Christmas in The Netherlands

"Who would win in the Hunger Games?" I forgot to add this to the other post, but this came up in a conversation I had last night, which made me laugh. Over dinner one night, Becca, Lukas, and I were discussing who would win out of all of us in the Hunger Games. Lukas said that me and him would win together, because we would never kill each other. Now as for everyone else....I won't go into details, but I decided Dena would be my biggest competition because she's outdoorsy, and would team up with Charlene and Jarno, because they are the careers. They have to go first. Sorry Dena. It was a pretty funny discussion, and I honestly can't remember all of it, but I do remember those parts because they made me laugh the hardest.

Ummmm. I had to put the picture up, because it looks like Marijn and Becca are secretly in love. Really, we were just waiting for the train to get to Marijn's family's house. The morning we got to Marijn's was the only morning that Becca and I really slept in. It felt so good. We went to the store to get stuff to bake when we were at his family's house and ingredients to make some spaghetti with homemade sauce. #spoiled

YAY Charles Dickens!!! Turns out Deventer has a Charles Dickens festival and have murals on the walls of scenes from Charles Dickens books. It's pretty cool. I just love this quote.

We took a walk around town on Christmas day in our fancy dresses. I was planning on wearing flats to be more fashionable with my dress, but then realized, it's cold outside. #badidea Nevertheless, Deventer is an adorable town. 

 Jarno and Marijn are from the same town, so we went to see him on Boxing Day. We met his dad and it turns out he's awesome, and I have a crush on Jarno's dad. He was telling us how he roadtripped across America in his younger days. He bought a vehicle and just did it for a few months. No big deal, right? Super legit. He travels everywhere too. He's is wise and told me "if you have the money, you have to travel". I must say, I think of money in things I can do traveling, like "I could spend money on this, or it could buy me a plane ticket to *blank*".  He was really cool.

 We were at the Paleis Het Loo. It was awesome. The only constructive criticism I would have for the palace is for them to have English tour headsets for the rooms that speak to you in Dutch. Are you kidding me? My Dutch is almost non-existent. Twin pose! 👯 Becca and I did twin pose around Europe. Next trip...we will have more twin pose pictures until I can make an epic twin-pose collage ;)

 Bread, Cheese, and Maple Syrup?!?!?! I know, right? We were in Haarlem for the morning to see what's there to see. We found this adorable little cafe for lunch and were very curious by the menu with has two of our favorite European foods: bread and aged cheese. (seriously, the Dutch have great cheese). We were confused by what it meant by "syrup". Nope. It was what we thought, but it tasted better than expected. It was soooooooo good! They are genius.

Classic windmill picture.

This was at the Amsterdam Festival of Lights. I was super mean and wouldn't let Jarno eat until we walked around and saw ALL the exhibits on the trail. I'm terrible. At least I let him eat before we went on the trail 😏

We went to Maastricht! This, in and of itself is quite the accomplishment, as Marijn didn't want to go because it was "too far". #2hourtrainride we arrived and it is a lovely town. They were still having their Christmas market going on and the first thing we had to do was the very big Ferris Wheel! It was really high up, and I had to close my eyes at a couple of points. Crazy.

This is after going through the underground tunnels of Maastricht. We decided we needed a group photo, so we asked a random person. He was walking his dog and said if we hold the dog, he would take a picture for us. Deal. Later, we were at a bar and it was uncomfortably crowded. The best part was when Jelmer asked me if bars in Texas were like this one. I said, "I don't know. I don't go to bars in Texas." He looked at me and repeated the question. lol. I had to explain to him, in Texas, my friends know that I don't drink, so we normally do other activities than going to bars. I think something was lost in translation. He didn't seem to understand, and Becca was sitting there chuckling about the whole conversation.

We went back to Munich for the night before Becca flew home. We decided to go to Restaurant 181 in the spinning Olympic Tower. I had wanted to do this when I lived in Munich, but never found the time. It was epic. Becca and I should have probably been more dressed up, but we used the tourist excuse and enjoyed it anyway. The food was glorious!!! The bread and butter, I probably could have eaten that all day. First course was crazy good. The soup was so fluffy and amazing. The main course, sublime. Dessert was classy. I love food. It was worth every penny to eat there. I felt very posh.

This is the view from the front of Petra's family home. Wow. Enough said.

