Ode to my small Abode

Hi All,

I can’t believe it’s nearly February already.  I hope everyone enjoyed Australia Day, the sunshine and the opportunity for a long weekend.  Though clearly not a public holiday in the US, we held our morning tea in the office.  It went so well and we had around 60 or 70 turn up … there’s only around 120 in total in the office, so we were very happy with that.  We put on meat pies, sausage rolls and lamingtons – all supplied by Aussie owned “Tuck Shop” in Downtown; ANZAC biscuits (made with molasses instead of Golden Syrup – who knew Golden Syrup was Australian…),  pumpkin scones, pavlova, fairy bread and of course Vegemite Sandwiches (some with cheese, some without).  The food was a hit – people were pleasantly surprised and we even have some new Vegemite fans!  We decorated the room with an Aussie flag, a big map and some Aussie sporting items – Sherrin, Rugby ball, cricket bat and ball; and milo and vegemite.  We got so many nice notes from people in the office and we’re hoping we’ve kicked off a trend.   St Patricks day is in March and we have a few Irish Americans who have said they’ll take on the challenge, and well, I have Irish roots so I said I’d help out if they want.

I did my fly in fly out of Toronto.  We got snow – in fact as soon as the plane landed it started snowing, so timing wise we were very lucky.  I found my new most favourite bed in the world at the hotel I stayed at….mmmm…. it may have felt that way given that I got up at 4:30am and went to bed at midnight, at which stage any bed would be awesome, but putting that aside, I really do think it was the most comfortable I’ve slept in.  Couple that with the doona from the Conrad in Hong Kong and you’ve got the perfect bed… 

So, now I’m back in Miami.  It’s so nice to not have to be loaded up with a coat and scarf and gloves and hat and, and , and…. I’m here for the week for three meetings, two of which I’m running.  It will be pretty intense, but there are worst locations I could be.  And terribly (sigh!), I have to come back at the end of February (my birthday week actually) for Finance and Operations meetings.  Why Miami?... I hear you ask.  Miami is a central hub for everything Latin American.  All flights from around Latin America go directly into Miami, whereas flying to NY requires connections, so it makes it quite convenient for everyone in the region.  In saying that for our friends in Argentina, it is still a 13+ hour flight.  I was looking on the map the other day and to give some context the latitude of Buenos Aires on the map is pretty much between Melbourne and Sydney.  Interestingly, when I was there last year I discovered that they used the same power adapters as us – the only place besides NZ that I’ve found do.  They thought they were the only ones as well!

So this is officially my last week living in the shoebox before becoming an official Jersey gal next Monday.  To officially commemorate this moment, I thought I would write a short “Ode to my small Abode”.  Enjoy…..

I leave this abode with feelings of joy and sorrow,

But know that this is a chapter in my next tomorrow

I crave some green and crave some space,

And I’m looking forward to stepping back the pace.

A place where it’s possible to relax and unwind

In midtown Manhattan, that’s almost impossible to find

The vibrations from my windows 4am daily will not be missed

And the sagging couch, the cause of back pain, is not on my list

My life of convenience will be mourned

As will my short commute that I absolutely adored.

I leave behind my tiny bathroom with stage room lights,

My heating systems that sends dust in flight.

My awesome oven in the even tinier kitchen that cooks to a T

And a fridge that could fit in even me

But most of all I leave the place where my NY journey did start,

And the 300 square feet will forever hold a special place in my heart

Signing off for another week...

Michele  

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow…. Or is that "Let is sludge?"

So finally we got snow!  I woke up Saturday morning and like a kid of Christmas day, jumped out of bed and ran to the window and opened the blinds and outside there was a winter wonderland!  Well, maybe not a wonderland – more like concrete covered in snow, but there was finally snow and it was beautiful.  Oh my!  Is that snow flakes? It is!  The snow is actually falling!

After a couple of hours enjoying the snow fall through the window, I had to venture out to go to a yoga class (more on that one later…).  First decision, what footwear does one wear in snow?  Why didn’t I buy those darn gumboots?  Oh well, I pulled out another pair of boots that I have bought since here…think lumberjack, fur lined style – perfect!  Put on the puffer jacket, beanie, ear muffs, gloves and we’re good to go!  Walking precariously down the street so I don’t slip – I’ve already fallen over twice, so I know the third is coming, or does two falls in one day ice skating count as two?  - anyway, I am also learning the joy of getting snow flakes in my eyes.  I’m loving the piles of fluffy snow on the side of the road, built up in pot plants, covering the awnings of buildings, it’s so nice.  I find a cab, pretty much the only cars on the road, and venture down to Union Square for yoga.  There’s no chains on the wheels so any sudden stopping (which was the case on my trip) and it’s a slidy stop.  I made it to yoga and 90 minutes emerged in a euphoric state to find the snow was starting to melt!  Nice fluffy piles of snow have been replaced with brown sludge all over the road, big, icy, muddy puddles are lashing up against the curb and sprays of sludge are flying off tyres of cars left, right and centre.  Where’s my winter wonderland gone?  Oh well, it was nice while it lasted and I’m sure there’ll be more, I mean there has to be! 

