Seeing a Different Part of the City

Guess where I was yesterday? Harlem!

I was there all day to meet with a new client. I've heard and read so much about Harlem, I've been wanting to go and see it for myself. Of course, I've rarely felt so white. While there is a significant Hispanic population now in Harlem, the majority of the residents are black. And then there's me, walking around in my white coat with my whitey-white skin. No worries, as in the rest of NY, no one pays much attention to you.

Our new clients are fantastic, and it's going to be a pleasure to work with them. We went to a Jamaican themed restaurant for lunch and toured a couple facilities where we might have an event.

Interesting Trends

I met yesterday with a vendor, and after commenting on all my beautiful nieces and nephews whose pictures adorn my shelves, he mentioned that at his 20-year high school reunion, he and his wife were surprised to find they weren't the only ones with young children. He said he thinks our generation -- the Generation X thirty-somethings -- are in general waiting later to have kids. Hm. Maybe. I guess I've always measured my experiences with my sisters, both of whom already have kids.

I've also noticed in talking to other single thirty-something women here in NYC that the trend is definitely to get married later in life. They comment how surprised they are with friends and family in the South getting married so young.

In a conversation earlier this week with a 36-year-old friend who's just gotten married, she talked about how once she reached her thirties, she broadened her idea of the type of guy she was looking for. She didn't exclude someone from possibility just because of religion or profession, for example.

Another friend mentioned it to me in a more disturbing way, saying since the field has narrowed considerably as we get older, you get a lot less picky about who's attractive.

The thing is, as I've gotten older, I've gotten MORE discerning. In my case, maybe this is a good thing! I think I settled too much when choosing previous marriage partners. I've also found that as I've gotten more successful in my career, my potential date-ables have lessened. I don't want to be a sugar-mama, and many men still find it threatening if a woman is more successful than they are.

Impromtu Happy Hour

My friend Kelly invited me out on Tuesday to an impromptu happy hour and to meet her friend Christine. I have friends! :-)

Tragic Endings

The City is shocked and saddened by the sudden death of Heath Ledger in his SoHo apartment. It is so sad to lose someone so young and so talented.

But then it makes me think of all the other young men and women who are dying in service to their country, unknown and unheralded.

From Oh-So-Warm to Bitter Cold

Miami was warm, humid 80*. I came back to frigid temperatures with wind chills making it feel like 18*! Still, I do like it. (crazy, I know.)

Miami was great, but exhausting. Being "on" and meeting so many new people, presenting multiple times in a day just wore me out. It was wonderful to be at the luxurious Four Seasons with their incredible beds and a bathroom bigger than my kitchen. I slept so well without any interruptions from construction!

I went to the beach on Saturday with my boss and his family. We rented an umbrella because they are as pale and sunburn-prone as I am. I found I was much more accostumed to the heat and humidity than they were, though. (They're Canadian...they handle the cold much better than I do!)

I had a massage on Saturday morning by this gorgeous guy. My mind wandered, thinking how this is the first time in a long time a man has touched me, and I'm paying him for it! Ha ha!

I did get to eat Cuban food, as well as Mojitos and key lime pie. It was delicious. Now I'm working it off...running, walking and lifting weights.

Flying back into NYC, we had a perfect view of downtown, and I was able to locate my building amid all the high rises. I do like living here.

Anticipating Cuban Food

I'm travelling to Miami this morning for a couple of presentations to the global leaders of my company. I will get the opportunity to meet the CEO, who I've been told has already heard about me.

I had to get up at 3:30 this morning. Freakishly early! It always makes me feel a little sick to my stomach. I'll sleep on the plane, though.

I'm staying in Miami for the weekend. Looking forward to seeing a beach and getting some delicious Cuban food. It's not TexMex, but it's tasty!

Waiting

I've been contemplative lately. I feel like something is missing in my life, and I'm not altogether sure that the missing piece is a someone. It's a feeling that is difficult to put into words...like a sense of discontentedness.

Looking at my bookshelf this weekend, my eye happened upon the perfect book to re-read at this point: When the Heart Waits by Sue Monk Kidd. She talks about the spiritual significance of waiting and likens it to a butterfly in a chrysalis. I began reading it last night and was struck by several passages, including these:

" ...the life of the spirit is never static. We're born on one level, only to find some new struggle toward wholeness gestating within...and rarely do significant shifts come without a sense of our being lost in dark woods..."

