BLAST OF WINTER AND REALITY CHECK!

Just got back from another business trip to NY and if I have my way I will never go again in the winter. Will do a conference call instead!

After thinking we were cold here when the temperature falls down into the mid 50's, I had a good reminder of how good we have it here and how there is no way in hell we will ever live anywhere but a warm climate. Landed in NY on Sunday and it was cold but not too windy, probably around 20 degrees F. Then Monday and Tuesday it was snowing and 1 degree F with the wind chill and it was bitterly cold. I think that because of the humidity 1 degree is a lot colder in NY than it ever was on the prairies. Of course, the winter coat I have now is not a real winter coat- I had gleefully donated all my winter clothes to the Salvation Army and the Women's Shelter. This ones more like something you would wear to go from the car to the house, looks pretty but with one button, shawl collar was not made to walk the streets of NY which is what we did on Monday and Tuesday. Our meetings were on Pine Street, Williams Street, Wall Street and Water Street, all of which are relatively close to each other but felt like they were miles apart as my ears turned purple and my coat kept flying open in the wind. Carrying my briefcase in one hand made it hard to hold the damn coat shut!

Enough about the weather- gotta tell you about the room I ended up with- the one time that hubby did not travel with me I ended up in the presidential suite on the 55th floor of the Hilton which overlooks ground zero and has also got incredible water views of the city- I could see the Statue of Liberty and all the ferries running back and forth as well. I did not bring my camera with me as it was just a business trip but went out and bought a disposable camera to take pictures of this suite as it was unbelievable- It is bigger than my condo and had a full kitchen with funky cappuccino machine, a dining room that seats 10 comfortably, a huge living room, 2 bathrooms, full bar, bedroom, 2 42 inch TVs, monster jacuzzi tub and on the list goes. If I actually ever develop the pictures I will post some here. I ended up in this room as when I went to check in, my room was not ready and it was after 5:00- Check in is supposed to be at 3:00. I was offered a non smoking room but declined as in NY there is no where else to smoke except your room. After I declined, next thing you know I am advised I have been upgraded and handed my keys. Not a word was said about the room and it wasn't til I got on the elevator that I realized I was going to the top floor. Stepped off the elevator and have my own personal security (actually its for the 4 suites on the floor) It was such a nice room that I ended up ordering room service one night as I thought the likelihood of ever being in such a nice room again is slim to none and having been dreaming of having a good steak order a 16 ounce sirloin steak which I ate every bite. I actually had serious thoughts about ordering a second one having decided that the problem with beef in Bermuda is not that it is US beef as this steak was fantastic! If it wasn't 11:00 at night I might have done it but it was time for a serious bubble bath in my six foot jacuzzi. Had some other fabulous meals while I was there- I think its hard to get a bad meal in NY.The first night I went out with one of my bosses for Chinese up on Lexington and 3rd- Shun Low or something like that- quite upscale for a Chinese restaurant and very tasty. Had a fabulous lunch at Harrys Cafe in the financial district and my appetizer of sirloin beef kabobs even came with its own little grill with hot charcoals.

Found a bit of time to shop on Tuesday afternoon- went up to West 34th which is where
Macys is but actually did most of my shopping at the boutique shops as while Macys has everything, its all organized by brand- If you don't know what brand you want its annoying!After living in Bermuda the choices seemed overwhelming too. I was on a mission to find pants that fit as I have lost a lot of weight and need a 4 or 6 depending on the cut with a 34 inseam and my favorite jeans have been discontinued- Macys used to sell them which is why I went there in the first place. Did find a few pairs that I liked at Ann Taylor, picked up a bunch of shoes at Century 21 and Steve Madden and then the other mission was to hit the drugstore- things like shampoo, vitamins, cosmetics etc. are all a fortune in BDA so its so much cheaper to buy them in the states, even after you add the 25% duty on top. (Example- Listerine Whitening is 14USD in Bermuda, at Duane Reids I picked up the large bottle for 5.40- after the duty its 6.75 which is still less than half price) I have to go back in May again for 4 days so hopefully will have more time to shop and it will be warm then too. Could have shopped more this trip but NY is a walking city and I am too wussy now to walk in the cold if I don't really have too! Had my Starbucks fix too while I was there. Did not think I had really missed it until I had my first cup of dark roast with my lemon pound cake- now that I am back I am dreaming of that and the steak I had the other day!-

Things back on island are same as usual- Hubby is so tanned already from golfing all the time-even with the crappy February we had he still went out in the rain and the high winds and now March is gorgeous weather so far.Not sure if I mentioned it before or not but Micheal Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones are members at our club. I have not seen them myself but hubby has run into Micheal a few times as he seems to like to tee off around the same time)

I am kinda pasty as I lost my tan around end mid January and every weekend in February it was rainy out- I only golfed once in February as I can only go on the weekends and we usually save golf for Sundays when everything else is closed

Hopefully I will soon be brown again myself although I start back to school next week so that means a lot of time on the computer. I wasn't too thrilled about having to enrol in a class already but its been a year since I registered in my last course and to keep my place in the MBA program I have to do at least one a year so this is the the one- it will end in mid June and then we will be off to Europe for a vacation. There was no way I was going to enrol in a class here over the summer as want to be outside all the time but if this class goes well, I might do a winter class and then only have 2 more to go after that!

We are going whale watching April 1st- the humpback whales start their migration mid March and it should be a nice day- the boat goes out at 10 and comes back around 5 so even if we don't see a lot of whales it will be a nice day on the water.