and now the time has come at last, don't let the moment run too fast

Today went well - lots of meetings, lots of firedrills (which autocorrect told me should be "directors", which is mostly accurate). But the event may go well, and my day ended with a party in my suite - I got the presidential suite because of course, so I invited all my old team for drinks and snacks (which ended up in me ordering pizza and all of us handling several hours in.).

But now it's sleepy time, goodnight!

feels just like i'm walking on broken glass

I had a relatively relaxed day compared to what it could have been - I actually had some free time, which is highly unusual. However, I have also been mostly on all day - I had a work dinner with a MTV-based coworker whom I never see in person, then came to the hotel and spent forty-five minutes dealing with event planning stuff, and then worked for the last three hours.

But it will all be worth it when the event is over and we all get our lives back. Until then, I need to sleep in whatever increments I can get...goodnight!

it's the little things that kill

I made two trips to the Denver airport today, which is two more than I wanted to make. Drewbaby left this morning and I took him to the airport to get a bit more time with him (and to show off my new car - did I tell you I bought an Audi?). Then I went home, read too much Twitter, made breakfast, packed, took a nap, showered, and eventually got out the door to head back to DIA.

On the way, I talked to my dad; we had enough to say that my mom was going to get the short end of the stick if I hung up on arrival, so I went through security and called her back. They were testing a new automated security screening that was super slow compared to human screening - will be interesting to see how that technology develops (although I have concerns over automation reaching the point where it can easily track all of us - it's probably close, the problem is more about analyzing the data from all sorts of random sources than it is about the actual tracking and recognition... But I digress).

sssanyway. I ate dinner at cantina grill and had a margarita (okay, two margaritas... It's medicinal to get me over the Rockies) while talking to my mom, and then I boarded my flight to SF. It was all totally uneventful and I slept/journaled rather than working - I may regret that tomorrow, but tonight I'm relaxed.

And now I'm at my hotel, which is not on strike (yay!) but also hasn't finished the lobby construction project (boooooo...I only care because I have an event here, but hopefully it'll be fine). At this point, though, all I can do is sleep and hope for the best. Goodnight!

how many times can I break till I shatter

I had an amazing day in Boulder - it was entirely fun/relaxing, which is exactly what I needed to get ready for a week of impending disasters. Andrew (aka Drewbaby), his friend Ben, and I got up, showered, and then had brunch at River and Woods. It was totally fucking delicious - their breakfast sandwich is delectable, and the guys liked their meals too. Of course, the bottomless mimosas helped, but it was an excellent start to the day.

Then we walked to the stadium, where we watched almost three quarters of Colorado vs Oregon State. CU was way up (to the point that ESPN thought they had a 99.5% chance of winning), so we left in the third and walked downtown to have a drink at the Boulderado. Of course, somehow Oregon State came back and won in overtime, so that was a shock, but I'm glad we left and headed to the bar when we did.

One reason was because, on the way to the bar, Andrew got coerced into helping a street performer with his magic show, which was hilarious. And then it we nice that we beat the crowd a bit - it's homecoming and Halloween, so Pearl was totally nuts. We ate outside at Salt while enjoying the people watching (and slowly getting hypothermia) and a lot of ridiculous conversation.

Then we walked home to change into warmer clothes, but that just meant we watched an amazing dubbed version of something like American Ninja Warrior, which made me laugh harder than ever before. And now I must sleep - goodnight!

making myself crazy

Today was great, mostly because I had almost no meetings and left at 3:30 to get my nails done. I also ran some errands, grabbed a quick dinner at Motomaki, and then spent some quality time dealing with house stuff (laundry, tidying, etc).

But I finally got things in better shape than they've been in the last couple of months, and then I spent a delightful night drinking a glass of wine and watching an episode and a half of the "Queer Eye" reboot. I found it quite amusing, and I could have kept going....

But sometime around eleven, my cousin Andrew (aka Drewbaby) showed up with one of his coworkers in tow - they were in town for work, and so they're spending the weekend with me. We hung out for a bit, but we were all tired, so we're going to bed - there will be plenty of fun and catching up tomorrow, including a football game, so that should be great.

