Celebrating Laura

We had a big day today... Early brunch, spa day with the girls, afternoon snack, some shopping, home to get ready. Then dinner for a Laura's birthday. For some reason the lighting in the restaurant was so horrible we were having trouble taking a nice photo. 

Hudson River Views

Laura, Aimee and I met up in Riverside Park to visit pier i cafe. It's just a bit of a temporary bar/sidewalk cafe set up down by the Hudson. It was a bit hot when we arrived, but as the sun started to set, we enjoyed being outside, enjoying each others company and stories.

Here's a view from when the sun was setting between the umbrellas.

Avery Week

It's always fun to have a baby in the office. Earlier this week I met Vanesa. And I was able to hang out with Avery many times throughout the week. Avery's last day in the office was today, so I snapped some photos while we were playing. 

Pumpkin in August

The holidays creep in earlier and earlier every year. I'm far more cognizant of this phenomenon since my sister has been working in the supply chain at a bagel company. She had her launch of pumpkin products today. Work she's been doing for months. 

Why do we need the fall line of pumpkin products when it's not yet September?! 

I thought her company was just silly, but when I walked into Au Bon Pain for my jalapeño cheddar bagel, they had pumpkin in August, too.

Marvelous Invitation

VRay posted a picture of her new Bloody Mary on Instagram, I commented on her talent & later received a text message asking if I'd like to join her and her boyfriend at her first cocktail competition! Main stage at the Javitz Center...Such an honor, especially since she only gets to invite two guests!!

A Terrible View

I received a text including a view from a friend's job in Jersey City, a picture perfect view of downtown Manhattan. 

I returned in-kind, I can see the Doubletree... Granted I realize I'm lucky to have a window at all, but what a terrible view!

Donuts, for the Joke

Jonathan and I saw Entermann's Crumb donuts in the store at one point. We have a long standing joke about them. When I was in the Wawa in PA, seeking Renaissance Faire coupons, I saw a chocolate version near the register and bought them... For the joke. 

Jonathan then reminded me that he isn't eating sugar at the moment. So I had one on my own...

PA Renaissance Faire

I'd never been to a renaissance fair before, so when Shawn asked if I wanted to go, the only right answer was yes.

It was quite an experience. Costumes, shows, music, booths, food... We had a great time. 

I took some cool photos of gargoyles and dragon. Some goofy photos of Shawn and the shows. I wished all day I was in the mood for greasy fair food... But I only ended up with fish and chips. I wanted dessert, but never ended up having any. 

Happy Morning

There were apparently some crazy flash flooding in Colorado. Kian's school was flooded. Andrea was rushed to get ready since she needed to take to Kian back to day care since his school was closed. She hung up to get in the shower & I received a call back... It was Kian... On FaceTime. What a happy morning!

Unfortunate Cookie

I am disappointed when fortune cookies have proverbs rather than fun fortunes. Today's was unfortunate, it was an attempt at a proverb, but so poorly worded!

Tunnel Acoustics

So cool... Cello on the downtown side, violin on the uptown side, playing classical music across the tracks. Amazing acoustics in the tunnel.

First Day of School

Normally around 7am, my sister wakes Kian up. He whines, hides under the covers, and pretends to still be asleep. Today, I asked Andrea what time she was getting Kian up. She said, 6:45.

At 6:38, Kian opened the back door, fully dressed and ready to put his backpack on and go. So much excitement for his first day of 1st grade. This year he gets to be a mentor to Amanda's daughter, Mahala who is starting kindergarten at his school.  

Perry or Professional?

I chose teal for my pedicure ... channeling Perry the Platypus, Kian's favorite. I had just bought him a water bottle and lunch bag for his new school year, so Perry was on my mind.

The lady asked me, "same cala on you finger?"

... Ummmm no, it's bright teal! I decided on a bit more professional fairly neutral light pink. 

TWC versus CBS

CBS and SHOTime are missing from my Time Warner Cable. They can't agree, so instead I have Starz Kids & Family occupying channel 2. I watched Brave and Chimpanzee today. But not without the ridiculous scrolling advertisement with TWC talking about CBS and advertising Starz. 

DVR Day

Took the DVR from 92% full down to 62% in the last 2 days. Forcing myself to relax after way too much work and respiratory distress. 

Boring photo, sorry.

Not Watergate

The lights go out about every two hours at 8, 10, 12:12, 2:18, and 4:22... We finished working around 4:45, so the last 20 mins we sat in the dark. When Jac started to pack up, she realized she had a flashlight. 

She said, wouldn't it be funny if someone on the street saw me looking at the computer, in the dark office with a flashlight? It's not watergate!

Conference Room Movie Theater

We have a deployment, tonight. A lot of it is a waiting game, for the technical team to get work done. Jac and I are watching "Side Effects" in the conference room.

Love Jude Law...

Wow...Surprise!

A friend called to share some news... I hadn't gotten back to her, except some apologetic texts, but was shocked to find out the nature of the call. 

So excited to meet this little peanut one day... Don't worry I don't say friend meaning me... It's not mine, it's actually a friend!!

Clever Hoodie, Cuter Kid

My sister had a great laugh over the new hoodies that my mother sent to my nephew. Clever idea, having the cowl come down out of the hood. 

Kian is so cute, note the hand and foot! Couldn't have asked for a better photo to make me smile, today.

