I got a new phone, nanananananaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Since Tim lost his phone in NYC, we had to go yesterday to get him a new one. Since we are both on the same plan (one that he set up when AT&T was still it's own company), we had to switch to a new plan with Cingular and thus, both get new phones.

We each got the same phone, just cause we both really liked it. Now I need to get a new face plate for it, so I can tell which one is mine. But anyway, my old phone was the free Nokia one, so this is a big upgrade. I already got my Madonna "Hung Up" Ringtone rockin'! Don't worry though, our numbers are still the same. And after fiddling with it for a while, I think I figured out how to work the camera...It's a little tricky. Anyway, yay for Tim losing stuff!

New York City: Day 4 – “The bird's eye view…”

By the last day in NYC, we realized that we had squandered too much time in Midtown and still hadn’t seen any of the rest of New York. So we got up, had breakfast and took the subway all the way down to the financial district and walked around for a bit. We went to the WTC site and saw the giant empty space where those enormous landmarks had once been. It was a very sobering visit. Everyone there was quiet while we read all the displays they had and the giant sign with all the names of those who lost their lives in the tragedy. Tim found the name of one of his family friends, David Rice, who had died. I took a few a few photos and we wandered around and then headed down to Battery Park for our ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty.

By the time we had gotten to Battery Park the wind had really picked up and as we came around the corner, we saw the ferry that we were supposed to get on, wobbling wildly from side to side. The water was relatively rough and the boat, although full of people already, looked as though it was ready to fall on its side. We decided to admire the statue of liberty from afar. I was not feeling like drowning that day, especially since I still had so much shopping to do.

Echo and Utku’s apartment is really nice and everything in it is brand new. However, since they moved from overseas, they weren’t able to bring a ton of stuff with them. They have all the basic things, but the place is still rather sparse. So we were trying to figure out what we should get them for Christmas that would be practical and useful. We meant to do more shopping throughout the whole trip, but we just hadn’t really gotten around to it. On one of our cab rides home though, our taxi had driven through Columbus Circle Shopping Center so we figured on our way home we’d try to find a “Home” store to pick them up a gift.

Anyway, after Battery Park (which was aptly named, since that was location in which I found out the rechargeable battery on my camera was about dead) we decided to take a cab to SoHo through TriBeca so we could get a good look at those neighborhoods. TriBeca seemed pretty nice, but SoHo was awesome. It was just the type of neighborhood where all the hip, young people hung out. So we started poking through the stores. Up and down different streets and into lots of little shops. I didn’t end up buying anything there either. I thought I would see a ton of stuff that we didn’t have in Denver yet. Perhaps some little fashion-y accessory that said, “New York”. But to be honest, everything there was about the same stuff they are selling in Denver, and at much higher prices. So, I didn’t really find anything.

After SoHo, we took a cab down to the lower east side and had lunch at Moby’s vegetarian restaurant, Teany. It was such a cool little space. We had a wonderful lunch with lots of “Faux Meat” and other delights. We were going to try the vegetarian Chocolate Cheesecake, but they messed up our order and it was getting really crowded with people waiting to eat, so we just high-tailed it out of there and went exploring on the lower east side. There were all kinds of cool little shops there as well. We poked around for a while and then took a cab back up to midtown to FAO Schwartz.

I was on a mission to check out the light up piano. And maybe… even play it. We got up there to the store, which was packed of course, and looked at all the cool displays and then finally found the giant musical piano. There was a big line to play it, mostly little kids, so I decided not to waste an hour. It was a pretty cool toy though. I gotta get me one of those! Afterwards, we pulled a George Costanza and went to Bergdorfs to use their bathrooms. They did have a lovely Ladies Lounge by the way. We poked around the store and admired the $500 cufflinks and large broad shouldered men named Mr. Covington and Sven and then moved on to Bloomingdales.

Now, I must confess I came to New York with the idea of getting a new perfume. I got tired of my old Ralph Lauren perfume. I bought it when I was stationed in Maryland and every time I wear it, it takes me back to that time in my life. I wanted something to take me back to New York every time I wore it. So, we hit up the perfume counter at Bloomingdales and sniffed upwards of twenty different perfumes before settling on my new favorite. Bulgari Omnia Crystalline. It’s sooo wonderful. Anyway, it was my last Christmas present from Tim. But poor Tim, after losing his keys, his gloves, and his cell phone (Oh, didn’t I mention that? There is a cab somewhere that has Tim’s cell phone. We’ve been calling their lost and found, but they haven’t found it yet…) hadn’t gotten anything new or special. So, we went over to this HUGE candy store. (those of you who know Tim, know this is his idea of heaven…) It was two levels of pure sugar. Chocolates of every kind, suckers, gummy sour things, a whole wall of Pez… So he stocked up on a few different candies, got a giant Unicorn sucker. Mmmm….. Corn Syrup.

