On the Move...

So, for the dwindling number of readers that I have left due to my "radio silence," the blog will be moving to: http://www.whiskmanagement.com. The site is active now...In a little while, I'll make this automatically switch to the new site. But until then...bookmark it. It's pretty!

My First Week At Work

Wow, I can't believe this week has gone by already. Parts of it have gone fast, and other times, I wondered when Friday would come, mostly because it's tiring adjusting to a new schedule. It was a good week. I'm in a small department, so it didn't take long to get a handle on its personality. I think I'll fit in well. I've worked more with associates than partners (fine by me) and so far our senses of humor are very similar. I have an assistant that I share with a few other attorneys, but she sits outside my office. She is fabulous. When I started to settle into my office, she said that she thought our area got cold, so I asked if it was okay for me to bring in a space heater (most places I've worked have deemed space heaters to be black market verboten items). What did she do?? She called someone in Facilities and they brought up a space heater. AND someone from Facilities even figured out where to plug it in (my desk was blocking the most logical outlet). I know this is silly, but seriously, it was touching--it felt like internal customer service, you know?

Most of the beginning of the week was training, and a great portion of it was a repeat of training we all received last summer (which honestly feels like 2 or 3 years ago). The rest of the week has been a mix of meeting people, getting some work, and learning about the department. I thought I'd describe the week Marketplace style (by the numbers).

Number of free lunches this week: 4
Days I wore a suit: 2
Number of blisters on my feet: 20
Times I wished that Teva Flip Flops were part of Business Casual: 150
Nights I went to bed by 10 pm: 3
Mornings I woke up early to work out: Zero
Number of mornings I felt almost incoherent when B tried to wake me up: 2
Times I asked a few associates if they had any work for me to do: felt like 30, more like 7
Times I've talked to the department head: 2
Minutes spent puzzling over health insurance options: 85 (more of this at home than at work)
Times I've felt guilty for not billing: 15 (conservative estimate)
Times I felt grateful to have a job: too many to count
Cupcakes waiting for me on my desk this morning: 1 (butterscotch--YUM--homemade by an associate!)

I actually have a real nameplate on my door. It's metal. I know that's a funny thing to be excited about, but I didn't think I'd get a nameplate until we all find out if I passed the bar. I won't get business cards until I'm admitted as a lawyer, which makes sense. I did find out this week that I won't be expected to be at work bright and early when bar results are released--they understand that I'll want to be at home when I get the news. No matter what the bar results are, I'll probably be making some sort of primal animal noises of excitement or sadness depending on how it shakes out.

And, special props are due to B. He bought me a dozen roses that were waiting for me on the kitchen table when I got home from my first day of work. Yeah, I'm pretty damned lucky that way.

L'Ecole - Restaurant of the French Culinary Institute

As you have probably gathered, I really enjoyed the dinner Sue and I had at L'Ecole, which is in SoHo. The food was excellent, the setting was pretty, and the company was fabulous.

There are several dinner menu options. You can either order from the 4 course (appetizer, entrée, pre-dessert, and dessert, $42) or 5 course (appetizer, fish course, meat course, salad, and dessert, $42) prix fixe menu for dinner, depending on when you're at the restaurant. They also offer brunch and lunch. Even though it's prix fixe, you have a lot of choices from which to choose. We chose to get the wine flight ($21) where our server customized our wine choices to what each of us ordered. It was really worth it. The wine pairings were spot on, especially for the dessert course.

For an appetizer, I had the special, which was tortellini (they called it something different) filled with ricotta, served with an heirloom tomato sauce (wine: Semillon, Château Haut Rian, Bordeaux, France 2008). Sue had the seafood sausage (wine: Brut Rosé, Lucien Albrecht, Crémant d’Alsace NV, Alsace, France). If I hadn't been in Maine last month, I likely would have ordered that; it was filled with lobster and crab. The sauce with my appetizer was so good I surreptitiously tore up pieces of the crusty french bread and let them soak up the sauce.

