A long weekend in Chicago seems long past just days after Trin (T2) and I boarded our Airtran flight back home to Atlanta.
Memories linger; getting text messages from Kelly about her horrible 3-4 time flight delay out of SFO, seeing the price of gasoline as we bumped along in our shuttle van, $3.79! Yikes!; feeling the giddiness of meeting blogging pals and the excitement of being back in a city I adore.
Trin & I had time to ourselves as we waited for R.D.’s arrival at ROCKIT Bar and Grill. This was the 1st place I was able to collect matches. Yep, I’m a match collector. 1 beer and 1 cosmo later, I returned from the bathroom to see R.D. in the flesh! There she was sitting with Trin at the elevated table by the window. Wow. In the person, a pal from blogger.com. Wow. All her posts and comments to my posts finally come to life. Wow. Yep, I saw wow a lot. I think I might have just stared at her for a second because I do that...i just look when I am a bit startled. I have this innocence and awe about me...so sometimes, I am just in awe of things and people and I just stare. I forget that it may be weird for the other person, but really...I am just trying to get a grip and yes, soak it all in. Soak the moment in.
Finally, we get word from Kelly of her long-awaited arrival. I met her across street and we put her bags in the room. We left and met the girls and 2 more cosmos later, we were all settled in and talking and sharing. It was so comfortable, as if we had known each other for quite some time. No awkwardness at all.
Next day we went to another place called, T’s bar and restaurant where I got more matches.
Next day we met up for a delicious brunch followed by a walk in the nieghborhood. A beautiful, sunny, Chicago day. I walked happily knowing I had already gotten my run in for the day. Walking back toward the car, we stopped and lingered at an open area just outside the brunch place. Lots of people out, enjoying the sun. There was an elevated cement area where myself, R.D. and Trin all sat, not talking. Both of them had some shades on and I just got full sun. Kelly was off in the shade with R.D.’s love, C. I looked over at them and they were in full discussion...chatting away as if they had known each other for like 1o years. So, there we were...full bellies and all...soaking up the sun and the light guitar sounds of a man in black that looked like a mix between Gene Wilder and Richard Simmons.
Last night together, we ventured out to a fru-fru place down the block from our hotel called Pop’s Champagne. I think we were all a bit intimidated by the menu, but luckily my pals trusted me to make a choice. I chose a place I know, but have never tasted. “J” is the name. Simple. Located on the outskirts of the Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County, CA. A wonderful rose Champagne we had. Maybe the best I have ever had.
Somewhere between meeting up and leaving, R.D. made a comment about how weird it was to have us there...as if we were comic strip characters come to life. A pretty cool and accurate description of what it all felt like. It was a very special and fun weekend.
And if we are comic strip characters, I get to be Charlie Brown.
...Just Saying...
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
an old friend...
"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow."
-M A Radmacher
-M A Radmacher
Thursday, May 24, 2007
this and that
Not much posting lately as I have been seriously under the gun at work and such. Just wanted to note some things that will sound kinda random, but here they are:
Last Saturday, I went to a very small gathering(fundraiser) for Hillary Clinton. Very cool, indeed. To watch her, hear her speak, shake her hand and look into her eyes was very cool. Not sure who will get my vote, but she hasn't done much to sway me from her.
Also on Saturday, I went to the mall to buy some freaking clothes which I sorely need. And Monday morning, there I was at work, in a nice black skirt, blouse and blazer. I RARELY wear skirts, so i always seem to get a lot of compliments, which is nice. And, I will say, I do have nice legs!! :)
Sadly, the Warriors run is over. They were only able to eek out one win against the Utah Jazz. However, they brought an excitement and thrill to the playoffs that was so awesome and very needed in the NBA. Now, the same BORING teams are left. I could care less who wins. San Antonio? Gimme a break!! BORING.
And on a much more positive note, tomorrow, some of us will be gathering in CHICAGO! and hooting and hollering over memorial day weekend. YIPPEE. CHEERS!!
