MSP

I am sitting in my own hotel room downtown Minneapolis. Somebody pinch me! Me and 4 of my classmates are here to visit Target for our Summer Preview Day and to learn more about what we will be doing over the summer.

We left Bloomington after going to Market Research and then got here right before dinner. We used the opportunity to get something tasty that we wouldn't be able to get back in Bloomington. Seared Organic Salmon at Zelo, yum!

It has been great so far and we haven't even been to Target yet. Cannot wait!

Welcome Back!

So tonight marks the end of winter break. I had a great time visiting my family and being back in San Diego. I miss them and the food already! The last week has been packed with a whirlwind trip to Minneapolis to visit Land O' Lakes, 3M, General Mills and Target and try to make nice with the -9 degree weather. I brought back with me loads of new clothes (thanks mom and dad), Banana Nut Cherrios (thanks General Mills) and my coveted Bullesye stuffed dog (thanks Target). Since being back I have had some time to catch up with some of my friends, take Addie for walks in the snow and watch as much of the Wire as humanly possible and just relax. It's been nice, but I have to say goodbye to it, and hello to my 2nd semester.

New York, NY

I got into the city a little early, at 10:25, and hoped into a cab. It was awesome to see the city all lit up before me and reminded me a little of SATC with me dressed up in the back. I had no problems getting to the Roosevelt and took a quick shower and climbed straight into bed as we had another big day ahead.

First thing in the morning we headed down the block to find a little something for breakfast as we knew we would be getting treats at our first company visit. I settled on a yogurt parfait and a coffee and was ready to hit the town. Up first, Dylan's Candybar, where Kelley alum Maggy Siegel is the COO. She opened up the store for us and gave us a personal tour of the 3 floors of candy. It was a blast! We even got a sneak peek of the back room where all the inventory is kept and then we headed to the cafe for some treats (I got pumpkin ice cream) and some question and answer time with Maggy. It was a great experience and gave us a little different perspective of retail than Target and Wal-Mart who come to campus.

We had a little free time before our next visit and a few of my classmates and I went to Loehmann's nd then to Feline's. I ended up not getting anything but a proscuitto sandwisch from the Bed Bath and Beyond cafe.

Then it was time to head to Macys.com's offices. We were able to meet with HOUR and the merchandise, planning, creative and IT team. It was a really neat perspective on retail, and was great to see the differences between a brick and motar store and an e-tailer.

When we finished up there we were on our own, I headed back to the hotel with some of my classmates and changed into "something more comfortable" and then headed off to get some dinner. We walked to Serendipity, and were greeted with an hour long wait! We found a cute Italian place across the street and had an AMAZING dinner of pasta and salad. We hustled out of there to make our reservation at Serendipity, and proceeded to gorge ourselves on Frrrozen Hot Chocolate and a "Can't Say No" sundae. Everything was good but we needed at least 2-3 other people to help us eat everything. With full bellies, we headed back to the hotel making sure to look at all the holiday windows at Bloomingdale's before calling it a night

My bags are packed and I am ready to go...

On the first of what seems like many treks. I left Bloomington at 1 and I will be headed to Orlando shortly. I have my first company visit outside of CMA week tomorrow and 2 more scheduled for Tuesday. Wish me luck!

Give it a whirl!

Weds was a great visit to Whirlpool. However, I had started to get sick so it was hard to be on my A game. However, I did get some great questions in and we got to learn some great stuff about the company and have lunch with some recent full time MBA hires.

At around 2 we headed back to Bloomington, where we didn’t get home until 8. I was starting to feel really sick at that point but really couldn’t get ready for the bus ride today. Just went straight to bed. Thank god for Nyquil!

Whirlwind of a weekend! My brother flew in from San Diego Friday night, and was only here until Sunday morning. So Saturday was jam packed with meals at new restaurants, visits to friends’ houses so he could try their home brewed beer, walks in the woods, tailgates and football games. Very little homework or studying was done and I seem to be paying for it now but it was great to have him visit.

I also had the first of my many Sunday night dinners for SAC and had a lot of fun. Can’t beat a free dinner where I can just talk about why I love the school!

Now I have to pay for all my weekend fun though…