How to Travel in An Airplane with a Cat

Hello my lovely friends!

I just realized I never posted this! Wanted to share some helpful tips when travel with a cat back in 2020.

Before I flew on a airplane with my four month old kitten. I had a lot of anxiety. The trip including layover and flight was about 6 hours but that didn't include the time spent getting to the airport as well as TSA. I just wanted to share with you my experience so hopefully it will help you.

Before the Flight

I did a lot of research before the trip. Before you decide to fly with your pet, check your airline policy and the pet carrier sizes. I flew Southwest which you have to fly with your pet in the cabin but they do not need to see their vaccination records though I bought along them as well. One that is really nice about Southwest is that you can check in 2 bags which really helpful as you want to carry the least amount possible when traveling with a pet. I also had to call ahead to reserve a spot because some airlines limit the amount of animals that can be on the plane.

The airline website also will list the carrier size requirements. My soft carrier was over the listed sizes but I did my research and looked at a lot of reviews in carriers before I choose to fly with this one. Worst comes to worst if they do not let you fly with your personal carrier you can buy the ones that they sell. Let your cat get use to their carrier so they have less anxiety day of. I had a comfy pet crate mat in there as well as her favorite toys and I did sometimes put treats in their too as an incentive. I also saw recommendations to have gloves, ziplock bags, extra pee pad, and wet wipes. I don't recomment wet wipes as I have been stopped during TSA because I had forgotten to take it out. Instead I would recommend paper towel/kleenex would be fine if there is a mess. I would also bring some hand sanitizer for you to use. 

Try to pack everything as much as you can before the day of flight because you do not want to be rushing.


Day of Flight

With my cat, my main worry was getting through TSA. You have to hold your cat while passing through security or lead them on a leash. A lot of people recommend that you have a harness on your cat in case that they escape. Though it was hard, I put a kitten harness on her. I didn't think it was actually that necessary as I held her pretty tight. She was not going anywhere but she did complained a lot. Also a bit squirmy but I held her close to me. I have heard about requesting a private screening if you do fear that your cat will escape. However that option may not always be possible depending on the airport. Afterwards it went pretty well and she was back in her carrier. Though out my entire flight time and during our layover she did not eat but did take a couple of sips when I offered her some using my travel bowl.

After we landed, immediately let her out and put out food and water plus her litter box. I had pre-shipped everything before I arrived at my location so everything was already available and i didn't have to do any last minute purchases.

Hope this is helpful! Good luck!

Career Talk: Why I Decided to Quit Public Accounting

Hello!

I still remember the excitement I felt getting my first job in public accounting. I was ecstatic for months before my job began.

Pros

• The People
• It's so nice to work at a place that everyone is around your age. Most of my managers were around their early 30s. Everyone likes to joke around and it definetly more relatable. You get to work with people that very passionate about their job and are so so smart. During my first work training in New York, I roomed with this other girl that work in the Indianapolis, Iris. While going taking the elevator to go to breakfast the first day, we met Sarah from the Salt Lake City office. Fast forward 2.5 years later, we still really good friends and kept in touch with each other.
• Big 4 Accounting Firm
• Everyone knows the Big 4 Accounting firms (Deloitte, PwC, EY, and KPMG). You get to work on fortune 500 clients and deal with the most complex issues in the accounting world. Some companies specifically look for experience hires that have that Big 4 experience. 
• Trainings/Travel
• One of the best experiences was being able to travel to other cities. I was able to go to Chicago, New York, and Pittsburgh! Nothing better than going on company traveling and especially during trainings it's similar to a workcations.
• Challenged/Fast Progression
• You always workings on areas that will challenge you either because the complexity of the client or a high risk area. We're always progressing towards the next level. Its honestly the perfect job for someone who doesn't know what they want to do in life or was to get promoted fast. 

