401k.. I dunno

I've contributed to a 401k since the day I started my official first job out of college-real world-i have to pay bills-job. Something my father instilled in me actually. He's said that if you want continue living the lifestyle (or better) that you currently lead while employed, you'll need money while retired. good advice. and since W isn't showing signs of balling up and fixing our social security woes, a 401k is the way to go.

I got my statement today and it always boggles my mind. I agree with the 'if i don't see it, i don't know its there (and growing)' philosophy of saving. I'm a good saver, when I'm not putting money into vacations abroad or new techie products (when the hell did this start?). But here's my conundrum. Frigging rollover. Rollover to me use to be a part of my day to day when I worked on the cingular account at bbdo.. it meant your unused minutes carried over month to month (but not after a period of 12 months). now i find myself 7 months into a job and still have not rolled over my old 401k. It's not a bad thing really, I'm guessing the old account still is gaining interest, it's just not being added to. and since I'll probably never go back to BBDO, it really should follow me from the Omnicom umbrella to good ol' WPP. ---and for a sick side note, just to make your stomach turn... I read an article this week on just how much our top ad execs make these days. Andrew "I'm sorry i have to leave, I'm going on holiday in the alps' Robertson, head honcho of BBDO, global network, made a whopping 4.6 million .....in 2006... sick right? wonder what his 401k is like. Jesus.

so. back to rollover. i have to figure this out, make a clean break.

on a lighter note. I'm trying 2 new places tonight. Republic - a restaurant my parents ate at when they had their nyc vacation at my apartment when i was in Costa Rica, and Blue Owl for drinks afterward. We shall see what the nigh holds. in the meantime, I really have to get ready.
have a good one.

review

In the past two days, I've spent over 10 hours at 2 separate wine bars. As you know, last night I was at 3 Steps, around the corner from my apartment. This evening, walking home from tonight's wine bar, I saw Duke the 3 Steps bouncer and stopped by to say hello. It's always good to have an in with the bouncers, they are the key to a good evening and can watch out for you if creepy guys stick too close to you.



So, this evening Rachel and capped off a very long and hard week at work at Artisnal for some wine, cheese and dessert. Our selection of cheese consisted of; cow, sheep and goat cheese. I picked the sheep, Rachel picked the cow and we had the bartender decide upon the goat for us. Amazing. It was delightful. a bottle or two later and a delicious apple tart, rounded out the night.

And let me tell you, I love sitting at the bar, you have so much more interaction with those who know the restaurant scene the best, the bartenders. (speaking from 6 years bartending experience...)

Anyway, I highly recommend this place, the cheese and bread was amazing. The staff is highly knowledgeable (without being pretentious) regarding wines and cheeses and if they don't know something, they find someone who does. Thought I'm not sure i could afford the dinner I'd like to have there, they do offer a price fix menu which I'm definitely considering. Anyone who comes into town, we'll go here. My treat.

another reason why I love New York

I just got home. It's 1:45 in the morning. I met Deb, a coworker, out at 3 Steps, a bar literally spitting distance from my apartment and had a fantastic evening. I've had more then a bottle and a half of Pinot Grigio, a good one at that and met a couple of' 'bloakes' from England who i've vowed to play soccer/football with in the future. Much older, but tons of fun.



just another reason why I love New York. The mix of people blows Atlanta out of the water.
ten times over.


Good night, or shall I say good morning.

My favorite things today

a short list.

1. Yelp. By far one of my favorite reference websites for NYC. it beats citysearch any day.

2. My dentist... wha?? Blasphemy. those who know me, know I hate dentists. especially Laura who basically hand-held me through my wisdom tooth extraction. "did you put this hoodie on me? I didn't put this hoodie on..." --anesthesia and I are a funny mix.. anyway. Last week I had a filling fixed and I was in an out in 40 minutes. And, no droopy cheek due to excessive Novocaine. doc used the correct amount. Today, I had a cleaning. --i HATE cleanings. I don't like people poking around in my mouth with foreign pointy metal objects, they look medieval.


My hygienist had me in and out of there within a half hour and praised me for showing up on time and not throwing off the rest of the day's appointments. She was great, not too rough on the gums either. Because of her, I just may start flossing more, and purchase an electric toothbrush with a 2 minute timer.

3. Curly hair. when my "i woke up late, my hair will be curly today" do' works, it makes that extra 1/2 hour of sleep so worth it. Thank you follicles, thank you.


and that's the list so far.

let's go..... mets?

I am not a fan of baseball. sit me in front of a television for any type of football and I'm more then pleased, live at a college game? ---even better. Baseball is not big in my family, whereas football (NY Giants) is, so I don't recall ever going to Yankee or Shea stadium as kid. Rachel, my cube mate, and I were talking about this conundrum this week and decided next time she has an extra Mets ticket, I'd go. Well that time was today's 1:00 game, strangely enough against the Atlanta Braves. Here we are, the rest of the group (Rachel's husband Jeremy & a handful of his friends) were heckling the Braves outfielders at the time. hysterical.


