lalalalala

so, last we were together i was in providence and it had snowed buckets.

well, only 4 people came to the seminar that day and at some point i looked around for my most favorite pea coat, but it was nowhere to be found. i looked in the car and my room and even gently accused the housekeeping staff of stealing it. finally, i ventured that maybe DanBeth accidentally took it out of my car as they grabbed their luggage. i was saddened, though, when i realized i had no way of contacting them.

BUT WAIT! i remembered the humorous name of Dan's workplace and looked up the phone number. sure enough DanBeth took my coat. thankfully, Dan's job is mere seconds from the airport where i had to rescue my delayed luggage. i picked up my coat at day's end and then saved my luggage.

upon my arrival at my next hotel a couple hours later i made 2 discoveries. the first being that DanBeth had inserted a $25 B&N gift card in the pocket of my coat to thank me for driving them. yay for books and good deeds! the second, much less pleasant, discovery was that my assortment of undergarments and nylons no longer resided in the front pocket of my suitcase. whether their absence can be attributed to an opened zipper strewing them across the tarmac, or a pervy panty-sniffing TSA worker is yet to be known.

last evening arrived at another hotel. well, an inn i suppose. the most adorable, plush inn i've ever been in. the bedford village inn in bedford, nh. i am including photos i took of its quaintness and the delightful suite i stayed in. you will notice the photo of the cookies i found next to my bed. the delicious cookies were tucked into a napkin like they were slumbering. mmmmm sleepy cookies.

snow yo

yesterday i traveled to the east coast with no knowledge that it would be bombarded by snow. my connection from Detroit to Providence was canceled. what is maddening, however, is that they canceled many flights in anticipation for snow when it didn't actually start snowing until 3 am this morning.

so, i hopped a plane to hartford and then drove to providence. i had a wonderful wait in the Detroit airport. boo. upon my arrival to Hartford i jumped on the Hertz courtesy bus to retrieve my rental car. it was at this point i overheard a young couple saying they were heading to Providence as well. they hadn't actually purchased their rental, just reserved it.

i decided that if i was to face the perilous snow this week i might need some extra karma points to get me through it. so, i offered to give the dewy-eyed lovers a lift. they proved to be decent company and assisted me in my inability to successfully find my way. i found that Dan and Beth, the names they provided me, moved from Wisconsin to Providence recently. like 90% of the people i seem to come across, Beth grew up in Washington state. Beth is a lab technician and Dan works for a company that sells and maintains aquariums. i dropped them off at Dan's place of employment and was delighted to see that it is called "Something Fishy." DanBeth are expecting a little DanBeth this summer.

this weekend im doing a stayover in Las Vegas with 20 other program managers. i'm worried. this weekend will definitely interfere with my usual schedule of going to bed before midnight. im not sure Vegas will suit me. i'm convinced it offers only 4 things to its visitors: 1) gambling 2) whores 3) buffets 4) pricey alcohol in abundance. besides whores, i could really do without the other three. and by whores i mean buffets.

my luggage has yet to catch up with me. i feel like a smelly homeless person. its good times.

what did you and taune say about me jill??

i'm back

wow im the worst blogger

really the only reason im writing now is because i can't get to sleep (it's 2 am in waltham, ma) and i thought jill might wanna read something. i think she's the only one who reads this. haha

so, im back on the road after a 2-week break for the holidays. it was pretty fab times overall. i wish i could have seen more of my friends and for more time, but i accomplished alot considering everyone is strewn about the place in a haphazard manner.

christmas was nice if not mildly boring and new years was alright. at least i should remember what i did at this time next year.

this weekend i am on the east coast...sorta. well, you can see where i am. haha

in my attempt to have a more seattle-based locale, i posted an ad on craigslist to find a room share for super cheap for the weekends im home. most of the responses i received were either pretty creepy or very undesirable. like sharing a one bedroom apt. with a 29-year-old male for $200? suweeeeet. if anyone has an extra room i could rent for pennies let me know!

wow im awful at updating

i can even begin to relay the last couple weeks with any real detailed accuracy...

so, last you heard from me i had done a weekend stayover in florida.

thanksgiving was nice. i technically had 3 thanksgiving dinners thanks to justin's mom, my mom and nikki's mom. can't get enough of that stuff.

this week i did a conference. conferences last 2 days instead of one and i travel with 4 instructors instead of 2. i also partnered with another lovely program manager. all the ladies were pretty fabulous in their own ways, so despite some high maintenance issues and large numbers, it was a good week.

i got to celebrate my mom and aunt's birthday with them. the first 2 days of the conference week were in anaheim so i went there ahead of time last friday. my aunt lives near anaheim and my mom flew down. that was the only california date i have through march, so it is serendipitous that it fell right on their birthday weekend. the last 2 days we conferenced in seattle and today i'm in portland.

