ave maria

Today was a high holiday in my calendar, since it was the long-awaited wedding of Prince Harry (who somehow did not choose me, weird) and Meghan Markle. However, I did not get up to watch it live - I hate mornings, as you all know. Instead, I slept in, then spent most of the day trying to organize my office - it's the only messy room in the house, and I need to get it straightened up so I can focus better.

But after taking care of house stuff, doing five loads of laundry, changing the sheets on my bed, buying groceries, etc., etc. I finally decided I had done enough, and so I spent the last five hours watching the BBC wedding coverage that I'd recorded this morning. It was a super chill way to spend the evening, and a casual outside observer might have found it a wee bit creepy (I turned off the lights, lit all the candles in my fireplace, and drank a half-bottle of champagne)...but don't judge.

Anyway, the wedding was gorgeous, and I loved the vibe - as someone who is obsessed with every era of the monarchy from William the Conquerer on, it's v. interesting, and perhaps awe-inspiring, to feel like I just witnessed the start of an entirely new chapter and an incredible bit of evolution from what the monarchy has been to what it could be. It was fresh and modern in a way that previous royal weddings weren't - but that's the flexibility that a spare has, especially a spare who is getting married after the queen has lived through ninety years of scandals and sorrows caused by prioritizing state duty over love.

sssanyway. I could wax on about this for hours, but I would be better served by going to bed - goodnight!

keep waiting, keep keep waiting

No blog for you...I need to go to bed and either get up in time for the royal wedding, or sleep in and watch it when I wake up. Today was fine, though; I worked from home in the morning, had a couple of decent hours in the office this afternoon (during which it hailed, which reminded me that I probably shouldn't buy a new car when I don't have a garage but I'm sooo tempted), and then skipped out to get a pedicure. Yay me.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

she says i am the one

I lasted for approximately 45mins of the final morning of training today. Yes, I'm also surprised that I went back, but I thought that perhaps I should give it one more chance. However, after doing a full body scan of every part of my physical self, I realized that my fists still wanted to punch the facilitator in the face.

So, I walked straight out during the first break and didn't go back. However, I honored my commitment to myself (or, alternatively, completely avoided my inbox) by sitting out in the sun and journaling for an hour before getting back to work. Of course, all the fools who had stayed in the training (which was not many - I think they had a 50% attrition rate from day one to day three) were sent outside at some point to do a 'walking meditation' (aka walk around like zombies), so it was v. v. obvious that I was skipping, but #noregrets.

I then worked the rest of the day, grabbed dinner at Chipotle, stopped by the Apple store to drool over devices, then came home. I mostly procrastinated and looked at bridesmaids dresses for Santy Claude's wedding (spoiler: Santy Claude has found her Mr. Claude, who will reside with her in the North Pole and help her get her reindeer ready every year). But I also did a tiny bit of work...not enough to make a dent in my inbox, but c'est la vie.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

wake me up before you leave

So, I'm going to sound super entitled and annoying (I know, how is this different from any other day?). But today was the second day of this mindfulness training that I'm doing at work, and it was so annoying that I ended up skipping out two hours early and not going back because I just wanted to punch one of the instructors in the face. I'm sure that wasn't the intention that he was putting out into the universe, but it was the result he was going to get if I didn't leave straightaway.

sssanyway. It didn't help that I awoke this morning to two v. different but equally annoying emails at work, and also to someone cutting down a branch outside my apartment with a chainsaw at seven a.m. Needless to say, I started in a bad mood, and that was how I was destined to remain. But I recuperated enough to say a pleasant goodbye to Katrina (okay, that's a lie, I bitched the entire time that I was making coffee and getting ready to go). Still, I *tried* to say a pleasant goodbye to Katrina, so that's got to count for something, amirite?

So I worked for an hour from home from 6:45-7:45, showered, said goodbye to Katrina, went to work, had breakfast, and then sat in this training. I spent the morning sitting next to my boss, so I had to share some feelings with him, but that was all okay. However, by mid-afternoon, I was totally done - sometime around the time that one of the trainers was talking about putting your intentions into the universe, and his example was how a friend of his wanted to meet the Dalai Lama, and so 'put this intention out' to a v. rich person who has given millions of dollars to the Dalai Lama, and that guy was like, 'okay, can you get to Dharamshala next week, the Dalai Lama will be there and I'll try to hook you up', and the original dude was able to afford a last-minute flight to India and then wait around a monastery for a couple of days until the Dalai Lama was ready to see him.

