Tag: travel

London, 2025

Better late than never, eh?

I just want to document the trip to London Kiki and I went on. Our first trip together I think since 2000 or so. Pre-blog!

I had a conference for work (the same one I went to last summer) and so the plan was for her to meet me afterwards and we would stay on for another several days.

The trip didn’t start out promisingly – I was supposed to arrive the day before the conference so I could get some sleep beforehand, but my flights were an unholy mess and I didn’t arrive until the morning of the conference, and I was a wreck. I’d had to get a hotel room in Miami for a few hours during the day just so I could get some sleep. A little. But otherwise I’d been awake for two and a half days on maybe 5 hours of sleep total. Whatever it was, it wasn’t enough. But I made it through, got to see my coworkers, had a great conference.

Karen and I went into London together, then met Kiki at Paddington. We had lunch at a cute pub near the station. I had bangers and mash. Yum.

After lunch, Karen went to her hostel and Kiki and I found our airbnb, which was fantastic. It was across the street from Battersea Power Station, and even though it was south of the river, it was quite convenient and easy to get around from.

That evening, we got some groceries and stayed in, since Kiki was pretty tired.

Saturday

Took a walk to Camden. Went to see a play with Ewan McGregor (play was meh, but we breathed the same air as him so it was worth it.) Had dinner at a Michelin star restaurant. Forced Karen to come meet us one more time.

Sunday

Walked across the river, stopped by our old flat, met a friend for tea at Liberty. Bought some fabric. Bought some shoes because my feet were killing me.

Monday

Took boat to Greenwhich, explored the o2, took gondola across river. had lunch at Seven Dials Market (featuring the cheese conveyer belt), went to bookbinding store (thank you Kiki!)

Tuesday

Went to Kensington, walked a bunch, did pedal boats, got lunch at Harrod’s, ate at park, Kiki let me go back to book store (THANKS KIKI!) Dinner at Dishoom.

Wednesday (home)

Borough Market, ate a bunch. Walked around a bit, went to airport.

And some more pictures from various days (I can’t remember which, exactly. I know I could figure it out, but if I don’t finish this now, I never will.)

Hopefully it won’t be 20+ years before we do this again!

Back to work! (Sabbatical recap)

I will not say the past three months flew by, because they didn’t. They passed at a reasonable speed. I feel like I’ve been away for a long time, and I’m actually ready to go back. Or, at least, I’m not sad to be going back. No matter how much one might love one’s job, not working is still infinitely better. Especially if you’re still getting paid.

(Background: we get 3 months off paid every five years. My last sabbatical was Dec 2018-March 2019.)

First, we went to Baton Rouge where I discovered how good I am at golf and we had dinner with my aunt.

Then, I took a short trip to Canada to hang out with friends. We went to Schitt’s Creek!

My flights were all forked up getting home, but I got to spend a night with Kiki in Virginia!

Which made me a bit late taking the boys’ 200th monthly pic, but we got there.

Then I spent some time getting the boys’ car from their grandparents. (They very generously gave it to them.) I had to transfer the title, get it towed to a mechanic, etc etc.) And now I don’t have to drive to school to pick them up every afternoon! Yay!

I got another tattoo.

I spent some time with Kiki in Virginia. We went to a little town called Sperryville and went on a foggy hike and ate at a fancy restaurant.

Then we went on a quick trip to Chicago to see Pulp (again.)

There was a hurricane threat, and then I went to Florida with my mom and stepdad. I drove a U-Haul. I got to experience The Villages as well as see their new house. And sit on a lot of sofas.

I organized and got rid of stuff and did other random things around the house.

I made things. I got an iPad so I could learn to draw. Still working on that, but there are lots of fun Procreate tutorials out there.

I took the boys to an LSU game for an early birthday present (courtesy of Grandee and Larry)

I saw Johnny Marr in concert with friends.

I snuggled my friend’s new baby.

The boys started in another vaccine trial. I saw friends. I went on walks. Ziggy was cute. I made ice cream. Got a heated jacket for soccer. I sent 200 postcards. I early voted.

I painted my bathroom.

So. I can comfortably say I packed my sabbatical with fun things, but I also didn’t stress about much and relaxed quite a lot. Now. Back to work!

Wherein I ramble about my trip to England

When I was given the opportunity to attend a work event in the UK, can you guess how long it took me to say yes? About half that. Even though my sabbatical was supposed to start on July 1. I pushed that baby back until the end of the month, and on July 8 hopped on a flight to London.

I arrived a day early so I wouldn’t have to attend the event all jet-lagged, and since it wasn’t in London, I decided to spend that first night in Oxford (much cheaper than London anyway. Look at me saving the company money!) As it turned out, my niece Emily was going to be in Oxford for a month for a program, so my plan was to hang out with her a bit before meeting up with my colleagues.

