Water World

So, I've traveled to a fair amount of places so far and feel like now I can finally post this observation...

In doing this job so far, I have found that there are three things that help get you through the day:
1.) morning cup of coffee- often times, multiple cups are best
2.) afternoon Diet Coke- a necessity. No Diet Coke = grouchy consultant
3.) refillable water bottle- stay hydrated, stay healthy

This morning I took a swig from my refillable water bottle (from Target- $9.99- totally cute!) and immediately spit out the water. It was disgusting. The lats time I had filled it was yesterday afternoon. Perhaps it had gone bad? Doubtful. I emptied it out, cleaned the bottle regardless, and refilled it. I took a cautious swig and again, the water was disgusting. It was almost brassy, or tasted like pennies had been resting in the bottom of my bottle. I looked- no pennies.

Each city I've traveled to has had different tasting water- which is weird in and of itself because water is relatively tasteless, it just quenches your thirst. Anyway, I've been waiting to blog about this- I know, water, not exciting- but have been jotting notes about the water I've been tasting in various cities.

Los Angeles, CA- very mineral-ey, smooth finish though. Likely due to my home filtration system.
Indianapolis, IN- sandy and stale tasting, floating particles make it a particular sight!
Lawrence, KS- metalic aftertaste, but always cold. Not good at all when combine dwith Crystal Light.
Boulder, CO- the best I've had so far- literally tasted like it came right from a mountain spring. Ice cold and fresh.
Warrenton, VA- tinny, like you have tinfoil in your mouth.

Believe it or not, there are organizations that give out awards for the best tasting water.... it's like wine tasting for non-drinkers. I talked to some of the girls that I'm working with in Utah and they all agreed with me surprisingly- meaning I'm not completely crazy. They said they all came from different states to come here and like the water in Utah over their hometowns. Interesting. I'm gonna stick with Boulder's water for now.

Back on the Grid

I think that posting at least one time during my week off is going to be my goal, seeing as I do not use my computer or my phone very much when I'm off the grid. That feeling of being unreachable is glorious. I also did a lot of wine tasting while in Virginia so my postings would have been overly loquacious, repetitive and geared primarily at wine lovers- not my target audience as of now.


So, back on the road again today- look what I saw while flying in to the Great Salt Lake. If you know me, you know that I freaked out and got really excited when I saw this.


This is the smallest group I've worked with as of yet, however they are not short on enthusiasm. Looking forward to a great, yet very busy week. Goals for myself while visiting Salt Lake:


- visit the Mormon Temple- I'm here and I feel like I have to or else I might get struck down by lightening or something
- excerciseeeeee. Gah.
- explore the University of Utah- it is beautiful here!


Must polish my patent pumps for this week! More updates to come....

VA- new wine haven?

As you can see- this post title is neither work nor travel related. But, I'm not working right now and am travelling a little bit, so here's what you get in the time being....

I scoffed when I did research two years ago that revealed North Carolina would be the next "Napa Valley" come 2020. You've got to make more than just a sweet muscadine wine guys... But perhaps I should give them another chance?

This weekend, I gave wine from Virginia another go and was pleasantly surprised at their complexity, variety and the overall experience I had. Come to think of it, I never wrote off Virginian wines to begin with, but I never really gave them a fair chance and my exposure had been limited. According to oenophiles in the area, there are over 150 wineries in Virginia, all open for tastings and doing relatively well considering the economic shift we're experiencing. These are wines paired with great views of the Old Dominion and muster thoughts of Thomas Jefferson and his neoclassical tastes.

Ever in the area? May I suggest that you pay a visit to Barrel Oak Winery (http://www.barreloak.com/)- dog and family friendly- and try their chocolate wine (yes Courtney, the lady in Kansas was right, it exists) and stay for live music while enjoying your own picnic. Their CabFranc was also excellent. They are doing their first crush in October and I'm so excited for them. Wish I could be there.

Ok- back to my rough life... Reading by the lake and absorbing my Vitamin D for the day.


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Russian Tea House!

I finally made it to the Russian Tea House in Boulder this morning. It was a lovely treat from the House Parents here.

I not only enjoyed the tea (romance garden- lavender, rose hips, mint and chamomile) but the interior and exterior design of the building was absolutely gorgeous. Dushbane, the sister city of Boulder, is located in Tajikistan, and thus has a huge Persian influence visible in their art and architecture. The city of Dushbane sent the Tea House to Boulder in different pieces, and it was constructed on site. No one really knows what Boulder sent in return... a certain plant, highly popular and only slightly illegal in the area, has been rumored to have been sent over.

