Shanghai Siteseer is Live!

My Shanghai siteseer video is finally live, and the following write up was on Delta Daily, a newsletter which goes out to the whole company.
Shanghai on your itinerary?
Check out the new SiteSeer
Our first service to China starts on
March 30 with daily nonstop service
between Atlanta and Shanghai.
If you have been considering this
new nonrev opportunity, check out
what Cindy Espinoza in Revenue
Management recommends on the
latest SiteSeer video posted on
our blog.
The domestic pricing analyst
recorded her recent visit to Shanghai
for SiteSeer and captured many of the
city’s most popular attractions,
restaurants and shopping venues.
Delta SiteSeer is a unique series of
complimentary downloadable mini
travel shows featuring Delta people,
who double as personal guides sharing
their expertise and experience. You
can watch Cindy’s Shanghai SiteSeer
video at http://blog.delta.com/.

(Follow this link to read my blog post for the video)

Does it make you want to go Shanghai?

Surprise Visitor

It must have been fate that I didnt travel this weekend because Friday afternoon I got a call from Peggy. She is a friend of my parents from Ohio. They were all down in Florida together being "snowbirds" and getting tanned. Peggy was flying home (on Delta-thanks Peggy) and connecting through Atlanta to get home, but of course with Ohio getting pounded with snow. All the flights to Ohio were cancelled and she was stranded in the Atlanta airport. So after work I went to the airport to pick her up and took her to my place.For dinner we headed to Taqueria del Sol and Smita met us there. Delta rebooked Peggy on a flight Saturday night, but when we turned on CNN that morning we knew she wasn't going anywhere. Something like 13 inches n the ground and expecting 10 more....Ahhh Ohio winters! Another day in Atlanta... I had to work for a few hours on Saturday so Peggy relaxed at our place and later we stopped over at Smitas house then walked tot he bookstore. We drank tea and girl talked for a couple hours, it was great! I had bought a new Indian cookbook a few days before and was really craving something delish.....that night Peggy had her first Indian meal. We put her to work cutting the chicken. She said she liked it.....did you really Peggy?
What is an evening these days without watching a little Losty-Lost?? Luckily Peggy is a fan and we didn't have to bore her with our addiction, so we all curled up in the bed and watched a couple episodes. (we are already on season 3, by the way)
We checked the morning flights to Canton and they were going finally. On the way to the airport that afternoon, Peggy said "you know, Im really kind of glad this happened"
I am too, we had a lot of fun. I always love making a new friend.

Of course the next day we had more Ohio visitors. My parents were drinving back home from Florida, so of course we had to go to the taco place again, cuz that is my Dad's favorite. I didn't mind though, I can eat tacos any day!

Oysters and Beer!!

Fontaines is one of the first restaurants that we ate when we first moved here 8 years ago...
Bill and Barbie helped us with the moving truck from Ohio and I remember we were just walking in Virginia Highlands and thought it looked cool....and it is, besides always having a good crowd (ie: people watching), we like to go here for oysters and beer. They serve three kinds of oysters and tons of beer on tap. I love to load up the oyster on a saltine with as much horseradish as I can stand, then squeeze lemon on top. We ate 2 dozen oysters and a pound of peel and eat shrimp standing right there at the oyster bar. Notice my new bling-bling!

Ernesto and I went right after work and then Smita came to meet us. (she brought us season 2 of LOST, which we promptly went home and watched. yes, I know....its becoming a problem)
I guess this got Ernesto on a seafood kick for this weekend because he came home from the farmers market today and whipped up this seafood & crab boil. OH MY GOD - IT WAS SO GOOD.....AND HOT AS HELL!!
We sat outside and pigged out enjoying the weather, it was 70 degrees today. Spring is almost here! I love the short Atlanta winters.
My friend Mendy came over for some blogging and I worked on some new jewelry ideas too. Great food, friends, creativity, and relaxing with LOST...a darn good weekend. The only thing missing was a good run in the park....but I took the week off after skiing. Rest is good.

Obsessed with LOST

I haven't been a regular viewer of any TV shows since Friends and Sienfeld. I guess I never can plan my evenings to TV (and I don't have TIVO), plus Id rather NOT be addicted.....I hate if my night includes nothing but sitting on the couch watching TV. Once in a while is ok, but not every night. Well, we started watching LOST almost 2 weeks ago, and now WE CAN'T STOP! I did the same thing with Sex in the City. We are totally addicted. It is such a great show, surprises and excitement on every episode. We even watched the season ONE finale this morning instead of the gym. Now that is obsessed, right? It was almost 6am and I hear Ernesto playing it in the bedroom, so of course I had to go in and sit down. I got ready for work in 15 minutes. (my hair was wet when I got to work) I know what we will be doing this weekend.








