I am catching up with blogging of the vacations!  Looking at my pictures, it looks like I do nothing but go on vacation.  Hardly (hardly!) the truth, but I can't really blog about work. 

 

1) They frown upon it.  2) It's really, really boring.

 

I just posted the pictures of the trip Markus and I took in July, to Asia.  We had 9 days, and went to Tokyo, Beijing, and Hong Kong.  Yes, that's a lot to fit into 9 days.  It was rather like the Survey Course 101, Major Asian Cities.  And since it's my first time in Asia, it was probably a good dose.

 

We had a great time - the sights, the architecture - um... the *food* was an adventure in itself.  (In China, it did stare back at us.  And we were too chicken to try the fried duck hearts.  Or chicken feet, or pigs ears.)

 

But gosh - it's been so long since I blogged - there are all these features and messages and such.  I am wondering if I should give my site here a complete overhaul....  BTW, some of you have sent messages, but your settings do not allow a reply.  (So - 1) yes, I am in IT, but can't tell you where I work.  2) I found my apartment on Craigs List.  3) Decent studio apartments in Manhattan that aren't rat traps run $1800 - $2200 a month)

 

Will follow up with adventures from Moms and Als Cruise

 

Maybe someday... maybe someday... I will actually go on a vacation where I didn't put off everything until the last minute.

 

Argh!!!! Okay - I've got 10 work deliverables to do before I leave tomorrow morning for Asia.  Which is totally do-able, except I also need to do laundry, buy walking shoes I won't have time to break in, pack, buy camera batteries, clean the kitchen, clean everything else, pay the bills and hit the bookstore so the 14 hour flight isn't horribly boring.

 

So, I think the manicure-pedicure I was planning to get before leaving is out.

 

Darn it.

 

But anyway - tomorrow I get to go on vacation! Woohoo!  Will come back with lots of pictures (provided I get those camera batteries) and hopefully when I return, I will be sane, relaxed, happy and once again, balanced.  Because things seem *totally* out of whack recently.

 

I'm so stressed I actually ran downstairs to the vending machine and bought pop-tarts for breakfast.  Don't tell my health-conscious fiancee.  Hopefully I can take advantage of the enormous sugar-rush (what the heck do they put in those things, anyway?) and start checking things off my to-do list.

 

Talk to you soon!

 

 

Okay -  I got through my last trip to Dallas, got through my company picnic, and got through paying this month's rent. 

 

And now, FINALLY, I am getting some leisure time.  I'm working from Mom's place this week, ditching the city that should *
not* be this hot and humid already for some San Diego dry heat.  Then a couple of weeks after that, I am taking a real vacation (speaking of hot and humid) and flying off to Japan and China for a week.

 

Yes!  THAT Japan and THAT China.  Woohoo!  Another one of those don't-speak-a-word-of-the-language-but-will-try-to-get-by kinds of deals. So, Markus and I just need to get through the next few weeks without having some sort of work-related meltdown and then we get to be delightfully reminded that there is more to life than just working hard.

 

This is a very work-hard, play-hard kind of city.  Really, if it were just me, I may have just taken a week off to de-compress in my apartment, playing video games, and that would have been sad and pathetic.  (She says as she's got her 917th free cell game open in the next window.)

 

I also have another vacation planned with me and Mom for later in the summer, but I'll tell y'all (crap!  There's all that Texas travel showing!) about that at another time.

 

Now, I just need to find my camera batteries around here somewhere.....

 

 

 

Hi Everyone!

 

My sister Jillian and her husband Dan came to visit over Memorial Day weekend, and we took not one picture. 

 

My Mom's going to disown me. 

 

Actually, I think Markus took one with his camera phone... we all had brunch at The Boathouse in Central Park, and as it was a beautiful day, we went rowing.  So I've got a camera-phone quality picture of Jillian and Dan around here somewhere... if I can figure out how to get it uploaded... and some turtles.  I had no idea there were turtles in the Central Park lake.

