In Naw-lens!

Hey all! Brooke & I made it to New Orleans! We had SUCH a great time yesterday/last night!! I landed around 4pm - my flight from Houston was a bit delayed, but everyone on the flight was heading down to Jazz Fest - so I met a ton of people & got some great advice & tips! This week, I'm reading a book by Kathryn Stockett, The Help, it's WONDERUL! Once I landed, I shuttled it downtown & met up with Brooke at the Palace Cafe for happy hour - $5 dollar wines, so we had a glass of vino to start our week off right! It was absolutely beautiful outside - the weather has been just gorgeous!! We went to the hotel & got ready and went out to dinner at the Corner Oyster House. It was great. We are staying at the French Quarter which has been CRAZY! There is SOOO much going on - and I'm in love with the energy & talent!! This city reminds us of Buenos Aires - which would be very accurate since they both have a heavy French influence. I haven't been to New Orleans since college - so it's been about 12 years. I forgot how the architecture in this city is so amazing! I think it's the only city in the USA that feels "different". I feel like I should have my passport with me! Plus, people can drink on the street - which is weird to see people walking around with beer & when you leave restaurants, they ask you for a to-go cup or a "roadie". Hey, why not!? [Side note: it's also the only state that has the guilty until proven innocent methodology - better be on my BEST behavior!]

Every corner has musicians & there are so many people dancing everywhere and really enjoying themselves! It's all ages, sizes, genders, races - so I feel like I'm in my element! We ended up going to a ton of places along Bourbon Street and all around! We danced the night away and even got our palms read - which was pretty spot on for both of us! I've never had my palms read, and it's nice to know that it's stated in my own body that I'm stubborn & independent - so I guess it's nice to be reconfirmed! =)

I've bounced around all day long in the city with my backpack - took a conference call at the park & am at my 3rd coffee shop - pretty shaky on all my Chai Teas I've had - but I need to find my wifi somehow!

I forgot to bring my camera with me - so I will post pictures soon! It's been a blast!! Hope you are all doing well =)

New Orleans

I'm leaving for New Orleans Tuesday morning! My friend, and college roommate, Brooke got there tonight (Monday) and we will be there until Saturday! We are staying in the French Quarter at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Astor (right off Bourbon Street): 739 Canal Street & the phone number is: 504.962.0500.


I will post more once we figure out what we will be doing! If you have any ideas or suggestions of things we must see or do - please send them our way! This week (and last week) is Jazz Fest! As of now, we have all day tickets for Thursday's concert! We may do some other touristic things while we are there - perhaps a swamp tour to see the alligators, tour the city & definitely meet the locals!

Back at home [Kansas City]

Hello from Kansas City! I am back home! It's nice to be home - even if it's raining and dark out. I have a lot of work to do today - so I'm thankful there are no distractions caused by the sun!

The remaining part of my trip was really fun! Tuesday night, we ended up going to dinner at the Bengal Lounge inside the Fairmont for an Indian Buffet! It was really good! They had crazy ceiling fans - so I snapped a quick shot of them - they just waved back and forth! At dinner, we also looked out the window and saw this pigeon on top of the dome that looked like a wind direction indicator/turbine thing. Not sure the proper term for that =) But, I included a picture - which is worth a 1000 words!!

After dinner, we walked about a mile to a local brew pub on the water, the Canoe, for a beer. The place was packed - quite hoppin' for a Tuesday night! It looked like a typical American brewery, but the lighting was all chandeliers. I thought that was great!

Not much more to report, that was about it on the excitement. Yesterday was a pretty uneventful day of travel. It was really chilly & windy out so I didn't even go outside on the Ferry. I pretty much read & worked all day until I got home last night around midnight!

My next trip will be next Tuesday, April 27th. Brooke and I will be heading to New Orleans for Jazz Fest!!

Snow-capped Mountains & the True Beauty of Nature!

Hello everyone! Greetings from Victoria! Yesterday evening I spent a couple hours venturing around the area! I went over to Beacon Park and was so blown away by the beautiful landscaping.. and ALL the ducks! I can't believe how many ducks are living there (and not at all scared of people!) Ducks are not that rare to my world since I typically walk around Loose Park 4-5x per week and there is a duck pond there, but these little creatures seemed to really have a soft spot for people! [I guess we should just credit the bread loaf =) ]

After the park, I went down to the coast and rocky beach to see the the snow-capped mountains. It was sooo beautiful! I took pictures, but like always, I just can't ever seem to capture what I really "see". I also really loved [and this is a borderline weird observation] there were about 3:1 push-walkers/motorized-carts per regular walker/jogger! I loved that no matter your age or condition, that people were out capturing this view! It was so peaceful, and I'm sure this would be a top pick to spend your retirement days! My grandfather recently got a motor-cart [he lives in Topeka] and it makes me happy to see others with them - getting around and not letting age, pain or ailment stop you from getting around on your own! Seeing that was a nice comforting feeling for my own grandfather!

