start sending mail here...

Once again I am in London. This trip however, has a friendlier crew and our rooms only took an hour to get. None of this matters as I will have two days off when I return to enjoy and recoup from Halloween. My Dorothy costume is awaiting me at the house and I am so excited to go trick or treating. I am hoping this 45 hour jont over to the UK has been enough time for me to get over my irratation with my roommate constantly being home lately. We are usually good about having our schedules balanced but since she personal dropped days, they are now in sink and after a week of coming home and her being there, I am going a little crazy. I love my alone time in my house, alone time here is just that...alone time. Our downstairs neighbors hooked me up with a deal on a flatscreen (thanks Carol). I was super excited to watch the third game of the WS but sick that the stupid Sox won. Now that baseball season is over, I can give 100% of my attention to the ol' Ducks, who have been playing pretty damn well this season if I might say so. I was able to enjoy the USC game this past weekend in an Oregon Alum bar. It was so great to be around fellow Oregonians!! Made me a little more homesick though.

...the damn winter is coming up though

Once again in London, I feel like I don't ever leave the UK. I am very excited however to have Saturday off so I can watch the USC/Oregon game and the world series...got to love October! I am working my favorite position of first class aisle but my galley gal is not someone to be reckoned with. I have successfully stayed out of her way and I think she has spoken thirty words to me the whole trip. The other aisle gal has never worked first before and keeps asking me questions, so I have been babysitting her all trip. I warned her to stay out of the galley although it would be fun to see her get her ass chewed I was not in the mood to deal with the aftermath. I have kept to myself once more on the trip and layover mostly because there is no one that exciting on my crew. It sucks and I miss the summer when this flight and others were chalked full of reserves that wanted to go out and have fun. I haven't gone out with the crew for a month and I miss it. My pilot is trying to get me to pick up a trip with him in two weeks, which, of course I will if I can...he was fun to go out with and super cute.

I have decided that I am no longer calling John and with help from my favorite author, Greg I remembered that if a guy is ready, he will let you know. So it up to fate now as I have laid the ground work/baited the trap (just kidding). I don't really know what I want. I think of how great it would be to have a boyfriend but then there are many times that I don't want to be bothered. I might just want to get on Didi's program of partner for the winter, single for the summer. Hmmmmm...

stewart

Monday night and we were in the mood to get dressed up and see what Manhattan had to offer for the evening. Christina and I were feeling a bit on the fancy side and made it a point to aim our adventure for hotel bars and more upscale places. We started off with a warm up drink at our local watering hole and got carded because we were so dolled up. On to Barunda then Tao' where we met Stewart. I watched him circle the bar working up the courage to come and talk to us. Finally he sat down and his North Carolina drawl as our names. He was very sweet and wanted to take us where ever we wanted to go. After exchanging looks with Christina, she said yes and off with Stewart and his driver we went. On our way to Columbus Circle we got sidetracked by the Pierre hotel and stopped in for a drink in which we met Marquaret and her friend who then wanted to take us to Bruno's which is a members only club that Christina had been taken to prior on on of her dates. So off we went. A bottle of wine there and we were ready to dance. Our newest memeber of the party wanted to go to some other exclusive club but we wanted to get our groove on in the MPD. The driver liked us so that is the way he headed until the other dude flipped out and wanted to go home. We got out of the car and headed to the nearest bar, Employees Only where I discussed the leaving of A-Rod from the Yankees (my opinion) and Christina flirted with some guy. More walking and then we were finally dancing. Of course we had to end our evening at Cafeteria with grilled cheese and just as we were paying the bill and about to turn into pumpkins this guy, Jimmy came up and started talking to us. It came up that I was from Oregon so he took me over to meet his friend, Rueben a player for the NY Giants and former Duck alum. Rueben and I talked about Duck football while his girlfriend fell asleep on the table. In bed around 0530 laughing about the strange paths our evenings always seen to take.

