ashleyd /

Underpass Adventures and Benihana Bust

I’m exhausted but want to leave each of you with either some good night humor or something to make you smile and laugh first thing in the morning.
I finally checked into my hotel at 6:30pm Dallas time this evening. I was exhausted, tired, and hungry. Heather and I had decided that we’d get dinner together after running a few errands. She needed to fill a prescription at CVS and I had to get a manicure since having black nails isn’t attractive for meetings. (In case you missed it earlier, my black pen exploded mid sentence while I was working on the flight.) What I didn’t realize, was that the CVS and manicure trip required crossing eight lanes of intersection traffic, walking under an underpass, and hiking through the grass. As background, the DFW airport is flat out of cars today. Therefore, no one was able to rent a car since one of our coworkers forgot to book a rental car until today. The hike definitely resulted in some honks, laughs, and comic relief we desperately needed after a long day. Oh, and the manicure was $7. I kid. you. not. I tipped the poor girl $7 for her 30 minute effort! So, I leave you with this picture. 🙂
 

After our great adventure, food was no longer an option. Furthermore, we only had ONE choice unless we wanted Jack in the Box. The only restuarant within walking distnace of our hotel is the Benihana. Therefore, we hapilly decided to head that way and grab a quick bite at the sushi bar. Well, this ended up being an epic fail. Evidently, we were speaking a foreign language tonight because this was my face an HOUR after ordering our sashimi appetizer. Please, keep in mind that sashimi equals raw which equals no cooking time.

Yes, our waitress somehow lost our order (even though the restaurant was half empty) and then proceeded to present us with a sashimi salad instead of the sampler. The sashimi salad was NOT sashimi over a bed of greens. It was more like Texas’ attempt to merge as much mayonaise as possible with iceberg lettuce an some raw fish. *blek* After that was quickly refused we REORDERED our sashimi sampler and ordered 2 brown rice rolls, rainbow and eel. Now, insert thirty more minutes of laughter between Heather and I over the fact that EVERYONE else was being served except us and the poor sushi chefs kept offering us random food like edamame. Finally, after an hour and a half we received 2 bowls of brown rice and our sashimi sampler. Two bowls of brown rice? Maybe my New Yawk accent doesn’t translate down here and rainbow and eel roll rolls off my tongue sounding like brown rice roll? Oh wait, I DON’T HAVE A NEW YORK ACCENT BECAUSE I”M FROM THE SOUTH!

This time around I couldn’t even stop laughing for the picture to turn out. I really can’t say much more about this evening other than the fact that Heather and I haven’t laughed so hard together in the eight months i’ve known her. Maybe this was really a team bonding exercise in disguise and we were on candid camera somewhere. 🙂

I’m exhausted and am hitting the sheets with a smile on my face. Because after being awake for 20 hours I think i’m a bit delirious.

 
 


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ashleyd /

How I wake up at 4:25

   

The alarm went off WAY too early this morning at 4:25. I knew that the only way I’d wake up and feel ready for travel was if I got my blood flowing. Therefore, I did a 5 minute bootcamp routine in the living room that left my heart pacing and my mind awake. This morning’s five minute quickie consisted of the following:

-20 pushups

-1 minute jumping jacks

-20 pushups

1 minute jumping jacks

1 minute abs

50 toe squats

1 minute jumping jacks

My next step was getting dressed and ready to dash. Normally I’d opt for a quick shower since it always helps me wake up but I really didn’t want to risk getting my hair wet since I’ll have no time to go to my hotel and freshen up when I land in Dallas. This also meant that I couldn’t travel in Lululemon or other comfortable clothes. I think getting dressed in “real” clothes helped me wakeup and mentally prepare for the day. Luckily real clothes were able to include a super cute jeans outfit that I randomly put together Saturday night before we headed out to the beer garden.

Kentucky brand dark jeans from my Fitness Magazine jeans fashion shoot

White crisp tunic blouse from J Crew – The top is more fitted than the bottom which is very complimentary and it has lots of cute details like button up sleeves, pockets, and princess seams. This was one of my hot JCrew Outlet finds 3 weeks ago when we were up in Vermont

Bright yellow, green, and white summer scarf- Our friend Geoff makes constant fun of girls and their obsession for summer scarves since it really makes no sense to most guys. But, if you’re on an airplane or a chilly airport you want something to help keep you warm and this also has a wonderful cozy factor

Wide braided brown belt- Talk about great investments. This Banana Republic belt was a random purchase 4 years ago in my attempt to buy a FULL outfit straight off the mannequin versus just pieces. My mom taught me long ago that if you buy outfits it will be MUCH easier to get dressed and put together different combinations. Therefore, I rarely buy just one top or pair of pants. If I buy a top I’ll buy the cute necklace or belt they’ve paired it with.

Giant Coach tote- this has quickly become my favorite briefcase/purse when traveling. It is chic enough to carry into any restaurant or store without horrible embarassment, it’s slim lines keep you from feeling bulky yet it expands easily. It is soft which means it can easily slide under your seat on an airplane even when stuffed to the hilt like it is now. In addition it has 2 zipper side pockets and a zip top that ensure nothing falls out when you’re dashing through security or pulling it out of the cab.

