On the road again

Hello again! Writing this from a plane to Charlotte from San Francisco. Last I wrote I was in VA Beach, visiting Mom & Ron, relaxing and loving every second of it. Being in VA Beach made me realize JUST how much I missed living down the road from my family and the importance of being close by. Hopefully we’ll all be able to gather in one state at some point in the next few years.

I was home for about a day and a half between trips, so I had about enough time to unpack, repack and hit the road again. Headed to San Francisco from Wednesday to Sunday for a work trip. The work portion was just during the week, so I happily extended my stay through the weekend so I could enjoy my favorite city and see Margie. I arrived late Wednesday night, checked into the BEAUTIFUL (but rather club-like) W Hotel in Soma and went out for drinks at the “Thirsty Bear” pub across the street. I really got to know the few co-workers who came along on this trip and they were great. One gal in particular made me realize just how lucky I was to have developed girlfriends at work. Was SO happy that she came along, and we got to spend a lot of time touring the city together.

Anyway, we were in SF for focus groups. It was a very unique research study and I was psyched to be a part of it. Such a cool experience. We did some in-home ethnographies along with traditional facilitated focus groups.

Thursday night after the groups were over, I met up with Margie and we went to a great bar/restaurant called Jasper’s.  We were then brave enough to venture over to the Tenderloin to check out the world-famous “Speak Easy” bar called “Bourbon & Branch.” It was the first speak-easy bar in SF and well-known for it’s whiskey, library room and secret bookshelf doorways. We researched the password to enter and took a risk trying to get in, as it’s usually reservation-only. Somehow we made it in and it was well worth the risk! Such a cool place. Almost felt like the setting of a Sherlock Holmes book. Look it up!

Friday was more work, a second brunch at The Grove (adorable place near The W), lunch at Café de la Presse in Union Square, some adventuring with my co-worker and new favorite gal, and then an awesome night out in Berkeley. Margie was wonderful enough to buy us tickets to see Edward Sharpe & The Magnet Zeros (one of my favorite bands) and they played at The Greek Theater in Berkeley. We took the train over with a bunch of her friends, had dinner at a great pizza place called Junipers and made it just in time for the first song. We had a ball. I met a lot of great people and loved seeing Berkeley. Reminded me a lot of Burlington, which made me miss home.

Saturday Margie and I ventured down to the Ferry Boat building for the farmers market. I’ve done this before but it was Margie’s first time. We ate lots of food, sampled, explored and had our first Blue Bottle coffee experience. Worth waiting in line – yum!

We rode cable cars (my first time!) back to Margie’s apartment, picked up her vespa and drove to the Coit tower to continue our touristy adventures. We then drove to the Golden Gate Bridge, snapped some photos, had lunch on Chestnut Street and headed home to relax before dinner. We went to an adorable wine bar for wine and cheese and then headed to Little Italy area for drinks.

Heading to the SFO airport was very sad for me, as I had nearly forgotten how much I had fallen in love with the city. It has been nearly a year since my last visit, and far too short of a trip! I’ll be in Charlotte for a sales meeting and then headed home for a week or so. Next week I’ll headed to Baltimore for Expo East and then I should be back for a month before my next trip.

Missing family and counting down the days until my trip to VT for Thanksgiving. J

Can't sleep, gotta write.

I now have a greater respect for all my blogger friends out there (okay, so perhaps it's a one-sided friendship, I love them and they don't even know it..) BUT that being said, sheesh it sure does take a lot to keep up with one of these things!

A loooooottt has happened since I last wrote in mid-July. It's so hard to believe that I have only lived in NYC for a little over three months. It feels like a year. Last I wrote, Dad & Patti were about to visit. That seems like ages ago! We had a great visit - walked the Brooklyn Bridge, ate some good food, explored my neighborhood, saw Mama Mia! and thanks to Dad, took an authentic pedicab through Central Park. How amazingly cliche! We definitely enjoyed it. :) We ate some late night pizza, did a great deal of catching up and exploring, and had an all-around lovely weekend.

The week that followed, we opened up the SoHo store for work! It was a great launch party and a beautiful storefront. Happy to see it being so successful. A lot has happened on the work front, since posting last. We have since opened up a magnificent office in the heart of SoHo, overlooking the city. It has felt like an entirely new experience getting to work from an office with co-workers each day. While it's only been open for two weeks, I am so grateful that it came when it did. :) Late nights at the office are truly that much better when you're working alongside your co-workers (and they are some awesome gals) and the fantastic view of the city doesn't hurt either! And did I mention we have a view of Kelly Ripa's rooftop? Obviously we are all waiting on pins and needles to find Mark Consuelos tanning...i'll keep you updated.

