oh, hi! oh...

my first ever trip to ohio was a smashing success.  not only did the event go swimmingly--and better than expected-- but i got to spend the all of my off-time with the bulgarian... my nine-month long crush.

three days of sharing meals, laughing, talking, and exploring downtown columbus together and my foreign-fever rages on.

vegas, baby

the annual february las vegas pilgrammage turned out to be relatively pain free.  i managed to avoid getting sick (last year spent 4 of the 7 days holed up in my hotel room with the most miserable cold/flu i can recall having), avoided drama (with this many co-workers in town, it seems there is always drama), visited the zombie apocalypse store (which was a little disappointing) and spent time with some of my favorite co-workers and colleagues.

since a couple of our crew had never been to las vegas before, i played tour guide and showed them around some of my favorite strip-spots, including dim sum at the palazzo and the bellagio fountains.

however, by far the most dramatic turn of events happened about 5 minutes and 2 stop lights from me, and for several hours, i had no idea.

during a layover in dallas on my way from vegas to columbus, the news and the random overheard snippets of airport conversation were singularly focused on the events of the morning.  at about 4:30am, while i was on my way to the airport, there was a vehicular shoot out on the strip which resulted in an exploding taxi and left 3 dead. and i had been close. very close.  scary close.

not even a week before, after shootings reasonably close to my california home, i received a number of messages from family and friends wanting to make sure i was okay. my response? "totally fine! i'm in vegas!".  needless to say, i'm glad those did not become 'famous last words'.

i've experienced what i suspect is an above average amount of  'nearness' to crime sprees, shootouts, live munition detonations, and other downright unsafe situations, and while i don't mean to be over dramatic about it (after all, i'm totally fine), this one left me a little rattled.  i was grateful to be putting vegas in the rear view, having had an unexpectedly successful visit to my least favorite city.

fear and loathing in las vegas

for a single woman (who would like to be otherwise), valentine's day brings with it a fair amount of fear and (self) loathing.  my mo in previous years has been to completely ignore the greeting card holiday, but when a work trip meant i'd be traveling to  las vegas on the dreaded day, where i was sure to be surrounded by lovey dovey couples (who may or may not be drunk), and i wasn't sure how well my 'ignore tactic' would work.

enter one of my favorite people!  melissa, would also be in town early for some meetings and wanted to see if i'd be interested in seeing a show that night.

yes, yes, yes! it's always a priority to spend time with melissa when our conference schedules cross paths, but i was espcially excited to catch up early in the trip, rather than somewhere in the middle or end when we are both exhausted.  and, barring having a handsome gentleman to be macking on ;), i couldn't have asked for a better date.

i had decided to drive to vegas this time to have some flexibility (in timing AND in packing), and i enjoyed the road trip. arrived safely and without incident, got unpacked, took a quick shower, and met up with my girl for dinner.

we opted for a casual meal (with the promise of frozen hot chocolate) at serendipty and chowed down before heading over to the tent outside of caesar's palace, where we would see absinthe.

i'll be honest in saying that i couldn't recommend it to about 70% of my friends and family, as i know it would exceed the 'crude' and 'vulgar' tolerances of most of them (you), but i'll also admit to really enjoying it. there was one 'bit' that was definitely over the line for me, but other than that, i found myself laughing a lot and really enjoying the acrobatics.

i also appreciated the small space, which made for some truly excellent voyeurism, and the 'permission' to take photos.  i wish more shows would do that.  i didn't see one flash go off and there were a number of people snapping pics.  it was nice to be treated like an adult!

all in all, it was a great girlfriend date night. good company, good food, good laughs, and good aerialists.  couldn't have asked for more!

color runners

i don't know what i was thinking, but back in november i signed up for my first 5k ever, created a team, and began inviting my friends. one of my co-workers designed the team logo (a purple people eater), and another embroidered headbands for me, while the team grew. i was excited about the event, but back then i couldn't have anticipated just how exhausted i would be, having just returned from two wewks of travel -- some of which included a lot of physical activities, leaving my body even weaker and more torqued than normal. i arrived home from costa rica at 1:30am on friday morning, and headed into work that day, sure that the 4am wake-up call on saturday morning would just about kill me. but i underestimated the power of color and good friends. the purple people eaters had grown to a group of about 25 people. some were friends, and some were friends of friends who i had never met. and though we all came with different levels of abilities, and expectations, somehow this casual run (or walk, in my case) exceeded all of them!

costa rica

there is just too much to say about my recent trip to costa rica, so i will summarize by saying that it was uh-mazing. something about that country just resonates with me and it was even better than my first trip a year ago. the trip was unbelievably smooth, and julie, colby, and their 8 year old daughter madison, were perfect travel companions. the absolute highlight for me, was returning to the adventure park in puntarenas for our zip line tour, where we re-met old friends (most notably, petey, the zip line guide i'd spent a few hours flirting with --despite the language barrier -- the last time around) and making new ones. rather than overwhelm you with my words, i'll let these videos speak for themselves!
arenal...
tenorio...
puntarenas...
manuel antonio...