After fighting crowds all day and still having no present for Echo and Utku, we headed over to Columbus Circle in a cab. (By way of the south end of Central Park, it was a really lovely view, right about dusk…) We went into Williams & Sonoma where we got promptly distracted by things we wanted for our OWN kitchen, but settled on a set of Caphalon cooking spoons and spatulas, and some pot holders, and a can opener. Boring stuff, I know… But, hey, people gotta cook! We then went down to Whole Foods and got a few things we thought they might want for dinner the next day, and then we grabbed some sushi from the Whole Foods Sushi bar. It was surprisingly good. Then we finally said Good Night to New York and headed back to the apartment.

The days that we spent in New York were so fun. I am so glad we came out here and saw all that we did. I get the feeling that we didn’t even scratch the surface of what the city had to offer though. We plan on going back sometime and really exploring the city more. Maybe in the spring when it’s not as chilly, or crowded. What am I saying? NYC invented crowds! What a vast and interesting place it is. I look at it on the map and it seems so small and then I get to the top of the Empire State Building and it seems like the hugest city in the world. I can understand why the people that live here love it so much. New York is completely unique in every way. No other place in America has this much history and power. It was quite an adventure we had this Christmas, and it was worth every penny. Enjoy pics from our last day in New York.

New York City: Day 3 – “I’m dreaming of a wet Christmas…”

We woke up late again on Christmas day (hey, after all it is vacation…) and after breakfast we took the subway down to 5th Avenue to look at the displays. (Oh and we saw some guy with his wang hanging out, peeing in the subway...) We stopped by Rockefeller Center again to scope out the Christmas tree a bit better and scored a picture of us together (the only one from the trip…I kept getting nervous about handing off my camera to people). Then we went and saw all the displays. Maybe it sounds silly but I always thought that being a window dresser would be a good job for me. It involves design, fashion and arts & crafts. I bet I’d be really good at it. Anyway, we admired all the windows from Saks, Lord and Taylor, Neiman Marcus etc. But I have to say Lord & Taylor was my favorite. The fairy tales were very well done.

The skies had started to turn pretty dark and we knew rain was on the way, so we picked up a cheap umbrella and kept trucking around. Almost all the stores were closed, but we had a good time out and about just enjoying the quiet streets. We stopped by the NYC library. It’s such a beautiful building! They keep it up very well and it’s so huge. We stopped and had some lunch and then wandered into an electronics store and Tim got a great deal on a 1 Gig Flash card for my camera. Talk about a Christmas gift. I am so happy to finally have one. I can get about 800 images on my camera now.

After lunch we were ready for a rest. I think the stress of the day before had gotten to both of us and we were feeling a bit cranky. So we went back to the house to rest and then get ready for our dinner at the Sea Grill. Tim got all dressed up (he wore a TIE!) and I finally got to wear my favorite blue dress. I foolishly wore some pretty high heels, but since we were planning on taking a taxi home after dinner, I figured I wouldn’t have to do that much walking.

Wrong! We took the subway to the wrong stop again, and by the time we got to the restaurant I was in pain. But hey, I looked cute, so it’s okay. The Sea Grill overlooks the Ice Skating Rink at Rockefeller Center and the atmosphere is very warm and stylish. Everything is done in this soft aqua colored glass with etched designs on it. Very beautiful and peaceful. I felt the stress of the day before melt away as we sat and sipped our drinks. We sat at the bar for a bit until our table was ready and then sat down to the BEST MEAL I’ve had in so long. It was pretty expensive but so worth it. I had the Lobster and Tim had Roasted Pork and I wish I would have thought to take pictures of the meal because it was a work of art. Anyway, we also had dessert which was divine. I had Baked Apple tart with Marscapone cheese and rum raisins…sooooo good. Tim had the Sorbet which was also wonderful. All in all a very pleasant evening and meal.

Afterwards we decided to go see King Kong, but it was sold out. So we decided to go home and relax (i.e. make out) instead. It was pretty awesome as far as days in New York go (except for when Tim lost his new gloves I bought him.) You can check out the pictures from Day 3 here.

