Cape Cod Vacay

A little outing to Cape Cod for Cecil's bday weekend. :) I went down to New Haven on Friday for the celebration with his friends, and then we took a road trip that stopped at Newport (where there's giant mansions along the ocean cliffs) and various beaches in Cape Cod. A little bit cold, but on the upside, it was uncrowded!

Running away!

April Goals

I'm not doing quite so well with this goal thing (especially since it's already halfway through April) but I'm still trying to keep up with it!
March Goal Progress: I've been pretty good with salsa, going to lessons almost every week, and also going to the social dances on Fridays (so far, it's been my only Friday night activity). I didn't get as far with SQL because after that small portion of my project, I didn't need it anymore, so it was hard to justify work hours to devote to it.


Professional Goal:
VBA: VBA is a language used to build macros in Excel and Powerpoint. I've already started learning it (and master it!) by working on my current project. I wrote a code that allows me to format, copy, and paste charts, words, etc from my excel sheet to my powerpoint presentation, at which point, I have a separate macro that puts it into the exact same position each time. Horray for time saved!

Personal Goal
Bragging: I've realized that I don't give myself enough credit for the work that I do. Like many people, I'm my own harshest critic, and I'm trying to actively change how I judge myself. I've been reading "Lean In" by Cheryl Sandberg, and what strikes me from her book is how great the difference is between how men and women perceive themselves. Women just are so much more likely to be riddled with self-doubt. For example, men are more likely to reach for opportunities that they want and learn the skill on the job, while women only reach for opportunities once they feel ready. At Google, where people are encouraged to suggest self-promotions, men are way more likely than women to submit their own names. Men feel qualified for jobs when they meet 60% of the requirements, while women feel like they need to meet 100%. As a self-doubting woman, I don't know how men do it. But it would be such a blessing to have that kind of confidence (not arrogance, just confidence). So I start with a baby step, learn how to brag.

A sign of spring

Snow Crocus

A weekend of amigos y amigas

This past weekend was a snowy weekend (hopefully it's the last one, though I bought a sled before the storm so that I could make the most of it), and it was also an awesome weekend because I intentionally/unintentionally saw a lot of old faces in this new place!


Met up with Ethan & friends for karokee! Picture taken at one of the divest bars I've been to.


Met up with Rewon (#Ray's new entrepreneur flame)for a picture with a creepy bear lurking behind us.


Bumped into Maddie, one of my Freshmen on the T!

Dinner parties

Pretty much what I want to say is that dinner parties rock. They are engaging, good opportunities to meet new people, cost-effective, and super delicious. It's the perfect combo-fecta that I wish all social activity would achieve. This past week, I had Lily and her boyfriend over to make dumplings, Jake over for a 3 course meal (I 'learned' how to make steak.), and then last night, I went to a friend's house for a potluck. I guess what I'm trying to say is I like making eating a social event and I like having a diverse array of options at my meals which can become difficult when I'm cooking for one. I even made some crunchie and salsa friends! (Not separate crunchie friends and salsa friends, but salsa dancing crunchie friends!).

March Goal

Another month, another opportunity to set a new skill goal! Life since moving to Boston hasn't been the crazy social fun time that I secretly hoped that it would be. Nor has my job been the incredible learning experience (at least not in this first month) that I also secretly hoped that it would be. My days are spent sitting in my office with Excel and Access, and it's been hard to feel connected to my work and consequently devote myself 110% to it. Because my supervisor and the other guy working on my project are remote/traveling, there's a very difficult lack of structure and because I just started, I'm frequently at a loss as to what my next step should be once I've completed a task. Thinking and reflecting on my personal goals, however, has given me a sense of structure. For example, because I made learning Excel and Access my February Skill-to-Learn, all that time on Access and Excel has not been wasted. For March, I'm going to set a skill goal for both my personal life and my professional life.

Personal
Learn Salsa: I started taking weekly classes at a local dance studio. My first time going was the best time that I've had in a long time! The studio that I'm going to, Salsa Matei also hosts a Friday night dance lesson at a local club. I'm hoping that between lessons and the dance club, I'll become a salsa pro in no time!

Professional
Learn SQL: I started learning SQL last month because a small portion of my project requires it. SQL is a query language that allows the user to dissect and analyze large data sets. Sounds useful!

Skiing in Vermont

SO MUCH SNOW!