Christy’s Wedding Weekend: The Maid of Honor’s Perspective

If you were in the Los Angeles area this past weekend, you may have seen a number of interesting scenes. Perhaps you watched a bridal party wade through the loose sands of Manhattan Beach to get the perfect picture. You may have witnessed a collection of transparent-skinned Coloradans testing their expertise on the sand volleyball courts. You may have even seen a bouquet of flowers tossed and caught in the ceiling decorations of a grand ballroom.

I suspect that if you are reading this blog entry, you know exactly which special event was the cause of these distinctive scenes: my older sister, Christy Corner, tied the knot this weekend with Justin Diehl. If you are reading this, you likely attended the wedding and remember it vividly. However, if you enjoyed the open bars too liberally, or could not attend, I offer this humble blog entry as an attempt to recapture many of the warm memories from the weekend. Enjoy!

DAY 1: REHEARSAL DINNER

After arriving in Los Angeles late Wednesday night, I knew it was time to sleep before all of the fun began. On Thursday morning, the five women in the bridal party (me, Leah Wickham, Melissa Ratliff, Kelly Diehl, Jessa Gyzm), Christy, and the two moms arrived at a nail boutique called Mani-Pedi Cutie to get our nails done for the wedding. It was great to relax with the girls and get pampered for a few hours. Next we arrived at the wedding rehearsal to go over the steps for the big day. I learned I had a very crucial title besides “Maid of Honor.” I was also the designated “dress fluffer”, who needed to ensure that Christy’s dress would remain beautiful and un-bunched throughout the wedding day. After running through the agenda and practicing a couple of times, we were all feeling good about the ceremony coming the next day. The day ended with a rehearsal dinner at Beaches, the restaurant where Christy and Justin first met at a happy hour. Situated near the coast on Manhattan Beach Blvd, our party offered spectacular views of the ocean. Two main highlights of the rehearsal dinner included a slideshow of Justin and Christy growing up and the unveiling of a special cake for Justin. Justin’s cake was literally a hemisphere of chocolate and frosting decorated as a bright orange Warriors basketball! After the rehearsal dinner, Christy, Leah and I moved to the Hermosa Beach House hotel to catch some dreams before the wedding day dawned.



DAY 2: WEDDING DAY

We awoke bright and early on Friday morning to prepare for the wedding celebration that night. Christy and I ventured downstairs to check out the included breakfast buffet and enjoyed our first cups of coffee and pastries on the patio next to the beach. After collecting plates of other snacks to share with the bridesmaids, we returned to the room to begin the preparations. Christy’s friend Sierra met the bridesmaids in the hotel room, and set-up a makeshift hair studio in the bathroom to style our hair for the day. While waiting for our hair appointments, the bridesmaids enjoyed chatting, eating snacks from Trader Joe’s, and helping each other tie our dresses. We also each received our gift from Christy; she gave each of the bridesmaids a beautiful pearl bracelet and a set of pearl earrings to wear! After we were all ready, we met the photographer to begin taking pictures. The entire wedding party took photos on Manhattan Beach with the ocean in the background. It was entertaining to watch the people on the beach stare in shock as we all stomped through the sand and wind to find the perfect picture spot!

Finally, we headed to Los Verdes Golf Club to prepare for the actual ceremony. The wedding party had a “secret room” where we could all relax before/after the ceremony and surreptitiously hide Christy. As family and friends arrived, we all nervously and excitedly waited to begin. The ceremony began and went so fast it seems like a blur now! Dad entered the secret room and the bridesmaids began their hike around the building to begin our walk down the aisle. The wedding itself proved to be a touching event. I will never forget the feeling of standing up at the alter watching Christy and Dad approach us to the tune of Pacabel’s Cannon. I mostly watched Justin’s eyes during the ceremony (Christy’s back was towards me). I also enjoyed watching Justin’s groomsmen transform into gentlemen – they had been very goofy and light-hearted during the rehearsal. My mom’s and Nancy Diehl’s eyes were sparkling as the sun set and the ceremony ended.

