christmas bliss

hope your christmas was as full of love and laughter as mine was!

home again

there are many things i love about coming home -- potbelly's, the toll road, the outlet mall, silver diner, and not having to rely on gps -- to name a few.  but what i love most about coming home is this:

Zenyatta Appreciation Day at Hollywood Park

vick and i are at the 1:53 mark. see if you can find us;)

cupcakes and the counter

one of my all time favorite restaurants is a place in vegas called burger bar.  i LOVE a good burger, and i love the ability this place gives me to choose my patty (type of meat, size, etc.) and then customize my burger with some unique toppings as well as some traditional ones.  and let me tell ya, me and burger bar make a mean burger.

it's the only thing about vegas that i really enjoy, and when jami and i made plans for dinner a couple of weeks ago, she mentioned that there was a burger joint that had come highly recommended by a mutual friend of ours.  what i didn't know is that the concept at the counter is similar to that of burger bar.

in this case you're given a clipboard and a pencil, and you fill out your own order form before handing it off to the waitress.  i was pleasantly surprised to find that the choice of toppings far exceeded that of burger bar, and while we waited for our meat to cook, we passed the time sharing the. best. fries i. have. ever. had. so, if you ever find yourself at the counter, the parmesan fries are mandatory.  more than mandatory. you have not lived until....well, you get the idea!

when our burgers arrived, we found that they were every bit as tasty as we had hoped.  in fact, there was only one area in which the counter fell short of the burger bar, and i can't hold them tooo accountable for not having a nutella milkshake since i've never seen it anywhere else.

but after the delicious and savory dinner, we were craving a tasty treat, and with sprinkles just around the corner, it sounded like the perfect choice...until we realized it had closed five minutes earlier.

now, there are a lot of naysayers who will tell you that sprinkles cupcakes are overpriced and 'not that good,' and they're just plain wrong.  well, about the 'not that good' part, anyway.  don't let anyone try to convince you otherwise, some people just insist on anti-establishmentarianism (is that a word?), but they are del-i-cious.  and ever since then, i've been craving cupcakes.

when someone off-handedly mentioned this weekend that there was a great cupcake place in long beach, i hied myself to the frosted cupcakery to pick up a dozen for myself and my team.  and with flavors like chocolate peanut butter, chocolate caramel buttercream toffee, vanilla nutella, and chocolate peppermint, my mouth was watering long before i took my first bite.

my co-workers and i agreed that they were every bit as yummy as they sounded, and my favorite turned out to be the chocolate peppermint (but i'm kind of on a peppermint kick lately). the frosted cupcakery was just the antidote to my cupcake craving, and also made me a hero with my staff!

zenyatta the queen

it's no secret that i have a love affair with horses, and when i heard that one of the greatest race horses of all time would be making a final at appearance at her home track - a local track - before heading off to kentucky to become a breeding mare, i did the only thing i could do. i called vicki.

in front of the scoreboard...and the crowds

vicki's friend tim, if you recall, was the one who gave us the inside track (no pun intended, though quite appropriate) at opening day at the del mar racetrack in july (the site of the fateful knee injury), and he also happens to work the starting gate at hollywood park.  vicki had already mentioned he'd been trying to get her up to the track, and i'd told her we should go sometime before the year's end.  that was week's ago, so when i heard that hp would be holding 'zenyatta appreciation day' i knew it was the perfect opportunity.

and they're off!

i wanted to see that horse in a bad way. when they are still talking about her twenty years from now, i wanted to be able to say that i had seen her and that she really was that magnificent.

we arrived just before the first post. tim met us and escorted us to the backside of the track, where we watched the starts for the first three races.  what is so great about visiting the track under these circumstances, is that it's an experience a 'regular' ticket holder would never have.  for example, we literally walked through the staff kitchen (where all the staff, jockeys, etc. eat during the race day) to watch those first couple of races, and our spot was shared only by track staff.  it's pretty cool.

vicki and i on the backside

after the fourth race, tim took us across the track (it sill makes me giggle a little to be walking ACROSS the track) to the grandstand area, and we found a great spot just above the winners circle to hang out and watch the next couple of races until they brought zenyatta out.  ironically, though i wasn't betting, every horse i picked was a winner.  of course, if i HAD bet, there would have been different winners, 'cause that's just how my luck works:)

following the sixth race, zenyatta was brought out of the barn and into the paddock before being led to the track, and the winners circle, and you know what?  she really WAS that magnificent.

