Training with Billy

Check out our second bedroom. We lost the right to train with Billy at the last place back in December, we joined a different gym because our old one was terrible and we finally made a decision to modify our spare bedroom into a home gym so we could work out with Billy (our trainer). We have minimalist equipment but it's awesome.

We've both worked out 3 times each and can honestly say it's worse (ie better) than being in a regular gym. You can't escape and take a break by walking around the gym. We are now in a 12x12 room with no escape. We also have no cardio equipment so our warm up/warm down is by weights. Therefore it's constant for 90 minutes at a time. Here are some pics. All we have to do now is put stuff on the walls.

The weights are awesome. They're in 2 blocks....and have filters so you can go from 2.5lb to 50lb on each arm. We feel so much better already!

Another zero down!

Woooohoooo! So, I'm just loving this weight loss thing. I still can't figure out what I'm doing different this time, but it's working so who cares. I have officially gone past another zero - and since October have lost 21lb and since the beginning of the whole carb/protein diet 31lb. How exciting is it?

I can definitely tell you that taking each day/meal at a time, following a set of rules most of the time is working. In addition I have a regular exercise schedule that I follow - and it all is now part of my lifestyle. I miss it if I don't do it. It's only taken 4 years! About freaking time.

We're off to Mexico in May - I actually have to shop for clothes as none of my dresses, skirts or shorts fit. Now....that's what I call an excuse for shopping!

Who's more stressed?

It's an age old question right? Is it the person who goes out to work or the person who's at home looking after kids? Admittedly this article focused on the 2 parents, 2 children scenario but it's an interesting read.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1153566/Who-pressure-breadwinner-homemaker-Nick-Harding-wife-stress-test-.html

It does make you wonder though what a single parent goes through.... I bet their stress levels are double everyone elses. Penny, I'm thinking of you!

Billy's back, back, back!

If you remember back to the beginning of December when the girls came to visit I set them up with personal training sessions to kick start their diet and training program getting ready for Rach's wedding in November......and on the second session they got kicked out of the gym we used. We were using a gym attached to a building that a friend of mine managed (she's the assistant to the owner of the building) and said it was OK if we trained there.....well he was having a bad day - and kicked us out. We tried and tried to organize it to no avail... everything from "we need to open our own gym" to "why can't our 2nd bedroom be a gym".

We opted for the second option. It was a hard choice especially as it's important to me that when we have guests they're comfortable so I don't really want to rely on an inflatable bed - most people don't come for a couple of days, it's usually a week or more. So, what we've decided to do is sell on Craigslist the bedframe/headboard/chest of drawers and store the mattress and box spring in the hallway. Then all I have to do is buy a cheap bed frame that's easy to put together when we have visitors.

Yesterday was the first step in the process. We had ordered everything a week or so back and everything had been delivered (trust me...our apartment was covered in boxes!). I was sooooo excited I booked Billy's time for yesterday afternoon, which meant that the morning was spent unpacking all the boxes and putting everything together. I have to tell you by the time Billy arrived we were exhausted.

So, this is what we have:
- Bench and weights (powerblock.com - very consolidated set of weights. Awesome)
- Bosu ball
- Exercise ball
- Bands
- Mats
- Padded floor (arriving Tuesday)

Our first workouts went great. My butt cheeks are telling me that today - I hurt like hell. But that's good -right? I'm determined by the time I'm in Iowa at the end of March that I'm fabulous and not hurting anymore.

We have a few things to get like medicine balls but that'll come....I'm so excited that we are now in total control of our gym and personal trainer.....we don't miss our old gym, we love our new gym for all the cardio workouts so it's all working out well!

A Tribute....to Jade Goody

I can't believe I'm writing this....especially as it all started with reality TV, but I just can't help myself. Here's the latest on Jade http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1147323/Jade-Goody-earns-1-5m-magazine-TV-deals-Sunday-wedding-ceremony.html

Jade burst on the UK TV reality scene in 2002 or 2003. She was young and stupid. During the Big Brother season she was seen doing lots of weird things - like getting her geography wrong, or saying words incorrectly. She was common and always spoke without thinking. But, no matter how much you didn't want to watch, there was something about her that kept you interested. More recently she drew international notoriety a year or so back in a racism row during the UK version of Celebrity Big Brother. All of that said, what has happened to her over the past 6 months is just awful. I can't stop thinking about it.

