Happy Val! - Photo Walk

Happy Val! - Photo Walk
Originally uploaded by pandoralyrael

Vallie! came over tonight so we could walk around in Forest Hills Gardens taking nighttime pictures. It was a nice, relaxing evening punctuated by happy banter and lots of blurry, orange photos. I still like the way they came out, particularly because I got a few nice pix of Val! enjoying herself! :)

Flowering Tree of Queens Blvd

Here is a photo I took with my Blackberry of a tree that was in full bloom as I walked home from the Forest Hills JetBlue office.

Even though they are pretty, I know behind all those colorful petals and blooms, they are the cause of my sickness. *shakes fists* damn them.

Tomorrow Vanessa will have to walk me to work so I can show her this flowering tree. The one right next to it is much prettier. However, it was not wanting to be photogenic. But trust me, it was cooler. ;)

Photographing Trains

Justin at dinner
Originally uploaded by pandoralyrael

Sorry guys - lots of photos today... Justin stayed late to have some drinks after work with JetBlue people, and since it was a nice day (it was really a wonderful, clear, beautiful day and the perfect temperature), I picked myself up by my bootstraps, grabbed Beloved, and waltzed over to the Forest Hills Long Island Railroad station... I LOVE trains and photographing trains. Being there was so ridiculously peaceful. I don't know why I don't go there more

often!!!

I am also including a photo of Justin from dinner tonight because I really like the way it turned out. :)

Yay tomorrow is Friday!!!

Ruby in the sunshine

Ruby in the sunshine
Originally uploaded by pandoralyrael

Look at her little snaggle tooth!

Sunday is for Sushi

Sushi accents
Originally uploaded by pandoralyrael

Another laid-back day. Justin and I worked a little on Adventured.net updating the background and left hand side, including our contributors links/social networking links. All in all, we're very pleased with the changes. I had to take a nap in the middle of the day to sooth my mood. It worked brilliantly and both the puppies slept with me, even though Justin was in the living room. We concluded the night by ordering in and watching I am Legend. I promised Val! my take on the movie, which is:
Decent, sad, slowww.

Impressive Arch - Wandering in Forest Hills

Impressive Arch
Originally uploaded by pandoralyrael

Justin and I spent the afternoon wandering around Forest Hills. Today I woke up and wrote a bit on the novel Val! and I are co-authoring. She's much more motivated about it than I am. I've only written on it twice and, in total, it is probably 5 pages long. Val's effort and output is at least 4 times that of my own.

I trace my fingers along the top-most ledge of Sacre Couer’s grand entry – what a spectacular view of Paris. The seedy underbelly begins at the base below. The hostels, hookers, ‘red light district.’ Beyond, there is a mosque, there stands the Eiffel Tour, so proud now so many years after its birth into a society that completely detested it.

Justin woke up and we just sort of hung around. I read a bit in the book Val! lent me: Time Traveler's Wife which I am quite enjoying. We headed to Garcia's for some Mexican food and both left feeling miserably full. We then wandered around a bit trying to locate "something odd" that a new flickr friend of mine told me about. I think I found it! If I am correct about this oddity, it is the arch in this photo. It definitely looks a bit out of place between these two drab apartment buildings in Queens. I wonder why it's there and what it represents...

After shooting up a storm, Justin and I decided it was time to do a little shopping. I purchased a pair of blue jeans and a pair of slacks and. as shopping generally bums me out, it was good that we went for massages immediately afterwards, and bubble tea directly after that. La sigh!

Our last stop was Bath and Body Works, which really lightened my mood. I love spending time in that store, smelling all the new smells and checking out their products and marketing. They might try harder than practically any brand out there to constantly come up with new products and ideas!

I hope you're all having a great weekend!

Last Night's Dinner with Thao and Katie

Thao comes over for Dinner
Originally uploaded by pandoralyrael

Justin and I had a really nice time having Thao and Katie over for dinner Thursday night. Thao shared with us a lot of her photos from Kenya (you can see them here) and narrated as she walked through the different experiences. Justin hooked my laptop up to our TV so we had a good viewing arrangement. It was so neat. I definitely want to go to Kenya now! If I can get a detailed itinerary of Thao's journey, I'll put it up here. She visited beautiful, deserted beaches; lovely, cheap inns; took a self-guided driving safari with some friends; took children to a giraffe feeding/petting area (not only did she escort these children, but she helped raise money so they could go in the first place - right on!); and all the while got around in bizarrely decorated buses. It looked and sounded like a lot of fun. She also brought me back salad spoons with rhinos on the ends! I love them :) Thanks Tizzle! :)

It was nice having Thao and Katie over... I just feel bad they got home so late on a Thursday night! Tonight, Val!, Justin and I went to Hill Country. A new friend of Val!'s, Chris, met us as well. The wait was an hour and a half but we had a good time. We sat there talking for hours and then for another half an hour on the sidewalk once we'd decided to leave. I pronounce "Friendship Friday" a serious success! :)