I wish I could re-cap everything, including all of the delicious food, weird experiences and other authentic New York experiences I've had in the past month and a half, but truly I would just be doing it so that someday I could look back and remember that it actually happened (and wasn't just a dream). I'm starting to feel like life in NY is moving so quickly, and I want to make sure I remember all of it. It has been such a life-changing experience so far and while there have been pros and cons (as there are to all things in life) it really has been unbelievable. I do sometimes miss the monotonous things that were built into my 9-5 life in VT... cooking, working out, sitting on the TV and vegging out like a zombie for an entire Sunday afternoon...snuggling Finnley on the couch and never, ever feeling that "Oh god, I'm missing out on something all the time" feeling. BUT that being said, I feel so lucky to live in a place where there IS so much going on, so much to see, so much to learn, that I do feel like I'm missing out if I'm not getting out there to experience it....Am I right? :)

OKAY...so - quick recap of a few other things that have happened post-July 19th:

SoHo store launched

Weekend trip to Nantucket (First trip ever, LOVED it!) Between driving on the beach, excessive amounts of lobster and some peace & quiet outside the city, it was perfect. I was constantly on the hunt for my perfect house that I'll never be able to afford. A pitiful pursuit, but easily done in Nantucket.

Two Coldplay concerts, which I was absolutely spoiled to experience in one week (Boston & NJ) - amazing!

Mumford & Sons concert on the waterfront in Hoboken (life-changing!)

A visit from the beautiful, Caitlin Bricker, which included our first Korean BBQ in Korea town (only appropriate).


A weekend visit from my brother, Eric and his gf, Brooke. We were A+ tourists and even tackled a Harbor Boat tour, in addition to tons of great food (our first authentic ramen noodle house), bars, and family bonding time. :)

Orlando Sales meeting for work. While we didn't get to experience anything authentically Florida (outside of avoiding Disney World), we had a great Sales meeting! Boot camp was run each morning before breakfast. We had a Food Network recipe throw down with CHO (judged by a Food Network chef, himself!) They took us to a final dinner party at the Kennedy Space Center, where we ate dinner under Apollo 18 and saw the official landing platforms of NASA. The best part? The Ritz Carleton. :)

Upstate NY plant tour! This was a long time comin' and what an awesome experience! So great to drive upstate with my team to the yogurt plant to see where the magic happens. We got to experience the authentic tour of the plant, eat yogurt out of the vat, hang with our incredible CEO and of course, experience some Frank's pizzeria on the drive home to the city. All in all - total success.

Smorgasburg - finally made it to the famous foodie market on the waterfront in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Lets just say this - I'm going back!

MoMa PS1- I went to my first "art party" and I never knew that was even a thing. Well, a thing, it is, and a cool thing, indeed! MoMa puts on a new exhibit every summer in Long Island City, NY and a huge party is thrown each Saturday that includes a bunch of great DJs, good beer, more hipsters from Brooklyn than you can count and the art exhibit. All you need to do is picture some of the most well-dressed, thick-rimmed glasses wearing hipsters, dancing in a small courtyard in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by kegs, art, music, and fellow-hipsters, and you're almost there. No, but really..it was very cool. One of the exhibits was just an empty room with an exposed ceiling that had been cut out. Sounds incredibly boring - but totally cool. Thank you to Nola for making me go to this. :)

Now if I could just get my iPhone pictures to upload on here, you could visualize it all with me! Unfortunately I have been very bad about using my camera. I think I need to invest in a beautiful camera so I can really capture the city...My little "point and shoot" just doesn't cut it. And my iPhone sure doesn't do it justice either (just waayyy too easy to use!)

Between all of the above, I've been eating tons of yummy food, exploring new areas and running around like a chicken with my head cut off. :) I am in Virginia Beach now, enjoying time with my Mom and Ron, doing a ton of relaxing. Yesterday was a beach today and a lot of cooking/movie time.  Today we may explore the boardwalk and BBQ with my step-sisters. Absolutely love being here with my Mom. :) My lack of ability to sleep in anymore has caused me to write this post. Thankful for some free time to recap.

I return home late night tomorrow, and i'll hop on another plane to San Francisco for work on Wednesday. Happy to head out there for work, but even happier to see my favorite city, my girlfriend Margie and eat some SF food! I'll fly from SF to Charlotte, NC for a meeting at our sales office and then back to NYC I'll go!

Looking forward to Fall in the city. :)

Until next time...which hopefully won't be too far away.