New York City: Day 2 – “On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…”

We woke up late again on Christmas Eve Day, but were buoyed by an excellent breakfast (yay for butter!) cooked by Tim and then headed off to the subway. We made it to the Empire state building relatively quickly and were immediately greeted by very long lines. As much as I hate standing in lines, I’ve really wanted to see the city from that high up for some time so it was worth it. After about an hour of line waiting and 2 elevator rides we finally made it to the top. I made my way over to the edge and immediately looked down. Never having been the type of person to be afraid of heights, the sensation of panic was new to me. I forced myself to stand there looking down and my heart just about leaped out of my chest. It was terrifyingly high up but after a while I started to focus more on the horizon and really got my bearings about the city and the neighborhoods contained therein. It really was magnificent.

After that little adventure we headed over to Macy’s. Their window displays were wonderful, these amazing mechanical pop up books with various New York scenes. Then we headed inside and I must say that it was more than just a bit shabby. A few mannequins were knocked over. Clothing displays awry, and the escalators seemed rickety and really dirty. The employees all looked tired and mildly disgruntled. I guess I would be too if it was my job to deal with the enormous crowds, but all the same, it was kind of disappointing. What wasn’t disappointing was the great deal I got on some Ralph Lauren towels for Echo’s apartment. Go Macy’s last minute sales!

Right before we left Macy’s we sat down on a display bed in the Home department to get our bearings and figure out where we were going. It was at this time (we believe) that the key ring holding Echo and Utku’s apartment, mail and building keys slipped unnoticed from Tim’s pocket. We of course didn’t know this happened, so we went on our merry way.

After this we attempted to take the subway uptown, got frustrated after taking the wrong train and went back up above ground and took a bike taxi to Rockefeller Center. The bike taxi driver was a really nice Turkish guy and we probably would have been content to walk but he seemed eager to give us a ride, so we took it. It was nice actually to move around the city being free to look up at the buildings without having to worry about running into people or having the view blocked by a cab roof. (they really should have clear ceilings on those yellow taxi cabs…) We arrived back at Rockefeller Center, got some oily Chinese food for lunch and then Tim shopped compasses in the concourse while I went and changed into my Christmas shoes and lipstick. Afterwards we walked to the Radio City Music Hall and got in another REALLY long line for the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular Christmas Eve Show.

The show really was a spectacle! It would have been even more fun, I’m sure, if we had children, as much of it was geared towards a younger audience. All the same we really enjoyed it. The Rockettes are really magnificent to watch. They are so coordinated, and smiley, and sparkly. All in all, it was a very wonderful show. Afterwards, we went across the street to the Radio City Music Hall gift shop to get my mom a present. As I was shopping, Tim came up to me and said, “Erin, don’t freak out, but I can’t find the keys…”

I instantly freaked out. We frantically dug through all of our bags trying to find the keys but to no avail. I spent a few minutes hyperventilating, Tim spent a few minutes trying to calm me down. Then I pulled it together and lectured him on security of our operation. (Hey, I’m a sergeant, it’s my natural reaction…) He ran across the street to see if they were left at the Radio City Music Hall. I immediately called my Mom and fussed about Tim losing something so important. My mother, always the voice of reason, simply said, “He’s human, Erin. Anyone can lose keys, even you.” I knew she was right, and me being upset wasn’t helping but I am such a security junkie that I couldn’t relax. I had all these worries about where we would stay if we couldn’t find them, what would Echo and Utku say, would they be really pissed off, what could I do to fix this... I was so frustrated. The gift shop where Tim left me was closing, so I paid for my Mom’s Rockettes mug (hey, I’m not too upset to spend money…) and waited for him in the crowd outside. I saw him walk up shaking his head. He looked so upset that I couldn’t really say very much.

We decided to head to Rockefeller center to see if we’d lost them there, but they weren’t there either. We walked into one of the last restaurants in the concourse that was still open. Sbarro Pizza. We sat and tried to figure out what we could do. Tim called his Dad and we tried to call Dane to see if he could look up the Super at Echo’s building in my email account at home. When we couldn‘t find immediate answers, I cried. (yeah, I cry…only when I’m really frustrated and feel out of control…) Tim felt so bad and apologized profusely to me. We canceled our reservations for Dinner and headed home on the Subway. When we got there, we buzzed the Super and called him but there was no answer. Finally, and older man leaving the building let us in. We walked down the hall to the Super’s basement apartment, loud salsa music blaring and found him eating dinner with his friends. We told him what had happened and he agreed to try and get us into the apartment.