 

I've been travelling like crazy lately - and not the good kind of travel.  The business travel-travel, where lots of cranky people drag themselves to the airport at the crack of dawn to get on airplanes at 5:30 in the morning to get to a city they don't want to be in before their 9 o'clock meetings.  I've been back and forth to Minneapolis, Dallas, San Francisco, Boston and  New Jersey lately.  I've got another couple of weeks of this, and then I hope I can *finally* take a little bit of a break.  And do some things that are worth writing about!

 

The neighborhood is changing so much from when I moved here two years ago.  My building now has a 24 hour restaurant downstairs, and people are moving in here by the dozens.  Not bad for a neighborhood that had only one Starbucks open on the weekend.  Now all 18 of them within a three block radius are open for business at all hours, and the landscape is constantly changing.  I took some pictures of all the crazy construction that's going on now (and I can *hear* it right now, despite being on floor 34).  Of course, if I wanted quiet, I wouldn't live here, but do the jackhammers have to start before 8am every morning??? :)

 

Woohoo!  It's spring! It's spring!

 

I am dee-light-ed to report that the sun is finally out.  Blossoms have begun to bloom on the trees and for the first time in months, I went outside without a coat. 

 

Woohoo!

 

I took an hour lunch today, just to leave the house and walk around a bit.  Last spring-summer was all work-work-work and I feel like it just passed me by completely.  This year, I am determined to enjoy it.  Everyone seems to be - the streets were filled with vendors, and people left their suit jackets in their cubicles today as they ventured forth into the outdoors to perch on benches, brick walls, and steps to eat their lunches. 

 

Just so you know -the cocktail party went great.  Our first stint at entertaining people not related to us was a nice time for all.  And I highly recommend HouseBeautiful's "Welcome to the Table."  Good appetizers and dips.  A week later we finally cleaned the leftovers out of the fridge.

 

And since I am without Markus this week, as he has a big business trip, I am determined to get out and about- perhaps even with camera, and enjoy the nice weather. 

 

Except for the evenings, when I think I'll wear mud masks, do a pedicure and other maintenance issues watching Grey's Anatomy re-runs on TV.  Eating popcorn.  Or chocolate. :)

 

Holy Cow!  Had *no* idea I was linked to the windows live spaces page... saw a strange increase in browsing traffic and thought, "hmm... an awful lot of people must be googling 'Alexandra' 'NYC' blah-blah-blah...  must be nothing on TV tonight...."

 

I am glad to announce though, that I do have something incredibly la-dee-da and New Yorky to talk about.  Markus and I are throwing a *cocktail* party on Saturday.  We moved here to the new-place-with-the-cool-view in December, but really we haven't had many people over.  It's been winter, and we've been hibernating - plus the fact we had both families over for Xmas, and that did require some recovery time.

 

So - I've got to find where we stashed the swiffer, and start attacking the dust bunnies before our guests get here.  Oh - and I have to buy stuff to make cocktails.  And figure out what kind of appetizer-type things I'm going to serve.  Because somehow, I don't think microwaving a few boxes of frozen White Castle burgers is really going to do it.

 

Yes.  Yet another difference between Manhattan, and El Cajon, California.

 

After our oh-so-grown-up party, the gang is going out to dinner.  As spring is desperately trying to emerge victorious over our recent cold snaps, we have ventured out to see what's new in the neighborhood lately.  To our *great* surprise South Street Seaport has become a little less touristy, and if you duck into some of the side streets, there are all these new little restaurants and boutiques that seem to be catering to locals.  I actually heard someone the other day refer to it as the "Seaport District".  Which is about two feet away from the Financial District.  But hey - it's so trendy, no one knows about it yet. :)  So we're going to try to convince everyone to check it out.

 

Hopefully, if it gets major trendy, we'll get more cab traffic down here.

 

Tomorrow, I am off on a work trip to Boston... I feel ever-so-productive and corporate in my new job, but I am looking forward to the weekend.

 

And if any of you reading this have a super-duper crowd-pleasing appetizer recipe - please, please, please, I beg you, let me know!  Please post it.  I cannot improvise.  I burn soup without instructions.  It took me years to figure out that if a recipe requires eggs, you have to actually break them first and not dump them in, shells and all.  