"Waiting...involves listening to disinherited voices within, facing the wounded holes in the soul, the denied and undiscovered, the places one lives falsely. It means struggling with the vision of who we really are in God and molding the courage to live that vision."

Many months before I left Dallas, I mentioned to my therapist that I felt the need to do something differently. I told her I had entertained the idea of getting rid of all my possessions and going abroad to help on mission-work, like Doctors without Borders.

In moving to New York, I did get rid of many possessions. Some were easier to part with than others, and in many ways, it was freeing to pare down. I've also stripped away other things that used to define who I was, some by conscious choice...I've had to let go of a few relationships, though it breaks my heart, and hope it's for the best.

I'm waiting to see what's in store for me next. I'm anxious, but trying to be patient. As the butterfly must struggle against it's cocoon to strengthen its wings, I want to be ready for the next stage and know I'm where I need to be for the moment.

The Best-Laid Plans...

I recently read an online article from Redbook titled "This is what Adoption feels like." I do so want to have children someday, and as the clock keeps ticking along with no appropriate man in sight, I like to research my options.

I really enjoyed the author's intro to the article, where she writes, "I recently found an old diary from my teenage years, where I blithely wrote about my future, figuring I would get married around 28 and have children soon after." Isn't it sweetly naive how as children, we think just because we want something it will happen?

My niece Anna has recently been thinking about being a flower girl. As I am her one unmarried aunt, she has me in her plans. "Can I be your flower girl when you get married?" she asked me, unaware that I've been married before, before she was born.
Of course. "Well, when do you think you'll get married?" Ah, that's the question, isn't it?

Actually, I now wonder if I will get married again. There are many things I like about being on my own. Not that I wouldn't enjoy having a partner to share things with, but I'm trying to be content with whatever life hands me.

The Ice Luge

For those of you who had a hard time imagining it, here's a video:

Detoxifying Seaweed

Steph gave me a very generous gift card to Bliss Spa, and I decided to use half of it to try their Deep Sea Detox, which is described as "firming oil, lymph drainage, French marine seaweed hot pack and stimulating shower combo in this relaxing and detoxifying wrap simultaneously slims, remineralizes, relaxes and hydrates." A friend and I who are starting off the new year with a diet agreed to go together and kick off our weight loss with a good detox.


It's not a treatment for the modest. They give you one of those lovely disposable thongs to wear, and that's it. The therapist first massaged my limbs with an aromatic essential oil blend to stimulate the lymph. She then slathered on their Fat Girl Slim cream on my thighs. Then I was coated all over with the seaweed mud and wrapped in a mylar foil blanket and a heated blanket like a burrito. To make sure I was warm enough (!) she piled four or five blankets on top of me and left me to "bake" (her word) for 15 minutes. I got uncomfortably hot, but she said that's what I'm supposed to do. She unwrapped me and brought a body-long collection of shower heads over me to rinse off the muck. It felt kinda weird, showering laying down, naked except for a flimsy material below in front of this woman. She finished me off with more Fat Girl Slim cream for my thighs and a body butter cream for my arms. I felt very soft.

I'm down about a pound this morning (had to check!) and the treatment was very relaxing. Let's hope it kicks everything into gear!

Discombobulated

Ever had one of those days where everything seems off?

I left my apartment this morning with that feeling that I was forgetting something...

It's rainy and still warm, which means I probably shouldn't have even bothered to fix my hair, except I have lunch with a vendor today. I got to work sweaty and hot. Yuk!

The company decided I should move offices. Someone who had a coveted office retired, so a senior partner moved. My boss took his old office, and I got my boss's old office. It's bigger, so that's nice, but everything here is on the opposite side of where I had it before. Although most of my afternoon was open yesterday, I got moved 15 minutes before a conference call. So, I haven't had time to unpack everything, and when I go to look for something, it's not in its usual place. Then I type and my wounded pointer finger smarts! Ack!

And I finally remembered what I forgot at home. My sister Steph's birthday present! I bought it last weekend, finally wrapped it last night, and had planned on mailing it today. Oh well. I can send it 2-day tomorrow so it still gets there on time.

