New York City

I went to New York City for the first time last week!  The first of many trips there, hopefully.

My boss told me if I could set up meetings for us there, he would let me go.  Done deal.  

After some cold calling and plenty of rejections, I was able to get 2 meetings set up:  The Rockefeller Group and ... I don't even remember the other one.  We are still talking about changing our prime broker, so we had meetings set up with Lehman, B of A, JP Morgan, etc. to talk about that.

I flew in on a Tuesday morning and was immediately shocked by the sheer number of skyscrapers, people and taxis everywhere.

It's July.  And it is HOT.  Michael sweat completely through his dress shirt after a 3 minute walk.  No joke.  Poor guy.

It seemed like we spent a lot of time in cabs...and not much time in actual meetings.

We grabbed some lunch at a little deli by Rockefeller Center before continuing on with the days agenda.

Dinner was in Little Italy after what seemed like 20 meetings, but I think was only 4.

After dinner we skipped the cabs and walked all the way back to our hotel in Times Square.

Now that place is something to see!  I've never seen so many lights (and people) in all my life!

Before calling it a night, we had some fun at ESPN Zone:

Michael and Chris racing.

Day 2 - Wednesday - was more meetings and more cab rides before heading back to the airport that night..  

I did get to see Central Park (briefly), and it looked just beautiful!

It was a super short trip (only two nights), but we got a lot accomplished (work-wise), and still managed to have some fun exploring the crazy city, too!

I'll be back soon.  I only got the tip of the iceberg in this city!

Chicago

For my birthday this year, I decided to take a trip to Chicago to see my good friend from college, Ashley.  I hadn't ever been to Chicago, and just wanted to get away for a long weekend for some fun!

Ashley lives with her boyfriend and a friend of theirs, Jordan, in a sweet condo just off Lakeshore Drive -- complete with some amazing views!  If you go up to the roof of the building - where the pool is - you can see Soldier Field and hear the games going on there!

Sunset on the balcony (that's the edge of Grant Park in the background)

I got in around dinner time (left KC after work), so we just cleaned up and went out for the night.  Ashley's boyfriend just happened to have some of his high school friends in town that weekend, too, so we had some company.

The whole group (minus Jordan - taking the picture)

I don't remember where we  ate dinner, but we ended up at an 'underground' dance party that was seriously just too much fun!!

The roommates --  plus me

The next day was a gorgeous sunny day, so we went for a stroll along Lake Michigan - on Lake Shore Drive.  We walked through Grant Park, stopped at Buckingham Fountain, saw  the Art Museum, Navy Pier, some beach volleyball, etc.  

I was pretty bad about taking pictures (rare for me!), but it was such a great afternoon of seeing all the sights in Chicago!

That afternoon, we decided to do something fun and new:  whirlyball! It's kind of like lacrosse on bumper cars - with alcohol involved.  It was pretty interesting, and we had a blast ramming our cars in to each other trying to ge the ball...which was harder than it looked!

That night we met up with a friend of mine from high school, Brandon, who is living in Chicago now.  We met in China Town and, of course, had some Chinese food!  It was fun to get to catch up with him again!

The weekend I was there also happened to be when the Taste of Chicago event was going on.  So Sunday morning we went down to the park to listen to some live music and try some new foods...

...all that before attending my FIRST soccer game!  We went to the Chicago Fire game. 

 Just for the record, soccer fans are CRAZY!! 

I was actually supposed to leave earlier that day, but I called Southwest and got a later flight so I could stay for the game.  As soon as it was over, it was straight to the airport for me!

All piled in one vehicle...

Ashley really made my first trip to Chi-town a pretty spectacular one.  We had so much fun exploring the city, catching up, and laughing.  

I'll be back for another visit soon, for sure! :)