I’m on my way to Toronto, Canada as we speak for a one day visit (and I know it’s going to be snowing here).  My first trip to Canada so I am very excited, and it’s very good, only a 1 hour 15 minute flight from NYC.

So, the week that’s been…. Interestingly, after only two months, I already have a new job.  Still in the same department of MOD, but now with a bigger team of 5 that are dispersed all over Latin America – we have Antonella (Anto) from Argentina based in NYC with me, Jimena (Jime, pronounced Heme) based in Mexico, Juliana (Juli , pronounce Huli) in Colombia, Thays (Thays, pronounced Tie-ees) in Brazil and Maria Soledad (Sole, pronounced Sole-a) based in Argentina.  Pretty much coinciding with when I joined the team my boss was promoted to another role in Switzerland, thus the changes in the department.  So my new role is now a very interesting role (my other role was too) where our team is responsible for translating regional and global solutions into the market, and vice versa.  It will be very challenging, but that’s what I like.  So, last week, and this week for that matter have been somewhat insane from a work perspective. 

Now, I have heard rumours that some of you are worried that I’m lonely… please don’t worry.  Brett’s in the process of getting his visa and I’m more than getting enough human interaction.  I’m surrounded by people all day in the office, through the beauty of modern technology Brett and I get to see each other face to face every day, and I have Manuel the Brazilian shouting at me every night to shake my boom boom (more on him later…).  I’m also making friends and have very nice Australian colleagues at work who are very seasoned international assignees checking in on me each step of the way.  So, please don’t worry!  Now, I believe the rumour started because I have signed off my blogs with “keep in touch” – I am signing off with this not because I am lonely, but I just love to hear what’s going on, so thank you to all of you who regularly send me emails with your going ons. 

Now, back to my week, and specifically Saturday at

Union Square

yoga.  I’ve done a few yoga sessions in my time, but this was a different experience.   I walk into the class and everyone is wearing white (oh dear I’m in black pants!).  The yoga instructor has a long white beard that Santa would be proud of and is wearing an Indian style turban.  Interestingly, the guy is actually and NY lawyer (not Indian) and runs this yoga studio with his wife.  So I find myself a place on the floor and then go through a 90 minute yoga class that was both excrutiatingly painful and relaxing at the same time.  It was one of the best classes that I have done and I’ll definitely be back next Saturday.

And then there’s Manuel the Brazilian who keeps yelling at me to shake my Boom Boom. “What the….?  I hear you ask”.  So, I was drawn in by an infomercial on one of the millions of newest exercise fads – Brazilian Butt (or as Manuel calls it Boom Boom) Lift.  What can I say?...Genetics weren’t too kind to me.  Manuel is a Brazilian instructor who has the secret to giving any woman the perfect Brazilian body.  Anyway, so I started my Brazilian ‘classes’ this week – aka me in my apartment with my tv.  like the yoga, these classes were also excrutiatingly painful, but unlike yoga not relaxing in the slight bit.  But, I am feeling good, energized and committed.  My muscles on the other hand were screaming.

So, on Sunday I booked in for a massage at Ohm Spa (keeping with the yoga theme).  The beauty of NYC is that everything is open late even on Sundays, so I managed to book in for a 5:30 appointment to finish my weekend of perfectly (and just in time to see the Giants win their match to make it to the Superbowl).  I have been on the hunt for a good masseuse as one of the luxuries I afford myself is a good massage on a regular basis.  I hadn’t had any luck thus far, but Ohm Spa came highly recommended on the internet for not being so expensive, but really good quality…my cynical husband would tell me though that those reviews are written by the company… but in the absence of any other source of recommendation I thought I would give it a go.  I arrive and make it to the 7^th floor of building - the atmosphere of the spa is not bad, but not luxurious like Asian spas or even Endota, but it smells nice and it’s getting me in the zone.  But then my massage started by Tiffany.  All I can say is Tiffany is a master – this would have to be THE BESTEST OF BEST massages I have ever had, and I’ve had a lot!  I floated home, had a magnificent sleep and woke up to find that the tension in my muscles had been kneaded away by “Tiffany the master masseuse”.

So, this week I’m in Canada until Wednesday (it’s now Tuesday) and Thursday is Australia day and whilst you will all be enjoying a day off in the sun, I will be working, but me and my Aussie compadres are hosting an Australian Day morning tea at the office – yes, it was my lame idea…  I’ll let you know how we go.

Anyway, keep in touch J, and "speak" to you next week!... 

Michele

Happy New Year!

Hi All,

So I'm now back in the swing of things for 2012.  Mum has sadly left the big apple and is back in warm Melbourne, and let's just say from a work perspective, it doesn't feel like there was a break at all!

So, since writing last time (excluding my brush of fame photo blog), mum and I managed to do a heap of things.  We went on a movie tour around NYC, we went to the top of the empire state building, mum went off to Amish Country in Philadelphia and visited the nation's capital Washington DC, we explored Central Park, and most importantly, avoided ice skating at every cost....  We did the market circuit (hell's kitchen, chelsea market and union square) and found someone who sells meat pies - though he was a pom disguising himself as an Aussie, we walked the Brooklyn Bridge on a balmy 17 degree celcius day, went to a broadway show, visited FAO Schwarz and we enjoyed Jazz and Blues in Greenwich Village.  For an old lady, she kept up pretty well! (Don't worry, mum, you're not that old;)  ).  She's already planning the next trip here!  Here's a selection of my fave pics from the trip.