pooche patrol

A week later and I am back in England, this time in Manchester. We stay at this great hotel with gothic ceilings and mazes for hallways. A part of me wants to wander and get lost but the stories of the haunts and ghosts that live here, make me hesitate. I spent most of the day sleeping after our flight was delayed by an hour. It is getting to be that time of the year once more when the weather decides our departure and arrival time. Flight was easy and I am becoming more and more confident in the first class galley position. I have sat around all week on call with nothing coming my way flight wise. Instead, I interviewed to become a part time dog walker on Wednesday by spending the day walking miles around the East Village with dogs and my new friend Beth. I will be on call with this job as well and may have some overnights with the pooches. A paid night away from the air mattress...sign me up!
With time on our hands the roomie and I decided to hit the town and see what was shaking. We met a guy at Butter the other night who invited us to his table at Marquee. Hoping to run into some Yankees we headed to Olives and then the Underbar...nada going on. Marquee, Pink Elephant, House, Bunglow 8, a visiti to my boy, and homemade grilled cheese ended our evening at 0530. I was feeling homey and made some lasange Thursday, gotta love fall cooking.
So get this. I am in Manchester and want something warm and quick to take back to the hotel. Sadly, I decided on Pizza Hut for familarity. I walked in and everyone was being waited on and eating there pie with knifes and forks. It was bizzare! I got my personal pan and went back to eat it with my hands.

change of weather

The weather has turned, soup is ordered in place of salads, the lattes have switch from iced to hot, sweaters are coming out of the closet, and thoughts of home fill me. There is not one specific place I long to be but the idea of hot apple cider, the smell of turkey cooking, and a warm fire is what my heart desires even longs for at the moment.
I am in London after failing to make it to my check in yesterday due to weather. I have my first mark on my file, a mistrip and am disappointed to have risked being away from base simply for the idea of family. It was not my family, mind you, but Christina's who welcomed me in, feed me, and made the comforts of home avaliable. I spent three great, lazy days in Kansas City and gained five pounds from the incrediable food and lack of activity. Let me tell you, the bbq is everything that they proclaim it to be!

My absence from writing is not due to want or laziness, I just always want to write when my computer is unavaliable. I don't take it on international trips because of the hassle of transport and security. Therefore it sits at home waiting for me to pick up and pour out my thoughts.

The month of September was filled with new trips to new destinations and was all around a great month. I discovered Glascow (much different from its conterpart, Edinburgh) but still lovely. Great shopping! Manchester was also new and I had a great time there looking for Crayton's jersey in white, going to the best Indian food ever, hanging out at the gay bars and with a cool pilot...enough said. Our hotel is gorgeous there and the rooms boost thirty foot high ceilings and the reports of being haunted. I had the pleasure of playing host to my mom in my city of NYC. We walked through Central Park, let her meet the guy, dinner in Little Italy, went to San Germano festival, shopping on Fifth Ave, taught her how to hail a cab, spent time in a old fashioned soda shop, and then took her to Ediburgh on my flight. We returned and watched Wicked, which was the coolest play ever. I highly recommend. And it gave me the final decision to be Dorthy for Halloween.

Things with John are great, moving at a slow pace. It is nice however, to have someone to hang out with once a week. He is oh, so handsome and still gives me butterflies to think about. My Yankees have been eliminated, sadly but I was able to go to game three and witness the end of an era. The game was incrediable and just being there....wow! My Ducks are doing well and I plan now to go back to my room and watch the play-by-play on my phone. Lazy days in London, sometimes I just have to smile at what a great life I have.

ben harper encore

You are always supposed to be exactly where you are when you are there. I was not supposed to be out on a date last night as noted by my date who “forgot”. My ego a little bruised I decided to walk it off and just started headed in the direction of home. A gentleman asked me if I knew where the Triumph hotel was and then asked me how my night was going. “I just got stood up”, I replied. The look on his face was priceless but he quickly recovered and asked me if I wanted to go and see Ben Harper with him and some friends as they had an extra ticket. I said yes immediately and within thirty minutes was sitting eighth row in Radio City Music Hall watching an incredible show with five new friends. Drinks on the rooftop of the Peninsula Hotel proceeded bar hopping and grilled cheese at my favorite late night hangout. All in all an evening that took a turn down made a nice 180.

Here’ what sucks about being a girl. I don’t profess to be a girl in most forms of the word, I don’t take eighty years to get ready, I hang with the boys, I like sports, I don’t let my emotions get in the way, and I certainly don’t take things too seriously. I am currently kicking myself for being a girl when it comes to John. Looking back over the past few weeks, I have been building things up in my head instead of taking it slow as we both established the first night. I had a nice wake up call today, sitting here thinking about conversations, how I have been a little too overly aggressive, and acting like a girl, pure and simple. I have decided to go into our date tonight with the mindset of what happens, happens, I can’t believe I let myself slip into the girl mind frame and set myself up for over thinking It is a sophomoric mistake that hopefully I have caught in time.

p.s. my humsaa necklace broke today...i wonder what the hell that means?

liam

Something more to add to my top five best feelings: watching Ducks football when they are playing amazing. Being in the Bighouse for the big win last week was incrediable!!! The whole weekend in Detriot was a success, hanging out with my best bud, her family, seeing old friends, rooting on our team, attending a Ben Harper concert (8th row), and then having my friend come back with me...Good Stuff!