After about an hour of drilling and banging at the door of Echo’s apartment with a giant hammer, we finally got in. It cost us $150 bucks for a new lock and keys, but at least we were home. The bad news was that it was late on Christmas Eve, in Harlem, and we hadn’t eaten dinner, or bought any presents for each other and we were both emotionally exhausted from the events of the evening. But…Tim decided to save the day.

He left for a bit and came back with sandwiches, cookies, and a bottle of Barefoot Bubbly champagne. We ate our little dinner in Echo and Utku’s apartment, and fell asleep watching Bing Crosby's White Christmas. Tim really did save the day. He’s so wonderful. And that was the end of Day 2…enjoy the photos.

New York City: Day 1 - "I'm a tourist, what are you?"

As most of you know, I’ve been out of pocket recently on a vacation to New York with my husband Tim. Now, relative to both of our life experiences, NYC was a profoundly different sort of location for our vacation. Our vacations usually involve our parents and/or relatives, so this was to be our first time “on our own”. So much happened in the brief time we spent in the city, so I’m going to break it down into days so you can get the full scope of our experiences. Please keep in mind we are viewing the city for the first time, as loathed “tourists” with relatively limited cash flow so our ideas about the city are colored by this. And don’t be offended if I refer to NYC as “the dirty place”. It is what it is, okay?

NYC – Day One

Before I tell you about our first day in NYC, I must preface this first part of the story with this information: I forgot my Birth Control pills at home and did not discover this until we were about to get on the plane from Denver. Now, ladies, knowing what a giant disaster this could be for a romantic getaway, you must be able to understand how panicked I was. Nevertheless, my friend Dane, immediately fetched them and FedExed them overnight to NYC so I could continue my vacation without further worry. I’ll come back to this later…

I had typed up an itinerary for our trip. Not my usual, anal retentive, “be at this location at 6:07 p.m.” type of plan, but something more loosely based just so we wouldn’t be wandering aimlessly. We promptly ignored my 9:00 a.m. waking time, made coffee and scrambled some eggs for breakfast and then headed out to try our luck on the subway. Echo had been kind enough to give us a few tips on traveling in the NYC subway system, but once you get down there it becomes exceedingly difficult to figure out which train is local, express and uptown, downtown etc. We took the wrong train… twice. Finally we made it to 81st st. and the American Natural History Museum.

Call us nerds if you want, but after the whole Bill Bryson audio book thing, we’re more interested in space and we heard they had this really cool space theater. The museum was like a lot of things in New York, I would find out later, very grand, very crowded, and slightly worn around the edges. The sheer volume of people that traverse through this museum and all the famous places in New York tends to make even the nicest places, a bit shabby around the edges. That being said, the shabbiness of the museum was easily forgotten when, due to a fluke reading in an NYC guide at Echo’s apartment, I discovered that my military ID card would provide with free tickets to the museums. So, we saved $60. Go Air Force. Anyway, the museum was AMAZING. The displays were really well done, very thorough and we had a great time perusing all the wild life floors and the dinosaur floors.

After that we took the Subway to Rockefeller Center. (We got on the right subway on the first try! We foolishly thought this mean that we had it all figured out. We did not. I’ll come back to that later as well.) We wandered around inside Rockefeller Center and then went to go see the tree and the skating rink. I carefully averted my eyes from the Saks window displays (I had planned to see all of them at the same time on Christmas Day) and we rounded up some lunch at a deli. Then, we headed to the Museum of Modern Art. We also got free tickets here and saved $40 more. Woohooo! We had such a great time checking out all the displays they had. I was very moved by seeing Pollack’s work up close, I could sit in front of his paintings for days. And, it was pretty phenomenal to see Van Gogh’s Starry Night painting. (Yeah, I love calendar art, so what?) We annoyed after they told me I was too close to a painting ( I was like 10 inches away!) and then Tim wanted to take a picture and accidentally used the flash. They get really upset when you do that. Anyway, we were starting to get worn out so we decided to head down to Time’s Square for a drink.

