NEW YEARS EVE!!!

Most of you know that I’m a planner. I plan trips, workouts, to-do lists, study schedules. Planning is what I do. So, what I’m about to say could come as a shock for some; Val and I went to Chicago for New Years Eve sans plan.

We knew we were going to stay at our friend, Brenda’s condo, but that’s all we had. Where would we party? Would we go out for dinner first? How about shopping during the day? Drive, public transportation? Should we worry about getting tickets to a hip bar or party? None of these things really concerned us as we started out on our adventure, and an adventure is what we had.

The drive down was typical girl-talk. Sorry, Everybody, what is said in the car on girl-trip stays in the car on girl-trip. We managed to hug it out with Brenda before she headed to Florida to ring in the New Year. Then to Michigan Ave we went to spend hard earned cash on some much needed New Year’s necessities. I was in search for a head piece. Val was looking for the perfect purse. Lessons learned while shopping:
• You pay the parking fee on your way out of the mall, not on the way in, contrary to the sense of emergency the signs bestow.
• Eating is important; you need sustenance to shop.
• The perfect head piece can be made out of anything from Swarovsky crystals to Claire’s accessories.

Val and I decided to take advantage of order-in sushi while we dolled up. In a rush to get on with the festivities, we each took a bathroom and got to it. We managed to blow every fuse in the entire condo at once, with the exception of the flipping Christmas tree. We called everybody we knew to help us find the fuse box, and eventually had to beg a neighbor to help us scavenge for it. Game on!

Ok, so now we’re ready to hit the town. Where would we go? No idea… we got on the train and headed to a popular intersection in downtown Chitown. It’s 11pm. When we got off the train, within in five minutes, while enduring 5 degree weather, the decision was made to go into whatever place we came to next in order to feel our fingers and toes for the rest of the evening.

Luck be a lady! The Red Head Piano Bar was the next place we came to! The line wasn’t too bad and after about 10 minutes, a guy came out, took one look at us and said, “Get the ladies inside! Warm ‘em up!” Now mind you, we were ready to pay upwards of $150 cover in Chicago on New Years. From what we saw online, it would cost as much for a ticket. When we entered the bar, wouldn’t you know…NO COVER! Surely the drinks must be astronomical…$8 for a glass of champagne! Needless to say, Val and I drank the bubbly all night.

We met some extraordinary people along the way. The honorable mentions go to:
• The Bartender: you’d think he was paid to serve us all night.
• Anthony: who told me he would kill me if I put his pic on facebook…and he was serious.
• Brian: believed I studied Radio Science in school and was the up and coming Delilah…how can I help it if he misheard “Actuarial Science”
• James: all 4.5 feet of him
• Mr. Piano Man!: who played If I Had a Million Dollars, let Val and I sing at the top of our lungs and only ever chuckled kindly
• The bathroom attendant: $5 tip, hooah.

Arriving back at Brenda’s around 4, Val and I did everything in our power to find a pizza place to deliver; we settled for English muffins and peanut butter.

At an amazing diner, eating some stellar omelets on New Years Day, Val and I surveyed the wallet damage and wouldn’t you know, we managed to only spend $100 between the two of us on NYE, in downtown Chitown. Some of our events of the evening would have been worth much, much more.

Winter Break

My two and a half weeks back at home in Madison, WI couldn’t have been more perfect. They were filled with lots of family, lots of friends, and naturally, lots of fun. I was able to meet up with many friends that I hadn’t seen in quite some time and others in passing at random hot spots across Madison. I spent most of the time I was I home with Val, and in fact, some people are starting to question our friendship for a more serious relationship….

Christmas, as always, spoiled me. I can’t wait to dig into the 19 books that were gifted to me in the short time I was home. Spending time with the family was very relaxed this year. The hustle and bustle was minimized, however unfortunately due to standard Wisconsin winter weather conditions, I wasn’t able to meet up with some family I would have liked to see.
I was able to enjoy Madison, Milwaukee, and Chicago during my stay, and New Years Eve in Chicago was amazing to say the least. It deserves an entire blog entry of its own. Needless to say, Val and I hit ‘em up style.

Leaving was very bittersweet. Missing family and friends and being anxious about starting back up in Princeton kept me edgy during my wait at the airport. I enjoyed going through security twice and guzzling my water purchased just moments before I was called to the ticket counter and forced to go through security again. Yay holiday travel!

Alas, I made it back to over-filled bookshelves welcoming their new friends, I returned to the coffee pot that never judged on Sunday morning, which inevitably follows Saturday night. Finally, I was warmly greeted by the bed that remembers my body and comforts me when all I can think about is the snow of Wisconsin.

Urban Cowgirl

Hey Y'all,

What would my last night be in Cincinnati without a good ol' bull ride?! 

It took me a second to get up there but once I did, it was all I could do to hang on. 

Sometimes in life you just have to grab the bull by the horns...and then cling on with all of your body as it whips you around in every which way. I believe I'm literally gripping with my toes here, but I managed to ride for over a minute like this. 

I'm coming home!

Hello Friends, Family, and Fun Fans,  

Please forgive my absence.  I found that I typically updated my blog while sitting in the airport. Once I stopped taking my laptop to the airport, I stopped blogging. All of the requests for new postings and downright demands have been much appreciated. I promise to be more diligent. 

Since I last left you, I have:

* passed my next CPCU exam (woohoo!)