A friend picked me up from the airport (look at me saving the company money again) and we went and had lunch in Windsor. I’d never been! It was adorable, and we even got to see the Changing of the Guards from our table.

After lunch I headed to Oxford and Emily and I got some food and walked around a bit. I stayed in a super cute B&B (well, minus the B) and saw some of the sights. I was exhausted though, and had to allow myself a nap at 5:30pm so I could make it to sleep at a somewhat reasonable hour. It all worked out, I got a decent night’s sleep and then woke up, unsure what to do. I had to check out by 10:30 but couldn’t meet up with my coworkers until 4.

I realized I could store my luggage in London, so that’s what I did. I used this app called Stasher and paid about $8 to have a random hotel store my bags. Very handy. I took a bus through just ridiculously adorable countryside to get to a train station which took me to the city. Then I spent some time wandering around London. I’d be back at the end of the week, but I thought this would be a good opportunity to tick some things off my list so I’d have more time at the weekend.

So I went to Borough Market and had some lunch (if a cup of strawberries drowned with chocolate counts and I think it does) and then I went to the Peloton store to get a shirt for my class on Friday (sound familiar?) I rode a bunch of buses, which was great. I love buses.

HOWEVER. My knee was twinging weirdly in the morning, and by the afternoon I was almost in tears. I could barely walk. It didn’t help that I got on a bus going the wrong direction at one point and had to find the right stop. It was agony. I have no idea what was wrong with it. I’ve never had knee pain like it.

But I had to get to Luton, where we were staying, so I hobbled my ass to pick up my luggage, then hobbled my ass to a train station, nearly in tears, and managed to get to Luton. Bringing my bag up the stairs at the station was truly pathetic, but finally I got to the house and was able to meet up with my coworkers and ice my knee. That helped a bit.

We ordered in Nando’s (my first time!) and tried to watch the semifinals of the Euros, but we were stuffing our faces with chicken when the game ended so we missed all of the excitement.

The next day, we went and had breakfast at the most British cafe you can imagine and I was able to get a knee brace from Boots. Then we headed to the festival grounds for this event.

It’s the strangest thing, a conference disguised as a festival, but it was pretty great. It was for people in talent acquisition (which I am, as an operations manager for our Talent division, that’s what I do now) and there were a lot of interesting talks (in tents) and booths for vendors, and a ferris wheel, and food trucks, and portapotties, and really, it was very similar to the music festivals I’ve been to, only less music. And cleaner.

Afterwards, a few of us went to another coworker’s house for dinner (he’s on parental leave) and I was VERY excited to play with their baby but she was asleep, which was devastating, but we were fed well, and had a wonderful time hanging out. Got back to the house after midnight, like the party animals we are, then passed out.

Friday a few of us took the train into London for lunch, then we parted ways and it was time for phase 3 of my trip: Pam Takes London 2024.

I have dreamt of taking a solo trip to London for literally half my life. (I was going to do it for my 25th birthday, but I moved to New Orleans instead.) And it was everything I could have hoped for.

I checked into my very tiny airbnb, then headed to the Peloton studio for my first class. My knee was doing fine, but there was no way I was going to let that stop me anyway. Fortunately, I felt zero pain during the class (or after.) I won’t go into great detail about the Peloton classes I did, it really wasn’t that different from the New York classes. (But I will say that the showers in London were waaaay better.)

After class, I had dinner at a little French place in Covent Garden, then got gelato, then went back to the airbnb.

Saturday was my big day.

I woke up too early, no coffee shops were open yet, but once one did, I left to get some breakfast. Nothing else was open except one Waterstone’s, so I went there to browse. I still had time to kill so I went back to the airbnb and hung out until I could actually go somewhere.

And that somewhere was Liberty. Which you can read all about here.

My airbnb was very well situated, more than I would have imagined. It was close to the Russell Square underground station, and there were plenty of buses. So it was never a big deal to go back to drop things off or just rest for a bit.

After Liberty, since I wasn’t too far from Soho, I decided to wander aimlessly a bit. I ended up walking by some old sights from our stay in 1997.

Then I went in search of lunch. I couldn’t figure out where to go, so I decided to get the tube to High Street Kensington, where I grabbed a sandwich and pastry from a little cafe and walked down to Kensington Gardens to eat it.

After that, I decided to hop on a bus to go to a bookbinding supply shop that was near Victoria. After perusing and buying some goodies, I went to get on a bus to drop everything off at my room. I cursed my lack of directional sense because it took me forever to find the right bus. But eventually I did, and I dropped everything off while I tried to figure out what to do next.

It was mid-afternoon, so I decided to check out one of the (free!) museums in South Kensington. The V&A won out. After spending so much to go to museums in NYC, it was a nice change to be able to just walk in to this one without spending a dime.

