Orange County

So, at 3am after 20 minutes of sleep I got in the shower, and back on the road to make a 6am flight from Portland to Orange County via Denver (see I told you!). I BARELY made the flight, at the counter and back check- in area at 5:20am when the cut off time is 5:15am, I was very lucky. Who knew it was going to be that busy?!?! I actually was one of those ones that was pulled out of line because she was due to miss her flight. I hate those kinda people, because it's just clearly poor planning on their parts, but with the number of miles that I have logged over the past 5 years, and having never had to be pulled from line, I think I am doing pretty darn well. I was headed down to Orange County for the AAAA Leadership Conference, and my company was sponsoring. The show went very well. We made a few good contacts and are excited to follow up and see what happens. I also got to see Lewis Black perform, he was hysterical. I posted some of his performance on YouTube, you can see it here. I was also lucky enough to have dinner with the Hellings'. Aunt Frances, Uncle Glen, Brittany, Chris, and Katie. They were on different nights, but I got to see everyone. We had pork and salmon on the grill and it was soo much better than going out! Aunt Frances and I went to get our toes done on Wednesday after my conference concluded, and ooo, it was soo nice to sit there and not talk about work but just enjoy having someone take care of my feet after all the standing and talking about Maconomy... I couldn't have picked a better pedicure partner! And on top of that, she got up at 5am to drive me to the airport. I love my family!

Megan's Bridal Shower/Bachelorette Weekend!

Friday evening I headed out to Oregon, via Denver (you will see that phrase "via Denver" a lot over the next few posts) for a quick trip for Megan's Bridal Shower and Bachelorette party. Carrie, Megan's sister and maid of honor did an amazing job planning, cooking, and throwing a wonderful party! All of the bridesmaids were there with their mothers as well as a few other college friends of Megan's. It was a great way to get to know some people that Megan spends a lot of her daily life with. She seems so happy, as you can see from some of the pictures below. Huge thanks to Rachel for hosting at her lovely home!

We headed down to Lincoln City that night to a great house that Carrie found where she booked two nights of girl time for Megan and company. The house was amazing! Such a great find Carrie! We all went out that night to Chinook Winds Casino that was just down the street, found a great cabbie named Bill who carted all of us- quite a feat! The Chinook Winds Casino is interesting. I think they had more security on staff then bartenders. Not my idea of making good money, but whatever. I also saw a fair share of be-dazzled jeans... I have to say, that look isn't good on anyone! But, we got our dance on, and Megan was out, in the veil and was a great sport. I think she really liked the congrats from random passers by!

More family comes to Boston!

As many of you know I have been lucky enough to see a few of cousin Stephanie's Bostonians Concerts since I have been in Boston. Sadly, I will miss her final Bostonian Concert as I will be in Oregon for Megan's Bachelorette Party, but I was lucky enough to hang out with the Asbury Family for a quick dinner before I headed out of town. Thanks to Aunt Gail for a wonderful meal at Lineage. Below the picture of (clockwise) Aunt Gail, myself, Aunt Janis, and Carolyn.

7 miles and our first BBQ- what a weekend!

The weather is nice, I am staying healthy, and enjoying friends and family. It's a great time to be me. This weekend Shane and I got to have dinner and lunch with his parents. Dinner on Friday night at one of our favorite spots, the Navy Yard Bistro and lunch on Saturday at the Parish Cafe, a really fun lunch place that is well worth the wait. And Saturday afternoon we had our first real BBQ at our place in Charlestown. Our little place takes on a whole new area when you can be on the deck, and that's exactly what we did. We had Danny, Amanda, Michelle, Nate, Pat, Karlene, and Jill over for an impromptu grill session that turned into another fun round of Apples to Apples! Shane did an excellent job on the grill as usual, making burgers, chicken, and dogs. We were all stuffed and happy by the time the sun went down. On Sunday Shane and I took our time leaving the house, I think both of us were dreading the fated 7 mile run that the training calendar called for. We decided to do a different route along the Charles River. We did the Mass Ave bridge to the Elliot Bridge loop along the Charles. We did it in about 1:08, not too bad...It think according to the map it was 7.2 miles, so we are happy with the pace. The worst part was the Mass Ave bridge at the very end. It was WINDY, and full of lame tourists that don't understand the value of moving out of the way for runners. I think I am going to have to find a way to never cross the Mass Ave bridge again... not sure how I can swing it, but I am going to have to find a way, because ugh! it was painful!

