Spring Break 2009

Some things will take getting used to. This was our first Spring break as a divorced family and after 8 years of planning things around school schedules and spouses, it was unusual to find myself without a vacation planned 3 months ahead of time with timetables and logistics to fit everything in!

Wes went to the house in New Mexico with the kids, his mom, his girlfriend Christi and son. They got some skiing in and a trip to White Sands – I am looking forward to Wes’ update on his blog for pictures. L & M had a good time and probably didn’t even have to do any chores! I thought about the kids a lot and wondered what they were up to. I imagined it was mostly fun with a little trouble thrown in for good measure.

I did manage to keep myself busy and ended up having a really great Spring Break.

Keri and Eric came up for the first weekend of Spring Break. We ate, we played Wii, we ate, we slept, we ate and we just chilled out! Saturday and Sunday were all about food! We cooked all weekend and ate like kings!

An impromptu dinner was created when

we let the day get away from us

A late Greek lunch on Sunday before K & E head home

I worked all day Monday and Tuesday morning- got some things done around the house (still on the market!), read a lot and let myself be a little lazy. Then went to Bliss Spa and had a facial and a generally relaxing time being a spa bum. After my treatments were done I met Brad in the hotel bar and watched the crowd file in to the AAC for a mavericks game. St. Patrick's Day and basketball - highly entertaining. After a few cocktails we wandered over to Victory Tavern for a relaxing dinner. Wednesday I had a list a mile long of things I wanted to do. . . I got laundry done and then the day was shot.

I called Jay (who was also on vacation) to see if he wanted to grab lunch. Of course – a guy has got to eat! We landed at Twin Peaks and enjoyed a leisurely 2 hour lunch. I DO go there for the food and the incredibly cold beer. They also have no less than 20 TVs with sports and news and it is highly entertaining to have a meal with any man with that much going on around you. We ended up at Vickery Park in Dallas for happy hour with Cristi. It was great to catch up with Cristi and spend a little time reminiscing about the olden days at Express. I need her in my life more, she makes me happy. Cristi had to go and Jay and I were still on vacation – so we went back to TP to have a drink and hang out.

Brad & Todd came out and joined me so I wouldn’t have to sit there alone when Jay had to go home. I can’t say that I have ever had an all day happy hour, but this day was very relaxing and enjoyable.

A happy Happy Hour with Jay & Cristi

Thank goodness for drinking buddies!

Let’s see….Thursday I woke up bright and early and was all set to go for a 30 mile bike ride. I got the bike off the trainer upstairs and out the front door when I realized both tires were low and I had not been outside on it in months. I decided to take it to the bike shop and have them make it road ready for me. I didn’t get it back until Friday afternoon, so no ride. I did Wii Fit for an hour and ½ though. That was fun! I did a little shopping and chilled out. Met Brad, Todd and Amy for dinner and salsa dancing. . . we did not dance, we watched. It got me interested in learning though. Looks like quite a workout!

Friday was one of those run run run days that you don’t expect or plan for, but that keep you super busy and then all of a sudden the day is almost over and you realize you never stopped to pee… Ok, it wasn’t that busy. I got to do one of my favorite things Friday. I had lunch with my mom. Lunch with just mom is one of the most relaxing and grounding things I get to do. It does not happen often, we need to work on that mommasan! After lunch I settled in to the chore of packing for a weekend in New York City. Hard to pack for 30 degree weather when it is 80 degrees outside…it took a while, but I managed to get it done and didn’t even forget anything (write that down…it is actually a miracle).

Friday night I met Brad for dinner at Cool River. It was pretty busy and they had a live band. We stayed for a few drinks and some dancing before we had to get some sleep for our 8 AM flight. What were we thinking?!?!

So – off to NYC after a flight delay- we had boarded and they kicked us off – a circuit breaker wasn’t working and while they were fixing that they found another problem. Turns out the tires were not fit for landing – glad they caught that one before we took off. We had not really planned anything specific while we were up here. Brad had meetings Monday – Wednesday so this was just a little escape weekend for both of us. .Made it to NYC, checked to see if our room was available at Tribeca Grand (not yet), had a champagne toast and wandered off for a late lunch while they finished getting our room ready.

This is where you will either check out of this blog or read on. . . I am about to talk about food. . . lots of food…so if you are hungry and staying with me- go get a snack.

Lunch at 3 in the afternoon in NYC was incredible. We ate at a little Italian place called Petrarca’s. The walls were lined with wines from all over the world – too many choices! Brad picked a good one to compliment our choices. We ordered a salad that was so refreshing – frisee with Bosc pear and toasted walnuts; it was dressed in a sherry / honey vinaigrette and had shaved parmesan. Then we had a margarita pizza- the crust was thin, but not to thin and had big crunchy bubbles from being wood fired. Entrée was spinach cannelloni – fresh handmade pasta and the cream sauce was out of this world. I could eat that meal every day for the rest of my life and be happy! We were at a corner table with a view of the street that made it hard to leave when it was time, the people watching and sun shining on us was very relaxing.

