November: Noteworthy News
November was a busy month! I was only home in Sac one full weekend!
My last day at CalSAE was on October 31st, so I had a handful of days before the travel began but somehow those days got quite filled up with lots of activities... CPCA project meetings and work, shopping for new professional attire, touring the WEAVE Safe House, meeting with a Fidelity adviser, attending the Coffee Culture class at the Crocker with Mr. E (and both Es), donating blood, picking up the glass ornaments from the class that A and I took in October, attending a make-up class at Casa, and all of my usual classes at the CAC. How did those five days go by so quickly?!
November 6-11: GPA in D.C. + Mom in Marshfield
I headed off to the East Coast for the GPA Annual Conference, where I co-presented a session about mentoring on Friday morning and participated as part of a mentor panel on Friday afternoon. I was able to meet up with RH for breakfast on Thursday morning and [finally] met RL in person at lunch that day. RL and I also got together for drinks in the lobby bar later in the evening to prep for our session the next day.
I spent Thursday morning after breakfast visiting The Phillips Collection, which was about 1/4 mile from the conference hotel. I wasn't previously familiar with this art museum, but it turned out to be one of my favorite kinds -- formerly a private family collection that was given to the city to be open to the public and still retains some of the original family home and architecture amidst the other parts that have been added over the years to expand the space. To me, this is similar to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and the Crocker Museum here in Sacramento.
I had a Friday evening flight to Boston to spend the Veteran's Day long weekend with Mom in Marshfield. While I was traveling around the East Coast, Mr. E returned to the Midwest for another Badger game and family visit from Nov. 7-10, so he was able to pick me up on Monday evening when I got home. Then the next day, I started my new job at the Foundation for California Community Colleges!
November 16: Wine Country with B & B & M
We met up at Hamel Family Wines with B & B & M to share a tasting and some snacks and complete our wine club shipment pick-up. Then we headed off to J Wine for another pick-up so that we could save on shipping charges (and also because I hadn't yet verified if it would be OK for deliveries to come to my new office). We decided not to do any shopping on the way home, although Mr. E did make a trip to Vacaville on his own the following weekend when I was away again.
November 21-24: NYC with J!
My sister trip to NYC with J started with a redeye flight on Thursday night followed by a very long taxi ride into downtown on Friday morning -- so much traffic -- yikes! J had arrived earlier on Thursday and enjoyed her time solo in NYC, including a performance of To Kill a Mockingbird that evening. We stayed at the Crown Plaza Times Square, which was a convenient location to the theatres but very busy and crowded and surrounded by scaffolding due to the construction underway to revamp the lobby space.
I took a nap on Friday morning and then did some Zumba and yoga in the room while J worked downstairs in the lounge area. Then we headed out for a late lunch at Junior's across the street, which surprisingly doesn't serve breakfast all day. What sort of diner is that?! We were both totally in the mood for breakfast food, despite the fact that it was 2pm, so luckily we could make do with a bagel and salmon plate for me and toasted bagel with jam for J.
After lunch, we jumped on the subway to go to the Museum at FIT, which was featuring the exhibit Paris, Capital of Fashion. We both enjoyed all of the clothes on display, and there was no entry fee to view the exhibit. Sweet! J had asked one of her friends for restaurant recommendations, so we ended up at a cool spot in a former brownstone that we never would have found otherwise, especially with no signage on the outside of the building. We lucked out with available seats at the bar, since we hadn't been able to make reservations, so we enjoyed some pre-show drinks and snacks before going to see David Byrne's American Utopia at the Hudson Theatre. Neither of us really knew much about the show in advance, but we were both blown away by the performers and the aesthetics and the incredible array of percussion instruments utilized by the musicians. This was more like performance art than a typical concert tour and was completely unique and utterly engaging.