#1. Petra bought me this tiara, because she decided it was a Princess Day at the Castle!!! She's the best.
#2. To get this view, we had to climb around several "Do Not Enter" signs to go up to the bridge. I'm sure it's normally a great walk during the Spring and Summer, but trail was iced over. It would have been better to have ice skates. We had to walk on the side of the path to avoid slipping and falling. That almost happened many times. But it was awesome.
#3. I almost had an anxiety attack on the bridge. I hate bridges. It was super high up, and I kept having a vision of me breaking one of the boards as I stepped on it and falling to my death.
#4. Since this was on New Year's Eve, the place was pretty uncrowded, so there weren't too many people on the bridge or at the castle.

Ok. I know. Two pictures of the same place?  I really love the Neuschwanstein Castle.

This is a little game that they play on New Year's Eve for kids, where you melt down this metal toy and then drop the metal in water. When you pull it out, the shape indicates something, which is a prediction for the coming New Year. It was awesome. 

I would just like to say, I realize now, I didn't take any pictures of Marijn's family, otherwise they would be on this blog like nobody's business. They were amazing to let Becca and I join their Christmas festivities. They are the NICEST people and super cool. They do a very classy Christmas, which made me doubt I've ever had a moment of class in  my life. Thank you to Marijn's family!!! Thank you to Lukas' parents for letting us roadtrip across Germany with their car. Last, but not least, thank you to Petra and her family, who let me crash at their place in Allgäu. Petra's dad was super nice, even though he didn't speak English, and I don't really speak German. I like to think we are friends. It was an honor and privilege to be the first American to stay at their house. #blessed #grateful #thankyou

And now, I know what you are all thinking, "Natasha, you ate so much food in Europe! How much weight did you gain?!?!?!?" Fact: I lost weight! #win Turns out walking for miles and miles everyday is a good idea as long as you are eating tons of yummy calories to give you energy. #apfelmuscrepes

I Believe in a Thing Called Love

This is a love story. This will also be a "Natasha Story" as my high school bffs call it, meaning it will be a really long story and will take forever to get to the point. This love story starts on Sept 26, when I had to wake up really early and was miserable having to leave my wonderfully comfortable hotel bed to go to an early meeting, after staying up to work on a presentation I was going to give, but never ended up making changes to it, since my calculations were not making sense. I realized that I was a little Europe homesick. I have a group message on Whatapp with some of my friends from studying in Spain in this group. Becca tried to comfort me in my distress from the day saying, "don't worry, we will be in Guatemala soon. your job is paying for it!" and I said "I kinda want to switch Guatemala for Germany." She said "I'm okay with either, just as long as we go somewhere" wow. that was one of the greatest and easiest change of plans. It got me pretty excited. I was on cloud nine. Sadly, even though I was in a great mood, I was having some bad luck. Nevertheless, this news put a spring in my step all weekend.

I left work a little early to go pick up Teri Jo from work and start our weekend. It was gross stop-and-go traffic all to the airport. Bah humbug. The traffic wasn't as terrible as anticipated, so we arrived early. This was good because I was getting hangry for some food. The flight was good, and I got to start The Spy Who Loved, which is a biography about WWII spy who kept on blowing my mind with her quick thinking in super intense situations. We got to the LaGuardia pretty late and got in the taxi line, only for it to be ridiculously slow. The New Yorkers in line were getting very vocally upset and verbally assaulting the worker over the line. I was part amused and part horrified. Luckily, we got a taxi without any bloodshed, but after a super long wait.

We got to the hotel we were staying at, the W in Time Square. Teri Jo's friend is a chef for a super fancy hotel in Boston, and got us a friend-rate. So we walked into the hotel, and the lobby/check-in area is on the 7th floor. The 7th floor is also a club. There were people dancing,and great music. We checked in and got into a different set of elevators to get up to the room, except you have to insert your hotel card to get to the floor you needed. Teri Jo was having major problems with the key card. lol. I used my hotel expertise to get us to our room...and the room was super swanky with a beautiful view of Time Square. I hoped in the shower so I could sleep in a little more the next morning since we were going to get some CRONUTS!!!

