I'm officially impossible to live with

Last week when I was in NY I got to attend the NYU faculty dinner and orientation. I was so blown away by the event. (someone called me Professor!!) I think it's finally hit me. WOW, I'm teaching for NYU. Really? How did I get here? How did I find my way to this station in my life when I'm being invited into such a prestigious school?

I am always amazed at my many blessings - where this lone little company started from all those years ago, based on a whim really, an idea, and a hope for a better life.

I'm amazed and grateful - and thrilled, yeah that too - this adventure will be one of the most significant of my life and for my business.

As Dr Seuss once said, "Oh, the places you'll go..."

Thanks to all of you for your support and friendship but most of all, for being on this journey with me...

Countdown

Is that stupid timer working at the bottom of the page? Really. I have messed with this widget forever and I can't seem to get it to work *sigh* - well, for those of you keeping track I've got 28 days left till I check out of Hotel California.

ACK!!!!

So much packing, so little time...

My Mother Did Not Invent the Internet

My mother, God love her, did not invent the Internet. I say this because well, when it comes to anything online mom isn't the most eager to hop on the latest trend.

Though she did ask me what "a Facebook" was and could she get one.

Don't get me wrong, mom is very talented. She can make a 7 course meal out of tree bark and if I ever get married again, I'm sure she'll sew me a dress using nothing more than scraps of old cloth and dish towels that will rival the gown Princess Diana wore.

I've been trying to get my mom off of her onsie-twosie emails of what she needs during my trip, meaning that she'll send me one email, then another, then another.

So I tried the Google Docs experiment.
It wasn't pretty.

So, I set up the doc in Google, and email her the link with an explanation of what she can do with it.
The first time she didn't know what the link was and she deleted it.
I sent it again.
This time she wrote:
"What will I do with something like that?? I'd rather have a piece of paper..."

OK, mom you win.

Internet 0
Mom 1

*sigh* this might be a long trip :)

California Girl

By all accounts, I had a great childhood. Growing up in Southern California has its perks... the sun shines 360 days out of the year and it's generally always 75 and beautiful. It's hell growing up in a postcard.

....it was the summer of '72 and my mother was young, tall, blond, and tan. After school she'd load up my friends and I and all of our beach gear her convertible while my dad was still at work and off we'd go. We'd all head to the beach before the sunset, homework could wait till later. Our beach of choice was often Huntington Beach, a long stretch of sand that didn't see a lot of sun-worshipers during the week. It was perfect for us. My frequent beach companions were two siblings who lived a few blocks away, Lois and Robert, their mother and mine were best friends. Our moms would sit at the beach, lathering on Coppertone sun oil and sharing the latest neighborhood gossip. When the sun started to dip into the water our moms would pack us up and head home. The sand would stick to me till I got to the house and my mom shuttled me into a warm tub of water to wash it off. Often I'd take whatever treasure I'd found that day, a rock, a shell, and sometimes a washed up trinket that I pretended was from a long-lost buried treasure, washed ashore and certainly worth a fortune....yeah, being a California Girl was a great thing...

Somehow despite the distractions of beaches, sand and surf I managed to get through school. The beach bum life was just a part of who we were, growing up in the '70's in California when life was uncomplicated and easy. I miss the summers with my friends before we worried about things like polluted beaches and skin cancer. It was a great life, I was a lucky girl.

...now as I head off to another coast I have to wonder? Can a former beach bum make it in the big city? I guess we're about to find out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2CyQ7Eslg4

Operation New York

Pay close attention, this is a precision operation.

When I first started traveling, ages ago for a job (back when I was still in corporate America) I used to be the queen of the list. I had lists for everything from the care of my dog during my absence to the care of my house. I had charts, timelines, and if I’d known how to use it in, I likely would have created a PowerPoint presentation. A friend of mine who also happens to be an FBI agent said “You know Penny, this is not a covert operation, you’re going to Seattle, not North Korea…”

Still the lists persist; I guess old habits die hard. I am still the queen of list creation. Now, years later we have Google docs, List Magic. Let’s face it, 2010 is a list-makers dream come true.