BFS

I picked up a trip to Belfast to round out my turn of Ireland and to also bring along Janene. The crew was great, the hotel located in the heart of the town filled with so much history, and the company was a unique and welcomed change. We got to the room and napped for a bit before heading out to site see. Our first stop was the Crown Saloon, which is modeled after something on the Titanic or something like that. They poured a mean pint of Guinness, that is all I cared about. After making friends with the barkeep, we wandered around some more and came upon the oldest pub in Belfast. At Kelly's we ordered up a pint and took in the old building. It wasn't long before we were joined by a gentleman named Liam. He proceeded to explain the history of not only the pub but the conflict that still plagues Northern Ireland. According to his story we were sitting in the very seats were the IRA was formed. The declaration was upon the wall and the passion behind his story made the hairs on my arms stand up. This is why I love traveling.

dtw

A major thing I miss about my previous life was attending Duck games. It is the perfect fall thing to do, get the Duck gear on, drive down to Eugene with friends, grab pizza at Tracktown, tailgate, and then cheer our team onto victory. I wasn’t able to attend a single game last year but to day I am heading to the Bighouse. Not jail, rather Michigan to watch my team play ball. I have already made friends with the four Oregon fans on the plane.

Today was also my first day with NY public transportation. With my previous history of it in Jersey you can understand why I allowed myself four hours to make my flight. I must say, however, it was a breeze and I was from my door to security in an hour and a half. I think I lucked out with my past month of driving in the city but the last attempt to drive to work and the two hours I sat in traffic was enough. I am now bound and determined to learn my way around the subway and the city without driving or cabs. I was made fun of on more than one occasion for being a “princess” about my getting around. Well princess here is going to enjoy her weekend in Michigan with good friends, football, and plenty of Bud Lites.

jpk

Let me tell you about this guy...
I have had two dates officially with John. Introduced to him at a bar two weeks ago and my walls have already been brought down. He is handsome, smart, funny, and so sweet. Our last date was spent in Central Park walking around, hand in hand while he narrated the surroundings. I never thought I would be the person that was so giddy to see someone, or thought about them daily. I was not a believer until it happened. The cynical side of me keeps some walls up just in case so my heart doesn't get stomped on again. But I get it now; I understand why Christina squeals at movies, why Nichole was so enamored, and how your heart could flutter about the single thought of someone. What does all of this mean? I have no clue, but at the moment I am acting outside of my normal box and letting life take me where it may.

top five

Christina and I pose questions to each other all the time in order to get to know each other better and to challange the others mind. My question to her the other evening was: "What is your top five best feelings?". Here is my list thus far, in no particular order...
¬getting a 100% on a test
¬how I feel the last five minutes of a yoga class
¬how I felt when John kissed me for the first time
¬singing along to a song you know at an Irish/UK pub
The fourth is concreted tonight as I am in Edinburgh and enjoying this beautiful city. Crew scheduling being in charge of my life has wound me up in EDI, after first being assigned LGW then airport alert and then EDI. This city is absoletely beautiful with its coast line, history, castles, the friendly people, kilts, bag pipe players, and adorable dogs. I spent the day walking around and the evening in a Scottish pub listening to music. I can safely say that this town has moved into my top three favorites thus far.