The after party was surely a treat for everyone in attendance. The DJ announced the names as the wedding party made our grand entrance into the ballroom. Each pair of the wedding party devised our own dance moves upon entering (I think mine and Issac’s was best! Ha ha). After the bride and groom’s first dance to the song “Lucky” by Colbie Caillat and Jason Mraz, the toasts began. Issac spoke about Justin always being one step ahead in life, and I talked about sharing sisterhood with Christy. We then had a surprise toast presented by Leah from Christy’s best friend Lindsay Copperberg. Lindsay was recently deployed to the Persian Gulf and could not attend the wedding, but it was touching to hear her words on Christy’s special day. The night continued with a feast of delicious food and tinkering glasses to encourage a kiss between the bride and groom. The second round of toasts came from the fathers who both reflected over Christy’s and Justin’s growth through the years. Their toasts were the perfect combination of sentimental and humorous stories! The most emotional part of the night for me was the Father-Daughter/Mother-Son dance, where they danced to the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” The night continued with the newlyweds cutting the cake and the classic bouquet and garter toss. Everything was running flawlessly until Christy accidently tossed her flowers so high that they landed in the gauze netting decoration near the ceiling. Thankfully, cousin Tim’s height saved the flowers, and one of Christy’s California friends caught the bouquet! The rest of the night was spent dancing with friends and family.

DAY 3: BEACH PARTY AT MANHATTAN BEACH

The final day of the wedding weekend was the beach party on Saturday. It was easily one of my favorite days, considering Seattle’s beaches are far inferior to the beaches of southern California. We played volleyball, enjoyed swimming and crashing through the cold waves of the Pacific, and napping in the sun along the shore. The grandparents spent the afternoon chatting under colourful beach umbrellas. We also successfully demolished the remainder of Justin’s Warriors Basketball cake! Dinner that night was shared at an Italian restaurant with me, Justin, Christy, Mom and Dad, Nancy and Greg Diehl, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Judy, and cousin Rachel.

AFTER THE WEDDING WEEKEND

You can now find me seated, legs-crossed in LAX waiting to catch my plane back to Seattle. The airport is such a miraculous place to people watch – it really seems to attract an eccentric group! Usually, it is the human idiosyncrasies which make people watching so enjoyable to me. Today, however, I find myself captivated by people and their wedding bands. Across from me, you will find a married mom with her son and daughter (both of whom are busy listening to their iPods). The mom is talking to an older gentleman, who was in LA this weekend for a 50-year high school reunion. He also has a wedding ring sitting comfortably on his left ring-finger. As I watch the many faces and wedding rings in the airport, I cannot help but smile. Each wedding ring is a reminder that these people also experienced a wedding weekend once. They too shared a day with their closest family and friends, fed their new spouse cake, and danced to their favorite songs. When I consider this, I feel warmed by the people around me. This weekend, Christy and Justin added even more affection and love to this world. I feel so thankful to have been a part of it.

Love,

Katie (a.k.a. The Maid of Honor!)

Interns Get Benefits – Dogs Do Too

One day after work last week, an intern friend of mine Eugene invited me join him and his friends in downtown Bellevue. They would be waiting in a Microsoft building, he told me and provided directions. I followed the directions precisely and found myself, not at a Microsoft building, but at a massive multi-story shopping mall! Slightly confused, I called Eugene only to hear that I had found the right place and that I should take the elevator up to the 28th story of the building. Upon entering the elevator, I had to use my employee badge to gain access to the 28th floor and the pieces came together. Indeed, there are Microsoft buildings that consist of half chic shopping area and the other half has offices. The 28th floor of the Lincoln Center was nothing short of breathtaking. While the interior could be best described as one of many Microsoft cafeterias, the entire top story is surrounded in glass windows overlooking downtown Bellevue and Seattle. As the sun set over Lake Union and the hilly terrain of Seattle, we enjoyed free drinks (compliments of Microsoft) on the large patio overlooking the landscape. It was the perfect way to unwind after a long day at work.

The group of us then decided to go to grab dinner at a local sushi place – as was the case last summer, being again near the ocean means sushi places are everywhere! One the 3rd story of the Microsoft building, you will find an IMAX Movie Theater. We used our employee discounts and went to see the newest installment of the Terminator. It was a great action movie and so fun to watch with some of my engineering friends; we always enjoy watching high-tech movies, as we can instantly spot the occasional technical improbability (e.g. the main character fixed a radio by jiggling an electrolytic capacitor. Ha ha!).