We made sure we knew where the Shubert Theater was (We had tickets to Spamalot that night…) and then we wandered further into the theater district trying to find somewhere quieter and less touristy to have a drink. We ended up just down the road at O’Flaherty’s Pub. It looked grubby, but in a good way. The way I always want my Irish pub to be. Very like the famed Sean Donlon’s where I spent wasted time in younger days. Anyway, the pub was indeed quiet, very dark and cozy. The bartender seemed cautiously friendly at first, then after Tim’s cell phone rang and he had a chat for a few minutes, the bartender decided he hated us. His prerogative I guess, but the way I see it is… they’ve taken away the smoking in pubs, what’s a patron supposed to do with his/her hands when they aren’t sipping? Even Tim’s jovial (and usually ice-melting) “hey brother…” and a healthy tip, didn’t turn the tides of fortune our way. So we packed it up and headed down to Joe Allen’s.

Now, Joe Allen’s, I read, is a low key pre-theater restaurant. Our table wasn’t quite ready so we sat at the bar and had some friendly chats with the bartender and waitstaff, (who, by the way, knew we were from out of town, but still talked with us in a normal and non-patronizing way…super good staff, good stiff drinks and witty banter… a few too many “mullethawks”, but I gather that is the style amongst hip waiters these days…) So, as we are sitting at the bar, I’m joking with Tim and the bartender about my desire to spot a few celebs while we are in town. I said, “ I’m hoping for Madonna or Johnny Depp, but I’ll settle for the chubby guy from Kings of Queens…” All of a sudden, Tim says, “ Who’s the really tall guy from that show on T.V.?” I said, “Brad Garrett? The one from Everybody Loves Raymond?” He’s like, "yeah, he just walked by and he’s sitting at the table back there." I swivel around and sure enough… It’s him. I’m not really a fan of the show, but seeings as I was ready to settle for my one celebrity sighting being a relatively less famous sitcom star, I was excited. NYC, celebrity count: 1.

The dinner at Joe Allen’s was superb. Decently priced and quickly served. Afterwards, we walked down to the Shubert Theater and settled into our seats for Spamalot. Now, I was excited about seeing Tim Curry (I’ve loved him since he played Dr. Frankenfurter…) But the bartender had mentioned earlier that he had left the show the previous week and even if I had seen him that rumor had it that he was “phoning it in…” the last few months. After we got settled at the theater and opened our programs, we also learned that David Hyde Pierce wasn’t going to be in the show anymore either. So, that left, our hero, Hank Azaria to carry the show (and a bunch of other very talented actors, but we are speaking from a celebrity standpoint…) Now, I’m sure most of you know that Hank Azaria is a very talented actor and also does many of the voices for our beloved, Simpsons. I knew he’d be funny in this play but I was not prepared for how truly hilarious this show was. If you aren’t a fan of the Monty Python movie, “The Holy Grail” then you probably wouldn’t think it was that great. However, Tim and I are huge fans it was freaking awesome! I laughed so hard, my sides hurt and when it was done, I was an even bigger fan of Hank’s. He did such a wonderful job! Some special notes where the “Lancleot is Gay!” number and “You can’t have a Broadway play without any Jews…” Very irreverent and not for the easily offended. Oh, and since I saw Hank Azaria: NYC Celebrity count: 2. Actually, that was all of the celebrities I saw. I thought I saw Macaulay Culkin, but it was just a kid with poofy lips.

Afterwards we tried to take a subway home but found the one closest to us closed, so we hopped in a cab instead. We got home to find my pills waiting for me… (Yay!) And I ripped open the package eagerly, only to find, they were the wrong ones… (booo!) But they did have enough pills to keep me from going to the “bad place” so that was good. It cost Dane $35 to send them and it was well worth it. Nothing like an ill-timed visit from an unwelcome Aunt to kill a vacation, but alls well that ends well. At least in that respect. I will blog about day 2 tomorrow, until then…enjoy the pictures from Day 1.

wnbc.com - Traffic - NYC Transit Union Set To Return To Work

wnbc.com - Traffic - NYC Transit Union Set To Return To Work


God! I hope this get's taken care of before we get there tonight... How cool would it be if when we wake up in NYC tomorrow, everything is back to normal? I hope, I hope, I hope....

Anyway, My knowledge of net technology tells me that it's all too possible that I might find an internet cafe and be able to upload pictures while I'm in NYC, but if I don't get a chance to do that, I just want to say....

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Blessed Kwaanza!

As of January, I will have had this blog on blogspot for one year. It's been really wonderful and I've "met" a lot of interesting souls that I might not have known otherwise. I hope to meet even more of you in the new year.

Love,
~erin

Christmas Spazmatics...

