wedding bells ALL OVER THE PLACE!

two of the four girls in this picture are ENGAGED! can you guess which two?

congratulations to vicky and mike who got engaged over the weekend. after running 5 hours straight during the london marathon and crossing the finish line, mike got down on his knees and asked vicky to marry him. i'm not sure if he actually got down on his knees - i think that may have been too painful, but he pulled the ring from a tiffany's bag he'd been carrying in his bum bag (fanny pack) the entire race and asked her for her hand.

anna says vicky walked back over to the group, stuck out her left hand and said 'look what mike did' .... shaking all the while after an emotionally charged day.

amazing. isn't love amazing?

congrats to vicky and mike!!

and also ruth and charlie! who i believe have now set a date for next april!

and another two friends, coll and daryl are having their wedding party in september! my friend rachel is getting married NEXT weekend, and another friend emily is hitching up on sept 2. i guess this is the year of love!

(please don't ask about the other two girls in the picture.)

all of these momentous events are hard to miss. it's hard to be in a hotel room in cincinnati when i know my very best friends are going through the most amazing experiences on the other side of the world. that does make me sad. i wish i could've been at the finish line to cheer and hug and see the rock on vicky's finger!

ah well, congratulations cards will have to suffice until i can get there in person to give gigantic hugs.

love you all! and congrats to my ladies!

TGIF

(another pic of me and alex, this on my futon/couch in my flat!)

even though it was only a four day week, i'm glad it's over! i'm ready for the weekend. well, half of it. i leave on sunday morning very early on a flight to cincinnati. i'm at a conference from sun-wed. ceia (cooperative education and internship association - imagine the fun!) it's really an opportunity for my colleague kate and me to sit in on sessions and to network with other people who work in our industry. fun fun fun.

up until then, i've no real plans. might go out and enjoy the sunshine tonight, shoot a few hoops, or maybe go to the cinema for a movie. nothing set in stone yet, which is fine with me.

some good news, i've found a new flatmate for my place in london. aine, my current flatmate of 2 1/2 years is buying her own place and moving out at the end of the month. i've found (what i hope is) a lovely new girl, 29, works for a children's charity (she must be nice!) and who is looking for somewhere to call home for an indefinite period of time. this works for me! so my place is still filled and i don't need to worry about an empty room while i'm away. luckily aine was able to meet her and sort this out on my behalf.

and even MORE good news, i'm flying out to SF for some work, and then i'll be able to make my friend rachel's wedding on 6 may AND see the family! hooray! i have a conference in vegas the week after ... so i'll be westward for awhile. the only bummer is i'll miss alex's 30th birthday on may 7, but i'm still hoping he might be able to come to CA as well. small chance, but we'll see.

if everyone could send some energy to my friends anna and vicky, mike and tom - they are running the london marathon this sunday. (26 miles straight - crazy or what?!?) it starts at 10am london time. good luck guys! they've both trained and raised an exceptional amount of money for their respective charities. well done!

ok. it's friday and the end of my day is just around the corner, must wrap up work before the day is done. love to all!

lobster and egg salad!

you can see from the picture that alex and i finally found some lobster yesterday! we drove two hours up to portland, maine, and went to the 'lobster shack' for an amazing lobster dinner. the shack was at the very end of a road on near cape elizabeth and was quite literally a shack - with old knick knacks on the walls (menus from 1953, chowda at 15 cents a bowl, lamb dinner for $1.75; old pick axes, license plates from maine - the 'vacationland'; and other new england lighthouse memorabilia) we ordered one lobster dinner and one fishermans dinner (fried shrimp, scallops, clam and fish) piled high with fries and coleslaw, and of course, a bowl of melted butter as yellow as a dandilion. delicious.

surprisingly, alex was a bit of a novice at cracking the lobster (don't let the picture fool you, i should've taken one before AND after!) so we made a mess of our table - but it was delicious, and by the end, i think we got just about all the meat out!

it was nice just to roadtrip. i forget what it's like to have a car, so it's great fun to be able to hop in his and jet off for the day. perhaps if i ever move back permanently, i'll think about getting one of my own.

and today i has been a lovely easter. i threw on a skirt at 10:30 and got to st cecilia's just up the road by 11. you'd never believe the line of people waiting to get into the church, i've never seen it (must have been all the twice-a-years like me!). but it was a great mass. the priest was young and had the strongest bawston accent but was perhaps the most energetic and welcoming priest i've seen! it was really enlightening. and i made sure to site just next to the choir, who sang songs i recognized from childhood, which was lovely. (mom: hurd, haugen, haas, etc)

then on the commuter rail out to danvers to have easter lunch with my uncle kevin and his family - which was delicious - a treat i haven't had in awhile. and nice just to be around family on the holiday.

