The Capital building


The best part about Madison: Lisa!

Epic

Today, I interviewed with Epic, a healthcare IT company in Madison Wisconsin. I don't know if I'm weird or something, but I really ENJOY interviewing and today's interview which lasted from 9am-4pm was a blast. There were many tours and many meetings with different people. My voice quivered the entire time for my 10 minute presentation, which was a bummer, but I stayed pretty comfortable in case studies and the other interviews, so I think overall, it was positive! Keeping my fingers crossed!
Nari and Kim would LOVE this place. Even though they are a multi-billion dollar company, their company entrance reads "Welcome to the Intergalactic Universe" (or something like that), and alllll of their buildings are themed and decorated according to their theme! There was Andromeda (which was very astronomical), Heaven (really white and with angels and happy things like slides and babies and flowers), and even Dungeons and Dragons, etc.


Beautiful holiday decorations against a Midwest sunset

Thanksgiving

What a party! And I got to play more 升级, brush up on my pool, and also hang out with my favorite 3 year old!

Getting dressed for our lunch picnic, apparently she told her mom that she wanted to 臭好几个美。 So CUTE. David and Ray both lurking in the back.


I found out that her favorite animals are all black and white. For example, pandas, penguins, and whales.

Today was one of those weird days that was really good. My mom and decided to leave school early to see a sand castle competition on the beach. It was so nice to feel the sand underneath my feet and to see some very creative Holiday-themed sand castles. #ChristmasinFlorida.

Then we stopped at this taco shack called Yo Taco! and had super gross not even Taco Bell status tacos. I've been crazy crazing Mexican food for a while (like carnitas and heavy sour cream with some rich guac yummm), but the tacos ended up being so disappointing that they reminded me of a worse version of elementary cafeteria food.

The rest of my dinner consisted of a stop at 7-eleven for a can of Dr. Pepper (I desperately wanted something to wash the taco taste from my mouth) and a king size Kit Kat bar, and as I was listening to Justin Bieber's "Love" blasting on the radio, everything just felt so perfect and great! I had one of those moments where everything felt "just right". The nasty tacos, the 7-eleven, the unhealthy snack food that I made into a dinner, and Justin Bieber on the radio all came together and culminated in this moment that was so totally authentically trashy (or as Chi called it, "Amurican") and made me feel like a million bucks!... Weird huh?

It made me happy like drinking hot cocoa by a fireplace (other things that could be added to make this moment even more perfect are PJs, a wooden lodge, maybe some Christmas music in the background, and a nice snowfall outside the window). Or it's like wearing a flowy dress on a summer night and there's a nice breeze but not too much and I'm standing under full moonlight and my favorite 90's boy band song comes on the radio, and it's so romantic that I can only think of how perfect the moment is and nothing else.

All this being said, I would like to eat better food in the future.

Shell series 2

Today, I added color to a shell that I drew, and it turned out not so fantastic. I sketched in pencil and then added color with colored pencils. I've been thinking about this for a while, but I can't figure out what medium to use. I thought color pencils would be nice because I have good control, but on the downside, the colors are limited and I can't mix them to get a range of colors. Back when I was in high school, there was this one kid who could make the most incredible and intricate drawings using a selection of colored pencils. All of us were blown away especially because he just decided to try his hand at art in his senior year (no big). Seeing his drawings perhaps has misled me into thinking that I could achieve similar results. Any medium suggestions? I'm currently thinking watercolor with pen outlines or chalk pastels that are more mixable?

Still being a tourist in my own town

Mom says ARRRRGGG!



What can I say, I'm a "female dog". Haha

Finally became house-wifey enough to try one of those online "craft" ideas.

Cambridge

I just came back from an interview in Cambridge and it was a great break from Fort Myers. It was the first time that I've been flown in/put up in a hotel by a company, and I felt very grown up! The interview itself went over just OK and I so desperately wish that I could have been more articulate. Interview aside, the trip was great, and I saw so many friends! I got a tour of Harvard Law from my high school prom date, and then my old counselor from freshmen year gave me a tour of the Harvard Business School. I am keeping my fingers crossed for a final interview with the impact investment firm--how often in life do you come across a job that is EXACTLY what you want to do? If there is a God out there, please help me! :)


I thought the Yale shirt with the question mark was pretty funny. Otherwise, so elitist...


They put me up in a hotel called "The Inn at Harvard"


A Turkey?/Peacock? spotted crossing on the streets of Cambridge. I couldn't figure out if it were wild or someone's escaped dinner.


The Turkey-Peacock had second thoughts about crossing after cars refused to treat it as a legit pedestrian.


I thought this was pretty cute, though I couldn't figure out why it said New York Life.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

I've never been a fan of reading Shakespeare plays in high school (though performing the role of Lord Capulet in Romeo and Juliet for 9th grade English was pretty fun), but I have got to hand it to movie makers, they DO manage to make these plays into pretty stand-out movies. Last night I watched A Midsummer Night's Dream (the one with Michelle Pfeiffer), and it was indeed very beautiful and enchanting, as the name suggested it that it would be. I caught some of the zingers and clever banter, but methinks it could stand on aesthetic merits alone. The plot line was so-so, but I might also feel indifferent to it because I've seen it performed too many times in ballets or whatever random context.

Much Ado About Nothing (the one with Emma Thompson, Denzel Washington, and Keanu Reeves) was the first Shakespeare movie that I was totally blown away by and I still regard it as one of my favorite movies. I don't know which one I should watch next (any suggestions?), but good thing there is a Shakespeare section in most libraries!

Painting

Trying to channel my energy into a more productive outlet than gossip girl season 5. I haven't painted in a while and so today, I put myself to the simple task of painting from a picture. For my subject matter, I chose a stamp from the collection "Earthscapes" that I mentioned a whiles back.

I thought a blown up stamp would be a good pop art project that'd fit well with my enigmatic collages and Marilyn diptic. I was torn between making the painting an abstraction and adding detail, and ended up doing both and making it look really messy like this. Next time, I'll try to stick with one idea instead of half-heartedly doing both...

Music update

Bridgit Mendler, some Disney actress who I've never heard of has released an album that I've grown very fond of. My favorite song on the album is "Hurricane", but the single "Ready or Not" is pretty good too. The songs are super catchy and are like a cleaner version of Katy Perry. Even though this album is probably targeted towards tween girls, it speak to me and I like it! Am in the tween girl marketing category? Who knows, I certainly do like Justin Bieber so it is a possibility. It's not often that I find a whole album that I like, so I highly recommend this one! I hope she'll make it to the top of the music charts--her songs are certainly catchy enough to do it.

Halloween!

My first year ever not participating in door to door trick or treating activities. Felt like such a grown up handing out candy and being all cool. Kids are so rude sometimes, and didn't even say trick or treat! They just come up to you with their bag open! I had a really great time handing out candy to cute kids in costumes. Looking at the crowd, I do regret trick or treating in high school a little bit. Even though it was great fun for my friends and I, the people handing out candy clearly only have an interest in seeing cute babies walk around and are not interested in high school kids at all.
Does that look familiar? Oh yeah, that's right, I totally brought back the water bottle hair-do. It was pretty well received by the trick or treaters, and many girls even asked me how I did it!

A pair of witches with my mom

Cute cupcake

Kinda cool!


I saw a few lady bug costumes and now I really want to be a lady bug for Halloween next year. They are SO cute!