Currently: MBA Summer Break

July 15, 2016July 18, 2016 - lynne 2 Comments

You guys, what a summer. I am in my happy zone, that’s for sure!

From spending weekends in Los Angeles or in the Rocky Mountains to working my tail off during the week with some of the best people I know to finding time to read 2 books already, I am in love with my MBA Summer Break. And I’m not even the one in B-School!

I won’t bore anyone with nitty-gritty details of Colorado life since my last check in but suffice it to say, I am so grateful the stars aligned for me to spend my summer in Denver.

I definitely miss my husband – we live on very opposite schedules, despite being situated only 1 timezone apart – and being able to share my day and stories with him. It’s especially hard to talk about ‘big’ things/decisions when we only catch each other for a few minutes a day in between activities but we’re surviving and knowing there’s a finite timeline makes it easier/more bearable. And each of us are so involved in our jobs that if I were with him in LA, I think we’d be a bit miserable (he because he’d be working all the time and not be able to spend time exploring together; me because I’d be in a temporary city with no friends or husband to hang out with).

But right now, my days are so full of life that, for this brief chapter, I am enjoying only thinking/planning/taking care of only me. No one to clean up after or take out in the morning (#philly), no one to consider for dinner plans, no one to feel slighted if I want/need to work late. I’ve been spending my time bike commuting, working hard with the best people I know, backpacking and car camping, watching concerts, practicing yoga, reading books, making new friends and maximizing my time in this city.

I have stories to share about backpacking near Breckenridge, spending weekends on the beach in Los Angeles, new gear that I can’t not share with the internet and more.

Stay tuned, internet friends. Until then, I hope you’re enjoying your summer as much as I am!

Bike To Work Day…Every Day!

June 22, 2016 - lynne 1 Comment

Today is Bike to Work Day in Denver, the official day Denverites are encouraged to swap their car for a bike ride on their daily commute. This year, like last year, I am excited to be participating – not just for the cause but also for the 3 free breakfast stations along my route into work. YAS.

Truth be told, bike commuting is still fairly new for me. I bought a bike when I first moved to Denver but rarely rode it and relied on my car for just about everything. My commute was 11+ miles by car (9.5+ miles by bike) and for someone who had never biked commuted before, I didn’t even consider it to be an option. I lived in suburban-ish neighborhood where most of the things I did (groceries, restaurants, gyms, work) were not convenient to my apartment and were easier to get to by car.

A few apartments later, I found myself living in Capital Hill, an urban neighborhood outside of downtown Denver and when I started at Ibotta, my commute shortened drastically to a mere 3 miles each way. Some days, I drove to work when I had things to do before/after work (and on bad weather days), but most (nice) days, I biked and it truthfully changed my world.

(In Pittsburgh, I do a lot less biking simply because most places I go are either walkable or require a car due to distance.)

Now that I’m back in Denver for the summer without a car, my primary mode of transportation is my bike. And I love it. I never want to live in a non-bike-friendly city and for the rest of my working life, I want to live close enough to my office where bike commuting is an option.

As a gal who does *not* usually spring out of bed, ready to go in the morning, 25 minutes on my bike helps me wake up, get my blood flowing and think about my upcoming day before I have to be ‘on’ at work. The same is true for biking home after work – I like the time on my bike to decompress after busy days in the office – although, in Colorado, we typically have afternoon thunderstorms sometimes I’ll light rail to a stop near my house and bike the 1 mile home instead of 4.2.

But I also love biking for a slew of other reasons:

No sitting in traffic (!!!)
Built-in 60 minutes exercise each day
No cost! (no Uber or parking expenses)
No polluting (yay for doing tiny things to save the Earth!)
Bike lanes and bike paths = less interaction with cars (and distracted drivers)
Self-reliance/feeling empowered
Breakfast burritos at the office cafe

If your city has a Bike to Work day, I encourage you to try a bike commute. Definitely for the free breakfasts along the way but also, if there’s ever a day to try it, it’s when a whole bunch of fellow bikers are out, going your same direction – it’s a lot less terrifying than trying to navigate an unknown route for the first time on your own. After the first day biking, it’s easier to visualize how it can become a regular part of your routine and, soon enough, maybe you’ll find yourself in love with it like me.