This is not 'putting your intention out into the universe'. This is 'having rich friends'.

sssanyway again. I decided to take the trainers' advice of 'taking care of your needs and being kind to yourself', which means I skipped the training, came home, left my car here, walked down to Pearl Street, and grabbed a table outside at The Kitchen, where I had some sauvignon blanc and my favorite gluten free pasta in the world, and spent a couple of hours people watching and writing in my journal. This was way better than anything those trainers had to tell me, I'm pretty sure.

But now I want to go to bed. Finally, though, happy [censored] to [censored], who is in [censored] and hopefully didn't drink too many [censored] tonight. Goodnight!

then spring became the summer

So, today was pretty relaxing even though my emails are piling up - I got up, took my time getting ready while drinking some coffee, said hi/bye to Katrina, and then went to work, where I did a bit of stuff while eating breakfast. But from 10am to 5pm I was in a training - it was heavy on meditation and mindfulness, which was a good break from my usual shenanigans. It continues tomorrow and part of Thursday, so that may be too much mindfulness, but so far so good.

But at five I was done, and I spent some time talking to some people before rendezvousing with Katrina. We dropped my car off at my house, then walked to River and Woods, which is my nearby favorite. It was a magical location for dinner - they have a back patio that is way larger than I realized (I have only gone when it's cold/raining/not patio-worthy), so we sat back there and admired the venue and the food and the waitstaff. We ended up getting upsold on a bottle of fancy champagne (they were out of what we wanted to drink, but offered us a bottle of nice champagne they'd stocked for mother's day, and gave us a discount on it, so we took it and #noregrets, since it was fucking delicious). We also ended up having not one, but two orders of poutine (again, #noregrets). We also had oysters and deviled eggs, and a lot of fun conversation, and my favorite bartender was thrilled to see me, so that was all delightful.

But now, I should really go to bed since I should work tomorrow before starting the trainings again. Goodnight!

genie in a bottle

I had a long day at the office filled with many annoyances. There were some good things too - I hired Kristen, who is my friend Barbara's daughter, and her first day in the Boulder office was today, so we had breakfast and also had a 1:1, and that was great. I also had a 1:1 with my manager, who is v. entertaining (in a good way). But generally speaking, my meetings were a series of annoyances piled on top of other annoyances, and I was v. eager to leave at 5....

So I went to Whole Foods to pick up some coffee beans, yogurt, and granola (all I need to survive), and I also retrieved Katrina there. We came back to my place to stow the groceries and change, and then we walked to Pizzeria Locale, where we were v. lucky and scored one of the last tables (and a v. bicep-y, v. nice waiter). They had a delightful Neapolitan-style gluten free crust, and so we ordered two pizzas - a white pizza with burrata, among other things, and a tomato-sauced pizza with eggplant, many kinds of pepper, and pecorino. I think I still have a mild preference for the pizza I usually get there, which has salami, mozzarella, red pepper flakes, and basil, but it was great to branch out and try something different. I also had wine and Katrina had a tasty-looking spritz, and we split some sorbet for dessert, so that was delightful.

Of course, we went suuuuper deep on issues of women in tech, all of which I find rather infuriating (really, my mood today could have used some improvement). And I could go super deep now...but after we got back from dinner, I took care of a couple of things, basically fell asleep while reading my phone, but had to rally for a 10-11pm call with Hyderabad. This should be illegal. It was my own fault for not seeing it sooner - my calendar doesn't naturally extend that far down, so I didn't see it until I was in schedule view for today, which was brutal.

But after dialing in, saying hi, staying silent for an hour (while backchannel pinging jokes to someone on my team), and saying bye, it's finally time for bed. Goodnight!

hit me with your best shirt

I had an awesome day, but I need to go to bed immediately even though it's only ten p.m. and my inner night owl is crying at my self-imposed surrender to the working world. I spent too much time this morning lazing about, but I did manage to get up, get around, and scramble to finish pulling my house into some semblance of order after all my travels.

