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Today I spent the day in meetings with 4 Canadians, 4 Brits, 1 Scot, and 1 Aussie. At dinner I sat next to two Brazilians, someone who was born in Africa, a Greek guy who is married to a woman from Bosnia, and a British bloke. I was the only American in the entire lot all day.

My life has been pretty crazy lately and I do have photos to upload - but to save the data charges, I will refrain from doing that whilst in Canada. Whilst? Who says whilst?

Life is crazy and good - the job is keeping me super busy and has turned out to be pretty perfect for me. I would like Rita, Rachael, and Kirsten to know that today I got a water bottle. The second that I've received since moving here. Someone should warn Stef.

In other news, I went to bed last night at 12:45am and woke up at 4am.

Sleep well, my friends.

11.30.10

Not sure why I found this Santa painted on the window at Tim Horton so hilarious.

11.28.10

this post is dedicated to Xiao Qian, my old roommate who told me that americans don't eat green vegetables. this was my dinner on sunday. delicious.

11.27.10

the christmas carol garland just might make me squeel every time I look at it. the nutcracker decor that my roommate had that has resemblance to darrel's past career just makes me laugh.

11.27.10

scott and annie. heart them.

I am so lucky to call them my friends.

11.26.10

mom and i backstage at the radio city music hall christmas spectacular. what an amazing show!

11.24.10

saw kristin tonight - show was meh; she was great as usual. thanks, mom!

11.22.10

dinner of choice these days. chicken, red pepper, and hummus. yum.

11.21.10

the holiday decor meshed with birthday decor is pretty much rocking my world currently. holiday explosion, coming right up.

11.20.10

i debated publishing this, but I'm just owning up to it.

before i start getting a million phone calls, take a deep breath and realize that you knew this was going to happen. even though i swear on my life i didn't.

11.19.10

one of the best cards i've ever received. union jack. with glitter!

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I'm at a friend's house watching British television right now. I am loving it - so much more entertaining than American tv. Seriously. You just can't argue with that. The man on the telly right now has a white blazer with large colored polka dots on and I am somehow still taking him seriously. And I think he is hot. What is it about the British??

The last time I spent time in small-town England was in the summer of 2002 and I have to say that it has been good to be back to that. I will say that the town I was in for the past week is a lot more exciting than the town I studied in while in college, so that is great news.

Today I was told that I'm very resourceful. And I responded with a laugh that in America they just call it assertive. Me? Assertive? haha.

I fully realize that I may be biased and most of my blood may come from this country, but I love the Brits. So much.

Please don't make me go home on Sunday. For multiple reasons.

11.18.10

view from my hotel window in fleet.

11.17.10

seen on my way to work in fleet, uk.

Greetings

So I am in the UK this week. For work.

All I've really done so far is work and sleep. I closed my eyes last night at 6pm and was awake from about 1am until 5am when I fell back asleep until almost 8am. I'm fairly sure my alarm went off at 7, but we won't focus on that, will we.

I think I've been doing a good job at being British so far this week. I've walked to the right passenger side of the car 3 times in a row, and used the following words correctly in a sentence as if I'm a local: rubbish bin, car park, loo, petrol station, and tonight at dinner I will make sure to say serviette instead of napkin. Even when I studied abroad here, I wasn't around that many locals except my teachers, so I didn't ever really pick up the local phrases and words. Working with the British is another ballgame. I think in an accent already and if I stayed here a few more weeks, I'm sure I'd be speaking with one.

And for the record, I have been taking photos to put up for my photo of the day, but I can't transfer them to my email since my iPhone has decided to not roam (even after I told it to). If you are lucky, I will remember to take the photos on my BlackBerry.

As a treat, here is a photo that I just took of my lovely frizzy hair - thank you, fog.

11.16.10

foggy england.

11.15.10

the best thing i've seen all day. been awake for 24 hours straight.

11.14.10

I'm going for work in case you are panicked about this.

11.13.10

I can't breathe, but I can get it on...

11.12.10

I may or may not have eaten a pound of candy tonight.

11.11.10

giordano's pizza from chicago. happy birthday, stef!!

11.10.10

the reason i will be starving myself for the next month.

11.9.10

Dear pizza,
I miss you.

Love,
Me

Grateful for November

One of the most distinct impressions I had when deciding to move to New York was that it might not be easy, but that if I wanted to do it, I could. This last week had its ups and downs and I was gently reminded of the impression I had about my move. From a tiring event that I was in charge of on Monday and Tuesday, to being ill, to getting a rude email from someone I've never met, to having a wonderful friend visit for the weekend and treat me like gold, I had the full gamut of emotion.

So for a moment, I'd like to tell you about some of the things that I am really grateful for today.

1. Fall. I absolutely am loving Autumn in New York. It is cold but not unbearable and the smell of the leaves is wonderful. I just love it.

2. Traci. It is wonderful to be around a friend who is just so full of love. I am lucky to know her - seriously.

3. Rich being in town last weekend was so great. Not only is he the best weekend boyfriend ever, but he treated me like gold the entire time. I'm pretty sure that he had no idea how much I needed that.

4. My activities cochair. Our other cochair is missing from this photo, but Rustin in particular has been so wonderful to me.

5. My roommate is great - easy to live with, nice, funny, beautiful, etc. Many thanks to Jill for connecting us and to both of them for being my friend.

6. Work has kept me so busy - the nightly activities have worn me out. I went to the premiere of Driving Miss Daisy with my boss a few weeks ago and it was fun to be at such a fancy party and be rubbing elbows with celebs like Brooke Shields and Glenn Close. Seriously. And not only is the job great because of the night events, but I really am enjoying what I do. Today I spent a long time in the car with my other boss and just getting to know him was great.

Happy November, everybody.

11.8.10

Not fooling anyone, Ohio.

11.7.10

That Rich made me dinner tonight and it was delicious. What a charmer!

11.6.10

Central Park from Belvedere Castle

11.5.10

my weekend boyfriend took me to see la boheme tonight at the metropolitan opera.

needless to say, it was wonderful.

11.4.10

first thing i taught rich on his maiden voyage tonight on the subway was how to be tough with the locals.

11.3.10

Happy Birthday, Scott!!!!

11.2.10

Event done. On the train home. Blessed day.

11.1.10

Today was stressful. Not my best as you can see.

An open letter to ________,

Good morning.

I just missed the shuttle up to the subway and I have about 25 minutes to write you a little note, so I thought I'd take a minute to say hi. My life has been crazy this last week and I have averaged about 6 hours of sleep per night due to the hullabaloo. In fact, last night I was asleep before 9pm and awake at 4am. Go figure. I went to all sorts of work parties this week - 4 to be exact - and I was supposed to go to 6, but I was too busy.

This last weekend I have learned that I am grateful for nice people who talk to you at church or at parties when no one else does. It has been interesting for me coming from a place where I knew everyone and then finding myself sitting alone at a Halloween party because I don't know anyone there. I am working on making some girlfriends, but it is hard when my work schedule is so hectic.

I'm still loving life in New York. My job is really great and I am really blossoming in my responsibilities here. My first event is tomorrow, so keep me in your prayers today that all will go well.

Time for the bus. Miss you. Come visit soon.

xoxo

steph