Transfer

As I was just copying and pasting this to my other blog and realizing that Blogger sucks and none of my old pictures/header seem to be working, I asked myself, Why am I doing this? So, I've come to a decision. I'm only posting on An American Girl in Washington from now on. So follow me there! And thanks for all of the Bapworld love! =)

kat

San Francisco Retreat

Happy New Year!

I didn't write over the break because I was too busy hanging out with the fam. But, then I went to San Francisco for a retreat with my team and it was wonderful. Not only did we get a ton of work done but... I got to be in San Francisco! At this point, it doesn't beat DC, which I am dying to get back to (I have another week before I can go home minus a four hour suitcase exchange tomorrow =/) but it's a great city. Plus, for the first time I stayed at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel, which is gorgeous and has been a part of San Francisco culture since 1928.

 The Staircase

 The Bar

 The Vintage Bed

 A chair in the lobby

The super awesome red dresser

Luckily, the San Francisco office is right in Union Square so we were in the perfect location for some shopping (clearance at H2O!) and delicious eating. The first night we had dinner at Tropisueno, a delicious Mexican restaurant. The second night, we unfortunately had dinner at The Pub at Ghirardelli Square and it was terrible. The mac and cheese tasted like boxed Velveeta and the waiter was really rude when I said they weren't good. Like, "Oh, well I'm sorry that you have pathetic taste buds and don't know what good is". And the rest of the food wasn't good enough to justify the cost and the rudeness. But, then again, it was a tourist trap, so consider yourself warned.

After the terrible dinner we took the miserable streetcar (one of my team members had never been to SF) back to the hotel. Or, at least, we tried. At the crest of a hill the streetcar died and we sat there forever before we finally just gave up and caught a cab. On the way back to the hotel we passed two other immobile streetcars. Apparently this is a thing that happens sometimes. Good thing we weren't on a hill!

Today we drove the gorgeous drive to Sacramento, had a delicious lunch at Grange at the beautiful Citizen Hotel, stopped at Temple Coffee for a tea refill, and then drove back up, which was even more beautiful because the sun was setting.

Now I'm taking advantage of the free wifi at the San Francisco airport, watching Archer on Netflix and getting ready to fly a red eye on Jet Blue back to DC, change my suitcase, and head to Cleveland and then San Diego! And then, finally, I get four whole days at home! Woohoo!

So that's that. I'm off to sleep on the plane! Ciao!

kat

Happy Holidays!

Hello everyone!

Merry Christmas and happy holidays! I'm in beautiful Seattle with my even more beautiful niece and wonderful family. I'm completely stuffed, have been watching Midsomer Murders for two days and have discovered how thoroughly exhausting two-year-olds can be. I'm here for a while longer so hopefully I'll get to visit some of my favourite haunts before I head down to San Francisco. I'll keep you posted!

Have a great last week of the year!
kat

TurlyTag

When I got the new job (see above) one of the first things I thought was "If I'm going to be flying 4 times a week, I need to make sure my stuff doesn't get lost!". So, I found TurlyTag. TT, as it shall henceforth be known, is an awesome service that helps you retrieve your lost goodies. For $3 a month they send you a sheet of sticker tags and a sheet of plastic tags with zip liner thingies that say "Return Me" and have a code on them and TT's website. Then, when someone finds your goods, they can just got to TurlyTag.com, enter the code, and you'll get an email saying that they found your items and showing you the zipcode. Then you can choose to either go pick it up or have them send the finder a prepaid envelope with which to return it.

I happen to know this works because like an idiot I left my BlackBerry at the concierge's desk yesterday. She immediately went to the TT site and entered the info. I got an email from them with the above information. Of course, by then I'd already figured out where I left it and picked it up so I ignored the email. I then got a personal email from someone who works at TT and a phone call until I finally responded and said that yes, I know where my phone is and I already picked it up. All this in less than 12 hours and for $3 a month. LOVE it.

If you're traveling, or even just forgetful, I cannot recommend TurlyTag enough. Check it out.

Toodles!
kat

The Blog Revival

Hello all!

It's been too long! I haven't written in a while because I started my new blog at AmericanGirlinWashington.wordpress.com and it was less travel-y and more blog-y. BUT, I have a new gig that requires mucho travel (sadly all domestic) and so I'm reviving the bapworld and taking you along with me. Yaay! The new blog will re-post a lot of the posts that I'm putting on AGinDC but will also include little posts about new travel sites and tools that I've found, airport reviews, tips and tricks, etc. The job is craziness personified so I'll do my best to keep up regularly but I'm really excited to get started again! So now, without further ado, the first post:

Sacramento

Today I'm in Sacramento! I have to admit, I was not at all excited about Sacramento. It didn't sound exotic, no one ever talks about it, and I was pretty sure it would be boring. I was soooo wrong.

First of all, my hotel, the Hyatt Regency, is gorgeous. Apparently it's just been renovated and I can tell. They have to bars, and cafe with a delicious breakfast brunch, and a restaurant downstairs. It's about ten feet from the Capitol, is right by great restaurants and two movie theatres (including an IMAX) and has gorgeous views of the city from the top floor (when the fog is clear).

