Friday, January 23, 2009

Back to Normal Soon, I Promise

The past 2 weeks have been painfully hectic. Work has been a total drag - I have a big report due that's due tomorrow. It's been sucking up my time much more than I'd prefer, and has left precious little time for anything, much less blogging.

I also flew to DC last weekend for Alumni Weekend (more on that soon!) so I was MIA in that respect too. I'll be back to normal posting soon, especially now that I found out that people actually read this ('sup fan club!)

Happy weekend!

And because this really never gets old.....

Friday, January 9, 2009

In Pictures: My First Ever Business Trip

Yesterday I got on a 6:45am flight to Las Vegas for my first ever business trip - the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Approximately 130,000 people descend onto Vegas for this show, full of video games, TVs, and all kinds of gadgets. My company sent me so that I could both see what the fuss is all about, and to help support two of our clients who were on-site. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, but here's a couple pictures I took with my cell phone.

Watching the sun rise over the mountains from my seat.

One section of Microsoft's ridiculously huge booth.

Panasonic's new super-thin LCD.

Samsung's ridiculous wing display of TVs (eek, sorry I couldn't rotate it).

Dinner at The Venetian (inside!)

A very blurry view of the Strip from my seat in the airplane.

Will I be back next year? Doubtful. But I'm glad I got to see what it's all about.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

My Beautiful, Beautiful Sisters

My trip to Germany for Christmas was all I hoped it'd be: relaxing, and filled with good food and my wonderful family. It wasn't terribly exciting, in the sense that I didn't go sightseeing or out into the city much. Instead, the days were filled with long breakfasts (complete with freshly baked bread - every day- and cheese and farm butter and general deliciousness), afternoon walks, reading books to my sisters, and long talks with my dad and stepmom.

It had been two and a half years since I'd last seen them, and leaving was incredibly sad and difficult. I plan on making my visits more frequent in the future - I think I would regret missing out on the lives of my young sisters, and miss the company of my father and stepmother, both of whom I get along with splendidly.

Philippa (the 17 month old) and I got along especially well...she has these endearing habits of squeeeezing you really tightly, giving big wet kisses, and putting her forehead against yours and cuddling up. By the end of the week she was letting me comfort her and leading me around the dining room table, my finger grasped firmly in her little hand. I think I'm going to miss her the most of all, and I'm eager to get back as soon as time and money allows.

Here are a couple of photos from my trip, along with a video of Philippa roaming around with her Big Bear. As a note, Philippa is the blonde little baby, and Adriane is the brunette 4 year old.








Friday, January 2, 2009

...Brings About the Start of a New One

Hello 2009!

I ushered in the new year in the most low key manner I have in recent years. While my favorite NYE is still 2006 (leading into 2007), with the dress-up party at T St, this one is up there for its good food and relaxation.

The lead up to new year's was hectic. We almost decided to go to Vegas, the idea of a house party was thrown around, and then all of a sudden it seemed all options disappeared. I was invited to my friend's dinner party (you can read all about it here), which is how we started our night. Nicole, from my book club, is an amazing cook with a wonderful apartment, as well as a food blogger. She was given some money to throw a new year's eve feast, and it was delicious! We ate all sorts of roasted chicken, vegetables, gratin, black eyed peas, homemade baklava (!!), and I got to see some of the book club girls as well.

We left around 10, with the intention of meeting up with some people and seeing the fireworks. Unfortunately the Muni, though it had promised to run more frequently, had a wait time of over 20 minutes, and seeing as how we were far away from our destination but close to my apartment, we turned around and headed home.

The rest of the night was blissfully low-key. We popped open some champagne, ate some German marzipan pigs for luck, watched Finding Nemo, and caught a view of the fireworks from my living room window. I went to bed happy and ready for 2009.

This morning I made my resolutions - I don't normally do this, but this year I thought I would give it a try. I don't have many, and the ones I do have are reasonable enough. I don't think I'm quite ready to share them yet, if only because I don't want to have to acknowledge to a wider audience that I didn't keep them - purely selfish!

So, to keep you satiated, here are some photos of NYE 2008 - from the comfort of my couch.

Being attractive while keeping Adam's identity hidden (standard)


Nemo! Of course I capture the saddest moment in the movie.


What is NYE without champagne?


Our Frankenstein marzipan pigs.


Happy 2009 everyone!


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