The Airport Snafu, Part 2

I got some text messages from Kevin today, wrapping up last night's saga.

He made it back to Santa Barbara... He missed the first flight out of DFW and didn't get to LAX til after midnight. Rented a Toyota Yaris and wasn't in bed til 3:30AM and made it to work by 8:15 to meet his new employee for her first day.

I received the photo of the $90 rental car...

The Airport Snafu

The day's plan was a simple one. Wake up, go to Queens, have Filipino food, get Kevin to JFK.

The first part was easy, we woke up... Kevin packed, we got a text from Christine, she picked us up & we were on our way to Queens.

We got to Tito Rad's and had a great feast. Then headed to Johnny Air so Christine could send a package and I grabbed some snacks at Phil-Am. Shortly after, we were on our way to JFK. 

We passed signs for La Guardia and Kevin said, "just to clarify we have to pass LGA to get to JFK, right?" He didn't want to be taken to the wrong airport.

We hit a bit of traffic on the Van Wyck and I started to worry he'd be late. In preparation to have to help him rush. I asked, "which airline are you flying?" He told us American... I had remembered earlier that he said he had 3 flights, which I thought was odd, why would you transfer twice, from JFK to LAX to SBA... I should have known. He then said something like, what was weird was last night it said terminal B but now it says terminal D... Uhhhh, Kev, are you sure you're flying American from JFK, the terminals are numbers at JFK, but letters at La Guardia.

Instant panic set in for all 3 of us. Christine had just been joking about how she'd driven to the wrong airport before... It clicked for me... made much more sense to transfer twice on LGA to DFW to LAX to SBA.

Kevin couldn't find his printed itinerary, and his phone had died, so I handed him my phone and he checked his email for the flight info... Yup... LGA. We flipped around, at the long term parking exit at JFK and went back. We were actually on time, but at the wrong airport!

The whole drive back to LGA, I told Kevin to check in, because they close the ability to check in and check luggage 45 mins before departure. He didn't have his AA advantage number, he had to reset his password, and after all that, the check in screen wasn't working.

He pulled up flight status... Sure enough, 3:50 from LGA, on time, and less than and hour from take off. It said terminal: gate: D1. Are you sure? Terminal D is Delta... 

Sure enough, it was terminal B, gate D1. What a friggin sh!t show! Christine circled around and we went to terminal B... Flight was closed, all other flights were full.

Luckily, it had a happy ending. He was able to get on the 5PM flight to DFW which had a connection at 9:40 to LAX... I'm sure we will hear tomorrow how he got back to Santa Barbara in time for his new employee to start at 8:30 Monday morning!

Yankees Spanking

Field level seats to the Yankees/Tigers game. The Yankees won last night in an extra inning, the better pitching match up is tomorrow, but today's game was the best for our schedule. 

It was so hot, we are so sunburned and the Yankees played pretty terribly and ended up losing 9-3. 

Kevin decided he like Citi Field better... Overall, it was a better experience. But we still had some fun today.

Looking Up

Kevin and I stopped into the Marriott Marquis for a potty break and to use the free AC. We sat in chairs in the lobby to chit chat & I was tripped out looking up into the paths of the elevators.

Vacation Day at Citi Field

Kevin noticed that while he is in town the Mets only play once, a day game versus the Rockies. He asked if I could take the day off to join him. Sure! I am constantly at the vacation cap. 

We had an awesome time, it was a fun game, we had great seats, had a bit of rain but only a light drizzle to cool things down and we both got sunburned.

I couldn't choose one photo to represent our day, so a collage is an easy way to handle it.

Participants in Awful Art

Since the lobby renovation started at the office, they hung awful pixelated posters on the temporary walls. There are people walking, talking, hanging out. 

Dan, Tom and Jackie were participants in my staging of our first installment of recreating the awful lobby art.

Early Bedtime?

So sleepy. Already in bed and it's not even 8:15. Goodnight. :-(

Pub Trivia - First Losers

I need to learn to trust my gut. Today during pub trivia there were a few questions where I had the right answer, but I let the team talk me out of it.

It's okay though, we won 2nd place, or 1st losers, depending on your point of view. We lost by one point, so any of the questions that I second guessed could have given us the win. 

Here's Anish holding out runner up prize, which he won in our drawing. Since there was only 1 and 6 of us, we drew for who kept the prize.

Day of Favorite Foods

I met Shawn for tacos & Target. We shared guac and chips. Yum. I ordered shrimp tacos, Shawn had the beer battered fish tacos, we swapped one. 

Off to Petco, Marshall's, & Target to shop.

Then shumai and sushi. What a great day of favorite foods with one of my favorite friends!

Abundance of Produce

This morning I arrived at the soup kitchen at 7:45. We got the first of many produce deliveries shortly thereafter. I spent the day washing, chopping, deseeding, unloading, prepping, grinding, cuisinarting, teaching and making samples for the volunteers, and QAing their prep work. The more we finished the more showed up. We had so much, we couldn't cook it all. We ended up giving away whole bags of uncooked (but expertly prepped) produce. One more soup kitchen under our belts.

Encouragement & Cookies

I had a traumatic day of work. After telling my sister about it, I received this via text.

If only cookies could come via text...

Half & Half

This new hairstyle is pretty entertaining. I've seen a few women with it. But it's made it's way into the upper east side young men. Half shaved & half long... To each his own, as they say.