Peru Photos

Better late than never.

https://plus.google.com/photos/108264707487202081589/albums/5696042993635346641?authkey=CLqyxZaZ09WeHg

These are mostly Neil's photos. Captions are in the comment box to the right.

The 52nd Week of the Year

Hey, look at that. 2nd post in 1 month. This must mean I'm finally committed to pursuing my passions and preventing my hobbies from falling by the wayside because of work and other distractions. Or I left work at 5:01 and nothing is on TV during the awkward 5 days between Christmas and New Year's Eve... believe what you want.

The 52nd week of the year - always a wash, isn't it? It's the time when you (I) sit around claiming you're going to be healthy after stuffing yourself on Christmas, but you know you're going to drink and eat much later than you should on New Year's Eve, so why start now, right? Better to kick off the new year with a fresh start (and a fresh 10 pounds around your waist). Nothing is ever accomplished during week 52. No one is at work, so even if you are you can't do much. No one is in the city to play with. There's leftover, stale junk food from Christmas that you told yourself you won't eat, but it's just sitting there.. staring at you.

... The best idea is to celebrate New Year's Eve the night after Christmas. Then we could all just get on with it. Jesus could ring in the New Year... by swinging on a disco ball in the middle of Times Square. Why hasn't the Catholic Church seized this amazing PR opportunity?

L.L. Bean Christmas Catalogue Models

Anyway, the inspiration for this post was actually a really fantastic Christmas weekend. Just like the old days - quiet Christmas Eve at Grandma's and lively Christmas Day at the Roti house (but no meatballs this year. What gives?)

Christmas Traditions:

1. March of the Wooden Soldiers

2. Football

3. Christmas Eve e-mail from Dad: "Kris, do you have anything for Mom's stocking?"

4. Knicks season opener (okay, maybe that's not a Christmas tradition)

5. Grandma's Chocolate Cream Pie

6. Mom's string beans

7. Italian red wine

8. More wine

9. Gift-giving chaos, followed by organized chaos with each gift opened one at a time by the respective family member (Welcome, John) in descending age order

10. And, most importantly, DAD'S CHRISTMAS SUSPENDERS (please note: 52-year-old-Matt really needs bigger suspenders than 30-year-old-Matt).

(was going to try to write this to the tune of "The 12 Days of Christmas," but I don't have all day).

Grandma: "Another puzzle? Seriously?!"

So as we enter a new year, here's to celebrating the ordinary; the traditions we've grown to love without rhyme or reason ("I'll build a bamboo bungalow for two..."). Whether silly or annoying, hysterical or delayed hysterical (that's when you don't laugh until you're sure Mom will laugh with you), we can count on the quirks and family oddities. Which means, in essence, we can count on our family to welcome us home.

Just an average Saturday.

My pulse beats to “The Violet Hour” by the Civil Wars -- new favorite band thanks to a music-savvy friend who is much more hip than I am.

Guess where I am? My favorite East Village coffee shop, B Cup Café. (if you know me, then you knew that already. Where else would I be?)

Since i've been irresponsibly neglecting my blog for the past year, will start with a quick 30-second posting on life's happenings. I moved back to the Village in August - best decision i could've made. Was drowning in Finance folks living downtown. If I had to overhear one more conversation in an elevator beginning with "dude, gotta tell you about this sweet deal we closed today..." I might have had to beat someone over the head with my blackberry. I'm back where I belong amongst the East Village crazies. In fact... stepped over a homeless man rolling around near Avenue A to get here today.

Quick side note: don't you just love how un-phased city children are by just about anything? "Mom, what's for dinner?" ***cut to naked homeless man mooning everyone*** "ummmmm not sure yet, honey." ***child skirts to other side of Mom to avoid twirling, spitting woman*** "I want hot dogs!"

... What percentage end up in therapy by age 30?!

Other updates - work is going well. Getting great PR / marketing / Communications experience on a project for an industry i never expected to tap into. Also managing projects myself, acting more "strategically," etc. All in all... long hours, but good times.

Starting NYU Stern for my MBA in T-60 days. Will be getting educated during evenings twice a week. Here's hoping I will Iearn something useful! Will meet some interesting new people at the very least. Not sure I remember how to study either (did I ever know how to study?)

(have been seduced by B Cup's music and have given up on my own playlist. How can you turn down a live version of "Layla" followed by Dust in the Wind?)

So that's life. Work. School. Village.