In a previous blog entry, I introduced you to a woman who works in the office next to mine named Michelle. Michelle has a certified therapy dog named Rufus who accompanies her to work every day. Rufus is clearly the office entertainment, as he still acts very much like a puppy. During our department’s BBQ last week, he transferred from person to person flashing hi puppy-dog eyes in hopes of scoring a piece of chicken or some potato chips. It’s a wonder that Rufus isn’t the weight of a whale, given how much I saw him eat that day! When I was talking with Michelle on Friday, I learned something new about Rufus: he basically gets the same benefits that interns do. You can imagine my surprise upon learning that he was receiving a badge with his picture on it that would scan him into any Microsoft building on campus!! I would not be surprised to hear that he probably receives some sort of veterinary health benefit too. The other day I saw Rufus provoke one of our Vice Presidents into a game of Tug-O-War with his toys – it makes me wonder if Rufus has any idea at all that he is slobbering on the person who is redefining the next generation of computing. When I asked him this, his response was a cute blank stare, followed by “woof.”

Last night was my first official night in downtown Seattle. About 30 interns met at the Microsft Transit station and used our free bus passes (provided by Microsoft) to take a bus into the downtown International District. Before the show, we went to a Thai restaurant which serves only pho noodle soup bowls. For only $5, I got a gigantic bowl of noodles, veggies, and chicken in broth. After dinner, we took a short underground bus ride to the Seattle Symphony and saw Stravinsky’s Firebird. The guest violinist was absolutely spectacular; Leila Josefowicz received the 2008 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (aka. Genius Award). I have never heard sounds like that come from a violin before! You can see us all before the show:

This weekend, I plan to explore a number of places outside of Seattle. Today I am headed on a scenic drive with some friends, and tomorrow I drive to Forks with one of my roommates. I miss Colorado, but I also find myself loving the greenery and scenery in WA. I feel so lucky to have lived in two such beautiful cities!

A Window into the ‘Evil Empire’ of Microsoft

I know, I know. Opening this blog entry with a blatant “Windows” pun probably does not inspire you to continue reading. However, if you have ever been curious about how the Microsoft machine appears from the inside, I encourage you to read further.

They told me, “All of their employees work nights and weekends.” They cautioned, “Haven’t you been watching Microsoft stock lately? The company is on its decline, and not headed back up.” They questioned, “I thought you would be avoiding static companies – why aren’t you looking for more innovative opportunities like Google or Apple?” Oh yes, there were plenty of critics ready to speak out against the company infamously nicknamed the software industry’s 800-pound gorilla.

Since I have joined Microsoft, I have seen a very interesting trend among my co-workers and the speakers. Many of them, including the very successful ones, had no plans to actually accept an offer from Microsoft when they flew to Seattle for the interview. I’ve heard reflections like, “I wanted to see the ‘Evil Empire’ from the inside,” or “Who would turn down a free trip to Seattle?” Yet somehow, Microsoft works its magic to change all of their perceptions (including my own) in a day of interviewing. How do they do this??

The answer is obvious: Microsoft is simply NOT the Dark Side from the inside. After observing the campus and people, that fact becomes immediately clear. I believe that if you took pictures of the meeting rooms, people’s offices, and the buildings (there are literally hundreds in this area), you would not be able to tell the difference between them and Google buildings. Everyone in my hallway listens to music loudly. The lady in the office next door, Michelle, has a dog which she brings to all meetings. In a department meeting the other day, I watched an 8-months pregnant woman surf her facebook account. On my team of 8 people, we have 3 women, a man from Bulgaria, a man from China, a woman from India, a man from the UK, and a partially blind man. Microsoft bought over 100 Toyota Prius hybrids to provide free taxi service to all its employees between buildings, for goodness sake. Despite popular opinion, Microsoft is not full of employees that sleep here on weekends and never see the light of day.

Let’s be honest, though. A company which employees more than 95,000 people worldwide (41,000 at my location!!) can’t gain the reputation of 800-pound-gorilla unless SOME of the rumors are true, right? The truth is this: Microsoft, Windows, Office – it is EVERYWHERE. A couple years ago, our CEO Steve Ballmer was quoted to say, “The install base of Windows computers this coming 12 months will reach 1 billion. If you stop and just think about that, parse that for a second, by the end of our fiscal year '08, there will be more PCs running Windows in the world than there are automobiles.” (Curious how all Operating Systems stack up to Windows worldwide? See graph below.)