Saturday morning began with waking up, putting on my red lipstick, and grabbing a scarf to keep me warm in the chilly weather...at 5:30am. We got a taxi to take us down to Dominique Ansel's Bakery, and figured out where it was at from the line that had already formed. We took a seat on the side walk and attempted to stay warm, and made a friend. She worked in fashion design for bathing suits at Target. She was pretty cool, and we became friends for the 3 hours we were in line. The bakery is pretty small, so you go into the bakery in groups. We were in the second group. There was someone waiting in line in a sleeping bag, napping. There was also another person with an office chair, which they claim they found outside by and took it to the line with them. lol.
We were waiting in line for the cronut inside the bakery. I spotted Dominique, and the New Yorker girl we became friends with said that he was really friendly and took pictures with tourists. I finally got up the courage to ask him for a picture. He looked at me and said, "No". My face dropped, and I said, "Oh. Ok." to which he smiled and said "of course! How can I say no to a face like that?" with a smile. He came from around the counter and took a picture with me and another one with me and Teri Jo. His French accent just melted me. I loved it. The cronut flavor of the month was fig. Honestly, you say fig, and I am not impressed. Oh snap. it was tasty. Was it as life-changing as everyone makes it out to be? Maybe not so much. But the experience of it all made it all worth it.  I ate a cronut and ate a few bites of a frozen smore. I'm pretty sure I was about to die from a sugar coma. Luckily, I got some milk to balance out the sugar. It was great. We then took a walk to the subway station. On the way there we walked past the Dash store, and I thought of Saryah. I didn't even notice it, since I'm super unobservant, but Teri Jo pointed it out to me. We got to the subway, only for me to realize, I don't understand the differences between the metro tickets. It took a few minutes and we just chose the $10 fare ticket you can reload with more money later. We hopped on the metro, switched lines to go up to Time Square. After a few stops, we started to suspect that we were going the wrong way, except we only were sure when the train went above ground and across the bridge into Brooklyn. It was ridiculous. But I couldn't find a map of where we were on the metro, and I didn't have signal in the underground metro to follow where we were on my phone. It was quite ridiculous; it's the first metro that ever got the best of me.

We miraculously found our way back to Time Square before heading off to book a bike tour of Central Park. Sadly, it was booked, so we had to go on the 1pm tour. Since this was the case, we went back to Time Square; Teri Jo wanted to see the Disney store (she's one of those Disney lovers). We were talking and saying how we would love to just love seeing another play on Sunday afternoon before we leave, even though we are going tonight. I was kinda happy that Teri Jo was so cool with this idea, because I could honestly come up to NYC and watch plays all weekend and be as happy as a clam. We went back to the bike tour place, and it was pretty fun. The biking was relaxing and nice. Teri Jo was getting a little annoyed with me always looking behind me to make sure I haven't lost her. She called me out on it, so I stopped. This backfired, because when we got to the lake in the part, she was not there. We lost her. She found her way back, but it was not unreasonable for me to check on her. She walks really slowly, so I wanted to check on her on the bike too.

I had texted Dan earlier in the week to tell him I was heading to NYC and how I wanted to meet up. We were texting to meet up. We finished the tour, and he called. The funny thing was, when I picked up the call, I thought, 'Why is a British person calling me?' and then I remembered...hahaha, it's my cousin; he has an accent. (i honestly forget my dad has an accent most times)

Teri Jo and I went to a little coffee shop on the corner, to meet up with Cool Cousin Dan. Plus, it was almost 3:30pm, and we hadn't ate any lunch. I needed a sugar level boost. Dan met up with us, and we had some great catch up time. I was teasing him about wearing a helmet as he was biking around. He said it was because he fell asleep on his bike one day and fell off. He really is the coolest. He introduced me to the concept of traveling the world for a year. I thought if I ever took time between jobs, it would be for two months or something, but when he said a year, it was like a light-bulb turned on in my brain and in my heart.

really cool art on the side of a building off the High Line

We went down to High Line to walk the trail. It was on a list of things to do that Saryah sent me. It was really beautiful, and was a nice place to walk. We were pretty hungry, and Dan recommended a pizza place off the line. We went, and it was delectable!!!!! The wait was a little longer than was desirable, since they didn't have any slice immediately ready. Nevertheless....sooo good. Dan and Teri Jo ate it so quickly, that I tried to eat it faster, and I'm pretty sure I burned my tongue. Dan then had to go get ready for a wedding reception, and Teri Jo and I needed to get back and get ready for our night on Broadway. I ended up passing out on the bed, while Teri Jo got ready. Teri Jo and I were headed off to two different plays. Teri Jo had the dream of going to Newsies on Broadway. I never had that dream. I was willing to go, but honestly wasn't too excited about it. Luckily, Teri Jo is pretty cool, and was like "you don't have to go to the same play as me" so i took that out like a Nox spell and went to Once. Oh my. Lindsay went to see this when she went to NYC last and told me how amazing it was. Before the show, the cast is on the stage singing Irish songs. It was brilliant. Then when the first song came on it, was soooo hauntingly beautiful. I was captivated. It as a totally British ending. I loved it.

