I am moving to Washington, DC for the summer!

Good morning readers!!

Breakfast this morning:

 

 1 egg + avocado on 100% whole wheat bread + café au lait.

I was up by 6:45 am today! Doing laundry and continuing my packing. I haven't really elaborated on this topic much but about a month ago I quit my job in the Insurance industry. Back in mid-march I got an offer from a company headquarter in VA to complete an internship in their Equity Analyst department. If you have been following me on the blog for quite some time you know what an amazing opportunity this is for me and how excited/scared I am about whats to come! This came at a perfect time considering I just finished my graduate degree and I can now hit the ground running!

Finance & Investing is a huge passion of mine (in addition to health & fitness) and has been for many years. However, for nearly 9 years I would wake up each morning and get ready for a job I hated (for lack of a better word).  I have to be clear in that I don't regret the last 9 years--- I am extremely grateful for the experiences I have had, the multiple opportunities I was given, having the resources to save and travel and accomplish several goals but most importantly-- all the amazing people I met and who have become friends for a lifetime. The only thing I wish I would have done sooner was leave the industry, maybe 4-5 years ago. However, I also understand that everything has its time and its place and my time finally came.

I am so excited and so incredibly grateful that I have been given the opportunity to move in to an industry and a job that I am looking forward to loving. I cant lie and say I am not scared about entering a whole new field but I also know that it is now or never. I am well aware that all amazing things in life often start of with us being borderline terrified. Change is rarely ever easy. However, positive change always turns out to be amazing at the end and I have nothing but positive vibes about what's to come! God willing!

So yeah! I jumped ship and quit my job and now I am moving about 4 hours away from NYC to start fresh, even if just for a couple of month.

Random selfie before heading out the other day:

 



So the internship is in Virgina about 20 minutes away from DC. For the first week of the internship I will be in Virginia and the next 7 weeks I will be living in DC. Long story! I tried to find a good deal on AirBnB, however, I couldn't believe the prices for some of this rooms!! IE: Paying $1600 to sleep on an airbed for 30 days! I.Think.Not. So, I had to do a combination of places to find a more "reasonable" deal for me although at the end of day my stay will still be kinda' pricey. Thankfully the internship is in fact paid so that should help in a big way.

The housing I found in DC is close to the white house and in the epic center of everything so I am excited about exploring the great things around there on weekends and/or free time. Thankfully, I also have a couple of college friends that live in DC and family members that aren't to far so I look forward to hanging out with everyone. I hear the city is amazing and cant wait to see it for myself.

So there you have it! This is my big news. Job starts on Monday so I will make sure to keep you guys on the loop with how everything develops. If you live in the Washington, DC area and have any recommendations on what I should explore or interesting things to get in to let me know! My job offers free yoga and a free gym so I have a feeling I have the fitness part covered.

Cheers to new beginnings!

In honor of my new found daring spirit I leave you with this:

Tell me, how you ever dared to leave the familiar for a totally new experience? would love to read about it. Comment below :)

Fortunate Fridays {Great Week Edition}

Hey Everyone!!

Hope you all had a great week. I have LOT's to be thankful for this week. One thing I was to point out is this: nobody's life is perfect. No one's. Although I do go through ups and downs, like the rest of the world--- I CHOOSE to focus on the positive and enjoy sharing what I feel fortunate for each and every week with all of you, in part, with hopes of inspiring others to also focus on what is good in their lives and strengthen the positive. Thanks for reading and for sharing the good with me.

So this week was great. I cant complain. Had a lot going on and although I am not working at the current time I am constantly wondering where my time goes and trying to approach time management as effectively as possible. Making progress but nonetheless, still a work in progress.

Without further 'ado here is my fortunate-for list of the week:

1. The Angel that is ALWAYS protecting me from HARM and who is next to me when amazing things happen. This week I received yet another revelation that someone is always by my side. I have gone through some stuff in my life where the fact that everything turned out okay and that I am good and well can only be explained by something above and beyond what the eye can see. Thank you! 


2. Picking up my Cap and Gown (Ahh!!! Need I say more??) I could but I'd probably go on and on. Definitely a proud moment. All I could do was look up to the sky and thank the lord! MBA, here I come.

3. Amazing Lunch date with my two favorite ex-co workers-- Passed by my old job this past Tuesday and was able to have lunch with two of my favorite people. We went to Hale and Hearty, had a yummy lunch and cached up on life. Had such a great time. Definitely miss these girls:

4. Spontaneous trips with good friends.
After finals,  I made a spare of the moment decision to accompany a good friend of mine up to Albany for one of his good friend's graduation celebration. He had invited me a while ago but I couldn't make up my mind because I had so much going on with school and everything else. However, I am glad I ultimately decided to go. Albany, NY is where my Alma Mater is located so I had a great time reminiscing on my good old college days. I cant believe next year will be 10 yrs since I received by bachelors degree. Crazy! Here are some photos of the trip:

On our way!