I woke up in my clothes today. I’ve got weird prints on my cheek from my necklace that I forgot to take off last night.(Too much eggnog will do that to me.) I think the party was a pretty big success. A few of Tim’s clients came by, but it wasn’t really the schmoozer that I envisioned it being.

The truth is, I lack majorly in the hostessing department. I mean, I decorate and I cook and I plan… that part I’m good at. But, when it comes to introducing people and flitting from one person to another, I’m horribly inept and I always feel like there is someone I ended up ignoring. Luckily there weren’t too many people that came last night. My R.S.V.P. list was short, due to the busy holiday weekend. Lots of people stopped by and then left for other parties. All the same it was a decent showing and a lot of the food got eaten. Everyone said they were stuffed when they left.

I just walked into the dining room and the chocolate fountain bowl is full of hardened chocolate. I’m not really sure how I’m going to clean that out. I was too tired to do much of anything in the way of cleaning last night. I actually fell asleep on the couch while listening to one our guest pontificate about the evils of dairy. It makes sense, but I was too intoxicated with rum & eggnog to worry if it was natural that I was drinking it. (I like to imagine that eggnog comes from some special Christmas farm where cows wear Santa hats and spend their time listening to Bing Crosby’s White Christmas. )

I’m really relieved that the party is over. Now I can just focus on my work, my Christmas cards, and packing for NYC. I think it will be nice for Tim and I to get away somewhere alone. We’ve never actually taken a vacation where it was just the two of us and we didn’t have any responsibilities to family. Even on our honeymoon, we spent time with my family and with friends. It wasn’t exactly the romantic sex-filled romp it should have been, but it was still a lot of fun. This trip will be different though. We are going to one of the most exciting and romantic places in America, and I’m so glad I’m going with him. *sigh*

He’s so awesome. I totally crapped out last night and passed out. He put away all the food and stayed up until the last guest left. Not to mention he helped me get everything all set up yesterday, he baked cookies and rice krispy treats and set up the chocolate fountain. I’m so lucky to be married to him.

*yawn* Well, I guess I better go about rearranging all the furniture back to where it belongs, mopping the spilled drinks up and getting this house back to normal. Thankfully, I’ve got a few days to do it though. I’ll be busy, pretty much until we leave, working on a freelance design project that I’ve got going on. But I don’t mind at all. It’s a really interesting project and now that it’s my livelihood, I’m really glad to have the work. Okay…back to the grindstone.

~e 

Congrats to Tiffany! I'm so proud of all the hard work you've done to get to this place in your life.

~erin 

Tiffany is graduating today!

This morning we are going to the Denver Convention Center to see my friend Tiffany’s final portfolio show for the Art Institute. She is graduating today and it is customary for all the people graduating to present their best work for review and also for the potential employers that come to the shows.

Tiffany isn’t looking for a job since she is planning on moving to Washington D.C. in the spring, but the other designers that are there, are fair game. So, I’m going to check out the competition this morning. I’ll let you know how it goes…

Oh and also we are having dinner at Zengo tonight. It's going to be so good. If you haven't checked that place out yet, I seriously suggest you do.

~e 

Don't be jealous...

...But I got tickets to see the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular on Christmas Eve. I am so excited! Could I be any more of a tourist? Anyway, we got tickets to see Spamalot as well. Tim’s all excited about seeing Hank Azaria, live in person. (He’s a huge Simpson’s fan.)

I did a bunch of planning for our NYC trip last night and now I am more flipped out than ever. If I think about too much I won't sleep until we leave town. New York is just such an amazing place and I can't wait until I'm going to be there myself.

I did a ton more shopping today for our trip and our Christmas party. The outside of our house is now all decked out in twinkle lights from stem to stern. The living room isn’t quite finished yet, but it already looks like Christmas vomited in there. *jumps around gleefully* I am officially coo-coo for Christmas. :P

And on a side note, I got the cutest pair of lipstick red satin shoes for my Christmas party...
Now I just need to figure out what to wear with them. It seems a shame to cover them up by wearing pants. Oh decisions, decisions! Anybody got any ideas?

The Sea Grill | Rockefeller Center | New York

The Sea Grill | Rockefeller Center | New York

This is where Tim and I will be spending our Christmas Dinner this year. I am so excited!

Well, we are back…

We knew it was going to be a really long trip driving all the way to OKC, so we decided to break it up into two days on the way out. That turned out to be a really good plan since the snow was really coming down pretty much all day and by the time we made it to Salina (Kansas) the visibility was so bad we could barely see our hotel from the street. We decided to have dinner that night at this restaurant next to the hotel, just because it was within walking distance and we didn’t want to try to drive anywhere in the storm.

