It's Been So Long

I'm going to do it. I'm going to run a marathon. After watching my dad finish his 17th marathon at the Boston Marathon a couple weeks ago, I'm determined. It's something that anyone can do and I saw that people of different shapes and sizes were not only finishing it, but finishing with good times. My ultimate goal will be to run Boston (which my dad is, of course, stoked about and has guaranteed he will run at my pace whatever that may be). I have a 16 week training plan. I'm going to do the first week for the next few weeks since I can't start it until then. I'm feeling better on my runs, but a part of me is still thinking "Okay this is four miles, how am I going to do another 22?!" I'm scared of being bored for the 26.2 miles. I picked out the Hartford Marathon since I will be out of town for the NYC Marathon.

Viva Las Vegas...

Back from Vegas! As much as everyone talked poorly about it, I actually quite enjoyed it and would like to go back sometime when I'm not working. I saw Penn and Teller and O (Cirque du Soleil). O was the most amazing show I have ever seen! It's hard to fully give it credit through a description, one really has to see it. But, it was done in water, under water, on the water...just amazing. People would enter and exit through the water, the stage would rise up and people would be on it. If you go to Vegas, I would recommend that show. In fact, I would say go to Vegas just to see O!

I won $50 in a nickel slot machine, which was awesome. If I did the max bet I would have won $24,000...even more awesome. But hey, I still won $50.

The show itself went really well. I was told I did a good job and that's what I wanted to hear. I've decided I need to write something, or at least start on an idea so that when planning for NAB is over, I can try and do something production related. I need to sit down and just write but it's so hard to come up with an idea and once you get it, it has to flow.

I went to Erin Austin's play reading tonight (which was really good and funny) and that inspired me more to sit down and make myself write something. It's hard work, but it'll pay off in the end.

Avenue Q

Megan Kinney is here for a month, and it's been so great; not only because it's been a while since I've seen her, but she's also gotten me into gear to actually do things. We went to MoMA on Saturday, did the Sex and the City tour Sunday, wander around and try new restaurants, and last night we went to a musical via "rush tickets." Basically, you enter your name into a lottery and they pull 6 names and those people get the front row seats for $20 plus a $1.50 facility fee (I'm not sure if the price varies for the show). It's great because it's affordable. She was the one who stood in line since I had to work, but she said the cheapest tickets that night were $66!

Avenue Q was my life in a musical. It's about a kid who just graduated from college and moved to New York and lives in a burough that isn't Manhattan because it's affordable. The whole time he is trying to find his purpose in life. It was hilarious. The show uses puppets and you would think that would be really weird, but after a while you hardly notice/the actors' faces match the puppets' so you want to watch them both.

After the show Megan and I got on the train and the guy across from us started talking to us and he goes "Weren't you two at the show tonight?" It was one of the leads from the show!! He lives a stop away from me on the train so we talked until I got off. I was telling him that I just graduated and I live in Queens and the show is so much like my life and he said "I graduated nine years ago and I still live in Queens." It's nice to know that even people on Broadway live out here. He only works three hours a day, six days a week which I found interesting. They don't do any rehearsals.

Vegas on Saturday! Ahhh! The moment of truth!

High of 68

Who knew I would ever say that the 50s and 60s are hot?!?! Coming from Florida, 50 or 60 is a cold snap. It's 55 right now and the high is 68 today and it's BEAUTIFUL outside. Yes, you still might want a light jacket because it isn't summer, but it feels like a spring day, not the beginning of January! Last night Joanne and I went to dinner and we couldn't even wear our jackets because we were getting hot in them and one woman stepped outside and said to her friend "It's so hot." It seems like in Florida this would feel cold to me, but maybe a thirty degree drop in temperature will do that. Unfortunately, this is a temporary phase. It was in the high 50s yesterday (although Robert went out yesterday to explore the city and said it was a high of 62), today is 68, and tomorrow is in the high 50s...then it goes back down. Oh well, I'm enjoying it while I can.

Holiday Hangover

This is what my dad called it today when I spoke to him. I felt like I had weeks off, even though I really only had 7 days off work and was gone for 11 days. So, you can imagine the feeling I had returning to work today after that much time off.