Her children are 4 and 5. Over the years she's had unexplained health issues which has always ended with nothing. Until last August that is. After the bad TV exposure the previous January Jade had agreed to go on the Indian version of Big Brother to fix the race issues that had occurred. Can you believe that at the age of 27 with two young children this poor woman found out that she had cervical cancer.....on Big Brother. Over the past several months Jade has been undergoing chemo etc....and two weeks ago found out that it hadn't worked and that the cancer has spread. Today I read that she has a few weeks left to live. She's marrying her boyfriend this coming weekend and depending on which report you read there's not a lot of time.

Jade has lived her life in the limelight...and during her cancer battle hired a TV company to follow her treatments and her daily life. She has made it very clear that her focus is on her children and keeping in the limelight at this time is meaning she's securing their future.

Doesn't it make you think? How in an instant the plans for your life can be gone? I'd like to think that I have no regrets and I think that's the case. I do put things off until tomorrow, when I know I shouldn't and time passes so quickly. I also know, when weird medical things happen and there's no explanation you don't accept no result....Jade is testimony to that.

So ladies, if you haven't had your annual physical yet.....go get it.

The Lion's Balls...

Read this article.....this guy clearly has more gonads than I EVER EVER EVER would.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2246717.ece

Valentines Day

Apart from the fact that I have a terrible sinus cold we had a good Valentines Day. Trev arranged for me to have a facial at our local salon which was great - the steam really helped clear my head and over the whole hour I got to hear about how bad my skin was:) In St Louis I'd have a facial every few months - I considered it a luxury, but it did mean that zits were at a minimum. Here in NY I think that was my second facial in 3 years - that said, I do look after my skin so I don't consider it a necessity at all. Personally, I'd rather do it myself and then go get a massage:)

This morning though my skin does feel smoother and the dry skin not so dry. That's all good. The one thing I didn't like was this woman was all "so, we're going to put you on this regimen which means you should come and see me monthly....". Yeah..........right! That REALLY annoys me. I know she wants to keep her business going but don't make me feel bad for not wanting to do that every month. Quite honestly having the "extraction" bit done (where they burst all the zits) I can only handle every so often:)

Trev's gift had a couple of bits. First I had downloaded a couple of audio books for him for his iPod. He's just got into listening to spoken word so thought it'd be cool. Then, I booked dinner and show at a comedy club in the city. We went and saw Judah Freelander - if you watch 30 Rock he's the dude with the hat and glasses. Was pretty flipping funny. It was great not to hear about politics. He was very clever - spent most of the time asking people questions and talking, so not a whole lot of preparation. It was fun.

I have to say though, I'd fed up with this sinus cold. I'm really glad I have tomorrow off of work because it'll give me a bit of time to recover. I wish it was spring.

And another week been and gone...

Amazing isn't it? You look round and suddenly it's the weekend again! I can honestly say that sometimes I don't know where the time goes. Had quite an eventful week...so here goes:

1. My ankle. I decided that it was time to consult a different doctor. I haven't been to physio and yesterday I had my first appointment with a recommended surgeon. The other thing I've done is also included my left knee in this consult as it's been bugging me ever since I wore the bootee back in the summer. I've had oodles of xrays taken of both the knee and ankle/foot. The knee looks fine (whew!) and the ankle may have a chip of bone and some calcium deposits. What she has asked for is the MRI results that I had done last summer for her to look at more closely. She has recommended I do physio at a different facility, so I start that on Tuesday. So, I'm on the case - and I'm back to the lawyer on Monday to decide next steps.

2. An old friend. On Thursday we had a surprise when a friend of ours from England pinged me and was in NY for the week. So Thursday we met for drinks and dinner. We ended up in one of my favourite restaurants, Les Halles. What a great time....thoroughly enjoyed it. Even better it looks like we'll be working together for the next year or so.

