NYC

Last week I spent a considerable amount of time holed up in the Essex House hotel in Manhattan for work. It was a fantastic occasion but very tiring. Apparently Michael Douglas was at the bar in the hotel but I missed him unfortunately. I was able to sneak out on Friday late afternoon and feed the shoe beast at Saks. The shoe dept is absolutely amazing. Friday night I met up with my friend Ali who lives in DC during the week and in NYC on the weekends. We went to a few places down in SoHo where he lives (next door to where Heath Ledger lived..spooky) and had a good time. Here's a cute pic of us..

My gals

On Saturday I watched my nieces and nephew for a while so Whitney could run some errands. Although Benny was out, we played a little dress-up with berets I brough back for everyone from Paris. As you can see, Ava (18 mo old) has a thing for magic markers. They belong in magazines if you ask me, but I may be a little biased..





Mia in her favorite color purple.







Ava all smiles.

Photos from Paris

Yes, I took this photo. I'm an awful photographer but this one came out (taken from my hotel room). Over President's Day weekend, my friend and travel buddy Lisa and I went to Paris. Some people wondered why we would go to Paris for a long weekend and I think the simple answer is because I'm single and I can. The fact that we both had credits on Delta airlines and her brother who works for Starwood Hotels got us a ridiculous deal at the Westin Paris didn't hurt either. Since I now know that my friend Jason who lives in Jackson Hole reads this blog, I promised I would add more photos and posts. So this is for Jason..





First of many takes of the Eiffel Tower







The Lourve pyramid (incase you haven't seen the DaVinci Code)









The real Mona Lisa.









Lisa and I in front of the Venus De Milo.









The Arc de Triomphe








No one does street food like the Parisians. Witness a banana and chocolate filled crepe.








The best lunch ever.








Lisa and I cleaned up a little.








The Eiffel Tower from below as the lights twinkle.

SoBe

A few weeks ago, I went to Florida for the weekend to celebrate my friend Nicole's birthday. We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel - the hotel where Anna Nicole Smith died last year. It was an interesting experience staying there. Next time, we'll be staying closer to the beach.

The weekend didn't come without the requisite random celebrity sightings. First we saw Scotty Pippin of Chicago Bulls fame. Then Pamela Anderson and her posse were staying on our floor - she's much older looking in person, especially when she's 2 feet in front of you. Finally, as you'll see in this photo, we sat next to Michael Caine at brunch in South Beach at a restaurant called Nemo. That was very cool. Everyone left him alone and he blended in pretty well.

This past friday I went to the Matchbox 20/Alannis Morrissette concert which was fantastic. I forgot how much I liked both and Rob Thomas is very good looking. I took some photos with my camera phone but they did not turn out well so I won't post.

This Thursday I'm off to Paris for a long weekend with my friend Lisa. We are both extremely excited. I'll definitely post photos when I return but probably not before the next weekend when I'm in Vail w/some girlfriends. If you can believe it, I've never seen the Rocky Mountains so I am excited to do so.

Well, I'm off to brunch with friends and then doing errands and getting my taxes together. I need that refund!






The gang in Florida...






Brunch at Nemo. See Michael Caine in the background?

How could I forget..

I guess one of the biggest things that happened while I was in PA over Christmas is that I got a new car. My lease was up on my VW Passat and after 7 years and 2 volkeswagens, I thought I would change it up and get a Honda Pilot. I love having a bigger car/SUV (if it's considered that).

Happy New Year

It's hard to believe we are in 2008 right now. I recall being in 9th grade in Ms. Kronbar's social studies class staring at the "class of 1988" vault that said "do not open until 2008" and thinking to myself how old I'd be that year. I also thought I'd have a husband and kids by my 10th year reunion too - that was in 2002! Oh well, time flies I guess..

2007 wrapped up pretty quietly with the holidays in PA. I got to see my favorite kiddies on Christmas which was like walking into the Magic Kingdom at my brother's house since Mia got everything "Disney Princess". It was a pink frilly explosion. Everyone seemed to get what they wanted. I spent new years in Minnesota visiting my friend Ann and picking up a little head cold that I still can't seem to shake. Oddly enough I ran into one of my sorority sisters, Beth, whom I lived with for 2 years in college (in our sorority house). It was completely random since we ran into each other at a salon. It was great to see her and it will be good to have another person to know when I go out there again. We all went to dinner the following night and I've attached a photo of us at that table. It's a weird shot of me...sorry.

2008 has gotten off to a busy start at work. I am preparing to go to London a week from Monday for 4 days for work and then flying to Miami for the weekend to meet up with some girlfriends. Next month my friend Lisa and I go to Paris for a long weekend and then either at the end of Feb or early March I am going to Dubai for work for a little while. Hopefully my plan for a vacation with my friends in May will still hold firm - right now it looks as though it will be to Spain. Better get my passport ready..

Well, I better tend to my cold and head to sleep..

Money (not) well spent

So this is a picture of the pants to a $700 suit I recently bought. What's the white you're seeing? That would be the size of the split in the butt that occured when I sat down in my car after my Improv Comedy school Christmas party. Do you see the irony in splitting my pants wide open after spending an evening at a comedy club? Needless to say, these will be going back to Nordstroms ASAP.