Whew...where do I start? Last post I mentioned UNT Homecoming...yes, that's this weekend. I'm planning on rolling into Denton tomorrow afternoon and staying in a hotel (weird, never thought I'd do that there) because there will be lots of boozing. Apparently Kappa Kappa Gamma's Zeta Sigma (layman's terms: UNT's chapter) is having their 20th anniversary, but I would feel totally weird going so I'm going to skip it. But Megan Mississippi is in town and I'm overjoyed to see her!
Right now Kevin is in the 'burbs of Philadelphia visiting his BFF Rob, and they're spending a boys weekend full of beer, football and gosh knows what else. Actually, do I want to know? Probably not.
Okay, time to rewind. Since last post, the job has become less hairy and I'm getting my bearings straight. I'm actually finding time to check my personal email and Twitter regularly again...woo hoo! It's a step, so I'm getting there. And I'm learning as I go most definitely. I told Leigh earlier today that this job has help me overcome so much already - from fears of selling, public speaking and coming out from behind my office door, I've grown so much in just 5 months. I can't wait to see what else is in store for me, because if it's this good I want to suck it all up like a sponge.
The first week of September I was blessed with the opportunity to go to San Francisco and visit Yelp HQ. All of the Community and Regional Managers from the US, UK and Canada came down for a week of training, camaraderie and debauchery. I learned so much and it was just plain fun to meet everyone that I work with. Finally...I felt like I was part of a company, not just by my lonesome self in Dallas! I won't go into details, but let's just say I was both ready and not ready for it to end come Thursday night. Oh - and I got to meet Darwin, the office dog! Shadow was grateful to hear there's another dog who goes to work every day. Not like there's actual work involved, though.
UK Laura, Dallas Nikki, Miami Maria
Chicago 'burbs Jelena Z and I cracking up
Austin Kevin and I - reppin' Tejas
East Bay Ligaya and I: pwetty girls
Minn-StPaul and I giving Chicago Colleen some Yelp lovin'After Thursday night's company-wide party, Kevin flew into town and met me. I'm not gonna lie, we started drinking at 4pm after a loooong week and I was blasted by the time he rolled into town. I met up with him and he made the decision to walk me next door to the hotel, because obviously I couldn't walk myself there. He dropped me off in the lobby, and what do I proceed to do? Walk across the street and go get champagne, of course. He didn't know until the next morning when I pulled a bottle of Freixenet out of our mini bar and screamed, "Who wants a MIMOSA?!??!" Oops. Bad Nikki.
We spent the next day roaming around SF - we went to out to Fisherman's Wharf, saw Alcatraz by the bay (which is a hell of a lot closer to land than I thought), smelled the nasty sea lions (talk about mounds of lazy flubber...eww) and Kevin bought me a new watch!
On Saturday, we rented a car and drove down to Napa. We thought that "winging it" would be a cool spontaneous option, and it worked out semi-well for us, but knowing what I do now; there will definitely be a plan next time around. We found a room at the John Muir Inn, but who gives a crap where you put your head when it's swimming in wine, right? Saturday we made it to one vineyard, and Sunday we spent a big part of the day in Sonoma. We found a cool cave-like vineyard to kick off the day, then ended up in Napa later. The only vineyard we missed that I really wanted to see was Cakebread, but it's by appointment only. Lesson learned, but we'll be back.
Cave vineyards -- barrels dated back to 2004
Oh, it's noon? Time for a bottle of vino!
Don't judge. We're in Napa...it doesn't count.
A week after I got back, I left again for Austin to help the Austin CM (Kevin) with his Elite event at a liquor store. He spoke at a social media panel at UT -- that was interesting; definitely a good learning experience for me.
Intermission: work, work, work.
Mid-September, Kevin's sister Teri came into town for Jeremy's birthday and we spent most of the weekend at Oktoberfest with them. I don't have any pictures, but it was more than fun. I wish she would come down more often...she brings the par-tay!
The week after, I went to a GNO dinner with Jammi, Nicole, Erin, Jackie, her sister Apple and a few others came along as well, and it turned out to be a great Girls Night Out! A few days later, my dad came to town for a dental conference which was canceled last-minute so I got to spend a good part of the day with my daddy! I drug him along to a press preview at the Nasher and treated him to a breakfast buffet by Wolfgang Puck. Tough life, I know. Then he treated me to lunch at Hacienda on Henderson! Well, the dental conference did...damn right we expensed that shit!
The following weekend, I got to see Jammi, Nicole, Erin, the mens and Jackie and Mark! It was Jackie and Mark's wedding and they were so nice to invite me to the after-party. Weird seeing some people I hadn't spoken to in almost 2 years, but still a welcoming environment. Erin took pics with her camera, then it was stolen...big bummer. So no pics, just a memory snapshot.
Next comes Yelptoberfest, my Elite event for October. A monsoon kept a majority of yelpers away, but those in attendance were rewarded with a retro Yelp lunchbox. Oh yeah.
And Kevin - Austin and I dressed up in lederhosen. You will only see this once, ladies and gentlemen, so take a mental note.
