Another couple of days in the best city in the world...

So on Wed morning I knew I had to get work done and some sightseeing thrown in at the same time! So I started off with some work and then ventured outside...our hotel was located on the Hudson River to the west and the WTC site to the east. I started off by going to WTC site. It just takes the wind out of you....LITERALLY. They have finally decided what they are going to build on the site and actually broke ground last weekend. It is going to be quite impressive! Nothing can replace what we lost on that day...but this is doing a great job trying. From there I walked past Trinity to go to Wall Street and the Exchange...so much power down there. It is just amazing feeling to know you are just outside the stock exchanges! Then I had to go the "Bull". Now, for those who don't know what the Bull is...no worries...I didn't either! It has to do with stocks...the bull is good and the bear is bad (I think it is bad...hahaha). And I had to take this pic because there was someone who stood below the bulls butt...enough said....I hoped on a subway from there to venture on down to Coney Island. Pretty much the subways take around an hour from the hotel to the site and vise versa. After a little beach action at our site I jumped on the N train back to Union Square. AND WHO KNEW THAT THE SUBWAY WENT OVER THE MANHATTAN BRIDGE! Talk about an amazing view! I was stunned! Anyways, I got off at Union Square and walked there Farmer's Market. It totally rocked too. So after my walk I hoped back on the subway and headed up to Columbus Circle. As I got off I saw Central Park and noticed a Kinkos across the street...which rocked since I had to do a bunch of things for the Qualifier. I hoped back on the subway back down to my hotel...but had to make a final stop in the village. GREY DOG'S! Oh yea...i got my fave coffee...YEA!! When I got to the hotel, I walked across the street to battery park and the Hudson River. So beautiful! You could see the Statue of Liberty from there. TOTALLY AWESOME! When I turned around I was looking down the street where the twin towers would have cast a shadow at this time...totally humbled me. Anyways, another great day...with more to come!

Planes, Trains, And Automobiles...Day 1 NYC style

So I arrived into JFK, on no sleep mind you and jetting to the trains..from the Airtran to the LIRR to the NJ Transit...I was heading to meet Kristen in her town of Madison, New Jersey. First of all...TRAINS & SUBWAYS ARE NOT TRAVELER FRIENDLY. Hahaha. With that in mind I just had to grin and bear it. Madison was a 35 minute train ride from Penn Station, which was not bad at all. Madison is a cute little town that is old school cute!
It was awesome to see Kris! And I got to meet her baby..AUGIE ...The cutest little boy (besides my baby boy)! Me and Augie were intstant friends...fancy that right? We went on a hike with Augie and then drove around the country. It was gorgeous! There is a place called the Great Swamp
too...oh yea...in New Jersey! We then went home and had some fun with my lovely Mac computer! Hilarious! And we ended the day with dinner at the Firehouse with kris and her hubby, Danny.
I headed back into the city (Penn Station) and jumped into a cab (because I was done lugging around town). That was my first NYC taxi ride! That was awesome too. And then we pulled up to our hotel...caddy corner from the World Trade Center. Oh yea. CRAZY!

From Manhattan Beach to Dana Point

So this weekend was the Grand daddy of all beach volleyball tournaments...the Manhattan Beach Open. For those who have not been to MB...it is a cute,upscale beach community that is the home of beach volleyball. Everyone likes to win titles...but EVERYONE wants to win the MB open title. If you win, your team is placed on a plaque on the pier. And of course celebrities come out too. From Adrian Bellini (Passions) to Rachel Hunter (model) there were some hot people out on the sand! Others who came out included Laird Hamilton (World Famous Surfer), Galen Gerring (Passions), Kristina Loken (T3), Ali Landry (Ms. USA/Doritos Girl), Antonio Sabato Jr (Calvin Klein model/TV star), and Jim Caviziel
(Passion of the Christ, Count of Monte Christo), who I did not even realize I handed VIP bands to (since I focused on another customer). Nice huh! Hahaha! The tourney was awesome...great weather, great vball...who can ask for more!

My good friend Cristy also got married on Sat in South County. Her and her new hubby are the Santa Margarita high school volleyball coaches. The reception was at the Dana Point Yacht club, which was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BEAUTIFUL!! And of course Chapman looked beautiful!
Her dress was the prettiest dress I have ever seen too!

A bridal shower, bday bash, & dinner at Vejas...oh my!

So this weekend to most people was the "volleyball holiday" in Manhattan Beach, known as the infamous 6-man. And I decided to stay far away from the beach...and instead of the crazyness up there I started my weekend by going to my friend Cristy's bridal shower at the Maribella Country Club in South County. And can we say posh? Hahaha! It was really nice. Anyways, it was awesome to see my dear friend (who I rarely get to see) before her wedding next weekend. At the shower were her close friends and co coaches...which was cool since I dont get to see any of them all to much! Anyways, it was a great start to a relaxing weekend!

After that I headed back to LB to meet my sis, Jamie, and Silke for Silke's bday bash at gaslamp...it was cool. And then yesterday we (my dad, Cheri, Kara,
and me) headed down to San Diego, to Viejas Casino to meet our aunt Chloe for dinner. And let's just say the ride down there was HILARIOUS...and then the VIP bathroom...the pictures tell some of the story...good times with mi hermanas!!

"The Windy City is Mighty Perty"

Now who can remember that line??!! Anyone Anyone? Bueller? Hahahaha...Lolo can! It is Calamity Jane signing (Doris Day) in the movie...such a great movie. Anyway, my first day in Chitown was awesome. I did some work and then broke that up with some site seeing adventures! And some shopping on Michigan AVE. NICE RIGHT?!

Ok, so my first lil adventure was to my FAVE museum (from the outside of course)...the Field. For those who did not know, I became obessed with the building when the movie "The Relic" came out. The building is SO capitvating. So I decided that had to be my first place to see. Well, our hotel (Hilton Garden Inn) is located next to the Red line and that goes to the museum campus. Well, I decided to get off a few exits before the museum area and walk through the Millenium and Grant parks. And WOW. Talk about a beautiful park area. So many sites there in the view...from the Navy Pier to the Grant Park fountain, to the HUGE Sears Tower, and finally leading to the "relic" of them all...THE FIELD! As I made my way closer, I saw the Shredd Aquarium (one day I will go there) and then walked around the Field and saw SOLDIER FIELD (da bears)! That was cool! I wanted to go inside the King Tut exhibit, but tickets were sold out so I just ventured inside the regular museum...which rocked! It is a natural history museum so they had animal exhibits, africa exhibits, an "underground" exhibit, and much more. The actually had a full size Whale Shark hanging and I just laughed because I saw the real thing in ATL!

From the museum I headed back to my hotel to work for a few hours and then decided to go up to Michigan Ave to go shopping! And let me tell you...good times! So many stores so little time! From the Hershey Store to Express...ummm...I was HAPPY! We did the entire "magnificent mile" and ended up at the River.....so pretty!!!

The next day I had the opportunity to see a once in a lifetime baseball game at the infamous Wrigley Field...with two legends pitching aganist each other. With both of there records put together they have the most wins in the history of the game...oh, did I mention is was Clemens vs. Maddox! The AVP marketing team went as a group...and we sure did have fun! And not to mention the awesome seats we had!

And let me finish this blog with a few pics from my clinic. Our AVP site was on North ave beach...So amazing! The Hancock building was so close you could "touch" it...and not to mention how beautiful Lake Michigan was!