I also spent a few minutes (which wasn't nearly enough time) talking to my parents - it was earlier than I usually call them, so they weren't expecting me, but I had to call and say happy mother's day. But I couldn't talk for long, because at 2:30pm, Katrina showed up - she's in town for a conference later this week, so she's staying with me for a couple of days, which is super fun.

We hung out at my place for a few minutes so that she could get acclimated, and then we took a driving tour of my surroundings. That meant we drove immediately into the mountains - it really is incredible how quickly you can be in the mountains here, which I definitely don't take enough advantage of. We went to Nederland, which I'd been to with Drewbaby last November. The drive was gorgeous in a misty, atmospheric kind of way - it rained off and on all day, so the mountains themselves were shrouded in clouds, but the foliage is much greener than usual, so it was v. pretty.

We had a drink and some chips at a brewery in Nederland, which we entered after waiting out a downpour/small hail situation while parked outside. After that, we took the long way back to Boulder by driving through Golden - we didn't stop there, but we enjoyed the drive. We made it back to Boulder just in time for a reservation I'd made at Santo, which is a newish New Mexican restaurant owned by the same chef who owns Blackbelly (and who won a Top Chef many years ago). I have to say, I was a little disappointed; the service was too slow (we ordered three appetizers and an entree to share, and they decided to course out the appetizers so that we got a small salmon tostada by itself, then waited fifteen minutes for the soup/salad, and then waited another twenty minutes or so for the enchiladas...no bueno). The soup was pretty tasty, and the enchiladas were good, but the rice and beans with them were boring (and they initially forgot the rice). However, the servers were really friendly despite the slowness, and the prices were decent, so I'd be willing to try them again when they work out the kinks.

Then we came home, and we pretty much immediately wanted to go to bed, so that's the plan I'm pursuing. Goodnight - and happy mother's day to those of you who are celebrating!

wanna put my tender hot in a blender

I should have gone to bed ages ago - I didn't get enough sleep last night, and I appear to be on track to repeat that mistake. But today was fun, and probably way more relaxing/lazy than I deserved. I got up, pulled myself together, and drove down to Denver to see Katie. We had brunch at Revelry, which I'd been to once before (without her, shocking) - they can do their whole menu gluten free, which obviously makes me happy. I had some huevos rancheros that didn't quite do it for me; it was all tasty, but it was smothered in a red sauce that was a little too sweet and not at all spicy, and I would have preferred a chile verde or a chunkier salsa. But it was a v. nice place to have brunch, and it was v. nice to talk to Katie, so #noregrets.

Then I went to her house and hung out for a couple of hours, since I hadn't seen James in awhile and the girls had apparently been wondering if I was ever coming back (they got surprisingly accustomed to me basically living with them last summer). I will probably get sick and die after that since I stole a tater tot from Anne before Katie reminded me that Anne is sick and had sneezed all over it, but we'll see how my immune system holds up...

Then, I should have come home and done a million things around the house, but I wasn't feeling it, so I stopped at the mall on the way back. I didn't buy much after all, but I did pick up some new drinking glasses; while I have a million wine and champagne glasses, I'm down to only five remaining pint-sized tumblers (the striped glasses I bought a decade ago were lovely, but they've slowly attrited over the years). So I got a few new glasses and new placemats at Crate and Barrel, which satisfied my greed for the moment.

I also ate an early dinner at the mall, then came home, messed around online, and took a nap. But I did spend some quality time tonight cleaning my kitchen, changing my sheets, etc., etc. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

heart town, summer in the city

I spent my day in the new building today...I had a bunch of meetings, but I also had a few hours to get work done, and being off by myself made for a v. productive day. That meant I could stop working at 5:30 and promptly shut down everything and relax...

So I went to River and Woods, where I had poutine and wine and journal time. It's apparently graduation weekend at CU, so the place was packed, but I got my favorite seat at the bar and was taken care of by my favorite bartender, so that was lovely.