After the musicals, we met up and walked around Manhattan at night, after Teri Jo got her pics with the Naked Cowboy. It was part amusing and part disturbing. lol. The walk was super relaxing and beautiful.We walked around for a while. We went to get some cupcakes for a midnight snack. We went to Rockefeller Center, Chrysler Building, Grand Central Station, NYC Public Library (they were having a black tie event in the library. i wish i was invited), and Empire State Building. It was a nice walk, even after being sexually propositioned by random guys I smiled at in a car.

We woke up and took a taxi to go to church with the Young Single Adult congregation in the Manhattan temple building. The bishop's wife was super nice to us. Everyone in the congregation looked like models. It was ridiculous. We took off after sacrament meeting to go to brunch at a restaurant Dena recommended. It was sooo good. Plus, there was live jazz playing. The ambiance was pretty legit. We then went down to see the Freedom Tower. I forgot to get us ticket to the 9/11 memorial beforehand, but the line to pick up those tickets was super long as well.

After the Freedom tower we went to Battery Park. It was beautiful. We got a ice cream and lemoneade as we sat on a bench and just relaxed. We were relaxing and waiting for Ben to show up #multitasking I honestly wanted to find a patch of grass and lay down to soak in some sun. Sadly, Battery Park seems to be more of a plant part rather than a grassy knoll park. Ben finally showed up, and we saw each other across the memorial and Ben started dramatically slow running toward me, so, of course, I had to join in the fun. Don't tell Ben, but I had forgotten how much I love that kid! I finally got to tell him, in person, how I've joined him in the i-dont-want-to-get-married-anytime-soon-slash-i-love-being-single club. I think Teri Jo was a little overwhelmed by the energy and excitement that Ben and I created. I had to explain to her that we were kindred spirits. Teri Jo told Ben that I was like a black widow, killing everyone who might be possibly interested in me. We caught up, we caught a taxi back up town to make it back in time for the musical Teri Jo and I were going to catch before our plane out. On the plane we were joking and having too much fun. I dont remember what the joke was, but I said one of my twisted humor jokes, and teri jo said "that is dark". ben said something along the lines of "there is no darkness with natasha, because she is the light". omg. I almost died. It rivaled my super cheesy comment to him i made earlier, which I do not remember, but it was too perfect to pass up. Ben dropped us off at the First Date, literally, right before it started. I miss that kid.

First date was amazing. I was laughing so hard with the first song. It is a "musical comedy", and when I heard that, I wasn't sure what to expect, and my expectations were pretty low. OMG. TOO FUNNY! It was as if anything awkward or ridiculous happened on a first date, it was in this musical. It was great. The best part...Zachary Levi. He is amazing. His singing voice was great. He was the voice of Flynn Rider in Tangled, and you always think that that Hollywood changes voices to make it better, but his voice was exactly the same as in the movie. Afterwards, we met him in real life after the play. We waited at the stage door, and the cast came out to tell everyone it was his birthday. We sang Happy Birthday to him, and he went around signing things for people. I got him to sign my ticket and play bill. The girl next to me bought a Flynn Rider doll (action figure?) for him to sign (the box, not the actual doll). There was another girl who was telling him how she asked her friend to get something signed from him and it didn't happened and she tweeted him. He responded that he received the tweet and wanted to talk to her and how grateful he was that she came, so he could sign her stuff. It was then time for photos. I got a photo with him, and as I walked away, I looked back at him, made eye contact, and I fell in love. It was beautiful. Maybe it's true love, or it goes to show how I can only love people who are unavailable. We'll see. See....I told you it was a love story.

It ended on a great note. We took another walk, feeling high off the love in our hearts for Zachary Levi. Taxied our way to the Newark Airport, because NYC metro and trains confuse me to no end. We ate sushi and slept on the flight back. The end. 

One Year Anniversary: Philly Style

For our one year mark with the company, they flew us all out to HQ in Philadelphia.

