Category Archives: travel

Hello from Germany

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It’s day five of a business trip, and as I sit here with a bit of a hangover, listening to a presentation on finance, I thought I would jot down a few random thoughts …

1. Potatoes and schnitzel can be found everywhere. For every meal. 

2. German men enjoy colorful socks. Stripes, polka dots, bright colors … you can find the Germans in the room by their socks. 

3. The German language is intimidating. How many 25 letter words can you have?!

4. Cryophobia is clearly rampant. I’ve had one glass of ice water since I’ve been here, and I had to beg for it.

5. Flight simulators are awesome. If I had $25 million euros, I would buy one. 

  

I heart Robert Irvine

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Met Robert Irvine Wednesday night in Chicago. I was already a fan, but now I’m a super fan. He was really personable and funny … gave my colleague a little forehead slap when he found out she is a Vanilla Ice fan (we met him too). He’s also super buff and smells really yummy.

And he was totally down with the selfie.

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I’m back!

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After a site redesign, followed by a hosting move and several other missteps, I’m finally back in business. There were so many times I wanted to blog …but of course, all those amazing post ideas are long gone. (Short-term memory loss is part of getting older, right?) Ha.

So it has been a busy five weeks. We were in Michigan for Jim’s funeral, then back home for my birthday (a spa day with all of my closest girlfriends … it was awesome), then I was off to Vegas and Wisconsin for a week-long business trip.

There was a little silliness …

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And a whole lot of this … (I rediscovered my love of cocktails)

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Which led to a little alcohol-induced oversharing between me and my colleagues, but it was fun getting to know them better (which makes me love my job even more), and we stayed at the Bellagio, so that was top-notch.

Wisconsin was much more pleasant in June than in November, and I even tried cheese curds this time. They were yum.

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But the best part of the trip was this …

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So here we are in July. We had a fun-filled, five-day family weekend to celebrate Independence Day (think Dave & Buster’s, Despicable Me 2, fireworks, lots of swimming…), and now we (being Dan and me) need a vacation.

But there is no rest for the weary, because Anabella turns eight this week, and we are hosting a slumber party this weekend. Lord help us! 😉

 

Wiscon…where?

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A few weeks ago I took a trip to Stevens Point, Wisconsin. A place that is in the middle of nowhere. I know this because not only can you not fly directly there, just getting there can be quite a challenge period.

After being stranded in Detroit for a night (this was my view from the airport Westin) …

… I was then stranded at this “airport” (it only had two gates) the next day for a while because we still couldn’t land at our destination. 24 hours after leaving home, I finally arrived at our offices.

The people were all lovely, and I had a great time getting to know coworkers from around the globe (Who also had a hell of a time getting there … some people even had to drive from Chicago and Minneapolis!).

One thing I found very interesting was the abundance of specialty parking.

There were about 10 of these expectant mother parking spots at the front of the building. All empty. And for an employee population of approx. 400 people. I’m guessing there isn’t much to do in the middle of nowhere, so they are just preparing for the inevitable.

I was also completely surprised that one of the handful of restaurants in town was a really good sushi place. Complete with a Japanese sushi chef. Weird.

And here is your bonus photo. On my last day there, it was 11 degrees outside. We rarely see those temps in Texas, so it was fun to get a little “winter” while I was there. (Even though the locals were all running around in short-sleeve shirts talking about how “mild” is was.)

So, to sum it up. Wisconsin, not someplace I would visit for pleasure.

I miss you, California

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Cool weather and kid-free. That sums up my five days in California. It was heaven.

And now that I’ve been back in Houston for a week, enjoying the 100-degree days and 90% humidity, I wonder … why they hell do we live here again???

Rhonda, World Traveler

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Okay, not really, but life has been fun lately. Last week I was in NYC for a conference on creating content for social media. I not only got to stay in the city for three days, but I also got to participate in the NASDAQ closing bell ceremony for a second time. Can you pick me out of this photo?

The highlights were meeting and having a conversation with David Pogue at a networking event. I also was able to go to Mesa (a Bobby Flay restaurant) and enjoy an incredible meal. All I have to say is Shrimp and Garlic Tamale. If you get the chance, you won’t regret it. I also witnessed first hand the trainwreck that is Charlie Sheen’s tour of stupidity. My hotel was across the street from Radio City Music Hall, and all of the yahoos who wanted to catch a glimpse of him after the show were camped out in the street. I walked down to the drug store and stopped to watch people coming out of the show being interviewed on the local news …. surprisingly they felt they had wasted their $500/ticket. Duh. $20 would have been a waste. So it was a great trip, except for all of the mommy guilt, which I tried to sqaush with gifts from the Hello Kitty store and Toys R Us.