For this trip I’m doing a little house swapping, my mother is going to stay in my house with a friend of hers, they both live in Belgium and her friend has never been to the US. The planning has been tricky. Well it didn’t have to be but mom decided to go price shopping for airline tickets, “I can get a better rate if I leave a week later,” my mother said enthusiastically.

“Mom, I leave then you arrive a few days later, remember? Someone has to take care of the dog while I’m gone.”

Yes, Cosmo is part of the house-sitting mom is doing.

“Oh,” she said disappointed. Let’s face it, mom loves a bargain.

So the planning continues.

My mother’s lists are different, yes she has them too (the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree). Her lists consist of short email blurbs with requests:
Leave out the coffee maker

I need directions to Coronado

How much do I feed Cosmo?

I’ve asked her to save all of her requests to one list and send it to me in one email instead of this scattered list of requests (half of them I’ve lost, please don’t tell my mother). So I’m coming up with some additional options for her. I think we might try Google Docs, that way she can access it and add her ideas and needs anytime her little heart desires.
What a revelation.

Let’s see how this goes. It took mom a year to master email. This could get ugly.

Empire State of Mind...

Paula in our office (aka the most plugged in person on the planet) skyped me this link the other day. I hadn't heard the song (meet Penny aka the most unplugged person on the planet) but the video is stunning and the song is really good. Check it out.

If my mother reads this post she'll have a fit think I've totally gone over the deep end. I can hear it now: "Rap music??? Seriously, what is that guy even saying??? Is he singing about New York?? And who plays a piano in the middle of Times Square??"

Yeah, he's singing about New York and it freaking rocks, both the song and the city.

Buzzkill

I just got off the phone with a lady who's managing the place I'll be staying at. I was calling to check on mail delivery and some other details when she asked me about my trip. I gushed of course "I'm so excited to be a New Yorker!!" I chirped.
"Really?" she asked, "where are you from now?"
"Southern California"
there was a slight pause in the conversation... then she said:
"Ah, well what's the temperature there?"
"77 today" I was starting to wonder where this was going
"Hon, it was 21 here today in New York, you sure you wanna move here?"

Seriously. Why trouble me with things like a weather report?
Buzzkill all over the place.

Welcome to my New York adventures....

For as long as we can remember, New York has had the lure of excitement, potential, but most of all, a better life. As far back as history books can track, immigrants have weathered storms and frigid oceans to set foot on New York soil. Songs and movies have been dedicated to the pursuit of happiness and a the promise of a new life. That promise often led people to the Empire State.

I'm not leaving California for a better life, I have a great life here actually. Sun, sand, a great house, perfect weather. Candidly, I'm going to New York for the food and a killer Cosmo. Well, OK, not really.

I'm a book publicist and have had my own business for over 10 years, about six months ago I was invited by NYU to teach one of their publishing tracks for six weeks and so I am going to move to New York for two months. I'm excited beyond belief.

Now, don't get me wrong. I've been to New York. Lots. In fact I have more East Coast friends than I have So Cal friends. But the truth is, I don't really live in California. I live on American Airlines (yes, me and George Clooney). I fly back and forth and yearn for the days when flying was glamorous, I also often yearn for a bigger seat or to not sit next to a sweaty fat guy. Thank God for my iPod and Netbook (which I adore).

My company has had an office in New York for a number of years too but I tend to flit in and out, fly in for meetings and fly out just as quickly. Again, I live on American Airlines. So this trip, this temporary move is sort of huge for me. First off, I'm not generally in one place longer than a month without getting on a plane somewhere so this is sort of, eh, odd for me I guess. Second, California's been my home for most of my life and let's face it, life in the East is going to be very different. The energy, the weather, the people. All of it brand new. I can hardly wait.

So, I have created this blog so you can follow along if you're interested and read about my adventures and, um, perhaps misadventures as I embark on what is likely to be one of the greatest journeys of my life. And let's not forget the NYU piece of this which is huge.

I am a wildly fortunate person to be able to do what I love. Now I'll be doing it in New York, what more could a girl ask for?