More interestingly (I hope), i recently took a trip to Peru. I'll start with a clip from a frantic email I sent to the family on Day 10:

So tonight we are staying with a Peruvian family in a small town called Puno. Tourism comprises most of their economy. Tour groups (including ours) visit the town to see Lake Titikaka, the highest lake in the world. We are 4000 meters high. I've been drinking muna tea to avoid further altitude sickness! We toured the floating islands earlier... tiny little islands made of mud and straw. A few families live on each. They have their own gov't and elect a president each year (though I can't imagine he has much power since there are probably only about 5 eligible men on each island). We took photos in traditional dress and I bought a few things.

We then met our family.. Satornino picked us up from the boat and his wife Julia served us lunch. Some sort of potato soup, followed by rice with vegetables, cheese and coca (plant that Coca Cola and cocaine are made from). I did tell Neil I had reached my limit at lunch - we are in nowheresville with extremely underprivileged people, we can hardly communicate (they speak Quechua, language of the Incas) and we are eating foreign food 3 times a day while asking each other "what do you think this one is" and batting away flies. I haven't had to go to the bathroom in a hole in the ground.. But close to it. We've met these two couples who have had nearly the same itinerary as us so we've become friends - Brian says he's proud of me for being a city girl willing to come on a trip like this!

We will spend the night in their guest room (I'm becoming pretty good at making myself look presentable without a proper shower) and then continue down the lake with our tour group tomorrow.

... and that's pretty much how it went. Absolutely incredible trip and an amazing experience, but not something I'd feel compelled to do again. We worked with a tour company that planned our full itinerary (it's pretty necessary for this kind of trip), so had a jam-packed schedule of traveling and touring each day. Most of the towns we visited were touristy because they were home base for travelers who then left during the day to explore. Machu Picchu was amazing (obviously). Learned lots about the history of the Incas, but more interestingly, learned how present-day Peruvians live (outside of Lima, of course). It's not so different from how they lived during the time of the Incas (1400s-1500s). 40% illiteracy, 70% below the poverty line in mountainous areas. Unfortunately, Spanish language and culture were imposed on the Quechuans (the correct name for the Incas. Inca actually means King in Quechuan) in the 1500s when the Spanish explored and conquered Peru. Quechuan culture only survives by being passed down from generation to generation in the home.

Trips like this really put things in perspective for me. People who have so little and work so hard are happy because they have their health and their family. It's a nice refresher sometimes of what is really important in life. But that's obvious! I'm in it for the food. :)

Full photo album to come (it's in the post from London). Stay tuned.

It's coming.

It's been almost a year. Way too long. Need to make sure i don't give up writing (even if it's only about silly happenings in my life)! Will post very soon...

A new look for 2011

I know what you're thinking... "oh great, she's going to go all 'new look, new me' on us..." I won't! Promise!

But it is, at least, appropriate to reflect on last year's new year's resolutions, twist logic to convince myself i've accomplished them, and then forget about them and make some new ones. As I look back through old blog posts, though, lucky for me (and you) I didn't write down any resolutions for 2010. Whatever they might have been, I can say with confidence that they probably did not come to fruition. For me, 2010 was the year of playing catch-up. Just trying to keep up with all of the changes in my life without losing my sense of self. It was my first year in about 19 that I didn't go to school. I moved into a new apartment in a new area of the city. I officially began my career. And with all the change, i reluctantly allowed my passions to subside (party at least). Less running, less reading, less afternoon coffee shop frolicking. And as I begin a new year and think of what changes for the better I recommend for myself over the next 12 months, I realize the importance of the parts of my life that I had written off as optional - the hobbies that have sunk to the bottom of the priority list to make way for longer hours (and happy hours). They don't define me as a person, but I can't fully be me each day without them. So here they are:

1. 1) lead a healthier lifestyle - running, spinning, yoga, fruits and veg, more sleep, less alcohol
2. read more for pleasure - yes, it's important to read The Economist, but if i want to skip it and read A Tale of Two Cities (again)... no big deal! (at least 1 novel per month, preferably 2)

*side note: i'm deathly afraid of losing all conversational skills and becoming mind-numbingly boring, so the aim of this resolution is twofold.

I also hope to travel more, but that's always on the list! Here's my book list for the near future:

1. The Tipping Point -- almost done, LOVE it. Thanks Ash!
2. Why We Need Love -- from a local West Village book shop - spotted by Kaila, so it must be good.
3. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -- my friend Em swears by it, so I figure I'll give it a go. And any book as popular as this one deserves a read, regardless of whether I enjoy it - there's something about it that appeals to millions of people, and I want to know what that is!
4. That book by the NYU guy that everyone loves but I don't remember the name.
5. Something random that I would not usually read. Any thoughts?
6. Sarah Palin - Going Rogue. OH WAIT. THAT'S A JOKE.