Between the appetizers and dinner, we had an amuse bouche of tuna tartare with lemon zest (yummy). For dinner, I ordered the Juniper Smoked Rack of Lamb, which came with peas and sunchoke-cheddar puree (wine: Grenache, Corinne Couturier, Cuvée d’Estevenas, Cairanne, Rhône Valley, France 2003 ). The meat was cooked perfectly, and the sunchoke puree was something I'd only heard about on Top Chef (and it tasted great, though I can't think of how to describe it). Sue ordered the Steamed Steelhead Trout, which actually looked like salmon (wine: Pinot Noir, Weingut Carl Ehrhard, Petras, Rheingau, Germany 2007).

Before dessert arrived, they brought us some Madeleine cookies. Dessert was probably the highlight for me and cemented the dinner as one of the best I've had. I ordered the Peach Tart, which was served with toasted almond Gelato (wine: Muscat, Paul Jaboulet, le Chant des Griolles, Beaumes-de-Venise, Rhône Valley, France 2007). The crust was amazing (I think there was almond extract in it), and the wine went perfectly with it. I finally understand the appeal of dessert wine. Sue ordered my usual stand-by, Crème Brûlée (wine: Chenin Blanc, Kanu, Kia-ora, Noble late harvest, Stellenbosch, South Africa 2005). It was hands down the best crème brûlée I've ever had. We both agreed that this dessert alone was worth coming back for, even if the rest of the meal hadn't been so great.

How to Have a Fabulous NYC Girls' Weekend

This past weekend in New York City was such fun. It rained most of the time, but that didn't matter. It just meant that Sue scored one of the best $10 umbrellas imaginable (of course it was for sale on the street). This was my second time in New York---the first time, B and I went there as part of our honeymoon. B planned a surprise honeymoon, so I didn't know where we were going until our wedding day. With this trip, I had a bit more of a chance to think about what to do. The only plan Sue and I had until sometime last week was that we were seeing 9 to 5. We both made a list of things to do and figured out places to eat dinner. It worked out really well.

Friday:
Quick lunch at Pret a Manger, a grab and go sandwich chain. We don't have them in Indy, but I'd eaten their sandwiches in London. It tasted so good after a breakfast of Wheat Thins and cookies.
Walked along Madison & 5th Avenues, visiting places like Burberry (so snobby) and Tiffany's (friendly and fabulous at the flagship store!).
Embarked on my first Subway adventure to get to dinner at L'Ecole, the restaurant associated with the French Culinary Institute. This place was so fantastic that it will get its own post.
Went to my first piano bar, Marie's Crisis Cafe, located in the West Village, and sang along with a few great songs from My Fair Lady...after that, I didn't know that many of the songs (they only play Broadway show tunes).


Saturday:
Breakfast on the Upper East Side at Hot & Crusty for a bagel with lox and cream cheese.
Went to the Guggenheim, which had some great Frank Lloyd Wright drawings on display, both of some of his built and unbuilt designs.
Sang "Shake, Rattle & Roll" with some guys on the Subway. One of them called me princess, and even if it was an act, it still made me smile.
Lunched at Dean & Deluca in Rockefeller Plaza.
Browsed items up for auction at Christie's. If I'd had a few thousand dollars, I could've bought a suit of armor. Or a huge painting of someone from several hundred years ago, which I likely would've made up a story about.
Ate cupcakes from Crumbs Bakery in a park across the street from the Flatiron Building.
Dinner at Casellula Cheese & Wine Cafe. Ordered a cheese flight, Pork's Butt Sandwich, and some amazing Mac and Cheese. Fantastic.
Thoroughly enjoyed 9 to 5, which was very faithful to the movie, but with some hilarious changes. If you liked the movie, you'd love the musical. It ends this week, but I'm hoping it will go on tour.
Post-theatre drinks at Sardi's where we both laughed so hard we cried (this happened more than once during the trip).


Sunday:
Another bagel breakfast, though this time on the Upper West Side. This was after we almost ended up in the Bronx by accidentally getting on an Express train...the Subway system is a bit wonky on Sundays.
Sitting in Central Park enjoying some sunshine, along with people (and dog) watching.
Airport drama thanks to storms going through Atlanta. But, being stuck in the airport with your best friend is pretty great. More laughter ensued, along with lip syncing after we swapped iPods.

Before this trip, it was hard to imagine ever living in New York, but I could really understand this time why people love the city so much and why it attracts so many people. I'm not taking the New York bar exam anytime soon, but wow would it be an adventure to live there.

