shake shake shake

I have had an absolutely bonkers couple of days and I'm running on fumes, so luckily I had not made plans tonight and am already tucked into bed.

Wednesday I got sworn into city council, as one does, and then I worked all day before going to the peo Christmas party. I made cheesy potatoes for it, and I was joking to people I met with during the afternoon that they were getting to watch my cooking show since I was actively making food while talking to various people. The party was fun, albeit a little bittersweet since some former members came, but all in all it was v nice. 

Then I went home, talked to [censored] for a bit, and then finished packing. Sadly I only got five hours of sleep before waking up to go to the airport. I was cutting it close, but then my flight got delayed, so I was able to have breakfast. I slept most of the way to LaGuardia, and then when I landed I came straight to my hotel, where I took several hours of meetings before throwing on a dress and some makeup and going to my holiday party.

The party was at a restaurant in Brooklyn (Cafe Mado), and it was v v fun and v v delicious. I would have enjoyed sitting with anyone at the party, but I particularly enjoyed that I got to sit next to Adit, Emily, Emily's wife Lauren, and Mitchell, and also got to mingle with everyone else. We then proceeded to take the party to two more bars, which was perhaps ill advised, especially because I got back to my room at three and had to be at work and on relatively early this morning. 

But I survived, tried to hydrate, went to the office, and did a couple of critical tasks. Then several of us went to Friend of a Farmer for brunch with a potential new hire, which was fun - the decor was really great, as was the food, and I liked the vibes. 

I spent the rest of the day mostly in meetings with the interview candidate, other meetings about various things, etc. Then I took the subway back to my hotel, did another meeting, and walked over to Serafina's to grab dinner. They had a decent gf pasta with an excellent pool of burrata on top, so I was pleased. I also got to see the massive Christmas tree outside the New York Stock Exchange, which was gorgeous.

And now it's only 9:15 but I'm going to attempt an early bedtime and try to clear some of my sleep debt + goodnight!

 

up all night

I had a decent day, all in all, but it started earlier than I prefer because I had an economic development board meeting at 8am. This was accomplished in due form, and then I came home and slogged all day with mixed results - my spirit is eager, but my brain is still having trouble getting back in it after vacation. 

But I took a break in the evening to have dinner with my mom, which was nice. Then I came home, talked to my boss (luckily at 8pm instead of our intended 10pm), talked to Adit, and spent some time packing. I'm going to New York on Thursday, and this would normally mean packing tomorrow, but I have other commitments tomorrow and so needed to figure out my clothes plan tonight. I think I'm mostly there, so I can edit my outfits tomorrow and throw them in a suitcase. 

And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

i don't know where we're going but we've been coming undone for quite some time

I am back in Iowa, obviously, although I didn't blog last night and so it may not be true since it wasn't documented. I woke up yesterday morning in a bed in Kansas City that was, frankly, an insult after the resort I stayed at in Cabo, and I was pretty surly about it. But I got on the road, made a brief detour to browse various holiday tings at Home Goods, grabbed some McDonalds for breakfast and Starbucks for good measure, and drove home.

Once I got here, I unloaded my car to avoid having everything immediately freeze, and then I talked to [censored] for awhile. Then I took a quick shower and met Mom at the funeral home - they were having a Christmas/memorial service for people who passed away this year (customers??), and we decided to go. They had some nice snacks and did a service with music, a poem, and a quick sermon, which was nice. Of course, it was v. bittersweet, but I was glad I went.

Then, Mom and I went out to the Fairgrounds to see the annual light display, since it was the last night. The outdoor displays were down from previous years, but there were some nicely decorated trees inside, and we enjoyed browsing around them. Then I dropped Mom back off at her car, grabbed some groceries, picked up a pizza, came home, and slogged on some stuff until bedtime.

Today I had to get up and go into town for allergy shots, which I was v. v. overdue on. Then I came home and slogged all day with mixed results. After I finished meetings [censored] was already gone, so I had the house to myself while I did a whole bunch of tasks (laundry, unpacking, tidying, etc). And now I need to fold a final load of clothes so I can go to sleep - goodnight!

shine a little light on my soul

I am in a Springhill Suites by the airport, which is a v v v far cry from the Montage in Cabo, but all dreams come to an end eventually. I woke up well before sunrise today thinking many thoughts, and so I actually got out of bed, grabbed coffee from the coffeeshop, and went down to the beach to watch the sunrise. While Cabo is on the Pacific side of Mexico proper, it faces east across the Sea of Cortez, and so sunrise is over the water (instead of sunset, which my California dwelling memories are more accustomed to).

Luckily the rain was gone and the sunrise was gorgeous, so I enjoyed myself. Then I went back to my room, finished packing, ate a room service omelette, and then went back to the beach to catch 90min of sun before wrapping up my trip. I had a farewell Paloma (I usually don't drink tequila at ten am, but this felt necessary), warmed my skin, and then showered etc before saying goodbye. I don't know if I'll go back to that particular resort simply because I don't know if I would want to repeat myself, but I would go back to Cabo again anytime. 

Then I went to the airport, where everything was remarkably smooth, and I grabbed lunch before boarding. I was seated in the midst of a remarkably obnoxious set of people, but I did some journaling despite them. We got to Denver on time and I was glad I had a three hour layover because the walk from the gate to the start of customs was almost fifteen minutes, and I was glad I had global entry because I sailed through.... But then had to wait 20-30 min to get my bag so I could go through customs and recheck. Then I had to go through regular security again, which in Denver is typically a shitshow...but this was my first time experiencing their new security setup and I was through in five minutes, which is unheard of. 

