What I will do with my free time

I will have 1.5 weeks between my old job and my new job, and I have been fantasizing about fabulous things that I can do with my time off. Here is my working list of possibilities. Let me know if you would like to join for any of these activities!

Wednesday March 16:

• go to Fresh Espace for a facial, where the cost of the treatment is redeemable in Fresh product
• make some more bead necklaces and bracelets, with the huge package of crystal beads I picked up from GreenFlea on Sunday (a great farmer's market and jewelry/flea market, held in the yard and cafeteria of a public school on the UWS every weekend)
• read some serious and not so serious books (like Shopaholic Ties the Knot from Alli-O)
• attempt to get $20 rush tickets for Wicked; see Robots if attempt fails

Thursday March 17:

• do my taxes
• see the Diane Arbus exhibit at the Met (was too crowded on the weekend)
• wear my recently completed pastel green scarf to watch the New York St. Patrick's day parade on the steps of the Met
• continue the St. Patrick's day festivities in my old neighborhood, the UES

Friday March 18:

• practice commuting to Short Hills
• read with my Power Lunch buddy
• see cool Gregory Colbert nature/animal photography exhibit (called Ashes and Snow, thanks Christine) at the Nomadic Museum (building made of shipping containers) at Pier 54 (13th St. & Hudson River)
• see the musical Avenue Q, with TKTS tickets
• go dancing somewhere fun

Saturday March 19:

• Brunch
• spa at Dorit Baxter or Bliss 57
• Shop

Sunday March 20:

• go to GreenFlea again to buy some pretty potted plants and bulbs
• go to Penn to watch my lil lil's dance performance - she is so talented!

Monday March 21:

• watch all my Sex and the City DVDs that I bought last Nov. in Asia, that I haven't watched yet
• ramble through Central Park
• go to the MOMA
• enjoy a prix fixe lunch

Tuesday March 22 - Thursday March 24:

• hang out in Toronto and see family&friends
• meet up with DD?

Friday March 25:

• walking tour of Chelsea and Greenwich Village, to see if I would want to live there
• ...

Saturday March 26:

• suggestions? I will surely reshuffle some of the earlier activities down here

Sunday March 27:

• get ready for work

Moving on

It was an emotional day - I spent my entire morning crafting my goodbye email to the office. I had about 10 old "moving on" emails from former colleagues to build from, but none really fit how I wanted to leave off...the reason I was leaving, where I was going, what I would miss...

I finally sent it out around 3pm and got responses ranging from:

"CAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooo"

to

"We'll miss you"

to

"I'm excited for the road that lies ahead for you"

To clarify my cryptic posts, I am leaving consulting to join the corporate strategy group of a real company. I'm excited because I'll still be working with smart nice ex-consultants on similar work, but will get to interact more with business leaders, develop a different set of skills, see my strategy implemented, and have the option to jump into a business unit in a year or two.

On another note, there was a blizzard in NY today and it reminded me of how much I will miss the amazing views from my office. It was wild and swirling outside for most of the day, and then things calmed down and I saw the most beautiful hot pink sunset. Someone said it sort of matched what I was wearing (a pink cardigan and purplish tweed pants) and so must be in honor of me. =( I am cheered by the prospect of being able to pull out my giant white and pink Anime boots tomorrow though... sigh...

I did it

Today, I officially gave in my 2-weeks notice via email and voice mail to my advisor.

He is now going to forward this communication to the firm. This is real. I can't believe I'm doing this...wish me luck!