New Year Aspirations

As we enter 2010, I'm not so much making resolutions as setting aspirations for myself. Rather than setting concrete goals, thinking about where I'd like to be headed seems much more achievable. Just as I found it took time to unwind from decades of a fast-paced life when I reached France in August 2008, now back in the States, I am taking time to plan for the next phase of my life.

I've been talking to my life coach, Cynthia (highly recommend this, a life coach, by the way), and she suggested I think about what it is I want to be doing 10 years from now. Now, that's certainly a different way to think, but I get why she is pointing me in that direction. Only by doing things now to prepare for what it is or who I want to be in 10 years will I get there. I used to be a five year plan person, but the 10 year plan makes sense to me now.

In 10 years, do I want to be back on the beaches of Nice? Do I want to be coaching high school cross-country runners? Do I want to be sitting on several philanthropic boards? Do I want to be counseling women on financial matters? All these are things I have thought about doing in my future. But maybe I work first on where - then what.

In the interim, I'm quite focused on some things that matter to me right now. My aspirations for 2010 are to excel in my job, get to know more people in my company, and build networks there. I want to keep writing in my field, and I'd like to begin speaking too, if my company agrees. I will continue to build on my support of Barnard, through the Athena Leadership Center, and of women's athletics at Columbia, through the Women's Leadership Council. This is the year that I look forward to reconnecting with my Wharton classmates at our 15th Reunion, and with my ARHS classmates at our 30th! I plan to visit family in Norfolk, friends in Sarasota, Eugene, Fillmore, and Oakland (so far). I plan to make my parent's 50th Anniversary as memorable as possible. And plan to help my Dad enter his 80's as effortlessly as possible.

That's quite a list. Plenty for the first year of this decade. As to what I'll be doing at the end of it, more to come.

Remembering 2009

2009 began for me on the side of Okemo Mountain in Vermont, with my family, and will end in Washington, DC, with my friend Becky and her family. In between, are many memories of a fabulous year with family and friends. Reconnecting and sharing were the themes for the year. My readers know my chronicling tendencies - herewith, a shortened chronicle (details are in earlier posts!) of the year that ended the Aughts.

January:

• Driving through the Swiss Alps on my way to Zurich from Nice, a good 9 hour drive.
• Visiting my birthplace, Heidelberg, in the cold rain, and going for a run through the city to warm up!
• Visiting my friend Uli shortly before the death of his 43 year old cousin from breast cancer.
• Making the drive back to Nice just in time to watch President Obama recite the oath of office on French TV.

February

• A short visit to London during which I reconnected with former Glee Clubber and Barnard alum Clare Delmar.
• Two weeks with my folks as they came to visit me in Nice. It was a visit I was a little anxious about, but we had a great time, and explored lots of new places in Nice and Provence.

March

• A visit to the States which included stops in DC and NYC, and catching up with my brother in law and nephew, my niece and friend Vi, and tax planning with friend/accountant Andre.
• A whirlwind visit from my friend Bill, who flew down to Nice from Paris on Saturday morning, saw me perform with my chorus in an afternoon concert, had dinner on the Promenade and then departed the next morning at 6 a.m. But he had a beautiful day in Nice!
• Three days in Copenhagen, my first time back since 1972, and a chance to make some new business contacts in the financial services world abroad.

April

• A last minute appearance as conductor for my Gospel Choir's Palm Sunday performance at my church in Nice, and the unexpected presence of my friend Priscilla to hear the group during the service.
• A two day visit from German friend Uli and his girlfriend Jutta, allowing me to reciprocate all of his wonderful hospitality. We did Monaco in a few hours, and spent as much time as we could on the beach. Wunderbar!
• My third and last visit to Paris hosted by Olivier and Jean-Yves. This visit included a reunion with my former track teammate Ginny, and a chance to meet her Barnard-bound daughter.

May
A month in which I was on perpetual jet lag, as I went back and forth to the States three times.

