I heart Minneapolis

When they mention the term Minnesota-nice, they are not kidding. everyone in this state. (with the exception of 2 random people who probably were just having a bad day) is so nice. the weather is perfect, the restaurant and bar scene rival other smaller cities, great suburbs. pretty lakes. I'm all for Minneapolis. too bad they're non on an ocean's coast. flying in was amazing, Sun Country Airlines is by far my new favorite. The flight was empty, they fed you, A cheeseburger!! constantly attentive. And to top if all off, the pilot pointed out historical landmarks and gave us great background on what bodies of water and land we were flying over. amazing. check the pick above. i love the orange against the blue sky.

anyway. i'm about to take begin boarding, but I thought i'd leave you with some pictures of the hotel. (Graves 601) sickeningly posh. the kind of place i'll probably only stay in for 2 reasons. 1. i'm on a press check 2. it's my wedding night and or honeymoon. even then. Sweet Jesus.

the bed was like a giant marshmallow. it's hard to tell in the pic, but the headboard is etched glass, that lights up to this truly amazing geometric pattern. I wish I shot it better.

the flat screen rivals the size of my nyc apartment.


the art on the wall is actually two back lit posters, durotrans I'd say. of course that tickled my fancy.



and the bathroom? sick right? i felt luxurious just getting ready in the morning. the shower was unbelievable, and the Hermes soaps, well... what a touch. the designer of this place should just come on over to nyc and put up another fantastic hotel.


why was the morning so easy? this shower and this screen..



because who doesn't have a 13" flat screen in their bathroom?


and just to remind me where I came from, this large Smirnoff Wallscape that I produced stared back at me when I looked out my window or exited the hotel.
overall, an amazing trip. great press check, freakishly knowledgable pressman, my vendor- a dream that every producer wants on their work. -everything. press room was so clean, you could eat off the floor. I even thought to break my no open toed shoes on press rule, but I had a little voice in my head channeling from Rhode Island the cons of bare toes around heavy machinery. hehe.

I'll be back in Minnesota for a few days next week, exact dates undetermined, but I can't wait. this project is one of a lifetime. I'd show you a couple shots from the press room but I can't kill the surprise of it all. it's mind blowing.

my fault

bit of a lull in the blogging, my apologies. work has been insane as has the amount of time spent out, recuperating from the daily grind I suspect. all in good fun. Let's see if i can do a short recap since the last go around.

first, restaurants and bars visited: Republic, amazing. been there twice since. had the glass noodle dish last time care of Laura's recommendation. lucky me, they deliver to my place.

blue owl? hmmm. tad to posh/trendy for me. I'm a huge fan of your classic dive bar. though it was quite fun to get all dudded up for the evening.

That same night, Deb and I skirted over to Professor Thom's on 14th and 2nd. quickly moving up the rankings of my favorite close-to-the-apartment-bars list. they mixed amazing music. old 80's, to euro trash, to reggae and metal. loved every beat.

went to a hotel bar on monday midtown with work pals, swanky and probably the best branding I've seen in a while. they had amazing letterpress drink coasters. -not your average either, they fused a spongey board to tissue paper branded in a muted mustard and cranberry. looked amazing. and striped matchboxes to boot. in efforts to keep the bar somewhat empty when i need it, I'm not releasing the name. call me selfish, i like my wine in a flash. hehe.

this weekend was good, relaxing. friday I stayed in after a quick jaunt to the apple store to pick up a new laptop case. I ended up going with this one. I'm traveling this week to Minneapolis to print the piece of a lifetime and order to show you fine people what I do, I needed a vessel to lug the ol' top around in. by seeing it online, i wanted the orange one, but live the color wasn't rich enough. the case is perfect, not too big, not to small. just right.
so. saturday was a day of errands. made a few returns, bought an adorable dress at old navy. headed down to canal street to do some research for a work project, failed miserably due to a Chinese/English language barrier and got super pissed at the amount of people in Chinatown. my spirits were lifted when i gave directions to a few tourists, they seemed so thankful. almost wanted to squeeze their cheeks and say "see, new yorkers aren't bad." i was tempted, though I didn't.

realizing it was nearing 5:00 and i hadn't eaten yet, I made my way uptown to madison square park, directly across from where i use to work/intern when in college. i whipped out a book that i had picked up at the library first thing that morning and got in line. 45 minutes later, ordered my food. 3o minutes later commenced eating. Shake shack is an anomaly. it's fast food, but not fast at all. the burgers though, are great. the shakes make it worth the wait. bring a book. and don't go starving. i made that mistake and ate my food in about 3 breaths.

