Have You Ever Stayed at a Ritz-Carlton?

So if this person asking me why I lived in Central New York said they would never want to drive around the country in a van, I would ask them, “Have you ever gotten paid to travel around the country to stay at five-star hotels?”

Before I started working at Faxton St. Luke’s Healthcare, I lived in Saratoga Springs and worked for a medical education company. We planned meetings for pharmaceutical companies and they only wanted the best for their physicians so every other weekend for two years, I traveled to different cities staying at beautiful hotels.

We stayed everywhere from the Four Seasons in Jackson Hole to the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, the Hotel Majestic in Barcelona, Spain, to the Ritz Carlton’s in Dallas, Atlanta, and Naples, Florida, and to about twelve other amazing cities. It was quite the change from traveling the country in a van to flying first class and staying at stunning hotels, all while getting paid for it.

When I went to my first meeting, I expected to have to share a room with a co-worker, like we did for our golf internship with the AJGA. We flew across the country to San Francisco and finally arrived at our hotel. We checked in – and I was shocked when I got my own room! My room was beautiful and we were allowed to order room service. The first thing I did was put on my bathrobe and ordered pancakes and ate breakfast in bed!

When we went to Beverly Hills for a meeting, we got the opportunity to rub elbows with the stars at a charity event sponsored by Tommy Hillfiger. The event was called “Race to Erase MS” and was a benefit to raise money for a cure for multiple sclerosis. My co-workers and I only got to attend the event if there were extra tickets after all the meeting attendees and our clients had tickets, so we had our fingers crossed as our client started to hand out the tickets. My heart was beating as he passed tickets out to about 30 people and I counted every last one as he put them in the hands of each person. Finally he came to us, and he looked like he had enough for us to go, and he did! The event was amazing and we saw lots of famous people including Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton. We got to experience the Red Carpet and it was amazing to me how many camera flashes were going off – it was almost blinding. Earth Wind and Fire played live at the event and we danced the night away.

I wonder if the person asking me why I live in Central New York ever got the chance to go to a celebrity event in Beverly Hills? Although I have had the opportunity to visit so many beautiful choices, I still prefer to live in Central New York. It is a wonderful place to live and my family and friends make it home!

Man's Best Friend

Another reason I love Central New York - we bought our dog from a breeder in our area and he makes us so happy. As the saying goes, "My goal in life is to be the person my dog thinks I am."

He is never mad, always happy to see me and never complains! We love to go for walks and enjoy the four seasons Central New York has to offer.

Below is a link of a picture video I made of him....

http://animoto.com/play/0lG5rvJbu7xj4EPGFMiRVQ?utm_content=challenger

Getting Paid to Drive Cross Country

And now that I was on the topic of traveling with this person who asks me why I live in Central New York, I would ask them, “Have you ever driven a van and trailer 13,000 miles across the United States?”

After I graduated from college, I decided I was not ready to enter the working world and instead took advantage of an internship that was with the American Junior Golf Association. I went through a few rounds of intense interviews and I was very lucky to get accepted because more than 600 people applied. I flew down to Atlanta a week after graduation, not knowing what to expect, met five other people that I would be traveling with, learned how to back up the van and trailer we would be driving and of course change a tire, and they sent us on our way.

For this internship and with the five other people who I still keep in touch with today, we were in charge of running golf tournaments for junior golfers throughout the country. Ralph Lauren was the sponsor so they gave us an entire new wardrobe, we got paid $200 a week and we ate out at restaurants three meals a day. Our longest trip was 40 hours, and we drove from Wisconsin to Arizona and made enough memories to last a lifetime. The only bad thing was I gained 10 pounds from eating out all the time and had to cut slits in the new wardrobe that Ralph Lauren gave me, but it was still worth it. :)

We worked 100 hour weeks, and as soon as we were done with a tournament, we would hop into the van and drive to the next tournament. Riding in the van was my favorite part of the internship because we all got along so well and experienced so many funny things together. Our journey took us from Atlanta to Colorado, Kansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Iowa, Wisconsin, Arizona and California. If you asked anyone in the group what their favorite memory was of the entire experience, they would probably tell you it was when I drove away from the gas station in New Mexico with the gas nozzle still in the tank! Lucky nothing bad happened, but it still something we laugh about to this day!

My favorite golf tournament was in Colorado and we got to stay with this couple who belonged to the golf course where we were holding the tournament. They lived in a mansion on top of a mountain and it was one of the nicest houses I have ever been in! When we arrived, they brought us to their garage and let us pick out whatever one of their ten cars that we wanted to drive for the week. We thought carefully and decided on the white Lincoln Navigator. They had a friendly Golden Retriever that would sleep with me in my bed at night and they had a maid who would do our laundry for us. They set the bar very high since it was the first tournament we had been to, but no matter where we were or where we slept, we had an amazing time.

I wonder if the person asking me why I live in Sauquoit ever got paid to drive across the country…

Taking the plunge...

So once I got on the topic of whales with this person, the next question I would ask them is…Have you ever jumped off a cliff into the ocean in the middle of winter in Wales?

When I was studying at Syracuse University, I had the opportunity during my junior year to study for a semester in London, England. Once again, I had no interest in this second “life changing experience” but I had the college mentality that all my friends were doing it so I should go too.

I filled out all of the necessary paperwork, got my passport, said goodbye to my parents and I was on my way. I went to London with a suitcase and backpack, found a place to live when I got there, and spent four of the best months of my life wandering through the amazing streets of London and traveling to different countries. I spent St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland, I saw the Mona Lisa in Paris, I went for a boat ride on a search for the Lochness monster in Scotland, I saw the Pope on Palm Sunday in Italy, and I went cliff jumping in Wales.

