Things I’m thinking about

By this time next week we should be arriving in North Carolina in order to spend the Thanksgiving weekend with Tom’s family.

This is going to be interesting, at least for me, since this will be a bonofied thanksgiving for me.  Those that know me, know that I never celebrated Thanksgiving.  Past Thanksgiving were spent doing some major marathon watching on TV.

In the meantime these are the things that are in my mind and I need to worry about until we set off next week for the 10 hour drive:

I still want to watch a lot of marathon TV next week.

Sadly, I don’t see that happening.

Instead, I will be doing, god-knows what.  Since I’m not a host, but a “guest” and that term  is basically non-existent to me, since 99.9% of the time, I’m the host.

I’m going to be like a lost soul.

A lost soul freezing it’s ass, because I just checked the weather and that weekend is suppose to rain, and be in the low 40’s, with highs in the 50’s

HELL  NO!

Now, I have to look for the winter clothes

Where in the hell are the winter clothes?

Oh yeah, under the stairs, which totally freaks me out

its dark under there

and spooky

I wonder if I can still hide and watch a lot of marathon TV?

Damn it, the dogs need a bath before we go anywhere

Crap, its almost 5pm

what in the hell am I doing still at work?

Oh, yeah writting this post!

Not anymore, I need to go so I can think of ways to get Tom to tackled the task of getting to our winter clothes from under the dark stairs.

Because, I DID mention its spooky under there

Right?

Random thoughts during this morning’s commute to work

Seriously, how many people need Starbucks at 6AM, look at that line – JESUS.

Lady, the turn signal it’s THERE for a REASON – USE IT!

Should I get a doughnut today for breakfast? I feel like a sugar doughnut, yeah, sugar doughnut it is.

and a latte? Shit, does that match? Who cares I want a doughnut. I should actually eat proteins instead.. but uhh a sugar doughnut, yum!

Holy shit, I don’t have to work on Monday! Thank GOD!

Why are they so many cars out and about?

Stupid yellow light!

Seriously, how many people want a doughnut this early? Could there BE MORE cars in the drive thru? Scratch the doughnut idea. What do I eat now?

Wonder is I can convince Tom for Sushi tonight?

Its pay day!

Remember to pay the rent today, better write that down.

Oh-oh, let the ambulance pass. – Bummer, to whoever needs the ambulance today.

Ohhh, I love this song!

I have to go to the Apple store this weekend

Damn the Powerball jackpot is at 45 million – need to buy ticket and have Tom buy a ticket, let me text him right now to remind him.

What would I do with 45 million? QUIT MY JOB!

Honestly, why do I have to be at work today?

Oh yeah, to PAID THE RENT!

Shit, I need the 45 million!

And a fucking vacation!

Wow, its 79 degrees outside, already? Its not even 7AM! It’s going to be a hot day.

I’m at work ALREADY?

Back to work and plety of time to post

Last week during my forced vacation time, I basically worked another 40 hours for someone else.

It kicked my ass, because it was WORK

I wish that instead, I had done the following:

Sleep late
Stayed in my comfy PJ’s all day
Watch all the Bravo re-runs of Desperate Housewife’s (don’t judge!) and Law & Order (thank god for the DVR)
Venture out to the pool/beach and drink frozen drinks with water down liquor
Do a DYI project – like cleaning my office space
Bake this cake
Go to bed late

And repeat all over again, for another 4 days.

Now, all was not lost, I did get to do a bit of sleep late, instead of the regular wake up call of 6AM, I woke up at 8AM. I did go into the new job in shorts (and Flip-flops!) and had full access to the internet, meaning that I could tweet all day without having to worry about the network blocking my ass for tweeting smart, witty comments to nobody in particular.

I also did some TV watching particularly drooling over my 2 favorite reality shows, which started last week, Top Chef and Project Runaway – who can say no to FOOD and Fashion plus a couple of drama heads? Nothing like Must-See-TV.

And this past Saturday, after much whealing and dealing my ass is sitting pretty in this:

Zippinggggg around town

I think the salesperson still wondering what hit him.  

In the meantime, you can find me zipping around town in A/C (brrr) and listenting this group on repeat !