I just wandered around, really, and looked at whatever caught my eye.

It wasn’t open for too long, so I then decided to go for a walk by our old flat. I was tempted to have a drink in the pub we used to go to (not that it’s the same or anything) but I was a weenie and just wanted to get some dinner. I really wanted this pizza/salad thing from Pizza Express, which is, like, everywhere. I didn’t think it’d be a big deal to get a table alone, but the location in Covent Garden can bite me because they just did not seem to want to seat me.

So I went to friggin Shake Shack instead. Oh well.

I was pretty tired after that, so I went back to the good ol’ airbnb.

Sunday morning was a set of two short Peloton classes, after which I met up with a friend. We had a truly Instagram-worthy lunch after doing a little shopping (I wanted to get a baby gift for a friend while I was in London.) Then we had a pint in a pub (so I could tell George I did) then I headed over to Buckingham Palace for the tour I’d booked months ago.

It was pretty cool, I guess. I was most excited about the garden tour. It was to take place after going through a bunch of rooms in the palace. (No pics allowed.) So I go outside for the tour, but decide to get some tea and cake before. After eating, I follow what I assume is the garden tour path, but I am unimpressed. Where are the famed English gardens?

Well, after this path shunted me unceremoniously onto a busy street, I decided that was the worst “garden tour” ever. Only YESTERDAY did I realize I missed the whole friggin thing. I saw zero signs directing me to this alleged garden tour, so the 15 extra pounds I paid for that were completely wasted. I’m so mad. Hmmph.

So. I had time to do things, so I took a bus to Piccadilly Circus to go to some shops (a giant Waterstones as well as Fortnum & Mason to pick up tea for a friend.) Got a few books and the tea, then got on a bus to go back to the airbnb.

Decided I’d try again for the pizza/salad, and this time, I was far more lucky. It was a lovely evening and the restaurant was empty (thanks to the Euro finals, everyone was at pubs instead) and I had my pizza/salad and some wine.

It was a lovely evening, and so I went back to my room to read and relax, and I could hear people yelling during the game, so I really didn’t have to watch it at all.

Monday morning I woke up early again, so I got coffee and sat in a little square with it, and just tried to really enjoy my last few moments in London. It was heavenly, and I really just did not want to leave. Sigh.

Went to airport, had bangers and mash, got on plane, made it home after a million hours of flying and no sleep.

I need to do that again.

Liberty of London

I’ll have a longer post later about my trip to the UK that I just got home from, but I wanted to do a separate post about my pilgrimage to Liberty for fabric.

The last time I went to London was in October 2017. I started sewing in February 2018. So I had little interest in fabric shopping back then. How things have changed!

I literally teared up when I walked into the area with the fabric. It’s just so beautiful. I made a lap of the floor to get the lay of the land, and then had to go peruse other parts of the store because I was overwhelmed. I get decision fatigue at the best of times, I knew it was going to be bad here.

So the fact that I was there only an hour or so is quite impressive. I knew if I didn’t make a decision relatively quickly, I never would. (This was my strategy at Mood last month as well.)

I wasn’t going to limit myself to sale fabrics, but I also knew I could get more if I did. At $38 a meter in today’s exchange rates, I would have limited myself to two meters, but since I hit up the sale section, I was able to get three. Plus a bunch of other stuff.

I really loved this fabric, but they didn’t have much on the bolt, so I just bought a handkerchief:

I bought two one-meter remnants of this, hopefully I can make a top or a skirt out of it:

And I was able to get three meters of this. I think I can get a dress out of it.

I really don’t know what patterns I’m going to use. I don’t want to rush into making anything.

I also got this tote bag:

Now. What am I going to make??

Five days in NYC

We got home a week ago from our second-ever family vacation (I mean, that was only the five of us, not the entire extended family.) We were originally going to go to the Pacific Northwest, but uncertainties around the costs of car insurance for teenage drivers and because our mortgage went up a LOT thanks to stupid *$#%& homeowner’s insurance, we opted to save a bit of money and go to New York instead.

Why New York? I mean, why not? The boys had only been once before, and loved it, and I love it, and George loves it. And I was able to get a good deal on our plane tickets, thanks to Southwest miles. (Not to be confused with Southwest Miles, which is Miles in New Mexico.) (Sorry, dumb joke.) (You know what, I’m not sorry.)

We stayed in a fantastic hotel, one I highly recommend, the Life Hotel. It was small, so not overwhelming, and the rooms were absolutely adorable (but not tiny.) And I mean, two big hotel rooms for five nights in NYC is going to be a lot of money no matter what, but for what it was, it was quite reasonable. (And it’s the former home of Life magazine. Pretty cool!)

So, on to what we did:

Thursday

Arrived in the late afternoon. After a taxi ride to the hotel (did you know that even the minivan taxis can’t really accommodate a family of five? George and the boys had to sit four across in the back seat. Yeesh.) we unpacked and rested for a little bit before going to find some dinner.