And now I must sleep - goodnight!

blame it on my ADD

I awoke this morning in an utterly foul mood - no one's fault, but that's what happens sometimes. So I showered, considered going into the office, and instead worked from home for a couple of hours. Then I walked to the office - I never do this, but I really should since it's less than twenty minutes and I used to walk that all the time back in SF.

I didn't walk straight to my office, though; the nicer office is on the way, so I stopped there for lunch and also took a few meetings from there. I went to my actual office around four, which was absurdly late to show up, but I was just in time for the Thursday happy hour - so I met with someone from my group over chips and Chardonnay (I never choose Chardonnay except for when the other alternative is beer). I had one more meeting after that....

...and then I had happy hour with Nicole. We went to License No 1 in the basement of the Boulderado, where we split a bottle of wine and a lot of conversation. Then I walked her to her rendezvous with her husband - he's only met me when I've had several drinks with Nicole, so he probably thinks I'm a monster, but #noregrets.

Then I grabbed a pizza at Pizzeria Locale, and then I came home, and now it's time for bed - goodnight!

nope nope nope

Too tired to blog - this will all end soon, but a major event/project is happening next week, so it's crunch mode. Goodnight!

victory is ours once we strike the source

I wrote before work and silently shed tears while doing so, so I think things are going splendidly. Then I worked all day, but I had time at the end to repot a succulent that I nearly killed and am trying to revive.

And then I had a long, delightful dinner with my friend Jen at The Kitchen - I've been there three times in the last week and a half, which the waiter pointed out, so apparently I'm memorable. But the bartender gave me some extra wine, so apparently three is the magic number to befriend the staff there.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

you do your brain surgery with a monkey wrench

Today was a v. annoying day. I got up in time to write for thirty minutes, which was great, but it was pretty much downhill from there...had a last minute meeting added to my calendar for 15min before I intended to be in the office, and that meeting was aggravating, and then pretty much every other meeting was aggravating too. Maybe I haven't recovered from last week's overly-extroverted offsite as much as I thought I had....

So, I bounced at 3:30, looking for all the world like a total slacker - but I worked for the last four hours from my couch, so I didn't exactly win the relaxation game. However, I did take a couple of hours to do nothing this afternoon, which helped my mood a bit - and the work I got done tonight made me feel better about some things, so I guess I'll take it.

But now I need to go to sleep - goodnight!

xoxo

I had another v. relaxing day, although I probably should have done many hours of work. I slept until nine, lazed about a bit, got ready, and drove into Denver for lunch with Barbara, who drove up from Colorado Springs to meet me. It was great to spend time with her, as always, and to remember that I'm really a writer even though my corporate whoredom is pulling the leash at the moment.

So, we hung out for a few hours, and then I drove home, took a nap, and browsed houses on Zillow. I also called my parents, who were doing well (or as well as one can do when their refrigerator is broken and won't be replaced for a month - luckily they can make do with the fridge in the basement + the standing freezer in the utility room + [censored]'s minifridge from college). Then I tidied up the house, reheated some leftover pizza, and worked for the past couple of hours. I wasn't a paragon of productivity, though, so even though I still have many things on my list, I'm going to go to bed and hit it hard tomorrow. Goodnight!

love me lights out

I had exactly the day I needed - lots of sleep, minimal interactions with people, delicious food, and some indulgence of my vanity. I woke up at 9:45 surprised that I had slept that late, and I lazed around a bit more before pulling myself out of bed, making some scrambled eggs, and going to Boxcar for coffee and journaling. This eventually turned into lunch and journaling, since I was there for awhile and saw someone else's amazing salad with mozzarella and prosciutto, which I wanted to make my own.