Last Saturday, I went to a very small gathering(fundraiser) for Hillary Clinton. Very cool, indeed. To watch her, hear her speak, shake her hand and look into her eyes was very cool. Not sure who will get my vote, but she hasn't done much to sway me from her.
Also on Saturday, I went to the mall to buy some freaking clothes which I sorely need. And Monday morning, there I was at work, in a nice black skirt, blouse and blazer. I RARELY wear skirts, so i always seem to get a lot of compliments, which is nice. And, I will say, I do have nice legs!! :)
Sadly, the Warriors run is over. They were only able to eek out one win against the Utah Jazz. However, they brought an excitement and thrill to the playoffs that was so awesome and very needed in the NBA. Now, the same BORING teams are left. I could care less who wins. San Antonio? Gimme a break!! BORING.
And on a much more positive note, tomorrow, some of us will be gathering in CHICAGO! and hooting and hollering over memorial day weekend. YIPPEE. CHEERS!!
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Making it better...
what a shitty week it was. stressed. exhausted. then, a great thing happened late friday night!
Man, I LOVE watching playoff sports. Watching the game last night was thrilling. Seeing all the fans in their yellow "WE BELIEVE" t-shirts. The place was nuts!!
What a high! There is no team in the NBA more exciting, hands down. Keep it going warriors! You got an old fan over here in the southeast rooting her crazy head off for you!!
Man, I LOVE watching playoff sports. Watching the game last night was thrilling. Seeing all the fans in their yellow "WE BELIEVE" t-shirts. The place was nuts!!
What a high! There is no team in the NBA more exciting, hands down. Keep it going warriors! You got an old fan over here in the southeast rooting her crazy head off for you!!
Monday, May 07, 2007
Meet Me - Part II
To read PART I, see part I
The day after the fedex was mailed, of course, she had to actually call the hotel in Houston and make sure it arrived and that the concierge or whomever delivered it to E. She only had one day to make sure it had arrived. So.
Packaged received and delivered. Now, it was all up in the air. It was all very fun…not knowing. The knowing E. would have received the package by now, but the not knowing of her answer.
2 days later, Saturday arrived. She spent the day doing her usual things: going to the market, the post office, the cleaners and while she did, she noticed a mixture of excitement and anxiety. Anxiety? Nervousness? And then more excitement. She found herself at the counter of the bakery, not paying attention to her surroundings and just simply smiling at thought of the evening.
It was a gorgeous day in town. The spring weather had brought beauty, freshness, and a slight afternoon breeze that carried on into early evening.
In her mind, she had to decide what to do if E. did not show. A no brainer, really. She would stay and have dinner anyway.
She made the short drive to the restaurant and the young valet chap opened her door, smiled, took her keys and parked the vehicle. She arrived a bit early to grab a cocktail at the bar. She sat in perfect view of the valet circle where she would see E. arrive, if indeed that turned out to be the case.
Sitting at the small, under populated bar area, she fiddled with her cocktail glass and phone. At this point, she felt confident E. would show. Just a gut feeling she had. She took a few more sips of her cocktail, the shaved ice cooling her warm throat.
Looking at her phone, the time was past the hour. It was fifteen minutes passed the hour. E. was notoriously late so she wasn’t sure how long she would actually wait. Fifteen more minutes, she thought. After that, I go to my table. Alone.
Twenty minutes after the hours passed and quickly she was determining that for whatever reason, E. would not show. She wasn’t angry.
This is how she set it up. No RSVP.
She asked the bartender woman for the check and just as she was about to pay, she took one last look outside. There, she saw her. She had showed. She saw E. coming out of her vehicle while handing keys to valet chap. Even from a distance, she saw she was moving fast, worried that she was so late, looked a bit frazzled.
E. entered the restaurant and saw her sitting at the bar. She gave her a wonderful, beautiful smile. They went on to have a fabulous meal at 213 Palm Drive
The day after the fedex was mailed, of course, she had to actually call the hotel in Houston and make sure it arrived and that the concierge or whomever delivered it to E. She only had one day to make sure it had arrived. So.