Land of skinny runners

Monday is Patriots Day and the 112th running of the Boston Marathon. For those of you that don't know the Boston Marathon, it is the oldest Marathon in the US. Typically offices will shut down for Patriots Day and people will take the day to either watch the Marathon or hit up the day time Red Sox game. It's just another sports day in Boston. This weekend we were down by Copley Square on Saturday and saw tons of people who were registering for the race. And omigoodness these people are skinny! A strong wind could easily knock these people over. As you all know, I am training for a 1/2 marathon, and I know it's a little crazy, but a full marathon, especially Boston takes a special type of crazy... For more information on the race please check out the BAA link here: http://www.bostonmarathon.org/

Even the Freedom Trail needs a paint job

It's finally sunny here in Boston. It was a balmy 50 degrees today, and that fact combined with the fact that I had to move my car for street cleaning this morning, in order to avoid it being towed, meant that I walked into work instead of taking the bus. On my way across the Charlestown bridge, I realized I am not the only one who realized it's spring. There are more boats in the marina, the birds were out, and to top it off, they were re-painting the Freedom Trail... I think it's a sure sign that spring is here when even the freedom trail gets a fresh coat of red paint, just in time for tourist season...

Apples to Apples with the Charlestown family

Early Friday there were rumblings about a pot luck/game night in Charlestown. Having not been here for a few weekends I was torn between chilling on the couch or going out and seeing everyone... But the prospect of Apples to Apples came up, and I couldn't resist! I headed to the mall right after work, picked up the game and we headed to P&H's where we and about 10 other Charlestown yuppies played a rousing game of Apples to Apples where things like Vietnam, 1969 was considered "dirty." I don't think we finished the game, between breaks and food arriving, it's hard to keep the game on track with that many people. I am also not sure I technically followed all the rules, one of which being the last one to put a card down is automatically out of that round...

But, a lot of fun was had! We followed Friday up with a trip to Tavern on the Water on a beautiful Saturday. It was probably around 70 for about 4 hours on Saturday and we took in some great views of Boston from the Charlestown harbor...

The wine made it back to Boston

So, for those of you that take for granted the ease at which you can ship wine to and from your home state. Please be advised this post will open your eyes to a world/state in which it is not possible to ship wine whenever/wherever you want. On Tuesday after the show was over I met Kendra and then headed to Office Depot where I bought $30 worth of bubble wrap in order to attempt to get these 10 bottles of wine home... Knowing full well that these bottles were not going to fit in my suitcase with all of my clothes, I was also forced (completely self inflicted)to purchase another suitcase ($35)... After 60 minutes of wrapping up bottles of wine, in a ridiculous amount of bubble wrap, forcing those bottles into a suit case and then trying to maneuver my way out the door of my hotel room with two suit cases and a laptop bag, you can imagine the site. Never mind the leftover roll of bubble wrap and tape that were left on the floor. Goodness knows what the maids thought... 10 bottles of wine.................$110- thanks to the lovely industry discounts from Liz Bubble Wrap........................ $30 Extra bright red suitcase... $35 Enjoying a bottle of Bouchaine Pinot on my deck in Boston... priceless For all the folks that love to go to Napa and buy their wine and just have it shipped home, I do hope you enjoy that because for the rest of us are paying the price for your ease and comfort!

San Francisco Continued!

So I headed back into San Francisco and set up for my show and was able to see Gio and Tracy during my lunch break. They are both doing well- Gio at Intuit and Tracy at ask.com. It was such fun to catch up with my former Actuate employees and they both are such amazing women, I am lucky to call them my friends.

On Tuesday afternoon, after packing up all of our boxes we headed to see Kendra at the Thirsty Bear where she was setting up for a customer event. It was sooo good to see her, and she seems so happy with the new job and her impending nuptials.

