Kentucky Derby 2008 - Go Big Brown!

May 2-4, 2008

Hi Friends & Family,
We had a wonderful weekend – with so many thanks to our friends at Rosecroft Racway for providing our flights, hotel & Derby day tickets, and to our friends Andria & Mike McClellan who so kindly invited us to join them in the Norfolk Southern suite on Friday for Oaks Day! We simply had a blast!!!

Here’s a link to our photos to share the fun with all of you: http://picasaweb.google.com/KimberlyBWeir/KentuckyDerbyMay2008?authkey=rsHbQKruBtc

We had a wonderful visit with our friend Lachlan McLean, host of the WHAS 84 radio sports talk show in Louisville, on Friday night – and then on Derby Day we caught up with my friend Hailey Fong, who flew in from Hong Kong on Friday, and enjoyed a super yummy (2nd) brunch with him and his friend Mike on Sunday morning after a wonderful (1st) brunch with our friends Joe and Ashley Filimon at their Louisville home.

The Derby itself was a fantastic race – we were on the Big Brown bandwagon long before we arrived in Louisville, and the race was absolutely amazing – he’s truly a remarkable horse. Without a doubt, the tragedy of Eight Belles has marred all of our memories of the day – it was such a freakish, unbelievable thing to happen, and so terribly sad. The hardest part was that while were at the track, we knew that most people there had no idea what had happened. I had been very excited about her, along with Big Brown, in fact I had the exacta with the two of them… as sad as that seems in retrospect. Meanwhile, we’ve kept my $2 win ticket on Big Brown with hopes that we might have a piece of history if he does all we think he can do in the Preakness… and dare we say it, the Belmont?

We’re already making plans to go this year…

Go Big Brown!

Kim & Bobby

Farewell to Melbourne - Homeward Bound!

November 14, 2007

Hi All,
I am burning the midnight oil here on my last night in Oz - trying to get some work stuff wrapped up before I lose the day tomorrow in transit. However, before digging in to my follow up, I took one last walk through town -- going through downtown on Bourke Street, then down Swanston to Federation Square, and one final stroll along Southbank enjoying the beautiful Melbourne skyline.

After a light dinner and final performance of the fire-show out in front of the Crown Casino, I wandered to my holiday inn home for the final stretch of hotel living. It will be SO WONDERFUL to be home with Bobby, the kitties and our still-seems-new-to-me home.... plus, I can't wait to expand my wardrobe beyond the same 4 things I seem to have worn for the past 3 weeks.

So, as I close out this chapter of the "See Kim Trot" adventures I'm feeling very fortunate to be happy, healthy and having enjoyed a very productive trip with a good dose of fun squeezed in to all the available free slots in the schedule. My many thanks for all your good thoughts, warm wishes and encouragement -- until the next adventure....

Big hugs,
Kim

A Day at the Races - Aussie Style!

November 10, 2007

Hi All,


Just a quick note to share my photos from the wonderful day that Hatice and I spent at Flemington racetrack with my friend & consultant, Peter Askew, today.

Peter very kindly flew in from Canberra this AM to meet me for a good catch up on the trip, followed by a great outing to the races. We had gloriously gorgeous weather, a grand time and even a good run of gambling luck -- entirely due to the excellent "in absentia" handicapping of my beloved hubby -- using his tips, we had the chance to cash a number of tickets throughout the day!

Here's the link to my web album from the races: http://picasaweb.google.com/KimberlyBWeir/EmiratesStakesNov2007?authkey=fchNEM_hD3Q

My favorite part of the whole spectacle of the day was the unabashed style of the Melbourne crowd -- from the littlest wee one, to the awkward teens, to the dashing young men and glamorous girls -- the city clearly loves good fashion and a good time in equal measure. I simply don't think there is a place in the US where that many teenage boys would willingly and boldly put on suits, ties, cufflinks and hair product to rival the finery of their girlfriends' hats, heels and slinkly little dresses -- the people watching was simply spectacular!

On the horsie side, the track is beautiful -- set with the wonderful cityscape of Melbourne in the background, and covered with a rainbow of bountiful roses everywhere -- plus, all of their races were run on the turf -- so the green grass, blue sky, puffy white clouds were the perfect backdrop for the color & pageantry of the racing steeds and their fans.

