Blindfolds, Boat Cruises, & Buenos Aires in Magical Realism

Okay, I haven't written in one million years. Past few weeks were mostly the usual - work, HIIT classes, yoga, food, you know. We did go to this one "Sensory Gallery" party where we were blindfolded, separated at the lobby, then taken in an elevator to various floors to touch/hear/smell/taste different experiences/food/cocktails while blindfolded. It was super trippy. One of the cocktails contained Van Gogh Peanut Butter & Jelly vodka. Peanut butter & Jelly vodka! I did not even know such a thing existed. Remember when the only vodka flavors were 1) vodka, 2) peppar, 3) citron? Then came kurant, mandarin, then vanilla and after that everything just went crazy!

The event was pretty wild - we did do a dining in the dark dinner for Valentine's Day a few years ago, but it was much more staid/predictable and pretty much nothing like this. Definitely out of my comfort zone, but I guess that's good. After the blindfolds were taken off, we ended up in a room with our group and drank champagne together. It was funny to interact with people after first being introduced to them and getting to know the group sight unseen. One of the later groups came through while we were sipping/chatting and included a completely shirtless guy with lipstick on his face, hanging on for dear life to the person in front of him. We were all like, "What happened to THAT guy?!" When his group came in we asked him and his guide, and no one would tell us. Hahahahahaha! After that A and I left, had a drink at our favorite random/non-upscale rooftop bar, then went out for korean bbq at Pocha 32. It's basically an upstairs cafeteria decorated with nets filled with sake bottle tops and a flurry of napkins that people have doodled and/or written on, but the food is good and it's a lot of fun. We had dinner but did not do the soju filled watermelon, as it was already well past 1am. On a Tuesday.

Other happenings - NY Harbor boat cruise with my interns, High Line park walk with my friend N from Space Camp this past weekend, followed by ridiculous procrastination, followed by my usual method of packing right before I'm due to leave for a flight. Managed to cram in extremely weird (even for me) mix of snowboots, snowpants/warm clothing, business casual, swim stuff, and even a formal gown, plus related accessories, toiletries, laptop, etc. I can't believe it all fit in carry-on luggage.

A saw me off to the airport, I boarded the plane to Buenos Aires shortly after. We hung out on the runway for a while, then there was an announcement that we needed to make a big detour off the original course due to weather, so we went back to the gate to pick up additional fuel for the longer voyage. After that we took off, we had dinner, I watched Divergent, then went to sleep. With the longer route and delay, we got in about 3 hours later than anticipated. There was an HSBC at the airport so I took pesos out there, then took a cab to my hotel in Palermo Soho. I was tired but not as zonked as I probably should have been. Did work, had a really nice cup of tea (rooibos, vanilla, rose petals, rosehips, and lavendar) and a slice of lemon poppy seed cake. Did some yoga from youtube:

My friend Luisa was due to get in on an early flight, so I got up just before 7am, got ready, and met her for breakfast. It was very nice - scrambled eggs, bread, croissants, fruit, juice, and coffee. She was still on Finland time and didn't want to nap, so we went out for a walk from around 9am until 2pm. Area is so cute - Palermo Soho was my favorite neighborhood last time we were in BA many years ago, so I wanted to stay here until we check in to the group hotel on Friday. Had lunch out on the rooftop terrace, and it was surprisingly warm/sunny here (considering it's winter.) Did work on the roof and then in the solarium, and are now gearing up for a snack and a glass of wine before heading out to our planned dinner of RED MEAT and RED WINE.