The Annual “Resolution” Season

I’m notoriously bad at New Year’s resolutions. I either don’t make them, or make them and break them quickly because they’re some sort of lofty goal like going to the gym daily (which after going to the gym almost never is a big jump). I know I wrote about these last year..but this year I’ve made 3 goals — none of which require me to change much of my daily routine.

1. Save weekly for a trip. 

Florence Italy.. I hope!

The boy and I decided that this year instead of the 5 months straight of presents we normally do (thanks to birthday x2, Christmas/Hanukkah, anniversary, and valentines day in a row) we would try something different. We’re going to go on a trip to Europe! Is this a lofty and financially irresponsible goal? Perhaps. But we’re planning 6 months in advance which will allow our budgets to be created far in advance of our actual trip. So far, I’ve got a few hundred in my virtual “cookie jar” (specifically made for this trip, not general savings) thanks to the help of LearnVest and the year has yet to officially begin!

2. Change my diet

How my plate SHOULD look… instead of entirely starches

I wake up… I drink coffee.. I skip breakfast.. lunch comes around and consists of some sort of sandwich.. more coffee.. I come home and make some sort of pasta with a piece of chicken (IF I’m feeling particularly good) and that’s my nutrients for the day. OH and a gummy vitamin.

As you can see, its not so impressive. I’ve made a person vow to improve this part of my life. It will take up maybe 10 more minutes of my time and the hope is that I’ll feel better day in and day out. Any recipe suggestions are more than welcome!

3. Get my morning act together

I was inspired watching White Christmas last night

This will probably be (sadly) the toughest of my personal resolutions. I’m constantly scrambling in the morning and have timed it so that I cane wake up and be out the door in less that 20 minutes if needed. That’s wonderful and all, but I sometimes get into work not looking my best which is not the attitude that I like to project.

I think I will feel better in the office, and gain more by stepping up my game a bit each day.

I’m sure S has some resolutions for the new year.. what are yours!

xE

California Dreamin – San Diego Style!

Hello from back on the east coast! I just returned from the most AH-MAZE-ING trip to San Diego! Between experiencing a new city, meeting so many new people, and getting incredible career experience, I can absolutely say it was one of the best trips of my life.

We hopped on a plane at an absurdly early hour at DCA, and 6 hours later rolled up to this place:

Yeah…WHOA. This property is the most beautiful and secluded resort I’ve ever been to (um, and it’s PINK!). I even woke up extra early on a couple of the days to just walk around and soak it all in. As you all know, I’m a big fan of the winter and colder weather, but honestly no one could have been unhappy in this 70 degree paradise. There was a golf course, a pool, and several delicious restaurants right on site. Check out some more pictures of the property below:

Even these hallways are unreal

The courtyard outside my room

On Thursday we took a little break and ate lunch next to the beach and then ventured down to play in the sand and stick our feet in the water for a little bit. It’s always nice when we have a little time to explore the city we’re in…and when we’re relaxed enough about the event to enjoy it! Growing up right on the Atlantic, I had never been to the Pacific Ocean so this was particularly exciting for me!

Lunch with a view!

Once Friday rolled around, we really had to buckle down and “gets to steppin'” as we say around the office. So we spent most of the day in the staff office eating chocolate covered oreos and running through seating changes and other logistics. However, we couldn’t even complain about that seeing as how this was our view from the office balcony:

Definitely broke a record for most of these eaten in a 4-day period….

Oh, and as for as the event itself – well, check us out:

Special Events team with Senator Cruz

Our set-up for the welcome reception

Check out that staging for Governor Walker!

Dessert Reception to wrap up the night

What an amazing opportunity to travel to another part of the country and learn alongside and bond with so many people who are just as passionate as you are about certain issues. My head was in the clouds the whole time – and I still can’t believe how lucky I am! We even got to meet Senator Cruz, Governor Scott Walker, and Scott Rasmussen! I learned SO much from each of my coworkers, and I can’t wait until the next big conference! Until next time, San Diego!

-S

2 Weeks, 7 Cities, and Blurred Lines on Repeat

Brace yourselves for a post FULL of pictures! This is the second catch-up post from my August recess travels and there is no better way to show you all what I was up to than a bunch of photos from the road! After hitting up Gettysburg, I left for a 2-week tour across 6 cities! But that wasn’t before traveling home to Philly for my best friend’s bridal shower and some family time (I’m leaving this part out from the post, but it still counts as another city traveled to)! From Tampa to Indianapolis, I definitely experienced more of America over these two weeks than I had in the previous 22 years!