Bobby's picks for the races were a huge hit -- as even the races where we didn't cash tickets, our horses were mostly in the mix at the end so we had much to cheer for. On race 3, we had 1st and 3rd (here they only say "win" and "place" - but place means 2nd or 3rd). In race 4, Bobby gave us the 2nd place horse -- but we dropped the ball with our bet. In race 5, we had the winner (but I forgot to cash the ticket before we left the track! I suppose the bookies will make the most of the $1.60 dividend that would've been paid for my $5.00 bet). Race 6 was the big race, the Emirates Stakes, and after putting our combined bet on Bobby's primary picks, I went ahead and bet $5 on his one long shot of the day... the 16... and she won!!! It paid $200 --- and made me very proud -- as you can see from the photo above.

Tonight I think Hatice and I are going to explore one of the famous greek or italian neighborhoods for dinner -- and I'm hopeful that tomorrow I can make a serious dent in some of my follow up as well as planning to visit a couple of the famous Melbourne shopping districts like Chapel Street and St. Kilda..

Happy Weekend to everyone -- I'm still happy & well, but looking forward to waking up next saturday in my own bed!

Hugs,

K.

Happy Diwali -- From Oz!!

Hi All,
Just a quick note from the capital of the land down under, Canberra! I hope this finds all my nearest and dearest happy & well.

I'm especially thinking of Padre Burgart as he is in the final days of preparation & packing for his return to Costa Rica for La Ruta de los Conquistadores http://www.adventurerace.com/eng/about-race.htm -- an epic mountain bike adventure race from the pacific to the atlantic coast of Costa Rica. Dad has riden La Ruta 7 times over the past years -- I am very, very proud of him (and a bit worried and anxious too), and I'd ask all my friends to wish him the very best of luck over the dates of Nov 14 - 17.... it's a superhuman undertaking, and despite my dad's amazing strength and conditioning, it's a brutal adventure and he'll appreciate all good thoughts. You can email him at calatlaruta@hotmail.com, or check his website for updates: http://eteamz.active.com/sites/calburgart/index.cfm?

It's been a very busy week for me, with not a lot to report under the "exotic travel" category -- despite the cool accent of our hosts, and the lovely locations of our meetings, it's really been a fairly unremarkable work week -- with nonstop meetings, presentations, dinners, lunches, and even breakfasts for schmoozing -- I've been in "meet and greet" mode for what seems a little like forever, but I must say I've been enjoying the fabulous local wines (all for the good of the cause, of course!).

I haven't had much time for photos, but here's my collection from my afternoon in Sydney Harbor and Zoo, enjoy! http://picasaweb.google.com/KimberlyBWeir/SydneyAustraliaNov5th?authkey=6y8cjxZZ44o

As a quick recap, I left Mumbai on Saturday AM after a wonderful dinner at the home of Mahijeet, Soina and Tarika Singh -- and began my travel to Aussieland. I arrived in Singapore to find a new boarding pass awaiting me, as my flight had arrived too late to catch my connection (and thus, I missed my chance to ride on the new A380, the "dreamliner", drat!). Of course, if one must spend an unexpected 4 hours in any airport in the world, I think I'd take Singapore any time -- it's positively gorgeous with orchid gardens, all the madison avenue shops, and even my favorite, Shanghai Tang! I enjoyed some decadent window shopping, and then camped in the very comfy lounge to get some work done before boarding at about 1am for Sydney.

I arrived in Sydney about 11am, thrilled to return to this beautiful city -- and especially the totally hip Taj Hotel Blue. The weather was glorious, and after a wonderful catch up with Bobby on the phone, I rounded up Hatice (my colleague from Fairfax County, who arrived from VA on Sunday AM) and we went out for an afternoon of "power-fun" on Sydney Harbor. We had a lovely lunch at Circular Quay (pronounced "key"), and then took the ferry over to Taronga Zoo -- the zoo with a view! We rode the aerial tram to the top and wandered our way back to the water, enjoying all the local fauna -- koalas, kangaroos, emus, crocs, elephants and even a wombat! Our time was pretty short, so we motored through the zoo and back across the ferry in time to walk back to the hotel through the botanical gardens and then met up with Morris (who had flown from India on Friday) and Geoff (one of my consultants based in Canberra) to review our game plan for the week.

