ho ho ho

MERRY CHRISTMAS!
happy hannahah, kwanza, or whatever you celebrate.
hooray for the holidays! i am checking out now - turning off the computer and not turning it back on for at least a week. or that's my goal anyway. so if it's slow on the blog front, apologies. it's because i'm eating, sleeping, or otherwise engaged in a some sort of lazy activity. tomorrow i'm off to toledo to spend christmas with the basilius', and then over to north carolina to spend new years with alex and his family. my poor family here feel somewhat abandoned ... but we're having our 'christmas' day here today. in fact, i need to wake my sister so we can sit a the top of the stairs and hollar and mom and dad to wake up so we can come down! we're really hoping santa came early this year.

happy christmas to all!

a few pics

as promised ... a few pics from the santa stumble.

i'm thinking of going back to my natural color ... that is to say, a dirty blonde. what do you think? any votes based on the pic? ha ha. speak now, my appointment is this week if they'll squeeze me in!

stumbling santas

well, we certainly did a bit of stumbling over the weekend. pictures to follow once i get them from my mother. everyone met at 4pm on saturday afternoon in the tenderloin and we walked up to our first pub in santa hats and festive gear (dad in a red hawaian shirt, chuck in his white beard, our very own LIVE santa). after a huge indian lunch in 'naan and curry' - the 24-hour indian restaurant up the street from my house - my stomach was a little queasy - so i was looking forward to a beer to calm it down. (ha!) it really took 3 beers to settle the saag paneer, but after that, i was good to go.

we stumbled across polk street to the smallest bar in san francisco via big foot's tavern. and then moved to the haight where we dined at cha cha cha's, then listened to some gypsy jazz (v.cool) and then tumbled to the tornado for a nightcap and a gigantic pizza. we got home around midnight, which seems relatively early, but we'd been drinking for 8 hours.

you can imagine my christmas shopping on sunday was somewhat difficult and mostly unproductive. i'll get back out again tonight at some point. and likely tomorrow, and the next day and the next. why i don't start earlier is beyond me. next year...

i've got 3 solid days of work here in the city, and then i'm heading down to SC. i'll still work from SC, but mostly in the mornings and mostly on email. next week, i plan to stay off my computer altogether and really try to break from work. i hope i can do this!

and now, i must start my day!

see me make an elf of myself

tottenham 5, charlton 1

anna took me for my FIRST EVER football game! and premiership league too! (that's soccer to us americans) - it was brilliant! a christmas surprise - she told me to dress up warm because we'd be outside all day. i had no idea what she was up to. (i wondered if it was a decoy and she was secretly taking me to a luxurious spa for the day) but we ended up in north london surrounded by 40,000 fanatical spurs fans singing songs and chants and shouting for their team. a much different experience than watching on the telly - and i found myself making all sorts of gutteral noises i didn't think possible coming from a lady. (i don't think the men in front of us did either!) her dad has been a spurs fan all his life and he met us at liverpool street and took us to the game - a brilliant day out!

and the rest of the week has gone very well - if a bit manic.

wednesday and thursday were spent in interviews for 2 positions we have going in london ... and also a meeting with the estate agents to show them my house and get a new valuation ... the idea of selling is becoming more and more appealing ... but we shall see, i have some serious thinking to do.

and friday night we all went out to the pub in brixton so got a nice chance to catch up with everyone. everyone changes but ultimately, stays the same. nice to see!

and for those curious - the tornado here was in north london ... i've been in south and west london - so untouched.

anyway, i leave tomorrow (monday) and will be back in time for dinner. i'll be back on the old 617 number by then, so change your phones! love to all!

in london ... exhausted!

just a quick post to say i am alive and well, if exhausted, and in london! i've JUST finished my two days of database training - the project that my colleague and i have been working on since MAY. it was the revealing and unveiling of what we have been living and breathing for the last six months ... and fortunately, everything went very well, everyone was very impressed and very appreciative.

but now i am exhausted. i've not slept well because of the 8 hour time difference (i forget how FAR california is!) so i have no plans tonight except to sleep and watch tv in the luxurious bed in my hotel room with feather pillows plush blankets. a terrible waste of a precious night in this city, but i cannot find the energy for everything else.

it's been so nice to see the gang. anna had a party on saturday night and no one apart from she and tom and cat knew i was coming - so it was fun to surprise everyone, answering the door with a 'ho ho ho.' they bought a christmas tree and everyone chipped in to decorate, bringing ornaments and home-made tokens of christmas for the branches. we played the 'thanks' game - though after several glasses of mulled wine - and got sappy as we do about our friendships and how wonderful and more importantly, how lucky we all are. we really are so lucky.

anyhow, my brain is not functioning properly, so i must end this and will continue when i my eyelids are not sagging below my knees.

brrrrrrrrrr

it's FREEZING here ... and i mean that quite literally! it's 39 degrees! i'm sitting at my computer with a blanket over my legs, two sweatshirts and a scarf. the annoying thing about supposedly 'not being here' (attempting to keep my stay in this apartment on the hush) is that i can't ask the buiding manager to turn the heat up! so i have the oven on with the door open and am hoping that it seeps its way into the living room soon. the sun outside the window is deceptive today!

had my last volunteering session last night with kyle. same kid i worked with last week. he was writing a paper on nelson mandela (damn, i wished i'd read the biography i bought a few years ago) - and i'm not sure i was much help to him, but we worked on structure and came up with a few more ideas. he had to relate mandela's work to the principles of his jesuit school. he would get a sentence out, and then get totally distracted. there were a few times when he actually left the room for 5 minute intervals. i seriously thought about leaving ... but then, i'm sure he expected that. so i stayed. and when we finished, he shook my hand and i got a tiny glimpse of appreciation, even if it was somewhat muted. it's a shame they can't have volunteers with more consistency. ah well, hopefully i helped him a tiny bit.

i'm including yet another table picture ... another great one from market street! one for the collection! that's 5 i have now - can't wait to get them framed and on the walls of my new place in boston, wherever that may be!

...and now, i am stuffed

the sunday after thanksgiving and i am stuffed. no more turkey or leftovers for me for awhile. (at least until christmas!) i've had a lovely weekend down in santa cruz. hardly did a thing - which was exactly what i wanted to do. actually, that's not entirely true. i spent most of yesterday taking down boxes from the garage to help dwight 'can you please get your shit out of here' basilius make more room for other stuff. this seems to be the year of de-junking - which is fine with me. i threw out tons and tons of paper, old photos, class notes from college, random toys and posters that once held meaning for me but now are only yellowed and tattered. there were a few boxes i could have cleared out even further, but i just haven't the time to read every single card or note passed in secrecy in the 7th grade - so i kept them. one day, i'll drag these out again an look through them. or maybe my kids will. or (more likely) maybe my dad will just throw them out. to be honest, i wouldn't really know the difference. there are only a few things i really value - a book of fairytales from my childhood, highschool yearbooks, old diaries from the mid-eighties, the baby blanket my mother made me, my holy cross uniform.

i really am paring my life down to the basics - so that what i carry with me, is pretty much what i own and care about. 5 plastic tubs in my dad's garage, 7 boxes in my attic in the UK - 3 suitcases of clothes in san francisco - and that's ME. of course there's my butcher block and my couches ... but slowly i'm removing myself from those, so that, once again, they are simply objects. no more. no less.

but i am looking forward to getting back to boston and investing again. not in the materialistic sense, although of course, with the sales of this weekend, and 'black friday' who can miss the bargains that await? (linens and towels and blenders OH MY) ... but more for the opportunity to be somewhere for a longer haul. perhaps the butcher block was less of the 'adulthood' symbol i once thought and more of a symbol of 'permanence'.

so now back up to the city. to get back into the routine ... to get to the gym to get rid of this gravy boat floating just above my hips.

hope thanksgiving was wonderful whereever you were ... including the brits, who so kindly celebrated the holiday in my absence!

happy thanksgiving to all!

a quick blog before i head home to SC to spend thanksgiving with the family!
i understand there will be a small contingent of brits celebrating with a meal tomorrow ... we'll raise a glass to you as well! gobble gobble.

i had a really interesting experience on monday night volunteering with 'hands on bay area' at a boys home called 'boys hope' ... it's a home for 6 boys who have learning difficulties, or are on probation or for whatever reason, are somewhat excluded from (what we might call) normal teenage life. i worked with the coordinator of the project and a boy named kyle. he was working on sophomore spanish and had to come up with some dialogue for a role play he would be doing in class that week. his vocab words were all about a wedding and he was supposed to be the bridegroom discussing his expectations of marriage with the priest. (at 14!!)

it was really interesting to see his thought process, or lack thereof, and his attention span. it took us 30 minutes to come up with 4 bullet points for discussion and then 4 sentences to match in spanish. we had to keep bringing him back to focus because he would flip through his book mindlessly, delete sentences from the word document on the computer (just for fun), tap on the keys incessantly, etc etc. i can't really say i've had much interaction with kids with ADD (i'm assuming, though could be wrong here) and it was really interesting.