Cons

• Extremely long hours
• Something that is expected for busy season is those extremely long hours through the months of January through March. The bare minimum expectation of work I would say for me was 55 hours. Typically that means working Saturdays. Depending on the client need it would be determined if you need to work on Sundays too but I always felt the unspoken pressure to work on Sundays too while being a senior. The longest day I ever worked was right before filing. I left client site at 3am and woke up at 6:30am the next day went back to work. I never want to do that again. 
• Stress
• I cried three times while working as a senior. The amount of stress is unbelievable. You are expected to be within budget and be able to do what you are expected to get done within a certain timeframe. Additionally, you have to manage your staff and coach them while dealing with your managers too. I would get to the point where I was stressed about work during the weekends. 
• Discouraged/Unmotivated
• Everyone has high expectations for you. It's so easy to feel down on yourself if you don't get the assurance that you are doing it right. When I feel like not good with the quality of work, I feel so discouraged and unmotivated.
• Pay
• Everything is pretty much transparent these days and you can tell what comparable jobs are making. Public accounting does start your salary lower however the increase when you get promoted is significant and at the partner level you make a lot of money. There's always a price that you have to pay in order to get a nice salary and that is your time.

Overall it was an intense 2.5 years. There way so many highs and lows and moments where I felt so good about myself and times where I felt my world was crashing down and nothing is going right. I do believe that even if you stay a couple of years the knowledge you gain and the experience will make you well prepared for your future endeavors. Hope this is helpful.

XOXO

-M

Career Talk: How To Job Hunt During The Coronavirus Pandemic

(image credits: imgmodels.com)

"Use fear as fuel to overcome your struggle." - Akin Akman

Hello!

One of my favorite quotes is this one above by former SoulCycle instructor Akin Akman had in his old instructor profile page. I feel like this quote fits incredible well during this time that we are in. When I was in college, I realized that a lot of people do know how to job search. I figured this would be appropriate time to help those who have been recently laid off or hoping to have a career change. I started the job searching process beginning of April and got an offer beginning of June. Hope that some of the things that I have here can assist you in your job searching process.

If you are a college student or a new graduate, please refer to my first post for advice and tips.

Tip #1 Polish Your Resume

When was the last time you update your resume? Probably the last time that you were looking for a job. This first thing I would do is to add and chop. What I mean is that you should make sure your most recent title/job is on the top of your page and start cleaning out your resume by removing your college related activities that are no longer relevant. Generally, no company will ask for your GPA again so you can remove it. Think about it this way you are no longer competing with other students. You are competing with other working professionals. I know you did great things like you were the president of your club or headed this committee but what the employer really wants to know is what did you do during your previous job that is similar to what they are looking for in a employee. As always, make sure your phone number and email address is up to date! Companies cannot reach you if you do not have the correct contact info. Do a quick grammar check and I'll say that you are ready for the job hunt!

Tip #2 Be Organized

When you are job searching, you will be looking and applying to many jobs. You need to create different login information and definetly be asked why you want that job. I would recommend keeping an excel listing. A list of things you should keep track of are company, what position, login in info, job description, location, and date. I will explain below:

• Company - You want to know which companies are you interviewing for and what companies have rejected you so keeping track of that will make your job searching a lot easier.
• Position/Job description - One of the most frequently asked question is why you want the job. You can highlight what skill sets you have that aligns with what the position entails 
• Login info - Sometimes a company may ask you to login back to their website to fill in more information so its very important and more time efficient when you can write down somewhere what are all the usernames and passwords are
• Location - This is more for when you are looking for jobs in different states or different cities. if you were to get a job offer for two different companies, one of the factors you may look at will be commute time or cost of living
• Date - I like to keep track of dates so you know when you applied or when you interviewed so you can follow up when there is no response from the recruiter

Tip #3 Look for the posting date

A company can be looking to fill that position a month ago but right now can be in a hiring freeze or worst case down under water. You have better chances of scoring that interview if you're one of the first people to apply to the job posting. Its important to know that different between applying to a company for a job or applying to a post by a headhunter. I've seen so many job postings by a headhunter/recruiting agency. Basically, in the simplest form these type of recruiters make a commission if you get the job from their client's who are looking to hire someone either temporary or permanent. I personally would not go through a headhunter/recruiting agency but there are pros in going through one if you are in a pinch to get a job. 