Then I came home and actually worked out - my neck and shoulder are a total mess right now (pain, numbness, etc), and so I used my foam roller for a long time, and then did a bit of kettlebell swinging to try to loosen things up. Not sure if I was successful, but at least I tried. Then I showered and walked back down Pearl to the main pedestrianized area, where I got my hair cut (not by pedestrians - by a legit salon). I followed that up with an early dinner and wine at Pizzeria Locale (my fave), where I did a bit more journaling over my v. tasty meal before calling it a night.

When I got home, it was only seven, and so I decided to watch 'The Good Place' to see what all the discussion is about (I've seen many memes from that show, but never seen it myself). I ended up liking it so much that I binged the entire first season tonight - oops. Luckily the first season was only thirteen episodes, and they're only 22mins long since they're made for network, so I'm not a total monster...but that's way more tv than I usually watch. It was pretty funny, though, so I anticipate future binging in my future.

But now I need to sleep - goodnight!

little dreamer

I was extremely surly today - I really didn't want to go to work, since going to work required talking to people and wearing pants, and neither of those activities were on my list of things I wanted to do today. However, I did force myself into the office, and I managed to stay for over six hours before throwing in the towel and coming home (yes, this is v. impressive, thanks).

When I got home, I promptly crawled into bed and took a nap, which made me feel much better. I then spent most of the evening finishing a game of Civilization that I'd started in August and hadn't had time to finish - it was nice to have a night of totally mindless relaxation. And now I am going to go to bed and sleep as late as I want in the morning - goodnight!

trash fish

I'm too tired to blog - the off-site ended well, and then I drivey back to Boulder and continued the socialization going until almost eleven (work, meeting, drinks at Payback with my old team and new team (which felt like an attempt to get two families to merge after a divorce), and then a hilarious dinner with Alice and Chris at the Kitchen). I would love to tell you all the jokes, but it's time to go to bed. Goodnight!

as night is falling

Second night at my work retreat, and I'm getting close to tapped out on people...but it's all been good so far. I woke up this morning none the worse for wear after last night's wine at eight thousand feet, and I had just enough time to finish some slides this morning before my sessions started. I had to lead a three-hour breakout session with my team, and I think it went pretty well - and I didn't get fired for putting my fist in my mouth last night, so I'd say things are going great, thanks for asking.

After lunch, I had some free time, so I took a quick nap and then got a massage at the spa (my life is very hard - and my whole team hates me, since they signed up for horseback riding or the 'pioneer challenge', which sounded a lot like torture). But I had some meetings from 4:45-6:30, which we took in the bar. Then we had dinner, and an awards ceremony, and then a trivia game (I didn't win an award, but my team won trivia, so I'll take it).

And then me and Alice and Hugues adjourned to the bar, which closed at ten, and so we took our drink (and Matt, who showed up just in time for last call) to the game room, where Alice and I played ping pong and then we talked for quite awhile. And now I need to sleep, since it's back to Boulder tomorrow (after some more team building stuff in the morning). Goodnight!

all i do is win win win no matter what

I'm at an offsite for the next two days, but it's in Colorado, so it almost feels like I didn't travel. But it also feels like I'm in a different world - I'm at Devil's Thumb Ranch, which is where I came for an offsite this summer, and it's even more magical looking in the winter when the snow coats the mountains.

I woke up unfortunately early to pack and get ready to go, and then went to the office to pick up Kristen, Chris, and Alice for the trip into the mountains. We made it here in good time, and the afternoon was mostly work - we're here to be good corporate citizens, so I had to lead some icebreaking activities with my team. We were done at 4:30, so I got to check up on Meghan Markle's fashion choices for her trip to Australia and also take a nap before the socializing began again.

Dinner was lovely, as was the wine (although it was v sedate compared to my last trip here, when there was an open bar until midnight, no managers, and no work expected). We had a "no talent talent show", which I somehow won when I remembered that I can fit my whole fist in my mouth, which astonished everyone so much that they gave me a Home Mini for it (I don't know if they were more astonished that I could physically do it, or if they were more astonished that I did it in front of our director, but I'll keep the Mini even if I get fired tomorrow).

