Up and Walking, but Definitely Not Running.

YAY!! I´m not completely comatose!

In fact, I managed to walk around Cusco quite a bit today, although not quite all the way up the hill to the ruins or the little "Christo Blanco" that overlooks the city (it's a much smaller version of a christ the redemer statue). Then I packed a weekend bag for my trip to Machu Picchu, and got the hell out of Cusco. I'd been there far too long, far too incapacitated, so I decided to spend a night in the sacred valley town of Ollantaytambo, since I liked it so much on the tour Sunday. It's where I catch the train to Aguas Calientes (the town at the base of Machu Picchu) tomorrow, so in a way, I'm just extending my "trek" to MP.

But I had to get to Ollantaytambo. It's a two hour ride, in something called a collectivo... but where my first taxi driver dropped me off, it just ended up being a hatchback taxi with three peruvians in the backseat. So I got to ride shotgun for S12, watching the mountains pass by, and really hoping I wasn't going to be kidnapped or worse. After a bit of the ride, I finally eased into it. Passing by so much of the countryside, seeing all the people going about their lives, the mountains looming overhead, the sheer fact that I didn't feel like CRAP... it finally all let me ease up and just enjoy the trip. Of course I ended up in Ollanta fine. Of course there was space at the adorable hostel that LP suggested. Of course the weather is beautiful. Of course I spent time conversing with the guy who sold me my beer at the base of the ruins because he wanted to practice his english. Of course the quiet peacefulness of this town has me relaxing. Por supuesto.

I even hiked a little on a trail up the hillside. My goal is to hike all the way up in the morning, as the morning light is hitting the ruins and lighting up the town. We'll see though. It was warm enough here to wear my skirt in Cusco today, and seeing my scary chicken legs, so withered from so much recovering, definitely put this whole thing in perspective. I seriously have not been well. My body is not the same. I can't wait to get home and have to rebuild all of my biking and running muscles. :/

But there are two british girls in my hostel room, and we might grab dinner together tonight. I'm all for making it an early one though... I might be feeling better, but I'm certainly not all the way well.

One of Those Days

Waking up today was a bit rough. I'd had a long night on a sleep number bed (yuck) and fighting with the heating system in my room which seemed to regard being set for 70 degrees as instructions to continue pumping over-heated air into my room all night. My alarm went off and I was so deep in sleep that I was completely disoriented. Yet, I got myself up and out of bed, only to notice that the sun was coming up. Fayetteville is surprisingly pretty at sun-up.

I was putting on my clothes, giddy at the bright pink dress I was planning on wearing, when there was a knock at the door. Standing there was my sweet and diminutive presenter, near tears.

"Is your hot water out?"

"I haven't checked... What's wrong?"

"Oh..." she said, lip quivering. "I went to iron my suit and when I opened the closet, the iron fell out and hit me in the head." She lifted up her bangs to show a growing red lump on her forehead. "Do you have any Tylenol or Advil?"

I rushed to my first aid ziplock to find her something all the while thinking, how is she going to do the whole seminar if she has a concussion? Should I take her to the ER? I doled out some Advil and told her she should just rest for a bit before going down to the room, but she had no intention of doing that. I told her I'd be about 10-15 minutes, as I was only half dressed.

Upon arriving down at the meeting room, I saw my presenter looking forlorn and talking to the banquet staff person. Another day, another failed room set up. The room looked nothing like what it should have looked like and the next 10 minutes was a constant shuffling of tables and seting up, in which I managed to jam my finger against my tech case, jarring my fingernail in just the right way to cause intense pain. Finishing up the set up, we heard the speakers and just about broke down, as they sounded about as bad as I've ever heard.

I went out to set up the reg table and heard a massive crash behind me. The hotel staff had dropped a big stack of glasses, shattering them. The vacuums came out as the first participant arrived, half an hour early.

Now, the hallway is so cold that I can hardly stand it so I'll be spending the day in the back of the meeting room which is a tolerable temperature.

The good news is that my paperwork is done, I've got my to-do list, and best of all, it turns out that Fayetteville is cute enough to go wander around in. Plus, I have it on a good recommendation for a restaurant not far from where I am (thanks Lisa!). I'm in my 47th state. I get to have Memphis BBQ for dinner. I'm going to be in Vegas in two days.

AND there's an awesome thrift store here. Cheap Thrills. I got a purse and a necklace that scream VEGAS!! Things are looking up.

Settle Down?

While this journey across the US has been wonderful in many ways simply because I have been places I never intended to go, and many places I never intend to go back to, there's some definite fun in picking the places that I would go back to. Here's a list of places I deem worthy of a second glance, or a long hard look:

• Boston, MA. I could see myself living here or going to school here for a few years. It's definitely joined San Fran on the list of cities I would live if I had to live somewhere other than Seattle.
• Portland, OR. Seattle-light is definitely a place I could spend some real time. With all the hipsters, bikers, coffee maniacs, greenpeacers and liberals, it's definitely a city where I could lose myself in becoming eco-friendly and bike every which where. It's flatter than Seattle too, as long as you stay in the river valley, and closer to both the coast and the mountains.
• Washington DC. I can almost see myself living here if it wasn't for the constant 60-hour work weeks and subsequent frat-party binging that I witnessed in the short time I was there. It was pretty fun, incredibly beautiful, and really friendly to an active lifestyle... Which I'd need to hold back the liquid calories.
• NYC... Oh but to live there for two years: one to get your footing, and the second to actually enjoy it. Only it would cost me more than I would make in 10 years to manage it. At least I can go back to visit.
  
