I Love New York

Almost immediately after coming home from Australia, I had to pack my bags, again. This time, it was my first work trip to the concrete jungle of New York City. I was accompanied by my boss and it was an amazing trip. Not only was it great to get back East to the excitement of the Big Apple, it was great to finally get face time with people I had been on emails with for so long. The first night, we attended our sales department's holiday party in their building and watched the lighting of the big tree. The rest of the trip was filled with visiting the set of Law & Order: SVU, where I was placed in the prison, where all the perps go. Then, it was heading to Long Island to the set of 30 Rock, where I sat down with Tina Fey and watched a filming of an episode. I was also able to grab dinner with my friend, also named Maggie, who had recently transferred to the sales department at NBC in New York. The trip was capped off by attending a taping of Saturday Night Live with Blake Lively and Rihanna and getting to go to the after-party and then going to the after-after party and finally crawling to the hotel at 7 am, only to have to be at the airport at 11. The only way to do it in the city that never sleeps.

Australia

After my day in Fiji, I flew to Sydney, Australia. I had always wanted to do this trip and finally bit the bullet and bought the ticket. I managed to avoid jet lag and just hit the ground running. I saw as much of the sites as I possibly could, given the time. I met up with my friend, Warwick, who I had originally met in Buenos Aires last year. He and his girlfriend showed me around Sydney, took me out to an amazing dinner and even took me 45 miles North to Palm Beach for excellent surfing. The conditions were a little crazy, but it was still worth getting out to the water with a board. After a week in Sydney, I flew to Melbourne, where I met up with a friend I met last year in LA. He lives in Melbourne and was super fun just grabbing a drink and catching up with him. I stayed on the beach in Melbourne and saw as much as I possible could while there, then I wrapped up the the trip by flying back to Sydney for three more days before going home. Back in Sydney, I knew of a coworker of mine who was there at the same time, so we managed to meet up and hit the bar scene on the night before she had to leave. My last night there, I met a great group of locals and shared drinks with them at the harbor. This is definitely a trip I will never forget and hope to do, again in the future.

Fiji

So, still trying to work on this quick catch-up so I can finally live in the present time with this blog. I know I'll get there soon.
My last couple of months were filled with fun vacations. Late November was spent flying to Australia for the first time. I stopped in Fiji, first and with my extended layover, was able to grab a beautiful tour of the land. This only made me want to go back and spend more time there. I had no idea that they had such great surfing. Something to keep in the back of my head for next time.

Coming Home

I just recently came back from a whirlwind trip to my home in Oregon. It had been almost a year since I was last there and it's amazing how much can change in that time. Since my last trip, my parents had fully moved into a new house they had built from scratch. My mom was a proud owner of a new car and my little brother was now a father. Needless to say, there was a lot to adjust to. Oh yeah, and my parents adopted another cat, Sabrina, after my grandma couldn't keep her any longer.
The trip was full of its ups and downs and I tried to not let the downs get in the way of the ups. A relationship that I was banking on really working the second time around, failed. I thought i would be devastated by the outcome, as I was years before, when we ended things. Surprising enough, I was a bit disappointed, then quickly realized that what I was holding on to was something that didn't really exist. I was holding on to memories from 2002 and a recent four-day honeymoon period a few months ago here in LA. Back home, I was faced with the reality that the man I thought was the "one" was also the father to a two-year-old daughter with severe attention issues. We couldn't even have an adult argument without her crying. I left Oregon almost thankful that Peter didn't move out here and try to maintain keeping both me and his daughter happy. It would be the kind of pressure that I didn't deserve, nor him. I am just thankful that during this whole awakening period, one of my best friends from Portland was also visiting. Leaning on friends during times like these tend to get taken for granted.
So, departing Oregon, I felt a little older and a little wiser and a little more cautious. I walk away thinking that maybe I played all my cards in love and maybe it's not for me. Maybe I meant to be the gypsy soul who wonders alone. And would it be a bad thing if that is what happened? I tried, I got hurt, I hated the feeling of getting hurt and I walked away. Maybe it's a feeling of being defeated and I hate that feeling. Wow, maybe Pat Benatar had it right when she said "Love is a Battlefield." And with that note, I can easily say I have been keeping busy every single night since my return back home. Maybe it's because it keeps my mind off of Peter or maybe it's because I want to remind myself of the things I would have set aside if he came out here. I don't know. But, in the meantime, I have a fresher outlook on what keeps me happy. My friends, my travels, my job, and the possibilities that lie in my future.