I walked back to downtown through this neighborhood that felt like a 1950s movie - small town, every house with a picket fence - many of which hung their laundry to dry on a clothes line. EVERY house had the most amazing landscaping! I couldn't believe it! The tulips here are nearly as big as my entire hand! The colors and arrangement of all the flowers made this place "happy"! I took tons of pictures [and again, over-shot the heck out of my camera so I included a slideshow - since I couldn't narrow down the photos I wanted to share!]

Once I got into downtown, the streets are lined with trees with pink buds. I don't know any type of flower or tree other then the basics (roses, tulips, daisies, lilies) - so I'm not sure what I saw, but it was awesome! I went to the bay again and took some photos of the locals selling their artwork. There is a lot of talent in this town!

That pretty much sums up my day - since it was Monday my night was pretty low key! I did some work at night and went to bed fairly early. Tonight is my last night here and I hope to find a nice, local seafood place near the water to enjoy a big dinner before I have to rely on McCormick and Schmick's for the freshest seafood in the Midwest! Tomorrow I will head home - so I hope to post before then. My next trip is in one week from today - I leave next Tuesday for New Orleans [Next Thursday will be the Jazz Festival!]

Victoria, bc 4.19.10

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We are here - in Victoria!

Hi everyone! Sorry I'm just now getting around to posting! Yesterday was a good/long day! I left around 6am to get to the airport - and flew from KC to Chicago. The flight to Vancouver was about an hour delayed - but the flight was pretty easy. We napped and ate and I started reading Chelsea Handler's new book - Chelsea Chelsea Boom Boom!(It's another good one!). We got to Vancouver & took a cab to the ferry (which we were 1 minute late to - so we had to wait an hour for the next one). We got coffees,junk food & just hung out. The ferry ride was really cool. It was huge and reminded me of a floating community center - it smelled like one and had a huge cafeteria, lots of different rooms with tvs - with different programs, vending machines, arcades, a few stores, etc. We got some really great pics of the coast - but the shots I took that I will post don't nearly do it justice! The ferry ride was about an hour & 1/2 long - and it was about another 30 minute cab ride to downtown Victoria. We finally checked into the hotel about 4pm (Pac time) - so about a 12-hour travel day.. which wasn't too bad. I got some work done and had some time to relax. The customs line was really easy - which I heard different from Meredith. I've only been to Toronto, so it was nice to have the expectation of a long line (and have it be pretty painless!). The hotel is nice! It's on the 9th floor and has free wireless - so you know I'm in heaven! [NOTE: there are no restrooms/bathrooms - everything is 'washroom'] Once we checked in, we got ready and ventured off for fresh seafood! We found a sushi place and ordered a TON of food. The salmon was red (blood red) - not pink at all - and very tender! They also had lobster tails for $5 each! We loaded up on a bunch of food. It's still hard for me to eat and I'm pretty sure my new set of temporary falsies are loose.. so I need to be really careful. bummer! =( [It probably didn't help that all we did was eat - I started off with the big-man-breakfast + hotcakes at McD's in O'Hare to get it going!] Side note: For those of you who don't know [about my teeth], the plan was to be completely done last Wednesday, but they were not ready, so my next [and hopefully last] appointment will be Monday, May 3.

After dinner, we walked back to the hotel and stepped into this giant-sized Irish Pub to grab a quick drink.There was a funny sign posted at the door enforcing dress code: "No rotten looking jeans". I love it! I want to know the definition of "rotten" and who's judgment call that is!

This morning I slept in (considering the time change) - and plan on running later today [I think!]. I moved my computer to my lap [still in bed] and have been working ever since! I would like to go explore the city a bit and visit the park and take some photos of all the botanical gardens! But either way, working in bed [while eating chocolate & candy] is NOT a bad vacation/getaway either!!!

Attached is the slide show from all my pics yesterday - sorry this post seems a bit irrelevant! =) When we landed in Canada, we both received a text stating the International rates. Sooo, I will not be using my phone (including texts) while I'm here. If you need to get in touch with me - please email me!

Victoria 4.18.10

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Hotel - Victoria Marriott Inner Harbour Hotel

We'll be staying at the Victoria Marriott Inner Harbour Hotel.

Ideas/Things to do:
Beacon Hill Park
Parkside Victoria Resort & Spa
The Butchart Gardens
Royal British Columbia Museum

Victoria, British Columbia

Sunday, April 18th I will head to Victoria [British Columbia] for some R&R and to catch up with some work. I will leave at 6am from MCI, with a layover for a few hours in Chicago where I will meet Francis [who is flying from NYC], then land in Vancouver mid-afternoon. We'll take a ferry to get to Victoria. I'm VERY excited for this trip - it was a last minute decision [booked it just a few days ago]. I have mentioned this trip to only a few people this week & everyone has been ranting wonderful things about the beauty of the island! It's been an incredibly busy & emotionally draining week so this will be the perfect getaway for a few days!