(on a side note: it was quite funny to be discussing marriage with a 14 year old and i found myself throwing out ideas of topics for him that were far too existential and that he SURELY had no vocabulary for ... 'so how will you deal with arguements, what will you do when things go wrong? and morals with your children? what will you instill in them?' .... i think to humor me he attempted to think about those for a minute or two, but then settled on sentences like 'it is necessary that our children dress themselves in the morning' and 'i want that we live in a big house in the country with goats.' ) two indicators of a successful marriage, surely.

i walked down to the BART station with the volunteer coordinator and she told me she was really impressed by how much kyle opened up with me - apparently he is the most difficult kid there. i was flattered. we also talked a lot about volunteerism and what she does (helps kids 16-24 get jobs!!) and what i do and what i want to do. she was very sweet and very encouraging and actually made me think about how i need to volunteer much more to try out all sorts of things before i make any major life decisions. so i feel much less stressed about having to decide something NOW and more relaxed about taking the next year or so to try out all sorts of opportunities. she said something i thought was REALLY interesting about how when you are really excited about something in life and really want something, the hurdles to getting there don't really seem like hurdles at all. or if they do, you're happy to do what it takes to jump them. i thought that was a brilliant thing to say. and a helpful way to think about determining what is right.

in any case, i must return to work ... happy turkey day to all!
gobble gobble!

weeks whizzing by ...

it's hard to believe that it's nearly thanksgiving already - and it's going to be 2007 soon. where is the time going? i can literally count the number of weekends i have left in the city on one hand. (with christmas and thanksgiving and holidays, etc) a return to boston is immenent. so to those of you who said 'great, you'll be in california for awhile, we'll see you all the time' - GET ON UP HERE!

actually, speaking of, my dad and i are organizing a 'santa stumble' of our own the weekend of the 16th of december - so bring a red hat and join us for a pub crawl in the city. i'll get an evite out soon.

it's been yet another week of meeting really interesting people here (when i leave my apartment!) i had three parties/networking opportunities this week and two lectures at the commonwealth. one of which was on alzheimers which was really encouraging. it was given by one of the nations leading experts/researchers on the disease. i didn't know much about it scientifically, and he explained that very well, and also talked about the future of the disease. i will attach the link when it is available to listen to and download in their podcasts and i would encourage ALL of the toerne's to listen to it. (and everyone else who might be interested). i was sorry no one else was there with me. one of the things he said that i thought was very interesting was that the government is reallocating funding at the moment and that alzheimer's studies/research may not be getting an increase in funding. so he encouraged everyone to contact their government officials to stress the importance of funding for this. he said, sure eating healthily and doing crossword puzzles to keep your mind active was a good idea - but to REALLY make a difference, more research is needed - so to do what you can to contribute and get your local officials involved. he also suggested that local research centers need volunteers for studies ... so to consider volunteering your time as well to participate in trials. food for thought!

i also went along to two networking events. one hosted by the full circle fund - a socially philanthropic venture capital fund started in the late 90s by kids in the tech boom with way too much money who wanted to do something good - so the room was filled with hundreds of young people in their 20s/30s who really wanted to make a difference in the community. very cool people. very inspiring.

and another networking event on thursday hosted by women who run their own businesses where i ran into several of the ladies i'd met at previous events - i think SF is actually quite small.

and last night, i was invited to a party of a friend i'd met at glide last month. it was at a bar in chinatown/north beach and they host this 'harvest' party every year. it was a bittersweet evening because they'd invited over 300 people (6 girlfriends co-hosted it, so it was an amalgamation of all their friends) and it really reminded me of the sort of thing i would do in london (theme parties, friends, bars, drinks, food, etc) but at the same time, the sort of thing i could not do here (yet anyway) because my circle of friends is just NOT that wide. which is OK in and of itself, i'll get there, but starting over in your 30s is tough. her friends were very welcoming and very friendly - but with my impending move to boston, it's hard to attempt to make real friends knowing i'll be packing up soon enough and heading out. i ducked out early though definitely enjoyed the evening. i'm really looking forward to being in one place again.

it's sunday and i'm off to glide for some inspiration!

well, we missed the leaves

i'm not really sure what i was thinking ... leaves in NOVEMBER?
i don't think so!

oh well, it was a great weekend anyway. we stayed at this cute little b&b in chester vermont and wandered through little tea rooms, antique stores, vermont country stores, and other artisan cutsie shops. it was so relaxing to just get out of the city and be in the country - with fresh air, and no smog. it didn't start raining until the drive home on sunday, so we were lucky.

and now i'm back in san francisco. for one week, until i get home to santa cruz for thanksgiving. can't wait for turkey day!!! it's been YEARS since i've been back and i'm so excited. i've had some wonderful thanksgivings in the UK with friends - both american and british - but it's not quite the same as being on market street - with people coming and going all day, wild turkey flowing, cranberry margaritas and of course, all the fixings!

it was a great week in boston and even though it was cold, it was still nice to be there. i'm beginning to get excited about getting back in the new year - to have a sense of settlement, to be somewhere for awhile, to invest again. can't wait to get some pictures up on a wall that is mine! i'm tired of living on top of everyone. i want my space back.

speaking of, i spoke to an estate agent in the UK today and made an appointment to discuss selling my place. or alternatively, having it managed. it's just such a hassle from abroad to try to do this. the boiler is on the fritz this week, and what can i do from san francisco. it's frustrating! the idea of letting that go sounds so liberating right now. we shall see what he says!

anyhow, hope all are well! must carry on with work!

happy friday from beantown

it's a gorgeous day here in beantown.
i'm not sure if we should be grateful for that or worried because of global warming - i have a feeling 60 degree weather in november is NOT normal. but it sure is nice. this week has been great. it's been nice to be back to the office and to be around people during the day - i'd forgotten how nice interaction can be. :) and my conference presentation on wednesday went very well - much better than i thought it would - lots of discussion and interaction. and quite a few nice complements afterwards, which is always nice.

and now it's friday ... and tomorrow i'm off to chester, vermont to stay in a b&b for the night and to meander around the town and enjoy the last of the fallen leaves. sadly, it's supposed to rain, so i'm not sure how much meandering we'll actually get around to. but the b&b has a fireplace - so i imagine we'll sit in front of that for most of the day/night!

i'm reminded how nice boston is. and in the last week i've met quite a few really neat people - people who i will make an effort with when i'm back in january. so all is not lost in the transition back from SF. i'm sure california will be in my future ... and SF has been a nice taste to lure me back at a later stage, i'm sure!

enjoy the weekend!

the cold wind in the east

brrrrrrrrr ... it is cold in boston!
i got in on saturday morning. fortunately it was a glorious weekend - the sun shining and beautiful sunrises and sunsets. but it is definitely autumn/winter here. i don't actually mind it yet. there's no snow. it's just crisp with a small bite in the air.

i had a great weekend. alex and i went to brunch with some really nice friends of his. then walked around newbury street on saturday and got him into verizon (hooray, he's IN) and then had some pizza. and then i went out with the girls from work for a birthday party of one of their friends. and i sat next to a really nice girl who was very sweet and could certainly be a new friend when i return. except for the fact that she lives in new hampshire ... but she's in boston for work every day, and obviously understands that she needs to make the effort to get into boston. and sunday alex and i went to the gym and then cooked a roast chicken and caught some of the pats game at his friend's house out in newton. i chatted with his girlfriend while the guys watched football. i don't understand football and i don't think i will ever really care to.

well, it's monday morning and i'm at the bagel shop next to work waiting for someone to arrive and let me in because i stupidly forgot my keys. i must get preparing for a meeting i have in 25 minutes!

happy monday!

back in the air again ...

i'm off to boston tonight until the 13th. can't wait!
i've actually got a really busy week next week with work - we're bringing the new hire to boston for some training with the team (better than starting his first day working from my living room! wanted to show him we're legit!) and i'm presenting at a conference next wednesday in rhode island.

this week has been really fun. tuesday night, i drove down to santa cruz with my sister and her friend to surprise my parents for halloween and see my little cousins trick-or-treat. we drove back that same night - imagine - being an hour away from santa cruz! i have to take advantage of this while i can. my mom kept saying she was so happy we were down and not at a party in san francisco. i guess there were some gang-related shootings in the castro (where the big party happens) so i can see why she was relieved.

and wednesday i went to a lecture at the commonwealth club by malika oufkir, a woman who had been adopted by the king of morocco at the age of 5, and then her father tried to kill the king in a coup and she was thrown in prison with her mother and sibings (her father was killed) for TWENTY FOUR YEARS ... so she came out at the age of 45. imagine, being locked up for twenty four years. i would like to read her book. i just can't imagine.

and yesterday i went to another lecture by deepak chopra, who talked about life after death, and got very existential and theoretical about how our thoughts are always either choices or interpretations ... very miracles like (i can see why he always writes the intros for a lot of the miracles books) and the space/time continuum and lots of other stuff i had to think VERY hard about in order to understand. he's a really good speaker, so it was entertaining as well as intellectual. i wished i had someone to debrief with afterwards, because i'm not sure how much of it i'll retain.

and then last night i went with my aunt lynne's friend carol and her friend willie to dia de los muertos celebration in the mission. VERY VERY COOL - although carol was totally underwhelmed in comparison to years passed. apparently this is the day that people traditionally dress up like skeletons to confuse the dead souls so that they don't change their minds and decide to stay and inhabit the earth - rather than going onto the afterlife. so there was a parade of people dancing and singing and beating drums and playing horns, all dressed in skeletons with white faces and black teeth and eyes. and the procession led to a park where people had placed hundreds of alters to the people they love who had gone. suitcases were laid out and packed for their journey to the afterlife with momentos and pictures and candles and food. it was AMAZING. really neat to see such tradition, and so many people getting into it. (although a skeleton in a top hat we met at the bar said that it had turned a little political this year and that people were protesting the war, etc which kind of ruined it for him) in any case, it was great. and then carol and willie and i went to dinner at a tapas place which was delicious.