Crazy Yankees

We're having a bit of balmy Dallas-like weather in NY this week, and today's high is supposed to be around 66*. So I was stunned to see so many of my fellow NYers still wrapped up in their puffy coats, Ugg boots, scarves and hats! I eschewed any winter gear today and instead chose to wear a bright orange dress jacket that was a gift from Steph. I would be sweating up a storm if I dressed like most of the people I've seen. I've been surprised ever since it started getting slightly cooler in November how much people have wrapped up. I agree it was needed on those days when we had a bitter wind and high of 15*, but it almost seemed as if people were wearing their winter gear because of the calendar, rather than the weather forecast. Perhaps they don't watch the weather news.

In Dallas, I remember longing for cooler weather and the chance to perhaps wear a cotton sweater without feeling suffocated. And on one trip to England in the spring, when we still felt chilled and needed a light jacket, I remember seeing hopeful Brits striding around in shorts. So it seems odd to me that NYers, who should be accostumed to a proper winter, seem so cold-natured.

What's New in My World

Man, the weekend FLEW by! I didn't get everything done that I had planned (like taking down the Christmas tree...ah, maybe tonight), and I'm exhausted. That could partially be due to the noisy construction at Ground Zero.

Since I came back from Austin at Christmas, they've been doing the pounding noise from 5 a.m. until 3 a.m. the next day...so basically, I have two hours of quiet a night. I've called the local community board and was told that since it's a Port Authority project, the Community Board has no sway over them. The only good news she could tell me is that it is only supposed to be another month.

So I've figured out that if I have my air/heater unit on Vent, my small oscillating fan on, and my white noise machine on as loud as possible, I can't really hear the pounding. Of course, then I hardly notice when my alarm goes off either. :-)

In other news, I've joined WW again. No, not Worldwide Wrestling...Weight Watchers. Inspired by my cousin Paula's success, I've decided to give them another go. I stocked up on the veggies and made some chili last night with lean meat and lots of good vegetables. While washing out the cans for recycling, I sliced the crap out of my right index finger. I haven't cut myself that badly in awhile. It made a bloody mess of the kitchen, and I had to put a tight bandage and hold it above my head to get it to stop bleeding. Curses! Everytime I touch it on something, it starts to bleed again. Typing doesn't feel too great either.

On a happy note, one of the girls I met at New Year's invited me out to the movies on Sunday afternoon. It was so nice to have a friend to do something with! We saw Atonement. Wow. Powerful movie, great acting.

Year of the Frog

Amphibians are facing the largest possible extinction since the disappearance of dinosaurs and in 2008 (a leap year, of course), a non-profit group called Amphibian Ark is coordinating a global awareness campaign called "The Year of the Frog," to raise public awareness and understanding of the amphibian extinction crisis.

The Clorox Company has signed on as the first official corporate sponsor, donating funds, as well as its fungus fighting bleach - one of the most important tools in the fight to save the frogs.

Visit savethefrog.com to learn more.

New Year's Eve Shenanigans

So I have three tentative friends so far. What I mean by that is, we've hung out at least once, going to a bar or dinner, and we've text-messaged each other a few times. These friendships aren't solid enough to call and cry on their shoulder, but it's a start.

I text-messaged all three to find something to do for New Year's. Kelly called back, and I joined her and her new husband in Jersey City at a neighborhood party. We had a good time, and I met several other nice people. Kelly said she thinks I'll be spending a lot of time in Jersey City this year!

She told me the party was going to have an ice luge. Naively, I thought she meant for us to slide down. Fun! But actually, it was for drinks. I don't do shots (never a good idea, I think), but they had watered these down to 75% juice/25% alcohol. The pourer would stand at the top of the block and the sipper would slurp from the bottom. Your face got really cold up against the ice!

Mom and Dad in NYC

Snow flurries greeted me as I left my building this morning. It's supposed to be a cold couple days, but I'm still enjoying it. My apartment is so high up, I still haven't turned on the heater. All the heat from the lower floors keeps me more than cozy.

Here are some pictures of my parents' recent visit to NYC. I only captured a couple pictures on the subway! My dad has more on his blog.

My dad just looked so NY on the subway, reading his paper. His dog Patchie poked her head up to see what was going on. Patchie came with us throughout the city, and my mom and I commented that her senses must have been on overdrive with all the new sights and smells.