Hello Again

So, um, I know it's been awhile. This post feels like that semi-awkward pause you have with a friend you haven't seen in awhile after she asks you, "What's new?" Your mind goes blank because you can't remember what you've done or how much you should tell her about what has happened because most of the details are past their sell by date on interesting-ness. With that, I'll make a list of what the heck I've been up to for these past few weeks.

1. Reading. I think I've read somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 or 7 novels since the bar exam. Most of them have been by Charlaine Harris, the author of the Sookie Stackhouse series (the basis of the True Blood series on HBO). I'm *almost* burned out on vampire fiction at this point, but I'll suffer through happily.
2. Partying like a rock star. We had a BBQ at our house the weekend after the bar exam. I got to see some friends I haven't seen very much. It was also an excuse to order a Costco cake (3 lbs. of filling people!) and gave me a reason to really clean our house. I had a great time. The food was fab, my iPod got cranked up a bit, I danced in the living room, kicked ass at a new Wii game involving sword fighting, and had several shots of tequila. B made some lovely jello shots too.
   
3. Going to Maine. Saw family, ate loads of seafood, fell in love with cappuccino ice cream, scored this fabulous argyle lunch bag from L.L. Bean, ate dinner where we had our wedding reception, and went through Cleveland on the way home. By the way Google Maps, I'm pretty sure you don't need to be telling out of staters to drive through East Cleveland to get to Case Western. Just a thought.
4. Cleaning. Did you know there's carpeting in the office (and not just under the desk)? And the desk is wood? Shocker, I know. I've filled a few bags of paper to recycle.
   
5. Experiencing the American Health Care System. So far I've had a few doctors' appointments, an eye appointment, and a dentist appointment is scheduled for tomorrow. Nice to get it out of the way before work starts.
6. Wondering what I'll be doing when I start work. I still have no idea what practice group I'll be in when I start work the day after Labor Day. Kind of weird, but at least I know the first day will be general office training ("This is Outlook...") and lots of introductions. Still just happy to have a job. And I'm happy that I didn't get a call to come in a week early like one of my friends. I'm still in the trenches of "Operation Figure Out Work Wardrobe 2009."
7. Hosting out of town guests. B's mom and step-dad visited for a family wedding last weekend. I made a very yummy strata. I'll post the recipe because you assemble most of it the night before. It's great to for when you have people staying with you, but want to fix a breakfast that's more advanced than cold cereal that doesn't leave you standing over a waffle iron for 25 minutes. The house got cleaned some more. We also ate some of the best corn I've had in ages--it won prizes at the State Fair (which I went to with Dad). What makes it better is that it's a farmer's stand in a 1950s/1960s era gas station.
   
8. Napping.
9. Cooking sporadically. I thought I'd have another Martha Stewart August like last summer, but that hasn't really happened.
   
10. Lunching. I am one of the ladies who lunch.
    

In case you were wondering if there was any sort of inspiration for this post title, there was. Today I was doing laundry and thinking of what I should blog about when Hello Again by Neil Diamond popped into my head. Yeah, it's out of left field. Mom went to a Neil Diamond concert when she was pregnant with me, so I blame my random knowledge of his catalog on that.

Recovering from the Barzam

Wow. It's over. That thought has gone through my mind an embarrassingly large number of times.

So, what does someone do after she takes a hard test? Goes home, hugs her husband, tries to relax on the couch, and becomes antsy. After months of feeling guilty for not studying, it's pretty difficult to turn it off, that feeling that I should be doing something else. We decided to go to Scotty's Brewhouse, which has a large patio. The weather was so nice, and I was looking forward to just relaxing outside with some beer and good food. There was a wait, so we sat the bar until a table opened up outside. Our lucky day: $5 pitchers of beer. Not my favorite beer, but it would do. I got carded, which normally makes me glad. I opened up my wallet, and lo and behold, my driver's license was still in the ziploc bag I took to the bar exam that held my pencils. The bartender refused to serve me. I instantly thought of the 10 or so questions I'd read about strict liability and serving/selling alcohol to a minor, and the rational part of my brain understood. The tweeked out post-barzam part of my brain wanted to cry and stomp my feet and demand beer. Instead, I got up and left. My advice to future bar takers: make sure your ID is back in your wallet before you head out to celebrate.