i got home around 11 and fell straight to sleep after the red wine. apparently i had a little too much because the building manager knocked on my door this morning and kindly told me it probably wasn't a good idea to leave my keys in my door overnight! doh!

anyhow, a few more hours of work and i am off to boston!

unless you're (veriz)IN you're out!

sadly i'm nearly the end of my minutes and i have 8 days to go. it's such a funny thing in america that your minutes are used up when people call YOU. i always thought it was crazy that americans would have thousands of minutes in their plans (in england, i usually had 100/month), but now i understand. i've become much more of a phone person ... which i never thought i'd be, but when you have FREE minutes (evenings and weekends), you just use them for the heck of it. just to say 'hi'... and now i've discovered skype (skyping?) ... which is FREE until the end of the year for national calls (and 2 cents/minute to landline UK numbers or free to other skypers) so i might just not stop talking! check it out if you haven't!

in other news ... well, no other real news. i'm off to boston on friday night for a week to work in our east coast office. i'm training the new person we are hiring for SF and i thought he'd appreciate the training in our offices (to see that we are a legitimate company!) rather than my living room! i'm also presenting at a conference in rhode island ... so needed to be back anyway. and it'll be a nice week to see alex. we're going to go to vermont on the second saturday and splurge on a b&b so we can do some leaf-peeping! i hope it doesn't rain too much so there are leaves left!

i've just come back from a spin class and i'm exhausted and could eat a horse but i'm too tired to cook.

a week in music

it's been a brilliant week for music in san francisco.

starting with the be good tanyas on monday night who were (as to be espected) fantastic. they played a lot of stuff from their new album, so i was glad i'd gotten that and listened to it nonstop since ... otherwise, it may have been a slightly more subdued gig. i found this site where you can see some pictures from the gig - i don't know who's site it is, and if you play the photos as a slideshow, you can also see some of their (funny) personal pictures. slightly voyeuristic, i know, but at least you can see the be good tanyas!

and then last night i went out with cat, brent, andy, melissa and their friend terri to see this new york band called ESG. there's a great article about them here. i guess they were a family band from the late seventies, who are still going strong now, though with a new and younger following. but same sound. it was SO cool. it was as if my aunts were up on the stage rockin' out. please soemone who was older than i was in the 70s tell me you recognize the name!? (they're playing at dingwalls on nov 15th for you londoners ... go see them!)

and they opened with a band from la, friends of andy's, and then a girl-band with more energy than i think i've ever seen in a live show. they were great - really silly and raw and youthful sounding. i think i've just found their myspace page so you can see them - a brilliant show. i was really amped after leaving. i sometimes think i am so out of touch with what's going on these days, so this was a really nice connection on a friday night. (i'm NOT that old yet!) (and these guys are playing at the kentish town forum on dec 8)

an amazing week of music ... in an amazing city.
hooray for san francisco!

new friends, new clothes

i was invited to a 'clothes swap' party last night with my new friend amy.
it's basically a party where 7 of us brought clothes we didn't want, didn't fit, or didn't wear anymore ... laid them out on a bed, had about 30 minutes to 'shop' and try on clothes, and then took turns 'picking' the clothes we did want to take back. i ended up with a new orange suede jacket, a couple work tops, a few joseph tops (don't think anyone else knew what joseph was!) and a scarf. not bad for only bringing a skirt, some ann taylor white pants and 2 bathingsuits. most of the stuff got taken to goodwill because it was really not that stylish anymore, and some of it was just downright hideous. kind of a strange introduction to people you've never met before -'so nice to meet you, take a look at some terrible clothes i own, but don't worry, i never wear them, maybe you would like them?'

anyway, we got pizza and wine and made a night of it. and the girls were so friendly. amy is really sweet, i really like her. we spent most of dinner talking about one of their friends (who was there) who was dating a guy who didn't want to have kids, and what a difficult situation that was for her. to have to choose between him or kids. i didn't envy her - even if kids seem like a long way off!

i also went to a 'graduate schools for public good' fair at the masonic last night. i suppose i was thinking i would walk around a room filled with people who do 'good things' in life and that it would rub off on me and i'd find that inspiration. alas. i should have known. it was filled with universities and their brochures on their public policy degrees. yawn.

on to work ... have a good one wherever you are!
p.s. did you know you could click on the pictures below and they'll enlarge? i just found that out yesterday!

back in the game!

sorry about my lack of blogs this last week!
working from home makes me feel somewhat guilty for doing anything other than work when i'm in front of this computer - i need to get the routine down. had a great weekend. alex came to down briefly for a wedding of a childhood friend of his and we drove down to santa barbara together. we had a lovely time together, even if it was very short. here's a few pics from the day:




it was a gorgeous wedding on a hilltop just outside of santa barbara. the weather was perfect, they had an outside garden dinner and a band that played until 11ish. free flowing champagne and wine as well, which was great that night, not so good on sunday. but we recovered with a brunch of eggs benedict and then alex stopped at an in and out burger on the drive home. we had the chance to stop in santa cruz for a few hours so he got to see market street and visit with my mom and sister and cousins. dad was out of town, unfortunately.

i'm off to see the be good tanyas tonight. i hope you're checking them out wherever you may be ... i'm sure they're passing through soon!

another glorious day in the city!

just back from a morning swim at the gym.
i'm actually not going to count that as time away from work because i had time to really think through some things that i needed to think about without the distraction of new emails every few minutes. it's actually quite relaxing to swim. i was at the gym already this morning but very early (7am!!) for a training session. i'm not entirely sure of the worth of these training sessions, but i suppose it's given me some new exercises to practice on my own that i might not otherwise. we shall see if it makes a difference. so i'm feeling good about myself today! (though lunch is around the corner!)

the weekend was great here. saturday i volunteered at Glidewhich is this amazing non-denominational church that feeds the homeless 3 meals/day every day. so with a group of other bay area people, we made about 800 sandwiches and cut up about 100 watermelons, then got chicken washed and ready for monday's lunch. it was a really cool experience on several levels.

* there was a group of college students doing this as well, not part of 'hands on bay area' that i'd volunteered with. they were doing this for course credit which i thought was very cool of the professors

* they didn't use the 'buts' of the bread which i thought was interesting. i thought that was a really neat testiment to the dignity and respect that they paid the homeless people they fed. (beggers CAN be choosers here!)

* a father and son were volunteering together as well - was i doing this when i was 15?

* the amount of food was just incredible, and the appreciation was even more incredible. although i heard stories of a fight breaking out in the dining hall, everyone i saw was full of smiles

anyway, it was a really cool thing to have done ... AND i met a group of really cool people as well. i ended up going to lunch in the mission with one of the girls, and then met up with the rest of the group at a bar for a drink in the afternoon. they were so nice they even invited me to hang out with them that evening, which i did. so all in all, a really nice day for making new friends.

and yesterday (sunday) i went back to glide for the service and was totally and utterly inspired. there are no crosses on the wall, and everyone of any faith is welcome to join. it is really the true meaning of the word 'church' and i'm sure that this is more along the lines of what jesus had in mind. the choir was about 30 people, singing in glorious harmonies to old spirituals, blues and jazz-like songs, clapping and dancing and smiling and laughing. i was in tears for much of it because it was so powerful. i'm definitely going back!

so now begins another week of getting EUSA entrenched in san francisco. must get back to it!

a day of dance!

so today has been a hysterical and bizarre day of dance, from beginning to end.

i started out in a 'cardio salsa' class at my new gym. actually, it was the branch on california (at the fairmount hotel) 3 blocks away because the one across the street doesn't offer quite as many classes. and i SWEAR TO GOD it was like being in dirty dancing. the class consisted of me and four women in their fifties, maybe early sixties, attempting to salsa with a gorgeous black south american instructor. i am quite sure that the women were LOVING the attention and that sharon, one particularly bulbous (but lovely!) woman was faking her how-do-you-move-your-ribcage? questions so that ramon would give her a little extra attention. it was brilliant. i wanted to burst out laughing several times in the class. wouldn't really consider it a workout, but i think i'll try it again, the ladies were very welcoming!

and the night ended with dance about 30 minutes ago on the corner of 24th and mission, this time, on the side of a building ('chinese food and donuts'). quite literally these women were performing modern dance down the side of a restaurant across from the bart station. and for $230, i can take a class myself! which first seemed ridiculous but now seems like quite an interesting idea! scaling off a 60 foot building in an attempt to dance?? why not!

and inbetween my two dances, i spent several hours working at home, then went to a networking event sponsored jointly by the gay and lesbian chamber of commerce and the hispanic chamber of commerce (love san francisco!) where i won the raffle and got $50 to spend at macy's (the gay men were so annoyed!) and out for a lovely dinner with a friend of my friend molly's in the mission district where we had amazing north african and mediteranean tapas. so all in all, another brilliant day in SF.

AND what's more, the world affairs council is just around the corner from my apartment and if i wanted to, i could hear sidney blumenthal and bob woodward speak next week. everything is literally on my doorstep! i have to pinch myself sometimes!

