Philadelphia & A New Beginning

I arrived in Philly early Tuesday and my meeting with a DM was canceled due to him being ill... so I met up up with my friend Cyndi and headed out to take some cancer sucks photos. But before that I got to see her lovely new home they are renting out in Narberth. What a great area, I had not been to that area of Philly... it is not far from where Andy works at the local station 94.1...a great station! If you are out there program it in. 80's rock :)

I got to meet Haley and Harrison, Cyndi's twins and they are soooooo adorable and between their love and their golden retrieve Liberty's love... I was feeling all warm and fuzzy, gotta love that :)

Cyndi and I headed out to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.... a/k/a the Rocky statue and stairs!
I have been wanting to go there for the past year of travel to Philly and finally made it :)
We had a fantastic talk. It was just what I needed. We laughed a lot and of course solved some worlds problems :) I am blessed to get to travel for work and be able to also tie that into seeing people I care about.

I went out with 3 other DMs, 2 from Philly area and 1 who flew in from Boston as well as one of our Territory team members in from Long Island. It was a really fun evening. We went to Buddahkan. I had been there before and it is good food, everyone shares a bunch of dishes. huge Buddah in room (however after being to Thailand- not all that impressive).Its "ok" food. Some dishes better than others. You pay for atmosphere.

We headed out to a bar not far from there for a while and eventually all back to center city to crash at the Hyatt.

Today was spent with a different DM in Philly at a store that is struggling. I felt like I really did some good work there today. The GM seemed really open and I was able to get her to think through her growth plans in a new way. The DM was pleased too... so in the end it was a VERY good business trip.

So beyond all the great business that took place, I decided today is October 1st, time to start new. Coco moved out to her own place today (yippee Coco enjoy!!) and the bigger move was that I removed some energy in my life that was pretty toxic. It had distracted me from what is good in my life, so today I felt like a weight had been lifted. I lost my voice for a bit, but I have it back and hope to never lose it again. This is the new beginning I refer to. I am blessed with friends and family that reminded me of this the past few weeks, and I am also blessed to be at a place in life where I can see the lesson from it.
Always trust your instincts people, there is a reason for it, don't let anyone convince you not to.

So in the end Philly was a really good trip both personally and professionally.
This was in an email I received today - sometimes the timing is ironic on what pops in your inbox - kismet if you will:
- We are unaware
- We become aware of facts, data, information.
- We comprehend meaning from the facts.
- We can personally apply the information in our lives.
- We have wisdom, enlightened, we can lovingly apply our knowledge to world affairs.
- We live in truth.

KK

Denver or Bust - Mel turns 40!

First let me welcome any new followers... even if you are not officially following me - but like to find me and read my blog, I hope it inspires you to be true to yourself and travel the world too!

Now, lets talk a girls trip to Denver shall we? My girlfriends (and Jason) headed to Denver to celebrate Melissa's 40th birthday last weekend. Jenni and I flew out Saturday (everyone else flew out Friday). Jeff and Julie picked us up at the airport and we headed to Mels to hang out for a while.

Later we all headed to Evergreen, Colorado where Dawn and John were hosting a gathering for all of us (there were 9 of us total who flew in for this). On the way to their house we stopped at Red Rocks to see where Mel and Jeff will be married next June, and to the reception hall.

We all had our Cancer Sucks t-shirts on for a gorgeous shot up in the Red Rocks... what an amazing place! The Allman Brothers were playing so we were a bit out of place not being tailgaters...

We had a great night and headed back about Midnight down the long winding road of the mountains... thanks Jenni who got us home safely!

Sunday I knew I would be up early so Jason (also an early riser, but dating Heather who is not)and I made plans to meet at 7ish at Starbucks. We grabbed a Starbucks (herbal tea for me of course - no caffeine) and then headed out for a walk to scout out places for brunch.

We walked all over and asked a local the best place. SNOOZE - she said without hesitation.

So we walked back, and gathered Terry, Jenni and Heather. Walked to SNOOZE only to find an hour wait...ugh. At that point Jason and I had been up and walking around for hours- so we bailed and went to the place right next door to the Courtyard where we were staying... best decision ever!

We got seated and found out they had bottomless Bloody Mary's and Mimosa's.... enough said. We spent the morning into afternoon there drinking...it was a blast :)

Heather and I ran out of the bar when the firemen came collecting outside for the Jerry Lewis telethon... I mean come on- hot fire fighters doing good for MS.... of course we got out there! Jason just sat and laughed at us.

Eventually we all headed back to our rooms to get ready for Mels big birthday party (Sunday was her actually birthday - so a Sunday party it was!). We all made t-shirts with fun photos of her on them and gathered to celebrate HER :)

It was a really fun night and so nice to meet all the people in her life in Denver. She is blessed to have so many great people in her life :) We laughed a lot, shared some tears, and reinforced our wonderful connection of friendship.

