red.circusgeek

Vegas

Sunday, November 9th, 2008 | Entertainment, Travel | No Comments

Simply Surreal. Vegas.

Cabs are EXPENSIVE.$60 cab ride from airport to Hotel. Nevermind Hotel was way off of the strip, in fact it was about 23 miles from the strip. When arriving to Vegas, just hire a Personal Sedan Service vehicle. It’s easier. We waited about 10-15 minutes in a line of Disneyland caliber just to catch a cab to the hotel.

Cabs are UNRELIABLE. We had to be at our event at least by 5:15. We ordered a cab to pick us up at 4:45. Cabbie showed at 4:30 apparently and then took off. Never to show up again. Our VALET and let me repeat our VALET people used one of their rentals and took us to our event. We got there at least by 5:40pm. I was simply over-done by the customer service at our hotel and the care and concern the VALET service showed towards us. The VALET also ensured we had a Personal Sedan Service scheduled for us when we wanted to go and hit the strip after our event. So we enjoyed a nice comfortable and cozy (on-time) journey from hotel to the strip at 10:30 on a festive Friday night.

Easy to catch a cab at 5am, which is about the time we finally felt like turning into pumpkins after two crazy clubs and then street wandering on the strip.

Vegas is crazy.

CLUBS cater to the men which in turns requires them to overtreat the ladies and men have a harder time getting into clubs, we just had to get on some kind of VIP list to get in and with no cover charge. Our hotel did this for us, amazing. Simply put- we were two young girls (well my colleague is young) and well we’re “ladies” so we got practically worshipped and adorned with specials. We got drink tickets, twice.

Anyway, First stop on our journey was TAO which is located in The Venetian. Buddha’s adorned the walls of this club with 2 floors and the top club floor was ridiculous. Stage of girls dancing in Victoria’s Secret specials and tubs filled with flower petals some with girls bathing in nothing. It’s a man’s paradise but then Vegas really does fit the bill for lonely souls, or souls seeking a little underground thrill.

I don’t judge I merely observe

LAVO was the next stop. The bottom floor was far tamer, more relaxed, better music. But upon climbing the stairs to the second floor, it was complete chaos. Strobe lighting- couldn’t see a thing really, wall to wall with bodies bumper to bumper, we couldn’t barely move in this place. Not too long trying to weave through to a bar, we headed back down. Phew.

So I saw a lot of either attention seekers or mere desperation with majority of girls wearing next to nothing. Lots of make-up, big lips, big boobs, high heels and no reservations. Simply Sin City’s charmers.. eh?

At least I made it to Paris, well Vegas Paris. We met up with friends of my colleague’s 5 boys, and they were kind and generous and bought our drinks for the rest of the night, which helped my pocketbook. Geez, with each drink at a 10 -15 dollar hit, it got spendy. One place charged a guy $17 for a vodka / Red Bull.

Whoa!

I don’t know who can go to Vegas on a budget anymore and some alarming statistics is that Vegas’s unemployment rate is at around 9%, the highest yet. Lots of construction going on there too.

The plusses of this trip, enjoying the time with my colleague, enjoying the nice warmer weather, good drinks, nice hotel, experiencing hospitality at its finest and staying up till 5am in the morning which I hadn’t done since… oh well since the last work event for M&C. So it hasn’t been that long.

Oh, waking up with limited sleep and limited hangover. That was nice. Although I pulled my shoulder / neck muscle yesterday so I’m not feeling in full throttle, but hey at least I am home and snuggly with my hubby and my kitty.

Life is short so if one wants to make the most out of it in a short amount of time, Vegas could be the place. The town where people can do all the pretending they want to do, escape from reality and live as if life were ending tomorrow.

Anyone of any age of any path in life can come to Vegas and simply be someone else.

Already Adventurous

Thursday, October 16th, 2008 | General, Travel, work | 2 Comments

Okay, it was a bit of a rough morning, but made it through, here’s what’s transpired thus far:

Oh just FYI, I am writing this at 11:45 NY time.

* Plane trip - met with switching seats with people because; A: I am traveling alone and B: I happened to get lucky to switch seats enough to get an entire row by myself, until someone got clued in and asked to take the window seat. It’s still better than being in an entirely full row. So at least there was ample elbow room in my row.

*Plane trip entertainment - Love Continental. I didn’t have to pay for a single extra thing. I didn’t have to pay for baggage, snacks or even in-flight entertainment. So, I watched Baby Mama (love that Tina Fey) and of course the worst tear jerker or best tear jerker of all time The Notebook, It took almost all my will to keep from just starting to ball. I really need to carry kleenex.