SF highlights!

yesterday was a great day for me!
FINALLY i feel like i'm getting into the SF part of my job here and getting EUSA linked in with the city. i went to the public library in the morning and WOW - what a resource! i usually think of libraries as run-down, dirty old buildings with locked up toilet paper rolls and dog-earred worn out books ... but the SF public library is amazing. with quite possibly the best career reference library i've ever come across. i went to a training session on how to use their on-line community service resource database. there were only two of us in attendance, in a room ready for at least 20, and with two trainers who were so proud of the database and the opportunities available on their website. (wow!) and then i went to the gallery on the lower level and walked through an exhibition on migrant farm workers in california - which was fascinating and disheartening at the same time. dad - you really need to see this because a lot of these workers picked berries! it made me want to shop organic just for the workers, nevermind the chemicals. upon leaving the library i stumbled onto an amazing farmers market in the united nations plaza (on wednesdays and sundays) and promptly bought a basket of strawberries and a basket of raspberries from two mexican stallholders, hoping that the money didn't line the pockets of the farm owners but went directly to the workers themselves! unlikely, when they only get about 90 cents for an entire flat of picked strawberries.

then went to virgin records and bought the new be good tanyas album!! so far so good, a grower, but i'm sure i'm going to love it like i LOVE the others!

and then spent yesterday afternoon at a chamber of commerce event for new members. the membership coordinator is a woman my age, so we're going to have coffee on friday. and i met so many nice people who were so helpful and welcoming to the city!

and had dinner with a friend visiting from boston on a small little street ('the french quarter') off bush. it's so cool to see how everything fits together. all these places i'd known growing up (galleria park hotel (!), hotel triton, powell-mason cable car line, union squre, market street, city hall, macys, china town, etc etc) they are all so close to each other! i'm beginning to see why people say SF is actually quite small. but still so much to explore!

new digits!

hey friends - a quick post to let you know that my digits are changing and i have a new address! i'm not going to post them here because i don't want any old internet surfer calling me here - but if you don't get an email from me with them, drop me a note and i'll let you know!

i spent this morning shopping for phone deals and joining a gym. i went for a slightly more expensive gym, but i can see it if i look out the window, it has a small lap pool, and i KNOW the extra cost will get me out of bed in the morning and down the hill to work out! i also get 5 sessions with a personal trainer (or alternatively, 2 sessions with a trainer and 3 hour-long massages ... hmmmm) choices choices!

it's another glorious day in SF. hope it's lovely where you are!

wow, check this out!

if this works correctly, you should see my new flat in SF for yourself!
who knew i would be such a geek!

go to youtube.com and see if you can see this!

sunny sunday in san francisco!

it's a beautiful day here in san francisco and i've just had a lovely morning in my new apartment. i'm going to see if i can figure out how to take a video of this place on my camera and get it onto youtube ... so watch this space for info if i can figure that out. it's SO beautiful here. and so peaceful! exactly as i imagined it. i woke up at 7:30 this morning and couldn't sleep a minute more, so got up to organize the place and unpack and make myself at home. it's amazing how quickly i can make something feel like home again, just by unpacking. fortunately my landlords style is very minimalist, so it feels very calm already. the walls are a very light shade of blue, and the carpet is white and fluffy, and the couch is a maroon velvet/velour, and the wood is dark ... perfect! i can see why she was so picky about getting the right person in this place to mind her stuff. lucky for me i was the right person!

yesterday and the day before i was at golden gate park with my folks for the hardly strictly bluegrass festival. we saw elvis costello on friday afternoon (joined by special guests gillian welch and emmylou harris at the end!), and yesterday saw todd snider, steve earle, gillian welch and a few other blue grassy folks on the stage). i'm reminded at a festival like that that i am back in california again. everyone is SO laid back, so chilled out, so i-don't-really-care-about-style-so-that's-a-style! it's great! it's going on again today, but i'm going to just enjoy the neighborhood here. i'm going to join a gym too - tomorrow is the official start day, but my parents took me to the store and stocked me up with LOADS of vegetables and fresh food (since there aren't really any big stores in my area) - so my new regime may even start today!

thank you for anyone who sent good vibes for kevin - he's doing very well and recovering nicely. the first few days are the worst and his positive attitude will see him home soon! much appreciated!

off to enjoy the sunshine and cool san francisco air!

the power of ...

i hardly ever think to pray. terrible, i know, having spent my formative years praying morning noon and night. (not that i prayed round the clock, mind you, but at a catholic school, there are prayers for everything!) i feel slightly arrogant now, saying i don't think to pray - as if everything is fine, i have everything i need, and don't need to bless myself or anyone else with the time it takes to whisper a few words to the big guy above. and it's not that i've stopped believing either. something bigger than me exists. i'm pretty sure of that.

anyway, i've prayed a lot this week because my uncle has gone in for a double bypass heart surgery. he's still in intensive care right now in a boston hospital. and even if you never pray, don't believe in the big guy above, haven't thought about prayer in years ... go on ... do me a favor, just say a little one. his name is kevin. (my uncle, not the big guy, although my uncle's a pretty big guy too!)

i think most people know my mom is one of eleven. kevin is exactly in the middle, right after my mom. it's crazy how the pattern went boy girl boy girl. lynne, rick, susan, steve, beth, kevin, lisa, david, judy, tim and tom. imagine having eleven kids?! imagine the stories!

my mom and kevin being so close in age used to play together when they were little. when kevin had a diaper rash, my mom thought she'd play doctor and massage a handful of vix vapo rub all over the rash -OUCH! - which sent him screaming out the door and down the street as fast as his little naked legs would take him. let's hope the doctors in boston are more adept than my mother. (of course they are!)


i'm posting sara (his wife's) latest email here in case any family are reading this blog and didn't get the update:

I am to tired to think to worried to cry. Please please keep Kev in your prayers. Things not as good this afternoon and evening. They have put a pacemaker on him. Experiencing arterial fibullation (sorry for typing erroes and spelling) Also haveing as I left(order out) though in my defense I just sit and wipe his forheas as he asks and pray in my heart and only speak when spoken to by him and that is far and few words they are now trying more and different drugs as his heart rate is up to about 190 and climbing. Please all off you pray. I can not tell you how afraid I am of losing him. I can not begin to imagine my life without him. I don't want one without him. Ok sorry i am venting. please pray for perfect healing and peace for both of us. I am trying to let the kids do all the communicating. Please call them if you feel you need updates. Please do not call the hospital they really frown on that. I am not liking that place. Though the care seems excellent and tha t is what counts, They have yet to sit with me and explain anything or what they did exactly or doing or crap I have a hard time getting straight answers . Do I look that stupid. And I don't stand around and cry atleast not in that building. I just really felt the need to ask for more prayer please. Kev sends his love and so do I. I will continue to covet your prayers until he is completely healed. I donot have everyones emails so please forward this to everyone. One thing DRs say this is total genetics. boys you had better get some tests done,


so let's see about the power of prayer ... thanks all!

off to SF i go!

so i leave tomorrow for SF ... this will very likely be my last email from the east coast. this has all come so fast it's hard to believe it's actually here. i won't actually get up to SF until friday because i've got some routine stuff to take care of in santa cruz (dentist, etc) but then i'll be in SF and living the foggy high life.

it's been an exhausting week, packing up, saying goodbyes, etc etc. no room here for details, but it will all work itself out as it should, as it's meant to be, i'm sure. i'm looking forward to the space and quiet in SF to think about all the questions running through my head as of late.

i got an email from anna reminding me that 11 months ago, we were in new york, sitting outside eating paninis and wondering aloud where we would be one year from now...and already, look how much has changed. engagements, pregnancies, house purchases, new jobs, new states, new loves, new directions. i think i can sit tight a bit longer. see what time brings!

thanks for all the support from everyone! more from the west coast.

crossingponds crosses ponds again!

corporate vs classroom

i went to a presentation last night by one of our HSBC supervisors called 'demystifying wall street ... investment banking explained' ... a room full of college kids looking identically hopeful and naive about the world of business. full of blank stares and black suits. the presenters went on to extol the benefits of life on 'the street' - the fun that was had at three a.m. putting pitchbooks together for big clients, working 100 hour weeks, missing important life events because work called, making less than the guys flipping burgers at mcdonalds (when you work out the per/hour salary) ... and i couldn't help but look around the room and wonder WHAT ARE YOU KIDS DOING HERE?

at the same time, part of me understood the attraction. not of the long hours or cog-like duties performed by junior analysts - but of being a part of something, of making things happen, of shaking hands and doing deals. and part of me wondered if i am better suited for the business world? of course i'd NEVER get into investment banking, and my deals would have to be worthwhile to me, but maybe i ought not lose sight of that idea as well. i sometimes fear a high school would swallow me up until my retirement with little room for bigger plans? maybe i'm wrong. i'm still optimistic. we shall see. (i say that a lot don't i?)

moving tomorrow for a short few days into alex's new place ... and then i'm off to SF next wednesday. how fast time flies, it's nearly october. where did 2006 go?

table tops

years ago my aunt lynne gave me a brilliant photo of the table out on our side yard after a thanksgiving party, replete with a bottle of wild turkey, veggies and dip (eaten), pate, chips, soda, beer, etc etc. i've loved that photo for years and have been attempting my own table top photos ever since. back at bavent road i had a chance to grab three of my favorites and i've decided to stop WAITING for a proper place/space again but to just frame them and hang them wherever i am. so i've got a table in tuscany, a table in paris, and a beach scene with drunken VBs and prawn shells scattered on the sand. i love them. here's just the two that i have digitally:




i don't know why i love them so much. i think just because they remind me of good times, and because they center around food, which is so important to me in good times. can you have a good time without food? i don't think so!