• Portland, ME. I'd love to live here for a year. I know the winters are brutal, but in a way I'd just want to know what it's like to hunker down in one of those adorable little clapboard houses and eat seafood every day down at the local bar with all the crusty folks laughing and carrying on. And I'm dying to go to Maine in the summer.
• Phoenix, AZ. Just for the winter is the eternal clause on this one... and NOT in Scottsdale. While I'd live in ME for a winter, I don't think I could handle a Phoenix summer. Maybe I could make it here a year if I just did camping trips all summer up near Sedona and Flagstaff, or really anywhere in the southwest.
• Burlington, VT. Hippies, yoga, Whole Foods, Ben & Jerry's, a big beautiful lake, maple syrup, and colleges everywhere... I could definitely spend more time here... Maybe even go to school here.
  
• Charlottesville, VA. I'd LOVE to go to school at UVA, at least for a little while. This is just an adorable town with a nice vibe. Plus, TJ designed it.
• Charleston, SC. I could vacation here for a while... the slow, southern pace just makes it really peaceful. And I feel like there was so much more outside of the actual city that one could see. Savannah, GA is pretty much the same... but I liked Charleston more.
• Salt Lake City, UT. I want to go snowboarding out of here so badly it hurts.
• Rapid City, SD. Driving through the Badlands and surrounding areas rather than flying over them would be spectacular.
• Miami, FL. This city is just a riot of color, "culture," and craziness. I'd love to spend a longer weekend on South Beach, when it's not thunderstorming.

And probably many many more... Does anyone else have a fave I've left off this list? This isn't completely comprehensive--it's just the places I've visited for my job and on stayovers (keep in mind I haven't been to California yet. Nor have I been to Arkansas or Oklahoma...). What have I forgotten?

Southern Living

Savannah, GA has been on my short list of places to go for a while now. Last year, I spent a weekend in it’s sister city, Charleston, SC and had a fabulous time. This year, I found myself ending a week in Columbia, SC and I sent out a missive seeing if anyone else could make it. When all was said and done, Heather was the only other PM able to come, but we made the most of it.
I drove in from Columbia and had the chance to cruise around checking out Savannah before Heather landed. Just in case you were wondering, driving around the most haunted city in America on a night with not only a full moon, but the largest, brightest full moon of the year is not the best idea to get yourself ready to go out alone. I ended up spooked by the Spanish moss hanging from the trees, terrified by the creepy statues, and shaken by the crumbling architecture. I ate some groceries in my room and drank some wine with my chocolate to wind down from freaking myself out. (Evidently I scare easily). Heather arrived and we shared some bubbly at her suggestion and gabbed about BER and life in general. Soon enough, we crashed into our beds (one of the best beds I’ve slept on in ages… it was one of those bowling-ball mattresses!) and were up in time for the Krispy Kreme and coffee breakfast.
We picked up a rental car since the weather was not cooperating and then headed off to the downtown area. Paula Dean’s was our first stop. Lady and Sons has a southern buffet lunch, and DAMN. I ate so much, and drank so much sweet tea I really did think I was going to explode. I don’t want to think about how many calories I consumed (weekend stayovers don’t count anyways!).

We tried to walk it off, and ended up going into some fun shops and found ourselves at the Juliet Gordon Lowe house. We both felt a little nostalgic for our girl scout days since JGL was the founder of the girl scouts and the house was overrun with little brownies and juniors in their uniforms. I was tempted to buy the pin you can wear on your vest, but decided I’ve passed that stage of my life. We drove around some more to see the cool old architecture (the drizzle and cold simply prevented us from actually enjoying walking). We walked around the cemetery in the daylight (I was definitely not that interested in a ghost tour at this point, especially with how cold it was!), and did try to hit up a brewery for dinner, even if we could barely manage to finish half of the nachos we ordered to share. We got up to leave, gave up our prime location, and in walk the first cute guys we’d seen the whole time in the bar. Shrugging, we gave up and went back for more wine, trashy TV, and oh-so-comfy beds.
Sunday morning we went for a frigidly cold run in Forsyth Park, where my minimalist shoes and running style seemed to hold up remarkably well, even if our fingers never actually warmed up. Then we were off to the airport and I was off to Phoenix. I could wish that the weather had been better, or that more people had been able to come so that going out would have been more fun, but really, all in all it was a great time in a great city.

Before the Boarding Door Closes

Ahhh... On board a plane headed to Portland. I am ecstatic to be heading to the northwest and even more excited to be healthy this time. No more passing up the beer and wine on my horizon flights due to being knocked out on Nyquill like last year! No more being reduced to heinously brewed starbucks coffee at my hotel! Hipsters and hippies everywhere! Time to visit Powells books and get stumptown!