 

I hope this isn't a disaster, and everyone has fun.  (And I wonder how late notice you can give Balducci's and still have them deliver several plate of Hors doeuvres?)

 

So - first I have to say, how much does it stink that I have little *snow* icons on my weather report for Easter weekend?  Alas, I believe there will be no Easter Parade this year.  The only hat I will be wearing is one that keeps my ears warm.

 

After succeeding quite well after my bout of procrastination, I am happy to report that it is Friday night, and I have no work for the weekend.  Other than to clean my house. 

 

Yay, me.

 

And so my little New Yorky tidbit for the day is:  I've been here over two years now, and I had a first this week.  I've been having to travel back and forth to New Jersey for a client recently, and I've been taking the subway, to the train station, changing trains in New Jersey, and it's been a pain.  This week, I discovered the ferry that goes from the financial district to Hoboken.

 

Now, it's ridiculous that I only discovered it this week, given that I used to be able to see it from my old apartment on Wall Street.  But I didn't actually know what that boat was, or where it was going.  Now, I do.  It goes to Hoboken, New Jersey.  And this week, it had me on it.

 

I'm not knocking the subway... but let me tell you, if you have to commute, coming home at the end of the day on a lovely boat that circles around the tip of Manhattan, watching the sun set on the glass buildings, is a *great* way to end the week.  Next time, I'll take pictures.

 

Have a great Easter weekend, everyone!

 

Hi Everyone,

 

Apparently, I hibernate during the winter.

 

Ah, but now it's spring and I've cleaned my house, and rearranged the cds and thrown out old clothes and am now sitting down to blog. 

 

I wish I could just chalk this up to pure, saintly behavior.  But alas, and you *know* what I'm talking about.... it's pretty obvious I'm procrastinating something....

 

I've changed companies again, and have left my big corporate consulting job for a mid-sized consulting job.  I still get to work mostly at home, but I've got some new responsibilities and need to work  this weekend to catch up on it all.  So, of course, instead of actually biting the bullet, sitting down and getting it done, I've done *everything* I can possibly think of to stall it.  I am horrified that all of those "last minute" habits I honed through high school are still with me 20 years later (and boy, does typing *that* make me feel older...) and that I am playing that, "oh, well - let me just make myself a piece of toast first" and "you know, I need some music" or "just one more game of free cell and I'll be mentally prepped to go" game.

 

Ok - here's my plan.  I will make a deal with anyone who still reads this space... meaning Mom, Grandpa and maybe Aunt Cindy if she's totally bored.  I will now turn off the play computer, and turn on the work computer, and blog later to let you know I was successful.

 

Yep.  That's what I'm going to do.

 

Any second now...

 

Did I mention that living with Markus is great?  We are still engaged, which is lovely.  Am really glad living with me has not sent him in the other direction, screaming "she's crazy! she's crazy!" as he flees down the street. 

 

And I had a New Years' resolution this year that lasted a whole 2 months.  Okay, so it was a simple, "make sure you get dressed and leave the house once a day," but when you work at home, and the Tandoor Palace can deliver within 20 minutes when you need sustenance, sometimes getting the motivation to leave the apartment is a little difficult.

 

Ugh.  Sounds like I've let myself go in a city that prides itself on it's people being always 'on.'

 

Maybe I should go to the gym first, and exercise away some of the Winter-5 I put on.  Besides, hasn't it been clinically proven that exercise stimulates brain activity?  I could probably get my work done *faster* if I took a break and exercised first....

 

No.  Must.  Do.  Work.

 

Welcome to my psyche.  Okay.  I'm really signing off now. I'm going to get this done, and give myself multiple blog "hurrays!" when I'm finished. 

 

Maybe I should call Mom first, just to say hi.  No - it's 7:30 in the morning her time.  She's bite my head off and then staple it back on again, just so I would have an attached pair of ears that could hear her telling me to stop whining, get my ass in gear and just do the damn work.