cafeteria ban lifted

The roomie and I have been home for the past week hanging out. She was feeling a bit blue so we made a date prior to our last trip for dinner and some girl time. We didn't get motivated until 2300 so dinner was scratched and replaced with going out. The east village was our destination as we decided to get out of our ues bubble and see what else NYC had for us. We stopped by a previous visited bar and grabbed a drink before wandering for a bit to the suggested place Solas. We walked in and it was dead but we stayed because they had connect four. We were ordering our second round and had graduated up to jenga when the bar filled up and the karaoke began. Christina has an amazing voice so she was right up there but in order to get a mic in my hands, it takes a lot of booze. Long story short, I sang a couple of duets. The bar closed down and not quite ready to go home, we decided to press our luck at Cafeteria. We were banned previously from my puking and passing out. We walked in casually with some random nerd we found on the street and ordered our usual. The next day was spend in bed, hung-over....urgh...am I getting old!
Wednesday was work out day for me as I finally found someone to play tennis with. I walked two miles, biked three, and play tennis for two hours. I came home to find Christina ready to go out, so I showered up and we hit the town. This time we went to Nolita to check out some bars she found. Nothing was poppin' so I made the decision that I wanted to see my boy at midnight. We walked into his bar and I stopped with hesitation in front; then walked in nervous as can be. We stood there patiently as he made drinks and it was while he stopped to take a sip of water that he noticed me. It was the perfect reaction and he took a second to figure out how to get to me. Single most romantic moment in my life: he scaled the bar, picked me up and kissed me. I could hear C squealing in the background. So we hung out for a while, me talking to firemen and gazing at him, Christina talking to the nerdy guys that had followed us from three bars previous. 0200 rolled around and we decided to call it an evening and get some grilled cheese. Back to our place we went, un-detected...that is damn good grilled cheese!!!

one-dollar beers and two johns

08.20.07

My idea of a quick dinner and a beer resulted in me closing the place down. Mind you it is Monday night but here in NY it doesn’t matter what the day is, especially if there is a Yankee game on. I walked up to the bar and sat between two gentlemen clearly grabbing a beer after work. The bubbly bartender came up to me and took my order. I inquired about dollar beers for flight attendants and from that moment on, my glass was never empty. I began chatting with the guy on the left, then the gaggle of drunken Chinese men, then to the man on my right. His name was John and he owned a construction company. We had a very pleasant conversation over our bbq sandwiches while watching the game. After his departure around midnight a tall, good-looking man came up to the bar. Heather, the bartender, kissed him hello and then told him to come and sit with me as she thought I was very nice. Score for me because he was hot! John number two and I spent the next hour and half talking about everything you would on a first date. He is an absolute doll and we have made plans for dinner on Friday. I have a new phone; it is still a bit intimidating to me because of all the bells and whistles. John was interested in trying it so I let him text Christina, who had already called to make sure I was still alive. They had a bit of banter going on then he mentioned that he gave me a toy crocodile from the bar. She responded that she didn’t know what exactly that meant but good. After half running, half skipping home, I came into the apartment and placed the crocodile on her chest. She awoke startled with me falling on the ground laughing.

i am going a little crazy...

My usually therapy is what I am returning to after what I describe as a trip on something and Janene describes as a panic attack. There are a few post that need to be put up to fill you in on my life but nothing bad, actually things are going really well right now. Well, I am just procrasting at my strangeness.

I am in London and woke up around 0445 after a wierd dream, went to the bathroom, then came back to bed. I put my eye mask back on and my feet out of the sheets as I was burning up. I was rehashing my dream thinking how strange it was and how vivid when I pulled my feet back in and pulled off my mask because I didn't want to be touched by spirits. We do stay in haunted hotels but I haven't heard anyting about this one. All of a sudden I didn't want to sleep, I turned on the lights in a panic. I didn't know anyone else's room number, "what is wrong with me?", I only had two glasses of wine, I had some Indian take-away in the city was there magic mushrooms in it. Finally I called Janene who told me to get out of the room. I described my dream which is pieced together as follows: my building and the builing next to mine in Portland were flooding and I was evacuating it but this big guy who was a friends dad in the dream (really more like the guy from Orange County Choppers) was pushing furniture around in the water. People were leaving and speaking to me in langauges that I understood but told them to move aside. After that I was in my loft to seek in and see what was going on to find that Russians were moving stuff out of my now warehouse size house and we were scared of getting caught. There was a whole room filled with porn in VHS form and then a group of my friends were hanging out in a circle talking then two identical priest walked in I went to the porn room and got them matching tapes with two matching vibrators. I walk out of the room and now there is a nail salon ran but black queens and Hilary is there with huge coloriful nails in large silver oven mitts with her hands in the air. The head guy, my ISM, told me it was okay to take her mitts off and play cards. Then we were in this room with computers and Yoder's ex was telling me how he paid for college by selling drugs. Meanwhile I am being them pushing white powder into ridges on a board. Then the Russians came in and were friendly saying that when the lease was up that everyone got the remaining contents in their room of export. I had a chain-link fence in my living room and this butch head of the organization hugged me.

