a week of highs and lows

its been an interesting week...full of highs and lows at work, fun hanging out with friends, health issues (on my own doing i assume), and the feeling i need to get out of here for a few days. oh my.

so work has been extremely intersting lately. i know i try not to talk about work, but with such a bizarre week, how can i not. i won't get into the particulars, but i started the week with realising i have a dream project brewing in front of me, and if everything works out great, it could be my 'legacy' at the IHS office in the UK. i got the higher ups excited about this project i stumbled upon and i think they like what i found...since i ended the week with some concrete deadlines and the potential of me to do environmental strategic markeing not only for EMEA but potentially APAC as well. EMEA = europe, middle east and africa and APAC = asia and south pacific. wish me luck. although all this climbing up the corporate ladder is weird for me too. the responsibility is killing me, but the drive isn't a corporate goal, but the work is just so damned exciting.

alternatively, i got a huge compliment from a coworker in the US, who i haven't even met in person, and she said that i am one of the best marketers she's ever worked with in her career. i almost cried. for those who know me, they know that many moons ago, one of my former managers basically told me that i wasn't good enough to advance in marketing because of my lack of BComm...its what made me leave ddy for ihs, and from day one, ihs has done nothing for me but given me opportunities. thanks for that.

so anyhoo, i'm waiting to hear from the higher ups about APAC so i'll keep you posted.

this week was also a week of feeling blah...and for a couple of days i couldn't figure out why i wasn't feeling so good. and it took me a few nights of 9 hour sleeps to realise i took a break from my 'diet' and i had some dairy and wheat and i felt like CRAP. so, back on the diet, which really, is a bad word that defines eating food that won't make me ill. now i have that under the belt, i should be up to top form in a few days. crisis diverted.

this was a nice weekend too - real busy. it was aleksandra's eighth anniversary of her 21st birthday. we had our usual pints, and a group of us head over to my place for some Wii. saturday was another lovely shopping day in kingston where i spent hours at a cafe reading a dirty job by chris moore. you must read this book. so fricking funny. he's my new favorite author. later that night we went to favela chic for some tastey mojitos and dancing to some great house music. a drunken ride on the northern line got me home (which is up for sale by the way - moving to a new neighborhood in the fall) and i slept for a glorious 10 hours. again...a necessity. i am ending my weekend with a trip to stamford bridge to see my blues play their last home game (a victory 2-0). it was cool cuz afterward the players brought out their families...and the kids all wore their dad's kit so you knew who belonged to who. the cutest by far were lampard's little girls and terry's twins. my god...i miss the babes being that small. the crowd was obliging when terry's little girl kicked the ball from the half and into the net. so cute.



FYI = chelsea fc also encourages corporate social responsibility (what i do on a daily basis). love it.

but on a sour note...i realised i need a break from the UK. i sat there in the stands and was severely annoyed by every brit there. you know, i love the blues, and i love football, but i cannot stand the football fans (a majority of the time). its great when they cheer on their players (and the shed end is a pro-drogba/terry/hiddink space which was nice). but they sit there and get pissed and annoying and you just want to kick them in the head. then on the way home on the tube its worse because your stuck in this tin can with these fuckers singing their dumb ass songs and part of me wants to feel sorry for them. their happiness depends on whether or not those starting 11 win a game. i mean, i can get bummed when they lose, but like, five minutes later, i'm all good. so again...i think i just need a break from all things british. luckily, sicily is 5 weeks away, and after a few days with my peeps, i'll be ok with the uk again.

how ungrateful am i?

i love my friends here, and i do love living here, but sometimes, you just need a break from being a foreigner. i get tired of people correcting the way i pronounce things. i'm tired of people saying 'american?' to me. i'm tired of being me, but only to be told i'm so north american.

now i know how my parents felt.

i'll get over it. i'm just going on a rant and all will be good again. but i tell you, nothing would beat a night at home right now, on my couch, chillin with my family, or perhaps sitting at starbucks with chris and martin commenting on the fashion sense (or lack thereof) of the folks at melrose.

this week was also a good week for hanging out with friends

but don't worry about me. you all know how quickly i bounce back and how sometimes i just need an hour to be a total bitch and then i'll let it all go and all will be sunny in the morning.

i think i need to read a new chris moore book.

xoxo

gio