3. Work. I've been having a tough time with someone at work...I think I'm most mad at the fact this guy manages to get me emotional and then irrational. I hate it. I've tried everything, but after 4 years of dealing with this guy I'm realizing it's that one in a million relationships that's not going to work. I'm OK with that. I've tried understanding what he's doing on this big ass project but he's so flipping secretive and has the "I know something you don't" attitude which is ridiculous given we all work for the same team! I think I hit my wall this week when staff and managers were starting to complain to me about him. Not only that but things that I had put in place and was working on I was finding out from these people that he was doing his own thing. Now, that's what put me over the edge - I really don't have time to a) listen to the complaints and b) do the same thing more than once. This made me start to doubt what my role was in this project. So, at my one to one with my boss on Thursday I asked for clarification. The complication is that my boss knows I don't like him, but this really wasn't a personal thing - it was how other people were feeling/reacting and the fact they weren't getting what they needed to kick the project off. Anyway......I asked what my role was. She asked for examples of why etc etc and then she made it very clear what my role was. For the purposes of this project, I'm her. And with those words the fuzziness disappeared, my annoyance and frustration disappeared and all became clear. Now I understand my role - it's dead simple. He works to my timetable, and my project plan, not the other way round. VERY cool.

4. Weight. I'm really not sure what happened but since October I've lost nearly 20lb. I'm doing what I've always done but suddenly it seems to be paying off. I'm so happy that I can lose weight, go to the gym and then splurge occasionally and it all works. I hope it continues - for the sake of all the weddings I've got this year.

5. Hair. So, I had it cut again - check out the pic, do you like it this short? I feel like a boy - but what's weird is that I'm getting lots of compliments. I can't decide if I like it or not. This isn't the nicest pic in the world, but it gives you an idea.

So, now I'm off to the salon for a facial, courtesy of Trev for Valentines....and then we're going to a show tonight. Happy Valentines one and all!

A new gym....

We finally did it. After all the let-downs and complaining, we quit the gym we'd been at for almost 3 years, and have moved. It's such a relief. It's been so nice the past few weeks being able to go to a friendly place, with clean towels that down smell, with classes that are a) plentiful and b) happen at the advertised time. It's close to home and we've transitioned very well.

The tipping point came when we turned up on a Monday evening for a spin class and they wouldn't let us into the gym because "there's something wrong with your membership, you need to see a manager". I was not happy, especially as we'd been there the previous day. Anyhow we waited a few minutes and after a little while I mentioned to Trev that we could still make our favourite spin class at the new gym for which we had a 7 day membership. With that I leaned over the counter and told them exactly that. Next day Trev called the gym to speak to the manager (who, of course, didn't proactively call us....) to find out the problem as we knew we were paid up to date. Anyway, they wanted to double our membership.....for all the BS and about a third of the classes they used to have.....yeah, like that was a good incentive to join. NOT!

During February we actually had our final month at the old gym and briefly considered not joining until March, but we decided for our own sanity and health we were going to run both memberships for the month. Anyway....it was a good job we did because Trev went last weekend for one of his favourite classes - and that instructor had quit. It must just be a matter of time until they go under.

It's costing $1 less a month each at our new gym and another cool thing is that there are unlimited guest passes for those who come and stay with us - which is just AWESOME!

Anyway, that phase is over and we are enjoying our new weekday haunt.

That's the first phase of our gym transition. The second is more radical. So, since the girls visited back at the beginning of December we've not been able to train with Billy. We both enjoy the kick ass routines he puts us through and we miss it. So, we've decided to focus on our spare room and turn it into a gym. The equipment is on order (bench, weights, bands, ball etc). The bedframe and chest of drawers is going up on Craigslist this weekend, I've already picked out a new desk (although don't really have the money right now). Just have to decide what type of gym flooring we need. And that is what Amazon is for:) I'm just soooo excited about this.

My one thing that has stopped us doing it before is what to do with the bed. When we have people stay they usually stay for a while rather than a weekend so I don't want to not have available a comfortable bed. That said, it takes up the whole room and that's ridiculous when 90% of the time no-one is sleeping in it. We have a couple of choices:

1) take the box spring and mattress and store it in the hallway outside. Two issues with this: firstly, I'm probably violating some fire code and second, it'll gather dust over time.

2) have a murphy-type bed built. That means I can have a frame, keep our current mattress and have it folded against the wall in the bedroom most of the time and then bring it out when guests stay.

I'm going with #2 at the moment, but it'll depend on the moolah needed to put a murphy bed frame on the wall. The builder is coming in on Monday for a few other things so am going to discuss then. Can't wait!