i needed much farther of a walk then I had, so i added a few more blocks in for a pedicure. why not. it's flip flop season.

that night I met up with Maya and Sarah for drinks and a light dinner at Coffee Bar in union square. i don't think i have to go back there. service was rude, wine glasses dirty, food marginal. people watching was the only thing that made it half way decent. (their matches sucked by the way, I've started a collection now) after the bill arrived we paid and headed out to a friend's brother's birthday party and to watch 'the fight.' the loft they have is enormous, even more shocking the size of the television in there. crazy, complete guy's apartment. made me miss sleeping on the couch at the boy's place on Runnymeade Rd for a brief moment.

overall, good night. this morning I woke up and rode the path in NJ to meet Diane at the Hoboken arts & music festival. we had a great time walking around and seeing all the booths. came upon this one screen printing artist, whose painting I now regret not buying. it was strictly black, and white with 1 chosen color. (green, orange, red, etc. she had many options) I would have bought the green in a heartbeat if i could drop 160 on a canvas sans frame. Now i wish i had. i can see it above my couch hanging out on the wall. walking around made us hungry so we ate at one of our staples, charritos. not sure of the spelling, but damn good guacamole. mmm. oh , and to top it off you ask?

fried oreos.

holy hell. never had one before, damn good. probably can only have maybe a batch or two a year, but so worth it. and at 4:30 i was done eating for the day. still so full.

So now, I'm finishing up laundry, I have exactly 17 minutes before i have to run downstairs and grab my stuff out of the dryer and pack for my trip. I can now knock Minnesota off my list of places to see, more fitting, states I haven't been too. Lucky my vendor is frigging amazing, near my age and completely fun, so I'm sure I'll see some good Minneapolis sites.

off to pack. next time i write to you, I'll be in the central time zone. look out midwest.

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.

countdown

it's been a rough couple of weeks, maybe you've noticed by my posting history. This week will be on par with the last, think sand paper, rough. but... it will all be worth it in less then 7 days. Because in under a week, when i walk out my temporary front door, this is what I will see.


and seriously, ads, boy troubles, retouching and a couple of extra pounds can't hold a candle to this view.

amen.

ah, 78 degrees, i remember thee

today's weather was amazing. dress, bare legs and boots amazing. i love it. i ended up meeting Rachel (fellow producer) and Diane for drinks at naples 45 across from the office for a prime patio spot, cheap wine and free food. In new york? who knew? well, these places actually do exist, you just have to be patient and look.

this weekend was fun. i headed Rockville Centre, Long Island for their St. Patty's Day parade and let me tell you, it was fun. It was down home new york, local fireman and policeman, you really saw the brotherhood. It was a blast, and lots of beer at that. and men in kilts! I really have a thing for bag pipers, ive come to accept it. Here are a few photos from the day.

lots of beer, lots of strangers, lots of fun.

Nassau County Firefighters Pipes & Drums band


My accessory for the day, even though it bothers the hell out of me that Miller insists on spelling "lite" wrong.


JWT girls on the town.

overall, so much fun. Rockville Center is very cute. It reminds me of Red Bank, NJ. lots of tiny shops and a real hometown feel.

just polished off a bag of chips. these are my favorite, i could survive on these, diet coke, hot dogs, cake and bagels alone.

I highly recommend the Onion/Garlic Salt & Pepper and Ranch flavors. 70 calories 1.5 grams of fat and 1.5 g of fiber per serving, and high in soy protein. so damn good. and for the fat campers the small bag is about 2.5 -3 points. not that i'm counting again, though i should. example A- see my cheeks in pic above. haha

the weather outside? not frightful

holy hell it's warm outside, and that's not the 5 beers talking. walked out of a work happy hour and it's like a southern balmy night. 60 degrees in March? amazing. makes me think i soon have to buy an air conditioner, global warming and all. (these pre war buildings do not come equipped with such amenities).

working out production time lines today has made me realize that not only are my projects super behind schedule due to late photo shoots, but that costa rica is less then 3 weeks away. in 4 weeks i'll be the tannest girl on the 5th floor JWT. --one who is happy to use an SPF 30, followed by an SPF 15 4-5 days into the trip. i'm italian, i tan easy. sue me.

i'm starting to get the pre-trip jitters. had a small anxiety attack at work today because i was unsure of the location of my passport. found it nonetheless. i'm excited. I have not been on this long of trip since 1996 when i toured France for 10 days, with a my high school french club. fun, yes, but when you're 16 all you want to do is get hammered and not enjoy the historical meaning of such cities as Paris and Nice.