It's the little things that make me happy.

It's a Love/---- Relationship

I've been too down on my job lately. Part of it is the ever-changing state of the economy and how that has impacted life working for BER. The thing is, this job is only horrible if you can't find the shining moments you get every day.I am out on the road with a presenter who most PM's are not fond of, yet by sheer force of will I had a great time with last year. She's a ton of fun, but since she's a little more high strung and from Jersey, she can come off abrupt and rude. Plus, she's on the more high-maintenance side of the presenter spectrum, so you have to learn to expect the little requests without feeling miffed. Luckily this week I have a lot more energy than last week, and we're in great places. Last night we were in Charlottesville, one of my FAVE small towns I've been to, and after the seminar we dashed up for the last tour of Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's house. EEEE! I was so happy to get to see it since I've been forced to drive past the signs about 4 times last year. Then, as it was about 5pm, we went back to main street in Charlottesville for dinner at a tasty french bistro. This was after supping at Hamilton's the night before, the restaurant we had found last year on our trip to Charlottesville together. Two dinners in my favorite town?! YES please!!These are times when I love my job.

My Two Cents

Turns out, I not only do a better job, but I like my job a lot more when I have over thrity participants now. Either I need the slight challange to get in the groove, or waking up at 6am for 10 people is just depresing.

Charlottesville, VA is a small town I could spend some time in. Good food, good shops, good history. What more does a place need?

Beignets in NOLA

A weekend in the French Quarter… C’est ci bon!
We dined on beignets and fried foods every day, putting our digestive needs on hold for a long weekend, reveling in the excesses of a city of excess—po’boys, oysters, gumbo, red beans and rice, fried everything, and a couple of hurricanes and bottles of champagne. I pulled out my feathered headband for our night on Burbon Street, and enjoyed the crazy as much as I could, although one night was more than enough for me. We had our eyes on some guys, but they turned out to be trapped playing a gig for a private frat party that we were less than interested in attempting to crash. Krista, Kirsten, and I stayed in a fairly lux room at the Westin (thank you hotwire!), reveling in our plush bathrobes and swapping out who got to sleep alone for each of the three nights. We slept long hours in the daylight, wandered miles throughout the Quarter and Garden districts, and ogled the amazing architecture surrounding us. The weather was decent, giving way to a lovely afternoon on Monday when I went to just sit by the river watching people walk by and boats float up and down the Mississippi.But best of all, I got to leave my tech case at my hotel in Northern Virginia, as I ended there Friday and started my next week in the same location. It was nice to travel like a normal human being, although I had one southern guy comment on my carry-on sized suitcase, “I don’t know how you can fit everything for 3-4 whole days in something that small.” To which I replied, “3-4 days? This is two weeks’ worth.”

Master packer status: Achieved.

A Quick Stop For History

My Philly hotel was right by Valley Forge National Park and we had a short drive yesterday, so my presenter and I went to check it out:Inside Washington Memorial Chapel.

Some replica huts like the ones the soldiers stayed in during their winter encampment. Our wonderful guide assured us, no one died by freezing in these--they are quite cozy.

Washington's headquarters. Looks posh, but the guide assured us, it was much colder (before central heating was installed in the 1930's) than the cabins. It's the actual building he rented during the winter encampment. The kitchens and stables attached to the house are still standing as well!

It's great when I get a chance to actually take advantage of being in places I'd never go otherwise. Once we arrived in Bethlehem, Kathleen and I had a great dinner at Bethlehem Brew Works (as per Kelly's suggestion via the BER food blog), another great place that I'd never have known about before. We're off tonight to drive up into the hills (don't call them mountains) of Pennsylvania.

Oh, and I got almost 8 hours of sleep last night... Go me!

In-N-Out, or Furthering the Fast Food Agenda

What does one do when a 7pm flight gets delayed even further? Go to the airport at 4pm like normal? No. Not in Phoenix.

In the vein of my Chick-Fil-A epiphany, I made a bee-line straight for In-N-Out burger in Tempe by the ASU campus (thanks to MJC's awesome directions :)). Definitely still just fast food, but the fries alone made it worth it. The freshness was definitely a startling discovery... especially watching someone make fries from POTATOES. Who would have thunk it? Really, it was more fun to be able to say I finally ate at In-N-Out than anything else, but it made me giddy all the same.

Then I was off to Popagano park to wander around. I found out the Botanical Gardens were there, and headed over only to find that they were closed early for a luminaria display tonight... that started at 5:30, exactly when I needed to be dropping off my rental car. I glanced through the gates though, and was sad I had to miss it. The cashier directed me to walk up to Hole in the Wall trail, and so I did. I watched most of the sunset from this glorious rock formation, before heading back to the airport.

It's days like this, when I've ditched my presenter (even if they're a great one) and have some time to myself that make me so happy and remind me why I have this job.