We ate Detroit-style pizza, as one does in New York. (Look, it was somewhere we’d eaten in 2019 and so it was an easy decision.) On the way, we went into the lobby of the Empire State Building, and then we passed a Paris St Germain shop (Miles’s team) so had to peruse the goods there before heading to dinner. We took the subway to a nerd store for George, then we walked around some more and headed back to the hotel to sleep.

TIP: You won’t spend more than $34 per person riding the subway/bus if you tap to pay with your phone. And we took the subway (and buses) a lot. I put my Apple card on the boys’ phones so I wouldn’t have to tap them in at every station, and we ended up hitting the cap on Monday.

Friday

We went to visit my company’s office space. It was gorgeous! There were free snacks and lovely views and a weird vibrating chair.

Then we walked to a store that sold vintage soccer jerseys, and after that, headed to the 9/11 memorial. (We were going to take the Staten Island ferry there and back, but decided against it when we learned we’d have to wait an hour for a ferry back.) Ate some lunch, then I made them go with me to the Peloton store so I could get a shirt for my classes.

So it turns out, I have a really terrible sense of direction in Manhattan, because I was constantly getting us lost. I cursed Google Maps many, many times, and used the compass app on my phone a lot. And we retraced our steps frequently. And don’t tell the others, but once we stayed on the bus a bit too long and had to backtrack.

We rested for a bit, then took a shorter ferry over to Brooklyn, then went to Grimaldi’s for pizza.

It was a long and exhausting day so I was about to drop by the time we got back to the hotel.

(Did I mention the heat was worse in NYC than in New Orleans? It was so draining – at least in New Orleans, we hibernate when it’s this hot. We don’t walk miles around a city.)

Saturday

In the morning, we met up with Erica and her family at Bryant Park. I finally got to meet her son!! (and her husband, who I know I hadn’t met before, but it felt like it, you know?) We had some food and hung out, then went across the street to the library (not the huge one with the lions, but the building across the street) where there’s a terrace on the 7th floor that was perfect for 2 year olds to run around and grown ups to chat (and teenagers to lounge, sulkily.)

After saying goodbye, we went to the Natural History Museum, which was of course fabulous. Sitting in the Planetarium for a show saved us, but we nevertheless only lasted a couple of hours there, because we were all still pretty wiped from the day before. We did eat an overpriced lunch there, where we had…pizza. (Among other things.) We took the bus back to the hotel (stopping at the PSG store again as well as the Apple Store) and chilled until dinner.

Did I mention the amount of ice cream the boys ate? It was a lot. They’re big soft serve fans, and basically wanted to get a cone any time we passed a truck, which was often.

Dinner was takeout pizza from a really adorable place near the hotel where everyone was delightful. After this, George and I vowed no more pizza.

Sunday

My first Peloton class!

After, we took the subway to Brooklyn to meet Madi and her boyfriend Aaron at a cute little cafe. Madison used to be so shy and now she is almost THIRTY which I cannot handle and it was such a delight to hang out with them. And I was happy to see a part of Brooklyn I hadn’t been to.

We decided to go to the Transit Museum after, because it wasn’t too far away. It was an unexpected delight! It wasn’t huge, but the lower floor was an old platform that was filled with old train cars. We had a lot of fun critiquing them, and sitting a lot.

The boys and I went to Rockefeller Center after that to go to Oliver’s team store as well as another vintage soccer shirt store, and I had banana pudding, so even though we got lost a bunch, it was worth it.

We went back to the hotel for a while, then George really wanted to go to a diner, so we went to the Tick Tock diner that turned out to be in the lobby of the hotel we’d stayed in for our fifth anniversary trip, so it wasn’t our first time eating there. The breakfast fiends were in heaven.

Monday

My second Peloton class!

Afterwards, I went to Mood and I was VERY PROUD of myself for being decisive and just buying two gorgeous pieces of fabric and then getting the hell out.

The boys and George were sitting in Bryant Park again, so I met up with them and we went to the Intrepid, which was George’s big ask of the trip. (And after I went to two Peloton classes, I couldn’t exactly say no, not that I would have.)

We spent several hours there. George was in heaven. It was pretty good, but I had my backpack and it was very heavy and I kind of wish I’d dropped it off at the hotel before we went, but I survived.

We walked around Central Park a bit after that and then went back to the hotel.

Our hotel was in Koreatown, so we found a ramen place around the corner and had delicious soup for dinner. It was the boys’ first time having “real” ramen, and they all enjoyed it.

Tuesday

Sadly, time to go home. I went for a nice peaceful walk by myself because it was FINALLY not sweltering. I also went into the Harry Potter store but did not buy anything because I’m not about to put another dime in that evil woman’s wallet, but it was fun to look around anyway.

