LOVE TO TRAVEL

2009 has been pretty good so far. I came back from Atlanta on NYE and spent it with friends while watching the sad GT vs LSU Peach bowl. A few days after I had a birthday party at my apartment. A lot of folks came over, we played games and danced around. Surprisingly I did not get any noise complaints! :) It was a dress up party with the theme of "domestic assistants".... I dressed up as a chef

Setting up the games




My friend David & his sister


Farkle


Setting up the mah jong table


How many people can you fit on my bed?

My friend Adam came to visit and we went snowboarding then to the Killers concert. The concert was awesome. They sound great live, I was really surprised!

The Killers...We had nosebleed seats....yes that's the roof of MSG

Then I went to Charlotte and hung out with some of my GT friends. 1 came from Columbia, SC. 3 lives in Charlotte and the other came from Raleigh, NC. I was able to meet up with my Bank of America friends. My friend Jim set me up with a cube at work and I was able to work in Charlotte. I had such a good time. Plus I ate Chick Fil A :) I didn't take too many photos.

Bill, me, Brian & Jesse


Brian's Super Bowl party...my camera was not operating properly :(

The weekend after that I went to Buenos Aires, Montevideo & Punta Del Este for Santi's wedding. My friend Kevin was my travel buddy. The weather was gorgeous (summer time), it rained when we arrived but by the afternoon it had cleared up. We went to a pub crawl with a bunch of foreigners, a lot of them were Australian, some Americans and Europeans. The 2nd day in Buenos Aires we walked around, went to Eva Peron's tomb, enjoyed the weather and went to a late dinner by the water. The 3rd day we had to wake up early and go to Uruguay. We took the ferry over and it was a beautiful fast ride. When we go to Montevideo it was sunny, people were on the beach and our cab driver was crazy! Kevin took a nap while I walked around. I walked to the beach and had lunch by myself. It was tough to order food since I do not speak Spanish but I was able to get by and get some food. I also went to the mall nearby just to check it out. The McDonald's in Uruguay all have a McCafe and they serve coffee, croissants, cookies, desserts...I love McCafe :) I went back and went to our roof pool for a bit. Then I went back to the room, took a short nap then it was wedding time. We got to the church around 8, the ceremony started around 8:45. I think we got done around 9:30. Then we went to the country club for the reception. We had drinks & appetizers for a little while, salad was probably served around 10:30 - 11. Then the bride & groom started dancing, we all danced too...then dinner....that was probably 12 - 12:30. Then more dancing. Then these dancers came and more dancing...finally it was dessert...this was probably 3am. I think we got back to the hotel around 5am. We slept till 12 and finally we got up to leave for Punta Del Este. We stopped by McCafe for some food and then hopped in a cab for a 2 hr ride to Punta. The weather was so nice, probably high 70's, low humidity, sunny. We checked into our hotel and then went to the beach/the hand statue to meet up with people that we met at the wedding. After that we went to an art museum (Casa Pueblo, the arts of a famous Uruguayan painter Carlos Paez Vilaro), we saw the sunset there and it was gorgeous. After that we went back into the town and had a late late dinner. We walked around & everyone was out, even at 1am. Finally we were tired and went back to our hotel. The day after I woke up early and shopped while Kevin slept in. I ate street food and walked around. We checked out of our hotel then we went to the other side of the peninsula and checked out the beach. We had the best empanadas ever in Punta and at the end of the day we hopped on a bus and went to the airport in Montevideo. I had so much fun down there! I just need to learn Spanish so I can travel down there again with ease.

Buenos Aires


Buenos Aires>


Buenos Aires - View from our hotel


Some of the people we met at the pub crawl


The bus that took us from the bar to the club in Buenos Aires


Evita's tomb


Ferry ride to Montevideo


Inside the ferry


Montevideo


Montevideo


My lunch - Fries with a chicken on top of that, ham & cheese on top of that and a fried egg on top of that. It was delicious!