Coffee played a MAJOR role in the completion of this tour…

It was a true whirlwind experience – fast-paced, stressful, and tiring…but I loved every minute of it! Traveling with an experienced coworker was such an incredible learning experience  – plus we just had so much fun together from gossiping, to eating, to blaring and dancing along to “Blurred Lines” on our long car rides. I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking in this post, with a little narration.

Bye, DC!!

Stop #1: Fayetteville, Arkansas!

It is fair to say that I had never truly experienced the “deep south” until I went to Fayetteville….and it was everything I imagined it to be. So quaint, such nice people, and SO beautiful. This was probably one of my favorite cities on the tour – maybe just because the venue was just so unique and fun (see below for pics of the BARN we held our event in)! Unfortunately we didn’t make it to the site of the giant Wal-mart in Bentonville, but we did visit one a little down the road in Fayetteville and I’m counting that as close enough.

This song may also have been on repeat all trip…

U. Arkansas campus

Casually getting lost on back roads trying to find Wal-Mart….

Taking a preemptive strike against day 1 – ready for anything!

the most beautiful place on earth – yes, this is real!

Inside the barn!

wish I got to test this out…

Stop #2: Tampa, Florida!

We didn’t have that much time in Tampa, but it was also exactly what I imagined it to be. And yes, that means it was BLAZING HOT. But it was also beautifully sunny. I don’t think I’ve ever seen clearer skies. Tampa was my favorite hotel – which is good because I really don’t think we left it at all – hah! But check out the view from my room below!

Stop #3: Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is the ONLY city I don’t have pictures of, despite it being the city I was in the longest – go figure! This is probably because we were no where near close to downtown Bham. I did, however, get to experience the southern charm of suburban Alabama! I even went to  Publix for the first time. It’s no Wegmans, but I’ll admit, it was pretty nice.

Stop #4: Indianapolis, Indiana

After a full week in the south, I was SO ready to be back up to familiar territory above the Mason-Dixon line! Though I loved my time spent there, I think I’ll always be a northern girl. That being said, I was ECSTATIC to land in Indy. Especially because I’ve never been there. I was lucky enough that our hotel was right in the heart of downtown and I landed early enough on Sunday to have some time to walk around the city and relax.

Capital Building

Circle City!

Excellent photography skillz with my finger in the corner..

How much do you just want to be that guy sitting there reading a good book?

I just love this building…Gov. Pence, you home?

Stop #5: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

I had never been to Pittsburgh either, so this was particularly exciting for me too. Plus one of my best friends from school just moved there so I got to see her! We went to a delicious Mexican restaurant followed by delicious ice cream – the perfect way to spend my night before my last event!  The next afternoon we took a quick break to get the famous Primanti Brothers sandwiches…and they were SO worth it! If you’re ever in Pittsburgh you need to make sure you get a hold of one! By the time we finished up in here, I was totally worn. I would like to think I could have kept going, but my body was so beat up and tired that I was glad to come home and rest!

Just some random pretty church?

View of the city from our hotel

Stop #6: Finally home to Washington, DC!

In the end, there is no place like home! My favorite part of traveling is always coming home to my city with renewed appreciation for how lucky I am! A year later, I am still completely in love with DC and I hope I remain in this honeymoon phase forever.

the happiest home!

That’s all until my next adventure…

xO -S

Work Trip: Gettysburg

As we mentioned in an earlier post today, we’ve got a LOT of catching up to do! So here is the first of my catch-up posts on travel – my work trip to Gettysburg, PA!

Okay, so maybe I’m a total nerd, but I was SO excited for this trip! I was there to run the event (my first official trip by myself!), but I also really love learning about American History…so it was the perfect way to test my professional skills and to learn about something I was personally interested in! Win-Win. We started the day with lectures before we moved to the Gettysburg Museum for some presentations and then finally ended on a 2-hour tour of the battlefield. It was dark and rainy, but none of the guests seemed to mind since the content was so interesting. I learned so much that I didn’t know about the Civil War, and it was crazy to think that I was standing where it all happened! We walked Pickett’s Charge, ventured up to Little Round Top, and even stopped at some of the memorials and heard the stories behind them. Here are some pictures from the tour:

Little Round Top!