• The excitement of being honored by the Barnard-Columbia Athletic Consortium for my contributions to the program as an alumna, and my parents and friends being there to help me celebrate.
• A wonderful gathering of New Amsterdam Singer friends on the Upper West Side who joined me for a festive birthday celebration.
• The honor of sitting on the dais for Barnard's Commencement ceremony with the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, who impressed me with her speech and appeal to the young women graduating.
• The thrill of sitting on the dais of Columbia's Commencement, this time as an honoree of the Columbia Medal by the Columbia Alumni Association.
• Nearly two weeks of entertaining friends in Nice; first with my friend Jeff and then with Janie and Chuck. I was getting pretty good at this tour guide thing by now.

June

• Celebrating my nephew's high school graduation and then flying up to join my classmates at our 25th reunion at Barnard.
• Returning to Nice (minus my luggage) for a wonderful weekend in St. Tropez with Jean-Yves and Olivier. Sitting on the beach at their beach club was never so good. The jellyfish bite I could have done without.
• My one golf round in France, made possible by Priscilla and orchestrated by Phillippe. I played like a pro for four holes, and then wished it hadn't been 9 months since my last golf game...

July

• Entertaining my cousin Matt and his friend and watching Wimbledon at a British pub down in the Old Town of Nice.
• Welcoming my brother in law to Nice, and ogling the preparations for the Tour de France first day in Monaco, then meeting my sister and her son for their stay with me.
• Five days in Bordeaux with my sister and her family - visiting two families that went out of their way to make our visit to their homes extraordinary.
• A final visit to London (and a scare at Customs at the Stansted airport) that included a reunion with my former colleague, Dean, and some lovely meals at restaurants of his suggestion!
• Final dinners with friends in Nice, and the much appreciated help from my mom, who came for a week to coordinate my packing as I was reaching the end of my time on the Cote d'Azur.

August

• A final day in Antibes with Christiane, beach time and museum time - Picasso - perfect.
• My homecoming in Massachusetts, with my brother and his family and my parents. It was nice to be home.
• Nearly two weeks in Easthampton, the guest of my friend Jeff in his summer house. Swimming, biking, kayaking, running, much meal preparation and sharing of meals with our neighbors. It was perfect.
• More beaching with my aunt and uncle at Bethany Beach, then a few days later in Norfolk, with Becky, Gabriel and Reuben. Chris and Kenny made the visit fun too.

September

• The graciousness of my hosts John and Gail, as I went through interviews and wondering if I woud get that job at Barclays.
• The sadness of two deaths - the mother of my friend Jennifer and the husband of my cousin Susan.
• My first day at Barclays - September 28th - a job that was only idea six weeks earlier.

October

• A 20th reunion with law school classmates at GWU. And a long walk on a beautiful fall afternoon along the Mall and the Potomac with Jeff.
• A weekend in Boylston with Eric, Jan and Ned. Jethro Tull - Ian Anderson - reminded me that the 70's was a long time ago...
• Moving my things from Washington to NYC in a UHaul truck. Bill was a completely enthusiastic coordinator and motivator for the truck packing; Jorge was my rock for the rainy ride north up the New Jersey Turnpike.

November

• My family and friends joining me for the Gala Dinner given by the Columbia Alumni Association for the Columbia Medal recipients. Barnard staff that had helped make my contributions possible over the past 10 years were also part of my table. Having my niece and nephew to bridge the generations was lovely.
• Welcoming friend Priscilla to my NYC apartment for a few days and having her hear me sing with the New Amsterdam Singers and meet my friends before she headed south for the Thanksgiving holiday.
• Celebrating Thanksgiving with family (after a year's absence) at Bethany Beach - and having everyone come to the 5K race that Saturday afterward - if not running or walking - then there, cheering all of us on.

December

• Catching up with former consulting colleagues at a midtown bar, and then enjoying Korean Barbecue in Koreatown, continuing the reconnecting I have been doing in Manhattan since I returned in September.
• A weekend of NAS concerts, attended by many friends and family - including Eric, Ned, David, Cathy and Roland, Alex and Chrissy, Caroline and Pat, Mom and Dad, Chelsea, Jeff, and Arthur.
• A meaningful memorial service for Jennifer's mom in Amherst, and special time with Jen, Barry, Teddy and Nicole.
• Christmas in Amherst and Boylston - celebrating the holiday with those that I love.

