Well hello there, 2011

I can't believe how fast time flies.  It seems like it was just yesterday that Mr. J and I were ringing in 1999.  The first of the year always makes me nostalgic, and then I realize how much I have to do in the next twelve months and go into panic mode.

Over the years, I've made many resolutions that I never kept beyond January.  I am determined to avoid that going forward.  Instead of making resolutions this year, I want to make 2011 a year of continued personal growth and to actually focus on professional progress. 

2010 was filled with lots of uncertainty in my professional life.  I spent all of it unemployed (sadly, I don't see that changing any time soon).  Since I moved from NYC to Tampa in March of 2009, I have not been able to find anyone to interview me in this city.  It's frustrating since I have been able to land interviews back home.  Too bad it's not possible to move back unless both Mr. J and I can get jobs first.  As a result, I was supposed to focus on getting myself into business school.  That didn't really happen in 2010 for various reasons.  I took the GMAT twice and lost focus to try and take the test a third time.  Then, I started doubting my reasons for wanting the MBA and I waffled on career choices after grad school. 

I started researching the requirements for the CPA exam since I thought that career would be better suited for what I want as far as work/life balance is concerned.  Now, I am back to the MBA goal again.  Talk about going around in circles!  So yes, 2011, I shall get my act together to take the GMAT as many times as necessary to get that score I need for the program I want.  Also, in order to keep myself competitive for my career after the MBA, I plan on studying for and taking the CFA Level I and II tests this year.  I really hope I pass both!

In 2010, Mr. J and I were able to travel a lot and accomplish several financial goals, so that's great.  We also laid down the ground work to make some big changes in our personal lives, so really it was a pretty good year for us in these two areas.  I know that we won't be able to travel half as much in 2011, but we are planning to do a lot regarding our financial goals so I am happy with the end result. 

I hope to be a much more frequent blogger this year and I hope I gain some readers to hold me more accountable :-P

In what ways would you like 2011 to be different than 2010?

Happy New Year readers!  May 2011 bring you love, peace, and prosperity.

London, Day 1

It's a new year and I am determined to post a ton on this blog, especially since I actually have a lot to report starting from our trip to Europe back in October :-)  So, dear readers, watch out for a very chatty 2011!

We left for Europe on Wednesday, October 6th and flew American on economy seats.  Mr. J wasn't too thrilled about the idea of a Trans-Atlantic flight in cattle class, but he knew that the cost of business class tickets were not worth it.  So, we left Tampa and had a layover in JFK before landing in London the morning of the 7th.  Jet lag hit us hard this trip for some reason, so we pretty much missed a full day of sight-seeing.  It's all good though because we were able to enjoy our hotel room to the fullest and explore the hotel's neighborhood during the afternoon and evening.

We stayed at Le Meridien Piccadilly, which is located right off the main drag in Piccadilly Circus.  It's the Times Square equivalent in London and it's packed with craziness at night.  The tube is literally steps away from the hotel's front door, which is great.  Double decker bus stops are also nearby as well as the black cabs.  Best part?  Starbucks was two doors down :-P

Fresh off the airplane, I had to take a pic of the black cab we rode from the airport to the hotel.  There are much cheaper ways to travel into London from Heathrow, but I just wanted to get to our destination as quickly as possible so we could drop off our bags.

We were warned that the hotel was being renovated and that some parts might not be available.  Luckily for us, the renovations inside were completely finished and it was only the front that was covered in scaffolds.  If you look hard enough, you can see the Le Meridien sign to the left of Cordings.

 

Our room seemed to be a fair size for European standards, so we were both pretty happy.  Also, the hotel had evening turn down service and they left yummy chocolate mints on the pillows.   That pretty much made me like the hotel after that. 

The bathroom had a towel warmer that I enjoyed and I loved the Le Meridien bath products.  They smelled so yummy!

