what about all the times you said you had the answers

So, #protip, in case you haven't figured it out - my v. short posts are typically from my phone, when I'm tired and already in bed and don't want to prolong my wakefulness by pulling out one of my myriad laptops. You can also tell this because I very rarely manage to tag those posts - hitting the right tag on the phone screen is tough, and not worth the effort.

Tonight's post was almost one of those, but I decided to pull out the laptop and make an effort. There was only one laptop to choose from, since I'm in San Francisco and didn't bring allll my tech - I only brought my work laptop, my (old, almost replaced last night before I remembered that I didn't really need to spend the money) iPad, an external keyboard for the iPad (the reason I almost bought a new iPad was because I had grand dreams of writing on it in Paris, but I'm going to see if I write on the three-year-old one I have before I indulge), and two phones. This is *not nearly enough* tech, but I think I'll survive.

sssanyway. This morning was a mad dash - I woke up of my own volition around 6:30, anticipating the millions of things that I needed to do before leaving, and fueled only with five and a half hours of sleep and some mild thyroid stimulant (don't ask). So I scrambled until 11:30ish, at which point I was totally packed, had cleaned the fridge and emptied the trash, made my bed, and handled a bunch of random stuff. My packing job was first-rate, which is why it took awhile - I had to check a bag because I refuse to wander around Paris wearing grubby clothes and minimal makeup just in the interest of pretending to be a minimalist. But my bag only weighs 36lbs and it has room to spare, so if I buy something in Paris or Dublin, it might actually fit in my suitcase. I'm shocked too.

My afternoon was uneventful - I got to the airport in time to eat lunch, drink a glass of wine to preempt the turbulence, and talk to my parents. I spent the flight working, then got a lyft into SF, where I discovered that I'd accidentally booked the Kabuki during the Cherry Blossom Festival, which means Japantown was a zoo and the street in front of my hotel was shut down. Oops.

But I made it to my room, unpacked, and did a bit of work. Then I took a lyft out to the Pacific, where I had a leisurely evening with Veronica. She's in the midst of some bad luck (daughter got a crazy black eye from a softball, son broke his wrist, and she threw out her back), so we stayed local to avoid further injuries. We drank some sauvignon blanc, ate some chips and hummus, proceeded to eat even more takeout Indian food, and generally enjoyed each other's company for several hours. I have to say, I'm pretty happy in Colorado, but Veronica is one of the things I miss about my life here.

But by ten p.m. I was fading, so I took a lyft back to the hotel. And now it's imperative that I get some sleep, since tomorrow will be back to the usual craziness - goodnight!

wake me up when it's all over

I'm typing from my phone, so expect typos. I had a very busy day despite spending it alone - I woke up before eight (unprecedented) and spent the morning taking care of things around the house while also doing some day job stuff.

But I needed some indulgent #treatyoself time - so eventually I left the house, had a late lunch at a Mediterranean place that I recently discovered, and then drove into Denver to visit a mall that is substantially nicer than the stuff around here.

My shopping excursion was better than usual (great for my closet, bad for my budget). I came v close to buying a new ipad as well, but I exercised extreme seff control by walking away.

When I got home, I walked to Pizzeria Locale for a quick dinner - it was exactly what I wanted, especially since I got some writing done. But now it's time for bed - goodnight!

suave suavecito

I leave my house for the airport in approximately thirty-six hours, and I have much to do before that happens - especially since I'm going to SF for a hot minute (so hot that I probably won't see anyone), followed by a weekend in Paris and a week in Dublin. Yes, my life is strange.

So, because I have millions of things to do tomorrow, I'm going to bed early - I went to work and did a somewhat half-assed job (what I did was good, I just didn't do enough of it), then had happy hour by myself, which turned into several glasses of wine, some poutine, and the best churros I've ever had (full of gluten but #noregrets) while writing several pages in my journal and continuing to befriend the bartenders (the last glass of wine was entirely unexpected and entirely free, so my ability to befriend bartenders remains well-honed).

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

all my cash is gone

I am back in my own bed after having a way too early start to the day + flying back to Denver this evening. My conference was great...but I need to recover over the next couple of days, since I leave again Sunday night. So, I'm going to bed right away - goodnight!

i tried my imagination but i was disturbed

I had a v. lovely day, all in all, but I should have either slept better last night or gone to bed earlier tonight. I didn't sleep well last night, and I awoke earlier than I wanted to to an email that I had no interest in dealing with (which ended up being moot by the end of the day, but I didn't expect that outcome at 7:30am).

So, I put on some power red lipstick, had breakfast at my hotel, and headed to the conference. It was great - especially a segment involving the animation of Ariel (from The Little Mermaid) and Beast (from Beauty and the Beast), which made me long for the days when I could create stories rather than spreadsheets....

But I actually like my job, so c'est la vie. I was pretty diligent most of the afternoon, but I did skip out at some point to network with people from my olden days. I eventually ended up having drinks with my old team at the tiki bar that I went to last night - Tomas was there, of course, as were a bunch of other people. When Eugene showed up, he and I split off from the rest of the group and went for dinner - I had a mojito and some wine and some okayish paella, and my conversation with Eugene was as amusing as it always is.

We parted ways after that, and I wandered around and eventually met up with a bunch of people from work (including Tomas, whom I found eventually, and some other people from Boulder). I also paired wine with cotton candy, which was as disgusting as you can imagine.

But all fun must end, and I need to sleep right now because I have some stupid breakfast in the morning that I can't be late for. Wish me luck with that - goodnight!

my name is blurry face

I'm at an undisclosed location for work (not very interesting, I assure you), after spending a very white-knuckle ascent out of Denver this morning - the wind was so strong that they later closed the airport for awhile, which tells you how bad my flight started off.

But I made it to my conference in one piece, and my evening was nice - I had dinner with Aga and Andrea, then went to a party (not exciting, I'm should), and then met Alice and her friend for a drink at a tiki bar. I'm still remarkably sober - either I'm growing up or the open bar at the party was lackluster (I'll give you one guess).

But now it's time to sleep - goodnight!

hold tight

I had a pretty good day, all in all. I woke up earlyish to make it to the office by 8:15 so that I could have breakfast with Kristen and Barbara - we went to the 'nice' building, which is way more impressive, and they were suitably wowed. Then, I had meetings most of the day, with just enough time to procrastinate and laugh about utterly ridiculous things with the people around me.

I bounced a little before five, ran a couple of errands, and ate dinner at Chipotle (which always reminds me of how disappointed Ritu was in me for eating at Chipotle when I was in NYC and could have eaten literally anything else). Then I came home and worked for a couple of hours. And then I packed my suitcase, which is a fairly regular occurrence in my life - I'm going to SoCal for a conference tomorrow, which would be exciting if I didn't travel alllll the time.

But now I should sleep, since I should get up in approximately seven hours - goodnight!

wake up we need to make money

I really want to go to bed right now and not let myself stay up until 1:30 like I did last night. I didn't get up as early as I would have liked this morning because of that mistake, but I took care of a bunch of stuff around the house before driving down to Castle Rock to have lunch with Aunt B, her scandalous pirate husband, and the SPH's daughter and her two toddlers. I got there after they'd eaten, but I had some quality time with Aunt B while the rest of them took a walk, so that was great.

Then I drove back to Boulder, and I talked to my parents on the way. When I got here, I did about thirty minutes of stuff around the house, and then I walked to the Hotel Boulderado to meet up with Barbara and her daughter Kristen, who are in town for the next couple of days. In a fun twist of fate, I hired Kristen to join my team, so she was out here looking at apartments...which I'm super thrilled about, because a) I like Kristen and b) it means I'll probably see Barbara more often.

So we had drinks at the Boulderado and talked about writing and life, and then we walked to The Kitchen, where we had a v. tasty dinner and more conversation. It was a fun end to the weekend - I didn't get nearly enough done, but #noregrets.

And now I must sleep - goodnight!

i want a new drug

I had a lovely day, but I shouldn't have stayed up this late. Yesterday was pretty good too - I spent some quality time at the office, but skipped out at 3:30 to have happy hour with Nicole, who I am determined to befriend. She seems equally determined to befriend me, since she was all in on ordering a whole bottle of wine to split - this is the makings of something delightful. We also had some nachos and some brussels sprouts, and a whole lot of gossip, which was great. Her husband showed up later, so we finished our drinks with him, and then they dropped me off at my place. I then spent the rest of the night doing nothing and watching Top Chef, which was the perfect night.

Today, I had brunch with Katie - she drove up to Boulder, and we walked over to River and Woods, which is becoming one of my favorite spots. We had much to discuss, which we accomplished over a tasty breakfast...and then we went to Sephora, where I had a 15% off deal that we made v. heavy use of. Yes, almost all of my money goes toward food and vanity.

After we parted ways, I retrieved my car, came home, took a nap, and dealt with tax stuff. Then I walked to Boxcar, where I had some tea and wrote for awhile. After that, I got a pedicure - I'm headed for California this week (SoCal, not NorCal), and I was eager to get my feet looking a bit more well-kept before I go. Then, I tried a Greek restaurant I hadn't been to before (verdict: totally fucking delicious), came home, tried to write and instead wasted a lot of time online, and then watched the last two episodes of Top Chef Colorado. And then, of course, I went deep into a rabbit hole of finding out what happened to all of those people after the season ended.

And now I really must sleep - goodnight!

this river is wild

Can't blog...I had meetings all day and should have worked all night, but instead I met Marina for a drink. She's an old Stanford friendb and we were supposed to go to a Stanford mixer, but instead we sat in the bar and talked since we hadn't seen each other in forever.

But I need to go to bed more than I need to write all of this down - goodnight!

love lies bleeding

I'm back in Boulder, and I'm still too tired to tell you about all the fun I had last night...after getting back from the concert, I "slept" in an incredibly uncomfortable bed, which meant I awoke this morning feeling like death. I didn't have it as bad as [censored], who had to drive home and go to work this morning, but I still feel like complaining.