Picking up a Familiar State... Florida

Spending an extended amount of time in the Orlando airport is never a good idea. There are so many swealing, sugar and junk-food filled, mickey mouse eared youngsters running around it's mind boggling. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

Notice the crazy pink castle-hotel in the distant background? Yah, that's Miami for you.

My weekend was spent in the wonderful sauna that is Miami. After being in the Northeast all last week, it was an amazing refresher to walk out of the airport into the constant steam bath. We were pretty lazy about things, and I have got to go back to Miami because it really is amazing, but it definitely made an impression. The high rises everywhere, the Hummers littering the streets, the number of kosher and mid-eastern restaurants, the sheer number of jewish people, and when you get to south beach, the fact that every guy is clearly gay or a total douche. However, since it was raining and thunderstorming all day Saturday, so we ended up driving to go see a movie instead getting the quintessential Miami experience of sitting by the beach... But what a movie!

Up in the Air with George Clooney was probably one of the best movies I've seen this year, and that was only half due to the fact that it was basically a movie about my life. The cinematography was brilliant--the packing sequence alone made the movie for me. It wasn't necessarily exactly what one expects from Hollywood, much less such a major star, but it worked in every way. Plus, I distinctly recognized locations in the airports and hotels. Watching it with Krista and Kirsten just made it better since we could all giggle together. I'm sure the other movie patrons hated us (although we made sure to sit a bit off by ourselves).

Krista had to head off to the airport early in the morning, but she and I frolicked in the ocean while Kirsten went for a beach run before we had to make the airport drive. With Krista safely on her way to Chicago, Kirsten and I went to pick up our BER rental car for our drive to Orlando together. We went for fun rather than practical, and grabbed a green bug (my sister's former dream car--this one was for you Kelly!). Before leaving Miami, we grabbed some coffee, people watched, and walked along the beach while taking photos in South Beach. As we were starting the drive, we suddenly realized the car had had only 6 miles TOTAL on it before we started driving! The fact that we actually managed to fit all of our crap in it while still seeing out the back and side windows was the icing on the cake.

Me with our Bug, in Orlando. Although, honestly, I wore this dress with flip flops the day before... Only one sun dress is going to fit in my suitcase for a 3-week stint.

Today's Outfit:

• pink and black jersey dress, Nordstrom Rack
• pearl string, gift
• Report wedges, Nordstrom
• pearl drop earings, gift
• purple sunglasses, Nashville souvenir
• grey cardigan, old navy (not pictured since it's SO warm and wonderful...)

I love florida, 70degree weather, humidity, and the possibility of not wearing stockings or tights. I can throw on this dress and be guaranteed to get complimented on how "put together" I am... in a jersey dress...? In Chicago next week, I can throw a turtleneck under it, and slap two layers of tights on and be fine as well. Jersey dresses=travel wardrobe trump card. And honestly, I think that is one thing this haircut does that I would never have expected--I glue it in place and it instantly makes me look more "done" than long hair ever did. Plus I have extra time for makeup and accessorizing since my hair takes so much less effort.

A good way to keep random runners from stealing your fruit... Or perhaps the Garden of Eden?

Orlando has been good for a seminar, especially a same city. Kirsten and I have luxuriated in our proximity to a Siemens office park, going for runs on their well-lit trails, and we've enjoyed Kirsten's mini-crockpot in which we cooked some delicious beets, green beans, and lentils. I've also mastered the art of making non-instant oatmeal in a coffee pot. There will be recipe posts to come. Now, I'm on my way for my first all-fly week of the year, hitting up NOLA, San Antonio, El Paso, and Phoenix before hitting Austin for the weekend. I'm flying entirely on Southwest this week too, earning myself nearly half of a plane ticket in a week. That is, if I can ever get away from this damn airport...

A Historical Jaunt in Hartford

From time to time I get a presenter who urges me to go out and do something during the mid-day segment of the seminar. For the most part, this means I go work out, take a nap, or walk around the surrounding area so that I can stay close to the action in case things take a turn. However, the Hartford Hilton was taking great care of us (turned out, there wasn't much going on yesterday and performance reviews were coming up for the staff making them really energized to help us) and there were some things in town that I wanted to check out. The state capital building in Hartford is probably one of the most beautiful that I've seen throughout this journey, and I wanted to be able to actually take a picture of it. Also, Samuel Clemens' family home is located in Hartford (the site where he penned Huck Finn and most of his other popular books), and my english major soul was demanding that I go.

With all that in mind, I made sure to wear something appropriate that morning:

(Camera resting on a park bench by the capital building in Hartford...)

Wednesday's Outfit:

• white and purple long-sleeve v-neck t's, Target ($5 each!!)
• grey cardi, Old Navy
• black pencil skirt, Ann Taylor
• black belt, thrifted
• grey and black herringbone tights, target
• black flats, Mee Too via DSW
• shell earings, Hawaii souvenir

The layers and heavy tights kept me warm while very comfortable and didn't make me look so dressed up that I'd feel extremely out of place at a museum. The flats allowed me to walk around the park surrounding the capital building a bit, and wander through the Mark Twain museum as long as I could. I love my new tights by the way... I have another pair to show off soon as well. I didn't pack any dress pants this stretch on the road because a) they take up too much space, and b) they get baggy-saggy really fast and stop looking nice. So I made a target run on Monday to get tights to add to my wardrobe, and of course found 30 other things to get as well... Thus the new tops.

