I went to Europe.

Oh, that's right. I knew there was something I had been meaning to talk about. I went to Europe on a work trip and visited 4 cities in 3 countries in 2 weeks. Things have been in full force since returning to New York a few weeks ago and I haven't had a single minute to figure out how I wanted to share my trip. It was a jam-packed, exhausting blast with many great memories that I'll hold dear to my heart forever and new friends made around the globe.

However, I thought a quick summary was in order. And if I sum up the 15 days I spent abroad, this is what it looked like:

bonjour, from the paris airport ladies room

Somewhere in the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport today I was washing my hands in the ladies room while waiting for my connecting flight, and as I glanced in the mirror, I could've sworn that a tall, scary woman was lurking behind me as I was trying to freshen up a little. Turns out it was just an art installation. But, hey, you never know. And being stuck in an airport terminal all day will certainly do crazy things to your brain. That's for darn sure.

bon voyage

Is it appropriate to wish yourself a nice trip?

I'm not sure, but I just did it. Mostly because I wanted to sound like I knew a tiny bit of french. And also because I'm running pretty low on sleep and didn't know what else to entitle this post. And finally, because I actually am wishing & hoping for myself a nice trip. In case you're wondering what this is all about, I have a pretty big 14 days ahead of me. For the first time ever, I'll be darkening the door of Europe, if you know what I mean. But you'll have to wait and see exactly where in Europe I'll be because I think it's more fun that way.

But I'll tell you this much. I'm typing this from a terminal in the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport on a layover to my first destination and the teenagers here are just as rowdy and obnoxious as I've seen anywhere else. Although, one of them happens to be wearing a Boston Bruins beanie, so perhaps they belong to us afterall and have no bearing on teenagers elsewhere. Anywho. We'll see how my first impressions pan out.

I plan to post more pictures from my travels to twitter and instagram if that's of interest to you.

Bonne journée!

hi, from beacon

Last week I went on a quick trip to Beacon, NY for a staff retreat at work. If you haven't been there, you should definitely make the effort to go. And make sure to check out the Beacon Roundhouse. Because there is a waterfall there, and you will feel like you are a million miles from the city.

hi, from my giant black hole

Does it look like I'm in a black hole in this picture? That's the look I was going for.

Er, by black hole—I'm referring to the giant time suck that has swallowed me in my entirety and kept me from doing anything on this blog in, well, months. But let's call a spade a spade: some of the space away from this page was much needed and much welcomed. Now that a lot of my day job is consumed by social media, facebook, blogs, blogs, writing, editing, reading, blogs, twitter, and more social media....I decided looking at one more blog when I got home from work might send me over the edge. But now I'm feeling better about the prospect of devoting some time to this again, 

so...welcome back & here goes...

an elevator pitch

This week I rode the elevator with Tim Keller. We were both going to the 11th floor, but it stopped on the 10th floor instead of our intended destination. Tim looked over at me, smiled, and said,

"All have fallen short."