Up Next: MBA School Summer Break

May 12, 2016May 12, 2016 - lynne Leave a comment

The first year of Alex’s MBA program has officially finished and he is on ‘summer break’! Kind of a misnomer because ‘summer break’ in business school is the time between school and internship. For Alex, he has a month off between classes ending to his internship beginning but other students had just a few days to get from Pittsburgh to their internship (but they have typically have a longer break at the end of their internship before classes start again in September).

Most of the first year of business school is focused on finding a summer internship and we always knew that for Alex, this likely meant not working in Pittsburgh. We spent many hours discussing cities, companies, lifestyles, future goals and more together as Alex identified his target companies for the summer. In many cases, the internship leads to a full time offer so we wanted to set ourselves up for the best post-MBA decision possible.

In March (on my birthday, in fact), Alex landed the best internship for his skills set and ambitions – it’s the perfect bridge between what he had been doing before school to what he wants to do after school. He’ll be working for a super cool media tech company, in Santa Monica/Los Angeles, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that his apartment will be 6 blocks from the beach. Homeboy is living the Summer Internship Dream!

We also knew, before we even moved to Pittsburgh, that if Alex’s internship was not in Pittsburgh, I wanted to spend my summer in Denver. Working remotely is hard and working remotely and leading a team at an aggressively growing and extremely innovative company is even harder. While I’ve come to enjoy my personal life in Pittsburgh and feel like I am in a good ‘working remotely’ rhythm, I’m missing out on in-office collaboration and career growth opportunities. Plus, it’s lonely! I miss talking to my coworkers in person and socializing. Without Alex in Pittsburgh, I would surely become the crazy hermit lady who goes days without talking to anyone in real life and nobody (especially not me) wants that.

So, all this to say that Alex and I are en route across the country, wheels pointed west! We are spending a couple of days with our family in Cincinnati and then will drive to Denver. Alex doesn’t start work till early June so he’ll/we’ll have a few weeks of downtime in Colorado before he finishes the last, 17-hour leg from Denver to Los Angeles.

These next few months of Summer Break are sure to be chaotic with both of us working at companies we’re excited about and traveling/exploring on weekends and I couldn’t be more giddy. And bookended by a cross-country road trip?

Summer 2016, I already love you.

Currently (April) / 5 Things Friday

April 29, 2016 - lynne 1 Comment

Working from home, it’s hard for me to keep track of what day of the week it is. I sometimes go to a coworking space, I sometimes work from home, sometimes (most days) I sleep in (one perk of working on MST!), sometimes I don’t. Without a regular work commute and dedicated days in an office, the days easily bleed together.

But I do know today is Friday! So I’m hopping on the popular ‘5 Things Friday’ format to share a few items.

