TechEd 2007

I spent June 2-7 in Orlando attending Microsoft's TechEd 2007. The convention is like a geek mecca. LOL. It was an opportunity to get to learn about the new products that Microsoft has in the works and also get help from the experts on their current projects. There was so much to see and do it wasn't possible to get everything done that I wanted. I will probably end up spending just as much time post conference doing as much work as I did while I was there. I had to leave prior to the attendee party that was help at The Island of Adventure but it was worth it since I was headed for GCLS. More info on that in the next post.

New York City - Final 36 hours

Well the trip is coming to an end. We decided to spend the last day visiting Central Park and shopping in Times Square. We did plan to explore the park more than we did but we didn't want to get lost. That place is HUGE. Next time we visit we will make sure we have a map.







We then took the subway back to Time Square to do some shopping. What is a trip to NY without some M&M's? After getting my M&M fix we headed back towards the hotel with a plan to stop at the Tall Girls store. I was looking forward to the trip since this would probably be the first time in a long time that I was able to buy clothes off the rack. Well no such luck for me. The pants were actually TOO LONG. Go figure. I have never had that happen before. You figure being 6' 2'' that would not be an issue. I did get a nice jacket thought and the sleeves were just right! We went back to the hotel for a break and then headed back to Times Square for dinner at Chevy's. In the past we had one of those restaurants in our area but not any longer and after dinner Saturday night I sure wish we did. There is one in Orlando and we are heading there on June 2nd, so I am happy about that. Nothing exciting happened on Sunday since we had an early flight back home. All in all it was a fabulous trip!!! I look forward to returning to the big apple really soon. My wallet is probably not in as much of a hurry to get back. LOL

New York City Day 3 Part II - Wynton

Oh what a NIGHT!

Yes, that is me with Wynton Marsalis. Friday night T and I went to see Wynton Marsalis Septet. Here is some show info.

In This House, On This Morning The Wynton Marsalis Septet

It's that sweet embrace of life--sometimes celebratory, sometimes solemn--rising from so many houses on so many Sundays. We mark the 15th anniversary of Wynton's first in-house commission, a sacred convergence of gospel and jazz that gave rise to a new sound, at once modern and familiar. When the Wynton Marsalis Septet--the same group of musicians who debuted the music 15 years ago featuring Riley, Gordon, "Warmdaddy" and Williams--testify, the House of Swing will shake down to its drum skin floors.

The evening started with T and I having to take our longest subway ride of our trip. We seem to really be getting the hang of this subway stuff. LOL. Once we figured out how to get to the train going in the right direction we did alright. We headed to central park south around 5:30 for our 6:00 reservations at Micky Mantle's restaurant. Neither of us are big baseball fans, but this place was close to the Rose Hall so we decided to have dinner there. I think I was too excited about the show so I didn't really eat a lot.

I have been a fan of Wynton Marsalis for over 20 years and this was going to be my very first time hearing him perform live. Last year we did see him in his capacity as the conductor of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra when they played locally but he did not perform on the trumpet that night and that is what I really love. After dinner we walked back towards the Rose Hall stopping at the fountain that is located in Columbus Circle near Trump International Hotel and Tower. We took a few pictures and then headed over to the hall.

When we arrived on the floor that housed the Rose Hall, we were greated by a local gospel choir singing. What an awesome opening act. The song they were singing when we arrived was "On Time God", which took me back to my days at the church I grew up attending. We spent the next 30 minutes listening to some wonderful gospel music. Before heading into the hall I picked up an autographed copy of one of Wynton's cd's. It was worth every penny that I spent on it.

The concert was broken into three parts with all three parts representing some aspect of a traditional sunday service at your typical black church. Those guys were just amazing. I have never heard a trombone, trumpet, saxaphone, drums, base, or piano played like they did. I still get goose bumps just remembering the show. Wynton was awesome but each of the artist were spectacular in their own right.

After the show was over I headed for the exit since it was time to go home right? Well NOT! T had evidently been exchanging e-mails with Wynton's publicist and had arranged for me to meet him after the show. So when I headed for the exit she said,"wait". I asked "For what" and she said "We need to go to the green room". I was like "For what?" and she said "So you can meet Wynton". Well I almost died right there. I think I was shell shocked for quite a while. T said that I was shaking. To be honest I don't remember if I was but I wouldn't be surprised if she was right. LOL.

15 minutes later I was shaking hands and talking to Wynton Marsalis. He signed my playbill along with T's ticket for the show and graciously posed for pictures. I still think I am on cloud nine. I am not sure when I will ever come back down to earth. I know I will never forget that night and I will never be able to thank T enough for setting up the meet.

New York City Day 3 Part I

We started the day out by heading down to pier 83 for a 2 hour semi-cirle cruise. We rode the subway back to Time Square and caught one of the city buses to the pier. We had not been on a city bus since we were in Vancouver last year. This bus trip was a lot nicer and shorter.

Here is the info of the cruise from teh cruise line website. Experience the grandeur of New York on our 2-hour city highlights tour. You'll enjoy magnificent views of the world's premier skyline and a close-up view of Lady Liberty. Sail down the Hudson, cruise around the Battery, up the East River, and under the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges to the United Nations and back. From Pier 83 at 42nd Street on the Hudson River. The temperature of the day reached 90 degrees so it was a HOT one in NY. Lucky for T and I we are used to that type of weather so it wasn't so bad.