Here are my 3 favorite characters:Sawyer, Jack and Lock...

Vail Colorado

Why the hell did I wait so long to go skiing again? It makes me feel old to say this, but I had not been skiing for 10 years. It was at Zermot in Switzerland when Brrrian and I went on our backpacking trip through Europe. It has not really been a top trip on my list, so I am happy that Ernestos Friend Jason organized this trip to Vail. I have been to Colorado a couple times before. My brother Tim used to live there, and we even went skied Breckenridge together....but I guess I just forgot how absolutely beautiful it is in the mountains. Ernesto and I flew into Denver Thursday night and then drove the 2 hours (in the snow) to the house we all rented in Vail. It had enough beds for all 10 of us, and even had a Jacuzzi outside. Not until the morning were we really able to see all the snow covering the house. It was so beautiful. I always say that I hate the cold and snow...but it just isnt so. I think I love a "winter wonderland" ....just not living in it for 4 months straight.We were feeling fresh and excited to get started the next morning even though we didnt get much sleep. All of us were at the ski rental place by 830am. It really wasnt a bad deal...all our equiptment for 2 days was only $50.....too bad the lift tickets were not as good of a deal. $92 a day....OUCH! This is not a cheap hobby, thats for sure. It was so worth it though....Here is Ricardo, Ernesto, Alvaro, Me and Jason before heading up the slopes for the first time. Once at the top it was breathtaking....literally......it was 13,ooo feet high. It took a while to get down the mountain....for me anyway. Ernesto would stop and wait for me.....a couple of times he couldn't make it down to the bathroom quick enough. Look at this view! This is one of my fav pics.Once you are almost down you get a great view of the center of Vail. There are all sorts of shops and restaurants where everyone is in their snow gear hanging out. I rented skiis and Ernesto was on a snowboard. I must say that I was very impressed with his skills, he was so good. He used to go quite a bit when he lived in San Diego, but this was our first trip together.Even though I hadn't gone in a long time, I didn't feel scared, I think it was kind of like riding a bike... you never forget. In past times that I skied, I would get a lot better by the end of the day, and then not go again for a few years. This time I vow to keep it going.Look at that form...yeah right!! Alvaro was giving me some tips, he is damn good...I need to practice keeping my upper body facing foward and just turning from the waist down. Luckily there are no pics of my wipe-outs....I did had a few good ones. On the last run of the first day, I fell and banged my knee. We went home, hopped in the jacuzzi for a couple hours and I never felt a thing.....until the morning. I actually thought I wasn't going to be able to ski. I was going to take Jorges laptop and sit at the Starbucks all day. Still a fun day for a Blogg-ass like myself.....but then i thought....HELLS NO!! I cant do that! I am in Vail, just suck it up! So I bought a knee brace, and had a blast. (even though I wasn't as daring as the first day...I was so scared I was going to fall on my knee the wrong way and BREAK IT!)
That day the weather was so much colder. It was snowing hard....pretty? yes.....Great powdery snow for skiing? YES......Comfortable? NO

I was only wearing big sunglasses, which for the first day was fine....it was sunny and not snowing. But the next day when it was snowing, we went down one time and we had to go into a ski shop and buy face masks. The snow felt like needles on your face. I had to buy goggles too, the sunglasses were totally fogged up and wet, I couldn't see shit! $120 later....we were ready!!At the end of the day my legs were like Jello. I love that though, what a great workout!

We sat outside and had coffee afterwards, and Smita called me to say she just went to our place to feed Rare. She missed me and wanted to cuddle.

Flights were ok on the way home, even though we had to split up. I went on the 1pm got home and went to Blockbuster... Neto landed 2 hours later and we relaxed in bed the rest of the night watching 4 episodes of LOST....we are so addicted now.

PS. The Denver airport is cool as hell!!

