All Good Things Must Come to an End

Tomorrow is May 1st and as the semester is coming to a close, I thought it would only be appropriate to sum up my blog with one final topic. Though it may seem somewhat predictable, I think the best way to end the semester is with a wrap-up of the year. This being said, this week S is for Senior Year.

First off, I can't believe that tomorrow is May. Wow, did the year fly by. I feel as though I blinked and my senior year of college is basically over. Looking back at the year, however, I am happy to say that it was a great one.

From the absurd amount of partying my friends and I did this year, to interning in two different departments at AOL, to just spending countless hours doing absolutely nothing-- senior year was awesome. Not only did I turn 21 (best birthday to date thanks to my roommates), but it awkwardly snowed on Halloween and we got to wrap up the year with Jay Sean... actually, I'm not sure how I feel about this last one.

All the craziness and activities aside, the year was a real growing experience I think for my fellow classmates and I. It's crazy to think that in less than a month we will be entering the "Real World," with responsibilities we have never before had to take on. Despite the minor anxiety it is still causing me, I feel confident that Fordham has prepared me to deal with entering the work force and honestly, part of me is a little excited to move on. College was great and I will miss Fordham tremendously. Yet, as all of my closest friends will be living in Manhattan after school, I see no reason why the party needs to end.

We Gonna Party Like, Like It's 2012

Hello readers of How She Sees It, this is the Editor-in-Chief, Sales Guy, Product Manager, and Accountant of the wildly popular wine blog, Whining in the Bronx. I have many things to whine about today, the first being that I don’t get to drink a bottle of wine while writing this post. So please excuse my excellent grammar and impeccable spelling.

Today, S is for Spring Weekend. According to Facebook, Jay Sean is officially ‘playing’ Spring Weekend at Fordham this year. The question is, Fordham, are you down down down down down? (lyrics from his 2009 American debut single entitled….’Down’). Did anyone else know that Jay Sean’s real name is Kamaljit Singh Jhooti? No joke that is literally his full name.

But I can’t hate on Jay Sean too much (pictured close right), because I tend to resemble semi-mediocre rappers now and then (pictured far right). Anyways, since this is my last Spring Weekend as a Fordham Student, I find myself reminiscing of Spring Weekends past. My mother would not be proud, but my memory of previous Spring Weekends is a little foggy. Yeah, the entire weekend. I recall a friend (now a roommate) being challenged to throw a standard plastic folding table over a 30-foot wall behind an apartment building, and he actually did it. I recall falling asleep listening to Guster, and I recall raging face to MGMT for no apparent reason.

I also recall going to Kegs and Eggs, sleeping it off, then driving to Boston for the night with two friends. Absurd. Looking back on all of this, though, I have nothing but fond memories regardless of my rather reckless decisions. I can only hope this Spring Weekend is hot, sunny, and hopefully another beautiful blur of fond memories in my college career.

Can you say... delicious?

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Easter break. Though my actual Easter Sunday was a little dull (possibly because the company comes to my house), it was so nice to be at home for a long weekend. There's really nothing like being home sometimes. Your family, your own bed, actual food in the cabinets... it's true what they say about never having food in a college apartment.

That being said, this week S is for Samoas. Come on, you know what I'm talking about. Those absolutely delicious Girl Scout cookies we all know and love. Or I do anyway. While at school, I totally forget about Girl Scout cookies--a treat that lined my cabinets for years during the Spring months. But sure enough, when I came home last week I walked into what one might consider cookie heaven. Thin mints. Samoas. Dulce de Leche. Tagalongs. The list goes on and on. Either my mother is a huge fan of these cookies or does not have the heart to say no to the 5 different girls in my town who come ringing the doorbell asking for orders.

Nonetheless, my house is currently filled with Girl Scout cookies. As I was never a fan of Thin mints, Samoas are definitely my favorite of the bunch. Though the cookie was probably enough of an inspiration to cause me to write this post there was another coincidence that truly confirmed my topic for the week. When I went to work on Thursday, sure enough there were Girl Scout cookies up for grabs in the office kitchen. All my co-workers spent way too long talking about their favorite cookies when they were a kid and that's when I learned a fun fact about Samoas, which lead to this blog post.