I am reading the book The Girls from Ames right now - it is all about the amazing connection of women and how womens friendships are actually good for their health, how we support each other in ways that family and men rarely do. That we hold each other to being themselves... it reminds me of all the amazing women in my life that I am blessed to call friend.

This trip was just what I needed, and I think the others would say the same. We headed out early Sunday and were back home to enjoy our Labor Days at home... a bit hungover :)

last night in holland

Weird how 8 days can feel like it flew by, yet at the same time feel like forever....in a good way.

Matt and I took the #9 tram into Den Haag last night as shopping is open later on Thursdays....meaning 8pm. Things close down early in the Netherlands.

We walked all over, Matt bought some great sandals and then he took me to dinner at Gouchos, an Argentinian steak house. The food and wine he ordered were great....photo to come. Actually we thought the wine was bad at first, but after letting it breathe it was really good... which is exactly what they recommended.

I am not a big red meat person....but damn if the steaks were not fabulous! Matt had the fillet, which was the better of our two, and I had the "featured" steak...in the end both were Yummy!!

After dinner we walked back through town to central station, grabbed the tram back to Schevengin, and decided to have Lou (Matt's coworker) over for a drink and for me to get to know him a bit. He is from Canada, but is Italian. Really nice guy and it was great to get to know him as I hear a lot about him.

We slept in a bit today before I had to get packed and to airport. Leaving sucks. Matt drove me to airport and walked me to security which was nice as I did not expect it. Did I mention leaving sucks?

I am now on plane. We should have departed 30minutes ago....but there is a medical emergency, so medics are on board and....oh hey the just said we could go! Giddy up.

Good bye :)
kk

PS_ In Minneapolis now. Weird to be home and getting everything in order after being gone for 9 days. I have a lot to do, including unpack... the least favorite part of coming home. Off to NYC Monday for work... then Philly...then back to NYC, 3 solid weeks of travel. Back to reality.

Monday and Tuesday in Scheveningen

The past two days I have been on my own while Matt goes to work at Fastenal.

Yesterday was beautiful and I went for a run to and down the boardwalk. It is a great area with lots of bars and places to eat, shops and people watching.

I managed my way through buying groceries for dinner without knowing the language. All was good till I tried to buy wine and use my Mastercard...er, only in America can you do that. So I said I would be back with euros.

I managed to get back to Albert Heins to go get groceries... as I was checking out I soon realized you should bring your own bag or else you use what are the equivalent to a plastic bag for veggies at Lunds in MN. So there I was - carrying everything in my arms and hoping I made it back the 2 whole blocks I had to walk. I made it :)

I decided I would make the veggies, but was walking down the block for a rotisserie chicken that we have been eyeing since I got here. I love that I can just pop out and walk someplace for whatever I need here... very nice.

I served up zucchini with red peppers and tomato over the chicken...and I won't kid anyone, the chicken was the best part of this meal - it was fantastic! I also made yellow potatoes with dill :) We never even had desert, and apple torte...maybe tonight we can have that?

We went for a walk after dinner to the boardwalk then came back home and Matt played with his new iPhone while we watched a movie and then a really loud thunderstorm moved in.

It lasted all night- at one point it was so loud we both sat up... it was great though with all the lightening. When we woke up there was a HUGE snail on the ground... it was creepy yet cool....I made Matt put it back outside... as I consider that "a mans job",

at least when there is one around :)

Today (Tuesday) I worked all morning. Got through most of my work emails but as it is only 9am in MN, I am guessing I will be busy again tomorrow morning. I just got back from the grocery store...and this time I had cash and a bag - I actually looked like I knew what I was doing!

Tonight - Gnocci, asparagus, hot tomato sauce with artichokes. And of course fresh bread... this place is my carb heaven, the freshest baked breads everywhere - danger danger!

I extended my trip to stay till friday today... so I have a few days yet, which is nice as today was rainy all day.

Train to Paris

We are on train to Paris, last night we were in Amsterdam quite late and so getting up at 5am to get to train station has made us both very sleepy. Matt is crashed, but I just woke and decided to update a bit.

My luggage arrived about 3pm yesterday, so we got a late start to Amsterdam. Matt lives about 45 minutes away from there via train. We got to AMS and decided to make our way through town and go find the Ann Frank house. We walked all around and i loved all the canals and architecture. What I soon learned was that Matt has no inner compass...and lets just say we walked all around AMS before I took over and got us to the Ann Frank house... Ironically we sat outside and ate about a block from it, but didn't know it. We did laugh pretty hard at this once we realized it. Sadly the line to go in wrapped around the block, and after checking with people at the front of the line, we knew we would be waiting over an hour and probably not get in before close. So we walked some more....and can I add we always ended up in Dam Square every time we walked some place.

One of the funniest things I saw while in AMS were the urinals in the streets (yes this is Matt using one)

Hilarious! Men just walk up and in a cylinder shaped thingie, divided by 4 and there you could have 4 men urinating in front of everyone...it is actually quite genius if you ask me. Keeps them from peeing in alleys...and since that is where the prostitutes are in the red light district...that is good.