And today, I am headed for New Orleans for Mom 2.0!

2011 Mom 2.0 Summit - April 14-16

Three days in New Orleans, hanging out and getting inspired with 450 fellow bloggers. How fun is that? I will also be live blogging for Mom 2.0, so look for my posts on their website here.

Back in the Saddle

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Gee, I am such a slacker. Hard to believe it’s been so long since I posted. But if it makes it any better, I promise I wasn’t doing anything fun.

We got home from Michigan late last Wednesday night, and about 10 miles from home my car broke down. So after dealing with car stuff on Thursday, I had to get ready for a little party I was throwing on Saturday. Now, I am in full gear trying to put together a birthday party for my daughter. So much for my life of luxury.

There is lots to talk about…Paris is out of jail, Nancy Grace is pregnant, Ann Coulter is the devil…but I thought I would entertain you with a little silliness from the Michigan trip first.

Did you know you can buy “bling” out of a candy vending machine these days? For only 25 cents too. Can I interest you in a cute little anchor or perhaps a giant eagle, ladies?

Do you like bacon? Then check out Tony’s Restaurant. It’s a “greasy spoon” on a highway in Birch Run, Michigan, and they love to load you up on bacon. This lady looked like she wanted to die from embarrassment when her club sandwich came out. (I’m sure it didn’t help that I asked to take a photo of her and the monster sandwich.) And look at the other lady’s plate…I think there is an egg under that bacon somewhere.

I like to call this picture “Baby Got Back.” We ran out of swimmer diapers one day, and let my daughter play in a real diaper. As you can see, she came out of the pool with quite a load. That diaper weighed at least 10 pounds.

This is more bothersome than silly. Please explain to me how this fly got in there in the first place? Isn’t that supposed to be some sort of air tight seal between the panes of glass???

And here is where I spent 3 solid days in Michigan. My little piece of heaven.

Gifts and Grievances (like Turkey and trauma but with presents!)

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Christmas is over. Whew. We just returned from 8 days in Florida. That might sound fabulous (and in reality, it wasn’t all bad), but we stayed at my in-laws house…a two bedroom home that is not baby-proofed in any form or fashion. So, I spent 8 days sleeping on a FUTON in the “lanai” (which by the way, has no curtains on the windows) and chasing my daughter around making sure she wasn’t eating dishwashing soap or sticking her fingers in sockets. (And their internet connection is DIAL-UP! EEK!)

Otherwise, it was a nice time. My favorite sister-in-law was there, so we drank lots of wine and read plenty of trashy magazines. I wasn’t forced to make my own gifts this year. And we ate really decadent meals all week long (I was actually SICK of food and sweets by the time I got home), so I guess all in all it was a pretty good holiday.

Oh, I almost forgot the best part (in regards to blogging!)…my in-laws live in a retirement community and all I can say is that it is a site to behold. So stay tuned for my YARD TCHOTCHKE PARADE…coming in the next day or two. Them old people love cheesy lawn decor.

Happy New Year!

Start Spreading the News…

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I am leaving in 7 days. That’s right…look out New York City!

I haven’t been in 6 or 7 years, so I am looking for suggestions. My friend KB and I will only be there for a weekend, but we are staying at the Waldorf-Astoria (woohoo) and are game for just about anything. (But preferably things that have to do with food, shopping or culture.)

It’s not often that I am hubby AND child-free, so I want to pack this trip with lots of things that can’t be done with a small child in-tow (such as eating at a bar or using a public restroom).

Speaking of…check this out. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-11-21-charmin_x.htm (I promise to go and take a photo of this!)

Please post any ideas you might have!

Throwing Paper is Still Fun

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The bachlorette party was great. We wound up at Dick’s Last Resort for the last half of the evening and I have to admit that I had a lot of fun throwing paper at other patrons and being rude to the cute waiter.

Here is our happy bride-to-be, wearing a fabulous paper hat that unfortunately gives away her big secret….

In case you can’t read it…”I pee when I laugh.”

Other fun antics included Marjorie getting all the truck drivers to honk their horns as we drove by. (Remember how fun that was when you were like, 12?) We also had the cops on the Riverwalk harass a really drunk Carol toward the end of the evening. They wouldn’t handcuff her but they did poke her with a nightstick.