Kissy whilst Snowshoeing

Kissy
Originally uploaded by pandoralyrael

We had such a good, active day today! We woke up at 9:30 AM - a little later than anticipated - and headed immediately down for breakfast. It was such a gorgous day filled with glorious sunshine. Justin had French toast, but said it was only so-so, and I had poached eggs over ham and an English muffin topped with cheese, which was also only so-so. Tomorrow I'll probably opt for just the continental breakfast! :) We both still totally enjoyed ourselves at breakfast.

After breakfast we layered up for our first ever snow shoeing sojourn! We were out for over five hours today and trekked 1,000 vertical feet to the top of a mountain where we came upon a cabin that served soup and sandwiches. I had no idea I was so hungry until I devoured a bowl of split pea soup! Justin had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. We snowshoed back down a different trail that took us among tons of moguls and remote, forested area. It was BEAUTIFUL. Some trees had bark of gold! I have a good shot in the photo gallery. It was amazing.

I have wanted to try cross country skiing for a couple of years. Loads of people out there were doing it. Maybe tomorrow before we leave we'll have the opportunity to try it out. We scheduled time at the rock climbing wall today but allowed an angry lady with three kids from Boston to take our slot as the facility had lost hers (or she was wrong about her appointment). We tentatively schedule a 9 AM session for tomorrow.

We had a very pleasant dinner this evening. I have to admit that the food here is definitely not top notch but we had fun all the same and the service is good. I had lobster ravioli (fairly tasty), gorgonzola/walnut/grape/escarole/bibb lettuce salad with maple dijon dressing (fabulous) and NY strip steak (yuck). My steak did come with delicious scalloped sweet potatoes, though! Justin had yummy pork tenderloin and a delicious chocolate cake with mousse and cherries. We also had plenty of wine. ;)

Here is how my ideal day tomorrow:
Breakfast around 7:30 AM
Swim in the pool at the fitness center.
Climbing at 9 AM
Cross Country ski at 10:00 AM
Massage at 1 PM
Flight at 5 PM

Vee shall see!

Blogging from Stowe

IMG_0033-(2)web
Originally uploaded by pandoralyrael

I was having such a tough time choosing a photo for today. I have a lot of neat ones! I imagine I'll have even better ones tomorrow. Justin and I arrived in Burlington, VT this afternoon, grabbed our rental car and drove to Stowe. It's so beautiful - a real winter wonderland. It's been snowing nonstop. Amazing.

I have some neat photos already uploaded, but most of them are not yet online. Maybe I'll have more time tomorrow, but I doubt it!

We had a delicious dinner tonight at the Trapp Family Lodge where we're staying. I wanted an after-dinner drink, so we headed to the lounge where we met a fantastic lady named Carol. We talked with her for a good long while until her brother and his wife came to pick her up. They both have time shares here which they have had for 20 years and acquired for only $5,000! Talk about a neat history! Carol has two teenage daughters that have been coming here as long as they have been living. Very cool! :)

Off to bed with me so I can enjoy a full day of winter activities tomorrow! Good night all.

Yesterday was a bit mleh

Justin Walks Ruby and Eve
Originally uploaded by pandoralyrael

As you can see, there is an awesome photo attached to this post of Justin walking Ruby and Eve. For some reason I was just in such a crappy mood yesterday... I was in the doldrums. I've been slipping into that mentality a bit this week and it really sucks. I hate it when I get that way, mostly because I feel like pretty much nothing I do matters. I feel worthless when I get like that. It's so depressing.

As I was checking out at the grocery store today, an elderly woman spoke to two young men that were sitting near some newspapers and asked "Do you sell any papers that only have good news? ...No? Shame." :) I like the way she thinks.

Good News:
Tomorrow, Justin and I are escaping to Stowe, VT for a weekend of snowshoeing and relaxing at the Trapp Family Lodge. Roxors! I should definitely have no problem having photo fodder from this weekend. :)
Val!'s been kind enough to watch the puppies while we're gone. Yeehee!!!

Katie Sorts Chocolate Bunnies

Katie Sorts Chocolate Bunnies
Originally uploaded by pandoralyrael

Yesterday, Justin and I had pizza at Nick's in Forest Hills with Katie and a some people from JetBlue (Umang, Jim, Albert and Bryan). Justin and Katie bought a lot... I mean a LOT of discount chocolate Easter bunnies and we devoured some seriously not-good-for-you but oh-so-good food. ;) Thanks for the invite, Miss Katie!

I've added a few other photos to my Flickr. Still a lot more that need to be added.

Crashing the JetBlue Happy Hour

Crashing the JetBlue Happy Hour
Originally uploaded by pandoralyrael

I miss Shelley! I was lucky enough to crash the JetBlue afterwork happy hour yesterday and catch up with some ex-coworkers and friends. I had a really great time. Did I mention I miss Shelley? Waaa!!!

I have more photos to post that Shelley and Justin took with my camera yesterday as well as some more from Easter but now I am off to dinner with some friends/acquaintances. Later alligators!

Easter - Movie time

Easter - Movie time
Originally uploaded by pandoralyrael

This is a photo from yesterday - we went to see "Horton Hears a Who!"

