Top Notch Visit in the ATL

What a fabulous whole weekend in Atlanta! I managed to cram a ton of fun into 2 and 1/2 days here, and see a lot of some people who are incredibly dear to me. I don't get to see nearly enough of two of my loves...ES and DL. But I did this weekend - and ES and I had a particularly exhilirating day on Saturday...

After some yummy food was consumed, we hit up the Glam Nail Spa in Vinings - any real good Saturday includes deluxe manis and pedis (especially the hot paraffin wax hand treatment...sooooo soft now!). ES chose a nice pinkish color...I, on the other hand, went with OPI's "Green-wich Village"...better known as toxic green:


I only wish every mani/pedi could be followed by the activity we did next...shooting guns. It was my very first time...and it was incredible. I can't even describe the feeling of holding a loaded weapon, and pulling the trigger. I pretty much felt it throughout my entire body...I'm happy I didn't go flying backwards into the wall! I learned real fast to plant my feet firmly before firing.

We used traditional targets, but there are some other fun options to pick from. My favorite is shown here, top left - it's a creepy 80s-fabulous guy, holding up a nice-looking lady wearing mom jeans. I guess the goal is to protect the mom jeans.


Some of the other options included scary clown, hairy wolfman monster, and Nazi. Too many options. Here's ES setting up our bad guys:


And me taking them out. We got to shoot a 9-millimeter, a 45, and a rifle. I shot the 9-mm and rifle multiple times...but just one bullet with the 45. That one was a little too powerful for this small girl.



We were so proud of ourselves afterward - so many great shots! And a few missed ones as well...I know I can do even better next time.


I have a whole new respect for the power of weapons. Actually SEEING the fire of the bullet being shot (and hearing that thunder) really changes your view. I'm in awe...and a little bit shell-shocked still. But it was amazing - I'm SO incredibly glad we went and did that. (One more thing I can check off my life list!)

A rest was in order to recoup from all the bullets fired, and get ready for a fantastic all girls dinner at my favorite restaurant in Atlanta - Two Urban Licks! I love it so much, and have to go every time I'm in town. (And take pictures of the receipts...a little weird, but makes me smile!) We were even lucky enough to get one of the best booths there - great views of the entire restaurant AND the Atlanta skyline - beautiful.

Lots of fun today as well...going to church, delicious brunch at the OK Cafe, and hanging out/having dinner with and watching football with some faaaaabulous gentlemen. The Packers won, which is always a blast to watch. I wish the weekend didn't have to be over already...but maybe it won't actually be yet. All 3 of our flights (to 3 different places) have already been cancelled for tomorrow morning...Atlanta is getting a few inches of snow tonight. So the city is pretty much shutting down. And there is no milk or bread to be had in any of the stores. Which is odd...if I'm expecting to be snowed in, I'm going to the store for wine and ice cream...not boring old milk and bread. Geez.

A Rose By Any Other Name...

...something, something, smell as sweet. Blah, blah, blah. Losing stinks! What a painful loss on New Year's Day. Our beloved Badgers fell to a bunch of horned frogs. Does anyone even know what the heck a horned frog is?! I sure don't. But hearing those words will now forever bring a tear to my eye.

BUT luckily, the Rose Bowl is an amazing enough of an experience for me to still call January 1, 2011 one of my favorite days ever. Sooooooo much fun, I can barely even describe it. The sea of red made my heart swell. The sound of Wisconsin songs...the Miller Lite...the brats...the cheese...endless games of Flip Cup...the inflatable Bucky dolls...purely wonderful. Not to mention the beautiful, sunny day we were blessed with.
I should have been way more tired and out of it than I was. My friends and I had a sleepover on New Year's Eve...didn't go to bed until almost 4:30am after a really fun party at some other friends' house...got up to the alarm around 7:30am (if I remember correctly - it was a blur)...hit the road shortly after. Didn't eat breakfast...didn't have any coffee...just followed our instincts straight to Pasadena!

The adrenaline of the day was off the charts, and especially once we got to Pasadena and saw all of our brothers and sisters (and Bucky), and the mass of tail gating that was already in progress. I thought we were getting there pretty early, but it sounds like the first people got there around 5:00am. Maybe we should have just driven there straight from the NYE party.

So it was all fun and greatness until the very end of the game. And really? Not much to be said there. Losing is never fun...and our 6-7-ish to 1 ratio of fans was quite sad, as compared to all of the pre-game revelry. But what do Sconnie fans do after a tough loss? Post-game tail gating, of course. Why not?!

