Slow Down!!

So, not to preach to the flock.... because I'm just as guilty.. but I had a grim reminder today of why we should all take it easy on the roads, and SLOW DOWN... As I was driving to work (I95/128), the traffic slowed to a crawl, and on my side of the road was a car completely flipped over, turned the wrong way, in the ditch, and it had just been on fire. I can't imagine that the driver and/or passengers are in good shape if they are even alive at this point. If you are reading this, then I most likely care about you, and I want you safe! Try to slow down and let people over, and I'll do the same!

Much love to the flock!

MySpace

I'm on a technology roll. I joined myspace.com yesterday. Its a site for the young and hip. This myspace thing is a little disconcerting though. Especially in the beginning. You have to ask for friends??!@!@. Its depressing to start out, because you have no friends. Then you have to gather the courage to ask for friends, and then wait an agonizingly long time for them to either accept or deny your request for friendship. I think I'm doing ok for a day's work. I have 5 friends. Of course I have some friend requests pending, but I feel loved. I know I'm loved, but it would really help if all those loved ones would get on myspace and let me be their "friend". Its amazing how quickly one page can influence your self worth.

I suppose the page can be cool though.. You can reconnect with old classmates/friends and make new friends along the way. You can add pictures, songs, video clips, etc. I'll have to investigate the pros and cons a little more, and then I'll report back (hopefully with a few more friends!)


check out my new page here

Girls gone wild in Nashville

What happens in Nashville...stays in Nashville.. except for a few details of my weekend!

This weekend I went to Nashville, TN for a bachelorette party. I had a blast. There were 7 of us. These gals were college sorority sisters of mine, and let me tell you... it was like college all over again. I was a little worried about the weekend for two reasons. One, I haven't hung out or even really communicated with any of these girls in a really long time - so how well would I get along or fit in?? Two, I don't go out anymore, and lately a late night means I was in bed after 10:30. My brother-in-law told me to soldier through though... so I got myself psyched to be having a girl's weekend, and it delivered. The friendships were still intact, and they all seemed genuinely thrilled that I was able to make it (they all live nearby and still get together pretty regularly- so I'm one of the only ones that they never see anymore)

LOST LUGGAGE (again - Come on.. twice in two weeks!) threatened to dampen my spirits, but my girls came through for me and shared their clothes and makeup with me for Friday night's outing. After that, there was much food and even more drinks to be had. We hit so many bars (no cover charges!) on both nights.

On Saturday we went sightseeing (or so I thought). Where we ended up was a mall. For 5 hours. If you know me, then you know I hate to shop. But since I was soldiering through... I shopped. and shopped. I think I won the prize for MOST MONEY spent. You would have thought that I had never stepped foot in a mall before. Something inside me went crazy and I became a shopping nut. It's not like I didn't have the same stores here in Boston, but for some reason... I had to shop. Saturday night we actually did my friend's bachelorette party.. We went to trendy nightspot and restaurant Cabana for dinner (and had our own cabana). I was a good girl for the most part. We did get pretty rowdy though... It was fun for me to host a best rear end contest (guy's rear end). I got to do a lot of scoping and grabbing of men's tushies. The details get a little fuzzy after that... I know I drank quite a few fruity concoctions and we moved on to two other bars before closing down for the night at 4 am.

Sunday... was kind of an erie day.. Guess who flew on Comair yesterday? Me. For those of you not up to speed, there was an awful crash yesterday (one of Comair's jets flying from Kentucky to Atlanta). I flew them yesterday afternoon and with my recent realization that I'm in my flying funk(lost luggage and delayed flights) again after 4-5 years of relatively smooth flying experiences, I was a little nervous about flying yesterday. Even though I know that flying is still the safest way to go, and then the chances of another plane crash (and the same airline) was next to zero... I was still a little hesitant to fly... and I have come to realize that I am getting tired of traveling sooooo much.

The Waiting Game

Today and the next few days starts another round of the waiting game... My beloved little niece has been battling cancer since December 2004. She's (THANK GOD) done with all her treatments, and she is resuming a normal childhood. There is always that waiting game though... for the 5 years that you have to wait to be given the final clean bill of health. In the meantime, she has all sort of scans every 3 months or so. I have faith that she'll be ok (she has to be), but it still a waiting game and patience has never been a virtue of mine. I can only imagine what my sister goes through (I actually have an idea, but I still can't fully appreciate it, as I don't have kids of my own). Here's to you Rainey. Good Luck today.. we're praying and rooting for you!

Anna Nalick and Chris Isaak Concert

We went to see Anna Nalick and Chris Isaak last night. What a great show. The venue was right on the Boston waterfront. Beautiful views and great music. My man and I did make the observation that it is a shame when the guy on the soundboard overpowers the singers voice with the music. That was the case with Anna's set. She has an awesome voice and the music was great.. but for the life of us.. we couldn't figure out a word she sang.

Chris Isaak's set was super high energy, and he (unlike some artists out there touring) played all of his hits. "Wicked Game" was 10 times better live than the original recording. I have always been a fan of Chris', so I'm glad that I finally got to see him live. He (for those who don't know him) is a cross between Elvis and Roy Orbison.. and he looks like Kurt Russell (sorta). He wears flashy suits, and he has a great sense of humor. Oh, and he's not afraid to get out in the crowd to play.

Great night. Another adventure on the T, and a great show. Who can ask for more?

