West Coast weekend!!

Well, I went to Los Angeles over the weekend to go visit my cousin Selen who is going to grad school out there and Kathryn who is working out there. Gina also flew in so I got to see a lot of people in one trip!

We got in Thursday evening and the first thing we did was hit up In and Out burger. People talk about that place like it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. It was pretty good if I do say so myself. Then we went to Selen's apartment which is super cute (and way bigger then I expected) where we hung out for a while, changed, and finally made it out.  We went to a bar in Santa Monica called Busby's (or something like that). Apparently the pickup line of the evening was "It's my friend's birthday..." because we heard it 3 times.

                
Friday morning we woke up and went to UCLA's campus which is BEAUTIFUL! We saw the graduate school and walked around for a bit. We ate delicious ice cream sandwiches and had chinese food for lunch. Then we headed to Hollywood to be tourists. We went to the Chinese theater and hit some of the shops. We stood in line for Jimmy Kimmel for a while which only resulted in getting our parking validated. We had dinner at Geisha House which plays great music, had delicious sushi, and looks pretty cool on the inside. On the outside, it looks quite sketchy and they make you come in the side door. We also got to go see Kathryn's cute apartment in the heart of Hollywood and where Ashley, a friend from college, works. Whether it was all the catching up we had to do, or the effect of the California air, by this point I had pretty much lost my voice so we went back to Selen's and had a little slumber party. After hours of talking (and lots of tea drinking) we called it a night because we had a big day on Saturday!

          

Saturday we started at Chinatown to "find Gina's family" as the joke went. We went into lots of tiny little souvenier shops and looked at 10,405,508 bamboo plants. We went to lunch at some place with roasted ducks in the window b/c Gina said you can't go wrong with a restaurant with roasted ducks in the window. She's Asian so we believed her and she was right! We thought we ordered way too much but we made a pretty nice dent in it! After lunch we walked around a bit more and we got bubble tea! Then we headed back to Santa Monica where we took the bus to the beach. We rented beach cruisers (except for Gina who got a tricycle) and road down to Venice Beach. Kathryn and I attempted a tandem bike and decided it was too crowded for our first try! We walked around there for a while and gawked at the interesting Californians cruising around. We road back to the pier and then hit up the 3rd Street Promenade. We also went to Yummy Cupcakes and shared some delicious dessert (even though we hadn't had dinner yet). I have to say that they were good but they don't compare to The Cupcake Shop here in Michigan. Finally after we didn't think we could shop anymore, we went back to Selen's for a delicious Turkish dinner and to get ready for a night out!!

   

We went to a club called Opera in Hollywood. First of all, they don't put the names on the outside of all the clubs, so if you don't know where you're going (which we found out we didn't) it makes it rather difficult to figure out where you are. Also, it always helps to know someone b/c there is nothing like skipping the line and getting right in to boost your ego. We made some friends (mostly negative) and enjoyed the music, dancing, and people watching. Of course, no trip to L.A. is complete without seeing someone famous and who showed up at the club? Rob from Rob and Big! Of course, being from the Midwest we "nonchalantly" took pictures of each other with Rob in the background. I think him and I are the same height!
      
We finally made it home around 3 am because we had to leave for the airport at 6. The flights home were uneventful because I slept through both of them. I do have to say that I was suprised at the size of the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport. I was starving when I got there but I decided to find my gate first and then back track to find food. My gate was so far out in the middle of nowhere that I decided I would rather wait another 4 hours until I got home rather then drag my suitcase back through the airport to find something to eat.

All in all, it was a great weekend! The weather was perfect, the company was ideal, and we accomplished a lot! I miss the girls already and hope that we can do it again soon!

Technical difficulties...

So, I'm trying to make this blog more interesting or at least nicer to look at by adding some features that Google makes available. Unfortunately, it's not working the way I want it to. If anyone knows how to get a picture on my blog that goes all the way across the bottom of the page and is there all the time, please show me how. I know it can be done because I've seen one that has it!! I'm quite annoyed. But once I do get it figured out (and I will), please feel free to comment on my success.

I also added a list of books I've read and recommend. I don't know if anyone else actually likes the same types of books I do, but I'm putting them up there anyway.

In other news, I'm planning on getting a haircut next week and I have no idea what I want. My current plan is to take in a bunch of pictures of haircuts I think are cute and then just tell her to do whatever she thinks would look good. Normally, the control freak side of me would hate this plan but my hairdresser is really cute and her hair always looks good. I'm attaching a few pictures that I plan on taking in.




What to do, what to do!!

