Many of the Mid-Atlantic States were already hit by a major snow storm just a week earlier.  The most current forecast called for an eerily similar forecast to hit the same regions, plus some of New York City.  People seemed panicked, schedules were in flux and there I was, working away diligently in my hotel room, waiting for the madness to ensue.  You would think the end of the world was coming, given the media’s ferocious coverage of what some were calling the “snowpocalpse”.  Silliness is all I can say about that.  I patiently waited for snowmageddon to arrive, but no significant accumulation ever materialized.  At least, not in Manhattan anyway.  Go figure!

I decided to make the most of my evening as it was my birthday after all.  Did I forget to mention that?  I connected with my buddy Brian, who made a surprise visit to take me out to celebrate.  We were both craving a decent burger, so we decided to hit the ever-consistent Hard Rock Cafe.  It did not disappoint.  Yum!  After our meal, we decided to frolic around in the snow a bit.  It was a pretty cool site to see the center of Time Square so empty.  As I mentioned earlier, there wasn’t very much accumulation, but the wind was pretty intense.  Couple that with cold-wet snow slapping us in the face, and we quickly decided to head indoors.   continue reading »

After pleading with Sandy for weeks, she finally capitulated.  My little sis would make the trek to the big city to visit her big brother.  Yay!  We met up at the iconic Grand Central, where patience and decency are a way of life by its patrons.  Who am I kidding, spend five minutes there and you’ll quickly spot rage in the eyes of 75% of the people buzzing around the terminal.  After a brief exchange, we made our way to the Renaissance Hotel in Times Square to recuperate for a few minutes.  We then met up with a few colleagues / friends of mine (Theresa and Jennifer), who would participate in our outing.  Sandy is always asking me what the people I work with are like, so this was a perfect opportunity to give her some first-hand perspective.  Both Theresa and Jen were happy to oblige. 

Our first stop would be Thalia Restaurant for dinner.  This place came highly recommended by Theresa so we decided to give it a shot.  It’s located on 8th Ave and 50th street.  It was restaurant week so at a minimum we knew we’d be getting a decent deal.  This place was awesome!  In my view, it epitomizes what a trendy New York City Restaurant should be.  It renders impeccable service, great ambiance and sensational food.  Note:  Thalia, I’ll be sending you my bill for this recommendation.  Everyone seemed to hit it off, so conversation flowed as we munched away at our delectable meals.  continue reading »

Team events are generally a rarity these days.  I mean, who has the time to squeeze them in-between all the madness that is “work”?  Well, we were fortunate enough to make one happen.  Two of our colleagues were moving on to new projects, so we decided it was a good enough excuse to throw a shindig and send them off properly.  The evening would also double as a team-building event, so business was casually discussed early in the festivities. 

We actually had a team gathering back in September, but it was only a subset of the larger team and was kind of thrown together at the last minute.  It was a decent enough time, but sometimes these types of events just don’t fire on all cylinders.  I can say with confidence that this event clicked in every way.  It was put together by my colleague and friend, Meghna, and held at the Papillon Bistro & Bar in Mid-Town Manhattan.  An open bar, a nice selection of hors d’oeuvres and a very private area to mingle amongst the group made for a spectacular evening. 

A rather reserved group early on quickly lossened up as drinks of all shapes and sizes percolated through the crowd.  You know it’s a good sign when people smile a little longer and laugh a little louder at these types of events.  Pictures were taken pretty steadily throughout the evening.  The obligatory team pose was popular and no surprise.  Smaller groups of co-workers flashed their pearly whites, and we even managed to squeeze out a few silly candid photos.  continue reading »