Yay tights!

More Photos:

The capital building was gorgeous in the filtered sunlight of the day. The photo doesn't even come close to doing it justice.

Larry and I posing in front of the Mark Twain house (which happens to be across a lawn from Harriet Beecher Stowe's house... American lit of the mid-1800's evidently has a stronghold in Hartford, who knew?!)

I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside the Mark Twain house, but it was spectacular. The woodwoork, the stenciling, the furniture, the mantelpiece, the conservatory/"jungle", the billiards room where Sam Clemens wrote so many of his greatest works... and everything done up and decorated for christmas. It made me feel a bit voyeristic, but this was a guy who would have LOVED the attention we give celebrities nowadays, so I consoled myself with that fact as I stood mesmerized by everything in the house.

Of course, the consequence of having so much fun yesterday is that I am exhausted today. A nap it is!

Music to My Ears in Music City

Ahhh, Nashville. How I’ve longed to see you... And you didn’t disappoint!

After a lazy afternoon of working out at the hotel and hanging out at the airport in St. Louis, I arrived in Nashville in time to meet up with Heather and Lisa. We checked into our fabulous hotel (the Homewood Suites, and it was SWEET) and headed out to Broadway to see what was going on. There really was music playing everywhere, even from some speakers inside metal boxes on streetcorners. After some scary horse statues at The Wild Horse and watching some line dancin’ and two steppin’ from a safe distance, we packed it up and headed to The Stage, where we got our own dance on. Lisa and I knew most of the rock songs the band played, while Heather knew all the country ones (and we knew a few...). Singing and dancing along, enticing some fun flirtations and a free beer, we closed down the place and decided that we had started off our weekend quite well.

Saturday, we were off to do some hard-core boot shoppin’. Heather and Lisa both located perfect boots while I, ever the picky and frugal one, decided they neither fit into my wardrobe nor my suitcase. I did find a perfect pair of jeans however, and was quite happy with my purchase. While Lisa and Heather went to find a FedEx to ship themselves each a box of their new purchases, I napped (oh glorious sleep!). When I called them up, they had found themselves priced out of the country music museum ($20, who do they think they are? The MOMA?) and scoping out a more pricey ($40), but more exciting ticket--to the Grand Ole Opry show later that night! With the last few hours of Daylight we wandered around Vanderbuilt’s beautiful campus, and then headed back to prep for our second night out.

Dinner at Sambuca (on the recommendation of a Nashvillian who Lisa met in DC... gotta love how PM’s get around and get things done!) was off-the-charts amazing. Lots of small plates of tastyness--salads, lamb

meatballs, sweet potato melt-in-your-mouth gooey goodness, giant tater tots of greatness, puffs of italian cheese and ham, crab-stuffed avacado, and more, plus wine and cocktails came out to less than $50 a head! Plus there was live jazz. Yah, it really does get that good sometimes.

We snagged coffee to keep our full tummies from putting us to sleep and shopped for a bit more at Urban Outfitters (in which I wanted everything, but thank god for full suitcases!), then it was off to the Opry at the

Ryman theater. While we were sitting waiting for it to start, I wikipedia’d the Opry, realizing that none of us knew anything about it. Nothing could have prepared us though... The sparkley jackets! The honest-to-goodness twang! The folksy old radio commercials every other song! The Cracker Barrel jokes! The amazing and surpisingly diverse music that just kept on coming! “Devil Went Down to Georgia” played by Charlie Daniels himself! Really, we were grinning like idiots the whole time and when the two hours were over, we were half shocked it had gone by so fast.

But the night wasn’t over yet! Off we went to the bars, ending up at Tootsies, a dive the local girls in the boot shop had recommended. The place was jammed, and not necessarily in a good way. It was like a mosh pit of people of every age, shape, color, and creed imaginable. There was Obviously-Implanted Lady, and Douche-with-boobs-almost-as-big-as-hers, Stuck-in-the-80’s Man with curly long hair under his cowboy hat, and plenty of You-can’t-be-21 girls. Everyone was pushing and pulling and crammed into this tiny alley of a bar. We stayed for a bit, and then when we decided to bail, it was 5 minutes before we could make it the 20 feet to the front door. Seriously, a fire code nightmare, but a great story.

The next morning, we warded off of our hangovers with a brisk walk to the Copper Kettle, a great brunch spot (and only #3 in Nashville according to their own sign). Everything you could ever want was there for you... and we definitely took advantage. It really topped off a wonderful weekend. Nashville, I love you.

It's A Love/Hate Relationship...

I hate my job when I start to have anxiety whether the company will even make it to May.

I LOVE my job when I get to do a stay-over in Nashville and do everything from party on Broadway to see a Grand Ole Opry show at the Ryman. No matter how tired I am today, taking advantage of flying all over the country starts again, NOW.