However, we had breakfast with the parents before parting ways, and then my parents drove me to Des Moines (French for 'the moines') and kicked me out at the airport on their way home. We were originally going to have lunch and I was going to kill several hours at the airport, but I managed to get on an earlier flight, which was perfect. So, I got home around three, laid on the couch for awhile to deal with the effects of overheating (It was 81 degrees when I got to Denver, which was v. different from Iowa), and then took a nap rather than being productive.

But I rallied and went down the street to eat a delish cobb salad at River and Woods, where I wrote a few pages about a possible book and also chatted up the bartender. And now it's only 9:25, but I think I'll go to bed - goodnight!

wild world

I can't blog because I need to go to bed immediately, but my family and I saw the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain and it was awesome. Super awesome. And now I need to sleep - goodnight!

our old friend fear and you and me

I'm not ready to go to bed yet, but I'm blogging now so that I'm not tempted to slack off later. Today was an okay day, all in all - I procrastinated more than I should have, and I probably should have gone outside for some fresh air, but so far so good. I slept late, then spent much of the late morning/afternoon journaling - both the bullet journal artistic stuff that I like to do + the deep ruminations that I've been avoiding. I'm making a serious attempt to get back into my writing career, and journaling helps me with that.

But my writing career also involves money and taxes, which I've definitely been putting off...so I spent several hours tonight going through receipts and reconciling Quickbooks. I'm not done, so I'm going to do some more until I fall asleep, but I'm getting closer. However, I had to take a break for the last hour and file an expense report for the day job, since it was also getting close to overdue (and at some point the system starts emailing your manager to rat you out for not submitting your report, so I was trying to avoid that). Yes, my life is glamorous. Can you tell I really don't like doing all this admin stuff?

Beyond that, I have nothing to report - and I have to wake up in the morning and pack my stuff to continue onward toward the next part of my Iowa adventure (hint: it involves ukuleles). Goodnight!

history in the making

I've had a v. relaxed couple of days in ye olde Iowa - mostly filled with eating beef, watching golf, and talking to my parents. I also saw Aunt B, who came down today to visit Gram and check on her bees; unlike her, I didn't bother to leave the house since it snowed most of the afternoon, which feels like a cruel joke.

But now, after writing the bare minimum to satisfy my legions of fans (hello, all two of you!), I am going to sleep - goodnight!

flies in the vasoline we are

I'm in ye olde Iowa for the weekend - I wasn't ready to take off today from a work standpoint, but I was definitely ready from a life standpoint. Or maybe I wasn't totally ready...I barely made it to work in time for breakfast because I had to finish packing, take out the trash, etc., etc.

Once I got to the office, I should have slogged really hard to get through as much stuff as possible, but instead I spent some quality time joking around with people. I learned that this guy Mike grew up in Germany as a small child, where they apparently have something called Krampus (the opposite of Kris Kringle) who eats bad children's families at Christmastime. This convinced me that instead of doing a Secret Santa at work this year, we should do Secret Krampus and just play pranks and steal people's stuff. Sounds like a great idea, amirite?

So, after learning a lot of facts that explained a lot about Mike, I did manage to do a bit of work. I also had a meeting w/my VP, but it all went smoothly, so that was good. Then I ate a quick lunch, left for the airport, and drove all the way through snow (I maintain it was snow; one of the Californians I sit by thought it might be hail, but I was pretty convinced that none of them knew any of the words for the myriad forms of frozen precipitation). I worked for an hour when I got to the airport, then boarded my tiny plane. I read the whole way to Iowa, which was lovely...

...and then my parents picked me up and we went to Johnny's for our usual post-airport supper. I had a pretty tasty ribeye and a baked potato, which was great. Then we successfully made it home, and I stayed up later than I should have talking to my parents (and even later than that unpacking and messing around online). But now I need to stop messing around and get some sleep - goodnight!

it's easier not to be wise

Today was v. long - I had meetings from 8:30 to 5:30 with v. little break. But I picked up a delish chicken kebab on the way home and ate it while watching an episode of 'Top Chef', which was a good way to relax. Then I did some laundry, cleaned up the house, and packed for my trip tomorrow. I ended the evening by messing around online a bit (no real work, just booking some stuff for my next trip to California).

But now I need to sleep - I have to get a ton of stuff done tomorrow so that I don't have to work while I'm home. Goodnight!

lightning crashes

I want to blog all the words, but I'm too tired - I got up earlier than I wanted this morning so I could run an errand before work, and then I slogged pretty hard all day (well, sort of hard). But I skipped out at 4:15 and drove to Denver, where I met Katie for drinks and dinner at Root Down. Root Down wasn't quite as charming as it usually is, since the bartender was fairly terrible (both of Katie's drinks were truly awful; I stuck to wine, which was safer, but still).

However, Katie and I made the most of it, and had a generally wonderful/hilarious time. We went back to her place after and I said hi to the girls, who only terrorized me a little bit, and then James put them to bed while Katie and I continued to gossip (and listen to 1990's classics) for a bit. Then I came home and spent the last 1.5hrs putting together a page for my Stanford class reunion book - the deadline was tonight, so of course I waited until tonight to do it. Stupid.

But now it's time for bed - goodnight!

wake me up before you leave

Today was pretty full of big ups and major downs. I wasn't feeling so hot yesterday, so I left work early and spent most of the afternoon napping, then some of the evening working (which is why I didn't blog). But today I was feeling better, so I went into the office, worked most of the morning, and took some time out to buy tickets for me and [censored] to see Counting Crows in September (yay!). I also took a break for lunch, then had a long 1:1 with my boss, which was entertaining and enlightening (and I got to say, yet again, that I have no intention of leaving to write full-time - they must think I'm a flight risk).

But then I had several hours free this afternoon, settled into to get some work done...and discovered that there was an active shooter at YouTube. This, of course, wrecked the rest of the afternoon. I pinged the people I knew there and it appears that everyone I know is safe, but it's still not totally clear. People at work were understandably upset; some people went home, while others of us dealt with it by eating our feelings, compulsively scrolling through twitter, etc. My team also went on a brief walk around the block, which kind of helped - but nothing can really help.

So I came home around six and was catatonic on the couch until eight, when I finally did some laundry, trimmed my bangs, ate some soup that I'd thawed out overnight, and spent the last hour doing some work that I'd meant to do this afternoon. And now I'm going to go to bed and dream of a better tomorrow - goodnight!

under the bridge

I had a gorgeous day to myself in the city of sin - I only got six hours of fitful slumber, but I awoke feeling surprisingly alive. So I threw on some pants and went out to get some Philz coffee, which delighted me. Then I packed, showered, left my hotel, bought some of my favorite gel pens at my favorite Japanese stationery store, and had lunch at Dosa because I've been craving Indian food and have yet to satisfy my addictions in Boulder.

Then I went to Hayes Valley to browse, and then I drove out to Ocean Beach, sat on a bench overlooking the water, and talked to my parents. It was an idyllic day, and I was feeling nostalgic for my old life...

...but my new life is pretty great too, and I'm glad to be home. I went to the airport super early and ate and drank some wine and worked for a couple of hours before boarding. I sat next to a pilot, who was interesting; I also read a little and slept a little.

But no amount ofosleep could make tonight better - my flight landed at midnight, so I got home at 1:15, and now it's two a.m. and I have to be at the office in less than eight hours. Gross. So it's time for bed - goodnight!

i had a dream we were back to seventeen

I had a perfect day in the dirty east bay and a perfect night in the city of sin...so it's probably best for me to leave tomorrow before I get seduced into the idea of moving back here. Not that I want to move back here after watching a child play with rocks in a tree enclosure after realizing that all of those rocks were probably covered in dog urine...but I digress.

I got up relatively early and still a little too late, and I scrambled to pull myself together so that I could drive to Berkeley for brunch (but to Jess, it's breakfast) with John and Jess and Ian at Saul's. You probably wonder how they're doing, but my main concern was getting the corned beef hash, so I had #priorities. However, from what I could gather while hanging out, they're in fine form.

I spent the rest of the day hanging around Berkeley - shopping, more shopping, and some quality time at Philz. I also got my eyebrows waxed from my favorite person ever, which was delightful.

The I met Claudia (aka Santy Cluade if you're lucky) for a drink - this ended up including oysters and olives, which were delish. Then we walked down the street to meet up with Chandlord .... and this eventually turned into drinks with Adit and a late night at Grubstake, but I'm falling asleep while writing this, so you'll just have to trust me on that. Goodnight!

you look like my next mistake

I'm really too tired to do today justice. I slept longer last night than any previous night for a couple of weeks - but that was enough to kick my body out of flight/or/flight mode, so I was a little lethargic getting ready (especially since I had to check out of my Mountain View hotel).

But it was all good - I had a couple of meetings, then had lunch with Tomas (who I worked with a few years ago; we shared a cube and a trip to Germany). I usually don't see old coworker friends because they all are scattered across a campus that is now miles long, but I made a point of clearing my calendar so I could go to his building in the afternoon and see him in person.

It's a bit weird going to those buildings right now - the light and feel is v. remimiscent of building connections like I did years ago, especially since I was in the building where I sat for the first six months oh so many years ago. But I made it through all the nostalgia, had an awesome lunch with Tomas, had a couple of meetings, said a too-brief hello to Joann, and met up with Eugene - so all in all it was great.