On that note, here's to 2011 and a new decade. May it bring us all more happiness and good fortune than the last.

Online shopping is my new favorite past time.

... which is why I'm sitting in a coffee shop (believe it or not, Kay and I have found a real WINNER in Massapequa: Massapequa Perk) browsing Bloomingdales.com to get some Christmas shopping done. We'll see if I actually like any of this stuff when I open the boxes. You're all getting this stuff as gifts either way, so be forewarned. Ugly, torn, smells like cats? Oh well. Go exchange it ;-)

I'm going to shamelessly steal from the blog of a friend who is infinitely more stylish than me, but here are my (her) three rules of shopping:

1. Can I think of three occasions when I will wear this?
2. Would I have bought this sale item at full price?
3. If something feels tight in the dressing room, it will feel tighter outside of the dressing room.

Also, when in doubt, buy shoes, but that one's obvious (speaking of shoes, just got some sweet Franco Sarto brown and green plaid oxfords). The only problem with rule #1 is I concoct fabulous and completely ridiculous occasions for me to wear my hot new item... "This would be perfect if I end up at a swanky club for an invite-only fashion week party if I meet someone who invites me while I'm hanging outside of Bryant park staring at celebs from 100 yards away. Okay, so that's 1. Let's think of 2 more..." Right. Keep dreaming.

Time to finish my overdue library book (one of them). Extremely excited for Harry Potter tonight... even if it is only the first half of the last book. I am fully prepared - over the past week I've watched the entire movie series (wonder why I'm so behind on my work?). I leave you with a photo of the handsomest couple at Aunt J's Thanksgiving shindig, a view from my desk at work at sunrise (because I'm usually there at sunrise), and a firefighter boat spotted whilst running on the west side highway.

It's been too long to even make an excuse.

If it's any indication of how much (or little) time I have for myself, it takes a week-long vacation these days for me to find a few minutes to write. I'm sitting in the living room of my parent's house in AZ watching the news (about the bomb scares on cargo planes) after a relaxing day of bbq-ing, margaritas, and pool-side sunbathing. If a week of relaxation and uber-laziness has convinced me of anything (apart from convincing me to make a living out of being retired), it's that life exists outside of New York. I know I'm on vacation and I fully appreciate that this is not real life. But I'm not in an exotic hut on tahiti with gorgeous waiters catering to me, waking up to birds chirping, sipping my coffee while watching waterfalls and hiking through the rainforest (any ideas on what my next trip should be, anyone?). My trip is pretty close to the reality of lots of regular Americans who don't live in the big city. I'm sleeping on a slowly deflating air mattress in the living room of my parent's "villa" in a retirement community outside of Phoenix and have been waking up to the sound of coyotes (KAY-otes) rummaging through the back yard at 5 a.m. This is real life, folks. It's easy to forget that anything else exists when I'm living in downtown Manhattan, surrounded by corporate America, aspiring super models, future actors and actresses of Hollywood, all the crazies that could only ever exist in New York, and everything in-between. Here in AZ, people start their work days at a reasonable hour, play golf on weekends and head to happy hour at 3 p.m. That's not to mention the drier air, cleaner streets, well-manicured homes (that require less maintenance) and an overall healthier, less stressful lifestyle (they don't even have to mow the lawn and dog-poo bags are conveniently stationed at intervals on the sidewalk). So why do we all fight to survive in NY, when we could live somewhere the sun always shines, where our money goes farther and our lives could be more play and less work? And I don't mean just AZ ... those three (important) considerations apply to most European countries and many places in the states apart from NY and maybe a few other cities. I love New York and have no intention of leaving any time soon, BUT, I'm just saying, there are some tradeoffs to living in the center of the world.

I have a post-vacation resolution: don't let work consume my life. That means balance the long hours better than I've been doing. So more running, more sleeping, more active social life and less 3 a.m. "oh no i forgot to do that for tomorrow!" mini heart attacks. What I'm really saying is, who's free to meet for a drink? Ultimately, my long term goal would be to incorporate something else into my life... maybe joining a soccer team, volunteering at an underprivileged elementary school or possibly studying for the GMAT. But first I need to handle what's already on my plate without going completely nuts (and without resorting to a 4 p.m. candy break to get my energy levels back up).

Time to start my new book - At Home by Bill Bryson. If I check in within the next 3 months, you'll know I'm getting better at work-life balance!