home again, home again ...

back to boston, and this my 100th blog posting.

the flight took rather longer than usual because we had to have an emergency landing in halifax last night because a woman gave birth prematurely to a baby onboard the flight yesterday. luckily there were medical personnel onboard to assist with the delivery. it was one of those lovely moments where everyone on the flight clapped when the announcement was made upon arrival - and no one seemed hostile or overly annoyed at the two hour delay.

and in other exciting news our friend isla is pregnant! it's babies all over the place! everyone was thrilled for them at the BBQ on friday, though we all knew it the week before when isla wasn't drinking at the wedding. surely there could ONLY be one reason for her lack of indulgence. she blamed gastroenteritis, we blamed chris. :)

and now i am home on a grey but warm afternoon in boston, catching up on housework, work work, and laundry. it's nice to have a day like this to recover before heading into work. i know i'll feel more relaxed ... especially after such a crazy week in england.

love to all.

and now the week is over ...

a lovely week in the uk. a whirlwind, as ever, trying to see as many people as possible.
i'm sitting in my old flat writing this, i've been here the last two days going through ALL of my stuff, uncovering old photos, sifting through old letters (love and otherwise), unearthing memories long passed. it's all boxed up now, ready for that age in my life when i have the time reopen and enjoy my twenties all over again. (my sixties??)

i've been ruthlessly throwing things away. clothes that sadly don't fit anymore or things i haven't worn but once to a fancy costume party and would unlikely ever wear again. i've gotten rid of nearly my entire book collection, excepting those on spirituality or on writing, and a few childhood favorites i've lugged with me through the years. it sounds sadder than it actually has been for me. it was actually quite easy to let most of it go. what's the point of hanging onto these possessions? even though i have a lovely hardback of white teeth, i'm never going to read it again.

the only things i've really saved are the memories. boxes and boxes of photos and letters will go back in the loft and wait patiently for me to reclaim them one day. but now i feel that i've salvaged what i really want from this house. of course i love the rest, but this last year away from everything that i once held so dear to me has shown me what i need to survive and what i don't. my butcher block was, for awhile, my symbol of adulthood and freedom and ownership. and now, even though i love it, i find i'm not as attached as i once was. the things i've thrown away are things i can replace easily, if at a small cost. i'm ok with that. i've learned that i can start again. (and again, and again and again ... as many times as i need or want to).

what i'm most thankful for are the people here, and the memories we've shared. and so it's not surprising that four of the seven boxes i'll return to the loft are stuffed with people and places and laughter and tears and friends i love.

though in actual fact, my real friends are waiting for me at the BBQ ... so i must run. for more!

i'm here! i'm alive!

just a quick note to say i'm in england.
the eagle has landed.

i'll be here until saturday - though with limited computer access, so unlikely to do much blogging. saturday was coll and daryl's wedding celebration and boy was it a party! it was absolutely brilliant. i really enjoyed the evening. we were all dolled up in our finest (although anna said i really should have gone shoe shopping because my sandals looked like orthopedic shoes along side my gorgeous new dress. point taken, but i was SO comfortable). ha ha.

the only bad part about the weekend thus far is that tom broke his arm on saturday playing football. a very bad break, in two places, and needed pins and plates and general anaesthetic....so he missed the wedding and is in agonizing pain! he only just got back from the hospital today. luckily with feeling in his fingers. so anna too missed much of the weekends festivities although made a GRAND effort of taxiing over to the ceremony after visiting hours in the hospital, looking effortlessly dazzling of course. (as usual)

and yesterday i had a lovely day tooling around central london with ruth and vicky, walking through columbia flower market, spitalfields market, covent garden with coffee and bacon sandwiches (lots of champagne the night before) and then to neal's yard for an aromatherapy massage (a birthday present from vix) - delightful! i'm reminded how wonderfully diverse london is - so much going on in all corners and with such different vibes in each.

(and 3 days in a row with over 10,000 steps on my pedometer!)

anyhow, i must work so off i go. hope all are well.

food for thought : ACTION

this is my 'quote of the day' from google:

We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing.
Action always generates inspiration.
Inspiration seldom generates action.
- Frank Tibolt

i like that. makes me think about my own situation. and how i'm sitting around (and have been for awhile now?) waiting for inspiration to strike me instead of just doing something about it. how many of us are just waiting, i wonder?

let's generate some action!

off to get my eyebrows waxed (hey, it's a start!)

podcasting is FUN!

ok, check this out, i think i've done it!
let me know what you want to hear!
tee hee. what a geek i am!

monday monday

i really seem to be sporadic in these postings, don't i?
sorry about that!

it was a pretty lazy weekend - i spent both evenings in and on my couch recovering from a cold i picked up last week. i got out of the house on saturday for a 'podcamp' - basically an un-conference about podcasting filled with people who podcast for a living or who are attempting to make a living out of it. there were a few of us who were total novices, but for the most part, these were podgeeks, and this was pretty advanced stuff. podcasting 101, one of the sessions i attended, was definitely upper division! i did, however, meet some interesting people. i met a guy named guido who hosts a weekly podcast on knitting called it's a purl, man. he was really sweet and told me all about what i need to do to get podcasts online. there's a few more things i need to do, but i'm on my way, if i can ever actually work up the nerve to get them out there. i'm thinking i'll have a format for them, perhaps answering questions. (ha ha) from my listeners. so hit me up. perhaps an interesting way to discover my own opinions. it's strange talking into a mic in a room by yourself. fodder needed!

i also met a really interesting woman who works for a documentary/film company who has been following fans of elvis, diana, and pope john paul II around for nearly 6 shooting about them and how they cultivate meaning and community from their grieving. she was also, that very night, hosting an iron chef party/competition at her house which i thought was a brilliant idea. as soon as i live in a house with a kitchen again, i'm going to host one of those. her secret ingredient was corn.

and yesterday was spent toodling around watching movies, king kong (not my cup of tea) and the triplets of bellville (brilliant! or at least what i saw of it until i fell asleep, part two tonight!) i'm sure others have seen this, no? a french cartoon?

tomorrow i'm working from home because i've got to have a call on skype with the two guys (former students) i've hired to create the podcasts for the EUSA website. one is in thailand and one is in michigan, but apparently we can meet online for a conference call with this software. crazy stuff!

more when something interesting happens!

some SF pics

here are a few pics of the place in SF, not sure these do it justice, but you can get the idea!

another day older

thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes, emails and cards!
how loved i am!

it was a relatively quiet birthday yesterday, though that was fine with me because i was exhausted.
i could've gone to a redsox game but it would have been standing room only, and i didn't have it in me to stand for four hours. apparently once they are out of contention, tickets will be easy to come by, so i still have a chance before i leave.

instead we ate some delicious food and watched a movie and had an ice cream (mint chip, but of course) and fell asleep by 11! i must be getting old.

and now here i am back at work. i think september is going to fly by with everything i have on my calendar - including a week in the UK!

i've found out that the woman in SF will definitely give me her flat while she is in africa for 4 months! so i will be living in central san francisco for 3-4 months! the flat is gorgeous - newly renovated - with soft plush white carpet throughout. i think this may mean i'll have to switch to drinking white wine over the winter, but i'm OK with that. the living room is fairly big with a glass table that sits under the bay window looking out on the streets of SF. i can just imagine making a coffee and sitting with the early morning sunshine pouring in. the bedroom is just next to the kitchen, and the kitchen is small, but no smaller than the one i've had in boston. and there is a walk-in closet/hallway on the way to the loo. it should be so sweet to be there. very peaceful!

and now i must get back to work. thanks again to everyone!

all in two day's work...

at the airport getting ready to board. a successful two days, i'd say.

interviewed six candidates - quite a lot by myself, and wishing i had had someone with me for clarification/confirmation of my views. first reactions, initial reactions can be deceiving...but let's hope we choose right. otherwise, my job will be VERY hard work! not that i don't enjoy working hard, of course.

found an apartment! on mason and sutter. a gorgeous apartment literally 2 blocks from union square. not the neighborhood feel i thought i wanted, but when i saw the inside of this flat, i just fell in love. it's SO peaceful, despite the neighborhood full of tourists and tramps. and closer to the action than a neighborhood might be. i suppose i have the rest of my life for neighborhoods. bring on the city while i still can and while i still want to. final confirmation on this place tomorrow from the woman, but she said she liked me!

shit, they're boarding my flight quickly, must not be full at all, i hope i get three seats to myself so i can sleep.

am i 31 now if it's midnight in boston? hmmm....

grrrr....they took bobbi

the morning is NOT off to a great start.
only a few will appreciate this, but i accidentally left my bobbi brown in my bag going through customs and they took it. funnily enough he left my lip smackers lip gloss - must not have known what that was. but he took bobbi. they also took a brand new bottle of sunscreen. more of an annoyance than anything else.

alas.

while we're on things that only a few people will understand or appreciate, this one is for the girls. fancy a cut by mr tavy?


ha ha.

i need to finish my coffee before i can write anything for the masses.