* tried Grater's Ice Cream ( a Cincinnati must)

* survived King's Island in the rain 

* racked up 10,000 frequent flyer miles

* went on a sales ride-along to Atlantic City

* adjusted claims in Willow Grove, PA

* started the Harry Potter series

* marched 2 very cold, cold parades

* ran my 100th mile in Cincinnati

* gave a kick-ass presentation

* made cookies and survived near death experience with a hand-mixer

* ran the Berbee Derbee and made darn good time doin' it.

* enjoyed a couple of Katy Perry songs

* read several business-esque books (i'm grown up now)

* filled my handy-dandy notebook

* celebrated endings and beginnings with friends

* finished my rotation in Cincinnati

True to my standard style, I've kept myself busy. I've met good people in Cincinnati, and I'll be sad to leave them. They are great friends and coworkers and have been essential to my enjoyment of Cincinnati. 

To say I learned a lot would merely be cliche and understated. I'm excited to be done and take the next step in my program.   

The short of the long of it is: I'm coming home. I can't help but start to hear Bing Crosby... Because I'll be home for Christmas. I'm looking forward to quality time with the family and friends. For those of you I won't get to meet up with, you'll be in my thoughts!

Merry Christmas!

Zippppeeeee!!!

What better way to spend time at home than to do something CRAZY!! A couple of months ago (time flies) Tracy asked if I had ever heard of a canopy tour? Ummm, no. Well, it's a also referred to as zip-lining and basically you strap up and zip on a rope from tree to tree. So Tracy and I got a group together and signed up to zip! This is the real reason why Aaron came into town, and rightly so!Holy cow did we have a good time. We had seven zips from tree to tree and we had several challenges along the way. Not to mention, you know me, I can't do anything the "normal" way. Tracy and I decided to dress likes dorks for this fun adventure. Enter exhibit A, The Tights. These earned me the nickname, Pancies, from the guides that helped us throughout the tour. I say, Whatever, they made me faster as I flew through the air.

Such challenges can be seen here. TVal and I decided to tackle this fun ropes course together. We made quite the pair, me in my tights, her in her awesome tall black socks. She had tights too, but we won't go there. :p

Another challenge at the end of the day landed us tangled in a heap at the bottom of a wall. Too funny.
There was one Indiana Jones bridge that we were supposed to walk across, knowing full well that we were likely to fall. It's ok to fall because you're all strapped up. Tracy challenged me to run this silly bridge, and man did this klutz take a tumble! I was hanging practically upside down, with my legs above my head, and somehow, I needed to find my way to a standing position on this bridge. The guide said he wished he had a video camera to put it on You Tube. According to him it was a five-star fall.

Between the trees we zipped around as Superman, the Deadman, or Crazy do-whatever-you-want Man. Weeeeeee! One of my favorite challenges was walking a tight-rope. Of course, I didn't walk it. I decided to relive my Basic Training days and sloth-crawl my way across this rope. While I might have survived and made it across, my legs certainly did not. I would post pictures of the amazing bruises that I have, but I decided to keep you all from thinking that somebody on the east coast is beating me. They are on the path to recovery, and the discoloring was well-worth the great time we had.

When it comes to flying from Cincinnati to Madison to Cincinnati to Philadelphia to Cincinnati, I'm pretty sure I just prefer flying from tree to tree.

Cali meets Madtown in Princeton

One of the best things about my last week in Princeton was that Aaron visited! Aaron is a great friend of mine from UW-Madison. He's originally from California, but WI has adopted him. It was a lot of fun having my Jersey/Pennsyvania friends meet a small sample of my friends from Wisconsin.

Aaron survived traffic through New York on a Friday afternoon; what a guy! He joined the craziness that was the Boot N Bowl, and the real reason he made the trek (other than to see me, of course :p) was to go zip lining...coming soon to a blog near you.

Saturday we hit up PJ's Pancake cafe for awesome breakfast food and milkshakes. Yes, breakfast food and milkshakes. After all, it was noon by the time we got to doing anything after the Boot N Bowl.

Breakfast led to great people watching, coffee drinking and Princeton University visiting. I haven't spent much time venturing around the campus, so having Aaron there made it a must. This picture was taken outside of Nassau Hall which is comparable to Bascom Hall. Aaron and I both wondered why more people weren't taking up the grass space in front of this awesome building like so many of the half naked bodies that populate Bascom Hill on a sunny WI day.

We scooted off to go zip lining with the PA friends, which by the way, was an AWESOME time, and we ended the evening with a horrible Badger/Penn State game. Unfortunately, we were in PA watching the game; their fans were obviously in good spirits. The good part of the evening was another stellar meal at Chickies and Pete's. yumm....

For the millionth time since I've been on the east coast, I became homesick on Sunday morning when I had to say good bye to Aaron to head back to Cinci. For a time, however brief, it was nice to have a piece of Wisconsin with me at my new home in NJ.

Boot N Bowl!

After a long week at work... Presentation Skills training with a creepster facilitator, several meetings, a day or reading, and a day of classroom training, the work Gang and I headed out to the Boot n Bowl.

This is a time honored tradition in which we drink beer (figures), eat food, and then attempt bowling.

I'm well aware that I'm a bad bowler sober. Throw some beer in the mix and instantly I become a rockstar!! That or I just like to dance a lot, and my skills are skewed by mad moves on the non-existent dance floor.