We arrived for the cruise around 10:15 and since our boat was not leaving until 11:30 we had a bit of a wait. The vendor were able to sell a LOT of water while we waited. We met a nice couple visiting upstate New York. I am terrible with names and therefore can't remember who they were but we had a great time chatting while we waited for the cruise to start. We learned that they had seven sons and no daughters which of course reminded me of my grandmother who also had seven sons and no daughters. They told us about a show that sounded really good The Pirate Queen but we were unable to make time to see the show. Maybe next trip.

The cruise was wonderful. To see the island from the water was really exciting. T took the picture of Lady Liberty above. The emotional part of the tour was seeing the area where the towers stood pre 9-11. Even after all this time it is still hard to believe what happened.

New York City - Day 2

I am a day late but here is what happened on Thursday May 24th while in New York.

We started the day with a morning basketball game. We went to see the New York Liberty play the Washington Mystics. Even though we were in New York, I had to cheer for the Mystics. There are two former NC State Players (Gillian Goring and Chasity Melvin) and one former Duke player (Alana Beard) on the mystics team so it wasn't even a choice. Unfortunately, the Liberty did not cooperate and ended up beating the Mystics by 5 points. Oh well, maybe next time. One thing that surprised me was the fact that Madison Square Garden is not the most aromatic place. It smelled like it was ready for a serious scrubbing.

After the basketball game we braved the New York City subway system for the first time. We headed for Canal Street so that T could do some shopping. We also wanted to have a nice Italian lunch in Little Italy. We had a fabulous lunch and T didn't spend a lot of money so everything was all good. LOL.

We got back to the room and rested a while before we headed to the worlds largest Macy's to shop for a bit and then went for dinner.

Friday should be a fun day. We are suppose to go on a cruise around the island and we are also going to the see Wynton Marsalis so that should be a really fun day.

Happy Birthday To Me in NYC / Day 1

39 years ago today I came into the world. I decided this year I wanted to celebrate that event in New York City. Our day started dark and early at 3:30 am. We headed to the airport for our 6:00 am flight. Last night for some reason I started panicking about the upcoming flight. Not sure what caused the panic but the flight was pretty much uneventful and we arrived in NY around 7:15 am.

I was expecting one of those white knuckle rides from the airport via taxi but it didn't happen. LOL. We ran into a lot of traffic and a wreck that caused us to detour from the original route, so the driver really couldn’t let it all hang out.

We arrived at our hotel really early expecting to just drop off our bags which we did but we were also able to enjoy breakfast for free at the hotel so that was really nice. After we got our morning nourishment we headed out to see what we could see. We headed straight for Time Square. We went by the TKTS booth to get the lay of the land. The line was already pretty long when we got there so we might check back tomorrow to see what shows are available. We left the TKTS area and headed for the NBA store on 5th avenue. I thought I might find some nice WNBA stuff but it didn’t work out. Oh well, maybe next time.

After a lot of walking we decided that we needed to get something to eat so we headed back to Time Square. I initially wanted to go to the ESPN Zone but it was packed so we headed to the Hard Rock Café instead. To say that we were excited to finally sit down would be an understatement. Our North Carolina feet were not ready for the New York City blocks. LOL. After lunch we headed back to the hotel to check in and get some rest. Well that rest turned out to be a 3.5 hour nap. During our nap my mom called to wish me a happy birthday. She always waits until 5:01 to call since that was the time of my birth.

After the nap we headed out for my birthday dinner. Being in NY there was only one meal I wanted for dinner. You got it. PIZZA. I had a really good slice of Pepperoni pizza along with a Pepsi. You couldn’t ask for more than that. On the way back to the room we stopped and picked up a birthday cupcake that I plan to eat as soon as I finish this update. After I finish my cupcake, I plan to go to bed and rest up for another busy day in New York City.

The Day Before NY

It is the day before our trip to New York. Unfortunately we were unable to get tickets to The View or tickets for the Statue of Liberty but we will still have an amazing trip I am sure. Our plane leaves at 6am in the morning which of course means we need to be at the airport around 5. Every time I book a flight this early I wonder what the heck was I thinking! Once we get to New York I will be happy that I did book such an early flight. We still haven't hammered down what we will be doing tomorrow but I am sure whatever it is it will be fun. I haven't started packing yet but I have started a list so hopefully I won't forget anything. If I get all the way to New York and forget the tickets to see Wynton on Friday I will be very upset with myself so those tickets will be the first item placed in the carry on bag. I plan to update the blog during the trip and keep you all updated on our comings and goings.

Let the Blogging Begin

Well I guess it is time for me to finally start posting to this thing since I set it up quite some time ago. What better day to start than on my 21st anniversary. I haven't even reached my 39 birthday but I have reached my 21st anniversary! As a 17 year old kid getting ready to leave home for the first time I surely didn't think that in 21 years I would still be with the person that I was fallling in love with. We have grown together and with all growing there are pains, but I am so happy that we committed to each other and I believe that the best is yet to come. Tonight we have are going out for a fancy dinner. Tomorrow we are going to keep it simple with a nice picnic and then go to see Shrek. Next week we head to New York to continue the anniversary celebration and also celebrate my birthday. I can't wait.