Last night I watched "It's always sunny in Philadelphia" with my roommates and friends. I'm sorry to say I do not like that show! I watched 3 episodes because I really wanted to give it a chance. So many other people like and it doesn't take much to make me laugh, but this show did not win me over.

You know what else started last night? BIGGEST LOSER!! I haven't had a chance to watch it but I know there are 2 boys over 400lbs on it (so sad!) and the oldest couple yet!! Should be a great season!!

Branching out

Happy New Year everyone!!

This year I decided that I'm going to branch my blog out a bit. It won't just be about my travels for work but my life in general and any weekend trips I might take. And I hope to add a few more pictures so that those of you reading can feel like you're there!

Right now I'm in Michigan but in just 2 short days I'll be flying off to LA to visit Kathryn and Selen!! I'm quite excited to see them (and not to mention enjoy the sunny weather of California!!)!!

For the past two weeks I was in Indy enjoying the holidays with family and friends. It's always so nice to go home for extended periods of time! I miss everyone already! I also miss having a garage to park my car in so there is no frost on it when I get in it in the morning. But at least with frost I don't have to scrape it off like snow so I won't complain!

On my way down to Indianapolis, I finished listening to the book THE PARTNER by John Grisham which I highly recommend. I have yet to read something of his that I didn't enjoy. Recently, I've also read ANTHEM by Ayn Rand which is short and strange but worth reading. And I read TELL ME YOUR DREAMS by Sydney Sheldon which once I finished, I realized that I had already read. Oh well! I would recommend that book as well as any of his others.

I decided that my current winter hat which though very warm, is not necessarily the most professional (imagine extended ears and a ball on top as well as 2 more on the end of the strings that you can tie under your chin). So I decided to get a beret. I couldn't find any at the mall when I went so I ordered two online and am anxiously waiting for them so I can decide which one I like better and which to return... I've attached pictures below.

anthropologie.com and urbanoutfitters.com

Feel free to make fun of my hats if you must, Colleen already did anyway.

I think that's it on my life updates for now! I hope this finds everyone happy and healthy and enjoying the new year! Look forward to LA updates and my trip to Turkey in just 2.5 weeks (God willingly!)!

I almost forgot I had a blog

Well, technically I'm not on my audit anymore but it didn't even occur to me that traveling to Indy was a travel audit until now, so it's time for an entry!!

So I was lucky enough to come back to my sweet home of Indiana for 3 weeks for an audit! And I even got to stay with my parents and have my own rental car! When I picked up the rental in Michigan, I was given a Mercury Grand Marquis which are usually driven by people who are 65 and over. It was massive! So once I got to Indiana, I made some phone calls and got myself hooked up with a convertible! I've been cruising around for the last 3 weeks "top down, screaming out 'money ain't a thing'" to quote my sister.

This audit also couldn't have fallen at a better time because it fell over the weekend of my sister's wedding! So I got to hang out with her and our family who was here from Turkey up until the big day! The weather for the weekend was predicted to be awful and rainy due to Ike but God wanted to see my sister get married outside so he made it sunny that Saturday. We were so thankful!

The rest of my time here has just been spent playing with friends and visiting with my family who lives here. I also got to have lunch with some people from both summers that I interned down here which was really nice. I was surprised how many people recognized me! Apparently I haven't changed much over the last 3 or 4 years!

Towards the end of the second week I realized that while a summer in Midland was great, I wasn't quite ready to go back yet for the fall and extended my trip an extra week. That brings me to today. I've been putting this week to good use by trying to see as many people as possible. And Friday evening, a bunch of my Kappas from school are getting together and then going to the Purdue football game on Saturday. I couldn't think of a better way to end my trip! I'm anxiously counting down the days until the rest of the crew arrives!!

Well this probably would have been longer and better if I remembered the blog a few weeks ago but what can you do? In a few weeks I'll be traveling to the Dominican Republic for a week long all inclusive vacation. I'm not sure if I'll have internet access there but I'll try to send an update when I get back! After that, I'm scheduled to be in Michigan until the end of the year but 2009 is still up in the air! Who knows where I'll be next!

All my love,
Emel

On the road again...

Well hello all!!

It's been a while since I've written. I've been lucky enough to spend most of my summer in Midland enjoying the beautiful weather so I haven't been traveling much. But yesterday, I left good old mid-Michigan for a little vacation time in Turkey!! Unfortunately, this blog entry is coming to you from Amsterdam. I haven't made it to Istanbul yet and won't for several hours because my flight was delayed out of Detroit and I missed my connection. Somehow I majorly lucked out though because when I went to the transfer desk I'd already been booked on to the next flight...and in business class no less! So now I'm sitting in the KLM lounge sipping on champagne and enjoying the free internet.



