One pitch down, one more morning to go....
Its been a whirlwind few weeks (months actually) and its almost done. Had our huge pitch this morning here in Chicago. Pitching is like dating. You think you've done great, you had really great conversations and the chemistry felt really good - but then its all about waiting to hear. And the post-date self-analysis that starts to creep in. Did they really like us (me)? Did i answer that question well enough? WHY, OH WHY, HAVENT THEY CALLED YET??
OK, OK - we only finished the pitch about 6hrs ago, but even still. Call us, already and just give us the damn business.
So, with only time to pause for a quick celebratory Express G&T with my fellow pitch survivors, it was into the Lincoln Town Car for what turned out to be an absolutely tortuously slow car ride to downtown Chicago. Although the client was only 40miles away from the market research facility, heavy rain, construction, accidents and diversion all conspired to turn what was a 40min ride from the airport on Tues to a nearly 3hr endurance marathon. I finally got to the research facility at around 6.30pm (better late than never, right?) and enjoyed the singular pleasure that only market research can offer, of sitting in a dark room, trying simultaneously to maintain interest in the 20th person's answer to the exact same question whilst avoiding the siren lure of M&Ms and avoid ordering a slab of Godiva cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory to give me something to live for.
So thats it for today. Only kicker was my room having been cancelled at my hotel due to a technical hiccup, at the start of one of the busiest conferences in the known universe (think Bethlehem, inn, straw, manger) - fortunately for me, divine intervention came in the shape of Ben, the hunky hotel manager who managed to somehow squeeze me into a room in a fully booked hotel and thus save me from having to go back to the research facility and kip on the sofa. Hallejulah. Numbers were also duly exchanged and drinks bought and promised, so it might end well yet. So, now am in the bar enjoying a VERY WELL DESERVED gin and tonic (seeing as i am apparently severely intolerant to wine - grrr) and reflecting on what has been a crazy assed day.
Tomorrow, we start at 7.45am (huzzah!) and there is just 3hrs of work between me and my once-in-a-lifetime vacation to Bhutan and 2 weeks of counting 40 years worth of blessings. I havent had any time to really think about my holiday, so i'm sure its going to come as a bit of a surprise to find myself on a plane, on Saturday, bound for a location other than New York and not having to work throughout the flight. I. Can't. Wait.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Since last time.....
Crikey, its been busy! I keep meaning to update this on a more regular basis, but it turns out to be a sporadic dump of whatever I can remember I've been up to the last few preceding months, rather than an uber-exciting page-turner minute by minute account of the minutiae of my life.
Which is probably a good thing.
Flying the Gastronomic Flag back in Blighty
So, to report - I have been doing a STACK LOAD of traveling over the last month or so, with much more to come in the next 6 weeks!! The biggest news recently is my surprise trip home to see the folks, piggy-backing off of a pitch in London which I'd been asked to cover at the last minute. The pitch itself was pretty intense but i'm happy with the effort we put in (despite the fact we didn't win *sigh*). It was also a lot of fun to be back in the UK for a few days - it was the longest i've been back "home" for at least 5years. I managed to fit in a long overdue trip to Marks and Sparks and spent a blissfully contented 4hrs in there, shopping away, refreshing my wardrobe, stocking up on pants (as you do) and enjoying my first cream tea in 5yrs. Scone, jam, clotted cream and properly hot cup of tea. Bloody lovely. I also did pretty well on the rest of the gastronomic front whilst I was there and managed to pack in quite a few Brit food favourites - full English brekkie (no beans, though - it was a posh one), fish and chips, a phenomenal bacon buttie so delicious that - for just a few glorious moments - you forgot just how carcinogenic bacon is, plus some kick-ass chips and garlic aioli. All extremely healthy, of course (calories don't count when you are abroad) and then supplemented, for good measure, with a KitKat and a cup of tea on the train to Stansted Airport. I did feel a little sorry for my slacker tracker trying to keep up with that lot.
Cyprus craziness!!!
After London, onto the main event - my Quadruple-Whammy "yey i got them all this time" Surprise Flash Mob trip home. Took a cab straight after the pitch to Liverpool Street, then hopped on the Stansted Express for my red-eye flight from Stansted to Ercan. Was the last flight out of the airport and was a fairly motley crew!
So i got Dad first. I'd taken a taxi from the airport so that NO-ONE KNEW!!! It was completely brilliant. I got to Villa Ten Ten around 8am, got the taxi man to drop me off round the side of the villa, hid my cases, then simply trotted round to the front door, as if i just happened to be passing! Was perfect timing cos Dad was just coming out of Ten Ten and walking across to JT and Mally's, so I just shouted out "Oi! What do you have to do to get a cup of tea around here?". Dad turned round and the look on his face was absolutely priceless. He was completely gobsmacked, as were JT and Mally! I mean - who would have expected me to just show up out of the blue at 8am on a Thursday morning?! Hee hee!!!
