Finally, A Break! The Holiday You Haven’t Had Since College

Greetings from VACATION! When is the last time you had a holiday longer than a couple of days over Christmas? Who needs the working world when you can be off from December 8 to early January???

My blogging skills were recently tapped by the prestigious third-party MBA Admissions website Accepted.com who interviewed me for their series about Top MBA programs. I was more than happy to provide them with my thoughts on UCLA Anderson, please check it out! (Note: I prefer the adjective “thorough” to “overshare” but there’s so much good stuff to say I had a hard time editing!)

So since that gives you more than anything you ever wanted to know about Anderson, and I’m on vacation anyways, here is my Christmas blog entry.

Usually I only get to sneak home for a few days over the Christmas holiday because of work, so it was a real treat this year to head to my hometown of Atlanta for a week and a half! This year it was especially important too, since I have this little thing called a wedding in March and there is lots to do! (Further evidence of the general over-ambition of b-school students: the wedding is in Atlanta on Saturday of Spring Break, and I will be back in class in LA on Monday!)

Although my mother has done a yeoman’s job of wedding planning this fall, I still had a few priorities of things I wanted to be involved in. Topping this list, naturally, was the cake tasting. How many weddings have you been to where the beautiful cake tastes like…. nothing? Not the case at my wedding! After much intense discussion (see below) a delicious decision was reached.

One of the most important wedding decisions is made.

My absolutely delectable Vera Wang dress, purchased this summer (described here) had also come in so I got it fitted.  Unfortunately, due to the fact that my fiancé checks this blog from time to time (I think), no pictures will be posted here except this teaser.

I modified the old adage to say “Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something fabulously sparkly!”

I also had my first exposure to being the total center of attention at my first wedding shower (yes, I said “first,” implying “several.” Turns out getting married is a lot of fun!), thrown by three of my mother’s friends in my honor. It was a lot of fun to spend time with great friends, many of whom I had not seen in several years. An extra special treat is that my Grandmother, who just celebrated her 90^th birthday, joined us for the holidays and was able to have a place of honor at the shower.

Allie, Grandma, Mom, Me and Jordan take a break from eating petit fours to smile for the camera.

Less awesome was my lack of knowledge about the tradition of cutting the ribbon. As the old story goes, every ribbon you cut as you open your presents represents a child you will have. Um, somebody could have told me this before my super-efficient mother and I set about tackling the presents. Sorry, Stanton!

Being home for so long allowed for plenty of quality family and friend time, and I enjoyed it to the fullest. It was great to be with my parents as they prepared to celebrate their 33^rd wedding anniversary and hang out with my fiancé and sisters.  Jordan recently graduated from college and is doing great at her first “real” job in NYC, and Allie is a blogger at www.baxterbarktwice.com who you may recognize from her recent cameo on Perez Hilton.

You’d swear it was their 3^rd not 33^rd, look at these grins!

Anderson Student, Blogger Extraordinaire, PR Exec-in-Training

Stanton and I have both been so busy, with me basically moved into the Anderson campus through exams and then in Silicon Valley for a week for the Days on the Job Event (my fellow blogger Willem mentions this event in his most recent post), and him traveling for work, we ironically had to go to Atlanta to see each other. We are looking forward to spending more time together and hitting up a few more of the great things to see in LA including the Getty Museum, hiking with the celebrities in Runyon Canyon, and seeing the (real) stars at the Griffith Observatory. (I have heard rumors that the next quarters of business school aren’t *quite* as crazy busy as the first year fall, but I will believe it when I see it!)

This picture was Stanton’s idea.

Basically, the extended break has been a great chance to re-charge my batteries before the madness of recruiting starts up with the arrival of 2012. Stay tuned to the MBA Student Voice as we keep you updated on that crazy process and all the other great stuff going on at Anderson this winter. (Updates you will NOT see: Being freezing like the rest of the country!)

Happy New Year!

-Charlotte Baxter

Follow me on Twitter: @CharlotteK