Barcelona

"What was your FAVORITE place you visited?"

This is kind of a loaded question, and a difficult one to answer.
Paris is definitely a Life List item.
Toulouse is a perfect dose of French-ness, in a small enough package to get to know and grow fond of in a week.
Bilbao is breathtakingly beautiful and unique, and gave me some of the most vivid memories of the trip.
Lisbon may have taken the title, but I was there such a short time (roughly 2 days) that I felt like we never really had a chance...

As a total package, though, I think my time in Barcelona may have been my favorite.

The night before I arrived in Barcelona, FC Barcelona had won the UEFA Champions League. I admittedly had no idea how that works (still don't), but apparently it's a big deal.

FC Barcelona and smartphones win the day.

The energy in Barcelona the next night for the victory parade was awesome. The celebration was surprisingly quick but completely electric. This double-decker bus with the team, a couple crowd-control segments and a few of "hype" sort of segments (spirit team, a radio station, some people on stilts...), and that's it.

You gotta admit it's fun to cheer for a winning team. Maybe that's why I'm a Patriots fan... looking at you, Ravens/Colts, Roger Goodell and various haters. Burn. #freeTB

This wonderful city

Mediterranean

From the rooftop pool at my hotel (seriously) to the (imported) beach just a short stroll from city center, Barcelona is "urban beautiful" in a way I never understood until now.

Casa Batllo and Sagrada Familia

A huge part of what makes Barcelona... well, Barcelona... is the architecture. There is such an wide range of breathtaking structures, with equally stop-you-in-your-tracks-gorgeous buildings of Gothic and Modern and just way cool buildings along the same street.

There are a handful of Antoni Gaudi works in and around Barcelona, and I visited two: Casa Batllo and Sagrada Familia. When you go to Barcelona, everyone raaaaves about the Sagrada Familia cathedral. It's a cool spot, so complex and intricate is its design that 100+ years after beginning construction, it is still unfinished, and it really is spectacular. Before visiting that landmark, I visited the Casa Batllo. Maybe it was the helpful audio guide on the Casa tour, maybe it was just that the house isn't on quite as grand a scale as the cathedral, maybe it was that I was a little hungover for my Sagrada visit, but I was able to appreciate the genius in the details of the Casa even more than the Sagrada. Both are unmissable. 

The one Gaudi landmark I missed, and I regret missing, is Park Guell. I just ran out of time. I'll just have to go back. 

To the sea...

Nothing like a sunset catamaran ride on the Mediterranean.

Around town

Wait, didn't you say this was a school trip?

Moritz Brewery. Go there.

Barcelona loves creativity.

Not pictured, but another favorite of the trip, is the Picasso Museum. It's literally all Picasso, and somewhat small, but the progression of the artist's development is amazing to see. It's not just watching the artist grow over a lifetime, it's like watching a movement evolve over the late-19th through early/mid-20th Century. I struggle to describe it; he was just that prolific. I can't even imagine how much he must have created that no one will ever see. The man must have done nothing but paint (and womanize.)

Casa Lolea

sangria, camembert+roasted garlic

Roquefort+honey+red pepper, patatas bravas

Delicious. I ate my weight in patatas bravas, and I have no regrets. Except that some of my clothes didn't fit when I came home. Whatever, breathing is overrated.

Lovely and quiet walk through the deserted streets of downtown Barcelona on my way to the airport bus. Where nightclubs stay open until sunrise, Sunday morning streets belong to travelers on their way to catch a flight. By the way, how cute is this tiny little street? So many of these.

School's out forever

I've been looking back on a lot of the casual conversations I had 18-24 months ago -- drinking a glass of wine on the couch with my partner, eating falafel for dinner with a friend, driving home from work on the phone with my mom -- the "should I or shouldn't I?" conversations before I decided "I should (probably.)"

And now this.

Graduate school has been an incredible experience, and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who has the interest, the time, and the resources to commit to herself such an undertaking. I didn't really know what I was doing with my life ("didn't"? well... sometimes "don't") so I am glad I thought a lot about it, but I'm glad I took what felt a lot like a leap of faith at the time. I still might not have it "all together," but it feels damn good to be closer than ever.

There are so many amazing things to reflect on, but I tried to narrow it down for a blog post. These 10 are my favorites.

