hiya stranger.

alright alright – i’m more than a stranger at this point. 5 months of nothing… ridiculous. it’s too bad i’ve been such a blogger bum - stephen and i have had an awesome past few months. but between 8 weddings and applying to business school, my free time has been sparse. now that the matrimonial season is over and majority of my apps are completed, i’m ready to pick the proverbial pen and dish on life.

at the moment, i’m on the train sitting at penn station, not quite halfway through my 5+hr ride from new haven to dc. what better time than to play a little online catch up. honestly, i should be sleeping – i’m exhausted! stephen and i spent the weekend up at west point this weekend to see his cousin “little ernie” who plays football for army. unfortunately he’s out for the season with a fractured metatarsal (foot), but it was a great opportunity to escape and catch some prime leaf-peeping. the campus was beautiful and its overlook onto the hudson river, breathtaking. i can only imagine though how depressing it must be the in winter… great stone buildings, grey uniformed cadets, bare trees, an icy cold river and overcast sky… brrr.

on sunday, we got together with stephen’s step-grandmother, "mor mor" in swedish, and attended service at the cadet chapel on campus which was a treat in an of itself. it’s been 3 years since we last saw carla which is a pity because she’s so delightful! she was married to stephen’s mother’s father for 44 years… dr. john prudden – a truly brilliant man in nearly every subject, who was a witty as he was ornery. a harvard-trained doctor and dedicated oncologist, he passed away in 1998 from the one thing he spent the most time researching – cancer. it was truly a pleasure to visit carla’s home and get to see all his young handsome pictures. although i never had the pleasure of meeting "grata", from the stories and pictures, i do know who stephen takes most after.

that afternoon, we said our goodbyes and took the train into nyc’s grand central station. there stephen left to catch a quick dinner with an old friend before busing back to dc. instead, i met up with another one of stephen’s cousins, austin, and headed northeast to new haven. after just submitting my application to the yale school of management 10 days ago, i was on my way to visit campus and fulfill my invitation to interview. since i had only been to connecticut once before to see extended family in greenwich, i was excited for the adventure. it was great to have another buddy on my 2nd train ride of the day, and even better for it to be a yale som alum. although austin just graduated back in 2007, the school has since drastically changed its curriculum to walk the talk of an integrated approach to management – especially in accomplishing its mission of educating leaders for business and society. it ties in very nicely with my relevant experiences working for a private sector company in the public sector world…. yay federal government.

after a light dinner, i snuggled up in my nice comfy bed at the omni (thank goodness for corporate rates ☺) and tried to sleep away my anxiety. this morning, i woke up excited and ready to explore the unknown – yale university. after meeting with some prospective students, we got to pick a class to attend that morning. being the nerd i am, i chose an upper level course on making management decisions with spreadsheets! not knowing what to expect, i found the class highly engaging – especially the professor’s creative approach to an otherwise dry subject of optimization problems. the class was very participatory, most likely due to the collaborative environment fostered by a small class size. we next got a tour of the business school which is basically a handful of 100+ year old mansions that are connected by an underground labyrinth of classrooms and other facilities.

i found the tour guides to be very knowledgeable and was especially pleased to learn one of mine was focusing on the what i plan to study – a hybrid of financial economics and strategic consulting. he took his mid-1st year international trip to singapore and met with some sovereign wealth investors; this was particularly intriguing given the controversy of swf impact on U.S. control of assets. i was also excited to hear of his plans to take jeffery garten’s (former som dean and the barefoot contessa’s husband!) class next semester on “understanding global financial centers” which involves a 2 week trip to new york, london, dubai and hong kong. very cool. after a quick lunch, i jetted back to the admissions building for my 1pm interview, which i thought went well… being the very first day that interviews began, i had both an admissions officer and a 2nd year student in training conducting the session which was a little intimating, but at least i got it done early! fingers crossed.

afterwards, i headed back to my hotel, changed out, checked out and spent an hour and a half walking around yale’s campus before i had to catch my 4pm train home. can i just say… WOW - absolutely gorgeous. i’m sure the bright red and yellow leaves helped add to the academic new england atmosphere, but i was shocked at how ornate and stately ALL the buildings were…. even the local power plant blended in with collegiate charm. i was hoping to get together for a quick coffee with austin’s fiancée, katrina, who is wrapping up her phd in environmental economics at yale, but i was having serious cell phone issues. it’s too bad – we had such a great time chatting when we linked up in the city back in september… and i was dying to see her new ring!

overall it was a fantastic trip. i love visiting historic places and was so thankful all the travel logistics went so smoothly. but now time to return to reality – and oh, yeah, get out the vote tomorrow! finally. i’m beyond tired of this endless campaign and very ready to party hardy accenture-style at the iconic willard. yeah – you could say i really do enjoy the integration of public and private sectors ;)