Isolated Self-Portraits

It turns out, it's tricky learning how to take decent photos of yourself while you're completely alone. Asking strangers isn't going to give you any more than one shot and half the time, no one is around to help. So I've tried a few other things in the last two days:

#1--Framed mirror portrait.

The Outfit:

• Black Pants (Gap, ancient)
• Blue and white print blouse (Old Navy, thrifted)
• Oatmeal swing cardigan (Ann Taylor, thrifted)
• Belt (thrifted)
• Yellow headband (Fuego)
• White plastic earings (gift)

This was my attempt to show that I tried belting my new cardigan. I'm not sure it worked that well, since I looked a bit floppy around the midsection... potentially creating that "preggers" silhouette that I end up with so easily if anything has an empire waist. Since I didn't have any natural light, the photo ended up horribly colored, but I like the framing.

#2--Moving furniture to act as a tripod near natural light.

The Outfit:

• Black Pants (Again)
• Black and white print shell top (H&M, from a clothing swap)
• Ivory cardi (Nordstroms)
• Black headband (Fuego)
• Pearl drop earings (gift)
• Black buckle flats (Nine West, Thrifted)

One thing I've noticed: I didn't spend money on pretty much anything I'm wearing. The pants were hand-me-ups, the cardi was purchased with my nordstrom rebate coupons last fall, the headband and the shoes were each less than $4. This is ubsurd. Both of these outfits cost me under $10 (except the Report Wedges that you can't see in the first photo, those were real money). I've always gazed at fashion blogs and cringed at what it would cost to buy all those pieces, but now I can clearly see that this is not the case. It's all about your own wardrobe, and finding your style within that. Although, I'm nearing the one week mark of things living in my suitcase, and it's starting to show a bit.

In other news: Grand Rapids' downtown has stolen my heart. It is so freaking adorable and has so many restaurants that look spectacular! I had lunch from the Pita House, and it was mighty fine. I've been posting about my restaurant experiences at BERfoodblog.blogspot.com (the link is to the right as well), and I've had some doozies. Check out my post about southern food in Detroit, and if anyone thinks they can make sweet potato muffins, CALL ME.

Last night I ended up eating at my hotel after getting wine ($2 off wine on wednesday!) and enjoying the free wi-fi in the lobby, but it was the Amway Grand Hotel, and luckily the food was pretty grand as well. Anyone else notice that the nicer the hotel, the more you have to pay for every little thing? It stinks. Why would some random holiday inn in Fishkill give you free wireless and not the Amway Grand?! The Amway Grand does have amazing bathtubs though, one can immerse fully, and closets big enough to sleep in. I guess you win some you lose some.

P.S. Just because it's local wine doesn't mean it's good.

Re-routing and Overloading My Way Through Chicago

Instead of flying on a painfully long flight home on Friday night from Burlington, VT I had planned on an easy direct to Chicago to spend the weekend with Krista and CJ. Oh, if only that had been what had actually happened.

The two days out on the road before this weekend were pretty good. Sadly, I gave up my free day on Veterans Day up to fly trans-con to Manchester, NH. In Manchester, I sat in on a seminar for the first time. I was out with Ken Vieth, who is an amazing artist and art teacher. Unfortunately I was really not feeling creative for whatever reason and what I created that day during the hands on part of the seminar was disappointing. It was a great project though, and I intend to attempt the art on my own time at some point this coming week. We had a great talk on the drive to Burlington, VT as we drove towards a sparklingly beautiful sunset. He was the kind of guy who’s had amazing life experiences that he’s willing to talk about at length, but he also is a question asker and was interested in what stories I had to share as well. I really appreciated talking about my own issues with figuring out what my life’s passions are and what direction to go in after this BER year.

Burlington is on my list of favorite places in the country. I got him to join me out for dinner on Church Street, a fun pedestrian area of town that also has a Ben & Jerry’s store (pumpkin cheesecake ice cream anyone?!) and we wandered a bit just enjoying the college atmosphere and New England architecture. After the seminar the next day, we had a while before our flights so we went down and parked downtown and walked to Lake Champlain, which was staggeringly beautiful with mist and late-afternoon sunlight streaming across it. After one more scoop of Ben & Jerry’s we headed off to the airport, where we were greeted by the most glaringly awful flashing screens I’ve seen in a while.

Turned out, there was the remnants of a hurricane sitting over all of the major east coast hub airports. Ken’s flight to Newark was outright cancelled while my connection flight through Philly was delayed 6 hours. By working my PM magic and working with a brilliant US Airways ticket counter agent (she is getting a commendation letter from me, she was THAT great in the crisis!). Ken and I both flew on a US Air flight to LGA, I got him a car to get to Newark while I changed terminals and got on an American Airlines flight to Chicago, arriving barely half an hour late. Considering the situation was pretty shitty overall, the feeling I got after managing the whole thing seamlessly was amazing. This job has really given me skills that are real world applicable. If anyone wants to know exactly what to say to a ticket counter agent in this kind of situation, call me. :) Also, I was capable of getting my presenter from one airport to another, while getting myself from one terminal of a huge airport to the other terminal, through the correct security line, and still have a front of the plane aisle seat.

