Tampa, FL: July 15-July 19th, 2009

Wednesday, July 15th:

• Packed our bags and headed to the airport for our 7:15 flight to Florida.
• Family vaca/get-together down there: Steph, Ash, Rich, Uncle Bruce and I all flew out that night, landed, got our bags and minivan and headed to meet the rest of the crew.
• Got to my uncles around 11:30, had some leftover pizza, a few beers and laughs and headed back to the rental house.
• Rich and I headed to the pool for some QT and relaxation.
• Got to spend night #1 on the pullout couch (thank god it was in a room with doors). Ouchie.

Thursday, July 16th:

• Got up and got ready to head to my uncle's house since the girls were going to the gym, my uncle and Rich were going golfing, and I had to work part of the day.
• Took my first Zumba class and it was AWESOME. Seriously I stalked out when they have the class at my gym and I plan on taking it sometime this week.
• Got done the class and headed back to my uncle's house. I did my conference call and some emailing and then we headed over to the other house to lay by the pool until the guys got done.
• Everyone was trying to figure out what to do for dinner/evening plans, and since no one wanted plans, the kids decided to go see Danae at work and watch the Phillies.
• Thanks to lots of mis-communication and too many cooks in the kitchen, we didn't get there until the 9th inning. We ordered some food, played some "cornhole" and had some drinks. Good times until Steph wanted to leave. We wound up heading home around 11, hit the pool again and then slept.

Friday, June 17th:

• Slept in a little late that morning and got up around 9:30. Real late I know ;)
• The tentative plan was to hit the beach that day, but I had a teleconference at noon that I need to be at a computer to have, so I told Steph to make other plans.
• I decided that I was going to cook dinner for everyone that night too. I'm not really a fan of the beach (well really the sand), so I was perfectly happy laying by the pool all day...which is just what we did!
• The guys went golfing again, some went to the beach, others hung out by the pool.
• I started cooking dinner when everyone ran some errands.
• We ate dinner - everyone said it was good, I thought it was missing a little something since it wasn't my kitchen - and we decided to have a game night.
• We played games on the porch, drank yummy wine and talked. Great times and great conversations.
• Got to bed a little late after taking another swim and cleaning everything up.

Saturday, June 18th:

• We got up early since we had to clean the house and be out of there by 12.
• Cleaned out the fridge, packed everything up and headed to my uncles.
• Game plan was a pool party at Peg and Joe's until we were heading to the Clearwater Thresher's game for baseball and fireworks.
• Their house is amazing and seriously has me contemplating buying a vacation home or summer home down there at some point in the next 5 years.
• Got to the game, tickets were cheap, seats were great, fireworks included, buckets of beer and we had a great time!
• Headed back to my uncle's to finish up the beer and food and hung out on the porch.
• Rich and I had a tense conversation that night, but since we were both tired and a little drunk, we went to sleep.

Sunday, June 19th:

• Got up early and was still reeling from our convo the night before, so we went into one of the rooms and had a talk. A lot was discussed...(good and bad), but it left us both with stuff to think about.
• We headed out around 1:30 to go to the airport and take our flight home.
• Uneventful and by 8 we were all safely nestled in our own beds :)

All in all it was a great time to see everyone and let everyone meet each other...but next time I'll rethink our sleeping arrangements and plans before we commit to going again. Rich noticied a lot of things from observing my family and we had a lot of discussions regarding future trips, etc.

Miami, FL, June 19-22nd, 2009

Friday June 19th:

• Original plan was to trek it to NY on Thursday to spend the night and fly out with the girls, however I decided to get a ticket out of Philly...just to minimize the 3 hour travel times for 2 days.
• Got up early and Rich took me to the airport on Friday morning, hopped on my plane and got there around 1. Sooooooooooo nice!
• The girls(Silka, Isis, Dani, Myra, Luli) were already there and hanging out waiting for me to arrive.
• Got to the hotel around 2, headed right to the table and ate some yummy food. http://www.loewshotels.com/en/Hotels/Miami-Beach-Hotel/Overview.aspx
• Checked in and our rooms were finally ready so we got changed, and headed to the pool. Hung out by the pool until around 6 PM when we wandered around to some stores and grabbed a quick dinner. Oh yeah, bought 2 pairs of shoes at Payless...whoops ;)
• Headed back to the hotel, took a 2 hr nap, got up and got cute and headed out.
• After wandering to 3 different places that had horrendous lines and too many covers, we headed to the Clevelander. AWESOME place! Its a hotel and then an outdoor bar/dance club at night! Such good music, good drinks, and great people. http://www.clevelander.com/
• We called it a night (well morning?) around 4:30 and headed back to the hotel.
• The girls met up with some boys on the plane, so we woke them up and went down to the pool/hot tub where we decided to sit there and sing! Great times. Finally crawled into bed at 5:30.

