A blog about life out here. And out there. And out, well, everywhere. Without a paddle. Without instructions. But likely with wine. Or maybe Jack. And lots and lots of coffee. There will definitely be coffee. Crap and beer. How could I forget beer?
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See I told you so. That is snow on my daffodils. And in my garden.
For comparison, this is what my garden looked like on Sunday. Today is Wednesday. Yes that is 3 days apart…
And so #wtfwednesday continues. I think I’ll have some wine.
I’d say oh no, I jest, but I don’t. And not like when it snowed that time. Or even then again that other time. It snowed YET AGAIN tonight. It may very well still be snowing but I closed the curtains and locked the doors and turned on ID TV and poured myself some wine and decided I could eat a dozen red velvet cupcakes if it made me forget about snow.
Only I like snow. I really really really do. And lots of it. I love the fluffy white stuff, the crazy chaos it causes, the endless snow days, the need for generators (I have one) and the desire for a warm fire (heat my house off a wood stove, so I’m good there too). Of course, seeing as how it’s the middle of FUCKING APRIL and it’s snowing, and the ground just thawed this week after originally freezing in November, yeah. I’ve had enough.
I do, I really really do. I think I could eat sushi every single day and be perfectly happy. Despite living in the middle of nowhere on a mountain on the northernmost tip of New Jersey (I made that sound like somewhere really north and cold and remote, huh? Yeah, well you should have been here this winter…or not.), I actually have a really good sushi place right here in town. It’s so good that they know me there. Well, I am the mayor and all (on Foursquare, but hey that counts!). And their food is amazing. Great selection, great house rolls, their hot roll has Sriracha on it (sushi+Sriracha = heaven btw), and their specials change every week and are always so damn good. Love them all!
Then the other day when browsing the web, I came across an article for sushi and apparently I’ve always been eating it wrong. What?! No, how can that be?
Okay, so first off, idk that the chef can see me rubbing my cheap chopsticks at home, and second, if I do eat at the sushi place, do they think I really expect high end chopsticks? I am in Sussex, after all, and probably one of the few people that eat here that have actually ever been to a real NYC sushi place (and btw their rolls can rival most NYC places!). Sure, I wouldn’t bite it in half, except for the part where they make HUGE rolls. The other option is try to shove it all in my mouth and then choke, and need CPR. Or heimlich. Or both. Did I even spell that right?
Now on to the ginger. I LOVE ginger. I love ginger almost as much as I love sushi. I get that it is good to cleanse your palette, but what if you actually like how it tastes on your sushi? Or it helps your nose hairs from burning off when you dip the hot rolls complete with Sriracha, into too much wasabi soup…oh wait, that’s another no-no. What? No wasabi mixed into your soy? Noooo…
And of course last is my favorite. If I am not supposed to pay for sushi, does that mean it’s free? But then I read this quote, and have to admit I wholeheartedly agree…”if the sushi is going into your face and you’re enjoying yourself, then you’re probably doing it right.” Go me. I win.
Ever try to catch a falling tree? I sure hope not, otherwise I’d venture a guess you’re not reading this right now. Probably because you’re dead. Well, I have this friend that keeps comparing this life situation to trying to catch a damn tree that’s falling, and he keeps telling me you can’t catch a falling tree. But I can catch just about everything, and hey that’s good firewood! But you know what, he’s right. Damnit I hate when I’m not right.
Firewood or not, a falling tree is not something one can change. Instead, you’re better off making sure everyone is out of the way, waiting for it to hit the ground, letting the dust settle, and then getting on with the business of cutting up said tree and stacking some damn good firewood that will be useful if we ever have another winter like we had this past one. We better never have a winter like that again. And shit I LIKE winter. But anyway, it’s spring now. Sort of. Well, it’s mud season now anyway.
But trees still fall. And I realized that speaking of falling trees, this has been a falling blog because I haven’t blogged squat in over a week. Crap! Where has the time gone? Well, if you must ask, it’s gone to wine. I mean beer. Shit I mean life. I mean um…well on sunny days riding whatever horse(s) of mine and my clients are sound (there are some, actually quite a few!). And working for myself. Planning a trip to Kentucky for a wonderful bluegrass spring at Rolex. And of course I still have the best friends in the world.
Guess I’ll let that tree fall. Anyone know if no one is around if it makes a sound? Does Maple ever get the message?
Oh how I love thee. Let me count the ways…
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| I could definitely put one of these to good use. |
To be fair, it was the baby that did the drinking. I was driving. You didn’t really think I’d drink and drive now, did you? Shame on you! I’m way more responsible than that. And no, I did not give the baby wine. Sheesh, what do you think I am? Some sort of wino? Well…
Anyway, last week I was in Denver visiting a good friend and her husband for their Anniversary. It was Flyaway Friday followed by Caturday Saturday and a huge St. Paddy’s / Anniversary blast. I got to see some friends I haven’t seen in years, and we all had an amazing time. And cake. There was cake. Oh and corned beef and cabbage of course! That too. Sunday was we’re-recovering-but-pretending-to-be-productive day which translated to a walk in the largest dog park I’ve ever been in. Really, it was AMAZING! Followed by more wings than we could ever manage to eat, and some lazing about and hanging out before getting some much needed zzzzz’s to make up from the night before.