I have no idea how long I was dreaming and I actually still feel like I could wake up at any moment. I am in the crew room now, avoiding my room and feeling sillier by the moment. There is a guy on my crew next to me who hasn't even acknowledged me to make me think this may still be a part of my dream. If this is a panic attack I want nothing to do with it, but I will tell you one thing...no more Indian food for me!

koala bear sheets

I have just returned home after a week of absense. First in Oregon followed directly by LGW. I picked up the trip so I could stay one more night in my beautiful home town and in the comfort of Dave May's bed. I created good karma by helping the agents in PDX out with boarding which ensured my ticket to work. I traded a guy for the back galley of the 777, and I will have to admit, I was a bit overwhelmed at first and forgot to warm up all the bread yesterday but today...piece of cake. And it was nice to be away from dealing with passengers. I tried a new route home today and got as far as Canal Street before I wound up in Brooklyn. Finally back to the neighborhood and found a parking spot right off then proceeded to take my roller board, backpack, handbag, purse, and a collapasable bed down the street and up four flights of stairs. The next hour was spent blowing up a twin size air mattress and making myself dizzy. Finally, I had my foundation for a bed. Next came koala bear sheets that I used to have as a child. It made me absolutely giddy to put them on! The five pillows I have take over the bed but add to the comfort that both George and I have enjoyed via an afternoon nap. I go from partying with queens over crew juice to a mellow evening in Manhattan that will include a beer and some bbq.

nomad

I am sitting in my old neighborhood; the sun is out, I look and feel great besides the fact that I am currently a nomad. Starbucks is my place until both my computer and phone charge. Every door I went and knocked on was vacant. I thought about going to my place to see if my renters were home and would let me hang out for a while but I thought better of it. The day that was open for possibilities is slowly slipping away from me. I have run a few errands, had coffee with Anne, lunch with Amy, and awaiting calls back to fill my card for happy hour. I picked up a trip to ol’ LGW just so I can have peace of mind not being on call tomorrow. Manhattan seems a lifetime away right now; I doubt I will return to the apartment until after my trip, as it is such an ordeal to get back and forth.

A day ago I mourned the loss of my father officially at his service followed by the reception. It was an easier process than first thought. I suppose it is due to the two months I have had to let it all sink in. With the support of my ladies, I made it through with a handful of tears. But let me tell you, when they played Taps on the trumpet, I let the tears flow.

return to dad

My gallivanting around the globe has only taken me to a few places thus far. I must have “sucker:” written on my profile because scheduling is constantly changing my trips. I was off to trip to Shannon that I picked up when, while suck on ninth ave, the phone rang and I instinctively picked it up. Would I mind going to Paris instead, was the question that was really direction. Sure, why not. I spent the next few hours in Jersey as to avoid the mass exit from the island of Manhattan and then headed off to work. Our crew was nice and laid back and with only one of the female. I have noticed that there tends to be more straight men on international flights and they all seem to love the hell out of me. A nap upon arrival gave me the energy to enjoy a Thai dinner with some of the other crews and our IRO and the mid flight’s FO ended up shutting down the hotel bar. I was escorted to my room by the FO, who kissed me goodnight. It was sort of out of the blue but won’t have been so bad accept he was a horrible kisser. I don’t know when boys stopped learning how to kiss well, or maybe it is a NE thing but the last two out of three guys have been horrible. The middle guy was from LA, the good kisser. Off to bed I went after my nightly ritual and then next morning came a bit early for me to discover toothpaste not only all over the sink but also my shoulder and hair. I must have had too many beers the night prior but at least I got my teeth brushed. I spent a blissful twenty hours in my fabulous apartment before packing up and trying to get on a flight to Portland. No such luck with the direct so now I find myself in between two, not so friendly guys would need to sit with their legs apart and hitting mine, the guys sit reclined in the front of me and for a while the kid behind me singing something. I can empathize with our passengers as I can say that I am not comfortable in the least bit and the crew isn’t very friendly either. Vegas is my stop over for the night and I am hoping enjoy a quick stay in Sin City. The week ahead of me is a bit grim, as my father’s service will be held. I am uneasy, as I have finally come to terms with his passing only to have to relive his death once more. It will be nice to see everyone and formally celebrate his life but…well it just sucks, emotional wise.

