nyc, boston, san fran & work

Hi y'all--it's been a lo-o-o-o-ong time since I lasted posted in my blog. You know, the difficult thing about maintaining a blog is wanting to always say so much. If enough time passes, then you have more and more you want to talk about--and at that point, it's like having to respond to a friend's really long email. Much has happened in this past month for me--traveling to 3 big cities and my first month at Microsoft. I'll do what I can in summarizing everything without making this entry too long.

New York City
My primary purpose in going to NYC was to be a bridesmaid in my good friend and college roommate's wedding--Anna--to a Mr. Frank Colletti. The whole weekend, to sum it up, was just awesome and memorable. Matt traveled with me (a big relationship milestone--that is, traveling to attend a wedding) and we arrived just in time to catch Christine out of the shower after the girl's bachelorette slumber party at the Waldorf-Astoria (how nice to finally see the hotel). Everyone eventually met up, taking the LIRR over to Rockville Center to check into our hotels and prep for the rehearsal dinner. The wedding was the next day and it was just spectacular. The initial ceremony was in a Catholic church and everything went really well. This was my first bridesmaid duty-o-call and it was a cinch with the way Anna planned the wedding. The reception later was just phenomenal--further down in Long Island at the Bourne Mansion with a great view of the water. The dining room was classy, food and drinks aplenty (4 full open bars! Amazing!). Everyone had a great time and I certainly enjoyed it. Matt was great, essentially being a bridesmaid helper along with Christina. I was really impressed with this wedding...it was gorgeous yet not pretentious. People were really truly dancing and having a ball. Great wedding Anna!

Matt and I spent the rest of the time in NYC, seeing lots of old friends---Teresa, Eugene, Aaron, Katie, Debbie, Saevar, Alice---and just soaking in the offerings of the big city. We got a chance to see the Ashes and Snow exhibit (beautiful) and enjoy the rooftop bar and pool of our fancy schmancy hip hotel, the Hotel Gansevoort. We had a lot of delicious food (Ono, Cafe du Soleil) and I had a chance to drop in on Li Mei's bridal shower. It was a full packed weekend and a memorable one indeed.

Boston
Headed to Boston a week and a half later to attend my brother's graduation from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. We got great weather, ate yummy seafood (Union Oyster House), and got a chance to finally see Aaron's school and apartment. The graduation itself was overwhelming with thousands flooding Harvard Square as the graduation was for every school--graduate and undergraduate. Another highlight was getting the chance to meet up briefly with a Smith friend, Lori---we chatted for awhile in my hotel lobby. It was awesome to see her.

San Francisco
I went straight to San Francisco from Boston to meet up with Matt to attend the SF Symphony Black & White Ball. We stayed with his friend Lucrecia and I got a chance to get to know her better. I also met more of Matt's friends Friday night at a bar. Saturday, we met up with Betina & Justin over brunch at Boogalow's. The ball was on Saturday evening where Matt and I kicked it off by having the most wonderful dinner at Jardiniere--absolutely scrumptious. The setting went well as we were decked out in tux and fancy couture black dress. The ball itself was much fun--we got a chance to see Patti LaBelle, Train, a hilarious U2 cover band and Minnie Driver. On Sunday, Matt and I took the opportunity to check out the bizarre The Universe Within: The Human Body Revealed exhibit in Nob Hill. This is a smaller version of the Bodyworlds exhibit where real human bodies are shown using a technique called plastination to preserve the body. Due to the process, it's possible to show, for example, just the nervous system or just the arteries within the body. Not something that's easy to stomach but completely fascinating (of course, I love watching surgeries on TV). Matt and I ended our Sunday by strolling to the Pier 39, eating chowder in a sourdough breadbowl and checking out the sea lions scream and gawk at each other. Check out all the photos from San Francisco.

first day at microsoft

07:00 Alarm goes off. Grr...I haven't been awake at this time in awhile.
07:20 Finally jump in shower. Brr..it's colder at this time.
08:00 Eat breakfast, give Misha his antibiotics
08:17 Finally walk out the door to begin my commute
08:32 Crap--this traffic sucks. I haven't even reached the bridge.
08:44 Oh good, it's picking up--moving faster.
08:52 Finally arrive on campus--where's the building again?
08:59 Finally find the NEO (New Employee Orientation)--check in, get my packet.
09:30 Orientation begins.
15:37 First portion of orientation ends--I decide to jump on the shuttle for the optional portion of visiting the Company Store and Visitor Center
16:30 Get back on shuttle to go back to orientation building--meet another Amazonian that also recently left to come to MS, chat with him for the ride back
16:46 Get in car for drive back to Seattle
16:53 Run into traffic before I even cross 405--this is going to suck.
17:36 Finally get home--going to have to get used to this commute.

Man, I'm really going to miss the short commute I've had going to Amazon all these years---lasting on average about 6-7 minutes. Orientation today was interesting and overwhelming. So many people work here--today, alone, there were 115 people in my orientation! Sheesh! My first thoughts going into orientation: I felt like it was my first day of college where you're sent from one work station to another to fill out the appropriate forms and stuff. I was really impressed by how organized everything was and the wealth of information presented to me. Orientation continues tomorrow when I finally get my badge (er, cardkey...I think that's what they call it) and eventually meet the team.

Ciao and Farewell

Sent at 3:41pm---
Hi all,

Today is my last day at Amazon---it's been a real pleasure working with all of you.