Then I drove to Belmont, where I hung out with the Shedletskys...and then I came to SF, checked into my hotel, and had dinner with Adit and Priyanka at Heirloom Cafe. It was super tasty, and the company in both cases was excellent...but you don't get any more because I'm falling asleep as I type. Goodnight!

the legends and the myths

After getting up at 5:30am, driving down to the South Bay in time for an eight am meeting, working until almost six, driving to San Carlos, working some more, and then having a long dinner with Barbara, Anne, and Veronica, I'm way too tired to blog - so check back tomorrow. Goodnight!

you don't know what it's like to be nameless

Another long day in San Francisco, but it was good despite that. I made it into the office in time for an eight a.m. meeting (after a lyft ride with a driver who was dealing with a lot of problems, which sounded pretty heartbreaking), then ate breakfast before having another day full of summit. I was done with meetings by 5:20, which was just in time for me to stroll across the street to the Ferry Building...

...where I had a drink and a snack with Katrina at Market Bar. Of course, I couldn't help but remember a v. boozy afternoon/evening there with Irish Matt ten years ago, but tonight was v. sedate - we caught up on life, and while we didn't have nearly enough time, at least we renewed the connection.

Then I came back to Japantown, accidentally took a nap, then came down to the bar and avoided alcohol but had another snack while doing some work. And now I need to go to my room, pack, and sleep - I have to get up super early to drive to Mountain View, so going to bed now would be a v. good idea. Goodnight!

you got a fast car, i want a ticket to anywhere

I had a lovely day in the city of sin, despite being at work (or work-related activities) from 8:45 a.m. to 10:45 p.m. I spent the day at the San Francisco office - a different San Francisco office than I usually go to, since my company keeps expanding and swallowing new buildings whole. This was a summit, which, as you know, means that I had one all-day meeting rather than 12-18 30min meetings - somehow, staying engaged for a single day is weirdly more tiring than switching contexts every thirty minutes. But I revived myself at lunch with some polenta (which I picked the asparagus out of, since I still hate it despite being an adult now), and I had some v. entertaining interactions throughout the afternoon (even though the subject matter was not entertaining), so that was all fun.

After the summit, many of us went for drinks at a tiki bar called Pagan Idol. The tiki bar had lots of fake smoke and real koi, which made for a weird atmosphere, but my drinks were tasty and the company was super fun. We welcomed some crashers who have left the team, which was super fun (even more fun because we couldn't really talk about work) - and I learned that the great-grandmother of one of my coworkers was a famous artist in France (during a time when her whole life was a study in luck, fate, and the ability to survive, since she was a Jewish woman who left Ukraine and ended up in France right before WWII). Of course, a lot of the conversation was waaaaay less high-brow than that, but it was all pretty fun.

A core group of us left the bar and had dinner at La Fusion, which I had been to a few months ago with Jenni. We had sangria and lots of meat, and I was feeling high on life...but I have a lot of work to do tomorrow, so I bid them all adieu after the restaurant and came back to the hotel. And now it's definitely time for bed - goodnight!

don't pick up the phone

I had an amazing day, but all the fun wiped me out and I need to go to bed right now. I rolled out of bed at 7:30 this morning, showered, and went to my old neighborhood to have breakfast at my favorite cafe (ten points if you remember, without prompting, that it's owned by Tony). I sat at the bar and had huevos rancheros and chatted with Tony while he was cooking - I got there early enough that I was able to say more than a couple of words to him, which was exactly my plan, so that was fun. It did make me nostalgic for my old neighborhood, but I think Colorado is still the right move despite the memories....

...but Colorado doesn't have easy access to Sonoma, so maybe I'm wrong. After breakfast, I picked up Lauren (aka Subz) and we went up to Sonoma for the day. Our first stop was Gloria Ferrer, where we had some delicious sparkling wine (my fave) and I ended up signing up for the wine club again (don't judge, I love them). It was just slightly chilly on the patio, but it was totally gorgeous, and they had lap blankets, so it was pretty perfect.

We left the car there and took a lyft into Sonoma proper, where we wandered around the square and stopped in at Schug, where we had a delightful conversation with an Italian guy who was doing an internship with them (I dumped my tastes after a couple of sips, but did buy a bottle of cab franc). Then we had lunch at The Girl and the Fig - Subz and I both agreed it's not quite as good as its hype, but it was still yummy, and I had fond memories of earlier trips there (with Ritu, Bill and Terry when Ritu/Bill were choosing their wedding venue, and with Kathia a lifetime ago).

After lunch, we took a lyft out to Scribe, which I'd never been to before - it requires reservations for tastings, and Lauren had gotten us in, which turned out to be amazing. We had a couple of couches to ourselves on a veranda overlooking the vineyards, and it was a perfect place to chill for a couple of hours and sip wine and eat tasty snacks. We eventually caught a lyft back to Gloria Ferrer and came back to the evil city, where I was sad to say goodbye to Lauren - it was a super fun, wonderful day, which I was v. much in need of, and I'm glad we got to spend so much quality time together.

When I got back to my hotel, I promptly took a nap, then talked briefly to [censored] before wandering out in search of food. I went to Jitlada because I was craving Thai and it's only a couple of blocks away from my hotel - it wasn't quite as good as what I was wanting (because what I really wanted was pad see ew at Lers Ros, but I didn't want to go that far away), but it definitely hit the spot. And now, after feeding myself, taking care of a few tings, and getting ready for bed, it's time for sleep - goodnight!

talking in my sleep at night, making myself crazy

I really wanted to be lazy today, and so I let myself indulge a little bit (mostly by sleeping in, drinking coffee, and journaling). But I couldn't be lazy forever - I had to catch a flight to SF tonight, which meant that I had to pack, run a bunch of errands, tidy up the house, etc., etc.

I made it to the airport in time to eat a burrito bowl and toss back a margarita - the margarita wasn't very good, but it was good enough to relax me during the inevitable scary turbulence getting out of Denver and over the mountains. I journaled a bit more on the flight, but mostly a dozed and played Sudoku. Then I retrieved my rental car, drove through sudden rain to San Francisco, checked into my hotel....and ran into none other than Can Sar, who was sitting in the lobby having a drink. I've stayed at this hotel several times in the past few months, but this was the first time that the bar was fully open - and it looks gorgeous (which is probably why the hotel prices are going up).

So, I talked to Can for a few minutes, then came upstairs, unpacked, messed around on the internet, and read a long, extraordinary article about two British spinster sisters who saved at least twenty-nine people from the Nazis (funded by one sister's career as a romance novelist). You should read it too. But now I need to sleep - goodnight!

think i'll dust 'em off, put 'em back up on the shelf

I had another v. long day, but I ended it with relaxing on my couch and watching three episodes of Top Chef, so it could have been worse. I got up at 7:30 feeling like total death, and I barely made it into the office for my 8:30 meeting (I was five minutes late, but my coworkers are accommodating). Part of my delay was that I had to deal with a bunch of wet clothes - the thing that I didn't mention last night is that my dryer went out again last night when I started to dry some stuff, and it took my stove with it. This is the same thing that happened back in January. At the time, my landlord claimed that something must have happened in the neighborhood because it was all working fine when he came to check it out (and has been working since).

But now I'm convinced that it's electrical in the apartment, which means I'm also convinced that I'm going to die in some fiery hellscape. I flipped the breakers off last night, tried them again this morning just in case, but everything was still off (although it seems to be a 220 phase thing, since the oven/electronic display doesn't work but, oddly, the electric burners do). So I left and emailed my landlord, and hopefully he'll fix it while I'm gone.

sssanyway. I spent the day in a plethora of meetings, as per usual, and somehow forgot to eat lunch, which was a tragedy. I left at four, came home, had one more call, and then loaded up my wet laundry and went to Christine's house, where I did a load of laundry while we talked, ate takeout (chicken kebabs and some tasty hummus for me), and did some work stuff that we had to do together (some exercise where we evaluate other managers' evaluations of people, don't ask). This was much more fun to do together in a house rather than alone in conference rooms, so I'll take it (and my clean laundry) even if it was a weird way to spend Friday night.

Then I came home, folded my laundry, emptied my dishwasher, and watched three episodes of Top Chef: Colorado. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

let me kick it like it's 1986

This week has been incredibly, brutally long - but I had a lot of fun last weekend and am going to have more this weekend, so I'm just rolling with it.

I got up at 6:30 this morning (unusual), was in the office by 7:30, and as I was walking down the hall, I dropped my keys. Of course, one of my old bosses (who was a director a decade ago and is now a bigshot VP) happened to be coming down the hall (he's in Boulder for some reason), and he just said 'get it together, Swampler!' in front of the other business-y types he was with, then kept walking. Lol.

That could have set a bad tone for the rest of the day, but all in all it was pretty positive. Summits, meetings, lunch with my boss, etc., etc....and then I was supposed to go to a happy hour, but I came home and relaxed for an hour instead. Then I went to a team dinner (yes, another one); we went to T|ACO, which should have named itself TACO because T|ACO is annoying to type into Google Maps when looking for directions.

But the food was tasty and the conversation at my table was super fun. I got home around 9:45, messed around for longer than I should have, and then worked for the past hour+. The slogging will get better as soon as I'm through with performance reviews (at least this part of performance reviews), but tomorrow's not looking so hot either....

But now it's time for bed. And finally, happy anniversary to my parents! Yay for getting married thirty-eight years ago!

wolves without teeth

It's only ten p.m. and I have a million things I need to do, but instead I'm going to go to bed and dream the impossible dream that I'll actually get up in time to do stuff in the morning. Today was v. long, but v. interesting and mostly fun - I had meetings all day, but they were mostly enjoyable, and I had a fairly entertaining lunch at which we discussed horses and ukuleles, so it could be worse.

I left around 5:45 and picked up a blast from the past - my friend Tolu (of friendship renewal fame) is in town for this summit that has brought everyone and their mother into town, and so we had a long, leisurely dinner together. I hadn't seen him since before I went to Bali, which feels like a lifetime ago, so we had much to discuss. We went to Kitchen, which I really like, and we shared some tasty pork skewers, and then I had some gluten free pasta bolognese that was completely perfect. We lingered over tea after finishing our meals, since we had a lot to catch up on - it was great to see him, and hopefully I'll see him again sometime when I make it to the bay area.