And now it's time for bed, since I have to be on tomorrow - goodnight!

waters of march

Nothing exciting to report today - although I woke up this morning thinking that my heater was broken, since it was beeping at six a.m. and I could tell from the temperature around my nose that it hadn't been on for awhile. But it turns out that my power had gone out for a few hours overnight, so the heater is all good and I think I'll survive.

Work was good, and I left at 5:15 to have dinner with Annie, who is new to my team and visiting Boulder. We went to The Kitchen, which I always adore. When I got home, I did some dishes, then did a bunch of prep for tomorrow. And now I need to sleep since I need to wake up and pack tomorrow - goodnight!

try to wrap your arms around a memory

I woke up in Denver this morning, surprisingly none the worse for wear after last night's escapades. I'm delighted that I stayed over - I'd been worried about the weather, and while I was right to be worried (it was 23 degrees and snowing when I woke up), the snow wasn't enough to interfere with my drive home. But before I drove, I got to have a leisurely morning in Katie and James's house - James made excellent coffee/eggs/bacon, and Katie made some killer roasted potatoes, and I felt v. refreshed and restored.

Of course, in the light of day, our plan to take a vacation to Moldova may not have held up to scrutiny (although I still want to go there someday). And Julia told me that she thought she was getting sick, and then sneezed in my face - four year olds are monsters. But still, it was a great night and a perfect morning, so #noregrets (until I get some crazy toddler virus).

I eventually left, and on the way home I stopped at Target, then went to Ozo to grab coffee beans (I would have gone to Whole Foods, but I wasn't sure I wanted to brave it). When I got home, I promptly did absolutely nothing for a few hours - I should have done a million things, including answering friends' outreach attempts and taking care of work stuff and writing and a bunch of other stuff, but I wasn't feeling it. I did eventually do three loads of laundry and finish tidying up my office. I also called my parents, who were delightful. And I made supper - I was going to make chili, but the inside of my red onion was rotten, so I went in a completely different direction and made spaghetti carbonara instead.

I did, alas, do about an hour of day job stuff tonight - although it was pretty unfocused, so I probably could have been done in fifteen minutes. I also did some personal writing job stuff, which was v. necessary. And now I'm going to go to bed - goodnight!

I wanna be your high heels when you kick it

It's amazing how great a day can be when I don't have to work and also feel like getting things done. I woke up at eightish after ten hours of sleep, made some coffee, and then got an uncontrollable urge to reorganize and purge my bathroom drawers. This slowly had some scope creep, which led to some purging in my linen closet and office as well. But it was all overdue - there was a lot of stuff that I dumped into drawers a year ago even though I hadn't had the stuff while traveling and so it was either unnecessary or out of date, but I hadn't made time to fix it.

I didn't finish everything I wanted, but at one I had to run an errand - motomaki for lunch, followed by Staples to get some stuff for an off-site. Then I went home and showered and talked to Katrina, which was delightful as always.

But I had to cut off our conversation so that I could finish getting ready - Katie and I went out in Denver tonight, and it was perfect. We ended up trying El Five, which is a gorgeous restaurant on the fifth floor, which means we were able to see far off into the horizon while drinking wine and talking about death. #worthit

So, we had an amazing night, then came home and sat in my car and listened to old songs from our your (same same but different, since my Audi is very different from my old 1984 pick up). Then we hung out with James and drank rose, and now I'm going to sleep in their guest room. Goodnight!

i left my body lying somewhere in the sands of time

Today was a decent day, all in all - too much work and not enough time to do it, but I had an entertaining lunch conversation (in which one guy may have revealed that he intends to end up homeless), some decent meetings, and then left at four to get a manicure. I had to do one last work thing after that, but then I talked to Katie about tomorrow's plans.

And then you'll be proud to know that I didn't work or be a hermit - instead I had dinner and drinks with Kelly at Verde (my fave). I had more margaritas than intended, but not as many as I could have had, so hopefully I'll be chipper in the morning. It was fun to hang out, but it's also fun to lie in bed and look at houses on Zillow, which is how I spent the rest of my night. So, all in all, it's been great.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

raining in baltimore

Today was not great. This was mostly because one of the women on my team, whom I have known for ten years and is one of the nicest people ever, is from Panama City, FL, and her parents are trapped in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael. Apparently their house is mostly gone, and her dad has medical issues and both hospitals are out of commission, and she's got no other family in Florida (or the US) to help.