* Plane trip in flight delay - The flight was delayed leaving and we got to fly around a bit before we were able to land.

* Landed - phew - picked up bags. “Now what” -

* Transportation - there is a ground transportation help desk kiosk. Basically they push two shuttle services and I decided to go with that because battling commuter traffic on public transportation with my luggage really didn’t sound appealing. So Got a good deal on the shuttle. Direct service from Airport to Hotel. Nevermind this included about 5 other customers going somewhere else around Manhatten. It was basically getting a tour of Manhatten for $19. I got to see ground zero from the shuttle, I got to see the views of the city and I got to see the Brooklyn Bridge. Nevermind it took 3 hours, oh and there was the insane traffic. Geezus how does anyone get anywhere in this town and how in the world can there be so few accidents.

*Hotel - Pod hotel lives up to its name. I swear. I am in like a rectangle with a single bed a tiny sink, bathroom with shower is down the hall, there are 3 along the corridor and it really just reminds me of dorm living. It’s great really. I just really love having the sink in my room, it’s really quite cozy and uber modern. So it’s cool. I don’t have my card reader so I took a weak picture with my phone, it’s of the bed and tv and on the left is the sink.

*Dinner - So, at least I had a nice fulfilling breakfast on the flight. I was good until I was waiting for the 3 hour shuttle. I had a protein bar with me that I brought for just this kind of emergency. So ate that. But as soon as I got settled into my hotel, I got antsy and wanted to see some sites. So I decided to be adventurous and trek familiar territory. While first stopping at what looked like a very inviting pub, I saw a few but this one just said something more. I found a place at the bar. Looked at beers they had and saw someone with an Amstel Light, so that’s what I ordered. The bartender called me Lassie $6 Amstel. That’s what NY is…. expensive.

*Hit the pavement - trekked towards Times Square, Madison Ave… I really didn’t like the idea of shooting a ton of pic’s because that would only serve as tourist sucker bait, so I tried to hold off, at Times it was fine. Then I was really famished and discovered a charming deli place that custom makes salads. Perfect! It was called Pax Wholesome Foods. I got salad with chickpeas, asparagus, feta artichoke hearts and they mix it all with your choice of dressing. Yum! Walked through Rockafeller Square. Guess What ! The skating rink is now there! It’s SO much smaller in real life but I got some Pic’s of that. I would love to do that while I’m hear too but know I’m way to chicken. It got a bit chilly as it got later, so I worked myself back to the Pod.

*Closing of the evening - I thought I brought great walking shoes. Boy was I wrong. I now have a blister on my toe Lots of walking and I forget how long and big the blocks are here. So, decided going to a bar and sitting at the bar myself not too much fun, so I picked up a beer to go from the 2nd & 50th corner market and headed back to my pod.

* I’ve finished my beer, enjoyed the comfort here and the limited t.v. and am now ready to crash.

*Tomorrow - I need to check out and get to the next hotel where I will be staying for the event I’m working. I don’t need to be checked in to set-up for the event until 11:30, so that’s good and really it’s not far from the pod, so I’ll most likely walk it or cab it tomorrow.

*Nighty night. Here’s to adventures here in NY and next time I’m totally dragging Ry!

Back to the Big Apple

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 | General, Travel, work | 3 Comments

I cannot believe I’m hopping on a plane at 8am tomorrow to head back to New York.

How fortuitous that it was merely over a year ago that I was hopping along 5th avenue and witnessing Times Square with dear S&C before D.

It’s as if that was supposed to happen to get me ready for my trip this weekend.

I have to work this swanky event for our client this weekend and regardless of economics, there still seems to be room for money to be spent on good food, good wine and good fun. The pleasures in life.

Hmmmm at least we as human nature are still holding onto those luxuries and enjoyments to combat the fear and turmoil this period of economics is throwing at us.

It’s fascinating because in my world right now, you would never guess there is a “recession” god forbid we even whisper the word, but yes. It makes us panic and anxious but what can we do. We have to keep getting out of bed, we have to keep ourselves comforted in the knowledge that we willget through this. Our grandparents did so.. so can we.

My top list of things that I would LOVE to do while in NY are:

* Go up to the top of the Empire State Building and re-live all of my “Sleepless in Seattle”- thons.

* See a broadway, off or off off or even off off off broadway play, somehow, I just have to get a crash course in how all that “rush” ticket stuff works.

