project city date update

well, san antonio was kind of a bust. unless of course you count the girl who drove three hours to see me. but, since it was a pretty short turn around, i will not let it deter me. the update is that there is a new city...boston!

i'll be in boston from October 7-9, although the 8th is the only viable night to meet that special boston someone. as such, i'm not including it on the official list, but if you know a great single guy in boston (or have friends that might) send them my way!

san antonio

san antonio is another of my favorite us cities. the first three days were cold and rainy, if you can believe it, but the sun finally came out in time for anne's arrival. recently having moved to houston, she made the three hour drive to come spend some time with me.

my hotel was on the river walk, with the balcony overlooking the river below. it made for an easy two block walk to the alamo, the first stop for our day together.


we didn't spend too much time there as we wanted to get on a river tour before it got too hot and too crowded.

this is my second time doing the tour, and although i was annoyed that the price went up from $2 to $8.25 in two years, it's still in an enjoyable trip. best of all, it lets you see a large portion of the river walk without having to walk at all. for someone who clocks an average of 5 to 12 walking miles per day at these conferences (which i know thanks to the little pedometer gift i got from the show staff) extra walking is not on the top of my to do list. a nice scenic boat ride is more my speed!


we learned about the history of the river, saw some interesting buildings, and took a lot of photos.


after the river ride, it was time for another passport stamp. although anne admitte that she had been dreading this one, she agreed to take me to the san antonio missions national historic park. i myself did not know what to expect, but as i've often found, the national park organization is full of unexpected wonders. this was one such case.


we went to the main mission (there are 4 or 5 included), the san jose mission, and it was absolutely spectacular! anne was also pleasantly surprised, commeting 'who needs the alamo?!'


it was a super hot day, at least for me, since my de-adjustment to humidity, but despite the sweat dripping into my eyes (literally), there were to many great photos that seemed to be taking themselves.


after wandering around the grounds for a good amount of time, we made the next stop a nostalgic one. right around the corner from the mission was a sonic. since anne and i used to drive for an hour+ just to get sonic in virginia, this almost seemed to easy.


but on the principle of having to work for it...on the second attempt at taking the above photo without the weird arms crossed thing we both did for some reason, our awkward position prevailed and my rt. 44 strawberry limeade became a rt. 22 strawberry limeade, right before part of my shake ended up in out of the cup and in the footwell. it was pure comedy of errors.

it was back to the ranch at that point for a little more work, then a yummy dinner at a yummy steakhouse before calling it a night!

since i had to work the next day, anne and i said goodbye that morning and she headed home to houston while i wrapped up the conference, and headed home myself the next day.

i actually get to be home for almost an entire month now and i couldn't be more excited.

iphone: a memoir

some time ago i posted the contents of my trunk with the supposition that it served as a fairly accurate self-portrait. since then, the iphone has come along, and with the hours of travel time yesterday getting to san antonio, i not only finished the lost symbol, but started wondering if my apps would 'define' me. :D

i'll admit that i'm a little obsessed with the iphone. whenever i am talking with someone who has one, i like to look at their apps. it gives you a completely unique perspective on people. so, partly because i believe in sharing (and i know at least one person with a brand new iphone), here's the iphone self-portrait.

the most used apps

calendar, contacts, safari, app store - all stock apple
facebook - where all my mobile pics and updates come from
tweetdeck - okay, so maybe this isn't the 'most used' but i'm trying to self-motivate
fring - multi-platform chat program
skype - i plan on making a lot of cheap international calls in germany ;)
idisk - mobile access to my mobile me account
ipod - stock
camena - play a song in the ipod, open camena and see the lyrics
shazam- hear a song you like on a commercial, in a movie, in a grocery store? shazam will listen and identify
errands - a great to do list
assistant - track various accounts in travel, banking, utilities... i love this app
evernote - a far superior alternative to the apple 'notes' app.
voice memos - stock apple. i've used this mostly to record sections of audio books in my car so i can capture a good quote or passage