the bride, the groom and the deadhead

so i've been in portland and bend (oregon) this weekend - a fly in / fly out trip for my good friend emily's wedding. it was beautiful and she was a stunning bride. it's so lovely to see people so happy and so in love, and i must admit, i'm becoming a much less cynical spectator at wedding ceremonies. i'd not met her fiance and he seems like a really good guy, so i'm sure they'll be happy. she kindly let us stay in her house in town because she had a room at the resort where the wedding took place. and staying there really made me miss having a place of my own. i've been in temporary accommodation for the last year, and will be for the foreseeable future, and it's getting rather old. i miss my kitchen and my gadgets and having a proper dining room table to eat and sit at. she had the most beautiful dining room table, dark solid wood. i'm beginning to think that the table might be the most important piece of furniture in the house - so much is shared around it.

anyway, the wedding was outside and it was a beautiful day. the reception followed and i met quite a few of her friends. i brought molly and brad and little elliot as my plus 3 (she didn't mind!) though we were minus two when brad took elliot home to sleep, and molly came back for some dancing.

i sat at the table with emily's UK contingent and the highschool coach of the groom. he was a riot. turns out he'd been a navy seal and when he got back his friend from eastern oregon asked him if he would be jerry garcia's personal bodyguard. so he did that for three years. he said he could have as much sex, drugs and rock'n'roll as he wanted. and by the sounds of it, he took advantage of that. he had some great stories, said he was friends with larry bird (a deadhead), don henley, and that he shared a joint with bob dylan when they toured with him one summer. he said bob was a real introvert and not very social. i was sorry the dylan fans were not there to ask more questions, i'm sure you would have loved this guy. he said that being a bodyguard was more like babysitting - they just went crazy all the time.

he told this one story about how another guard and friend of his (apparently all the bodyguards came from this one town in eastern oregon) was obsessed with spending money, just because he could and because he had it, so one day he bought a lasso. at one of the concerts there was a woman on stage scantily clad (which is to say, naked, as i guess was common at these shows) she was standing on the edge of the stage and his friend had the brilliant idea of lassoing her from the wings. and in less than 10 seconds, he had the rope around her (naked) shoulders. she, unfortunately, could not keep her balance and fell crashing off the stage. they thought that was the end and presumed a jail term would follow shortly. but she was back up a second later, never missing a beat. i guess with enough drugs anything's possible.

speaking of drugs, he said that the band would give the roadies an allotted amount before a tour and they'd be responsible for anything else they'd need if they finished that off. weights and measures don't mean much to me, so i can't remember exactly how much he said it was, but i think it's fair to say it was enough.

it was really interesting and i could've listened to his stories the whole night. he was a pretty cool guy. and his wife was lovely as well. she met him AFTER these years, for which she was probably grateful. but he got out after three years, said the lifestyle just wasn't for him. you can only have SO much rock'n'roll. (and cocaine!)

anyhow, back in portland for one more night with molly, brad and elliot. and then tomorrow i'm off to SF to interview a few candidates for the position and to check out some apartments. fingers crossed that one of them works out. and then a redeye back to boston on tuesday night in time for MY BIRTHDAY on wednesday. no real plans yet, probably a casual night with alex and my cousin anna - who also has a september 6th birthday.

get that card in the mail! :)

nature's nervous energy

i had this amazing experience when we were camping that i forgot to blog about. it was dusk and alex had gone to take a shower, so i was at the camp on the lake on my own. i was watching the sunset and for some reason i turned away from the sun and looked back at the campsite. this picture attempts to capture what i saw, but only towards the end when i rushed to grab the camera before the light faded. it was truly magestic, awesome, amazing. the wind was whipping through the trees but it was silent, and the trees and bushes were shaking. but in this light, it was as if this were an audience of worshippers, humble servants, exaulting their sun god, unable to contain their excitement for this precise moment - whispering and laughing in nervous anticipation. it was absolutely amazing and i wish i could even convey what it felt like to see such a spectacle. i felt like i was intruding on nature, invading the private space of their nervous energy. very very cool.

and here was the sunset that followed.

a big thank you to my grama who sent me a huge bouquet of flowers for an early birthday treat and a tub of chocolate covered party mix to share with the office (which is now gone by the way!)

rain schmain

yesterday was a fall day if ever there was one!
alex and i went to see 'little miss sunshine' (highly recommended!) and biked over to cambridge to see this. it was drizzling when we left for the theatre and by the time we came out, it was pretty much a downpour. so we had one of those 'what the heck, if you're going to get wet, you might as well' rides home. i certainly was not avoiding puddles. and in the evening we cooked a roast chicken with veg and gravy (very fall thing to do!) and watched pirates of the carribean, flipping to the emmy's on the commercials.

saturday was spent shopping for a dress for the upcoming weddings. and i am happy to say i found an amazing dress. my grama will be happy about this as she said a friend of hers had commented on my lovely, but over-worn, dress that has lasted me the last 5-6 festive occasions, after seeing me in it yet AGAIN in a photo. i suppose the truth must come out some time, i am really not a fashionista. yes, it's true. so this new dress is frilly and flowy and strapless and makes me feel very feminine. if only my boobs were a little bigger it would fit perfectly. but i'll stuff in a strapless bra and just not raise my hands above my head on the dancefloor, and i should be fine!

i'll send pictures soon!

rainy day friday

the impending SF move is the hot topic these days.
i've spent the week looking for apartments, trying to decide where i want to live and whether i want to have roommates or live alone. i can't decide. and which neighborhood do i choose? everyone has been so helpful in telling me about the districts and places to think about (thank you!) - now it's just actually committing. i'm finding that hard to do right now. in part, i suppose because we're not entirely sure yet that this is going to go through. there is a small chance that it won't happen. but still, i must forge ahead as if it will, and EUSA understand they may lose some deposit money if i have to cancel at the last minute.

anyway, i'm out to SF on the 4th and 5th to interview candidates, so it's happening. i've managed to squeeze in a trip to portland and bend to get to my good friend emily's wedding on saturday the 2nd. i didn't think i was going to be able to make that, but the timing works and it's perfect! and i can bring molly as my +1 to the wedding, so i get a chance to see my portland friends as well! hooray!

and with a trip to london in the middle of september for 1 week - this is really one of the last few weekends i have in boston. how strange. it's hard to believe i've been in boston nearly a year. how fast time flies. i wonder where i'll be one year from now?

nothing major planned this weekend, and sadly, the weather is crap today, rainy and grey. hopefully it doesn't last the weekend!

hopefully the sun is shining where you are!

back from the wild (and not so wild)

wow. what a week. how to capture it all in this space without writing a novella. though i'm sure, dear reader, you wouldn't mind a novella. alex and i had a great week! (i must mention that he now has a link to this blog as well, so my entries may be somewhat guarded and i may not be able to tell you what REALLY happened. kidding.) (hi alex).

but seriously, it was a great week. we started at the hotel in new hampshire which was amazing. we had a third floor corner room overlooking the harbor and a most spectacular sunset. we drove into portsmouth (NH) for a japanese dinner and a wander around the town, but seeing as i was using my points for the hotel stay - we wanted to take advantage of the facilities (tennis courts, basketball hoops, swimming pools, spas, etc) - so we didn't stay long in town.

the next day we made the big drive to baxter state park. with all of our stops, it probably took us 6-7 hours - but could've easily taken 3-4 if we'd not stopped so many times at shaws, walmarts, and dunkin donuts for coffee and tea breaks. (did i say tea breaks?, i meant PEE breaks!, ha ha). that day was all about the journey and not the destination because we had a great time wandering down aisles and shopping for supplies. we found a campstove for 20 bucks and just about everything we'd need for a weeks worth of foraging in the forests of maine.

perusing the sporting goods aisle at walmart i happened upon this fantabulous contraption i'd seen on TV for only $29.95 called the CROSS CRUNCH. i'd seen the commerical only once and have spent hours and hours in front of the television waiting for it to come again to get the 1-800 number so that i might order it and get myself my own six pack. (only kidding about watching hours of TV - but i have been on the look out) ... BUT WAIT ... you can imagine my delight when it was selling for only $19.99 with NO shipping or handling! i sidetrack here to explain this purchase and my excitement for it only for entertainment purposes. laugh if you will, dear reader, but we'll see whose belly shakes more ... give me six weeks with this machine and i bet it won't be mine! i spent the mornings on our picnic tables working my abs ... really, it says i only need to do 90 seconds a day to have beautiful abs and i definitely had that kind of time on our trip! (this was, of course, right after the pancake breakfasts with bacon and eggs!)

i digress.

we got to baxter state park and set up camp hastily in the twilight, toasted hotdogs on the fire and called it a night at dark in order to be up at 4:30 to hike up mount katahdin. but when the alarm went off at 4:30 and it was still pitch black outside, we turned it off, rolled over, and slept another hour and a half. to our credit though, we were climbing the mountain by 7:30 and made the climb in seven hours. three hours up and four hours down. i would put in some pictures here as i'm sure there are some disbelievers among you (yes, i hike!) - but my computer keeps crashing in my attempts to upload. you'll have to wait for the ofoto link.

the hike was great. very likely the most difficult hike i've climbed to date. it was rocky and steep and needed all four limbs to make it over some of the points. i'd use the word 'scrambling' to describe our ascent and descent up the mountain ... only that infers a more rapid movement than would have been physically possible for either of us. it was more of an 'amble scramble' if such a thing exists. and neither of us were entirely prepared for the climb. (i in my diesel jeans and running shoes, and alex in his swimming trunks and city sneakers). it was laughable really - especially when we passed the serious hikers with water pumps attached to their backpacks and nordic walking sticks. but we made it, and that was all that mattered.

