  Alright- here's a warning: THIS MAY BE A LONG POST Ok- last Wednesday I flew to Las Vegas for a marketing conference with my company. Being a global company, we had people come from all over- New Zealand, Australia, the UK, etc. So many wonderful accents! It made me a feel alot better about the company I work for too. First of all- we checked in and I had a suite in the Forum Towers.
Let me just say that I was NOT upset about it. Jacuzzi tubs on a business trip are never a bad thing. I also had a decent view of the strip. The food was amazing- we at at OPM in Caesar's the first night...god it was amazing...Vegas was so much fun- but I have a gambling problem (not as bad as Monkey boy though). Let's just say I nodded off at a slot machine- not one of my proudest moments. Then Friday morning I was off to NYC.
Staying in the lower west side of Manhattan in the Skyline hotel. I had booked this about 3 months ago- and had originally got the room with one double bed- just your normal room. Well, I get there and the lady says that they are out of those rooms- so they'll have to put me in a suite. Um, ok- who's going to complain about that? (this is what I actually said)- she says "you'd be surprised how many people complain.
Dumb asses. Went to the antique shows on Saturday- they were really nice shows with lots of wonderful pieces. Then Anita and I had lunch and headed off in a cab to battery park- to catch the Staten Island Ferry. On the way,much to my surprise, we passed Ground Zero. Let me just say that I was speechless. Anita was in the middle of talking, and I had to stop her because I was dumb founded. You can't imagine what a gaping hole in the city it is. It almost made me cry. Thank god we were in a cab and moving by quickly, or I would have. We walked through battery park and all the briefcase vendors attacked us.
"Sunglasses, lady- for you, I give you good deal". "Purses- Louis Vitton, Gucci- good price". Jumped on the Staten Island Ferry to ride past the lady of the Bay- the Statue of Liberty. It is pretty overwhelming too- when you think how many "new" americans pass it all the time. The ferry was filled with people from all different countries taking it in and talking about it.
From there- we went to wait in the GOD AWFUL line at the Empire State Building. I will NEVER do that again- 4 hours in a lines in human herding, 30 ppl in an elevator, to more lines, then it's SO freaking cold outside you spend 5 minutes running around snapping pictures and then wait in MORE lines to go back downstairs....jesus. I've already told Marshall that when we have kids, HE is taking them up there- I'll go shopping. Speaking of shopping- i saw the BEST t-shirt at a kitschy souvenir shop- It was black with white writing and said simply "Fuck You You Fucking Fuck". That is now what I'll say under my breath when someone pisses me off- and that's FUUFF for short :) Sunday I left- and I HATE JFK airport. The signs are misleading and people end up walking in the bowels of the airport. It's not fun.
All in all a good trip- though heart-wrenching, the best part was witnessing Ground Zero- I've wanted to go since 9/11- and though I didn't walk up to the site, it was something I needed. Hope everyone is doing well! Can't wait to see a lot of you this weekend at the party. Steph- wish you could be here- hope to see you around Christmas!
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