A bird pooped on me :(


At the church


Look how happy they are


Dancing with Santi




The dancers


Punta Del Este


El Mano


Really yummy empanadas


Casa Pueblo


The 4 Americans


Sunset


Busy street at 1AM


Our old school hotel in Punta


Rockier side of the beach

So I came back from South America and I unpacked, slept, packed and headed to Houston. Minh picked me up from the airport and met up with a friend of hers. It was a Wednesday night and people were partying like it was Saturday! On Thursday I worked from Minh's apartment and she came to pick me up for lunch (pho, yum!!!). At night we watched a movie then had dinner. Kelli met up with us and I went back to Kelli's apartment and worked from her apartment on Friday. We headed out of Houston around 1, grabbed Chick Fil A then was on the road. It was pouring so it took us about 6 hours to get to New Orleans. We picked up our friend Kim from the airport in New Orleans and then went to the hotel. We grabbed dinner & headed for Bourbon St. It rained on and off all night. On Saturday morning, I woke up early and Kim & Kelli hated me for it. When we got to the field, it was still pouring! But games were still on. We played lacrosse in the mud all day. After we played (won 2 games and tied the last game), we went back to the hotel & cleaned up. There was a lacrosse party in town so we all headed there. They served Jambalaya & sandwiches with an open bar from 8 - 12. Afterwards we went to Bourbon St again. On Sunday our Championship game was at 11. We got schooled by a bunch of high schoolers (17 to 1...d-oh) but it was really fun. It didn't rain but the field was still muddy from the night before. After our game we watched the men's championship game. After all the lacrosse games I grabbed lunch with James & Tom. We went to the famous Mother's Restaurant. I got some yummy seafood gumbo, which I was craving the whole weekend. After lunch we went to our hotel, showered and veg'd on the bed for about 5 hours. I watched so much TV. We grabbed a late dinner then went to bed. I caught my flight at 5:35AM and got back to NY around noon.
Now I am home for a little while and Adam is coming to visit again.
Busy busy busy....

Me & Minh


Me, Lino & Minh


Me, Kelli & Minh


Eddie, Kelli & me


Me & Kim on Canal for the parade


Mardi Gras parade


Me, Kelli & Kim

I don't have many photos of the New Orleans trip because my camera is busted :(

I know I haven't been updating this at all for the past few months. Been lazy/busy, whatever you want to call it. A lot has happened since my last update. Let's see if I can remember everything...

1. Finished the NYRR Half-Marathon Grand Prix (Queens & Staten Island)

Queens
It was so humid that day, when I finished I was completely soaked...even my legs were sweaty



Staten Island
A lot of friends ran the last half marathon of the series


2. Had the cheapest and most fun Halloween

Girls Gone Wild & Mummy


Girls Gone Wild & Naked Chick




Everyone was having fun with my costume


3. Ran my first marathon - NYC ING Marathon 2008

Waving to my friends that were waiting for me on the side


Friends & their signs


My award!

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE PROFESSIONAL MARATHON PHOTOS!!!!


4. Went to Las Veags for the Great Urban Race National Championship a week after the marathon

Our clues


Our first photo of the race


The New York Team...my friends :)


That's how I felt after crossing the finish line - Surprisingly my legs were fine running that much a week after the marathon


Paris


Bellagio


The four of us trying to fit into the tub while eating ice cream


The four of us by the famous Vegas sign

5. Went on a road trip to Grand Canyon after Vegas

Hoover Dam


DAM!!!


Deanna is in Pacific Time, I am in Mountain, Adam is in the middle


We made it to Grand Canyon...it was snowing


Snow stayed the next morning....beautiful sunrise on Grand Canyon



It was really cold...we weren't expecting snow so no one packed stuff for it...brrrr


I really wanted to ride a mule down Grand Canyon but this was as close as I got to riding a mule


I look so small


That's a big meteor crater!


The fish eye lens fit everyone in!