Then I came home and furthered the relaxation by turning on my TV for the first time in a month. I ended up watching the first three episodes of "Wynonna Earp" - I can't remember who told me to watch this, but it's pretty batshit crazy and I kind of dig it. The basic premise is that the heirs of Wyatt Earp must try to kill a whole bunch of demons, all of whom are revenants (aka a form of zombie) come back to life from the 77 people Earp killed. Yes, cray cray. So far so good, though - but I realized that staying up late to binge any more of it would be a mistake given everything I want to accomplish this weekend.

So, it's time for bed - goodnight!

i'm a hotbreaker

I had quite an enjoyable day, but I'm totally exhausted - I think I got less than six hours of sleep last night, which is not a feat that I want to repeat tonight. I had to be in the office by 8:30 to have breakfast with a coworker, which was 100% too early, but at least it was tasty (and fun to gossip).

Then I had meetings most of the day, but I did get to spend some time in the sun - there was a happy hour at Sanitas, which is a brewery across the parking lot / railroad tracks from my building. Dashing across the railroad tracks didn't feel entirely safe, although it was more the steep, rocky incline on either side of the tracks that felt problematic. I can't drink anything at Sanitas - there's some sort of law here that breweries can only serve their own beer rather than getting a liquor license for anything else, and I can't drink beer and none of them seem to make cider. But that's okay, I didn't want a drink anyway - especially since there were also tacos, which were totally delish. And I got to eat them while slowly broiling in the sun, so that was delightful.

After that, I felt done for the day mentally even though it was only 5:30ish. So I walked back to the nicer building (where I had breakfast) to retrieve my car, then went back to my building to pick up a couple of packages, and ended up talking to some of my team for awhile before finally leaving. Then I went to Target, came home, tried on the clothes that were in the packages I picked up, and generally wasted the rest of the evening without opening my laptop or doing any work, yay.

And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

here comes the heartstepper

I needed a long work day to try to get caught up, but that didn't mean I was excited about working pretty much straight from 8:45am until now.

However, I should remind myself that even my long, brutal slogs have some fun (and ridiculous perks) built in. I only had thirty minutes for lunch, but they brought in two guys to make sushi to order, so I had some v. tasty sushi while wearing a birthday hat (don't ask) and hanging out with my team. I also had a thirty minute break in the afternoon, which was just long enough to swing by the henna artist they brought in for a #treatyoself activity, so I got some cherry blossoms on my hand that I hope will last for a bit. And I had plenty of random moments of joking, so it was all good.

However, my eyes are feeling bleary, and I should sleep if I have any hope of getting through my massive to-do list tomorrow - goodnight!

i'll be running down the mountain

I've somehow, remarkably, almost escaped jetlag entirely - other than wanting a nap at eight p.m. last night and tonight (v. ill-advised), I've done really well. I didn't hit any jetlag walls at all while working today - shocking.

Of course, it helped that my coworkers were all happy to see me - when I got to my desk this morning, I discovered that some people had decorated it as though I was a new hire joining for the first time, since I was only in the Boulder office for four days in the last four weeks. Ha. So that put me in a pretty good mood for the rest of the day, despite meetings and emails and everything else that the day entailed.

I left the office around 5:30, came home, and made a frittata, which was super tasty. I also talked to [censored], messed around on twitter, did a couple of loads of laundry, and took a nap. In other words, I was fairly lazy - sorrynotsorry. But now it's time to go to bed for real - goodnight!

i don't need no dollar bills to have fun tonight

Soooo...after I said I was going to bed at nine last night, I picked up the book I was reading on the plane and stayed up until midnight. This was probably a good thing, since I slept until 8am, which means I'm theoretically half-adjusted to the jetlag already. Of course, I was so crushed tonight that I took a nap from 7-8pm, which was entirely ill-advised, but I'm going to hope that I sleep tonight despite that.