Packaged received and delivered. Now, it was all up in the air. It was all very fun…not knowing. The knowing E. would have received the package by now, but the not knowing of her answer.
2 days later, Saturday arrived. She spent the day doing her usual things: going to the market, the post office, the cleaners and while she did, she noticed a mixture of excitement and anxiety. Anxiety? Nervousness? And then more excitement. She found herself at the counter of the bakery, not paying attention to her surroundings and just simply smiling at thought of the evening.
It was a gorgeous day in town. The spring weather had brought beauty, freshness, and a slight afternoon breeze that carried on into early evening.
In her mind, she had to decide what to do if E. did not show. A no brainer, really. She would stay and have dinner anyway.
She made the short drive to the restaurant and the young valet chap opened her door, smiled, took her keys and parked the vehicle. She arrived a bit early to grab a cocktail at the bar. She sat in perfect view of the valet circle where she would see E. arrive, if indeed that turned out to be the case.
Sitting at the small, under populated bar area, she fiddled with her cocktail glass and phone. At this point, she felt confident E. would show. Just a gut feeling she had. She took a few more sips of her cocktail, the shaved ice cooling her warm throat.
Looking at her phone, the time was past the hour. It was fifteen minutes passed the hour. E. was notoriously late so she wasn’t sure how long she would actually wait. Fifteen more minutes, she thought. After that, I go to my table. Alone.
Twenty minutes after the hours passed and quickly she was determining that for whatever reason, E. would not show. She wasn’t angry.
This is how she set it up. No RSVP.
She asked the bartender woman for the check and just as she was about to pay, she took one last look outside. There, she saw her. She had showed. She saw E. coming out of her vehicle while handing keys to valet chap. Even from a distance, she saw she was moving fast, worried that she was so late, looked a bit frazzled.
E. entered the restaurant and saw her sitting at the bar. She gave her a wonderful, beautiful smile. They went on to have a fabulous meal at 213 Palm Drive
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Ahhh, YES!!
Mickael Pietrus, DUNK!
Coach Don Nelson and Baron Davis
Exhuberant fans watching somewhere on TV!
Coach Don Nelson and Baron Davis
Exhuberant fans watching somewhere on TV!
Saturday, May 05, 2007
The Little Team that Could
The past 2 weeks or so have been dayys of extreme excitement as my favorite basketball team, THE GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS (from Oakland, CA) Warriors
Made their way into the NBA Playoffs for the first time in 13 years. As a bay area native and growing up in the town next to Oakland, I have followed and been a fan of the team since my youth.
Not only has this been their first post-season trip in 13 seasons, but they also had to win almost every single one of their last games. I believe they went 9-1 in their last 10 games and they just eeked in.
What was their gift? To face the best team in basketball, the number one seed in the WEST, the DALLAS MAVERICKS. Now, on the face of this matchup, anybody would think the warriors would be easily swept in the first round, leaving their many fans with only the brief joy of MERELY making the playoffs. BUT, if you were to look closer, you would have seen that the warriors has beaten DALLAS the last 5 times they had faced each other. They were the only team all season to have a winning record against the MAVS. To understand the gravity of this, maybe you have to understand some of the history of the Warriors. They have been awful the past 10 years, at least. AWFUL. They were even pretty disgraceful many years. The rebuilding just wasn't working. New coaches weren’t able to get anything going. The team suffered and sat at the bottom of their division year after year. It was
hard to watch, to say the least.
Fast forward to this season:
As a person living in eastern time zone, it has been a challenge to
watch the games because they have almost all begiun at 9 or 10pm. I have
forced myself to stay up at least to watch the first half of the games.
EXCITING BASKETBALL, folks!! The team is made up of a bunch of guys who
are not all that well-know, i.e. No superstars. They are small and
agile and determined! They remind me of the days when it was TMC: Tim
Hardaway, Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond. Those guys made every game, win
or lose, exciting. And they worked hard. They were not showboats, they
just played hard. I even think word had it that Chris Mullin was
probably the hardest working guy in the NBA. No one could match his work
ethic.