Samoas are also called Caramel deLites. When my co-worker told me this, it was actually familiar to me because I recalled hearing that before. Then we asked her why it had two different names (she was strange enough very well versed in her Girl Scout cookie history) and she said that it all depends on where the cookie is manufactured. Although I'm not so sure how much I buy her explanation considering the difference in cookies in the picture. But interesting to think about either way. Whether due to lack of time or lack of cookie knowledge, I'm going to keep this post short. Bottom line: I don't care what you call it... no Girl Scout cookies come close to Samoas.

My blog post topic for this week is another random one and I can't honestly tell you what made me choose it. Though it is quite possible the recent talk of the outrageous Mega Millions jackpot may have subconsciously sparked my inspiration.  One might even argue this topic is a close second in randomness to my post about salt. But to get to the point, this week S is for Serendipity.

I've always thought the idea, or the concept rather, of serendipity was so cool. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept, I'll provide you with a quick definition.

ser·en·dip·i·ty/ˌserənˈdipitē/

Noun:

The occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way: "a fortunate stroke of serendipity".

I just think its interesting to consider that at some point in everyone's life (I would assume), he or she has experienced the benefits of serendipity. The thought that randomly aligned incidents have the capability of  occurring simultaneously to result in the best possible scenario really makes me wonder. The idea of luck, which I think goes hand in hand with serendipity, is also something that I find fascinating. For instance, what makes one person lucky and another not? 

In my senior values class this semester we watched the movie Match Point. Luck was arguably the most dominant theme in the story. The main character (Joe) is a former professional tennis player who eventually goes on to get away with murdering his mistress. The movie touches on how during Joe's last tennis match, he was unlucky in the fact that the ball lingered on the net, eventually dropping to his side. As we analyzed the movie in class, we discussed how the unlucky situation is what essentially ended Joe's tennis career. Perhaps if he was just a little luckier, the ball would have dropped on his opponent's side, he would have won the match, and continued with his tennis career. Thus, this series of events would have been more beneficial and Joe never would have found himself in a new city with a new wife. In turn, without this new life, Joe may never have had a wife or mistress and then may never have committed the murder. It blew my mind when my professor raised the possibility in class. 

Of course, this movie does not necessarily stay faithful to the definition of serendipity I posted above because the development of events do not occur in a happy or beneficial way. However, I do think it is crazy to think about the idea that "luck" of one moment can maybe dictate the way a person's future may go. On more positive note, there is a romantic drama actually titled Serendipity that tells the love story of a man and woman who experience the phenomenon. As a huge fan of chick-flicks, I naturally love the film and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the same types of films. However, for those who aren't as mushy as I can sometimes be, a good second would be checking out the restaurant Serendipity 3 (also featured in the movie) where you can enjoy a good meal accompanied the restaurant's delectable  signature Frozen Hot Chocolate. It's well worth the potentially long wait... I promise. 

The Boss

Social media is a fantastic thing. Really, though. For all those who don't believe in the genius of Facebook and Twitter, I beg to differ. The reason? Because without Facebook, four fabulous tickets to see Bruce Springsteen in concert a week from today would never have found there way to me. Well, maybe they would have eventually... but not so easily.

Let me be a little more specific. Earlier today, I was scrolling through my Facebook timeline expecting to see nothing other than boring quotes and jokes that I wouldn't understand. However, a status update by my cousin immediately jumped out at me. She posted on her status that she had four tickets to see The Boss himself next Tuesday for only $110 dollars. Obviously, I called her immediately and now the tickets are mine. So thank you, Mark Zuckerberg.

Now many of you may think that the Bruce Springsteen craze is just another one of those Jersey things. Though this may be partially true, the fabulous-ness that is Bruce Springsteen should not be limited to only those born and raised in the Garden State. The man, along with the talented E Street Band, has won a total of 21 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, and an Emmy Award. And the magic (pun intended, fellow Bruce fans) doesn't stop there, folks. Springsteen has sold more than 65 million albums in the US and more than 120 million worldwide. Still think he's not the boss? Just admit it... the man can rock.

