Thursday, June 26, 2008

Family to the Rescue!

So as you all now my husband is incredibly hardworking. The hours he puts in are literally astounding sometimes and truthfully I don't know how he still stands some days! I'm very good about entertaining myself during these many nights that he's working away and I have to say that one of the best things about being back in the NYC area is that my family is here to keep me company!

This past weekend I had a three day weekend (woo-hoo!) and I was looking at 3 days on my own (quarter end is coming up people...)! So in an effort to try and see as much family as possible (not really...but that's what went down) I got up off my butt and got out there. Here's a breakdown of the weekend.

Friday morning I went out to Brooklyn and met up with my cousin's wife and their little daughter Lucia who is only 8 weeks old (so precious!) We had breakfast out went to the park and then just hung out in their amazing apartment. Friday afternoon I had a few precious hours to myself to just putz around. Then in the evening I met up with my aunt & uncle and my little cousin Chris who is 8 years old. We had dinner at John's Pizzeria, which was delish, then my aunt & uncle went off to see a broadway show and Chris & I ventured out into NYC. It was fun to hang out with a kid and get to do kid stuff. We went to Toy R Us in Times Square and rode the ferris wheel (he was none to pleased that we ended up in the Barbie car...oh well!) then it was on to ESPN Zone for some serious gaming. After about 2 hours there we went back to my apartment to watch baseball until his parents came to get him. I rarely get one-on-one time with Chris so this was such a treat!

Saturday my sister & her fiance and I went down to the Jersey Shore - yeah baby!!! The AVP Beach Volleyball tour was rolling through and I was so excited to see some action. If you remember Jon & I went last year out to Coney Island to watch and we had such a great time that I convinced my sis & Josh that they should check it out with me this year. We had such a great day at the beach. It was so nice to be outside all day, by the water, and just watching sports. The only bummer though was that that Top 3 women's and men's teams were at some Olympic Qualifier or something so we didn't get to see them play - but it was cool because I got to see some other players I might not have focused on as much but who are still wicked good.

After a day of volleyball & sun we went to my aunt & uncle's house down at the shore for dinner. It was so great to see them at a non-holiday outing! They cooked up an amazing meal and we sat around and chatted until pretty late and then it was time to drive back to the city.

Sunday the whole fam went out to Westchester for a little engagement party for my sister & Josh!

All in all it was crazy how much family I saw in three days but at the same time it was so great and I am very thankful that I'm surrounded by such wonderful peeps!!!

Golf Tournament...done...check

So part of the reason I haven't been as busy on the blog is because my new job actually requires me to do work...I know, I know...can you believe it? Last Monday, we had our biggest fundraising event of the year - our Annual Golf Invitational. It raises over $1.8 million for the Foundation that I work for. We get about 300 golfers and 300 dinner guests - all in all it's a great day and a great event.

I have to say though as the only Special Events person on a staff of 4 people total I forgot how exhausting it can be when you don't have people to help you do all the stuff that needs to get done! I haven't been so physically & mentally exhausted in a long while. It really affected how I spent my days...I haven't been reading as much (*gasp*)...I haven't been exercising as much...I haven't been doing a lot of things as much, except watching TV because that's all my little brain could handle.

The event was on the 16th and it was a huge success. The weather held off until dinner and while it did get a little crazy during dinner (picture NYC's wealthiest under a tent, with the lights going out, the ground flooding and the tent shaking...yeah, I was a little concerned) we moved everything indoors and it all went off well!

So now I'm trying to reclaim my life back...get back to my crazy reading schedule....get back out pounding the pavement...get back out blogging in cyberspace....just get back out there! I mean it's summer for goodness sake!

And I need to figure out a way to not let it affect me so much moving forward, because we have 6 events coming up this fall...and to be honest I didn't like losing myself over the past couple of months (especially to work)! Once I come up with a plan...I'll share it with all you hardworking peeps out there:)

Thursday, June 5, 2008

I'm BAAACCCCKKKKK!!!!!

Hey Everyone -miss me? That's if I haven't lost all my readers and by "readers" I mean you Dad:) hehehehe!

So I haven't been bloggin' in awhile - that doesn't mean I haven't been busy doing lots of fun & exciting things (because I have) - more that I wasn't in a writing mood. Writing is not my natural being at all...but I realized I do miss it so I need to get back at it. So if you're still out there...happy reading!

What have I been up to you ask? Why lots of fun stuff. My favorite band Pat McGee Band did a 10-week residency here in NYC at the Canal Rooms. They played every Monday and then switched to Tuesdays for 10 weeks. I went to 7 shows! And no it does not get old - they were some of the best PMB shows I have seen. The best part about it was that it was like watching them in my living room (OK my living room isn't that big - but my point is that it was a small intimate space). The other best part is that I introduced some of my new New York friends to PMB and they loved it, I also brought some of my HC friends back to their shows and they renewed their love of PMB. I have to say there is nothing better than seeing live performances whether it be music, theater, dance, whatever, if it's LIVE it rules! It was the most relaxing way to spend a weeknight (regardless of how tired I was the next day.)

I've also caught some other LIVE performances such as: the band LIVE at the Starland Ballroom in New Jersey (that was a special gift for my DH!), a performace of "A Chorus Line", a performace of "Kiss Me Kate" and a performance of "Prisoner of the Crown" (at the Irish Rep Theater). I've also seen some LIVE sports such as: our beloved Red Sox beating the Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Jon and mine's 4 year anniversary!

We've done some fun things around NYC - but I'll save that for another post. Unfortunately I also found myself watching a little too much TV (netflix while seriously one of my favorite things - is so addicting!) so I'm trying to break myself of that bad habit and get back to writing, reading, cooking and doing all the things I love.

Speaking of which - I recently joined a Beach Volleyball league - so every Tuesday night we're over playing on Long Island City with the most ridiculous view of the Manhattan Skyline. I'll take a picture next time and post it - it's unreal. I'm much more of an indoor girl when it comes to vball but playing beach is fun!

On top of it all - work is really busy - which is great - but takes away from my usual blogging time :)

Alright so that's that - I'm back - with more Beth adventures from NYC! Watch for my next post coming soon....:)