2 Days, 6 Hours and 28 Minutes...

How am I going to make it through the next two days? I can hardly think about work. I want to leave NOW. It's been too long since I took a long trip like this and I need it! I need pasta, wine, gelato and beautiful and historical scenery right now. While Southlake is pretty, there is a shortage of history OR wine at work. Or gelato or pasta for that matter. I just want to go to sleep and wake up in Rome. Man I really hope I love Italy as much as I think I will or else I am going to be really sad. I have been planning this trip for like two years and I just can't believe it is finally here! Have I mentioned that I CAN'T WAIT?

Getting Ready...

Well, we leave for Italy in 4 days. We will be there May 1 - 14, then we'll head up to Munich until May 17, then home. We fly from DFW to Frankfurt, then Frankfurt to Rome. We have about a 6 hour layover in Frankfurt so I think we are going to head out of the airport and try to find some schnitzel or some other yummy German food while we are there.

I think I have gotten just about everything I need, except a pedicure =). I practiced packing my backpack last week and to my surprise, everything fit! I couldn't believe it. I even had a tiny bit of spare space so that will be good. The dollar has even gotten stronger in the last few days so I take that as an omen to do a lot of shopping while we are there. I will probably end up way overpaying for things I could find in the states anyway if I tried, but when people ask where I got my shoes and I can say 'Italy', it will be worth it. ;)

I am really going to try to update this as much as possible, with pics if possible, so keep checking back. We will also try to check email as well. I seriously can't wait. I am going to eat my weight in pasta. If I don't come back 10 pounds heavier I can pretty much count my trip as a failure. =)

See you all when we get back!!

The Stansbury of the East

So Sunday was the day we were leaving, but we had until about 2. So we took the T out to the Harvard Square stop. It was cold and rainy, so we just found somewhere to eat lunch as fast as possible. We ended up in some place called John Harvard's Brew House, which I am guessing is the school's name sake. I feel bad for not having done my homework. =/

Anyway, we ate there then walked towards Harvard to look around the campus. Well we walked a few blocks, very quickly to stay warm, and realized Harvard looks like every other campus in the world, except it has a big river next to it with guys rowing boats. Most of it was closed off anyway so we couldn't really do much. We did keep our eye out for a few Good Will Hunting scenes, but never saw any.

So that's it. After that we basically headed to the airport and flew home. We were really lucky not to be affected by the MD80s being grounded since both my flights were on one. I am glad to be back in warm weather. I could never live up north, although it is fun to visit. I think we might have enjoyed it more had it been warmer and dryer, but still fun.

So next up in my life - leaving for Italy in 9 days!! I seriously cannot wait. I feel like I am already in vacation mode, which is not good when I am at work! Life has been stressful in the last few months and 17 days in another country is just what I need I believe. The goal is to write here as much as possible while we are there, so stay tuned! I will do my best to post pictures as well.

Go Sox! (Don't tell Jason I said that)

Alright, sorry it took me a bit to get to the next part of our trip...

So Saturday we sleep in and really were super lazy until about noon. We ordered room service for breakfast, which is always outrageously expensive and not usually that good anyway, but for some reason when I am on vacation it feels so luxurious to have someone literally bring you breakfast in bed.

We had tickets for the Red Sox/Yankees game. Jason has been a huge Yankees fan forever so it was seriously lucky that they were playing the Sox this weekend. I, however, refused to wear any Yankee paraphernalia because I did not wish to get pummeled, yelled at or even a mean glance from a die hard Sox fan. My affinity for the Yankees is not that great. So we headed out that way on the T so we could eat and have a look around for a bit before the game started. I think we walked in every direction BUT toward the ballpark before we figured out where we were, but we finally found our way and decided to grab a bite at this place called Cask N Flagon. It was packed but we found a table and had some actually pretty tasty food and a few beers. Then we headed in to Fenway early so Jason could walk around. He really wanted to see the Green Monster and something about a green seat? Or maybe it is red, sorry to all you Sox fans, I just don't remember.

So we go in and I immediately love it. They have yummy local food for concessions, including a Dunkin Donuts. I got a huge large coffee to keep me warm, then we headed up top of the Green Monster. Now, we walk up what might have been two flights of stairs to find ourselves at the very top of the ballpark! Now, people from Texas stay with me. We are used to Rangers Stadium, Minute Maid Park and Kyle Field for goodness sake...this looked like a high school stadium! Ok, I am exaggerating, but this park is the smallest one I have ever seen! And when I say these things, please don't think I am being negative. It made for one of the best baseball experiences ever. It was such an intimate way to attend the game. We were able to walk from the top of the outfield to behind home base in about a minute and watched the players warm up and interact with the fans. I mean the first row of seats are practically ON the field. It was very cool. So even us with 'bad' tickets were really close and had a great view. Then, in the eighth inning it started raining and they postponed the game, but we were under the awning so we didn't get wet at all. We just sat there for about 45 minutes while they played Umbrella, It's Raining Men, I Love a Rainy Night...you get the picture. Reminded me of that Gary Allen song 'Songs About Rain'. Kind of funny.

They never started the game back up so we ended up leaving in search of food. I had heard Newbury Street had lots of good restaurants so we headed that way and went to basically the first place we saw because it was still raining. We were exhausted so we headed back to the hotel and went straight to bed.

Next up...Harvard and Home...and I promise to write it soon. =)

Here's a pic of Jason at Fenway...

Wicked Awesome

Well I am back from Boston. I meant for this blog to be more of a write as I go/while I am there thing, and I promise to try harder to do that for Italy, but for now it's too late I guess...