As the lead contact for the event, I went up the night before to ensure everything was prepped and ready for guests upon their arrival at the hotel. This meant that I had a little bit of time the night before to explore downtown Gettysburg. Let me tell you, it was everything you imagine adorable small-town America to be. Beautiful scenery, great food, and friendly people. Below are some pictures I collected from around town – including the tavern we ate at and some delicious drinkage.

Gettysburg is only about an hour and half from DC so it’s a perfect day trip! I highly recommend taking a weekend and heading up to see all that Gettysburg has to offer – I know I’ll be returning soon!

xO – S

NYC Recap!

Remember how I said that I was going to NYC a few weeks ago? I forgot to update you on the trip! If you follow me on instagram you’ve probably seen most of these but there is always a story behind every picture…

First I was there for work… in Jersey City which is ALMOST NYC.. as you can see from the beautiful view

View from the Goldman Sacs building

Finally, we united in Sty Town and headed out into the night!

The night began!

We went to Houstan Hall in the west village.  Imagine a german beer hall FILLED to the brim.

look at the size of those guys!

The crew!!!!

As the night progressed….

The next day we woke up bright and early and took the subway to Williamburg for a large food fest with a fantastic view!

Smorgasburg!

Seeing as it was Michelles birthday, we hit up a little Sushi place around the block from her apartment

Birthday Sushi!

And headed out into the night for some dancing…which somehow I got no pictures of, just instagram videos which I’m not entirely sure how to share just yet.

The next morning was brunch at the Sunburnt Cow (clearly named for me as I got burned just sitting around brooklyn) If you can imagine, is a tiny bar with fantastic breakfast and lunch items –think steak and eggs– with bottomless drinks and all Australian men servers.

The rest of the afternoon was spent walking, lounging, saying goodbyes, and grabbing dinner at this adorable 24/7 restaurant in the east village called 7A Cafe that I’ve now managed to go to every single time I’ve visited new york this year. I’m claiming it as my spot!

The next morning it was time to head back to Penn Station, but not before I got caught in a torrential downpour

No cabs to be found!

Ahh NYC… always a great visit. I think the friends are half the fun though.

xE

 

 

California Dreamin’

“Out on bail fresh outta jail, California dreamin
Soon as I stepped on the scene, I’m hearin hoochies screamin”

Okay so my trip to northern California was not quite like that…

Unforeseen circumstances lead to me flying out to Redding, CA last week and while in general there was a lot to do and not much time for site seeing, I did manage to get a tour of the Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay. Redding is about 2.5 hours north of Sacramento and while its way out there, maaan is it beautiful.Like crazy wilderness beautiful.

Most of my pictures don’t do it justice but hopefully you’ll get the idea.

Here is the silly thing about this sundial bridge– it actually works at a sundial. Except due to the earths rotation that only happens during the summer solstice– around June 20th. Woops! Other than that is “the largest working sundial” in the world I believe. Certainly in the U.S.

Coming from the East coast, I’m always amazed by the West coast and their crazy majestic mountains. They just spring up out of nowhere, you go from flat to 10,000 ft elevation in the blink of an eye.

Clear blue water? We’re not at the Genesee anymore…

That peak in the back is Lassen Mt. Its actually a volcano that has not erupted since 1915 (scary!). Near by there is Mt. Shasta, one of the tallest mountains in North America, and I somehow missed the chance to get a picture of it. Its wonderfully snow capped and beautiful from all angles though. And it can be seen for miles and miles away– like 2 hours driving distance away. Mt. Washington doesn’t hold a stone to it , falling short at only 6,200 feet tall, but my NH pride will never fully accept that.

Also I had IN N’ OUT burger for the first time– LIFE CHANGED.

xx E

P.S. notice the pictures are a little better than usual! I dug out my old camera so hopefully more non-phone pics in the future:)

Up and Down the East Coast

In the past week I’ve gone from 86 degrees to 13 degrees. I started my week in Atlanta and then moved to Naples, FL before heading back to DC for 12 hours and taking off again for Philadelphia and Rochester, NY!

After a delayed flight, we arrived in Atlanta and stopped off at a Zaxby’s for some real southern fried chicken…and it did NOT disappoint. Atlanta was our best and most exciting event in my opinion – and I got to reunite with my roommate from the U of R who is living there now! We didn’t have much time, but we did get to catch up a little and it was so refreshing to see a familiar and encouraging face!