Seeing that I am probably the worst swimmer in the world, I sometimes wonder myself what possessed me to go “cliff jumping,” whatever this term may mean. I signed up for an “Adventure Weekend” with my friends, and the only instructions were to bring a pair of sneakers with you. It sounded pretty easy to me, so I thought what could possibly go wrong?

In February of 2004, we flew from London to Wales and stayed in a small cabin with ten other international students. I shared a room with five of my friends and we slept in bunk beds. There was barely enough space in our room to move and you can imagine how the room smelled after we all took off our soaking wet clothing and sneakers in the middle of winter. I think the heat thermostat may have been broken too because you could feel and hear the heat blasting into our tiny room the entire night while we tried to sleep.

After a restless night we woke up early, ate a quick breakfast and then were told to go outside where we were given our wetsuits. There is nothing more uncomfortable in the world than trying to put on a wetsuit, but it was so cold out so I knew we had no other choice! We rode in a small bus along the bumpy roads of Wales to the ocean. Our instructor gave us brief instructions on how to stay safe and he sent us on our way. We climbed along the rocky coast of the ocean (this is where the sneakers came into play) until we got to an opening in the rocks. We climbed to the top, and we all took our turns jumping into the freezing cold, sparkling water. I was so scared and the only reason I jumped was because if I didn’t jump, everyone else I was with wasn’t allowed to take their second turn until I went.

A lot went through my mind while I was standing on the edge of the cliff before it was my turn to jump. Did I remember how to jump correctly so I didn’t do a belly flop? Was I about to die? Why did I sign up for this trip again? Finally, I just opened my eyes, pushed off with my feet and jumped into the ocean. It was an exhilarating feeling as I was deep in the water swimming furiously so I could get to the top and breathe again. The feeling of accomplishment and the feeling of the cold air blowing against my face as I made it to the top is something I will always remember. I bet the people who continue to ask me why I live in Sauquoit never jumped off a cliff in Wales before….

Another reason I love Central New York....

My huband and I met when we were in high school working our summer jobs at a local golf course. I worked in the restaurant and he worked on the grounds crew. We both love Central New York - our families live close by, we love the four seasons, and almost all of our friends still live in the area as well.


We got married on September 11, 2010 and we will probably continue to live in Central New York for the rest of our lives. Here is the link to an Animoto video I did about our wedding - which also took place in Central New York on a beautiful, sunny day!

My Animoto URL:

http://animoto.com/play/hItRlQSFPGN9dMMcdPc9Aw?utm_content=challenger

Have You Ever Sat on a Killer Whale?

I grew up in Sauquoit, New York, with my mom, dad and older brother, and now, at the age of 28, I live in Sauquoit again. I find it funny when I run in to people – usually family friends who I haven’t seen in a while – that always ask me: “Why did you decide to live here?” or, “Why don’t you move away and live somewhere fun?” or say “You must be crazy if you want to live and work in this area!”.

These people never seem to ask me if I am happy – which I am and in today’s world, is a question that I think people often forget to ask. I have a good job, a great family, a wonderful husband, a cute dog, I’m almost done with my master’s degree, and I own a house. What else could a 28-year-old ask for? 

I’ve always wanted to turn the question around on them, although I haven’t yet had the guts to, and say “oh yeah, well why do you live here?” OR, “you must be crazy for still working around this area – you should be retired living on a golf course in Florida!” OR, BETTER YET, I could ask them:

Have you ever sat on a killer whale?

When I was five, I went to Sea World with my family and we went to see the Baby Shamu show. Walking into Sea World as a five-year-old can be very overwhelming – I still remember all the people and families walking around and the scent of fish that lingered in the air. I held on to my mom’s hand tight so I wouldn’t get lost.

We were just in time for the Baby Shamu show and the audience was packed. I was sitting with my mom, dad and brother in the hot, metal bleachers and we were sitting on the end near an aisle. A Sea World staff member walked up the stairs and stopped and talked to a family in front of us. We saw them shake their heads no and then the staff members came up to my parents. He asked them if they would be interested in having me be part of the show. He would take me down to the front and when it was time, he would hand me to the whale trainer and I would sit on Baby Shamu.

I had no interest in getting my favorite pair of pink, corduroy overalls all wet, but my parents told me they would buy me a stuffed animal if I did it so I agreed. I remember them signing a bunch of papers – which now looking back I realized were insurance papers saying that Sea World would not be held responsible if something happened to me. I walked down the stairs with the trainer and the next thing I remember was looking into the audience and seeing a million camera flashes going off. I don’t remember what the whale felt like or if I was scared – but my one memory is being blinded by flashes. My next memory was going to the gift shop when it was all over with – and being very uncomfortable because my overalls were all wet. I picked out a stuffed killer whale and my brother got one too. I remember wondering why my brother got one – he didn’t have to do anything and he got a stuffed animal too!

They don’t let audience members sit on killer whales anymore because it is too dangerous. And I’m pretty sure kids these days are having nightmares about killer whales from Sea World instead of sleeping and cuddling with their killer whale stuffed animals. But when I go to my parent’s house and go in my old room and see my whale sitting on my shelf, I don’t remember what it was like to sit on Baby Shamu, I remember all of the cameras going off and wonder what all those people did with my picture. I bet the person asking me why I live in Central New York never sat on a killer whale....