new york city

After a few fun filled days in Westchester for work I was off to NYC on Sunday afternoon for a few days to relax between conferences. Sunday was St. Patrick's Day and all day long I wanted to be back in Cork and enjoying the day there with trad music and a pint of beamish. I had a wonderful St. Patrick's there in 2009 right before I left. I lived in Ireland for 2 years total - 19 months between 2007-2009 and then 4 months in 2005. But I was looking forward to going out with Suz and Meg this year!

So I took the train from Westchester and met Suz, Megan and other one of their friends Beth in midtown. They had been to a few other places before I met up with them, and the weirdest part was at this bar - The Perfect Pint we ran into 2 other girls we graduated high school from. What are the odds out of how many Irish bars in NYC for the 3 of us to run into 2 other girls from HS. We chatted for a few minutes and then escaped to another table - I haven't seen these girls in 10 years since we graduated.

Meg & Suz. I've known them both since 2nd grade and Suz was the first person I met when we moved to Green.

Meg was reserved - I was broken... Our table had a broken sign on it and we thought it was funny.

Suz, Meg and I

 So after we enjoyed a few pints and catching up around 9 we decided to head home. As the 3 of them had to work the next morning and well I was exhausted after the conference. But on the way home for stopped for a real Irish treat - a Shamrock Shake! It was delish! Suz and I just hung out chatting and finding a new gem of a show to watch. Myrtle Mannor on TLC. It is a "reality" show shot last summer at a trailer park in Myrtle Beach, SC. Absolutely hilarious!

So Monday morning I was off exploring the city. So my goal of the day was to visit some National Park Sites. There are a ton in NYC but a lot of them are closed on Mondays... Boo! But I did go to General Grant's Tomb up in Riverside Park! It was cold and gross out - but still fun. I did have a few NYC firsts - rode the bus system, lost my metro card I had just put money on and saw it snow and went all over Manhattan from

 125th to the Lower East Side. I also wanted to try to go to St. Paul's Church but it was up so far north - aka out of the city and I got a late start due to work taking longer in the morning than I expected. But I also did head to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum which I had been to before in 2009 with students and they are affiliated with the NPS system but not an official but they do have a park stamp. So I got it and walked around the area and while in the bookshop at the museum got all excited looking at the different books on Irish and Immigration History. I miss studying it so much! 

Grant's Tomb - I took better pictures on my real camera but don't have the cord and my work computer doesn't have the memory card slot. 

Julia Grant and Ulysses Grant's tombs and the awesome mural of Lee & Grant at Appomattox

And then after my adventures of going all over Manhattan I went and got a much deserved mani/pedi and then I met up with Suz for a great dinner and it was snowing like crazy and sticking! Here was a view from dinner - we went to this cute pub type place and with the candles and snow falling it looked so quaint in the middle of NYC! 

So Tuesday was my fun travel day. To go from NYC to Albany I had a layover in Dulles. So for 2 sunny hours I was back home in Virginia while I went from snowy NYC to an even snowier Albany where it was snowing when I landed yesterday evening. Love the crazy of a travel day - luckily no delays!

And now it is time to kick off another conference! 

march so far

march has been great so far. but it is a crazy month. i'll be in my office for 2 days this month (both have already happened) and i'm traveling for work for 26 days with 20 of them in a row, and then 3 days of fun travel. i'm currently on day 2 of 20 of travel for work. so here are my adventures so far. 

yup - double knee brace skiing! i went with the boy to central pennsylvania and went skiing for a weekend. it was great to get out skiing again! and while the first few runs were rocky as i was rocking double knee braces by the last runs on sunday i was tearing it up down blacks. 

 

a little bit of ZTA pride for International Badge Day. I love my Zeta Badge and everything it stands for. 

  my day at o'hare last week. last tuesday i spent 6 hours in the airport hoping my flight would still be taking off so i could get to ohio. i found out monday morning that my original flight from chicago to columbus was cancelled so i was prepped to spend 5 hours in o'hare. luckily i had a united club pass and well i couldn't think of a better place to use it. 

so i spent 5 hours doing work in my office ---- while i waited for my flight and had snacks and did work and caught up on tv while doing it. so i had a pretty good day! my flight was slightly delayed but considering 80% of flights from o'hare were cancelled i couldn't complain! though i was exhausted when i finally got to the hotel!

woke up to this view outside my window of the ohio capitol building covered in snow! and then kicked off a fun conference in columbus!

a fun teambuilder - using  rolled up paper as light sabers and beating each other up! here i am beating up ali and then a program coordinator love picture after!

so then sunday after we finished work we went on a little adventure. so another co-worker paul mentioned the world's largest basket and he has some story about it and why his friends will never let him go. so because of that i was like i am getting to that basket. so jean and ali came with me and we had a fun 45 minute drive to newark, ohio and had a fun photo shoot with the basket. it is 7 stories tall and it the headquarters of longaberger baskets. and a fun way to spend the afternoon!   sunday evening i headed back to virginia for 36 hours. where i saw the boy and had a day in the office doing a million things and catching up with coworkers who weren't traveling that week. and then monday night was the end of an era. 