zenyatta is like the michael phelps of horse racing (without the drugs).  she has done things that a horse just shouldn't be able to do, and things that no other mare before her has ever done.  and she has created an excitement about racing that hasn't existed in a very long time.  racing is a dying sport and race tracks all across the country are struggling, but this is a horse that people who had never watched a horse race in their life were setting their dvr's and chanting 'horse of the year' to anybody who would listen.

i'll be honest in saying that i have mixed feelings about the sport.  on one hand, there is just something about watching the athleticism and beauty of a group of horses running, that just awes me.  on the other, i know there are unethical and even cruel things that happen in the sport.

the beauty of the sport

maybe because i know that (thought i try not to think about it), one of the more moving moments of the day for me, was when one of the other gate crew made an off-handed comment about how zenyatta  had ended up with exactly the right people.

our host

when i probed further, he told me how much those owners, and that trainer, and the hot walker, and the groom, and the other close staff were such careful and loving caretakers.  it was obvious that this is not always the case, and i can't help but think that it has been a factor in zenyatta's fantastic career.

the happiest place?

with december weekends filling up fast and my disneyland pass set to expire at the end of the month, i really wanted to end the six-month knee hiatus from the 'happiest place on earth.'  i appealed to my friend jami, of the disney-obsessed variety, and she agreed that i needed to use my pass at least one more time and that she would help me do it.

i beat her there, and my first stop was city hall to inquire about there handicap policy.  i'd heard mixed reports, but knew that the holiday crowds would make for a really uncomfortable evening in line after line, not to mention, the pain that would cause for the rest of my work weekend, so it was worth finding out.  i knew that a wheelchair was the quickest way to the handicap entrances, but i don't really need a wheelchair, nor did i want my friend to have to try and maneuver me through the crowds - we had done this last year with my sister, and it was a nightmare.

armed with my surgery bill and my handicap placard, i dutifully waited in line (oh, the irony) and when my turn arrived, i asked the gentleman what the policy was, explained my situation, and prepared to offer him my 'proof'.  his response was that 'we aren't doctors,' and he issued me a handicap pass.

what it meant, was that in any line where the 'regular' line was not wheelchair accessible, i could use the handicap entrance.  it didn't apply to any of the rides in california adventure, since they were all accessible via wheelchair, but it turned out to be a lifesaver later in the evening, as we waited for rides like space mountain (30 minutes sitting down, instead of the hour and a half regular standing line).

what i didn't know is that jami had invited a few others to join us and, though they were girls i know from my ward, i don't know them well.  i'll admit that i was a bit worried about the dynamic, but i couldn't have been more pleasantly surprised.  

disneyland is a bit of a love-hate experience for me.  i love it for what it is and hate it for what it's not.  as a thrill seeking roller coaster junkie, i'm not one of those people who can be satisfied just hanging out with mickey ears on my head eating churros all night.  don't get me wrong - both of those are fine and good, but i need a little jaw-clenching stomach-dropping action in there somewhere.  at least, usually that's the case.  this was one of those nights though, where an unexpected grouping of people turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

i can honestly say that i haven't laughed that much in ages.  we seemed to share a similar sense of humor and find amusement in the same places. and i found that something i've really been thinking about and longing for lately, a deeper connection to my life and the people in it, was satisfied in a really beautiful unexpected way.

even the crowds were not a deterrent to our phenomenal group mojo.  in fact, while we saw hordes of people, it seemed that the rides we wanted, when we wanted, were mostly there for the taking.  there were a few times we could have used my pass but didn't need to because the lines were so short - and trust me, the place was packed.  it all seemed to work out just perfectly, and it brings my 'year of the disneyland pass' full circle, starting with a great family outing and ending with a great girlfriend adventure.

i haven't decided whether or not i'll be renewing my pass anytime in the near future....think i might go back to my six flags annual pass...so it was a sweet farewell (temporary though it may be). 

catching up

last weekend was my last event of the year, and now i get to focus on the stress and panic of launching a brand new booth, with lots of brand new technology, at our biggest show of the year in january.  it was also my first event working the booth (standing for hours on end in a 10X20 space) since my first knee injury (in july).  i knew it was going to be tough, but i also knew that i didn't want to waste the fact that it was a local event (just twenty minutes up the road). so i made lots of weekend plans, some of which didn't quite turn out, and some of which exceeded all expectations.