I've seen a handful of Braves game, of which I loved. I don't like baseball but I do like begin outside drinking beer and eating hot dogs, and sports events live I do enjoy. Needless to say NYC weather has been phenomenal, so who could pass up a cold beer, foot long dog and guys running around in tighter then average pants? no brainer. Just look at that sky, clear as day. literally.

One cool thing about Shea stadium is that it's in the flight path of Laguardia Airport. Every 5 minutes or so huge jumbo jets and propeller planes fly overhead.

crazy right?

So that was my day so far. Since I bailed on Deb for brunch due to the free tickets, I think we may go to dinner. I just need to wash off some of the sunscreen. Sunscreen, in April. Global warming is frightening, but I loved this weekend's weather.

oh, and the Mets ended up losing in the last inning 9-6. It was kind of sad. I think one of the reasons why I love going to live games is the feeling of comradery amongst your fellow fans. It's like one big family. it was nice.
anyway. i'm not giving up on the rest of this weekend until the sun officially sets. time to hit the streets again. adios

a great day in nyc

The weather was absolutely beautiful today. I was anxious to get back into flops & a skirt so I opted to head off to the Central Park Zoo. Suzanne, one of my JWT coworkers, volunteers there so I was able to skirt pass the line and enter right away.

So it was me, Diane and the animals.

We saw, polar bears, bats, penguins (by far my favorite) seals, birds and bunch of other animals. Here are a few of my favorite shots of the day:


We left the zoo famished so we headed down to Rodeo Bar for burgers and diet coke-- we were parched as well. Damn good burgers, and I must say the bleu cheese i was dipping my fries in was delicious. After lunch Diane headed back to Hoboken for a nap and I headed back to Central Park to enjoy the sunshine.

I stretched out my sarong and basked in the sun for a good couple of hours. With a borrowed library book and bottle of water in tow, this spot could not be beat. 1/2 way through chapter 7 I had a nice visit with an adorable who jumped on my lab and kept pointing at my reading material saying "book, book!" So cute. I didn't think the summer reading racy chick lit was appropriate for story time so she babbled and I nodded and smiled until her mom came to collect her. little red head, she cracked me up.


It was getting late and I caught the shopping bug so I headed downtown to H&M to see if could broaden my spring wardrobe. Successful, as usual. Now I'd better head off to bed, I'm having brunch with a new coworker tomorrow in her neck of woods- Brooklyn. I'm excited to see more of the boroughs. Can't wait for more warm weather.

working on it

I haven't forgot don't' worry. The vacation post is near and dear to me, I'm taking my time. almost like I'm reliving it again. wish i was there! but it'll be 72 degrees on Saturday here in this big city, and I'll be at the Central Park Zoo to celebrate the end of Earth week. Very excited.
I'll take pics.

connected.

I've returned to the states in one piece and I intend to give a full account of my trip to Costa Rica, but cannot do it justice until I've had some decent sleep.

I've never felt so connected to a vacation as i did with this one. When I carried my overpacked suitcase downstairs to catch the bus to San Jose I looked back to the hotel one last time, and regretted not extending my stay a few more days. I toyed with the idea, but the real world got the best of me.

I'd give anything to be belly up to the bar with a cold Pilsen in hand shooting the shit with the bartender and the girls. Hell, I'd even take belly up to that same bar by myself.

I don't have many regrets in life, if any.
now I have one.

how many hours?

why is it, i ask, that every time you leave to go on vacation, everyone wants to dump a bunch of work on you just as you are trying to record your out of office voice mail greeting for the 16th time without saying "shit" at the end of it. Now what prospective client/vendor wants to hear me cursing.


leaving the city for the airport in less then 12 hours. (3:00 am to be exact)
good times.

fun

haha.
here's a little game I play.
I think it's fun to beat my boss to work in the morning.

dork?

yes.

Good ol' embassy

I just registered my trip to Costa Rica with the US Embassy there. Smart cookie, I am. They are there to help in the event of an emergency while I'm traveling either in CR or back home. It's a smart way to let Uncle Sam know where I am. This is one instance when I'm not unhappy with big brother looking over my shoulder. If he is available to fend off would be local thieves I'm down with that too. maybe sam could poke them in the eye.

In a couple of days now

This is what I'll be doing. Although considering the fact that I haven't surfed since i was, hmm... 14, it won't be boring. Amusing I'm sure for my fellow beach goers.


nataliedee.com

cannot wait. My duane reade shopping list includes the following:

• bug spray
• flashlight (it starts to get dark at 6pm! weird)
• band aids. i'm a clutz regardless of geographic location
• eyeliner. left mine in NJ
• mascara. ditto

i went home this past weekend to stock up on vacation necessities.. sunblock, small shampoos, soap. i love travel sizes. they make me very happy. what doesn't make me happy is that i still cannot find the following:

• black shorts for Puerto Viejo "nightlife"
• cheap tshirts
• cheap tanks
• another 2 skirts

let's hope i have some luck at the cheapie store around the corner at lunch. I'm sure you're all on the edge of your seats with these huge world changing issues. I'll keep you posted on the results.