Woman goes to work after many years...

Over indulgences

Over the past few weeks I've had so much going on it's made my brain hurt. It's been like a whirlwind and while I've had a blast I'm taking this opportunity to sit back and update everyone on what's been going on the past few weeks.

Work. This has been driving me crazy - too much to do, not enough time, too many stupid questions and stress, stress, stress. I broke my cardinal rule this week (my gym schedule is NOT to be broken) and worked 15 hour days for 3 days this week. On the plus side, I'm much calmer now and have got things under control. It wasn't fun, I hated it but now it's all good. I will make up for that time some other way - and I've made the promise to myself that next week that won't happen.

Working Out. It's funny, I never remember how great I feel when I've done a class/lifted weights etc. Today was the first day since Monday that I'd done anything at all and I feel tremendous. As I've already said, I will get back to my schedule. I do miss Billy - but I have a plan.... I'm going to have a workout area in our apartment! I'll keep the bed, but I'll store it in the hallway! How cool is that??

Eating and Drinking. How I'm managing a very slow and steady weightloss after all the meals I've eaten (or drunk!) is amazing. I'm guessing that my metabolism is higher now, and I'm not complaining. It's the first time in my life that this isn't a diet....and it's great. You get spured on when you hear compliments. I'm also healthier....which is the whole point after all.

Travel. We've done our trip to Chicago and we have the following ones planned already this year. Here's the current list:
- early March we're off to see Peter in Boulder
- end March we're in Cedar Rapids
- April we're back to Chicago
- May off to Mexico for a friend's wedding
So now I'm realizing the year is flying by so my plan this weekend is to figure out when I can get back the UK - it's been ages and I'm not convinced there are going to be any work trips this year so I'm looking. Tickets cost a fortune....which sucks. I also wanted to get to Turkey this year to see Mum and Dad's house.....but not sure how we're going to fit that all in with Rachel getting married, but we'll figure something out.

OK, I'm off to sort out my short hair....it takes so much more effort now!

Chicago trip

Wow! We had such a great time - and soooo productive. Check out our pics below. We had two reasons to go - to celebrate Mike's 30th birthday (Rachel's fiance) and to start the wedding planning.

01-31-09 Chicago - Mike's 30th

We got a lot done:
- I met Denise (Mike's Mum), Eric (Mike's Sister) and her boyfriend (the "other" Mike)
- The guys picked out the tuxes with Rachel. Trevor and Peter have theirs ordered.
- The girls found their bridesmaids dresses - and we don't have to order for a few months giving everyone time to lose some weight
- We celebrated Mike's birthday several times
- Ate too much and did zero exercise

We had a blast.... and while it was rushed I wouldn't have missed it for the world!

Quote of the day

Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater.

- If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby.
- If you give her a house, she'll give you a home.
- If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal.
- If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart.

She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her. So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of shit."

Off to Mexico

I had a terrible week last week - by Friday I was beside myself. I was peed off, angry, upset at myself for feeling so bad, but couldn't find a way to kick my own ass out of it. I know how to stop people annoying me but it just wouldn't budge. I'm happy to report that spending the weekend doing almost nothing, out for dinner a couple of times with friends and a good massage has made me feel a whole lot better.

After that I wasn't really looking forward to today. I got my just desserts though. This person who annoyed the crap out of me last week managed to get their ass royally kicked by my boss. They organized a meeting to give my boss an update on this project - them, me, the global department program manager and my boss. Interesting that I didn't see the presentation beforehand, or even asked for my input....but that is soooooo typical. I didn't get mad and attended the meeting (which BTW was with 15 minutes notice!!!!!). It just shows you when you put a presentation together rule number 1 is to make sure you know your audience and what they will do with the information. She just ripped him a new a-hole. The bitchy side of me? Laughed my freakin ass off. It was laughable - even I couldn't understand what the hell they were trying to say....and believe me, with my boss - you have a total of 10 seconds to get your point across. hahahah-di-ha. Serves them right - they only need to ask my advice and I'd help. Even now neither of them has talked to me.

So, onto the topic of this post. We have friends getting married in Mexico in May. Part of me didn't really want to go as it was so far, expensive etc etc....however when we realized it was the holiday week and that we could airmile ourselves there for about $160 we booked it. This will now be our holiday for the year I think - and there was no arguing from Trevor. It'll be interesting to see what it's like. So exciting. I just need to figure out how you prevent yourself getting Delhi Belly......and most people I know who go to Mexico always get sick.