But all good things must end (as he reminded me, when he told me that having kids has taught him that everything is impermanent), so I dropped him off at his hotel, came home, and realized I have absolutely no energy to do all my work tonight. So, it's time for bed instead - goodnight!

be brave, clench fists

Super tired...I had meetings straight from 9:30 to 6, then went out for dinner with Jen (a visiting coworker). We went to Emmerson, which I'd been to with Terry a month ago - I had a v. tasty pinot and a v. tasty porkchop, and we shared some fudge-type dessert that was delish. I also ate some of the bread, even though I shouldn't have, but it was one of those nights.

And then I came home, tidied up my kitchen, painted my nails, and worked for an hour. Le sigh. But now it's time for bed - goodnight!

goblin city

After spending the whole weekend getting nothing done, today was payback time. I got to the office around 9:15, slogged straight until 6:30, had dinner with a coworker who is in town from Singapore (there are many coworkers and so many dinners), came home, messed around online and took a nap, and then worked from 10:15 to midnight. Gross, I know.

But that means I need to get offline and stop staring at screens - goodnight!

somebody save your soul 'cause you've been sinning in this city, i know

Yesterday involved way more fun than my body had budgeted for, and that meant that today required paying the wages of my sins. I slept in yesterday morning, and then spent most of the morning/early afternoon taking care of office-related stuff - mostly sorting through all the piles of documents that I've let stack up for the last six months so that I can start figuring out my taxes. This is going to be an exercise in pain since there are so many documents, receipts, etc. to sort through - and since I've been basically ignoring my writing business for the past six months, things are really not in order.

But I had to slack off around three so that I could take a shower and get ready for fun. Katie and I had a 5:30pm reservation at Ophelia's, so I drove to Denver and met her at her house so that we could lyft over together. We both forgot that yesterday was St. Patrick's Day, which meant downtown was super messy with people pretending to be Irish (the same people who also pretend to be Santa during Santacon, and patriotic during the 4th of July, and Mexican during Cinco de Mayo, etc., etc.). Ophelia's was also messy, since there were a lot of drunk people (which I judged, although as the night turned out, I was being a total hypocrite).

The food, though, was v. tasty - we had some excellent arepas and some kobe beef sliders, and a lot of fries, and it was great. I was pretty sedate at Ophelia's - I had two cocktails over two hours, and Katie and I talked lots about life (mostly me, yay - jk). But when we were done at 7:15, we weren't quite ready to go home...

...so we went to Lola, where we somehow ended up staying for five hours, drinking more margaritas than was advisable while covering many and varied topics of conversation. The music was perfect (I kept thinking things were by Roxette, when really they were by Heart, and [censored] would be very disappointed in me), and the drinks were strong, and we were high on life, and it was one of those perfect nights where overindulgence seems like a good idea...

Spoiler: it wasn't a good idea. Or, at least, it didn't feel like a good idea this morning, when I awoke in Katie's guest room feeling like death. I hung out for awhile in an attempt to recover, which was helped along by James picking up breakfast burritos for us - but considering that sitting in a rocking chair at one point made me want to vomit, you can tell I wasn't in the best place physically. That said, though, it was a lovely morning - we sat in the sun in the backyard, and I was rocking my plush pink robe (I know how to make myself at home at Katie's), and hanging out with Katie and James is always blissful.

I came home around noon and promptly crawled into bed, where I nursed my pain for awhile. Then I ate a snack and called my parents. While I was talking to them, all the great weather disappeared - the sky turned dark, and then suddenly it hailed, and then proceeded to rain. I wanted to just hole up in my house for the rest of the night, but I had dinner reservations with a visiting coworker in Denver...so I took a shower and drove back to Denver after only having been home for ~5hrs.

On the way, the rain suddenly turned to snow - I ate breakfast outside this morning, but by dinner everything was snow and ice. The roads were warm enough that it wasn't sticking, though, so I made it to Denver on time and picked up Navin from the train station. We had dinner at Avelina, which I hadn't been to before - it's your usual hip new American kind of place. I liked the decor a lot (warmer than many minimalist new American places), and the food was pretty tasty - however, what I ordered was probably a little too rich (short rib with beet risotto). Still, I would probably go back. And it was really fun to hang out with Navin, so I'm glad I went.

But now I need to sleep and try to effect the rest of my recovery - goodnight!

i'm gonna give you all of my love

Today wasn't the brutal slog it probably should have been...I had lots I intended to do, but was feeling a little burned out from the week (or perhaps feeling pre-burnout for the week ahead). So I worked from home this morning, which meant lots of coffee and yogurt to fuel my morning. Then I went to the office for a late lunch, a meeting, and some email time. I came home at 3:45 and took my last hour of meetings from home, and then I should have kept working...

...but instead I read Twitter, made some pasta for dinner (gluten free spaghetti carbonara, yum), messed around online, and watched like four episodes of Top Chef: Colorado. The season just finished airing (no spoilers, please!), and I want to binge all of it since it's set in my new home state and I am already in love with the food scene here. While tonight was one of those quiet nights with nothing going on, I felt happy every time I saw the Denver skyline or the Boulder Flatirons - so I think Colorado has been a great decision, all in all.

But now it's time for bed - goodnight!

and there's a million things i haven't done

I should go to bed immediately - it's after midnight, which is not late for my soul but is def. late for my current worker-bee situation. I went to the office at nine this morning, rocking some flowy, flowery silk pants from Rent the Runway and my new red velvet high-heeled boots - yes, this is extremely overdressed for Boulder, but #sarasnotsorry. I was sorry, however, to have to get to the office by nine, especially since I had meetings almost straight through until 6pm.

Then I came home, ate some leftover pizza, journaled a bit, and took a nap. Yes, this was all v. lovely. But it's performance review season at work, and so I ended up working (with slowly declining productivity) from 9pm to midnight. It wasn't all terrible, though...I have a trip to Dublin coming up, and so I spent a few minutes pinging with a coworker about meeting up in Paris the weekend before, which will make me super happy (and will hopefully provide ample fodder for my gargoyle book).

But now, after all that, it's time for bed - goodnight!

bassnectar remix

I've been listening to electronica while trying to work for the last ninety minutes. If that sounds like a terrible time to you, you'd be right!

But today wasn't alllll work. I barely managed to get into the office by ten (I would like to blame daylight savings, but I usually don't get to the office until ten if I don't have meetings before that). And I somehow only had three meetings today, so I actually got a decent amount of work done - never enough, but at least it was something. I left the office a little after six, came home, put a potato in the oven, started to clean my kitchen - and then got a phone call from Chandlord (remember her?). We talked for almost an hour, which was great - she was entertaining enough to keep my mind off my hunger while my potato baked, so #winning.

After we hung up, I ate my potato with the leftover chicken and mushrooms from the other night (super yum). I also ended up talking to [censored] for almost an hour, after an innocent question over text turned into a 'short' phone call that turned into a long phone call. But I've only got one [censored], so a phone call every once in awhile is probably a good thing, right?

Then, finally, I did some more work, but now I need to sleep - goodnight!

you will remember me for centuries

I had to start with at nine this morning, but after my late night last night, I simply couldn't get out of bed in time to make it to the office (which is ten minutes away). So I took my first couple of hours of meetings from home, stoppin coffee and eating yogurt and trying not to die.

Then I went to the office, where I worked for the rest of the afternoon. But it was a gorgeous day out, and I knew I needed a break to reset my mind/productivity... So I went to Pizzeria Locale, where I sat at the bar, had two glasses of wine and a perfect Neapolitan-style gluten free pizza, and wrote some stuff related to the gargoyle book. I had an incredible realization that may reshape everything I have so far and may fix whatever had been blocking me... But we'll see when I try to write tomorrow.

But now I need to sleep and hope that this perfect night off results in greatness tomorrow - goodnight!

they have big teeth

I awoke remarkably clear-eyed today - but then I realized I had somehow fallen asleep with my contacts in. This does not bode well for my mental clarity this week.

Today didn't help with that clarity either - I had a 9:30 meeting, was at the office until 4:30, went to the grocery store, came home, forced myself to relax while reading part of a book (THE SILK ROADS - it's great!) while waiting for a baked potato to bake, and then ate supper (last night's leftover chicken + a potato = heaven).

What wasn't heaven, though, is that I had meetings with counterparts in Singapore and India from 7pm to 11pm. Gross. However, I put them all together into tonight so that I don't have to work late the rest of the week - and we'll see how that strategy pans out for me.

But now sleep is more important than continuing to whine about this, so goodnight!

you pick me up you make me a believer

Today was one of those quiet, somewhat sullen days - I blame the switch to daylight saving time (which I am v. excited about in the long run, since I like seeing sunlight after work, but today was a rough adjustment). I wanted to write, theoretically, but was really not in it to win it. And so I spent far too much time on Twitter and doing some online browsing of patio furniture and generally messing around, when I should have just gone outside or read a book or done literally anything else.

But I did take a shower, so I guess that was a plus. I also talked to my parents, who were in fine form. And I managed to do two loads of laundry, trim my bangs, pack up some packages to send back to online retailers, clean the kitchen, and make lunch (scrambled eggs) and dinner (slightly more impressive: chicken breasts with creamy mushroom/onion/parmesan gravy, which was surprisingly delicious).

I should have done day job stuff tonight, but instead I made some hot chocolate and ruminated in my journal, spilling several pages' worth of ink about what's bothering me and why I'm stuck with the writing. Don't get too excited, I didn't come to any seriously dramatic revelations - although I think I'm getting there. The writing will happen again - it's just that everything that I want to write requires me to dig even deeper into my psyche, my memories, my old wounds and fresh scars. In other words, writing is a total bitch sometimes, and it has been easier to avoid it for the last few months than it was to dig deep into myself while also trying to get settled into a new job/city/life. But I'm reaching the point where I'm feeling a little more settled, and the ache to write may eventually overcome my avoidant tendencies.