If you can, please join me & Eric Franklin for a drink at Barca (1510 11th Ave) tomorrow evening, May 17th, at 6pm--would love to see you.

Keep in touch!

~ Audrey

magneto

This week, Microsoft unveiled Windows Mobile 5.0. Check out a presentation deck here for a more indepth view. How exciting since this is exactly the technology that I'll be working on when I join Microsoft. There's so much for me to read and digest and learn--that's what I'm most psyched about. I know soo little about the Windows platform when it comes to PocketPCs and Smartphones since I've been a Palm user for the last 6 years. Although I love my current phone, with it being nearly 3 years old, there are a lot of shortcomings...and reading this deck makes me realize how many features I lack currently. I can't wait to get a MS Smartphone and start playing around with it!

zumanity

After spending 1 day back in Seattle doing random errands and re-packing, I'm now in Vegas visiting my parents who decided to get a vacation home here. Within a few hours of arriving, I was already at a casino with the family and gambling at the blackjack table. Ha ha--you win some, you lose some. I think overall, I've lost $20 by now. Last minute, we decided to check out a new Cirque du Soleil show called Zumanity at the New York New York Hotel & Casino. I absolutely love Cirque du Soleil and have already seen a bunch of their shows: Alegria, Mystere, O, Saltimbanco.....there are 3 here in Vegas I have yet to see: Zumanity, La Reve and KÀ...and I'm going to see all 3 while I'm here! So last night, I saw Zumanity, which is their only adult-only show. Instead of being filled with child's fantasy, dreams and performers in colorful costumes of storybook creatures, this show focuses on the burlesque, cabaret side of eroticism. Most of the costumes in this show involved leather, thongs, feathers, jock straps and tiny pasties. Instead of seing a fantasmic, alien-like creature doing a balancing & flexibility act with hanging rope, in Zumanity you see a near-nude lady turning the act into that of self-masochism. It was definitely interesting and a different side of Cirque. There were still some amazing performances of contortionism, spinning 20 hula-hoops while being suspended in the air and even a cool act involving 2 Asian women, flexibility and a mini fishbowl-like mini-pool. With the performers being near naked, I loved seeing the muscles of these amazing athletes at work, particularly those of the contortionists. It was fascinating to see the raw performance, unhidden by the flare of the typical Cirque costume. The only thing I wasn't wowed by was that I felt like there weren't as MANY performances as there are in a typical Cirque show. What happened to the 20 people bouncing around on crazy trampolines or the 6 people bouncing up and down on bungee swings. In a way, I have a soft spot for the awe felt by the more elaborate productions.

last day in paradise

It´s our last day and Sri & I just checked out of the hotel. We don´t leave til 2pm for the airport since our flight is in the late afternoon...so we have 3 more hours to sit by the pool, get sunburnt (me), drink piña coladas and soak in the salty fresh air of the ocean. Not much new to report. We went into Playa del Carmen for dinner last night and ate at the Blue Lobster, each of us ordering the biggest lobster tail we´ve ever eaten. This was the first ever lobster tail that I couldn´t finish...it was huge! What a sad waste for such a good, expensive lobster tail. Grr. But man, it was good. We also came across a really cool hotel & bar lounge called Deseo, which had beds next to the rooftop pool with a DJ planning untz-untz music all evening. Very chill. Sri and I agree that Playa del Carmen is more our scene than Cancún, which can be overwhelming for the senses. Anyway, great vacation. Happy that the ´rents decided to invest in this place...hasta la vista!

coco bongo

Wow. Sri and I decided to live it up and check out Cancún last night since it was, afterall, Cinco de Mayo...and why not party it up in the party capital of Mexico? We first had dinner at this wonderful restaurant called The Plantation House, which specializied in Caribbean style cooking. I once again had a lobster tail which was delicious and Sri had a blackened grouper. Well satisfied after dinner, we wandered over to the clubbing area down the street in the Zona Hotelera to find chaos. It´s like Las Vegas on steroids and all over the place. There were bars and discos EVERYWHERE and people were spilling out onto the street. We eventually decided to check out this huge club called Coco Bongo, which had the longest line. Fortunately, it moved fast. After a $35 cover fee, we walked into quite the night! It was actually worth the $35 because it included all the drinks and this spectacular show. It was a dance club but every 5-10 minutes, they´d stop to put on some huge show, ranging from a Cirque du Soleil style in-the-air-with-ropes performance to a Madonna imitation to some random Beetlejuice combination.

One bargain we´ve learned is the local colectiva, or public bus. We took a bus that cost us $2 to get into Cancún from the hotel. But the taxi back cost us $22, which is considered quite a deal. The other night, when we went to Playa del Carmen, it cost us $1 by bus to go and $15 by taxi to return.

Today was quite adventurous...as we took our 1 excusion: Xtreme Adventure! It started off with some mountain biking through a Mayan Jungle, which was really beautiful, and through a tiny town called Central Vallarta. After that, we zip lined down 2 cables from the top of the jungle all the way down---so so fun! Not as scary as it looks! And lastly, we snorkled down in a Mexican cenote, or a cave, which is apparently the mouth to an underground river 125 ft below. The water was so cool and refreshing.

Unfortunately, by the time we returned to the hotel, the clouds came over again. No more sun. I hear the sun will return tomorrow and Sunday..and hopefully I can even out this horrendous sunburn! Just bought some calamine lotion---the bugs are just LOVING my legs and it sucks.