Dresden, Germany

After a smooth trip in business class on Delta to Munich and a short flight on Lufthansa to Dresden .....I am finally reuniting with my friend Chris. It has been almost one year since I saw him and his wife Katrin. Chris has lived in Germany now for 7 years and I have known him for 17!! That is crazy, I dont even feel old enough to have had a friend for 17 years. This will be the 4th time I have visited him. In September they had Little Lloyd and I had to come see him. Look how cute he is, posing for the camera! He has Chris' blue eyes......and everything else is Katrin...thank God he didn't get his dads filanges! (you know I love you Chris, but those thumbs have been driving me crazy for long time) Look at those cheeks!!

Yesterday, after I arrived we went walking for a while with the stroller, (this is their street) we brought some düner kabobs back to their place, which by the way is the coolest building. It has my favorite colors and crazy pipes all down the front. The first balcony on the right is off Chris' balcony. We all relaxed and Katrin made a delicious dinner. After Lloyd went to bed we drank a couple bottles of wine, tested by the host....

We stayed up till about 1am just catching up, laughing about the past present and future....finally in person! It was great! 2 dreamers and 2 bottles of wine?? We can talk for hours-no problem.....

Today at 10am, we met Chris and Katrins friends for brunch at Perro Borracho (drunk dog in Spanish?) It is right downstairs from their place.. Stephan and Suzie also just had a baby, little Mila.....and I must say these cute, well behaved babies did make me think....hmmmm?
Should we?

I have been hearing about Katrin's uncle's vineyard for years. Werner and his wife Erika have a vineyard in Miessen (about 40 minutes west of Dresden) and Chris and Katrin always help them harvest the grapes in the fall. I was so happy when they said we were driving there for the day. Although I can't understand German, Erica, Vanna and Manfred (Werner's brother) made me feel so welcome....We drank a glass of wine, a white called Traminer. I think to warm us up before going outside. It was literally freezing today, but we headed out to the vineyard, climbed to an overlook where we sat at a picnic table drinking more wine and and more wine.

Even in the dead of winter, the view was stunning over the grapevines and the Elba River. I can only imagine what it looks like in the summer, they made me promise to come back then....you know I will.
The more wine I had, the better I understood German. After a while I was really "communicating" with my new friends. There are so many words that I already knew.

We walked over to another lookout point for a spectacular view of Meissen and Dresden in the distance.
I have always loved the orange tile roof tops here. the houses are gorgeous too. Like this one:
I had to ask Katrin to stop so I could get a good picture of it. I love all the colors.
Today we got a late start, but really I love mornings like that. We relaxed with music playing, I did some blogging , we drank a lot of coffee, Chris made us apple pancakes. Around lunch time we packed up little Lloyd in the stroller and went walking. I love walking cities! We walked to Chris' office that he rents with 3 other guys. They are all freelancers and have really created a cool space. I would love to have a set up like that. It was there that I cheated on my "no sweets" run. damn gummi bears. ok, while I'm confessing, I might as well tell you that yesterday at the vineyard I ate cookies with chocolate on them with my coffee. I didn't want to offend them!!! You know how Germans can be......... I am back on the wagon though, and I may extend into March to make up for it.
Here they stand in front of the train station. The train stations in Europe are always so cool.
Dresden is such an interesting city. Chris is actually thinking about getting licensed to be a tour guide here, and it really would be a perfect job for him. Each time I have been here he has given me a great tour. Today we walked around the Altstadt or "old town"
Here he is standing in front of the Hofkirche, a baroque Catholic church which was built by August the Strong, ruler of Protestant Saxony, as part of his bid to become king of Poland. (Please pay attention. You will be tested on this information later.)
In 1945, much of Dresden was destroyed during World War II. It had no strategic significance, but it was considered to be the most beautiful city in Europe, so to destroy it was to destroy Germany. From this time until the wall fell in 1989 this church below, Frauenkirche, ("church of our lady") was a pile of ruble.
And the last time I visited a few years it was just being restored. It took along to collect the funding....If you can see the darker stones in the picture, those are actually original. This is Residenzschloß or residential castle where the rulers of Saxony lived.
Below is the Fürstenzug an illustration of all of Saxony's former rulers made of Meissen porcelain. (very expensive shit)

We ended the tour with cafes at Campino, stopped for cheese,veges, and chocolate (not for me)
and went back to their house. Even though I have only been here 3 days, we were able to catch up-it never takes us long. They are flying to the US in March and staying for a couple months, so we don't have to wait long to meet again. woo-hoo! Tomorrow, I must be at the airport at 8am, so I will shut up now. TTFN

That's Amore......