And then it was time to head to the airport. In an Uber this time.

And then we came home and picked up Ziggy and all was well with the world.

Taking a class (or two) at Peloton Studio NYC

We just got back from our family vacation to New York, and while we were there, I took two Peloton classes live in the studio. I feel like information is kind of hard to find (or maybe I didn’t look that hard) about what it’s like to do classes live, so I am going to document everything I remember.

Booking a class

First, booking is like getting tickets to a Taylor Swift concert, only much cheaper ($25 $35 instead of $2500.) Okay, maybe not that hard. But you have to be fast and decisive, because classes book up within seconds of the slots opening.

Six weeks before our trip, on a Thursday at 11am Central time, I logged on to the site and was lucky enough to get into two classes. Well, that makes it sound easy. Here are some tips:

  • Six weeks out is hard to figure out, because it’s a Thursday, and six weeks out from what? The week you’re going? I dunno. Calendar math is not my strong suit. So about two months before, I started looking at the booking page for the studio and was able to figure out the exact Thursday I would need to book my class.
  • Before classes go live, make sure you have your payment method READY TO GO. I can’t remember if you can save your payment method ahead of time, I don’t think so. So have the number copied so you can paste it right in, and memorize that expiration date and three digit code.
  • Also, there is a waiver you’ll need to sign. Do this ahead of time as well! I think I did this by finding a waitlisted class, and starting the signup process so the form would pop up. If you wait until you select a class, it may be full by the time you have the waiver done.
  • You won’t know what kind of class it is until two weeks out, so just look for times that work and instructors you like.
  • GO FAST

Okay. So that’s booking. NO STRESS, NO STRESS.

But seriously this was my heartrate at the time. Check out that spike at 11am!

Okay, so now you’re all booked. The day of your class has arrived.

Getting to the studio

Do not go here!

I went to the studio the day before my class so that I could get a shirt to wear, and also to familiarize myself with the location. I’m glad I did this. Also, don’t do what we did and see a building with PELOTON on it and assume that’s it, because that might be the corporate headquarters. Just go to 10th Avenue, it’s right next to the Whole Foods. Trust me on this.

Got my overpriced tank top, yay!

The day of my first class

My first class was on Sunday morning at 10am. The studio was about a 20 minute walk from our hotel, so I left around 8:30 to get there an hour ahead of time. (They recommend 45-60 minutes before. 30 minutes before is the cutoff.)

When you walk in, you go to the desk where a nice person will check you in. They’ll ask if it’s your first time there, or if you’re celebrating any milestones. Then you’ll get a card with a color and a sticker if you are indeed celebrating a milestone. The card will indicate which group you will enter the studio with.

You will get in a higher group if it is your first time or if you are celebrating a milestone. Both applied to me, so I got a red card, which that day meant I’d go in with the first group. I wish I’d known this ahead of time, because I’d have made it so I hit my milestone for my second class and therefore gotten in a better group for that one. But more on that later.

You’ll also get a wristband which I think they said is for pictures after. I don’t remember. Just put it on.

I put my stuff in a locker, then stood around awkwardly until a nice lady talked to me. She’d been there a bunch so answered all my questions, including where the bathrooms were (upstairs.) 45 minutes before the class start, they started distributing shoes if you needed them.

I talked to the nice lady for the next 20 minutes or so. Meanwhile, they were setting up the lines by color. It just so turned out that I was standing at the front of the red line. They opened the doors 25 minutes (I think?) before class started. They let someone with a silver card in first, and then I was the second person into the studio. I picked a bike right at the front, to the left of the instructor, second from the mirror.

I got all set up, logged in, and then ten minutes before class started, Jenn (the instructor) came in! She chatted with us while she got set up, and then three minutes before the class time, they turn on the cameras so the outside world can join the class. Then one minute before, the class begins (well, the official intro to the class.) I learned that there’s a 50 second delay from the home feed, which makes sense, in case someone barfs or whatever.

And then the 45 minutes went by, and while I felt like I might die, I did not! It was a super hard class. Plus my legs were dead from walking around the city in the heat for the past few days. But I survived.

look there’s me

One thing I will say, if you don’t need your glasses, don’t wear them. I wish I hadn’t. I always wear them, but I guess I got hotter than usual. I only need them for reading, and I was able to see the screen well enough. It’s smaller than the home screen and only has a little info so not much to see.

Oh, and I liked being on the side I was on because I could see what was on the screen next to Jenn, which was basically the music and so I could see how much longer was in each song, because there was a timer on the screen.

After class, WHICH WAS VERY HARD, there was a line to get your picture with Jenn. I was nervous. I didn’t say much. She said I was tall. She stood on her tippy toes.