Sweet Yelp swag
The mustache brings in all the ladies
Kevin - Austin and I as the Lederhosen Twins
Lance-pants likes to party
We spent the next day roaming around SF - we went to out to Fisherman's Wharf, saw Alcatraz by the bay (which is a hell of a lot closer to land than I thought), smelled the nasty sea lions (talk about mounds of lazy flubber...eww) and Kevin bought me a new watch!
On Saturday, we rented a car and drove down to Napa. We thought that "winging it" would be a cool spontaneous option, and it worked out semi-well for us, but knowing what I do now; there will definitely be a plan next time around. We found a room at the John Muir Inn, but who gives a crap where you put your head when it's swimming in wine, right? Saturday we made it to one vineyard, and Sunday we spent a big part of the day in Sonoma. We found a cool cave-like vineyard to kick off the day, then ended up in Napa later. The only vineyard we missed that I really wanted to see was Cakebread, but it's by appointment only. Lesson learned, but we'll be back.
Cave vineyards -- barrels dated back to 2004
Oh, it's noon? Time for a bottle of vino!
Don't judge. We're in Napa...it doesn't count.A week after I got back, I left again for Austin to help the Austin CM (Kevin) with his Elite event at a liquor store. He spoke at a social media panel at UT -- that was interesting; definitely a good learning experience for me.
Intermission: work, work, work.
Mid-September, Kevin's sister Teri came into town for Jeremy's birthday and we spent most of the weekend at Oktoberfest with them. I don't have any pictures, but it was more than fun. I wish she would come down more often...she brings the par-tay!
The week after, I went to a GNO dinner with Jammi, Nicole, Erin, Jackie, her sister Apple and a few others came along as well, and it turned out to be a great Girls Night Out! A few days later, my dad came to town for a dental conference which was canceled last-minute so I got to spend a good part of the day with my daddy! I drug him along to a press preview at the Nasher and treated him to a breakfast buffet by Wolfgang Puck. Tough life, I know. Then he treated me to lunch at Hacienda on Henderson! Well, the dental conference did...damn right we expensed that shit!
The following weekend, I got to see Jammi, Nicole, Erin, the mens and Jackie and Mark! It was Jackie and Mark's wedding and they were so nice to invite me to the after-party. Weird seeing some people I hadn't spoken to in almost 2 years, but still a welcoming environment. Erin took pics with her camera, then it was stolen...big bummer. So no pics, just a memory snapshot.
Next comes Yelptoberfest, my Elite event for October. A monsoon kept a majority of yelpers away, but those in attendance were rewarded with a retro Yelp lunchbox. Oh yeah.
And Kevin - Austin and I dressed up in lederhosen. You will only see this once, ladies and gentlemen, so take a mental note.
Sweet Yelp swag
The mustache brings in all the ladies
Kevin - Austin and I as the Lederhosen Twins
Lance-pants likes to partyA few days later, Kev and I left for Austin City Limits music festival. We didn't prepare at all for rain because we're dumbasses, and spent most of Saturday tracking down ponchos, our tickets and water bottles for our backpack. Then we sat in the rain and mud, drinking beer and eating tacos, waiting for Bon Iver to come on stage. I wasn't going to admit this publicly (in fact, I hoped at the time that the rain would hide both of them), but two things happened: A) Ask Kevin about his "I've waited 40 years to do this in public" deed and B) I was so moved by Bon Iver, I cried. Just a few single tears...first time ever due to a live concert. And it felt so good.
That night, we left after Bon Iver and cleaned up, then met Kevin CM and his wife Allison for dinner and drinks. They took us to a cool ACL after-party at an old power plant with free booze, music and a cool lounge vibe for we VIPS. Yeah. That's how we roll.
Ooh...a logo background. Where's the damn red carpet?
Ooh...a logo background. Where's the damn red carpet?This past week, we needed some chill time. I flew out last Wednesday night to surprise my dad for his birthday...he was, well, sort of surprised. The skim milk in the fridge gave me away. Dammit. I ate lunch with his staff on Thursday for his b-day, then worked my butt off so I wouldn't have to over the weekend.
On Friday, I drove back with Shelbi and Russ and Kevin met us at the lakehouse for weekend of fishing, drinking and no makeup. Yup, Russ and Kevin didn't put on their blush. Gasp!
Russer, Noodle & Nikki-Poo
You can take the girls out of the country, but you can't take the county out of the girls
His new pose is to hide behind me. Clever.
On Friday, I drove back with Shelbi and Russ and Kevin met us at the lakehouse for weekend of fishing, drinking and no makeup. Yup, Russ and Kevin didn't put on their blush. Gasp!
Russer, Noodle & Nikki-Poo
You can take the girls out of the country, but you can't take the county out of the girls
His new pose is to hide behind me. Clever.Whew! Now you're all caught up. Like I said, I'm gaining my personal bearings again so hopefully I'll update again soon. Until then, thank you for reading my novel. Sorry for any grammatical errors -- it only took 2 hours to write, and I'm not in the mood to proof my own writing.
I'll leave you with this -- he was NOT happy with us for treating him like groceries.
I'll leave you with this -- he was NOT happy with us for treating him like groceries.
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