Whether you are a fan of Springsteen or not, I do recommend that if you ever have the chance to see him in concert, take it. I have seen him once before and it was fantastic. I've seen few artists grab the attention of an entire crowd to the extent that Springsteen is able to. His show is lively, exciting, and truly American. His performance is so great, that even the Governor Chris Christie is begging for his presence this Labor Day in Atlantic City. Hey, maybe if Springsteen agrees to perform Twitter will help me get last minute tickets this time. A girl can only hope.

Oh and how could I forget...  S is for Springsteen.

“The best music is essentially there to

 provide you something to face the world with.”

 -Bruce Springsteen

Hola República Dominicana!

Welcome back everyone and happy first day of spring! As last week was our spring break, I cannot imagine that anyone would be shocked to hear that this week S is for Spring Break. 

However, before I tell you all about how I spent my time away from Fordham University, I would like to comment on how fast this semester is moving. I am at a loss for words that in less than two short weeks it will actually be April. Just yesterday two of my friends pointed out to me that graduation was exactly two months away. Depressing.

ANYWAY... on a happier note, my friends and I spent our spring break in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort for a full week and had an amazing time. It was really cool to see the different culture on the island and (of course) lay around on the VIP beach for a week. The VIP beach was filled with literally beds and canopies with servers who delivered us drinks and food all day.

Though the trip was definitely one of the highlights of my senior year, I can say that all of my friends and I were eager for American food by the end of the week. Certain items on the buffet menu were decent, but overall we understood why we were able to book our hotel at such a cheap price. Clearly, Lifestyles Tropical Beach Resort & Spa does not splurge when supplying its guests with food choices. Majority of our group ended up getting sick. Don't worry, I'll spare you the details.

Nonetheless, everyone had a great time relaxing and enjoying themselves for a full week. Even better, when we arrived back in the Bronx, the fun wasn't over. We were able to rally and make it out to Manhattan this past Saturday to  celebrate St. Patrick's Day! I'm sure no one will surprised to hear that we had so much fun on Saturday  (maybe a little too much) that we spent all of Sunday recovering in our beds. Two days later, I finally have my energy back and can still say the Dominican Republic was well worth it. Despite the poor food choices, I would still recommend the all-inclusive pack at the Lifestyles Resort. I would also recommend packing some American food in your suitcase (seriously). All this aside, the beach was gorgeous, the VIP beach was amazing and we even met a friend... Hola David! 

Come on, how could we not have had a good time with him as our bartender?

... Anddd I'm back!

PART TWO

Hello again, for the second time today. Well my day definitely was hectic while still managing to be as exciting as I had hoped. The press event went extremely well. I was responsible for giving out name badges and escorting members of the press to coat check and the set room (which looked AWESOME, I must say). I even got my own badge! 

In all honesty, the day was probably much more suspenseful for me since 1) I actually knew about the launch date and 2) I have been working on this project three days a week for the past two months. It was so cool to work on a project and be able to actually participate and see the final result. That being said, I hope you check out the website because there are countless  woman being featured on the website with interesting stories I had never heard of before.

Out of the 60 women who launched alongside the website this morning (more will be featured throughout the year), one particular woman's page on the website really spoke to me. Therefore, in part two of today's post: S is for Sheryl Sandberg. 

Sheryl Sandberg is currently the COO of Facebook, a social networking site I know we are all familiar with (if not somewhat addicted to). At first I thought her job was amazing, but then when I watched the clips and listened to her advice I realized what a smart woman she truly is. For example, she talks about her philosophy on the balance between work and being a mother along with how she thinks the world would benefit if women controlled 50% of the workplace and men controlled 50% of the household. She also was a Harvard graduate who formally worked with Google before gaining her position at Facebook. If you're not sold yet on how interesting she is, here's some food for thought: She works and knows Mark Zuckerberg extremely well. Wouldn't we all love to know how accurate his portrayal in The Social Network truly is? Well I'm sure Sheryl knows.