Sixth time's a charm?

Headed to Vegas on a work trip and hoping to score big with great meetings, weather, dining, shopping and winning. Not too much to ask, no?

Based on my calculations, this will be my sixth visit to the Strip. So what's different about this trip? I'm sans hubs, lover of all things Vegas, and I'm a mama away from her Pickle. (I directed Dylan to abstain from reaching any milestones while I'm gone. My days away arms Phil with several hours of drilling him to say Dada v. Mama...I'm doubting our Skype chats will be effective training sessions.:))

I'm also experimenting with traveling with antravel instead of a laptop. I'm a little leery of forgoing access to my work file network, so I emailed myself a bunch of docs I might need and have been downloading apps like Docs to Go to let me create and edit Word and PowerPoint files. I'm traveling with a colleague (a Vegas newbie!), and she has graciously agreed to let me comandeer her computer should I run into issues. I have to say, so far, I'm loving the feel of my lighter purse and not needing to take out a gadget while moving through airport security. I do miss not having a way to save photos so I can upload them to the blog. Unless anyone has better suggestions, I'm planning to link to my twit pics.

Tomorrow will require lots of caffeine to keep my batteries running. We have late dinner rezzies tonight (Julia shares my love of restaurant hopping) and I expect to be a little jet lagged. Tomorrow, our 12-hour work day starts at 7 a.m. You know I'll be hitting the coffee shop at 6:45.

Can't wait to introduce Julia to Vegas' chiming, clanging background noise (and Pai Gow Poker)! And, the Billboard Music Awards are at the MGM Grand tonight, so maybe we'll rub shoulders with some celebs.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Travel 2.0

I'm in the Big Apple for a last-minute, quick work trip. I was happy for the chance to go to NYC, but navigating my new responsibilities as a mom can be a pain. Here's what can be frustrating:

1) Coordinating schedules with Phil to make sure he can be home when I'm away
2) Waking up god-awful early to catch a flight since I need extra time to feed the baby
3) Lugging my pump everywhere...Marc Jacobs, please, please partner with Medela for a kick-ass bag
4) Pumping on the road...desperation yesterday led me to a bathroom in Five Guys in Greenwich Village. Not awesome. A shot of tequila about five minutes afterward did help, though.

With all that said, I know the most annoying things are temporary, and I'll figure out the rest. Certainly not worth forgoing adventure...

March Madness in the Cleve!

Six years ago, my hubs got me into March Madness. All the double and triple OTs...how can a girl resist? 

Two years ago, we went to Dayton to see some of the first round of games and had a blast. This year, Cleveland is hosting games at the Q, and I'm pumped that we're going. We'll get to see Ohio State, hopefully twice. Yay!

Looks like Ohio State will host some games next year, so if you're interested in going, start planning! The lottery for tix usually starts right after the Final Four. I posted about our ticket-snagging strategy after we went to Dayton, so take a look, in case it's helpful.