1. Conquering accounting and finance classes.
I was an English major for my undergraduate degree. Cost accounting and portfolio management are a far cry from literary criticism and Renaissance drama -- but I made it. And you know what, I did a pretty kickass job of learning.
2. Finding common ground.
Like a lot of people, I exist in a comfortable bubble of people who think a lot like I do. My friends have similar political and world views, so to enter a new group of people sometimes means being reminded that everyone does not think like me.
3. New friends.
To that same end, I met some pretty cool people, most of whom I would never have met or gotten to know without this program. It hasn't been all lectures and group homework; it's also Vegas trips, post-class beers, and weddings. Some of these relationships won't last long past graduation, and that's OK, but some will.
4. Patience. 
I've also come to appreciate my more established relationships. Friends and family being patient when I have to say no to group dinners and gatherings, work giving me a pass when I can't make it to another evening or weekend event, my partner doing extra dishes and laundry without complaint, and everyone generally putting up with me when I'm stressed out and a little crazy: these things make me even more appreciative of the wonderful people in my life.
5. Studying abroad. 
Ok, so this is future tense. I did not study abroad in undergrad, and it's not that I've had regrets... I've just wondered. At the end of this month, I'll go to France and Spain to take a couple more classes in international management and finance. More on that later.
6. Winning.
MBA-types thrive on competition (surprise!), and professors absolutely exploit this with projects in which teams are ranked against one another. I look back with such satisfaction on being on a team that "won" our simulation exercise for International Marketing, on helping to put together a "best" strategy analysis for Strategic Management, and on kicking comparative ass. Victory is so sweet.
7. Generally testing my mettle. 
Balancing school, work, family, friends, and sanity is not for the faint of heart. Especially in the last 2 months... there has been a lot of shit going on. I feel pretty awesome for getting it all handled.
8. Being educated.
Every time my mom tells me I'm the only one in our family except my grandmother to get a graduate degree (which she kind of tells me a lot)... I feel this little tug toward my grandmother (even though mom usually follows that up with "it was the only degree that didn't require any math"... *facepalm*) and proud to be part of the female majority in graduate education attainment.
9. Speaking of which -- the ladies. 
The women in the MBA program are the most awesome. Not to knock the men who are intelligent and driven in their own right, but the women make me hopeful for the future of the workforce and grateful to be a part of it. Also -- grateful to live in the time and place, under the circumstances, in which I do.
10. Vindication -- vegetarian food is better. 
I've written before about free food. I'll ever be too old for free food. Free food is awesome. There is always one vegetarian option, ordered in a much smaller portion. Without fail, the vegetarian option is gone in minutes, while the meaty entree languishes in its chafing dish, destined for the garbage. Everyone. Prefers. Vegetarian. Food.

That's a wrap, I guess.

Business school classes love to talk about opportunity cost. Though it's definitely worth it (so far... I think... I hope,) I've been thinking a lot lately about what I'm missing in exchange for Saturday electives and Sunday study sessions. Spurts of reading over breaks are wonderful and welcome, but it's harder to really focus on the things that bring me joy (other than learning.)

Which brings me to this: It's been over a year since I've been on a legit hike. It's been way too long since I've been on any hike. So, in honor of what I'm told the kids call "Throwback Thursday," a throwback to the most legit hike I've ever done. 

My dad hiked the Deadman Canyon loop in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks a few years ago with some friends (guy stuff), and it seemed like as soon as he got back he was planning his next hike. Dad loves hiking, and not just that -- he is really smart about it. He knows what he and the group needs, and while he tracks his gear and food inventory, striving to knock off one more ounce like a golfer working on his score, he has little interest in yuppie backpacker nonsense (my characterization -- of course not his) like $700 sleeping bags. He truly and fully enjoys the journey but never loses sight of how many miles to the next campsite and hours until dusk. The things that make my dad great in hiking also make him great in life -- I could write a whole post about dadisms learned while hiking.

There's a map here of the Deadman Canyon Loop, which is basically what we did -- we deviated on our last day to cut off a few miles, but for the most part, this is the route.

Twin Lakes (above) was our second campsite. It was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen (until the next day... then again the next day, then...) It was a fairly short distance from our camp the night before (I want to say 2.2 miles?), but it is a pretty solid elevation gain (2700 ft) for so early in the journey, so we stayed to avoid altitude sickness.

My pack, complete with duct tape patch and solar panel. High and low tech, people; it is the total PACKage. I'll show myself out.

Heaven. Elizabeth Pass is in the distance, which was kind of like hell. Beautiful, strenuous, hell.

This is the view from a section of the High Sierra Trail, and it is also ridiculous.

More ridiculous scenery.

Sometime after May 2015, I'll have another adventure. Until then, I will lament in my shoddy history education and try to understand how the ef the EU works.

"I put you down for the vegan meal. Let me know if that's OK."

The deadline to RSVP to a wedding of a friend of a friend recently passed. She and I are not super close, but we casually keep in touch.

It was kind of a late-notice invitation, so instead of immediately saying YESYESYES (which is my natural response... because weddings are the best), I had to think about it for a minute.

It was pretty easy to refute all the cons (Must buy present? -- that is why I have an "other" budget. Flying solo? -- since when has not having a date stopped you from doing anything. Do I really need to be there? -- if you're important enough to invite, you're important enough to be there.)

But the easiest hesitation to dismiss: Will there be anything to eat? And, you know, I was a little mad at myself for a moment for even going there.

This is a lifestyle that's totally compatible with any and all special moments (provided the special moment isn't, I don't know, a pig roast. But maybe you could even make that work). 

It is not a lifestyle of restriction and denial, it is a lifestyle of mindful abundance.

Anyway, so put me down for one more in 2014. Next weekend, to be exact. So, that makes three this year.

Who's next? Do I hear a fourth?

After making a mental note to eat before leaving and to pack a couple snacks, and before popping the card in the mail, I text to let her know I'm coming RSVP (Emily Post would not approve, but pragmatism wins when you're 2 weeks out from the event).

"I put you down for the vegan meal. Let me know if that's OK."

What the kale??? How great is this gal? How great are weddings?

Cold, Cruel Reality

It happened last night.

I was lounging on my couch, peacefully watching an episode of The Wire with the man after returning home from a weeknight friend dinner date, when a terrible realization disturbed my idyll.

School officially starts* in 10 days.

Sad beep is right, R2-D2.

I've been working out regularly, reading interesting/fun books, sleeping 8 hours, keeping up with my laundry (!!!) for the last month...

It's like I'm a normal, functioning adult.

But the party's over (almost.)

I'll miss you, summer.

Then I realized -- all is not lost. Week-long vacation starts in 14 days, my first class isn't for another 26 days, then graduation is in... I don't know, like 250 days or so.

It's going to be OK.



*Classes start on the 21st. Pre-coursework opens on the 15th. This is homework before classes even begin. I find this unjust.