Tip #4 Apply, Apply, Apply

A professor once told me that there was a study that was done that for every 10 jobs you apply to you get 1 interview and for every 10 interview you will get 1 offer. Until an offer letter reaches your hand, do not stop the search! I probably applies to over 30 companies in total and got offered a first round interview for 5-6 companies and made it to the third round for two companies.

Tip #5 Don't Get Discourage and Trust your Gut!

I had some many people tell me that it was a terrible idea to quit before I found another job. I applied/interviewed for jobs for almost 2 months before I decided to quit. I was so burnt out from my job and had to work such late nights that it was so hard for me to job search and do well in interviews. I knew what I had to do so I quit my job. I did a third round interview for this one company then I got a offer a week later! It's definetly risky move and not for everyone. All I have to say is to trust your gut and it will not lead you wrong.

Thanks for reading and I hope that this was useful!

XOXO

-M

San Francisco Hotel Review: Hotel Zoe Fisherman's Wharf

Hello everyone!

A little different review as I went to San Francisco! I thought I should go to San Francisco at least once before my official move in next year. I'm super excited!

 

Location:

This hotel is close to Pier 39 which has a boardwalk full of shops and food stalls. There’s even a spot to watch seals! Fisherman’s Wharf is known for their clam chowder and crabs so expect many places with those two options available. There is a large cafe, shop, restaurant called Boudin which is known for their sourdough! You can watch the workers bake from the outside window. No worries if you don’t like those two options as there is an Applebee’s, In-N-Out burgers, McDonald’s, and Krispy Creme donuts to have satisfy your chain food cravings. Right next to the hotel is a World Foods Market that you can purchase snacks or beverages and Ross for clothes. A block or so down is a Trader Joe’s and across the street is a Safeway. 

Hotel:

There is a parking garage right next to hotel so good if you want to self-park. There’s also a little half-circle driveway that is perfect for drop off and pickup for ride share apps. The street itself is mostly not busy so even if there wasn’t that half circle it would be fine for curb pickup. If you want to valet that is also available. The staff there by the door is really nice. Multiple times I have noted that there was a doorman who opened the door for me.

Amenities:

There’s a daily fee about $39 per day quite hefty and the amenities don’t make up for it. Let me explain. The most disappointing feature is that there is no inside fitness center. You do have access to the 24hr fitness which is across the street and inside the 2nd floor of a rather old and empty building. There’s also fruit included water right across the elevators but that’s nothing special. Inside of having coffee maker in the room, they have a coffee bar in the morning that you can also get tea or hot chocolate. Upon arrival, you also get a coupon for 10 off lunch or dinner at their attached restaurant. If you like to bike, they do have bike rentals on a first come first serve basis. If you prefer to pay to ride a scooter there are ones available as well.

 

Room:

The room is decent size and the bed is pretty comfortable. There is a chance that the window of your room faces a brick wall. I looked at online reviews that said sometimes position of the bed maybe right by the door. Overall the theme of the room is Nautical/Beach themed. I was on the fourth floor which is the highest floor. Other than the occasional people talking and walking down the hallways and there was onetime my neighbor forgot to turn off his tv, overall pretty quiet room. You do have an option to forgo the housekeeping to get a $5 per night on the honor bar, restaurant, or room service.

The only downer is that the tv channels doesn’t have TLC.  

The bathroom is good size with the the other exception is the door opens up unless you close it completely. There was Q-tips, makeup remover, cotton balls. The counter space is small but still have a decent amount of room to lay stuff down.

As part of the packaged I booked, there is free breakfast for two every morning at their attached restaurant. It’s a basic continental breakfast so like fruit and toast or muffin. Yeah only used it for one morning because I rather eat bread at the comfort of my hotel room.