This outfit will stay crisp during my 3.5 hour flight, full day of store checks and strategy sessions, and easily take me straight through our team dinner this evening at a local Dallas restaurant.  🙂

Now, back to this morning’s mad dash. I always use Limo Res when I need airport transportation as it is reasonably priced, allows me to rack up Delta miles, and is very trustworthy. However, this morning I had been pacing in my lobby for 10 minutes when I frantically called their dispatch center. It turns out my driver had been at the BACK entrance to my apartment building for 15 minutes. I was immediately nervous that my bag wouldn’t be able to get on my flight since last minute I had to use a bag too large to carry on. Our trusted Tumi finally bit the dust last night and will be returned today for replacement/repair. I quickly asked the driver to go as quickly as possible to Newark Airport. He slowly pulled off and started making his way down the dark roads. I felt like he was going VERY slowly but hey, maybe I’m just accustomed to the midtown taxi drivers who drive like mad men. After getting myself situated and checking my flight status on my Blackberry I looked up to find that he wasn’t stopped at a red light. Oh no, he had stopped to look at a map! Are you kidding me?! Did they really send a driver who didn’t know the area. Luckily I knew how to get him to Newark and quickly started barking directions. I say barking because I know I was not the friendliest passenger this morning. What can I say? It was early, I was worried i’d miss the 45 minute bag check requirement, or worse miss my flight.

Blog Pictures 2010 115

He redeemed himself once we hit midtown where he started buzzing down the streets and swerving in and out of other lanes as quickly as he could. Thirty five minutes later he pulled up to the Continental terminal and immediately ran my bag straight over to the curb check with me running behind. I had exactly 2.5 minutes to spare when my bag was put on the conveyer belt. Phew!

This was actually my first time in Newark Airport. It was a madhouse! The security line length reminded me of the Atlanta airport accept it was far less organized. They were directing people into different lanes and it wasn’t until 15 minutes later I realized they’d put me in the family and leisure traveler lane. *sigh*  Since it was now 15 minutes before my flight departed, I asked the cute couple two rows in front of me if they’d let me cut them in line. I felt like I was in elementary school all over again. They were on their way to Florida and in no hurry since their flight didn’t leave for 2 hours. I guess grandparents like to be REALLY safe and relaxed at the airport.

Blog Pictures 2010 116

I bolted through security and made a mad dash for the gate as I heard them announce my  name over the intercom. Like that my visions of breakfast and a grande tea from Starbucks evaporated into thin air.

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However, Continental has been one refreshing surprise after another! Not only was the flight only half full which meant we all have our own rows (sorry Continental I know this isn’t good for you but it’s great for the passengers) but they’ve also offered us beverage refills 4 times thus far, and served a continental breakfast. While it wasn’t necessarily the breakfast of champions, it far exceeded my expectations. We each received a carton of skim milk, 90 calorie bag of raisins, and a box of Chex Honey Wheat. 

 Blog Pictures 2010 118

My closest seat mate offered me his banana since he doesn’t eat bruised bananas. Therefore, I was able to save the raisins and enjoy some cereal and banana for breakfast. While the cereal had very little staying power alone (90 calories, less than 1 gram of fiber) I’m hoping that the milk protein and banana will help give it some substance.

Now it’s time for some quality time with my Kindle. I have three books on there now that I can’t wait to read!

Iron Ambition: My Journey Seat 2A to Ironman

Once a Runner: A Novel

Omnivore’s Dilemma

Happy Tuesday! I’ll check in later with more of my Big D adventures!

Don’t forget about Ulta’s FREE FEKKAI BLOW OUTS this week! Click here for more information!

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Going to the Big D Dallas

By the time most of you guys are reading this post, I’ll be safe and sound in Dallas, Texas.
 
I have an insanely early flight out of Newark tomorrow morning and still have to finish packing. My trip to Dallas is 100% work related but there are a few highlights:
-80 degree weather and a hotel with a pool means that I’ll hopefully be conducting conference calls poolside at least a few hours
-shopping at Nordstrom 
-getting to work with a few co-workers who I rarely see but speak to via email or phone daily
-my own delightful queen size Heavenly bed at the Westin
 
As some of you know, my job is in the fragrance industry and therefore a portion of this trip will be spent conducting store walks with my team to see what retailers and our competition is doing in store. This means that i’ll be on my feet for at least 8 hours each day. How I wish i’d already purchased these gems to wear all day!
 
I absolutely love Cole Haan’s Nike line and unfortunately ruined my only pair on NYE during my epic walk home in the snow. Oh well!
My packed bag does include a few great items perfect for a week long business trip:
–Yoga Tune Up balls for some in room muscle therapy 
-iPod filled with a new playlist and some workout podcasts I downloaded today including 2 Physique 57 podcasts
-workout clothes Per Meghann’s suggestion, i’m going to use the hotel gym to focus on speed and strength this week versus endurance. My goal is 2 days of speed workouts and one day of hills on the treadmill and then arm/abs each day. Luckily Westin Hotels are known for their Reebok gyms!
-Crest White Strips All the questions regarding tooth whitening has made me realize that it has been a while since I focused on my own pearly whites. With Meg’s wedding coming up it seems like the perfect time to start a whitening routine again especially since I know i’ll have some down time in the late evening
-Kindle: Bo and I are both obsessed with our Kindles and use them each day on the subway commute to catch up on news and books. I just finished my last book and would love recommendations. What is your favorite running book and what is your favorite fiction book that you’ve read lately?
 
Congratulations to Ashley for winning my Pearly Whites giveaway. Please email me your mailing address and i’ll mail the loot when I return from Dallas.
 
 
 


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