My vacation was great! I left on the 21st and, of course, both my flights were delayed so I didn't get back until late. We woke up early the next morning and drove to Atlanta where we stayed with my aunt, then woke up early again the next morning and did a caravan to my grandmother's in Illinois. We stayed there until Saturday and then drove back to my aunt's and stayed the night. On Sunday we drove back to Tampa and then I left Monday to get back for New Year's Eve. The vacation, as I expected, went by way too fast! However, I think I'm going to be going back to Tampa the weekend of March 14th since the bridal shower for my friend (I'm in her wedding) is that weekend AND it's my brother's 18th birthday, so it gives me something to put on my radar so I'm not totally down about missing my family.

I also have Vegas in 3 weeks to look forward to!!

New Year's was a lot of fun! Cooper, Janet, Matt, and I met up for dinner at 8 at City Lobster. Security was so tight we had to stand in line to be let on to the street because it was closed to vehicles and pedestrians. We had to show them our reservation and then get "wanded" with a metal detector and have our bags searched. Getting into my office to see the ball drop was so much easier I was shocked. I figured it would take convincing and a long time to get there. The view was perfect! The only thing we couldn't see was the front of the 2008 sign that lights up when the ball drops. We could see the back, though, haha. It was somewhat anticlimactic in that I looked over and realized the ball was already dropping (they don't countdown to that). We watched it go down and then some fireworks went off and that was it. We did hear Carrie Underwood performing and I'm sure we heard others, but we weren't listening. After that we went to a party. The next day we watched the disappointing Gators game and that was the end of my vacation.

Happy New Year to whoever reads this blog!

"Buddy the Elf. What's your favorite color?"

I never thought I would say this, but snow is passe. Okay, maybe that's not the right word to describe it, but it snows so much here that it's just another thing, like rain in Florida used to be.

I saw my first celebrity! You probably wouldn't know his name, but you would know his characters. We were walking in the Subway to Green Drinks(an event for work) and I saw him, made eye contact, and didn't recognize him. Then Morgan said "Did you see Peter Dinklage?" He plays the publisher in Elf (the really mean one that wants the limo heated to a certain temperature that Buddy gets into a fight with). He was also the nanny from Nip/Tuck last season. I was so excited to see my first celeb!

I'm sooooo excited for Christmas Break! Jack gave us Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day off so I get to see my family from the 21st-31st! It'll be a nice breather before the craziness of January and NATPE returns.

23 days until Christmas!

The Christmas season is in full bloom here! It's snowing today, the Rockefeller tree is lit, and the streets are decorated.

I went Wednesday night to see the tree lighting. Erin and I tried to fight the crowds, gave up, and met her friends. They insisted that we see the tree get lit and thank goodness for their persistence. The tree was already lit when we finally got there and people began to leave. The area was barricaded and you could only exit the barricades, not enter. Erin and I were over it, but her friends were going to see that tree and we snuck through some barricades and there it was, in its now eco-friendly glory.

Last night I went out for Moody's birthday party which was so much fun! There were nine Phi Sig people there, but never more than eight at a time. As I was walking to the club listening to my iPod out of nowhere someone grabs me and goes "Hey! It's Eric." I joked with everyone that I was about to surrender my purse with the grab and the hey. I was so startled that wen I registered that it was Eric Kankowski I yelled "Oh my gosh...HEY!" very loudly. It was so nice to see him! When I got to the club it was (for those of you in Phi Sig) Moody, Janet, Lisa, Sarah H., Stefano, Aaron O., Travis, and me. The club was fun as were the people, but the bar situation was one of the worst I have seen. It took ten minutes to get your order taken by the one (sometimes it was two so that averages to maybe 1.5) bartender while the three or four barbacks stood there cleaning glasses. And, once you got your order taken you would only get to say half of it before the bartender went and either finished their beer (I heard they were also taking shots) or helped someone else. Then they came back to finish your order. They also would forget your order most of the time from what I was told. Other than that it was a great night!

My Thanksgiving went by much too fast and I was very sad to say bye to my family. There was no crying, but once I got home I was counting down the days to Christmas. However, I realized that I should enjoy these fun weeks leading up to it because my Christmas vacation will also fly by. Jack ended up giving us Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve off so I get to leave on the 21st and I come back on the 31st. Yay! 10 days!

I joined a gym yesterday. It was time. I feel so inactive, despite taking dance classes, just sitting at a desk all day. I walk a lot, but it's not enough, at least for me. So, there is a quick update for everyone. Hope all is well with you!