Reminiscing on the good old college mall days:

 

Being Silly:

 

Road towards campus!

Being silly (again!) at some random store we found at the mall:

Posing in front of the mall:

 

Finally Dinner (@ Unos):

 

 Infamous Bathroom Pic:

5. Keeping up my fitness routine!!! Worked out pretty much every day and feeling stronger after re-incorporating Jillian 30 day shred in to my routine again. I love her and that's my favorite DVD of hers!

6. Getting my hands on Almond Butter!!! Let me just say Almond butter is a "Staple" at my apartment and living without it for almost a month was unheard of! Grabbed two jars during my recent trip to Trader Joes:

7. Finally found a place to live in DC for the summer! After a good amount of headaches in trying to decide where the heck I was going to live for the summer (guys-- I still have to catch up you guys on this one). I am just happy the search is over! Excited!!! Note: If you are a blogger or reader from the Washington, DC area please email me. Would love to meet you!

8. An AMAZING final meeting with my consulting team and the CEO of the company we consulted for this semester. This has to have been the best project I worked on during my entire MBA career. Definitely felt fortunate for the experience from beginning to end:

So, this week's Meme or "saying of the week" is something I created myself. This week I had an "Aha" moment after having a conversation with someone which serious opened my eyes about the infamous saying: never take anything personal. Ladies and gentleman, life experiences have taught me that if there is a list of "top 10 sayings in the world that are absolutely and 100% true" the "never take anything personal" one is on the very top of the list. The experience I went through inspired me to come up with the following:

 

...And that's all folks. Thanks for reading. And remember: ALWAYS look at the bright side of life. Never give up. Keep on reaching for your goals and as hard as it may be to see this sometimes: There is ALWAYS something to be thankful for. GOD IS GOOD!

Tell me, whats your favorite quote? do you enjoy road trips? anything exciting hapenning this weekend?

With love,
Mabelle

Fortunate Fridays {Gym and School Edition}

Hey Everyone!!

So I "survived" my first week of "unemployment" and LOVED. IT. Caught up on sleep, went to the gym, and spent a whole lot of time at school and finishing up final projects and presentations. I cant say I loved the latter much but I am happy that school is almost over so god willing this will all be a distant memory in the very near future.

I am not done with final projects until next week and still working on this as I write this so I'll be brief on this one. So, without further 'ado here is what I feel fortunate for this week {including but not limited to}:

1. Catching up on serious sleep and feeling refreshed!

2. More time to prep and enjoy yummy foods:

3. Working out almost every day this week. One of the workouts included my sister :) We went for a quick run mid-day and it was amazing:

4. Getting an A on my consulting project presentation & paper (and I am praying this also means an A in the class ;)...I truly had an amazing team for this project. Couldn't have done it without them. Here are some pics I took pre-presentation:

5. Also, doing great and completing a presentation for my Business Policy course. Now all we have to worry about is finishing the paper.

6. Spontaneous trip to Walmart. Minus the fact that I spent two much money; I am absolutely loving the new rugs I got for my kitchen {Sorry I cant seem to be able to rotate these pics :(}

 

7. Learning everyday to stay in the present (practice makes perfect!)

8. Getting myself flowers :)

9. Having a peaceful heart, a peaceful mind, and looking forward to what's to come!

And this week's favorite quote comes courtesy of "Oprah for Starbucks":

 

"The only courage you ever need is the courage to live the life you want".

-Oprah Winfrey

Thanks for reading :) What are you feeling good about this week?

Fortunate Fridays {Feeling Good Edition}

Hello all!!!

A new Friday is upon us and I have a lot of things to feel fortunate for this week. At first I had to take a moment and think about it but I've found that when we focus our minds on gratitude the amount of things to be thankful/grateful/fortunate for is overflowing!!! Are you currently breathing and alive? That's kind of a big deal!!

Without further 'ado this is my fortunate for list of the week:

1. Today is my last day of work in a career that I did not enjoy. I cant even begin to express how amazing this feels.
2. The amazing opportunities and possibilities ahead
3. Casual talks that turn in to "omg if I hadn't found this out I would be screwed" type of conversations
4. Making it through this week :)

5. My dad whom drove me to queens over the weekend to complete a task for my consulting project (love this man!)

6. The fact that all I'll have to worry about in the upcoming weeks is Myself and school!!! <--- God is good!!!

Any plans for the weekend? For me it feels like most of my final projects are due next week so I'll be spending a lot of time on school work and likely at one of my favorite places. I also want to clean my entire apartment (like, inside out serious cleaning) and my mom offered to help so I'm happy about that :)

Tell me, what was the best thing that happened to you this week?

My absolute favorite quote this week:

Love,

Mabelle