* See Gordon Ramsay at the London restaurant. I may just be able to gawk from the outside, take picture and look like a freak.. oh well

* Re-Visit Belgium memories via an afternoon visit to “Pommes Frites”

* Enjoy a traditional New York Bagel. I found Ess-a-Bagel on google maps and it’s close to where I am staying, so hopefully I’ll get to have a break and stop in for a delicious bagel.

* Re-visit the best clothing store ever, which is H&M and we don’t have one here in Portland.

* A Slice… somewhere, some kind of traditional NY piece of pizza.

I’ll be working the event, yes so it’s a balance between working and breaks and working but I want to take full advantage of those breaks. At least I’ve got a game plan in store.

I’ll be arriving by 4:15 or so, pick up luggage, take path train into town take subway 6 to 51st and I’ll be at my first hotel which is quite interesting. It’s called the Pod Hotel. In theory it’s all pods with shared baths. There is apparently a digital reader that will tell you when you are in your room what bathrooms are free.

So I’ll have my first night there, then transfer to the Millenium Broadway Hotel where the event I am working is being hosted. That’ll be quite nice, I’m sure. It’s so close to everything.

Then Sunday I’ll call the S&C after my event is done and we’ll hopefully get some fun and good time together. I’ll get to see the D! I can’t wait.

Mass Transit, graduation, glorious vacation

Thursday, March 27th, 2008 | School, Travel, work | No Comments

So, I’ve sort of got a routine going. I was catching the bus at like 7:14 which gets me into work a few minutes before 8am. Then, of course I had the moment where someone now recognizes me and decides to talk to me the entire time.

I didn’t mind, the person was nice. They live just feet from the bus stop, but how often will I now see them and then expect to have to talk to them. It reminded me of those dreadful max rides into work years ago, when sure enough someone would have to talk to me and me, being nice, has to contribute to the conversation.

Ugh. Luckily I found the 7:25 time working out well. The person who likes to talk to me isn’t on this route and I get to work just in time, 8am sharp. It works! Phew.

Graduation is just about here. I am trying to figure out what to do that day. I think it will be Ryan’s mom and Ryan at Graduation. My sister has to work so she cannot come down. That will be fine. I was thinking on having a bbq at home, but now that just sounds like work. So I don’t know. I guess we’ll figure it out as it gets closer.

Glorious vacation. We are in the fixing, the planning of a trip. I’m super thrilled. It will be marvelous. I won’t be able to have as much time as I would like, but I think a 10 day trip is just about perfect. Not too short and not so long you get homesick. I think our last trip in April 2007 was just about perfect. Staying in one place helped.

We hope to divide it into two places maybe 2-3 days in another area. I had my heart set on Prague and Vienna, but looking at flight costs to there and time cost.. outrageous. We can get a nice straight NWA flight to Amsterdam, train it to Brussels, train it for a day or two to Bruges and back to Amsterdam and fly out. It will be brilliant. I hope to purchase our tickets this weekend, while fares are still warm.

Work is wonderful. I’m still getting my feet wet. Learning about how a company of 20+ is dynamically the polar opposite of a global 16,000 Oregon employee based operation. Crazy.

First trip is April 9th - 14th. Heading to Austin, Texas. We’ll be visiting 4 wineries and enjoying the tastes, smells, sites and sounds that is Austin. I’m really lucky to have my travel partner at work be so incredibly cool. It’ll be great. I still feel like I have to prove myself and others that I am working with still need to see me as an experienced professional. All in due time… all in due time.

So, here’s to the crazy’s on mass transit and why I should act like I simply don’t speak english… ah.. engwish…

Discovered Bourdain’s promotion of “what’s your trip”

Tuesday, November 27th, 2007 | Travel | 2 Comments

Who would have thought that one day we could be on the Travel Channel with Anthony Bourdain touting our filmed adventures. Well now that we know.. our next trip will require far more video narrative footage, because, heck why not!

Last night I discovered Anthony’s newest creation in the world of the Travel Channel. With the onslaught of U-tube short films by the average Joe it doesn’t surprise me. Basically anyone and everyone can submit travel footage of their vacation… trip…etc. After careful review a group of TC experts choose select clips to use in comparison to travels of Anthony. While no one could match the quality of production or intriquing narrative of Anthony it was still interesting to see the clips of the chosen ones.

I was slightly disappointed in the one they chose for Paris, while raw, real, documentary like and extremely simplistic in commentary, I was left wondering why that person went to Paris.
I was impressed, however, with the gentlemen who was chosen for Dublin, Ireland. Considering he kicked it off with a bowl of lucky charms and Jameson whiskey.. yes in the same bowl with the Lucky Charms.. I thought it quite fitting.

