Me & Pokemon in NYC

Ryan begged me to go to this place called Pokemon World near Rockfeller Center while in NYC. Here is a quick photo taken on my phone of me at the store. More photos and NYC stories coming this weekend. Stay tuned!

New York, Day 1, 9.21.07

Day 1 of my trip started on an early note ... 4:00 am to be exact. That really is not a humane hour to have to wake up I must say. My Aunt Dorothy arrived at 5:15 to drive us to her son's house who would in turn take us to the airport. By a little after 6:00 we arrived at the airport both asking why on earth we were there at this insanely early hour. The rest of the group arrived via bus from Mankato and after checking in we headed to our gate. Our flight was on time and there were no bumps. In fact we got into LaGuardia about a 1/2 hour early AND ALL our baggage arrived. We traveled to our hotel by bus and took about a 1/2 hour to settle in then met up to walk to Central Park.

We wound our way through a very small portion of the park ending up at the infamous "Tavern on the Green." Central Park is beautiful and certainly a haven for the residents but it just isn't the same as our parks here. You don't hear the birds and you can't smell the grass and trees. You still smell the city and it is very odd to someone used to the fresh smells of our Minnesota parks. At Tavern on the Green we enjoyed cocktails in their center outdoor courtyard area and then ventured back to our hotel to get ready to go to dinner.

For dinner we ventured to Carmines -- a WONDERFUL family-style Italian restaurant in the Theater District. The food was so yummy. The bartender was quite generous with letting me sample the wines until I found one to my liking. My favorite entrees were the Vodka Pasta and the spaghetti and meatballs (the BEST I have ever had). After dinner we headed to the Majestic theater to see Phantom of the Opera. We had orchestra seats and were quite close to the stage to it was neat to have such a close-up view of everything. The production was amazing and flew by very fast.

On our way back to the hotel we ventured through Times Square. I have been there several times in the evening but it still amazes me how that area lights up like the middle of the day. We got back to our hotel and I collapsed into bed exhausted at about midnight.

I have some great photos to share but have to figure out how to get them out of my new camera and onto my computer. Days 2-4 yet to come.

Back From New York & EXHAUSTED

Hi all. I arrived home from New York today. Our plane was ahead of schedule so we touched down around 3:00 at the Minneapolis airport. The trip was simply wonderful and I really can't wait to write more about it but tonight I am exhausted beyond exhausted. A combination of the early mornings, late nights, unbelievable amounts of walking and a lot of fun have made me a very tired girl. Not to mention the Ginger Mojitos at Ruby Foos last night!! LOL.

I can't wait to also share some of the wonderful photos I captured - from the stunning -- views from "Top of the Rock" (Rockefeller Center) at night time, to the emotional -- Ground Zero and the Fire Fighter's Memorial, to funny -- the 70 or so year-old pan handler dressed in a spider man costume (don't worry it appeared the costume was helping him do quite well). Although it did make me think "what is this world coming to when even pan handlers have gimmicks?"

A special thanks to mom and dad for this most wonderful gift whose memories I will cherish and to my amazing hubby for taking care of the kids all weekend and while doing this repairing and seal coating the ENTIRE driveway, cleaning and organizing the entire house, doing the laundry and yes, last but not least (I did notice honey), cleaning out and reorganizing the hallway linen closet. You are the most wonderful husband a girl could want and I love you tons!

Until I get a chance to write the days in a bit more detail -- this girl's head has to go and hit the pillow.

Start Spreading the News, I'm Leaving Tomorrow

I am positively giddy today. Early tomorrow morning (5:15 a.m.) I will depart for a four-day trip to none other than New York City. The trip is a birthday gift from my parents. My mom and I, my two Aunts, Dorothy and Marg and family friend Marlys and her daughter are all making the trip. For those who know me well, you know I have traveled to the Big Apple countless times and have always enjoyed my adventures there. The sites, the sounds and the smells (good and bad) are so different from home. It almost feels like stepping into another world. It is a place I adore visiting but would not want to make home.

We are going on a tour planned trip. Following is the itinerary for the weekend:

FRIDAY: We depart Minneapolis and arrive at LaGuardia airport around lunch time. After settling into our hotel we have a bit of free time and then will meet up for dinner at a restaurant called Carmine's -- this is an Italian, family-style restaurant. We top off the evening with the Broadway show, "Phantom of the Opera."

SATURDAY: We go for a tour to Ground Zero (I have seen this several times so am not sure if we just go there and see if or if there is an actual "tour"). After lunch it is shopping/window shopping on 5th Avenue and a stop at Bryant Park on the way back to the hotel. Dinner will be at Churrascaria Plataforma restaurant. Again, sort of family style serving and lots of different types and preparations of meat (good thing I am not remotely close to a Vegetarian). We cap Saturday night with a trip to the top of Rockefeller Center to see the city lights.

SUNDAY: We will enjoy a morning Semi Circle Harbor Cruise to see the Statue of Liberty up close. I have done this cruise long ago -- 1990 to be exact -- and it was wonderful. The rest of the day will be spent exploring on our own. I have already scoped out restaurants for us and we may try to see another Broadway show if we can get tickets.