a kinda short era but one nevertheless. as we know friendships evolve and change as we get older and mj, patricia and i all met summer 2009 when we were coworkers at all of our first conferences. at the end of the summer mj stayed in dc, i moved to nj and patricia went back to kansas. i saw each of them separately a few times but it wasn't until fall 2010 we were back together in dc working conferences again. and now patricia had moved to dc as well and we were all in dc for a few months summer 2011 when i lived there for a bit and when i was in charleston we saw each other whenever i was in dc. and then for 7 glorious months we were all living in dc after i moved here and had almost weekly dinner dates if not bi-weekly. and in december mj got engaged and is getting married in may and while there was talk of moving i didn't expect it so soon - i was guessing summer. but last week mj's fiancee got a job in utah. and they are moving in mid-april. while i am so happy for them it just sucks that one of my closest friends is moving across the country. (and it is weird my friends are moving and i'm not the one bouncing around!) and also patricia moved in with her boyfriend last week too. so a lot of big news. so the crazy part is with my redic schedule and mj's the only day we had with all 3 of us in town before the wedding in may was monday night. so we did a quick plan for dinner and had a great night catching up over the last few weeks since we last got together. and got to see patricia's new place! so i'me excited for the new adventures and friendships to grow and hey, trips to utah! 

so tuesday morning i was back on the road. headed to westchester, ny for my next conference. and it was a gross rainy tuesday. my flight from dca to philly was delayed and i just barely (seriously 30 seconds) made my flight to westchester. after i landed in westchester i had calls from us air letting me know i was booked on the 4:20 flight and then letting me know the 4:20 flight was cancelled. sooooo glad i made that flight! but it was the worst flight ever. 45 minutes of turbulence in a propeller plane. and looking out the window you only saw white from the clouds - it was rough. i had such a headache from it. 

so now kicks off a weekend of fun in westchester for a conference and then i can't wait for sunday! i'm headed into the city to see suz for a few days and to play in nyc! including a little bit of st. patrick's fun on sunday! which i'll need! and i can't wait to hit a few of the manhattan national park sites on monday! then tuesday i'm headed to albany for another conference and then the next week to orlando! i won't be back in dc until april 1st! crazy crazy crazy. but i wouldn't have it any other way!

how has your march been?

so far

so it is january 9th - a great time to write about new year's eve right?

becca and i new years 2003!

so back at thanksgiving becca, suz and i talked about doing new year's eve together and when making plans it made us laugh because we were seniors in high school ten years ago and rang in 2003 at suz's aunt's while we babysat her cousins - (where if i remember correctly were asleep when we came over). but i remember laughing at the fact that it was now 2003 and we really felt like seniors! my photo albums from hs are at my parents house but i have this one scanned of becca and i. i wish i had a copy of the 3 of us in hs here in virginia! but so it just made me happy that ten years later i still talk to two of my hs (and for suz elementary school) friends. while in the last 13 or 21 years we've had times when we were closer than others, i love that i've had great friendships with friends who've seen me over some of the awkward years! 

so when we made plans for nye - we said keep it low key, go to suz's - she lives on the upper east side. dinner in the city and drink some champagne at mid night at suz's. well - this photo should sum up the evening. and it was only taken at 9pm - heading to dinner.  i was holding the elevator! so when we got to suz's around 6 we cracked open the champagne and drank 3 bottles by the time we left for dinner.  and it was just a funny night! we went to dinner at this awesome mexican place with delish guac and margs! and then we threw out the plan of going home and ened up at a southern themed bar where i had drinks in a mason jar. and immediately had drinks bought for us by 2 guys. so it ended up being a hilarious evening - i did make out with one of them at midnight - classy i know! and we ended up staying out until 2am and let's just say i had a horrible first with how hungover i was. champagne & tequila don't mix! but it was awesome to ring in 2013 with 2 great friends! 

me, becca & suz! 

so i did manage to squeeze in one last national park! on the way to suz's we stopped at federal hall in downtown nyc. it was the site of george washington's inauguration! i need to plan a trip there as there are 11 NPS sites in NYC. 

                       
the statue of george on the spot where he gave his inaugural address! and wooo NPS #61! yes - i know, i'm a really big dork! who else crams in her last national park site of the year on new year's eve? and was sad most of the NYC ones are closed monday/tuesday so i couldn't do more then!

so i've been super crazy with work this week and it is only getting worse! the earliest i've left the office has been 6 and i was there until 7 today. so many things to do before the staff arrive on tuesday and the student arrive next saturday. and then after this one ends we have 7 work days before our state training and then i begin my 6 of 9 weeks traveling! but i am looking forward to it, just keeping my fingers crossed for good weather and nothing too crazy! i'm still really curious to know what 2000 high school students look like! hell i just realized that is way bigger than my college! wac only had 1300 undergrad! how crazy is that!

