Herding cats

This is what I feel like I've been doing of late. My new account is great...great and insane. It is one of the more challenging accounts I've been on and half of that is because I spend half of my day herding cats. Herding cats, fighting fires and pulling rabbits out of hats. No joke. I'm not sure I could properly explain it to anyone, any better than that.

It's crazy to be so busy...to literally get home from the office at 9:15pm on a Wednesday night and only having left the office because I forced myself to. I definitely have had to put some personal things on the backburner. Laundry, paying bills, seeing friends, reading. Yeah, that hasn't been happening much lately. It's a mix of being stressed and loving it. I love the challenge, the feel of having more to do than there are hours in the day, the ability to call the shots, exercise being a leader. I love it.

Thankfully tonight I am escaping. I am forcing myself out of the office at 5:30 and going to one of my favorite things ever...the FAIR!! It will be a much welcomed treat...riding rides, hanging with the carnies, petting miniature ponies and of course, Fair food...and lots of it! I only hope Caroline plans accordingly this year and eats AFTER riding the rides. Last year we almost had an incident...almost.

Tomorrow it's off to Boston for 2 days to visit some girlfriends, dress up and drink far too expensive cocktails, flirt with men in suits, lay by the beach and drink margaritas and catch up with some good friends. It will be a great treat after a veeeery long and very stressful week.

Happy Labor Day weekend!

Sleep

Sleep has been a very pronounced topic this past weekend for me. Saturday I woke up wanting more, but opted for a nice long bike ride instead to sweat out some cocktails from the night prior. Saturday afternoon and evening I was dying for sleep, and managed to get to bed at a decent hour. Sunday I felt like I had been hit with a tranquilizer gun and was exhausted all day...so much so I opted out of a run I'd been looking forward to all weekend. Sunday night after falling asleep, exhausted, on the couch, I retired to my bed only to lie awake with a million thoughts zooming through my head, unable to quiet it no matter how hard I tried. Who knows how long I lay there cursing my overactive mind. Finally I fell asleep only to have some bizarre dreams...not that my dreams are ever anything of reality, but this was a very bizarre series of events. The majority of the dream has already slipped my mind except for the final element, the last thing that appeared in it...a white rabbit. All dream sources site a white rabbit as being symbolic of faithfulness in a lover. I'm curious now...exactly who is this imaginary lover who is apparently faithful to me??

Revived

Despite the blanket of exhaustion that is currently wrapped around me, I feel invigorated, revived, energized. I spent the past weekend down in Manhattan and then at the Jersey Shore (sounds cliche but is quite nice...at least Spring Lake where we were staying). I needed this...a weekend away, a weekend with too many options, too many possible activities, too many choices. I had to fly to NYC for a meeting w/my new client on Wednesday and then decided to take Thursday and Friday off to see some friends, bump around the city, and then head to my friends shore house in Spring Lake, NJ for a little sun and sand.

Every time I go to Manhattan, it peps me up. I feel alive. I'm not sure what it is because there are definitely times of feeling so minuscule there, but at the same time, it taps into the parts of me that don't get fulfilled that often...the desire to walk through gallery after gallery and gaze at various types of art while listening to my iPod.

Cool record art in Chelsea gallery

Taking a stroll down a tree lined street and stopping into a used book store to peruse the first editions, smell the slight must of old books, feel the covers of delicately embossed old book covers. Pop into a little side street cafe, get a glass of wine and people watch for hours.

Delicious goat cheese and beet salad at W. Village cafe

Museum of Modern Art

Sit at a swank bar and order a far too expensive but oh so delicious cocktail who's only aftertaste is the sound of lounge music wafting through the beautiful interior. Dance the night away to loud beats and bartenders hopping up on the bar with sparklers in hand. Catching a movie premier at a random dive bar complete with a Mardi-Gras esque elephant protruding from the wall. Eating amazing food lit only by the soft glow of a candle and the slight red glow lighting up the walls of a beautiful restaurant complete with a band playing soft music in the background. It's overwhelming in the best way possible. That kind of stimulation, even over-stimulation, makes my blood flow, the color return to my face, the pep return to my step. I feel alive.

Following that up with a relaxing 2 days laying on the sand, listening to waves crash and then throwing on a sundress to sip cold, crisp white wine and play a game or two of bocce.

Spring Lake, NJ

Too many laughs, the total loss of my voice from singing along to a crazy cover band. Sand between my toes. Heaven. It couldn't have been a better weekend.


GW Bridge at 11pm

Overflowing

I tend to do this every so often...actually more often than not. Putting too much on my plate. Work, travel, social plans, dinner parties, projects, etc. etc. etc. This is definitely one of those times. My new work account is keeping me really really busy. I accepted the responsibility of taking photos for our company website so I have to begin tackling that project. Then there's Art Hop. I have to have my photos ready to go by next weekend and I've only so far chosen one piece and it isn't even done being printed yet. I have to spend a fair bit of time tonight going through hundreds of shots and slides, figuring out which is best, what size, etc. and then making sure to get them into print tomorrow. Then there's my constant over-booking of the social calendar. Dinner party at my house, book club at my house, book club in general, bike ride, swimming, wedding help, brunch, drinks, on and on. I look at my calendar on my phone...all it is is appointments and activities. However, I definitely thrive in a booked-schedule environment more than a bored one...I like the stimulation of constantly having plans. Sometimes I go into recluse mode and make no plans for a week or two, totally retreat to my apartment and just relax. That's nice too. Right now is not one of those times.

I think I need a coffee. Or a stiff drink.

Alas

I am free!! This past weekend was my last event as SoBe event manager. I am now officially done traveling for that account and onto my new account which will be great. I have to say, the feeling of knowing I have my summer back, the ability to make weekend plans, it's like I won the lottery. The list of things I've been dying to do will begin to be tackled and I can't wait! Some things on the list of summer fun:
- Camping
- Biking in beautiful remote areas of VT
- Farmers Market every weekend
- Art hop!!
- Trip to Boston
- Trip to NYC
- Hiking
- Berry Picking (went for the first time last Friday...divine!)
- Swimming in the lake
- Boating

I'm sure there are a ton more things....I can't think of them all because I'm so overwhelmed with having my weekends back! Ah yes...let summer begin. Now I just have to hope that we've seen the end of rain for a loooong while.