My flight over here was pretty uneventful. There was no one next to me but there was a guy in the aisle seat who was as tall as he was unfriendly and I would say he was about 6'5". It didn't matter anyway because they had loaded new movies since my last flight to Europe and I had so much to choose from. I've now seen "The Other Boleyn Girl" which isn't as good of the book but only because the movie would have been 8 hours long if they'd actually made it as detailed. I've also seen the beginning of 21 which made me realize that I still want to live in Boston one day...but only when it's warm. And I've seen almost all of Fool's Gold which is not as funny as I hoped it would be but still entertaining enough.

I'll be spending the next 17 days in Turkey. This might actually be my most active trip ever. I'll be in Ankara, Istanbul, Eregli, Didim, and Cesme. So many people to see and so little time!! But the whole family will be here and I think it's going to be exactly the vacation I've been waiting for.

Being stuck in the airport probably would have been the perfect time to study for my upcoming auditor certification exam. Unfortunately, I couldn't predict this and chose to check the book I brought to study with rather then lug it on the plane. Whoops!

I did however bring a book of word searches and a book called I am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe. I've only gotten through chapter one but I'm not really sure what's going on. Colleen, I bought this book on your recommendation and I'm not sure why I continue to believe that one day we might actually find a book we both like.

I did go see the movie Wanted on Tuesday night and that is one I highly recommend. It was funny, it had action, and even some good special effects. Go see it if you have time.

Well, this is all for now. Who knows when the next time I'll have internet again assuming I ever get out of this airport. But if I do, please look forward to more posts.

No more plane rides for 2 months!

Well, I'm sad to say that my Brazil trip has come to an end. The good news is that I'm still in auditing for at least 2 more years so there is still time for them to send me back!

In order for my next story to make sense, I have to tell a little joke. 

A man is house sitting for his brother--feeding the cat, getting the mail, etc.  The brother calls to check in.

"I'm sorry," says the man, "but your cat died."

"What do you mean the cat died? How could you do this to me?  You should have prepared me for the shock," says the man's brother.  

"How was I supposed to prepare you?" asks the man.

"Well," says the brother, "first you should have told me, the cat is on the roof, but don't worry, we're calling the fire department.  Then, the next time we talked you should have said, the fire department was doing everything it could and not to worry.  Then the next time I called you can tell me that the cat had fallen, but not to worry--the vet was doing everything she could to resuscitate him.  Then, finally, you could have told me, the cat had died."

"Sorry, I should have though first" said the man, who was quite embarrassed at this point.

"So anyway how is mom?"

"Um," says the man, "Mom is on the roof...." 

I told that joke at dinner one night and apparently they have the same joke here but it has become almost  a common saying where your boss might ask "Are you almost done with those TPS reports I asked for?" and you would reply "The cat is on the roof." a.k.a. I haven't even started them.  

So during one of our status meetings, when our senior audit manager would ask how things are going, I wanted to reply-in Portuguese-"The cat is on the roof".   Unfortunately, I never found a good time to do it so the idea failed but for those of you who know how funny I think I am, please know I'm quite pleased with myself for even coming up with the joke.  It would have been even better if it has actually been executed.

We left work by 6:30 on Thursday because we were pretty much done (I felt bad b/c we only even stayed that late because I had a meeting from 5-6 that wasn't even audit related!). The exit meeting was planned for Friday morning. So I went back to my hotel, ate dinner, and then decided to kill some time on the internet and pack. When you buy internet at the hotel I'm staying at, you have to use it as soon as you buy it. I figured, play on the internet first, then pack. Unfortunately, I didn't know that before my 2 hours of internet had expired the power would go out and I would be left to pack in the dark. Thank goodness for my resourcefulness. I pulled up one of those "this page cannot be displayed screens" and used the white light to light the area around my suitcase which I had previously piled up with all the stuff I needed to pack. I have to say, when the lights came on about an hour and a half later I was already done and in reviewing my work, I have to say it looked pretty good.

My favorite waiter in the hotel has continued to give me a bottle of water every morning while I wait for my ride. I think I'm really going to miss him when I'm back in Midland. Other things I'm going to miss.

1. The dental floss in the bathroom.

2. The toilet seat covers that just have a heart cut out in the middle instead of that weird flappy thing you have to tear.

3. The delicious food that I was able to enjoy.

4. That guy in the elevator that I never saw again.

5. The day I got to have a bodyguard.

6. And of course, all the guys on my audit team! I can't remember another audit where I've laughed so much!

Of course, there is always the good with the bad. Here are some things I won't miss.