Mum and me out the front of the Cosby Show house

Mum and I out front of the fire station from Ghostbusters.

The soup kitchen that inspired Seinfeld's Soup Nazi

 Mum & I at the top of the Empire State Building

 Mum at Central Park

 A 25,000(!!!!!!) Barbie Fusball Table at FAO Schwarz

 Mum and the Chipmunks at Build a Bear Workshop

A statue of Rocky in Philadelphia

We celebrated bringing in the new year on a booze cruise - I have realised there is no class on these things, no matter where in the world you are.  When we arrived there was such a mammoth queue, we had some concerns as to whether the boat would stay afloat with that many people.  It was good fun though and such a great way to see the statue of liberty lit up at night.   We had a bit of a boogie and it was rather funny that each time the boat rocked the entire crowd of dancers swayed from one end of the boat to the other.   I must say though the fire works were a bit of a fizzle - I liken the quality of the display to that at the Shepparton show grounds, and that's being generous.  You would think there would be more than one firework launch place in a place like NYC. 

I made some new friends on the booze cruise, thanks to faithful ugg boots as my discussion point (she was wearing them, not me...).  So, this lovely couple I met, she is a broadway star and an extremely funny one at that, and he is a musician, and not just any musician... the lead singer of Spin Doctors who sings one of my (and my sister's) favourite songs of all times, Two Princes.... and he's good mates with the lead singer of one of my other favourite bands of all times, Dave Gleeson from Screaming Jets.  So funny, the song Two Princes takes me back to my youth and singing the song over and over again as I was walking down the street the first time I ever got drunk.  So, they were so lovely they invited me to brunch on new year's day (brunch at 2.30 in the afternoon!) at their apartment with all the rest of the broadway crew.  It was very surreal, but a lot of fun. 

So this weekend has been super cold, but still no snow!  It was minus 17 celcius yesterday with the wind chill.  The closest to snow has been the slightest of a 'flurry' where you can see little flurries of ice in the air, but they don't eventuate to anything on the ground.  There has been a couple of days though where the water on the ground freezes. 

It was the NY Giants big match against the Greenbay Packers (reigning 2011 Superbowl champions) yesterday, and the Giants went in as the underdog and won 20 to 37.  I educated myself on the game with the NFL website and discovered it is somewhat similiar to Rugby League.  I enjoyed the game with some colleagues from work yesterday.  So, next week the Giants are up against the San Francisco 49ers and if they win that, then they make the Superbowl.  I think that will be huge for the city and I might even jump on the bandwagon and get myself a shirt.   This has been my distraction as I have had to study for my exam which is on Wednesday so I have been couped up in my apartments studying away all weekend...boring! 

Good timing for my exam, today is a public holiday for Martin Luther King day.  There are a couple of funny thing about the US and public holidays... First thing, Christmas is the only religious holiday that is recognised as the country is 'non-denominational' and does not want to acknowledge one religion over the over.  The second thing is that Companies don't need to recognise all public holidays.  Basically Companies are required to give a certain number per year to employees, but they can set up the public holiday schedule like they want - so at PMI they use the days to beef up other public holidays like Thanksgiving.  Instead of only having the Thursday off, PMI gives you the Friday and the Monday as well.  Sounds nice and flexible, but it's hard for dual working families to play.  A lady I work with obviously had the day off, but her husband had to work and her kids had to go to school.  Very strange in my books. 
In two weeks time, I'm back in Miami, which will be lovely for another chance to defrost.  Then I'm moving into my new house!  I'm looking forward to moving off the island - it's a great city, but it's almost impossible to try and relax.  I went over to NJ with mum to show her the house and the first thing you notice is the quiet, it was so lovely.  But hey, it's been awesome to have the opportunity to live in Manhattan for a few months.

 But now, some of the most exciting news of all - I found Vegemite!!!!  Yay, who cares that it costs $9 for a small jar.  But you know the most annoying thing of all?  It's in the supermarket that I've shopped at before but I couldn't find it because it's in the bloody English section... that's just insulting. I've eaten so much Vegemite in the past 24 hours that there is a very strong chance that I will be forever preserved with all of the salt in my system!
Well, that's me signing off for another week.  Keep in touch!
Z.... Mush... Michele

“Oh, I’m sorry, did I break your concentration?”

Stop the Press.... Special Edition!... So, it finally happened!

PRESENTING......

Mr. Samuel L. Jackson

... & then me with Angela Basset

(OK, so there seems to be a theme of really unflattering photos of me in this thing...not a word from anyone!  What can I say, I had to be quick and take the photo myself and I forgot to get rid of "the chin"... and no, it's not a new chin from excessive chicken topped with bacon, cheese, chili beef and ketchup)

Oh, and for the uninformed, the title is a quote from Jules in Pulp Fiction - played by Samuel L.

Stay tuned for the next official installment