lgw-lgw-move

I sit in my new apartment, wide-awake at 0130. The road to get here to this moment of peace has been filled with bumps and hurdles. We found the place almost a month ago and put our application in, days upon days of sending more things to the man on the other end of the phone with a silly accent. Finally on the second we signed our lease. Our own little place on the Upper East Side! I had to go to LGW that evening so I was only able to move my clothes before I had to go home and get ready for work. A classmate and I worked the first class section and had a great time goofing around. A Temptation was on the flight and ended up giving me his number and inviting me to a show later in the month. After my return to the US, I loaded up my car with belongings and George and set off for the city. Christina had called in sick so she had most of her stuff gone already. She helped me get my stuff upstairs and then we set off to find dinner. I was good for the next day and then had two days off to finish moving. Well my plan was foiled by the phone ringing at 1100, I was off to BRS for the next three days leaving at 1940…okay that left me a whole day to get things done. Sunday brunch at a lovely outdoor café around 1330 and the phone rings again. Now I am supposed to be at airport alert at 1600. Crap! Had to run back and get ready to find my tire was flat. Luckily I now live across the street from a parking garage. I put on my best girl face and went over to see if they had air. Well the guy didn’t speak English so I did my best play charades of blowing up a tire. He ended up changing it for me. I drove through the Lincoln Tunnel after getting lost since the main street was closed due to a street fair. I make it to work two minutes late and call to check in. The phone rings with one hour and fifty-five minutes in to go to LGW. I walked the mile to the gate to find out that I was not needed and it was a mistake. Back to the crew room I went to sit for another hour until I was called once more for the later LGW flight. Nothing too exciting this time in London, I hung around the hotel and met the pilots for happy hour and then joined then for dinner at Ol Six Belles, a British restaurant that has been there since the 1600’s. I returned last night and finished moving everything. The fourth floor walk up provided quite a work out and the ninety-degree heat with ninety percent humidity melted off some of the international food I have been eating. The anal part of me was up at the crack of dawn to organize things and I am a bed away from having my side of the studio complete. I am super happy with the move and living in NYC was everything I expected it to be thus far.

playing catch up

My lack of blogging isn't due to the lack of stories, adventures, or want; it is due to the lack of time that has suddenly taken over my life. Finally at 0200 in Zurich, I am able to catch up without the phone ringing, without roommates asking me questions, without having to work, and without having to deal with anything other than my own thoughts. A Perrier, cup of soup, and peppermint tea beside me, allow me to fill you in on my adventures this month.

LGW

Eight hours strolling around London allowed me to see the tourist places of Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abby, and several other buildings that seemed to be of historic relevance. I asked for directions to the Farris wheel I could see from St. James Park. I was quickly corrected after a giggle from a guard to its name of the London Eye. Even though I had no sleep, I continued on, map in hand to check out this great city. The sure fire way of getting to know a culture is to take a stroll through a supermarket or the post office. My journey to get stamps for the mandatory postcard to my mum provided the entertainment of the afternoon as a man defined the word postal as he screamed at the counter about something. The second entertainment came in the form of a guy at the DOT. I stopped in for directions to a non-touristy place to get some fish and chips. He in turn takes his lunch and not only walks me there, orders for me, places me at a table with another guy, takes off to get cash, returns, and buys my lunch. It was a bizarre situation, but hell, I will take free lunch any day!
This was my first trip to work our first class aisle, and I will promptly claim this as my favorite position to work. Second trip and I am already spoiled.

CDG

I was on call, but only for one day. Dragging my feet a bit on going to look at some places in the city by myself, I got a late start and something told me to stay close to home. Thirty minutes later the phone rang and they told me they were rolling my days off and sending me to Paris. I actually let out a little scream to the scheduler on how happy I was. Her response was she was sorry to use me but not many domestic reserves hold their French visas, to which I told her, I was one of those dorky domestic reserves that did. My crew was fantastic and we had so much fun together on the flights and the layover. I found out my friend, Justin was on the early Paris flight and I was instructed to find his room when I landed. The bus drive to the city was long but gorgeous as we drove by the classic sights of the city of lights. We got out of the bus and I heard my name..."did I hear that right?...I am in Paris with a French name...where is that coming from?" I look up and my friend is frantically waving out the window of the ninth floor. We spent the day walking around, climbing the Eiffel Tower, eating ice cream, and taking it all in. Drinks in the lobby with the pilots proceeded dinner with the crew followed by smoking the hookah pipe at a local bar. Hands down my favorite layover yet.