I won't bore you with the details of our work meetings, but we spent Monday & Tuesday in Sydney -- with a wonderful dinner at Darling Harbor with our partners from Sydney who had supported our seminar earlier that day with the highlight of fireworks over the water. Tuesday afternoon we had the chance to observe the phenomenon of Melbourne Cup activities as all the young professionals came pouring out of their offices about noontime, dressed to the nines, to gather in a myriad of watering holes to celebrate the "Race that Stops a Nation". We were at the Qantas lounge awaiting our flight when the pretty grey named Efficient made her bold move and won the race in commanding style, then we were off to Adelaide. We were in Adelaide less than 24 hours, but enjoyed it very much -- especially the very warm welcome of our partners there. We had gorgeous weather, great food, excellent attendance at our event and even a quick tour about town before dashing back to the airport en route to canberra. We were scarcely here in the hotel 5 minutes before our first engagement, a dinner for many of our partners here. Today, we had about 35 at our seminar -- which started promptly at 7:30am, and after a full day of meetings, I just got home about a half hour ago from a lovely dinner hosted for us by the ACT government. ... it's just about midnight on Thursday, Friday is Diwali -- I need to send a note to all my friends in India!

So, tomorrow we wrap up our time in Canberra and I take my last domestic flight of the journey as we travel to melbourne, where we'll get a nice weekend to catch up and take in some sights -- including the races on Saturday! Monday & Tuesday I'll do work in Melbourne, and then head home on Wednesday.

I'll send another missive before I fly home -- thanks for all your kind thoughts and notes.

All's well here in tomorrowland -- happy friday to everyone in yesterday!
Love,
Me

Magical Mumbai - Truly My Favorite Spot

November 2, 2007

Hi All,

Happy to report that I’m healthy, rested (as of last night), and finishing up the week in India in good shape. Tomorrow AM I’ll fly to Sydney, via Singapore – arriving in Australia on Sunday AM.

Monday through Thursday of this week was fairly non-stop motion with our seminar on Monday morning in Delhi, my trip to Gurgaon (one of Delhi’s biggest industrial suburbs) that afternoon, followed by dinner with my speakers on Monday night. Then Tuesday I had a couple of AM meetings at the hotel, traveled to Hyderabad in the afternoon, and a were the honored guests at a dinner/reception with AMCHAM and IACC upon arrival Tuesday evening. Wednesday’s seminar & luncheon in Hyderabad went very well (much better than Delhi’s), and after one office visit dashed to the airport for the flight to Mumbai (at this point our speakers all went their separate ways).

Yesterday I was able to a little bit of catch up work done, and I spent about 3 hours with one of our major prospects which was quite productive. Upon return to the hotel in the afternoon I did a bit of shopping near the hotel – no silk rugs or large purchases… I promise! (Although I did stop by the shop where I’d purchased a few of my rugs the first time, and I enjoyed a few minutes trying on a whole host of diamonds – at amazing prices…. One day I’ll have to get organized about sharing what you can find here in case anyone would want me to buy for them.)

Oh – as an interesting aside, I saw the Chancellor of Germany yesterday, Angela Merkel – she was here, staying at the Taj Palace, with a huge German trade delegation. http://www.mid-day.com/news/city/2007/october/166356.htm As I was waiting for a table for breakfast yesterday AM I noticed a number of guys in suits with wires behind their ears, and realized that at the table sort of directly in front of me (in the middle of the sealounge breakfast area – not quite a public restaurant, but not a private dining room either – it’s the Taj Palace “tea room”) was the woman whose picture I’d seen in the paper. As I stood there, she and her group (about 6 people) got up to leave and she walked right by me just like any other business person would…. My brush with global power, only in India!