So, to all my travel aficionados and film geek friends, think about your next trip. It doesn’t have to be extravagant or surreal, just even a simple documentary of our own backyard would suffice, considering Anthony featured a clip from a person who lives just a mere few feet from Wrigley field only so she can see, experience and hear the roars and cheers of the Chicago Cubs fans.. well.. this simply leads me to believe that just about anything goes.

So, with that I’m going to start investigating more on this new found opportunity and see what may naturally manifest, afterall the big plan for when I FINALLY graduate is a trek to Prague and Vienna… it could be a featured clip on TC in the works!

Visit to NJ / NY

Friday, September 7th, 2007 | Travel | 4 Comments

I had a magnificent time visiting with S & C in Jersey. It was an incredible experience and one I will always remember and cherish. I tried to be as camera crazy as Ryan is on our trips, but I don’t know that I was quite as thorough as he, but I could only get half of my pictures up on facebook, but if you want to see some highlights feel free go here to Facebook, hopefully that link will work.

Extreme highlights -

Arrive Wed. C picked me up with the sweetest doggie ever named Augie. I wasn’t smitten or anything.

Seeing my dear friend in all her pregnancy glow. She did great during my visit and it was nice to know I was a good distraction for her while there, she’s due in a weeks time!

Thurs: Went to IKEA by the Newark airport. Shopped and looked at all things Baby, they have the best things for kids. It was awesome. Back home I had a phone interview at 6pm NJ time, 2pm Portland time. What an adventure that was. I definitely needed a drink after that. We went to Bar Majestic for cocktails, then picked up delicious vietnamese food shared a bottle of wine. Fabulous.

Fri: Adventures ahead, S took me into downtown, right off we saw The Empire State Building. It was just as I remembered in “An Affair to Remember” I got choked up. We walked to S’s work and then he set me free with a book of directions and a straightforward path to the Subway where I would be taking the C train uptown to Central Park.

I walked straight across through Central Park to the Museum Mile and walked to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was fantastic and breathtaking. I was on a schedule because after the Met I was headed to MOMA ( A place I have always dreamed of visiting). It was fantastic. I was very selective in what I spent my time seeing, but everything was amazing. Miro, Mondrian, Picasso, Bacon,Warhol… I was immersed in the pictures and lines and symmetries of people’s conscious self. So profound.

As the day progressed it got more and more crowded and busy, therefore, my time was well spent and I did some shopping and decided to call it a Museum day. Now I need a drink. I met up with S and we stopped at Tir Na Nog, an Irish pub that once held a spot in Portland and sadly is now gone. I had a Smithwicks and then a Black & Tan. Yum.

Dinner: Fabulous dinner at Becco then Journeyed into the craziness that was Times Square. WOW! I think I said that about a million times.

Then the REAL highlight was getting my picture taken with David Hyde Pierce (Niles Crane- Frasier). So while walking through the theatre district, David Hyde Pierce was outside of the Theatre in which his play is performing and he was out back saying hello to his fans. Talk about right place right time. He was super sweet.

Saturday, was wonderfully relaxing. Breakfast was eggs and swedish pancakes, yum and coffee. The afternoon we went to the East village and Greenwich, West Village and saw a play called Iph.then which is about Iphegenia, daughter of Agamemnon. One of C’s friends was performing in it, actually the friend was Iphegenia. It was interesting, cell phones, video and live video feeds were used in the production. Apparently technology is a popular item being incorporated into modern theatre more and more these days. Hmmm.

Sunday: Fabulous lunch where I stuffed myself silly on Indian Food, it was absolutely to die for, I had two plates full. That’s why buffets are the best! C & S had a number of projects going in preparation for Time Bandits’ (The name of the baby in utero) immersion into the world, so I ventured into NY to catch some more sites before my trip was done.

I saw, Rockefeller Center and went to the top to see amazing views, it was a nice day too! I went to NBC studios and then to the Radio City Music Hall. Experienced one of the street themed fairs that NY puts on about each week. This week was Brazil. There were tons of people wearing Brazil shirts and I heard lots of languages. I loved the diversity that is NY. I shopped at my new favorite fashion store called H&M. Awesome prices, tons of black fashionable choices, it was like my clothing paradise.

Monday - Flew back. It was the perfect trip. Not too short and not too long. It was wonderful spending time with C and S. The food, drinks, site-seeing and overall experience was fantastic.

Next time, I’m dragging R!