Tonight, though, I should probably get some sleep - goodnight!

let it out

Yesterday and today were both great, thanks for asking. Yesterday started with too much time at the day job (story of my life), but I left a little after four and went to Target. When I got there, there was an in-progress scuffle going on outside between a guy and some security guards - the guy broke free and ran away, and the crowd dispersed after that. I almost turned around and left, but the situation was over and I was desperate for shaving cream, so I went in anyway. But as I was pushing my cart away from the entrance, I idly thought that it was a good thing that my family didn't know I had voluntarily gone in after the guy disappeared...if he had happened to come back with a gun, at least my family wouldn't have known that I could have avoided it all, amirite?

sssanyway. After Target, I came home, did a bit of stuff around the house, and then packed up my journal and went to River and Woods (where Terry and I had brunch). I haven't really found a bar I could work for after-work writing shenanigans, but River and Woods is a distinct possibility. I really liked the wine I had, and the poutine with green chiles and short ribs was great (basically fries with cheese, spice, and meat - pretty hard to mess that up). I also journaled a lot and befriended the bartender, so all in all it was pretty winning (even if I was too tired to blog).

Today, I had grand plans to drive down to Colorado Springs to see my friend Barbara. I woke up later than I should have for that endeavor, and I really shouldn't have done anything but getting ready and walking out the door - but my place was a mess, so I tidied some stuff up before I left. The drive was pretty uneventful despite several accidents along the way.

And, of course, the best thing was seeing Barbara. Our meal was delicious, although our waitress was one of the most annoying servers I've been exposed to in awhile. But we had tons to catch up on, so we were there a couple of hours. It wasn't nearly long enough to cover everything, but it was great to get a start.

Then I stopped at Crate and Barrel on the way home and got some decorative stuff for my house + checked out possible chairs for my living room. When I finally got home, I spent some time putting the decorative stuff out where it's intended to be so that I wouldn't just leave the bags sitting in my kitchen for a week...so my living room now looks pretty great.

But I've been falling asleep while writing this, so I should go to bed for real - goodnight!

when we did not know the answers

I only got 6.5 hours of sleep last night, so I was dragging today. Luckily I had relatively few meetings; there was an international women's day event at work, so I went to a keynote by a pretty cool woman who started a self-defense company for women and then moved into public speaking, and went to another event that was slightly less awe-inspiring but still good.

Then, at six, I went out for dinner with someone I work with - we went to Bramble and Hare, which I've been wanting to try, and it was def. worth it. I had a v. tasty shortrib and also a salmon entree, and the wine was perfect, and I had a great time. However, when I got home I was so tired that I fell asleep sitting up on my couch - so now I'm throwing in the towel and going to bed for real. Goodnight!

look at this photograph

Today was great, all in all, although most of my socializing happened between 12pm and 6pm, and most of my work happened between 9pm and 12am. I went to work around 10, rocking a fun floral blouse thing from Rent the Runway (might as well look fabulous while I'm drowning in work, amirite?). I only had a couple of meetings + some lunch, and I had plenty of time to troll a coworker (my trolling was so effective that at least one of his direct reports was laughing so hard that they couldn't lift their head from their desk, so I consider that to be a great investment on my part), so that was all totally delightful.

Then, I spent the afternoon in an onsite/offsite with some other managers. I ended up in a small group with three women I really like, and we were doing some 'design thinking' exercise (ignore that, corporate-speak), and I ended up being the interviewee (more corporate-speak)...and the end result was that they discovered that I am a workaholic with few friends (few local friends - my California network is alive and well, but also not much use when it comes to drinking my champagne stockpile), so the problem they designed for was fixing my life. Lolol. Most of the possible solutions involved me getting a dog or getting a Colorado-themed tattoo or me running for mayor, but A for effort. However, they all volunteered to be my friend, and while that might sound pathetic, they all seem to be in need of friends as well, so I'll take it.

Then, after getting pulled into a prank involving another coworker, I had happy hour with my team. I didn't have a drink because the place only has beer and no cider/wine, but the group has pretty great chemistry and a lot of fun, so it was v. entertaining. Then I grabbed a gluten free pizza, came home, opened a bottle of wine, and watched the final two episodes of the Top Chef: Charleston season that I'd been putting off watching (yes, I cried, I can't help myself). And then I worked for a couple of hours. And now I must sleep - goodnight!

hold each other

Today was too long - I went to work a little before 9:30 rocking a v. fun new sweatshirt (I'm trying Rent the Runway Unlimited thanks to my jealousy of Terry's NYC life), but that was pretty much the only joy I got out of the day. Okay, maybe that's dramatic - I also enjoyed my coffee, and the fact that it was taco tuesday.

But I had two hours to get work done this afternoon and was v. much looking forward to it...and then ninety minutes of it got sucked up by 100% agreeing with someone, which was a little too much bonding time. So, I got nothing done, came home at 4:50 and took another meeting from 5-6, spent 6-8 reading my last RITA book (not very good, which was almost a relief since I didn't have time to get enthralled), had another meeting from 8-8:30, and then worked until now because I had some deadlines I *had* to meet (an overdue expense report that was so overdue my boss got emailed about it, along with interview feedback). Bleh.

But tomorrow is another day, and I need to sleep now so that I can take time to put on something appropriately awesome tomorrow. Goodnight!

monkey wrench

Today was a long day, but it wasn't a bad day...just a long one. I woke up this morning supremely unenthused about getting out of bed, but I managed to drag myself out in time to journal a bit before showering and going to work.

When I got there, I slogged all day - my big boss is in town this week and I had a meeting with her this afternoon that I needed to prep for, in addition to everything else I usually do. Also, she is apparently a bingo fiend and hosted a bingo party this afternoon in the office, which turned into a highly competitive, not-at-all-relaxing activity that involved doing six bingo squares at a time like we were all pro bingo players at an American Legion Hall. Yes, my life is strange.

Then I took care of a couple of brief things, came home, and skimmed another RITA book (it was cute!). Then I ate a belated supper of leftovers, and then I worked for a couple of hours - my self-assessment for our performance review cycle was due tonight, and since I refused to work this weekend, I had to do it now. But it's done, and now I can sleep - goodnight!

protect me from what i want

I had a v. hermity, v. productive (around the house, at least) kind of day. I awoke in leisure, but I decided that I didn't want to be lazy the whole day, so I made some coffee, sat at my desk, and answered some writing-type emails that I've been putting off. I then spent most of the day doing stuff around the house - laundry, finally moving my old entertainment console out of the way (where it's been for over three months), wrangling all the cords around my tv into submission, and wrapping some pretty paper around some shoeboxes so that I can store candles, remotes, cables, etc. in nice boxes on my media stand rather than having them out and jumbled up in plain sight.

I also went to the grocery store to buy stuff to eat for the next few days, since my fridge was dire. Then I called my parents, and then I made dinner - chicken tikka masala in my instant pot, along with cauliflower rice. It turned out pretty well - I'd marinated the chicken before calling my parents, and throwing stuff in the instant pot was easy. I don't think the flavor profile was exactly what I was looking for, but it was close enough for a first effort, and I can keep looking for other instant-pot type recipes for the future. And it was totally delicious enough that eating the leftover for the next two days won't be a hardship.

Then I read another RITA book - four down, two more to go. This one was merely okay, so I skimmed most of it - the guy kind of annoyed me, and the girl was a little too perfect (her only flaw was pushing too hard to get what she wants - ugh). But I've read a lot worse, so at least it wasn't terrible.

And now I should sleep - I managed not to work on day job stuff the entire weekend, but I will pay the price tomorrow (maybe). Goodnight!

you don't have to go home but you can't stay here

Today was delightful, all in all. I got nine hours of sleep and awoke to golden light - it was a perfect day in Boulder, with temps nearing seventy and birds chirping as though they no longer have to worry about winter. I had tentative brunch plans with Christine (one of my coworkers), but those materialized a bit later than I'd expected (in my SF life, brunch is around 10am; in her NYC life, brunch is after noon). That turned out great for me, since I listened to Weird Al Yankovic's 'Hamilton Polka' (a tour de force) and then walked down Pearl and had coffee and journaled at Boxcar. It might become 'my' coffeeshop (or at least one of them) - I don't really know how I've gone this long without finding my coffeeshops and brunch spots and wine bars, but it's time to settle in.

Then I met Christine at Snooze. It won't become my brunch place, only because the wait was an hour - but that gave us time to check out all the cute shops around it, so #noregrets. When we finally got a table, I discovered that the food was worth it - I had a 'benedict' with thick homemade corn tortillas, pulled pork, a green chile hollandaise, and poached eggs, along with some delish hashbrowns. I thought it was super yummy, and Christine and I had a leisurely conversation over food and coffee, and it was all great.

Then we wandered around Pearl Street a bit more - it was totally packed, since everyone was enjoying wandering around in tshirts and sandals. Then I came home, took a v. brief nap, and went to get a pedicure. I then spent the whole evening reading another RITA book - I didn't totally love it, but I didn't hate it, and so I'm now v. impressed that I've read three of my six books and actually liked/enjoyed all of them so far. We'll see if the streak continues - I need to read another one (or maybe two) tomorrow, so wish me luck with that.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

hit and run

I'm typing on my phone, so don't expect greatness. Today was good enough; I had some meetings, had a quick presentation to my boss's boss's boss (grand-bigboss?), had some more meetings, and was done around five.

At that point, I was deeply in need of a break, so I went to Verde and sat at the bar and had a margarita and some tasty enchiladas, which made my mouth happy even if I need to start eating better again. Then I came home and, v. uncharacteristically, decided to watch a movie. I watched Wonder Woman (have you heard of it? it was a small arthouse flick that no one saw, I think). I didn't love love it like a lot of my Twitter feed did, but I really liked it, and I cried (yes I cry at almost every movie, shut up).