So after training on Thursday I headed to the hotel in downtown Boston. Now everyone had told me how hard it is to drive in Boston, but I had no idea. I mean, this town is nuts as far as streets go. There are no blocks, there are no normal intersections with perpendicular streets meeting in an obvious way. There are small little windy roads merging at strange places and even the bigger intersections have turn only lanes for right and left turns and you don't know they are turn only lanes until it is way too late. Also, being downtown with a lot of tall buildings, I guess my GPS just didn't know where I was so I was totally lost in a city I knew nothing about and was seriously concerned about ever finding my hotel, let alone the way back to the airport to drop my car off. I almost broke down in tears like 3 times. It should have taken me 30 minutes to get to my hotel, check in and get to the airport, but it took me about 2 hours.

So I was a little frazzled when I met Jason at the airport, but we just dropped his bags at the hotel, headed up to the north end, and after some delicious wine, caprese salad and ravioli, I was feeling much better. After dinner we walked over to Mike's Pastry's - which everyone had told me to go to - and got some dessert. I had a cappuccino with a Boston Cream Puff that was soooo good and Jason had this peanut butter brownie thing that was also amazing. Good call everyone.

Friday turned colder and rainy, but we persevered and went on the Freedom Trail walk. It basically takes you all through Boston and up across the river to show you a bunch of historical sites like Paul Revere's house, this cemetery where the Boston Massacre victims are buried, the Bunker Hill memorial which is HUGE, and the church where the lanterns were set for the 'one if by land, two if by sea' warning for Paul Revere. There is so much history in that town it is amazing. In Dallas if something was built in the 1930's our first thought is to tear it down and build a McMansion. Pretty sad.


Here is another picture from the entrance to the State House. I swear I am 12 sometimes, but I thought it was funny. Just another day at work I guess...

Boston is sort of a hard city to pin down for me. Most big cities have sort of a 'feel' to them ya know? Boston is nothing like I thought it would be, plus it just doesn't feel that big or crowded like you would expect. I guess I expected that everything would be colonial buildings and everyone to be sort of snooty or something. Not sure why. But everyone in Boston was more like the polar opposite of my expectation. Some of the nicest people ever, like almost overly friendly sometimes. So that was a nice surprise, but downtown is mostly newer huge city buildings like any normal downtown in a big city. Every little ways you will see an old looking building and you point and say 'oh I bet that is something', but other than that, feels like a normal downtown. Now once you get more outside of downtown, it is a lot more like I had it pictured with nothing more than 3 stories tall in cute little colonial style. Sort of like London.

I will write more later...coming up - Fenway Park and Harvard!

I Think I'll Go to Boston...

Ok, honestly, how many times have I said that in the last few days? Probably a hundred. I can't help it! I have never been to Boston and what better place to start my blog than in a city where I am alone and have never been before? Traveling period is one of my favorite things. Traveling ALONE is a great and totally different experience. I think I am more adventurous when I am alone. I am more likely to get out and do things and meet people. I mean who wants to sit alone in a hotel room after a day of learning about new computer software? Trust me, it isn't as fun as it sounds. ;)

Anyway, I digress. Let's talk about my trip. I am not IN Boston for the few days of my class. I am staying in Bedford, which is just north of Boston. When I got to the airport I got my rental car (actually they were out of cars so I am driving a mini van! It is the biggest car I have ever seen let alone driven) and headed to Bedford. I head north on 93 and then exit when what should I see? A giant mall, next to a giant AMC theater, next to a giant Barnes and Noble. Next to that is a Chili's and a Macaroni Grill. I am thinking 'great, I have flown to Massachusetts to go to training in Frisco'. I got to the Doubletree - yes I did book here solely for the fresh baked cookies - and holed up in my room. However, it turns out I was completely mistaken. I have gotten lost about ten times in the last 24 hours and I have found that this area is beautiful! Once you head down the road just a very little bit, it turns out this part of the world is sort of exactly what you would imagine but never really believe that it is like that. All the houses are cute little frame houses on about an acre of land on windy, hilly roads, surrounded by woods. I seriously feel like I am in a scene from Little Women, except for the great, giant mini van I am driving.

So anyway, I finally find my way around, and I really do like my training class. Normally people think of the IT world as a bunch of socially inept people who want nothing more than to write COBOL in their spare time. Let's be honest, that is how I think of it sometimes - and I am not always mistaken. But most of the time I find that I easily make friends with the people in my training classes and I usually find it sad to leave, knowing I will most likely never see these people again. I just got back from a dinner with everyone in my class. We ate at this Brazilian seafood place that was completely delicious. I had this lemon risotto on top of sauteed spinach surrounded by scallops. I love risotto. Makes me anxious to go to Italy. Ahhh Italy. I can't wait.

Ok, back to the States for a sec. So Jason (that's my husband) is coming to meet me on Thursday and we are moving to Boston proper and exploring for a few days. I probably won't do much until then. Everything I have looked at doing around here - Minute Man National Park, Louisa May Alcott's house, etc - closes by the time I am out of training. =( So I will probably just eat more seafood until he gets here. Until then...Arrivederci!

Willkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome...

Hello friends and total strangers. My name is Kelli for those who don't know and this is my attempt at starting a blog. There are a few reasons I decided to start a blog, I guess. There are a lot of big things coming up in my life - turning 30 (yikes!), trying to start a family, plus a few trips - and I have gotten really bad about writing things in a journal, which I used to do religiously. However, seeing as how I spend 40 hours a week in front a computer, I figured I would be a lot more likely to capture my thoughts and events in my life this way. So this is my new journal, only this will be closer to a G rating. =) Welcome!