So now the keep fit and diet is kicking into high gear.....way too many skinny people will be there!

Work dilemma...brain dump!

I've never usually had an issue getting on with people at work. While I'm a strong driver of deliverables I'm usually fair and work well with everyone. Every once in a while someone comes along who just gets right under my skin and whatever method of communication/planning/talking/emailing/relationship building I try they still irritate the crap out of me.

I'm working with someone this year who's driven me nuts for years. They first started working for back in 2005, then I took a break when they moved, then they worked for me for 2 years. They're so arrogant and I think the thing that just amazes me is that they have absolutely no fear - of anything or anyone. They are secretive and won't share information - it's totally nuts. I'm not usually to pull rank but he's several levels below me - and it would be nice that I was not treated like I was little more than a piece of dirt who knows nothing. Especially when I know that a) I don't and b) most of my colleagues agree with me. Now this is one of the biggest projects the company has ever under taken and it's important to get it right. I know that the people I work with are comfortable with my approach - so I'm very frustrated with myself that I just can't seem to cut a break with this idiot.

I hear all these voices in my head about how not to let them project their behaviour onto me, or to allow myself to get emotionally caught up in the BS that's going on. I also know lots of ways to get these kind of people on side....just NOTHING works. Nothing at all.

I know that I have lots of information and I'm just fed up getting emails to me, copied to the world with (and I quote) "This is critical to the account planning process. " No sh*t, sherlock! And that was the last sentence of the flipping email. So rude. And obnoxious.

So, I'm trying to figure out how the hell I get out of this. I know that I need to project manage them into a corner.....however, it's really hard when they won't share any information at all - unless I go to my boss and say they won't give it me, she then in turn emails them and then I get it. Seems ridiculously stupid and childish. It's also nuts that they INSIST on copying my boss on EVERYTHING. She doesn't care - she trusts that we'll make it happen. Such an idiot.

Back on track....I'm creating the plan and pieces and basically creating my dependencies on him. That way when I meet with them I'm focusing on deliverables and not my emotions. I just wish they'd quit and get a new job. This is way way too much stress.

I'm always so open...so I find it very difficult when people are secretive. By this I mean, I suggested we had some kind of repository for documentation/analysis/plans/issues lists etc - and they said no because "they don't want documents getting into the wrong hands". What the hell does that mean? This is a global project. How crappy is that? So, so short sighted.

I'm determined to get through this - I'm just trying to figure out the best way through. So, i've decided to start with what I know best - roles and responsibilities, a high level project plan and basic immediate deliverables.

Wish me luck!

New President, new era?

I couldn't post anything until I least acknowledged that there's a new President in town. I'm not really sure how I feel in so far as I'm not sure if I'm happier that Obama is President or that George W is not.

I'm so happy that prize idiot is gone - isn't it amazing how much damage a guy can do in just 8 years? He started a war (without evidence), the economy has crashed (understatement), he's given the Daily Show on Comedy Central fodder for the funniest political show on TV, and he didn't find the guy responsible for 9/11. There are a million other things - but you get the idea.

What I am thrilled at is I've felt the mood change - for the better. This is the start of a new era.

I do think that Michelle Obama needs a stylist....while some of her dresses are good, so many of them are not. Hopefully that'll happen in the next few months:)

So now there's a new man in town we're looking at our financial options. This is a great time to invest in stuff - the million dollar question is how do you decide what will still be standing at the of this decade? Watch this space.

Here's to 2009!

A healthy burger recipe...

As you know I'm all about splitting proteins and carbs on my diets and rarely eat them together (unless I'm eating sushi). This is a high protein burger...but with white meat. I tried this out a few days ago...got the idea off of Big Daddy's House on Food Network. Was marvelous. Of course I don't have quantities or anything like that but you'll get the idea...