Exactly that… it is SIMPLE.

Next week, I’m being force into a week long vacation. Not by choice mind you. But due to the economy, my company has decided to close shop for one whole week in order to make a dent on our 3rd and 4th quarter financial outlook.

I’m taking my resume out of retirement

But, in the meantime I have a whole week off and no plans to go anywhere, which sucks THE.BIG.ONE.

Since this force vacation is an unpaid one, I had to compensate. And in order to do this I had to search for a side job. Luckily, I found one. Unfortunately, I’m not looking forward to it.

As this week draws to a close, and next week looms in the horizon, it makes me think back when I was young and on a summer break and the though of having FREE time, to just be! was exciting and counting the days to that freedom, consume my every waking moment.

Ahh to be six again!

My childhood was a playtime dream! I was an outdoor child, while we had a TV in the house; it was never put much to use, because my sister and I were out playing, outside, on the street! It was all about exploring everything around us, building forts with tree branches, jumping on puddles and playing with dirt. Simply put, it was about finding our inner Thoreau.

Thinking back, on all of the activities we did, these were some of my favorite:

Riding my bike – I had one of those with a pretty basket up front and the hanging tassel on the handle bars. It was my most prize possession. Riding free, feeling the wind and peddling fast and slow, enjoying the view, and knowing that there is no rush.

Playing Tag – Remember this one? God we did so much running!

Climbing a tree – We had huge trees in my backyard and they were the staple of my childhood, I remember climbing those huge trunks and hanging like a big cat over the branches, just sitting, enjoying and daydreaming. I’m looking at the big tree out in my backyard right now… do I have it in me?

Kite Flying – not only did we fly them, but we build them, a couple of sticks, newspaper and string and up, up and away it go. Ah, the simple things in life!

Marble tournaments! Those were my favorite, because it involved my favorite things: dirt, competition, and pretty glass things.

As I write this list, it makes me wonder what happen to that carefree take on life I had when I was six? Oh, sure, I can be honest with myself and know that with a full-time job, the boyfriend, the house, the dogs and everything else in between, it might take me a little longer these days to escape my mental to-do list and allow myself to be consumed by the simple things in life. But, really how hard can it be? To approach the world through the eyes of a child, to perceived simplicity in our everyday, because really, it is exactly that… it is SIMPLE.

And I’m starting by getting myself a bike.

Decorating Frenzy coming up

In 2 days, I will have my personal decorating team (my friends) arrive from different corners of the country to help me polish up the new house. 

Code Word: BEAUTIFY!

I’m super excited, not only because I will see my NYBoys and BFF, which of course will only mean, lots of wine, margaritas, food, laughter, teasing, practical jokes and all that jazz that getting together with your core friends will incur. But I truly foresee, lots of furniture moving/re-positioning, friendly disagreements, color palate discussions, hard work, shopping! Organizing!, painting!, hanging stuff up!, and all the jazz that a quick house facelift will need.

Did I mention I’m SUPER excited?

But the really plus of all of this? I’m taking TWO vacations days off work.  Meaning that I’m not going to be a work for TWO FREAKING WHOLE DAYS.  Instead I will be with my buddies, doing all I mentioned above plus LOTS OF DRINKING and that is WAY better than sitting at my office desk, doing spreadsheets.

Can we please do a happy dance around the room… yes – thank you.

Bad, Bad Blogger – I am

Yes, Internet.. I’m sucking on keeping my resolution to blog more…

I have no excuse…

…except that a new IKEA open up in town and well, you know, that has taken up all of my time!  Because, now I’m only 15 minutes away from Almond Cake, and frizzy pear drinks and $.50 hot dogs and $1.00 frozen yogurt.  And lets not even start on furniture, and kitchen stuff!  I should just take my inflatable bed and live there. FOREVER.

Besides the obsessiveness that IKEA instills in me, I’m also super busy at work. And if you have read me enough, you know that I always singing that song: “Work is kicking my ass!”  But, the last 3 weeks has been – well, KICKING MY ASS!  3 weeks ago, 17 people were let go and the other assistant was part of the cut, so that means that I’m doing the job of 2 people, supporting a total of 12 babies directors and trying, very, very hard not to LOOSE MY SHIT.