Saturday, June 20th:

• Woke up around 10 AM and decided that breakfast was what we needed.
• Headed to breakfast at the Palace. Sooooooooo good. http://www.jumponmarkslist.com/palace_food_bar.htm
• We headed back to the pool and planted our behinds there to relax all day.
• Dinner was going to be at a restaturant called Chocolate that night, but apparently it wasn't there any more, so we walked up and down Espanola Way until we found a great little place.
• We had a great dinner looking all pretty and then headed back to the hotel to change shoes and head out for another night of insanity :)
• Wet Willie's for Call-A-Cab and people watching. We saw a girl's buttcheeks, like the whole buttcheeks...http://wetwillies.com/
• After there, we went to Mango's. AWESOME place. We went upstairs and were shuffled into a room that had great music! We stayed there, danced, drank, danced, danced, laughed and danced. http://www.mangostropicalcafe.com/
• We decided to leave there around 3 or 4 (I can't remember) and headed back for sleep.

Sunday, June 21st:

• This morning we actually made it up and awake by 10AM and were at the beach sitting on the chairs. So relaxing.
• We stayed there pretty much all day, lounging in the pool and tanning.
• We decided we were going to go to dinner with the boys that night and all of a sudden, downpour. Not a 30 minute downpour, but more like a 2 hour. That in our time means naptime!
• Headed back to the room to catch a much needed nap.
• Got up and got ready to meet the boys at 8.
• Headed to Espanola Way when we determined that there was no one in the hotel restaurant, Emeril's didn't have a good selection. So we wound up right back at the little Cafe from the night before.
• From there it was back to Wet Willie's, Mango's and the Clevelander.
• Sleep came around 5 AM.

Monday, June 22nd:

• Up early and on the beach by 9 for the last few moments of sunshine.
• Headed to the airport at 11 AM and we all parted ways.
• Arrived home around 4 PM to be picked up by my baby...it was so good to be away and relax and so good to come "home".

Pictures are on facebook!

Decatur, Il: April 16-17th, 2009

Thursday, April 16th:

• Left for the trip at 7AM. First flight was fine - I slept most of the way.
• Second flight was entertaining. Flight was operated by Great Lakes Aviation. Weird trip, but we got there safe.
• Got to the hotel, checked in and got online. I had a lot of work to get done and worked from pretty much 2 until 7.
• I decided that it was time to eat, tried to contact the people I was traveling with (they weren't around) and headed down to the front desk. I asked what was around to go sitdown for dinner, they told me Taco Bell and McDonald's. Greatttttttt. Not happening.
• I heard from one of the assistants that I could get home earlier than Saturday which made me so happy.
• I headed to the mall which happened to be right across the parking lot from the hotel. Wandered around, found some semi-healthy chinese food, got a dress at American Eagle, then headed back to the hotel to finish up some more work.
• Had an awesome convo with the boy :) He totally made me smile.

Friday, April 17th:

• 6:45 meeting in the hotel lobby to start our meeting at 7:15 on site.
• Got on site, did our presentations and headed to the airport by 1 PM.
• The airport is so cute, it only has 2 gates!
• We got on our first flight, landed in St Louis and then had a 5 hour layover. I just hung out in the airport and did work since they had wireless and a place with good food.
• Finally got home around 10:30.
• The boy picked me up from the airport and was so sweet, he got me water and a pretzel :)

Padova, Italy: March 31st-April 3rd, 2009

Tuesday, March 31st:

• Flight from Philly to Frankfurt: Depart around 4:15.
• Upgraded to Envoy class - pretty friggin sweet for 30K miles :)
• Didn't get as much sleep as I wanted, but that's due to my sinuses flaring up and my mind racing.

Wednesday, April 1st:

• Flight from Frankfurt to Venice. Landed in Venice around 11 AM, got my bags, met one of the guys I was traveling with, and headed to Padova.
• Car ride was about 30 minutes.
• I almost passed out when we got off the exit. There was nothing around but car dealers and an Ikea. Seriously?
• Checked into the hotel (Sheraton - not too bad) and went to my room for some sleep.
• Took a nap til 3PM, got up and started working.
• Met some of the team for dinner at 8, came back to the room and passed out.