Like I said, we were pretty tuckered out for most of the first day.  Mr. J had this great idea of taking pictures with his shoes everywhere we went.  His dad has the same pair and Mr. J named the shoes his "Air IJs."  IJ are his dad's initials and it was pretty hilarious to try and remember to take pictures of the shoes alone.  Here's the first pic, in our hotel room with some British Pounds.  Don't ask me why we thought the currency would make the pic look more interesting.  lol. 

After a super long nap in the hotel, we walked around Piccadilly Circus to try and figure out what was in the neighborhood.  We ate dinner at Cafe Mumbai, an Indian restaurant on Denman Street right off Piccadilly Circus.  

 Images from Cafe Mumbai's website

At the time we entered the restaurant, I didn't think the prices were too outrageous.  However, when we received the bill I was pretty angry considering what we got for our money.  I chalked up the experience as a pretty dumb tourist move since I should have known better than to order from the pre-set menu.  The overall experience in the restaurant wasn't too awful, but I am pretty sure we could have found a better and cheaper Indian restaurant a block or two over.  

With all that said, Mr. J and I ordered the Mumbai Spice Deluxe pre-set menu.  The starter included the tandoori mixed kebab.  I will refrain from repeating what Mr. J called one of the meats :-P

These spices accompanied our entire meal:

The garlic nan was fresh and hot but seriously overpriced:

The main courses were chicken tikka masala and lamb kahari with mix vegetables curry and pilau rice.

 

The meal was supposed to include desserts and coffee but we passed on both because we were so full in the end.  Sadly, we called it a night pretty early but we more than made up for it during the rest of our short stay in London.

Bargain of the Week: Dooney & Bourke

 
I meant to buy this bag before we left for our trip to Europe in October.  It's the Large Kristen Tote by Dooney & Bourke (color: Saddle).  Alas, I hesitated too much and when I went to buy it at the outlet store in Orlando, they didn't have the color that I wanted.  Boo for me.

Fast forward to December 7th.  Momma and Poppa J were visiting us for the week and one of them wanted to head to the outlets (take a guess which one).  I jumped at the chance and off we went.  Sure enough, this beauty was waiting for me near the front of the store the moment I walked in.  I almost squealed in delight when the sales lady told me that the bag was on sale, 30% off the outlet price tag plus an additional 20% off on top of that.  Needless to say, I swooned when I paid for the bag and the grand total, including taxes, was $116.00.  The retail price on the Dooney website is $245!!!!!

I LOVE large bags and this one is perfect for me:

Have you scored any good deals lately?

$3 Movies

My mom lives in Raleigh, NC and that city is one of only few places I know that have the massive discounted movie theaters.  They play movies that just left the regular theaters but before the DVDs are released.  Instead of having to shell out $10, you pay $2 or $3.  It's freaking amazing!

Britton 8 is my newest discovery in town.  Who knew that this movie theater actually played decent movies for so cheap?  It's hidden deep within the recesses of your typical retail plaza in Florida.  The inside is nothing grand.  As a matter of fact, the theater we were in was so small it almost felt like an in-home movie theater.  lol.

Was it worth our $3 / ticket?  Heck yes!  They even have a special on Tuesdays.  Any movie is only $1! Be warned, it's a cash only place.  Love it!

*Side note*  Once again, I apologize for the lack of pictures.  I am so behind on my blogging and alas, the photos that go with this post were on the old laptop.  I will update once I go back to Britton 8.

Dukem

Before I even delve into our dining experience at Dukem, I want to apologize for the lack of pictures.  I did take plenty that evening but I lost the photos when our laptop was stolen during our trip in Europe.  That should teach me to always back up our data, right?  Right.  ::le sigh::  Anyway, I hope you find our meal selections still somewhat helpful despite the lack of images.

I first tried Ethiopian cuisine when I was in college.  One of my friends was just wrapping up her freshman year at Yale and she took me to one in New Haven.  It was amazing but I didn't have much of a chance to try it again until a decade later.  Since DC has a ton of great Ethiopian restaurants, I convinced Mr. J and the rest of the family to try out Dukem over 4th of July weekend.  It's one of the more popular ones in town based on authenticity and taste.