Ruby and Eve - March 2008

Ruby and Eve - March 2008
Originally uploaded by pandoralyrael

Sitting on my computer while working yesterday, I looked over to see both of my babies looking at me in this adorable pose. Luckily, my camera was on my desk, so I snatched it and took this picture. <3

Photo a Day: F stop - 57th street

F stop - 57th street
Originally uploaded by pandoralyrael

I am going to attempt to add a photo per day to my Flickr gallery. Here is the first one!

Life After SXSW Interactive

We've been back from SXSWi for about a week now but have yet to post. Yes, we are still alive after SXSWi - although, I feel, only barely. I am sick, you see. Stress, many humans to come in contact with, chatting in close quarters, alcohol lowering the immune system, constantly on the go with conference panels all day and parties most of the nights... well - it is easy to see why I am sick when you couple all of the above with traveling in a small metal tube with a hundred other folks.

Blahhh...

I got some interesting notes from a few of the panels if anyone wants them. I still have podcasts to watch from the panels I missed.

Sickness history:
Saturday - Kinda sick but thought it was just allergies to dust as Justin and I spent hours cleaning the bedroom.
Sunday - The great cleaning revolution ground to a halt when I woke up with a fever, extremely sore throat, miserable congestion, body aches, etc.
Monday - I was hella productive work-wise and felt as though I was recovering with minor symptoms remaining such as sore through, sinus irritation, small headache, etc.
Tuesday (today!) - Wake up feeling like hell. Just do not want to get out of bed. Incredibly sore throat, sinus problems, some aches, some fever. Stared at the "to do list" I've created for myself and stumbled through one or two items in the morning before slipping into a state of near-complete lack of productivity. Justin brings me chicken noodle soup for lunch which I hurriedly scarf down. Research and create SEO optimized landing page for Peru with travel related keywords. Hopefully we'll see some results in a week. I am hoping to get two more SEO pages built tomorrow.
I move at a snail's pace on any sort of writing project anyway it seems. If you're an SEO expert and check out the page above (although the likelihood of that happening are 1 in a million) and have some tips for me, feel free to share. I am always open for suggestions.

At any rate, I had to cancel the plans I'd made to see and catch up with Matt tonight which disappoints me. I hope I feel better tomorrow otherwise I'll be canceling even more plans. I hate how sickness can blast your work life and social life. Mleh

Good news (there is always good news even if I am grumpy):
Morgan got a much deserved promotion at JetBlue. He is now a Manager! w00t
Reshma accepted a kickass job offer from MTV.
Justin has reaffirmed he is a sweetheart by taking care of me these last three days and freaking out when he catches me doing chores. <3 I love you sweetie - even if you are a glum fairy sometimes.

Did anyone do anything interesting for St. Patrick's day? Justin and I went to an Irish pub in the neighborhood for dinner.
Update your blogs and LJs, people.

Even More Photos!!!! SXSWi Photos

Check out our SXSW interactive photos thus far here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nowends/sets/72157604068476202/

Morgan's beautiful photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhjohnston/sets/72157604109099946/

Off to SXSW in Austin!

That's right! The Adventured.net team (moi and Justin) are off to SXSW in Austin... Not for the traditionally cool things like Music or Film, but for the truly ultra cool thing: Interactive! What what! See you there if you're going! :)

I have waaaay too many panels on my schedule.

Comedian, Feminism, My Last Post

Last night Justin and I were watching Comedy Central. A stand up comic was reviewing some of her old material and making new jokes also. She got onto the subject of feminism and talked about how, after telling a particular joke roughly 10 years ago, she used to ask if anyone in the audience was a feminist. No one would raise their hands. When she asked the question on the show last night lots of women were cheering and raising their hands. She said that feminism is dead. What it means nowadays is that a woman has enough money to buy her own breast implants. Unfortunately, she is right in a lot of ways. Too bad I can't find the exact quote - but you get the drift.
Shouldn't we all be above the societal hype and influence? Aren't we all supposed to be happy with who we are and what we are without trying, wanting, having to change ourselves? Here's to wondering how much different and hopefully better things will be 10 years from now.

On the subject of my last post: The book How to be Happy Dammit just so happened to be sitting atop the JetBlue re-gifting table one day and Oscar brought it over to me, saying he thought I should read it. Basically, the book is filled with ugly art and valueless "uplifting" one-liners. I honestly can't imagine it took more than a week to put together. At the time, it absolutely floored me that it had been published! Imagine my surprise when I discovered the newsletter I recently signed up for on Thao's suggestion was by the same "author." Incredible. *shakes head* And it's not the only "book" she's published. She's actually published 29 "books!" I wonder - are they all of the same caliber?

Maybe I should go into self-help publishing. Nah, that would take too much motivation.

JUST DON'T TRY!

So this may not make sense.

People who do not try really make it!

Thao turned me on to this author not too long ago: NotSalmon.com. I sometimes enjoy the emails sent from her website.

I didn't even realize that I have a history with at least one of her books. But it leads me to reveal: I have to admit that people who put in less effort and pump out MORE really make it!

So, long story short - make connections, pump out stuff, be successful.
Now I am sure you all want the back story, but just take my word for it.

bizarre... Life really does answer questions. ;)