I have been drooling for a new, swanky camera for the last 6 months.  At Christmas, we saw my brother-in-law unable to put down his new "toy".  I love this shot I took of him - he looks like he's part of the papparazzi!

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Ever since, I've been itching even more to upgrade from my point and shoot.  Don't get me wrong, I love my Canon powershot, but lately, I have been noticing its limitations more and more.  Most pronounced, I think, is that the flash over-shines, whatever is closest to the lense.  I've tried changing the settings, but without much luck.  See how bright my sister looks in this shot? 

Mom & Nicole

Tonight, I FINALLY bought myself a new, swanky camera!  I opted for Best Buy's "pick-up" option and Adam is going to get it for me on Saturday while I'm studying.  I'M SO EXCITED!!!

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My books arrived today.  So did the study guides and DVDs, etc.....  Time to get crackin'!

I plan on easing myself into it today with Ethics, a fairly easy topic.  This weekend I'll be tackling the most hidious material - the dreaded Quantitative Analysis.

I can't believe I'm starting this process all over again..... 127 days -- stupid webpage tells me!!!!

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Our cleaning lady comes on Thursdays – we've established a pretty good routine when it comes to managing this.  We both do the "pre-clean" the night before, I'm responsible for writing her a little note about what to clean, and Adam is responsible for hitting the ATM (we pay her cash) the night before and dropping off the key at the front desk on his way to work. 

Today he sends me a note saying "Did you drop the key off?  I looked everywhere and couldn't find it."  I ended up needing to run home immediately because he couldn't get away and she usually arrives before 8:30am.  I didn't want her leaving (and not cleaning!) because she couldn't get in. 

I go upstairs thinking the keys had probably fallen off the counter and into our bag of plastic bags.  It takes me FIVE SECONDS to find the keys.  They were underneath the clean rags I had left out for her.  He didn't even LOOK!  So annoying!!!

Why wouldn't he look around a little?  Why wouldn't he call me before he left the apartment?  Why wouldn't he leave HIS key at the front desk so she could at least get in.  STUPID MAN!  I come back to the office and vent to one of my fellow female analysts.  Her response, "Well, brace yourself, they get worse AFTER you have kids" -- Add that to my list of reasons I'm not in a rush to have kiddies yet!!!

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My mom sent me this earlier this week.  It was her first EVER forward!  ENJOY!

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The difference between Craigslist NYC and Craiglist Philly are pretty pronounced. 

I used the NYC website when I was looking to sublet in NYC.  The amount of posts was insane and there were some pretty comical ones.   Also, the response-time when you expressed an interest was super-quick.  If you couldn't check out a location that very day, it was highly unlikely that any non-sucky apartments would still be available within a few days.  Boy, I don't miss those days!!!  What a zoo that was.  Remember Frankie? 

Philly is a sleepy backward town in comparison.  I posted an ad for Molly, our old Civic, a few months ago and didn't get one response.  We've abandoned selling her for now, so I don't know if my results would have been better with multiple postings.

This morning, I replied to three apartment/townhouse rentals and am SHOCKED that I haven't heard a peep back from anyone....  Come on PEOPLE!!!! 

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Just read an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal (not the NYTimes for a change) that talked about students eschewing (love that word) campus romance.  The reason was largely attributed to the competitive nature of college campuses and focus on careers.

They threw in some statistics on this: "Only 14% of people who are married or in a relationship say they met their partner in school or college, says a 2006 Harris International study of 2,985 adults; 18% met at work.  That's a reversal from 15 years ago, when 23% of married couples reported meeting in school or college and only 15% cited work, according to a 1992 study of 3,432 adults by the University of Chicago." 

This couldn't be more from the truth when it comes to my college friends - it sure seems like most of us found a fellow student to end up marrying.

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What's on your to-do list for today?

What a scary topic to answer today.... feeling slightly overwhelmed by life...

Here's my list of life-things that need to get done soon:  Book a hotel for our CO skiing trip.  Sell our damn car.  Find a new apartment.  Taxes - ugh.  Book our fall trip to Europe - harder than it sounds with all the blackout dates that come with using frequent flyer miles.   

I know, I know... it doesn't need to be done TODAY - but I sure feel like I have to get hoppin' on this stuff. 

Time to stop procrastinating.  What do I really need to do today?  Homework for my DE meeting.  Prep the house for the cleaning lady.

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If money and time were not an issue, what would you like to learn how to do? 
Submitted by jacolily.

Hmmm... lots of things. 

First things that come to mind: Learn to be fluent in German and French.  Become an excellent cook (did I just say that?).  Play piano.  Become a tennis superstar!!!!

Alas - the only thing I'll be learning for the next couple of months are boring/responsible finance topics....  regression analysis, discounted cash flow modeling, currencies swaps, variable annuities, the list goes on and on.... 

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This morning I signed up for the Level Two study class... on their website they already have the coutdown until the June exam.  129 Days.  Yikes - I HATE that they have that!!!

Tonight is class..... the topic is one of the trickiest, so I figure I better not waste anytime and just go.  It's annoying though, because I won't have a copy of the handout with me.... I would have blown it off, but I'm missing next week because of a business trip.... 

I realized that I was going to have to scale back my life to stay sane.  So, no trip to Jersey this weekend -- very bummed!  I was supposed to go skiing with my cousin.  Also seriously considering whether moving in late March is a good idea for my sanity -- tough call though.  I AM ITCHIN' to get out of our current apartment building.  Especially on a day like today when I woke up to (MORE) jackhammering and no hot water.....  COLD SHOWER AT 6:15 is never fun.

Ugh.  I hope I can survive the next 129 days!!! 

Not off to a good start.  Didn't get out of work until well after 6pm today.  Back at the computer after some dinner and a glass of wine to prep for my meetings in DE tomorrow....  not feeling too bad about skipping class today - I realized it was unlikely I would retain much about my most troublesome topic without having done the reading beforehand -- that would have just frustrated me. 

Looks like I have a weekend of QUANT in my future.... regression analysis - what a hoot!

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I got sent an interesting link today: http://glassbooth.org/

They ask you a serious of questions about how important certain topics are for you and then it spits out which candidate represents your beliefs.

Mine were: Mike Gravel (78%), John Edwards (77%) and Hillary Clinton (76%) Barack Obama (75%).

I had to look up who Mike Gravel was, because I didn't have a clue.  I found it interesting that the three forerunners Edwards, Clinton, and Obama had so few differences on the topics that mattered to me. 

Still have no clue who I am voting for. 

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