New Jersey

Michele here... I just got back from a business trip to New Jersey! The company I work for is teamed up with a technology firm located in NJ. I traveled there last Sunday with 3 other coworkers to work on a new IT system that we are building together. We have an October 27th deadline to get it implemented and running. The trip was mostly all work and no play, but we managed to squeeze two late evenings in of site seeing. The first night we took the train into NYC around 5:15 pm and arrived at Penn Station, which is underneath Madison Square Garden. We walked down Broadway Street and through Times Square, Rockefeller Center, and saw the Empire State Building! We also did some quick shopping in the NYC memorabilia shops and stopped in at the M&Ms World store. It was 3 floors of M&Ms madness, which I thought was pretty cool myself! We got back pretty late and the next day was a rough one. The last evening we were in town, the company we are working with wined and dined us at a fancy restaurant along the Jersey Shore. The tide was literally less than 10 feet from where I sat and we had a beautiful view of Long Beach. We had five courses! They ordered shrimp and octopus for our appetizers. Yes, I said octopus! I tried it and felt like I was on an episode of Fear Factor. I will have to say, I held myself together very well in front of the executives of the other company. I then proceeded to order a 10 oz. steak =). We headed back home late Friday and faced delays out of Newark and Chicago, but I finally made it home and have spent most of today relaxing!

Overall, it was a very productive trip! I am grateful for the opportunity to have went out there and learned so much!

The Empire State Building

Broadway Street & Times Square

The M&Ms World Store

The set of "Good Morning America"

Rockefeller Center

Another view of The Empire State Building

The Hudson River

Long Beach (Jersey Shore)

 Baked Octopus at The Avenue off Ocean Avenue