Overall: 4.5/5

I would choose to stay in this room is I can in the future. The only real disappointment was the gym. The location is such a big plus and thus making this a great hotel to stay at.

Fisherman's Wharf 

There is a perfect spot to view the seals at Pier 39 which I totally recommend! It's right by Fisherman's Wharf. Additionally, there's plenty of food places and as well as shops in this area. i really liked how they had a Biscoff shop there!

Japantown

Originally, I had planned to stay at a hotel at Japantown but due to hotel being fully booked I didn't. There was some pretty cool architecture there.

The most exciting thing about this area is all the shopping centers are semi-connected. I love shopping at Daiso which I have been to one while I was at Seattle. There were many good places to eat and especially for Japanese food!

So happy to find a fish ice cream place! I got the matcha one!

This was probably about $10-15 but worth the money for how cute it was!

Chinatown

I stopped by chinatown as I wanted to stop by to where the my office was. The fortune cookie factory was a must see!

Downtown

I met up with my friend and her friend at Hakkasan. This restaurant is hakka and cantonese-style. For warned that this place is pricey! For the three of us it cost about $70 per person. The service of the waiters and waitress was phenomenal. We always had our waters filled. In between the main dishes, they cleaned our table as well as giving us new plates. The picture above is an appetizer that's so cute with tiny bit of crunch. 

This is the duck salad. 

I don't remember what this dish is but it is some sort of vegetarian dish. 

I really wanted some noodles so I asked our waitress what was popular. This is so good. It's the hakka style noodles. 

This was some sort of meat and it was delicious.

Overall I was super excited that I had made this trip.

XOXO

-M

Pittsburgh Hotel Review: The Westin

Hello There!

Time for yet again another review!

Location:

The Westin is located right next to the convention center. This is definetly a good spot to stay at if you have an event to attend. There's are also some good food places downtown the street which is super convenient. The downside of this hotel location is this is where the sinkhole happened. Therefore the only way to get to the Westin is from Liberty avenue since 10th street portion is only local drive through. The is valet as well an underground parking garage. The garage is small, under construction, and spaces are very limited! It took me a bit to find a spot. 

Hotel:

Inside the hotel there is a pretty nice lobby area. Sometime I saw that there was unfused water as well as cookies. Additionally, there is walkway from the lobby to the another building with Starbucks. On the way to Starbucks, I saw some shops and even a post office. Fitness center has the basics that I would need in a gym. Some of the equipment they had was old. Also the way the equipment was placed made the center seem very crowded.

Room:

I was put on the 5th floor which was one of the lower floors and I didn’t like that. There wasn’t any view and it felt very dingy. Additionally I don’t know what else is on this floor but I would hear people’s voices at 6am in the morning. Overall the room was not quiet in the morning. Also the hallways felt very dingy.

The bed was ok but I didn’t feel like it was very comfortable. The pillow was too soft and the sheets were hard to pull over for me to climb in like I literally would pull the entire sheets off and I could see the mattress. The amenities in room was very nice. They had a lavender oil roller by the bed that you can put on your risk to help you to sleep. The desk area I also did not like because either the desk was too low or the chair was too high so my legs would be squished in between. 

They had a small space where the fridge and coffee maker was in which I liked. Also for Marriott member the water bottle in the room was complimentary.

The bathroom had a very unique waterfall type head which is different from the other hotels that I have been too. The soaps and shampoo smelled nice. Also wide counter space to spread my things out.

Overall: 4/5

I wouldn’t choose to stay at the Westin again if I was driving however I think that it was a good hotel to stay at. They had many good amenities that made up for the not so good things.

At the recommendation of my senior manager I went to this meatball place called Emporio. I was able to online order so that was the main thing that attracted me. The main selling point of this place is the ability to customize your meatballs. You can pick what kind of meatball and what kind of sauce. Even though I just got the regular meatball with marinara it was so good! These are larger meatballs as well and I got them as sliders. It’s closer to the Westin than the other hotels that I stay at so I might do ubereats or DoorDash next time.
Hope my review was helpful!