On Saturday, I had reserved a lane to swim laps at the NY Health Club in the hotel, but I could only stay in the pool for 30 minutes before the next person came in, so I finished off my workout with a longer yoga practice in the room. J had found a good yoga studio and was able to take class each morning, so the logistics for our respective workouts was quite convenient. We had made brunch reservations at the Brooklyn Diner, which fully satisfied our breakfast food cravings that had been somewhat disappointed the day before. After our yummy meal, we headed to our primary destination for the weekend: Hamilton at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. This was J's third time seeing the show and my first, and our aisle seats in the second level of the orchestra were fabulous -- close enough to see each of the individual performers and their expressions but still just far enough to get a panorama view of the entire stage. We grabbed some food to go for dinner on the way back to the hotel and procured drinks in the lobby bar.
Sunday morning we repeated our separate workouts, although I skipped the pool this time and just focused on Zumba and yoga in the room. The weather had turned nasty, rainy and very windy, but I braved the elements to fetch my breakfast at a nearby Starbucks. Given the conditions, we opted to take a taxi to the Frick Collection up near Central Park. This is another example of a former family home and a collection that is very specific to the tastes of the original collector. None of the artworks have explanatory placards nearby, and the majority of the tour is encompassed in what used to be the the family's living quarters on the first floor of the building. Thanks to my Denver Art Museum membership level, we were able to gain entry with no fee.
To wrap up our stay, we returned to the hotel, wandered the nearby blocks for some lunch and snacks for the trip home, retrieved our bags from storage, and took a pre-arranged ride to JFK for our returns to Austin and Sac. What a fun sister's weekend!
November 27-30: Thanksgiving in Chicago
The final trip of the month was a joint journey for Mr. E and me to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with his family. Since his aunt and uncle were staying for a couple of weeks with his parents, we were stationed just across the river in the lovely Sheraton Grand Chicago. Our two-room suite on the 17th floor provided an excellent view of the River and the Lake (thanks to Mr. E's status for the upgraded view). Mr. E left Wednesday morning and had some time with his family that afternoon before coming to the airport to meet my flight in the evening.
I took advantage of the great pool to swim laps on Thursday morning and finished up with yoga in the room while Mr. E slept in. He had stocked up on some breakfast items and other snacks at the nearby Whole Foods the day before, and we rounded out our meal with some provisions from Starbucks. The weather was quite lovely, so we headed out for a walk and to buy wine for the holiday meal. In the afternoon, we met up with Mr. E's cousin and her three kids to take the train out to his sister's home in Oak Park for the family dinner. Lots of yummy food, including smoked salmon as part of the appetizers, which also made its way onto my plate for the main meal!
On Friday, we repeated our breakfast arrangements as we headed towards Michigan Ave and the discount ticket office to see if there were any shows we wanted to see that evening. Nothing really stood out, so we then went off to the Art Institute to visit the newly-wreathed lions and wander through several of the permanent exhibition galleries, which we've never really explored during previous visits. We made a brief stop in the special Andy Warhol area but decided it was just too crowded and not enough of an interest for either of us to push our way through the entire space. After returning to the hotel, we both worked for a bit and then visited Whole Foods for a Happy Hour beverage and dinner items to go. In the evening, we just relaxed in our suite and enjoyed the tranquil time.
The weather turned nasty on Saturday (sort of like what happened in NYC the weekend before...), but we bundled up and walked to Beatrix for our brunch reservation. Busy spot! Yummy food! Not great coffee... It was fun to try a new spot, and we both agreed we'd like to return for other meals at the restaurant. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by Dylan's Candy Bar so I could stock up on sweets. We spent the rest of the day at the hotel so that I could work on my CPCA project while Mr. E watched the Wisconsin vs. Ohio State game. Go Badgers! We're heading to the Big 10 Championship!
We made good time on the train to the airport and discovered that our flight was delayed by about 35 minutes, so we took full advantage of Mr. E's United Club pass, which allows me to enter as his guest. He then surprised me by surreptitiously going to talk with the customer service staff to upgrade our seats to First Class. That helped to make up for the initial delay plus the extra time we spent waiting for our turn to take-off. We got home about an hour later than expected, but at least we had all of the next day (Sunday) to unpack, do laundry, work out, and decorate for the holidays.