I’m DEAD bone tired at the end of the day.  So much so, that any coherent thought is put on hold somewhere in my brain, in an obscured place, to be jumped started when I once more sit at my desk the next day.  And of course, being that my life revolves around work, work, and more work.  There is not much to blog about, because lets face it, my JOB may be consuming me, but its NOT blogging material.

So you may be saying, but wait, helloooo, YOU DO HAVE BLOGGING material – doncha?  Because,  I been promising more recaps from our North Carolina trip that happen almost a MONTH AGO.

and I’m going to point fingers right now….

Because during this trip, I got lazy and let them  (and you know who you are) play photographers.   And well a story is as good as the pictures that go with it.  And those pictures? The ones that I would share with you  during my recaps are sitting in their hard drive – BURNING A HOLE IN IT, waiting for them to get off their asses and send them to me, so I CAN USE THEM.

Yes, I”M TALKING TO THE BOTH OF YOU… *cough,cough* ::::and I’m so pointing:::::

So, until they send me the goods, I’m stuck with a picture-less (is that even a word?) recap, which translates to NO FUN.

I hope that with this I may make up for it:

Horsing around the mountain top

Ice, Ice Baby

So we come to the highlight of our Argentina trip.  Packing up and taking a plane down south to El Calafate, a little village in Patagonia. And spend 2 days enjoying great food, peaceful surroundings, very cold weather, and of course Perito Moreno Glacier in its entire splendor.

El Calafate is named after a small bush typical of southern Patagonia, whose fruit (a kind of berry) is very much used in local confectionery, especially for jams. It tastes similar to blackberries although it is less sour. It is usually the main ingredient of cakes, pies, drinks and desserts, which are very difficult to resist – trust us, we tried and failed numerous times.

According to the tradition, the person who eats calafate will come back for more. However reality shows that whoever visits El Calafate does not ever want to leave – we were hooked!

At present, the town it is a very important tourist center and has gained both national and international significance since it is there where all the glacial circuits start: Viedma Glacier, Upsala Glacier, Onelli Glacier, Spegazzini Glacier, Mayo Glacier, Frías Glacier, and Perito Moreno Glacier known as “the eighth wonder of the world” and declared World Natural Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1981.

Yeah, we like to go BIG!

Our hotel: Altos Calafate was a preview of what was to come. Located high on the hills of the town, we had a breathtaking view of the mountains in front of us:

Sunset over Calafate

Our Hotel

The hotel staff was friendly, and very helpful – our bellman turned out to be our mayor source of tourist information during our stay, giving us tips and recommendations.  The food was excellent -the breakfast buffet, which was included in the price, rival the one we been having for the past 3 days in the Inter-Continental hotel in Buenos Aires.

In the town, the main attractions are located along the main avenue (there is only one), which is full of picturesque houses, shops, restaurants, hostels, public services and handicraft stores, among others. We were surprise how clean and modern the town was.  It shows how prideful they are in the upkeep of the town.

We were also treated to how organized they are the following day, when we set off to our Glacier adventure.

Just a step away to living the Glacier

We were picked up at the hotel by the tour company on time and we set off to ride along the town, then switching to a much bigger bus, that would make the trip Los Glaciares National Park, about 45 minutes away.  Once we enter the Park and stop and paid the entrance fee, it goes on for another 22 kilometers up to the wharf.  Once there, we took a boat to cross the Rico Arm, from Magallanes Peninsula to the opposite shore, where we landed and set out to cover a stretch of a couple of hundred meters on foot along the coast to the southern edge of Perito Moreno Glacier.