Jon and I flew in at the same time (6/12), so we could drive together. Are you noticing a pattern? I hate driving on business trips. We got in, and Jon and I headed for lunch at Tony Luke's. (The week before that was Jarrett's food recommendation for me) Oh my word, it was a really good sandwich. I wish I could have eaten it all. Jon and I went to check into our rooms before going to Target. I forgot to pack my toothbrush and he wanted a new shirt. His shirt below is newly purchased from Target, and it looks good. #targetfan We had to be at HQ by 4pm, because Michael wanted to interview us for a recruitment video. I know, right? The last thing I want is to be in a recruitment video. #ilikeprivacy

When we all got there, we were put in a conference room. I still had tons of work to do, I had to get on my computer and do work while everyone was socializing. I had to make some calls, and Jarrett was all like "oh look, natasha's got phone swag" lol. All I wanted to do was sit and chat, but I had a lot to do with never enough time to do it. I did my interview where they taped me. I was so nervous. I tried to portray confidence and intelligence while mentally trying to keep still, not to twist my chair from side to side, and keep my hands from fidgeting. It was a difficult task. Then we went downstairs to the outside area. They had us sit around a table and just talk. It was pretty entertaining, because Jon, as usual, asked deep questions that no normal person would think of right off the bat. The worst was when they were off camera and we joked how we came into the program as 5 strangers but left as team or family or something equally cheesy. When the cameras started rolling again, Jon worked it into the conversation. We all started laughing. It was too cheesy to react seriously. We all got a picture, and we got one with Michael for our thank-you gift we had been planning.

We all then headed to a restaurant for dinner with Michael and the VP of HR. It was pretty fun. A little weird because we're all so close and the VP doesn't really know any of us personally, so it took a while for all of us to find a good rhythm. It also didn't help that someone kept bringing up the fact that they went to China; a sore subject for Lindsay and me, who wished to have had the opportunity to go to China. We said our goodbyes, and once the adults left we made plans to meet up again after changing our hotels.

We met up at a sports bar and grill. Everyone got some beer, but it turns out they wouldn't accept Jon's paper replacement lisence that they give you in Texas as a temp when you are getting a new license after you've lost yours. They guy wouldn't accept it, and it made Jon pretty mad. Jon made a little bit of a fuss, but we eventually convinced him to just go back to the hotel and grab his passport (because TSA also doesn't accept a paper form of ID) since we were planning on being there for a while. We all got some dessert to top off the night and it was amazing! Jon eventually came back and ordered two beers. The guy told him he was only allowed to order one at a time. Jon was mad. To help out, I ordered my first beer ever. When the guy carded me, he asked rudely "do you have your driver's license or do you need to go get a passport too?" I wanted to slap him. As soon as he brought out the beers, I moved mine directly in front on Jon. As a thank you, Jon paid for my pink lemonades for the rest of the night. Towards the end of the night, the hockey game was almost over and Jarrett didn't want to leave, which meant Lindsay had to stay behind. Luckily, Jon is much nicer and was like, "i'm ready when you're ready". We all stayed to see a little more of the game and then took off.

Thursday morning started off quite well. I went out for breakfast only to find Jon had been up a while and already eaten. Of course he has. We got to the office, and everyone when to the training except for me. I had a meeting for my freight project, that we scheduled because all my team was already going to be in Philly, so it was easier to just meet then. It was a good meeting with a lot of information, but I was excited to get back to everyone. We watched a video about personal responsibility which was highly amusing. The CEO came in to talk to us for a bit. Then we had time to do our own work, which was perfect because I had calls to make for one thing and a Friday 9am deadline on a different project.

By the time it was lunch, all the C-level execs were available, and I was able to introduce Lindsay to a lot of the people I'd already met where she hadn't had the opportunity. I saw my boss from Germany, Besty. She gave me a big hug and said "had I known you got in yesterday, I would of invited you both (me and lindsay) over for dinner at my house!" She is soooo sweet. So Lindsay and I sat with Besty, Addy, and my mentor, Vik. It was a good table, and we had a fun time chatting it up over some really good food. Honestly I wanted more, but I wanted to talk more than overeat. As lunch came to a close they had us stand up and introduce ourselves so everyone could get to know who we were. Jarrett started, and he gave so much detail  about himself, Susan had to ask we shorten it a little. Lindsay went before me, and she explained how we worked together the first 2 rotations, so when it was my turn, I had barely anything to say. Add that to me hating tons of people staring at me, I made a joke "I've been working with Addy the past 6 months, and he liked me so much he decided to keep me around longer and put me on his team" There was laughter. I think it was the good kind, not the she's-crazy-so-we-need-to-laugh-so-she-doesn't-crack kind. After lunch it was time for our "team building" aka, site seeing. We peaced out of there.