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| The amazing dog park, with Rockies as the backdrop |
Then there was Monday. Monday was drinking and driving and baby day. We went out to Golden, CO, which if you’ve never been, I totally recommend. Amazing Old West city with view that are to die for, much of the original buildings still around, and just an all out cool atmosphere. It was officially St. Paddy’s so I celebrated Old West style – with corned smoked buffalo rather than plain ol’ Irish corned beef. And maaaaaaan was it good. Talk about #foodporn.
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| St. Paddy’s lunch, buffalo Old West style! |
We then headed up to the farm where my friend drives carriage horses and I got to meet the critters and go for a ride in the cart. It got a little windy and overcast, but was still nice (especially compared to the weather I heard we were having back in NJ!), and all in all we had a really good time. Oh, did I mention the entire time we were out galavanting, my friend had her 10mo old daughter in tow? Yuppers. Kid was a rock star, giggling and enjoying all of it. When the wind would blow and the cart went a little faster, she just laughed even more. And then there was the drinking of course. Well, she IS just 10 mos, and used to nap time, and nap time happened to fall just when we were on the cart, attached to a rather large (and very nice) draft horse. My friend handed me the lines so that she could let her daughter nurse, and have a nap. Would you believe the kid napped right in the middle of nursing, while on a cart being drug around by a horse? Well, she did, and she loved it.
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| I got to drive! |
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| Obligatory selfie with my carriage horse |
Yup, that’s just how my weekend started off. Friday I left home just before noon to go to my Dad’s and then head to the out to the airport. I’m visiting friends in Denver using some frequent flyer miles I had. Because of that, the first leg of my flight was the pretty pointless trip from EWR to PHL. The cool part was the plane. I knew it would be tiny, but we were actually on a prop plane, and I got to sit right next to the propeller. It was a little louder than a usual flight, but still very smooth, and a cool experience overall.
We were in the air for about 25 minutes (I told you it was a short flight) and then I had to hang out in PHL for a 3h layover. I have to admit, for all that as a NJ/NY native with a deep hatred of all things Philly, their airport is nice. Damn. Score 1 for Philly. They also had a great bar in the terminal right next to my gate, with a huge selection of microbrews. Score 2. Crap.
Hung out, had a few beers, did some work, and then it was time to board. We were on a pretty huge plane that had an all brand new interior, and despite being in the ass end of the plane (I really don’t mind), it looked like it was going to be a decent flight. Til we got to the tarmac and sat there for an hour due to air traffic. Negative points for Philly…
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| We flew really low over Citizen’s Bank Park… does it count as being there? |
The flight was long, especially with the added time on the tarmac, but overall boring. I was complaining about just how boring of a flight it was when I realized, that’s pretty much the best thing you want for a flight. I mean hey, no one wants a horrific flight, right? LOL I even had good/normal people sitting around me, and the plane was pleasantly devoid of screaming babies!
There was the one couple, sitting both in the middle seats, with the girlfriend one row behind the boyfriend. They weren’t that close to me but when it was time to land and they couldn’t be standing leaning over the row of seats making googley eyes at each other, she sat and groomed his hair, like a monkey. Yes, you know the way you see on the Discovery Channel where monkeys pick through each other’s hair and eat off the lice? Like that. Only I didn’t see any lice eating, to be fair. But then again I was several rows back and didn’t have my glasses on. These days you just never know.
So now I’m in Denver for an epic anniversary and St. Paddy’s day party with some of the best friends in the world. Spent the morning running errands, the afternoon lazing about in the theme of Caturday Saturday (even the cats in Denver have rough lives, it must be an epedemic…). And now, would you look at that? It’s #partyoclock, and more specifically #whiskeyoclock, with a feature of Jameson!
I love Throwback Thursdays because it means when I don’t have time for a full blog post, I can throw up something for #throwbackthursday and we’re all good. Easy peasy, which is good these days, especially with how busy I am.
So here’s this week’s TBT, with an agency twist. Throwback to 2007, a few years into my favorite job of all time (favorite boss of all time goes to anyone I’ve worked for/with named Holly, present company included), a really awesome agency called DigitalGrit. True to the name, we were a startup, full of gritty and witty people working hard together to make a name in the digital world. And it worked. We made an impact, had tons of Fortune 500 clients (I managed an account that at one point was spending $1 million a month in Google AdWords alone!), and had a great time doing it. We worked hard, and we played hard. We went to places like Dave & Busters, had lunch meetings at the BAG (the now defunct Boonton Avenue Grill), and when we were out of conference room space, the lovely coffee shop downstairs had a couch and chairs in the corner that served as extra conference space (or just a good place to soak up some coffee on a Monday morning after a long weekend).