At the water edge

We were greeted by young guides who walked us up to a row of bungalow where we placed our packs and lunches and were able to have a bathroom break!  Then off we went passing views that beg for pictures!  The guides divided us in groups based on language preferences and then they went into a quick lesson of Perito Moreno.  How its form, how it moves, why it falls… all with this backdrop:

yeah... see behind us

I dare you to pay attention with this...in the background

Here are quick facts that we learned while trying to take pictures pay attention to the guide: The Glacier is about 3 miles wide, with an average height of 197 feet about the surface of the water, and the ice depth is about 558 feet.  It advances at a speed of up to 6 (almost 7) feet per day.  What makes it incredible is that it loses mass at approximately the same rate, meaning that aside from small variations, its terminus has not advanced or receded in the past 90 years.  Of course we all wanted to see rupture… and we were not disappointed, while on the treeking side of the glacier, we heard, a couple of times the unmistakable thunder before large pieces of ice fell unto the water.  Lots of ohhhs’ and ahhs at this point.  We had yet to see it.

After the quick lesson, we climbed up to base camp, where the guides start to clip metal spikes to the soles of your shoes.

Always in fashion

Ready, set go!

Afterward, they broke us off into smaller groups and launch into a lesson in walking on the surface of the glacier (harder than you think)…And then, there is nothing left to do but climb you butt off:

We are the last on the line

The feeling of stepping unto the ice is hard to describe, except to say that you feel you are already in heaven as you come in contact with the breathtaking ice blocks.  You cannot take one bad picture:

As the summit nears, impressive landscapes will unfold before your eyes. Giving us time to capture it on film:

Into the vortex

Here the guide have you  descend into a valley where you find a quick surprise:

Time for a drink!

Yep, those are crystal glasses, a bottle of whiskey and some Alfajores – what more can you ask for Internet?

The guides will shop off ice from the glaciers, and filled the crystal glasses with the amber liquid and   offers a toast all the while munching on the delicious Alfajores.  In my book? The perfect end to an already once in a life experience.  The only thing left for us to do?

Take more pictures:

On the very edge

After lunch, we got back to the boat, and then the bus… which took us to the other side of the Glacier to the “Mirador”, which is a series of walkways/bridges along the edged of the glacier.  Most of the ruptures of its frontal walls can be witness in this location and luck was on our side, when finally it happen:

Kabooommm

And of course more pictures:

As close as you can get

At this point very cold, and happy

This is one of my favorites… since the NYBoys were down there waving up at us (with all that mother nature made frosting behind them)!

Wave at me!

Buenos Aires – Day 1, 2 and 3 (part 1)

We arrived in Buenos Aires (the capital of Argentina) on Saturday at around 7am.  We were all hungry, sleepy, and pretty much all in need of a shower!  The 10 hour flight from Miami, was pretty uneventful… except for the fact that one of my friends got her ass upgraded to First Class (we are all still giving her the evil look!).

We checked into the Inter-Continental hotel and after dropping the luggage, we all set out to find something to eat. 

We ended up walking into Café Tortoni, which open in 1858 and it’s the oldest shop in the whole country.  Just the thought of the amount of painters, writers, musicians, not to mention politicians (Hillary Clinton) and in some cases Majesty too. (His Majesty Don Juan Carlos de Bordon, King of Spain) that have visited and enjoy the place in the last 150 years; it sort of makes you stop and take stock.  It has manage to preserved the flavor of old times, offering the best of the past with it rich 18^th century décor. 

We started our culinary adventure by having some breakfast which included a “café con leche” (Cappuccino) and a couple of selections of Sandwiches de Mija, which are delicate sandwiches made with crustless buttered white bread, very thinly sliced and filled with different options, I chose the basic ham and cheese, while the other were a bit more adventurous and ordered gorgonzola with brie.  We topped the whole breakfast with some hot churros (fried-dough pastry-based snacks) and then we set off to walk it all off in the city streets.

We walked a bit and admired the architecture, which its mixture of old Spanish colonial and splashes resembling Barcelona, Paris and Madrid.  Walking on some streets we felt transported to those European cities. That is not to say that Buenos Aires has not joined the 20^th century…Newer modern high-technology buildings by Argentine architects include the Le Parc Tower by Mario Álvarez, the Torre Fortabat by Sánchez Elía and the Repsol-YPF Tower by César Pelli.