So needless to say, that was sad and stressful. The rest of my day was stressful enough in its own right - I slept in instead of writing, but I had meetings straight from nine to six (with a thirty minute break to get a flu shot and make a sandwich), and then I was at the office until seven. I came home, ate peanut butter, took a nap, and then had calls with people in Singapore and India until eleven. Bleh.

But tomorrow is another day, so it's time for bed - goodnight!

I've become so numb

I wrote for almost an hour this morning (great!). But then I did a ton of day job stuff, with a couple of breaks to watch the snow (yes, snow) and a quick but delicious sushi lunch. I also took a break tonight to watch some TV before doing more work - and now it's time to do it again tomorrow. Goodnight!

five hundred miles

I actually got up to write this morning - I only accomplished the feat for twenty minutes, but it felt good. Then I went to work, slogged as fast as possible until 4:30, left, and walked myself over to my favorite pizza place for pizza, wine, and a bunch of journaling. Sadly this was in my work journal since I needed to organize my thoughts, but it was #worthit.

Then I came home and curled up on the couch with THE SILK ROADS, which remains fascinating (even if I may be an extreme dork for holing up and reading it when I could be doing other things). And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

run this town

I was v. relaxed this morning, but it's back to the grind tonight. I got up rather early this morning and wrote for an hour, and it was all lovely and wonderful and made me feel like I could always do this. But work slowly wore me down as I remembered everything on my to-do list. I did leave the office at five and go to the grocery store to buy stuff to make chili - but by the time I got home, I was too hungry to wait for the chili to cook, so I made an omelette instead. Then I watched some stupid television to relax for a bit, and then I did a few work-related things that were not exciting but were still necessary (like filing an expense report before the system starts sending nastygrams to my boss).

And now I am going to sleep and see if I can pull off similar feats tomorrow - goodnight!

walking in memphis

I'm back in my own bed again - and I'll actually be here for more than a week, which is astonishing. I had a great time in NYC, but it's good to be back, even if I did have to say farewell to Terry without knowing when I'll see her again.

This morning went very smoothly - I woke up in time to grab a quick coffee with Terry before shoving my stuff into my suitcase and going to the airport. I acquired just enough stuff on this trip that I had to check my bag, but the airport was easy, and I had time to grab a tasty hash and a mimosa (and more coffee) before boarding.

My flight was actually early, and I spent it getting my work inbox under control for the first time in weeks. So, when I got home I felt no compulsion to work - I grabbed some coffee beans on the way home, and I washed my sheets and my duvet cover, but other than that I was tremendously lazy.

I did call my parents, though, which was nice. And I crawled into bed at nine and spent the last hour reading a couple of chapters of THE SILK ROADS - I started it months ago and hadn't picked it back up, but it's really fascinating stuff. Oceans rise, empires fall...and it's been going on forever, in places that were incredible jewels of knowledge and progress when Europe was a forgotten backwater. In other words, this book is right up my alley.

But I need to go to bed so that I can write before work - goodnight!

all of the lights all of the lights

I had a fabulous day hanging out with Terry in New York, thanks for asking! She knows me well enough that she let me sleep in, and then she handed me coffee when I got up, so I think we're still besties. Our first stop was brunch at ABC Kitchen, which was delish - we split a carrot salad that was way better than it should have been, and then I had an tasty omelette.

After that, we went to Soho, where we explored Bloomingdale's before checking out the Wing, which is a female co-working space that I really loved. It made me long for my nomadic writer days... But then I bought a fabulous pair of leopard print shoes with tassels, and I was firmly recommitted to my capitalist lifestyle.