ONE BILLION WINDOWS COMPUTERS. No matter how you twist it, one billion is massive. It is humbling to spend my internship working in the Windows organization, on a product that affects hundreds of millions of people every day. It is ironic that the same success that grows Microsoft also traps it from being “Apple innovative”; when you are designing an operating system across 96 countries, in hundreds of languages and cultures, you cannot just make a “cooler” looking UI with all-new graphics whenever you feel like it.

You also can’t just cater to the American teenage population. Some of my favorite commercials on TV are those “Mac vs. PC” commercials put on by Apple. You know the scenario as well as I do: a classic “cool kid” is the Mac and a “washed-up business nerd” is the PC. My generation latches to these kinds of campaigns … which brings us full circle. These commercials, and other media sources, do a brilliant job painting Microsoft as the static Evil Empire. It is perhaps the reason there are so many critics out there who warned me before my internship. People would shake their head and say, “Joining the 800-pound-gorilla, Katie? Really?” Well all I can say is, the closest thing I have seen to an 800-pound gorilla is the occasional hefty employee who decided not to shave that morning. Everything else feels as though I am working in one of the most pioneering, omnipresent companies on the planet. Oh, right. I am.

Welcome to Seattle - Home of (unlimited!?) Starbucks

Dearest family and friends,

As I did last summer in San Diego, I will be blogging about my many adventures this summer. This summer, however, I will be enjoying an internship with Microsoft in Redmond, WA (just outside of Seattle). I hope you enjoy the mediocre writing, spelling/grammatical errors, and sharing my adventures through my blog this summer!


After a pleasant three week trip around central Europe (Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary) with my parents, I returned home to sunny Boulder. Jet-lagged and under a time crunch, I quickly packed my life away into boxes for the trip out to Seattle. After seeing a few close friends and saying goodbyes, I boarded a plane from Denver to Seattle.

The flight was fairly uneventful. I dropped by the Avis booth to pick up my rental car and received a very pleasant surprise. This summer, I will be driving a beige 2009 Toyota Corolla (see picture below)! I always thought interns would get the shabbiest rental cars, which had collected the many unpleasant smells of its previous drivers. My car, however, has less than 3,000 miles and still has the "new car" smell! I drove about 20 minutes to the condo where I am living in this summer. The condo property is beautifully landscaped; it has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, plus a kitchen and living area.

Most of my first weekend was spent unpacking and hanging out with my roommate Yang. Yang is originally from China but is completing her PhD at Iowa State in Electrical Engineering. My other roommate is from Toronto, Canada - her name is Nanxi. I feel so lucky to have two such kind, fun, and considerate roommates in the condo. On my first Sunday in Seattle, my friend from CU, Tyler, and I decided to explore the town. We walked all around the Microsoft campus and then headed to the beach later to grab some fish and chips fresh out of the frying pan (a local place called Suds) and marvel at the expansive ocean.

Between the meetings, training sessions, and computer set-up process, my first week at Microsoft went by in a flash. I think I am going to have a great experience here this summer. This is my project, in a nut-shell: I will be working as a Project Manager (PM) intern, exploring ways to make Windows 8 more accessible to people with disabilities. For example, some people are deaf, blind, or cannot interact with the computer using keyboards or a mouse. Thus, Microsoft wants to make sure that these people, and others, can still have a comfortable experience on the computer. My team seems very dedicated and passionate, and they have been very instrumental in quickly bringing me up to speed. I can't wait to work more with them over the next three months. I also have my own office, with both a desktop computer and a tablet laptop! The best part? Microsoft gives all its employee unlimited beverages, including all sodas, juices, milks, and Starbucks coffee and cocoa! Delicious.

It is now my first weekend in Seattle. Today I went kayaking on Lake Union with a group of interns. We kayaked under one of the major highways, and ended up in a heavily forested area covered in moss and lily pads. We also fed countless baby ducks with some leftover potato chips from lunch. Exhausted after kayaking and playing Frisbee all afternoon, you can currently find me curled up in my computer chair, looking out my window at the numerous green trees. Past the hum of traffic, I can see 4 Microsoft buildings. They have about 45,000 employees at their headquarters in Redmond, so it comes to little surprise that you see their buildings everywhere.

I am now going to stop blogging and begin another summer goal of mine: rediscovering my love for art. I went to a small store and am now freshly equipped with new paint supplies. My first picture? The Seattle skyline.

Sending my love across the continent,
Katie