1. That game the guys play where they leave me in the conference room by myself.

2. Choosing my outfit for the day from a closet of 7 identical button down shirts (in different colors of course) and a dress.

3. Not being able to leave the hotel by myself. It was like having a curfew all over again!

Clearly the good outweighs the bad!

The plane ride home was pretty non-eventful.  I sat next to a guy who worked for John Deere.  He was friendly enough.  I don't think I mentioned that the guy on the way over worked for Goodyear.  Conveniently, 2 companies that I know almost nothing about.  The John Deere guy was from Kansas City and since I've been there, I did have some stuff to talk to him about so that was good.  I also watched the movie Enchanted which is not by any means an academy award winning movie but I secretly enjoy cheesy movies. 

My flight out of Chicago was delayed--shocking, I know.  But for the first time I ran into someone at the airport going to Midland that I actually knew!  You would think with Midland being so small, it would happen more often but it doesn't.  

Of course, the 70 degree weather that Midland had last week is gone and it was in the 50s for my return.  But it's supposed to creep back up during the week so I have a feeling summer will be here before too long!  I don't have any trips planned until July and that's my vacation to Turkey!  So, if you're looking for something to do this summer, now is the perfect time to come visit me!

I'm Becoming Quite the Sports Buff

So, though I've had some good times here in Sao Paulo, I think last night was my favorite time of all. Even better then the time I went shopping which is hard to beat.

Last night one of the guys on the team took me to a Brazilian Steakhouse called Fogo de Chao. It was absolutely DELICIOUS and quite overwhelming at the same time. For those of you who haven't been to one of these steakhouses before, basically you have this little card that's red on one side and green on the other. If it's green, then the waiters will constantly bring around these giant hunks of meet on spears and offer you slices. They also put little snacks in the middle but I only ate one piece of polenta and one cheese ball (which was also amazing) because really the meat is the best part. Sometimes they bring you stuff so fast that you don't even have time to eat what's already on your plate!
Some of the things I tried included meat from the hump of an ox (which I didn't know oxes had humps), ribs (which I've never had before b/c usually you see pork ribs), and I tried an ox heart which oddly enough has the same consistency as liver...and it's extremely small. I liked all except the heart. I probably could have done without that. They also have locations in Minneapolis, Houston, Chicago, and a new one coming to Indy!! Needless to say, my friends in those cities, you'll know where we'll be going when I come visit-but really, Ben if you're reading this, you're the only one of my friends in one of those cities who I think would actually go.

After eating an abundance of the delicious meats, we still found room for this delicious dessert. It was this papaya cream thing and it tasted heavenly. I don't know if they have that in the U.S. branches of this restaurant because it's apparently very Brazilian but I highly recommend it.

After dinner, we went to a soccer game for the Latin American Cup. It was at the Sao Paulo Futebol Club which is a huge stadium! Don't worry, I took pictures. I also took some videos but really, soccer on video is just as boring as soccer on tv. I prefer to watch it in person. The state of Sao Paulo's team played a team from Columbia and we won! I say "we" because I am officially of a supporter of the Sao Paulo team. I even have a jersey (although, I'm so confused with all this city of Sao Paulo, state of Sao Paulo things that I'm not sure who my jersey actually supports). But it does say my name on the back which I think is pretty sweet. I was very surprised that 90 minutes of soccer actually passed by really quickly and I actually had a lot of fun! The fans are pretty intense here. They have their own cheers and anything and unfortunately the only one I really caught on to was "Sao Paul-o!" The guy behind me was a hard core fan and was yelling things left and right! It was quite amusing. Unfortunately, he was also a spitter and I got sprayed a few times. Ew.


Other stories...

I think my hotel thinks they're pulling one over on me. A lot of times when I order stuff off the menu, they bring me something close to what it says but not quite. For instance, the other day I ordered onion soup and they brought me soup...but it had chicken and vegetables and rice in it. Monday night I ordered this meat thing with rice and mushrooms and it ended up a meat thing with mashed potatoes. I don't know if they think I don't notice or what exactly. And it's not that I'm messing up my order because when you eat at the same restaurant about 15 times you start to memorize what's on the menu. I've actually gotten so good that I actually know what's on the room service menu that's not on the normal menu and vice versa. Mad skills.

It's my last night in Sao Paulo! At 4pm tomorrow I'll be on my way to the airport, God willingly. Keep your fingers crossed that I end up next to a young, attractive, entrepreneur...and not another investment banker from California!