Some of my favorite shots to commemorate the kick-butt day:


When you say Wisconsin...you've most definitely, certainly, without a doubt...said it all.

Prince Farley

Most everyone that knows me, knows that I am completely obsessed with dogs. I can't walk by one on the street without stopping to say "hi buddy!" and maybe trying to pet him/her, and sometimes I even take a picture. Yes, of someone else's dog. It's borderline sick...I'm aware. I just can't help it. Dogs are my weakness.

I had a beautiful, princess of a dog...my sweet Lalo. She doesn't live with me anymore, but I still think about her everyday, and miss her dearly...and I have talked about her frequently (still do!), but I don't think I've made mention NEARLY enough of another little pup. A little gentleman who has been a part of my life for almost 15 years. My adorable Farley. Or as I like to also call him, my little brother.
Farley (who is a 10-ish pound toy poodle) was born on April 11, 1996 and joined the Olson clan in June that same year back in Wisconsin. I still count the day we brought him home as one of the happiest of my life! And certainly of my childhood.

I was very hesitant that day...we had tried a couple of other dogs, but had to give them up just days/weeks after bringing them home because of my brother's allergies. So by the time my parents told me we were going to get a poodle, I think I basically said "I don't even want to get him...I'll just fall in love, and then have to say goodbye." But they assured me a poodle was the right dog for us, as they are hypo-allergenic and don't shed. It took some serious convincing, but I eventually got about halfway on-board with the idea, and agreed to make the 4 hour drive to go get him.

Well, clearly, this one stuck. Farley is still with us over 14 and 1/2 years later! Not quite as frisky as he used to be, but definitely still as sassy...maybe even a little more so in old age. He always gets what he wants. Maybe I learned some of that from him all those years ago...

Coming home anytime is wonderful for me, and especially during the holidays. I love being in the house with my parents and my brother and my little, non-human brother. We're quite the little group! I have been soaking up as much time with Farley as I possibly can while here...including letting him sit on my lap at the dinner table...during dinner:

(My brother artfully moved my food away and a candle closer...must be a photographer somewhere in there...)

I think we all wonder how long Farley will be with us - his 15th birthday is right around the corner! I certainly hope he's around until he's at least 20, assuming his quality of life remains. I just can't really picture being home (Wisconsin, Virginia, or wherever that is) with him not around...begging for people food, avoiding getting stepped on (it's tough being small!), wanting to be cuddled/held/sit on laps, and just being darn cute. I love that dog, very much. He really is a legitimate member of the family...a true Olson. (And not just because he loves cheese and beer)

(And for those of you who don't know yet, and are wondering if we named him in honor of the great Chris Farley - who also hailed from Wisconsin - we did not. Farley's name was actually Buddy for the first week or so of his time with us...his chart at the vet even said "Buddy" for his first visit. But we still just didn't feel like that name FIT him and his personality. Luckily, my brother was paging through a name-your-baby book one day, and stumbled on "Farley" which means "from the sheep meadow." It was perfect. He looked like a little sheep as a baby, and I think he responded to the name right away. And the rest is history.)

Highlights of the "Mini-Project"

Well, as far as I know right now, my time working back in NYC has come to an end (I'm trying not to cry)...although I've said that before with this client, and things have definitely changed in the past...sometimes within hours...so we'll see!

But assuming it's the end of the "mini-project" I was working on for the past 6 weeks, I figured I should do one of my favorite things...which is to make a list of my favorite things. Anyone who knows me well, knows how much I love lists! (And if you know me well, you also know how much I love my job, and how VERY much I love New York City...so it's the tri-fecta of Lindsay-world...A.K.A. the longest blog post ever)

Highlights From 6 Weeks in the Greatest City on Earth

* Getting to stay in ridiculously nice hotels in such a fabulous city...with views like this:

* Getting to ride the subway everyday...which also means getting to do amazing people watching, play rat-spotting on the tracks, attempt to subway surf, get in needless fights with strangers, accidentally spill coffee on yourself at unexpected turns (many times), etc.

* Getting to walk through Times Square whenever I felt like it! And seeing my favorite M&M:

(And also checking on the "ball" everyday...waiting for them to change 2010 to 2011...still hadn't happened as of 12/23/10...shouldn't they be getting on that pretty quickly?!)

* Eating lots of delicious NYC bagels...they don't make 'em like that anywhere else! (My waistline does not thank me for the consumption, however)

* Getting to go to Fairway whenever I felt like it...it's the greatest market ever. For too many reasons to list here...but let me just give you a taste of it's awesomeness...yes, this is alllllllll cheese (and yes, I got in trouble for taking this picture):

* Getting to work everyday in a small conference room with our own thermostat...where 76 degrees was too cold, 78 degrees was too hot...and 77 degrees wasn't an option. So many arguments...

