Happy Trails To You

Tomorrow I leave for my final flight of 2010. It's a quick one - just about 45 minutes in the air - down to Philadelphia/South Jersey to spend the holidays with my family. But as I sit here, decidedly NOT packing despite the 12-day length of my trip, I realized that this year might just top all others in terms of airline travel, at least in simple terms of quantity of actual flights taken. So let's do what we Type-A personalities do best...make a list :

January
N/A (ha! that wouldnt last long!)

February
Boston-->San Diego
San Diego-->Boston

March
Boston-->Chicago
Chicago-->Boston

April
Boston-->Vegas
Vegas-->Boston

May
Boston-->San Fran
San Fran-->Boston
Boston-->Toronto
Toronto-->Boston
Boston-->Atlantic City
Atlantic City-->Boston

June
Boston-->London
London-->Boston

July
Boston--Phoenix-->Honolulu
Honolulu-->Maui
Maui--Honolulu-Phoneix-->Boston

August
Boston-->Philly
Philly-->Boston

September
Boston-->San Fran
San Fran-->Philly
Philly-->Boston

October
Boston-->Philly
Philly-->Boston
Boston-->San Fran
San Fran-->Boston

November
Boston-->Atlanta
Atlanta-->Boston

Dember
Boston-->San Fran
San Fran-->Boston
Boston-->London
London-->Boston
Boston-->Philly......

HOT DAMM. And you'd think by now I would be a better packer. How am I not?  Well the good news is that I got to my three new places of 2010 (more on that later) and its been an amazingly exciting year.  The even better news is that I'm finally getting a chance to sit still for a while...at least until I head to Toronto mid-Jan and start it all over again!

Seasons Greetings all...and happy travels!!

The Journey Is The Destination

Those that know me know that I travel. A lot. I personally love exploring new places (see: rule of three) and, as an event planner, I also am fortunate enough to travel for work - which is something I consider a wonderful bonus. I never want to spend 52 weeks a year in an office, my true love is being on site and that requires a bit of a journey.  In my semi-new job as Event Manager at Eloqua, I do travel a bit more than I have in recent years, which is both a treat and sometimes a challenge.

I measure in at 6'1" tall but most of my height in my legs.  This means that, more often than not, the seat pitch - the distance between one point on a seat and the same point on the seat behind - is less than the distance from my hip to my knee, say LV's pitch. This usually results in a cool new tattoo on my knee of the safety guide stuck in the seatback pocket.  To combat this, I typically only fly JetBlue Airways, which has one of the largest seat pitch standards in the biz - 34". I also love their product, their friendliness, their free tv...  But last week I flew out to San Francisco and needed an early flight so decided to try Virgin America.  My friend Erica raves about it, let's give it a whirl.

All in all, I found the experience to be very nice.  The security line was ridiculously short, the staff was courteous, the seats had tvs. BUT...their seat pitch still wasnt as high as JetBlue's and I found myself slightly uncomfortable the entire time.(grrrr) On the positive side, the plane was half full so I was able to monopolize a middle seat for my leg extensions but hate to think of what the experience would've been like had I been relegated to my seat only. 

End result: Richard Branson, you seem like a swell guy (and once in London I even got to go to your private club - thanks!), but I'm sticking with JB for now. I fly back to Boston today and booked a JB flight back and the joy of knowing my knees will be free from torture is overwhelming. And the free cookies don't hurt.

"I read that on your blog"

Earlier tonight someone remarked to me in passing, "Oh right. I read that on your blog." My first thought was, My what? OH RIGHT I HAVE A BLOG. My second thought was, hot damm. I can't even remember the last time I posted to my blog. What oh what must they think of me? The word delinquent came to mind. So did overworked and stressed and busy and TiVo.  But this is no time for excuses.  It's time to get back on the horse. Jump on that bandwagon. Monday morning quarterback....hmmm that doesn't work so instead [insert cliche here] and let's move on.

In an attempt to kick start my blog habit, I started thinking about why I created this blog in the first place.

1) I don't think I am an excellent writer (nor is it an activity that I actually enjoy) and thought this would be a good way to force myself to practice/learn to love it.

2) I wanted to tell "tall" tales of my adventures in Boston - and how frequently my height comes into play in all sorts of situations.

3) Many of my friends and family live far away and perhaps this is a way for them to follow my stories. Ya know, bc I dont post them on Twitter or Facebook so CLEARLY the lack of LHV information in the world is a big problem.

4) Sarcasm is a tough tone to nail in writing. Something to work on.

I think far too often I try to come up with thematic posts - ones that really showcase the TALL issues - and I got bogged down in the details.  So while I am still going to focus on 1-4 above, there might be times when I go off the rails. If it gets me posting more often, I am ok with it. In the meantime, for those casual readers wondering what I have been up to since July, here is a quick recap so we're all on the same page:

• July - amazing 10-day family vacation to Fairmont Maui
• August - moved to the 2nd floor of my building, as per the "request" of my landlord's daughter. #fail
• September - lots and lots of long hours to prep for...
• October - my biggest event of the year (and the largest single event I've ever planned solo), Eloqua Experience, which goes off without a hitch. VICTORY!
• November - Green Beans w Bacon Vinaigrette, Buble at the Garden

So welcome back to me, LHV. Let's see where we go from here!

I Can't Miss You If You Won't Leave

OH HELLO THERE FRIENDS! Have you missed me? Probably not but only because I have been so busy mouthing off on Twitter or blogging on my new company's corporate blog, It's All About Revenue
(it's not all dorky marketing stuff, I promise! RSS feed it, throw a tomato at me later if you disagree).

So in an effort to end my not-so-strictly-imposed social silence, I'm declaring the three month new-job transition period (the time allotted to let your life just drift away from "normal" and into "holy crap, I need to work 43 hours per day to 1) impress my co-workers and 2) figure out how to use this freakin fax machine/phone/laptop/expense accounting system/payroll...oh how the list goes on") officially OVER (it's not you, it's me). Let's back up -- on March 1st, I started working for Eloqua, a software company that focuses on marketing automation. It's been an amazing three months, can't rave enough about my new boss or declare how lucky I feel to be at an organization that recognizes and appreciates talent. But with any new job, even one you love, the transition period is a tough one. Adjustments must be made, judgments will be given, clothing choices will be analyzed. So you put normal life on a shelf for a bit and that includes things like leaving work at a normal hour, hitting the gym, blogging. Ok, so blogging wasn't a totally normal thing for me but roll with it.

So the three month (+ a lil extra) period has just passed, as well as my vacation (more on that to come shortly) and I woke up this morning with a shot - it's time to get back to business. Focusing on fitness, preparing for a busy fall both professionally and personally and starting to plan for new living arrangements (more on that to come shortly too). First up? Putting it down on virtual paper. Making it real. Or as real as a blog can get that mostly only Katy, Nikki and my cat read on a regular basis.

What does any of this have to do with being tall? Nothing, except I'm doing it. And I'm tall. So that works.

Stay tuned.