Tis the Season: Holiday Parties=Free Food.

Just got back from my friend's holiday party at a ritzy dim sum place in SF and I gotta say I'm glad she invited me. You see, every year, my office throws a holiday shindig too, but since I telecommute for work, I'm a plane ride away, which in turn means that I also telecommute for the party..catch my drift? With the budget crunch this year, I told my boss I'll opt out from the party thing...but then there's a piece of me that misses it. Thank goodness for awesome friends who invite me to theirs..thanks ladies! Next week, another lunch that's not on me. So, how can I not love the holidays? Free booze, food and entertainment.

So, the interesting part of the whole night had to be seeing my friend's face light up as she opened her gift from the office..that's right, folks..it's called a bonus, something that is all too foreign for me to envision. This brought me back to filling out my MBA apps. There's usually 2 boxes: one to indicate your salary and the other to indicate your bonuses. It was pretty sad (okay, I lied..it was downright depressing) as I placed a big fat "0" in the latter box b/c the entire time, I kept thinking: "Damn, other people get bonuses...unless you work in the public sector where there ain't no $$ to be had." So, I guess it's good that I'm blogging this moment b/c years from now, I hope to be perched on the other side of the fence..one can only hope, right? Yes, hope seems to be the only thing I can bank on right about now.

Up at 4am...it's all good!

"Yours is the kind of love, makes nothing else feel good enough and I'm never gonna give you up...No, no!"

Okay, that's what's in my head right now. It's 4:04 am, I'm listening to Natasha Bedingfield's new album and it's going to be okay. I've got my brain juices flowing and I'm working on my Stanford essays...yay yay! I know it's been a while, but trust me, I can explain:) And you haven't slipped my mind b/c I've still been checking the ClearAdmit blogs every week...yup, still alive and kickin, guys!

It's been a week of nocturnal behavior as my days turns into nights, nights turn into MBA essays and sleep is during the days for me. What the heck? I know, many of my MBA aspirants out there can understand what I'm experiencing right now. I feel like I'm in college all over again studying for finals, but this is good stuff. It makes me feel hopeful that my future's in the works and it's going to change for the better.

Oh, before I go any further, I just wanted to say "Congrats!" to all of you who've been accepted to your choice bschools. You must be sooo excited! (I know I would be!). And for those who've receive less than steller news, don't worry..hang in there--we will all have our moments to shine (at least that what I've been told..no, but really, it's true) At first, I felt like crap for not being so diligent in submitting my stuff in R1, but now, I'm okay and I feel that I'm going to hammer out kick-ass essays to really make it count. I've decided not to take my GMAT and I know it's going to come as a disappointment to you bloggers out there, but I put some thought into reading Tiny Dancer's post many moons ago and I think she makes a valid point of not sacrificing the essence of everything else in my app just to raise my GMAT. In any case, I've got 1 month to get my apps into all my top 4 schools since I'm leaving for a cruise to Mexico come mid-January. I'm going to take it as an early celebration of surviving the grueling app process b/c if this is the hard part, I'm thinking bschool should be just fine.

So, in case you're wondering where else I've been..I went to NYC!! Yup...my hubby ran the NYC Marathon and I got to be a bandit for the last 2 miles...at least I can lay my claim that I did run part of it, right? It was too tempting to resist, but the trip did solidify (once more) my plans of applying to East Coast schools. Who does not looove the City?! It was such a packed weekend, but I did visit Columbia, except the school was closed since it was Saturday. Darn....I know, but it's all good since I've been there before and already fell in love with it since. I was in the NYU neighborhood, and I've got to admit that in terms of culture and vibe, I really enjoyed the NYU campus. Well, being a foodie...you just gotta love all those good, cheap college eateries nearby....what better way to study for finals, right? Haha....anyhow, catchya later. I'm going to get back to work on my essays and possibly go to bed at 5 in the morning.