photos, travel, and random commons

camera, photos - stock apple
smugshot - easy access to my smugmug account to post or view
color splash - a fun photo tool
flight track - an indispensible app for tracking my flights (i've learned about delays before they are announced at the gate), and getting gate info
itranslate - how do you say 'where is the bathroom?' in german? ;)
metro - metro systems for a wide list of cities
american airlines - this is not an app, but rather a website added to my home screen
tip for my new iphone owner friend - if you want to save a website to your home screen that does not come 'built in' with an icon, simply zoom the site as far as you like to create your own icon. whatever is on the screen when you add the page will become your icon.
upacking list - a recent download that should get a lot of use
currency - how many dollars is a euro worth?
frankfurt - a temporary app that will hopefully guide me to the train station from the airport!
postman - create your own virtual postcards and email them or share them via blog, facebook, etc.
google maps - stock apple, and boy do i love it
twc - also indispensable. it's how i knew it would be raining in san antonio
bofa - gotta know how broke i am at all times :)
calculator - stock apple. oddly i use this all the time!

reading, music, movies/tv, health/fitness

scriptures - a great interface
goodreads mobile - the mobile version of one of my favorite sites
wikipedia - for every search happy brain
bloglines - my chosen feed reader (also a website, not an app)
itunes - stock
pandora - if you don't know pandora, try it, you'll like it
music 2 - as long as i have the desktop program open on my computer, i can access my entire 70gb music library from my 8gb iphone
remote- turns my iphone into a remote for my laptop
now playing - movie listings with auto location search. also includes dvd releases
i.tv - localized tv listings
phone flicks - easy access to my netflix account
you tube - stock apple
24 hour fitness - a website for my local club's class schedule
lose it - weight loss tracker
yoga stretch & relax - portable yoga for all my traveling

food and random

urbanspoon & yelp - indispensable tools for finding restaurants in unfamiliar cities
epicurious - a great recipe library
open table - for getting reservations at those restuarants
npr, discovery channel, e! online, and pop candy - entertaining time wasters
boxed up - keeps track of all my earthly desires (a website, not app)
keeper - password storage
clock - my travel alarm clock
air mouse - turns my iphone into a wireless mouse for my computer
deliveries - package tracking so i know when the new toys are arriving
iball - my own personal magic 8 ball
astrology & iscope - mindless entertainment

random and games

natural cures - a new app i'm still test driving. name speaks for itself
eye-fi - upload photos easily to my smugmug
amazon.com - shopping!
my wireless - easy access to my mobile bill
photo - similar concept as the music app. can access photos remotely
ruler - turns the iphone into a ruler :)
games and games

so there you have it, a visual diagram of tara. as you might have noticed, i tend to like to 'group' my apps when it makes sense, which also says a lot about me. :D

so what about you? have an iphone? what apps can't you live without?

project: city date

most of you know that my current job requires an intense amount of traveling. the unfortunate side effect of being on the road all of the time is that i don't have much of a life anymore. while i'm grateful to HAVE a job and for the chance to be a constant tourist, i have sorely missed the usual opportunities to socialize and meet new people. i'm fortunate in that i enjoy my co-workers immensely, however, none of them are lds, and as a result the 'social activities' at work functions usually involve watching people get drunk in bars. though this can be quite entertaining at times, it is obviously not my ideal situation.

hence the birth of project: city date!

in an effort to try and make the best of this situation, i've begun a little project. the goal of the project is to find a date in each city i'll be traveling over the course of the next year. it's my hope that project: city date will provide an opportunity to meet some new an interesting guys, sans the normal dating pressures and expectations, while also providing me a superior alternative to either solitude in my hotel room or the lobby bar!

still with me? 'cause this is where you come in. who do you know in these cities? who do you know that might know someone? does your husband/wife know someone? do you have single or married friends who might know an interesting single guy in their city?

i only have three criteria for potential dates:

1. i will rarely have access to a vehicle, so they should be as close to the city as they are willing to drive
2. ideally, as i've now hit the 33 mark, they should be between 29 - 45 years old
3. they should be able to hold a conversation (in english) and interested in meeting someone new just for the heck of it!

none of these are hard and fast rules (except for the english thing), but hopeful 'suggestions.' beyond those three requests, everything else wide open. i would prefer an lds guy, but won't mandate it. they can be short, tall, blond, brunette, bald, of any ethnicity or profession - it simply does not matter, i am completely open, no preconceived notions or expectations, no limits.

while it is natural for people to ask 'what does she look like?' or 'what is SHE like?' i hope that you will set expectations accordingly as you begin to have conversations with your friends and friends of friends. all of you have access to literally thousands of pictures of me and if you want to share my blog address with people you trust, that is fine. however, just keep in mind that this is meant to be a fun and casual experience, something new, something different.

