This could mean trouble

I admit that I sometimes have a shopping problem. My closet is testament enough of this little affliction. Something about purchasing garments just feels so darn good! Now, I have an equal weakness for home goods and cooking items. This is why going into Williams Sonoma never results in pure browsing. Yesterday was no different. I was wandering through the mall and decided to pop in, see what little sample treat they had, check out some items and just get inspired to cook that night. Then sometime caught my eye. This shiny red instrument of awesomeness...the Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker. And then it began..the ladies of W&S must have smelled the shopper in me. They began giving me samples of different ice creams they had made that day, showed me all kinds of recipes, talked about ones they had made and so on. Over a half hour later, I walked out with this...yeah, I couldn't resist. And they even threw in a free bottle of pina colada mix to make this delectable pina colada sorbet over grilled pineapple. So, I am going to attempt my first batch tonight and I'm pretty excited! I am hoping to stick with sorbets and yogurts with the occasional gelato here and there but I am determined to not allow this purchase to add to my waist line :-).

I have a feeling this could become a big hit at dinner parties. I'm even thinking about whipping up a few different flavors and having an ice cream social in the coming weeks! Yey!!

Physics and Good Samaritans

Last night I had an experience with physics and good Samaritans. I picked up a couch some friends were giving me and Kevin and I headed over to my place to get it up the stairs. I had pre-measured the couch and stairs to insure it would fit and knew that it would on certain sides. We get to house, make it in the front door, up the first set of stairs and are feeling good at our ability to turn and rotate this bad boy. Then we reach the landing to my stairs. Why do old houses have odd turns or skinny stair wells or low door frames or doors that don't match up? It took us many many attempts at pushing the couch through and straight up to get it through the frame at the bottom of the stairs. We tried every configuration possible and were within a centimeter of getting it. Then suddenly two people show up to help. They had been next door at the Bed and Breakfast and could see us struggling through the window so decided to come offer help. After about 30 minutes of attempts we finally jammed it through the door. Home free! Or so we thought. We begin to climb the last set of stairs only to realize that the couch is on the wrong side to fit through the door. And then we get stuck going back down. It was at this point that I decided if I had a chainsaw i'd just start hacking this thing to pieces and say the hell with it. I honestly thought there may be a couch stuck in my hallway permanently. We finally start to get it back down so we can rotate it to the correct side. All of a sudden the couch makes a lurch down the stairs...Kevin and I were on the bottom and had full control but during a quick step down my arm got caught up against a protruding outlet type box...a good inch protrusion from the wall. It pretty much tore across my arm in a fit of searing pain and agony. At first it seemed like nothing had come of it minus some compression pain. And then the massive bump, bruising and cut showed up. This photo is after much icing and cleaning.

The good news? We finally spun the couch onto it's correct side and after a few hard pushes to get through one door, we were in. Two and a half hours later. Kevin is a saint and I'm sure Emma was wondering what the hell was taking so long. Those random strangers from the B&B are also saints. And the best thing is...the lady was a Gator!! She went to undergrad at Florida and was getting her Vet degree there currently. Talk about a small world, and how much that made me smile. It's true..."Through all kinds of weather we'll all stick together for F-L-O-R-I-D-A!"


Now I truly understand why furniture delivery charges and/or movers cost so much.

Good service goes a long way

Last night I made a trip to my local co-op to get a few ingredients for a late dinner. They didn't have one thing I needed that was a key element for the dish but as I was discussing this item (pre-made crepes) with what I'm guessing was a manager, she then quickly ran upstairs and printed me out two recipes for how to make them on my own and talked about them a bit. It's moments like that that I really appreciate good service - going out of your way to assist a customer. Sometimes I forget that feeling b/c it isn't always super prevalent, but it is greatly appreciated from this customer. Customer service will keep me returning over and over again.

And I ended up making whole wheat crepes from scratch ... it was a bit challenging at first but once I got the hang of it I really enjoyed it and began devising in my head all the wonderful things I could do with this now. Whole wheat and brown sugar crepes with strawberries and homemade whipped cream, mascarpone and fresh berries and pineapple, savory crepes with feta, cucumbers, olives and artichokes. The possibilities are endless now that I have braved the world of homemade crepes!