We eventually wandered back to Terry's place and finished watching a comedy special called "Nanette" by Hannah Gadsby, which started out super hilarious and then ended up being totally tragic and uncomfortable, which was the point (I recommend, but be prepared). Then we had dinner and a bottle of wine at Mountain Bird, which was awesome - cute/low-key setting with incredible food and lovely servers. My duck was pretty awesome, and Terry and I had a fun time continuing our catch-up over a perfect meal.

Then we met Terry's boyfriend for a drink, where he and I bonded over making fun of Terry, which is how people usually bond in these situations. And now I must sleep, since I'm leaving in the morning - goodnight!

forces of evil in a bozo nightmare

I had a good final day of the conference, but I was ready to be done - I have a lot of day job stuff on my mind and I began to feel like I was wasting my time by sitting at the conference when I could have been working. However, it was useful overall, so no regrets.

I left around 3:45 and took an Uber to Terry's (remember her?) - I'm hanging out with her for a day or two of fun, so I came to her place to drop my stuff so we could go out in search of adventure. Our first stop was the Met to see this year's Met fashion gala exhibit - "Heavenly Bodies", which examined the influence of Catholicism on fashion. The exhibit was awesome - lots of crazy modern couture, but also some old papal vestments. The papal vestments were cool to see - not just for the human history, but also the incredibly intricate and detailed embroidery. The workmanship and artistry was super impressive, so I'm glad we saw it.

Terry is a member, so we went to the members' reception after and had sparkling wine and snacks while talking to a couple who seemed to have a fascinating life as government contractors. Then we adjourned to Mermaid Inn (after I bought a piece of jewelry that I'm calling my birthday present from my parents, who sent cash and instructions to buy something memorable). We ate a bunch of oysters, and then someone Terry knows joined us, and it was delightful.

But now I'm super exhausted and will follow up with you again soon - goodnight!

see you licking frosting from your own hands

I had a lovely day in New York - the conference is good, and I felt happy overall with how I did in the panel I spoke on, so that was great. I had to skip a couple of sessions to call into a work meeting in which I gained more people (surprise), but then I stopped working and went to a fancy dinner at a hotel, followed by fancy drinks on the roof, and it was so great.

But I realized at one that I needed to go to bed rather than go to another bar with the last survivors, and I actually kept to that resolution, so I'm now going to bed. I know, I'm shocked to.  Goodnight!

new york state of mind

I survived the day, but I'm super tired and need to get up bright and early for a conference tomorrow - so you're just going to make do with this. If I go to bed right now I can get at least 7.5hrs of sleep, which seems like a way better idea than documenting the minutiae of the day (which mostly involved sitting in a conference room in the basement of the Ace Hotel discussing social media support, because this is my life now). Tomorrow may hold more of the same, but once I'm done with the panel I'm on, I'm sure I'll be more relaxed (other than the fact that my inbox is still a nightmare, but that's a problem for a different day). Goodnight!

friend of the devil

I'm sitting in a bed in Brooklyn, ready for sleep - but today ended up fun despite some setbacks. I woke up at five and successfully packed and vacated the house in time for my trip to NYC - but as I was driving to the airport, I got a notification that my flight was delayed. This was probably good, since it meant that I could have a legit breakfast (and a v entertaining conversation with my waiter, who didn't know how to pronounce my name), but it made for a slightly less wonderful day.

However, I got upgraded, and I got some work done on the way, so it was all good. I landed in NYC around five, took a Lyft (with a too-talkative driver) to Brooklyn, checked into my hotel, and then spent the night hanging out with Maya, whom I adore. We went out for fancy Mexican (the flautas were incredible, as were the three margaritas I had), and then we had a nightcap with her husband at home (after getting drenched in a sudden downpour on the way back). And all in all it was excellent and I wish we lived in the same city....

... But now I need to put that dream aside and sleep - goodnight!

back on your side

The downside of going to bed super early last night is that it's 9:18pm and I'm going to go to bed because I can't make it any longer. This is probably a mistake since I still haven't packed and I need to leave the house at 7:15am, but I'm just going to roll with it and hope for the best. Goodnight!