More Portugal...

Continuing where I left off, I had a lovely week in Portugal, highlights included a big BBQ at the house:
Followed by a game of tennis in the morning against Annie (she won 6-4 but it was really close!), another round of golf with Nick in the afternoon and a bit of a crazy night out.

Overall the week in Portugal came and went far too quickly but would go back in a heartbeat and really enjoyed myself... so to Jeremy, Annie, Nick, Tanya and Emma - Thank you for making my time in Val De Lobo so special!

Then came Spain (Marbella to be precise!)... traveled all day Saturday and made it to Malaga successfully where I met Darrell (my brother) and headed back to Cabopino (where they were staying with Jo, the kids and Jo's parents).

The next few days were a lot of fun, time with Darrell, Jo, the kids and not much else - played some golf with Daz (which he thrashed me at!), went out during the day to Marbella and generally enjoyed the sunshine... here were some good captures for you to enjoy :)

Cheeky pose of Natasha out for dinner with Darrell and Jo (and myself)Charlotte and her favourite thing in the world... RABBIT!Darrell and Jo

That folks brings me to the end of my delightful holiday which unfortunately came with a little bit of bad news from mother regarding my grandmother's health but I'll cover that another day.

Bye for now.

Jay xxx

Catch up time... Vacation here I come!

Hey guys,

Its been a while since I last posted and thought before I get too relaxed on Vacation I should let you know what I've been up to...

In all honesty its been a nice couple of weeks - had a crazy last week at work (before my holiday), flew to England on Thursday night (no drama's there), caught the train up to Leeds (again no problems) and had a lovely weekend with my family for Martin's Barmitzvah (Cousin).

I stayed with my brother Simon who I have to say has an absolutely stunning flat! He absolutely gutted it and started again and it looks fab!

Hung out with Jared and Darren after the Barmitzvah on Saturday and went out on the town... always a laugh but a shame the others from Leeds weren't around (Lev, Williams, Manning and Macka!)... hoping to catch up with them next week when I get back.

Sunday was fairly uneventful with a family brunch followed by a trip down to Liverpool to catch up with the ozzie cousins (Beth and John)...

Monday flew out to Portugal when the sunny part of my vacation was about to start... all I have to say about Vale Do Flores is STUNNING... GORGEOUS... RIDICULOUSLY AMAZING! Okay thats four things but it conveys the point :) I'll post some pictures in the next blog but currently don't have access to a memory card reader so you'll have to wait...

Monday we had the most fabulous lunch and got a little merry on Sangria :) chilled for the rest of the afternoon in the pool (taking in the rays) before heading out to the local bars to take in the sights (mostly 14 year old girls trying to look 18)... it was amusing to say the least and a little worrying.

Played golf early doors on Tuesday and played very well (considering I wasn't using anything mine apart from a golf glove!) and am hoping to play again tomorrow afternoon...

That brings me to the present and is the end of this post so will have to catch up with you once I have completed my time in Portugal... I have to say I am feeling very relaxed and really hope the next two weeks don't go too fast!

Bye for now.

Jay xx

4th July Weekend.... SAN DIEGO!

Hey Guys,

Wow... what a weekend, so much to tell but I'll try and keep it short and sweet (as promised). Following on from my last entry (on my way home from work - Wednesday), Ramona and I took off on Thursday headed to San Diego... nothing too exciting (or dramatic) on the flight (which is always nice).

The first thing we did in San Diego was a city tour (with a twist) called the GoCar tour... imagine a 3 wheeler motorcycle (with two seats), bright yellow and a GPS navigation system which not only directs you round the city, but is your personal tour guide... If your struggle to visualize it, here's a pic :)

To say this thing was fun is a HUGE understatement... this tour was amazing! It took us all round the city, from the Port (gorgeous yachts), the Bay(awesome views), the Gaslamp District (beautiful), the Convention Centre, Balboa Park (enormous!), Little Italy, Museums galour (USS Midway- a decommissioned aircraft carrier), automobile museums, Air and Space museums (just to mention a few) and took some great photo's...

So you can probably tell we enjoyed that... then we headed into Escondido (about 30 minutes inland from San Diego) where we were staying to join Nakia, Ross and the rest of the wedding gang for a pre-wedding get together.

On Friday we decided to hit the Bernardo Winery and were lucky enough to enjoy a farmers market (which only takes place on Friday's!), wondered round, enjoyed some fantastic wines and generally had a good afternoon:
After the winery it was time to head to the wedding (which was actually taking place at a difference winery in Escondido)... if I were to sum up the evening's events in just four statements, I would say:

• The setting was absolutely breath taking
• The Service and Vows exchanged were so touching the majority of the audience were brought to tears
• The food was fabulous (the wedding cake was divine!)
• Seth Green was hilarious (yes he was at the wedding ;)

Here's a couple of photo's from the wedding:

So we're up to Saturday (the 4th July), after chilling with everyone by the pool and having a thoroughly relaxing day - we decided to head back downtown and check into our ridiculous hotel, the US Grant (most presidents of America have stayed here!) We then figured out our plans for the evening and ventured out into the Gas Lamp District for a gander...

That evening we down to the bay to watch the most fabulous firework display (the photo's never do justice, so you'll just have to believe me) and then we headed up to Eden (a super posh rooftop club at the top of the Ivy Hotel)... Now this place was outstanding, not only did they have a huge firepit, dancers on the bars, a secret club downstairs and a view which was priceless... the music was amazing and the crowd was super friendly! Needless to say we both had a great night, met some fun people to hang out with (and persuade me to move to San Diego!) and got to bed somewhere around 4am!!!

As you can probably guess by everything I have covered thus far... Sunday was a struggle! Although we did manage to get up and still get to the Midway Museum (the decommissioned aircraft carrier) and saw some awesome planes...

Like the F14 Tomcat (from Top Gun) amongst other things:

All that said and done, we headed back to the airport in plenty of time to catch our plane back to New York City...

Sorry this entry was a little long but hope you enjoyed spending the weekend in San Diego (well reading about it anyway ;)

Till next time...

Love to all

Jay x

The shortest week at work...

Well another week is over (yes it's only Wednesday but considering I have tomorrow and Friday off - its over for me!) and I'm super excited about going to San Diego tomorrow...

Before I get to that I just wanted to let you know that I play in a Touch American Football league on Monday nights and this week we played the other Accenture team... We were really hoping to win but unfortunately lost 20-13. It was a really close match (unlike the other ones) and we all had a lot of fun but they did win fair and square.

If you interested in following the Michael Jackson All-Star Touch Team follow this link and check out our standings (yes we're last in the league...)

So i'm off to San Diego tomorrow for Nakia and Ross' wedding and CAN'T WAIT!

Will be sure to post some groovy pics and check in later.For all of you in America, have a great holiday weekend and for everyone in England, I'll see you in a couple of weeks!

Love to all

Jay x