And now I'm going to sleep and hopefully catch up on the sleep I've lost this week so that I can accomplish a bunch of stuff this weekend. Goodnight!

put that record on again

I meant to go to bed two hours ago, but today was pretty good all in all. I had a solid day at work, and I left around six. When I got home, I read another RITA book, and I adored this one - it was super fun and cute and heartwarming, and I cried a little, so I think it's a winner.

Then I probably should have gone to bed, but I ended up answering some work email so that I don't have to do it in the morning. But now I need to go to bed for realz - goodnight!

let them know there's life in her yet

I don't feel like blogging - today was fine, and I didn't get to the office until ten (although I was dismayed to find the elevators broken, which meant I had to run up five flights of stairs) and had a few free hours today, so it definitely could have been worse.

But it also could have been better, since I had meetings with Singapore and India tonight (individuals within then, not the entire country) and so had to work from 8-9:30. But I got home before six, did some laundry, and made a very tasty frittata. I also spent some time journaling... So all in all, not bad, but not very exciting.

And now I need to sleep and hopefully dream of something exciting - goodnight!

make me a believer

My day would be supremely uninteresting to you. I slept until eightish, made it to the office in time for breakfast, and then slogged halfheartedly until fourish. Today was one of those days when I felt a little lazy since I'd tapped myself out over the last few days, so I left at 4:30 and grabbed groceries on the way home. I had a 5:30 meeting, but then I ate Whole Foods sushi and sat on the couch doing nothing for a bit.

However, I had tons of work email to answer (personal email is still a lost cause), so I worked tonight. But I would rather work tonight and sleep until eight or nine tomorrow than attempt to get up early, so I'll take it. And it wasn't all work - I also took care of some kitchen stuff, washed my sheets, and cleaned my makeup brushes - so at least my hygiene level is staying somewhat acceptable.

But now, after that boring day/post, I should sleep - goodnight!

you ain't getting over him

Today was pretty great, all in all. I slept until almost eight, and then I drank some coffee, showered, and said my fond farewells to Terry. Then I went to the office, where I slogged most of the day - but my morning presentation (not super high pressure) went well, and my evening presentation (v. high pressure) went very well, so that was all great news.

So, high on life and needing a break, I left the office at 6:30 and went to Sephora, where I dropped a lot of money on products to make my face look like I've been hanging out in Bali instead of getting a tan from flourescents and laptop screens. Then I came home, drank a couple of perfect glasses of wine (Banshee's Mordecai, a red blend which I adore), and read a romance novel. This was partially work, since it's that time of year when I need to judge RITA entries and realize that I've put it off so long that I have to read a book every single night. But the book was decent enough, and reading for a few hours with a glass of wine was way more relaxing than anything else that's going on, so I'll totally take it.

And now I must sleep - goodnight!

put that record on again

I'm back in Boulder and it's back to the grind tomorrow, so I should really go to bed. Today was fun, though - I got plenty of sleep, and then I spent the morning working (okay, maybe it wasn't totally fun, but I'm glad I got some stuff done). Terry went skiing while I worked, which I didn't miss at all - and then she came back to the house to drop off her ski stuff, and we took a shuttle into the village to grab a late lunch at a Mexican place. My margarita was only okay, but my enchiladas were decent, and I enjoyed talking to Terry while watching the utter destruction some children were causing next to us.

Then we went to the lobby of the Hyatt, where Terry had a glass of wine and I had a cup of coffee. She was reading a book that I had forced upon her, so I took the opportunity to call my parents, who were in fine form. Then we went back to the house, threw all our stuff in the car, and drove back to Denver.

The drive took 2.5hrs, made slightly longer by an ill-advised detour to find a gas station (I was v. inefficient). When we got to Denver, we picked up Katie and went to Linger for dinner - this was the first time that Katie and Terry had actually met, so we had to go out and make it special. We split some devils on horseback (bacon wrapped dates, obvi), and I had a pad thai that was pretty tasty (although possibly not as good as Terry's dosa). We talked politics for quite awhile, but it all eventually devolved into me and Katie gossiping about Iowa (which we usually do, even when no one else is interested).

But eventually we had to part ways, and I drove back to Boulder, where Terry and I said our goodbyes in advance in case our paths don't cross as we're both getting out the door in the morning. And now I really need to sleep - goodnight!

my perfect rock bottom

I should go to bed, but since I took a nap from 8:30-9:15pm, I'm not exactly feeling like I must sleep immediately. I'm in Beaver Creek, which is one of the mountain resorts - Terry's aunt has a house up here, and she was nice enough to let us use it.

We got off to a leisurely start this morning (which was great since I was desperate for sleep), and we enjoyed some coffee and talking and showers before having brunch at a place called River and Woods. It's a block from my house and I'd never managed to make it there before (mostly because I didn't know they serve brunch) - but now that I know about it, I'll probably go there all the time. It's a cute restaurant in a converted house, and while my scrambled eggs were a little too oily for my tastes, the potatoes and bacon and gluten free toast (and mimosa) were perfect.

Then we stopped at Boxcar for coffee before driving up to Beaver Creek. It was slightly treacherous because of high winds, but it was mostly smooth sailing - and the drive was gorgeous, which made me happy. When we got here, Terry's aunt was here, so we talked to her for a bit and got a tour of the house before she left to go back to Denver. Then Terry and I walked into the village, which reminded me of Squaw Valley - there's something inherently fascinating and strange to me about skiing culture, which is mostly white and wealthy. So we grabbed a drink and a snack, then walked around some art galleries, then had dinner at Beaver Creek Chophouse. The food was excellent - I had a great steak and some truly cracktastic risotto - but the service left something to be desired.

We were done by eight, but Terry and I were both tired, so we ended up coming back to the house, where I took my aforementioned nap and have messed around online until now. And now I'm going to bed for reals - goodnight!

mom's spaghetti

Today started entirely too early after entirely too little sleep, but it ended v. well, so I'll take it. I got up a little after seven and started slogging immediately so that I could finish creating a presentation before my meetings started at 10. I accomplished this at 9:47, at which point I had to change out of my robe and into some clothes (sans shower) and slather some makeup on so that I could take videoconferences at home from ten to twelve.

But then I drove Terry over to the office, where we had lunch with Natasha. That was a delightful interlude, even if I was made fun of by my team, who were sitting at a nearby table and watching me eat lunch with the people I ditched the team lunch for (#noregrets). Then I gave Terry a tour of the office and we sat on an indoor swing (as one does) and drank some hot beverages before coming back to my place.

Then I slogged until almost 4:30, and then I coerced Terry into watching the rest of last night's ladies figure skating (I was slightly sad about who won, but I'm sure I will forget this in the next four years). And then we went out in Boulder - we were supposed to go to Denver tonight, but it started snowing (and snowed quite a bit), so we stayed local. Our first stop was the bar in the basement of the Boulderado, where we split some truffle fries and I had a tasty old fashioned. Then, we walked several blocks through the snow, which was falling in an idyllic, gentle manner, and we arrived at our next destination complete covered in flakes.

Our dinner reservation was at Emmerson, which someone on my team went to a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed - and there's a good chance it could become my new Des Amis (although I'm not totally sure since they don't have steak frites, but I can probably slum it with something else). The interior decor was perfect, made even more perfect by all the windows and the snow falling like a perfect snowglobe outside. Terry and I split a v. tasty bottle of wine, a salad and some bread (don't tell my intestines), and I had some v. delicious gnocchi. We also had dessert, and while it was all extravagant, it was less extravagant than SF or NYC, so we left full and happy.

Then we came home and watched some Olympics, but with the little bit of sleep we both got last night, we were crashing early, so it's time for bed. Goodnight!

life on strings

Today was too long to allow for blogging...I had to give a presentation this morning, and I had meetings straight from 8:30 to 5, at which point I escaped and got a manicure because #priorities. Then I ate, cleaned, and worked while watching some Olympics... But I missed the end of the ladies free skate, so don't tell me what happened.

The reason I missed it is because I left the house at ten to go to the airport and pick up Terry (remember her?). She's visiting me this weekend and we're planning lots of fun things... But I have to get through work tomorrow first, so I should sleep immediately. Goodnight!

let's get one thing straight

Man, my blog is getting boring. Google photos Krisk popping up reminders of last year, when I was lazing about in Bali making new friends and eating nasi goreng and writing a book...which is laughably different from my current situation. #noregrets, since I actually really like my job for the most part... But I should probably work on the friend thing and the balance thing sometime soon.

That's not a fight for today, though. Today I was in the office by 9:20 and was there until 6:45pm, with my only breaks (breaks to do work, not actual breaks) coming during a couple of meetings that I skipped. Then I stopped at whole foods to grab some sushi and other supplies, and I spent some quality time cleaning my kitchen and doing laundry.

I also watched Olympics, which was great. And if course I ended up spending an hour or so working. But hopefully once I get through the next couple of weeks, things will slow down (but you've heard that before). Goodnight!

french for the moines

Today was way too long, but looking at my calendar, the next couple of days are going to be equally miserable. I had a four-hour meeting this morning, followed by meetings all afternoon, followed by work from 4-6:30, followed by dinner with a couple of coworkers who are in town. We went to a place called The Med, which was Mediterranean - I'd heard good things about it, and while I wasn't blown away, my steak was pretty good and I liked to atmosphere. And any atmosphere is better than looking at my computer, so I'll take it.

Then I came home, threw a load of laundry in the wash, watched some quality ladies' skating, and did some more work. But even though I probably have enough to do that I should stay up all night to do it, I'm going to bed instead - goodnight!

i'm a ghost, i call your name, you look right through me

I'm back in Boulder after a whirlwind trip...and after dealing with a lot of winter weather, which is the downside of traveling in February. I had a pretty relaxed day for the most part, since I slept until 9:30 or so and then hung out and had breakfast with the parents before packing. I spent the afternoon chatting with them, but I had to leave a little before 5pm to head to the airport - it looked like we could get some wintery weather, so I didn't want to leave too late.

