Basel, Good Friends & Good Food

I can't believe it's been a week since I posted.

The rest of my time in Europe flew by, with days beginning at 6 a.m. and finishing around midnight. I barely saw any of Basel. It was one of those typical business trips: airport -- hotel and prepping for meeting -- client's -- airport. So my pictures are quite limited: there's a view of Switzerland from the airport, the display celebrating the World Cup in our hotel's lobby, and the delicious cheese fondue I shared with colleagues over dinner.


I got back state-side Thursday afternoon and started packing in earnest for my upcoming move. I've also been seeing friends and saying goodbyes, with nearly every lunch and evening booked until I leave.

One fun night I'd love to do all over again was with two friends who are also from Texas. I met Beka at a doctor's office, but we only recently started hanging out. She introduced me to her roomie Houston, and I just love spending time with them. They each have helped me by taking care of my cat Sabrina while I was away on recent trips, so I took them out for dinner at Sushi Samba -- one of my all-time favorite restaurants.


We got a fantastic seat on their second floor balcony, overlooking 7th Avenue, and enjoyed some tasty beverages. Beka had never tried sushi before but was a great sport, although she was doubtful that some of the rolls would fit in her small mouth!


We finished the night by getting our palms read by a local psychic in Soho. It was entertaining!

Dinnertime

In preparation for the family birthday trifecta (sister Jenn's 40th, Dad's 70th and nephew Colin's 7th) this weekend, I arrived in Austin yesterday. (Working remotely for a few days, which is perfect timing to get my team's reviews completed.)

Yesterday afternoon, my bro-in-law Anthony was preparing to take the kids to piano and realized he hadn't figured out what to make for dinner. (Yes, he's pretty awesome.) I had to insist he let me cook for them. I usually just help out with clean up or kid stuff, but I realized I could help out and treat them to one of my favorite dishes at the same time.

I had an hour. I ran to the store and got the necessary ingredients, then came back and started cooking. I made guacamole for "appetizer" -- in quotations because we can't give it to the kids as such or they won't eat anything else -- wild rice, steamed broccoli and Chicken Guadalajara, which includes sauteed onions, peppers, chicken, cream (fat free) and monterey jack cheese. The kids and Anthony came home about 15 minutes before I finished, and Jenn walked in from a day of veterinarian-ing just at the ideal moment.

Dinner was a hit! Anna was exclaiming how much she liked the chicken, and I teased her that I made this exact dish for her 5 years ago (when she was only 4) while I was taking care of them. At that time, it just seemed too foreign to her, and she refused to try it. And Anthony gave me one of the best compliments, asking if I'd made this dish for any of the guys I've dated (yes) and wondering how that didn't win them over!

Colin was most impressed that I had thought of dessert. I bought three pints of ice cream in different flavors for us all to sample.

I Heart San Francisco

I have always enjoyed San Francisco.








I love being near the water, and the fresh seafood is incredible. It also has a nice vibe. My mom noted how wide and clean the streets were. We walked to dinner in the evening and found the streetlights were very bright and cheery. The only detractor is the overwhelming number of homeless and beggars. Every block had at least one.










We took a cable car from our hotel over to the bay.









The hills always amaze me, and the street pictured is Lombardi Street, the crooked-est street. While you can't see the zig-zag, it does show the elevation differences and the beautiful view.






We bought fresh crab and shrimp salad for lunch -- delicious -- and saw this seagull enjoying his own salad. I'm not sure if someone bought it especially for him or just left it there for his access. The bird was enjoying it.



We went to Pier 39 and saw the seals. Their consistent barking kept giving me the giggles.







We had fantastic food each night -- sushi, Mexican and Italian. Here we are at the Mexican place with our Macho Margaritas. They had chopped and roasted jalapenos in them! Very tasty, very spicy.

The Long-Awaited Girls' Weekend

My "big" sis Jenn came to visit last weekend. Before you chastise me for not posting earlier, let me explain that this week has been very busy with client presentations (3) and travel (Philly and Boston) with planes, trains and automobiles.

Last Friday, Jenn was arriving at JFK airport, which is the farthest from Manhattan, but since she was coming in at 9:30 p.m., I decided to take the subway out to meet her and planned on taking a taxi back into the city. I was amazed and horrified that the subway took so long to get out there! I had planned on getting out there before she arrived and brought a book to keep me company. Unfortunately, I was still on the airtrain trying to get to her terminal when she called and said she was there. (I kept her waiting 20 minutes, which stressed me out a bit.)

After waiting through a LONG taxi line, we told the driver to take us straight to the restaurant, suitcase and all (not that uncommon in NYC), since we were both hungry. I had called the restaurant to make a reservation, but the lady I spoke to said not to worry about a reservation, just show up at that hour (between 10:30-11 p.m.). The restaurant was in the ever-trendy Meat Packing district, and of course, there was a line out front and some fierce looking doormen choosing who got in. After some finagling, we did get in (thank goodness). By this time, I was quite worked up (stressed!) because I wanted everything to go smoothly for Jenn. But she's so easygoing, probably the most so in our family, and she helped me relax by telling me she was just happy to be there and enjoying whatever happened. 