Ground turkey
Few rashers of bacon, chopped
Chopped onion
Small cubes of cheese (I used strong cheddar)
Bit of cream cheese (like Boursin)
Mixed herbs, salt and pepper
Some egg

- In a pan, with a little oil or spray, fry the bacon and onion until cooked. Set aside.
- In a bowl put the ground turkey, herbs, salt and pepper and mix together well. Add enough egg to bind.
- Make sure the cheese is in small cubes
- Make the burgers - Next make some thin patties with the meat mixture, in the middle put a combination of the bacon, onion and cheese. Cover with another thin pattie
- Fry in a little oil until cooked


As long as you season well they taste great. Put it like this - Trev wants me to make them again!

Pants....and heels!

This note is for my friend Debbie. No idea if she reads this....but I finally made it! The pair of brown pants we bought in England at the beginning of the summer that I bought on the basis that I was going to lose some pounds I wore out for the first time this past weekend! Wooooohooooo!

Very exciting. Now it wasn't all plain sailing. I had never had washed them and just took the label off and wore them. About half way through the evening I felt itching on the backs of my thighs. It was severely cold that night so thought the burning that I was feeling was downto the cold....not so sure - decided it was proabbly the pants. Owwweeeee! Getting better now though.

The second thing was to go with my brown pants was my pair of brown high heeled boots. Yep, that's right - 8 months after falling off a bus I spent an evening wearing heels. My ankle survived pretty good and I didn't have too far to walk but was so happy to go out feeling like a girl...rather than some kind of 60 vegetarian:)

That was really really cool. Let's hope we keep the pounds off:)

I just love the A&P delivery service

I was pretty excited a few years ago when I discovered FreshDirect - a website where you can order groceries and for about $6 they would deliver it. The only issue with the website that about 30% of what we normally eat we couldn't get on there so you would either a) go without (which worked sometimes) or b) you'd have to take yourself to the grocery store anyway.

So...guess how excited I was when our local grocery store started doing online shopping and delivered for $6. Oh my word....I love this. You get a personal shopper who takes your list, walks round the store and then calls you if they have questions. It's sooooo cool. There are several benefits to this:

a) you only order what you want and can't get roped into impulse buying
b) the store has 99.9% of the stuff you want
c) you can leave little messages under each item (so if you don't know how heavy 8 apples is you can put 2lb in weight but then say "I want 8 please")
d) you spend less than if you went with the list because of a) above
e) you don't actually have to go to the store!

Marvelous!

Another week gone!

I started work on Monday and next thing I knew it was 6pm on Friday night. It went soooo fast, as did the week before. I don't feel I had much time to post updates so here's a snapshot.

1. My trainer. Since beginning of December we've not been able to work out and I'm missing it dreadfully. I'm still hopeful my friend Sharon will fix it so we can use the facility that we did - if not, not really sure what I'm going to do. I still go to spin classes and the odd strength class but it's nothing like I was. This WILL get better (so I tell myself).

2. Diet. It's cool. I seem to have found a way to maintain or lose every week since October. I'm very happy about that. Slow but steady is always good.

3. Work. I had my performance review and it was awesome. Not only does your boss review you but so do your colleagues. That's always more terrifying I think - you may think you have a good relationship but sometimes you find out that may not be the case. This was not what happened - there was not a single "development" item. It does make you wonder when that happens why you don't get the highest score......but hey, as long as I'm not average who cares?

4. Work. It's been nuts. I'm working like crazy and it's getting out of control because of #1 above. It seems to me that I need a more senior job, get paid more and then work way less - oh yeah, and hire a dummy like me who works their tail off. While some of the stuff I do is fun it would be nice to have a little bit of feedback periodically.

5. My ankle. It gets better all the time and while I don't notice it day in, day out I can now wear heels at work (although I revert to flats to go outside!) and walk any distance I choose. I just wish it'd stop aching when it's cold.

6. Our gym. It's nuts - the new owners are in a world of their own. They've canceled half the classes, all the instructors have left so coupled with not seeing Billy I'm finding it tough. Time to look for a new gym....problem is there's only a few in our town and all have their pros and cons.

7. My short hair. Now, I liked it the day it was done then hated it for about 10 days. I realized that perhaps if I changed brushes to match the shorter hair it'd be easier to manage. I seem to have found the best way to dry it so it at least looks like a style when I get to work (rather than just a crappy short hair do).

It's now the weekend - we're off to see Somorre tonight in the city with some friends - never seen any of her stuff (I'm told it's wild...) so will report back.

I just wish I had more time....