First stop: Liberty Bell.

We all headed out expecting it was going to rain all afternoon. Instead it was a beautiful day the entire time. We did a walking tour and saw a lot of sights. Liberty Bell. Liberty Hall. Second Bank of the United States. Betsy Ross House. Elfreth's Alley. Christ's Church. The Library and other things. Then we went to the spy exhibit they had there. It was legit. Spies are cool. However, I'm pretty sure I would be a terrible spy. I get too antsy.

twinkies

After walking around all afternoon, and the lack of proper walking shoes for Lindsay and I, we were hungry and our feet were hurting. We managed to get to dinner, and I was getting hangry. I was so hangry, I couldn't even act nice.

Can I just say: one of my biggest pet peeves is pretentious people. Those people who act all knowing, like they know you or know better than you, when they do not. Now, if you are smarter, more clever, or wiser than I am, I will readily admit it. I have lots of friends who I acknowledge their better-ness and bow to their advise and words of wisdom. But it is the people who act like they are better and are not, that make me mad. For example, when you are trying to tell *me* about Texas and Texans, and you've only been there a few times, you are out of line. If you've only been to one foreign country ever, and act like you're a world travelling genius with all the wisdom of the world, there is a reason I'm going to want to slap you in the face and tell you what a tool you are. If you keep telling me your opinion on everything, even when I don't care or didn't ask, and act like it is a God-given fact, then I'm going to have to use all my energy trying not to tell you off rather than pretend to be nice.

It was a fun dinner. We ended up playing a drinking game, where Jon had to drink for me if I lost. It turns out, I was pretty good at this game, but nevertheless, Jon was pretty drunk by the time we left dinner. It turns out Jon *really* likes to drink. Lindsay and Jarrett were staying the weekend in Philly and staying at Lindsay's uncle's house downtown. Jon and I decided to go over to their uncle's house to hang out before going out some more. It was our last night together, and we wanted to hang out a bit. Lindsay's Uncle's house is AMAZING! It's downtown, huge spiral staircase, and 4 stories with a basement. There is a 2-story library. I fell in love. We hung out there for a bit. Lindsay and I were laying on the bed upstairs talking while Jarrett was downstairs on the massage chair and Jon played the piano in the entrance area. Eventually Jarrett came in and laid on top of us. We were just chatting. Jarrett said that he was going to miss Lindsay when she left because she was his bestie (oh, we found out that our permanent locations were going to be in Chicago or Houston). Eventually Jon found his way upstairs too, and we all decided to go out again. Lindsay's uncle recommended a jazz bar nearby, so we hopped in the car and took off.

We got to the jazz bar and they made us go through the basement entrance. We all got our first drinks of the night. My shirley temple was on the house and we cheers-ed our drinks together when jon dropped his shot glass; it broke after spilling all over Lindsay. Not a good way to start the night. Jon was already pretty drunk. It turns out Jon is a pretty intense drunk. I dont think he means to be, but you really want him to just calm down a bit because he is unknowingly offending a lot of people. Jarrett on the other hand seems to age backwards and become very affectionate. He kept on asking for kisses on his cheeks all night, and it had to be both otherwise it's uneven. lol. we played Jenga with strangers. It also turned out that there was no jazz that night, but it was a comedy night. Some of them were funny. Some of them weren't. Most of them teased Jon and Jarrett because they were both getting really loud as the night progressed....and we were front row. The most awkward part was when a comedian asked Lindsay and I a question, which implied that we were hooking up with Jon and Jarrett. I dont think I will ever repeat the question for as long as I live, but needless to say I was blushing, and after what felt like a lifetime of awkwardness, i replied "we wouldn't know" Then the comedian started teasing them for being with us but not being with us. It was too much. Eventually, after a long night, the guys were super drunk, I was super tired, and I would be driving Jon and I back to the hotel tonight, all the while knowing I hadn't completed my work assignment for my 9am call in the morning and it was going on 2am.

work hard. play hard.