After that, I showered there and then went to meet the fam back at the hotel. I also washed my clothes in the sink because I only had one set of exercise clothes. (Do not recommend.)

Oh, also, there was a Peloton celeb in the class. This guy, who was doing his 5000th class. I got a selfie with him while I waited in line for my picture. He was the “silver” member who got into the studio before I did.

Sunday’s class with Christine was at the same time, but I woke up earlier, so I left the hotel earlier and even after stopping for coffee and a snack, I got there over an hour before the start time. I sat in the lobby and read and chatted with a woman I’d sat next to in Jenn’s class. So that was nice.

This time, though, I got a white card. I didn’t know what that meant. I hoped it didn’t mean I’d be in the last group.

ALAS. It did. Now I know for the future, be a first timer for your first class, and for the second class, hit your milestone. (In case, you, perhaps, have booked two classes in London for your trip there next month.)

Being at the end of the line for the last group let in to the studio meant I was in a spot in the back corner of the room, which meant I was never on camera. Which is FINE, I got plenty of camera time the day before. And I got to sit next to my new friend, so that was fun.

Everything basically went the same, but Christine was so social and lovely! She went around to every person and shook their hand and said hello. She admired my tattoos. 🙂

This was a New Wave class, which meant the music was great! She played The Smiths, so I was happy. I loved that the song she walked around to before class was Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others.

Even though I thought this class was a lot easier, my output was a lot higher. I wonder if it’s because I was less nervous, or if it was my bike, or what. Anyway, after class, I got a picture. And I admired her lipstick, so she told me the brand and color. (KDV, Jupiter’s Eye.)

(This time, I did not wear my glasses to class.)

And so that was my experience taking classes at the Peloton New York studio. I enjoyed every bit of it and hope to do it again one day!

U2 at Sphere

In 1991, if 16 year-old Pam wasn’t listening to INXS, she was listening to Achtung Baby. If I hear any songs from it now, it instantly transports me back (in a good way.) So back in March when I saw that U2 was playing the album in its entirety in Las Vegas, I texted Kristina and joked “we should go to this” and to absolutely no one’s surprise, she said “okay!”

So I spent the past weekend in Las Vegas (and a little bit of Los Angeles) with Kiki and Mike, where we saw U2 in concert at (the?) Sphere.

For some reason, flights to Las Vegas were super expensive, but both Mike and I have brothers in Los Angeles, so we decided it would be better to fly to L.A. and drive to Vegas. Road trip!

So I flew to Burbank (closer to my brother’s) on Thursday afternoon, then we surprised Ellie at UCLA. I think she was surprised, anyway. Turns out she has tracking on me on her phone. Hmm.

We had dinner, then went to her teeny tiny dorm room where I got to see the quilt I made her in its home!

The next morning, I had breakfast with Evan and Jennifer, then Kiki and Mike picked me up for the trip to Vegas. It was cool to drive through the desert – I’ve never seen one up close before!

We arrived at our hotel at around 4, and it took us a while to get checked in and to finally find our rooms (these hotels are massive!) and then it was time to get ready for dinner.

The dinner was incredible, we went to Picasso at the Bellagio. Lots of pics on my Instagram post:

The next morning, we got overpriced coffee from Starbucks, and then I met up with my friend Lisa, who lives in Vegas. We hung out for a while in my room, then after she left, Kiki and Mike and I went and grabbed lunch and then went in search of merch. The lines were stupid, but I was able to get my brother and I shirts.

After that, Kiki and I had an appointment at Lip Lab, which I was very excited about. I was finally going to get the perfect brick red (NO PINK) lipstick!

It was so fun to watch the technician mix the colors. Like an artist with a palette! And she nailed the color perfectly. Then I tried a bright pink that I would normally never wear, but she said suited me. I did not buy that one. But I did get a sheer balm in the same color as my lipstick. And Kiki got two lipsticks. One was so perfect I gasped when I saw it on her.

We also got to name our lipsticks, and they engraved them on the cases. I don’t really have any pictures of the lipstick on, but trust me, it’s perfect.

don’t ask.

After that, we went to the pool for an hour and drank extremely overpriced (but delicious) cocktails (are you sensing a theme?) and then it was time to get ready for the show!

So I guess this is the real point of this post. Well. It was incredible.

We ate a bit and had a drink when we got inside (all very good) and then it was time to find our seats. We knew we were in a good section, right in the middle near the front, but we had no idea how good they were going to be. We were in row 16, but row 16 was really just four from the front. The general admission area was between us and the stage, but it wasn’t that big. We were close. And right smack in the middle.

A DJ played a bunch of 90s songs to get all the old people in the mood and then the show started, and honestly, I don’t know what else to say besides it was visually incredible. Just beautiful. The graphics were so crisp and beautiful and jaw-dropping.

I took a lot of pictures and videos.