When I got on my American flight to ORD, I was pretty excited to actually be making it to my destination, but definitely planning on downing a glass of wine. When my seatmate sat down next to me though, I realized the universe was making it up to me for the previous stress of my day. The cut,e 24 year old NYC equities trader next to me who has family in Seattle was not only fun to talk to, but also all about proving himself to the older, better traveled, attractive female on his right. After he started name dropping celebrities I knew I was about to get my drinks paid for. And that is another thing this job has taught me: let them pay, even if they make fun of you for knitting. That way I get to keep my per-diem for exciting hotel stays in places like Nashville and Miami.

When I arrived in Chicago, Krista and CJ came and picked me up for a chill weekend in Chicago. I’ve already done all of the touristy stuff, so I just wanted to see their new neighborhood and maybe go thrifting. And did we! CJ is the most amazing chef ever... she whipped me up a salad to make up for the fact that I’d barely had time for a luna bar for dinner and then the next morning, after a trip to the most amazing ukrainian deli/grocery store, we had a scramble/fry that was potentially the best thing I’ve had in weeks (excepting my mom’s squash soup... *hint hint*). She also figured out the proper name of the coffee drink I wanted--a coranado or a wet macchiato... damn it I wan to be back in a place that understands “flat white.” Krista took me for a terrifying yet exhilarating scooter ride around the neighborhood and showed me her super-secrect favorite gift shop which was definitely worthy of being favorited.

Then we went to the thrift store. I am not allowed to disclose the actual location of this amazing treasure trove (as if I could find it myself if I tried), but Oh Damn. Thank god I threw a space bag in my suitcase to crunch down some of the amazingness I purchased. I got an extra pair of black flats (Nine West and brand new), a knock-off yet adorable Prada bag (which I call affectionately Frada), tons of sweaters and tops, and an American Apparel skirt, nevermind the already squished contents of my suitcase. We had a blast, and then to top it off, we went to possibly the world’s largest whole foods to grab dinner and to gawk at the rich Lincoln Center folks. People actually get glasses of wine and drink as they shop. How yuppie-fabulous can you get?

Now I am in the Pittiest of Burghs, about to meet an old friend for dinner before starting a week out with one of my favorite presenters from last year. It makes up for the fact that I’m headed to Akron and Detroit this week as well.

Company Town

One of the tings I do too rarely is celebrate a surprising find around the country. For example, Peoria, IL has some surprisingly beautiful architecture and glorious churches all in a riverside setting with beautiful steel bridges and magnificent sunsets. I drove around town to get a feel for it and as I was exiting I saw a glaring reminder of the recession: an enormous CAT factory.

This is a company town. When I hear about layoffs and losses on CNN, there is no face to what I hear. This town is on the brink of potentially becoming a ghost town... All of those cute little shops and restaurants on the riverfront could close as people lose their jobs and move away. All of the sunny optimism of the weather could be a blank promise of hope.

But the churches are old, older than CAT I would imagine. This town has seen its ups and its downs, and has as good a chance as anywhere to make it. And, regardless of the moral compass or white-breadedness of the town, and notwithstanding the television in the hotel lobby blaring FOX news (which I fear I might rip from it's sockets by the end of the day), I am interested in coming back next year. Plus, there's a great Italian restaurant by my hotel.

Vacay for a Day

[So I wrote this Sunday, but lacked decent internets... Here ya go anyways]

My weekends at home are often one big rush to squeeze in as much as I can into one little day. As if I spent the whole time from Friday afternoon to Sunday night in an airport, I end up hurrying up to wait. Even when I’m not traveling, I’m either cramming in seeing as many friends as I can, doing as much laundry and re-organizing as possible, or rushing from errand to errand, inevitably still forgetting one or two. This is why stayovers can be so much better than going home, unless I find myself in a city where I want to see everything in the 36 or less hours I typically have on the ground.

I’m sick of this pattern, so I’m changing the arrangements. This weekend, I really didn’t want to have two long, pointless flight days. Baltimore to Seattle to Milwaukee would inevitably be broken into at least 3 shorter flights, and flying out for a week at a time is painfully inefficient. So instead, I went almost all the way home, and spent the weekend in Phoenix with another PM. It didn’t really save me anything in flight time except that I had two non-stops and didn’t have any packing to do on Saturday.

We agreed to splurge on a hotel and stayed at the Fairmont Princess in Scottsdale thanks to a friends and family discount from a connection. It cost us under $300 each for the entire weekend, including rental car (yay points!) and food. We spent the entire day yesterday lying by the pool doing absolutely nothing and then met up with some of her family friends for a family dinner and a movie rental. It was so nice to be warm (75-80!!) and to finally see some real sun (yes, I’m a little bit pink and crispy today, even with SPF 55).

Then I got even luckier: a non-stop flight from Phoenix to Milwaukee in First Class!! When the only seat left on the only reasonable flight is in first class the company evidently books it for us. There are definitely some creature comforts that make it worth it, but more on that later. I just really enjoyed having a chance to really have a vacation, even if it was only a day.