A New Adventure

So, it's been a long time, faithful followers of Ari's Adventure, but I am checking back in. Thank you for sharing my adventure in France. It was amazing, as you have read, or seen, in my pictures. I still think often about my life in Nice, and how different it was from the life I am living now. No longer do I go to the beach and lie on the pebbles and listen to the waves (or my iPod) for an indeterminate amount of time, my only reason to leave being that I am hungry. The time for pondering life's bigger questions is amazingly short - and not a priority - at the moment.

So, what am I up to, you ask? A lot of you already know - I am in New York City. I presaged this landing in some ways, but in other ways, the whole process of getting here and staying here seems serendipitous in hindsight. When I left Nice in August, I was pretty sure I was going back to work at Fannie Mae. A colleague had contacted me in France, asked if I would come in to interview for a job when I got back to the States. And that's exactly what I did. One of my interviewers, a man I had worked with during our Restatement days at Fannie, wanted to know, why, exactly, did I want to come back to Fannie? There were some good reasons, but I also admitted to him I had wanted to find a job in New York City.

The day that I was offered and accepted a job at Fannie Mae, I was in Easthampton, Long Island, vacationing at the beach with my friend Jeff. (Can it be called vacationing if you don't really have a job you are taking a vacation from? I guess I was "at the beach.") I wasn't too pleased with the compensation they were offering that day, but Fannie Mae was a different place from the corporation I had left. It was now overseen by the government, with different restrictions in place, and different guidelines for everything. (One of the roles I would have played at Fannie Mae was a compliance function, making sure that all the employees on a particular project were following government restrictions.) I accepted the job, thinking that I was lucky to have a job in the financial industry that had taken such a hit since the crisis that had erupted just after I left the country last August.

That night, Jeff and I hosted Jeff's sister in law to a birthday dinner in Southampton, since her husband (Jeff's twin brother), was out of town. Jeff had wanted me to meet Cathy, thinking that she would be a good contact in the financial services industry for me - he had been hopeful that I would find a job in Manhattan - since we had reconnected last December, we found we were very much enjoying our friendship, which he hoped to continue a little more close at hand.

It was a nice dinner in the warm breezes of late August at a sidewalk French cafe. Very nice. We had a good conversation during dinner, and Cathy and I talked a little shop during the dinner. As we were winding down the evening, Cathy said to me, Why don't you come work for me? Later, Jeff admitted, he was shocked by her offer. He had no idea she might say something like that. I said, Why didn't you ask me that yesterday, before I had accepted a job at Fannie Mae? She said, Come in and talk to my team. See if you like them.

So I did. Later that week I went into Manhattan for a few days and met a few members of Cathy's Operational Risk Management Team. I liked them. The job was new to me - I told Cathy, I had never done this before - she said, not a problem. I called my new boss at Fannie, and told him, in all honesty, that I was exploring another job option. I asked for a week to finalize my paperwork with Fannie. HR was fine with that. And by the deadline for sending in the paperwork, I had decided I really wanted to work in Manhattan. The job at Barclays would not be offered for another three weeks, but I had made up my mind. My adventure would continue not in Washington, DC, but in the Big Apple. I was going to start anew.

And here I am. In the Big Apple. I left NYC in 1986, when I moved to DC to attend GW Law School. Being here now, it doesn't feel like I was ever really gone from New York, and given that I have kept up with friends, my brother - who lived here from 1986 to 20002, and worked here on and off for the better part of six years while I was a consultant, as a matter fact, I really wasn't ever very far in spirit.

I am working at Barclays Capital Markets, the investment bank of the British Bank, which seems fitting after my year abroad. I am looking forward to some trips across the Pond in my future, as I regularly work closely with my colleagues in London. I am learning quite a bit about operational risk, but find that much of my research work over the last year around systemic risk and other areas of the financial collapse are directly relevant to the work I am doing now.

And I am living in Manhattan. In an absolutely gorgeous luxury apartment building in downtown Manhattan, around the corner from Ground Zero and Century 21 - there's a Starbucks across the street, the Post Office down the street, and Whole Foods several blocks away. A great bagelry in walking distance, and the Hudson bike/running path nearby. I am on the 41st floor, looking northward to midtown, and I get a great view of the Empire State Building every night (when the clouds don't obscure it!). The building has a gym and a pool - I am in heaven. Life doesn't get much better than this.

The adventure continues.