Anyway, as I said, yesterday was uneventful - I was delayed on the Dublin to Chicago flight, but since Dublin is one of the airports where you go through US Customs on the Dublin side before boarding, the delay didn't impact me in Chicago. This was, however, the first time I've flown such a small plane from Europe to the US - it was a 757, with three seats on either side of the aisle, similar to planes flown from Denver to SF. I'm sure none of you care about that, but I found it interesting (and also mildly disgusting, since the bathroom nearest me had somehow ended up with a full sewage compartment/toilet by the end).

Today, I mostly relaxed - I did a tiny bit of stuff this morning, and also read a lot of twitter, and mostly tried not to nap. I also talked to [censored], who was totally [censored], as usual. But I left the house and walked around this afternoon, which helped - it was 75 and gorgeous here, so I walked to Modern Market and had a late lunch (salad, since I'm trying to detox from too many weeks of wine and other indulgences). On the way back, I grabbed a couple of things at the grocery store, then came home and called my parents.

This evening, I should have done something mildly productive...or at least cooked food for the week. Instead, I finished some more laundry (I did four loads today), took a nap, ate an omelette, and did very little else of note.

And now, unfortunately, I have to gird myself for going to the office tomorrow - I could really use another day of relaxing before starting the grind again, but it's not meant to be. Goodnight!

I'm only human after all

I'm back in Boulder and back in my own bed...it's 8:45pm, and while I should try to make it another hour before going to sleep, I doubt it will happen. But my trip was uneventful and it's good to be back - I shall have more to say tomorrow, but for now it's time to go to bed. Goodnight!

luck of the irish

I suddenly have a headache, so I'm going to bed and hope it will clear it up before I wake up. Today was good enough - I had a bunch of meetings, then lunch with Aga and Andrea, and then I cleared out of work at 1:30 so I could spend some time in Dublin. I walked down to the Chester Beatty Library, where I wandered around the exhibits for an hour or two - it's more of a museum than a library, and it was lovely (although I'd been there in 2006). Then I went to Avoca and bought some wool socks and a throw blanket. And then I went to a pub, where I ordered shepherds pie and a Guinness because I felt like I should (which is probably why I have the headache)...

...but the shepherds pie really wasn't that good, and so when I got a message from Aga asking if I wanted to have dinner with her and her sister, I abandoned the rest of it + half my beer and met up with them instead. Second dinner was much better (tasty fish and a salt cod croquette), and it was fun to meet her sister and hang out for a couple of hours.

Then we walked back to the hotel, and I took a v. brief nap before packing my stuff and doing a tiny bit of work. And now it's bedtime...I was supposed to fly out at 9:20am tomorrow, but I changed my flight to leave at 12:30, which means I can get a decent amount of sleep before heading to the airport. Yay me. Goodnight!

achtung baby

It's official, so I can say it here - I got promoted! So while it's probably true that I've been working too much, my covetous workaholic heart got exactly what it wanted. Now I shall pop all the champagne and buy all the shoes....

sssanyway. That's not really news, at least not to me, since I knew it was official last week. Today was mostly a normal day - some meetings, a lunch, some coffees (probably too much coffee), some desires for naps. But I took a break from 7-9:30pm and had a leisurely solo dinner at Charlotte Quay - a pretty restaurant overlooking Grand Canal, in an area that didn't have anything when I lived here in 2006 (a third of my life ago, I realized, which made me feel SUPER OLD). I intended to not work at all when I got back, but I made the mistake of picking up my phone and seeing congratulations messages because the promo email went out while I was eating...so I started responding, and now here I am.

But now I'm ready to sleep, so wish me luck with that - goodnight!

cockles and mussels alive alive oh

Definitely time for bed - I didn't get enough sleep last night, so I was dragging this morning. Today was mostly good, although it was a lot of talking...and then it ended in a team activity, which involved eating a lot of fried food full of gluten + doing a lot of Irish dancing. Irish dancing, it turns out, is not my strong suit, but this wasn't a surprise. It was actually pretty fun, all in all - but after several days of nonstop people time, I'm ready for a break.