How Time Changes Us

Val! was sharing old photos with me. She sent one of herself, my cousin Karen and me all dressed up and ready for a night of clubbing. I remember the night and all of our photos fondly. We actually met a club-photographer that night and had a good time. He was the first of that type I'd ever met, though certainly not the last. At any rate, I was feeling sad, not to mention older, looking at the photo and thinking of old relationships. For instance, I haven't talked to Karen in years, which is sad because she is a cool chick and we grew up together. Life is odd - how we fall away from one another. At any rate, in the depths of my melancholy, which I was sharing with Justin, he sent me a photo from last weekend. Wow! How times change. For your viewing pleasure (you may want to enlarge these):

Taking harp lessons in Stowe in 2008.

Going out clubbing with Val! and Karen circa 2001.

Event at the Scandinavia House

Event at the Scandinavia House
Originally uploaded by pandoralyrael

What a nice day! I accomplished a lot at work today - discussed SEO objectives with our analysts, communicated with our web team in India regarding their progress on our social networking site, added photos to a press release (ALA's Favorite Top Ten Hikes), and changed all the maps from their previous, ugly Google Earth images to beautiful and colorful images created by our designer that truly evokes the ALA brand.

As I was about to hunker down into catching up on work email, my Outlook popped up a reminder. This afternoon was the ExOfficio PR event and mixer! Uh oh! Thank goodness for technology reminding me about things. I rushed to change out of my casual clothes to more appropriate attire, quickly fixed up my hair and makeup, and rushed Justin home from work (thanks for hurrying home, sweetie). We were on our way to Manhattan in record time.

I was so glad to be in the city during daylight hours. Well-dressed individuals were leaving work or heading out, arm in arm, for the evening. The best part was seeing the trees full of heavy buds. Some were already blossoming! Are they dogwoods? Magnolias? I am not sure. It was so lovely. The trees in Forest Hills haven't gotten their flowers yet. Strange how the environment changes in 4 miles! :)

Justin and I had a nice time at the mixer. The ExOfficio (Chris and Rudy) people and their PR people were very nice. I really enjoy talking to Chris. She is such a vibrant, fun person. We both talked about engagements, traveling, work, marketing, etc. She is also going to Brazil for the Adventure Travel World Summit! Ahh!! I want to go! Isn't that something I should be, like, required by LAW to attend??? Justin and Rudy talked about domain names and web stuff. Now it's late - again. I am exhausted - again. At least it was all for a good reason.

I am looking forward to hearing all about Tizzle's trip to Africa tomorrow! She is back and coming over for dinner. Yippy!!! :)

For those of you that haven't checked out Follow Your Happiness yet - you're missing out! We've just discusses Wellness Wednesday - don't miss Tout your Talents Thursday for crying outloud.

Queens Blvd, Forest Hills

Queens Blvd, Forest Hills
Originally uploaded by pandoralyrael

I was at a loss for what to add today and decided just to take my camera with me on my way to the grocery store. Not bad for nothing much! :)

In other news, Val! and I have a new positivity project where we'll only be posting happy things, crafts, etc. Feel free to check it out: Follow Your Happiness. We anticipate Mom's blood, sweat, and tears also.

Yes, the site needs some TLC! :)

Harp Strings, Rock Wall, Last Day in Stowe

Harp strings and metal
Originally uploaded by pandoralyrael

Well, we had a great time yesterday for our last day in Stowe!
It was tough to choose to place a photo of an inanimate object up for my photo of the day. I sort of wanted to put up a climbing one, out of obligation, but my heart chose this one. :)

Aside - Running behind today on my updating. We took some photos with Beloved on Sunday and Justin spent a while trying to get my laptop to work with the camera.... *shakes fist angrily at Vista*

All is well in the world, except that it's almost 2 AM and I am exhausted.

More Photos - I've updated the gallery to contain only photos from the weekend in Stowe and be in chronological order - Friday through Sunday!

Justin and I had a lovely last day in VT! We woke up early, scarfed down breakfast (fruit, pastries, cream of wheat with cinnamon and craisins - and honey in mine) and headed to the fitness center for indoor rock climbing! It was awesome. I LOVE that.. although we barely made it under an hour. Our forearms were screaming after a few times up the wall. :)

We wandered around for a while and then gathered up our things. Justin checked out of the hotel and I went to my harp lesson! Woo! I love the harp - both the way it looks (I admit) and the sounds it can produce. I am so not musically inclined, having never played an instrument. Sadly, despite a couple of years of choir, I never even learned chords/how to read music. The instructer was super patient and nice and helpful. It was a good experience. Mom would be proud as I have finally done something sort of Irish - thus embracing non-German roots for a change. haha :)

It was a beautiful day as we drove back to Burlington to catch our flight. The sun was melting the snow and icicles so it really was the perfect time to depart. I still would've loved to stay and try cross-country skiing! Maybe next year. *crosses fingers*

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!