My latest goal is really to find friends all over the country so that I can have more mini-vacations like this. Anyone who wants to donate a friend to the cause is more than welcome to suggest folks who wouldn’t mind a couch crasher who LOVES to bring wine and cook dinner for her host :).

I Hate My Job/I Love My Job

I hate my job when... the presenter treats me like a personal assistant, asks me to go get her heavy box out of the car for her, and has a tone in her voice that simply says she thinks I am beneath her.

I love my job when... I basically say, "Peace out!" and go for a run on the sunny and sandy boardwalk in Virginia Beach during my lunch break. Don't you dare give me crap for it, I'm driving your snoring and drooling butt almost 4 hours tonight, so damn straight I'm taking an hour and a half for lunch.Damn Straight.

A Million Stories to Tell

The problem with having a blast constantly on the road is that there's no time or energy left to blog about it. Lets just go back in time a bit and see if I can cover some of the fun I've had making the most of my weekends:

Las VegasYou can't blame me for not posting... *cue cheesy joke about what happens in Vegas*

My first trip ever to Vegas was a blast, mostly thanks to the group I was there with. I had the best hotel-roommates ever and we enjoyed both crashing early the first night and getting sleep as well as getting a little crazy with some press on tattoos in our pre-going out prep session for the Saturday night festivites. We walked up and down the strip, enjoying the 65 degree all the more since we'd all come from places that had been below freezing. I could hardly believe how tacky everything was--the gigantic open containers, the clothes, the posters, the cards littering the ground, even the casinos themselves! I gambled a grand total of $1 and lost it in 4 pulls of the handle but managed to find the perfect fake coach purse that I'd been looking for.

When we went out Saturday night, we went to a bar on the roof of the Rio hotel and enjoyed an absolutely spectacular view along with a few minutes of a VIP open bar that we managed to sneak into. I was sadly the first person to be waved off by the bartender when the 10pm cutoff for the open bar hit, but the guy in front of me (who had gotten some drinks) at one point had turned around and accientally whacked my arm pretty well. I guess he felt bad because he ordered one extra drink and handed it to me, without hanging around to awkwardly chat me up!! Best free drink ever! I had brought along a fun little pink dress that I'd bought in mexico and a big black belt that i figured would help bring it to Vegas standards. Turns out wearing anything other than black (and I was in HOTT pink) meant I stood out. After having some serious anxiety about not fitting in by wearing a dark colored shirt-or-dress, I ended up getting so many compliments I was handily put in my place for freaking out.

Generally, it was a blast, and I enjoyed getting to know a lot of my co-workers much better.

Charleston
I decided that I wanted to go to Charleston, SC when I realized I was going to be stuck in the Virginia area for three weeks straight, yet no other program manager was available to join me in picking up another (warm) state. Luckily I have awesome friends who are willing to fly cross country and/or drive 5 hours to join me for a weekend. Kirsten found a fabulous 2 hour walking tour that ended up being 3 hours, and we covered miles and miles while looking at some amazing old buildings. Charleston is a quintessential southern town and theyve done a great job of keeping beautiful old buildings in the old part of town intact and well kept. Of course, Maureen and I wandered a bit of the non-walking tour part of town and there are some typical college housing type buildings near the university. Again I managed to enjoy a weekend in the sunshine and near-60 degree temps with great peeps. We had a fun dinner out, although nothing requiring pink dresses.

Charleston really did surprise me with how extremely beautiful it was, along with how freaking huge (and how close to the waterfront) Steven Colbert's childhood home is.

The Other WashingtonOkay... how the F did I get three 60+ degree stayovers in January and February?!

I rolled into DC this weekend because I ended one week just south of the city and started the next week 2 hours away in Richmond. After dropping of the bags and my rental car, I spent the evening walking the Mall up and down as the sun set. I ended up freezing, but kept going and got some amazing photos (they'll be up soon at flickr.com/photos/arirose) of the sunset. I almost cried at the Lincoln memorial, and did the same in front of the white house. Then I took myself out to a nice dinner and met up with another program manager (a different Kirsten) who was in town with some friends. We went out and experienced all the yuppiness of DC, including a round of 10 irish car bombs bought by some kind of banker who was seirously drunk and trying to impress Kirsten. Damn those things are good... and have a lot of alcohol!

The next day I hit up museums for about 5 hours. I saw the dinos and diamonds at the Natural History Museum, the Star Spangled Banner and first ladies dresses at the American History Museum and some amazing art at the National Gallery and American Art museum. I poked my head in so many places and wandered past so much beautiful architecture throughout the weekend that I was overwhelmed. The capital really is spread out... I walked between 5-10 miles every day, easily. Today I was able to enjoy the sunshine and visit the market for a bit as well as go to a couple more museums before picking up my car and heading south.

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There's a lot more to be said about things that have happened in the last couple weeks, but I figure the facts of the stayovers are the most interesting to all of you, so I thought I'd start there. Hopefully in the next four days before I come home for break I'll get around to transcribing some of the things I've had written in my journal and give an update on what I've been doing mid-week to keep me from posting anything :)