Friday morning Breakfast Club! A few months ago, I started planning breakfast dates with fellow Partners (significant others of Tepper MBA students) on Friday mornings as a way to be social and kick off the weekend. It’s been a great way to catch up with friends and see new Pittsburgh neighborhoods.
Gearing up for SUMMER. Immediately following the race this weekend, it’s about to get cah-ray-zee in my world. Alex and I are finalizing our plans to spend our summers away from Pittsburgh (he for an internship in California, me to be in Denver for work) and I’m super excited. And not only do I get to spend 3 months with my team in Denver, I have fun travel throughout the summer, too. It’s going to hectic and amazing and I feel so fortunate to be able to . I am bummed to be missing summer in Pittsburgh but, for me, it’s more important to be in Denver this summer.
Swapping screen time for flipping pages. Every year, I say I want to read 1 book a month and I usually start strong in the early months of the year but then ‘life gets busy’ aka I stop making time to read. This year, after already finishing a couple of really great books, I’m making it a point to read more. It’s hard for me to give large chunks of time, like I’d prefer, so instead, I have been reading for 15-30 minutes in bed each night. I’m reading American Wife right now and can’t wait to see how the story unfolds.
Co-working spaces. In the short time we’ve lived in Pittsburgh, coworking spaces have been popping up throughout the city so we work-from-home and work-remotes don’t have to work in our apartments or coffee shops, if we don’t want to. I’ve visited a number of spaces and last month, a new space, StackPGH, opened nearby. I’d cancelled my previous coworking space membership in December due to logistics/change in my work role so I ready for a change after a few months of working from my dining room. I signed up at Stack and am in love: it has huge windows, a cool vibe, lots of coffee and social, like-minded people.
Pittsburgh Half Marathon Weekend! Aahhh! It’s here and I’m nervous/excited. Fingers crossed the weather holds out and my legs hold up and that there is a recovery mimosa in my hand after the race. I’m running the 5k tomorrow to earn my Runner of Steel medal and I’m looking forward to a mini-half-marathon-course preview!

And with that, I’m taking my Friday self out for pizza to carbo-load before this 5k in the morning. MmMmM.

Cheers to 30

March 14, 2016 - lynne 4 Comments

Last Monday, I celebrated 30 successful years on this Earth. Which, as I’m sure everyone feels when they turn 30, feels completely nuts. How the heck am I already 30?! And then I stop to think about all that I’ve done in the past 30 years – even just the last 10! – and I feel like 30 is an appropriate age.

On recent birthdays, I’d lamented that I didn’t even FEEL like I should be turning 26, 27, 28, that I still felt like I was years younger. And that was probably true.

But these days, I feel much more ‘adult’ about life thanks to things like: buying a car with my husband, working for a high growth tech company and growing/evolving as a manager of an expanding team, working remotely for said company, moving across the country to support Alex’s dream of earning his MBA, celebrating the marriages of so many friends and family and most recently, excitedly welcoming babies! The past couple of years in particular have had a lot of growing and stretching which has made me realize that I am very much an adult. (Maybe being the single source of income for our family has something to do with feeling like a responsible adult, too. #sugarmama)

Birthdays, like the new year, lend itself to reflection on the past and what the future will bring. I can’t help but think about what the next decade holds: Alex’s MBA graduation, settling down in a hopefully more-permanent location, probably buying a house, likely expanding our family (Alex already agreed to a new fur child when we find our next home!), maybe dancing at weddings for a sibling or two or all, definitely buying my youngest sister a beer on her 21st birthday.

THIRTY feels like such a big number but really, I feel content. (6 months ago? Not content. Today? Content.) We’re almost halfway through this MBA journey and are looking ahead to ‘the rest of our lives.’ It’s stressful but also exciting. I’m ready to not be in limbo, to not move nearly every year from apartment to apartment, to have a place to grow a garden, to have money for a big vacation. I’m excited about the next decade and undoubtedly looking back, thinking, Holy cow! Look at everything we did in the last 10 years!

This year, I woke up on my birthday in Oregon with Alex visiting a couple of our favorite people. How unlikely and completely amazing is it to have Couple Besties where both genders are best friends, too? We couldn’t have been luckier that the universe crossed our paths in Wilderness Trekking School in Denver.

We spent our time in Bend, OR hiking to giant waterfalls, trail running in national forests, dropping our jaws at Smith Rock, skiing on a VOLCANO! and – most importantly – laughing/lounging/hugging/savoring every moment with our friends. (We also cheers-ed Alex locking down a killer internship during our trip! More to come but we’re both pretty psyched about our summer plans.)

I couldn’t have imagined a better way to ring in 30 than with a few of my favorite people, playing outside in a beautiful place. Looking forward to the new adventures ahead in the upcoming year and beyond.