The interior is completely hand-carved and hand-painted wood- with vegetal designs in bright colors, it is almost worth it to sit inside so you can take it all in, even on the nicest of days. The exterior is covered in bright blue, hand-painted tiles that mimic the interior floral patterns. The gardens are equally gorgeous- especially now in the peak season of summer. Highlight of my trip.

Next post will be direct from Virginia, and most likely via Blackberry! No work computer usage during my week off!

Making my connection, or re-connection for that matter

So this whole “write on your blog everyday” thing hasn’t really happened. The combination of the amazing sights of Boulder and the chaos at work has kept me particularly busy. At least, that’s what I’m going to blame it on this time. See how hard I’m working? It was tough hiking out to that stream…

Today I watched the women in Boulder experience hypochondriasis, ie. one case of Swine Flu was reported and a slew of individuals suddenly came down with the symptoms. I myself thought that maybe I had a little fever, but I think it was from yelling all day to encourage smiling, loud singing and perfect bumping For those of you GDI’s out there, I should just tell you that these are recruitment terms- don’t worry. Six cases have come and gone from the doctor this evening, only one case actually being confirmed. So far. Hopefully we keep it that way…

Outside of the day to day activities, this week has been a week of reconnecting. There is an indescribable joy in getting back in tough with someone you once loved. Who knows why you even become disconnected with these people in the first place. This week, I’ve had a tough time remembering why in fact our connections fizzled out in the first place. Was it physical distance? Time? Did our values and interests change? There’s a million answers I’m sure of it. Regardless though, it has been a wonderful week to discover these friends and hear about their lives again. Things in part have been brought full circle, perhaps even reopened again.

This gets me thinking about The Organization- a familiar theme running through my head these days. Most days actually. I think what I’ve enjoyed the most about it so far, especially in my job, is getting the chance to meet so many interesting people who are in some way connected to The Organization. Whether they are lifetime members, or committed volunteers, they share a passion for creating an experience and making a mark. The relationships that are cultivated in response are ones based upon shared experiences, similar motivations and values, and an overall drive to make difference in the lives of others. These are priceless relationships, and they are the people who cause you to stick around, even when things get tough. Equally wonderful, through our lifetime engagement with The Organization, the relationships that I’ve come to cherish so much, are bound to stay connected forever because of the nature of our work. What a cool organization to be a part of?

I think I just re-recruited myself; a sign that the workshops I facilitated this week totally worked. At least on me anyway.

Perhaps I should also add being a "foodie" to one of the aspects of my blog...

... Sweet corn tamales with goat cheese and seasonal succotash.

I am my fathers daughter.
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Living the life in Boulder

Sitting in this picture was how I spent my afternoon. Today I purchased Paul Theroux's 'Sunrise with Seamonsters' (typical book for me- collection of short stories about travel) and sat contently on the grass reading for an hour, absorbing the sun and avidly people watching. What friendly people. Shortly after, I perused the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, as suggested by Eddie, the hairdresser I saw today, and came to the conclusion that people in Boulder really know how to live well.

Look at this picture. The sunlight, the creek, bicycles, dogs, nature. Serenity. This is the life.

Next on my Boulder to-do list:
-visit Russian tea house
-hike the mountain up the street
-oh yeah, and dominate at work. It is in fact why I'm here.

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Once a Californian, Always a Californian

Today I just barely made it to my flight to Denver. I'm never late to the airport, let alone at risk of missing my flight. It was the cherry on top of the sundae after going through the day without food, sitting in a hot car and developing a slight sunburn on my right arm. It was not a good start to the day.

This evening was a wonderful end to the day though. Completely worth having a crappy morning and equally crappy flight for the wonderful night I had. I've arrived safely at Boulder, Colorado and am in love with where I'm staying. The house parents here are amazing and give so much of themselves to The Organization. I wish everyone worked to this extent. Their dogs Delta and Baxter have, like Jimmy Buffet a few posts down, become my new best friends.

We enjoyed a great Italian dinner down on Pearl Street, with equal amounts good food, good conversation and great people watching. Come to find out, the "House Dad" is, like myself, a native of Southern California, Pasadena specifically. We were able to connect immediately. We both love and hate the freeways and their respective bumper to bumper traffic. We related to one anothers love for In and Out, in addition to the warm Christmas season that is so unique to Southern California. We both admitted to enjoying earthquakes and smog much more, than anticipating hurricanes and snow storms.