Post vacation blues

Vacation is a beautiful thing. The problem is, you don't want it to end. That is the problem that my husband and I are facing today. The END of our vacation. We went to Aruba for a week. We'd been there before for our honeymoon, but we both agreed that this trip was so much better. Ok, well it got off to a rough spot. They left my luggage in Boston. So a day and a half later my luggage came, and none too soon. I was RIPE!! I almost put my bathing suit in my carry-on bag, but I didn't. Won't make that mistake again!! The lesson here.. pack 1/2 of your stuff in your partner's suitcase and vice versa. anyhoo... After my luggage came and our vacation really started, life was good. We did absolutely NOTHING on our vacation!! Last time we were on a mission to take in the island and everything the island had to offer . Not this time. We staked out our palapa each day, and laid under there and on our float all day long. We drank fruity drinks (LOTS of them), and I went and had a hot stone massage and an aloe body wrap... the only strenuous task we attempted was tubing in the beautiful Caribbean waters. The water really is that beautiful blue that you always here about.. Of course this picture doesn't do the view justice....

Oh, and there was our favorite sight-seeing activity... watching the topless sunbathers... Towards the end of the week, quite a few showed up including some obnoxious New York socialites.. who thought it would be funny to take off their top (ok, well 2 of the 4 did) They had tan lines, so you could tell that this was not their normal practice.. Well the attention craving New Yorkers had their cameras out and were snapping pics of themselves (of course hiding their faces!). One guy, Scooby (the beach social butterfly) scooped up one of the girls and took her towards the water.. She then squeals in protest and then squeals to her friends... "PIC-TURE"!!! (you can just hear them now... it equals = gag me with a spooooon!!)

Entertainment is entertainment I suppose.

The Happiest Place on Earth

SO, all you happy readers out there (all three of you!).. I've just come back from the happiest place on earth. Orlando! What I have learned from this experience is that the 6:40 Boston to Charlotte flight is no longer an option for me. You may recall from an earlier post, that I had some travel and weather disruptions on a particular Friday night.. Well. That was the same flight I took on Wednesday night. This time I actually had a connection. Thank God there were 11 other people on my Boston-Charlotte leg.. otherwise the plane to Orlando would have been long gone before I arrived. Talk about the MAD DASH through the airport to catch the next flight. I had exercise-induced asthma the first 25 minutes of the flight.

Orlando was a blast. I was there for business, but it became so much fun that I almost feel guilty about billing the hours to get paid. Almost.

I had a couple of hours to my self on Friday, so I went to Epcot. SOLO. Not as much fun when you 're by yourself. As I stood in line for Soarin' (say 150 people in front of me) a "cast member" comes up and down the line looking for a LONELY RIDER... alas.. sadly that was me. LONELY RIDER.. but I did get to jump the 150 people in front of me to ride the best ride at Epcot! Last time I was at Epcot (October 2005- 1st wedding anniversary!), the hubby and I were (no way of putting it delicately.. ) Tanked. They had this fabulous wine and food festival.. I've also heard it called "Drinking around the World". Hubby and I had such a blast that day... drinking and eating our way from country to country... I'll show you were we ended up... Norway! Like the Viking look?
Back to this most recent trip (Solo.. with me so far?).. I had lunch in Japan (Epcot- Japan).. At first I was intimidated for a few reasons. A) Dining by yourself is never fun. I can do it.. I just don't like it. B) I recently had wrist surgery.. so the prospect of dining with chopsticks was not appealing. I walked in.. and guess who I'm sitting next to? 3 Japanese girls (who actually work for Disney.. but they were there for lunch) OK.. reason B is definiely NOT APPEALING.. now I'm definitely going to look clumsy. It turned out to be an ok experience. One of the girls shared her squid with me. That was nice of her. Can't say that I'll order that on my own.. but I can say I've had it. Also I saw FEMALE CHEFS! go girl power. I've never seen girl chefs at any of the Japanese Steakhouses that I've been to.. so I thought it was taboo.. but 2 of the 3 girls I was sitting next to, were chefs at that very restaurant. you go girls.

Flight home was THANK GOD uneventful! I rode first class all the way!! Now I'm home and my next trip is to Maine (for the night) We've got birthday parties to go to tomorrow. Life of the jetsetter.. I love it! Orlando this week, Maine this weekend.. oh and I did I mention that we're going to Aruba next week?? I might not be fashionable.. but I know how to travel!!

The Devil wears Prada.... or anything fashionable.

So... I read the Devil wears Prada... good book! I saw the movie and it was cute too. What I took from both is that I want to be more fashionable. Not fashion magazine fashionable (that's heinous).. not even trendy.. I just want to strive to look more "put together". What a tall order. I obviously haven't been striving to do this in a LOOONNGG time. Fashion has completely changed and I've become an old lady. I tried shopping last night. I aimlessly wandered from rack to rack, wall to wall, and was utterly disappointed, confused, and shamelessly envious of any person who was a size 8 or below.

Everything is low cut these days (which my booty and stomach don't tolerate AT ALL). Apparently every tanktop has to be layered now too. And, don't get me started on accessories. I was almost in tears with the fact that I couldn't coordinate an outfit, (I do have a college degree and I was in a sorority) that I did nothing more than glance at the accessories and walked out.

The only solace I could find was in a cup of soft pretzel bites. I drove home and vowed to wake up skinny. No such luck. The first thing I'm going to do when I win the lottery is a) get a trainer and b) get an outfit coordinator.