We made it to the red light district and i actually thought the majority of it was tame, when we did walk down a side street/alley and i finally saw the girls in the windows, well that was odd and uncomfortable as they were in their bra and underwear and negotiating with men...odd.

We made out way to get a canal tour and ended up on a candle lit one that also included wine and a cheese plate. (err, you had me there). We thought it was going to be an hour but turned out it was 2 hours. We had a really good time, got to see a ton of things we would not have from the streets. Houseboats are a big deal there, they even had 3 boats connected that made for a little kids playground...it was cool. We also learned that the windows with big shutters on them are old warehouses, they are the only windows with shutters....and my favorites.

Once the boat ride was over we wandered a bit more, got some frites (fries) as you are suppose to while there....and we hardly ate any...not that good.

Headed back on train to Den Haag and got home very very late, allowing us about 2.5hrs sleep....hence we have been sleeping on train :)

I am very excited to spend the night in Paris...I cant wait to see the Eiffel tower :)
Till tomorrow
Bon Jour,
KK

Scheveningen

Flew into Amsteredam at 7am yesterday (Thursday)....but my luggage remained in Montreal, Canada...long story short NWA didn't tell the passengers on the plane that we needed to go get our luggage and recheck it in Montreal to Amsterdam. Grr. Good news is...I made it here and had packed a change of clothes in my carry on that I had for yesterday :) Between that and Matts t-shirts it is no big deal.

We spent the day in Scheveningen yesterday, it is about 40 minutes from Amsterdam and where Matt lives. He has a great place and we walked everywhere. One does not need a car here, which I love. We walked to the ocean and had breakfast - way too much food for two people!

We then came back to his place and I crashed for 2 hours. Got up and headed to Amsterdam...although on the walk to the train station, we got a phone call from his friend Lou, who said we should stay and hang out on the beach as it was a holiday here and everyone was out...so we did :) We headed back to the beach and walked around, did some shopping and ate lunch...had a Turkish Pizza YUMMY! (forgot to take pic - sorry foodies!)

Headed back here to drop off bags of stuff I bought (hair care I replaced to get ready in the morning)...and ended up sitting out on his patio talking and drinking wine (ok I had all the wine)the rest of the night - it was a great evening. I slept for about 11 hours and now am ready to take on Amsterdam :)

KLM text me today and said my luggage has arrived and will be here today between 2-6...err, we will be in Amsterdam at that point fo rthe day and into the evening and we haven't figured out what the plan is yet to get it....hopefully they will just leave it?

Hope you all have a wonderful Friday :)
Kari

Flight info

Departs: Minneapolis/St. Paul-Int'l, MN (MSP) at 1:05PM
Arrives: Montreal-Trudeau Int'l, QC, Canada (YUL) at 4:37PM
Class of Service: Economy Class (V)
Seat: 08-C
Flight Duration: 2 hours 32 minutes
Approximate Miles: 940
Meal Service: None
Aircraft: Canadair Regional Jet CMJ
Note: Operated by MESABA AVIATION/NWA AIRLINK
Note: Check in with Northwest Airlines
Note: Departs from Lindbergh Terminal

-->
Date: Wednesday, May 20
Flight: KL 672
Int'l, QC, Canada (YUL) at 6:25PM
Arrives: Amsterdam-Schiphol, Netherlands (AMS) at 7:05AM on Thursday, May 21
Class of Service: V
Seat: 08-G
Flight Duration: 6 hours 40 minutes
Approximate Miles: 3,422
Meal Service: Meal Served
Aircraft: M11
Note: Operated by KLM ROYAL DUTCH AIRLINES

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
Date: Wednesday, May 27
Flight: NW 41
Departs: Amsterdam-Schiphol, Netherlands (AMS) at 10:40AM
Arrives: Minneapolis/St. Paul-Int'l, MN (MSP) at 12:40PM
Class of Service: Economy Class (V)
Seat: 29-H Aisle
Flight Duration: 9 hours
Approximate Miles: 4,155
Meal Service: Dinner
Aircraft: Airbus A330-200
Note: Flight Status posted

my view from my room in Baltimore

umm, really? fuuny! (mohegan sun, CT)

Bangkok to MSP in 24 hours... I am home

Business class all the way home from Bangkok started with the lounge. A quiet place to wait for flight, some tea, food, fruit...and newspapers. I love Business class!

I was upgraded between Bangkok and Tokyo, and had already used miles to upgrade to MSP.
It was awesome - the whole way home in comfort... well as comfortable as anyone can be trapped on a plane for 20 hours.

These are the seats, they recline flat and they give us slippers too :)

Below is from a toilet in Tokyo. It allows you some options, one being just the sound of flushing... you know incase you get a shy bladder going :)

And I am home... far cry from the pool in Pattaya, but none the less home and I LOVE my bed :)