It’s Britney, B*tch

March 2, 2016 - lynne 2 Comments

I spent last weekend in Vegas with my friends and let me tell you, it was just the recharge my soul needed.

I know, soul recharging and Vegas? Seemingly contradictory but in this case, 100% true.

As I put together my out of office list at work for my trip, I realized I hadn’t taken a vacation day since mid-September which is kind of crazy. I, of course, had the standard holidays off but I used nearly all of my PTO time in 2015 to move across the country. So taking a couple of days off from work, from Pittsburgh, from real life was much overdue.

I met one of my best friends, Nancy, and her longtime friend (and my new friend), Cheryl, in Vegas for a long weekend of girl time. The main event was to see Britney Spears at Planet Hollywood but before and after that, we spent hours catching up, strolling the strip, eating delicious food and sipping expensive cocktails. I even managed to see my sister, who lives in Vegas, TWICE during my trip! And to top it off, I found a Jersey Mike’s in the Vegas airport. My favorite sandwich shop has no nearby locations in Pittsburgh so at 8:30 a.m. PST, I stepped in line and ordered a Club Supreme for breakfast.

But Britney! What a show!

Nancy snagged us floor tickets so we were RIGHT next to the stage, close enough to practically touch her. As we were waiting for the show to start, we kept an eye on the VIP section just behind us and a few minutes before the show started, we noticed a couple of familiar faces stroll in. AJ and Kevin from the Backstreet Boys!

Teenage Me could not even handle what was happening. The show was so fun – Britney changed costumes at least 6 times, sang all her best songs, nailed all her dance moves and dropped confetti paper from the ceiling at least 3 times. We sang and danced our little hearts out and soaked in the experience.

As the weekend came to a close and my plane lifted off the ground to return me back to Pittsburgh, I felt so grateful for amazing women in my life, both near and far. I’ve been fortunate to meet really great lady friends in my adult life and I cherish these friendships; we may not see each other as often we’d like or talk every week but when we do get together, it’s like no time has passed at all and we pick up exactly where we left off.

After 5 months with no PTO, I couldn’t have imagined a better way to spend a couple of days away from real life. Good friends, great times and a happy heart.

Currently, February

February 26, 2016 - lynne Leave a comment

…relaxing in a condo room in Vegas, on the strip, with one of my best friends. Tonight, we’re going to the Britney Spears show at Planet Hollywood but not before brunch, pampering, a fancy dinner and toasting at Chandelier Bar. A girls weekend with friends and my sister who lives in Vegas is just what my soul needed.

…gearing up for a lot of fun travel in the coming weeks. From Vegas to Oregon to Mexico to Denver, I am so, so excited to travel to new places and see some of my favorite people.

…enjoying PTO days! As I put together my Out of Office items for my team this week, I realized I haven’t taken a PTO day since September. Which is just crazy. That’s 5.5 months! Of course, I’ve had company holidays off, like everyone else, but to have a day or two off for just me? It has been too long!

…ignoring the fact that I turn 30 in a couple of weeks. I mean, WUT. How is it even possible?! I’m not having ‘OMG NO!’ feelings, just surprised it’s already here. A lot has happened in this past decade and I’m certain there will be many huge milestones in the next decade..it’s just crazy to finally feel like an adult.

…feeling in limbo. Despite the short term travel, I’m anxious to nail down what my summer and 2017 will hold. Being the wife of a grad school student forces me to be patient and flexible…which is something this planner struggles with.

…making a last ditch effort to accomplish at least one of my February goals. This month, I’d said I would:

buy no GT’s Kombucha (so good but so expensive; fail)
read one book (started a book, hoping to make a big dent this weekend! Not yet a fail)
do one creative thing (decided that registering for a creative class will count, even if the class happens in March; not yet a fail)
sell GMAT books and a dress (haven’t even listed GMAT books, dress is on eBay with no bidders; mostly fail)

Gratitude for the Long Run

February 23, 2016 - lynne 2 Comments

I’ve been doing my long runs on Sunday mornings. In prior training cycles, I preferred long runs on Saturday mornings but my current work/life balance has me craving Saturday as a sleep-in, slow start to the weekend.