The drive to Des Moines was totally uneventful, and I got there right on time - which turned out to be early since my flight was 20+min late. So I had a salad and a glass of wine while doing a tiny bit of work, and then I boarded my flight - which was overloaded on the front, so I switched to a seat in the back, which felt a little bizarre since I've never had that happen on a jet that seats more than six people. But after we deiced and finally got off the ground, the flight was uneventful, and I finished reading A COURT OF MIST AND FURY, which was omg-so-good-you-need-to-read-it-like-now.

Then I got to Denver, where I was supremely glad that I paid an absurd amount to park my car in a garage (and right by the door to the terminal) instead of in a godforsaken economy lot because it was seven degrees and had snowed several inches tonight. So the drive home turned out to be unexpectedly treacherous and took almost thirty minutes longer than usual, which was v. unwelcome.

But I made it home, and my home seems to be in one piece, and now I need to sleep so that I can rest my eyeballs for seven hours before starting a week that already appears to be shaping up to be the stuff of nightmares. Goodnight!

anything you can do i can do better

I've been loving my time at home, with plenty of relaxation and Olympics watching...and a little bit of identity theft to spice things up. I discovered yesterday, through a timely running of my credit report, that someone opened a Kohls account in my name and had bought something in December, and while it wasn't considered delinquent yet, I'm sure it was about to become so. They had also put several hard hits on my credit in an attempt to open other credit cards, so I'm not sure yet whether any of them actually went through - but I'm hoping not.

So, I spent more time yesterday dealing with that than I would have liked, but hopefully I caught it early enough that I can rectify it all without too much drama. Otherwise, it's been a v. uneventful trip - we had prime rib in Seymour last night, of course, and also spent some time arguing about politics (of course, although I was surprised when [censored] went all in today, since [censored] usually [censored]). Aunt B also came down today, and we spent a lot of time talking about bees (I am destined to pick up some strange hobbies, although I don't know if I'll develop fascinations for bees, rocks, or peacocks first...but they're all destined to hit me at some point given how those hobbies seem to run in the family).

Sadly, [censored] had to leave this afternoon, and then I spent some quality time watching biathlon and napping. We had ham and beans for supper tonight (dinner of champions, especially with cornbread), and then I watched Olympics all night. I also journaled a bit after the Olympics were over for the night, which felt great at the time - but now I'm regretting not going to bed an hour ago, so I need to rectify that immediately. Goodnight!

that's the way i like it

No blog tonight - I had a v lazy day, which was exactly what I needed, followed by watching some fine super g and figure skating with the fam. But now I need to go to sleep - goodnight!

you're the reason that i just can't concentrate

Hello from ye olde Iowa! I had a relatively long day, but it wasn't all bad - today was 'dress like an Olympian day' at work, and I managed to be five minutes late to my first meeting because I was too busy piling on mascara and eyeshadow to complete my ice skater look. I also wore a sparkly dress over leggings, pulled my hair back, wore a fake gold medal, and carried a bouquet of flowers - the flowers really sold it, and I got many compliments (and some strange looks from people who hadn't gotten the memo).

So I had meetings all day, with just enough time to work on other stuff that I didn't go totally insane. I left around 4:15, ran home, threw some stuff in a suitcase, tidied up around the house, and drove to the airport, where I had enough time to eat dinner at my beloved Cantina Grill and answer some emails before boarding my flight. I slept most of the way, landed in Des Moines a little after 11pm, picked up a rental car, and drove home, where I arrived around 1am. I'm only here through the weekend, but it'll be nice to have a break - I'm going to do my best to not check (work) email, although I also have hopes of getting through some personal email and other tasks that I've been neglecting.

But that's all for tomorrow - now it's almost two a.m. here, so I should really sleep if I'm going to get up and actually say hi to my parents beyond the greetings I gave them by waking them up when I got home. Goodnight!

i feel like i'm always dreaming

Today was way too long - I had a meeting with the India team at 9am, and then had another meeting with them from 8:30-10pm, with many many other meetings in between. I did have just enough time this evening to eat a bowl of soup and wash the dishes and do some laundry, so I guess that's luxurious, right? But I didn't get to watch the Olympics tonight, which is v. v. unfortunate.

However, tomorrow is another day, and I'll enjoy it more if I get some sleep. Goodnight!

the aubergine of the sun

Today was pretty brutal. I woke up at three a.m. suddenly filled with rage, and my stomach was sour and my mood even more sour, and so I somehow ended up wide awake until five a.m. I finally fell asleep again and woke up at 7:30, at which point I had to walk downtown to retrieve my car from where I left it last night. The walk did nothing to clear my mood, and neither did my shower after getting home. And my first meeting of the day was entirely rage-inducing...but I'll survive. I'm determined to not let this kind of situation affect me too much, and there are ways to deal with it - it's just that today was beyond annoying.

Anyway, the rest of the day was slightly better - I had some time to get some work done, and I had lunch with my team (including a woman who is out on maternity leave but brought her totally adorable kid in to see us - he slept through it all and was incredibly cute), and then I had more meetings and more work. I left around 5:30 and ran a couple of errands, and then set up some lamps that I'd bought for my bedroom (they're a little ridiculously glam and I think I love them).

I also took a break to watch some Olympics and eat some leftover soup - but I wasn't all that into snowboarding despite watching it, and while the pairs skating was great, I was a bit distracted. And then I worked from nine p.m. until now, which is three minutes until midnight...so I should go to bed since I have meetings in the morning and would like some sleep beforehand. Goodnight!

it's the most wonderful time of the year

I stayed up too late last night, so this morning was difficult - but I dragged myself out of bed and managed to write for half an hour, so it could have been worse. Then I spent the day slogging away - not enough task-based work since I had a training all afternoon, but it was work nonetheless.

However, the evening was super fun - two of my team are visiting from Mountain View, so we all went out for a drink to celebrate their presence. We went to Rayback Collective, which was surprisingly wonderful - and also surprisingly crowded. It was a Monday, so we were expecting no one, but they were doing some event to help people choose their CSAs (community-supported ag, which basically means subscribing to a farm and eating turnips for a couple of months every year while nothing else is in season). The conversation turned out to be delightful - and we also went waaaay deep on pet death, which is unusual in mixed company (where 'mixed' equals farm kids + city kids). Shockingly, I didn't have the worst story of the night - that went to a woman whose pet turtle was named 'Scapey' because he always tried to escape, until her dad drilled a hole in his shell and tied him to a turtle-shaped Fisher Price sandbox. That really puts the deaths of our possum kitties into perspective, amirite?

sssanyway. After drinks, Andrea and Aga (the visitors from MTV) and I went for a late dinner at The Kitchen. It was v. nearly perfect - the atmosphere was great, with lots of coziness and brick, and we had some v. delish fries and a pork chop that would have seemed perfect if I hadn't just had the ultimate perfect pork chop on Saturday. But it was a lovely way to end the evening, even if I'm now totally behind on both work and Olympics without any chance of catching up.

But that's a problem for tomorrow - now I need to sleep. Goodnight!

when she was just a girl she expected the world

Today was a lovely end to a lovely weekend. I spent last night at Katie's, so I awoke this morning to the dulcet tones of children playing - but because we were good and went to bed relatively early last night, and also because I prioritized water while drinking my cocktails last night, I awoke feeling #inittowinit. I spent the morning hanging out with Katie and James - James made coffee and breakfast, and then we sat around the dining table and talked for several hours while the girls played amongst themselves.

I could have easily hung out all day, but I had lots of stuff I wanted to get done today, so around 1pm I finally left and came back to Boulder. When I got here, I grabbed a burrito bowl at Illegal Pete's (Katie and James were talking about getting that in Denver, and I didn't tack onto that plan because I wanted to get home, but I couldn't resist the temptation). Then I window shopped on Pearl for a few minute before coming home, washing all my bedding, and cleaning my bathroom. That wasn't as much cleaning as I intended to do this weekend, but it was the most critical part, so I'll take it.

Then I called my parents, who were in fine form, and then I settled in for some Olympics coverage. I watched a bit of what I missed yesterday, but quickly switched to tonight's coverage, which was #worthit. I also made a v. delicious supper - I got an Instant Pot awhile ago and never used it, but I broke it out for the first time tonight to make a chicken and wild rice soup. It was really delicious, and really easy - I had to chop up some onions, celery, carrots, and mushrooms, but then I just threw it all in the pot and pressure cooked it. I also threw two chicken breasts in with the soup before cooking it, and the pressure cooking finished the chicken perfectly - when the soup was done, I pulled the chicken out and it shredded at the touch of a fork.

So, that was incredibly delicious, and now I have leftovers for the week. I spent the rest of the evening enjoying the figure skating coverage, which got me excited about skating again - I haven't watched much skating the past few years, but tonight's program was really enjoyable.

And now I need to sleep, since I sadly have to go to zee day job tomorrow - goodnight!

you have unleashed an ancient evil

I'm typing on my phone, so please pardon any typos. Today was lovely, all in all...I awoke to snow, and continued to experience snow throughout the day, which is v different from my California life. I spent the morning drinking coffee and journaling, which made for a great start to the day.

Then I drove to Denver, where I was ten minutes late to get my brows waxed... But luckily everyone else had cancelled, so I was still able to get in. I also got my hair cut - she made my bangs shorter than I like, but it was still better than the last hair cut I got in Colorado, so I'll take it.

Then I dropped off some Nordstrom returns before going to Katie's house. She and James got a babysitter for tonight, so we went out big. Our first stop was a bar in the neighborhood that was quite disappointing (my mojito-like drink somehow managed to be disgusting even though I adore mojitos). But we then went to Old Major, which was divine - the spin on the margarita was so good that I had three, and we split a three-pound pork chop that was one of the best pork chops I've ever had. James left after the entree to relieve the babysitter, but Katie and I had one more drink and some delish chocolate mousse while contemplating the mysteries of life (or at least the mysteries of our coworkers).

