luck of the irish

the first show day went smoothly, if slowly.  i wasn't feeling that great (cold getting worse) so i partly planned on hiding out in my hotel room for the evening.  but when tania, my friend and co-worker, invited me to join her at dinner with a potential partner company, i agreed.  you see, this company is owned/managed by a pair of brothers. a pair of really attractive brothers. a pair of really attractive really irish brothers.  or so i'd heard.

in fact, i'd been hearing about them around the office since january and i'll admit that i was curious to see if they lived up to the hype.

they did.

we met them for dinner in the freight district (blah bbq), followed by dessert at power and light, and it was one of those rare evenings where the group dynamic was just exactly right.  for the record, both are attached (married/ long term girlfriend) much to tania's chagrin, but the eye candy was delicious and the conversational chemistry was spot on.  looking forward to seeing these guys at a few more conferences.

kansas city was delivering a lot of pleasant surprises. and there were more to come. 

after opening the booth the following morning, i skipped out to play a little hooky with melissa.  she had mentioned wanting to show me the shuttle cocks (and i only vaguely knew what she was referring to). we started with brunch at westside local (yum, but i think mascarpone is supposed to be sweeter than that!) before she took me to the nelson-atkins museum.  

i'll be honest in saying that i was struggling a little.  i wasn't feeling awesome and the heat exasperated my low-energy.  that being said, i always enjoy my melissa time, even if i'm not holding up my end of the conversational bargain.  and i appreciated the opportunity to get a little taste of kansas city culture...including the shuttle cocks, and the traveling rodin 'thinker' sculpture.

we finished up at the museum and melissa dropped me back at the hotel where i tried to refresh a little before heading over to the marriott to check-in on the set-up for a reception we were hosting.  

fortunately, most of the logistics were being handled by the conference, so i actually got to eat and talk! i had already spent some time with my work crush (i know, i'm using that word a lot lately) on the exhibit hall floor, but had hoped he would be at the reception.  it wasn't until later that i realized he probably hadn't been invited (targeted at a different set of attendees), so when the reception wrapped and i was about to head out, i was pleasantly surprised to see that he had stopped in.  

he left his conversation to come over and say hello, and offered to buy my (much older) co-worker and i a drink at the bar/restaurant. she declined, i accepted, and he bought me a lot of fresh squeezed orange juice!  he also bought me dinner and reminded me what a gentleman looks like, unexpectedly offering his jacket when i mentioned that i was freezing in the air conditioned room, and insisting that i allow him to walk me back to my hotel when i was ready to call it a night (six hours later). chivalry is not dead!

hot country nights

woo hoo! the annual birthday trip -- i mean, work trip -- to kansas city was hot for a number of reasons, and the mid 90's temps and high humidity were just the start.

arriving early always gives me a little extra potential time to spend with my friend melissa, and this year she mentioned that craig morgan would be playing a free concert at the power & light district.  since booth setup was going smoothly, i was able to join her and her husband.

after a quick bite at chipotle, a recap of my east coast trip, and a little girl talk about my relatively new work crush (i thought she'd be shocked at my confession. she wasn't.) who i expected to see during the trip, we headed over to p&l.

since we were early, we decided to hang back a bit where we could sit for the next couple of hours--which turned out to be a great choice.  not only did we manage to remain mostly sweat and foot-pain free, but when craig finally took the stage, we stood on some platform benches and had a perfect view.

and it got better when a few songs in, i noticed a flurry of activity about 10 feet in front of me. took me a second to realize that craig had come out to perform a song in the audience.  and he had just happened to wind up where we were hanging out.

when i relayed the story to my boss after the fact, his response was 'of course he did.'  i guess i've developed a reputation for having good (mostly random) things happen to me, and the truth in that makes me continually grateful.

after he finished singing from his audience stool, melissa, nick, and i decided it wouldn't get better than that and made our exit.

since melissa isn't traveling as much these days, i have to take advantage of every opportunity to spend time with her, so we said our farewells for the evening, and confirmed plans to see each other again in the next couple of days.

the following morning booth setup continued, mostly, smoothly. there was one new piece (a rotating hanging sign) that wasn't working (not rotating) and while it was a great disappointment, it wasn't the end of the world. (meaning, it WILL be fixed for the next show).  what was most surprising though, is that unlike previous years wheen we had been finishing up at midnight or 1am, we were actually done by 2pm.

i almost didn't know what to do with myself, but since i was on day 3 of a rotten summer cold, i headed back to the hotel room for a nap and a shower before meeting the rest of the gang for team-building bowling.

the most interesting new team member was my friend shannon's 3 month old baby, marcus.  i confirmed that he had not yet had a self-portrait, so i got to be the first once again!

while the rest of the team bowled, i opted to play it low(er) key and enjoyed some dinner and conversation with the non-bowlers. and, after a couple of games the group dispersed.