Outside, the weather is sunny and cool, the way December should be. The Capitol is beautiful, as are the many sculptures, signs and random artsiness along the streets. Everyone I've spoken to here is super proud of how many local shops and restaurants there are and the airport even gives a rental discount to local businesses so they can compete with the McDonald'ses (?) of the world.

I've been doing my best to sample the local flavor and so far I've fallen so in love with the tangerine ginger tea at Temple Coffee that I bought a tin of it, I had amazing gelato at Hot Italian and I absolutely fell in love with Mayahuel, or, rather, Maya's Kitchen, the fab little takeout section where the waiter (who looked like Justin Timberlake with hair) gave me a free bowl of the most amazing lentil soup while I waited and I got three giant carnitas tacos for $8 which included a free bowl of soup (another, and I ate that too because it was soooo good). This place is fantastic and I will definitely be coming back with every visit.

Sacramento has turned out to be a pretty great town and I can't wait to come back next month.  One of the best things about the new gig is that I get to come back to the towns I'm visiting over and over so I'll really get to know them. Of course, tomorrow I'm heading home to Seattle and I could not be more excited. I haven't been home in two years and I get to see my ridiculously adorable niece Bella who is two and brilliant and  perfect. I also get to see the big people like grandma and grandpa and daddy and I'm sure that will be almost if not quite as exciting! I'm sure that most of my Seattle experiences will be child-themed, which means seeing the city from that perspective for the first time, since I was two in Arizona!

I'll do my best to keep up a little travelogue of my trips, somewhat because people might be interested but mostly because I'm traveling by myself and I want to tell people about awesome places like Maya's!

Until the next post, have a great night and, if I don't write before the end of the month, happy holidays!

=)
AGinDC

The J-Dub

I am having so much fun in DC!  I forgot how much fun it is to go exploring in your new home.  Of course, my hotel is in such a perfect location, I haven't even been on the Metro yet!  Everything we've wanted to do has been no more than three blocks away, including the White House.  It's wonderful.  Maybe I'll just live in the hotel...

 I'm staying at the JW Marriott, a giant hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue.  The Jdub, as I like to call it, is ridiculously nice.  There are ginormous chandeliers that Joe and I are convinced we've seen crashing onto bad guys in at least one James Bond movie, the bar has delicious food and a great happy hour, the lobby has super comfortable couches like the one on which I am currently perched, and after 11pm on weekends there is a security guard at the door to keep out the ruffians and only allow entrance to the holders of black cards.  It's all very posh and Washington-y.

 The beds are also super comfortable, which is nice since it's August in DC so I have spent about as much time lounging on the beds as I have on my feet.

My favourite feature though is the window seat in my room.  On the left I can see the Washington Monument and straight ahead I can see the very Parisian Willard InterContinental Hotel.  And to the right I can see the Borders that is going out of business but that's not so great because it's difficult to resist temptation.  I spend a lot of time sitting on that window seat and I think I'm going to miss it the most when I check out tomorrow.  Oh well.  I'll definitely be coming back to happy hour at 1331 a lot!

The Monument

 

The Willard

Going back to bed and A/C...
kat

Just Practising for the Future

I went to the White House today!!  It was amazing.  A group of current and former law students and I were invited after ValJar came to events that two student organizations held during my graduation, at which she was the commencement speaker.  I was especially excited because I planned one of the events and invited her and I was absolutely shocked when she said yes!!  We found out a few months ago that we had been invited to the WH and today was finally the day!

The White House from the inside.

 After the requisite posing for photographs in the blazing sun and waiting in line at security as they took our IDs and did their security thing, we were in!  After seeing the WH through cast iron gates for so long, it was amazing to see it right in front of us, up close, with nothing in the way.  It really is the most beautiful home in America.


There were about 15 of us in the group and we were met by one of VJ's assistants.  She led us down the lawn and into a door held open by a very handsome Marine.  The room inside was divine.  All crimson and cushions and lush, with gorgeous artwork on the walls.  As we headed to the Roosevelt room and deposited our electronics outside, I noticed an amazing four-part Norman Rockwell painting called "So You Want to See the President".  It was incredible.  You can see it here.  Finally, we went in and took our seats at the table where the President and his senior staff meet every single day.

Me with the super cute bag my aunt bought me.  I was the only one not wearing a boring colour... of course.

I won't go into the details about the meeting but suffice it to say that, just like the last time we met, VJ was absolutely stylish, kind, gracious, and brilliant.  She's so smart it's crazy and far more humble than she deserves to be.  I totally love her.  I also love her because when I told her that I just moved here two days ago and don't have a job yet she said, "Well you moved here on Wednesday and are at the White House on Friday so I'd say you're doing pretty well."  I couldn't agree more VJ!  We talked about everything from the November elections to the President's birthday to the White House's role in crafting their message.  It was an incredibly open and honest talk about what's going on in the administration and it was reassuring to know that everything she was saying was something that we had heard before, which means they really are getting their message out there, at least to those of us who are paying attention.  And, after she left us she went to the confirmation of Elena Kagan!!  Yaay!!!!


We were so lucky to meet VJ, to sit in that historic room with the portrait of Teddy Roosevelt on the wall, and to get to experience even the tiniest part of history.  I can't wait til I find a way to get back again.


Sweet dreams from the capitol!
kat