-M

Chicago Hotel Review: Hyatt Place

Hi!

It's that time again for another review! I typically stay at the Kimpton Allegro since it's the closest to my work when I'm in Chicago. This time due to a suggestion from a coworker I decided to stay at Hyatt Place. I've had a good experience staying at a Hyatt when I went to Seattle. Another reason as the hotel is close to my work as well. The street that the hotel is one is not very populated. Similar to the other Chicago hotels there is valet available. One thing that I did notice right away at the reception desk is that they used a laptop to check-in guests which is different than what I see at a typical hotel. The lobby area is quite small and the business center is right behind a wall. As a Hyatt member you get two free bottles of water per a night as well as free breakfast in the morning. The fitness center is nice as there are floor to ceiling windows and TV screens on all the treadmills and ellipticals. It's pretty small overall but sufficient for a good work-out. 

Room

The room that I got was a king bed and they gave my an accessible room which made it every larger. There is a semi-separate sleeping area which is very nice but I didn't utilize as much and only put my stuff there.

The bed itself was large and the windows were floor to ceiling stretching from the bed area to the bathroom sinks. The downside of having these windows was the bed was very close and you can see the office building next door very clearly. I had to keep the blinds down for the most part. The room was quiet and I slept very well.

This is the desk area and as you can see there is a small coffee maker. There is nothing very special and it's pretty standard. 

There was two sinks in this area and the toilet and shower stalls are behind the door which is not shown in the picture. The shower part was also a tad bit weird just because there's no ledge between the shower and the bathroom floor but I assume that feature is because that it is an accessible room. The face towels though were very soft. 

I haven't been to a hotel yet that offers complimentary breakfast bar like this one. I love it! There was eggs, potatoes, and bacon available as hot foods. There's your typical yogurt, bagels, bread, and oatmeal. I love oatmeal and they have a variety of toppings as well as fruit. For beverages, they have a coffee, tea, and juices. 

Overall: 5/5

The complimentary breakfast really got me. The rooms were huge and there's nothing really bad that I could say about this hotel. Definitely recommend staying there! 

Chicago Hotel Review: Aloft

Hello Hello!

Before my week trip training in Chicago during the month of September, I actually went their a day two days earlier to walk around the city. Also during this time I got super sick which was a bummer. 

I stayed at Aloft hotel which is a part of the Marriot. The location was decent with restaurants nearby. Also the hotel is very close to Northwestern University I think. The location of the hotel is very close to the intersection so beware that your uber driver can get confused so I recommend entering the hotel's address when getting a uber instead of solely relying on location services. The hotel itself was modern rustic type of feel. I did not check out the fitness center. 

Room

The first thing I see when I walk in is the sink which the toilet and shower is separated by a door. The sink area is well lit and the counter has good amount of space. 

This is the bed which faces a tv and there was plenty of little stools. Standard bed and nothing too special. The downside for aloft hotels are the thin walls and you can pretty much hear whats going in the halls. 

This is no closet instead you can hang your clothes on the bar on top of these drawers above. The room itself is conservative of space and simple.

My favorite thing about the entire room must be this sitting area. It is perfect for relaxing or working. 

Overall: 4/5

I surprisingly like this hotel. The location is ok and the style of the room I liked. 

Around the City

I took a SoulCycle class! 

I went to see the band's visit at Cadillac Palace! We got cheap $15 tickets so we were super far from the stage and it was hard to see. The next time I got the chance to watch the show I got closer seats and was able to see al the performers faces clearly.

One of the places that I liked is Eataly. A fun Italian food location that had various Italian restaurants inside. The places there were casual and the food was yummy!

I probably would've enjoyed my stay at Chicago a lot more if I wasn't sick.  Hoping that you enjoy reading about my review and have a lovely Christmas!

XOXO

-M