We checked in to our room, unpacked and took a nap. Somewhere around 7 we decided to get moving. We met Brad’s friend Jeff downstairs for drinks at the Church lounge in the hotel. After a cocktail we walked over to Macao Trading Co. for dinner. Met another coworker there and spent time downstairs waiting for our table. The bar downstairs had a DJ, a really cool bartender, small crowded tables and the scene was amazing. I could have people watched here for the rest of the weekend. Jeff had a friend that was eating upstairs and reported that Jay Z and Gwyneth were eating nearby. Our table was ready a few minutes before midnight. . . it was well worth the wait. The food was Portuguese/ Chinese eclectic fare. Everything was delicious. We had crispy sea bass with ginger & scallions and Portuguese grilled steak with blue cheese butter and shared sides of fennel & artichoke salad with spiced chickpeas, Swiss chard with currants & pine nuts and jasmine rice. OMG! Yummy yummy yummy! After we ate we joined back up with Jeff and Ryan and listened to the music and watched the crowd.

Sunday was a lazy day. We slept in until 10 and wandered downstairs to ask where a good brunch/ lunch place was. We were directed to a few different spots but ended up at The Odeon. This was a kind of cafeteria style eatery. Jam packed at noon on Sunday, but it only took 10 minutes for us to get a table. We got there right in time – between the breakfast and lunch crowds and got a little (I mean very little) corner table near the front. Again – the people watching for both of us could take up the day! I got the French onion soup and herbed chicken salad sandwich and Brad got the warm goat cheese salad and tuna burger. Everything was so good. Even the French fries were better than French fries should be! The tuna burger was what I should have ordered though. It was cooked perfectly and had a really good wasabi mayonnaise. I could have had breakfast lunch and dinner here – the menu was extensive and very comforting. There were a lot of locals here and it was fun to watch the families and friends gather for brunch/ lunch on a lazy Sunday. The service was outstanding, there were a ton of wait staff and they worked as a well oiled machine. They worked as a team to make sure every diner had everything they needed, we never had to ask for anything-it just magically appeared at our table if we thought it. We stayed and enjoyed a couple extra cups of coffee just to observe the whole experience.

After our lunch we wandered around the TriBeCa/ SoHo areas and did a little shopping and sightseeing. The weather went from cold and sunny to cold and windy with dark clouds, so we wandered back to the hotel. I needed a nap after big lunch and shopping, so we watched basketball and I fell asleep for a couple of hours… isn’t that what vacation is for?!? Woke up, cleaned up and went out for dinner. We ended up at MEGU after getting a little turned around on our walk. New Yorkers really are quite friendly and we were quickly put back on track. MEGU is amazing modern Japanese cuisine. Cocktails were really good, wine was perfect. The atmosphere and the food were out of this world. I don’t know if I can do it justice! We started with edamame – it was so fresh, they must grow it on site and soy marinated chicken which was fried, there was a sweet soy dipping sauce that I could just drink. We had green salad with a ponzu dressing, entrée was Chu Toro black pepper tuna and Kobe filet with a Hennessey flambe (both were served on hot stones to continue cooking), with Jasmine rice and asparagus in a balsamic soy dressing. We did eat everything! And then I ordered the Green tea crème brulee – which was a perfect ending to one of the most incredible meals I have ever had. We spent close to 3 hours enjoying our meal. Then promptly took a cab back to the hotel so we wouldn’t get lost again!

A fun weekend

Monday – Brad had to get up early for work and I needed to pack so I could head home later in the afternoon. It was a sunny day, but quite chilly. I took my time packing and had a couple of cups of coffee before heading out to find my friend Lauren. She works at a swanky furniture store in SoHo, so I walked a few blocks to see if she was there. I had left her # at home and was hoping like heck she was working! My lucky day! Lauren was there and we spent a little time catching up. I had not seen Lauren in almost 6 years. We worked together at Express. She was 16 or 17 when I hired her and was on two of my favorite Express teams. Lauren is one incredible young lady. She has lived and worked in NY for 6 years now. She worked for a fashion designer for 4 years and got to travel all over the world – she has some really fun stories. After standing in the store catching up for about 30 minutes we decided to grab lunch. We walked a couple of blocks to Café Cubano – down some steps into a small door and WOW- a whole Cuban restaurant you wouldn’t know was there unless you went with someone in the know or stumbled upon it as you were walking down the street. It was really good! I had a jicima, green apple and manchego cheese salad and a Cuban sandwich. Yum! We walked around for a little bit and then she needed to get back to work and I had to leave for the airport.

Beautiful, young and energetic Lauren!

All in all a very relaxing and adventure filled week. I don’t imagine every Spring Break will be so unplanned and carefree, but I am happy that my first one on my own after all these years was something I wanted it to be. Stress free and filled with really good company and amazing food.

It was good to come home and get the kids on Tuesday. I missed them more than they know, more than I imagined I could. We are settling back in to our routines and work and school are the norm again. No more ski slopes and sand dunes for the kids . . . no more all day happy hours and walking around the big city for me, but always good food. One thing I need in order to be happy…one thing that I can do that makes the kids happy - good food!