Thursday, April 2nd:

• Really, a 7:30 AM breakfast call? Ugh.
• Meeting from 8 until 4...which ran until 6.
• Decided to meet some of the team for drinks/dinner at 7:30, so I went back to my room to "unwind".
• Wound up getting stuck doing work until 7:30, so I rushed right down to the hotel bar.
• We decided to just hang out there and have dinner. Good meal, good wine.
• After dinner, one of the guys decided that since its my last night, we needed to have a few drinks.
• A few drinks turned into just him and I, 4 hours and 80 euro later. Wouldn't be too bad except he made a few comments about online dating, why I didn't accept his facebook friendship, etc. I've known him for a while and we talked about a lot of stuff...I think he's just at a frustrated point right now, so it was good for him to vent.
• 2:30 is when we finally split for our rooms.
• I had to get up at 4AM to pack and get ready for our 5 AM departure. Lovely. I wound up staying up, checking websites, (sent an email to Boston - haven't heard a response, guess I know where I stand now :), and packed my stuff.

Friday, April 3rd:

• Left for the airport at 5 am.
• Didn't realize how tipsy I was until I got on the plane. Slept the whole flight from Venice to Frankfurt
• Was able to upgrade again on the flight home, for 30K points. Again well worth it - I slept so soundly for 7 hours :)
• Landed in Philly around 2:30, got my luggage, thanked the dear lord for car service, and headed home.

Miami, FL: March 25-26th

Wednesday, March 25th:

• Got up and headed to the airport for a 10 AM flight.
• Arrived in Miami around 2, got to the hotel and checked in.
• Hotel wasn't that great, but it was ok for a night.
• Weather was wonderful so we met up with one of our vendors and headed to lunch.
• After lunch we headed to a mall, I needed to get a new suit since we thought the CEO of our client was going to be there, which we didn't know.
• Got back from the mall and went walking/running. Did a 6 min 1/2 mile.
• Headed to bed after that.

Thursday, March 26th:

• Got up early because we had to be on site at 8 AM.
• On site at this really nice hospital. Seems like they are going to be a good site in this study.
• We were on site all day until 3 PM. After that, we left and went to the airport.
• Boarded the plane and say on the runway for an hour.
• Finally got home at 11, took a cab home, and crawled into bed exhausted.

Detroit, MI: Mar 8-9th, 2009

Sunday, March 8:

• Flight to Detroit at 5:50, got to the airport and flew threw security....then realized I left my cell phone in the car.
• I panicked - a day without my cell cannot happen so I found a payphone and called my mom to bring it back down to me.
• Got on the flight, took off and then once we got to Detroit, we circled for 1.5 hours. I wanted to blow my brains out.
• Finally landed and then headed to the hotel - Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance. Once we got to the hotel, we checked in and headed right to the bar for a drink and some food.

Monday, March 9:

• Got up early, meeting at 8 AM.
• Worked until 4 - headed to the airport, got on an earlier flight and got home 3 hours early.

Las Vegas, NV:Feb 26th-Mar 2nd

Thursday, February 26th:

• 7:50 AM flight from Philly to Vegas, meant getting up at 4 am, getting dressed and to the airport by 6.


• Excitement woke me up and I couldn't wait to get there. We got picked up by Cush and her dad and sister.


• Got to the airport and met up with everyone...all 10 of us! Wooot wooooot!


• Got checked in, through security and to the gate.


• On the plane and was asleep before we even took off!


• Got to Vegas at 11 AM, got our luggage and headed off to the hotel!


• Checked into New York, New York, upgraded the room to a strip view (wooohoooo) and then headed to lunch at America.


• We got done and then wandered around and headed out to the strip.


• Walking down the strip, we went to the Glacier Bar for yards of yummy drinks! So delicious!


• We headed back to the hotel around 5 and all decided to take a nap...that nap turned into 11:30 for all of us.


• We got up and got ready to go out. We headed into Nine Irishmen and it wasn't that good, so we went to the Bar at Times Square. Had a good time there - couple of drinks, random convo with a cute stranger (who came back around 3 times), had them play we are the champions for the Phillies.


• After we got tired of there, we headed over to Studio 54. BEST CALL!!! $10 cover, great music, cute boys, and lots of dancing. Met an Irish boy named Jerry (all we could think of was P.S. I love you) and a scottish guy who was a british fighter pilot (and I'm a heart surgeon there for a conference with my friend "Brianna"). Good convos and lots of drinks :)


• Left there at 4 AM and headed to bed.

Friday, February 27th:

• 5 people pounding on my door at 8AM. Lovely.


• We got up, got dressed and headed to MGM for their buffet for breakfast. After we stuffed ourselves, we headed back onto the strip.


• We went to Mile Mall (or something like that) and hit up Fat Tuesday's for yard margaritas :) Mmmmmm.


• We kept walking down the strip and headed into a shady casino. I saw the Wheel of Fortune machine and sat down. It ate my $20 but I wasn't done, so we kept walking around.


• Steph, Tom and I found another row of Wheel of Fortune and I put a $20 in for Steph to play. Well we kept hitting and getting spins, so we cashed out when we doubled the money and she put a $20 in for me to play...well I kept hitting and getting spins, so I cashed out when we were up $50. Well that wasn't good enough either. Cashed out and put another $20 in and hit for $180 - meanwhile Steph and Tom we're playing the machines around us and they kept hitting too.