My last day at CalSAE was on October 31st, so I had a handful of days before the travel began but somehow those days got quite filled up with lots of activities... CPCA project meetings and work, shopping for new professional attire, touring the WEAVE Safe House, meeting with a Fidelity adviser, attending the Coffee Culture class at the Crocker with Mr. E (and both Es), donating blood, picking up the glass ornaments from the class that A and I took in October, attending a make-up class at Casa, and all of my usual classes at the CAC. How did those five days go by so quickly?!
November 6-11: GPA in D.C. + Mom in Marshfield
I headed off to the East Coast for the GPA Annual Conference, where I co-presented a session about mentoring on Friday morning and participated as part of a mentor panel on Friday afternoon. I was able to meet up with RH for breakfast on Thursday morning and [finally] met RL in person at lunch that day. RL and I also got together for drinks in the lobby bar later in the evening to prep for our session the next day.
I spent Thursday morning after breakfast visiting The Phillips Collection, which was about 1/4 mile from the conference hotel. I wasn't previously familiar with this art museum, but it turned out to be one of my favorite kinds -- formerly a private family collection that was given to the city to be open to the public and still retains some of the original family home and architecture amidst the other parts that have been added over the years to expand the space. To me, this is similar to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and the Crocker Museum here in Sacramento.
I had a Friday evening flight to Boston to spend the Veteran's Day long weekend with Mom in Marshfield. While I was traveling around the East Coast, Mr. E returned to the Midwest for another Badger game and family visit from Nov. 7-10, so he was able to pick me up on Monday evening when I got home. Then the next day, I started my new job at the Foundation for California Community Colleges!
November 16: Wine Country with B & B & M
We met up at Hamel Family Wines with B & B & M to share a tasting and some snacks and complete our wine club shipment pick-up. Then we headed off to J Wine for another pick-up so that we could save on shipping charges (and also because I hadn't yet verified if it would be OK for deliveries to come to my new office). We decided not to do any shopping on the way home, although Mr. E did make a trip to Vacaville on his own the following weekend when I was away again.
November 21-24: NYC with J!
My sister trip to NYC with J started with a redeye flight on Thursday night followed by a very long taxi ride into downtown on Friday morning -- so much traffic -- yikes! J had arrived earlier on Thursday and enjoyed her time solo in NYC, including a performance of To Kill a Mockingbird that evening. We stayed at the Crown Plaza Times Square, which was a convenient location to the theatres but very busy and crowded and surrounded by scaffolding due to the construction underway to revamp the lobby space.
I took a nap on Friday morning and then did some Zumba and yoga in the room while J worked downstairs in the lounge area. Then we headed out for a late lunch at Junior's across the street, which surprisingly doesn't serve breakfast all day. What sort of diner is that?! We were both totally in the mood for breakfast food, despite the fact that it was 2pm, so luckily we could make do with a bagel and salmon plate for me and toasted bagel with jam for J.
After lunch, we jumped on the subway to go to the Museum at FIT, which was featuring the exhibit Paris, Capital of Fashion. We both enjoyed all of the clothes on display, and there was no entry fee to view the exhibit. Sweet! J had asked one of her friends for restaurant recommendations, so we ended up at a cool spot in a former brownstone that we never would have found otherwise, especially with no signage on the outside of the building. We lucked out with available seats at the bar, since we hadn't been able to make reservations, so we enjoyed some pre-show drinks and snacks before going to see David Byrne's American Utopia at the Hudson Theatre. Neither of us really knew much about the show in advance, but we were both blown away by the performers and the aesthetics and the incredible array of percussion instruments utilized by the musicians. This was more like performance art than a typical concert tour and was completely unique and utterly engaging.