We ended up getting some wonderful food at India Garden, where they did not card me (they're the closest thing we have to Cheers--they sort of recognize us, but they don't know our names). I had two bottles of Kingfisher beer. After that, we went home, watched Big Love, and drank the champagne we'd had in our fringe since before graduation. I was asleep by 11:30 and got up at 8:30, much to my chagrin.

I think the test went okay. I won't dare jinx myself by thinking/writing/saying that I think I passed. But, I have felt worse after some finals or turning in some papers. I'm hoping that means I don't have to take this damned test again. Not only do I not want to study this crap again, especially while trying to work, but I also don't want to go through the test process. But, if I had to do it all over again, at least some of the information won't be new to me.

Oh, and I've had a few "I wish this was Harry Potter" moments in regards to cleaning my office. It's kind of a nightmare. Baby steps, right?

Sell Crazy Somewhere Else, We're all Stocked Up Here (T-minus 1.5 days Until the Barzam)

First, congratulations are due to Carrie & Rick--my newest nephew, Baxter, was born at 4:11 this morning. I can't wait to meet him in a few short weeks!

A few days ago in my PMBR class, the lecturer gave us the following advice: "Stop studying on Sunday." The entire room laughed, all of us looking at each other a little frantically, like "Holy Shit, we have to take this damned test in less than a week." Dad had told me a few days before that about how the day before the end of the Tour de France, the standings are determined. At that point, the winners are established, and they ride into the streets of Paris in a dignified manner. Dad started giving me permission to study less almost a week ago, but I kind of shrugged it off.

Now I understand that advice. There is a point of diminishing returns. On Friday I did full day of practicing the essays, and was surprised by how much random information I had up in my brain. This weekend though I haven't been able to focus as much, but I've tried to slog through a few more outlines for the subjects that just aren't sticking as well (pleadings & practice, I'm looking at you, you coy a-hole). I think I'm about done. There isn't much more that can be accomplished at this point, it's just a matter of keeping the information somewhat fresh. I'll look through my outlines for the state stuff maybe one or more times for that purpose tomorrow, but otherwise, there's no more room left in my brain.

Another indication I'm done: the hysterics I was in earlier today. There was a big recall for my Medtronic insulin pump supplies a few weeks ago, so I had to send them everything I had of one of the two supplies I use. They sent me 1 replacement box (I mailed them somewhere around 7 boxes). Today, I had to change my pump stuff, and not 30 minutes after I'd done that, part of it got screwed up. Basically my pump got unclipped from my waistband, and it ripped out the part of the pump that is stuck to my belly that delivers the insulin. It didn't hurt (it felt like someone ripped off a band-aid), but once it's out, there's not a way to realistically get it back in. I change out supplies every 3 days, so to see it wasted in 30 minutes really made me mad. This also meant that when poor B walked through the door after working most of the day, I was standing in the kitchen sobbing, freaking out that I was going to run out of my supplies before I got the next replacement box from them. They're sending me one box every three weeks until it's all replaced, and this isn't the type of thing I can just pick up at the drug store. I calmed down (after some laughing/crying), and I think it was just the stress of everything hitting me in the face. I believe I uttered the words, "I don't want diabetes anymore" just to show you the rational thinking I was capable of (read: not much).

This also reminded me of something Grace discussed on her fabulous blog Law With Grace: the bar exam is not the hardest thing I'll have to do in my life. It will probably be up there as the hardest test I'll ever take. I don't have any doubt about that. But, I can think of a lot worse things, and while my life has been very blessed, it's had its crappy times like everyone else's lives do. And, the up side about the bar exam is that unlike most of those "my life is in the crapper" moments, this is one thing you can prepare for. It's not a surprise that you have to take the test. But I think that's part of what makes it so rough on people: the damned build-up of it all. I think if I don't pass the bar, the few days after that would feel much worse than the actual test (and hopefully I won't have to find out about that).

So with that, I want to thank everyone for the awesome texts, tweets, e-mails, Facebook messages, and *gasp* even face-to-face encouragement I've received this summer. Thank you so much. It's meant a lot and really kept me going, even when I didn't believe there was any way I could learn everything I needed to learn by this point.