• When we left, Steph and I made back then money we spent drinking, eating and paying covers :) I was a happy girl. (Oh and free beers while you are gambling is great!)


• We left there and started heading back to the hotel...we got distracted by the HUGE like 5 yard drinks. $35 so we got one. Filled with Long Island Iced Tea and the 3 of us decided to split it.


• On the way back Steph wanted a corn dog, so we went into another shady casino. They had beer pong!


• (Side bar - by this time, we were all feeling prettttty tipsy.)


• So we got a beer pong table and Steph and Amy versus Tom and I. We were swasted. As Tom was shooting, I was holding the big boy drink he had strapped around him and sipping it. Ahhhh delicious.


• We got coupons for B1G1 at Hawaiian Tropic, so Tom and I decided to convince them to go in for drinks. I was sooooo wasted at this point. And apparently my thumbs got drunk and kept texting the boy :)


• We did the drunken stumble back to the hotel at that point where I fell asleep for about an hour...only to be woken up by a drunk Tom. We decided to wander down the halls of the hotel (in our PJs - which were Tshirt and panties/boxers), drinking a bottle of Sambucca. (ICK, but apparently every even door we did a shot)...


• Hung out in the other hotel room with everyone and then decided it was naptime.


• I woke up to a missed call and text from the boy and some of the girls. Good thing is I didn't have time to be hung over because I woke up and started drinking again :)


• I got up and got a shower so we could head out for the night. Found a bunch of random bruises all over my body and tried not to slip and kill myself in the shower. I got done getting ready and called the boy back. He was like "you texted me like 239453 times - how drunk are you???" So we talked for a little while, laughed at how drunk I was and then I got up and got ready.


• We headed to Coyote Ugly...it's ok and a must-do, but its a bit of sucky music. We danced on the bar and then decided we had enough. We headed back over to Studio 54, since we had such a good time there the night before. When some people found out the cover charge, they didn't want to pay, so Barb, Steph, Tom and I stayed and went.


• We partied like rock stars again! It was so much fun - good music, good dancing (ran into the same Irish boy who didn't really remember me, but remembered "my accent"...) Found $20 on the floor :) Danced with a cute boy and left there at 5 AM again.


• Headed to the restaurant in the hotel for some drunken munchies and more drinks and then headed to bed at 6AM.

Saturday, February 28th:

• Happy Birthday Stephie!!!!!!


• We got up around 9 AM and headed out again. Since most of us were hurting, we decided to just hang close to the hotel. We wandered around and headed to Hooters for free $100 play at the machines.


• We headed back to the hotel around 2 to get ready for dinner.


• We ordered a limo to take us to dinner. We all got pretty and met for a drink before we left :) The limo bus came and was awesome - it had a stripper pole and Kramer (the driver) played us kick ass music. For $10/person - it was well worth it.


• We had a classy dinner at Maggiano's that was sooooooooo yummy.


• On the ride home, Kramer sent his friend to pick us up...in a STRETCH EXCURSION!!! OMG - it was amazing, it was lifted and tricked out!! Josh played us awesome music and the inside was so pimped out!!!


• We got back to the hotel and decided to get tickets to go see Zumanity and take a quick nap. On the walk back, we got on the guest list at Rok and decided to go there that ngiht.


• We got to the show at 10:30 and it was amazing. I've always wanted to see a Circ show and this was not a disappointment at all!


• The show ended at 12 and we headed to Rok. Rok was pretty awesome - banging dancers (seriously if I was gay this girl was SMOKIN), and danced/drank a little.


• My feet were seriously killing me at this point so I went up to the room to change my shoes...only to find out that my feet were so swollen none of my shoes fit me. I felt so effing hot (pictures to follow), but my feet were not having any more, so I decided to hang in and get some rest since we had to get up early.

Sunday, March 1st:

• Got up at 8:30 since we had to leave the hotel by 11 and everyone wanted breakfast.


• As we were packing, we found out that our flight was cancelled and to head to the airport to get on another flight.


• We checked out and got to the airport. We realized that we weren't getting out at all due to mechanical troubles. Soooooooo we all got our wish to spend another night in Vegas. Good times.


• We headed to our hotel (Ummm NYNY to Emerald Suites - such a reality check) and went to the nearest casino to hang out.


• We hung out and did much of nothing the rest of the day...wasn't a bad hotel room, just a shady neighborhood on the wrong side of the strip...


• We all went to bed early to get up early.

Monday, March 2nd:

• Flight from Vegas to LA, then LA to Philly.


• Nothing eventful, just tired and didn't get home until around 2 AM.

Pictures to follow...just waiting for everyone to upload them for me!