So all in, it was over an hour from landing to getting back through security, and then I still had to get to the far stretches of the b gates. But I had time to grab food, and I made it to the gate just as they started to board. My flight was uneventful and I slept the whole way, and landing in Kansas City was a breeze.m, but I decided I didn't want to drive 2.5hrs after all of this. So I'm ensconced in a hotel and need to sleep - goodnight!

lonely boy

I had an unfortunately boring day in Cabo - it rained until sunset, which is very rare (they get less than ten inches of rain a year, and one of those inches happened today). So I couldn't go to the pool, and everything was a little worse than I wanted it to be. But rain is better than snow, and I still had some excellent food, and I had a final cocktail with my favorite bartenders, so it all could have been much worse. And I did some writing / journaling / reading, so really, it was still a good vacation day.

But now I'm going to go to bed early so that I can hopefully take advantage of some sun in the morning before heading to the airport - goodnight!

all my favorite colors

I had an excellent but v lazy day - mostly because it rained, which made me decide to cancel my plans to leave the resort. Instead, I wrote this morning, had a late breakfast, and spent the afternoon in the spa, where I had a great massage and spent some time getting rained on in the hot tub.

I spent this evening eating various tasty things and drinking various tasty tequila drinks at Marea, while also plowing through an interesting book on the social implications of AI. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

oh think twice, it's just another day for you and me in paradise

I had a v lovely and lazy day in Cabo. I was supposed to go to a tamale making class today, which I had been looking forward to - but the presence of Irish Matt changed my plans, and also the fact that it will probably rain all day tomorrow made me want to spend today enjoying the sunshine. It didn't help that the class was almost an hour away, which felt like a real burden. So I cancelled and I have no regrets, although perhaps I'll have some regrets when I want to eat tamales this winter and can't.

Instead, I grabbed an early coffee and wrote on my balcony until I was too hungry to continue. Then I had a v tasty breakfast, followed by as much pool time as I could handle - I don't do well getting too hot, but with the clouds rolling in this afternoon, I was mostly shaded the whole time. I read a book (BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD, which is a strange and cozy little book by a Japanese author, featuring a bizarre coffee shop with time traveling properties). I really enjoyed it, and it also made me cry profusely while I was reading + eating tacos, which probably made me look insane, but c'est la vie.

Eventually, I showered, put on a dress, and went to Irish Matt's hotel. Security is tight at all the resorts and they didn't want to let me in because somehow the front desk hadn't given my name to the gatehouse - or they thought I was a prostitute, since most prostitutes show up at four pm.  But I got in, hung out with Matthew at the pool, and then Matt and Scott and I had a v tasty dinner and drinks and a whole bunch of fun stories. 

But now I'm back at my hotel and falling asleep at I type, so it's time for bed - goodnight!

but you can never leave

I had an absolutely fantastic day in paradise, no cynicism or tuesday scaries allowed. I woke up just as the sun rose, which I saw from my balcony. Then I walked over to the cafe and grabbed a cold brew, which I drank while sitting on my balcony and journaling for awhile, which was illuminating. Then I grabbed breakfast - I had huevos rancheros today, and while no one can beat Tony's huevos rancheros from my favorite cafe of my Marina-era youth, these huevos were pretty delightful.

I then spent most of the rest of the day at the pool, where the weather was absolutely perfect. I had a couple of margaritas, some excellent nachos, as much water as I could drink, and enough sun to give me some tan (and perhaps a slight amount of redness around the edges of my right shoulder and hip, which were the most exposed to the sun). The pool here is v. nice, and as expected it wasn't too crowded - the lack of the Thanksgiving/Christmas crowd is really playing out in my favor.

The real surprise of the day, however, was that I completely upended my planned solo trip....because in an extremely weird and serendipitous moment of fate, Irish Matt and I somehow discovered that we are both in Cabo this week. I have not seen Irish Matt since a month or two before the pandemic, when I visited him in LA; we had had some zooms since then, but it has been a v v long time. However, he texted me randomly yesterday morning, and as we exchanged pleasantries we found out that I was already here and that he was flying in last night.

So, of course, that was amazing, and we had to get together. He's traveling with another friend (Scott), whom I hadn't met but who is from Dodge City, Kansas, and so Matthew and Scott came over to my hotel for dinner tonight. Irish Matt actually came early, so we grabbed a margarita at the bar that I went to last night (and I was v. pleased to show the bartenders that I have a friend). This turned into a second margarita when Scott came, and so we were 45mins late to our dinner reservation, but clearly no one cared (or if they did care, this is a "the customer is always right" kind of place and so they didn't say anything). Eventually we adjourned to our dinner reservation at Mezcal, where we sat by a firepit and had some absolutely incredible Mexican food (a take on a tamale, some excellent fried rice with clams, some hamachi crudo thing that is so 2019, a birria and tortillas that was outstanding, and various amuse bouche things and flan for dessert). And my margarita at Mezcal was total perfection, so I'm riding high on tequila and life (mostly life).

It was, as always, an utter delight to see Matthew, and we had much to catch up on (and Scott and I had much to learn about each other). I think I'll meet up with them again for dinner tomorrow, so I'm pretty pleased about that.

And now, I need to go to bed - goodnight!