Happy Spring to everyone. I am looking forward to the start of baseball season next week and Formula 1 just kicked off. I think it will be an interesting year in both sports and am looking forward to getting to a lot of games this year. No F1 trip this year, but something to look forward to down the road.

Off and running. House full of kids and I smell something burning…or is that pancakes?

Happy Almost Spring!!!!

Year at a glance? Not if you’re talkin’ to me darlin’!!

I let it happen again. I would say I have good reason, but I say that every time…I guess it is that thing they call life. It has been moving at light speed as far as I am concerned, but that is not such a bad thing.

I honestly can not believe it is March already. My sweet baby boy will turn 8 this year. AND my beautiful little girl will enter her teenage years. I am looking forward to the adventures, trials and tribulations and sheer joy of watching her grow into a young adult. So far it has been an experience I would not trade for the world.

Trouble....?

Nah. . . sweetest girl ever!

Heart breaker for sure!

Matthew loving on Ya-Ya!

Lunch is always fun when hugs are on the menu!

Both kids are doing well. They have had a tough year with the divorce, but have been surprisingly resilient. They are both still as optimistic and lovable as ever. I believe my relationship with each of them has become much stronger over the past year and I look forward to what lies ahead with both of them. They are such unique and intelligent individuals that I rarely have a day that goes by without a laugh . . . or a complete blank stare when I attempt to understand the wit and wisdom that they have.

I don’t know where to start with my life . . . not sure you even want the whole story…

I will just start with current events.

Over December and January I had a rather interesting incident. I had a man in the building that was twice my age decide he wanted to be my friend, my very close friend. I suppose I over reacted, but when I came in to the office one day and found a 4 page handwritten note explaining his desire to be with me. . . I flipped out! I asked Dan down the hall to walk me out of the building, he did post haste. Made a call to my boss and within a matter of hours we had HR, LP and ½ of home office involved in making sure I was safe! Everything turned out ok. My amazing boss had a conversation with the man and that was the end of it. You know, I like a guy that will tell me how he feels, but NOT LIKE THAT!!!

As far as work goes, we are finally in a new office. No longer in the Glass Tower that we have been in since May of 08. We should be settling in over the next week or so and I will finally feel like I can give 100%. Although- I would say I have been giving 200% . . . I know, I know…impossible! I feel like I have been working 2 jobs – one as an assistant to my boss and one as a real estate agent looking for this office!!

New Office!

I did have the unsettling job of closing down an office last week. Toughest thing I have done in my 19 year career in retail. I have fired plenty of people, put 16 year old girls in jail for shoplifting, had a guy try to hold me up at knife point (killed the moment when I laughed at him…) and cleaned up more human messes that I can count. Working with Angie to shut down the office she put together and took so much pride in was truly the worst experience I could imagine. We did enjoy each others company, but to know that I was there to help her end her career with us, killed me. To know that we will remain friends and go to a Depeche Mode concert in August . . . makes it a little better.

Soul Sista!

On another note. . . I have met a truly wonderful man. I met him months ago, but was otherwise occupied and not really paying attention to the world outside of my very limited bubble. Somewhere near the end of January he asked me to happy hour, I couldn’t go and figured he was just asking because he felt sorry for the single girl that never went to eat lunch. He had asked me to lunch a few

times since I started working in the building, but I was never able to go. He did bring me lunch a few times when he was coming back from his lunch, which always surprised me. I do eat! I really do, just not at normal times on Mondays or Fridays. After a couple of attempts, he finally got me to go to dinner with him. Since then we have had a lot of fun and I am enjoying dating and trying new things. I have found that I am able to balance life – work, home, me - and that was not something I was so very good at a few month ago.

Stars Game 2-11 - Stars lost, but we had a great time anyway.

Just a little dinner and some dancing.

I cooked dinner for the crowd then we

hopped in a limo and went out on the town.

Thanks mom for watching the kids!!!

Think that is all for now. Oh, no wait! I have fallen back in love with cooking. I have always enjoyed it, but I have been cooking more lately. I think it has a lot to do with the guy in my life. He really liked the Tequila Lime Chicken Tacos, lasagna, blueberry wheat pancakes with an apricot syrup. . . we will see what else. I am just getting started. Going to cook dinner for him and friends this weekend. . . had to try out a new recipe.

Mom does not seem to mind. I utilized her as a test monkey for a Sesame Seared Tuna recipe. . . two thumbs up from mom and the kids! I even liked it and that is crazy talk if you know me!!

Sesame Seared Tuna. . . turned out rather fantastic!

I was lucky enough to get to spend a little time with Keri from Detroit when she was in town for a meeting. She is perhaps one of the brightest and most fun people I know. I only wish I could have known her my whole life. She has a truly uplifting spirit about her and it just energizes me!!

Matthew and Keri play a game while we wait for dinner!

Really looking forward to baseball season. Been watching Spring Training closely and I believe it will be an interesting year. Can not wait until April 1st!!!

Will catch up with you again soon. . . I say that, but you know better!

Love you all.