And then on Tuesday night I was able to drive up to San Rafael with Tracy to see her new condo, and I got to meet Phil, her fiance! And they are the cutest couple. I am sooo happy for them and I can't wait to share in their big day next Memorial Day weekend! Congrats!

SF and Napa Weekend with the girls

I hadn't been back to the Bay area for more than one night since I left in mid- October 2006. So, when I had the opportunity to go to a trade show in San Francisco, I decided to take the weekend before the show and hang out with all my wonderful friends from the Bay area... It was such fun. I miss everyone so much, and the weather was perfect. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend!

Friday night I got to go to dinner with Alexa, Leila and Nina. We went to First Crush had some good food and then headed out to the Marina where we proceeded to feel incredibly old... I had no idea 1.5 years could age you so much... ha!

Saturday Leila, Alexa and I all headed up to Napa to visit Liz and do some wine tasting. We tasted at McKenzie-Mueller, had a wonderful host who put up with all of our questions and silly girliness!

Our next stop was to Acacia Winery, and we had an initial woman set up to host our scheduled appointment. And Margaret was TERRIBLE! She made assumptive comments about how Liz "would be the only one to appreciate the reserve tasting" that was going on at the other table, because of course unless you are in the industry you don't know good wine... Needless to say I was very irritated!

We let the manager know that we were disappointed, I was walking out empty handed, so you KNOW I was disappointed! ;-) And she quickly rectified the situation by getting us a spot at the reserve table, where Liz and I proceeded to taste some GREAT old wines. I picked up some library wines for all under $20 a bottle. Thank goodness for Liz having the guts to report the poor customer service.

Our last stop was to my favorite winery, Bouchaine, if I could take all my friends there for a huge party I would, these guys were GREAT!!! The most fun I have had at a winery ever! Mike, the wine maker, Luke and Adam were great hosts! Such fun! And we were able to meet up with Lyndsey who is 7.5 months preggers. She is such a trooper!!!

My Professional Blog versus this personal blog

I started another blog, that I can use in my professional circles. No pictures, but still the same Thereasa voice. The focus of the blog are the three things outside of my personal life that I am most passionate about: Education, Economics and the Environment. Check it out here when you get the chance.

City of Boston

UGH! I just paid $115 in parking tickets, $75 of which were totally bogus- I swear they put up the "no parking" sign the night I was parked in that spot. And then I got to pay my lovely Excise tax, which sucks! So, today I paid $173 to the city of Boston only to find out that there is an unpaid parking ticket on my record, which is now $53. It means it probably started at $20 and 2 months later it's $53. I never got a copy of this parking ticket. I go to call the parking office, to find out that they are only open until 4:30pm everyday. It's got to be tough being a government worker. I am beyond frustrated with the whole system!!! Get me out!!!

Seattle, FINALLY!

Carolyn and I woke up and went to get her oil changed in her car and she dropped me off with Ted at Aunt Gail's. We quickly unpacked the car. Ted will be staying with Aunt Gail until June 1st because he has two weeks he's spending in Kenya, so it didn't quite make sense to get a place for 4 weeks only to be gone for two of them. The next thing we did was go get maps and tour books of Seattle. One of the best presents Shane and Paul and Hannah got me were walking and driving maps of Boston when I first moved here. So, we took care of that first thing.

Then we drove Ted's route to work, and toured around Pike's Place Market. It was such fun, and a pretty nice day! We wandered around downtown, had lunch at Boka Kitchen and Bar in Hotel 1000. It was good food, but amazing service. Both Ted and I were very impressed!

We did a bunch of driving around the city, so Ted could get his bearings. And then we stopped at Highland Drive in Queen Anne, and Gasworks Park. We had two beers at Tangletown Pub. And met some great bar tenders. People in Seattle are just nice. It's amazing.

For dinner we extended out the Urban Family a bit and had Jeni join Carolyn, Ted and myself for dinner at the Latona Pub. More great micro brews and a darn good burger followed by some great conversations about what to look out for in your first year in Seattle. Carolyn has been there two years, Jeni one year, and Ted having just moved. I have to say. I am a little jealous!

I hopped on a plane that night and can't wait to go back and visit. Ted started his new job today and is very excited! He will do splendidly and hopefully he'll start his own blog about Seattle!