Lindsay and I eventually got Jon and Jarrett out of the bar. On the drive back to Lindsay's uncle's place, it turns out everyone is hungry. Jarrett was trying to put in the name of a place he wanted to go, but he was too drunk to type coherent words into the GPS. Luckily there is a Wendy's on a corner, so we all piled out. We're eating, and everyone is staring at us because members of our party are pretty loud. We were about to leave when Jarrett looks at me very seriously and says "I have to tell you something very important". I'm chuckling and say "what is it?" He's taken aback my my lighthearted manner and says "no. i can't tell you. you're not ready". It so super dramatic, I tried so hard not to laugh. (I asked Jarrett about it later, and he has no recollection of it. He did say "when you're ready, you'll know" lol. thanks jarrett). Jon and I dropped off Lindsay and Jarrett, and we continued onto our hotel. I was so exhausted.

Friday morning, I woke up feeling terrible. I ended up waking up before my alarm and ended up throwing up in the bathroom. I felt like death. I went back to sleep, praying I would wake up feeling better. I managed to wake up at 8am and finish my assignment right in time for the conference call deadline. After the call I had to shower and go to the airport for my flight. When I got back to Houston, I was feeling mildly better but was unsure if I would be up for going to New Braunfels over the weekend with my girlfriends. Luckily two had to cancel last minute, so we all decided to reschedule. This was good because all I wanted to do the rest of the weekend was sleep because I had maybe 14 hours of sleep over the past 3 nights. It's always a party when we get together. 

NOLA

So life in Sedalia is pretty quiet. I wake up at 7. Leave for work at 7:50/7:55ish and get to work 5 minutes later. Work is nice because I really like the people I work with and my project is super interesting and keeping me busy. A busy Natasha is a happy Natasha. Fact. Also, I've started wearing red lipstick. Like Taylor Swift red. well, it's lip gloss, but still good.

Quick recap of last week: Lindsay and I went shopping at Lee's Summit last friday (9/15), where due to our lack of luggage, we used it as an excuse to buy new things. i invested in some new flats. YAY SHOES! Then we went to a bonfire at a YSA girl's house and played volleyball (where we weren't the worst players) and ate hot dogs roasted over a bonfire. Nice! Our luggage finally came in on Monday (9/17) so im very happy to have all my clothes with me. clothes. and my love-of-my-life-boots. LOVE THEM! I want to wear them all the time. My new exercise shoes came in the mail too. Still haven't used them...but now i have them should i decided to hit up the gym.

This past weekend (Sept 21-23) I was able to fly down to New Orleans. NOLA. The Cresent City. The Big Easy. The City That Care Forgot. Nawlins. Can I make a correction first off? It's not New Orleens, with the hard "e". It's pronounced New Orlans, with the soft "a". It's the south. Love it. Let's start with that Friday.

Friday (9/21) Lindsay and I met with Kim to go over some Kanban questions we had. Lindsay was on a roll as lunch time came around. I could tell Kim was getting a little hungrr, so I suggested that we pause the meeting for lunch. Lindsay responded that she wasn't hungry. lol. but we stopped anyways and Kim invited us to lunch. Lindsay and I bring out lunch, but Kim said to leave it so we could eat some BBQ. Can I just say, the place we went had very bland pulled pork. All the flavor was in the sauce. #depressing but super filling. I wasn't hungry the rest of the day.

taking pics with statues :)

So I left work early to drive the 2 hours to the airport. Note to self: Never live more than an hour away from an airport. Back to the story. When I got to the airport I realized that my NOOK battery was dead. Bah humbug! I just bought a book specifically for the flight. I plugged in my phone, connected in the internet and proceeded to download the NOOK app onto my phone. It took FOREVER. So I was able to get the book on my phone and read it on the way down to New Orleans. So the flight was nice, and I took the airport shuttle to the Marriott on Canal Street. Swanky. Thank you corporate America. (as an explination, my dad is in New Orleans on a business trip and i flew down for the weekend with his frequent flyer miles. win!) I got up to the room and guess what was waiting for me? My blanket, water filter, and winter coat! Best Dad EVER! We were chatting and at one point my dad said, "oh I got you an Apple." "An APPLE?" I responded, thinking of the iTouch Saryah got last week. Then I looked on the bed and saw he had 2 little red apples he got as a snack. Not the kind of apple to get that excited about. Haha.

