Wednesday, May 24, 2006

It's been a year...

I thought I was in trouble today when I suddenly got a meeting request from one of the lead PMs to discuss some thing about the release I've been working on. Upon arriving in the dark meeting room, my co-workers jump out and yell "SURPRISE!". They had cake for me and Spencer as it was our 1 year anniversary for being at the company. Man, a year has gone by. Can't believe it! How sweet for everyone to have done that.

Watched the American Idol finale tonight---good for Taylor. I liked both him and Katherine and they're both going to do fine. But can I comment on how ridiculous the guest celebrities were? It just seemed....weird. I mean, at first, Live with Chris Daughtry sounded like a good match--yay that he gets to sing with one of his favorite bands. But then Katherine McPhee gets matched up with Meatloaf for a duo? Meatloaf?! And then there's Mary J Blige seeing alongside a pretty wimpy Elliott Yamin...then out of the blue comes Dionne Warwick. Finally, with Prince appearing near the end---that was just weird. Come on: freakin' PRINCE on American Idol? WTF?

Jetlag is killing me at night. Waking up around 6:30am easily every morning..and barely hanging on at 7pm. Usually get a second wind around 9pm but exhausted by 10:30pm.

Highlights of Portugal

Okay, so I don't even know where to begin with the trip to Portugal. There's so much to tell and share because it was such an amazing trip (asides from getting engaged on it!). Instead of blogging about it, I'll put together a neato parto of my site with photos and stories---so watch out for that! Meanwhile, I will mention some highlights from the trip, personally:
  • Getting engaged!
  • Listening to Fado singers at Café Luso in the Bairro Alto in Lisboa
  • Riding Tram #28 through the Alfama district while 2 people cling onto the tram from the outside
  • Tasting the yummy pasteis from Belém
  • Standing at the westernmost point in continental Europe
  • Going port wine tasting in Vila Nova de Gaia at places like Sandeman, Croft, Offley and Ferreira
  • (for Matt) Watching F.C. Porto win the Portuguese Cup at a bar in Porto
  • Cruising down the Rio Douro
  • Seeing old Celtic Iberian ruins near Braga - Citania Briteiros
  • Relaxing next to a pool overlooking the Douro Valley vineyards and river
  • Meeting the Father and all the wonderful people at the Casa Alta Lodge in Ourém
  • Driving behind the insanely fast Portuguese drivers on the A1
  • Seeing the Basilica in Fatima, which is twice the size of the one in Rome
  • Seeing the cathedrals at Batalha and Alcobaca
  • Seeing the coastline in Nazare
  • Trying ginginha with cherries
  • Eating delicious seafood like bacalhau and giant tiger prawns for dinner
  • Drinking café com leite with a croissant mixta for breakfast practically every morning
  • Hanging out with our good friends, Debbie and Saevar
  • Monday, May 15, 2006

    Bom día! I love Portugal...

    Greetings from Portugal!! I´m currently in Braga staying at a lovely quinta and we just ate the yummiest Arroz con Mariscos dinner at Da Bouro restaurant. Today has been our first opportunity to jump on the internet since there´s one at the hotel. Since I´ll want to write about the entire week we´ve had in chronological order, I´ll wait until returning to give the full scoop on that. Meanwhile, I just wanted to share some wonderful news...

    Matt and I are engaged!! He completely (like, totally shocked) surprised me when we were in Casçais, staying at our lovely fortress by the sea. We had just finished having dinner with Debbie & Saevar and had returned to the hotel. Matt had wanted to take a nice walk along the beach but I wasn´t having any of that because the Guincho Beach was dark and insanely windy (we learned that this beach often hosts the World Windsurfing Championships---that tells you how windy it was). So then he resorted to Plan 2 by pouring some port and going out to the balcony. Next thing I knew, he had whipped out a ring and was proposing to me. Of course, I said yes.

    So that´s the super exciting news so far from this trip! We´re heading to the Douro Valley tomorrow and then slowly down South, eventually back to Lisboa. Can´t wait to share all the wonderful things we´ve seen and done here in Portugal! Ciao!