With today being as crappy as it was, (and yes, it totally could've been crappier, I;m hearing a "woobus" from someone) I was so incredibly comforted by the fact that I had come all this way and was now having a wonderful conversation with a fellow SoCal lover in Boulder, Colorado. Despite the fact that we had both had extended stints in states outside of our native land, we both agreed that we were Californians at heart. Always and forever. At some time, I'm pretty sure I'd like to live in Boston, maybe New York City, definitely North Carolina again, perhaps even overseas again too. But really, let's be honest- Virginia may be for lovers, but California is forever.

Cooking, love and letters

You know, to be quite honest, I’ve never really understood the point of a blog. Sometimes, I think blogs are tools for people to just talk even more about themselves- let’s hope I don’t fall prey to this. I have tried blogging before as a way to keep up with my family, but that failed miserably. On the other hand though, I think “the blog” has become my generations way of journaling, or creating memoirs, if you will. Last night I went with some of the women I am working with to go see Julie/ Julia, this summer’s best movie if you ask me, detailing the true story of a woman who blogs her way through Julia Child’s Mastering French Cooking in a year. One of the reasons I loved the movie, (and I’ll probably enjoy reading Child’s book, My Life in France, even more) is because it shed light on the romantic relationship between Julia and her artist husband, Paul. The reason we know so much about this close relationship is through their letters. Not e-mails, text messages or tweets- all three of which I am dreadfully guilty of. Handwritten, sometimes typed, letters that were sent to all corners of the globe, to friends and family, sharing anything and everything from the recipe they mastered last week, to how much they loved their other half. How wonderful that people cared enough about Paul and Julia that they would then save those letters for years and years and years and years.

Ironically, my consultant friend, Courtney and I, had just had an intriguing conversation the day before on how much we missed handwritten correspondence. How come our generation does not communicate in this way? We both shared that we tried, as often as we could to send letters, postcards and notes to our family and friends, but let’s be honest; in our work we communicate via e-mail probably 95% of the time. Our own communication styles aside though, here’s a question… what will our generation have to look back at when 100 years from now, all that is left to read of someone’s life is an e-mail or twitter update or colorful blog? How will historians alter their research methods when some of the most reliable sources of information have become unreliable electronic fingerprints?

Here’s another downer. Because I’m on the road so much, I can’t get mail. Sad day. However, my sister and cousin, and dear friends Sam and Anna, can attest that I am excellent at sending letters in the mail. In fact, I love sending letters in the mail. So, if you’d like a postcard from the Sunflower State, or a present from DC, you’d better send me your mailing address…

Technology much?

I'm teased to begin with regarding my crackberry addiction... Did you know I now have two? These are them. I am now totally connected to the world. Do I love it? Mm... Yes, most days.

Oh and yes, this is what my work space typically looks like... 2 phones, 1 computer and my new best friend, sugar free Red Bull.
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Dog sitting now?

Somehow I kindly offered to watch someone's dog during meetings.... But I can't really complain. This guy is pretty cute, and ironically his name is Jimmy Buffett. It's a sign that we are meant to be friends.
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Your New Career is Taking Off Immediatley

I feel strange introducing myself to people who I already know, but you’ll get to know me on this site as Ms. World Traveler. Just as the title says, my new career is taking off, quite literally, as I prepare to fly to various cities across the United States to work with amazing women. Our objective will be to prolong the vision of our respective organization, (known here as The Organization, to maintain anonymity) and give young women the opportunity to grow and develop to become really strong women. Those apart of The Organization know just how true that objective really is.

On a personal level, I’m looking at this job as a chance to see parts of the country that I may not have visited yet, in addition to getting to enjoy something that I happen to love to do- travel! I’ve already racked up thousands of frequent flier miles in the first months of working and I can only begin to imagine where they’ll take me next. Most importantly, I’m looking forward to expanding my network to include all sorts of people from The Organization, but also from all walks of life. Hopefully, these newly cultivated relationships will aide me in the next step of my life. But, before we get there too quickly, let’s savor this current job and figure out how exactly I’m going to fit 8 pairs of shoes in one rolly suitcase…..

Now if you will, fasten your seat belts, be sure your tray table is locked in place and check back for updates, pictures and lessons learned.