Julie, chris, mike and i decided to head to one of our favorite joints-- howl-at-the-moon, the dueling piano bar chain--where we sang along and judged the crowd.

at midnight i turned into a pumpkin and headed back to the hotel to be ready for the exhibit hall opening the following day.and  little did i know, things were just starting to heat up.

east coast swing, the final movement

with kendyl set to head off to her dad's, i got up early on day 5 to make sure i had some time with the girls -- particularly since they had already complained that they weren't getting to see enough of me.  so we spent the morning goofing off, dressing up, taking photos, and doing lots of giggling and snuggling.  eventually and sadly, the time came to say goodbye to kendyl, and then it was time to get our sightseeing for the day.

day 5 was a day that matt had been eagerly awaiting.  time for our journey into the nation's capital.  i still believe the washington metro is one of THE finest public transportation systems anywhere, so of course, i opted to take advantage of that rather than driving in. it was another first for my friend and we rode in washingtonian style, ear buds in, listening to our audio book.

when we arrived in the city we had two objectives; the air and space museum, and anything else we could fit in after that. and that's exactly how it worked out. i can't say that i have ever spent as many hours in a single museum as i did that day, but i was happy to indulge my companion since he was the impetus for the trip, and the reason i got to see my friends and fam on the right coast.

we closed down the museum and headed out for our walking tour of the monuments.  this was semi-strategic as there are several monuments i prefer at night. i had forgotten that the washington monument was under renovation post-2012 earthquake. fully under scaffolding, the monument took on a completely different look and we snapped a few pics before heading on to the vietnam, lincoln, finishing off with two of my favorites, the korean and the world war 2.

the rain held off and the cool temps were a blessing.  we made our way home and found ourselves awake 'til the wee hours of the morning chatting and looking at photos and finishing 'the maze runner' (which, btw, was underwhelming).

day 6. our final day.  and more aerospace on the agenda. after getting a nice and proper sleep-in morning, we got ready and headed to the udvar-hazy center - the air and space extension built near dulles airport.  this place will always be special to me as i planned a large companyevent there in my former (pre-california) life. and it seemed to resonate with matt as well.  the sr-71 blackbird and space shuttle discovery can't help but be impressive, but it's more than that.  there's just something about the collection and the staging in an enormous airplane hangar that sets it apart from other museums.

the bonus for me was that my friend anne and her husband (and baby adele) had recently landed in the area after doing their 'welcome back to the us' tour, and joined us for an afternoon stroll through the museum. adele was darling and reminded me a little of my niece with the same name. talk talk talk and all smiles.  and apparently the snuggles and kisses she gave me are an extremely rare commodity!

anne and brian departed a little early (so excited i will now get to see them when i'm visiting my folks!), and matt and i finished perusing the various avionic displays before finally heading to the airport where i dropped him off to catch his flight back to california.  since i would be heading on to kansas city for  work, we gave the trip a good review and said our farewells.

all in all, it was a pretty perfect road trip. the timing and activities worked out as hoped for or better, and  i could not have asked for a more perfect traveling companion. my sometimes-crush will remain my sometimes-crush (and only that... i asked), i'm grateful to have had a chance to spend some time with some of my favorite people, and i'm excited to have discovered a kindred spirit in california.

east coast swing, second movement

day 3 arrived and not only were we still speaking to each other, we were still laughing and telling stories and enjoying our audio book.  the plan for the day was a leisurely one.  we'd be making our way up to my folks in northern virginia, but we'd me making a pit stop at the other willises (brinn and fw) for a birthday party.

since that pit stop would already alter our normal driving route, and i knew the likelihood of my being in greensboro, nc again in the near future was slim to none, we may have gone just a little further out of our way to visit the guilford courthouse national park. what was most interesting to me is that it was a revolutionary war site.  most of the historic sites i grew up visiting were civil war, so it was a nice change of pace.

the rain made a full exploration a non-option (which matt probably appreciated), but we followed the driving tour and made a few quick photo stops.  it did not, however, diminish our need for food.  and this is where greensboro, nc became one of my favorite places EVER!  thanks to yelp, we went hunting for the big burger spot.  it took a couple of tries, some alternating sweet and stern talking to the gps, and an absolute refusal to be thwarted, but it turns out this tiny, tucked-in-next-to-a-gas-station burger joint was a hole in the wall to match all other holes-in-walls.  i mean, they have a french fry menu (in addition to their burger menu), and this would easily fall in my top 5 burger/fries nationwide.

time to get a move on though, so onward we went to buena vista, va, where we re-joined colby and julie at brinn and fw's home for georgie's birthday carnival.  fw's mad building skills coupled with brinn's mad creativity were on full display, and even though our morning activities made us a little late, we still enjoyed some chicken-catching, funnel cake, and good company.