This is a night time photo...good to have a professional photograher on the trip
You can see the moon and stars in the sky


Hoover Dam on the way home at night

That's it for now. I will try to update more often with more photos

SEPTEMBER UPDATE

Seems like I'm doing a bi-monthly update. Nothing really exciting happening. Work is busy, at least I've been working from home, which saves me 2 hours each day on the train. This week I've had to get up around 6:30 to start work. I can't imagine trying to get into the office at 6:30...that means I'd have to leave my apt by 5:30 to get there... ZZZZzzzzz

I went to Dallas in Aug for work and I just got words that I'm going again next week. I'm looking forward to eating CFA! :) We will probably be working a ton again like last night. Hopefully I will have some time to run since the marathon is coming up. I'm sort of having 2nd thoughts. I don't know if I am ready for it; physically and mentally. It's scary! I've been thinking about running a lot lately. After 2008 I think I will stop doing long distance, just work on speed for 5K or maybe 10K and I am thinking about getting a bike. I will still keep up with lacrosse even though I am getting a bit burnt out by it. Not that I don't love playing lacrosse, I am tired of the drama that comes with being the assitant organizer. If you know me, you should know that drama is not my cup of tea. But for certain people, it's what they love. Drama is what gets them going. I don't need to be involved with that.

I've really enjoyed my summer this year. I hung out with friends, went on road trips, relaxed in the city. The weather is starting to get cold again. The past week has been great during the day and chilly at night, which is perfect since I don't have AC in my apt right now. Oh yes, I moved. I am now living in a 1 bedroom near Queens Center Mall. My new landlady & landlord is an old Chinese couple that live above me. On the 3rd floor there is a small family with 2 little girls. The landlady doesn't speak Mandarin and I don't speak Cantonese. So communicating with her is quite funny. We do a lot of writing and reading. She's writing most of the time since I have forgotten many words. But living here has helped me remember how to write a lot of words (ok, maybe I looked them up from the online Chinese dictionary).

The move was pretty quick. I was scrambling to get everything together. I was in Dallas for a week then I went to Pittsburgh. I came back and had 4 days to find an apt. That week I answered so many ads. Some were actual owners, some were brokers. I ended up finding this place in the Chinese newspaper classified. I checked out the place, loved it and put my deposit down 2 days later. That Friday I drove to Ocean City, MD with 3 other lax girls. We met up with our friends from NJ and played in the annual OCMD tournament. It was a really fun weekend. I was the DD for Friday night and Saturday we were so tired from playing 3 full games & waiting 2+ hours for dinner. We went back to the beach house and crashed. Sunday we woke up early and went to the beach before driving back to NY. The following Monday I flew down to ATL for vacation. I hung out with the fam for a few days then drove to FL with Dave & Rhonda. Then met up with SJ's family for the rest of the time in FL. Fay was in the area so we didn't have many sunny days. It was fun anyway. I played Celebrity Taboo with SJ's family. They were impressed that I knew so many celebrities (Thanks Perez!). After FL I came back to ATL and worked remotely at my parents house. Finally headed back to NY just to pack and move. Aug 31st I moved to the new apt. I am still in the process of putting things away but it's starting to look nice. Since I don't have much furniture my living is pretty empty. My little red low rider chairs from Urban Outfitter look really lonely in the living room.

The weekend after moving I took a road trip to Boston with James & Xan for the GT vs BC game. I met up with Dave & Rhonda and hung out with them all weekend. I had a great time. I really miss tailgating and going to football games. I also miss southern gentlemen and of course Chick-Fil-A! I saw a bunch of friends from GT, some randomly some we had planned to meet up. The drive to Boston and back to NY was really fun. I enjoyed talking and listening to James & Xan. We had discussions about cars, politics, finances, GT football and many other fun topics.

Here are some photos from the past 2 months

Me & my boss outside of a yummy hotdog & frozen custard place in Dallas


Me & Brian on the party bus in Pittsburgh


The girls in OCMD


Photo with the totem pole


Hanging out with old friends from elementary, middle & high school


Rhonda & her aeroplane in FL


Me & SJ - his hair is longer than mine!