MONDAY: We leave for the airport around 10:30 and are due back in Minneapolis around 3:30.

I hope to blog each day to give a more detailed tale of our adventures. Hoping the hotel has a computer in the business office I can use. If not -- I will recap the trip when I return.

Until then ....

A Dental First for Carol

I had quite the experience this morning. My very first -- yes at my age -- filling at the dentist. At my check up/cleaning last week it was discovered my "occasional" flossing wasn't enough and I managed to get a cavity between two of my back teeth. I headed off to the dentist with iPod in hand prepared for what I honestly didn't know never having been in this position before.

First my gum was topically numbed and I thought "well this isn't too bad." Next was the first round of Novocaine. That wasn't too bad either -- just a few pinch like pains. As I laid there letting the numbing take effect I realized my tongue, my lips and my chin no longer existed. Well at least it felt that way! :-) The next round of Novocaine was administered with no pain at all. A few more minutes of letting the numbing take effect and I am surprised the dentist and hygienist are not laughing at me since as I said above I have basically lost the right half of my face. A quick hand to the cheek and I realize this isn't the case but it sure feels that way.

The dentist came back in and gave me these lovely green glasses to wear; I proceed to insert my iPod headphones in, close my eyes and hope for the best. After about 15 minutes of tugging, pushing and this every interesting ultra violet light I am done! The dentist gives me a mirror and the very cool thing is if I didn't now what tooth had the cavity I wouldn't be able to tell what tooth was filled. Despite the lovely result I tell the dentist I am now flossing every single day AND brushing after lunch as well. This girl is determined for that to be her first, last and ONLY filling.

Now as I sit here and try to eat my lunch I am left to wonder when the right side of my face will come back to life.

The Realities of the Internet

I had an interesting meeting during lunch today. My agency web partner came in and gave a talk about Internet Marketing. Aside from some of the obvious ways to market one's business, product or self on the web including search engine optimization, online display advertising and email marketing I learned about some other areas that I had heard of but until now didn't fully comprehend.

These are things called "social media." This includes: blogs, forums, wikipedia, pod casting, bookmarking, photo/video sharing, social networking and RSS Feeds. Now I am not so Internet-inept that I wasn't aware some of these venues existed -- hey I do have a blog don't I? I was just shocked to learn about some of them. I am not one of those technology-paranoid people either but I do have my boundaries. But some of these social media offerings actually make me little nervous. For instance did you know that with one bookmarking site you can actually share your bookmarks, send ones to your friends and get bookmarks from anyone else signed up to the site? I don't know about you but that seems like it might be starting to share a bit too much information! I mean do I really want the whole Internet world to know that I have bookmarked a page on the pros and cons of declawing my cat??? I guess none of this should be a surprise given the birth of YouTube, MySpace and Flickr -- the vehicles that allow you to pretty much share every aspect of your life, in graphic detail, with anyone interested in looking at it. It is just a bit much even for this somewhat "techie" person. I can't imagine what my grandparents would make of all this.

Even more frightening was talk about Web 3.0 which is Semantic Web. The example given was say last year you attended a trade show. You flew a particular airline, stayed in a particular hotel, dined at certain restaurants and hosted a social event for your customers who were also show attendees. Come this year you are attending the same show and it just happens to be in the same location. With Web 3.0 -- your trip, flight, hotel and even your special event would all be reserved, arranged and scheduled for you. Here is the catch -- without you -- it just does it. Scary stuff me thinks.

I really wonder at times like this what the future holds and what will the Internet look like when my two young children are my age? Something to ponder.

3-Day Weekends Anyone?

All weekends should be three-day weekends. There I said it. I need one day to rest and play with the kids and generally have no agenda, one day to run my errands -- you know Sam's, the grocery store, etc. and one day to handle my domestic duties -- the cleaning, the laundry the cooking. Is this too much to ask for? I announced to Bill yesterday that I really need to figure out a way to make this happen. This as I juggled the errands and the domestic duties in one day. This the price I paid for taking it easy on Saturday while Bill was at work and the kids and I were home. Ultimately something always suffers and as I look at the clutter that is piling up in my house and the piles of laundry that reproduce like bunnies in the spring time I fully realize it is my domestic duties. We have to eat so I always seem to get the errands done -- my checkbook will attest to that -- but somehow I always seem to run out of day and the house is only half-clean, the laundry half-done and cooking -- well forget it. Taco Bell anyone (and if that isn't dumb after dropping $200 at the grocery store I don't know what is)?

I'm not complaining about the domestic duties -- heck I realize how lucky I am to have a home to clean (and clutter!), laundry to wash and a machine to wash it in. I just need more time.

Any other working parents out there feel the same? Heck I think you don't even have to be a parent to feel that way. The solution? Anyone? Well I am working on a solution and I will let you know when I find it. For now to cut down on the never ending laundry -- everyone has to wear the same clothes at least two days, to reduce the vacuuming needed no eating will be allowed inside the house and the cooking -- we all go on diets?? O.K. a bit extreme on all accounts but it sounded good for one second.

Let me know if you figure out how to find more time. I am on a tight budget so I can't pay a lot but I think I would write a check tomorrow if you told me I could buy some!