* Getting to work with a team of coworkers who love "that's what she said" jokes as much as I do

* Going to dinners at fabulous restaurants with said coworkers...even when they trick you into being the one person at the table who has 4 desserts in front of you...one being birthday cake that you didn't order (but your director did sneakily) and involved the staff singing to you and you blowing out a candle (I wished for an iPad...why waste a wish?!):

* Getting to spend time catching up with a dear friend...lots of wine and dinners with HS...love her lots

* Drinking a bunch of champagne and martinis with your team and then going to Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center...which involved a ride up in a freaky elevator (this was the view through the glass ceiling as we rode up...we thought it was pretty much the funniest thing ever at the time):

* Seeing the most amazing views of Manhattan from Top of the Rock...but then finding the weird lights room up on the roof...and thinking that was more amusing:

* Annnnnnd then noticing a serious lack of dance music in the weird lights room, and immediately fixing that problem by pulling out the J-man's iPhone and playing "Like a G6" for all to hear:

* Learning and making up cool new catch phrases with the team, such as "badittude," "I think you're doing it wrong," "whatevah, whatevah," "joint" (which can apparently mean anything in the world, right MD?), and "bomb.com" or "Idon'tgiveacrap.gov"

* The endless debate over whether short-billed hats are stylish...sorry LD, they absolutely ARE

* Getting to go to Rockefeller Center whenever the heck we felt like it to see the tree! It was a short 15 blocks from our office...aaaahhhhh...we were so lucky!

* Getting to make LOTS of use of that extra set of keys to my brother's condo...thanks MOlson! (At least I always cleaned up after myself and left presents in the fridge!)

* Pretending we were going to buy a bunch of cheesy souvenirs to get the shop girls to take our picture...and then buying nothing:

* On the second to last day, when there were only 2 of us left (me and one of my new favorite people in the whole world...seriously, I think she and I were sisters separated at birth)...getting to stop work at 3:00pm. End result? LO and MD's NYC Day 'o Fun!!

(Trying on genuine alpaca hats at the Union Square Holiday Market...MD bought the one I was wearing here for her sister...best gift idea ever)

(Seeing "Promises, Promises" on Broadway! With Sean Hayes, Kristin Chenoweth, Molly Shannon, and red wine in sippy cups)

(Radio City...which included us trying to do Rockette kicks on the street...I think we were a bit out of sync)

(And of course, yet another trip to see the most fantastic Christmas tree ever...wearing our short-billed hats...don't they look great?!)
What a lucky girl I am...I get to live in LA, and work in NYC, and travel everywhere in between (and therefore be a frequent-flyer big baller!). Life is great. I am thankful. And refuse to take anything for granted.

I'm Mellllllllllttttting

Um...what the heck?! It has been raining for 4 straight days here. And it's supposed to continue for 3 more days yet. This is southern California. This is NOT supposed to happen. That's what I was told anyway, when I was deciding to move here. Lies. Dirty, rotten lies! (I mean, yes, it's still above 60 degrees outside in late December...but still...I'm soaking wet!)

People in SoCal don't know how to handle the rain. I think everyone pretty much holes up in their homes, and just waits there for it to stop. This is the land of perpetual sun. When that sun disappears, even for a few days, everyone is lost.

Good Things About The Rain
1. I get to wear my super cute polka dot rain boots everywhere
2. Staying inside and sitting on my butt is totally acceptable, and even expected (everyone else is doing it!)
3. There's nothing like falling asleep to the sound of rain outside
4. Um...I'm already running low on ideas here...I guess the palm trees get nice and watered??

Bad Things About The Rain
1. Can't go to the beach, even if it's warm enough (in December, no less)
2. Giant palm tree branches fall on the roads and sidewalks...and one almost hit me in the head yesterday...scary
3. Some of my windows are leaking...HIGHLY un-amusing
4. Damp/wet clothes constantly...I just can't seem to dry off entirely!
5. Rain makes most everyone grumpy - and I don't want to deal with grumpy people
6. Frizzy hair
7. We have to listen to the news warnings of possible flooding and mud slides...joy

It's getting pretty ridiculous - 4 whole days! Enough is enough, weather fates! Please don't make us all start building an ark...I'm no good at construction. And I'm always the one who gets splinters.

Tea and Strumpets, Anyone?

The best part of a very cold, but lovely Monday in New York City? Lunch with my awesome teammates at Alice's Tea Cup, of course!