Me & Dave at Howl at the Moon


Lucy Kate wearing her Paul Frank :)


New bowling style


Me & Brian in Boston


Me & Buzz


Xan


9/11 Memorial lights


WTC Model


WTC site at night


Me & Lynn on Tower 7 52nd floor

JULY UPDATE

So the apartment situation didn't work out. The management company decided to use a broker only to find tenants. So I called the broker and they charge 15% fee (of 1 year rent, which equate to $1,755), which is totally ridiculous considering he didn't help me find the apartment at all. I would pay the fee if the broker actually worked hard and found an apartment that I love for me, but he didn't, so it's not worth the money. So the search is on for my next living space. I really dread it because apartment searching really is a pain in NYC. You have to go through so many scammers before finding a real one.

I don't know why I've been so lazy. I haven't been running/training at all!! The marathon is coming up in 3 months and I haven't been running. What's wrong with me? I'm going to die when I actually run it. I started going to the gym again this week. Monday I was on the elliptical for 45 mins. I ran by the Hudson after work on Tuesday. Yesteray I did the elliptical for 45 mins, then swam for 20 mins. My arms are sore today!! I'm out of shape yo!! I will go to Central Park to run after work today. I hope I can run at least 4 - 5 miles. I really need to get in the habit of running again. I was doing so well last year, I would go running after work everyday...dunno what happened. Such a lazy fool now.

I had a time last weekend! Friday I went to the Beer Garden with James, his roommate & co-workers in Astoria. I was just gonna chill at home but it was so hot and miserable, I figured it would be more fun to be hot and miserable hanging out with friends. Plus the Beer Garden is pretty close to me. Saturday I went to Flushing and hung out with my aunt & uncle, my cousin Dave also came out. All we did was eat a lot and chatted. After Flushing I went to pick up Pepper then drove home and got ready for City Harvest. Somehow I became the philantrophy chair for the alumni club (My current official title is Yellow Jacket Rep), so I organized our first volunteering event of 2008. We had a great turn out. 11 GT alums/family/friends came out and we collected 6,400 lbs of food that were donated by the farmers at the Greenmarket at Union Square. I'm hoping to make this a regular event for us. Maybe every other month, and something else to fill in between. Gotta work with other organizations to see what we can do. I was thinking a soup kitchen or Publicolor, maybe I can work with the Burden Center too. Anyway, just throwing some ideas around. After that I picked up some drinks and headed up to Harlem. You heard/read right, Harlem yo, I am hardcore! My friend just moved to E125th st and Lexington and his apartment was having a party. BYOB and they provided food. Burgers, hotdogs, French patte (sp?) and lots of other yummy food. I talked to so many Frenchies that night, it was great. (His roommate is French and works at a French company so lots of her friends were there) I hope I can see the Frenchies again so I can practice my really bad French with them next time :)  On Sunday we went to the beach! A bunch of folks showed up and we hung out at Atlantic Beach in Long Island. It was a private beach so it was very quiet. I went in the water *gasp* for a little bit and was really grossed out. I had to because I was covered in sand. There were LOTS of jelly fish floating around. I wonder if you can eat that kind of jellyfish that were floating around the beach. The ones washed up on shore actually sort of look like silicone for boob jobs. Kind of funny. (See below)

Overall it was a really good weekend, filled with lots of fun events and friends. I'm looking forward to this weekend. Lacrosse tournament on Saturday and a going away party at night. Maybe we can squeeze in bowling???
Oh yea I went to Bon Jovi for free in Central Park 2 weekends ago...I somehow won tickets in a drawing at work (I never win stuff!!!), so I took Jennie as my date, we had a great time! I love the summer in NY, so much to do!!

Me and Jennie at Bon Jovi


We weren't close to the stage at all, yay for zoom!


NY/NJ GT Alumni Club


"Beached whales"


Beach-side guac...YUM!!


Ladder ball is a great game


Bahamas crew :)