This Saturday was different, though; I got up early to attend a Women in Business Leadership conference that completely ruled and totally inspired me – so glad I went! After walking the mile home in the gorgeous 70* weather, Alex and I took Philly for a long walk before heading out to a CMU party at the coolest ever co-working space (check out TechShop; it’s a maker/creator’s dream!). The event was sponsored by the business school’s wine club so, hello, I enjoyed a couple delicious glasses of sangiovese.

All this to say that when Sunday morning rolled around, I wanted to run because it was a wonderfully mild, spring-like morning but I was feeling sluggish and not super motivated to run 7 miles. I didn’t stay out late (in bed at 11p; party hardy’ing in my old age, for sure) and didn’t go too crazy with the sangiovese but I don’t think I sipped enough water before bed. Fortunately for me, at the party, I’d made plans to run the second half with my friend, Raela. I’d run 3.5 miles around our neighborhood and meet at her apartment and we’d run the last 3.5 miles together.

As I started my run, I felt completely un-motivated. I was so happy to be outside but my legs were not feeling it. I (stupidly? over-zealously?) mapped out a route that included a giant hill in my neighborhood so after a 1 mile warm up, I took on the hill…and walked more than half of it. Totally not against walking but did not help my mental game.

I was feeling grumpy about being tired, about not wanting to run 7 miles, about how I would be even more tired and hungry when I got home. And in the midst of this, shook my head at my thoughts. I remembered that I’m LUKCY to be running 7 miles. That I’m OUTSIDE for 7 miles on a beautiful day. That I GET to spend 35 minutes with music and then 35 minutes catching up with my friend.

After knee surgeries 4 years ago, I was grateful for EVERY run and all physical activity I did. Over time, that appreciation waned as it became the norm again to not worry about my knees and to feel confident the surgery had worked.

Now, with question marks on my horizon, I need to enjoy every single moment I can spend running or exercising. Yeah, maybe I was feeling tired but dammit, at least I was running!

I made it to Raela’s apartment with 3.6 miles run at a 9:56 min/mile average pace. After picking her up, we averaged a 9:00 min/mile pace. Changing my frame of mind to feeling appreciative of how I was spending my time – as well as catching up and laughing with my friend – helped propel me forward and end my long run on a strong, grateful note.

Everyone says it but it is true: shifting ‘ugh, I HAVE to do X‘ thoughts to ‘wow, I GET to do X‘ thoughts really does change your attitude and experience. Sometimes, we just need a little reminder.

#AttitudeofGratitude, FTW.

Osteochondritis Dissecans Knee Update, 4 Years Later

February 9, 2016February 9, 2016 - lynne 6 Comments

Once upon a time, 4 years ago, I had knee surgery on each of my knees. At separate times, mind you, but within a 3 month span. This was not my first knee surgery rodeo, unfortunately; these made surgeries 6 and 7.

I have this rare condition in my knees called Osteochondritis Dissecans (OCD) which is a fancy way to say that not enough blood gets to the end of my femur bone (medial condyle) so the cartilage gets weak and cracks off. I first learned I had OCD when I was 10 years old and had microfracture surgery in an attempt to mitigate the condition. When I was 15, I had back-to-back surgeries on each knee because a large chunk of cartilage actually cracked off and was catching when I bent my knees. When I was 16, I had surgery to remove that chunk in my left knee because the graft hadn’t held. For a teenager who’s identity was defined by volleyball, these 2 years were rough. But after that? It all was good after that for a number of years! And then, when I was 25, I felt the pain again and went to an orthopedic doctor in Denver to get checked out.