So, we trek across the street to this buffet place called, “Western Sizzle”. Now I’m not wild about buffet restaurants, but since we didn’t seem to have much choice, I just went along with it. We walked in to the saddest restaurant I have ever seen. Behind the garishly lit front counter was an obese woman in a bedazzled Christmas sweater and matted Santa hat. She welcomed us in a monotone voice, “welcome to western sizzle, a steak place, what can I get for you.” Not a question, just a statement. Tim ordered the buffet for us and I went to find a table. After passing 6 tables each with some person in varying degrees of obesity, munching happily on their food, plates piled high with bright orange mac & cheese and fried chicken. Tim and I both wandered around and filled our plates with the food that looked least dried out and toxic. It was probably one of the grossest meals I’ve ever had, including the chow hall food from Ft. Meade (and that was really bad…) We both went to bed that night with upset stomachs and a feeling of relief that we’d never have to come to Salina ever again.

The next day was an easy drive and we made it to OKC in the late afternoon. The car ride was made much more pleasant with the help of an Audio book called, “A Short History of Nearly Everything” by Bill Bryson. If you are ever stuck in a long card ride, I heartily recommend that you get this audio book. I learned so many interesting things and even though the scenery from Colorado to OKC is bland, listening to this book helps you appreciate the details in the monotony. He covers everything from the smallest atom on earth to the stars in the farthest flung parts of the universe and everything in between. It’s really wonderful… We still aren’t quite done, our trip ended just as we had learned all about DNA.

On to the family…

We spent our first evening at Tim’s nephew Luke’s school Christmas show. It was adorable, kids in reindeer antlers singing all kinds of weird songs… We also got to see Tim’s cousin Jon’s son, Cooper. It was a very kid-centric evening. Friday night we went and caught the “Christmas Extravaganza” at the Yellow Rose Theater. Tim’s brother was in the show, he plays a Dean Martin impersonator. It was hilarious. Michael does an awesome job as Dean Martin, and the other impersonators were pretty funny as well. There were more fat ladies in Christmas sweaters. I feel like taking out an ad in the OKC newspaper and telling these ladies that dressing like you are a Christmas tree does not make you look pretty. *sigh*

Saturday we attempted to go rock climbing at "OKC rocks" which turned out to be a huge disaster. It was freezing cold, the climbs were crappy and the guys that were working there were really rude. It's so strange, because most climbers we have met have been just the nicest people, and these guys gave out the vibe that they really didn't want us there. So we got our money back and went out to lunch downtown in Bricktown with Tim’s parents. That night we went out and hung with our good friend Chris. He’s the only one of Tim’s friends in OKC who we ever get to spend that much time with. He’s just a really cool guy. We keep trying to talk him into moving out to Colorado, but he’s strictly an OKC guy.

Sunday was Tim’s dad’s birthday party. We had family pictures and then a huge dinner with all the Tim’s brothers and sisters and their families. It can be really overwhelming when they all get together, the average volume of the house goes up quite a few notches. But at the same time it’s pretty fun to have everyone laughing and talking, they are a very festive family. Monday was a shopping day. We ran around and picked up some last minute presents for a few folks and then we took Tim’s Mom to go see “Narnia”. It was such a wonderful movie. I really loved the books as a kid. (actually I still love them… it’s an easy read, but a really fun nostalgia thing for me…)

We finished up with a business meeting with one of our OKC clients and then had dinner with Tim’s parents. It was a really busy week and I’m glad to be back home. Anyway, we took off this morning and made a straight shot back to Denver. My ass is tired of sitting, that is for sure… I’m so glad we are flying to New York and not driving. Anyway, I’m going to be busy this week taking care of everything for my Christmas Party this Saturday night, so I’ll keep you all posted.

~e

p.s. Pics from the trip are here.

Tim and I are so cute, it makes me want to barf. :) 

Mighty Goods: Shopping Blog

Mighty Goods: Shopping Blog

I know I've posted this before, but if anyone out there is having a hard time finding cool Christmas presents, this is the place to go...

See you guys next week!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Like our road trip is going to be a bitterly cold one. The weather has predicted snow all the way to OKC, so I guess the trip will probably take 13 hours instead of the normally excruciating 10 hours. *sigh* Ah well, at least we have books on cd. (thank you very much Dane…)

The cats can tell we are leaving. They are acting all needy. Daisy stowed away in Tim's luggage and was very hostile about being removed.