 

:)  Okay.  This all sounds so silly and lame that the shame of putting it out in public is enough to spur me onto work.  Thanks, public. ;)  Will talk soon, about more fun matters.  There's so much fun city-stuff on the horizon, I need to get on top of work so I can enjoy it all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am back from Vacation, and here is the blog that my whole family has been waiting for!  Sorry it did not come sooner, but I’ve been extremely sick, and not feeling very verbose.   So, here it is, better late than never.  I did one entry per city, and am putting all four of them here in chronological order -, which is hard, because in order for you to read them top down, I have to write them backwards.  But I am up to the challenge.  So Grandpa, sit back, relax, and read my blog while I read the chapters I received from your autobiography. J

Leaving New York, Markus and I flew over to London.  Despite it being technically a very long layover, we managed to make a full day of it.  And incidentally, I now know that “left baggage” is not a lost and found, but a rather overpriced convenience that allows you not to have to develop aching arms or a bad back during your brief excursion outside the airport.  Or, at least I thought it was overpriced at the time.  When I returned, I felt it was worth every single penny.

We spend a couple of hours at the Victoria and Albert museum, following that up with a walk through Alexandra’s Gate (but of course!) into Hyde Park for a lovely stroll there.  (See why it would have been horrible to be dragging the bags around?)  We got to London on the day that England was playing their World Cup game, so the town was very quiet, except for the pubs which were packed with people watching big screen TVs, waiting for the game to start.  With a little more time left, Markus looked at me and asked, “What extremely touristy thing do you want to do with our last hour?”  A little sheepishly, I muttered “Um, Portobello Road,” due to the sheer amount of times I’ve seen Bedknobs and Broomsticks… and since I’ve already been to Covent Garden to see where Eliza Doolittle would have been hocking her flowers. So we headed up to Portobello Road.  I did well preparing myself – didn’t find any riches of ages, and knew I wouldn’t see dancing examples of British Imperialism, playing kettle drums, marching down the street.  Had a great time anyway.  See?  I’ve learned my lesson about false expectations based on what I’ve seen in movies.  And movie musicals at that.

We got back to the airport in time to see the game start.  I’ve never seen people at an airport so involved in the same activity.  Hundreds of people twisting around in those plastic seats, so they can see the game being broadcast in the airport.  Hundreds of heads all turned the same direction, gasping at the same time, cheering at the same time.  Sure, you’ve seen it a million times at a stadium or event, it’s just a little surreal when you witness it at an airport.

Caught the plane to Helsinki, slept about 5 hours, and then hopped on a train to Vaasa, Finland.

First of all, I didn’t realize Finland was so tree-covered.  Eating the traditional meatballs and mashed potatoes in the dining car, leisurely watching the trees go by - It was exactly what you could imagine from a European train trip.  Markus’s folks were waiting for us at the train station, snapping pictures, when we arrived a few hours later, and they were SO nice. They presented me with “Sauna, Sisu and Sibelius – A Survival Guide to Finnish,” which is an adorable book which explains to you what a Wife-Carrying Contest is (exactly what it sounds like), why Finland could get along with Russia during the Cold War (the ability to drink the Vodka-Imbibing Russians under the table during Trade Negotiations) and how many Finns you can fit into a phone booth (14 technical students.)

The part of Vaasa where Markus grew up has the same feel as a lot of the navy bases I grew up on – safe, plenty of room to play, neighbors who know one another.  However, it does begin to feel different when you realize it’s 11:00 at night, and the sun hasn’t set.   The weather was gorgeous, and we did a lot of visiting out on the front porch, just relaxing.  I had a wonderful time… family is so important and my favorite part of the Vaasa leg of the trip was actually just when we were all sitting around talking, and enjoying each other’s company… and that’s saying a lot, considering I don’t speak a word of Finnish yet and Markus has to translate quite a bit when the thoughts go really flying.

Our second day there we went to lunch at an amusement park which rises out of the middle of forest, with not much else around it.  And after lunch, Markus, his Dad, and I raced little cars while his Mom took pictures.  We also headed back home for a game of cutthroat croquet, which was a blast and made us laugh a lot.  I’ve got pictures of that, too, and you can admire my stellar croquet form.

Yes, there are things to do in this life that don’t involve sitting in front of a computer.  Need to remind myself of that sometimes.