Don't get me wrong, I intend to have a good amount of boozing time in Costa Rica, but I also am planning on taking in some of the country's history. It's a prime week for that as well, being we'll be there over Easter. I hope to take in a morning mass. Who knows, maybe they'll have it on the beach.

anyway. have to finish out the work week strong. I'll be sure to post pictures from saturday's post st. patty's day rockville center, long island festivities.

reasons and a note

top 3 reasons why i think i need a boyfriend right now.
1. i need someone to pinch me awake so I can haul ass out of bed to the shower before 7 am
2. i'm a damn good cuddler
3. i have a lot to give.

now. the note.

Dear Sir on 45th St this morning around 9:30 am,
Listen f'er. due the the fact that i do not have a boyfriend to pinch me awake so I can haul ass out of bed to the shower before 7 am, I was running late this morning -very late. You see, I have an alarm clock. I tend to smack the snooze button often. A bit too often. Even though I'd sure give a BF a good punch to the arm for waking me up, the alarm gets the worse of the two. But, I'm away from my point.

All of your looking up to admire the tall buildings and dawdling around on the street while i'm trying to power walk/run past you, did not help me get to work any sooner. the fact that i had to jump over a rolling suite case and nearly shoulder an elderly woman to get away from your slow ass did not make me happy. In the future stay away from lexington ave between the hours of 8:45 and 9:45, save your building admiring for Times Square.

I will stipulate this note with the fact that if you do happen to have a lovely sun around the age of 30 who just is college educated preferably with a masters degree and over 6 ft tall, with crazy work hours like mine, I'd be happy to accept a date from him instead of an apology from you.

Just a thought.
Sincerely,
Lauren, suitcase jumping extraordinaire.

i miss the little things the most

6 months is a long time, but it's like years in children's growth. 6 months is inches, words and expressions. Shortstack and little miss, more formally Bryce and Callie, my cousin's children.






they remind me of how hard it is to move. I'm sure to miss the big things, Callie's first steps or Bryce's first day of school, but the little things seem to count for more. The little expressions or hand pats, a funny face or a new word.

it's that way with everyone i've left behind south of the mason dixon or those who have left me. in hopes of catching up on friend's daily events i spent time with my old coworkers Friday afternoon into the evening. it was both wonderful and bittersweet, delightful if you will. my face was sore the next morning from smiling.

i strolled around bbdo and felt at ease, like part of me still belonged. old friends did double takes to see me standing in their cubes, it's an ego boost to know that you are missed. I miss them as well.

i miss their passing stories of what their husband bought them for christmas, new eating habits, trips ready to be taken, and career decisions soon to be made -the smalltalk over beers, i miss it all. it's the small windows into everyone's lives that we share on a daily basis but tend to be left out when we talk to those who aren't around. maybe that is why i have this blog, to keep you all informed of the nonsensical, non-life changing moments of my day to day.

my trip was short, but i packed in a lot of time with the family, which was wonderful. one amazing turkey dinner, a southern cookout with hot dogs, bbdo happy hour, a wedding reception and drinks with a friend completed the weekend. It all hit me as I was leaving the reception driving to va hi. i was rounding the bend in the connector near freedom parkway, my old exit, when things just started to blur. for a moment it felt like new york was just a dream, and i was returning home to my ponce apartment. i wouldn't call it an out of body experience, because who knows what that really feels like anyway. but i did get a brief glimpse and feeling of excitement that i could tie up loose ends, that i still had some time in atlanta. we all have 20/20 vision in hindsight, i saw this 'dream of nyc' as a chance to go back and do a couple of things differently, reveal a bit more. it left just as quickly as it came on, this little vision.

that's alright though, i got my dream of nyc, but i still don't have the fairy tale. i have lots of time to work on that.

and i haven't lost hope yet.

hmmm

packing is tough. especially since Atlanta will be 80-37 while i'm there. that sounds more like a sports score then the highs and lows.

off to pack.

see y'all soon. that's right. i said it. first time ever. a little present for the southerners. can't wait to throw a few back with youse guys.
hehe