Of course, I won't get that break tomorrow, although I think I can sneak away after six...but I'm headed home on Saturday, and I intend to be as much of a hermit as I can possibly be on Sunday, so that will probably save me. And now it's time for bed - goodnight!

proud mary

I'm way too tired - I didn't get enough sleep last night, so I was dragging today, and it's suddenly 11pm. But today was good otherwise - it ended up with a walk around Dublin, followed by meeting my team for dinner at a teppanyaki place, which was full of ridiculous performances (and three bottles of wine for six people, which may explain suddenly why I feel like I had more to drink than I thought I did...).

So now it's time for bed - goodnight!

trying to throw your arms around the world

I just very stupidly stayed up working until after midnight, which does not bode well for tomorrow. However, I hadn't answered any emails since last Wednesday, so I was overdue. Today was a pretty good first day in Dublin - I got to the office around 10, ate some breakfast and started catching up, and then had meetings all afternoon. I took a few hours off this evening, and had dinner at a restaurant that I used to go to when I lived here - it's a totally different restaurant now, but the space is super distinctive (under the rapid transit station, so it's in a low tunnel, which is pretty cool) and the food is better than it was, so all in all I was happy to have a couple of hours there and relive old times.

Then I came back to my hotel, took a nap, read twitter, and worked for a couple of hours. And now I need to go to bed and hope the jetlag is kind to me - goodnight!

I still haven't found what I'm looking for

I arrived in Dublin tonight and the taxi driver was playing U2. Stereotypical, but i loved it.

Today was both leisurely and way too intense - leisurely because I got plenty of sleep, had breakfast, then slept for another hour before checking out, and intense because my Fitbit says I walked eight miles and climbed 26 flights of stairs. I spent the afternoon at the Louvre...or I spent the afternoon around the Louvre, at least. The line was long and rainsoaked when I got there, so I bought a ticket on my phone for a timed entrance an hour later and waited for my turn while drinking tea on a terrace overlooking the pyramid in the plaza. This was entirely the right choice, since I stayed dry and then was in the museum in less than five minutes when my time came. #winning

Of course, I only had a couple of hours, so I ran around and saw what I could - mostly focused on ancient statues, which tells you the young adult novel is on my mind again. I left around 4:30, made a stop at Mariage Freres to buy tea, then went back to my hotel and ate a v quick snack before heading to the airport.

The rest of my night was super smooth - no issues with checking in, and I had time to have more food and a glass of wine before boarding. And now that I'm settled into my hotel and have talked to my parents and unpacked, I should really sleep - the office beckons tomorrow, alas. Goodnight!

careless whispers

I'm feeling asleep and typing this on my phone, so don't expect greatness. Today was very happy, all in all - I was jolted rudely awake by my alarm at 5:45 after sleeping through the night for the first time in a week (bizarre since I was having a lot of trouble in SF, yet slept here on the first try despite jetlag). So I dragged myself out of bed, got dressed, and had a v abbreviated breakfast downstairs before going to my mission for the day.

The mission was an all day tour of the champagne region - namely, the cathedral at Rheims (Reims), where almost all the French kings after Clovis were crowned. We then went to a small ish winery, which was awesome - lots of time discussing champagne processes. We then had lunch (I ate with an entertaining couple from LA who I ended up befriending), then I had a quick glass of rose in town, and then we went to Moët et Chandon. The tunnels were worth seeing - they have many kilometers of cellars for storing millions of bottles of wine, so that was awesome. The tasting was too corporate, but c'est la vie.

We got back to Paris around 6:30, I crashed for awhile, and then had an indifferent dinner (too bad in a city with such great food, but I was starving and desperate) and wrote in my journal and had some v interesting ideas about gargoyles. And now I'm going to sleep - it's supposed to rain tomorrow, but I still want to chase inspiration down with a club if I have to, so that requires getting up. Goodnight!

ooh la la

I'm going to bed right now, so you'll just have to trust me that yesterday went well (all presos delivered satisfactorily), and my flight was also smooth (although I didn't sleep enough, and the arrivals process at Paris was annoying).

My hotel is nice, and I spent too much time indulging my need to nap this afternoon - but no regrets, since I'm exhausted from the last week (month) and needed sleep more than I need to see the Louvre again.

But I finally rallied, had food and wine at a side sidewalk cafe, walked to Notre Dame, realized the wind there was super strong and blowing stuff into my eyes, then had dinner at another spot before come back to my hotel.