After the show, I was exhausted, so I went back to my room pretty soon getting back, then the next morning we packed up for the drive back to L.A. And then I came home yesterday after staying at my brother’s again.

So that’s it! A wonderful trip with my best friend seeing an amazing show, AND I got to see my niece. What else can you ask for?

September recap

Well, that was a month.

Started off nicely with a work trip to Ireland that really deserves a post of its own. But let’s face it, I’ll never get to it if I don’t post about it now, so let me post about it now.

I arrived in Dublin around lunchtime on Saturday, and met up with my coworker Tiffany, who also arrived that day. Everyone else was getting there on Sunday. I went a day early so that I could meet up with Alicia, but for reasons, she was unexpectedly in Louisiana. So Tiffany and I met up with her husband Mat instead, and it was a fun night. Maybe too fun. I did not feel well the next day, let’s just put it that way.

The next day, we picked up the rest of the team and made our way to Kilranleigh Lodge, a house a bit over an hour outside of Dublin, the location of our meetup.

It was gorgeous, but somewhat rustic. The wifi wasn’t great, the heat wasn’t on yet so I was freezing the whole time, and it took a while to get anywhere, but the scenery made it worth it. And the dogs.

We spent one day in Dublin, and I did finally get to see Alicia, so that was fantastic. And then we went on a little Irish music pub crawl, which was very entertaining.

My trip home was not uneventful. Due to my flight being delayed, I missed my connection in DC so I got to see my sister and her family, and I got to stay with Kiki that night! Bonus!

And the other bonus I got from the trip:

After 3.5 years, it finally got me. Thankfully, it was mild, just like a cold, but I tested positive for over a week, so I only just got out of isolation. It was nice to get to hug the boys again!

So that’s about it, really. Ireland and Covid. What a September!

May, in review

May was a busy month, I think? I dunno. It was a blur.

The first half was uneventful. Started with some quality family time.

I got my hair did.

George’s birthday and Mother’s Day fell on the same day. I made George a Star Trek shirt and I got the hummingbird feeder I asked for. Still haven’t seen a hummingbird yet, though. 😦

And then the next day, I went to Rotterdam for work. It was lovely! I saw one sad bouquet of tulips outside of a grocery store, but lots of windmills. And coworkers. (These pics are in absolutely no order.)

School ended a few days after I got back, but you already know that. I took the boys to get ice cream after.

The next day, I took them to get their Temporary Instruction Permits so they can take Driver’s Ed this summer. (It’s fine, I’m fine.)

And then the next day, Miles and Oliver wanted their heads shaved, so they don’t look like that anymore. And Oliver is definitely taller than me now.

To round out the month, we got a giant pizza for dinner. (I told you it was an exciting month, didn’t I? If not, I meant to.)

And, as usual, Ziggy was extremely cute all month long.

Punta Cana 2022 (and a little bit of 2023)

At 6am on Christmas morning, we got on a flight to the Dominican Republic and met up with 12 other family members for a vacation.

I could go through what we did every day, but really it was “put on bathing suit, go to breakfast, sit by pool, get a mojito, go to lunch, go in ocean, get a pina colada, go back to pool, go to dinner, go to bed” with a few random activities sprinkled in.

The view upon arrival.
click here for tons more pics

Goings on and whatnot

I never want the monthly pic to be the only thing I post on my blog, but it looks like October went by without anything else, so I am going to make up for that now. Buckle in.

Just kidding, it hasn’t been that eventful.

Let’s see, the last thing I posted about was my new coat, which I have had several opportunities to wear. Which brings us to topic #1, my first work trip since January 2020. Automattic has gotten very very large since our last Grand Meetup in late 2019, so they decided to have smaller division meetups instead. So I spent last week with almost 500 of my colleagues in Denver.

It was so nice to see them, but quite bittersweet not to see my other coworkers and friends who I might never see in person again! Don’t really like to think about that.

A truly random assortment of pics:

Let’s see, what else? Oliver went to homecoming, his brothers did not.

I made a hoodie dress. It’s exquisitely cozy.

I got another tattoo! Well, actually, I got two more since I last posted about tattoos. I hadn’t get posted about the one I got in August. I had been wanting one of star jasmine, because I love it, but I don’t really know a tattoo artist in New Orleans whose style I really wanted. Until someone I know posted a picture of a tattoo she’d gotten by Mecca at Hell or High Water Tattoo, and I immediately booked an appointment.

The inspiration/tattoo:

And I loved it so much I went back for a magnolia.

And I love that so much I made an appointment for my birthday, but I won’t spoil what I’m getting.

Everyone is asking “are you doing a sleeve” and I am a dorky middle aged soccer mom, I’m just getting flowers I like without much of a plan.

Speaking of flowers, the camellias started blooming again.

Ziggy remains cute.

Halloween was fun because I got to give out candy for the first time ever. I made a shirt to wear.