So then it was time to get Louise. She was actually out with Eren, having just dropped Thomas off to school. Dad phoned her up to find out what time she was coming back and to try and get her back earlier, but she sniffed a rat so Dad gave up that strategy pretty quickly. Instead, we went and sat round the back of JTs for a cup of tea and chatted, and i filled them in on my intense (and interesting!) week in London for the pitch. Then, after about an hour, Louise arrived back home, so i waited til she was inside Ten Ten 2 (everyone else was distracting Eren so he wouldnt spot me and blow my cover) and then scuttled over (in my heels, trying not to make too much noise) and plonked myself down in a chair in the kitchen. Just sitting, waiting casually like i'd just dropped by. OMG. Louise's reaction was even better than Dad's. First a look of complete incomprehension, followed by her going out of the room (she said she thought she'd lost the plot and was hallucinating!) and coming back in for a second look, before finally it dawning that it really was me, just sitting there in her kitchen, demanding tea! Her reaction and the look on her face will (and has) keep me smiling for a long time to come. So there was lots of squealing and hugging, Eren actually recognized me and said "Its Sarah!" which thrilled me no end, followed by more tea.
And then it was time for Mumsie. Loopy and Eren drove us round to Mum's and she parked up in the usual place, by the kitchen. I'd snuck out of the car a few yards earlier, so as Louise was keeping Mum occupied in the kitchen, i did a pincer movement (again, in heels, trying to be quiet) around the back to come in via the lounge. Again, as Mum was in the kitchen making coffee, I quietly slipped in and then just appeared, so that when Mum turned round from the kettle - BAM!!! There i was!! Similar reaction to Louise in terms of complete incomprehension at first - then shock (Mum dropped the sachet of cappuchino mix she was about to use - just like you see in films!) before complete delight and more hugging and WTF'ing!! And, of course, more tea followed by pressies. I had managed to bring out most of the stuff had had to leave behind in Feb, plus some additional gifts (slacker tracker, computer, various food bits and bobs), so it felt like a mini-Christmas!! So, we stayed round at Mum's for a bit, before heading back to Ten-Ten and then out and about to make the most of my short time home.
Finally, Thomas was the last victim to be Sarah'ed. He was in the kitchen having just come home from school - i had left a big stack of pressies in the kitchen on the table for him, so - as he was noticing them and saying "whats that?", i came round the corner and "Surprise!!". SSTTPOI!!! His reaction was immediate and incredibly touching - he cried out "Sarah!" and just flung his arms around me and gave me a huge hug. I think he might have choked up a bit too. So, the Quadruple Whammy was complete - well and truly mission accomplished!!
So i got Dad first. I'd taken a taxi from the airport so that NO-ONE KNEW!!! It was completely brilliant. I got to Villa Ten Ten around 8am, got the taxi man to drop me off round the side of the villa, hid my cases, then simply trotted round to the front door, as if i just happened to be passing! Was perfect timing cos Dad was just coming out of Ten Ten and walking across to JT and Mally's, so I just shouted out "Oi! What do you have to do to get a cup of tea around here?". Dad turned round and the look on his face was absolutely priceless. He was completely gobsmacked, as were JT and Mally! I mean - who would have expected me to just show up out of the blue at 8am on a Thursday morning?! Hee hee!!!
So then it was time to get Louise. She was actually out with Eren, having just dropped Thomas off to school. Dad phoned her up to find out what time she was coming back and to try and get her back earlier, but she sniffed a rat so Dad gave up that strategy pretty quickly. Instead, we went and sat round the back of JTs for a cup of tea and chatted, and i filled them in on my intense (and interesting!) week in London for the pitch. Then, after about an hour, Louise arrived back home, so i waited til she was inside Ten Ten 2 (everyone else was distracting Eren so he wouldnt spot me and blow my cover) and then scuttled over (in my heels, trying not to make too much noise) and plonked myself down in a chair in the kitchen. Just sitting, waiting casually like i'd just dropped by. OMG. Louise's reaction was even better than Dad's. First a look of complete incomprehension, followed by her going out of the room (she said she thought she'd lost the plot and was hallucinating!) and coming back in for a second look, before finally it dawning that it really was me, just sitting there in her kitchen, demanding tea! Her reaction and the look on her face will (and has) keep me smiling for a long time to come. So there was lots of squealing and hugging, Eren actually recognized me and said "Its Sarah!" which thrilled me no end, followed by more tea.
And then it was time for Mumsie. Loopy and Eren drove us round to Mum's and she parked up in the usual place, by the kitchen. I'd snuck out of the car a few yards earlier, so as Louise was keeping Mum occupied in the kitchen, i did a pincer movement (again, in heels, trying to be quiet) around the back to come in via the lounge. Again, as Mum was in the kitchen making coffee, I quietly slipped in and then just appeared, so that when Mum turned round from the kettle - BAM!!! There i was!! Similar reaction to Louise in terms of complete incomprehension at first - then shock (Mum dropped the sachet of cappuchino mix she was about to use - just like you see in films!) before complete delight and more hugging and WTF'ing!! And, of course, more tea followed by pressies. I had managed to bring out most of the stuff had had to leave behind in Feb, plus some additional gifts (slacker tracker, computer, various food bits and bobs), so it felt like a mini-Christmas!! So, we stayed round at Mum's for a bit, before heading back to Ten-Ten and then out and about to make the most of my short time home.
Finally, Thomas was the last victim to be Sarah'ed. He was in the kitchen having just come home from school - i had left a big stack of pressies in the kitchen on the table for him, so - as he was noticing them and saying "whats that?", i came round the corner and "Surprise!!". SSTTPOI!!! His reaction was immediate and incredibly touching - he cried out "Sarah!" and just flung his arms around me and gave me a huge hug. I think he might have choked up a bit too. So, the Quadruple Whammy was complete - well and truly mission accomplished!!
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