We decided that the best way to get to know the city was to take a quick city tour.  And if you ever travel, that is the fist thing you should do… it will give you a quick taste of the city, and this way you can make notes as to which locations you would want to go back and explore with more time.  The tour bus, took us to all the major landmarks… starting with the famous “Plaza de Mayo” (May Square) which is arguably the nerve center of Buenos Aires and witness to many demonstrations (In fact during the 6 days we were in Buenos Aires, and the numerous times we passed this square there was always some time of demonstration going on) and pivotal events in the Argentine history. Its also flaked by several of the city’s major landmarks: the Cabildo (the city council during the colonial era), the Casa Rosada (home of the executive branch of the federal government), the Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires, the May Pyramid, the current city hall or municipalidad, and the headquarters of the Nación Bank. The Buenos Aires financial district (microcentro), affectionately known as la City also lies besides the Plaza.

Buenos Aires is made up of different neighborhoods (there are actually 48!) and we continue on to our next stop: San Telmo, which is the oldest barrio (neighborhood) of Buenos Aires and also fairly well preserved area.  It’s mainly known for its cafes, tango parlors and antique shops that line up the cobblestone streets, which are filled with artists and dancers.  The main attraction of San Telmo is the Antique Fair that takes place every Sunday in the main public square.  Here you can bargain for antiques and catch plenty of locals dancing tango on the streets not to mention people asking for “FREE HUGS” and getting them.

The most interesting barrio that we went to was La Boca, and this is the home of Boca Juniors, one of the worlds top football (as in soccer) clubs.  It’s a popular place with its colorful houses and pedestrian streets.  While it was not one of my favorite places, it had its unique identity and I really loved the street art and the large sculptures.

We then continue on to Puerto Madero, occupying a significant portion fo the Rio de la Plata riverbank and representing the latest architectural trends in the city… and it also was the meca of the best known restaurants in the city.  This was my favorite “barrio” in Buenos Aires. 

All of the streets of Puerto Madero are named after women. (Hell yes).  The “Puente de la Mujer” (Women’s Bridge), by the Spanish Santiago Calatrava, is located here, linking the east and west docks of Puerto Madero.  The bridge has a single mast with cables suspending a portion of the bridge which rotates 90 degrees in order to allow water traffic to pass.  When it swings to allow watercraft passage, the far end comes to a resting point on a stabilizing pylon.

This location represents the largest wide-scale urgan project of the city and it has undergone an impressive revival in just a few short years, making it the most successfull waterfront renewal projects around the world.

And then we come to Recoleta… (part 2)

Counting…Everyone seems to be doing this…

Here I am sitting at work counting… COUNTING the hours left for me to get out of here today T-30 minutes… 

And then the count down begins again tomorrow, when all I have to do is get through 8 hours of work, because then I will be free… LIBERATED! Of bosses, co-workers, deadlines and stupidity for TWELVE whole days! 

Instead, I will be in Argentina, with my core friends, who I have not seen for over 6 months and seriously people…I was in the verge of entering withdrawal symptoms, due to lack of contact with people that understand me because well, they won’t let my crazy slide.

We will have marathon talking sessions about the new boyfriend, living with the boyfriend, the new house, and living in the house while remodeling the house, and we will talk about the circus that it’s the US elections, because this is the first time I get to VOTE in this country.  And let me tell you, I’m going to fully exercise my right to VOTE!

I have never been a fan of politics, coming from a country where politics are truly dead due to the amount of corruption and lack of trust on any given candidate (they all end up corrupt at the end), so I never really got excited about it.  

But, NOW?

OMG, its like I can not live without reading the headlines every day, I want to find out the stupidity that comes from Palin and wailing of McCain… the debate schedule is downloaded on my iPod calendar, and my DVR is programmed to record them. Political blogs are being read almost on a 30 minute intervals just so I don’t miss all the juiciness that these two candidates are dishing out.

3 Days!!!

In 3 days time I will be once more getting confortable in an airplane.  This time I will travel a total of approximatly 10 hours and by Friday morning I will probably be speaking my native language and drinking some cafe con leche and eating pastries at an outside cafe and catching up with the NYBoys and the BFF.

We will for the next 12 days, experience art, history, shopping, dining, fashion, tango and a glacier because out of all of the stuff we have planned in our up coming trip to Argentina.. this is what I’m looking forward to the most … which is visiting this place:

and doing some of this:

Are you guys a bit jealous yet?