i was also excited that this event brought an opportunity to see one of my favorite colleagues, and joan, her sister marti, and i made a date for dinner before the show started.  while they wanted to stick close to the convention center, i had a better idea and dragged them to one of my favorite long beach eateries, la creperie.  as the name implies, it's a restaurant specializing in crepes, and as i had only enjoyed breakfast there, i was delighted to find that dinner and desert was equally as delicious. it was also my first time inside the restaurant (and not eating on the patio) and the boulangerie/french cafe atmosphere with it's gilded mirrors and velvet curtains made for the perfect place to catch up with my friends.

but alas,  the next morning, it was down to business.  fortunately for me, this show is one of the more enjoyable ones.  it's a well-known dog show so, though the standing was difficult, spending my work day petting and getting kisses from some uber-lovable pooches, was not the worst situation in the world. but when the work day was done, it was time for some play!

christmas card update

remember that whole christmas card dilemma?  well, your suggestions were good ones and i started putting my google fingers to work to see if i could find something that would work.  but over and over, either i wasn’t a fan of the card designs, or they were way to expensive.  still in a bit of a pickle, i headed to utah for thanksgiving, and asked my friend corey if he could take some photos of me for possible use in the card.

we headed out for our photo session, and i had a specific goal in mind.  though it took a couple of 'locations' i felt confident that there was at least one that would balance that fine line between vain and pathetic.  and after reviewing the shots, i was relieved to find that i had been right.  all that was left was to find the right card to complement the photo, and jill came to the rescue with her flyer from shutterfly.  i instantly fell in love with several of the designs, and quickly hopped online to see the whole selection.  these are some of my favorites:

so what do you think?  do you love these as much as i do?  you can check out the rest of the designs here. and if you want to see the final product, be sure to email me your address!

and bloggers, if you'd like 50 free photo cards from shutterfly, check out their cool promotion!  

a pictorial recap: thanksgiving in utah

ah thanksgiving. you dear dear holiday dedicated to food and gratitude - two of my favorite things!  this year, you whisked me away to utah for a much needed vacation (another favorite thing).  and bonus! it was quite the winter wonderland (yet another favorite thing).

more of my favorite things include:

spending time with the burk family

spending time with MY family

snowcapped mountains

meeting the new additions

making friends out of new family members.
(i have the greatest cousins-in-law!)

eating at diners, drive-ins, and dives dives
(moochies)

inflatable hammers!
(me and the virginia nelsons)

delicious thanksgiving buffets (like the one at the grand america) 

question of the day

i'm a big fan of christmas cards (even though the laziness of recent years may not convince you).  i'm also a big fan of photos.

seems obvious that i would be a fan of photo christmas cards.

but photo christmas cards are made for families (you know what i mean), and i am a family of 'me'. which of course, is not to say that i don't have family, but that at 34, with both siblings balled and chained and babied up, the  'parents and brothers and sisters' card (geographically, if for no other reason) is long since past it's prime.

the 'me and the dog' thing just seems kind of...sad.  and the 'just me' thing seems kind of...vain.  so i want to know if any of you creative types have any great ideas as to how i can actually pull off a photo christmas card without falling into either trap?

help. please.

wardrobe musings

i admit it. this brace is keepin' me down a bit.  my activities are somewhat limited because it just takes so much darn EFFORT to be mobile.  even getting in and out of the car is a challenge,  so, while there have been scattered dinners and movie nights, i've mostly been keeping a low profile.

it's a bit frustrating since i actually get to be home for a good chunk of time, and it would be really awesome to act like i was a member of my ward again and, oh, i don't know, GO to things. but when i do go, i'm exhausted by the time i get there.  then i have to try and be social and stuff when i just want to go home and go to bed!

as a result, i've turned to my cure-all for frustration: shopping.

i make a poor excuse for a shopaholic, but i gave it a shot:)  it started when i went looking for tight pants.  funny, but true.  because when you're wearing loose fitting pants with a brace on...you just can't get that brace tight enough to stay put.  you can completely cut off your circulation, and still somehow, that brace will be sliding down your leg. maybe it's something about surface area, or how much that pant can move (i mean, isn't that why we buy loose fitting pants in the first place?!), but it's a bad deal.

so i went looking for tight pants, of a non-spandex variety.  and what did i find myself in? skinny jeans.  now, prior to last week, just the idea of a skinny jean would have given me hives.  i mean, good for the size 2s and their skinny jeans, but this was not a trend i'd be adopting.