we weren't particularly prepared for the trip in general, neither of us being seriously outdoorsy folk. i was anticipating indiana-like camping with thick hot summer air and tank top weather every day. i only threw in a pair of jeans and light jacket on my way out the door, as in a 'i'm-sure-i-won't-need-this-but-what-the-heck-i've-got-room-in-my-bag' sort of way. little did i know i'd be living in them for seven straight days. and i definitely did not know we were going to hike to the top of mount katahdin. not that i minded, but i might've brought something more sensible to wear. but who am i kidding, i don't have any sensible hiking outfits!

apparently maine is about three weeks ahead of boston in the seasons ... (alex tells me this on the way up) ... so once again, walmart saves the day with boys XL sweatshirts for $8.77.

we spent the next morning rubbing our aching legs and ambling even MORE slowly out to trout brook pond in search of moose. we'd actually walked RIGHT PAST a moose on the trail the day before, munching in the trees on our path. i thought it was a bear and was about ready to scream and jump and make myself appear larger than life (this is what they tell you to do) when alex hushed me down and told me to get back because it was actually a moose. being city folk, we crept back about 15 feet and waited, having no idea what to do but feeling slightly like intrepid wildlife photographers. i think we would've stayed there, our hearts racing nervously, if a seasoned hiker hadn't been close behind us. 'oh, it must just be a moose' he said too casually for our liking ... as he proceeded to walk past, chuckling AT US as if in our awe and incredulity, we were somehow an odder spectacle than the 700 pound moose snacking on the leaves. we thought it was amazing, and couldn't get over the fact that we'd been SO close to a real live moose. (though in actuality, were quite glad to leave our heavy friend behind us and continue down to camp).

we'd also seen a baby bear cub on our drive to the campsite, which was equally amazing, but meant that alex 'i've only seen the cubs at fenway' johnson was somewhat neurotic bordering OCD about food or anything fragrant anywhere NEAR where we might sleep, hang or otherwise rest our aching legs.

baxter was great - but we were both glad to have the 'roughing it' part of camping over with and move onto moosehead lake - slightly more traditional car camping. our site at 'casey's' was very likely the BEST possible spot in the campground. we were on the edge of all other sites, and literally ON the water. well, not literally, i suppose, but our tent was 15 feet from moosehead lake and opened onto the most beautiful mornings and colorful sunsets. and we had no neighbors on either side, so it really did feel as though we were on our own island. (someone must've mentioned to the others that camping season had passed and that we were a few weeks too late for the peak). it was terribly windy, but JUST warm enough not to let that chill us to the bone - certainly warmer than baxter had been. and until the day we left, the wind did not relent. but we learned to live with it, and swam in the lake when the sun shone through the clouds. we also left the campsite both days to explore greenville, the nearby town, had lunch, did some laundry, played dominos at the local cafe, and poked around in the local craft markets and antique shops.

we ate well on our trip too! 'roughing it' didn't really come into play when it came to breakfasts and dinners for us! (did you really think it would?) we had hot dogs, chick pea salad, spaghetti and meatsauce, grilled asparagus and onions, tacos, kung pao chicken with brocolli (actually, this was freeze dried that i bought at a camping store as a joke just to see, and it was disgusting, not as good as it sounds), granola and fruit, pancakes, bacon, eggs, etc etc. and lots of snacks for all those hikes we never took after the first day!

you see why i bought the cross crunch!?

after moosehead, we were intending to head to acadia national park on the coast of maine, but decided we wanted some warmer weather, so drove back south via boston, collected our bikes, and headed to cape cod. what fun! i'd never been before and had always wanted to go, and alex's flatmate has a family house with very welcoming parents who didn't mind us cramping their style for a few days. so we abandoned the tent in favor of the bungalow, three blocks from the beach. we spent friday riding bikes all over the cape (dennis through harwich to chatham, if that means anything to you) and then spent the evening playing trivial pursuit with barry (his flatmate) and his girlfriend mary ellen.

we were so used to rising at dawn and sleeping when the sun set that we were exhausted by 9 or 10 each night - so it wasn't a crazy weekend. but i'm getting used to enjoying the days and might see about making it a habit, if i can.

saturday we spent on the beach, i finished lolita (nabokov) though in doing so burnt the backs of my knees and alex went swimming in the atlantic with the car key in his pocket. you can guess what happened but luckily he'd remembered to bring a spare. (which unfortunately he'd left in the locked car, but thank goodness for AAA). we went for a game of minigolf, but ended up leaving after the 12th hole because the backup of golfers was just too much and we couldn't be bothered with the wait. i was having a particularly bad game so decided to chip my ball OVER the pond in the middle of the green rather than around it and subsequently lost my ball to the river that flowed through the course. which was fine by me as it sped the game up a bit to have 3 players instead of 4.

all in all, it was a great week. i didn't read as many books as i'd hoped (or lugged) and i never did get to many of those push ups so my arms still look pretty much the same, but it was a wonderfully relaxing week nonetheless. i had some time on my own to think (lots of that actually) and journal, and write postcards, and catch up with my thoughts, which i don't often have time to do in the city.

it's nine o'clock here in boston on sunday night, the thunder is booming outside my window and my eyes are getting sleepy. i may have to head to bed with the sun.

good night. bon nuit. buenos noches.

off to explore new england

it feels like a friday for me now!
i've just finished my last meeting of the day and now i am checking out. this week seemed to drag on and on. but in less than 24 hours, i will be sitting by the poolside of an amazing spa and resort in new hampshire! we're using my marriott points for one night ... and then we officially begin our camping trip for 8 days. (don't ask, there was no room at the inn on the LAST night of the trip, which I KNOW would have been the more obvious choice.)

after that we are off to baxter state park where we'll spend two nights, and then over to moosehead lake for a few days on the lake in more typical car camping. i think baxter may be a bit rustic. and then after that, we're down on the coast of maine, and we haven't quite decided where that will be yet. somewhere near bar harbor, we think. all in all, it should be fun.

and here's hoping 9 days wasn't too ambitious. we shall see.

i'll have NO access to internet or email, that i know of, so all will be quiet on the blog front until our return.

i'm looking forward to lots of time to relax and read and write and think and perhaps come back with a few more decisions made about life in general. again, we shall see. i've also decided to attempt to do 50-100 push ups every day to see if 9 days can tone my arms up. but that's neither here nor there.

enjoy the last bits of summer!

how to make a decision ...

about what to do in life?

a. read a book about it.
b. solicit opinions.
c. pray.
d. flip a coin.
e. all of the above.

i'm realizing of late that i'm not very good at making decisions. or finishing or thinking through ideas. in the last four or five years, i thought i'd be: somewhere in the corporate world, event planning, an owner of an i-can-organize-anything-you-like business, a florist, a deli or small cafe owner, a massage therapist, and now (the latest) a high school guidance counselor. who's to say though that that's not a fad, something here today gone tomorrow.

but the longer i wait, the more books i read, the more opinions i solicit, the more prayers i offer ... well ... THE MORE TIME GOES BY AND I'M STILL DOING THE SAME THING! gosh, i sound like owen meany.

one of these days, (f.) something will kick me up the ass.
unless i kick myself first!
it's probably better if i do the kicking!

sunday exhaustion

i am completely exhausted. i've probably spent about 6-7 hours on my bike this weekend. alex and i decided yesterday to go for a ride that we thought would only take an hour (18 miles, he said) but it turned out to take nearly three hours!! with maybe 40 minutes of breaktime inserted when the hills got too much. we were riding to a childhood friend of his' engagement party in wayland, a suburb of boston, and no one could believe we'd actually ridden all that way. (we stopped off at a gas station just before the party to change into our party outfits). there were a few bits we (well, I, really) struggled with, but for the most part, it was a lovely ride through different parts of boston i'd never seen before. some amazing scenery and some really cool old new england architecture. and today again we decided to go for a long ride out to a movie theater out of town. no idea why, but we went for the nascar movie with will farrell and ali G which was so LAME we walked out after thirty minutes and caught the ending of a cartoon about barnyard animals, equally LAME ... but then managed to get in a really love bike ride home through yet another new bit of town with equally amazing scenery. i feel sorry for people who don't have bikes and who don't get to experience all the nooks and crannies of their towns. i'm sure i would NEVER see most of this without my trusty bike.

but now i am wiped out and am looking forward to the feather pillows calling my name.

i am attaching two more pics of the ribs i spoke about in the previous blog so you can see, we did eat an entire cow.

basketball in august

and i thought the madness just happened in march.
after work yesterday alex and i went to play basketball.
let me rephrase, he played basketball, i watched and read my 'coach yourself to success' book (don't laugh). i was supposed to play, but we forgot to bring an extra ball, and i wasn't about to get in on the pick up game that he was drafted for. (like they would have picked me anyway).

it was interesting to watch the politics on the court and i wished i'd had my computer with me to blog then and there, because now, back at the office, it's hard to recall them with the same reflection. i often wish that and seem to have most of my interesting thoughts when i'm on my bike, or walking or in a car. i suppose i should begin to carry a notebook with me - but when i have a notebook, i never write. it's one of those annoying things.