And now I've taken some melatonin - hoping to get seven solid hours before waking up for a tour I booked, but wish me luck. Goodnight!

this is the remix

I somehow only got six hours of sleep again last night...I am slowly dying here. And tonight isn't going to be any better - I have to pack, sleep, shower, and leave super early to drive to Mountain View in time to give a nine a.m. presentation (which I probably still need to put another 30min of work into).

But tomorrow I have two meetings, and then I drive to the airport and fly business class to Paris, so things could be worse, amirite? Granted, one meeting is a presentation to my boss that I'm not ready for, and one is my team meeting (which I'm also not ready for). But then it's all smooth sailing.

So yeah, today was painful in some ways (lots of fires), but good in others (lots of 1:1 conversations with people whom I adore). Then I picked up a rental car and made the mistake of driving to Burlingame at rush hour - it wasn't a mistake to see Barbara and Anne, since I've been feeling seriously in need of some writer friend time to remind me that there is more to my life than presentations, but it was a mistake to try to go anywhere at rush hour. We had a relatively quick dinner at Limon, where I had some totally awesome empanadas and a glass of wine that wasn't enough to fix my woes (although the amount of wine necessary to fix my woes would have rendered me unable to drive, let alone able to finish the work I had to do tonight).

When we were done, I drove back to the city of sin, and I sat in the lobby for the last hour working on the presentation because I knew I would just go to sleep if I tried to work on my bed. But I'm done for now, so it's time to throw stuff in a suitcase and go to bed - goodnight!

like a fish needs a bicycle

I'm blogging on my phone because I'm semi relaxed and know that I'll promptly get unrelaxed if I open my laptop. Today was all a little too much and I hit a wall - I may have finally come to the realization that I need to stop traveling for awhile. This is an unfortunate realization to have when I'm leaving for Paris on Thursday, but c'est la vie, as i like to say.

Ssssanyway. I was in town for a training that happened today, but I wasn't feeling it within the first five minutes, when I realized it was a training for senior managers and only four of the 35+ attendees were women. This is why I despise tech sometimes. So I participated all morning, but skipped a bit in the afternoon so that I could get some work done. I also worked after the training, had a call from 6:30-7:30, can't back to my hotel and had another call at 8....

... And by then I still had a million things to do, but I couldn't take it anymore. So I put my work phone away and went to An Japanese, which is right next to my hotel. I'd been there with the original Jen Lui once, so I had fond memories - but tonight was magical. I sat at the bar and talked to the sushi chef about life and his daughter and Field of Dreams, and he told me that his kids both have great jobs and so he cancelled his life insurance (parents - don't get any ideas). And the fish was perfect - the toro was like eating a perfect slice of the sea, the salmon tasted like it had been swimming only minutes before, and I had my beloved tamago (egg) to round it out. And I only pulled out my phone once to take a photo - the rest of the time I just enjoyed the moment and watched the sushi chefs practicing their craft.

And now I'm going to sleep and hope that my head is clearer tomorrow because I took a break tonight. Goodnight!

favoritos, favoritos baby

I slept horribly last night - I woke up at 4am thinking of everything I needed to do immediately, and I barely slept after that. So today was an exercise in pain - I felt foggy all day, which didn't help my mood.

However, it wasn't all terrible - I had some meetings, got some serious work done, picked up lunch and then carried it around for 90min because I was too busy to eat it, and had a meeting with my boss. I spent the afternoon in more meetings, as you may have guessed, but one was an hour of straight gossip, so that was super fun.

Then I worked for another ninety minutes before grabbing a drink with Alice and Chris at Smugglers Cove - apparently we only go to tiki bars now (one of my other direct reports, who couldn't make it, has started calling me tiki boss - very on brand). We then had a quick dinner at Mazzat, and then I parted ways with them, came to my hotel, and worked until I started falling asleep. I was writing an email to my landlord at the end and wanted to say something about fire risk, but instead typed santa ana winds - which is, after all, a fire risk, but not the one I had in mind, which is an amusing trick played by my tired brain.

So now it's time for bed - goodnight!

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!