    Friday, May 5, 2006

    10 hours to go....

    ...before Kutta takes us to the airport and off we go to Boston. I've got a ton of work stuff to complete and basic packing stuff to do. Yeah--pack. I have yet to do that. I've got the suitcase open and that's about it. I've started jotting down a list of everything I need to do: that's the type of organizer I am---a list person. Before every trip, I write down a huge list of things I need to do. I also write down a list of things I need to pack that I haven't packed yet, just so I don't forget last minute. So much to do...

    Thursday, May 4, 2006

    Itinerary in Portugal

    As y'all may've noticed by now, I'm about to take a lil' trip to Portugal next week for about 2 weeks. Am I excited? Damn straight I am. Here's the itinerary that we have laid out:


    Day 1
    Arrive in Lisbon. Relax.

    Day 2
    Explore more of Lisbon

    Day 3
    Explore more of Lisbon. Maybe check out some Fado.

    Day 4
    Head over to Cascais and check into a 17th century fortress on the beach. Suh-weet. Explore Cascais and Sintra.

    Day 5
    Explore more in the area. Maybe head to Obidos and Nazare if there's time.

    Day 6
    Drive up to Oporto---port region!
    Check into the Hotel Pestana, which forms part of a block of town houses dating from the XVI, XVII and XVIII centuries and is classified by UNESCO as part of the World Heritage site which extends along the Douro River. Nice.

    Day 7
    Explore more of Oporto and check out some of the port vinyards.

    Day 8
    Check out Braga and Guimarães

    Day 9
    Drive to the Douro Valley and explore the countryside and any other port quintas. Stay in a cute B&B.

    Day 10
    Start driving back down south and explore Coimbra, Conimbriga, and the Buçaco Forest. Check into a former royal hunting lodge.

    Day 11
    Explore the area and look at Fatima (a pilgramage site that Mel Gibson may make a movie about), Batalha and Leiria

    Day 12
    Drive back to Lisbon and celebrate our last day in Portugal

    Work people on IM

    Over the past few years, I've experienced different IM clients, from ICQ to Yahoo to AOL to MSN. During that time, as an employee at Amazon, if I ever wanted to chat with my co-workers, I had to add them to an internal Windows Messenger IM client (mainly because all other IM clients were blocked). As a result, the majority of my buddies on my MSN Messenger are actual, personal friends. Since joining Microsoft, I notice that a lot of people use MSN Messenger and I get requests often from co-workers for my MSN Messenger account name so they can add me to their buddy list. So I'm now moving into the territory where my IM experience is muddled with both personal friends and coworkers. Hmm. I guess I feel strange about it because I want to be able to sign into Messenger from home and not have coworkers see me go online. It's that feeling of being unattached from work--to be able to IM with friends and not feel like your coworkers are in the room too and can contact you as easily as your friends. I use Communicator at work, which works for most people. But what do I do with coworkers who ask for my MSN Messenger address? Do I give them my usual? Should I create another account and maintain that one? (which I'll likely never sign into?). I wish there was a feature where I could "hide" myself from a particular group of messenger buddies. Call me paranoid.

    Wednesday, May 3, 2006

    Last day at work...kinda

    I got kicked out of my office at 5pm today because the movers came in. My whole team is moving literally across the street to the building next door, but because it's a massive move, none of us really have offices available to work in until Monday morning. Meanwhile, those with laptops will chill out at home and continue work there (that's ME!). What that also means is that today was essentially my last day, physically, in the office before I take off for Boston/Portugal this weekend. Woo hoo---cuz that means I have time at home to pack my stuff in between the e-mail and spec updates I'll be doing.

    I'm meeting a bunch of former and current Amazon ladies for dinner tonight at Pasta Freska, this Italian restaurant on Westlake that has a "no menu" policy: the chef walks around and asks people what they don't like..and then constructs a dinner based off of that. Shall be interesting! I can't wait to see how the experience turns out!