Ok, back to current Warriors: To make it even sweeter, this is the
first year back to golden state for coach Don (nellie) Nelson. He was their
coach long ago and a very well liked and respected coach. His last
coaching job: his foe, The Dallas Mavericks. Who do think knew their team
better than anyone else?
So, what happened?
Warriors stun all basketball watching folks and bookies and win game 1
in Dallas.
Game 2 goes to the Mavs
Game 3 -Warriors smash 'em in Oakland-teams first home playoff win in
like a billion years.
Game 4-Warriors win. Again
Game 5-Dallas wins at home in texas. Barely.
Game 6- back to Oakland. Warriors win convincingly!!!
They are a team with a bunch of guys not making nearly what shaq or
kobe make. They are guys who just want, want, want. And they are a team
with a hellavua coach. They are a team, representing Oakland and the
entire Bay Area and its fans who are utterly starved for what they have
provided.
To me, this is one of the most exciting and precious times in sports.
It is fun and inspiring. Win or lose from here, they have shown what
true Warriors are!
Made their way into the NBA Playoffs for the first time in 13 years. As a bay area native and growing up in the town next to Oakland, I have followed and been a fan of the team since my youth.
Not only has this been their first post-season trip in 13 seasons, but they also had to win almost every single one of their last games. I believe they went 9-1 in their last 10 games and they just eeked in.
What was their gift? To face the best team in basketball, the number one seed in the WEST, the DALLAS MAVERICKS. Now, on the face of this matchup, anybody would think the warriors would be easily swept in the first round, leaving their many fans with only the brief joy of MERELY making the playoffs. BUT, if you were to look closer, you would have seen that the warriors has beaten DALLAS the last 5 times they had faced each other. They were the only team all season to have a winning record against the MAVS. To understand the gravity of this, maybe you have to understand some of the history of the Warriors. They have been awful the past 10 years, at least. AWFUL. They were even pretty disgraceful many years. The rebuilding just wasn't working. New coaches weren’t able to get anything going. The team suffered and sat at the bottom of their division year after year. It was
hard to watch, to say the least.
Fast forward to this season:
As a person living in eastern time zone, it has been a challenge to
watch the games because they have almost all begiun at 9 or 10pm. I have
forced myself to stay up at least to watch the first half of the games.
EXCITING BASKETBALL, folks!! The team is made up of a bunch of guys who
are not all that well-know, i.e. No superstars. They are small and
agile and determined! They remind me of the days when it was TMC: Tim
Hardaway, Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond. Those guys made every game, win
or lose, exciting. And they worked hard. They were not showboats, they
just played hard. I even think word had it that Chris Mullin was
probably the hardest working guy in the NBA. No one could match his work
ethic.
Ok, back to current Warriors: To make it even sweeter, this is the
first year back to golden state for coach Don (nellie) Nelson. He was their
coach long ago and a very well liked and respected coach. His last
coaching job: his foe, The Dallas Mavericks. Who do think knew their team
better than anyone else?
So, what happened?
Warriors stun all basketball watching folks and bookies and win game 1
in Dallas.
Game 2 goes to the Mavs
Game 3 -Warriors smash 'em in Oakland-teams first home playoff win in
like a billion years.
Game 4-Warriors win. Again
Game 5-Dallas wins at home in texas. Barely.
Game 6- back to Oakland. Warriors win convincingly!!!
They are a team with a bunch of guys not making nearly what shaq or
kobe make. They are guys who just want, want, want. And they are a team
with a hellavua coach. They are a team, representing Oakland and the
entire Bay Area and its fans who are utterly starved for what they have
provided.
To me, this is one of the most exciting and precious times in sports.
It is fun and inspiring. Win or lose from here, they have shown what
true Warriors are!
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
pleasure
Tonight, I am having dessert.
A big, chewy, chocolate chunk pecan cookie. with milk.
I’m not sure it gets any better than this.
A big, chewy, chocolate chunk pecan cookie. with milk.
I’m not sure it gets any better than this.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)