so not up to much besides work - went on a bad date last week, had the weekly mj & patricia fun and caught up on life and went to the movies. sunday i got to see jerz! yay for quick friends catch ups, and monday night watched the first half of the notre dame/bama game with some friends. i don't have any weekend plans - keeping it quiet before the crazy, but the weather is supposed to be gorgeous so i'm hoping to get outside and possibly get a national park in!

and i'll end with his gem - figured it was fitting with a 1993. 2003 & 2013 photo!

figured i might show a picture from 1993 as well!

december

I've never been this bad about blogging before - but I guess I'm just going through a funk. So here is December in pictures. It was a busy month between work, friends, the holidays and everything! 

caramel pretzel making fun with patricia & mary jo!

little blurry - but jeanne & i at walburn's annual holiday party.
 it was a fun night in baltimore with 2 of my favorite college ladies! 

i had another historical moment - going to the 150th anniversary of the battle of fredricksburg! i've gone to 3 civil war 150th's this year! i was able to see a re-enactment and also went to a great talk on the battle by the NPS.

the civil war lover i am - i went to fredricksburg for the 150th anniversary of the battle! there was a great re-enactment! and the first one i've seen! i was standing up on the top of the hill next to the confederates - all those down on the ground are union soliders. 

union troops marching away after the battle. 

I was a promo girl at a Redskins game - when they played the Ravens. With my sorority sisters I handed out some flyers on the new NFL clothing line for women before the game and got the sweet jacket we are all wearing and a ticket to the game! My dad was so mad! He is a huge Redskins fan and it was the 2nd game I was able to go to this year! We had a blast - plus when 4 of you are walking through the parking lot after the game wearing the same jacket you get so many hilarious comments, plus some great self esteem boosting!

with my ZTA sisters at the Skins game! 

It was an amazing game! They came from behind to beat the Ravens! 

Went to my college's alumni holiday party in DC! Saw many of my DC WAC friends all in one place! And saw my kindergarden boyfriend who I went to college with - who now lives in the nova as well!

jackie, katherine, me, kaity & linds

On the way home from the party - Linds & I stopped at the National Christmas tree at the White House!

We also enjoyed seeing all the state trees as well! 

I wrote a post about this - but Linds and I went to Arlington to participate in Wreaths Across America where we placed wreaths at Arlington Cemetery.

wreaths at Arlington

Patricia, Mary Jo & I had a fun night at Zoo Lights! The National Zoo has all these lights and light up animals all over the zoo and we went and had fun walking around seeing all the lights!

Mary Jo and I 

My roomie and I hosted a holiday party for our co-workers! It was a fun night where I made mulled wine and we had a dvd exchange! And lots of our usual laughs!

susan, paul, me, shane, sarah & albert

amy came into town to do research on her thesis! i haven't seen her since august! we had a fun few days - on wednesday night when i picked her up we went to see the capital christmas tree! and then on friday night we did my favorite monuments at night! and saturday before i took her to the airport we went to the portrait gallery!

capital christmas tree 

the often overlooked - george mason memorial, right by TJ

MLK at night

my fav - TJ!

my boy GW at the portrait gallery! we also saw a great exhibit on art during the Civil War! 

I was lucky to to be able to take the whole week of Christmas off. So I went home to NJ on the 22nd and have been enjoying my week at home. I'll be heading back to VA on the first. I had a great holiday with my family.

the annual Christmas Eve - drive around to look at lights! 

Right before we opened presents on Christmas Eve! My parents got me clothes, new boots and a great book on Civil War Art - which was really funny because I just saw the exhibit at the Portrait Gallery! And from my siblings I got kitchen things!

my sister and the fluffy kitten deep in conversation

my parents and i went in to NYC to see the tree and all the decorations!

the rockefeller tree! it is from flanders, nj! which is just down the road from my parents house!

parents and i at rockefeller center 

tree at bryant park! 

momma and i at rockefeller center

So I've been on a BIG national park kick this fall. I've been to a different National Park site every week since October 13th! That is 13 weeks in a row! A few weeks I had multiple sites!  And if you include since moving to DC it would be 16 of 20 weeks. To say I'm obsessed would be an understatement! So I needed to do one while I was home and there are 2 local ones I haven't done yet. So on Thursday my momma and I went to Thomas Edison National Historical Park and Patterson Great Falls National Park!

One of the newest National Parks - #397/398

National Park #59 for me!

 Alexander Hamilton first saw the falls and wanted to use them for industrial power - this was a hub in NJ industrialization in the early 1800s! 

wooo national park #60 for me! 

edison's workshop

 So it was a great December! I'm ending the year with a fun night in NYC with a few HS friends. We are keeping it low key - drinks at Suz's and then dinner and ending it at her apartment with more champagne! And then on the first I'm back to Virginia where things are going to just get crazy with work!

Hope you have a happy end to 2012 and a great 2013! I still need to write my 2012 post and look at my goals for 2012 and figure out what I want to achieve in 2013!