And in other news, I was out holiday shopping yesterday and everywhere I went people were humming Christmas songs, smiling and I had like 5 perfect strangers wish me Merry Christmas, oh yeah, and I got one Feliz Navivdad. I love that! I bought so much Christmas crap yesterday too… Mostly decorations for our Sip & Dip Party.

Tim and I already did our little Christmas. He got me this really awesome Rock Climbing Harness and I got him some gloves and a bracelet he'd asked for. We are doing our "big" Christmas when we get to NYC. We are each going to take some money and go get each other something pretty from the city.

It's getting late and I'm still not done packing, so I will talk to you all when I return. Happy Holidays...

~e 

Rick Moranis

This is so wrong, on so many levels. I told Tim and he said, "What did he call the album? "Honey, I wrote a bluegrass album?" Hahahahahaaaa.... He's priceless. :)

It's a winter wonderland here in Denver. I love this time of year. Everything seems so cozy. :) We just got back from a few hours of rock climbing at the Centennial Rock'n & Jam'n gym. I did my best climb ever today. A 5.10-! It was really hard, but I'm learning to trust the small hold more nowadays. The only thing is that when I'm lunging for something, I always manage to whack my knee against the wall. My knees look AWFUL! Huge ass bruises everywhere. ;)

Tim has been really getting into the climbing too, only bouldering is more his style the acrobatics, the swinging, lunging and strategy really suit him. He was trying to hit this route today and had like 5 guys all watching him and cheering him on. People at the Centennial gym seem really friendly and encouraging, which is really nice.

And in other news, we have been working hardcore on our Christmas CD-Rom. We finished up some programming for the slideshow last night, we are working on some cool navigation for it, and we had our "Retro" photo shoot this morning. I had my hair in a wicked beehive with some cat-eye glasses. It was hilarious. We leave for OKC next week. We are taking a little trip to go see Tim's family before Christmas, so after Tuesday, I might be kind of scarce.

Oh and if you were wondering about the post below, I haven't gone crazy. I recently tried to reconnect with an old friend that I felt I had wronged. I sent him an apology, and instead of writing me back, he wrote a scathing blog entry directed at me. Of course, this made me feel worse. But, I guess, in a way, I feel better. At least he didn't just go, "okay... I forgive you" and make me feel better, he let me know in no uncertain terms that any kind of restitution I was seeking would be denied. I deserve that. Just because you're sorry you hurt someone, doesn't mean you can take back your actions. I have since learned to be much more sensitive and less self involved. But, you can't change the past. Sometimes, all you can offer is a sincere apology, and if the person doesn't take it... You just have to understand their position and move on. 

"Past"

When one apologizes, they are admitting guilt. Not that I have a problem with that, I should feel some guilt. I guess I want you to know that yeah, I feel guilty. I never wanted to be that bullshit drama girl. It just happened. And now I stand looking down into the dark valley where I spent a huge chunk of time, feeling remorse for the people that I dragged down with me. It wasn’t about bringing up old pain, it was about letting you know that I am aware that I was wrong and if you ever do think of those memories again, know that I am somewhere out in the world and I feel sorry for letting you see the darkness and destruction. A kind soul with a true heart never deserved that mistreatment. Don’t think about the past, that wasn’t my intent… Just know that you were blameless and right, and I was wrong and very sorry.

That being said, if you are wondering why the past comes to cycle forward again, it’s not because things are bad in my life… It’s because they aren’t. It makes me long for other bright spots in my life, and it makes me wonder about old friends and hope they are happy. I guess everyone isn’t. I’m not making excuses for my bad behavior, but I have since learned some things about life that have helped me grow and change. I don’t want to be bound by old demons anymore. The life that I live now is the best one for me. The place that I’m at is exactly where I’m supposed to be. It was reaching for the thing that scared me the most that allowed me to be happy, FINALLY. I’m sorry that we didn’t have those happy moments like I wanted, and the immaturity ( and the "drinky-drink") was a big reason for that. But also, I was a broken person. I’m not completely fixed now, but I can see the past for what it was. I’d hoped that you could see that too. Maybe someday you will. When that day happens, I’ll be here.

Banished

It is 7 a.m. on Saturday morning, and the shirtless young man on the corner is high. He is wearing headphones and jerking rhythmically to the music. As we pass, he reaches into his pockets and pulls out change. He throws it into the street, and yells, “Pennies, begone!”

-from mightygirl