and then it became a necessity of sorts.  so, imagine my shock when i stood in the gap dressing room, wearing my size (not 2) skinny jeans. and
they.
looked.
good.

what started as a search for 'functional' clothing, turned into a feel good dressing room moment.

but, while one part of me has been set on finding clothing suitable for the new appendage, an equal and possibly larger part of my psyche, is playing dumb.  "brace? what brace?  ooooh, these boots are cute!"

i kid you not, the girl in the crotch-to-calf brace cannot stop buying boots!  i mean, the fact that i can't actually wear them right now, well, i can't let that stop me from buying a cute pair of shoes that i WILL be able to wear ONE DAY. especially since we all know that when ONE DAY comes, all those size 11 boots i bought at target (thank you target for carrying size 11 shoes!) will be long gone.  so really,  all i'm doing is preparing for the future.  isn't that something we are taught to do our whole lives?

right now, i'm preparing to wear these:

the irony is that my one 'splurge' purchase has been a pair of uggs.  and i LOVE them.  i can't explain it, since i came firmly from the 'uggs are ugly' camp, but, what can i say, they are so comfortable and easy when an 80 degree day becomes a 50 degree night.

it's possible that these are sleep deprived decisions i'll regret in three weeks when i'm lucid again, but i guess maybe this brace isn't the worst thing in the world. it's definitely getting me out of my comfort zone.

books and movies and music

most of you will know that i read a lot. sometimes 'actual' reading, and sometimes audio books.  in fact, i've developed an audio book addiction, as it significantly helps pass the one-hour-each-way commute to work.

my latest audio book was 'the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society', and i absolutely loved it.  i'm not sure that i would have taken to it as quickly in traditional book form, but the audio book format, and the different readers, entranced me from the first words.

i know (based on your goodreads shelves) that many of you have already read the book, but for those of you who haven't, let me see if i can convince you that you should.

the book consists solely of correspondence between the characters in post- wwII britain. every character description and plot narrative unfolded within the context of these letters, and you spend the entire book feeling like an eavesdropper or voyeur, and loving every minute of it.

fiction about this time period often feels dismal and sad, and while i'm not averse to serious subjects, i prefer to finish a book not wanting to kill myself.  this book tackled subjects of sacrifice and loss, and circumstances i hope i never find myself in, in powerful and moving ways, without leaving me depressed and disheartened.  instead, as i neared the conclusion, i found myself wanting to find out how it all ended while simultaneously never wanting it to end!   and, of course, i found myself wanting to book the next flight to guernsey.

i won't go into the details of the plot, as you can read it for yourself, but suffice it to say that in my opinion, it has everything a good book should have...including british accents.

in addition to my 'reading', it's been a busy movie week!  while in dallas, i absconded to a local theater in my off time to see 'secretariat', and i think it's fairly obvious that the movie appealed greatly to the horse-loving cow-girl in me.

my only fear had been that the 70's setting (and wardrobes) would be a distraction (not a fan), but it turned out to be a non-issue.  i was reminded just how much i enjoy diane lane, john malkovich's portrayal of secretariat's trainer was laugh-out-loud funny, and yeah, i cried like a baby.  just something about the power, intelligence, and sheer magnificence of an animal like that, tickles my weepy bone.

on friday a few of us from the ward got together to see 'the social network.'  the reviews were good and the movie was as well.  my roommate and i were surprised that we were the only girls in the group, but also not complaining.  and, since our original show time preference was sold out, we had some time to kill before the next showing.  since i'm on the road so much, there are so many people in my ward that i don't know very well, and the wait time gave me a chance remedy that.

i was a little embarrassed when i asked one of the guys in the group how he knew one of the other guys.  his response was 'from the ward,' and i followed up with 'oh, how long have you been in the ward?'  turns out, he's been in the ward for a year, and yes, i am a shmuck. ah well, just another reason i'm glad to be home for awhile!

i wrapped up movie week on saturday afternoon when my roommate and i took advantage of the drizzly day to lose ourselves in a little josh duhamel.  i've actually been looking forward to 'life as we know it' for some time, and i'm glad to say that i wasn't disappointed.

i mean, it's a chick flick, so you pretty much know what you're going to get.  and while it was fairly stereotypical, i also appreciated that there were some deeper layers and truly tender moments relating to unexpected parenthood.  it, unlike most chick flicks, is on my 'to buy' list.

