Oh Boston

It's been a busy week and I loved every minute of it! Last week Matt and I flew to Boston for Lily and Greg's wedding (which, by the way, was my 2nd favorite wedding ever (second to mine :) ).

The week went something like this:

• Thursday - Bart (yes Bart!) to Oakland to fly to Boston > change in Boston airport > train (yes train!) to downtown to Lily's bachelorette at Cuchi Cuchi (fun place, funny name); Matt met up with Scott and the boys for the bachelor party and stayed at a hotel
• Friday - mani/pedi with the ladies > walk around Boston > rehearsal dinner > whiskey bar
• Saturday - walk the Freedom Trail > fall even harder in love with Boston > visit the cemetary at Copp's Hill > lunch at Feneuil Hall > wedding!
• Sunday - meet Emily and Roy for brunch > lost in the rain > get ripped off renting a car > drive to Cape Cod > B&B luxury
  
• Monday - drive to P-Town (Cape Cod is actually quite huge and it was a long and beautiful drive) > decide it's high time I get rich and famous so I can buy a beach home there
  
• Tuesday - drive to Boston and fly home

I need a vacation.

Tonight is Rob and Emily's rehearsal dinner which we're thrilled about and tomorrow we're off to their wedding (after I get in a morning race, of course).

What a week, a wonderful week.

Blues fest

Another year, another great Blues fest. Gabe, Amanda, Don, Kathleen, Matty and I made it to Bluesapalooza around 1pm yesterday and enjoyed beer tasting and great music. You couldn't pick a better scenery for a fest like this - the trees and the mountains cast the perfect backdrop for the Blues bands. Some of the breweries were pretty amazing, too.

Marin Brew Co (my hometown co) was there and gave me a free thong - quite odd really. It's new, I swear, but why that had a box of them to give is beyond me.

Angel Brew Co is a new one to us who poured fantastic hoppy ales. They gave a free pint glass. I guess breweries want to don their fans with goods?

Beers aside, the tunes are what we flocked for. Tom Kall & Kenny Sultan were awesome with a keyboard solo. Curtis Salgado Band was great getting the audience up and dancing. At the intermission, one of the stage helps proposed to his girlfriend filling eyes around the stage. CChris Cain Band wiped the tears away with kickup your heels (yes, Blues can get fast and happy) music.

The air up here

We're in Mammoth this weekend for Bluesapaloosa. Yesterday I tried to take this as an opportunity for altitude training running the hills. A miserable experience - lungs burning, legs hardly moving, and nose bleeding (gross, sorry) I made it 2.5 miles and then looped back to the cabin. I think the mountains are better for enjoying trash magazines with some real lit thrown in amidst good food, good wine, good hikes, and good friends.

That said, today I'm going to attempt to keep up with Gabe for a short 4-mile run before we make our way to the beer fest. I must be a glutton for punishment.

Ah Florida

I just landed in Orlando, FL, for the Gartner Application/Integration summit (thrilling, believe me) and am hot hot hot! It's muggy and hot here and I feel like I've stepped into a different country. I'm also amazed at how pancake like it is ... and while the landscape is uber flat, the people are not. Kidding. Oof, karma is going to get me.

F no, I want to look good for ther camera

The Rock & Roll Marathon pictures finally came out and I tried to grab a few online. I sent them (lovingly ... OK, and gloatingly) to Matt, my mom, and my dad this afternoon.

When I got home from work the conversation went something like this:

A: What did you think of my pics?! I did a marathon, did you see my pics?

M: Yeah ... you look kinda (insert picture of a dinosaur dancing while learning to fly and swim at the same time).

A: Meany. J-face. You try running 26 miles.

M: F no, I want to look good in my pictures!

Fame in the fam

Just as I love running and San Francisco, Matt's brother, Gabe Taylor, loves snowboarding, golf, and Mammoth (to name just a few). I'm sure he and Amanda enjoy many isms - a handful of those involving snowies (made up word for snowboard roadies - it seems he has a few).

Here's a cool article on the Gabester: http://www.snowboard-revolution.com/rider/Gabe-Taylor-Interview.html

I do have to admit, the guy inspired me over the years with fitness and a need to do better. That said, I have no desire to ever jump off crazy snow jumps like the ones he does. No way - I prefer my feet on the ground laced into running shoes or Jimmy Choos.

Vegas Baby!

It's always a bit comical to me that corporations decide to hold their sales conferences' in Vegas - which begs the question, is it the time of year when you want sales folks to learn the most, pay the most attention, and walk away truly knowing the products and road map, or is it the time when you want folks to bond, party, and walk away feeling more tied into the company. I think the latter. Regardless, it's Vegas - the city of 24/7 isms and possibilities.

We arrived to Vegas Sunday afternoon after a not-too-terrible delay. Molly and I checked in and made our way to the Venetian for lunch. To get to one hotel you need to walk through the smokey lobbies and casinos of 5 others or you can opt to walk the strip where you'll be solicited for everything from lap dances to heli rides over the Grand Canyon. We chose the strip. The trip played out from there toggling between fantastic restaurants, night clubs, bars, and of course conference rooms. Funny, it was easier to keep my eyes open at night.

The isms:

• One night we went dancing with Product Management and Marketing. On the dance floor was an eclectic mix of 60somethings grooving (in ways no-one should), boys loitering, and girls prowling.



• Daily I saw at least 4 weddings.



• The food is good, not great, but it all seems to be cloaked in butter or extra oil - maybe more fuel to keep people gambling longer?

Ah Vegas - in another 5 years I just might be ready to go back.