A world away and many decibels later

"It's like a third world country out there in general camping." A quote from my client at SoBe and so true. I have just returned from Bonnaroo. We were there representing SoBe and handing out more samples than we could physically pour. I have never been to Bonnaroo and it was an experience to say the least. We stayed in a rather small RV for a week and came to find out the first day that the generator we had sent to power the AC wasn't strong enough for just that so we survived on small fans. Thank goodness it cooled down at night considering during the day it capped out at 90+ degrees of pure cloudless heat. The RV housed 4 of us, 5 on a few nights that a friend crashed on the top bunk. We somehow got placed at the wrong campground and were a good 10-15 minute walk to our booth. 10-15 minute walk isn't so bad you would think...but when it's a virtual dust bowl and 90 degrees by 9am with the sun beating down on your like a massive bonfire, and the work day has yet to begin, it's a different story.

Some highlights:
- Silent Disco. Greatest thing ever. Picture a tent full of people dancing, but not music is playing..or at least none you can hear. Then you step in, done a pair of sound cancelling headphones, the DJ sounds come piping in and suddenly your head is bobbing in tune with everyone else's. Then the best part - removing your headphones to hear only feet shuffling against the damp grass and the occasional shout along with the song. Brilliance.
- Icy cold or scolding hot showers
- Front and center Metallica
- Jack Johnson followed by free beers followed by Pearl Jam
- Late night Tiesto and dancing in the rain
- Funnel cake
- Campground cruising (this is where the 3rd world country comment comes from...while we were driving a golf cart around general camping to hand out samples, it became apparent that we were in a whole new world at Bonnaroo...tents packed so tight you could barely walk between. People just rolling in from last nights shows. A massive fury of people running towards anything free. People begging for rides to at least get a little closer to the festival village)
- Familiar faces in an unfamiliar crowd

It was a wild time. It brought back many flashes of my childhood and our camping trips. Sitting outside of the camper, warmed by the glow of the flower shaped lights. The familiar smell of campers (is that a standard issue car freshener or what?). The awesome power of baby wipes when the shower was simply too hot or cold to bear. Enjoying the lack of frills and the lack of ability or desire to dress up, do your hair nicely and put on cute shoes.

Not to mention the music. I am not a concert goer. I rarely pay to watch people play live. I don't know, it's just not my thing. But here, in an environment where that's what everyone was there for, and which I didn't have to pay the hefty $300 entrance fee for, it was incredible. The tingles that crawled up my dewy skin as Jack Johnson played a flawless ballad...indescribable. The piercing sound of electric guitars as you watch the artists fingers move faster than a 400HP sportscar. The reverberating earth beneath your feet as Tiesto pumps tunes so heavily laden with bass you can feel them in your soul. It was an experience. One I'd like to have again only without the 12 hour workdays included. Photos coming soon.

From purple mountains majesty to purple lights of the strip club

I have just arrived in Nashville, TN. We just spent a week in Vail for the Teva Mountain Games which was a great event in an incredibly beautiful city. After the first day we decided to rent bikes to cruise from hotel to event site and so on. I had a sweet teal cruiser. As I peddled down the main pedestrian street of Vail Village, the sight in the distance was one I can't do justice with words. These huge looming mountains covered in snow sat quietly, overlooking the whole valley. It was the best way to start each day.

We finished the event yesterday and hopped on a flight this afternoon to head to the next event - Bonnaroo. We're spending a night in Nashville before driving down to Manchester. Let me paint a quick picture of the change of scenery. For the past week we have been living at the Vail Plaza Hotel and Club - a beautiful new hotel with 3 hot tubs, a nice gym, friendly staff, beautiful rooms and smack in Vail Village. Tonight we are at a Comfort Inn just off the highway into Nashville where I can literally see flashing purple and red lights at the strip club across the street. Yep. And tomorrow we will be moving in to an RV in the middle of a field in Manchester, TN...although I'm pretty sure the RV will seem nicer then our current hotel accommodations.