after getting our fill of some experimental shaved ice flavors, making plans to see the willises at christmas, and bidding adieu, we continued on to ashburn.  our late arrival ensured that most of the family was already asleep, so i got matt settled in and we called it a night.

day 4 dawned with some new realizations.  the first was that we weren't seeing a lot of 'dawn' anymore. our later and later bedtimes made for later and later wake up calls. ah, finally, a vacation!  the second was that matt and i had survived three full days of continuous and close quarters, and we were still having a blast!  i wish i hadn't been so shocked by this, but i've lost friends as a result of traveling together, so i'm a little paranoid.  but our time on the road was somehow perfectly balanced by conversation, dashboard drumming, audiobook listening and critique, and site seeing.

with the impending doom--i mean, rain--i suggested we push our dc day to day 5 and opt for my last minute back-up plan.  he was curious and interested when i suggested luray caverns as a great 'inside activity', and after spending the waning morning hours with my darling nieces, back into the car we went!

another couple hours of good conversation and we were just outside front royal, va,  visiting the fourth largest cave system in the country.  though i have visited many times, it never fails to impress, and matt repeatedly praised both my idea and the caverns themselves.  it also provided him some phenomenal opportunities to play with his new camera.  so much so that we ended up in three different tour groups.  apparently we were having too much fun and continually found ourselves at the back of one group as the front of the next was coming up behind us.  we did ultimately find a synergistic group with some kindred spirits - which made taking non-self portrait photos a lot easier! ;)

after returning to the surface, we made our way across the parking lot to the car and carriage museum that has never ceased to seem random and weird. but, admission is free and boys like cars, so i hung in there while my traveling companion perused the wood and chrome mobility machines.

a few photos and a few miles down the road later, matt asked me about the 'ice' place i'd mentioned.  i couldn't believe i'd almost forgotten but i was back in rita's territory.  i quickly referred to my rita's app, identified the most convenient location, called mom to let her know we'd be late for dinner (at which point she asked me to pick up a couple of pints), and spent the next hour on the road, mouth watering,praying for pineapple-coconut.

i was out of luck.  but fortunately there is always a good second choice at rita's. i teamed up with a store employee to educate matt on the art of ice and custard, and he made his selection.  i'm not sure it was quite the earth-shattering experience i had led him to believe it would be (and that my roommate and other friends have all enjoyed), but i'm sure that somehow it's his own fault.  regardless, i was satiated.

my family had opted to hold dinner for us, so when we arrived back at the homestead, we got to spend the rest of the evening enjoying their company.  it was one of those nights where no one left the kitchen table for hours, and i was so glad to be home.

east coast swing

when my friend, and sometimes crush, matt, said that he'd never been to the east coast and asked if i'd be willing to take a trip with him, i jumped at the opportunity.for one thing, you can learn a lot about someone when you road trip with them. and for another, visiting some of my closest friends and family? sign me up!

preparing for the trip was a breeze.  i was grateful that he trusted my many years of travel and planning experience, letting me dictate the flow and order of our week long vacation.  and given his professional and personal interest in aviation, i made sure there were plenty of 'flight' stops along the way.

day 1 had us meeting at 5am for our shuttle to lax. me at 5am is enough to send any man (or woman) running, as i can be a little grumpy that early.  maybe it was the adrenaline, but we pleasantly survived that first hurdle.  and after the six hour plane ride to raleigh, nc, we were still friends.  off to a good start!

we headed to julie and colby's for an evening in and enjoyed playing with the kiddos and catching up with the adults.  we were fortunate that it was overcast with temps in the low 70s (as it would be for the duration of the trip) so we spent much of the evening outdoors before calling it a night.

day 2 was 'day-trip' day, and maybe the day matt was most looking forward to.  he had suggested that a motorcycle might be a fun way to make the trip, but with the threat of rain, we opted to stick with the car, and made the 3 1/2 hour drive to the outer banks of north carolina to check out kitty hawk.  it's been 7 or 8 years since i had been there, and frankly, i hadn't remembered it that well.  we spent a few hours exploring the national park (guess who got a stamp?!) learning about the flight-brothers.  and once again, i was grateful for the cool temps since being outside on a normal nc summer day would have been painful!

despite those cool temps and on and off sprinkles, we made our way to the beach, where i was dying to get my toes back in the atlantic!  i had bragged about how warm it is (matt had never been in or even seen the atlantic before) and it wasn't long before we turned the car into an awkward changing room, had our suits on, and were wading into the ocean.

man, i miss that ocean.  granted, it was high tide and a bit rough due to the offshore storms, but warm enough to enjoy without a wet suit (take that pacific. yeah, i'm talking about you!).  we attempted to dry off a little before heading to dinner, enjoyed some grub, and began the journey back to raleigh where we spent another evening with the willises.