ill be spending the weekend here, so that should be good times.
today my instructor is a crazy canadian woman. i worked with her for the conferences and she is just a hoot. she is loud and has a very distinct canadian accent. she also adores her "wonderful, loving husband Leon" who still makes her face light up after 35 years of marriage. she dotes on the man so much its almost nauseating. haha. but cute.

florida and thanksgiving photos!

and the beat goes on

hello friends and family

i write you from a hilton in chicago. a pretty swanky hilton. at least my room is.

last week was pretty awesome. i started the week in savannah, ga and ended in orlando, fl. georgia and florida are pretty fabulous.

i had the best instructor by far last week. she was too hilarious. by the end of the week i found i had adopted her oklahomian accent and tendency to randomly shout things. if i do this gig again next year i will def request her.

she did inform me that i look like a puppet/ cartoon though. she said i shouldn't take it negatively, but i don't know how to take it positively either. haha.

justin flew out to meet me in olando on thursday! i planned a stayover there and it worked out so that he could come, too. soooo exciting.

we spent the whole day at Epcot on Saturday, which was pretty neat. justin took better photos than i so i won't post any right now. we acquired free tickets to Epcot by attending a time share presentation. a rather painful experience. we were told it would only last 90 minutes total, but they stole about 2.5 hours of our lives. i got so agitated that i snapped (in a composed manner) at the old man who refused to let us be on our way. i wish i could have recorded what i said because it was pretty fabulous. every day my balls get a little bigger.

despite that painful experience, it did save us $150, so i can't complain toooooo much.

this is a short week since thanksgiving is coming up, so im excited about that! i miss you all!

im cool

hello from des moines, iowa

much has happened in the last week or so. ill try to fill you in.

Wed, Oct. 31
Halloween. While everyone else was out having fun I was sulking in my San Antonio hotel room. Torn between continuing to sit there or sucking it up and going to a bar. My hotel was right on the river walk! The day of our seminar I visited the Alamo on my lunch break.






Thursday, Nov. 1
Upon my arrival at my hotel room I was greeted by a care package from Miss Jill. Yay for Jill! She is officially the best friend ever. Haha. It was filled with all kinds of goodies. And, since I was mildly intoxicated from the 2 free drinks the Radisson gave me, I excitedly opened things and took photos. Here I am with a mud mask on:




Weekend:
Justin gave me a pretty, pretty ring. Its a sapphire. Me likes it alot. Lots of laundry and hanging out. More wine consumption.

Sunday, Nov. 4 (Day of Infamy)
So, on my way to the airport my front tire blew out. Yay! It was fixed quickly, but I still missed my morning flight to Sioux Falls. I couldn't get another until 3:20 p.m. So, I sat around the Seattle airport for 4+ hours. You can really live in an equipped airport. Definitely. Of course I don't want to. I arrived in Sioux Falls (in the great state of South Dakota) at approximately 10 p.m.

My luggage did not arrive with me. It didn't come in until the next afternoon (after talking to incomprehensible people in New Delhi several times). So, I attended to my duties wearing warm-up pants, flip flops, and a t-shirt. So sexy...and professional.
Sioux Falls sucks!!

Last night and today I was in Nebraska. I hung out with Justin's Braski friend Abe in Omaha last night. Yay for play dates! More wine consumption. People from Nebraska obviously eat alot of fried mayonnaise balls.

The drives between south dakota, nebraska and iowa are about the most boring drives ever. Snooze. However, one franchise brightens the horizon. I'm sure most of you northwesterners haven't heard of it. I hadn't...



Haha worst/ best name ever

updaaaaate

i write you from a convention center in Arlington, TX.

this weekend i did a stayover in Providence, RI. despite my apprehension about doing touristy things on my own, I had quite a bit of fun.

I planned on going to the open market downtown, see WaterFire and go on a ghost tour at night. excessive rain canceled the open market and I was sure would cancel Waterfire, but it didn't! I ended up trekking all around Providence and seeing much of what the city has to offer. I went to the RISD museum (Rhode Island School of Design). They have real Monet, Degas and Manet art! Crazy. I love Monet. I walked around and picked out houses I want to live in and toured Brown Univeristy. My feet hurt afterward!!

I've decided it is a good idea to buy shirts from law and medical schools of the most prestigious ivy league schools. I should try to look smarter and richer than I actually am...right?

The ghost tour was mildly lame, but still interesting at times. After my long day I returned to my hotel and ended up watching the world series with several hotel staffers close to my age. Haha ...I welcome any and all human interaction.

I'm in Texas all of this week. I fly all week, which I didn't look forward to until I met my instructor for the week. He is a very jumpy, vey talkative elderly man who I grew tird of within 5 minutes. So, no driving means less time I have to spend with him. He had such a cool name, too. I was sure he would be awesome. At lest he keeps his underpants on.

Last night and tonight I am graced by the presence of other program managers, which is always a good thing. I think another gal and myself are going to try and hit up some Halloween fun tonight. Except I have an awful costume I do not want to wear in public.