Well, I guess that’s it? School soccer has started, but the first two games happened while I was in Denver, so I’m looking forward to seeing them play this weekend. Linus scored a goal at their first game!

Summer camp recap

We (the boys and I) got home yesterday from ten days in Virginia and I’d better write it all down before I forget. The beginning of our trip already feels like a lifetime ago (but like, a really fun lifetime.)

We arrived after an early flight at around lunchtime on Saturday the 9th. Kiki picked us up, and we headed to my sister’s house to drop the boys off for their first day of Camp Aunt Jenny. She made shirts. After lots of hugs and pictures, Kiki and I left to go have lunch at a Mexican-Indian restaurant. (Yum!)

Then we got to go back to give hugs and goodbyes again because I left my wallet at my sister’s. (Convenient!)

After shopping for a lot of booze and food, we headed to Kiki’s house and got ready for Camp Kiki. I made shirts. We had a very fancy Wagyu steak for dinner. It was sublime. Also Maxie is very cute.

We loaded up Kiki and Mike’s car Sunday morning and drove a couple of hours to an amazing airbnb in Charlottesville. On the way, we stopped at winery #1, Early Mountain. We drank wine and ate delicious food, including this couscous that I need to figure out how to recreate. It was incredible.

The airbnb was amazing – very clean, well stocked, and with a huge pool, hot tub, and a gorgeous view. Perfect place for Camp Kiki!

Day 2 in Charlottesville:

Kiki went for a walk, then hit a few wineries before spending the afternoon in the pool. Everything was delicious and the scenery everywhere was stunning. We made s’mores around the firepit later and saw lots of fireflies, which was exciting for me.

The next day, Kiki’s friend Jess arrived, yay! That day we hit up a winery and a brewery, had more delicious food, more pool time and then some rousing rounds of Shithead.

Wednesday was the day for lunch at Pippin Hill, which was just breathtakingly gorgeous. We also hit a cidery afterwards, where I got to see apple trees and a cute dog.

More pool time and more Shithead followed.

Sadly, Wednesday was our last night there. And of course that’s when I discovered a friend lives less than ten minutes away from where we were staying. Isn’t that always the way?

But I couldn’t be too sad because the next phase of Camp Kiki was a trip to New York City!

We got back to Woodbridge Thursday afternoon, did a shitload of laundry, and repacked for the trip to NYC.

Friday morning, we hopped on a train like the fun-loving globetrotters we are.

After a few hours we arrived at Penn Station, and then made our way to our hotel (not before having some lunch and wine.) The hotel was adorable. It’s called the Library Hotel and see if you can guess what the theme of it is.

After relaxing, we headed out to dinner at a wine bar, and then to a play. The play was the main reason we went to NYC. One of the stars is Noah Reid from Schitt’s Creek and maybe you don’t know this about me but I am a little obsessed with Schitt’s Creek. Surprise! I was supposed to go in May but because SOME CHILDREN I WON’T MENTION got covid, I had to cancel that trip. So I’m glad I got to see it finally. Even if it was…weird.

The wine bar we went to was fancy (like us) and we had some delicious wine and food before heading to the theater. Our seats were very good, and it was neat to see Patrick Noah Reid up close.

We were only there for one night, but we made the most of our morning before the train back to DC. We walked down to the Union Square Greenmarket, which was very cool. And then wandered around for a while. Kiki was THE VERY BEST FRIEND EVER and agreed to let me go to Mood. Yay! I tried to be as fast as possible, but I get decision paralysis at smaller places than this, but I went in with just one goal (some cotton poplin) and I made it out with just that. Whew!

Afterwards, we got our stuff from the hotel and I cursed my sandals for reactivating my Achilles tendinitis, but it was worth it. We hobbled our way back to the train station, and, well, the rest of the day was fairly uneventful.

I mean, we’ve done so much already, wouldn’t you think our trip was almost over by now? It’s only Saturday at this point and we didn’t go home until Tuesday!

Sunday, we went and retrieved my offspring from my sister’s house. They had stayed up until 2am because my sister had promised them middle of the night ihop, so they were pretty tired, but we had a baseball game to go to!

Mike and Kiki have season tickets to the Nationals so that’s how we spent Sunday. We ate delicious food, drank delicious things (including a bloody mary with a raw oyster on top), and were good luck charms for the Nats, who won for the first time in a little while. Yay us! It was overcast, too, which was nice.

We were all pretty exhausted after that.

Monday was our last full day, boo! We took the boys to see the new Thor movie, which was fun. And then we picked up some dinner, and saw a rainbow, and packed up our stuff, and watched the Home Run Derby.

Tuesday morning we went home. Everyone (except us, apparently) is getting covid and it sucks. But it was nice to see Ziggy again and to sleep in my own bed. The end.