Welcome back, loyal blog readers! Week 5 proved to be super
busy and eventful, so here we go!!!
The first three days of the week were spent at my Intern
Conference. The conference was held at Deloitte’s absolutely amazing,
resort-style training center called Deloitte University in Westlake, Texas. The
facility itself was most impressive, but add on a delicious buffet that was
available for each meal and a Starbucks counter where you can get whatever
drink you want for free and you’ve got quite the luxurious retreat…or at least
what the average college student would consider luxurious. The conference wasn’t
all fun; there were several learning opportunities too. We had a couple of
guest speakers, a partner panel where several partners from all over the
country answered questions from the audience, and a really fun and intense
simulation exercise. The simulation exercise gave us the opportunity to work
with interns from different east and west coast offices to create a plan for
providing relief to a fictional African village. It was a really interesting
project to work on and a great opportunity to meet new people.
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| View from my room at DU |
Each night we had a planned social activity. The first night
was a community service night and the second night was a really fun game night.
There were poker tables, roulette tables, pool tables, a photo booth, arcade
games and some caricature artists. I got my caricature drawn, but more on that
later. I also posted up at a roulette table and did a pretty amazing job! If we
had been playing with real money, I would’ve been a really happy girl! In
conclusion, the conference was awesome! I met a lot of people from so many
different places and got even closer to some interns from the New York office.
It was a really great time and being back in Texas for a couple of days was
very refreshing.
(Speaking of Texas: Upon arriving at Deloitte University,
the other NY interns on my bus absolutely freaked out over the cacti and cows!
It was insanely funny!)
I didn’t have to work on Thursday so I used that opportunity
to go and see Newsies! The show was great! It was upbeat and high-energy! The
choreography was fantastic and it definitely helped that the entire cast was
very talented in the dancing department. They were also strong in the singing
and acting departments, as well! Just before intermission was the extremely
fantastic “Seize The Day” number. The cast dances for pretty much the whole
song and it was just SO GOOD! When the cast hit their final pose at the end of
the song, the audience cheered and cheered. I can honestly say I have never
heard an audience applaud for that long after a number. When it sounded like it
was going to stop, it just picked back up again! It gave me chills…I can’t
imagine how the performers felt.
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| Fun day seeing Newsies! |
Later that night I went to dinner with my roommate and then
we went to Madam Tussaud’s Wax Museum!! She had never been before, so we
figured that night was as good a time as any! We had SO much fun posing with
all of the wax figures. My personal favorite: Kate Middleton and Prince William…obviously!
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| #PowerCouple |
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| Me and my besties, Will and Kate! |
Friday, aka the Fourth of July, some of my friends and I
decided to go to this BBQ Block Party down in the Financial District. We were
able to get some free burgers just in time to get under an awning before the
rain started pouring down. We stayed there until the rain let up a bit and then
we went shopping for a little while. After shopping, we walked down to Stone
Street where we waited for some other friends to meet up with us for dinner.
While we waited, we charged our iPhones at this charging station and chatted to
two NYPD officers. They were so nice and we talked to them for nearly an hour!
One of them actually told me he thought I was from the city because he thought
I had a bit of a New York accent! Haha! Once our friends showed up, we grabbed
dinner at a nice little bar and then headed to watch the Macy’s Fourth of July
Fireworks show! We got super lucky that we found a spot right in front of one
of the Macy’s barges so we had a great view of the 35-minute long firework
display! Macy’s does everything BIG, that’s for sure! The show was gorgeous,
and, despite the rain, we had a great Fourth of July!
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| Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks |
Yesterday I spent the day with one of my friends from high
school, his mom and one of her best friends. We had quite the eventful day
because they wanted to see a bunch of sights. I met up with them at the Museum
of Modern Art, or MoMA, where we walked around and looked at the art for a bit.
Then we went to Gray’s Papaya, a little whole in the wall hot dog place that
can be seen in the movies Fools Rush In and
You’ve Got Mail, among other things. After that, we took a walk through
Central Park, which was lovely, as always. Then it was onto Serendipity for
their signature Frozen Hot Chocolate. It was delicious, as always. Next up was The Plaza Hotel. I decided we should try
to go inside and it totally worked! The inside was gorgeous!! One of my dreams
being to get married at The Plaza, when I saw signs that said ‘Grand Ballroom,’
I figured we should follow them. The signs led us to the elevator and a sign
that said the ballroom was on the third floor. So…we went to the third floor.
Much to our surprise, when the doors opened it was completely dark…but there it
was! The Grand Ballroom! Unfortunately, our fear of getting caught someplace we
shouldn’t be kept us from getting a really good view of the ballroom. However,
we will always be able to say we nearly broke into the Grand Ballroom of The
Plaza Hotel. We did find a ballroom that was unlocked and took a look inside. I
also used the restroom in The Plaza Hotel…so there’s that. Then we went to FAO
Schwartz and a few other 5th Avenue shops. Finally, we had a late
dinner at Ellen’s Stardust diner and soaked up all of the bright the lights in
Times Square. It was a LONG day but I got to experience several things I haven’t
had the chance to do yet! It was also nice to see some familiar faces in the
big city!
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| Beautiful stone arch in Central Park |
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| Serendipity's Frozen Hot Chocolate |
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| Lobby of The Plaza Hotel |
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| Entrance to the Grand Ballroom |
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| Other ballroom we saw |
Today was a relaxing day filled with cleaning up my area of
the room and unpacking my suitcase from Wednesday. I also went to Mass at St.
Joseph’s for the third time. Even though the church is extremely hot, the choir
keeps me going because THEY ARE AMAZING! Today the priest gave a fantastic
homily and I left feeling rejuvenated and ready for the week!
As some of you may know, tomorrow is my 22nd
birthday. It seriously seems like I was just down at the beach with the Dunn
family ringing in my 21st, and now it’s time for the big 22!! As my
mom pointed out, this is the first time I won’t see my parents on my birthday.
Kind of crazy to think about, but I am so blessed to be where I’m at…just a
girl from a small town in Texas living out my dream of living in New York City.
When I sat down to get my caricature drawn, I asked the
artist how he was doing tonight! The artist said he was doing great and then
looked at my name tag to see where I was from. I told him I was working in New
York but I was actually from Texas. He smiled and said, “I knew you had to be
from Texas!” I asked him why he said that and he replied, “Big personality!” I
started laughing and then smiled so he could draw my picture. When he revealed
it to me, I couldn’t help but laugh! He completely captured what this summer is
for me in one caricature. It’s adorable and I’ll probably have it framed.
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| My Caricature |
My 21st year of life was an amazing one! I found
my soul mates, aka my amazing best friends (you know who you are!), led an
organization and ended the year being so proud of the work we’d done, and tried
to live each day with a smile. I learned a lot about myself and I hope 22
teaches me even more!
Hope you all have a lovely week!
With Love,
Alex
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