Our award-winning costume from D’Lion year – Cowboys and Indians (hah – get it?)

In Florida we stayed at a resort in Coconut Point, where we were offered complimentary mimosas or champagne upon check-in…um, that’s my kind of establishment! Luckily the hotel grounds were gorgeous, because we didn’t have all too much time to explore the surrounding area….but we didn’t need it with this surrounding us:

the treeeeees!

Then it was back to DC for the last Presidents’ Tour event. Though I was stressed and tired from working all week, mostly I was sad to see it end! The tour was so fun and I got so close to all my coworkers that it was disappointing to see it all end.

But I didn’t have too much time to dwell on the sadness. After our celebratory lunch, I headed up to PA. Back in Philly, I got to search for a bridesmaid dress for my friend Jenn’s wedding in September. I’ve never even been to a wedding, so this was totally new and exciting territory for me! We went to Alfred Angelo’s and after trying on a couple of different options, Jenn decided on this one:

And finally I arrived in Rochester Saturday night, where I spent the rest of the weekend catching up with my family and friends from school. One of the highlights was getting to go out to my favorite Rochester bar, Mex, with a bunch of friends.

Reunited with AKPsi!

And Sunday night I had a reunion with my former summer housemates. Though we hadn’t all been together in over a year, we spent the entire night reminiscing about old times and catching up on all our exciting current lives.

So much love!

I also got to have a movie marathon with the rents and even painted my dad’s keys so he could tell them apart using the method I posted about here earlier! But this time I left out the glitter…

Anyway, it’s off to bed for now (finally)! Hopefully I can spend this week catching up on everything I missed while I was gone!

-xO S

5000 Miles in 1 Week

Greetings from my couch in Arlington! I’m so glad to be finally home after a 6-day, 3-city, 5107 mile business trip for work, where I helped organize and execute 7 different events – all part of our nation-wide tour to introduce our new President to our members.

First stop was NYC! After a pleasant 4 hour train ride, we arrived at Penn Station, and headed to our hotel, The Grand Hyatt at Grand Central.

super modern hotel lobby?

Move Over, DuPont Circle

Next up: Denver! I was only here for about 24 hours, but I can honestly say that everyone I met in Denver was SO nice, and it was exactly how I pictured it. I can’t wait to go back sometime when I actually have time to explore and enjoy the city. We hopped in a rental car – and my hopped I mean packed all 6 of us plus 15 bags…

We became bag packing experts, bellhops everywhere were impressed

exactly what I’d imagine Denver is like outside hotel walls, not that I’d know

Tuesday night we ate at my favorite restaurant from the entire trip – Cool River Cafe. It was just us girls so we decided to split a bunch of small meals…which turned into more food than we probably would’ve all gotten had we ordered separately. I wish I would have taken a picture of the buffalo potatoes we got….but just imagine the most delicious mix of fries and tater tots with a little buffalo spice….yummm

Golden Globes were here just a few weeks ago!

We had a little time Thursday morning to explore the city, so we hopped in the suburban and headed to breakfast at Jack n Jills. This was honestly one of the most delicious breakfasts I had ever had! Since it was raining, we decided to stick to a driving tour for the most part after that. We made our way down Rodeo Drive, Sunset Blvd, and saw the walk of fame before driving up to Griffith Observatory for the “best view of the Hollywood sign.” However, with the fog, we actually couldn’t see the sign at all – but it turned out to be a pretty great adventure and bonding experience for our team anyway.

My team pointing to where we THINK the sign is…we all really have no clue

The actual event was down the street at the historic Beverly Hills Hotel, which was sooo gorgeous! After our event Thursday night we hung out around the hotel and – kid you not – ran into Steven Tyler, Mel Gibson, and Lionel Richie…SO COOL.

Lionel– blurry but so worth it!

After that kind of night, none of us wanted to go home, but with another 4:30 a.m. wake up call, we knew we had to leave at some point. We pushed through our final two events Friday morning before half the team left and returned to DC. However, myself and a colleague stayed for an extra night of LA sightseeing. On our night off, we decided to explore Rodeo Drive, where I somehow managed to keep my wallet shut, despite the temptations.

woops forgot to take a picture until the cab was driving away..