Today I’m camped out in my favorite spot – near the gorgeous Taj pool, on the marble patio, with ceiling fans and tropical steam with horns & sounds from the nearby traffic creating the most unique office environment! I pretty much plan to tackle follow to this week’s events all day so that I can start “fresh” with Australia – beginning with work on my presentation on the way to Singapore tomorrow. Tonight I am being kindly taken to dinner by Mahijeet and Soina Singh – lovely members of the “Indian family” that has so kindly adopted me – they took Steve and I to dinner when we were here last time and I really look forward to the evening with them.

I have confirmed that Halloween simply doesn’t register here in India – I heard from a few of the guests at our seminars that their children learned about the holiday in school and a few had mini Halloween parties with costumes, but for the most part there was not a trace of the holiday to be found – at this point, all eyes in India are on Diwali – which happens on November 9th – I’m sure it’s an amazing thing to behold. Here’s a link to learn a bit about this most famous of Indian holidays: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwali

I’ll check in from OZ – hoping to spend some of Sunday afternoon at they “zoo with a view” before the schedule of meetings, seminars, and dinners kicks in on Sunday evening.

Thinking of all of you – thanks for your kind notes & wishes!
Kim

Birthday Cakes & Polo Ponies – I love it here!

Hi All –

October 27th:
The 4th trip to Incredible India has started out great! Smooth sailing on my flights the whole way here – no delays, all my luggage, and no obnoxious seat mates. Yay! I met up with Morris DeFeo in Frankfurt. Morris is an attorney who will be speaking at my events here in India and also in Sydney – he was also in Canada with me on the FCEDA trip to the Maritimes. After settling into my room about 2:30am, I had a great sleep (love that Ambien) til about 11am, slowly started the day with some breakfast and an indulgent hunker-down to finish my book – a great gift from Diane “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert – perfect read for a big trip, especially to India! Eventually I got motivated to tackle all the work that I’d left on my plate in preparation for the seminars this week – my various presentations. Without any distractions I finally just attached my nose to the grindstone and churned all 3 of them out… for the most part, and felt much better by the time I met Morris for dinner at 6pm. OH – of course, I did have one lovely distraction – when the hotel delivered roses and birthday cake to me in the middle of the afternoon! I LOVE THE TAJ HOTELS! What a lovely, thoughtful gesture… they are just awesome. Just to add to my fan-club status, they also delivered a 2nd cake to Morris and I when we finished our HUMUNGOUS dinner of “unlimited dim sum”….it was an embarrassment of dumplings, but a very nice bday meal. See photo of BOTH of my bday cakes, plus flowers. A very nice, albeit unusually day to start my new age… 29, I’ve heard it’s a good year!

October 28th:
Having been such a “good girl” and getting all my work done yesterday, I felt much better about dedicating today to adventure! I picked Morris up at his hotel at 10am, and we were off for the Red Fort – a major Delhi landmark that I’ve been driven by on each of my previous visits, but this time I was determined to explore. Red Fort (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Fort ) was the location of many different chapters in Indian history, but most notably it was where Shah Jahan (t he mughal emperor that built the Taj Mahal, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shah_Jahan ) established the capital of his empire after moving it from Agra (where Taj Mahal is located) and also, after the Sepoy Mutiny (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepoy_Mutiny_of_1857 ) it was the HQ of the British military. Weird note – I think I wrote one of my college entrance exams about the Sepoy Mutiny… go figure. At one point 6,000 people lived in it. My new plan for photos is to include links to my mini picasa web albums for various things – so here’s my web album of photos from Red Fort. Enjoy! http://picasaweb.google.com/WeirAlbums/RedFortOldDelhiOctober2007?authkey=5prcDQDaTNQ After our excursion in the Red Fort, I had our driver take us to the Gandhi National Memorial at Birla Bhavan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birla_House ) as Morris hadn’t been there yet, and I think it is something everyone that visits Delhi should see – it’s very moving, and extremely educational . Then, we retreated to the hotel for a brief rest and freshen up, before our POLO OUTING!! Much to my delight my friend (from the adopted Indian family I often refer to), Parmeet, had written last night inviting me to join him for the polo match today – and, of course, I jumped on the chance – while asking if I could bring Morris. Parmeet is simply a sweetheart of a guy and he was a fantastic host – we had a great time. By the way, the weather is PERFECT – warm, but not hot… and really super pleasant, it was even almost cool this evening, what a novelty! The match was between India and Australia, and Parmeet knows all the players & refs for India… and was a great guide to the game. It was a really good one, very fast & exciting, with India winning 6 to 4. I’ve attached one of my best polo photos, but here’s the album of my other shots, including me with Parmeet. http://picasaweb.google.com/WeirAlbums/PoloMatchNewDelhiOct282007?authkey=Rvm_WLsv11M Admittedly, there were no movie stars, elephants or camels at the match this time… but it was still extremely fun. Following the match, Parmeet took us to his riding club for a cup of tea and a visit with all his friends – more fun!