As soon as we were seated, everyone made a request to have the nontraditional set-up of having separate plates for the table.  Typically, you share one large plate filled with the sponge bread and rice and everyone digs in with bare hands.  The family was not having that at all lol.

For appetizer, I ordered the sambusa with meat.  In a nutshell, it's a yummy pastry filled with ground beef and pepper.  Everyone's first reaction was to call it the Ethiopian version of an empanada.  It arrived steaming hot on a plate and I pretty much devoured it in a few minutes. 

I decided to go all out for dinner and ordered the Dukem Combo, which included lamb wot, doro wot, and minchet abesh.  Basically, it's a meat combo that has lamb, chicken, and ground beef in it.  Each meat is cooked in its separate stew or sauce and you eat it with the injera (aka sponge bread).  I enjoyed the meal more when I took some of Mr. J's rice and added it to my banquet.  Injera was good to me but was a bit tough to wrap around my meat since it kept breaking.  After a few minutes of making an attempt to eat with my hands, I asked for a knife and fork. 

Mr. J ordered a vegetarian combination since he wanted lighter fare.  He also knew that he had plenty of meat options with my order.  lol.  His veggie combo came with lentils, yellow peas, greens, and salad with fish.  However, I don't recall him actually eating the fish.  He said that the injera was just ok but could do without the next time.  The lentils and yellow peas mix was great in his book.

Big Sis and Momma J ordered lamb tibs, which are cubed chunks of meat with spicy awaze sauce served with injera and a salad.  Their plates smelled wonderful.  The sauce was definitely spicy, so be warned.

The family consensus was that the food was good and that they enjoyed the experience.  However, it won't be their first or second stop the next time they are back in the area.  lol.  At least they tried, right?  I am more than happy to go back as long as someone dines with me. 

4th of July in DC

Mr. J and I spent 4th of July weekend in DC to visit Big Sis.  Since Momma and Poppa J were retired by then, they also decided to drive down from CT and meet up with us.  It was a blast to act like a tourist in the nation's capital.  So many things to do (i.e. free museums), so little time.  Mr. J and I absolutely love the DC metro area and would move there in a heartbeat.  Too bad our industry doesn't really have a big presence there.  

We checked out the Natural History Museum but didn't spend too much time there.  For some odd reason, we didn't eat breakfast before we left the hotel so we got hungry shortly after arriving.  I was able to wave a quick hello to this guy before leaving though.

Once we had food in our bellies, we ventured towards the White House and did the usual picture taking session in front.

We walked around the National Mall.  I'm glad we this a few days before the actual 4th of July since the place was already getting prepped for fireworks.

WWII Memorial:

One of Mr. J's cousins was able to give us some free tickets to the Nationals game that weekend.  We got a great view of everything and was even able to catch one of their famous pitchers in action.

I convinced the family to try an Ethiopian restaurant since DC has some great ones.  That will be for another post, but so glad people gave it a shot.  It was so yummy!

Besides Ethiopian, Big Sis and Momma J and I went to a Drag Queen Brunch that Sunday.  We had a blast and the food was actually good too.  

Back again!

So I took an unintended long break from my short blogging stint and now I'm back.  It was nice to discuss my life online and I missed it.   I will be honest and say that my hiatus began because I started a search for a much easier to remember blog address.  Alas, I am far from creative and I couldn't come up with anything.  Then, life just took off and all of a sudden, it's October.

Here's a quick recap:

July: Mr. J and I went to visit Big Sis in DC over 4th of July weekend.

August: I took the GMAT for the second time and did worse.  It was awful and now I have to regroup and push back my b school plans another year.  This also made me decide that I need to sign up for the CFA Level I exam in June.  I can't be out of the game this long without something to show for it, right?  Fun, fun, fun!

September: We went to TX for our friends' wedding.  Mr. J was the Best Man and I was a bridesmaid.  It was beautiful and thankfully, drama free.

October: Finally headed to Europe for a vacation we've been talking about for years.  We went to London, Amsterdam, and Paris for 10 nights and it was amazing.  So much to blog about, so please stay tuned!