My valentines day started out with a bang!! I got to work and saw that someone had bought my camera on ebay when I only listed it the night before. woo-hoo! That was great timing because I already ordered a new camera and planned on doing an even exchange. This worked out perfectly, I actually sold my camera for the same price I paid for it one year ago, and bought my new camera at the same price. Yes, Ernesto got a camera for xmas, but that one is tiny and kept it my purse at all times for blogging snaps. This NEW camera pictured here, a Panasonic DMC-TZ3 is comparable to the Kodak V610 I bought last year but the pictures come out so much better. My friend Mendy has it and all her pictures come out perfect, professional even. So I copied off her and now this is the camera I will use for trips and Jewelry shots for my website.

While on ebay I "ran into" this ring.....the auction was ending in 30 minutes and I just fell in love with it. I called Ernesto and asked if wanted to buy it for me for v-day. He said NO, he likes surprises better... so I justified buying it for myself, with the help of my co-worker. We did just get a bonus check (free $$$) from Delta celebrating that we made money for the first time since emerging from bankruptcy....so it was dubbed my "profit sharing ring"
It is 18k gold with a 7 karat blue topaz, one of my favorite stones.
I love big cocktail rings!

Last Friday I read my Daily Candy an email publication that I get every day. It is wonderful! You sign up and they send you daily candies, if you will, telling you all about great stores, restaurants, designers in your city. (I would love to get Pluma in there) This is where I read about the opening of a new restaurant called Amore. The review was great and the name so appropriate for a Valentines Dinner, wouldn't you say? I booked it for 7p, a little early for us, but was all they had avail. The inside was beautifully decorated with Roman columns and moorish archways...perfect lighting and music too. (these 2 things can make or brake a place) They had a set 4 course dinner for V-day, which I didn't know until the waiter handed us the menu. I was so happy with the 3 entree choices (I hate big menus anyway...I can sometimes be a bit indecisive-shocker!? Duck, Steak or Fish. The apps came out as a trio platter of shrimp, scallops and lamb, each with its own flavor. We tried both salad choices one arugula (my favorite lettuce) and the other spinach. Ernesto chose the Rib eye, which was HUGE and I enjoyed the Halibut. Desert did not suck either! Chocolate mousse over a fruit compote with a glass of champagne.

Now you may be wondering how I could eat that when I gave up sweets for the Month of February. Well, just to let you know, I did NOT fail! It was written in the rules before we started that Valentines day would be the one day exception. ok- a 24 hour exception....from 1pm on v-day to 1pm on the 15th. Melanie, our co-worker's baby shower is today and there is going to be cake etc. ITS STILL LEGAL...its one day! So this is me at 101p taking my first bite of a big-ass oatmeal cookie after 2 weeks . ...funny enough, it wasn't as satisfying as I thought it was going to be. I guess the only thing I'm really craving is my black licorice.....and that night after dinner, I got what I wanted......plus some other things!

Ernesto had a orange bag for me with the Hermes perfume I have been asking for since my birthday. He actually bought me some Hermes perfume, but it was the wrong one. Then when we went to exchange it at Macys found out they only carry this Poivre Salamanca at the exclusive Hermes store. Of course when I called to find out if they had it I found out this perfume is double what the other costs. It is the best perfume though...very exotic, and I'm worth every penny!!

That night over dinner Ernesto and I read the lists we had written for each other... "10 things I love about you" it was really sweet. (and funny) Hopeless romantics we are.
Next week we will write the 10 things we don't like:) Do you think Ernesto will be able to come up with 10 things??

Good Times with Family!

Although it was not enough time, we had a lot of fun when Brrrian and Schhhirner come to visit over the weekend. I think it will become a regular thing that we take our visitors on a walk to Virginia Highlands. It is just a beautiful neighborhood! It was such awesome weather too.We ate lunch and had a few drinks at Neighbors......Jen& Brrrian are two peas in a pod.....cigar games..look! no hands! Saturday night Jen and I wanted to work on Jewelry. That was actually the reason Jen was coming-Brian was supposed to go camping, but at the last minute decided he can't miss out on the chance to see his sisI was so excited to get started after my shopping spree in Tucson and Jen already had a couple ideas in the works. The guys went to the farmers market than made us a delicious dinner...one of Ernesto's specialties...Seafood Stew. That is a squid Neto has there. He also used octopus, shrimp & calamari
Oh yes, and fish too.

Nester tempted Rare with the fish head.