The day is still not actually over – although I gathered Morris and 2 of my other speakers, Shekar and Ravi, together at the hotel for a drink and “meet & greet” at 7pm just so they’d know each other before sharing the stage tomorrow. Meanwhile, I’m still waiting for Vivek to stop by for a final review of the game plan for tomorrow – he was a bit delayed flying in from Mumbai. And, poor Steve, he’s been trying to get here for days…. His entire plan to arrive on Saturday night fell apart so he’s been fighting his way through the UK and India Airlines… I know he is on the plane now.. but I’m not sure he’ll get in much before 2am – he’s going to have a really fun day tomorrow when we have to be on our way at 8:30am.
Anyways, that’s the detailed scoop on the first 2 days… I probably won’t have as much to report for a few days. Tomorrow is the first of the 2 seminars: www.ExpandinUSA.org/October_29 it seems like we’ll have a good turnout, and who knows, maybe some press coverage too? Wish me luck!
Signing off for now –
K.

A Few More Photos from the Big Trip

Hi All,

We made it home safe & sound on Monday night -- we enjoyed all the amenities of Virgin Atlantic (endless movies, music, games and fun food & drinks) although the legroom was a bit spare -- the good news is that flights were smooth, on time and we got our luggage! This week has been a whirlwind with all the work stuff and most excitingly with putting our house on the market the night we flew home, hosting the Brokers' Open on Tuesday, and happily having quite a lot of traffic through the house so far this week - with our Open House planned for Sunday.

Anyhoo, we wanted to share a few more photos to share the experience of the Derby. The one on the lower left shows Epsom Racetrack on Derby Day -- quite amazing! And best of all, although it's much harder to see on this small version of the photo, we really think we had the best seats in the house -- we were in the picnic area with the pink umbrellas on the left side of the track -- look at all the green around us, compared to everyone else! The next one above the aerial view, on the left, is from Ladies' Day, and these gorgeous girls are the finalists in the "Style on the Downs" competition on Friday -- and I'm proud to say I picked the winner before I even saw her in the finalists.... can you guess which one she is?

The one to the right of the girls is The Queen herself (or at least the Queen-mobile) -- on this little photo you'll have to take my word for it, but actually you can see her in the backseat (or at least the pink satin band on her hat)... she drove right down the track, about 10 ft from us, before the races began on Derby Day.

Above the girls in their millinery finest, I'm including a photo of me with our new friend, Joan, from the Epsom Racetrack -- she was our trip planning goddess. She gave us fantastic advice on all the tickets that we booked, she found our inn for us, recommended a pub in London, a restaurant in Esher, and she gave us all sorts of Derby goodies -- books, a scarf, trinkets and other fun stuff. What a dear!!

OK -- one last photo (at the top, in the middle) is of me in London, in front of Selfridges on Oxford Street, with my fabulous purchases for the Derby. What fun! Our trip was just great -- we had a great time, walked lots, ate all the typical pub fare, saw a fabulous performance of Les Mis, and really, really enjoyed spending a whole week away, together, from all the non-stop frantic busy-ness at home.

Lots more photos for anyone who might want to see 'em -- let me know and I'll burn a CD for you!

Our HEARTFELT thanks to Melanie for so generously sponsoring our wonderful adventure - although it took us a year to get our acts together, it was worth the wait -- and what a great way to continue the celebration of Bobby's bday!

Until the next adventure!

Love,

Kim