Pounding the Manhattan pavement once more looking for the perfect place. We found one and started the process of applying. That called for a drink after some dolling up at Bergdorf’s. We made calls to find out which one of our guys we could meet up with. Tom (Christina's sugar daddy) was the first to respond. We met him at the St. Regis for cocktails and then proceeded to Sparks for dinner. This was the day of the steam explosion in the city which sent thoughts of terroism to every ones mind. It was a little scary to see helicopters, streets closed, and people running around without an answer as to what happened. Dinner was amazing and the ratio of guys to girls was around 30:1. This place knew our date very well and we were seated immediately. A view of the Yankee game, tons of men, a nice glass of Pinot, and a fabulous steak...this is what I call living!! We were getting up to leave when our waiter told us that a Yankee pitcher (on the DL) was asking who we were but because of who we were with, the waiter didn’t want to say anything. We will return to Sparks for sure!! Our next stop was to pick up some Duke of something to take him to the strip club we decided to check out. It was a pretty classy joint as far as strip clubs go, but man did those girls smell money. Our evening didn't end until 0530; I went on call at 0500.

CDG

On call once more and I was assigned SNN. An hour later the phone rang again..."I promise I am up", it was the scheduler who was in a bind and wanted to know if she could switch my flight. I told her my mom was coming on the third day of the trip and the soonest she could get me back, the better. I had a choice of GVA, BRU, or CDG. I took the earliest arrival, which ended up being Paris. I proceeded to sleep the whole time, thank goodness, I was just there.

DUB

This was not a working trip; this was holiday with my mum. She arrived in NY as I was over the Atlantic. I had Britney go and pick her up from the airport and unfortunately talk Carol's ear off, as she tends to do. I made it home around 1300 and by 1730; I was back at the airport. Two first class tickets, please...luckily we were able to fly upfront so I drank a bottle of wine and crashed out. Our hotel was simply lovely and Dublin was such a great town. Friendly people, lots of good looking guys, and I am all in favor of a country in which you can drink a Guinness at any time of the day without judgment. A literary pub crawl (my favorite thing), a city bus tour, tour of the Guinness factory, the book of Kells, St. Patrick’s' cathedral, hanging out on O'Connell Street (our ancestor), a ghost bus tour in which I was the prop for how to exhume a body, a tour to Cork to kiss the Blarney Stone, and a cabaret show made up our five day journey. Good stuff.

ZRH

I had Saturday off and wandering around the house alone, packing, completely frustrated about not knowing if I have a place to live in three days. I decided to volunteer to go to work. I called up and offered my services clarifying that I didn't want to go to Texas, overseas please. I had the choice of where I wanted to go and quickly picked Zurich. It is so beautiful here; they actually stamped my passport, no waiting on the hotel van, gummy bears at the front desk, and a welcome drink. The hotel is gorgeous as is the city, which was a 20-minute train ride away. I walked around as much as possible but shops were closed due to it being Sunday and I didn't feel well so I am back after a nap enjoying my room and a spot of tea.

I am really digging this international business and know that this is what I was cut out for.... international first class flight attendant...yep that is me!!

trouser press

I am sitting in an internet cafe in the airport in London awaiting the chance to use my free ticket to the city. I had almost an hour to kill and choose to check out shops, grab a water, and while walking by the cafe, I spotted a gorgeous man using the computers so I am currently sitting three computers away sending out a vibe. He has noticed me yet. The flight over was smooth and I worked a wonderful potition with a great galley person. Before I knew it we were landing and jumping on a bus. I was super excited to add a stamp to my passport and was very upset to find out that we in fact bypass customs and go straight to our hotel. Boo-Hiss!!!! I want a stamp damn it! I am too excited to go sightseeing to sleep and no one else on the crew shares my enthusiasm so my free ticket and I are hitting the train, map in hand, and checking out all this British stuff. Our hotel is pretty nice and within walking distance which means we don't have to tip anyone for handling our luggage. The word on the street is that the crew lounge is the happening place to be, so that is where I will be tonight. There is one strange thing in the room, a trouser press. Carol would be proud of me for throwing my shorts in there and getting the wrinkles out. Okay, the hot guy left...my time is up here. Watch out London, here I come!!

london calling

I just picked up my first international trip! I am going to heading to LGW as the first class aisle gal. It is a great position as all you do is serve the food, take orders, etc. I am super excited to go London as I have never been and having this much heads up allows me to change my sleep schedule so I can check everything out. Yes, darling tomorrow I leave for jolly ol' England!!! (you have to image my best British accent!) Cherrio for now...god, I am dork.