NYC - 24 hours

How do you spend 24 hours in NYC? For some, they would do much more than I did. However, I did get a little beauty sleep and work in between things. I'll post pictures on facebook when I get home to get connected since I forgot the important "cord" - no wifi camera to PC here yet!

Monday evening I arrived and found a great discounted orchestra section ticket to "In The Heights" which is a must see if you like musicals. (Thank you Kimpton hotel concierge and the codes!) On my way to the theater, I walked past the "Tent" at Bryant Park housing Mercedes Benz Fashion Week - and prestigious list of recognizable names showing their Fall 2009 lines. Schwag bags everywhere, tall skinny people, and lots of limos but who could tell who I was looking at with everyone bundled up as if it was cold in New York this time of year? http://www.mbfashionweek.com/newyork/fall2009/schedule/

It was contemporary mixing salsa and rap with a little fun and good neighborhood feel musical. The audience provided standing ovations, so I guess I wasn't the only one in the sold out show to like it. For those addicted to "Rent", it's not about 525,600 minutes in a year, but rather 96,000 dollars in a lottery ticket in the Barrio :)

From there it was off to enjoy a cocktail and appetizer at the Blue Fin and wander home to the hotel at 70 Park Avenue from the lights of Times Square. Here's a Swatch Ad and a toast to the Year of the Ox.

Tuesday started with a little work and alot of walking and museum where I spent the better part of the day at The Met. Wow, how do you describe so much history and fabulous exhibits? Pictures forthcoming. I popped into the Guggenheim since it was in the area, but decided I was museumed out and walked and wandered back to the hotel. As I walked along Central Park, I kept thinking - why all these people wandering around? Out of jobs, why then all the shopping bags? Oh - NYC is "on sale" and it is!

Back for a little work and on to meet Dave for dinner at the Oyster Bar in the bottom of Grand Central Station. We had a great reasonably priced dinner and toured the subway tracks for fun before heading off to wander the streets. Now - preparations are underway for a full business day tomorrow - good night!

SEA MSP - No Sun but lots of Coffee

This week I was in the great northwest, north of Seattle, downtown Seattle and then on to well - the great frozen north, Minneapolis. I haven't seen the sun since maybe, hmmmm, Monday? Here today in Denver - no sun, just my luck! I do love Seattle, don't get me wrong! It was a great week for fresh fish.

At The Brooklyn Seafood, Steak and Oyster Bar restauarant in downtown Seattle, the food and service are top quality. The building is one of the oldest in Seattle. We got to sit at the Chef's View section where you can watch the chef's preparing the food. The chef's are a friendly bunch, and looking at the salad options, I asked Jose (who reminded me of Jose on Top Chef this season), how about a "Quick Fire Challenge salad with Spinach" and poof - he nailed it. If ever the chance, do stop by.

It was quite an interesting coffee discovery week. Yes, Starbucks on more than every corner. I can see why they are closing some locations up there. A new breed of coffee shop is popping up like a fast moving virus in areas north of Seattle to Everett, WA. If there is a 10x10 spot of land in a parking lot, be it Home Depot or the RV shop or the Wal Mart, then it's got a coffee kiosk on it with drive thru and walk up capability. Some of the names of these coffee kiosks are, "Cowgirls Espresso Giddy Up", "Java Juggs", "Bikini Coffee", "Big Foot" - need I go on? There was an article in the local paper discussing public opinion about these locations. Generally, Mom's with kids in vans are not stopping at these kiosks, especially the ones located across from day care centers (which we saw) and married men seem to be shopping for RVs and goign to Home Depot more than ever in the area - coffee intake is on the rise :)

As for Minneapolis, it was the wholesome and normal Caribou Coffee that kept me going through late last night - next week, here I come NYC!

SPI MCI SAN PHX SEA PDX IND - Last 3 Weeks

I have to do a better job blogging since I have forgotten where I was three weeks ago. Then, thinking about it, nothing fabulous comes to mind other than - wow we have a new President! After the inauguration which my sister went to and got shut out of the Purple Zone Ticket area with thousands of other ticket holders, I was in Springfield, MO and Kansas City, MO. Most notable in Kansas City since it was a Friday (ughhh) was the fabulous old hotel Steve James and I stayed at called the President. Remodeled from it's original historic state, it was quite nice. It's now a Hilton property and I can highly recommend it! Most fun was the The Drum Room http://www.drumroomkc.com/history.html The "Rat Pack" actively enjoyed this now restored hotel and restaurant in days gone by.

Over the past couple weeks, it's been a tour de plane and hotel starting in San Diego for the annual sales meeting. We get to sit inside 12 to 14 hours a day and look outside if lucky at the fabulous scenes and sights in San Diego Harbor from the hallways of the San Diego Marriott. The BMW Oracle Race Sailboat was moored in the harbor - that was exiciting to see! (Not too many stories of unruly sales types luckily, except for one fabulous "jab" at Stevie Goodwin due to some silly football game that injured his pride - go Laura!)

From there, it was a quick overnight in Denver then on to Mom's 80th Birthday Bash in Mesa, Arizona. My parents live in a Park Model in the winter with all the other northerners. My sister and I flew in to celebrate not only Mom's birthday but the Superbowl coincidently. (Arizona Cardinals played a decent game - commercials this year were subpar but what can you expect with current economic conditions, even though a record $206million in ad sales?) We did brunch at the one and only Cheesecake Factory.

We drove to Saguaro Lake with gorgeous skies and weather, and motored on back to the TV for the Superbowl. The cousins and neighbors showed up non stop from the time we landed til we left. Lots of visiting. They are lucky to have so much fresh fruit in the park.

We enjoyed fresh grapefruit, oranges, kumquats, limes and lemons - amazing.

After that, it was on to Portland, OR for me for work, then Seattle, WA then Indianapolis, IN. Gotta love the temperature changes the past few days. I must say with all the snow and I mean alot of it on the ground in Indianapolis, the new terminal at the Indianapolis International Airport is simply fabulous! It's truly world class. When Dave Letterman flies home now, he might want to fly a regular airline instead of private, just to check it out! The airport website boasts Indianapolis as the 12th largest city. http://www.indianapolisairport.com/

I must get on with the rest of the weekend activities!