last but not least, i'll just mention that at both movies this weekend, in a trailer for a new reese witherspoon/owen wilson movie,  there was a song i adored and had to look up later.  turns out, i loved almost every itunes clip from the album and immediately downloaded it. if i ever get around to posting a new playlist (i'm sorry about that. really!) brendan james will definitely be on it.  in the meantime, check him out for yourself.  my favorites are 'the lucky ones' and 'the fall' (video below).  it will take more time to be sure, but (dare i say it?) there may be a joshua radin dethroning in the future.

oldies and goodies

one of the things i love about traveling is the opportunity to reconnect with old friends.

my recent trip to ft. worth afforded two such opportunities, and though i was extremely uncomfortable in my new brace, it helped to have something extra special to look forward to.

extra special #1 was a late night dinner with anne and brian, who stuck around long enough to share a meal with me at ihop (at 11pm) before making the very long drive back to their home in houston. i was too busy stuffing my face with bacon, eggs, crepes, and a chicken fajita (no 'sharing' there - i was STARVING) to take a photo.  and truly, as it had been a long day for all of us, i'm pretty sure i wouldn't have posted it anyway.  just take my word for it, we met, we ate, we conquered.

extra special #2 arose when a long-time-ago friend saw that i would be in dallas for a few days on my facebook page (have i mentioned how great i think facebook is?).   the last time i saw him was when he was starring in, and i assistant directing, a production of 'west side story' for the west valley (utah) community theater, some 13 years ago.  he also lives in houston and is a pilot for a small airline, but though we've attempted before, our travels never land us in the same cities. until now.

turns out we'd be overlapping for a full 24 hours in the dallas area, so of course, i invited him to join me in checking off another diners, drive-ins, and dives restaurants.

i picked him up at his hotel and we headed to avila's, a mexican restaurant.  i warned him that i never quite knew what i was going to get , a diner, a drive-in, or a dive.  and after passing it three times before finding it, it's safe to say, it fell in the 'dive' category.  i had also informed him that i hadn't had a bad meal yet, and fortunately, this place would NOT be the exception. that was some delicious mexican eats, and the queso alone is worth the stop.

the company didn't hurt, and we fell right back into our old groove catching up on the last decade+ of each other's lives before calling it a night.

i'll also mention briefly, that i checked one other ddd location off the menu - chef point cafe.  it was a good meal, but not a standout.  what this place really has going for it is a unique ambiance and HUGE portions.  if you're REALLY hungry, it's not a bad choice.

i was happy to get home after a successful event, and even happier that my travel is almost nonexistent for the next three months.  with only a few small events left for the rest of the year, and most of them local, i'm so excited i can deal with my newly awkward extremity on my own turf!

kneegate: the trilogy (and my trip to florida)

first - an administrative note.  click on the post title to see the trip photo album

my trip to florida began with all the makings of a fantastic experience, and before it's disastrous ending, it was just that.

it started even before the trip did, when a guy i knew in high school saw on my facebook page that i'd be heading to boca raton and asked where i'd be staying.  when i told him, in that small world kind of way, it turned out that he worked at the property, and offered to attempt an upgrade for me.

superfly car for superfly chicks

i wasn't sure if it would come through, but i was hopeful.  and when my friend (and co-worker) melissa and i arrived in ft. lauderdale, i checked in at the alamo desk and was sent to choose my car from the midsize aisle.  what came as a surprise was that i had everything from an suv to a beetle to choose from.   so we agreed on the beetle.  a fun car for a fun trip.

the boca raton resort

when we got to the hotel, i learned that my old high-school buddy had come through for me.  and, in any normal hotel this would have been awesome, but since the event, and our host hotel, was a waldorf astoria property, it was even more happy-dance inducing.  and happy dance i did, when i opened the door to my suite.

the view from my suite

not. kidding.

melissa and i IN the everglades.
and for the record, she's 5'4", i'm 5'9"

the fun was just getting started though, and after melissa and i got the booth setup taken care of, we had some time to kill.  so we decided to head south so that i could check the everglades national park off my parks passport list.  but, we weren't content to settle for your 'standard' park experience, so we opted instead for an air boat tour.  having had such a great time on our new orleans air boat, we were both pretty excited.  and it was....different.  it was worth every penny of the $22, but it wasn't as intense as the new orleans one (which was closer to $100).  in the end we were glad we did it - the everglades is such an unusual place - but if you're ever in that area an considering an airboat tour, we'll talk, so you can go in with the right expectations.

