Thanksgiving Part 2: Today I am thankful for my NYC experience

Today is Thanksgiving and today I have a lot of things to be thankful for:

I am thankful for my opportunity to be able to work and live in the Big Apple for the past 6 months.

I am thankful that today is beautiful; bright blue skies and sunny.  You would never guess it is November.

I am thankful that I work for a company that has a balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and that we have VIP viewing of the parade from a terrace above the people standing on the street.

I am thankful for the wonderful friends I've made during my time here and their generosity by including me in their family festivities.

And particularly for the wonderful food that I am about to share for Thanksgiving dinner.

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you are all having as wonderful a day as I am.

Thanksgiving Part 1: Today I am thankful for Bing

Bing a.k.a. Sarah is a fantastic baker.  She has many specialities, but my favorite are her chocolate cheesecake brownies.  Given that tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I am thankful that today she is making me a traditional Pecan Pie.

You may wonder why we call her Bing.  She is named after the internet search engine Bing.com.  This is because she is known for her random ramblings and spouts of general information.  Much like how the search engine functions.  Although the website is designed to answer questions quicker.  I'm not sure what questions Bing answers!

Making the pie hasn't been as simple and fuss free as originally thought.  This is mainly due to my kitchen lacking in certain utensils and having a poorly functioning oven.  It also doesn't help that we need to go soon to watch the balloons get set up in preparation for the Thanksgiving Parade tomorrow. 

Having never lived in the USA before, this is my first Thanksgiving.  Tradition is to reflect on what I have and to think about what I am thankful for.

Today I am thankful that I am healthy and that I have Bing as my friend.  And not only because she makes lots of tasty delicious treats.  Although they are an added bonus to our friendship! :-)

Confessions of a Shopaholic

For those of you that know me, you will know that one of my favourite past times is to shop.  Therefore it will come as no surprise that one of the first things I did once off-loading my luggage on arrival to my Las Vegas hotel last week, was to make a bee-line for the shops with my friend in tow.

Luckily for me, or perhaps it is unlucky, she is as much of a shopaholic as I am.  And is often the little devil on my shoulder whispering "buy it, buy it" in my ear as I um and ah over a purchase that I don't need, but purely want.  And before you know it I have come up with a million reasons why I should make the purchase and I'm already handing out my credit card to the eagerly waiting sales clerk.

With shopping being the first activity to aim for, you would think that gambling would come in second.  But instead we were drawn to the glitzy night life, abundant shows and the beauties of the nearby sites; Grand Canyon & the Hoover Dam, to pay too much attention to the thrills of gambling money on the off chance  of making a buck or two.

On our last day we finally got around to gambling what little money we had left for this trip.  I made a bit of money, which was quickly assigned to what new purchases I could make.  Clearly the thrill of making a bet is nowhere near the thrill of making a purchase for my closet.

A line once said by Carrie in Sex and the City is "I like my money where I can see it; hanging in my closet!"  A mantra my friend and I clearly believe in.  Amen.

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Life's Moments One Click At A Time

A picture is worth a 1000 words...

For the past 5 and a half months I have been on a great adventure, working and living in one of the world's most vibrant and cosmopolitan city; NYC.

As an avid amateur photographer, I carry my camera around with me everywhere, taking pictures of everything the eye can see.  Friends, family, architecture, landscapes... the list is endless.

A couple of friends have been using blogs as an outlet for their special moments captured on camera, which is what has inspired me to do the same.  So I invite you to have a look at my pictures and to learn about the stories that have led me to taking them.  Enjoy!

I heart New York.

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