Then we walked back to the house and hung out, but now it's time for bed - goodnight!

oppan gangnam style

YAY OLYMPICS.

I may not have had a party as I usually do, but I was rather happy to sit and watch the opening ceremonies entirely undisturbed. I made sure to keep my day lowkey so that I was ready for tonight - I had a meeting at nine that I took from home, and then I went to work and had some meetings (including one with my VP, who I suppose is my new big boss), and then I left a little early and got my nails done (#priorities).

Then I stopped at the grocery store and bought stuff to make soup - but I also bought some sushi, so I inhaled that instead and didn't bother cooking tonight. I did a bit of stuff around the house when I got home, but the opening ceremonies started at six, so I stopped doing anything productive and instead watched tv instead. And it was awesome.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

soon i'll be sixty years old

Today was not too bad, all in all - it certainly wasn't the exercise in pain that yesterday was, even if I didn't help myself out because I somehow managed to miss breakfast. I got plenty of sleep last night, managed to write for thirty minutes (I'm getting somewhere, maybe, somehow, with the gargoyles), and then made it into work just in time for my 9:30am meeting (although I missed breakfast, as stated above, with horrible consequences for my mood/stomach).

I had meetings straight from 9:30 to 1, and then I took a break and ate lunch without looking at my laptop, which was critical. Then I worked pretty much straight until six, although I seized an opportunity in the late afternoon to drive home before my last meeting of the day. So, when things ended at six, I promptly closed my laptop and spent and hour and a half doing mostly nothing - other than watching some figure skating, although I didn't get to watch as much of it as I wanted to.

Then, I ended up meeting a coworker and her sister for drinks at the bar in the basement of the Hotel Boulderado. I went to that hotel for drinks with the fam when people were out here for Thanksgiving, but we had stayed upstairs then - the downstairs bar is smaller, more intimate, and quite fun (especially since they had live music tonight). I had a couple of decent daiquiris and some v. fun conversation, so it was worth going out even if part of me wanted to stay huddled up on the couch with my beloved Olympics....

But that's a plan for another night (namely, every night for the next two weeks). Right now I need to sleep - goodnight!

someday you'll pay the price i know

Today was pretty brutal, all in all. I forced myself to get up at seven even though I didn't want to get out of bed at all, and I also successfully wrote for twenty minutes before getting ready for work - not exactly a stellar performance, but better than nothing, and possibly the only thing that cleared my head enough to get through the day. The writing in the morning thing really is working, even though it's hard to remember that when the rest of the day is a blur....

So, my day started with an 8:30 meeting, and I went straight until 6:30 without any real break. Katie happened to call during my free fifteen minutes, which was delightful. I also had fifteen minutes this afternoon, so I went for a walk around the building to clear my head - which did help a little bit, but by the end of the day I was so wiped out that I was having trouble staying coherent. Nothing bad happened by any means, but my first 2.5hrs of meetings were me talking for the entire thing, which tapped me out and made it hard to get through several hours of 1:1 meetings (where it's blatantly obvious if you aren't paying attention, so I had to stay focused).

But I left the office at 6:30, came home, and refused to do any work at all (beyond sending two emails from my phone). Instead, I ate the last of my leftover soup and proceeded to watch random stuff on TV - some live skiing from Pyeongchang to test out my tv setup for the Olympics, and a bunch of SNL clips because I didn't want to commit to a full episode of anything. Yes, my life is super glamorous.

And now it's time for bed - eight or nine hours of sleep and some writing before work will go a long way toward restoring my humors. Goodnight!

it's our paradise and it's our war zone

I had a decent day at work, all in all...and I even got up and wrote for 30min before I went in, which felt great. Also, happily my 5:30-6:30pm meeting was canceled, so I came home and did a couple of hours of homemaker stuff (more laundry, folding clothes, and finally setting up my Comcast box so that I can watch the Olympics). I was going to spend the rest of the night relaxing, but when I remembered that the Olympics start Friday, I decided to power through my inbox - I want to work as little as possible at night the next couple of weeks, so getting caught up now is imperative.

But now that I've gotten through most of my work email (sorry, people - my personal email is a lost cause), it's time for bed - goodnight!

you can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness

I had a v. long day of work, although I took a break tonight to vacuum, eat some chicken tortilla soup, and burn the shit out of my mouth (I ended up with a giant blister on the roof of my mouth, which is most unpleasant). Yes, life is v. exciting. But I got through the bulk of what I needed to do in regards to my job for the moment, so I'm going to go to bed and plan to reset tomorrow morning with writing before going into the office - and then hopefully by tomorrow night I'll be back to reading/writing/watching tv in the evenings rather than working. Goodnight!

heaven sent

I just accidentally stayed up too late, but at least it's not three a.m. like it was last night when I realized that fact. I don't think I'll get up in time to write in the morning, but it's all for a good (enough) cause - I was working on a presentation tonight that I've been putting off forever, and if I can slog during some of the hours at work tomorrow, I might actually have something worth discussing.

sssanyway. Since I went to bed so late last night, I didn't get out of bed until 10:30, which gave me v. little actual time to get anything done this morning. I did some financial stuff, so that was good, and I also showered and ate some peanut butter before going on my only task of the day - a two-hour massage. Yes, I'm spoiled...but I'm also falling apart, since my left side has two different places where it feels like I've screwed up a muscle or something, so I thought a massage might be a good idea.

I really liked the place I tried - the massage therapist was an excellent massage therapist and v. bad with technology, so there was no music and she had trouble figuring out how to charge me, but the massage itself was great. She was a little more intuitive than some I've had (she beat the soles of my feet to 'ground me in Boulder so I won't move back to California' - a bit weird, but hey, I'd be happy if it worked). But I left feeling awesome, even if I did promptly undo all her handiwork by sitting on my couch and hunching over my laptop for the last five hours....

When I left the massage place, I stopped at Whole Foods to pick up a few tings, then came home and called my parents (who were in fine form). Then I made chicken tortilla soup - it was super easy tonight because I had everything already chopped up in the freezer, so I just had to defrost the individual bags with the veggies, chicken, diced tomatoes, and diced tortillas. The only thing I had to prep to add was a couple of cloves of garlic and the spices, so it was as easy as it possibly could have been. And it turned out deliciously, as always, so yay for that (and for the leftovers I'll have tomorrow).

But while it was cooking, and after I ate, I worked for five hours. No, working on the weekend isn't going to be my fate, but I really wanted to get this fucking thing done so I can move on with my work life. So now I'm going to go to bed, slog all day tomorrow, and hopefully be mostly done tomorrow night so I can get back to writing in the mornings. Goodnight!

let it snow

I had a pretty great day, but I v. stupidly stayed up until 2:30am and now I need to go to bed immediately. I spent the day with Christine (one of my coworkers) - we drove up to Rocky Mountain National Park, which was totally gorgeous. Most of the roads are closed for winter, but we drove around what was open, got out for a bit to take some pictures, etc. We also wandered around Estes Park for a little bit, and then had a late lunch at a surprisingly good restaurant - I had poutine, which basically just meant lots of fries and lots of cheese, along with some non-standard green chile pork and a fried egg on top.

Christine dropped me off at home around 3ish, and then I spent the rest of the day mostly lazing about - I took a long nap at some point, and read a bit, and messed around online, and generally did a whole bunch of nothing. Not exactly what I intended to do tonight, but pretty much what I needed. And now what I really need is sleep - goodnight!

your love was handmade for somebody like me

I had a v. productive day, all in all. I didn't get up in time to write, but I decided that some time lazing in bed was more important than another session with my manuscript, so #noregrets. I got to the office a little after nine, where I slogged until six - but today I had virtually no meetings (I try to keep my Fridays relatively free, so I only had 3.5 hours of scheduled stuff instead of 9, which felt like a miracle). So I got through some stuff I've been meaning to get through, which made me happy.

Then I came home and didn't let myself sit down to relax - instead, I took care of house stuff for a couple of hours, which was v. necessary. I did a couple of loads of laundry, put some things away, and finally put together the nightstands for my guest room (which I bought before Thanksgiving). This meant that I could finally unpack my guest room lamps, and I'm thrilled to report they both survived the move from California unscathed.

I still have some stuff to put away, although not much; I also want to get a couple more pieces of furniture, and I need to decide whether to put my old tv in my bedroom or whether to get rid of it (or whether to hold on to it until I have the chance to transport it back to ye olde Iowa for my room there). But things are almost on the verge of being fully organized. So I spent the rest of the evening looking at furniture online, and also looking at lamps for my bedroom - but I didn't buy anything because I knew I could easily buy waaaay too much while under the influence of greed and wine.

But now I need to sleep - I have plans tomorrow (shocking, I know), so I'll have to get up in approximately eight hours, which means sleep is imperative. Goodnight!

water under the bridge

I successfully wrote this morning (shocking), then made it to the office just in time to eat some cold scrambled eggs on a paper plate (yes, I am spoiled, because I'm now upset whenever I have to go to my actual building, where the free breakfast is carted over from the main building and served on compostable plates - it's much better when I can go to the main building and enjoy my free food there instead). I had meetings allllll day, but I snuck out at five and met up with some coworkers for a 'strategy session' (which was at a brewery, so pretty light on strategy and surprisingly heavy on conversations about LSD).

I couldn't have anything to drink at the brewery since they only had beer, and I wasn't really in it to win it anyway, so I left when a couple of other people did and came home at six. I did some more work, messed around online, and made a v. tasty pork stirfry with peppers, green onions, green beans, garlic, and bean sprouts - it turned out pretty great, if I do say so myself.

But now I should go to bed - goodnight!