a new stamp for the passport

we made it back from the day's adventure in time for lunch.  some of you may be familiar with the original serendipity in new york, originators of the frozen hot chocolate, and i was thrilled to learn that there was a serendipity at the hotel.  in addition to my lunch, i enjoyed the peanut butter version of the yummy dessert.  

peanut butter and the original

then it was time for work, and we finished out the night at a random chinese place, where melissa tried frog legs for the first time.

ewww.

me, melissa, and the atlantic.

we spent the next day at the hall, and enjoyed a yummy dinner afterwards before heading to the beach club for the conference netoworking event.  truth be told, we didn't do much networking.  instead we spent most of our time dipping our toes in the atlantic, and i gotta tell you, i have MISSED that ocean!  i love california, but dang the pacific is cold, and i had forgotten just how different they are.  if i hadn't been in jeans, i might have gone for an evening swim. --i was definitely tempted.

having a burger at a raw bar

we called it a night - i mean, what could compete with the atlantic?!  thankfully the following day was a short one, and afterwards, we headed to the airport with a diners, drive-ins, and dives lunch stop at the whale's rib raw bar.  since i don't do seafood, i chowed down on a burger, and the whale fries with whale juice  i haven't had a bad ddd experience yet!

and it was shortly thereafter that disaster struck.

we stopped for gas on the way to the airport.  there were tropical storm warnings, heavy rain, and i was wearing flip flops.  i still don't know exactly what happened, but as i was crossing the parking lot, my left knee/leg, 3 weeks post surgery, suddenly moved in a direction that it was not meant to move, and i went down. hard.

i caused a pretty good scene as i lay there in my very own parking spot with a sweater covering my face, as it had been protecting my head from the rain when i went down.  and i stayed down for a few minutes, before i could attempt any movement.  melissa brought the car to me, and we sat in the parking lot for about a half hour while i decided whether or not i was going to the emergency room.

ultimately, i decided no.  while in a lot of pain, i really didn't like the idea of testing out the medical facilities in a completely unfamiliar place.  so we headed to the airport, i dropped melissa off, and made the drive back to the hotel, where i spent the rest of the evening icing and elevating.

the next morning, i was in pain, but i could walk.  i was dragging my bag to the car, and it happened again. same thing.  at least it felt like the same thing, and it didn't feel good.  this time it was the unsuspecting valets who got to watch me go down and wait while i determined whether or not i could breathe, let alone move my leg.

i just kept thinking to myself  'i want to go home. i want to go home.'  i didn't know exactly how that was going to happen, but i was determined to try.  so i tried, and succeeded. and it was by far the most miserable day of my life.

when i got to the rental car agency, the 'drop off' guy could see how much pain i was in and told me to get back in the car.  he drove me over to the terminal so that i wouldn't have to take the shuttle (thank you random rental car guy!)  and, once i got there, i found myself in a wheelchair, where i would remain for the rest of the day, when i wasn't actually on a plane.

to give you some perspective, in the 6 week process of tearing my meniscus through having the surgery, i took a total of roughly 20 vicodin pills.  but by noon that day, i had taken 4.  when i arrived at orange county, my sweet cousin was there to pick me up and take me to my car in the longterm lot.  and when i eventually made it home, it was the first time, since this whole thing began in july, that i was forced to use crutches.

based on the location of the sharpest pains, and my previous experience,  i had a sneaking suspicion that it was my mcl --another ligament i had torn some 14 odd years ago.  and after a visit to the ortho, another set of mris, and another visit to the ortho, i learned that i had a bruised bone, and that i that i had indeed torn my mcl.  i had perhaps, been overly optimistic in hoping that it was only a sprain, and while i am very very grateful that it won't require an additional surgery, i was not expecting them to put a brace on my leg (from crotch to calf) and tell me that i needed to wear it for six weeks, and that i could only take it off to shower.

it's been on for three days now, and i am exhausted.  my sleep is extremely fitful and walking takes twice as much energy as it normally would.  i'm currently in texas, and since i couldn't find a cost effective scooter rental place, i rented a car instead (it was cheaper), and i've been driving it back and forth the 2 1/2 blocks to the convention center. seriously.