Ok, let me tell you about Alice's Tea Cup...I have adored it since I first discovered it almost 6 years ago. There are 3 locations in NYC...the first I discovered was in my old neighborhood (Upper West Side). That was the only one I ever went to (quite frequently, I must admit), until I was staffed on a project for work on the Upper East Side 4 years ago. I then became a regular at that location - a convenient 2 blocks from our office. And I am now back working at that same office for the month...so, of course, I introduced my team now to its fabulousness!

Alice's Tea Cup = one of the cutest things ever. They are adorable little cafes that are Alice in Wonderland themed, and specialize in tea and scones...and they are DELICIOUS. These were today's special scone flavors:

I was so happy that they had Pumpkin today...it's been their best one for the whole 6 years I've known them...and they were just as yummy today as always. Borderline to-die-for, in fact.

We were all very classy and drank pots of Alice's special hot tea with lunch...pinky fingers in the air, of course. I also enjoyed a mouth-watering veggie burger...I took a picture because the burger and fries next to the delicate tea cups and saucers was pretty funny (sophistication to the max):

All of the cute little girls that come in with their mothers and friends for lunch get to borrow sparkly fairy wings to wear at the cafe...no, none of us consultants were offered any...hmpf. (I guess it's better we didn't get the fairy wing glitter all over our power suits) It makes for adorable surroundings though, with all of the Alice in Wonderland paraphenalia. Most everything is very sweet...we did find one thing kind of creepy though...the Alice doll, that looks like a corpse, under the glass of one of the dining tables:

Would that not freak you out to stare at while you were drinking tea and eating scones?! In theme with the rest of the place? Yes. A bit traumatizing and weird? Also yes. I have a hunch that doll just might appear in a nightmare tonight...

"Concrete Jungle Where Dreams Are Made..."

"Let's hear it for New York, New York!" A Christmas-y weekend in the Big Apple with my best gal...pure awesomeness. So many good times had. To sum it up:


Just kidding. To truly sum it up would obviously involve the beacon of the weekend, and the holiday season, and New York City:



Let me just say this though...if you want to go see this tree up close...you better REALLY want to see it. The crowds were insane...bodies, strollers, shopping bags, cameras, NYPD, dogs, aaaagggghhhhh! CB and I tried to keep our cool, but there were multiple times where we almost started punching/kicking/yelling obscenities/etc. I would say that was awful and not in the spirit of Christmas...but hey...we're in New York! It would have just made us fit in even more.

My partner in crime (loooooooove her so much!):

We saw and did so many fabulous things this weekend, it would take forever to tell about them all. Sooooooo, the highlights:

1. We ate brunch on Saturday at Mud in the East Village. I dare anyone to tell me there is a better cup of coffee anywhere in the world. Not possible. (Sorry, Buddy the Elf..."world's best cup of coffee" is at Mud)

2. We saw some amazing subway dancers...it's exactly what you think. A bunch of 15-ish year olds, singing their own music, making their own beats, and dancing, bumping, grinding, and doing FLIPS on moving suwbay cars. Incredible.

3. Sadly, we also saw said subway dancers get busted by the cops. Bummer. (I'm pretty sure one of them cried)

4. We went shoe shopping. Pure bliss. I got dangerously close to buying 6-inch stiletto boots...but ended up opting for cute patent leather flats...same pair that CB bought. They were that adorable.

5. Got in a fight with the super cute girls selling jewelry at the Union Square Holiday Market. Stomped away (me), but ended up going back and apologizing 'cuz I felt so bad. CB stayed out of it...but was (I'm pretty sure) laughing off to the side through it all.

6. Walked to FAO Schwartz...saw the line was around the corner of the block to get in...didn't have the patience for it and bailed. Sad!

7. Saw the crazy pack of Santas out on a bar crawl in the East Village at 10am...and in Mid-Town in the afternoon...and in Brooklyn at 11pm...they went alllllllll day!

8. Saw some serious bling at Tiffany...annnnnnd maybe drooled just a little bit.

9. Got caught in a bit of a rainstorm, and had multiple very classic NYC umbrellas-blowing-inside-out moments. I believe CB described it as "pure hell."

10. Best highlight though? Just getting to spend the weekend with CB in the greatest city in the world! We always have fun taking on NYC together, and these past few days did not disappoint. Even if we're lugging a suitcase and multiple bags all the way up to the 8th floor of Macy's via escalators, only to turn right back around still not finding what we're looking for, and almost breaking some Waterford crystal...we're doing it in style and having a blast. I heart NY. I heart CB. I heart Christmas. Period.