Since I have a king size bed, Jenn slept on the unused portion. I was surprised I woke up before she did on Saturday morning, but she revelled in the quiet -- no kids to wake her up, and because of the holiday weekend, no construction noise from Ground Zero. After some fruit and a virtual visit with the kids back home through iChat, we met my friends (and sisters) Liesel and Erin for brunch. Then I took Jenn by my office and to the Union Square farmers' market. We also stopped into a discount store, but didn't find anything worth buying there. Back home, we dropped off our grocery purchases and speed-walked over to the Hudson River and kayaking. It was a little cold, and Jenn accidentally splashed me once with her oar, but it was beautiful and fun. Then we speed-walked back home to get cleaned up for dinner and our Broadway show.

Traffic was horrendous going uptown to the Theater District, and we were late for our dinner reservation. The Italian food was terrific but we both agreed we would have liked to have lingered over it a bit more. However, the show must go on! Our theater was just a couple short blocks from the restaurant, and Wow, oh WOW is Wicked an incredible show! I've been wanting to see it for some time, but not wanting to go on my own, and it was great to share it with Jenn.

On Sunday, we went to church and then headed uptown to go to MoMA (Museum of Modern Art). We ran into a street fair, which I love, and got some cheap but tasty eats for lunch. Unfortunately, we were unable to see the Van Gogh exhibit at MoMA because it had sold out for the day. I don't go to many museums -- just not my thing -- so now I know you can (and should) buy tickets ahead of time.

However, this freed up some time for shopping. I took Jenn to Macy's, which is 7-8 stories high and a block wide. She got some great deals and we thoroughly exhausted ourselves. Dinner that night was at another fabulous Italian restaurant, and my FWB (friend-with-benefits) joined us for a glass of wine (and low-key scrutiny...he passed).

We were up late our last night, and a bit tipsy on the wine, but Jenn was up early the next morning to head to the airport. I was sad to see her go. It was so great having her here and so easy to be around her. 

You can read Jenn's recaps of the eventful weekend on her blog.

Hoops and Baskets

Well, I learned yesterday that my furniture and stuff won't be arriving until Thursday. [Groan] I'm really not sleeping all that well on the inflatable mattress. Last night, I kept waking up and checking the clock (my cell phone) to see if it was close to time to get up. First time I remember wishing the night would go faster. (Generally, I LOVE to sleep.)

Everything about this move has been, to say in a positive light, an adventure. (Jumping through hoops and discovering there's no floor after the hoop feels more like it.) One such hoop: getting the key to my apartment.

I called the building manager -- let's just call her V -- the week before my arrival, asking if I would be able to pick up the key when I arrived on Sunday. No...since the management office isn't open on Sundays, that wouldn't work. I asked if I could have a friend pick it up (one of my new coworkers, an extremely nice and helpful girl, lives close by), and V said yes, I would just need to have a notarized letter sent to the main office and fax her a copy. I did that, sending the notarized letter by FedEx to ensure it arrived.

Saturday comes, and I get a call from my coworker-friend, letting me know they didn't "have the key ready." (whatever that means) Seems she was told by V that it was V's mistake and that she was now trying to bend the rules by letting the "super" give me the key on Sunday. My coworker-friend told me to "get New-York on her," meaning give her attitude if she didn't come through.

When I arrived on Sunday, as previously posted (below), everyone in the building seemed to know I was from Texas and was waiting for me. Yesterday, I finally met V, an intense, slightly frazzled NY- or NJ-accented woman, who apologized profusely for the mix-up. At this point, she's bending over backwards for me to do whatever she can to make my life better. Then, she said, "I have a little something for you to apologize." And she comes back from around the corner with a HUGE basket of food and goodies! It includes cookies, juice, jelly, snack bars, fruit, pasta & sauce, bread, cheese, and some plastic ware. All this, and I didn't even have to "get NY."

My Little Partner

As Jenn mentioned on her blog, when I heard she and Anthony would be coming to Dallas early this week to help his mom, I asked if I could take Anna home with me! She agreed, and Anna was very excited. We drove to Waco and had dinner with my grandma, great aunt, uncle and his family. Unfortunately, the traffic was TERRIBLE Sunday night, and Anna got into bed very late.

It worked out that they couldn't coordinate with Anthony's mom until Tuesday, so Anna stayed with me as I worked from home yesterday. We went to Pancake House for breakfast, and then Anna did crafts and was politely quiet when I had to hold conference calls on the phone. Knowing that both my sisters are very good about serving their kids healthy meals, I cooked salmon with wild rice and sauteed zucchini. However, Anna mostly ate the rice. She likes the other stuff, but her tummy was hurting from too many appetizer nuts. (oh well!)

Yesterday, Anna said, "Why does my family keep calling me?"
I said, "Because they miss you Anna!"
She said, "But I don't miss them."

This morning, she said, "I'm not feeling well. I think I'm a little bit feverish. I think I'm home sick."