Back in Black…….

Friday, May 11th, 2007 | Travel | 2 Comments

Vacation was absolutely lovely. About the 3rd day there, I finally realized I could stop thinking about…everything. Enjoying the lively buzz of London, men in suits, women in heels, the BMW’s, mercedes’s and Jaguar’s that Londoners were happy to squeeze through the compacted streets of the metropolis left me in awe. That with the indulgement that vacation allows such as drinking my weight in Really and I mean really good beer, or when I needed a light and delicious cocktail there was nothing like the Pimm’s and lemonade and The Volunteer (Pub/restaurant) was where it was made best. There were blueberries in it. I LOVE blueberries.

The food, well, I do love to eat and I enjoyed some of the best chips, sandwiches, cheese, chocolate, croissants and well you get the picture. Black as it usually is, will continue to be my only means of hiding the extra lard I now carry. Even with walking as much as we did, in fact I think it would rival Brian’s daily walk on the PCT. But, actually now that I think about maybe not, we did do some breaks of sitting in pubs with a nice bitter and I don’t think Brian had such luxury… or did he?

So, I’m back, wearing black, hitting the gym in the mornings after I walk Ryan to the bus stop. Unemployment looming at least I finally got a check. They denied my first weeks of applying because I mentioned (this was online) that I was in school. How incredibly lame is that. Here I’m trying to generate a degree that would or should only help me get employed for the future and they deny me. Anyway, I didn’t even get in the running for the Environmental manager at the Port, but I had a feeling since I have no background in environment, so I plug along! Applying here and there and hoping for the best, whilst pleaing to my Dean to see if I can extend my Research Thesis project over the summer. I’m still waiting to hear back on that.

The whole research thesis project has been a complete and utter nightmare. Sending surveys and receiving no replies at all or replies of opting out of participating or just telling me to go somewhere on their website to find information. Total frustration is what it is. Grrr. So I’m just venting now.

Last night I had a really, really nice time at Greater Trumps with Miranda, Snooks, Linnaea and Brian. It was good to be with friends, have a hard cider, first drink I’ve had since being back (trying to detox) it was very appley and kind of tart. The best cider I had in England was the Aspall. Now that was absolutely delic.

Okay, so it’s Friday. Woke up with a vicious sore throat, I hope and pray it’s not what Ryan got, but it could just be allergies. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. Now to go burn some of that lard off!

Officially a week out of work….. Bags are just about packed

Tuesday, April 10th, 2007 | Travel | 2 Comments

Has it really been a week since I’ve been officially unemployed? Technically yes. Last day was April 2nd. First day unemployed the 3rd and what is today…it is the 10th. That’s 7 days. Wow. It doesn’t seem that long ago, while at the same time it feels like ages.

My colleagues held a nice going away gathering for me today, go figure, at a nice little Wine bar called Rennaissance wines. My previous boss, was incredibly generous with covering catering from Elephants there and we got to try 4 wines. All incredibly delicious and the food was amazing. I felt so loved, yet felt so disconnected. Everyone on with their schedules and plans for the daily routine and me with my daily routine being a nice walk to the gym, checking my gmail and dealing with the agony over what my interview will be like for Thursday. It has been about 4 years since I’ve experienced an official interview too. Most of all today was incredibly wonderful, however extremely saddening at the same time. These are people I got to interact with on a daily basis, sharing stories, laughs, frustrations and just everyday water cooler banter. That isn’t a part of my life anymore. It almost made me feel like something is amiss. Something amazing…. I realized that it’s the friendships and daily connections that carried me through the days. I miss that so much. I was fortunate to work with amazing individuals that recognized the positive in us all and complimented more than criticized each other in our efforts. But, while I hope to keep these connections.. life does go on. In fact I got caught up in people’s love lives and life plans..etc. Well worth the time. So… here’s my light to keep me going.

We booked it! It is official. We are going to go to London, England for a week. I tell you my bags are just about already packed. I cannot be MORE thrilled. To have something to look forward to, to go away.. enjoy a trip with Ry.

Seeing the pictures from our trip in 2001, it’s inspiring and exciting. We’ll do all of the things we didn’t have time to do when we were there last. British Museum, Tate, Covent Garden, walk on Tower Bridge, Museum of London, War Museum , Shakespeare’s Globe, Harrod’s, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court Palace..etc.

I’m just going to hold onto the present as much as I can. We’ll most likely drive up to Seattle, Fly British Airways, which we have never flown before and with a straight flight we’ll save even more time. I cannot wait.