the thing is. i'm kind of a trooper.  i'm what you call a 'tough cookie' when it comes to bodily harm.  i tend towards optimism and a 'what can you do but laugh about it?' attitude, and this is going to be a challenge.  but maybe that's the point.  maybe there's a lesson to be learned or a perspective to be gained that requires this challenge.  maybe i missed it the first time, or maybe it's meant to serve an entirely different teaching purpose. here's hoping that in the next 6 weeks i figure out what that is!

ft. worth

i find it interesting that with as many times as i've been to dallas over the years, i've never really spent any time in ft. worth.  i've always lumped the sister cities together, and i'm afraid, in doing so i have done ft. worth a disservice.

don't get me wrong, i've always liked dallas. but what i didn't realize is that ft. worth has a very distinctive personality, and one i was glad to experience.

this was my first post-surgery trip, and for the most part, i was feelin' pretty good.  i may or may not have asked my co-worker to drive me and my boxes the three blocks to the convention center so i wouldn't have to drag them on a cart, and i'm not working the booth just yet, but in general,  i was doing alright.

the event was at the convention center, and we stayed at the 'historic' ft. worth hilton.  it's a registered national historic site, largely because jfk gave his last address and spent his last night there.  definitely cool, but not the highlight of the trip.

we didn't have much playtime on this one, particularly since i was leaving early to head straight to another event, but alana, shannon, and i decided to make the most of what we had, and my last night in ft. worth was a fun-filled one.

the girls were up for joining me on my diners, drive-ins, and dives quest, and the restaurant on the agenda was the twisted root burger company.  anyone who has traveled with me will know that i love a good burger.  it's my comfort food when i'm on the road,  so imagine how excited i was that there was a burger joint on the list!

twisted root is a super casual half bar, half order at the window, style restaurant.  we placed our orders, and instead of giving our names, we were GIVEN names.  alana was erykah badu, shannon was vanna white, i was eva longoria, and we were all 'sweethearts' as far as the cute cashier was concerned.

erykah badu, eva longoria, & vanna white

as you might imagine, it made for some good jokes and good laughs as each order came up and we heard some of the other names that had been assigned.  while we waited for ours to be called, we decided to try the twisted rootbeer flavor of the day, which was strawberry. and for the record, strawberry + root beer = unexpectedly tasty!

our burgers came up and boy were they yummy.  i have to say that the fries and the fried pickles made for perfect complements, but the atmosphere may have been the best part of all.  for most of my first year at the company, every conference consisted of meals at 'nice' places.  while i can appreciate a 'nice' place as much as the next guy, and maybe more than most, if i have the choice, i'd rather be in jeans, in a dive, enjoying a cheap burger, and this place was right up my alley.

he may not smile in photos but he smiles a lot in 'real life'

after dinner we made our way to shannon's house, where i finally got to meet her boyfriend felipe.  having heard so much about him, i was excited to finally put the face to the name, in person.  i was also excited to tour shannon's house, since it was a fairly recent acquisition, and i've been hearing all about the updates and upgrades she's been making. it did not disappoint, and i appreciated the opportunity to go a little deeper with this co-worker who's becoming a friend.

after checking out the house, the four of us headed to the stockyards, and eventally landed at billy bob's. some of you may remember that i visited billy bob's when ann and brian came to visit me in dallas earlier this year.  last time i was there, though, rick springfield was the main attraction, and the crowd demographics were representative of that.  this time is was hats and boots for miles, and i couldn't get enough.  dancing was out of the question for me, but i sure enjoyed watching!

so did alana, who's san francisco sensibilities had never been exposed to anything like it before.  we were enjoying ourselves so much, that we didn't realize how late it was until we closed the place down.

fortunately for me, i could sleep in the following morning before making my way to boca raton, fl for another event.  the morning was a lazy one, and i said my farewell to ft. worth knowing i would be back, in the same hotel, at the same convention center, in less than a month.  how's that for irony?

want to know a secret?

k, don't tell anyone, but i am a really good restaurant picker. i mean REALLY good.

picking a restaurant is not just about surfing yelp, finding a five-star review, and making the reservation.  oh no, it's so much more than that.

it's about knowing the composite personality of your group, and understanding that any one person can completely change that dynamic. it's about determining the mood and the tastes of that group and identifying the middle ground.  it's about finding the right balance of ambiance and activity and comfortable chairs. it's about making that choice, in my case very often, without ever having stepped foot inside the restaurant before.

all this to say that tonight was another success story, and if you're ever in ft. worth, make sure you check out h3 ranch at the stockyards.