and a talk from the VP of Product Management at Google. I have to say that I was kind of disappointed by his talk because he just reviewed Google's current products instead of discussing where he saw the future of Google's products. All in all, it was a great day! <br /></span>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607841870548033005.post-25579016308166285652009-10-10T23:21:00.001-07:002009-10-10T23:29:35.440-07:00>play Conference<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I'm so excited for the >play conference at Haas next weekend! It's going to be an exciting day of digital media and entertainment. We're having speakers from Mozilla and Google. Also, there will be great workshops on the latest trends in digital media and internet technology like cloud computing, brands that matter, games on the move, and mobile ecosystems in motion. <br /><br />If you're in the Bay Area next weekend, I highly recommend attending! Check out the agenda for the conference </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://playconference.org/agenda.html">here</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">!!!!</span>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5607841870548033005.post-40623086333815676212009-10-10T23:09:00.001-07:002009-10-10T23:21:04.915-07:00Finals Time!<span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It's less hard to believe that it's finals time already than it was when we hit midterms. I guess that means I'm settling into the crazy quarters schedule. I'm starting to realize more and more that it's really more important to hang out with classmates and be social than it is to really spend that extra couple of hours studying. Unfortunately, that plan kind of backfired on me last week when I ended up with a nasty cold. Oh well. It comes with the territory.<br /><br />It has definitely taken the first couple of months for me to realize that I really am at school as my career. I guess I thought that I was just at a conference and would be back to the real world soon. Nope! Lucky for me, but I'm a student so I should truly take advantage of the lifestyle.<br /><br />We definitely have a great 7/8ths of our B-school experience left, so I'll remember that and not spend too much time studying for finals next week, but be sure to socialize with classmates!<br /></span>Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02131959858904850652noreply@blogger.com1