2 MRIs later, diagnosis confirmed what I suspected: that damn OCD was the culprit and it was time to go back under the knife. This time, my doctor recommended a new treatment that was still in study/research phase called DeNovo NT which is basically a cartilage graft from a juvenile donor. In October 2011 and December 2011, my doctor scraped out the bad cartilage and put in the new DeNovo NT graft. Since then, it’s been smooth sailing!

I’ve run half marathons. I’ve climbed mountains. I’ve learned to ski. I’ve gone snowshoeing. I’ve backpacked 20 miles in a weekend. I’ve spent 5 days in a canoe. I’ve played volleyball. I’ve done everything I’ve wanted and more. I’ve done everything that caused me pain and more.

All of this to say – YAY! But this morning, I’m actually at a nearby hospital getting an MRI on my left knee. I’m hoping it’s nothing but in December, I felt a weird pull in my left knee when I was visiting Denver and, in the weeks that followed, my knee was catching in a familiar and disheartening way.

So far, the impact to running/exercise and life has been fairly minimal – in the initial weeks, I refrained from the rower at OrangeTheory because the deep bend of rowing brought an increased chance of feeling it catch. In recent weeks, I can still tell something isn’t quite right but it’s mostly normal. I sometimes feel like my knee is out of place or will have to bend it a couple of times to keep it from feeling like catching when I get in the car but overall, I’m able to do what I want (but am notably avoiding lateral movements for the time being). I’ve continued to run and, while it’s sometimes uncomfortable in the initial mile or so, I usually get in the groove after a warm up.

So, we’ll see. I truly have no idea what to expect; I have various A/B/C ideas of what I hope the outcome this time will be but rather than get myself worked up about something that I can’t control, I’m going to keep on keepin’ on until I hear from my doctor next week.

Currently…in January

January 29, 2016 - lynne Leave a comment

…finding it really crazy that I’ve already lived in Pittsburgh for 6 months. I guess pouting for the first 4 months makes it easy to feel like time is flying. Realizing I might only be here for another 16 months means I’ve got no time to waste in doing all the Western PA things on my list!

…drinking kombucha like it’s my job. I blame one of my long distance besties, Nancy, for introducing me to this expensive habit. And while I’m not drinking alcohol for Whole30, kombucha has been my go to ‘fancy drink’.

…crossing off my refrigerator goals! Each month, Alex and I write out 3-4 goals for the month and put it front and center on the fridge to keep ’em top of mind. In January, mine were: read a book (Whole30); exercise 18-20 times (done!); find a place to volunteer (identified and applied); stop work at 7:30p (ha! I tried…some days were more successful than others but many times, the late nights are unavoidable.)

…carting my camera around more often. I’d lusted after a DSLR for years and finally, before we moved, I bought a refurbished Nikon D3200. I used it all summer but, when we got to Pittsburgh and I began working from home, I picked it up less often. I’ve been making it a point to make time to think creatively and notice the beauty around me more often.

…thinking about my impact on the world and the world’s impact on me. It’s funny that it took me moving away from a nature-happy, health-conscious state to really mull this over but I think being away from the go-go-go of an always working or playing schedule has given me time to reflect a lot. I’m trying to be less wasteful in the way I live; I’m spending time thinking about the food I eat and why I eat it; I’m taking care to put good-for-me things on my body and reducing the not-great-for-me ingredients around me. Whole30 has helped me feel less wasteful; I’m buying food that doesn’t come packaged and I’m actually eating all of it before it spoils. Yoga has helped me be more mindful about my connection to myself and the world around me. Lots of hippy-dippy thoughts bouncing around this noodle these days.

…connecting with friends and family, near and far. It’s easy for me to get swept up in my little work-at-home-by-myself routine and feel like I don’t have time to be social. Partly to blame is living in EST but supporting a MST/PST work territory but I also need to do a better job of taking 10 minutes to call my siblings or far-away friends, to send a card, to reach out to Pittsburgh friends to grab coffee or a walk. Over the past 2 weeks, I’ve been making this a priority and I already feel happier. Community and social bonds, FTW.

lynne petre

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