and alex will be over in an hour or so when he finishes work at the guesthouse, and we are going to color easter eggs. :) so i suppose i'll be having egg salad sandwiches all week.

happy easter!

happy friday!

vegas was a trip (as would be expected!)
sadly, i lost 12 dollars gambling on blackjack - and then gave up. i'm really not much of a gambler, which is probably a good thing! being exhausted from my travels to vegas (and the busy week i'd had in boston) and because i decided to wear uncomfortably high stilettos, i ended up leaving a little early on friday night (the crazier of the two nights) but the girls stayed out till 4ish. saturday was spent lounging by the pool in the sun, reading magazines and chatting. and saturday night was a little quieter (for a few of us girls anyway) when the party split and some of us went back to the hotel and others stayed out dancing again. i couldn't have done it two nights in a row. i think i'm getting old.

phoenix was a nice relaxing break. i had 3 meetings of an hour each over two days ... and the rest of the time was spent lounging by the pool in our hotel, hanging out with my work colleagues, eating and otherwise just chilling out. the weather was gorgeous ... not too hot, but no need for sweaters at night. perfect! i managed to get two runs in, and also decided that (post-vegas) i was going to seriously begin a healthy lifestyle. granola, fruit and yoghurt for breakfast, salads for lunch, and the light (usually fish) option for dinners. so far it's still happening, but we'll see how long i can make this last.

i also started reading 'the 7 habits of highly effective people' ... which i am really getting into. it's a lot like the miracles, so i'm ahead of the game in some areas, but it talks about writing a personal mission statement, and also about how to prioritize. i am determined to make some time to work on that over the weekend. i'm starting to feel slightly here like i am being driving by external forces, rather than being in the driver's seat. i can't believe it's already mid april!

anyhow, i must get my day started. if you've read that book, you'll know that this falls in quadrant IV, and really isn't 'urgent' stuff to do ... so i'd better get cracking and stop avoiding!

happy friday

VEGAS or bust

so i'm sitting in the airport lounge in the chicago airport. i have this 'priority pass' that work pays for because we do so much travelling and it allows us into the lounges at all major airports. these lounges have free food (usually chips, prezels, bagels, fruit, etc) and free booze. a nice perk for long trips - and nice to be able to use for non-work trips as well. the problem is, not every airline accepts the pass, so sometimes i have to schlep across the entire airport before i find a lounge that will let me in. like today. so i've only been here about 20 minutes, and i'm going to have to leave in 10 to make it back to my gate in the next terminal. ah what i'll do for a free bud light.

kidding. it's only 11.05 am - too early for booze. i'll have enough of that this weekend.

i'm on my way to vegas for rachel's bachelorette party - it should be a blast. i don't know what's planned, and i've been so manic in boston, i've hardly had time to think about it, let alone plan anything. i brought one game, and gave alicia (rachel's friend) some ideas for a few more - so we'll see what happens.

anyway, i bought myself a new bathingsuit - i've decided this is the year i begin covering my stomach. yes, it's true. i am too old for skimpy bikinis. so i got a two piece but the top is long - basically like a tank top. i spent way too much money on it, but figured i could return it if i find another one in vegas. but i guess a bathingsuit lasts awhile, so it's a nice investment. i'm looking forward to lounging by the pool. it's grey and rainy here in chicago - the sun better be shining in vegas!

after vegas i'm on to phoenix for work on monday - so perhaps i'll have a chance to update the blog when i get to the hotel. in the mean time .... i've got to practice my poker face.

a day in bawston

i had a lovely day in boston yesterday.

i was in line for breakfast at dunkin' donuts - the guy next to me said 'i'll have a regula smawl cawwfee' and i couldn't help but smile - thinking how funny it was that i was actually living in a city where they talked like the people in the movies! i think he thought i was nuts, but the sun was shining, and everyone was in good spirits, so i don't think he minded that much. alex and i ate our donuts (we both love old fashioned) and then went out to the park to shoot some hoops. he said i looked like i would've been a good player - i told him the last time i picked up a ball was in eighth grade. i considered that a compliment! then we went and sat outside the guesthouse where he works. (i use the term 'works' loosely). we got a sandwich from subway up the road and just 'stooped' (sat on the stoop outside) (picture the cosby show, if you will. stooping on the brownstones). and enjoyed the sunshine.

then i left him and went to a bbq at a coworkers house - ate a few sausages and then headed back over the charles for a night with my sunday night TV.

all in all, a beautiful day. it's supposed to rain today, but the sun is shining outside the window and i see no signs of clouds overhead. i'll hopefully go for a run tonight, and then watch the final game of the NCAA tournament. not that i care anymore, i was pretty much out on the first round. my pool-name is meagan 'nose how to pick em' basilius. so there's no money in this game for me, sadly. who knew i'd be watching basketball. (though sorry jasmin, still far more interesting to me than cricket!)

happy monday to all!