I woke up from Dad moving around around 7am. Not the time I'm used to waking up at on a weekend, but he was teasing how i've been sleeping the day away, so I got up and found a place online for us to have breakfast, The Old Coffee Pot Resturant. it was adorable! And our waitress was so full of southern love. So happy. We wandered through the French Quarter and made our way to the St. Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square. We meandered along the Mississippi River (that's right, I just did the whole childhood-spelling-chant as I typed the word Mississippi) We did the cemetary tour of St. Louis Cemetary #1, and our tour guide was super cool. He even explained the different types of houses found in the French Quarter, along with what Romeo Spikes are. Cool. As the day was progressing the hotter it was getting. After the tour, we went to have one of the original muffalettas. There was a lunchtime line. I know I love telling people I'm half British, but I forget that people can actually tell my dad is foreign. He was talking to someone in line and they ask, "where are yall from?" Dad responded, "Texas!" and they guy says, "no really. where are you from" I heard that and thought, 'dude, he just told you he was from texas. why do you think he's lying? we're from texas!' My dad told him where he's originally from and then i realized, 'oh yeah! my dad has an accent! duh!' I just forget because i dont really hear it. We then went by the oldest building in New Orleans, the Ursuline Convent, before heading back to our hotel for a break. It was just getting too hot and I was DYING!

House in Musicians Corner with Katrina marking still

So Dad took a nap and i relaxed for a bit. We then made it out for dinner at...get this...Huck Finn's Cafe. Say what??? I know, right? But it was funny because we happened to go in right during a football game with tons of fans. Too funny. I got my crawfish etouffee that i'd been craving. (and i sneakily robbed him on his credit card to pay for the meal. hahaha) Then we walked around the French Quarter for the rest of the night. We got to hear the jazz along Frenchman Street and see the nighttime vendors along there. We also got to a park with lots of statues of jazz musicians. It was nice. It was past nightfall when we got back to the hotel and spent the rest of the night watching Ratatouee on ABC Family.  Seriously, coolest dad EVER.

Above Ground Cemeteries are all the rage 

So Sunday morning we got up bright and early to go to Cafe Du Monde for the beignets because Saryah would kill us if we didn't. (Saryah loves NOLA) We then headed back for our city tour. We saw everything. We saw the 9th Ward, where there is still Hurricane Katrina damage. The house that Brangelina own in the French Quarter. the cool LDS church on St. Charles Ave (that wasn't mentioned on the tour, but i totally saw it!) and the Musicians Street. It was a really good tour. Then we went to have our last meal together. I had my first taste of alligator! It was tasty. A little too spicy for Dad. We walked the streets a little longer, and saw the French Market, before I needed to get back to the hotel for the shuttle pickup.  It was funny because as we were walking back to the hotel, Dad said we should turn on the street after Royal. I said, "nah, that's Bourbon Street" and he said, "yeah, that's not really my kind of street". lol. mine either. we aren't really into the party scene :) Our goodbye...of course...was a silly one. Then I got onto the shuttle where we were stuck in standstill traffic for over half an hour due to the LA Saints game just getting out. But i still had plenty of time to get to the airport. There was a magical Blue Bell ice cream place in the airport, which i had never seen before. I slept on the plane ride home, arrived, picked up my beautiful Jeep Liberty, and drove the two hour ride back to Sedalia. The best part when when I was feeling tired and Katy Perry's 'Wide Awake'...the irony made me laugh.

It just made me think of a conversation I was having with Jay over Labor Day weekend. I just kinda paused and said, "it's kind of ridiculous how cool we all are." My family is AWESOME. I haven't had a vacation with my Dad since, I think junior high, when we did Spring Break back home in England. He is so funny. Good ole British humor. THE BEST DAD EVER! But then again, my parents are awesome. And vacationing with them is fun too. I may tag along on their possible trip next year back to visit family and friends in the UK because they are too cool for school. Who knows? #stalkeralert

Can I just say that I shop way to much at Wal-Mart? No seriously. It's ridiculous. but Wal-Mart has everything I need in one stop. On Monday (9/24), Lindsay and I spend 1.5 hours at Wal-Mart after work. It's where the rule, "if it has glitter, it's not manly" was created.

Also, I got my steel toed sneakers for work and they are soooo comfy. I wear them most of the day because it's easier than changing in and out of them whenever i want to go to the factory floor. and they keep my feet so warm because my side of the office feels like an ice box. literally. i have a jacket on all day just because it's so cold.

Futhermore. I love my NOOK. The only bad thing is...it's too easy to get new books. i buy a lot of books now. especially since there is no good library here. i am a fan of libraries. for rizzle....i miss the Tempe Public Library. That library had every book you could ever want! It was a bookworm's dream come true.

And I love that me and my little sister are in the States at the same time again (which hasn't happened since early January) so we can talk on the phone all the time :) She's the funniest person i know. for example click here. And once again....im considering joining Twitter.