Hello 2011!

I resolved to blog more often in 2011 but this New Year has been quite busy. I figured I'd get a blog in before January ended.

I rang in the New Year on a low key note. I went to dinner with my friend Amber and her boyfriend Stuart in Kensington. It was the first time that I met him and he was hilarious! Then we moved to a pub and stayed for the countdown. Around 11:40p.m. the pub cleared out so there were only about 10 people including the staff. However, I would much rather spend my time this way then being in a crowded club with drunk people. Maybe I am getting older.

Then I went on one of my top destinations on my 'To Do' list - Morocco...One word...AMAZING!!!! I didn't know what to expect. This was my first really long holiday. Mari flew in from Chicago and Amber joined us. We spent 8 days in Morocco travelling by train to Casablanca, Fes, and Marrakesh. Morocco was so raw and filled with so many emotions. It was a bit of a culture shock because it is Muslim country and not too touristy. Mari was our comic relief. At the end of the trip, I came back with loads of memories.

Eventually, I will blog more about my amazing journey but the highlights include the Gran Mosque in Casablanca built over the Atlantic Ocean, the ancient Medina in Fes and wandering the many paths while dodging donkeys, hidden gem restaurants within the medina (countless lamb and cous cous dishes), starting and ending my day with mint tea, riding a camel, having a monkey on my shoulder, street food in Marrakesh, the traditional hamman (scrub) and the bonding moment in the hamman with Amber, the drive to the waterfalls and climbing the High Atlas mountains and making friends with the locals.

I could go on.....

We then came back to London for 5 hours and went to Dublin to unwind like the locals do. I hope you can sense the sarcasm in my voice.

I had some downtime in between and started to refocus on my personal life.

Now I am back in Chicago for a few days for business. I was fortunate enough to catch up with my family to make up for the Christmas holiday and got to see Ceclie's baby.

Not a bad start to 2011! Life is good!