US Open ( 8.27.2007 - 9.9.2007 )

(Molly Post)

Disclaimer: this post is for those family and friends who thought I disappeared for the past 2 weeks. I apologize, I'm alive and this is what I was doing.

August was a busy month for me. Two people I've worked with for 3 years left NBCU: Erica, our VP and my old boss, and Arielle, one of my closest friends in NYC and partner at work. It was sad to see them leave, but both were moving on to better opportunities (Erica to being a mom, and Arielle to an amazing job at Discovery). With Arielle's departure, I was offered a promotion and a chance to move back into events from brand marketing. I jumped at the opportunity. However, I soon found myself completely overwhelmed with work. I never fully appreciated everything Arielle did - I now realize the number of balls she had to juggle every moment of every day, and it's a LOT. But I'm beginning to get used to it.

One thing made the transition a million times harder: the US Open Tennis Championship. The Open is on USA Network, and part of our sponsorship includes the second largest suite at Arthur Ashe Stadium (where all the big matches are held). The 40-person suite is split by 3 groups in NBCU, and we also purchase a ton of tickets throughout the stadium in various levels: Gold, Silver, and Bronze. For the 2 weeks, our group ends up with about 500 tickets. Needless to say, it's a large task trying to manage requests from 2 Presidents, several high-level VPs, our Sales team, and our Local Ad Sales Team. Additionally, we create a lot of merchandise to give to clients who attend the event, to mail to VIP clients who are unable to come, and for general merchandise to send to clients of all levels. Polo Ralph Lauren is the official sponsor, so most of our merchandise is ordered through them. Unfortunately, Polo can be a difficult company to deal with and they constantly run out of stock. It made my job more difficult.

I blinked and August was gone. The preparation leading up to the actual event took up most of my time. Finally, August 27th came and the first serve was thrown. I pretty much lived at the Open for 2 weeks (only 2 days off). My hours were determined by the lengths of the matches. (Those of you who follow tennis will understand we cringed every time we heard Blake was scheduled for the night match, as we knew this meant we would be working until at least 1 AM).

Fortunately (though Cody might say unfortunately), I was able to bring Cody with me on Labor Day for the evening match. It was really nice to be able to bring him and share the experience with him. And it was good to see him - more than half the nights I walked in at midnight, so we didn't have much quality time together over the 2 weeks. Below are some pictures from the 2 weeks (a few pictures are from Cody's super-camera).

This was my typical work "uniform" - a polo shirt and khakis.

Me and Cody at the suite. This is the typical picture everyone takes who comes to our suite with the stadium in the background.

The joys of living at our suite...we got to see all the tennis players practicing on center court in between the day and evening sessions. Above is Federer practicing in his work-out clothes before his match versus Roddick. The stadium was empty for the practice, but it got packed that night - it was the biggest match of the tournament.

As I said, Cody came with me Monday evening. He brought his fancy camera and took a bunch of pictures of the Federer match - look how high he jumps when he serves!

Yes, that is Tiki Barber! He came by our suite on the last Saturday. He was extremely nice (we talked football for a little while!).


(P.S. Thank you Cody for taking such great care of me during my stressful time.)

Beth Visit #2 ( 8.9.2007 - 8.12.2007 )

(Molly Post)

Beth and her sister, Chrissy, came to visit the second weekend in August. It was Beth's second visit to New York since we moved here. We had a great time! They arrived on Thursday and spent the day around our apartment on the Upper East Side. They got some sushi, gelato, and shopped. That night, we hung out and made a quiet dinner at the apartment.

Friday, Cody, Erica, and I had to work, so unfortunately Beth and Chrissy were on their own again. They went down to Soho to shop and find the gluten-free cupcake shop we went to last May. They had a great time finding unique boutique shops. After work, we met at a family-style Italian restaurant on the Upper West Side. It was a girls night, Erica, Amber, Beth, Chrissy and me. The place was perfect: it had a separate gluten-free menu for Beth and Chrissy (both gluten intolerant) and a regular menu for the rest of us. It was extremely delicious. After dinner, we came back to the apartment to hang out and chat. It was a great night.

On Saturday, we had a lazy morning and then took a walk around Central Park. Chrissy had only visited New York City once before and had never seen the Park. It was a gorgeous day. We walked around the reservoir and then grabbed some lunch. Around 3, we took Chrissy to Penn Station to go home. She was going back to Notre Dame the following week, so she had to get home to pack.

Saturday evening, we had a big dinner at the apartment, and Amber and Brian joined us. Lots of food, booze, and fun. After dinner, we played Monopoly. Brian was definitely on his game that night...he bankrupt Team Body within an hour.

A group shot of the Monopoly Players (minus Erica who was taking the picture).

On Sunday, we were a little slow waking up and taking showers. However, by about 1 PM, we were ready to get out of the apartment and do something. We went to Gourmet Garage to pick up some picnic fixings and went to the park. We found a big tree with a lot of shade and camped out for an hour or so. It was a perfect afternoon: friends, tons of fruit, (plenty of "macho" men playing Frisbee to make fun of), and a park. In the mid-afternoon, we took Beth to Penn Station to catch her train home. Great weekend. Beth and Chrissy, you are welcome anytime!