The Preakness Stakes

What do you get when you add a music festival + day drinking + horses + Baltimore + total and complete debauchery? The Preakness Stakes, my friend.

I've now been to Preakness 3 times, and it has never disappointed. In fact, after every time I go, I think to myself, I'm doing this every year for the rest of my life. *High standards.* I've been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and this event is honestly second on the list for complete and utter craziness.

The Preakness is a big horse race in Baltimore which is one of three races in the Triple Crown. (The Kentucky Derby, The Preakness Stakes, and The Belmont Stakes). If the same horse wins all 3, it wins the triple crown, which hasn't happened in more than 30 years.

The secret to Preakness is being in the InField. Which is, obvy, the huge field inside the race tracks. The classy people are in the stands and in boxes. But the InField resembles a large frat/college/springbreak party. Years ago it was BYOB, but things literally got too out of control. So now, you can buy a wristband to get alcohol all day or buy it there - only 2 dollars a beer!

Since the event managers knew people would freak out with it not being BYOB anymore, they began to add music venues to keep people coming. So starting at 10 am and all throughout the day, bands play on different stands.

This year Florida Georgia Line, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, and Pitbull were the big ones. Last year it was Zac Brown Band, Maroon Five, and Wiz Kalifa. Not too shabby... And from *what I remember* they were all amazing.

At Preakness you see people literally passed out all over the grass, and it's so accepted, no one even notices - you just step over them. The other thing I love is seeing random people you know, because everyone who lives in MD, VA, or DC goes. Everyone knows drunk run-ins are the best thing ever. I wish I had more stories from this year's Preakness, but I blacked out I can't think of them right now.

Here are pictures from the last three I've attended:

2010:

2012:

2013:

Preakness in a Nut Shell:

Advice to the newest round of college grads

Saturday was the 2013 graduation at my alma mater... meaning I've officially been a post college graduated human for a year now! What the f$ck So crazy. I know it's cliche, but it truly is hard to wrap my head around how fast time is flying by. So much has changed in just one year. When I think back on last year's graduation, I feel like I'm looking back on five years ago, not one!

It kind of reminds me of your freshman year of college, in that you change or "grow" the most in that first initial year, since it's such an adjustment from high school, living at home, etc. Well, your "freshman" year in the working world is a very similar experience. And for me especially, it came full circle because I had to re-adjust to being back in my parents house and not on my own. (Oh and re-adjusting to waking up every day before 6:00 am wasn't a breeze either.)

Right after I graduated last May, I helped my parents move from Annapolis to Virginia. Things I know I never want to become: a mover. But all-in-all I had a wonderful summer, getting settled in VA and helping my parents, running my ass off training for a half marathon, watching the 2012 Olympics, hanging out with friends, and traveling throughout the East Coast... yea, post grad life was pretty rough...

THEN (gulp)

...I got a job.

I'm being melo-dramatic. Even though my post-grad summer was indeed the bomb.com, I did have the constant anxiety of not knowing what the hell I was doing with my future, and where I was going to end up working. I hated more than anything, the unknown, and having to tell friends and family I still didn't have a job or know what I'd end up doing. So, getting my first full-time job at the end of August really was a blessing and I'm so thankful it worked out and that it's such a great fit for me.

At one of my conferences for work, interviewing a member company.

Soooo In the spirit of a new round of students joining the post-grad world, I thought I'd give a list of some of the things I've learned / random advice from my past 9 months working the 9-5 corporate grind:

1. Plan fun weekend events ahead of time (think concerts, trips, nights out, girls weekends, happy hours or even dinner) -- it gives you things to look forward to and makes the work-week go by faster!
2. Get a routine for your morning - I watch / listen to Fox & Friends while I get ready, and when I get in my car, I have my breakfast, a thermos of coffee, and a water bottle -- and I found a solid radio station. When Monday rolls around, having a set routine puts you back in the work mindset pretty easily.
3. Stay in touch with your friends via group texts, FB, calls, etc. Unfortunately, it can be easy to lose touch with friends when you're both busy and barely have any free-time, so you definitely have to put in a little effort, but it's worth it... since they're the ones who keep you sane... and entertained at work half the time. *think snapchat*
4. Don't go out to lunch / get starbucks -- this saves SO much money. I let myself go on a Starbucks run once during the work week, but other than that I bring it in my car in the morning and have a Keurig at work if I want another cup. A 4$ latte adds up big time if you're going 3-4 days a week! And lunch is like that times 10. Plus, bringing lunch definitely saves calories! Again, sometimes I'll go out with a co-worker or grab something, but usually only once every two weeks... maybe even less! Definitely use the 90/10 rule on that one. Bring lunch 90% of the time.
5. Save a certain amount of your paycheck - depending on your rent / living situation (I live with my parentals) it's good to come up with a consistent amount of money you transfer right to savings when it comes in on payday. I transfer it before I even have the chance to give a second-thought of how I could spend it instead. Since I'm living at home right now, I'm putting about 65% of each paycheck into savings for as long as I can. But even if it's 10% -- every little bit ads up!
6. Go to bed early if you can - there's no getting around it, you simply can't go to bed at the same time you did in college and expect to not be a zombie for the first 4 hours of every morning. I haven't gotten this down myself... since I tend to get a second wind when I (finally) get home around 8:30, but on the nights I do go to bed around 10, I really do feel better the next day at work! Still working on this one and trying to take my own advice...
7. Pack your gym bag, lunch, and determine outfits the night before - no matter how pooped you are at night, it is SO worth biting the bullet and packing your gym bag, lunch, and laying out your outfit for the next day. Believe it or not, tired you at night, is a lot more alert and less annoyed than tired you in the morning. On days I've packed things in the morning I've forgotten stuff!
8. Don't compare your income, work culture, company, to others -- first of all, what seems glamorous on Facebook and Instagram doesn't necessarily mean the truth. Or hearing that someone in the financial field, or fill in the blank, is making 3 times as much as you really is an arbitrary statement. For all you know, they could be working 3 times the hours. Any first job out of college is a great experience for the sole reason that's it's just that... experience! At the end of the day, that's what employers want to see on a resume - that you have experience in the working world. 
9. Answer e-mails right away - It is so easy to accidentally forget to respond to an e-mail if you don't respond right away. Especially if it's one that might be somewhat of a nuisance, for lack of a better word, to respond to, just open it right then and respond. Or, at least hit reply so an open e-mail response is on your desktop until you send. There are so many times I've told myself I'll answer in 10 minutes, but then something else pops up and I completely forget to, and then realize a day later, or, when it's too late! That is so embarrassing. 
10. Don't be afraid to be friendly with co-workers. No matter where you work, it's always nice to be able to talk about the last episode of The Voice when you're in the kitchen with someone. Making connections with co-workers will make your work relationship better and will keep you sane when you're comfortable letting loose and telling a funny story when the day is dragging on or you're stressed and just want a quick gossip-sesh! Sometimes I get so in-the-zone I avoid talking to people, but when I do go out of my way to chat with someone for a little, I always feel better about my day and my work culture / interactions in general.
11. Have a couple TV shows / series you watch - I'm starting to feel grandma status with this list... but seriously, having TV shows that you're pretty religious about watching is also something that makes the week go by faster! Especially if the shows are on different days. Ugh FML, tomorrow is Monday, but it's Sunday so Revenge is on tonight, yay! How is it only Wednesday, but at least that means Nashville comes on tonight! I really stopped watching anything on TV in college besides reality TV, so getting into network shows has been fun!
12. Join a gym - the main reason I joined a gym near work was to avoid traffic, since I live so far away from work. I go to the gym after work, so that by the time I leave the gym and head home, it isn't rush hour any more and traffic is legit 20 times better. Plus, working out after a long day of sitting at a deskjob is a great feeling, I feel sooo much better about my day - whether I had a good one, bad one, or average one, after I leave the gym. Plus it gives me energy for my commute home. On days where I haven't worked out, I've felt so lethargic and tired on the ride home. I mean it's the gym. It's always a win-win. Do it!

I didn't intend for this list to get so detailed, but hopefully it's helpful for anyone joining the working world this May!