in any case, i really enjoyed watching how perfect strangers can come together for sport. (maybe they ought to drop basketballs on lebanon instead of bombs and see what happens). alex assures me some of them know each other, and he's friendly with a few of them, but i'm sure there were some newcomers. it didn't take long for them to pick up the game, shout at each other, praise each other, rib each other, and otherwise just have a good time playing ball.

outside the window it's pouring rain today. just a few minutes ago the sky was dark and had the eerie pre-earthquake feeling. i suppose i need to get used to the pre-thunder and lightening feeling as that's what they seem to get most on the east coast. i hope it lets up because i'm on my bike in a skirt this morning. at least it's not 100 degrees anymore. that was unbearable!

hooray for fridays! happy weekends to all!

back to work ... urgh!

yes, back at work after a week of fun in the midwest. i'm not particularly happy to be back, but that could well be because my office is hot as an oven with no air conditioning and only a small fan pushing the hot air back and forth. yuck. these kind of days make me wonder whether i am well suited to the east coast. i'm not so sure. i hear london is having a heatwave as well. i suppose everywhere is heating up ... alex and i might see a movie tonight, maybe i'll make it 'an inconvenient truth' and figure out where this is all coming from.

the reunion was great. it was really nice to see everyone. my cousin had reserved a shelter so we had tables and some shade and everyone mingled nicely despite the heat. almost everyone made it which was great and there was family bonding and ribs all around. i will get some pictures up here of the ribs we had. i took quite a few. (for some reason, that's about all i took pictures of!) but it was hilarious. really, we must've eaten about five cows! or were they pigs? regardless, there were tons!

what else did i do?

hit a cleveland indians game at jacob's field. we had great corporate seats my dad's clients got us right behind first base. literally. and at one point in the game, my sister and i got the first baseman's attention and he threw us a ball. nice.

camped in a barbie tent in 100 degree weather. made me wonder whether this trip to maine with alex is a good idea, but decided it was so miserable because a) i wasn't prepared b) i couldn't stretch my legs out (barbie is quite small you know) and c) there was no air circulation. and really, i think i can solve all three of those problems on this next trip.

played truth or dare with the cousins. no nakedness - though jordan confessed to skinnydipping the night before.

got the elbows out.

surprise.

anyhow, it's far too hot here today at work so i must go somewhere else and get out of this miserable office!

love to all.

checked out!

i'm in vacation mode here at work.
i've crossed off all the big things on my to do list so now i'm just waiting another hour or so until i can check out and get home to do laundry and pack and then get to bed by 10. i have to be up at 4am to catch a flight at 6. eeks. all for the love of cleveland indians. we're going to see a game at noon and the later flight wouldn't have gotten me there on time. it should be fun. hotdogs and beer and popcorn - and apparently right behind homeplate. yeehaw.

i saw the devil wears prada last night with my new movie/book club. slightly strange because there wasn't much discussion on it and the group parted ways right after the movie. so i guess it's really just an excuse to see movies with people. but perhaps we'll change the format for next time. it makes me miss organizing parties - but since i didn't get it started, i don't really want to charge in with my get-to-know-you games like i would if it were mine. (ok, right, everyone get NAKED!) ha ha. i don't think these girls would play games like that! :)

but the movie was cute, in a very predictable way. in fact, i think the exact same movie has been done already because i've seen it twice - just can't remember the name of it, one of those lame disneyfied movies. frumpy girl from the midwest moves to new york to make it in publishing. been there, done that.

but meryl streep was great. and there was a part of watching all that that made me miss london, and being so in touch with what's happening and stylish and 'now'.. (frumpy girls goes back to the midwest...) and definitely made me want some of those stylish clothes - but know that i'll never get those and really, at the end of the day, don't care that much. though a trip to topshop would be nice right about now.

in any case, only 55 minutes left to this day and i'm outta here! off to the family reunion in ohio this weekend!

music in boston

this has been a great week for music.
i was riding my bike home on wednesday night and stopped when i saw some free jazz in the fens park. a little five piece was set up playing jazz classics on the green with the audience on a sloped hill in the sun. and last night there was a free concert in copley square and none other than edie brickell and the new bohemians played for over an hour! classic! it reminded me of highschool and college .... and the countless times i would play 'shooting rubberbands at the stars' - and she sang the great ones as well - 'nothing' 'circle of friends' 'what i am' etc etc. it was brilliant!

and the rest of last night i spent reorganizing my living room, moving tables and chairs and couches to make it more homey for my parents arrival. i don't know why i didn't think to do this earlier - like when i FIRST moved in - to make it mine - but it's really cool now. looks much more lived in and less temporary. i guess i'm just getting used to not really being in one place for very long, so not investing much in where i'm at. when perhaps, that would make all the difference for my experience. i'm getting anxious again to start investing in a place. (on large and small scales). i've been able to overlook the fact that i'm living in someone else's apartment, with his things on the walls and his uncomfortable futons as beds/couches, but i'm getting ready to have my stuff again. not that that will happen anytime soon - particularly if i relocate temporarily to san francisco this fall - but anyway, it's around the corner!

it's been awhile

sorry for the lack of blogs ... just haven't caught the writing bug as of late, and nothing terribly exciting has happened since i last wrote. i ended up going out in new york for a pretty crazy night. it was really only crazy because paul said 'catherine says you sometimes get up and dance on tables, so we're not leaving until you dance on tables' and proceeded to buy me lots and lots of cocktails. i can't imagine what catherine was talking about!

otherwise, it's been a pretty quiet week. my parents are coming to boston tomorrow, so i'm looking forward to showing them a good time. i think we'll probably do a chilled out walking tour around boston and end up on a pub crawl at some point on saturday night. i think they're probably coming to see me more than they are the city of boston or bunker hill - but we shall see. maybe a duck tour is in order.

and i leave on wednesday for my family reunion in ohio which should be great fun! it seems that most people have jumped on the bandwagon and will be there. i'm glad to see people are making the effort.

norah jones is playing in the background here at work. that album always reminds me of summer in london circa 2002.

how fast time flies!

happy birthday to my cousin sara! she's 29 today!

NY NY

sitting in the lobby of my hotel where i get internet access. i feel a bit like pig pen, except i'm shrouded in a cloud of vera wang - the perfume i accidentally doused myself in while walking through macy's. but nevermind. i'm sure my au natural smell after a day walking all over town will seep through shortly and i'll be rid of this stench.

what can i say, there are so many adjectives that come to mind it's difficult to get them all down, or even begin to express the thoughts i've had over the last few days about this crazy city. for a start, work has gone well. i've had 7 really good meetings that will hopefully lead somewhere as far as internships are concerned, so that's been a plus! it hasn't been a waste of time where work is concerned.

and i've walked everywhere. i've not used the subway once, and don't intend to. i've only cabbed it twice, and spent a good 2-3 hours/day getting to/from appointments. i'm staying on 8th and 34th, just next to penn station and madison square garden - the garment district, apparently. and most of my meetings have been around park or 5th and 46th. you can figure the grid. and last night, after a workout in the gym, i just put on my tennis shoes and started walking south. i must've walked about 30 blocks before i stopped and cabbed back to the hotel. it was a straight shot through chelsea and down to greenwich village - and fun to see the places the girls and i saw/stayed last time we were in here october. (remember the bar with the cabaret singer on the first night? still there! and the store where we bought papers at six a.m.? yep, still there!) crazy times. i felt a bit like forrest gump, i just kept walking .... (walk, meeeeegan, wawalk!)

and yesterday i bought myself a nice watch. i've been needing one because i've been wearing the same one my grandparents bought me at harrods (maybe seven years ago?) every day since - so i didn't mind investing in another one. only it's slightly annoying because it's a smidgen too tight, but if they put in another piece, it's a smidgen too loose. but it's so beautiful that i'll deal. tight.

apart from that, i haven't succumb to the shops that surround this area. it would probably be worse if i was in lower manhattan with the boutiques and one off shops ... it's easy to pass by h&m without stopping (there's one in boston anyway).

but new york is just mad. so many people and so many DIFFERENT people. i love it. there's a convention at this hotel of people going to see some woman from india, ammah, maybe? anyway, they are all dressed in beautiful flowy white outfits and look like the most peaceful people in the world. and then you step outside to the cacophony of 8th street and the madness begins. what a strange place for a peaceful woman to lead her followers. i've noticed that people here don't really look at each other, which is a shame - because i've seen some of the most interesting people since i've arrived. everything's acceptable in new york, i'm not sure there is such thing as bad taste here. irony is in full swing, and i think they 'get it' - how could you not in a city like this?

but i don't think i could live here. too much consumption for me. i was on park avenue today where the big banks are headquartered. people driving around in cars like mr big, chauffered and all, very flash, very grand. but i was sitting in starbucks and overheard a husband talking to his wife and daughter. from what i could make out, they were camping, and he was supposed to be at the campground with them. but instead, he was drinking a frappacino under towering skyscrapers in a hot and muggy city. maybe he's making a lot of money. who knows. and i guess he'll make s'more. only without the marshmallows.

so now i'm off for a friday night with a friend i met in london who lives in ny. he's a really good friend of a girl i work with and she introduced us a few years ago and i've kept in touch every so often. we were going to go swingdancing with his girlfriend and her friends, but it's WAY too hot and the dancing is outside, so plan b is a bar called angel's share (http://www.worldsbestbars.com/city/new-york/angels-share-new-york.htm) the drinks are probably $20 each, but what the hell, it sounds very cool. as a friday night in new york should be!

adios!