Fun Work and Life Stuff

Last week I used my downtime (what a blissful change of pace it has been) in the office to get back into some client development.

First up, I am working with a few other colleagues to plan our wine tasting event for women in the private equity industry, which is to be held in two weeks (unfortunately, on Thanksgiving day, which goes to show what happens to American values when I'm out of the office).  However, it promises to be bigger and better than last year, and we are working with the head chef and an independent wine sommelier to plan a tasty, personalized menu and wine pairing.  In a stroke of luck, we also found an arrangement that allows us to spend more money on the food and wine budget - an all around win.

I also attended the 100 Women in Finance annual fundraising gala dinner last Thursday.  It was held at Maxim's City Hall, an iconic Chinese restaurant, and the attire was semi-formal or cheongsam.  I jumped at the chance to wear a cheongsam, which led me to the discovery that possibly made my whole week - I fit into my wedding cheongsam!  I was flabbergasted.  It took a little bit of sucking in and a lot of fingers crossing, but I was able to wear it for an entire evening without ripping any seams or popping any buttons.  I exclaimed when I fit into it but Michael was completely unfazed.  Men.  I am really disappointed by his lack of excitement on my behalf.  I mean, seriously?!  I deserve a freaking locomotive cheer.

There was good Chinese-style banquet food, a silent auction, a live auction, and a few speeches.  This 100 Women in Finance idea supposedly started when a few senior female bankers got together and asked themselves, what could 100 women in their position do if they got together and put their minds to it?  Well, they have raised over $45m since their inception. 

Truly, it was very inspiring to see all of these female heads of companies and boards, of all ethnicities and backgrounds, gathered together.  My favorite part of the night was when the honoree and award winner made her acceptance speech.  She unapologetically called out the abysmal lack of women on the boards of directors of Hong Kong public companies.  She said that lots of companies that she works with tell her, "we want to hire women, we just haven't found one with the requisite experience" or "but we are appointing these [male] individuals based on merit."  She said dryly that there must be a new definition for "merit" in Hong Kong - perhaps it is now being used as an acronym for "men elevated regardless of intellect or talent."  Wow, way to just say it, lady.  If I could wolf whistle I would have done so in support.

 The other thing that made my week was a celebratory lunch I had with my friend who got engaged back in September (yes, it took me that long to get around to taking her out).  She was in the US for a couple of weeks, I was in Australia for a couple of weeks... it took us a while to get our act together.  Over a nice lunch, she said that she was really inspired by my ability to handle all of the things in my life with such aplomb, and that I gave her hope to be able to do the same.  I think she meant especially once/if she were to have children.  It was one of the sweetest and most heartfelt things I had heard from someone in a long time and I was so incredibly touched.  Obviously I do not have my shit together all of the time, or even most.  But, this was such a good reminder that we are all trying our best - sometimes what we portray externally is not what we feel internally - and we should always be kind to ourselves and others.

Ok and all of that aside, here are two random pictures that I snapped - one from the lobby of a law firm that I suddenly found myself in one afternoon (gee, love those random meetings).  The view struck me because it is a different perspective of Hong Kong than the one I usually see, and it reminded me that, despite all of its issues, I do love this city.  I truly think it has one of the most stunning skylines in the world.

And this is a picture I couldn't resist taking on my morning commute.  How amazing/incredible/crazy are the construction workers in Hong Kong?!  Can you even spot all of them, barely strapped into flimsy harnesses, as they swing themselves around the bamboo scaffolding at least 3 floors up?  At least they are wearing helmets...