On Saturday, I had reserved a lane to swim laps at the NY Health Club in the hotel, but I could only stay in the pool for 30 minutes before the next person came in, so I finished off my workout with a longer yoga practice in the room. J had found a good yoga studio and was able to take class each morning, so the logistics for our respective workouts was quite convenient. We had made brunch reservations at the Brooklyn Diner, which fully satisfied our breakfast food cravings that had been somewhat disappointed the day before. After our yummy meal, we headed to our primary destination for the weekend: Hamilton at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. This was J's third time seeing the show and my first, and our aisle seats in the second level of the orchestra were fabulous -- close enough to see each of the individual performers and their expressions but still just far enough to get a panorama view of the entire stage. We grabbed some food to go for dinner on the way back to the hotel and procured drinks in the lobby bar.
Sunday morning we repeated our separate workouts, although I skipped the pool this time and just focused on Zumba and yoga in the room. The weather had turned nasty, rainy and very windy, but I braved the elements to fetch my breakfast at a nearby Starbucks. Given the conditions, we opted to take a taxi to the Frick Collection up near Central Park. This is another example of a former family home and a collection that is very specific to the tastes of the original collector. None of the artworks have explanatory placards nearby, and the majority of the tour is encompassed in what used to be the the family's living quarters on the first floor of the building. Thanks to my Denver Art Museum membership level, we were able to gain entry with no fee.
To wrap up our stay, we returned to the hotel, wandered the nearby blocks for some lunch and snacks for the trip home, retrieved our bags from storage, and took a pre-arranged ride to JFK for our returns to Austin and Sac. What a fun sister's weekend!
November 27-30: Thanksgiving in Chicago
The final trip of the month was a joint journey for Mr. E and me to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with his family. Since his aunt and uncle were staying for a couple of weeks with his parents, we were stationed just across the river in the lovely Sheraton Grand Chicago. Our two-room suite on the 17th floor provided an excellent view of the River and the Lake (thanks to Mr. E's status for the upgraded view). Mr. E left Wednesday morning and had some time with his family that afternoon before coming to the airport to meet my flight in the evening.
I took advantage of the great pool to swim laps on Thursday morning and finished up with yoga in the room while Mr. E slept in. He had stocked up on some breakfast items and other snacks at the nearby Whole Foods the day before, and we rounded out our meal with some provisions from Starbucks. The weather was quite lovely, so we headed out for a walk and to buy wine for the holiday meal. In the afternoon, we met up with Mr. E's cousin and her three kids to take the train out to his sister's home in Oak Park for the family dinner. Lots of yummy food, including smoked salmon as part of the appetizers, which also made its way onto my plate for the main meal!
On Friday, we repeated our breakfast arrangements as we headed towards Michigan Ave and the discount ticket office to see if there were any shows we wanted to see that evening. Nothing really stood out, so we then went off to the Art Institute to visit the newly-wreathed lions and wander through several of the permanent exhibition galleries, which we've never really explored during previous visits. We made a brief stop in the special Andy Warhol area but decided it was just too crowded and not enough of an interest for either of us to push our way through the entire space. After returning to the hotel, we both worked for a bit and then visited Whole Foods for a Happy Hour beverage and dinner items to go. In the evening, we just relaxed in our suite and enjoyed the tranquil time.
The weather turned nasty on Saturday (sort of like what happened in NYC the weekend before...), but we bundled up and walked to Beatrix for our brunch reservation. Busy spot! Yummy food! Not great coffee... It was fun to try a new spot, and we both agreed we'd like to return for other meals at the restaurant. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped by Dylan's Candy Bar so I could stock up on sweets. We spent the rest of the day at the hotel so that I could work on my CPCA project while Mr. E watched the Wisconsin vs. Ohio State game. Go Badgers! We're heading to the Big 10 Championship!
We made good time on the train to the airport and discovered that our flight was delayed by about 35 minutes, so we took full advantage of Mr. E's United Club pass, which allows me to enter as his guest. He then surprised me by surreptitiously going to talk with the customer service staff to upgrade our seats to First Class. That helped to make up for the initial delay plus the extra time we spent waiting for our turn to take-off. We got home about an hour later than expected, but at least we had all of the next day (Sunday) to unpack, do laundry, work out, and decorate for the holidays.
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