We had epic Christmas parties, awesome company meetings, and not only was everyone invested in the success, we were a team. We built great things together, had great ideas, and it was an absolutely amazing run. So I leave you with this. The first pic is from me and the DG team outside of our office when they were filming The Soprano’s in Boonton (posing as New Hampshire). I actually got to be on set at my friend’s house which was the B&B, and it was a really cool experience.
The bottom picture is from our team at Dave & Busters, celebrating a friendly competition in getting certified in Yahoo (back when they still had PPC) and AdWords with the highest score. DG treated, and we got to spend the afternoon/evening playing trivia games, eating burgers, and drinking beers. I have to say it was a damn good time!
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| The Sopranos came to town |
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| The DG team at D&B |
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| This has been more along the lines of my recent “yoga workouts” lately |
I haven’t eaten all day and all of a sudden it’s #wineoclock, I mean, well past lunchtime. Oddly, today is going smoothly for a Monday, and from the looks of it, I might even get some yoga in for the first time in a few days weeks. Hopefully my back and neck and shoulders – which are tighter than ever – will thank me for it. Otherwise, there is always wine.
Lately, with all the shit going on (yes, yesterday’s post was filled with shit-puns, and let’s face it, you either like my humor or you don’t. And if you don’t, why are you still reading this blog anyway? Seriously. Go do something productive already.), I haven’t had a chance to do yoga in way longer than I’d like to admit, and despite my comical ramblings about twisted pretzel exercises, it really does seem to make a difference in my back. Despite some people’s beliefs, my life is not as exciting as this blog makes it out to be. Well on days when these blog posts seem exciting anyway. Blogging about shit wasn’t all that exciting haha. But in all reality, I don’t get to drink all day, every day, or even during the day, or even once a day. I do, actually work (but that’s a lot easier when you love what you do and who you work with), and more often than not, I work long days and super late hours. But hey, it’s all worth it when at the end of the day you genuinely love what you do, not the just money you make.
Of course, now with daylight savings, I had also hoped, like every other horse person out there in the Northern Hemisphere, to be able to get more riding time in. However, from the looks of it, the frozen stuff is still around for a while and it’s going to take a few weeks of warmth to really thaw us out. Even worse, we’re supposed to get rain/snow/sleet/ice mix mid-week this week. Enough already! I call uncle! I just want to ride my horses!
Ahh, I digress. And now it’s even further past lunchtime and since I have eaten something, I supposed it’s about time I get back to work. I wouldn’t want my blog to deceive you for the hyperbole it is of course, because it is, after all, still a Monday (even if it’s turning out to not be a manic one for a change!).
Nope, don’t need a paddle to get through this shit. Just need some warmer weather, and a lot less ice and cold and shit and well…shit. Spring is just around the corner (or so they say) and yet the temps are gonna hit the single digits here this week (again) and my farm is under a sheet of ice and shit and snow and did I mention, shit? And you know what happens when horse shit and 3’+ of snow melt? Shit soup. And shit creek running through the middle of the farm. Without a paddle. No joke, people. Let me tell you – that shit sucks (pun intended).
Sometimes you’re just stuck wading through knee deep shit. I’d like to say that’s figurative, but in all reality, it’s not. I’d take the pictures to prove it, but really I don’t even want to look outside right now. We have mounds of crusty gross snow, layered with horse shit, piled on ice, with some snowmelt shitrivers underneath. Anyone who says spring is better than winter I tend to ask – are you crazy? Because you don’t know spring (and how bad it sucks) until you’ve waded through knee deep shit soup that is a lovely combination of mud, snow melt, and manure.
And yes, well maybe (just maybe) there’s stuff that can be said for wading through shit to get to the good stuff at the end, kinda like the light at the end of the tunnel, no one really feels like walking head first into an oncoming train now, do they? 
Mercury is out or retrograde (really? because it sure as shit doesn’t feel like it). Some things are falling into place. Shitty things are falling apart, but I suppose that’s why they’re called shitty. Every horse and owner on the farm is sick of the shit (again…pun intended…see a theme here yet?) of riding in the indoor and dealing with limited workouts and sore horses from slipping on ice and…you guess it, shit!
So I’d like to drink some wine. Toast all the awesome visibility this blog has started to get in the past few months, thank all of my followers from all over the world, and tell you that shit, I’m sorry I haven’t blogged more! But, as the snow-shit melts, and I get out more, expect more great, awesome pics of amazing places and things to do and fun and wine and beer and Jack and all that good shit! Starting off with a trip to Denver this week to see some of the most amazing people in the world, followed by some more really cool shit.
Ahh, the wonderful uses of the word shit. And shit, with that, I’m signing off…for now. Maybe instead of my favorite hashtags of #whiskeyoclock and #wineoclock, I should make a new one #shitsoclock or #goodshit. How about #happyshit? Nah that sounds corny. I think #goodshit really kinda sticks (because well, it does, at least here on the farm…to your shoes, your clothes, your horse, the ground, the carpets, and everything else around you).
Damn, I may be ready for summer. And that’s shit I never say!