The Atlanta to Nashville flight was delayed, than we sat on the runway for a good bit. However, it was a small price to pay for what I saw towards the end of the flight. The most amazing thing - a powerful lightening storm out the window of the plane. Huge thunderheads nearby with lightening snapping every second...giant flashes of lights, small strobes of it, large bolts shooting down from the cloud. It was magnificent. I tried to catch a photo of it but the power of the skies was too much for me.

Some interesting post-Teva Games tid-bits: I saw some awesome dogs do some impressive things like jumping 6'6" off the ground and into a pool. I had some tasty food at various establishments. I wore my amazing 80's sequined cocktail dress to an event party...it was definitely a major hit. I made new friends. I realized how much altitude really does affect your system...my running skills were severely compromised by being at 8,150 feet.

Things I'm looking forward to this week. Roughing it...I grew up a child of camping trips, and have spent enough time living out of a backpack to appreciate a few days of throwing a hat on and tramping through mud. I will get to see more musicians in concert in 4 days than I've seen my whole life - top choices include: Jack Johnson, Metallica, Tiesto, Vampire Weekend, Kanye West, Tegan and Sara and more. Silent Disco (I'll explain after experiencing). Good friends of mine coming down to work with us. Bonnaroo update will come next week.

On the road again, in more ways than one.

I am disappointed in how bad I've been about updating my blog...there has just been so much going on lately I've barely had time to sleep (hellooo...3.5 hours Saturday night, 2 hours Sunday night). This past weekend I moved out of my wonderful King St. apartment that I had lived in for two years. It was bitter sweet. There are things I will not miss at all, yet that place is full of amazing memories, funny stories, lessons learned, emotions shared, friends made, loves lost. It took a lot of time to find a decent place to live and I stumbled upon an awesome spot. The move-in was interesting to say the least. It involved, among other things, a towed Ryder van the day of the move, moving people that were about 2 hours late, a couch that wouldn't fit out of the door therefore had to be sold to the new tenants of my old apartment, and me staying up until 2:30am to do some unpacking only to wake up at 4:30am to go catch a flight. But the new place makes me smile...it fits, it's perfect. There is still some serious unpacking to do, furniture to buy, artwork to be hung but it's getting there and more will be done upon my return.

Here it is once all boxes had been brought in from the truck...a giant mess!






















Right now I am in Vail, CO for the Teva Mountain Games, representing SoBe. We got in Monday afternoon and will begin our set-up later this afternoon. It is so beautiful here...the mountains, the rivers and streams, the smells. I forgot how much I love this area of the country. The only tough part about it is the elevation. Vail is at 8,150 feet and I can definitely tell the difference. I've gone running the past 2 days and it has been a struggle. I have been running 4 and 5 miles consistently at home with no issue and I've been struggling with 2-3 miles here...it feels like I am a smoker with asthma! Here's hoping it gets better each day and will make me all that much stronger when I return to sea level!

I will be heading directly from Vail on Monday to Manchester, TN for a week of Bonnaroo which should be fun. Some great headliners not to mention our sweet RV we'll be living in for a week. Life on the road...it's tricky, but has a lot of perks as well. I always look forward to meeting new people, making new contacts, making new friends, seeing new places, learning and growing as a professional.

Oh and how could I forget...the marathon! What an amazing day it was. Our 5.5 mile leg went so well! We improved our time by almost 1.5 minutes per mile! We were literally passing people right and left (granted, this was mile 19 of the marathon so the people we were passing we undoubtedly full marathoners). It was such a rush, such a fun experience and so much positive energy flowing through the streets. It made me really fired up for running. Now I am training for a 10K that Emma, Penelope, Elisa, Becky and I are looking to do in summer or early fall...maybe even a half in Fall depending on how things go. It feels great....some days I hate the run, or feel some serious pain but in the end I love the satisfaction of completing a run.

Other than moving, running and traveling for work there have been some other things here and there. Interesting run-ins, interactions with people I hadn't seen in a while. Some feelings I had packed away reared their heads ever so slightly. Some confusion. Some validation. Some things to think about. Some things to sort out. Do we ever truly know what we want? Need and want are very different things. Want and should/should not are also quite different. Who knows where the road will curve.