my friend jami has the honor of having launched this project, contacting her married friends in austin, tx to see if they might know someone i could meet while in san antonio this week. they immediately responded that they had someone in mind and would see if they could work it out. follow jami's example people. follow jami's example because you are now officially a part of project: city date.

the following are a list of known travel dates and cities for the next year. i'll be sending out reminder emails 1 - 2 weeks prior to each trip which you can either delete or start (or follow up) making phone calls and shooting off emails. obviously, i'd prefer the latter ;)

* san antonio, tx
o 9/22/09 - 9/28/09
* new york city, ny
o 10/22/09 - 10/26/09
* frankfurt, bamberg, munich, germany & venice, italy
o 11/18/09 - 11/25/09
* orlando, fl
o 01/14/10 - 01/22/10
* las vegas, nv
o 02/12/10 - 02/20/10
* madison, wi
o 03/10/10 - 03/12/10
* long beach, ca
o 03/16/10 - 03/22/10
* baltimore, md
o 04/07/10 - 04/13/10
* phoenix, az
o 04/15/10 - 04/19/10
* los angeles, ca
o 06/11/10 - 06/14/10
* san francisco, ca
o 06/24/10 - 06/28/10
* san diego, ca
o 06/16/10 - 06/19/10
* atlanta, ga
o 07/29/10 - 08/04/10
* kansas city, mo
o 08/24/10 - 08/31/10
* san antonio, tx
o 09/08/10 - 09/16/10

for those of you who need a little guidance in asking your friends for assistance, here is a sample message that you can tweak appropriately:

Hi (Insert Name Here)

I have a co-worker/friend/relative/etc. who travels frequently around the country for work, and rarely gets to be home. In an effort to make this a more positive situation, she's begun a little project to try maximizing her network of friends and family to find a date in each city she visits for the next year. Her only requests are that the gentleman be within the 29-45 age range (she's 33), can hold a conversation, and would enjoy meeting someone new for a meal or fun activity! For ease of both parties, he should also be as close to the city in question as he is willing to drive, as she does not typically have a car available. Can you help?

any questions? thank you in advance for your assistance - the success of this project is dependent on you! ;)

weekend at home = good for the soul

after taking advantage of a saturday morning at home to run some errands (which were oddly fulfilling) i headed to long beach to meet mihaela for crepes at la creperie, a delightful little place that my former roommate used to rave about, but one at which i'd not yet had the opportunity to try out. i indulged in both a savory and a sweet crepe, which were both delicious, but mostly i reveled in the being able to spend time with a friend. i hadn't seen mihaela in, literally, four months - thanks to my travel schedule, and it was so nice to feel like i was engaging in my own life again!

after crepes, i had just enough time to enjoy a catap before alison came over to see the new place and meet the dog. on the agenda for the evening was an la galaxy game.


i'm the first to admit that i'm not an avid soccer fan. that being said, since david beckham arrived here, i've been wanting to at least see one game. chalk it up to my affinity for the movie 'bend it like beckham' or just the fact that not everyone has an opportunity to see him play, either way, i was super excited.

the only annoying part of the evening was when security would not let me in with the big camera because they said it was 'too professional.' please people! i'm posting pic on facebook, not espn.com! we had to walk all the way back to the car to deposit the camera, and as we had parked in the very farthest lot to ensure a timely escape, it truly was a long walk!.


the game did not disappoint! beckham scored the first goal for the evening, and alison and i enjoyed getting caught up while watching the fancy footwork on the field. sadly, without my big cam and it's high speed shutter release, that fancy footwork was a little too fast, and most of my pics came out blurry. nonetheless, we certainly enjoyed the game and our time together.


today was stake conference, and it was wonderful! our stake has two singles wards and a midsingles ward, so the family wards met for the first session and the singles for the second. the beauty of this was that i have some friends in the other wards who i (again) haven't seen in months. and they were all in one place!

the speakers were all on point (which is rare in a two hour session), but every message was powerful and poignant (is that redundant?). and after i had been edified by the spirit, i had the opportunity to reunite with some of my favorite californians.

all in all, i really needed this weekend. it was the first time in a long time that i have felt really connected to the spirit and to my life. it has been extremely difficult traveling so much, and this weekend reminded me that i need to make more effort to stay connected and to be engaged.